Chapter Five: "Miss, You Smell So Lovely"

Lu Huaiche covered his mouth with one hand, wildly waving the other.
“N-no, pfft, it’s nothing.”
He struggled to suppress the laughter threatening to burst from his throat, afraid that An An would realize he was laughing at her.
Ha ha ha ha, the chubbiest ha ha ha ha—it really was true. That little bit of plumpness, from behind, looked just like a gas tank.

An An sighed, her expression seeming to say: “Alright then, grown-ups are just inexplicably strange.”

After much effort, An An finally reached Lu Huaiche’s side. She placed both hands on the sofa and slid down, resting her little chin on the cushion, and sighed with mock seriousness, “Legs must be really tired~”

Lu Huaiche chuckled to himself for a while before lifting An An up, pinching her underarms to tickle her sides, and placing her feet on his legs so they faced each other. “Hey, An An, can I ask you something? What do you call the person you call Dad?”

During dinner, Lu Huaiche thought he heard An An call “Dad,” but he dismissed it, thinking maybe he misheard since kids often mispronounce words.

An An looked at Lu Huaiche in confusion, wondering how this brother could be so dense. “Ba ba, it’s ba ba!”

Lu Huaiche was struck as if by lightning.

“What! When did Dad have another kid? An An, where did you come from? Where’s your mom?”

He never imagined that after only a month away, his father had suddenly produced such a big little sister!

An An kicked her short legs, “Guo Guo, put An An down, An An’s not comfy.”

Lu Huaiche set her down on the sofa and sat beside her, then asked, “So, where’s An An’s mom?”

An An replied, “Mama? An An doesn’t have a mama.”

Lu Huaiche: !!!

“How can you have no mom? Everyone has a mom.”

An An wrinkled her nose and repeated firmly, “An An really doesn’t have a mom! An An’s only got Ba Ba!”

Seeing An An get upset, Lu Huaiche quickly tried to soothe her. “Don’t be upset, it’s okay if there’s no mom. You’ve got Dad, and that’s enough.”

He instinctively assumed An An had been adopted from an orphanage by Lu Jinqiao, which explained why she didn’t know her mother.

Lu Huaiche resolved to ask his dad more about this after dinner.

“Come, come, I’ll watch cartoons with you.”

Upon hearing that, An An obediently sat up straight, hands on her knees, eyes fixed on the TV screen.

Not knowing what she liked, Lu Huaiche picked a show featuring a pig his younger brother often talked about.

An An quickly became absorbed, staring wide-eyed at the red pig on the screen.

“Wow!”

She turned to Lu Huaiche, shocked, “Guo Guo, this piggy is so fat!”

Lu Huaiche nodded in agreement, “Yeah, very fat! Even fatter than An An!” Then he realized that what she actually meant was “great,” not “fat.”

An An glared at him, though small, she understood perfectly what he had just said! “An An’s not fat!”

Lu Huaiche: “Alright, alright, you’re not fat. Brother was wrong.”

“Hmph!”

An An huffed loudly and turned back to watch the pig.

When Lu Jinqiao arrived, An An slid off the sofa, ran over to him, and hugged his leg, looking up. “Ba Ba, come here!”

Lu Jinqiao lifted her up and looked at Lu Huaiche for an explanation.

Lu Huaiche shrugged, gesturing toward the TV.

Lu Jinqiao ruffled An An’s hair. “Want to watch a bit more, or should Dad give you a bath?”

Torn between watching the pig and getting a bath, An An chose the bath.

Though it wasn’t really his place to bathe her—being different genders—but An An refused to let anyone else do it. They would have to wait until she got more familiar with the household before others could bathe her.

After the bath, An An seemed to hit a sleep switch and soon fell asleep.

Lu Jinqiao put her down gently and lay down beside her, completely forgetting about his son downstairs who was waiting for him.

The next morning at breakfast, Lu Jinqiao noticed Lu Huaiche was absent and learned he had fled overnight.

Perhaps because he had upset the little girl earlier, though he was later comforted, he still felt awkward and ran off.

Lu Jinqiao didn’t dwell on it. After eating with An An, he said thoughtfully, “An An, Daddy has to work at the company today. You stay home and wait for Daddy, okay?”

There were many meetings, and bringing An An along wouldn’t allow him to properly care for her. It was better for her to stay home where someone could keep her company.

An An was no longer the newcomer; now she was Niugululu An An. Upon hearing this, she waved off the concern casually, “Ba Ba, you go! An An will be good!”

Lu Jinqiao nodded and left.

Sitting in his office, he felt a pang of emptiness. Having spent the past two days constantly with An An, he had grown used to her clinging to him. Now apart, he found himself strangely unsettled.

“Mr. Lu, it’s time for the meeting.”

Lin, his assistant, knocked and entered.

Lu Jinqiao pinched the bridge of his nose, composed himself, and stood to attend the meeting.

Back at home, after Ba Ba left, little An An was at a loss for what to do.

At this moment, the household servants, who usually dared not show themselves around the little miss when Lu Jinqiao was home, all emerged at once, surrounding An An.

Each wore a kindly, affectionate smile.

[System: An An, be cautious!]

An An didn’t understand what this meant and asked the system, which found itself unable to explain such a warning to a barely two-and-a-half-year-old toddler with a nearly undeveloped mind.

So it silently kept quiet.

Without waiting for the system’s reply, An An stopped worrying about it.

“Miss, you smell so nice.”

One maid couldn’t help blurting out her true feelings but immediately covered her mouth, though sharp An An had already noticed.

Seeming to understand it was a compliment, An An smiled at the maid.

“Little Miss.” Uncle Lin began to address her, then paused, feeling it was too formal and adjusted, “Miss, what would you like to do now?”

Lin’s voice unconsciously became higher pitched.

An An sat on the carpet, glancing here and there, uncertain what to do. She shook her head, “An An doesn’t know either.”

Lin said, “Well… shall we go out for a walk?”

In front of the villa was a small garden, visible from the living room’s right-side floor-to-ceiling windows. The garden included an artificial pond with a few fish.

Besides various flowers, there were transplanted fruit trees and a small vegetable patch Lu Jinqiao had specially cultivated with some greens.

Following Lin’s pointing finger, An An caught sight of a flash of white and her eyes lit up instantly.

“Let’s go!”