Chapter 102

All those notification messages were from the app where Bai Yiyi had uploaded her video. Almost instantly, the thought popped into her head: I’ve gone viral.

Her heart started pounding faster. She gripped her phone tightly and tapped into the app.

She was so overwhelmed with emotion that her hands trembled slightly as she held her phone.

She had entertained the idea before, but it had only been a vague notion in her mind.

From the moment she got pregnant to giving birth—especially after An’an had a high fever—she had poured all her energy into An’an. Having been out of touch with society for a while, she wasn’t even sure she’d be any good at this.

The likes and comment notifications were all over 99+, and new ones kept popping up on her screen, along with a system popup from the platform:

[It appears you’re a creator. Too many notifications disrupting your life? One tap to block messages.]

Bai Yiyi closed the popup. She didn’t want to mute them.

Every time a new notification appeared, her phone would vibrate, but rather than finding it annoying, it made her feel oddly grounded and reassured.

Taking a deep breath, Bai Yiyi opened up the comments—only to realize things weren’t quite as she had expected.

The most liked video wasn’t the cooking one she had spent hours meticulously filming and editing. It was another one. Curious, she tapped to watch it.

There was no background music, just the crackling of hot oil hitting food in the kitchen, and the soft babyish babble of An’an.

Wearing a one-piece pajama set, the delicate and adorable little human was pressed against the kitchen’s glass door, squishing his cheeks as he peered in.

He would occasionally tap the glass softly, as if trying to get Mommy’s attention.

The video had over 30,000 likes—and the number was still climbing. There were more than 5,000 comments. By any measure, that was a fantastic result.

Her own child, of course, looked adorable no matter how many times she watched him. She could never get tired of it.

At the time, she had been focused on cooking while the nanny took care of An’an. She hadn’t realized he’d been clinging to the glass door like a little gecko, occasionally calling out.

The video was short, less than twenty seconds—just the kind of content that works well on this platform.

After watching it herself, Bai Yiyi finally opened the comment section, curious to see what people were saying.

[Oh my god, this baby is so cute I could smother him with kisses—DO YOU KNOW THAT???!!!!!]

[Why isn’t this adorable baby mine? I’m crying.]

[This kid doesn’t seem normal… These moves are clearly taught. I suggest mailing him to me so I can do a thorough inspection.]

[Does anyone have a link to his outfit? That dinosaur tail wagging behind him is killing me with cuteness!]

[I saw the blogger’s last video. Planning to be a food influencer? You should switch to being a baby content creator instead.]

[Agreed. Please go live soon—I want to send a rocket gift to my 253rd cloud-raised baby!]

[When’s the next video coming? I need more baby dinosaur content!]

[Hello, you’re now my 932nd crush of a son.]

[Blogger, My daughter just turned one year old yesterday. She’s adorable and kind-hearted. Both her parents have stable jobs and will receive pensions when they’re older. Could you send my son-in-law over here for me to raise for a few days?]

That last comment even came with a photo: a toddler girl with an explosive hairstyle, her face smeared with something dark, gripping a goose by the neck and staring dead into the camera.

Bai Yiyi didn’t scroll further. She locked her phone with a helpless chuckle.

To be honest, a girl that fierce at just one year old was a little scary.

She had seriously prepared ingredients, arranged the kitchen, worked hard filming, carefully edited—and all that effort had only brought her a little over 300 likes.

And based on her guess, most of those likes came from people who had watched that video first and then came over.

She did get over 500 comments though—at least 490 of them begging her to post more An’an content.

The flowers you water don’t bloom, but the willows you plant by chance thrive.

The more Bai Yiyi thought about it, the more amused she felt. Just as she was getting ready to sleep, a new message popped up on her phone. She unlocked it without thinking.

It was from a news account on the platform, asking if they could get permission to repost the An’an video.

A news outlet taking the initiative to reach out—thanks to all the research she had done beforehand, Bai Yiyi knew this was a great opportunity. It would help her get exposure.

She didn’t hesitate much and agreed on the spot.

After replying, she put her phone on silent and plugged it in to charge. Then she lay down and closed her eyes to rest.

Although things hadn’t gone exactly as she’d initially envisioned, this was still a very good beginning.

From start to finish, Bai Yiyi had never intended to use An’an to chase traffic. The videos had all been stored in her drafts, just sitting there.

She planned to try using the platform’s built-in editing tools during her free time.

Bai Yiyi had good sleeping habits. The next morning, she woke up early and the first thing she did was open the app.

Overnight, the video that had only had 30,000 likes had now jumped to over 200,000—and the number kept rising.

The news account that had reposted it had also gathered nearly 100,000 likes.

Most importantly, the comment section was full of positive and kind messages. No one had said anything nasty.

Someone had even turned An’an clinging to the door into a meme, touched up the image slightly, and added the words “Look at me.” It was surprisingly funny.

With such a hot video, even her cooking one had gained over 10,000 likes. Some viewers even asked if the baby dinosaur had been watching through the door while she was cooking.

Aside from that, Bai Yiyi also received a few DMs asking about potential collaborations. After some thought, she politely declined them.

Even though she did want to become a content creator, this was only the very beginning. In the eyes of most brands, she was just an average person who got lucky with a viral video.

So the ones reaching out were either trying to sell some sketchy snack app or pushing knockoff shoes, offering only a few hundred yuan as payment.

Bai Yiyi knew very well—if she agreed to those kinds of random collaborations now, she’d be laying landmines for herself.

If she ever got lucky and blew up as a livestreamer, the scandal of promoting fake shoes could easily ruin her.

Most importantly, Bai Yiyi didn’t need the money right now.

While Huo Haozhan might be clueless in other areas, he had never treated her poorly financially. Her card had a few million yuan she could freely use—but she just didn’t want to touch it.

With that kind of backing and safety net, Bai Yiyi could easily say no without any regrets.

She carefully rewatched both of her videos several times and gradually noticed the areas she had overlooked.

She uploaded them to three of the most popular video platforms in the country.

Back when she hadn’t had any ambitions in this area, she would still browse videos on those platforms herself.

Two of the platforms didn’t perform very well. Without the An’an video drawing traffic, her cooking one probably wouldn’t have even gotten 100 likes.

By comparison, the third platform showed much better results.

With over two thousand likes, the comment section was equally friendly—full of compliments praising her cooking skills, how efficient she was in the kitchen, and how watching her cook was genuinely pleasing to the eye.

The biggest issue, however, lay in the platform audience.

On the two platforms with poor performance, the more popular videos were very short, designed to cater to fragmented viewing time—users could scroll through a few clips quickly, most of them under a minute long.

Meanwhile, the platform where her content was doing decently featured videos mostly over three minutes in length, and its users were more willing to patiently watch longer content.

After realizing this was the reason for her lack of success, Bai Yiyi decided to give it another shot today.

She went downstairs and prepared the ingredients she’d need for today’s cooking. Just as she finished, she saw the nanny coming down with An’an in her arms.

Still a bit groggy from just waking up, An’an was rubbing his sleepy eyes and snuggling into his mom’s arms, pouting and mumbling in protest:

“Want Mommy.”

Bai Yiyi could more or less understand what he meant—he was likely complaining that she shouldn’t have left him with the nanny, or maybe he simply missed her. She lowered her head and kissed the side of his face.

Before she could say anything to comfort him, An’an mumbled again.

“Okay, not mad anymore.”

Then he tilted his face to the other side, offering it up for another kiss, trying hard to suppress the smile tugging at his lips.

“One more kiss, An’an’s happy now!”

Bai Yiyi kissed him again, and An’an started giggling mischievously.

Her sharp eyes caught a tiny white speck in his mouth, so she quickly sat down on the couch with him in her lap, coaxing him to open his mouth.

“Ah—let Mommy take a look.”

An’an tried his best to open his mouth as wide as he could, sneaking a glance at his mom with his little eyes.

Bai Yiyi looked closely—right where his front teeth should be, a tiny bit of white had started to emerge. It looked like a tooth was finally breaking through.

No wonder he had been biting everything the past few days—he’d even gnawed on his clothes several times. No matter how Bai Yiyi tried to correct him, he wouldn’t listen.

At the time, she’d wondered if her son was hitting an early rebellious phase. She hadn’t expected it to be teething.

Since An’an was born prematurely, his development had always been slow. Most children start teething around six to eight months, but here he was, already a year old, still with bare pink gums.

Bai Yiyi had already made peace with reality, so this unexpected surprise made her especially happy.

“Wow, An’an’s growing teeth now!”

“Huh?”

An’an didn’t quite understand what it meant to grow teeth—he just knew it made his mom happy, so he smiled too.

“Want to help Mommy today?”

“Okay~”

Anything his mom asked, An’an would agree right away without even thinking, nodding enthusiastically.

After breakfast, the mother and son duo began filming. Bai Yiyi adjusted the camera, and this time she included An’an in many parts of the process.

“An’an, pass the scallions to Mommy.”

“Okay!”

While handing over the scallions, An’an couldn’t help but let out a sneeze.

“Where are the tomatoes Mommy left in the basket?”

“Here they are!”

Bai Yiyi didn’t even look up. It wasn’t until she had the tomato in her hand, ready to cut, that she noticed a little bite mark on it.

She instinctively glanced at An’an, who was standing there fidgeting with his hands, glancing around nervously, clearly avoiding her gaze.

Since only a tiny bit of the tooth had emerged and the tomato was a little hard because it wasn’t fully ripe, An’an had clearly tried hard to take a bite earlier but only managed to leave a dent without breaking the skin.

His cheeks were still slightly flushed—maybe from all the effort.

Bai Yiyi casually sliced up the tomato and placed it on the prep plate.

Once all the ingredients were nearly ready, she picked up a chili pepper and squatted in front of An’an, holding it out to him.

“An’an, this one’s super tasty. Want to try?”

His eyes instantly widened as he stared at the chili, then at his mom. He instinctively took a step back and waved his hands frantically, shouting in his high-pitched baby voice:

“Too spicy! Too spicy!”

Bai Yiyi was nearly laughing out loud at his reaction. She held back a smile and gently educated him:

“The ingredients in the kitchen aren’t for eating directly. If you really want to try something, just tell Mommy and I’ll cut a bit for you, okay?”

“Okay…”

Though An’an knew his mom was right, he still looked a little dejected at being scolded.

Bai Yiyi picked up a slice of tomato she had just cut and offered it to him. The little guy, with no hard feelings at all, immediately opened his mouth wide.

“Ah—”

The tomato Bai Yiyi chose was beautiful in appearance, but not fully ripe and a bit sour. As soon as An’an tasted it, his little face scrunched up into a frown.

“Yuck!”

He took a few wobbly steps forward and hugged his mom’s leg. Bai Yiyi scooped him up and gave his nose a playful pinch, sighing:

“Tasty? These ingredients only taste good after being cooked. Still want to try next time?”

An’an shook his head without hesitation. If he’d known it would be that sour, he wouldn’t have taken a bite.

In order to take better care of An’an, Bai Yiyi had actually studied under professionals for a while, and she regularly read parenting books.

She knew kids this age were naturally curious. Even if adults told them not to do something, they’d still wonder about it.

So the best approach was to let him safely try things out for himself.

From An’an’s expression now, it was clear her method worked well.

“How about Mommy makes you some tomato soup?”

An’an clung tightly to her neck, visibly traumatized by the earlier sourness. He eyed the tomatoes suspiciously in the bowl.

Finally, he gave a tentative nod, then planted a kiss on her cheek to sweet-talk her into making the soup tasty.

“Don’t worry. Mommy will never make something you don’t like.”

Bai Yiyi smiled as she reassured him. Her cooking skills were excellent—she could always prepare food while avoiding anything An’an disliked.

When it came to eating, his preferences came first.

She handed An’an over to the nanny and started making her own lunch. Once that was done, she made his complementary meal.

She took toddler-friendly noodles from the cupboard, cooked them in tomato egg soup, and turned it into tomato egg noodles. Once done, she ladled it into a bowl and placed it in front of An’an’s seat.

With An’an’s popularity from the last video, Bai Yiyi recorded this mealtime scene too, planning to upload it to the long-form video platform.

Each site catered to a different audience, and on that particular one, videos over ten minutes were quite common.

This was An’an’s first time trying tomato egg noodles. He stared at it intently for a long time, then leaned in like a little puppy and carefully sniffed it.

After realizing it didn’t smell sour, he picked up his spoon and took a cautious sip of soup. Confirming it wasn’t sour at all, he let out a long sigh of relief—then immediately began eating with gusto.

His cheeks puffed out from being so full, and as he chewed, he looked like a tiny hamster enjoying a meal.

While An’an napped after lunch, Bai Yiyi got to work editing the new footage.

She wasn’t naturally skilled at this—she had only picked up a little during college from some friends. On top of that, her last unedited video had gotten so many views, she was definitely feeling the pressure now.

She had only organized half of it before completely losing any sense of direction. While she was taking a break, a friend of hers who was good at video editing messaged her, asking what she had been up to lately.

After a bit of chatting, Bai Yiyi found out that this friend had recently quit her job after being sexually harassed by her boss—she was pretty, and that had drawn unwanted attention. Furious, she left the job on the spot and was now staying at home, worried about what to do next.

Back in university, the two of them had been close. But after graduation, one got married and the other moved to a big city to pursue her career. Different life goals had led to different social circles, and over time, they lost touch as they ran out of things to talk about.

That’s when Bai Yiyi suddenly had a bold idea.

She really wasn’t good at editing videos—just putting together a short clip of a few dozen seconds drained most of her energy and patience. And even then, the end result was rough and unpolished. But her friend was different. Back in school, they had relied heavily on Xiao Chu to get group projects done. After graduating, Xiao Chu’s job had remained in the same field, and she was extremely experienced.

It felt like someone handing her a pillow just as she was about to nod off—there was no one more suitable than her old friend to join her on this entrepreneurial journey.

[I’m planning to start making short videos. Want to come help me?]

Xiao Chu replied quickly. After sending a sticker, she immediately started a video call. From her expression, it was clear how shocked she was.

“What’s going on? Why are you suddenly making short videos? Did Huo Haozhan do something to you? You just had a baby, right? Are you filming with the baby?”

Bai Yiyi patiently answered all her questions. Once she confirmed it was her own choice—that she didn’t want motherhood to disconnect her from society and that she genuinely wanted to pursue this path—Xiao Chu let out a long sigh of relief.

“Alright then! I’ll pack my things and book a ticket right away!”

No hesitation at all—she agreed immediately.

Back in college, they had shared the same dorm and were best friends. Even though they hadn’t kept in close contact over the past two years, their bond was still there. What’s more, Xiao Chu felt that her friend really needed her right now.

If Bai Yiyi had truly been living a happy life, fine. But Xiao Chu worried that she might be hiding the truth just to avoid causing concern. She couldn’t rest easy without seeing her in person. If things were really as bad as she imagined, Bai Yiyi would definitely need encouragement and support to get through the toughest times.

Besides, Xiao Chu’s job was video editing for internet influencers. So when she heard Bai Yiyi wanted to get into the same field, she was eager to help—even if it meant no pay at the beginning.

After hanging up, Xiao Chu told Bai Yiyi to send over all her footage. Her work computer was in her rental apartment, so she could start editing right away to help Bai Yiyi get her next video ready.

Half an hour later, Bai Yiyi got a message from Xiao Chu:

[Waaah Yiyi, can I please suck some of your son’s cuteness?!!]

Bai Yiyi had just been admiring Xiao Chu’s efficiency—she hadn’t expected that what Xiao Chu really wanted was a dose of little An’an.

[Once you get here you can hug him, and as for sucking… you’ll have to ask An’an himself.]

It took Xiao Chu several hours to edit the material into publishable videos. When she was finally done, she rubbed her sore neck and sent over two versions.

One video, around two minutes long, was posted on two short video platforms. The other, a seven-minute version, was uploaded to a platform more suited for long-form content.

Before posting, Bai Yiyi watched the videos herself.

There was no denying it—having a professional edit the footage made a huge difference. The video flowed smoothly and looked nothing like her clumsy attempts.

In the two-minute clip, there were adorable little moments—like a tiny hand reaching into frame while she prepared ingredients, or a pudgy fist clenching a piece of food. An’an’s baby voice popped in occasionally, asking his mom what this or that was, his drawn-out syllables impossibly cute.

The content was split evenly between food and cute baby—something Bai Yiyi hadn’t seen much of in other videos, despite watching many similar ones. The combo made hers stand out.

In the seven-minute video, An’an played an even bigger role, especially at the end, which featured a pure eating segment of him enjoying his meal.

Bai Yiyi had just finished eating, but watching An’an munch so earnestly made her want to eat again.

After posting the videos, she turned off her phone. She didn’t dare look at the feedback right away and decided to wait until the next morning.

That evening, Huo Grandma told Bai Yiyi she’d be back the next afternoon, and Huo Haozhan had booked a flight for the day after.

Normally, hearing that they were both coming home would’ve made Bai Yiyi happy. But now, she was a little worried—would filming be harder with them around?

Huo Grandma was strict with time. Once she had a schedule, she expected things to be followed to the minute—any delay beyond a minute could make her irritable.

Bai Yiyi thought carefully about how to allocate her time. Lately, she’d realized that as long as she didn’t disrupt her mother-in-law’s plans, things went pretty smoothly. So there was no need to worry too much.

After a good night’s rest, Bai Yiyi got up the next day, washed up, changed clothes, and finally worked up the courage to open the app.

That video she had accidentally posted from the drafts had brought in some traffic—how much of it would stick around now depended on her skills.

Bai Yiyi had mentally prepared herself for her second video to not perform as well as the first. But to her surprise, by morning, it had already racked up over a hundred thousand likes.

After deciding to go into this field, she had done tons of research and knew how hard it was to gain traction early on.

Her first video did well largely due to luck—and, of course, because An’an was undeniably adorable.

But Bai Yiyi didn’t like relying on luck. When she posted this new one, she was ready to move forward slowly and steadily even if the numbers weren’t good.

She hadn’t dared to dream this big. Coming back to her senses, she even rubbed her eyes hard to make sure she wasn’t seeing things, then took a screenshot and sent it to Xiao Chu to share the joy.

Xiao Chu, who was in the middle of packing for her move, saw the screenshot and immediately looked up Bai Yiyi’s account. Seeing those numbers, her uncertainty about the future vanished. All that was left was the excitement of working with her best friend again.

…

The first thing Huo Grandma did after returning was scoop An’an out of the nanny’s arms.

An’an lit up at the sight of his grandma. His tiny hands waved excitedly in the air, and his eyes were scrunched in a big, silly grin—adorable and lovable all at once.

As long as a child isn’t truly slow, their silly expressions are just incredibly endearing.

Huo Grandma kissed him several times. When she saw the little rice-sized tooth that had just started coming in, she stared at it lovingly for a while.

Lately, Bai Yiyi had made it a habit to ask An’an to open his mouth whenever she saw him, to check if his teeth had grown a bit more. He was already used to it.

He tilted his head slightly, opened his mouth wide to help Grandma get a better look, and kept his eyes on her the whole time, as if silently asking if he’d been a good boy.

That tiny tooth, peeking out like a spring bamboo shoot, utterly charmed Huo Grandma.

Back when she was pregnant with Huo Haozhan, her husband had been cheating on her. Her emotions were a mess throughout the pregnancy, and after giving birth, most of the childcare had been handled by the nanny.

She never got to experience the joys of raising a child with her son—but with An’an, she was finally getting to make up for it.

“Wow, our An’an is getting his first tooth!”

An’an nodded. Not only were his mom and grandma fascinated by his development—he himself was equally delighted.

If it weren’t for his mom not allowing it, he would’ve even tried brushing his two little teeth every morning just like her.

After sitting down with An’an in her arms, Grandma Huo looked around and noticed all the photography equipment in the house. Since she had agreed to this setup before, she didn’t feel too uncomfortable about it now. In fact, she was rather curious to see what Bai Yiyi could really achieve.

She had always disapproved of the idea that one should give up everything after getting married. Back when she divorced her husband, she had single-handedly built the Huo Company and taken it public, which spoke volumes about her approach to life.

And precisely because she was a self-made woman, she didn’t agree with all the unspoken rules that were silently accepted in certain circles—whether in the entertainment industry or the influencer world.

Bai Yiyi brought out the flower tea she had prepared earlier and set it in front of her mother-in-law. The two of them chatted about her current work. When Grandma Huo heard that Bai Yiyi was planning to get help from her old college friend, she gave a few words of advice:

“Make sure to sign a proper contract and go through formal procedures. Let Haozhan bring in the company’s legal team to help you handle it.”

“Even if they’re your friend, business is business. You have to keep personal and professional matters separate. Only then can you avoid harming your relationship.”

“There are some things that if you don’t say upfront, you won’t have much of a chance to say them later, got it?”

While Grandma was advising Mom, little An’an had reached for an orange on the coffee table and was working hard to peel it. Once he’d finished peeling it, he even meticulously removed all the white strings before splitting it in half. Then, taking a segment from the slightly bigger half, he gave one each to his mom and grandma.

Feeling quite proud of his fairness, An’an nodded in satisfaction and popped his own share into his mouth.

If it weren’t for Grandma Huo’s reminder, Bai Yiyi would’ve been completely absorbed in the excitement of reuniting with her old classmate and wouldn’t have thought things through so carefully.

“Mom, thank you for reminding me.”

“No need to thank me. I didn’t do a good job raising my son—that’s my fault. What I’m sharing with you is just a bit of my past experience, nothing special.”

Tasting the orange her grandson had peeled for her, Grandma Huo felt a sweetness in her heart. She bent down and kissed An’an’s forehead.

She had been urging Bai Yiyi and Huo Haozhan to have a second child, mostly because she wanted to give her silly grandson some security.

Even as Huo Haozhan’s mother, she couldn’t guarantee that her son would stay true to himself in a world filled with so many temptations.

Not only could An’an, with his developmental issues, never be the heir, but even finding him a proper legal guardian would be difficult—he lacked the ability to judge others.

Compared to the possibility of an illegitimate child appearing in the future, only a sibling—born of the same mother and close in age—could truly care for An’an.

Fortunately, their little An’an had been blessed. That accident hadn’t left him mentally impaired.

An’an’s high fever back then was caused when Su Xiaoyu used her ex-husband as an excuse to get Huo Haozhan to come help her. She even used his phone to call Bai Yiyi, claiming that Huo Haozhan was drunk and needed her to come pick him up.

Huo Haozhan really had been drunk, but he didn’t need Bai Yiyi to fetch him. He just booked a room at a familiar hotel, shut the door, and Su Xiaoyu was left outside, while he slept through the night till noon the next day.

Meanwhile, Bai Yiyi had been locked in a closed bar all night thanks to the bar owner, and no one realized until very late that An’an had a high fever.

Because of that incident, Grandma Huo hit her son for the first time since he’d become an adult.

Later, when Bai Yiyi saw that he’d been punished, she softened and forgave him, which left Grandma Huo bitterly disappointed. She gave up trying to intervene, and even her attitude toward Bai Yiyi turned cold.

She had wanted to stand up for Bai Yiyi, to help her vent and discipline her irresponsible son. But when Bai Yiyi let it go, Grandma Huo ended up feeling like she couldn’t win, no matter what she did.

Over time, as she watched how well Bai Yiyi took care of An’an, Grandma Huo gradually came to terms with it all.

Not everyone was like her—unyielding and intolerant of flaws. Besides, Bai Yiyi had grown up in a deeply patriarchal family, which had made her gentle and sensitive.

Eventually, Grandma Huo’s emotional knot unraveled completely, especially after An’an was diagnosed as developing normally with no lasting impact.

A softer personality wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. With her around, taking care of her health as always, Bai Yiyi and An’an would never be at a disadvantage.

Now that An’an had learned to talk, he babbled nonstop every day. After finishing his orange, he clapped his little hands while sitting in Grandma’s lap and said in a slurred voice:

“Congee, Grandma~”

“Aww, such a sweet boy. Come see what Grandma brought you from her trip.”

Grandma Huo had her assistant pull a stuffed toy from her bag. When An’an saw it, he was immediately delighted and hugged it tight.

“Like Grandma more now!”

Bai Yiyi sat across from them, watching her son butter up his grandma so sweetly that even the usually stern-faced Grandma Huo was beaming.

Grandma Huo was a little tired after just getting off the plane and coming straight home. Bai Yiyi noticed this quickly and scooped An’an up.

“Mom, go take a rest.”

“Alright.”

Grandma Huo wasn’t young anymore, and there was no need to act tough over small matters. She accepted Bai Yiyi’s help and headed upstairs.

An’an sat obediently in his mom’s arms and waved goodbye to his grandma.

Honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that she missed her little grandson, Grandma Huo’s trip wouldn’t have ended so soon—her friends had even planned to visit another country.

But during a video call, when she heard An’an’s baby voice asking when she’d come back, she politely declined her friends’ invitation.

An’an stayed nestled in his mom’s arms, watching the elevator doors close behind his grandma. Then he looked up at his mom and gave her a beaming smile.

Huo Haozhan returned the next day. After wrapping up his work abroad, he didn’t even stop to rest—he had his secretary book the next available flight.

An’an was growing so fast at his age that Huo Haozhan was afraid if he waited too long, the little guy might not even recognize him anymore.

His most trusted secretary was a middle-aged man, married with two kids of his own, and he could relate to that worry.

At the airport, Huo Haozhan happened to run into an old friend who was also heading home. They hadn’t seen each other in ages, and his friend offered to drop by for a visit, so Huo Haozhan didn’t refuse.

When he arrived home and opened the door, he saw An’an sitting by the living room’s floor-to-ceiling windows, playing with toys. Standing at the entryway, Huo Haozhan gave a light cough.

Other people’s kids would usually rush over for a hug and kisses when their dad came back from a trip.

Sure enough, An’an turned his head at the sound. Still in his socks, not even bothering with shoes, he wobbled as he ran toward the door.

Seeing this, a smile began to form on Huo Haozhan’s face—but what happened next froze that smile in place.