Old Master Fu said, "I've already sent people to investigate. As for Yanyan's adoptive parents, those people have been arrested, but the questioning hasn't turned up anything. They only said they found her and took her home.
"Yanyan's adoptive parents had been married for three years without having a child. When they found her, they'd heard that adopting a child would attract another child to be born to them. Six months after Yanyan joined their family, they found out her adoptive mother was pregnant.
"But once they had their own child, things started getting bad for Yanyan. They didn't want to keep raising her, so they wanted her dead.
"They drove her out into the freezing snow several times. If a blind old person in that village hadn't looked after her, Yanyan would probably already be..."
"Yanyan is in very poor condition right now..."
He also told him about the injuries on Qin Yan's body and the various illnesses she had been diagnosed with.
Fu Yunting clenched his fists as he listened, an oppressive air surrounding him like a raging tiger.
"Those bastards!"
He slammed his fist onto the table. "Where are they being held?"
Qin Yan's adoptive parents had already been arrested. Before their arrest, Old Master Fu had specifically ordered his people to give their whole family a beating.
The Fu family always protected their own.
Old Master Fu said, "Don't worry. I've got people taking good care of them."
They shouldn't think being locked up in prison meant there was no way to deal with them.
Still, since they hadn't actually abducted and trafficked the child, they might not be locked up for long.
That was fine too. Once they got out, the Fu family would settle the score with them properly.
"Our main priority now is investigating the switch back then. Shen Fu must know something. She personally handed us that stillborn baby."
Fu Yunting said, "I'll investigate."
"But... how did the little one know she belonged to our family?"
Even her adoptive parents hadn't known.
Old Master Fu glanced upstairs, then said to his eldest son,
"Yanyan has a secret."
"Sometimes she spaces out, and sometimes she talks to thin air, calling for something named Meimei. I suspect that thing knew."
"But she hasn't been talking to thin air lately. I think it started the day she began keeping the Slime. Her eyes were red that day. I reckon that thing left."
Qin Yan thought she had hidden it very well, but Old Master Fu was far too sharp.
Still, he hadn't said anything after discovering it.
Fu Yunting rubbed his chin. "So the little one had an unusual encounter?"
These days, strange occurrences were becoming more and more frequent, so Fu Yunting wasn't surprised.
As long as the little one belonged to their family, that was enough.
Fu Yunting said, "I'll find a way to ask her. If she won't tell me, I'll leave it at that. It'd be best if she could, though."
He needed to find out whether that thing harbored any ill intent.
Although Qin Yan often grew sleepy during the day, she couldn't sleep for very long.
Most of the time, she woke after about an hour.
Then, still groggy, she first picked up the clean Tuantuan and nuzzled against the Slime before going to wash her face and hands.
This time, she used the bar of soap the Slime had given her.
After she washed, a fresh, delicate grape scent lingered around her.
It wasn't cloying at all and smelled lovely.
It made her seem like a soft, sweet-smelling little grape-flavored cake.
Only after washing until she smelled lovely did she leave her room.
But she didn't go downstairs right away.
Standing on the second floor, she rose onto her tiptoes and clung to the hallway railing to peek downstairs.
She didn't see Grandpa. It looked as though only her eldest uncle was down there.
Qin Yan immediately began wavering over whether to go downstairs.
She wanted to, but she was a little scared.
Suddenly, the man sitting cross-legged on the sofa below with a laptop open on his lap looked up at her.
Caught off guard, Qin Yan froze.
Her big eyes met the man's gaze below in a blank stare.
It took her a few seconds to react. Her ears and little face instantly flushed bright red, and she slowly ducked her fluffy little head out of sight.
He spotted me? (????w????)
Fu Yunting watched that little half-visible head with its tufts of hair sticking up sink out of sight and couldn't help chuckling.
"What, is your eldest uncle not fit to be seen?"
Qin Yan's soft little voice came from upstairs. It was quiet, but Fu Yunting still caught it.
"No."
The little one covered her burning cheeks. Even her protest sounded soft and sweet, making her sound easy to pick on.
"I'm coming down now."
But she was so nervous that she perched Tuantuan the Slime on her head, then walked with her arm and leg moving forward together on the same side.
She entered the elevator, went downstairs, then walked out with her arm and leg still moving together on the same side.
It was indescribably comical and endearingly silly.
"Pfft..."
Fu Yunting couldn't hold back and laughed aloud right in front of the child.
Qin Yan: ?(???w???)?
Her face instantly grew even redder!
"Uncle."
After inching her way to Fu Yunting's side, she greeted him properly.
The next second, the man slipped his broad hands under her armpits and lifted her effortlessly.
It was like picking up a kitten.
Qin Yan stared blankly at him.
Then he set her down on his lap.
"Why are you so nervous? Your uncle doesn't eat children."
Qin Yan blushed shyly, lowering her head and fiddling with her fingers.
This... this wasn't something she could control.
"Why do you smell so nice?"
Fu Yunting lowered his head and sniffed the child.
"Grape?"
He rather disliked the smell of perfume, especially the cheap, pungent kind.
He didn't wear perfume himself, either.
But he didn't mind the natural, fresh fruit scent on the little one.
Qin Yan watched his face draw closer, her soft voice stumbling a little.
"I-I used soap to wash my face, and... my hands too."
"Oh, soap," Fu Yunting said. "How come I've never smelled soap like this before? Did we change the soap at home?"
"But this scent wouldn't suit me."
What would a grown man like him look like smelling of grapes all over?
Qin Yan lifted Tuantuan off her head and, in her nervousness, nearly shoved the Slime into his face.
"T-Tuantuan made it."
Fu Yunting: ???
"What was that?"
"What did this little thing make?"
Qin Yan pressed her little lips together and said quietly, "Soap. Grape-scented."
The Slime's two "intelligent" big eyes stared back at Fu Yunting.
"This Slime produces soap?"
"What does it usually eat?"
Qin Yan answered obediently, "Just fruit, but mostly grapes."
"Uncle, want some? Yanyan can give you the soap."
Qin Yan spoke very slowly to make herself clear.
If she spoke too quickly, people had trouble understanding her.
"No, keep it for yourself."
Right now, he was more interested in studying this Slime, but there was no hurry.
"Hungry? Want something to eat?"
Qin Yan nodded, then didn't know what to do.
Fu Yunting set the little one in her fluffy kitten outfit down beside him.
She sat obediently with her little legs together and her hands resting on her thighs.
She stayed perfectly still, like a little figurine.
Only when the housekeeper brought the food over did she begin to move.
Sitting on the chair, she held her own spoon and began eating a little at a time.
She ate very carefully and very slowly.
The housekeeper tied a little bib around her neck. Children her age always dropped food when they ate.
Qin Yan was already doing very well. She was afraid of wasting food, so she ate slowly, but a little still fell into her bib.
With other children, there would already have been rice scattered all over the table and floor.
Some children even needed adults to chase after them to feed them.
Before you continue