Little Yuanyuan, who had thrown the stone with all her might, almost lost her balance in the process. The small pebble flew in an arc through the air and plopped straight into the boy’s jacket pocket.

The expected pain on his forehead never came. The narrow-eyed boy cautiously opened one eye and peeked to the side.

“Wow, Yuanyuan hit the target!!” she clapped her hands excitedly. “Second Brother, Yuanyuan is super accurate!”

Yu Yingze stared at her in disbelief.

Accurate? Seriously?

Weren’t you supposed to hit him? You just tossed the stone into his pocket and dare call that accurate??

Completely oblivious to everyone else’s shock, the little girl cheerfully ran over, retrieved the stone from the boy’s pocket, and declared, “All done! Yuanyuan wants to go back and eat some fruit now.”

Before she could leave, Yu Jinxiao grabbed the back of her collar.

“I told you to hit him, not to play ‘toss into the pocket,’” Yu Jinxiao turned her around so that her innocent little face was facing forward again.

Yuanyuan blinked, her lips pursed tightly. She peeked up at her father, her voice small and cautious, “But it really hurts to get hit with a stone. Yuanyuan had tears in her eyes earlier.”

“That’s exactly why I told you to hit back,” Gu Jinxiao sighed, realizing that this little rascal had completely misunderstood him. Just by looking at her face, he knew she didn’t grasp the concept of revenge at all.

“But… that little-eyed brother didn’t mean to,” she said, shuffling her feet closer to the boy. Gently patting his jacket, she continued, “But throwing stones at butterflies and little birds hurts them. Little-eyed brother, please don’t throw stones anymore, okay?”

The boy stared at the warm, sun-like little girl in front of him, dumbfounded, before nodding blankly, “O-okay…”

“Little-eyed brother’s legs are hurt,” Yuanyuan squatted down and waved her small hands frantically at Yu Jinxiao. “Let him go home.”

Yu Jinxiao felt like he had just swallowed a rock.

His daughter, his daughter, had chosen to forgive instead of seeking revenge, and she didn’t even understand the concept of payback. This had gone horribly wrong!

The crowd, on the other hand, was thoroughly entertained, finding Yuanyuan’s tiny figure irresistibly adorable. Her innocent, kind-hearted words touched everyone watching.

Her face, as cute as a doll’s, was enough to melt hearts with just one glance.

Yu Jinxiao, who had been trying to teach his daughter the importance of self-defense, was nearly fuming with frustration. He remained silent, glaring at his naïve daughter, his dark aura casting a heavy tension around him.

But little Yuanyuan, completely unaware of her father’s rising anger, cheerfully pushed the narrow-eyed boy back toward his parents and then hurriedly ran back, wrapping her arms around her father’s leg in an attempt to snuggle up.

“Get off,” Yu Jinxiao grumbled, fearing he might explode from frustration.

“Daddy~~” A pitiful, pleading voice came from the side of his leg as Yuanyuan tried her best to tiptoe and hug him, hopping around with puppy-dog eyes, begging for a cuddle.

Some people in the crowd had already pulled out their phones, squealing with excitement as they started snapping photos of Yuanyuan.

Yu Jinxiao, at first, had no intention of giving in, but then he overheard someone in the crowd muttering excitedly, “Hurry up and hug her!!! Do it!!! If you don’t, I will!!!!”

Everyone had been utterly charmed by Yuanyuan, wishing they could shove Yu Jinxiao aside and offer their own legs for the little girl to hug.

Hearing everything crystal clear, Yu Jinxiao let out a cold, mocking laugh in his heart: Oh? You want to hug her? Too bad—no chance for you.

With narrowed eyes, he glanced in the direction of the voice, and in a clear display of possessive pride, he lifted Yuanyuan into his arms.

The delighted little girl immediately wrapped her arms around her father’s neck, resting her adorable head on his broad shoulder, giggling happily.

The crowd watching: Jealous. So, so jealous.