Cecilia Gu had just stepped into her home. Before she could even take off her coat, her phone rang.
Wendy, following behind, handed the phone to Cecilia. "It's Miss Rona Muir calling."
Rona?
[Non-narrative system message skipped.]
On the other end, Rona Muir spoke urgently, "Forget about me for now. Where are you?"
"I'm at home," Cecilia replied matter-of-factly.
"Good. Don't go anywhere. Wait for me at home," Rona said quickly, then hung up.
Cecilia was left puzzled.
Why would she come here on such an important holiday?
But Cecilia didn't have long to wonder. In less than half an hour, Rona Muir sped up to the door in her sports car.
Her car stopped steadily, and Rona Muir, in ten-centimeter heels and clutching a bundle, rushed inside.
Seeing Rona in such a mess, Cecilia was nearly scared out of her wits.
At that moment, Rona looked utterly disheveled—her shoes were caked in mud, and her clothes were so messy it was hard to look at her.
But Cecilia's attention was quickly drawn to the bundle in Rona's hands.
Inside that bundle was a tiny baby, wrapped up securely.
Cecilia stared at Rona in shock. "What happened to you?"
Rona Muir panted, "Don't ask—just get the doctor to check this child, quick!"
The housekeeper and Mrs. Zhang hurried over as well. The doctor and nurse arrived with their kits, checked Bobby, and frowned. "He has soft tissue injuries. We need to get him to the hospital immediately!"
Without hesitation, Cecilia had the doctor and nurse take the baby straight to the hospital.
Cecilia grabbed Rona and demanded, "What on earth happened?"
Rona Muir, looking utterly bedraggled, said, "I snatched this child from a bunch of human traffickers. Damn, I almost got caught—almost lost my life!"
Cecilia was stunned. "Where have you been all this time? Your phone was off, no messages—what were you thinking? It's New Year's, and you're out chasing danger?"
"Ugh! It's all for my godson!" Rona pinched Cecilia's cheek hard. "You said during the New Year that you still couldn't settle on a chief assistant for my godson, right? I figured, instead of hiring someone who could be bribed, why not just find a kid with no roots or parents from outside!"
Cecilia's jaw dropped, disbelief written all over her face. "You didn't go to... the orphanage, did you?"
Rona replied matter-of-factly, "Where else? Where am I supposed to find a kid? But I didn't actually make it to the orphanage. On the way, I spotted a shady group and followed them. I overheard that this child was being trafficked—they'd already sold him several times and were planning to sell him to some underground organization. The kid was sick, nobody cared, so I figured he wouldn't survive the trip and stole him away. I got spotted halfway and had to race back, switching cars several times to lose them. Lucky my driving skills are good!"
"So where did you go?" Cecilia felt like her heart couldn't take it.
"Myanmar," Rona answered honestly.
Cecilia felt her heart actually skip a beat.
She actually went all the way to Myanmar!
No wonder the calls couldn't get through!
She really knows how to get around!
Rona stretched her arms. "Where's the guest room? I need a shower first, then I'll tell you everything. Oh, Mrs. Zhang, get me something to eat. I haven't had a proper meal in days!"
Cecilia immediately had the maids bring things to the guest room and bathroom, and told Mrs. Zhang to prepare food quickly.
Half an hour later, after her shower, Rona sat at the dining table and wolfed down her meal in minutes, completely ignoring her image.
Just as the three of them were bustling around, Charles Yin's call came through.
"Don't interrogate me, I'll confess everything!" Rona immediately surrendered. "I know what you want to ask. Honestly, I don't know all the details. I just felt a connection with this child, so I brought him back. If I'm not mistaken, he's probably mixed-race. Clearly abandoned by his mother. You know, in Myanmar and Vietnam, a lot of young girls end up with European tourists and accidentally have kids. They never keep them. Happens all the time over there. I was looking for a suitable chief assistant, but I wasn't planning on finding a white kid for my godson's assistant."
Cecilia shot Rona a look, just as the phone rang again. Xiao Wang handed it to her.
It was a call from the hospital.
Cecilia put the call on speaker. The hospital director reported personally, "Young Madam, the child is healthy, but malnourished, which is why he looks so weak. I just checked his bone age—he's about seven or eight months old, but so thin he looks like a three-month-old. I ran a genetic test. Preliminary results suggest he's a mix of Vietnamese, Burmese, Cambodian, and Mediterranean descent. The boy's vital signs are stable. Do you want to keep him in the hospital?"
Cecilia answered right away, "No need. If he's healthy, send him over. I'm about to have a baby anyway—whether it's one or two, we'll raise them all."
[Non-narrative system message skipped.]
Cecilia nodded. "Of course. It's the Yin family's hospital, dedicated to serving the direct line. How could it not be good?"
"Got it. Take care of yourself," Cecilia replied. "So we'll keep Bobby?"
"Keep him, and let's give Bobby a name," Charles said with a clever smile. "We can afford it."
"Who else? You want to raise him?" Cecilia shot Rona a glare. "Just this once! Don't go picking up kids from the street again!"
Rona grinned sheepishly. "Got it, got it. I just couldn't stand how they were treating the kid."
The child was brought back in the evening.
After a good meal, the little one slept soundly.
Cecilia and Rona leaned over the crib, watching the baby. Only then did they realize how beautiful he was.
A classic mixed-race look—delicate features, fair skin.
Suddenly, the baby woke up. He opened his eyes wide, but didn't cry—just stared at Cecilia and Rona.
Maybe it was Cecilia's maternal aura, since she was pregnant, but the little one reached out to her and babbled, "Ma...ma..."
Cecilia and Rona both froze in shock!
"Who... is he calling 'Mama'?" Rona stared blankly at Cecilia.
"Maybe you? You did save him," Cecilia replied, just as stunned.
"I think he's calling you. He's clearly looking at you." Rona scratched her head. "I have zero experience being a mom."
"Me neither!" Cecilia exclaimed.
After a moment of staring, Mrs. Zhang came over, hearing the noise, and quickly checked the swaddling to see if the baby needed changing.
Cecilia and Rona shamelessly stared at the baby's little bird for a long time...
Rona, feeling guilty, said to Cecilia, "You've already seen all his privacy. Why not just make him your godson..."
"You just looked too..." Cecilia shot Rona a look of accusation.
"You're the one with the big chest!" Cecilia continued to tease.
"I don't have any milk," Rona shot back.
After expertly changing the baby's diaper, Mrs. Zhang couldn't help but say, "Young Madam, Miss Muir. After the baby pees, he'll get hungry. I'll go make some formula. Please watch him for a moment."
Without another word, Mrs. Zhang handed the baby straight to Rona.
Cecilia burst out laughing.
Just then, the baby suddenly smiled too, looking at Cecilia and calling out again, "Mama..."
Cecilia's face froze, and she asked Rona stiffly, "Isn't 'Mama' pronounced differently in Burmese? Are we misunderstanding him?"
Rona replied with meaning, "There's a similar pronunciation in spoken English too..."
Hey, hey, hey, what are you getting at?
Why do you insist on giving me another son? What's that supposed to mean?
Mrs. Zhang returned quickly with a bottle and handed it straight to Rona, letting her feed the baby.
Rona didn't hesitate—she took it and started feeding him.
Looks like she picked up the skill of bottle-feeding during her escape!
Just as the three of them were scrambling, Charles Yin called.
Cecilia answered and told Charles everything that happened today.
Charles laughed, "If the child has no family, that's fine. If you like him, keep him. Our son is about to be born anyway—he'll have a companion."
Just then, the baby called out again, "Mama..."
Rona cried out, "Oh my heart! Cici, don't send him away—let's keep him. If it's too expensive, I'll pay for him!"
Cecilia rolled her eyes at Rona while holding the phone. "Like I need your money?"
Rona cried, "But he called you 'Mama' three times today! While we were on the run, he never called me that!"
Charles overheard from the other end and laughed, "Well, since you two have such a bond, keep him. I probably won't make it home tonight—I'm flying to Europe to bring the engineering team from Germany. I trust the German team."
"Got it. Take care of yourself," Cecilia replied. "So we'll keep the child?"
"Keep him, and give him a name," Charles said with a clever smile. "We can afford it."