The room was filled with over a dozen children, none of them daring to speak under Yu Jinxiao’s intimidating presence.

Adults could be imposing, and this man—angry and with a terrifying expression—was even more so.

“Daddy!” Yu Yuanyuan’s tear-filled eyes were so blurred that she reached out blindly, stumbling towards the direction of the voice. “Did you come to take me home?”

Everyone in the room watched as Yu Yuanyuan, sobbing uncontrollably, threw herself onto a nearby trash can, hugging it tightly and crying her heart out.

Yu Jinxiao felt as if he’d been doused with cold water. He was seriously tempted to just walk away and pretend this little fool wasn’t his problem.

“Daddy, you’ve gained weight in just a little while!” Yu Yuanyuan hiccupped, her sobbing making her words come out in gasps as she struggled to lift her short neck to look up. “Have you been eating lots of yummy food?”

The other children wanted to laugh but didn’t dare. In the orphanage, they feared their teachers the most, but this man at the door—he was scarier than any teacher…

He was tall and incredibly handsome, more good-looking than anyone they’d ever seen in their lives, but his eyes held a coldness that chilled them to the bone. It was the kind of cold that felt like an invisible trap, ready to snap shut and tear them apart.

“Your trash can daddy has indeed eaten a lot,” Yu Jinxiao sneered, deliberately looking into the can. “Rotten oranges, broken slippers, a thick layer of dust… Do you want some?”

Wait… why was the voice coming from beside her?

Yu Yuanyuan rubbed her eyes and finally realized she was hugging the wrong thing. Quickly, she let go of the trash can and tried to latch onto Yu Jinxiao instead.

But Yu Jinxiao, with a look of utter disdain, pushed her forehead away with his palm, refusing to let her get close.

“You… you! Who are you? Let me go!” The little boy flailed in his grip like a crab caught in a steamer basket.

Yu Jinxiao glanced at him with an expressionless face. Suddenly, the back of the little troublemaker’s shirt ripped with a loud tear, and he tumbled to the ground with a thud.

“Waaah! You’re bullying me! I’m telling the teacher!” the little boy who had been causing trouble cried as he tried to run out. But with just a small step to the side, Yu Jinxiao blocked the door, cutting off his escape.

The other kids who had been part of the mischief froze, shrinking like quails, not daring to look at him.

“So you know how to cry,” Yu Jinxiao’s voice was dangerously low as he took a step forward, making the boy cry harder and back away in fear. “You like making others cry, don’t you? Is bullying fun? Do you want me to show you how it’s really done? I know plenty of ways to make sure you wish you never started.”

They didn’t understand the phrase “wish you never started,” but one look at Yu Jinxiao’s eyes and the cold menace in his voice, and they understood the fear in the air.

“Mr. Yu? Why are you back?” Teacher Zhang, who had just finished airing the blankets and cleaning, returned to see a crowd of children huddled at the classroom door and thought something was wrong.

Yu Jinxiao, as if snapped out of a trance, blinked and looked down in disbelief at the little dumpling of a girl beside him.

Was he losing it? What had he just said? That she had a daddy now?!

When he saw the scene in the classroom earlier, Yu Jinxiao had really been ready to take Yuanyuan home. He’d thought that after buying everything she needed, life at the orphanage would improve for her. But after seeing how those kids bullied her… how could he leave her here and expect her to have a good life?

“Daddy, are we going home together?” Yuanyuan took advantage of his daze and wrapped her tiny hands around his leg, sitting right down on his shoe.

So heavy…

Yu Jinxiao’s rational mind returned. He wanted to lift his foot and leave, but the little dumpling showed no signs of letting go.

“Teacher Zhang, they bullied Yuanyuan again!” Ding Miaomiao wiped the dirt from her face and raised her little arm to accuse.

The word “again” shattered Yu Jinxiao’s brief composure. He furrowed his brows in frustration: Again? Does that mean these brats bully Yuanyuan often?