Slacker Second Gen C04

Chapter 4: School Tyrant 4

Zai Ye suspected that he hadn’t heard clearly: “What?”

Li Xiu repeated in a subtle tone: “The paternity test says you’re the biological father of this child.”

This time, Zai Ye heard it clearly. Without thinking, he directly denied it: “Impossible!”

After saying that, he probably felt like he had been pranked: “Don’t joke with me!”

“I’m not joking with you. Look for yourself.” Li Xiu handed over the paternity test report.

Zai Ye grabbed the report and immediately looked at the results on the back.

“It must be a mistake. How could I not know if I have a daughter? I don’t even have… Anyway, it’s impossible.”

Li Xiu subtly patted his shoulder: “I still thought you were the most innocent among us. I didn’t expect… Is this child even two years old yet? Didn’t you just come of age and… tsk, tsk, the young kids nowadays are really scary. Who’s this child’s mother?”

“How should I know who her mother is? It has nothing to do with me. Are you kidding me with this report?” Zai Ye suspected that Li Xiu made up this paternity test to mess with him.

Seeing Zai Ye’s expression of certainty, Li Xiu felt wronged. Although he had joked with Zai Ye and the others when he was younger, he had long since matured and would never do such things anymore.

“I swear, I swear on my luxury car and yacht, I absolutely didn’t tamper with this report.” Li Xiu pleaded, “And when I saw the report, I was shocked, okay? You should’ve seen my jaw almost drop earlier!”

Indeed, his expression didn’t seem to be faked. His acting skills weren’t that good. He couldn’t help but break into laughter halfway through when trying to deceive someone. Unlike now, his face showed genuine surprise and curiosity.

Zai Ye threw the report aside, confidently stating: “It must be a mistake.”

“How about you do the test again?”

“Go ahead.”

Zai Ye glanced at Yu Qian on the sofa across from them.

Since earlier, the two adults had been confused and shocked by the paternity test, while she lay on the sofa, lazily swinging her leg and even yawning in boredom.

Under her indifferent expression, Zai Ye felt an inexplicable sense of mockery.

He suddenly stood up and crouched down in front of Yu Qian: “Who are your parents?”

Yu Qian, having just finished eating, was now feeling sleepy. She couldn’t understand how a young man who had never experienced such things would suddenly become a father. Tilting her head, she lazily gave Zai Ye a response.

“Dad.” She pointed at Zai Ye’s nose. After turning small, she didn’t remember much, but she clearly recalled this one thing.

Zai Ye: “…”

Zai Ye turned to Li Xiu, gritting his teeth as he spoke: “Let’s go now. To another paternity test center!”

For Zai Ye, nothing was more torturous than the wait during this process.

He found another paternity test center, paid for expedited service, and even used connections to get the second test report at around midnight.

“How is it? What’s the result this time? Was the previous one a mistake?” Li Xiu asked.

“Freaking hell.” Zai Ye expressionlessly crumpled the report, “Find another one.”

Li Xiu: Well, no need to ask, it must be the same.

“Here.” Li Xiu handed the sleeping child in his arms to Zai Ye. As Zai Ye instinctively caught her, Li Xiu patted his shoulder, full of sympathy, and said, “Get used to the feeling of taking care of a child.”

The morning light shone through the window, illuminating the faces of the big and little ones. The child seemed to be dreaming something pleasant, smiling, while the adult’s handsome face was filled with a grim expression.

The morning light was supposed to be full of hope, so why did it feel like this?

“You haven’t slept all night, and I’ve been with you for so long, you can’t hang on anymore. How about you go rest for a bit?”

“No!” Zai Ye refused. How could he sleep now?

Li Xiu, having gotten used to his stubbornness, said, “Alright, I’ll head back first. Should I call Wen Cheng to accompany you?”

The stubborn youth firmly stated: “No need, I’ll take her myself.”

This day was the darkest and most confusing day in Zai Ye’s life. The third report result was presented to him, still exactly the same as the previous two. The fact that he had a biological daughter was now undeniable.

He sat on a chair outside the test center, his long legs spread apart, his elbows resting on his knees, and his hands covering his forehead, staring blankly at the ground.

He began to doubt life, question his past memories. Could it be that he really did such a thing with someone? But why did he have no memory of it?

Yu Qian sat beside him, holding a children’s toy from a McDonald’s meal in one hand and a sugar in the shape of an ice cream cone in the other, occasionally licking it. Her gaze shifted from the dazed Zai Ye to the advertisement poster on the wall not far away.

The poster featured a middle-aged man with a distressed and weary face, sitting in a slumped posture, with large letters beside him. Yu Qian recognized the characters after a long time, retrieving them from her somewhat unclear memories of over twenty years—”Rediscover the feeling of youth, reignite a man’s vitality.”

It was getting dark, and after watching Zai Ye remain motionless for a long while, she tugged at his sleeve: “I’m hungry, Dad!”

The word “Dad” made Zai Ye’s body stiffen.

At that moment, his feelings were completely different from before. In the past, in his mind, this child was the result of his scumbag father’s actions, but now, it had become his own doing.

He looked up, for the first time examining Yu Qian carefully. She was still wearing the small dress that Li Xiu had bought for her, her hair freshly tied by an aunt at the test center, and her big eyes were filled with carefree light.

Zai Ye’s gaze was complicated, and Yu Qian, being the child she was, couldn’t understand it.

Only the invisible System 65 beside her was flashing wildly, its voice full of sympathy: 【He must be questioning his life right now, how pitiful.】

Yu Qian couldn’t care less about the big guy in front of her or the small light beside her; when a child was hungry, they needed food!

“Dad! I want more McDonald’s!” Yu Qian raised both hands and shouted.

Zai Ye: “… Go ahead, just stop calling me.”

Yu Qian happily continued eating, but Zai Ye, unable to taste anything, finished his meal with no appetite. Afterward, he took Yu Qian to the Skyhigh Game Lounge. Yu Qian, holding a large bottle of cola, rested contentedly in Zai Ye’s stiff embrace.

Li Xiu was indeed waiting for him at the playhouse.

“How did it go?”

Zai Ye pursed his lips and remained silent for a while before saying, “Xiu-ge, don’t tell anyone about this for now.”

Li Xiu immediately understood: “Rare to hear you call me Xiu-ge. Alright, I’ll keep it a secret for you. But what are you going to do now?”

Zai Ye fell silent again, awkwardly asking after a while: “Where do I buy her clothes…?”

With his mind elsewhere, Zai Ye bought a few things for Yu Qian, though he wasn’t really aware of what he had bought. In a trance, he returned to his residence with her.

This house was relatively close to his school, just a ten-minute walk. He had moved in when he started middle school, and aside from an aunt who came once a week to clean, he had lived here alone.

The nearly 300 square meter house felt empty with just one person living in it. The areas Zai Ye used most were the bedroom and the living room. After returning home, he placed the child down. As she jumped onto the sofa, Zai Ye silently entered the master bedroom’s bathroom to take a cold shower.

The sound of water splashing echoed in the bathroom. Yu Qian, feeling comfortable, twisted open the large bottle of cola she had been drinking, gulping down a few sips.

After his shower, Zai Ye felt even more exhausted. After all, it was in the shower that he began to reflect on his life.

He changed into loose pajamas and walked to the sofa. He placed the remaining half of the cola bottle on the coffee table, then picked up Yu Qian, holding her by the arms and carrying her to the bathroom, showing her the small basin of water he had prepared.

“I’ve prepared the water for you. You wash yourself.”

He went to search through the shopping bag and realized he had forgotten to buy her pajamas, leaving only two princess dresses with sparkly hems. He had no choice but to give her one of his own T-shirts for her to wear.

Sitting outside the bathroom door, Zai Ye rested his forehead on his hand.

Instead of actually bathing, Yu Qian seemed more interested in playing with water.

The bathroom was, unsurprisingly, a mess, with the little one barefoot, stepping out of the water in his T-shirt, which was still too big for her, and she almost tripped.

Zai Ye picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, laying her down on the bed.

This was the only bed he had; the guest room had never been tidied up. Thankfully, the bed was large, and the child was small, so she didn’t take up much space.

“Sleep,” Zai Ye said as he lay down, feeling extremely tired.

If he could, he would have preferred to put the child in the guest room, but he remembered Li Xiu’s advice. He had said that such a young child needed the supervision of an adult and couldn’t be left alone.

His thoughts were chaotic, but as he listened to the little one beside him breathing quickly and lightly, Zai Ye unknowingly drifted to sleep.

In the middle of the night, he was woken by a quiet sob. Frowning, he opened his eyes and saw a small figure sitting on the bed, her shoulders shaking.

“Thud.” He turned on the light and sat up from the bed, “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

The child didn’t speak, just cried softly. Zai Ye, confused, lifted the blanket and froze when he saw something wet.

“You… wet the bed?”

It was fine until he said it. Once he did, the child’s soft cries became louder.

Although her mind and body had regressed a lot, Yu Qian was still hit with a great sense of shame, crying so hard she could hardly breathe, unwilling to look up at Zai Ye.

Zai Ye grabbed his hair, trying to keep his voice low: “Don’t cry, it’s just wetting the bed. I’m not mad at you. Every child does it.”

With every mention of wetting the bed, the child’s cries grew louder. Zai Ye helplessly picked her up and carried her to the bathroom. He rubbed a wet towel on her face, trying to calm her down and stop her from crying.