Chapter 145: Chapter 145: Three-Second Surrender

Wei Chengxi froze on the spot, the color draining from his face.

A gust of wind blew in from the mouth of the alley, swirling up the fallen leaves on the ground.

He was so stunned that he didn’t notice Ling Anxun get in the car and drive away.

The sound of the engine starting broke the silence.

In the car, Shanshan puffed out her cheeks and glared unhappily at her dad.

"Jeez, it took me forever to find a free errand boy, and you just scared him off like that? Who’s going to carry my schoolbag for me now?"

"Keeping someone with those kinds of intentions around is just asking for trouble."

Ling Anxun’s brows furrowed, and his tone grew stern.

"I forbid you from ever getting involved in something like this again."

As soon as he said that, even Xiao Zhou, who was driving, couldn’t help but steal a glance in the rearview mirror.

’When the boss gets truly angry, the air itself feels like it could freeze over.’

Shanshan blinked, and her eyes instantly welled up with tears.

She looked down at the tips of her shoes, her fingers clutching tightly at the hem of her skirt.

"Are you scolding me, Daddy? I’ve missed you for a whole month! I spent every single day waiting for you to come back, thinking about the first thing I was going to say to you, and you start scolding me the moment you’re back?"

Her voice didn’t tremble, but the hurt was written all over her face.

Ling Anxun was immediately flustered, not knowing what to do with his hands.

He subconsciously took a step forward, then stopped. He raised a hand as if to pat her head, only to pull it back midway.

"I—I wasn’t angry at you... Shanshan, please don’t cry..."

He stammered, his tone filled with helplessness.

Xiao Zhou nearly swerved the car.

’Oh my god!’

’The boss, who’s practically a god of war, surrendered in three seconds flat!’

’Without even putting up a fight!’

He gripped the steering wheel for dear life, a sheen of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. The scene in the rearview mirror made him wonder if he was seeing things.

He watched his typically awe-inspiring boss humbly placating his daughter, coaxing her and agreeing to all her demands without so much as batting an eye.

"Please don’t be angry anymore, sweetheart, okay? Daddy promises to ask you about it first next time... You can buy any snacks you want, and pick out any toys you like, how does that sound?"

’Hearing those words come out of Ling Anxun’s mouth was more shocking than receiving an urgent command from a superior officer.’

"Then everything you just said has to count! No take-backs!"

Shanshan lifted her little face to look at him, her eyes still red-rimmed. Her voice was soft.

"Don’t worry. I’ll keep my word."

Ling Anxun rubbed his temples with a wry smile.

’He knew she’d been like this since she was a little girl. Well-behaved on the surface...’

’...but actually incredibly stubborn. Once she set her mind on something, a team of wild horses couldn’t drag her away from it.’

Shanshan immediately lifted her head, crossed her arms, and jutted her chin out proudly.

She took two steps forward and planted herself in front of him.

"In that case, I’m adding one more condition! You know what an amusement park is, right? I want you to take me!"

Then, she quickly added a stipulation.

"It has to be you, personally. No sending a substitute!"

"Alright, alright, alright. My entire vacation is at your disposal. We’ll go wherever you want to go, okay?"

Ling Anxun nodded in resignation, all the earlier sternness gone from his voice.

"That’s more like it! We’ll go tomorrow! And you have to wear the clothes I bought for you!"

A pair of small dimples appeared as she smiled, her eyes curving into crescent moons.

Ling Anxun’s expression froze on the spot.

His brow gradually furrowed as his gaze fell upon her.

"I even have to wear what you tell me to?"

He asked in a low voice, a trace of hesitation in his tone.

"Don’t you want to go, Daddy?"

Shanshan’s face immediately fell. Her lips formed a pout, and her brows furrowed in distress.

She took half a step back, her shoulders slumping.

"Then forget it. I can just go by myself."

Ling Anxun’s heart skipped a beat. How could he possibly say no?

He reached out almost instantly and pulled her back to his side, his voice urgent.

"We’ll go! Of course we’ll go! And I’ll wear it. What’s the big deal about wearing it?"

「Early the next morning.」

Shanshan was already waiting by his door, holding a neatly folded set of matching parent-child outfits.

She had deliberately picked the most conspicuous spot to stand.

The moment she heard the slightest sound from inside, she immediately started knocking on the door. KNOCK, KNOCK.

"Daddy, wakey-wakey! Shanshan’s here with your clothes!" 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

She stood on her tiptoes as she shouted, trying to peek through the crack of the door to see what was happening inside.

Her once babyish voice was now clear and sweet.

The clear, high-pitched notes of her voice echoed in the corridor.

Even the housekeeper passing by downstairs couldn’t help but look up and smile.

Ling Anxun opened the door in his loungewear and was greeted by his daughter’s beaming face.

He wasn’t fully awake yet. His hair was a mess, and his face still had creases on it from his pillow.

His first reaction upon seeing her was to raise a hand to shield his eyes from the light.

’Sunlight streamed in. A good day, starting just like this.’

A breeze from the hallway gently rustled the curtains, and the sound of distant birdsong drifted in.

The children in the courtyard had already started to play.

However, when he caught sight of the blue and white outfit in his daughter’s hands, the smile on his face faltered noticeably.

The colors were too bright, and the style was too playful.

He hardly ever wore casual clothes to begin with.

Especially a style with such bright colors—normally, he wouldn’t even give it a second glance.

But Shanshan couldn’t care less about that. She simply thrust the clothes into his arms.

"Hurry up, Daddy! Breakfast is already on the table, and Uncle Xiao Zhou has brought the car around. We need to be downstairs to eat in ten minutes, and we’re leaving right after!"

He had to admit, the girl had planned a truly packed day.

She had started putting together today’s itinerary the previous night.

She had even clearly marked down how long they would stay at each attraction.

She was up at six in the morning to check her backpack.

By the time Ling Anxun emerged from his room, bleary-eyed, she had already been at his door hurrying him along three times.

When the father-daughter pair walked downstairs, one after the other, the entire family froze.

The once-bustling dining room fell silent in an instant.

Even their grandmother, who had been eating her porridge, put down her spoon and sat up straight to get a better look.

"Well, well, Little Uncle, you finally agreed to wear the matching outfits Shanshan picked out? Do you have any idea how she’s been treasuring these clothes ever since she bought them, waiting every day for you to wear them?"

Ling Zhiwei stared at the two of them.

His chopsticks didn’t even pause as he spoke, shoveling food into his mouth.

But his eyes never left their matching outfits.

The light gray tracksuit set really suited them, with its identical cartoon characters printed on the cuffs.

Even Ling Zhenkang, who always wore a stern expression, couldn’t help but look twice.

He had been looking down at his newspaper, but he raised his head at the sound, his gaze lingering on the pair for a few seconds.

But he didn’t voice any criticism, which in itself was a form of tacit approval.

And that was to say nothing of all the heads they turned the moment they stepped outside.

Some of the neighbors were out on their balconies, watering flowers.

Since Shanshan was nearly five feet tall, many people who saw the two of them walking side by side mistook them for a brother and sister.

Her hair was tied up in two high pigtails.

Ling Anxun, meanwhile, was tall and slender with handsome, well-defined features.

"Your brother is so handsome."

"Hehe, thank you for the compliment! I’m pretty proud to have such a handsome brother!"

Shanshan replied with a grin, her eyes crinkling, not bothering to correct them at all.

Instead, she seized the opportunity to link her arm through Ling Anxun’s, tilting her head back to flash a wide grin.

Ling Anxun stood beside her, shaking his head in resignation, yet he couldn’t help but want to smile.

He tried to pull his arm away but found she was gripping it too tightly.

Later, someone was even bold enough to approach them and try to ask Ling Anxun for his number.

But Shanshan immediately stepped in, blocking the person’s path. Her performance was perfectly natural.

She planted one hand on her hip and held the other out protectively, shielding him.

"My brother is taking me to an exhibition today. It’s not a good time to be adding contacts."