Leaving

"It's pretty ironic. I'd just been planning to order two plane tickets online, only to find that there was no money in my bank account. Then you transferred money to me." Zhang Han smiled faintly.

"Oh... huh?" Zhang Li asked in surprise. "Buy plane tickets? Big Brother, could it be that you..."

"That's right. I'm going somewhere else." Zhang Han said.

"You're finally willing to leave Shangjing?" Zhang Li's voice trembled slightly, her tone filled with delight.

"Yeah. Just like you said, there's no way I can find anything out by staying in Shangjing. Once my strength improves, everything will naturally come to light." Zhang Han smiled.

"It's good that you've figured it out." Zhang Li's eyes reddened as she asked, "Where are you planning to go?"

"Hong Kong." Zhang Han replied. "Take care of the things on hand and come to Hong Kong too. You can enjoy life with your big brother."

"I'm in Hong Kong." Zhang Li said slowly.

"Oh, my flight is at six tomorrow afternoon. I'll arrive at Hong Kong International Airport at nine thirty. Come pick me up then." Zhang Han said.

Zhang Li hesitated before replying, "All right, wait! You just said you ordered two tickets. Who are you going with?"

"My daughter."

Clang! Bang! Crash! Clatter...

The sound of a phone hitting the floor came through, followed by Zhang Li's incredulous cry. "What did you say? Your daughter?"

"That's right, my daughter. Your niece." Zhang Han shook his head with amusement.

"How is that possible? How come I didn't know? Is it real? You're not lying to me, are you?" Zhang Li fired off a string of questions.

"Of course it's real. Even I was rather surprised." Zhang Han replied.

"This... Oh, heavens, I'm an aunt now?" Zhang Li murmured blankly.

"You'll know when you see her tomorrow."

"No, I want to see her now. I'll send you a video call." Zhang Li said, then hung up directly.

A video call invitation soon came through on WeChat.

After answering, Zhang Li saw Zhang Han, neatly dressed and exuding the bearing of the young master he had once been. She froze for a moment, tears unconsciously welling in her eyes.

"All right, how old are you now? And you're still crying like a child." Zhang Han smiled with a touch of emotion.

"No matter how old I am, I'm still your little sister. I'm happy to see that you've pulled yourself together." Zhang Li wiped away her tears and composed herself. "Where's my niece? Hurry and let me see her."

Zhang Han took his phone to the bedside and pointed the camera at the sleeping Little Princess.

"What an adorable, beautiful little girl." Zhang Li said tenderly. "Big Brother, who's my sister-in-law? She gave birth to such a beautiful child, so she must be beautiful too, right?"

"Er..." Afraid of disturbing Mengmeng, Zhang Han replied softly, "We'll talk about it when we meet."

Though his voice was very quiet, the little girl seemed to hear him. She twisted her small body, kicked off the blanket with her feet, and exposed her short legs. She was still wearing a diaper over her little bottom.

Zhang Han gently covered the little girl with the blanket again. He went to the other side of the bed and chatted with Zhang Li for nearly an hour before ending the call.

Back in bed, Zhang Han took off his clothes and placed them to the side. Watching the adorable little girl beside him, Zhang Han gradually fell asleep. He slept soundly that night.

At dawn the next day, Zhang Han was awakened by a burst of crying.

Zhang Han shuddered in fright and hurriedly opened his eyes. The little girl beside him was crying her heart out.

"What's wrong, sweetheart? Don't cry, don't cry. Come here, Daddy will hold you." Zhang Han quickly picked the little girl up.

"Waaah... Daddy... a, a big monster chased me. I'm scared..." Mengmeng cried so hard that her face was streaked with tears.

Zhang Han understood at once. He said softly, "Mengmeng, it was only a dream. You had a nightmare."

"Waaah... I'm scared..."

After coaxing her for a while without success, Zhang Han had a sudden flash of inspiration. He raised his right hand, distracting the little girl's attention.

"Don't be afraid, Mengmeng. Big monsters are all stupid and ugly. Look, Daddy's beating it up. Hey! Take this punch—bang! I broke the monster's nose! Look at these two fingers—ha! I poked the monster's eyes out! Look at this palm—slap! One slap and the big monster is dead!"

Seeing that the little girl had been drawn in by his movements and stopped crying, Zhang Han relaxed slightly. "All right, the big monster has been beaten to death by Daddy!"

"Wow, Daddy is so amazing." Tears still clung to the corners of Mengmeng's eyes, but she had stopped crying and spoke with admiration.

"Of course. Your daddy is the strongest." Zhang Han said proudly.

"Daddy, I'm hungry. I want milk."

"Daddy will make you some formula." Zhang Han got up and prepared a cup of milk for the little girl.

After mixing it, the milk's fragrance was very faint. Zhang Han glanced at the formula and smiled disdainfully. "Mengmeng, once we settle down, Daddy will raise a dairy cow and give you fresh milk every day."

After speaking, Zhang Han handed her the bottle. Mengmeng took it and gulped down a large mouthful before asking in confusion:

"What's a dairy cow?"

"A dairy cow is an old cow that produces milk." Zhang Han explained. "The formula you drink is made from cow's milk. Children also need to drink milk to grow up because it contains lots of nutrients they need."

"But I, I grew up drinking Mommy's milk, didn't I?" Mengmeng asked, puzzled.

"You drank your mother's milk when you were one year old. After turning one, you need to drink cow's milk." Zhang Han replied.

Fortunately, Zhang Han placed great importance on family. If it had been someone else's child, asking question after question like the Hundred Thousand Whys, Zhang Han would probably have lost his patience long ago and said:

I'm the dignified Immortal Lord Hanyang. Do you think I'm here to answer your hundred thousand questions? Go play somewhere else.

But when faced with his biological daughter, Zhang Han had no choice. He answered helplessly yet happily. Some of her more difficult questions even left him unsure how to explain them in detail, forcing him to muddle through his replies.

At nine in the morning, the manager of the secondhand-car website arrived as agreed. After completing the transaction, Zhang Han declined the manager's offer to treat him to a meal.

Back at the hotel, he threw away all the other bank cards in his wallet, keeping only the newly issued card containing two million yuan.

The other cards were tied to numerous automatic payments, and Zhang Han had no intention of using them again. He and the little girl spent the rest of the day in the hotel, waiting to go to the airport that evening and head for Hong Kong.

Under normal circumstances, traveling to Hong Kong required a visa, and visitors were not allowed to stay for long. Zhang Han, however, did not need to go through those troublesome procedures. He not only owned property in Hong Kong but also held permanent residency there. As the former young master of a powerful family who had once had influence everywhere, it would have been a joke if he could not even manage that.

They had a simple lunch in the hotel restaurant. Looking at the seemingly sumptuous food, Zhang Han was already considering finding a larger mountain to use as a base. The ingredients he cultivated himself would be far better than those served in outside restaurants.

"Mengmeng is at the age when she's growing and needs plenty of nutrition. Naturally, she has to eat only the best. Looks like I'll still need to make a detailed plan."

Nowadays, Zhang Han had begun considering everything from the standpoint of the little girl, Mengmeng. It had to be said that having a daughter had changed his state of mind.

A little after four in the afternoon, Zhang Han carried the little girl and took a taxi to Capital International Airport. They arrived after five and waited in the departure lounge. It was obvious that the little girl was bursting with excitement about the trip.

In Hong Kong, the destination of Zhang Han's journey, there was an office in the building of Imperial Dynasty Entertainment, a subsidiary of Imperial Dynasty Group.

"Sis Ziyan, don't be too anxious. After all, we've only just returned to the industry. The competition is so fierce that the company can't arrange anything for us in such a short time." A woman with a ponytail spoke to Ziyan.

"I know."

Sitting on the sofa by the window, Ziyan's delicate face was filled with exhaustion. She gazed out the window and shook her head slightly.

"But if we wait for the company to make arrangements, it'll take at least half a year before I get a role. The news of my comeback has already been reported. If I accomplish nothing for half a year, won't the fans be disappointed?"

"Tomorrow, Young Master Li invited you to dinner at Amber Restaurant. His father is a member of the Imperial Dynasty Group's board of directors and holds a high position. If he puts in a word, getting you a role won't be a problem." The woman said.

"It's not that simple." Ziyan sighed irritably.

The entertainment industry was a complicated place. The purpose of Young Master Li's dinner invitation was obvious. If she agreed to some condition of his, the matter of getting a role could be settled quickly. But was that really the outcome she wanted?

Ziyan had always refused such "transactions." Back when she signed a five-year contract with Imperial Dynasty Entertainment, she had relied on her beautiful appearance and moving voice. After three years of hard work and the company's support, she had risen to fame in one stroke.

In her fourth year, she switched from singing to acting. Film roles came one after another, and her reputation grew steadily. She had even had a chance to compete for the Best Actress title in her fifth year, but that was the year the accident with Zhang Han happened.

Ziyan had originally wanted to retire immediately when she became pregnant, but the company refused to allow it. Helpless, she persisted for several more months. After her contract expired, she went to North America. Five years later, she returned, but the entertainment industry was no longer the same.

The competition was even more intense. After signing another three-year contract, she received no opportunities from the company for a while. Everyone else was already waiting in line. Did an outdated celebrity like her really expect to cut in?

What was worse, many people in the company kept pointing fingers at her, occasionally letting the words "outdated" drift through the air. This made Ziyan feel even more stifled, and she wanted to prove everything through her own ability.

"Sis, have some water. Let's take it slowly—we'll definitely manage. I believe in you." The ponytailed woman handed her a glass of water.

"Thank you, Fei." Ziyan smiled faintly.

The ponytailed woman beside her was named Zhou Fei. She had been an orphan since childhood and entered the field of agent management after growing up. She had suffered a great deal, but with Ziyan she had experienced warmth. From then on, she had devoted herself wholeheartedly to her, and had stayed by her side even when Ziyan had gone into hiding in North America.

Now, Zhou Fei was not only Ziyan's manager but also her assistant and nanny. She treated Ziyan very well, though she could be rather sharp-tongued with outsiders.

"Why are you being so polite with me, Sis? How about releasing an album? The company has recently collected quite a few songs. Go discuss it with Sister Mei. She'll probably agree to let you choose some. After all, you started out as a singer too." Zhou Fei said.

"We'll talk about that later."