Third Talent: Toddling

Watching Lin Hai's excited face, Lin Xuan couldn't help recalling the first time he had heard of Crimson Flame.

If he remembered correctly, when Lin Hai had mentioned Crimson Flame back then, he had practically been gnashing his teeth. Who would have thought that half a year later, he would suddenly be joining them?

Is this the legendary "if you can't beat them, join them"...? Lin Xuan silently grumbled.

Though there were plenty of things to mock about this, Lin Xuan was genuinely happy that Lin Hai could take another step forward in his career.

Lin Hai was so eager to seize this opportunity perhaps partly because his rank could indeed rise further, but more than that, the appearance of his big-eater son had made him feel the pressing burden of family finances.

Seeing that the job transfer was already a done deal, Lin Hai made the rare decisive call for the whole family to eat out today.

Ye Hongyu naturally would not dampen the whole family's mood at a time like this, and quickly made the arrangements.

After changing Lin Xuan's clothes as well, the family headed out.

Half an hour later.

The family arrived at a buffet restaurant in a nearby shopping district called Golden Horse Food Emporium. Aside from Lin Xuan, who got in free, everyone else's meal cost one hundred and eighty yuan.

For the five members of the Lin Family, that came to nine hundred yuan.

The price was certainly not exorbitant, but for the Lin Family, who usually kept their daily food expenses under one hundred yuan, this truly counted as a feast.

Including salary, bonuses, and the like, Lin Hai earned an average of around fifteen thousand yuan a month.

That might have sounded like quite a lot, but after deducting tuition for three children, Ye Hongyu's social insurance payments, the family's daily essential purchases, and so on, there was actually very little left in the end.

That did not even include unplanned holiday expenses, or special circumstances like someone in the family falling ill.

The family had had some savings before, but Lin Xuan's unexpected birth, coupled with the fact that he was a Premature Infant who had spent twenty days in the neonatal intensive care unit, had practically emptied their last reserves in one stroke.

Lin Hai might have seemed somewhat lacking in composure, often making a fool of himself to amuse his wife and children, but only he himself knew how much pressure rested on his shoulders.

How could someone who had become a Public Security Bureau inspector truly be as unreliable as he usually appeared?

"What do you want to eat? I'll go get it."

Lin Hai stood up after finishing another round of food and casually asked whether anyone wanted him to bring something back.

"Bring me another glass of freshly squeezed orange juice," Ye Hongyu said with a smile.

"No problem. Anyone else want anything?" Lin Hai looked at the others.

"I want one too." Lin Long raised her hand.

"Got it."

Lin Hai answered, then noticed Lin Xuan waving both hands at him. Smiling, he asked, "Does baby want orange juice too?"

"Play!"

Lin Xuan indicated that he wanted to get down from the high chair.

"I'll take him for a walk. You all keep eating." Lin Hai was in a good mood, so he immediately lifted Lin Xuan out of the high chair.

"Then be careful. Don't let him fall—" Ye Hongyu was still somewhat worried and promptly reminded him.

"Don't worry, don't worry. Nothing will happen!"

Lin Hai bent over slightly and held Lin Xuan's hand as they headed toward the children's play area near the entrance.

Ye Hongyu was still worried, so she said to Lin Rou, "Xiao Rou, go keep an eye on your dad. He's far too careless."

"Mm, I'll go take a look."

Lin Rou unhurriedly set down her utensils, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and only then stood up.

Today, she wore a moon-white dress and a pair of gold-rimmed non-prescription glasses, making her look just like the girl next door.

Judging by her appearance alone, no one would ever imagine that she was a monstrously strong girl who could leave a dignified Public Security Bureau inspector too cowed to complain.

Once he was brought to the children's play area, Lin Xuan was finally able to move freely.

The floor of the play area was covered in rubber mats, so it would not matter even if he fell.

"I was suffocating."

After arriving at the play area, Lin Xuan immediately stretched and moved his body.

He did not actually want to play. He had simply been sitting in the high chair for too long and felt stifled, wanting to get down and move around.

Seeing Lin Hai still standing at the entrance to the play area, waving at him with a beaming smile, Lin Xuan returned an adorably sweet smile, then symbolically wandered around for a while to show that he was having fun.

However, what Lin Xuan had not expected was that, as he walked, a familiar panel notification popped up in his mind again:

Achievement unlocked: Walked independently for a cumulative total of ten thousand steps

Achievement reward: Talent Toddling 0/1000

Talent effect: From crawling to walking, from brisk steps to running, the growth of a person's speed seems forever directly proportional to their physical fitness... Human strength will eventually run dry, but from this moment onward, your speed growth will know no end

Note: Can be advanced

"Speed growth with no end? That's quite the boast."

Looking at the description of the new talent's effect, Lin Xuan's heart stirred.

This was the third talent he had obtained so far. The first two had been Nutrient Absorption and Gibberish Learning.

Up to now, there was no need to say how much Nutrient Absorption had helped him, while Gibberish Learning had not yet had an opportunity to show its effects.

Yet judging from the description of this newly acquired talent, Toddling clearly focused on speed.

Lin Xuan naturally understood the importance of speed. If Toddling could truly allow him to keep improving in that regard, then it would absolutely qualify as a god-tier talent, with immediate and dramatic effects!

Among all martial arts under heaven, nothing is unbreakable; only speed cannot be defeated... Looks like I'm destined to become the fastest man!

As Lin Xuan thought, he continued pacing back and forth. As a result, he accidentally bumped head-on into a little girl.

Of course, "little girl" was from the perspective of Lin Xuan, who had been an adult in his previous life.

For the nine-month-old Lin Xuan, this little girl who had bumped into him should have been an older sister.

Even though Lin Xuan was developing far faster than babies his age, he was still a head shorter than her.

Judging by their builds, Lin Xuan should have been the one sent tumbling to the ground in their collision. Yet the outcome was instead that the little girl was knocked down onto her bottom.

The little girl instinctively puckered her lips, about to cry, but when she saw that the one who had knocked her down was a baby even smaller than herself, she immediately swallowed her tears.

"Are you all right, Duo Duo?"

A woman who looked to be in her early twenties hurried over from nearby and helped the little girl up from the ground.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Is the little girl okay?"

Lin Hai had been looking around outside the children's play area, so his reaction was a beat slower. He arrived a step later than the woman.