He wasn’t sure how much time had passed before he started to feel dizzy. Finally, he succumbed to drunkenness, which lasted until the next morning.

His phone rang again. This time, it kept ringing, but he didn’t answer it for a long while. When he finally checked his phone much later, he saw a woman’s avatar and immediately hung up.

But the caller was persistent and dialed again. It took a long while before Qi Longbing eventually answered. "Hello, what do you want?"

"Ah Bing, are you doing okay in City B? When are you coming back? Grandpa is asking when you’ll return. I need to prepare," Pan Yutong said coquettishly on the other end. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Not yet. I’m too busy over here. I might come back after a while. And you don’t need to prepare anything," Qi Longbing said and, with a CLICK, hung up the phone. Then, pressing a hand to his forehead, he thought about Candy, and then about Hua Xiaomo’s attitude. If that child was really his, how could he let them, mother and daughter, continue to struggle on their own in B4! And to carry the stigma of an illegitimate child on top of everything else?

With these thoughts, Qi Longbing couldn’t find any peace, nor could he leave City B with an easy mind. He felt he had to do something for the mother and daughter. More importantly, he *had* to find out what was really going on with this whole situation.

Ever since Candy went out that one time, she had to rest the following day. After that, Hua Xiaomo never let her out again. She repeatedly instructed the servants to watch Miss Candy closely and not allow her to go outside.

It wasn’t until the third day, after Hua Xiaomo had taken Candy to school, that she felt relieved enough to leave her side. However, before departing, she still instructed Candy to study hard and not to interact with other people, as it might affect her studies.

Candy, seemingly only half-understanding, nodded in agreement, but deep down, she was quite clever.

"What does she mean, ’don’t interact with other people’?" she thought. "My teacher always says that to learn from others, you need to communicate more with them. That’s how you can help yourself and learn what they know. Mom’s advice is so outdated—totally OUT! What the teacher says, *that’s* keeping up with the times!" Little Candy chuckled to herself and, feeling quite pleased, slung her small backpack on and entered the school classroom.

Meanwhile, a luxury car was parked in a discreet spot outside the school. Only after he saw Hua Xiaomo drive away did the man slowly get out of the vehicle.

Qi Longbing went directly to the school. After a brief conversation with the homeroom teacher, he left with Candy.

"Uncle, where are you taking me? Uncle, I’m sorry. My mom might have been a bit upset the other day, but she definitely wasn’t upset with you. It was because I promised her I’d rest at home, and I didn’t, so that’s why she got angry. But Uncle, please don’t be mad at my mom, okay?" Little Candy asked, her voice sweet and innocent.

Qi Longbing smiled and gently patted Candy’s head.

"Don’t worry, Uncle won’t be mad at your mom. Uncle is feeling a bit unwell and thinking of going to the hospital. Would Little Candy like to go to the hospital with Uncle?" Qi Longbing asked tentatively. This was something that had to be done, wasn’t it? Only by doing this could he confirm the doubts in his heart. And this was indeed the most straightforward way; no need for any roundabout methods. He truly couldn’t wait any longer. He wanted to be sure of something. He was even more eager to resolve the doubts in his heart. These days, this issue had been tormenting him, robbing him of good sleep.

"Uncle, did you say you’re sick? Oh dear, Uncle, why are you so bad at taking care of yourself? It must have been because we played outside for too long the other day, and that’s why you caught a cold. Sorry, Uncle, it’s my fault. I’m the one who took you out to play," Candy said apologetically, her little face filled with guilt.

Qi Longbing looked at her, smiling as he scooped her up in his arms. "Silly girl, how could you have taken Uncle out to play? It should be Uncle who took you out to play. Right now, Uncle just has a slight headache and wants to go to the hospital to have it checked. Little Candy, will you keep Uncle company and go to the hospital with me, okay?"

"Okay, okay! Then shall we go to the hospital nearby? The Zhongshan Hospital next door is really good! A lot of my little friends go there when they’re sick, and the aunties and uncles there are very nice to us kids," Little Candy said with a smile.

Qi Longbing also smiled sweetly and nodded at her. "Alright, then we’ll go to the Zhongshan Hospital next door."

Soon, Qi Longbing carried Little Candy out of the school and headed straight for the Zhongshan Hospital nearby.

Inside Zhongshan Hospital, Qi Longbing registered for a specialist. Then, he handed Candy over to a nurse for careful supervision while he went to speak briefly with the doctor.

"Hello, I’d like to do a paternity test," he said.

The doctor nodded, wrote out some forms for him, and then told him to go get his blood drawn.

After Qi Longbing had his blood taken, he went over to Candy. "Candy, you should also have some blood drawn. The doctor says Uncle is a bit anemic and needs some of Little Candy’s blood for Uncle, is that okay?"

Little Candy looked at Qi Longbing, a slightly odd feeling creeping over her. Why would an adult need a child’s blood? That’s so strange!

"Well, okay then," Little Candy said with a laugh. "Uncle, you’ve been very nice to me, buying me so many toys and taking me to the amusement park. In any case, I, Candy, am a girl with a conscience. Uncle, I’ll lend you a little bit of my blood."

Then, a nurse came and drew Little Candy’s blood.

After a while, when Little Candy’s blood draw was finished, Qi Longbing looked at the two vials of blood, a peculiar feeling stirring deep inside him. For the moment, however, he buried these doubts deep in his heart.

"All done, Little Candy, let’s head back. Uncle will take you back to school now. But this matter... it’s a little secret between you and me, okay? Let’s not tell your mom about it, or else she’ll get angry again," Qi Longbing said with a chuckle, gently patting Candy’s little head.

He found himself growing more and more fond of this child. Suddenly, a very strange sensation came over him. Even if this child was indeed adopted by Hua Xiaomo, he still wanted to keep her by his side. He felt a real bond with Little Candy, and his affection for her was growing. Thinking this way, the pressure in his heart eased considerably. He had come to terms with many things.