"Let you handle him as you like?" Lin Yao's eyes grew colder. He really began to doubt if this little boy was even the biological child of this couple.
"Yes, you can punish him however you want. Please spare our Tao family," Mrs. Tao said urgently, her eyes red with determination.
"Me, punish a five - year - old kid? Are you crazy or am I? Or do you think I, Lin Yao, am such a scoundrel that I'd pick on a child? It's the father's fault if the son goes astray. You should bear the consequences of your own failed parenting. Don't drag the child into this."
Lin Yao was really too lazy to waste any more words on this couple. He slammed the door shut with a bang.
Immediately, the heart - rending cries of the little boy came from outside. Even the high - end soundproof door of their house couldn't completely block it out.
The little boy wailed, begging his mother not to abandon him. Mr. Tao cursed Mrs. Tao for her failed parenting, while Mrs. Tao hysterically listed all the wrongdoings of the Tao family.
It was truly a great show.
Lin Yao had long investigated the background of this family. Mrs. Tao was once the mistress who had managed to marry into the family. The original Mrs. Tao was from a well - bred family. Although her family wasn't extremely wealthy, they were a family of scholars with excellent manners.
Mr. Tao was infatuated with his so - called first love. He had an affair for two years during his three - year marriage, driving the original Mrs. Tao to the brink of depression and suicide.
The moral character of this family had never been good. Lin Yao never expected that, for the sake of money, they could even abandon their own child.
As the saying goes, bad bamboo never produces good shoots. The genes of this whole family were just off the mark.
"Hey, change the direction of the acquisition plan. I want the Tao family to go bankrupt. This family can be kicked out of the business circle in Nancheng."
Lin Yao changed his mind from just giving them a small lesson. These villains might bear a grudge against Miaomiao. It was better to crush them completely, so they wouldn't keep causing trouble like a dying insect after autumn.
An hour later, the assistant brought the documents and materials Lin Yao needed to the apartment.
Lin Yao didn't like having outsiders stay at home for too long. After the assistant put down the documents and food, he left immediately.
The little girl stood on the chair, chewing the food greedily. Lin Yao frowned as he looked at the documents in his hand. He found the food tasteless.
The documents stated that Miaomiao had been abandoned at the door of the orphanage when she was less than a month old. After examination, she had no congenital diseases and was a very healthy baby.
After that, she had always lived in the orphanage and never left.
Lin Yao was the first person to adopt Miaomiao.
Strangely enough, Miaomiao had no congenital diseases and her personality was not bad. Instead, the orphanage director's evaluation of Miaomiao was that she was very cute and well - behaved, and should be one of the easiest children to be adopted.
But every time an adoptive family came to the orphanage to choose a child, Miaomiao would disappear without a trace. She would come back after the adoptive family left, and there were always some injuries on her body, either from falls or bumps.
How could there be so many coincidences in the world?
Lin Yao couldn't help but suspect that, considering the not - so - good living environment in the orphanage, Miaomiao might have been bullied there for a long time.
It seemed that not only the business circle but also other places needed to be rectified.
Putting down the materials, Lin Yao still couldn't find the source of all the mysteries about Miaomiao. He rubbed his forehead and felt melancholy for a while.
After thinking for a long time, Lin Yao finally decided to ask his own daughter directly. After all, Miaomiao never lied, and he could piece together some information.
"Baby, are you full?"
"Yeah," Miaomiao wiped her mouth and nodded heavily.
"Miaomiao, daddy is just curious. What was your life like before you met daddy?"
"Begging for money. I walked around with the beggar grandpa. If we met kind brothers and sisters, I would act cute and get some food!" Miaomiao tilted her head and thought carefully before answering.
This was her whole life before she met her father. She lived like this every day, year after year, without any change.
"Then how did you meet daddy?"
"Some bad guys were chasing daddy and wanted to kill him. Then I hid daddy in an old temple. Later, daddy left and took me home. Then I lived at home."
"After you started living at home, what did you do every day?"
"I learned martial arts from my senior brothers and sisters. When I got a bit older, I went out with daddy to compete in martial arts tournaments. Sometimes I would go out to play. That's all."
The more Lin Yao listened, the more something seemed off. The story she told was completely different from what was shown in the documents.
Begging, being chased, learning martial arts, competing in tournaments.
These things strung together sounded more like a martial - arts novel. In today's modern and law - abiding society, how could such things exist?
"How old are you this year, Miaomiao?" Lin Yao steadied his nerves and continued to ask.
"Um, twelve years old!"
Miaomiao answered this question very quickly. Her silly daddy was stunned and couldn't come to his senses for a long time.
Miaomiao never lied. So there were only two possibilities. Either Miaomiao had a twelve - year - old soul in a four - year - old body, or she had a wrong perception of her own age.
If he hadn't been reborn himself, Lin Yao would surely have thought it was the latter. But now, he leaned more towards the former.
Maybe Miaomiao was also reborn?
"Baby, have you seen your grandparents, uncles, and cousins before?"
"No."
Not reborn? In her previous life, when Miaomiao was twelve, she should have already met his parents.
"Was there any difference between the environment you lived in before and here? Is daddy different?" Lin Yao continued to probe.
"Yes, there's a huge difference. The way people dress here is so strange. They have to separate the upper and lower clothes. There are no outer robes or middle clothes. And there are cars, which are much faster than carriages! The buildings are so tall. It's all the first time I've seen them! ~ Daddy used to have long hair. Why did he suddenly cut it? Our body and hair are given by our parents. Daddy won't let me cut my hair, but he cut his own. Daddy is a liar!"
Carriages, long robes, middle clothes, long hair.
These pieces of information pieced together a picture from a thousand years ago for Lin Yao. Combined with the many strange skills Miaomiao had, the silly daddy could basically draw a conclusion.
His daughter didn't belong to this era.
His daughter was a time - traveler...
This conclusion was truly shocking. Even Lin Yao, who had seen a lot in his life, found it hard to digest.
Once he accepted this idea, all the strange things from his previous life and this life could be explained, and all the logic made sense.
No wonder Miaomiao could never remember the time but could remember the more complex time periods.
No wonder Miaomiao knew many kinds of martial arts without being taught.
No wonder Miaomiao refused to let go of him at first sight. Maybe he looked the same as the man who had adopted Miaomiao before.
Thinking of this, Lin Yao suddenly felt a pang in his heart. He might be just a substitute, and it was his beloved daughter who regarded him as one.
For a moment, apart from envy and excitement, he couldn't think of any other feelings or solutions.