Candy in the Drawer

The next morning, in the director's office of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau.

Lin Yun, sitting behind the table, stared blankly ahead, seemingly lost in thought.

The events of last night kept replaying in his mind, giving him a persistent headache.

This wasn't the first time he'd experienced this headache; the last time was when his daughter was giving him the cold shoulder. Frankly, he was at a loss for how to handle the current situation.

His daughter's unreasonable misunderstanding; the inexplicable "adopted daughter"; and Bai Jingxuan's dangerous thoughts revealed in the past two days... Each of these problems, which he thought would require a lot of effort to deal with, had all piled up at this moment.

These problems are not even independent of each other, but interconnected. Solving one will inevitably have a ripple effect, thereby activating other problems as well.

If he were to handle the situation harshly, he would inevitably have to treat Bai Jingxuan harshly as well—however, Bai Jingxuan's problem clearly cannot be solved by scolding her with a stern face; that might even have the opposite effect.

If he tries to handle the situation in a lenient way, he is destined to fail to properly explain the misunderstanding—preconceived notions are powerful, especially when both children begin to believe that "this is the truth," and any rebuttal will seem like an excuse.

What should we do? Should we just pull a fast one in front of those two kids and tell them, "I'm your dad"?

Lin Yun couldn't help but have this thought.

But the thought of her daughter chasing after her all night calling her "Mom," and then suddenly bringing up this truth, creates an awkward situation that two years of cold war might not be enough to resolve.

The wall clock in the corner chimed crisply, and clear sunlight streamed through the French windows, casting a long shadow on the desk in front of it. The shadow stretched forward, eventually reaching a pair of white ballet shoes.

Above the dancing shoes was a light green long dress, belonging to a girl with a bright green single ponytail.

Bai Jingxuan, whom Lin Yun considered the "culprit," was also standing in the director's office at this moment.

In Bai Jingxuan's eyes, the middle-aged man in front of her had been silent for more than a minute. He hadn't said a word since she entered the director's office, simply because she had called out "Dad" again when she entered.

That one word, "Dad," plunged Lin Yun, who was about to speak, into a long period of contemplation and silence.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

Having waited for a long time without receiving a response, Bai Jingxuan couldn't help but feel worried. Assuming the man in front of her was silent for some other reason, she asked with concern, "Are you feeling unwell?"

Her voice finally brought Lin Yun back to reality from her reverie.

Still lost in his memories, he instinctively opened his mouth, wanting to call out the girl's code name, but quickly realized that he was no longer Larkspur.

He is now in the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, sitting in the position of director.

"Why are you suddenly silent again, Dad?" Bai Jingxuan had already walked to the desk, stood on tiptoe, and supported herself on the table with both hands, looking at him intently.

"Well... could you please stop calling me that?" Lin Yun said, somewhat helplessly.

"Is that not allowed?" Bai Jingxuan blinked.

"It's not a question of whether it's possible or not, but rather that we don't actually have any family relationship at the moment."

Lin Yun tried to soften her voice. "What I mean is, we don't actually have a 'father-daughter' relationship. The way you address me is bound to cause some misunderstandings."

"... I see."

Bai Jingxuan wasn't a slow-witted child; on the contrary, she was actually quite sensitive to other people's opinions. Lin Yun's words immediately made her understand his meaning, and she loosened her grip on the edge of the table somewhat disappointedly. "I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize. I didn't mean to blame you." Lin Yun breathed a sigh of relief.

"I was just being presumptuous, and that's why I've troubled you, Uncle."

Bai Jingxuan lowered her head slightly. "I only heard Sister Xiao Lu say that it was possible, so I thought it might be true. I never thought that Uncle actually had no intention of adopting me..."

"No, I'm not troubled, nor am I truly not considering it."

Seeing that the girl's mood instantly turned somber, Lin Yun quickly added, "What I mean is, these are all still very uncertain, it hasn't come to that point yet."

"So, Uncle, did you actually plan to adopt me?"

"... That's possible." Lin Yun carefully chose his words.

"Isn't that my future father?" Bai Jingxuan tilted her head.

Lin Yun fell silent once again.

"Dad, I want to join the cleanup operation. I want to fight the bad guys."

"No."

"Dad, I want to go."

"... well."

Aside from a headache, Lin Yun had no other thoughts. Somewhat helplessly, she opened her desk drawer and pulled out a few candies. "Here, have some candy."

He had prepared this in advance after Bai Jingxuan visited the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, in order to divert the child's attention if he couldn't solve the problem.

Bai Jingxuan loved sweets and had no suspicion of this intended "father," so she reached out and took the candy from Lin Yun's hand.

Seeing that she was willing to take the candy, Lin Yun breathed a slight sigh of relief, "Sweetie, Daddy will give you a few more candies. Can you go home first today?"

I don't want to go back.

"Then I'll give you a few more to take back to your sister Xiao Lu." Lin Yun opened the drawer again.

"Oh."

Bai Jingxuan obediently took the candy from Lin Yun's hand. "Then Daddy, I'll go back first today and come back tomorrow?"

"I have a meeting tomorrow," Lin Yun tried to refuse.

"Then I'll come the day after tomorrow."

Don't come again.

See you the day after tomorrow, Dad!

However, Bai Jingxuan completely ignored him and skipped away with the candy in her hand.

Is this child much more lively in front of me than in front of the Larkspur?

Watching Bai Jingxuan's departing figure, Lin Yun fell into deep thought. Then, he sighed helplessly and picked up the documents on the table again.

This wasn't something he should be focusing on right now, so he decided to put it aside for the time being. After chasing away the troublesome kids, he needed to deal with work-related issues. The Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau was in dire need of rebuilding, and he couldn't afford to be idle any longer.

However, just as Lin Yun laid out the documents, intending to settle down and read them, a female voice with an electronic quality suddenly rang out in the director's office:

"Dad--"

The other person drawled out the sound, which carried a hint of laziness and now sounded quite teasing.

Immediately realizing who was speaking behind him, Lin Yun could only put down the documents again and helplessly turn around to look behind him.

"I don't mean to criticize other people's personal preferences, but could you please stop with your perverse tastes at a time like this and stop using such disgusting titles, Your Excellency?"

There are still 2k points left until tomorrow morning.