Secretary Wang arrived at the Sheng Family's house.
His nephew was sitting on the sofa.
"Why just you?" Secretary Wang asked.
Sheng Yuxiao looked up and replied, "Xiao Ya and Xu Ruying are playing upstairs."
Secretary Wang tilted his head, instantly understanding.
"Do you have something to tell me?" Secretary Wang asked, then paused briefly before continuing, "Oh, I see Xiao Ya told you she's going to stay with me for three days? It's not the New Year anymore, so you're too late to shave your head."
Sheng Yuxiao: "..."
"Don't treat her like a toy," Sheng Yuxiao said sternly.
Secretary Wang raised his hand and swore to the heavens: "I promise!"
Sheng Yuxiao shook his head: "I don't believe you."
Secretary Wang smiled and chided, "How can a nephew not trust his uncle?"
Sheng Yuxiao didn't respond to that, instead handing over his phone: "So let my mom remind you."
The smile on Secretary Wang's face faltered slightly as he took the phone.
Xu Qiulai's calm voice came through the phone: "I heard from Yuxiao that the little friend Xiao Ya is going to stay at your place?"
"Yes, sister."
"Why?"
"Because we made a deal, and now the little one is fulfilling her promise, that's all."
"I don't want to break the deal between you two, that's your business. But please carefully recall when Yuxiao was three months old and followed you into a mud pit, almost drowning; when he was a year and a half, you climbed onto the kitchen counter with a stool insisting on cooking for him, nearly blowing up the kitchen; when he was two years old, you took him cycling, speeding down a hill, both of you ending up bruised and battered..."
Xu Qiulai paused here, then changed her tone: "Yuxiao still doesn't know about these incidents. I never told him to preserve your uncle-nephew relationship."
Secretary Wang rubbed his ear: "Sister, I've grown up now."
"Yes, but your desire to raise something has also grown stronger."
"..."
"Leave her with the household staff, don't let your sudden urge to cook a meal end up with her in the hospital for food poisoning."
"...Alright." She only said no cooking, didn't forbid anything else.
Xu Qiulai continued: "It's been a while since I've seen you too. Let's have a meal together in a few days."
Secretary Wang sighed softly: "What's the point of hiring chefs to cook? A family dinner should be homemade..."
"You'd better not, let your brother-in-law cook." Xu Qiulai didn't know what was wrong with him. Her brother had always had his own ideas since childhood—
He valued family traditions so much that, apart from his record of sending everyone to the hospital with his cooking, in his youthful ignorance, he had even tried to nurse his niece and nephew himself.
It wasn't until he was older that he realized he didn't actually produce milk.
"Alright, goodbye sister." Secretary Wang behaved much more properly in front of Xu Qiulai. He hung up the phone and turned to look at Sheng Yuxiao, his gaze soft enough to squeeze water from.
"Little uncle, what do you want to say?" Sheng Yuxiao asked, taking back his phone.
Secretary Wang sighed lightly: "I just suddenly feel that uncle hasn't been good enough to you."
Sheng Yuxiao got goosebumps from the mushiness.
"Good nephew, can you give me Xiao Ya now?" Secretary Wang showed a happy expression.
"What do you mean 'give'?" Sheng Yuxiao shook his head in displeasure, then made an internal call upstairs, "Secretary Wang is here."
Xu Ruying was confused for a moment when she received the call, then remembered the identity her uncle was playing.
Really? Still not tired of it? Still acting?
She hung up the phone and shrugged, hooking her arm around Xiao Ya's shoulders to lift her from the ground: "We're done playing, let's go downstairs."
As Xiao Ya came down, Secretary Wang immediately forgot about eating and took her from Xu Ruying's hands.
"We'll be going then, Young Master Sheng, Miss Xu, goodbye." Secretary Wang stuck to his role.
Xu Ruying covered half her eye, unable to bear watching.
Sheng Yuxiao still couldn't bear to let go, grabbing Xiao Ya's hand.
"Call me anytime if anything happens," Sheng Yuxiao instructed carefully.
Xiao Ya nodded slightly, looking a bit bewildered.
How terrifying could Secretary Wang be?
After leaving the Sheng family's house, Xiao Ya got into the car with Secretary Wang. The journey was completely safe, without any peculiarities.
The car stopped in front of a skyscraper. Xiao Ya tilted her head back but seemed unable to see the top.
Secretary Wang noticed her movement and said softly, "This building is 472 meters tall, with 131 floors."
After saying this, he led her in with a swipe of his card and pressed "131" in the elevator.
Secretary Wang lived on the top floor.
Xiao Ya wasn't familiar with this place. If Zhou Xiaoshu or An Ying were here, they would immediately know that Secretary Wang lived on the most expensive floor of this apartment building.
Priced at 1.6 billion.
This was the tallest residential building in the world. Standing in the top floor apartment, one could overlook almost the entire city.
This was precisely why it was the most expensive.
Anyone standing here would have the illusion that the whole world was beneath their feet.
"Give me your hand," Secretary Wang said without turning his head.
Xiao Ya bewilderedly held out her hand. Secretary Wang grabbed it and pressed it against the fingerprint reader, thinking to himself how soft a child's hand was.
He squeezed it a couple of times.
Xiao Ya immediately widened her eyes: "Ouch!"
Secretary Wang looked thin, but his strength was surprisingly great.
"Oh, sorry," Secretary Wang released his grip and then said, "Come a bit closer."
Xiao Ya moved nearer.
He pressed her against the device, registering her iris.
Only then did he open the steel-like door that gleamed with a cold silver light.
As soon as the door opened, someone bowed to remove Secretary Wang's shoes, replacing them with softer house slippers.
Secretary Wang then remembered: "I forgot to prepare shoes for you."
Xiao Ya politely asked, "Can I go in barefoot then?"
"That's not good. Open a pair of mine for her."
Someone responded and opened a drawer to take out a new pair.
They were adult male shoe size. When Xiao Ya stepped into them, it was quite comical, like she was in a boat.
Secretary Wang walked in front, and Xiao Ya followed behind in the oversized slippers.
It was very clean here, so clean it seemed cold. The floor tiles below were polished to a mirror shine.
So shiny it was slippery.
For others, just this first step into Secretary Wang's home could result in a nasty fall.
But when Xiao Ya was younger, what shoes she wore depended on what she could find. Ill-fitting shoes were common. She could even wear sandals with broken straps.
So walking like this wasn't difficult for her.
She walked steadily... but suddenly Secretary Wang stopped in front of her, turning around, and Xiao Ya bumped right into him.
Xiao Ya fell on her bottom, a bit dazed.
"Are you alright?" Secretary Wang quickly picked her up from the ground.
Xiao Ya shook her head. She looked at Secretary Wang: "Sheng Yuxiao said everything you raise dies."
Secretary Wang's shortcoming was exposed, but he didn't blush. He just said, "They usually survive at least three days." Meaning to reassure Xiao Ya.
"That doesn't sound very scientific," Xiao Ya wasn't nervous. She just looked at him and sincerely suggested, "My grandfather has hired monks, Taoist priests, and nuns before. Would you like an introduction?"