Huo Manor.

Living room.

The atmosphere is somewhat odd.

"What's going on?" The hovering master of the Huo Manor, Huo Chen Ling sat on one end of the leather sofa, his expression indifferent and cold.

And on the other end of the sofa, on a high-end lounge chair, laid a little chubby child, her hair as black as the night, lashes long, sprawling and deeply asleep.

It seems like she lay in one position for too long, her arms as soft as lotus stems waved around in the air, her chubby little hands patting left and right. Then without opening her eyes, she twisted her bottom up, grunted, and crawled to his side.

Her small arms and legs were soft and tender, draped over one of his arms. She used her fluffy little head to nudge his leg, then turned over, exposing her little belly and fell back to sleep almost snoring.

Huo Chen Ling looked at the woman sitting opposite him, Song Qing, the dean of Huan Orphanage.

"Dean Song, you mentioned that this child is an orphan from your facility, might I ask why she appeared in my manor around four in the morning?"

Dean Song's expression showed a hint of difficulty in explaining.

"Mr. Huo, our Ming kid was sent to our orphanage by the police one week ago, but this child is somewhat difficult to take care of."

Seeing Huo Chen Ling remain silent, Song Qing had no choice but continue.

"Mr. Huo, this child is nocturnal, sleeping during the day and awake at night. Look at my dark circles…they're from getting no sleep this past week. Last night was a thunderstorm, and the kid disappeared. The staff at the orphanage and I searched for her half the night, and this wasn't the first time she has gone missing."

Huo Chen Ling said lightly, "Like when?"

Song Qing looked at the chubby little girl, sleeping peacefully during the day, and her heart couldn't help but ache.

"On the first night at the orphanage, we discovered she was missing, and found her at a small locust tree 300 meters away in the middle of the night. The second night, she disappeared again, and we found her in a discarded oil drum at the back of the orphanage. On the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth nights, we took turns keeping an eye on her and managed to keep her in sight."

Huochen Ling touched the soft hair of the little one, his voice, however, was icy cold.

"So, on the seventh night, you didn't keep an eye on her and she disappeared, only to appear in my estate on her own?"

Song Qing felt embarrassed.

But this was the truth!

Not to mention the head of the Huo family, even he himself couldn't believe it.

The distance between the Huaen Orphanage and the Huo family estate is more than a hundred kilometers, with one in the south of the city and the other in the north. The little one, barely three and a half years old, how could she have traveled all the way to the Huo family estate on her short little legs in the middle of the night?

But the surveillance cameras in the estate showed that the security patrolling the Huo family estate found her under the century-old locust tree at the back mountain at around four in the morning.

Song Qing coughed lightly, rubbing his hands awkwardly.

"Although... this seems very mysterious, it really... seems to be the case."

Huochen Ling stroked the little one's soft hand, his heart inexplicably softened despite his recent unstable emotions.

A voice in his mind urged him to keep her by his side.

He decided to follow his heart: "From now on, the child will live with me!"

Song Qing froze in disbelief.

"Mr. Huo, you mean... to adopt this child?"

Huo Chenling nodded: "Yes."

Song Qing looked shocked.

After all, Huo Chenling was indifferent and aloof. Even though he already had three sons, everyone knew he was a stern-faced, strict father.

Could it be that he also felt that the little one, though a bit difficult to take care of, was endearing and cute?

It might just seem like uselessness, but the Huo family, as the foremost family in China, certainly didn't lack money or personnel.

Adopting this little bundle of joy was a win-win.

Still, they needed to get the little tyke's opinion.

He squatted down next to her, gently calling her.

"Little one. Little one."

Ming ZaiZai was still in a deep sleep, having run too far last night and yet to recover.

But upon hearing the headmaster grandpa calling her, she made an effort to open her eyes, looking at him with her big, dazed, and tear-filled eyes, she called out in her soft baby voice,

"Headmaster grandpa."

Song Qing affectionately sighed, lovingly patting her little black head.

"Little one, would you like to live with Dad Huo from now on?"

Ming ZaiZai looked even more bewildered.

Who is Daddy Huo?

She does have a father!

Her dad resides in the underworld!

No, that's wrong!

Her dad sent her to the human world to find a human dad to take care of her!

The main problem is that her dad is always busy, too busy to even touch the ground. If she was not born in the underworld but in human society, she probably would have starved to death due to her busy father eight hundred years ago.

Fortunately, babies from the underworld don't need to eat!

So, her dad gave birth to her but didn't take care of her, she tripped and stumbled her way to her current age of three and a half.

One day, her dad saw her drinking the Meng Po soup as if it was water, and he was so scared he directly soul-searched her.

But she was born with a flesh body, so even after drinking Meng Po's soup, she still didn't forget who her dad was.

Her dad took half a second to tell her to study hard when she arrives in the human world, so she can contribute to the underworld of the new era when she returns.

After he kissed her cheek, he threw her out of the underworld without hesitation.

After all, babies from the underworld have immortal bodies, so her dad isn't worried about her falling to her death.

So...

Her gaze shifted from the headmaster/grandfather to Huo Chenling, with some confusion in her mind.

This human father, despite his destiny of great fortune, seemed precariously on the verge of dying young, if something didn't happen to him in the next few days.

Ming Zai blinked her large black eyes, the white parts unusually small in comparison. Her eyes were large with pupils so black that they shone like crystals, stunningly beautiful and captivating.

Her chubby cheeks were rosy, with a little dimple appeared on it whenever she opened her wee pink mouth to speak.

Her voice was soft, with an all-too-obvious baby lisp.

"Do you want to be Zai Zai's earthly father?" She asked.

Hu Chen raised his eyebrows, "Earthly?"

Ming Zai nodded, earnestly explaining, "Yes, earthly! Zai Zai's real dad lives in the underworld, you see."

A wave of heartache washed over Hu Chen.

He lifted the baby girl from the couch, staring into her large, clear eyes. In their depths, there was trust and a great deal of anticipation. He leaned down and tenderly kissed her forehead.

"Mmm, I'll be Zai Zai's earthly daddy."

Ming Zai was elated, giving a big smacking kiss on her new earthly father's cheek.

"Great! Zai Zai has an earthly dad now! Zai Zai can ask daddy to pick her up later! Oh right, daddy, my family name is Ming, and my name is Ming Zai. You can't change the name, okay?"

Hu Chen felt a pang of sympathy for her, knowing that the baby likely didn’t understand that her biological father residing in the underworld signified his death. She kept thinking her real father would come for her.

However, he didn't burst her bubble. Instead, Hu Chen indulged her by going along with the jubilant baby's words.

"Alright, we won't change the name, we'll call her Ming ZaiZai. A hundred years later, let ZaiZai's father come to pick her up!"

Ming ZaiZai didn't think that would do!

She wouldn't come of age until five hundred years had passed.

"No! Father, the netherworld's father should come to pick up ZaiZai in five hundred years. Otherwise it would be too early and ZaiZai wouldn't have grown up yet. Without having grown up, she wouldn't be able to help father with anything."

Huo Chenling and Song Qing were amused by her innocent and cute remarks.

Following the laughter, their hearts were filled with sadness.

What a sensible sweet dumpling she is!

Huo Chenling instructed the housekeeper who had just entered, "Housekeeper Luo, go to the orphanage with Dean Song to process the adoption procedures."

Luo, the housekeeper, nodded, "Yes, sir."

Song Qing and Housekeeper Luo had just left when Huo Chenling prepared to take his newly born daughter for a tour around the estate, and a call from his wife, Zhang Ning, came in.

After he finished the call, he looked tenderly at the little girl in his arms.

"ZaiZai, daddy needs to go out for a bit. Can you play at home by yourself for a while?"

Little Ming ZaiZai could obviously sense that the lifespan of her newly appointed human father was counting down. With a whimper, she held onto the neck of the human father figure, her soft body burrowed deeply into his wide and comfortable embrace.

"No way, father, ZaiZai wants to be with father. Wherever father goes, ZaiZai wants to go too."

This newly appointed human father cannot possibly report to the netherworld just like that!

The sweet dumpling in his arms was so cute and soft, so unlike his three sons, Huo Chenling's heart simply melted.

"Then come along with daddy."