Meimei had nothing to hide, so it revealed its identity.
"Hmph, you should be thanking me. Without me, the little one would have died!"
Fu Yunting grew serious and held out a hand. "We really do owe you our thanks."
His thanks were sincere.
Seeing how sincere he was, the little Treasure-Seeking Mouse extended its tiny pink paw.
Fu Yunting looked at it, then took its paw between two fingers and shook it up and down.
"From now on, you can live with the Fu Family. Tell me if you need anything."
Meimei declared that it certainly would not stand on ceremony.
But it wanted to live with the little one.
Qin Yan nodded her little head, keeping the movement small for fear of knocking Meimei off her head.
"Okay, okay! Meimei can live with me."
The pretty baby happily agreed.
Meimei continued sorting through the things it had picked up in the Cultivation Realm, without forgetting to question Fu Yunting.
"Well? Have you found the person who hurt the little one?"
Previously, restricted by this world, it had only managed to locate the little one's relatives and work out the best arrangement for her.
Logically, with someone as powerful as the Fu Family backing her, the little one should never have suffered in that remote mountain village.
Judging by its years of experience reading webnovels, there had to be a conspiracy.
"Is there some real-and-fake-heiress situation? Was the little one switched by bad people? Did someone steal her identity?"
The tiny mouse looked quite ready to grab a knife and go fight.
Fu Yunting shook his head. "What fake heiress?"
He had never read webnovels and did not know the real-and-fake-heiress trope.
"We have a lead. It probably has something to do with the Shen Family."
"Shen Fu has been transferring her assets lately. I'll arrange for someone to capture her."
As for having no evidence? Wouldn't they have evidence once they caught her and questioned her?
Good. Meimei was satisfied.
The Fu Family was certainly quick to act.
"Little one, eat this."
Meimei brought out a great many spirit fruits.
Some resembled fruits from this world, but looked plumper and juicier, and contained spiritual energy that ordinary fruit lacked.
Qin Yan held the fruit in her little hands and offered one to Meimei first.
"Have some, Meimei."
"You have some too, Uncle. What do you like?"
Her arms were full.
But because she was young and her arms were short, what looked like an armful was actually only a few fruits.
The soft little toddler stood before her uncle, tipping up her pretty little face and asking what fruit he liked with sparkling eyes.
The little baby was very generous, always sharing anything good she had.
Fu Yunting crouched down and pinched her little cheeks.
He really could not help himself.
The little one obediently stood there and let him pinch them, a pretty little kitten who was incredibly easy to pick on.
"This one."
He picked a fruit he did not recognize at random.
"Tuantuan..."
Holding the spirit fruits, the little one took tiny, quick steps over to Tuantuan and Jinbao.
After only a few steps, she dropped two fruits, leaving just three in her arms.
Tuantuan ate a milky-white spirit fruit.
Meimei cried, "Aah, aah, aah... Why did you swallow the whole thing? Spit it out! Spit out the pit!"
Meimei rushed over and gave Tuantuan a thorough beating.
Luckily, Tuantuan's body was very elastic, and no matter what shape it took, it felt no pain.
In the end, the fruit, which had not yet been completely consumed, was beaten out.
Beside them, Qin Yan looked utterly bewildered.
"Please stop fighting."
The little baby tried to break up the fight.
Meimei said, "The pit is still useful! If you eat it, what am I supposed to plant?"
"All right, go play somewhere else."
Seeing that it had been spat out, Meimei kicked Tuantuan aside with one tiny foot.
Tuantuan: (?_?)
Qin Yan stroked Tuantuan. "Don't cry, don't cry."
But she could not bear to scold Meimei either.
The pretty baby was so torn that her little face scrunched up, and she felt a little guilty facing Tuantuan.
Fu Yunting stroked her fluffy head. "Leave them alone. They can settle their own disagreements."
"Weren't you going to take fruit to your grandpa and Younger Uncle?"
Oh, right.
The easily distracted little one immediately turned her attention elsewhere.
"Yes, I need some for Grandpa, Younger Uncle, the butler, and Fubao too."
She counted earnestly on her tiny fingers.
"I need this many."
The little one held up four fingers.
The silly little thing had started counting from her thumb. When she bent her pinky, her ring finger bent along with it, leaving her little hand in an awkward position.
She even tried to straighten her ring finger with her other hand.
"Then how many is this?" Fu Yunting asked mischievously.
How would the little one, who had never gone to school, know?
She gazed at her uncle helplessly.
"I... dunno."
Qin Yan mumbled her answer very quietly.
Fu Yunting almost failed to hear her.
Meimei said, "Let me see."
"Little one, that's four. Don't bend your pinky. Bend your thumb."
Oh.
The silly baby obediently switched to bending a different finger.
"One, two, three, four..."
The little one picked the four biggest fruits that looked the tastiest.
"Not this one."
Meimei jumped up and stood on a hard-shelled fruit.
"This is a Milk Fruit from the Cultivation Realm. It's good for children's health. I picked it especially for you."
Qin Yan held Meimei and gave it a kiss.
"Meimei is the best!"
Her soft, sweet praise left Meimei dizzy.
Then the whole mouse became terribly excited and even started giggling to itself nearby.
Fu Yunting could hardly bear to watch.
Qin Yan chose another one, then tried hard to hold them all...
She could not hold them.
Her eyes immediately turned to her uncle for help.
"Uncle, help me, please."
Fu Yunting took a bunch of spirit fruits that resembled grapes.
"Thank you, Uncle."
As they headed outside, Meimei scampered up onto Qin Yan's head.
It was very fast.
Tuantuan bounced along behind them.
So did Jinbao.
Once downstairs, she immediately shared the fruit with her grandpa and Younger Uncle.
"Meimei gave these to me."
"Meimei is a super good friend."
The little mouse stood up with its paws on its hips, its whiskers raised proudly.
Fu Yunting added from beside her, "Dad, it was the one who told Yanyan about her background and helped her escape that village."
Hearing Fu Yunting's words, Old Master Fu rose to his feet, his face full of gratitude.
"So you're our benefactor-er... our benefactor mouse!"
Meimei nodded with all the air of a big shot.
"I'll be living with the little one from now on."
Old Master Fu said, "Whoa, a talking mouse, too!"
Meimei said, "I'm not a mouse!"
It shrieked.
"Don't compare me to those ugly things! I'm a Treasure-Seeking Mouse. A Treasure-Seeking Mouse, understand?"
Damn it, if that accident had not happened back then, it would have been a beautiful Nine-Tailed Fox!
As its name suggested, Meimei really was a beauty-loving, narcissistic system.
"Meimei is very cute."
A single soft remark from the pretty baby soothed the bristling mouse.
The little mouse immediately rolled around happily on her head.
Old Master Fu sighed.
His sons were an abnormal bunch, and now... the animals they kept were not quite normal either.
Luckily, he had his little granddaughter.
"Grandpa, Younger Uncle, have some."
There was some for the butler too, so she went looking for Uncle Butler with the fruit in her arms.
"This fruit..."
Fu Nanshan had eaten just one grape-like fruit before keenly noticing something different.
"They're spirit fruits."
Before you continue