All day long, Tao-Tao had been sending photos of Can-Can.

Some were of her napping peacefully, some of her eating obediently—each one cuter than the last. Qi Sen looked through them over and over.

Pei Shen watched with a wide grin and said while scrolling, “I finally get why so many people spam their social media the second they have kids. Just look at Can-Can’s sweet little smile and those perfect dimples. If we don’t show her off, we’re doing humanity a disservice!”

No sooner had he said that than a soft and sugary post popped up on Qi Sen’s Moments feed.

[Qi Sen: Wuwuwu our Can-Baby is just too adorable! Mwah mwah!!]

By the time Qi Sen snatched his phone back, several minutes had already passed.

He stared at the comments stacking up under the post, his brows twitching, but he said nothing.

[Deskmate: ? Holy crap, Qi Sen, did you change genders??]

[CuteStrawberry: OMG, I never knew you were this kind of person! Secretly so dramatic!]

Qi Sen: …

Pei Shen scratched his head sheepishly and said in a small voice, “I thought it was good! It had emotion, punctuation, even flair. Your feed finally looks alive.”

Qi Sen said nothing. His eyes glinted with so many imaginary daggers that Pei Shen squirmed in place.

“Okay, okay, I’ll fix it!”

He snatched his phone back and posted again:

[Qi Sen: This is Pei Shen. I stole Qi Sen’s phone and secretly made that post. That last one wasn’t from him.]

[Deskmate: What the heck, bro? No one was blaming you for being mushy. Why drag Pei Shen into this? 🙄]

Qi Sen sighed. The more they explained, the darker it got.

Just as he was about to delete both posts, two new comments appeared.

[Jiang Ying: Is this Can-Can? She’s so adorable.]

[Jiang Ying: So you and Pei Shen are that close now?]

Qi Sen’s expression darkened, and he swiftly deleted the posts.

Something about Jiang Ying’s words didn’t sit right with him—they felt too calculated.

Pei Shen, well aware he’d stepped in it, was extra careful once they got home and gave Qi Sen the first shot at seeing Can-Can.

“She asleep?” Qi Sen asked.

Tao-Tao yawned, rubbing her eyes. “Yes, Lord God. The little princess went to sleep at nine.”

“No need to call me ‘Lord God.’ Just Qi Sen is fine.” Remembering what happened last night, Qi Sen instinctively avoided her gaze.

Tao-Tao nodded. “Okay, Lord Qi Sen.”

Pei Shen snorted a laugh.

Tao-Tao scratched her head, confused about what the Third Prince found so funny.

Then she added seriously, “By the way, Qi Sen—after her nap today, the little princess cried a long time when she didn’t see you.”

Qi Sen’s brows furrowed.

If she cried every day just from not seeing them, how was she going to manage?

The next day, Qi Sen crouched down in front of Can-Can and coaxed gently, “Can-Can, if you can nap quietly for three days and not cry when you wake up, Second Brother will buy you rainbow candy.”

Wearing her pink dinosaur pajamas, Can-Can perked up and raised her paws, nodding like a little pecking chick.

Still drowsy from waking up, her baby voice was soft and sleepy: “Second Broder, Can-Can can do it.”

After saying their goodbyes to Can-Can and Tao-Tao, Qi Sen and Pei Shen left the house with heavy backpacks—and even heavier hearts.

At the bus stop, they sighed in unison.

Sigh.

It was only the second full day without seeing Can-Can… and they already missed her, missed her, missed her.

But Qi Sen didn’t get much time to wallow—his phone rang and cut off his thoughts.

“Qi Sen, it’s me. Your mother.”

Jiang Ying’s voice was as gentle as always.

But what she said next was ice cold.

“Qi Sen, if you can’t bring yourself to leave Pei Shen and Can-Can behind to come home, I can help you.”

“What do you mean?”

Jiang Ying gave a soft laugh. “Qi Sen, Can-Can doesn’t have household registration. She can’t even attend kindergarten like this. You should send her to an orphanage. The adoptive family will give her a proper home.”

“We need you back, Qi Sen.” Her tone was firm.

Qi Sen hung up. His eyes were stormy.

“I’m not going to school today,” he said flatly.

Pei Shen looked at him suspiciously. “Then where are you going?”

“To find Can-Can’s dad.”

Pei Shen blinked.

Can-Can’s dad… isn’t that—

Gu Chi??

Neither of them knew that right at that moment, Gu Chi was frantically carrying the pink dragon plush and searching everywhere for Can-Can.

After bringing the plush home, he’d gotten chewed out by his dad for hours. It wasn’t until he explained that he bought it for a kid who wanted it just as badly that his dad begrudgingly said: “Fine. Then bring the kid here so I can see for myself.”

**

Can-Can, unaware that Daddy was scouring the city for her, was currently rolling around the couch in her little dinosaur pajamas, occasionally letting out a ferocious “rawr!” as she pretended to be scary.

Tao-Tao asked, “What exactly are you doing?”

Can-Can poked her lips, tired from holding her dinosaur roar too long, then sweetly pointed to the TV. “I’m copying the scary dinosaur from the show!”

She gave a soft smile. “Sister Tao-Tao, do I look like one?”

“Nope.”

Can-Can sighed deeply.

Turns out being a fierce beast was really hard.

Tao-Tao leaned by the window, sunning herself, when a thought struck her. “Princess, since you’re bored, why don’t we go find the Eldest Prince?”

At the mention of her big brother, Can-Can’s little face fell further.

“What’s wrong, Princess?”

Can-Can poked her fingers together and said pitifully, “Master Yanwang said Big Brother became an animal in this life.”

“An animal?” Tao-Tao’s jaw dropped.

The eldest of the gods turning into an animal? Even for a punishment that was… extreme.

“What kind of animal?” she asked. “Even if he’s an animal, we’ll still find him and take good care of him.”

Can-Can made a “six” gesture with both hands, placed them on her forehead like horns, and let out a soft “mooo.”

“He’s a cow,” she said in her baby voice. “Master Yanwang said so—‘a headstrong cow.’”