Jiang Xian was a natural at making friends; in just one day, she had already become close with most of the kids in her class.
Shen Yan, on the other hand, hadn’t made a single friend all day.
Jiang Xian was deeply troubled.
She had promised Aunt Wanwan that she would help Yan Yan make friends.
With school about to let out, Jiang Xian’s little face was all scrunched up like a steamed bun. In her panic, she couldn’t help but reach up and tap her head hard.
“You dummy, come up with a solution already!”
Shen Yan’s gaze turned toward her. “What’s wrong?”
Jiang Xian quickly dropped her hand, her big round eyes fixed on him. “Yan Yan, don’t you want any friends?”
Shen Yan: “No.”
“Why not?” Jiang Xian stared intently at him, as if trying to find the answer on his face.
Shen Yan: “I don’t need them.”
Jiang Xian wasn’t giving up and tried to persuade him: “Friends are useful! With friends, you can play games together and share snacks.”
But just as her little mouth was getting tired from talking, she saw that Shen Yan remained unmoved, so she puffed out her cheeks in a huff.
She was going to throw a tantrum!
Shen Yan pulled a box of chocolates out of his bag.
Jiang Xian’s eyes lit up. Just as she reached out to grab it, Shen Yan pulled his hand back.
Jiang Xian: ???
Shen Yan asked her, “Do you want me to share the chocolates with someone else?”
Jiang Xian immediately shook her head like a metronome.
They were hers. All hers.
Shen Yan seemed pleased with her answer. He placed the chocolates back into her hands and said, “From now on, I’ll save all my snacks for you.”
“Mm-hmm!” Jiang Xian nodded happily.
She knew Yan Yan was the best.
Jiang Xian couldn’t wait to open the box. She quickly grabbed a chocolate and popped it into her mouth.
Mmm, so good.
Jiang Xian closed her eyes in bliss.
As for making friends and all that, she’d completely pushed it out of her mind.
On the second day of school, a figure rushed into the school in a hurry.
It was Jiang Xian.
The little girl ran while exclaiming, “Ahhh, I’m going to be late!”
“Thud—”
Just as she was about to reach the classroom door, she tripped over her own feet.
“Ouch—”
Jiang Xian landed on her butt and knocked over the person closest to her.
“Sorry!” Jiang Xian quickly scrambled to her feet and reached out to help the person she’d knocked over.
“Hey, Yuan Yuan, is that you?” She reached out and realized it was Xu Yuan.
Xu Yuan’s eyes were red; she looked like she’d been crying.
“Are you okay?”
Xu Yuan sniffed and shook her head.
“Are you really sure?” Jiang Xian helped her to her seat, looking a bit worried at her appearance.
She looked like she was in a lot of pain—she’d even cried because of it!
Xu Yuan shook her head. “It’s none of your business. I didn’t hurt myself in the fall. It’s just that my mom and dad are getting a divorce, and I don’t want them to.”
“My mom said Dad found a new woman and doesn’t want us anymore.” As soon as Xu Yuan finished speaking, tears began to fall in big, heavy drops.
“Waaah, does that mean I won’t have a dad anymore?”
Jiang Xian got angry as soon as she heard that. Yuan Yuan’s dad was just too mean.
The little girl said defiantly, “If he doesn’t want you, you don’t want him either.”
Hearing this, Xu Yuan started crying even harder: “But I don’t want to be separated from Dad. Can we make Mom and Dad not get divorced?”
This question was a bit beyond her scope; Jiang Xian couldn’t answer it.
The little girl scratched her head and turned to look at Shen Yan. “Yan Yan, can you help Yuan Yuan think of a solution?” Yan Yan was so smart; he was sure to come up with a good idea.
Xu Yuan, her eyes red and swollen, also looked over in Shen Yan’s direction.
Shen Yan: “No!”
Xu Yuan’s tears, which had just stopped, began to fall again.
“It’s okay, if he won’t help you, I will.” Jiang Xian patted her chest, suddenly thinking of a plan, and leaned in to whisper something in Xu Yuan’s ear.
“Will that really work?” Xu Yuan stopped crying and looked up at her.
Shen Yan had a strange, uneasy feeling.
“What are you two planning to do?”
“I’m not telling you.” Jiang Xian stuck her tongue out at him.
During their lunch break, the two of them sneaked out of school.
“Yuan Yuan, does your dad really work here?” Jiang Xian looked up at the building in front of them.
Xu Yuan nodded. “This is the place. My mom brought me here once.”
“Let’s go, let’s go inside.” Jiang Xian grabbed her hand and rushed toward the entrance.
But the moment they reached the door, they were stopped.
“Little ones, who are you looking for?” The security guard spotted the two young girls at the entrance right away.
Whose kids wandered over here?
Xu Yuan: “Uncle, we’re here to see my dad’s boss.”
The security guard automatically misheard “my dad’s boss” as “my dad.” He pulled out his phone and said, “Is your dad an employee here? What’s his name? I’ll call him and have him come down to meet you, okay?”
“Uncle, we’re not looking for Dad?” Xu Yuan shook her head.
Jiang Xian: “Right, we’re looking for his boss.”
Huh?
The security guard couldn’t believe his ears.
“Who are you looking for?”
Xu Yuan: “Uncle, we’re looking for my dad’s boss. Is he inside?”
“He is, but… what do you need?”
It was the first time the security guard had ever seen such young family members of an employee come looking for the boss.
Jiang Xian: “Yes, we have something very, very important.”
“Right, very, very important.”
Xu Yuan nodded in agreement from the side.
Xianxian had said they could come complain to her dad’s boss, so her dad’s boss would make sure to keep her dad in line.
Kids have to listen to their parents, and parents have to listen to their bosses.
“Little ones, company policy doesn’t allow us to let just anyone in!” the security guard said.
But he was curious—what could such young children possibly want with the boss?
“Uncle, please let us in. We really have something very, very important to discuss. Please, please,” Jiang Xian pleaded, looking up at the guard with big, pleading eyes.
“Uncle, please,” Xu Yuan chimed in immediately.
The security guard looked at the two of them and finally relented. “Alright, I’ll take you up. But you have to behave yourselves—no running around once you’re inside.”
Well, he was mainly worried that the two little kids running around might be unsafe; it really wasn’t because he was being nosy.
“We know, Uncle.”
“Uncle, you’re so kind.”
The security guard, flattered by the compliment, cheerfully led the two girls into the elevator.
The elevator ascended, and they soon reached the boss’s office.
As they passed the secretary’s office near the entrance, they were stopped by the boss’s secretary.
The security guard pushed the two little girls toward the secretary and explained, “They’re here to see President Qin. I was worried they’d get lost if they wandered off, so I brought them up.”
Everyone in the secretary’s office exchanged puzzled glances.
Who were these two young girls?
Coming to see their boss at this hour—could they be his daughters?
But they’d only heard that the boss had a son who was about to graduate from college; they’d never heard of him having daughters this young!
Could it be… illegitimate daughters?