Slacker Second Gen C25

Chapter 25: School Tyrant 25

In June, the weather became hot, and the college entrance exam was fast approaching.

After the college entrance exam, a group of people would go their separate ways. Before leaving school, Zai Ye arranged a farewell meal with the group of younger brothers he had met during high school. As a wealthy second-generation, Zai Ye didn’t have any particular preferences; he and his friends enjoyed street food for their late-night meals for three years.

For this last meal, he even brought his child with him. When Zai Ye arrived with his child, the group had already consumed two boxes of beer, and those who couldn’t handle their liquor had started slurring their speech.

“Eh? Why did Brother Ye bring his little sister?”

“Sis! Long time no see, sis!”

“Today… Brother Ye is… hic… bringing his child too? I’ve been wondering, why does Brother Ye… hic… always bring his child with him?” The one asking this was Zai Ye’s desk mate, who was hiccupping as he spoke.

Although Zai Ye often mentioned Yu Qian, having done many of her homework assignments for her, the last time they saw Yu Qian was at the sports meet.

Zai Ye placed the child in a seat next to him. “She wouldn’t sleep so late, insisted on coming with me, so I had no choice but to bring her.”

She should have been asleep by now, but after trying for half an hour to convince her to go to bed, he gave up. Zai Ye didn’t understand why such a small child was so persistent about late-night snacks; as soon as she heard he was going out, she wasn’t sleepy anymore.

“Why do I bring my child? Because I’m her dad,” Zai Ye said for the umpteenth time, causing another round of laughter.

“Hahaha, Brother Ye really likes being a dad to people!”

Zai Ye couldn’t be bothered to talk further with them and held down the child’s hand as she reached for the barbecue. “You can’t eat.”

“Dad, just one, it’s so small, just one,” the child said, using her chubby little hand to show a tiny length with her fingers.

Zai Ye then gave her a piece of meat the size of a thumb. “You said just this much, okay?”

The child happily ate, but after about three minutes, she tugged at his sleeve. “Dad, I want just a little more, just a little.”

Zai Ye: “You just said you’d eat only a little.”

Yu Qian: “It’s digested, so I can eat a little more.”

Zai Ye: “No.”

“Dad, dad, I want to eat.” The child began her incessant, annoying whining, her voice grating.

It was the first time the group of younger brothers had seen Zai Ye teach his child. The last time they saw Yu Qian, she was sitting on the podium during the sports meet. This time, they saw a completely different side of their usually cool, taciturn brother, who now answered every question, almost like a father figure.

“Brother Ye, why does she always call you dad?” someone asked.

“Yeah, doesn’t she get confused calling you that?”

Zai Ye glanced at the group of clueless guys and repeated, “Because I am her dad.”

The group of boys looked at each other, laughed, and then suddenly fell into an eerie silence.

“…Wait, is he really her dad?” one person asked cautiously.

“…Brother Ye, are you joking with us?” another person’s voice trembled.

Zai Ye maintained a neutral expression. “She’s my daughter, Yu Qian, just over two years old. I don’t know where she came from, but she’s definitely my biological daughter.”

Having heard it from the boss mouth, the group of big guys couldn’t help but go crazy.

They had been drinking and their minds were already foggy, and now they were hit with this bombshell. No one could say a word. Some kept gasping and shouting, others were pounding the table or pinching their thighs, some were dumbfounded and fell off their chairs, while a few even spilled their beer on the person next to them.

It was a chaotic scene. The other late-night diners in the area stared at them warily and kept their distance.

Yu Qian, frightened by their strange reactions, moved closer to Zai Ye and, holding his arm, said after a moment of thought, “120, call 120.”

Zai Ye covered her head. “You’re the one with the problem. 120 doesn’t handle this.”

It took the group of younger brothers a while to recover, still in disbelief.

“How is this possible, Brother Ye? Who’s the child’s mother?”

“I don’t know.”

“How did she come about, Brother Ye?”

“I don’t know.”

“When did this happen?”

“I don’t know.”

In the end, they realized that even Zai Ye, the father in question, seemed to know no more than they did.

“It’s been almost a year, and we haven’t found any news. She probably just popped out of a rock,” Zai Ye finally said.

What was supposed to be a melancholic farewell gathering, where they said goodbye to their friends and youth, ended with no one talking about parting, the future, or their results. Everyone was still immersed in shock. Even the guy who had broken up with his girlfriend that morning, before passing out drunk, wasn’t calling out his ex’s name but rather shouting, “Brother Ye! You’re really a dad!”

But this wasn’t the end. The group of drunkards slept through the night, and the next day, they all sent messages to Zai Ye.

“Brother Ye, I drank too much last night and actually dreamt you had a daughter, hahaha!”

“Brother Ye, was what happened yesterday a dream?”

“Bro, you really don’t have a daughter, did I just imagine that while drunk?”

Zai Ye’s reply was simple: “Still hungover?”

Was it that hard to accept? Zai Ye thought. At this point, he had already forgotten the times he had insisted on doing three paternity tests.

As his high school classmates slowly processed the news, they entered the next phase of their lives: university.

Zai Ye enrolled in a fairly ordinary university in Ning Shui. However, while everyone was relaxing during the summer vacation, he changed his usual leisurely pace and started getting busy.

He opened a game studio and recruited all the talented people he had spotted, offering them high salaries. By the time the new semester started, his game studio was already on track and began operating.

As the financial backer and boss, Zai Ye spent most of his time at the studio during the summer. Consequently, Yu Qian also spent a lot of time there. For her, being at the studio was similar to being at Skyhigh Game Lounge, with various toys and many people to play with. It was far more comfortable than at home.

Zai Ye’s game studio was called “Wild.” Because the boss was wealthy and free-spirited, the office occupied an entire floor, hundreds of square meters in size. Apart from the working area, there was a designated relaxation and play area. Compared to the current number of employees, the office felt vast and empty.

While Zai Ye and his young staff worked and discussed, Yu Qian would play in the toy-filled play area. While Zai Ye and the staff played games and solved problems, Yu Qian napped in the lounge area, surrounded by stuffed toys. While Zai Ye held meetings, Yu Qian would be petting cats.

The studio also kept two Ragdoll cats, brought in by an employee’s older sister who temporarily left them at the studio for a couple of days. The cats ended up staying permanently, and Zai Ye didn’t say anything, tacitly allowing the cats to become the studio’s mascots.

Yu Qian loved to walk around the studio, and the two cats followed her, making their rounds together. The three little cuties formed a fixed patrol route.

When Zai Ye finished his meeting and came out, he saw the child and two cats lying on the cushion in the lounge, all sprawled out. One cat’s tail covered the child’s belly, while the other covered her feet.

It was during this summer that Zai Ye discovered Yu Qian’s new hobby: feeding. She kept sneaking cat food to feed the cats, who grew plump and healthy, their fur shiny and thick. They were almost as big as her now.

Not only did she feed the cats, but she also fed the employees. In the corner of the relaxation area, there was a snack station where she would grab various small snacks every day to distribute to the employees. Those she liked got extra, which often made Zai Ye, who didn’t get the same treatment, unhappy.

For the employees, not only could they de-stress by petting cats, but they could also de-stress by petting the boss’s child.

Petting the boss’s child was perhaps even more fun. She was like a little NPC handing out snacks. If you spoke to her, you had a chance to get some of her snacks, and if you interacted with her enough, you might even trigger “the boss’s gaze.” It was truly amusing.

So, when university started, and both the boss and his daughter were too busy with school to visit the studio often, the staff felt that their work lacked motivation.

Just like in high school, Zai Ye frequently skipped classes and left early. The university had looser management than high school, and he became even more carefree. After a while, even his classmates in the same major rarely saw him.

In the past, he skipped class to play games; now he skipped class to make games. As a student, Zai Ye was definitely not following the typical path, but he was undoubtedly a genius. His game studio’s first mini-game was a huge success, quickly gaining popularity and making the name “Wild Studio” known.

Zai Ye’s father, who had once had secretaries contact him every three days to reprimand him for not studying abroad and wasting his potential, finally stopped bothering him. He had stopped criticizing his son for pursuing games and had given up on his predictions of failure.

Zai Ye didn’t bother to pay attention to his self-absorbed father. His studio was busy developing new games, keeping him occupied, and even causing him to neglect his daughter.

When he finally had a moment of respite, Zai Ye took Yu Qian on a tour of his university. After a few months of school, he was still not very familiar with it, so he just wandered aimlessly with Yu Qian until they ended up sitting by the playground.

It didn’t take long for the rumors to spread about the handsome, aloof guy in the freshman class with the great face, long legs, and mysterious aura. His photo had been posted many times on the school’s forum, and as Zai Ye sat alone on the playground, many girls passing by couldn’t help but stare.

Finally, a bold girl approached to start a conversation.

“Hello, may I ask if I can…”

Zai Ye turned around, and before he could say anything, a little head popped out from under his jacket. Both his and the child’s faces looked remarkably similar.

The girl: “…”

Then she heard the child call out “daddy beautiful sister”

The girl: “Dad?!”

Zai Ye, wrapping the child in his jacket, looked tired and cold, as if lacking sleep. “Is there something you need?”

The girl quickly waved her hand. “Never mind, sorry for disturbing you!”