Grandpa was back!

Old Master Fu came home that evening.

Qin Yan was playing with Jinbao.

The moment Old Master Fu stepped through the door, he called out in a strong, ringing voice.

"Sweetheart, Grandpa's back!"

Hearing his voice, Qin Yan whipped her head around.

"Grandpa!"

Her little baby voice rang out especially loudly with that cry of "Grandpa."

Her short little legs started running as fast as they could. Too happy and excited to keep her footing, she fell flat.

Old Master Fu gave a distressed cry and hurried over.

Jinbao and Tuantuan circled her anxiously.

Qin Yan got up as though nothing had happened, not minding at all, and threw herself into her grandfather's arms.

She was so happy, but suddenly her nose stung, and she began to cry.

"Grandpa, Yanyan missed you."

Old Master Fu's heart ached and swelled too, filled with tenderness and contentment.

How could this little one be so clingy?

But it made him so happy.

"Don't cry. Grandpa's back. I have plenty of time to spend with you."

After Qin Yan left her adoptive parents' family, her grandfather was the first relative she met.

He was also the one who brought her home. This elderly man had stayed by her side through the time when she was at her most vulnerable, lost, and helpless, so her feelings for him were different.

Once she had cried, all that remained was happiness.

The little one became a clingy baby again.

She grew a little more talkative too.

She introduced her little friend Jinbao to her grandfather.

"And there's Fubao, a fishy. Upstairs."

"I went to Uncle's company and met lots of people, and kitties too."

Clearly, although the little one was still very well-behaved, she had become much livelier.

This was plainly something Old Master Fu was happy to see.

He gazed affectionately at the soft little girl.

Fu Yunting came out of the study and felt a little jealous when he saw the little girl glued to his father's side.

"Dad, you're back so soon?"

Old Master Fu glared at him. "What, you're unhappy I'm back?"

Qin Yan hugged her grandfather's arm, her fluffy little head turned toward her eldest uncle.

"Of course not. You can't ruin my image in front of the little one."

"You used to go fishing with those old friends of yours all the time, didn't you? Sometimes you'd stay away for a month or two."

"Though you often came back empty-handed and kept passing off fish you'd bought as your own catch."

Old Master Fu: ...

Who was ruining whose image here?!

He lost his composure. "Bullshit! I caught those myself!"

Fu Yunting said, "Uncle Zhou told me everything."

Old Master Fu said, "He's the one who passes off bought fish as his own catch!"

That damned Old Second Zhou! How dare he stab him in the back!

Old Master Fu covered Qin Yan's ears. "Don't listen, sweetheart. Your eldest uncle is talking nonsense. Grandpa's great at fishing."

Qin Yan nodded her little head, her big, clear eyes full of incomprehension.

Whatever Grandpa said went.

Grandpa liked fish?

Qin Yan happily took her grandfather to see Fubao.

Old Master Fu looked at the fish and fell silent for a moment.

"If I remember correctly, aren't butterfly koi supposed to be very pretty?"

What was going on with this ugly one? Had it mutated?

The butterfly koi: ...

It was getting rather dejected. It might be a little ugly, but they could at least stop putting it down to its face.

Qin Yan did not dislike it in the slightest. Her thin little fingers tapped gently against the clean glass tank a few times.

The butterfly koi immediately swam over, following her fingers.

"Grandpa, it's getting prettier."

"It'll definitely become the prettiest fishy someday."

The sweet, adorable little girl's sparkling eyes were full of sincerity.

Encouraged, the butterfly koi swam happy circles around the tank. It would work hard.

Old Master Fu gave a surprised hum. "This fish seems quite clever."

Jinbao sat quietly beside the tank, dark eyes fixed on the fish.

Hmph. Was it as good-looking as Jinbao?

It was getting late. Qin Yan said goodbye to Fubao and yawned.

Old Master Fu told her to go to bed.

"Good night, Grandpa."

After she washed up, Jinbao slipped into her room, and Tuantuan was carried onto the bed to sleep with her.

Old Master Fu was tired from his return journey too. Once Qin Yan fell asleep, he went back to his room to wash up and rest.

The next day, Fu Yunting learned that Qin Yan would not be going to work with him.

He was unhappy.

His handsome face was sulky first thing in the morning.

Old Master Fu rolled his eyes at his eldest son, looking rather smug as well.

You little punk. Yanyan only clung to you before because I wasn't home. Now that I was back, of course she would cling to her dear grandpa.

"Come home early, Uncle."

As Fu Yunting was leaving, Qin Yan trotted along to see him off in her Little Hamster Pajamas, holding the little black dog with Tuantuan perched on her head.

That soft, sweet sentence instantly soothed his mood.

He crouched down and held the little one's shoulders.

"Come on, give your eldest uncle a kiss."

Qin Yan blinked, rose onto her tiptoes, and kissed his cheek.

"Bye-bye, Uncle~"

Excellent. Fu Yunting glanced at his father and left feeling thoroughly refreshed.

Hmph. His little niece still liked her eldest uncle very much.

Old Master Fu: ... Have a daughter of your own if you're so capable! Why fight over my granddaughter?

He was finding his eldest son more irritating by the day.

After seeing her eldest uncle off, Qin Yan scurried back to her grandfather on her short little legs.

"Grandpa."

That little baby voice could truly melt a person's heart.

"Give Grandpa a kiss too, Yanyan."

Qin Yan did not hesitate at all.

She was a baby who had lacked love, and she especially treasured these relatives who liked her.

Though quiet and polite by nature, she was a little sticky-rice-cake baby around these relatives.

When Old Master Fu learned that she had planted a patch of sunflowers and peanuts in the garden, he took some tools and prepared to go have a look and do some weeding.

He would tidy up the garden while he was at it.

Qin Yan carried a little hoe too, following at the elderly man's heels like a little tail. Such a tiny, soft bundle, she was utterly adorable.

A little way behind her was Jinbao.

The little black dog ran along quite quickly on four paws, tail wagging merrily, looking for all the world like a tiny, utterly helpless puppy.

"They've sprouted!"

Seeing the green shoots emerging from the soft soil, the little one was delighted, her eyes curving into crescents.

The servants had used stones to divide this patch into three rectangular beds. They could stand on the flagstone paths to tend the plants without getting their feet dirty, and it looked pretty too, like flower beds.

Sure enough, some weeds had sprouted in the soil.

The old man and the little girl soon cleared them all away.

Qin Yan had a very strange feeling.

She could sense how these seedlings were growing.

When one needed water, she watered it a little. When another needed fertilizer, she sprinkled on some of the flower fertilizer they had bought, all of it the very best kind.

Seeing that she did not water and fertilize every seedling, Old Master Fu asked curiously.

"Why aren't you watering and fertilizing the others?"

Qin Yan said, "Because they aren't thirsty or hungry."

"These ones are saying they're thirsty."

"And these ones say they're hungry."

The child's voice was innocent and young.

Old Master Fu simply thought she was playing make-believe and paid it little mind, letting her do as she pleased.