119: Chapter 119 Suspicious Hidden Camera Photos on Parent-Child Day!

The three of them walked to the entrance of the residential complex and happened to run into Auntie Wang, who was returning from grocery shopping. Seeing Zhang Fan accompanying Xia Qinyi and Lele, she smiled and said, "Teacher Xia, is this Lele's father? He looks so energetic and is so good to the child; what a blessing."

Xia Qinyi blushed. Just as she was about to explain, Zhang Fan spoke first: "Hello, Auntie. I am a friend of Teacher Xia, and I am accompanying Lele to Parent-Child Day today." He neither directly denied nor admitted it, giving Xia Qinyi a way out while also avoiding further questioning for Lele.

Auntie Wang nodded knowingly and said with a smile, "So that's how it is. Well, you should hurry along then; Parent-Child Day is sure to be lively."

After leaving the complex, Xia Qinyi whispered to Zhang Fan, "Mr. Zhang, thank you for just now. If Auntie Wang knew that Lele didn't have a father, she would have started asking all sorts of questions."

"It's no problem," Zhang Fan said. "Let's hurry to the kindergarten so we don't keep Lele waiting."

On the way, Lele kept holding Zhang Fan's hand, chattering non-stop. One moment she was talking about how gentle her kindergarten teacher was, the next she was saying her drawing had won a red flower, and then she asked if Zhang Fan knew how to make a robot craft. Zhang Fan answered patiently, occasionally cracking jokes that made Lele burst into laughter.

Watching their interaction, Xia Qinyi quietly let go of her concerns. She felt that perhaps letting Zhang Fan accompany Lele to Parent-Child Day was the right decision—at least for today, Lele could participate in the activities with a "father" just like the other children, and would not feel inferior or aggrieved.

Meanwhile, as Zhang Fan chatted with Lele, he was calculating in his mind—once Parent-Child Day was over, he needed to get Gu Jingshen to pull up Lin Haoyu's information, especially evidence regarding his unsuitability to raise Lele. He could not let Lin Haoyu ruin Lele's childhood, and he certainly wouldn't let Xia Qinyi be aggrieved again.

Soon, they arrived at the kindergarten. Many parents and children had already arrived at the entrance; some parents were tidying up their children's clothes, while others were greeting the teachers, making for a very lively scene. Lele pulled Zhang Fan's hand and ran inside excitedly: "Uncle, hurry, follow me! Our seats are over there!"

Zhang Fan followed Lele inside, with Xia Qinyi trailing behind. Watching her daughter's happy back, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but lift. She knew that today would surely be an unforgettable day—not just for Lele, but for her as well.

The kindergarten activity room was filled with the sweet scent of colored paper and glue. Over thirty small tables were pushed together into long rows, and each table was set with cardstock, scissors, and pipe cleaners.

As the "Creative Robot" craft competition for Parent-Child Day kicked off, Lele dragged Zhang Fan to the front row and pushed a "robot head" made of silver cardstock toward him: "Uncle, we are going to make the coolest one! Even cooler than Hao Hao's!"

Zhang Fan nodded with a smile and picked up a blue pipe cleaner with his fingertips. Just as he was about to bend it into the robot's antenna, Lele pressed his hand down: "No, no! The antenna needs to be bent into the shape of a heart, so the robot can emit love signals!"

She stood on tiptoe and pulled a piece of pink glitter paper from the pile of colored paper. "And we have to stick this on too! Mommy says pink represents gentleness, so the robot should be gentle too."

Xia Qinyi sat nearby, holding scissors and slowly cutting the cardstock, but her gaze fell on Zhang Fan and Lele from time to time.

Zhang Fan patiently followed Lele's "instructions" to adjust the pipe cleaners, occasionally helping her wipe off glue stuck to the tip of her nose, his actions as natural as those of a real father and daughter.

A parent leaned over to chat: "Your husband is so patient, and Lele is really close to you."

Xia Qinyi's cheeks warmed, and just as she was about to explain, Lele blurted out, "This is my Uncle Zhang Fan, he's even more amazing than a dad!"

Zhang Fan smiled to smooth things over: "I'm their neighbor. I just happened to be free today, so I came over to help."

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, Zhang Fan scanned outside the window. Standing outside the playground fence was a man in a black hoodie, holding a black object aimed at the activity room, the reflection of the lens flashing in the sunlight.

His heart tightened, but he moved toward the window without drawing attention, blocking the man's angle of view while quietly noting the other person's build: average height, hoodie pulled very low, and wearing a silver watch on his wrist.

"Uncle, look at the robot arms I made!" Lele called out, holding up two straws covered in colorful rhinestones. Zhang Fan immediately withdrew his gaze and took the straws to help her stick them on both sides of the robot's body: "That looks great, Lele is a little designer!"

Xia Qinyi also noticed his peculiarity and followed his gaze to look out the window, but she only saw the empty fence: "What's wrong? Is there something outside?"

"It's nothing, just someone passing by, it seems." Zhang Fan suppressed his doubts, not wanting to worry her. "Let's hurry up and finish; there's going to be a judging soon, let's aim for first place."

When the craft competition ended, the "Love Robot" that Lele and Zhang Fan made indeed won first prize, and the prize was a glowing star badge.

Lele pinned the badge onto Zhang Fan's chest and stood on tiptoe to hug him: "Thank you, Uncle! We won this together!"

After taking Lele back to her classroom, Zhang Fan checked the time; it was already 11:00 AM—the shareholders' meeting was set for 12:00, so he had to hurry back to the company.

Xia Qinyi noticed his urgency and handed him a bottle of warm water: "Go ahead, thank you so much for today. Lele will definitely be happy for a long time."

"It's my duty," Zhang Fan said as he took the water, then cautioned, "Be careful lately. If you see any strangers giving you trouble again, call me immediately."

He wrote his phone number on a sticky note and handed it to her, then turned and walked quickly out of the kindergarten, though his mind remained preoccupied with the man in the hoodie. His intuition told him that the person had come for Xia Qinyi and her daughter, and it was very likely related to Lin Haoyu.