The first ones to leave were Yu Zheng and his family. He sold steel and had several business deals that were arranged before the Lunar New Year for delivery after the holiday. Old acquaintances were easy to deal with, but this time, he was handling all new clients. He had promised to deliver on the sixth day of the new year, so they left on the fourth.

Lin Jiajun ran a restaurant, and Lin Feng had invested with him in a children's amusement park. Wang Lu was managing the park, which was at its busiest during the New Year season. If it weren't for Lin Jie's wedding, they wouldn't have made the trip back.

They had tickets for the fifth and flew with their two children to Yangcheng, arriving the same day. With them gone, the task of settling accounts with Lin Rui and Jiang Anmin fell to Lin Feng.

This year, Lin Feng had undoubtedly earned a staggering amount. Jiang Anmin was also managing two shops in Meicheng very successfully and absolutely doted on his daughter, who was now in school and resembled her mother, Su Qiqi. After settling accounts, he distributed the profits to Lin Jiajun and Yu Zheng. Every year, each of them typically cleared a net profit of over three million.

This year, Meicheng had invested heavily in tourism and development, launching aggressive promotional campaigns. As a result, their hot pot restaurant became a viral check-in spot in the city. Its flavors were so good that no customer ever had a bad thing to say about it. For this year's dividend, Lin Feng took the largest share, while Yu Zheng, Lin Jiajun, and Jiang Anmin each received nearly six million. This was far beyond their expectations.

Lin Feng planned to stay a few more days to get another branch restaurant set up. While his own business was doing very well, Lin Rui's was certainly nothing to scoff at. However, given Meicheng's limited population, his income this year was merely on par with previous years.

When Lin Rui learned that Lin Feng was planning to open another restaurant, he offered to invest. None of them were short on cash, especially not Lin Feng. Meicheng was poised to prosper even more, and that wasn't even counting the branch in Yangcheng, which had already netted each of them a dividend of four million this year. It was only natural for Lin Rui to feel a pang of envy.

Lin Feng didn't agree immediately, explaining that he needed to discuss it with the others first. He added that if they didn't agree, Lin Rui shouldn't hold it against them. Lin Rui quickly stated that he would even accept a smaller share.

That evening, Lin Feng brought the matter up with the group. Jiang Anmin was the first to voice his approval. Yu Zheng, Lin Jiajun, Lin Feng, and Lin Rui were family, after all. Excluding Lin Rui would only create friction between the brothers down the line. Since Lin Rui had already made his stance clear and was willing to take a smaller share, they all agreed. The dividends were calculated on a per-restaurant basis, so at most, it just meant his share from the new location would be smaller.

Lin Feng finally finished setting up the new restaurant around February 25th, leaving Jiang Anmin and Lin Rui to handle the busy work that followed. Afterward, he took the children and returned to Yangcheng.

Once the older children started school and Zhang Yuxi went back to work, life settled back into its usual routine. The only thing giving Lin Feng a headache was that Little Treasure vehemently resisted eating solid food. She would rather drink formula than eat anything else. Despite her resistance, Lin Feng had to feed her. He kept a small pot nearby every day, ready to reheat her meal whenever it got cold, just to ensure she ate something.

To make matters worse, Little Treasure was teething, which only soured her temper. She threw a fit at every meal, sometimes escalating to throwing things and kicking her little legs in protest.

To say Lin Feng had a headache would be an understatement. It felt like Little Treasure alone was equivalent to four children!

Each time, Lin Feng would patiently clean up the mess and then continue trying to feed her. The tug-of-war would end, after countless refusals, with Little Treasure finally eating a small bowl. Was he kidding? As if he couldn't handle one little baby.

This went on from the time Little Treasure was five months old, only improving slightly when she turned six. Once her milk teeth grew in, the worst of the discomfort subsided. However, she was still uncooperative when it came to solid food. And once she learned to crawl, she became an unstoppable force of nature. She refused to sit in her stroller or stay in her crib; she was always trying to escape so she could crawl, crawl, crawl!

The living room play area was where the older children used to be corralled. While cooking in the kitchen, Lin Feng kept one eye on Little Treasure's movements. Suddenly, he heard the loud barking of their dog, Big White. Now that Big White was old, he didn't care much for exercise and spent most of his days lying around. Thanks to his Skills, Lin Feng sensed from the dog's frantic barking that something was wrong. He quickly shut off the stove and rushed over to check.

Damn.

Little Treasure's head was stuck between the bars of the safety gate. Her little bottom was hiked in the air as she strained to pull her head free, huffing and puffing with effort.

Lin Feng hurried over to help. It was just a matter of finding the right angle, and her head would come out easily. He checked Little Treasure over, and only when he was sure she was unharmed did he breathe a sigh of relief.

A naive Lin Feng assumed Little Treasure had gotten stuck by accident. He blocked the gap with a cushion and returned to the kitchen to finish cooking. The moment his back was turned, Little Treasure pushed the cushion aside and stuck her head right back through the bars, determined to squirm her way out.

Big White's urgent barking rang out again.

Lin Feng came over and was greeted by a familiar sight. It was the same spot, the same gap, with Little Treasure working hard to squeeze through. Lin Feng watched speechlessly for a moment, waiting for the right opportunity before intervening. Panting, Little Treasure looked up at him.

Without a word, Lin Feng dismantled that section of the safety gate. There. Not a single gap left.

And yet, he was being naive again.

WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!

Hearing Big White bark yet again, Lin Feng had a bad feeling. He looked over and saw an astonishing scene unfolding. Little Treasure had climbed onto a sofa cushion, pulled herself up by grabbing the top of the safety gate, and was now wobbling on her little legs as she attempted to vault over.

Incredible. She's really going for it.

Lin Feng silently recorded the scene with his phone. Just as Little Treasure was about to succeed in her jailbreak, he scooped her up. All that effort, gone to waste. Life was cruel. Little Treasure's expression was one of utter confusion as, a second later, she found herself deposited back inside the play area.

Little Treasure let out a wail of protest. That was not how you were supposed to play! Lin Feng rubbed his forehead, wondering what to do next.

She really was a little drama queen, a trait that became more obvious the older she got. After wailing for a moment, she noticed Lin Feng had returned to the kitchen and gradually fell silent. Lin Feng could easily distinguish between her real and fake crying. As long as she didn't activate her "Pitiable Look" Skill, everything was manageable.

She was probably too stunned just now and forgot to use her Skill. Now that I'm gone, who would she even perform for?

And so, she went back to busying herself with her own activities. Lin Feng had one last dish to finish, and then he could play with her. Just then, he heard Big White barking yet again.

Lin Feng put down his spatula, turned off the stove, and went to look, drawing a sharp breath when he saw her.

Holy cow, how did she get out of the playpen? How did she even do that?

While Lin Feng was still puzzling over it, Little Treasure was already crawling cheerfully away. Her crawl was spider-like—fast, yet somehow adorable. It was a complete mystery how she managed it, but she moved with incredible speed. Not even the fourth-born had been this proficient back in the day.

Lin Feng walked over and picked her up. "Little one, tell Daddy, how did you get out?"

She just giggled at him and struggled against his hold, wanting to be put down so she could crawl and play. With no other choice, Lin Feng carried her to the master bedroom. The room was covered in a thick, comfortable carpet, but Little Treasure didn't like it. After a quick lap around the room, she crawled to the door and started banging on it, wanting out. Lin Feng's attempts to distract her with toys were futile, so he had no choice but to open it.

"What's the matter? Isn't this whole bedroom big enough for you to crawl in?"

The moment Little Treasure had learned to crawl, Lin Feng had baby-proofed the entire house, covering all the sharp edges and corners of the furniture to prevent her from getting hurt. Now, he followed closely behind her, not letting her out of his sight for a second.

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