Chapter 329– The Domineering CEO’s Little Sweetheart – The Stingy Little Qiu’er (06)
The police car arrived and opened the Bai family’s gate. In sight, not a single piece of furniture remained intact; furniture legs that had been torn off were scattered all over the floor.
Aunt Zhang was lying on the only sofa that was still somewhat intact, Liang Shaomei had fainted in the hallway on the second floor, and Xi Yuanhan came out holding Bai Tang in his arms. On the ground lay three thugs, beaten until they were barely recognizable.
They were late—the fight here had already ended.
The police came to clean up the aftermath: those who needed to go to the hospital were sent there, and those who needed to give statements were taken for questioning.
In the middle of the night, the hospital was practically taken over by them. The three thugs were the most seriously injured, and doctors were urgently called back to the hospital to save them.
Inside the ward, Aunt Zhang had only minor injuries and was lying on a drip. Liang Shaomei’s right hand was dislocated, but after it was set, it was put in a splint. Bai Tang had completely exhausted his mental strength and had fallen asleep from fatigue. Xi Yuanhan’s palm was nearly pierced through by a knife—the doctors did everything they could, and he was considered lucky; if the wound had been any deeper, his hand might have been ruined.
Xiao A had shown some restraint in his attacks—the two thugs he knocked out were seriously injured, but not critically so. The worst off was the one who had pulled out a knife and been countered instead.
It was Bai Tang who had called the police. After he woke up, the officer took his statement.
The little squirrel (Bai Tang) wouldn’t say a word—he just clung to Xi Yuanhan and wouldn’t let him go.
The policewoman picked up on the situation. Xi Yuanhan nodded to her and said softly, “Tang Tang doesn’t like talking to strangers.”
The doctor came over with the reports the police had brought for the injured parties. It clearly stated that Bai Tang was diagnosed with autism.
“Then who made the call?” the policewoman asked.
Liang Shaomei and Aunt Zhang were quickly ruled out. Xi Yuanhan’s voice didn’t match the one from the call. The three thugs obviously couldn’t have called the police. That left only Bai Tang—but judging by his behavior, he didn’t seem like someone brave enough to pick up the phone and talk to a stranger.
After Xi Yuanhan gently coaxed him for a while, the boy finally whispered, “There were thieves~”
Soft and sweet—this was the same voice.
The policewoman lowered her voice, speaking as gently as she could so as not to frighten him. “You were the one who called the police, right?”
Bai Tang hid in Xi Yuanhan’s arms again. The latter held him close and whispered something in his ear. After a moment, the boy shyly peeked out and gave the policewoman a small nod, admitting that it was him.
The policewoman smiled, not pressing him to say anything more. After confirming the details with Xi Yuanhan, Aunt Zhang, and the others, they took the three thugs into custody and let the rest go home.
The house was a complete wreck—utterly unlivable.
This was supposed to be a high-end residential area, known for its “excellent security.” Yet three criminals had managed to sneak in and even injure the residents. The property management clearly couldn’t escape responsibility for this incident.
To preserve the neighborhood’s reputation, the property management promised to compensate the Bai family for their losses and cover all expenses for a full renovation. After communicating with Bai Tang’s father abroad, Aunt Zhang reluctantly accepted the compensation offered by the management.
Since the house would take a few days to renovate, Xi Yuanhan, Aunt Zhang, and Liang Shaomei took Bai Tang to stay at a hotel.
They booked two double suites—Aunt Zhang and Liang Shaomei shared one so they could look after each other, while Bai Tang stayed with Xi Yuanhan. The boy followed him everywhere, never leaving his side for even a moment.
The incident with the thugs had come to a temporary end, though the rest would have to wait until the police finished their interrogation.
Xi Yuanhan still remembered the moment the little squirrel had turned into Bai Tang. He crouched down to meet the boy’s eyes and asked softly, “Tang Tang, tell me—does anyone else know you can turn into a squirrel?”
A flash of panic appeared in Bai Tang’s eyes. He shook his head gently and hugged his squirrel plushie tighter.
Hearing his answer, Xi Yuanhan let out a silent sigh of relief.
His first reaction hadn’t been curiosity—it was fear.
There were countless strange things in this world, but most people were ordinary. Bai Tang was too special; if anyone else found out, who knew what kind of disaster it might bring.
Xi Yuanhan stroked his hair and said, “From now on, if you can avoid transforming, don’t do it. Never let anyone see you.”
Bai Tang nodded. He wouldn’t.
Qiu’er (the system) looked at the obedient boy, feeling a heavy ache in his chest. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find the source of the anomaly in Bai Tang’s soul. With his high-level system permissions, this shouldn’t have been possible—after all, he’d picked up the little squirrel in a very low-level world. There shouldn’t be anything beyond his reach.
Xiao A comforted him, “It’s alright. The host’s condition is still stable for now. Once we’ve gathered enough energy and upgraded, we’ll definitely find the cause.”
“Mm, we definitely will,” Qiu’er agreed, though for now, all he could do was pin his hopes on that future upgrade and higher permissions.
Since gaining sentience, Xiao A had known he was a Fortune System—he’d had countless hosts, all ranked higher than Qiu’er. Yet even he couldn’t identify the reason for Bai Tang’s missing soul fragment. It was a frustrating realization. Still, there’s always someone stronger, always a higher sky; Xiao A knew he wasn’t the most advanced system in existence. It was only natural that there were things beyond his understanding.
The group stayed at the hotel for several days. With Xi Yuanhan around, Bai Tang’s emotions remained stable.
What encouraged Qiu’er and Xiao A was that Bai Tang was slowly returning to normal—not just in terms of his autism, but his soul’s stability as well.
By the time the police had finished their investigation, the property management had completed the Bai family’s renovations. Having learned their lesson, they upgraded the community’s security system to be safer and more reliable than ever. Every household was also given an independent backup power unit, so that even if the entire complex lost power, each home could still operate normally.
The three thugs were considered lucky—they were injured and disabled, but none of them had lost their lives.
However, the three of them insisted that they had only targeted the Bai family because there were few people at home and they thought it would be easy to bully them. They claimed they had only wanted to steal some valuables and denied every other accusation.
They refused to admit to anything else. Based on the on-site investigation, it appeared they had entered through Bai Tang’s room. From there, they snuck into the villa, then went up to the second and third floors where the study rooms were located. There was a safe in one of the studies, and at the beginning, they hadn’t actually harmed anyone—something that supported their claim of attempted theft.
What happened next was that Xi Yuanhan discovered them, and when Aunt Zhang attacked, they fought back.
Xi Yuanhan later took Bai Tang to the hospital for a follow-up appointment. On the way, he saw the three criminals being escorted away by the police.
Having fought them himself, Xi Yuanhan was certain these men were no ordinary thieves. Their movements were too precise, too trained—they had clearly received professional combat instruction. There was no doubt someone was behind them.
Most of Xi Yuanhan’s influence and connections were abroad, making it difficult for him to investigate the forces targeting the Bai family. Though deeply concerned, he was powerless to act from afar and could only let it go for now.
After this incident, Aunt Zhang’s trust in Xi Yuanhan grew even stronger. If not for him, they might all have died at the hands of the intruders.
Even Liang Shaomei, who had always argued with Xi Yuanhan, had a change of heart. She had no memory of fighting off the two thugs—she only remembered one of them lunging at her, her dodging the attack, and then everything went blank.
Bai Kangsheng, still overseas, couldn’t return right away. After learning that Bai Tang was safe, he transferred a sum of money to Aunt Zhang, Xi Yuanhan, and Liang Shaomei as a reward for protecting his son.
Liang Shaomei took the money and asked Aunt Zhang for a few days off.
She went to another hospital in the city and paid for her mother’s surgery.
“Doctor, when can my mother have her operation?” Liang Shaomei asked anxiously.
Previously, the surgery couldn’t be scheduled due to a lack of money—and the post-surgery care would cost even more. Now that she finally had the funds, she hoped her mother could be operated on immediately.
The doctor reviewed her mother’s medical file and the recent reports, which showed that her condition was relatively stable.
“Unfortunately,” the doctor said, “Dr. John took a flight two days ago to handle some personal matters abroad. He won’t be back for about a month.” In other words, Liang’s mother couldn’t have her surgery yet.
It wasn’t that domestic doctors were unskilled, but Liang Shaomei had agreed to let her mother undergo a newly developed treatment procedure—one that was exclusively handled by Dr. John’s international team. Because of this, many of her mother’s preliminary medical expenses had been waived. Without that reduction, Liang Shaomei could never have afforded the treatment at all.
“How could this happen…” Liang Shaomei crouched down, covering her face with both hands.
Her mother’s condition seemed stable, but it could relapse at any time. The sooner the surgery, the greater the chance of survival. Waiting another month was a dangerous gamble—no one could predict what might happen in that time.
Watching her quietly from afar, Qiu’er, who had been keeping tabs on the female lead, couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for her.
Liang Shaomei forced herself to stay composed while chatting with her mother for a while. As evening approached, she returned to the Bai residence, her eyes swollen like two walnuts.
Aunt Zhang was startled when she saw her. “What happened? Weren’t you just visiting your mother? Did someone bully you out there?”
Liang Shaomei shook her head and didn’t want to talk about it.
No one could help her with this matter. All she could do was pray to the heavens, hoping her mother would stay safe until Dr. John returned to perform the surgery.
Over the past few days, Bai Tang had begun speaking more than before. His mind was gradually clearing, and the barriers that kept him from communicating with others were slowly breaking down.
Whenever he had time, he would talk with Xi Yuanhan and Aunt Zhang.
Seeing Liang Shaomei looking so dejected, Bai Tang ran over to her holding his favorite nuts. “Xiao Mei, here~”
The boy’s soft, gentle voice was healing in itself. Liang Shaomei couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you, Tang Tang.”
“Are you upset about something? You can tell me, you know~” said Bai “Little Healing Angel” Tang.
In front of Bai Tang, Liang Shaomei could no longer keep up her strong facade. She lowered her head and began to sob quietly, telling him in broken words about her mother’s illness.
The good-hearted female lead wasn’t someone easy to come by, and Bai Tang genuinely liked her. He discussed with Qiu’er whether they could use the healing system to treat Liang Shaomei’s mother.
But Qiu’er, who was currently focused on maintaining Bai Tang’s soul stability, had become quite stingy. He was unwilling to spend even a bit of energy.
“Life and death are fated, wealth and fortune are decreed by heaven. Everyone has their own destiny line. Forcing a change might not bring good results,” Qiu’er said.
“But aren’t we already changing the destiny lines of the male lead, the female lead, and even the male supporting character by doing our missions?” Bai Tang argued.
“That’s different. Our missions are assigned by the Heavenly Dao. Completing them earns us energy. But for others’ destinies—whether we interfere or not—the Heavenly Dao neither supports nor forbids it,” Qiu’er explained.
“Well, it’s not necessary to use energy to heal the female lead’s mother,” Xiao A added, stepping in before the two could argue further. “As long as the surgery is performed, her chances of survival are actually quite high. Why not just find a way to get Dr. John to come back earlier?”
That successfully put an end to their disagreement.
Author’s Note:
Even when he’s being stingy, Qiu’er is still so cute, isn’t he?