Chapter 263 162: Zhang Niu: Chao Zi, You're Staying in the Capital City. Big Bro's Got It All Arranged

"Hmm, she's a fast crawler."

Xu Huo pretended not to see his resentful gaze, putting on a thoughtful expression as he looked down at Niuniu.

Niuniu was recovering very well.

Her once-deformed legs were gradually developing normally.

She was still young, but by the time she was an adult, you probably wouldn't even be able to tell there had been anything wrong with her legs. She'd be no different from any other child.

Right now, she was like a little spinning top, zipping all over the floor.

Xu Huo squatted down, picked up Niuniu, aimed her on the floor, and then let go.

Niuniu instantly shot toward Chu Xi, crawling rapidly before bumping her head against her.

A glint appeared in Xu Huo's eyes.

'This is fun. I love this game.'

'If raising kids isn't for playing games... then you're missing out on at least half the fun!'

Chu Xi: ?

She saw the look in Xu Huo's eyes, silently telling her to launch the child back at him. She hesitated for a moment, a hint of disdain on her face, looking a little embarrassed.

"You're twenty-three, almost twenty-four. You can't be this childish."

Xu Huo: ?

Huh?

Xu Huo was stunned.

'The autistic girl actually understands the concept of disdain!'

'Though, the person she felt disdain for was him...'

Chu Xi seemed to think she'd been a bit harsh.

After a moment's thought, she quickly pulled out a pastry—a cream puff.

"Here."

She stuffed it into Xu Huo's mouth, performing her daily feeding ritual.

Xu Huo hesitated. Before, he would have eaten it without a second thought, but now...

He watched as she gave a piece to Niuniu—the action, the expression, was exactly the same as when she fed him. But he was twenty-three...

"Ahem."

"Where's Chao Zi?"

"We're celebrating New Year's Eve in the Capital City, so how come I don't see Chao Zi anywhere now that I'm back?"

Xu Huo set the cream puff aside and changed the subject, looking around with a questioning expression.

"Him?"

"Oh, I almost forgot."

Li Jianye slapped his forehead, suddenly remembering something.

"Right, Boss Niu invited us to a family dinner—a New Year's Eve family dinner."

"And no, there won't be any other business partners."

"Chao Zi asked me to let you know, but you were downstairs the whole time, so I nearly forgot."

'A family dinner?'

'A New Year's Eve family dinner?'

'Celebrating the Western New Year's isn't that big of a deal, usually.'

'But it's still a holiday. Two families... oh, wait.'

Xu Huo glanced at the people around him.

'Counting Zhang Niu, people from at least five different families would be celebrating the new year together...'

"He said something about the phone prototype being ready," Li Jianye added, mumbling a bit as if he didn't quite understand it himself.

"A phone prototype?"

Xu Huo paused, an eyebrow raised.

Only then did he recall the business strategies and future prospects he had discussed with Boss Niu at the beginning of December.

'One month... and the prototype is already finished!?'

At that thought, Xu Huo looked up at Li Jianye.

"When are we going?"

"Seven-thirty tonight. He booked a room at a hotel."

Li Jianye said casually.

He didn't really have a grasp on the business side of things and knew he wouldn't be involved, so for him, it was just a free meal.

"Chao Zi is still getting ready."

"He said it's his first holiday in the Capital City, so he wants to look his best."

"I'm going to go wash up. Call me when it's time to leave."

With that, he turned and left, closing the door behind him.

Xu Huo nodded and glanced at his watch.

It was five in the afternoon, leaving two and a half hours until seven-thirty.

'Arrive half an hour early, plus half an hour for travel... that leaves me with an hour and a half of free time...'

After a moment's thought, he got up and went to his bedroom to change.

Unlike the casual clothes he wore before, Xu Huo was now in a slim-fit, business-casual suit. It made his frame look long and lean, giving him a very sharp and capable appearance.

Chu Xi's eyes suddenly widened as she looked at Xu Huo. It was impossible to read any thoughts in her innocent, unblemished eyes.

Niuniu reached out her arms, wanting to be picked up.

But Chu Xi was a step ahead, scooping her up into her arms.

Niuniu felt herself being squished by the two peaks next to her head and found it quite uncomfortable.

'She's just a baby...'

'A ten-month-old child, forced to endure such a trial!'

Fortunately, Niuniu was clearly a child with no desire to be smothered. She struggled free and resumed her happy crawling.

A while later...

The group walked out of the hotel.

There weren't many of them—just seven in total, including Zhang Liang and Zhao Gang from the Special Fifth Bureau, who were serving as their drivers in a dedicated car.

The vehicle stopped once they arrived at the hotel.

As soon as everyone got out of the car, the cold air hit them.

Suddenly, they felt something cool and icy on their skin.

They looked up.

Just in time to see the sky filled with falling snow.

"Whoa, the snow stopped less than a week ago, and it's already starting up again!"

Wang Chao said in amazement, the shape of snowflakes reflecting in his eyes.

Chu Xi subconsciously took the scarf from her own neck and wrapped it around Xu Huo's. She then put on a different, thinner one for herself, feeling a small sense of satisfaction.

"To be honest," Zhang Liang sighed, looking up at the snow with a worried frown, "before you two arrived..."

"The Capital City doesn't usually get much snow. But ever since you two showed up, it's been non-stop. Maybe if you left, the snow would go away..."

"What kind of talk is that? What are you even saying!?"

"How can you just slander an innocent man out of nowhere!"

Wang Chao's face turned beet red as he vehemently objected.

"The snow is heaven's business! What does it have to do with me?"

"I can't believe you're trying to pin this on me. I won't stand for it."

'Chao Zi felt so wronged.'

'So incredibly wronged!'

Zhang Liang just chuckled, not bothering to argue with the hapless kid. He leaned against the car.

"The two of us won't be going in."

"They've been cracking down on businessmen lately, and our identities are sensitive. Even though we're friends with Old Niu, it wouldn't look good for us to be seen going in."

Xu Huo nodded, not pressing the issue.