"He's not my child," the flustered Qiao Wei hurried to clarify the truth.
"Oh. Well, I guessed as much. Whose child is he then?"
"He's just..." Qiao Wei swallowed hard. "The child of a friend, that's all."
"Aha."
At the risk of spinning an even less believable lie, Qiao Wei forced himself to elaborate.
"My friend needs to go somewhere for a while, thus he entrusts his child in my care. Shizun, you don't mind, do you?"
"Me? No, not at all," Bai Siyang cleared his throat comically. "Just make sure to tell Little Ling. She seems uh, rather taken aback."
"Taken aback" was a gross understatement.
Nevertheless, Qiao Wei nodded in agreement.
"Of course, Shizun. I will do that."
In the kitchen, Zhang Fengxi was sitting before a pile of food, with the kitchen aunties ooh-ing and aah-ing over his cute and cuddly appearance.
