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Chapter 25: Huo Xiaoxiao’s Comeback (1)
Huo Xiaoxiao was stunned and couldn’t believe her ears.
Throw her into the sea?
Even a vicious tiger would not eat its cubs. Was her father so cruel?
No, it must be a bluff.
Yes! He was just scaring her, right?
“No way!”
“‘No way’ what?” Huo Suicheng asked.
“Don’t… throw me into the sea!”
Looking at Huo Xiaoxiao’s scared, wide-opened eyes, Huo Suicheng squeezed her cheek, and said, “Be obedient, and I won’t throw you away.”
Hearing this, Huo Xiaoxiao stared at him with resentful eyes.
Huo Suicheng looked at her drooping face and felt quite satisfied. Instantly, his anger from before was wiped away, and he sat holding her behind the desk. “Why haven’t you slept yet? It’s already so late?”
“I want… I want to be with Daddy.”
“Daddy still has work to do, so you go to bed first. Come, I’ll send you back to your room.”
When he got up, Huo Xiaoxiao grabbed his tie and pulled it down, accidentally locking his throat. “Daddy, there’s something… I want to tell you.”
“Hmm…” Huo Suicheng nodded and coughed twice, grabbed her hand to loosen the tie, and took a deep breath. “…What’s the matter?”
Huo Xiaoxiao immediately let go of his tie and looked at him with her big, innocent eyes while asking, “Grandpa said you want to send me to kindergarten?”
“Don’t you always want to go out to play? There are many children in the kindergarten who will play with you.” Huo Suicheng saw her sad face and asked, “You don’t want to go?”
Huo Xiaoxiao nodded. “I want to be with Grandpa and Daddy at home. I don’t want to go to kindergarten.”
“You usually clamor for going out to play all day. Now that we’re giving you a chance, you don’t want to.” After being silent for a moment, Huo Suicheng continued, “Going to kindergarten is what your grandfather decided for you. You know, I can’t interfere or change his decision.”
Listening to Huo Suicheng, Huo Xiaoxiao became silent. A question mark suddenly appeared in her head.
‘Why is it different from what she heard from her grandfather?’
“But, Grandpa didn’t say that. He said that it’s you who wants me to go—”
Before she could finish, Huo Suicheng interrupted her. “Well, since you don’t want to go, Daddy won’t force you.”
Huo Xiaoxiao was overjoyed.
Her father decided to be forbearing for a change?
“I’m giving you the right to choose whether you want to go to kindergarten or not. It’s up to you to decide.”
“Me?”
Huo Suicheng found a coin from the desk drawer.
“Do you know what this is?”
Logically speaking, Huo Xiaoxiao hadn’t seen a coin yet, as per others, so she shouldn’t know what it was.
Hence, Huo Xiaoxiao shook her head.
“This is called a coin.” Huo Suicheng showed her the front and back of the coin. “We’ll toss it to decide whether you go to kindergarten.”
Huo Xiaoxiao was eager to try.
Tossing a coin, the chance was fifty or fifty. It was worth the risk!
The coin was sandwiched between Huo Suicheng’s slender fingers as he explained the game rules to Huo Xiaoxiao, “I’ll throw it up and drop it on the table. If the coin shows heads, you will go to kindergarten. If… it’s tails, we will not go to kindergarten.”
“…?”
Huo Xiaoxiao wanted to say something but hesitated. At last, she decided to keep quiet.
She had been completely won over.
How did her dad come up with so many shenanigans in his head?
Head or tail, huh?
Show me if you have the ability?
Because I’m a child, you think you could fool me as you wish?
Was he really taking her as a kid?
After explaining, Huo Suicheng flicked the coin with his thumb and index finger. The coin flew up, swished in the air a few times, and then landed on the table. It turned out to be… heads.
He put the coin in front of Huo Xiaoxiao’s eyes for her to see clearly. “Look, this is the front, and we go to the kindergarten if it is front.”
[TL Note- Front side of the coin, Head; Backside of the coin, Tail]
Huo Xiaoxiao looked at him with sad eyes.
She was curious to see how he would throw the coin up.
After Huo Suicheng finished speaking, he tossed the coin up again. After a few turns, the coin seemed to be glued and fell firmly on the table. The point was that the coin still showed the front side—heads.
Seeing this, Huo Xiaoxiao narrowed her eyes.
Wow, cool!
“…”
Huo Xiaoxiao really wanted to slap herself.
What was the use of being cool!
This was too illogical!
What kind of person was Huo Suicheng? How could he flip a coin upright with just a throw?
Wasn’t this bullying?
Huo Suicheng put the coin in Huo Xiaoxiao’s hand. “Throw it.”
“…”
Huo Xiaoxiao was feeling quite angry.
Why was he giving her the coin?
Would it change the result in her hands?
Just tell her if he wanted her to go to kindergarten! Why all this coin tossing?
Because he was an adult, he could bully children as he pleased?
Truly shameless!
Huo Xiaoxiao tossed the coin into the air in anger. It spun several times in the air before landing on the table with a crisp clang. Because of inertia, it continued to spin on the table.
The speed of rotation started to get slower, and the pattern on both sides of the coin could be seen clearly.
Right now, Huo Xiaoxiao was almost lying on the table, her eyes fixed on the coin. She didn’t dare to blink.
Although she knew that the chance of it standing upright was minimal, what if it actually happened? Would it be necessary to go to kindergarten?
The crisp and sweet sound of the coin hitting the table became softer and softer, until finally—
The coin stopped on the table on its back.
“!!!” Huo Xiaoxiao was taken aback. She couldn’t believe her luck. She turned her head in ecstasy, pointed at the coin on the table, and looked at Huo Suicheng. “Dad! Backside!”
What kind of baby fairy luck she had!
Tossing a coin could actually result in tails.
Now, she wouldn’t go to kindergarten!
Huo Suicheng blinked. “Really? Take a closer look.”
Ding-
Suddenly, she heard a faint sound.
Huo Xiaoxiao turned her head. The coin that had been showing tails was now facing up. It was heads.
“…?”
What! She clearly saw just now. It was tails!
How could it change just like that?
This was impossible!
This was illogical!
Huo Xiaoxiao glared at Huo Suicheng furiously.
This sly father must have moved the coin when she looked the other way!
“Daddy did something!”
“What did Daddy do?”
“Just now, it showed tails! It’s lying down now! It must be Daddy shaking the table!”
Huo Suicheng retorted to her, “Do you have evidence that I shook the table?”
“I…” hearing this, Huo Xiaoxiao had no idea what to say.
She really had no evidence.
“How can you accuse Daddy without evidence?”
Listening to Huo Suicheng, Huo Xiaoxiao felt angry. He was not admitting even after doing something terrible and was counterattacking instead?
“It’s tails!”
“It’s heads.”
“Tails.”
“Heads.”
Sure enough, the big villain was the big villain. If you were hardworking and influential in the city, did it mean you could bully your children at home!?
Huo Xiaoxiao gritted her teeth and pondered how to refute Huo Suicheng.
“Since you think it showed tails, throw it again.”
Throw it again?
The coin showing tails was already unexpected. Where would she have that kind of luck again?
“If you don’t agree to toss it again, we will stay with the results now. That is, heads. According to what we decided at the beginning, you have to go to kindergarten.”
Hearing those words, Huo Xiaoxiao hurriedly grabbed the coin and threw it up.
Once again, she fully focused on watching the coin go down, then spinning and jumping on the desk. After that, it stopped with a snap.
Heads!
Seeing the result, Huo Xiaoxiao felt heartbroken.
“Okay, it’s head. Daddy will help you prepare for kindergarten in two days. It’s already getting late. Sleep early.”
After saying this, Huo Suicheng put the coin away without waiting anymore and placed Huo Xiaoxiao from the table to the ground. “Go back to sleep by yourself.”
Huo Xiaoxiao could only restrain her anger. She needed to rein it in even if she didn’t want to! After all, she and Huo Suicheng were worlds apart in strength. She was weak, and now was not a good time to do it.
She stomped her foot and ran away with her short legs.
But this matter hadn’t finished yet.
After Huo Xiaoxiao returned to the room, she could not sleep for a long time and kept tossing around.
She was mad at Huo Suicheng’s manipulative ideas.
Too angry, really too angry!
How could he be so shameless!
Huo Xiaoxiao’s Comeback (1)
Could he not speak nonsense with his eyes open?
Did he manage the company in the same manner? If so, how?
The more Huo Xiaoxiao thought about what had happened, the more furious she got. She finally understood the truth: the more she stepped back, the more she would lose.
No, she had to find a way.
Huo Xiaoxiao resolutely got up and set her eyes on the marker on her desk.
Yes!
She picked up the marker and walked to Huo Suicheng’s room.
Huo Suicheng was still working in the study and hadn’t returned to his room. Huo Xiaoxiao opened the door and directly entered his dressing room. Behind the glass wardrobe hung countless neatly ironed white shirts and various suits.
She struggled to climb on the stool, reached for a white shirt behind the closet, took it off, and laid it on the ground. She then took out a black marker and drew a big turtle behind the shirt.
Some time ago, under the teaching of the art teacher, her drawing skills had greatly improved. She used to be unable to draw straight lines, but now, she could draw turtles vividly.
After finishing the painting, Huo Xiaoxiao still wasn’t satisfied since she had only vented half of her anger.
After admiring some of her ‘masterpieces’, Huo Xiaoxiao hung Huo Suicheng’s shirt back in the closet.
She didn’t return to her room to sleep. Rather, she climbed onto Huo Suicheng’s bed and slept well until dawn.
Though Huo Xiaoxiao was a good sleeper, it was still easy for her to wake up.
If there would be any movement around her, she would immediately get up.
Opening her eyes, she took a look outside the window. It was bright. Huo Suicheng was also going to get up to head to the bathroom.
Suddenly, Huo Xiaoxiao remembered her plan. She rubbed her eyes, patted her head, and got out of bed after making herself completely awake. She once again sneaked into her father’s closet and took out the white shirt with the turtle painted on it. She then returned to the bed.
When Huo Suicheng came out of the bathroom, Huo Xiaoxiao was happily jumping on his bed.
“Daddy!”
Hearing his daughter’s voice, Huo Suicheng, who was about to go into the dressing room to change his clothes, stagnated. “Why did you get up so early?”
“Daddy here!”
Looking at the white shirt in Huo Xiaoxiao’s hand, Huo Suicheng walked over.
“Turn around. I want to… dress Daddy.”
Huo Suicheng was slightly startled. “You? Dressing me up?”
Huo Xiaoxiao nodded while holding the shirt’s collar and instructing Huo Suicheng, “Turn around!”
Huo Suicheng couldn’t help but laugh at her new antics. He took off the silk bathrobe worn on his upper body, turned his back to Huo Xiaoxiao, and squatted.
“Daddy, raise your hand!”
Huo Suicheng raised his left hand and put it into the sleeve of the white shirt that Huo Xiaoxiao was holding.
“Raise your hand!”
He raised his right hand and put it in the sleeve.
“Done.”
Huo Suicheng stood up straight, adjusting his collar and buttons. “Why are you behaving so nicely today?”
Huo Xiaoxiao’s eyes were full of smiles, bent into crescents. “Daddy worked hard!”
“…” Huo Suicheng’s hand, which was buttoning his shirt, paused, and a warm current quietly flowed in his heart. He stretched out his hand and squeezed Huo Xiaoxiao’s chubby baby fat. “It’s not hard.”
He fastened his tie and put on his suit and leather shoes. After getting ready, Huo Suicheng held Huo Xiaoxiao downstairs for breakfast.
Old Master Huo saw the smile on Huo Xiaoxiao’s face and said, “How come you are laughing so happily early in the morning?”
Huo Xiaoxiao smiled slyly and glanced at Huo Suicheng. “This is a secret.”
“You’re already keeping secrets at such a young age? What secret is it that Grandpa can’t know?”
Huo Xiaoxiao shook her head, indicating she was not going to tell him.
“Okay, don’t tell. Anyway, Grandpa doesn’t want to know you, a little girl’s, secret.”
After speaking, Old Master Huo looked at Huo Suicheng. “Did you tell her the little things I told you about yesterday?”
Due to her sharp hearing, Huo Xiaoxiao was able to overhear Old Master Huo. “Grandpa! Daddy said that he would take me to kindergarten after two days. Grandpa, can I go a few days later?”
“Hmm?”
“I want to spend two more days with Daddy at home.”
“Little brat, you don’t want to be with Grandpa?”
Huo Xiaoxiao seemed puzzled. “Daddy said that Grandpa wanted to send me to kindergarten. Grandpa… don’t want to play with Xiaoxiao?”
Hearing Huo Xiaoxiao’s words, Old Master Huo looked at Huo Suicheng and then put the spoon on the table.
“Humph!”
“…” Huo Suicheng also put down the bread in his hand, as he already felt full just hearing his daughter’s words. He got up and said, “I’m full. The company has a lot of things, so I’ll leave first.”
After speaking, he got up and left in a hurry.
“Grandpa, Daddy…”
“Xiaoxiao, don’t listen to your daddy’s nonsense. It’s him who wants to send you to kindergarten! How can your grandpa bear to send you there? Grandpa wants you to stay with him for a few more days.”
Huo Xiaoxiao blinked and nodded.
————
Huo Group, President’s Office.
Since there might be ancient tombs buried under Luming Mountain, the project had to be suspended before the archaeological expert team verified it.
However, as the project was already delayed for a day, there would be a huge investment loss if it got delayed anymore.
This was a major problem, and Yi Group’s side didn’t dare to take risks either. So, Yi Yang came to Huo Group to meet with Huo Suicheng early in the morning.
“The archaeological expert group hasn’t given a reply yet, but I have inside information. There is likely a tomb underneath.”
“A tomb…” Yi Yang frowned. “How can there be a tomb?”
“I don’t know. But if you really decide to dig while protecting it, the fastest time can be calculated in years.”
Yi Yang shook his head. “Can’t wait that long.”
Huo Suicheng knitted his eyebrows. “Even if the archaeological team gives a green signal, I’m afraid that the higher-ups have already decided to protect the cultural relics. Then, this project cannot be started again.”
Yi Yang raised his eyes to look at him.
“What do you think?”
Huo Suicheng rubbed his fingertips unconsciously, his eyes unconsciously exuding the aura of a hunter.
Before he could speak, though, there was a knock on the door.
“Come In.”
After getting permission, the assistant pushed the door in and said, “Mr. Huo, the archaeological team has arrived at the company and is now waiting for you in the lounge.”
Huo Suicheng raised his eyebrows. “I see. You go out first.”
“Okay.”
“The members of the expert group are here. I guess the survey results are out. If they really decide to protect the ancient tomb, what are you going to do?”
Huo Suicheng narrowed his eyes. “I can wait for a bit, but this project cannot be terminated.”
“You don’t mean to…”
Huo Suicheng just stared at him.
Yi Yang understood what he meant.
“Think about it; this is a big risk.”
“I understand.” Huo Suicheng’s face was stern as he stood up. “Let’s go and meet the archaeologists.”
Perhaps it was because the air-conditioning in the office was not enough or it was a little stuffy, Huo Suicheng took off his suit jacket, threw it on the sofa, and walked towards the lounge with Yi Yang.
Several assistants outside the door accompanied Huo Suicheng behind.
“…Mr. Huo.”
Huo Suicheng’s footsteps did not stop. “What’s the matter?”
Several assistants set their eyes on his back, fidgeting with their words.
“You… on your back…”
Huo Suicheng tilted his head and frowned slightly. “What the hell is going on?”
Yi Yang stepped behind Huo Suicheng and saw the big turtle painted on the back of his shirt. His serious face was instantly torn apart, and he couldn’t help but laugh.
“Huo’er… your daughter, good drawing.”
Huo Suicheng didn’t know why they were acting weirdly, but when he passed the conference room’s glass mirror, he saw the big turtle painted on his back.
“…” Huo Suicheng thought of Huo Xiaoxiao’s innocent hospitality in the morning and immediately understood what was going on. His eyes scanned over the several people present, who all bowed their heads and smiled.
He turned and walked back without saying a word, the turtle on his white shirt coming to life.
“Brother Huo, what about the meeting?”
Huo Suicheng waved his hand and threw down a word, “Wait!”