Chapter 2: Raising the Child as a Toy?

Old Mrs. Chi was furious. "Do you even know how to hold a baby?"

"Did you hurt her?"

She took Tiantian back with a heart full of pity, glaring at Chi Wenting with undisguised disdain.

"I told you to be gentle. What kind of father are you?"

Chi Wenting felt a headache coming on. "She just cries way too much."

She’s just like that woman, Lan Jiaojiao—completely useless, only knowing how to cry.

Chengcheng sat on the carpet clutching her milk bottle, listening to Chi Wenting’s words of disdain, which were actually laced with doting, and felt a little envious.

She thought for a moment, dropped her bottle, and crawled *da-da-da* over to Chi Wenting.

Then, with her big, round eyes wide open, she grabbed his calf with her chubby little hands and used it for leverage to stand up. "Da-da?" Daddy?

Chi Wenting couldn't understand her baby talk and pinched her chubby little cheek with a look of disdain.

"So this is that little tag-along?"

Old Mrs. Chi nodded. "Yes. I saw that Tiantian is very attached to her, so I brought her back."

"Don't let her size fool you; she's actually quite well-behaved."

Her words were filled with pity for Chengcheng.

Chi Wenting frowned after hearing this. "Her parents are truly inhuman."

To abandon a child this small.

He crouched down and pinched Chengcheng’s chubby cheek, though he didn't seem to reject her.

"Fine. Since they don't want her, we'll keep her as a toy."

"Let her be a playmate for that crybaby Tiantian."

Nine-month-old Chengcheng...

Why do I have to be a playmate again! I refuse!

Seeing her pouting, Chi Wenting childishly tugged at her chubby ear.

"What, even you dislike that crybaby Tiantian?"

Chengcheng was just about to shake her head.

When she heard Chi Wenting scoff, "Too bad, you don't have a choice."

Because this young master doesn't have a choice either.

Chengcheng was unconvinced and protested with a pout, "Pfft, pfft, pfft!"

She wanted to say "no," but ended up spitting out a mouthful of saliva.

Chi Wenting’s face was covered in spit, and he frowned.

"Little brat, stop spitting on me!"

"You're all messy. Who would even want you?"

These words struck right at her heart. Chengcheng’s little mouth flattened, and she burst into a loud "Waaah~" cry.

She was already feeling depressed about her background, and now her stinky father was being mean to her and saying he didn't want her; naturally, she was heartbroken.

On top of that, babies have poor emotional control—they cry when sad and laugh when happy. She couldn't hold it back, and she looked pitifully small as she sobbed.

Even Old Mrs. Chi felt her heart ache.

She glared at Chi Wenting. "Do you have to bully her? Isn't she pitiful enough already!"

"Her parents abandoned her, and now that I've brought her home, you're still rejecting her!"

When Chengcheng heard this, her face, topped with a little tuft of hair, looked even more aggrieved.

Chi Wenting saw her crying so pitifully and gave an awkward, clicking sound with his tongue. "Kids are such a hassle."

Yet, he still crouched down, rubbed Chengcheng’s little curls with his large hand, and said in an awkward tone, "Alright, stop crying. I'll give you extra milk tonight."

Chengcheng huffed and reached out her short, chubby hands toward him, wanting to be held.

Chi Wenting picked her up, though he couldn't help but mutter, "You're so dirty."

Even so, he took the wet wipe Auntie Fang handed him and wiped her nose.

Chengcheng could feel the warmth beneath Chi Wenting’s prickly exterior and felt that maybe her father did care for her after all.

Feeling happy inside, her milky little face immediately broke into a smile.

"Hee hee~ Ba-ba~"

She said it much more smoothly this time, and Chi Wenting understood.

He widened his eyes in surprise and gave her a strange look. "I am not your father. You have to call me Uncle."

The hospital only said Lan Jiaojiao gave birth to one daughter, which was Tiantian.

This other one was just an unwanted child from the orphanage; she wasn't his daughter at all.

The child was just young and must have learned it from hearing the family tell Tiantian to call him "Daddy."

He handed Chengcheng to Auntie Fang and instructed her, "Teach her to call me Uncle from now on."

Otherwise, if Lan Jiaojiao found out he had two daughters, who knew how much she would cry when she woke up.

That woman liked to let her imagination run wild; she might actually think he had been cheating and having children with someone else, and that would be a huge misunderstanding.

Auntie Fang didn't know what he was thinking and assumed he didn't like Chengcheng, so she nodded. "Alright, I understand."

Chengcheng felt depressed.

She hadn't expected that even after being reborn, the whole family would still be kept in the dark.

It seemed the plot of the "mystery of her background" was unavoidable.

For now, she could only try to build a bond with her stinky father and see if she could make him notice something different.

Though, she wondered if her stinky father was even capable of noticing?

"Da! Fighting!"

Auntie Fang was amused to see her little fists clenched tight and her chubby face puffed up, looking like she was cheering herself on.

"Look, Madam, Chengcheng is such a funny little baby."

Old Mrs. Chi, holding the timid Tiantian, smiled at this.

"Yes, with Chengcheng around, perhaps Tiantian will be influenced and grow up to be a bit bolder."

It wouldn't be good if she stayed this timid forever.

As the eldest daughter of the Chi family, she needed to be poised and confident; Tiantian was just too shy.

But never mind, she was new here; with time and education, she would surely improve.

Auntie Fang comforted her, "Madam, don't worry too much. Miss Tiantian has the Young Master's bloodline; her genes certainly won't be bad."

Chi Wenting had been a little devil in his childhood; there wasn't a timid bone in his body.

"Perhaps she's just not used to being home yet. She'll be fine when she's older."

Old Mrs. Chi thought the same. "Right. Both children are only nine months old. I'll raise them myself from now on, let them see more of the world, and their courage will grow."

Chengcheng’s eyes lit up. She hadn't expected Old Mrs. Chi to include her in that, and she felt a little touched.

After all, Grandma didn't know her true identity, yet she was still so kind to her.

Looking at it this way, her family was still as kind as ever.

Auntie Fang saw her big, bright eyes and laughed. "This child, crying one moment and laughing the next—her emotions are so rich."

Old Mrs. Chi also found Chengcheng interesting.

"Such a cute child, I don't know what her parents were thinking, to just abandon her like that."

Because the vicious male supporting character had fabricated a tragic story for Chengcheng.

He claimed her "parents" favored boys over girls, and after having three or four daughters in a row, they didn't want Chengcheng anymore and just threw her away, and a kind person had sent her to the orphanage.

So, in Old Mrs. Chi’s eyes, Chengcheng was just a pitiful child.

Auntie Fang added, "To have the heart to abandon such a cute child—it's truly a sin."

Seeing that they had all been deceived by the vicious male supporting character, Chengcheng felt even more depressed and leaned her little head against Auntie Fang’s shoulder.

Biting her chubby hand, she wondered how she could get her grandparents and her father to recognize her as their own child??