“Daddy—Dadddyyyy—!” The little one cried out in panic, afraid she wouldn’t stop him in time.

Her voice echoed on the empty beach, drawing everyone’s attention.

Under the dim light of the flashlight, Yu Jinxiao’s expression grew darker, making the others too scared to speak.

Two of his men, who had never seen Yu Yuanyuan before and weren’t aware of his adopted daughter, assumed she was just some lost kid.

“What do we do? Take her on the boat?” one of them whispered through clenched teeth, casting a glance at Yu Yuanyuan. “She’s seen us. Leaving her here will be a problem.”

“But she’s just a child,” the other man said, softening at the sight of her stumbling toward them. He had a daughter of his own.

“These kids are clever nowadays. If she goes back and tells her parents, we’ll have to get rid of them too.”

The two men began whispering to each other.

From what they knew of Mr. Yu, a child was nothing to him. He’d likely leave the decision up to them, so they might as well handle it now—and maybe even earn some favor with the boss.

“That’s true, better to deal with it now and avoid trouble later…” One of them, wearing a black baseball cap, reached out to grab the little girl. The veins on his hand bulged with tension.

Yu Jinxiao was done talking.

This little brat was about to render him speechless for the night.

In the dim light, the tiny figure in a light blue dress wobbled toward them. As she got closer, bits of dried seaweed and sand hanging from her clothes became visible.

Did she fall down?

Yu Jinxiao’s brows furrowed instinctively.

Before the man in the cap could grab Yuanyuan, Yu Jinxiao strode forward, his long legs crossing the distance in a few steps. He raised his arm slightly, leaving his intentions unclear.

“Is Mr. Yu going to deal with her himself??” The two men were shocked.

Even the man kneeling on the ground shouted out in fear, “Don’t hurt the child! She has nothing to do with this! If you’ve got a problem, take it out on me!”

“Daddy—”

Under the astonished gaze of the three men,Yu Jinxiao scooped Yuanyuan up, shifting her onto his shoulder with a firm but gentle bounce.

“Daddy, what are you doing?” the little one asked, clinging to his neck, her wide eyes fixated on the poor man still kneeling on the ground.

Yu Jinxiao resisted the urge to scold the little rascal right then and there. However, with the others present, he didn’t want to lose face by giving a parenting lesson in public.

What he didn’t realize was that the way he carried the little girl was already a dead giveaway of his softer side.

“Did you sneak out?” Yu Jinxiao ignored her question, glancing into the darkness.

It had to be her mischief—Gao Zhou rarely made such careless mistakes. Who would’ve thought a three-year-old could be so sneaky?

From the car to the beach, Yuanyuan had managed to find him with eerie accuracy. She was smarter than he’d given her credit for.

Her fair little face glowed in the poor lighting, like a small, enchanting spirit washed ashore.

Casually brushing the seaweed and sand off her, Yu Jinxiao glanced thoughtfully at the man still kneeling on the ground.

Should he take action? Or maybe not?

With the little one in his arms, even though she was young, Yu Jinxiao found himself unable to justify doing anything too cruel in front of her innocent eyes.
“Daddy, don’t do anything bad!” Yu Yuanyuan looked at him, tearfully. QAQ