Xu Lan spent days trying to convince the headmaster. In the end, the headmaster finally compromised and agreed to enroll Bai Wu into the school. The curriculum would be focusing on general knowledge and this was a temporary measure.

Ever since then, Xu Lan sent Bai Wu to school every day, encouraging him to mingle around with everyone. Xu Lan’s efforts paid off and Bai Wu managed to blend in. Before he came home every day, he would bid goodbye to his classmates. When he was home, he would tell Xu Lan what happened at school that day.

“Papa?” Bai Wu saw Xu Lan cooking and tried to initiate conversation.

“Uh huh?” Xu Lan was cooking noodles with eggs. As he was about to crack the eggs in, he responded to Bai Wu without turning to look.

“Papa, I don’t feel like having noodles,” Bai Wu whined unhappily with a frown on his handsome face.

Xu Lan finally directed his gaze on Bai Wu. He said, “Uh, I’m almost done?”

“…”

“Fine, put on your clothes. We’re eating out,” Xu Lan shook his head and said. He scooped the noodles into the bowl. ‘What a waste of food!’ he thought.

“Yay!” Bai Wu leaped off the couch and embraced Xu Lan tightly.

Xu Lan thought, ‘He deserves a reward for his good performance at school these few days. On a side note, how dare he complain about the meals! We just had a nice bowl of noodles with eggs and tomatoes, albeit the tomatoes were slightly raw. However, I tried my best to spice up our meals by ensuring that there’s variety!

For instance, we had stir-fry rice noodles with vegetables the day before. Three days ago, we even had farfalle! I’ve put so much effort into taking care of him, yet he doesn’t appreciate my efforts! For Bai Wu, I’ve come a long way from my instant noodles days. How offensive is it that Bai Wu’s survival instincts kicked in and he learned how to cook!’

Xu Lan brought Bai Wu to the restaurant unhappily. Bai Wu had a huge appetite; it was as though he had been living in starvation. The frightened restaurant owner even offered him a serving of seasonal vegetables on the house.

Xu Lan expressed his gratitude embarassingly. Fortunately, they went to a small restaurant. If they had gone to an upscale restaurant, Xu Lan probably could not even afford instant noodles over the next few days.

“Papa, I’m full.” Bai Wu leaned back with a full stomach and smiled happily.

“As long as you’re full, as long as you’re full,” Xu Lan said as he walked out of the restaurant with Bai Wu. The intense gaze from the other patrons made him drip in cold sweat.

It was not the height of summer yet. Xu Lan and Bai Wu took a stroll side by side. Every now and then, they would look at each other. The sunset cast a golden hue over the city of Whitehorse, softening Xu Lan’s manly features at the same time.

Something was bothering Xu Lan. Even though he managed to get his hands on the adoption certificate, he still had to sort out the identity card.

It said that Bai Wu was three years old just a few months back. If Xu Lan did not see it with his own eyes, he would never believe that the Bai Wu turned into an eighteen-year-old over such a short span of time.

It would be difficult for Bai Wu to obtain a formal education. In fact, not even special schools would take him in. Xu Lan was extremely troubled by this matter.

Just as he was wondering what to do, he received a phone call from Director General Lao Chen. Xu Lan could almost imagine Lao Chen’s big belly and oily face on the other side of the line. He still remembered how infuriated Lao Chen was back when he first met Bai Wu. Back then, Lao Chen was bombarding him with information.

“Director General?”

“Xu Lan, I heard that you’re back? Do you have time to drop by at the station?”

“… Sure.”

Xu Lan decided to play along as he wanted to ask for the Director General’s help. They might be able to work out a win-win solution.