85: Shen Xingran

Now, as the situation developed, except for the Qingyun Base, all other private bases had already been merged by The Authorities and unified under their management.

Everyone followed The Authorities' pace and moved forward together.

Only the Qingyun Base was permitted to remain independent.

It was almost moving forward shoulder-to-shoulder with the Official Base, anchoring itself in Sea City.

To put it plainly, they were nearly equivalent to a second Official Base.

Xie Ziyu was already two years old this year.

Shen Mo Chi’s little princess, Shen Xing Ran, was exactly one year old.

From the moment she was born, she possessed parents who were immensely wealthy and powerfully strong.

Countless people envied her.

But at this moment, Ran Ran, being just a little toddler, knew nothing of this.

She had just learned to walk independently, wearing a princess dress, with her hair in little braids, and comfortable little shoes adorned with bows on her feet.

From birth, she ate well; even the formula she drank was mixed with spiritual spring water from the spatial dimension.

Under meticulous care, at one year old, her cheeks were chubby, her skin was fair and tender, her eyes were large and round, and her thick eyelashes were long and curled. Despite her young age, one could already see her superior features. She had perfectly gathered all the best traits of her parents' looks. When she smiled, she even had a sweet dimple, making her look like a beautiful and adorable little sprite.

Anyone who saw her would want to rush over and give her a big kiss.

At this moment, she was kicking her little chubby legs, walking towards Shen Mo Chi, who was waiting for her ahead.

"Come, Ran Ran baby, slowly. Come to Daddy."

His eyes were full of smiles and affection, filled with the tender love of an old father, and his voice was incredibly gentle.

Xie Ziyu was taller than Ran Ran and could already walk steadily.

He followed closely behind, protecting his little sister, afraid she might fall.

While walking, he also said in a childish voice:

"Ran Ran, slow down, big brother will protect you."

Yue Yue and Lin Wan were sitting on rocking chairs, wearing face masks and drinking juice.

They chatted happily:

"Wanwan, my Ziyu asks for Ran Ran every time he opens his eyes. He says Ran Ran is the prettiest little girl in the world, and he likes her so much. When he gets any good things, the first thing he thinks of is letting Ran Ran play with them. This little rascal, he cares more about Ran Ran now than he does about me, his own mother."

Lin Wan looked at her daughter and her husband; her heart was almost melting.

With no worries about food or drink, her beloved by her side, a daughter as cute as a snowball, and friends who were like family—even though it was the Apocalypse, life was truly wonderful!

"Mmm, Yue Yue, our Ziyu truly has good taste."

The two exchanged a look and both burst out laughing.

Yue Yue looked at Lin Wan's little padded jacket, her eyes full of envy:

"Oh my, having a daughter is so much better. Ever since we had Ran Ran, forget me, even Ji Chuan feels like his precious son isn't as charming anymore. Look at him, his face is practically split with smiles."

"But, your Shen Mo Chi truly spoils Ran Ran."

Lin Wan took a sip of juice.

"Mmm, she’s his sweet little padded jacket, how could he not spoil her? Speaking of which, why don't you have another child if you want a daughter?"

Yue Yue waved her hand:

"Life is short, only a few decades. One is enough. Now that the Apocalypse has finally stabilized, I need to enjoy life properly."

Lin Wan agreed.

"That’s true. We are thinking along the same lines. Anyway, I don't have any thoughts about having more right now."

"Who can say for sure? Let nature take its course."

As they were chatting happily, a cute little voice sounded.

"Dada..."

"Mmm, my little princess, you are so good! Daddy is going to reward our Ran Ran with a kiss!"

Shen Mo Chi held the fair, tender, fragrant, and soft little girl and planted a loud kiss on her full, plump, and bouncy cheek.

Lin Wan was at a loss whether to laugh or cry:

"Look at our Shen Mo Chi, he's almost speaking in a high-pitched, affected voice!"

Yue Yue covered her mouth and laughed heartily:

"As expected of someone who became a father, he’s definitely a doting daughter-slave. But no matter how much he spoils his daughter, the one he puts first is still you."

Lin Wan's eyes curved into crescents:

"Your Ji Chuan is no different."

"Speaking of which, Yi Nian has been on a business trip to Capital City with Shi Li for half a month now. I really miss her."

"Mmm, me too. She said during the video call yesterday that they should be back in the next few days..."

Over there, Ji Chuan watched Ran Ran giggle uncontrollably because Shen Mo Chi was teasing her, and his heart melted.

He grinned widely and leaned in, saying softly:

"Come, Ran Ran, let your Uncle give you a hug."

Looking at this big-eyed, cute baby growing up day by day, Ji Chuan felt truly envious.

His own son was mischievous, and although he wasn't bad-looking, he wasn't as soft and adorable as Ran Ran, making people adore him instantly.

He reached out to take her, but Shen Mo Chi elegantly sidestepped him.

"Ran Ran, Daddy is taking you to find Mommy."

"Mami... Mami... Want Mami..."

Her little voice was so pleasant to hear.

Shen Mo Chi turned his head and shot Ji Chuan a look, full of provocation.

Ji Chuan ground his back molars, extremely annoyed.

He looked down and saw his own silly son staring longingly at Ran Ran.

He thought smugly:

"It doesn't matter. Ran Ran will definitely be part of our family in the future anyway. Shen Mo Chi, aren't you just raising a daughter for our family right now! Hehehe..."

Little did he know, perhaps he was raising a son for Shen Mo Chi's family instead...

Shen Mo Chi steadily held his daughter and walked with his long legs to sit next to Lin Wan.

The two held Ran Ran together and doted on her, completely blissful.

Although Xie Ziyu was small, Ji Chuan made him do exercises suitable for his age every day, so he was very healthy and much taller than his peers. He could even execute a set of punches and kicks quite proficiently.

Ever since Shen Xing Ran arrived, Xie Ziyu had been incredibly fond of her. He visited Auntie's house almost every day to see Ran Ran.

Lin Wan even joked to Yue Yue:

"Ziyu seems more like my son."

Yue Yue smiled, both helplessly and amusedly.

"Who says he isn't? He spends more time at your place than ours. It's all because our Ran Ran is too adorable; who wouldn't like her?"

After chatting and laughing for a while longer, they coaxed the two little ones to sleep after lunch.

Then everyone went to the main hall to discuss matters.

After careful consideration and for the sake of long-term development,

they finally decided to dissolve the base.

In truth, dissolving it meant dispersing the base's personnel across various sectors.

When Sea City was rebuilt, Lin Wan and the others contributed significantly.

The containers piled up in Lin Wan's spatial dimension, along with many other items they had stored previously, all came into use.

They had been planning this for a long time.

The establishment of hotels, real estate, clothing, and even the re-production of automobiles and electronic products—the Qingyun presence was in all these industries.

They used the valuable points previously granted by The Authorities, along with the core members of Qingyun cultivated over the years, to spread Qingyun's industries throughout Sea City. And this was just the beginning.

Now that everything was on track, it was time to dissolve the base.

Dissolution did not mean an end, but rather a more suitable new beginning.

After all, having only one base existing among them made them stand out too much. For long-term considerations, they needed to adapt to the prevailing situation when necessary.

With Shen Mo Chi and Ji Chuan, two veterans of the business world, everything proceeded in an orderly manner.

To say that the Qingyun Squad was now the wealthiest in Huaxia was entirely deserved.

This was also the advantage of never having joined the Official Base; they had fewer constraints and could act fearlessly to do what they wanted.

Their original intention was simply to live happily.