When Xiao Lu heard Luoluo call him “Daddy”—a title he had resisted with all his heart before—his emotions became complicated.
Back then, he had only picked her up out of helplessness. And becoming her “father” had happened entirely because his mother forced him into it.
Deep down, he had even always considered her a nuisance.
Yet this “little nuisance” had gone out to catch rabbits just so the whole family could eat meat and stay healthy—and especially so his older brother could recover faster.
She had only been in their home for such a short time, yet she already cared so deeply about every member of the family, including him, the “fierce daddy.”
Although… his name was ranked last in the family.
Only slightly ahead of the turtle.
As his emotions churned inside him, Xiao Shan once again placed both hands gently on Luoluo’s shoulders.
Looking at her seriously, his tone became extremely solemn.
“Luoluo, listen carefully to Eldest Uncle. From now on, you absolutely must not tell anyone about Big Sister Xiao Hong or the sweet water, understand? Don’t mention them in front of anyone. Except for Grandma, Eldest Uncle, Daddy, and Little Uncle, you can’t tell anyone. Remember that?”
After the turtle’s earlier warning, and now sensing Xiao Shan’s seriousness and nervousness, Luoluo nodded earnestly.
“Mhm! Luoluo remembers. Can’t tell anybody.”
“Good girl.” Xiao Shan finally let out a relieved breath and rubbed her little head again.
He did not care what exactly this “Big Sister Xiao Hong” or “sweet water” really was, nor where it came from.
But it clearly surpassed everything they understood about the world. They had to protect Luoluo and prevent anyone with bad intentions from using or hurting her.
Protect her.
The thought emerged suddenly, yet with absolute clarity and force.
Not because she could bring them benefits.
But because of the pure trust shining in her innocent eyes—and because of how sincerely she cared for every member of the family.
At that moment, Xiao He entered the room, and Xiao Shan asked him to recount the entire incident once more.
After everyone finished discussing it, Xiao He excitedly exclaimed, “Mom, Big Brother, Second Brother, the rabbits Luoluo caught are fat as heck! We can keep two alive to breed babies, and the rest will be enough meat for days—”
“Xiao He!” Xiao Shan barked sharply, cutting him off.
Then his stern gaze swept across the entire family.
“This matter stays buried in our stomachs. From today onward, nobody is allowed to mention that Luoluo caught the rabbits. If anyone asks, we’ll say… we’ll say Xiao Lu and Xiao He spent days deep in the mountains setting traps to catch them. Understood?!”
His tone carried unquestionable authority, as though he had returned to the person he was before his injury.
Lu Suzhen nodded repeatedly. “Right, that’s exactly what we’ll say. Eldest Brother’s right. Second and Third, both of you keep your mouths shut.”
Xiao Lu nodded seriously. “Understood.”
Xiao He hurriedly added, “I get it, I get it. Beat me to death and I still won’t say a word.”
Lu Suzhen lifted Luoluo into her arms again and gently reminded her, “Luobao, remember what Eldest Uncle said just now? This is our family secret. You absolutely can’t tell anyone, okay?”
Luoluo nodded vigorously, then covered her little mouth tightly with both chubby hands while making muffled “mmph mmph” noises, blinking her big eyes at Lu Suzhen as if to say, Luoluo won’t talk.
Her obedient and adorable appearance made Lu Suzhen adore her even more, and she could not resist kissing her cheeks again and again.
“Come on, precious baby. Grandma will take you to see the rabbits.”
Carrying Luoluo, Lu Suzhen headed toward the woodshed in the back courtyard.
Xiao Lu and Xiao He followed behind them.
Inside the dim woodshed, the six rabbits had been separated into temporary broken baskets covered with straw, only their fluffy heads and twitching noses sticking out.
Holding Luoluo, Lu Suzhen asked, “Luobao, pick the two rabbits you like most. We’ll keep them so they can have lots and lots of baby bunnies.”
“Okay! Then the bunny babies can play with Baby Luoluo!” Luoluo immediately picked one white rabbit and one gray rabbit.
The moment Xiao Lu looked over: …
Both of them were males.
Thinking that Luoluo would not be able to tell the difference anyway, he quietly swapped one rabbit while she was distracted whispering to Lu Suzhen.
Then he picked out one male and one female rabbit and placed them together into a separate cage.
Unexpectedly, the moment Luoluo turned back to look at them, she immediately shouted loudly,
“Daddy, that’s wrong! You picked the wrong one! It’s that white one, not this white one!”
She firmly pointed at the original rabbit still inside the broken basket, demanding Xiao Lu switch it back.
Xiao Lu and Lu Suzhen exchanged another stunned glance.
Neither of them had expected Luoluo to be so perceptive.
Just moments earlier, the rabbits had only exposed their heads from beneath the straw, and she had only glanced at them briefly—yet she could still identify exactly which rabbit she had originally chosen.
Even adults would struggle to distinguish them so accurately, let alone a three-year-old child.
It seemed Luoluo truly possessed some special ability when it came to animals—something they did not yet understand.
The two quietly exchanged another look before both deliberately pretending not to notice.
In the end, only after both Lu Suzhen and Xiao Lu repeatedly persuaded her did Luoluo finally agree to keep the male and female pair.
Meanwhile, Xiao Lu silently propped up the rabbit cage with wooden supports and reinforced it carefully to ensure the rabbits Luoluo chose would not escape.
On the other side, Xiao He had already skillfully grabbed the fattest gray rabbit to prepare as tonight’s dinner.
Remembering Luoluo’s unusual sensitivity toward animals, Lu Suzhen did not want her witnessing the rabbit being slaughtered, so she led her away to the vegetable patch behind the woodshed to pick vegetables instead.
When they returned with the vegetables and passed by Xiao He, they saw him skinning the rabbit.
Luoluo’s eyes widened in shock as she stared at him.
“Little Uncle, are you taking off the bunny’s clothes so it can take a bath? It’s still sleeping.”
“Pffft—”
Nearby, Xiao Lu—who had been fixing the rabbit cage—could not hold back his laughter.
Xiao He: “……”
Back then, she had been the one insisting she would not eat “fur-fur.” Yet now that she saw him skinning the rabbit, shouldn’t she have immediately thought about delicious rabbit meat instead?
How on earth did she conclude he was helping the rabbit undress for a bath?
Seriously, he could never understand a little kid’s logic.
After a moment of silence, Xiao He deliberately teased her.
“Then Uncle won’t remove the rabbit’s fur anymore. Tonight Luoluo can eat the fur-fur too, okay?”
“Luoluo won’t eat fur-fur!”
The moment she finished speaking, she immediately covered her mouth again and shook her head like a rattling drum, even throwing Xiao He a huge disgusted eye-roll.
Seeing how adorable she looked, Lu Suzhen burst into laughter and hugged her close for another kiss.
Dinner that evening felt completely different from usual.
Although the table was still simple and plain, there was now a huge bowl of fragrant braised rabbit meat filling the air with delicious aroma.
Lu Suzhen’s cooking skills were excellent. The rabbit meat looked, smelled, and tasted wonderful—richly flavored despite not being spicy.
She sat Luoluo beside the table and placed several pieces of the tenderest rabbit meat into her bowl.
Yet Luoluo did not immediately eat.
Instead, she carefully held her little bowl and suddenly hopped down from her chair, pattering away with quick little footsteps.
“Luobao, where are you going?” Lu Suzhen quickly called after her.
Without even turning around, Luoluo answered loudly,
“Luoluo is bringing meat-meat to Eldest Uncle! Eldest Uncle eats meat-meat and gets better faster!”