When the servant saw this scene, his heart skipped a beat, and cold sweat broke out on his back from fear.
Just when he thought Lu Junhan would lose his temper and throw the disobedient little girl out of the banquet hall, the man instead withdrew his gaze, his voice low and unhurried as he repeated:
"Be obedient. Go upstairs to bed. I have work to do later, so I can't take you."
Little Lili lowered her head, her small mouth pouting in clear displeasure, brows furrowed in reluctant grievance. Her soft voice was dull:
"...All right, but Dad, you have to come up quickly. Lili wants to sleep with you."
Lu Junhan, already pressed for time with urgent matters, didn't dwell on her request. He checked the time on his wristwatch without even looking up, giving a perfunctory, "Mm."
Hearing his agreement, the little girl's mood changed instantly. She tiptoed up and planted a quick kiss on his cheek before he could react.
The man froze for half a second, his face remaining expressionless, but Lili, aware she might have overstepped, scampered off toward the stairs before he could "punish" her. Her small voice floated back happily:
"Dad, I just gave you my good luck! Remember to come back soon!"
The warmth of her kiss lingered faintly on his cheek, carrying the sweet scent of milk.
Was this what she called "good luck"?
Lu Junhan stood watching her tiny figure bounce upstairs. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
"...Naive."
He had never believed in luck or superstition. Even the so-called red koi, regarded as a symbol of fortune, was in his eyes nothing more than an edible fish.
But this little thing… she was bolder than he thought. This time she ran off quickly—otherwise…
His eyes narrowed slightly. Only when she disappeared into her room did he turn to leave.
At that moment, a banquet guest holding a glass of red wine approached, clearly intending to strike up a conversation. He didn't expect Lu Junhan to suddenly turn around, and in his surprise, the entire glass of wine tipped forward.
Dark liquid arced through the air—at such close range, it should have splashed all over Lu Junhan. Even if he moved, he wouldn't be able to avoid it completely.
The guest's face went white, panic flaring. "Lu… Shao Lu, I didn't mean—" He fumbled for a handkerchief to help wipe the spill.
But then he froze.
Lu Junhan's suit was spotless. Not a drop of wine had touched him—the entire spill had somehow landed on the floor.
What kind of outrageous luck was that?!
Lu Junhan himself was momentarily taken aback. He had moved slightly, yes, but not nearly enough to have avoided the splash entirely. By all logic, at least some of it should have hit him.
Yet… nothing.
For some reason, he suddenly remembered a certain little voice:
"Dad, I just gave you my good luck!"
Good luck…?
His gaze lowered, lingering on the pool of spilled wine at his feet, his thoughts unreadable.
---
Although there were no children's clothes in the villa yet, the moment Lu Junhan had publicly acknowledged raising Lu Li, her position as the Lu family's young miss was unquestionable.
Servants and bodyguards now rushed to curry favor with her.
While a servant filled the bathtub for her, couriers kept arriving with boxes of new clothes. The butler frowned at the quality—many were too cheap-looking, others were gaudy, wholly unworthy of the Lu family's most precious little princess. But Lili herself clutched a white nightdress embroidered with several bright red koi and skipped happily into the bathroom.
Lu Li had always loved water.
Back in the heavens, she had spent over three hundred years near water, where her spiritual power recovered faster and drowsiness never caught her.
So tonight, while waiting for her father, she lingered in the bath for over two hours.
At first, the servant tried to limit her to ten minutes, fearing her skin would wrinkle. She reluctantly obeyed, put on her pajamas, and lay in bed. But the moment the servant left and turned off the lights, she slipped out again.
Too short to reach the switch, Lili used a small spell to fill the tub, then transformed into her true form—a small, shimmering red koi—and began swimming joyfully.
Her little tail flicked like a wisp of red silk through the water. She blew idle bubbles, soaking in the heaven-and-earth aura, regaining her mana bit by bit.
Gradually, a faint golden light began to radiate from her scales—fortune spreading outward.
In the courtyard, a servant exclaimed, "Strange! That koi in the pond was sick earlier, barely moving, but now it's darting around like nothing happened!"
Another, standing under a tree, shouted in excitement while staring at his phone: "I won! I actually won the lottery! First time ever—what luck!"
Lili's sensitive hearing caught every word. She swished her tail in satisfaction—until she froze mid-flick.
Father.
She could hear him—he was on this floor. And… there were bad people with him.
Abandoning her bath, she transformed back into her human form and dashed out barefoot in her nightdress.
---
"Master Lu, as you expected—someone really took advantage of the banquet to sneak into the study and steal Lu Corporation's confidential files!"
The lead bodyguard dragged two captured men to Lu Junhan's feet.
The intruders struggled weakly, only to be forced flat to the floor by a brutal kick to the back.
The humiliation burned their faces crimson. In their fifties, they trembled with anger—but no one dared make a sound.
Lu Junhan lounged on the sofa, lighting a cigarette, exhaling slowly. He tapped the armrest twice before lifting his gaze. His smile was faint, but the chill in his eyes made sweat bead on their necks.
It didn't need to be said—they realized this was a trap, bait meant for them. Lu Junhan had deliberately hosted the banquet here to flush out traitors and identify the leak in the company.
They had once mocked him as short-sighted. Now their regret was bitter.
The silence in the study was suffocating. Neither dared move.
Finally, Lu Junhan exhaled a lazy curl of smoke and spoke, voice low:
"Manager Chen. Vice President Liu. Truly… rare guests."
The two men flinched, their fear evident. They had witnessed Lu Junhan's methods before—brutal, efficient, merciless.
"Mr. Lu… we—we were forced!" Manager Chen stammered. "If we didn't… Master Lu wouldn't let us live. We only meant to make a show of it—we'd never actually steal from you…"