Ruan Xiao’s normally cold aura softened completely when he saw Shushu.
This father-daughter duo was simply heartwarming. Especially with his daughter snuggling up to him, her soft voice calling out sweetly as she clung to him—it was too cute and heartwarming.
Many people around them were sneaking glances.
So adorable!
She looked a bit familiar… Let’s take another look.
Wait, isn’t that Marshal Ruan and his daughter?!
And—could that be His Majesty over there?!
On their way home, a video of them went viral online.
The video captured everything, from the moment Ruan Shu spotted her father and dashed toward him to when they finally left.
In the video were His Majesty, the Marshal, three dashing young men, and the sweet, cuddly little white dumpling. It was bound to go viral!
> “So, did Marshal Ruan come to the airport to pick someone up? Wow, he came personally—this is peak father-son bonding.”
> “Wait, did the previous commenter even watch the full video? It’s not father-son bonding; it’s clearly father-daughter bonding!”
> “From the Emperor’s last post, it seems the Marshal’s daughter went on vacation with His Majesty and her brothers? But they didn’t take the Marshal along.”
> “Marshal Ruan is so busy! How could he possibly have time for vacations? Rumor has it that the inhibitor for the Third Army and a few other legions has been acting up, and he’s dealing with the chaos.”
> “But the video doesn’t give that impression at all. If things were really that hectic, would the young masters and miss of the Ruan family go on a trip? Even the Emperor went along.”
> “This little darling is so cute! Auntie would love to snuggle with her too. Look at those soft, chubby cheeks—they’re made for squishing!”
> “It’s clear from this video that the Marshal and his daughter have a close relationship. It would be hard to find another pair like them across the entire Star Beast Empire.”
> “She’s also close with her brothers. But if she ever came to my house, our whole family would treat her like royalty! (Hint, hint)”
To everyone’s surprise, Ruan Xiao didn’t immediately have the trending posts taken down like he usually did—not even Almer intervened.
The online fans were beside themselves, wondering if they were seeing things. But the video stayed up the entire next day!
That was unusual. Could this mean that any future videos of them online might also be allowed to stay?
But that was a question for another day. Right now, the group sat in the hovercar, and Ruan Shu was softly chatting with her dad.
She was recounting everything that had happened on the Snowfall Star.
She told him about those unfortunate wolves, the beautiful lake at the mountain’s peak, the hot springs, the Ice Jiao, and the Edelweiss flowers. Lastly, she spoke about the snowman they all built together.
Ruan Xiao listened intently, showing no trace of impatience.
In the end, she took her father’s hand, her eyes shining, a soft and sweet smile on her face.
“Dad, I brought Edelweiss flowers back with me—1,250 of them. There were more, but a naughty rabbit ate a bunch of the Edelweiss buds.”
At the mention of that rabbit, Ruan Shu’s little face puffed up with annoyance.
“The bracelet Almer gave me still has lots of Edelweiss inside, all gifts from the Edelweiss buds.”
Ruan Xiao looked down at his daughter, his heart melting into a soft puddle.
His sweet little Shushu—how could she be this adorable?
“Dad, when we get back, I’ll give you some Edelweiss.”
“Alright.”
Father and daughter were basking in each other’s company, while behind them, her three brothers looked on with a bit of resentment, eyeing the little bundle of joy.
What was going on? Now that she had Dad’s attention, were they completely forgotten?
Of course, Ruan Shu hadn’t forgotten her brothers—she just hadn’t seen her father in so long and missed him dearly. For now, she was the ultimate little clingy ball.
From the moment they got home, Shushu was like a little tail, following her father everywhere, her small hand holding onto his long fingers tightly.
“Dad, where should I put the Edelweiss?”
Ruan Xiao gave her soft hand a gentle squeeze. “No rush.”
“First, let’s find a place for your Edelweiss to settle down.”
“Oh, right!” Shushu exclaimed.
She hurriedly called her brothers to bring out the box holding the Edelweiss.
As soon as they opened the box, the fluffy Edelweiss flowers inside eagerly floated out.
No longer on the snowy plains, the white, fluffy Edelweiss stood out brightly.
The Edelweiss flowers, soft and puffy, were even larger than cats—a super-sized dandelion!
However, they were much lighter than cats; even when bundled up, they didn’t take up as much space as a cat would.
Secretly, Shushu thought she had won this time.
The fluffy balls circled around Shushu, while others, curious about the unfamiliar environment, flew around exploring.
With multiple dandelion-like Edelweiss floating, the Marshal’s mansion looked as if it were blanketed in them.
It was truly a sight to behold.
“Where would they like to settle?” asked Ruan Xiao.
Shushu shrugged. “Let’s ask them.”
Even in their humanoid forms, the Edelweiss flowers clung closely to her.
Kneeling among them, Shushu asked in a soft, sweet voice, using gestures to make sure they understood.
Since the Edelweiss came from snowy plains, they would need an ice and snow space for them to feel at home in their chosen spot.
For the Ruan family, this was no problem, as long as the Edelweiss wanted to stay.
The Edelweiss flowers, unfamiliar with their surroundings, followed Shushu as she guided them around the house. Once they picked their spot, Shushu led them back, and the Ruan men began planning the construction.
As for the Edelweiss’ favorite food—fresh snow—they could establish a partnership with a supplier from Snowfall Planet, arranging for daily deliveries of freshly fallen snow to the main star.
With the starship, the quickest trip from Snowfall Planet only took a few hours, and the stellar power in the snow lasted for a full night before dissipating.
Of course, this kind of stellar energy can only be absorbed by certain special species. They had researched this as well, and, due to the unique nature of stellar energy, it was unusable by Star Beasts.
Otherwise, they’d have to compete with the Edelweiss for food.
During this period, Ruan Shu had been providing food for the Edelweiss. Her innate energy was something the Edelweiss enjoyed eating as well.
While the Ruan family took their time constructing the Edelweiss’ residence, the Li family grew restless—they had been anxious for days now.
They hinted to other legions, attempting to unite them to pressure the Ruan family into handing over the mutated kumquat tree, and did so in the name of the Council of Elders.
However, they quickly realized they had taken too much for granted. He Feng had scolded them outright, and Shui Shishi had mockingly chided them with sarcasm.
Most importantly, the Li family had assumed that the Third Legion was without inhibitors, only for the research institute to prove them wrong.
The Imperial Research Institute had fully supplied inhibitors to the Third Legion, as well as the legions under Shui Shishi and He Feng.
“What! Why would the research institute get involved?”
“It seems… it seems His Majesty ordered it.”
Hearing this, the Li family’s head and elders began to panic.
“That’s impossible. His Majesty wouldn’t meddle in something this trivial.”