It's just a toy, why would you care if it breaks?

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.

Nan Yan was fast asleep when her nose unconsciously brushed against the warm chest in front of her.

He moved groggily, wondering why the texture of the teddy bear had changed.

It wasn't fluffy; instead, it was a bit stiff and warm.

Moreover, the "bear claws" were tightly wrapped around his waist, quite tightly.

He shifted uncomfortably, trying to break free, when a familiar, languid voice came from above him, hoarse from just waking up: "Don't rub against me, or I'll...do you."

Nan Yan was startled and suddenly opened her eyes.

Before me was Wei Xun's chin, with clean and sharp lines, and the stubble from the morning was a bit prickly.

He looked up and met Wei Xun's smiling eyes.

Those eyes, which always carried a coldness, were now filled with a gentle light.

"Sir?" Nan Yan asked in disbelief, "You're back? When did you get back?"

Wei Xun pecked him on the forehead and tightened his arms around him: "It's the middle of the night. I saw you were sleeping soundly, so I didn't wake you."

Nan Yan's lips trembled instantly, and her eyes welled up with tears.

Two days' worth of longing, along with inexplicable grievances, all welled up at once, making my nose sting with tears.

Wei Xun looked at his reddened eyes, chuckled, and pinched his cheek: "You missed me that much? It's only been two days."

Nan Yan couldn't hold back her tears, and two fell, sticking to Wei Xun's skin, burning his heart.

"You missed me?" Wei Xun wiped away the tears on his face with his thumb, teasing him deliberately, "How did you miss me? Tell me."

Nan Yan's face flushed bright red: "It's just... a normal thought."

"Ordinary thoughts?" Wei Xun raised an eyebrow, deliberately drawing out his words. "Oh? Or are there special thoughts?"

"No!" Nan Yan looked up anxiously, her eyes filled with panic, afraid that Wei Xun would say something embarrassing again.

Wei Xun chuckled softly.

He ruffled Nan Yan's hair and said teasingly, "Alright, ordinary thoughts are fine. I'll buy you a locked diary later, and you can write down in detail every day how you 'specially' think of me. I promise I'll peek at it."

"Sir!" Nan Yan was both ashamed and angry. She reached out to push him, but Wei Xun grabbed her wrist.

Wei Xun had a mischievous thought and lightly tickled his waist with his fingers.

Nan Yan was ticklish, so she immediately curled up and giggled, with tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes, looking both pitiful and adorable.

Wei Xun's gaze darkened, and his hands became restless, sliding upwards along his waist.

He looked at Nan Yan's flushed cheeks, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he bent Nan Yan's knees, wanting to lean in and get closer.

"Ugh!" Nan Yan cried out in surprise, gasping for breath in pain.

Wei Xun abruptly stopped, his brow furrowing: "What's wrong?"

He lifted the blanket and his gaze fell on Nan Yan's right knee.

There were four bandages stuck side by side there, and now bright red blood was seeping from the edges of the bandages.

"What happened to your knee? When did you hurt it? Why didn't you tell me?"

Nan Yan pursed her lips, her eyes darting away, and whispered, "It's okay, it doesn't hurt."

"It doesn't hurt? You're bleeding. Tell me the truth, how did this happen?"

Nan Yan's eyes reddened again, and she stammered, "Last night... last night I went out to throw away the trash at the community's garbage sorting point, and there were three kids playing football there. The ball hit my leg, I lost my balance, and fell down."

Wei Xun stared into his eyes, instinctively sensing that things weren't that simple: "It was just playing soccer? Did they bully you?"

Nan Yan's lips trembled, tears fell, and she choked out, "They...they said I was a beggar who was staying at your house, that you picked me up like a ragpicker...and that I didn't deserve to live in this neighborhood and should live in a garbage can..."

Wei Xun's face darkened, and a cold anger surged in his eyes.

He knew all too well the malice of some children who, relying on their families' wealth, bullied the weak and spoke with sharp and sarcastic words.

Nan Yan is gentle by nature and must have suffered a lot of injustice.

Wei Xun could imagine that Nan Yan was home alone last night, bullied, with no one to stand up for her, and no one to properly treat her wounds, so she could only put on a band-aid.

Wei Xun's heart ached with both pain and soreness.

He reached out and pulled Nan Yan into his arms, gently patting his back: "Don't cry, I know."

Wei Xun wiped away his tears, then got out of bed, picked up his phone, and walked out of the bedroom without saying a word.

Nan Yan watched his retreating figure, feeling a little flustered, wondering what he was going to do.

I could hear Wei Xun talking on the phone outside, but I couldn't make it out.

Nan Yan sniffed, got out of bed, washed up, changed into clean clothes, and prepared to go to work at the bakery.

As soon as I opened the bedroom door, I saw Wei Xun walking over carrying a first-aid kit, his face still looking rather pale.

"Come here and sit on the bed." Wei Xun pointed to the bed in the bedroom, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Nan Yan obediently walked over and sat down, watching Wei Xun open the first-aid kit and take out iodine, cotton swabs, and gauze.

Wei Xun squatted down and carefully peeled off the band-aid on Nan Yan's knee.

The wound wasn't deep, but it covered a considerable area, and the edges were still a bit red and swollen. It had reopened when he bent his knee and pulled it open, and was oozing blood.

He took a cotton swab, dipped it in iodine, and gently wiped the skin around the wound.

Nan Yan winced in pain, but she endured it without making a sound, only clenching her fingers tightly.

Wei Xun moved even more gently, his gaze falling on the reddened corners of his eyes, and his anger flared up again.

He imagined Nan Yan falling to the ground alone last night, her knees aching, having to listen to the children's foul language, and then secretly crying while hugging her teddy bear when she got home.

"Let's skip the bakery today, okay? I'll ask for a day off for you, alright?" Wei Xun said as he gently covered the wound with gauze and carefully bandaged it.

Nan Yan quickly shook her head: "No, sir, I'm not in pain, I really can go to work."

Wei Xun looked up and saw that although his eyes were red from the pain, he was still pretending to be fine. He felt both soft-hearted and angry.

He reached out and ruffled Nan Yan's hair, his tone softening, "I'm staying home today, not going to work. You shouldn't go either. If you really like baking cakes, bake one for me, okay?"

Looking into his earnest eyes, Nan Yan hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Wei Xun's phone rang as soon as his wound was bandaged.

He glanced at the caller ID; it was Qinglin.

He picked up the first-aid kit, went out of the bedroom, and went to answer the phone.

Nan Yan sat on the bed, watching his back, feeling a warm feeling in her heart.

The aroma of breakfast wafted from the kitchen downstairs. Aunt Chen saw Nan Yan come down and invited him to eat.

After finishing his call, Wei Xun came downstairs and said, "Aunt Chen, I'm giving you a day off today. Go home and rest."

Aunt Chen paused for a moment, then smiled and nodded, "Alright, Mr. Wei, then I won't stand on ceremony. I'll tidy up the kitchen now."

The two had just sat down and were about to eat when there was a knock on the door.

Aunt Chen went to open the door.

A middle-aged man walked in, his face plastered with a fawning smile.

Behind him were three boys around ten years old, all with their heads down, red eyes, and handprints on their faces, clearly having been beaten.

Upon seeing Wei Xun, the middle-aged man immediately bowed and apologized, "Mr. Wei, I'm so sorry! It's my fault for not raising these children properly; they offended your young master! I brought them here to apologize!"

After saying that, he shoved the three children behind him: "Hurry up and apologize to Mr. Wei!"

The three children trembled with fear and quickly bowed, saying, "Mr. Wei, we were wrong! We'll never do it again!"

Wei Xun sat there, head down, eating without saying a word.

The middle-aged man's smile froze, and he became even more flustered.

He knew Wei Xun's background; he was someone Wei Xun couldn't afford to offend.

He had just gotten home last night when his sons started bragging about kicking a scoundrel in the neighborhood, but he didn't take it seriously.

It wasn't until this morning, when he received a call from a friend, that he learned his sons had bullied Wei Xun's family members last night.

His friend told him to come over and apologize immediately, or his company would be out of business.

Seeing Wei Xun's unforgiving expression, he became even more anxious and kicked the three children hard again: "Useless things! Kneel down and apologize now!"

The three children knelt down with a thud, crying even harder: "Mr. Wei, we were wrong! Please forgive us!"

Wei Xun remained silent, slowly stirring the rice porridge with the spoon in his hand.

The middle-aged man was at a loss, but then he caught sight of Nan Yan sitting at the dining table and immediately understood.

He quickly grabbed the three children's arms and pulled them in front of Nan Yan: "Quick! Apologize to Young Master Nan Yan! It was your fault, you shouldn't have bullied Young Master Nan Yan!"

The three children turned to Nan Yan, sobbing, and said, "Young Master Nan Yan, we're sorry! We'll never do it again!"

Looking at the three children kneeling on the ground, Nan Yan felt a pang of pity and quickly stood up, wanting to help them up: "You..."

He had barely moved when Wei Xun grabbed his wrist.

Wei Xun gently squeezed his wrist, gesturing for him to sit down.

Nan Yan paused for a moment, then obediently sat back down in her chair.

Wei Xun then spoke slowly, his voice icy: "Boss Zeng, this is a high-end community, inhabited by respectable people. Children may be ignorant, but are adults also ignorant? I don't want something like this to happen again."

Boss Zeng hurriedly nodded and bowed, "Yes, yes, yes! Mr. Wei, you're right! It's my fault for not disciplining him properly! I promise, this will never happen again! I'll move today, right away! This is just a small token of my appreciation, please don't mind, consider it my apology to Young Master Nan Yan!"

As he spoke, he called out towards the door. Several servants immediately came out, carrying large and small bags of gifts, all of them expensive tonics and luxury goods.

Wei Xun's eyes grew even colder: "Gifts? No. Don't bring them in, they'll dirty my place. You should all leave too, there are so many people blocking the doorway."

Boss Zeng's face flushed and paled in turns, but he dared not utter a single complaint, nodding hastily, "Yes, yes, yes! We'll leave right away! We'll leave right away!"

He quickly told the servants to take the gifts away, then glared at his three sons, signaling them to leave immediately.

Then he took off his suit jacket, squatted down, and wiped the spot where they had just stood with his sleeve, backing away as he did so, repeatedly apologizing, "I'm sorry, Mr. Wei, I've dirtied your floor. I'll clean it right away..."

Only after retreating outside the door did he dare to straighten up, bow deeply to Wei Xun at a ninety-degree angle, and then slunk away with the three children.

The door closed, and the room finally became quiet.

Aunt Chen hadn't left yet; she had been hiding in the entryway. After everyone else had left, she came out to tidy up, said goodbye to Wei Xun, and then left.

Nan Yan looked at the closed door, then turned to look at Wei Xun, wanting to say something but hesitant.

Wei Xun reached out and grasped his hand, his eyes serious: "Nan Yan, I know you're soft-hearted, but some people can't be indulged."

He paused, looking into Nan Yan's eyes: "I will protect you. At least in Nancheng, no one can bully you."

Nan Yan's eyes reddened again: "Thank you, sir."

He looked at Wei Xun, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Sir, are you working from home today?"

Wei Xun put down his chopsticks: "I'm not working today, I'm going to play with you."

Nan Yan's eyes widened in shock: "Play all day?!"

He remembered how Wei Xun had tormented him so much last time that he couldn't get out of bed, and he quickly shrank back, his voice trembling slightly: "Sir, please spare me."

Seeing his panicked expression, Wei Xun knew that the silly cat had misunderstood again, and couldn't help but chuckle.

He reached out and pulled the man into his arms, resting his chin on the top of his head, his voice teasing: "Although your thinking has deviated from my original intention, upon closer inspection... it doesn't seem like it's entirely impossible."