A Billionaire CEO Brings His Child Home: The Awakening of the Stay-at-Home Dad System

As evening fell, the setting sun bathed the village road in an orange-red hue.

Chen Hao led his daughter into the convenience store. Shen Xiaoting's hair was still half wet; she had taken a shower after swimming, and the ends of her hair were sticking to the back of her neck.

As soon as she entered the door, she let go of her father's hand, ran to the octagonal table, climbed onto her little stool, and started talking before even picking up her chopsticks.

"Grandpa, Grandma, Dad taught me how to swim today!" Shen Xiaoting sat on the stool, swinging her legs back and forth, her voice crisp and clear.

"I've learned the breaststroke!"

Meng Meiling came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of soup, placed it on the table, and asked with a smile, "Tingting has learned to swim? So fast?"

"Mmm!" Shen Xiaoting nodded vigorously, her little head bobbing like a chick pecking at rice.

"I can hold my breath now, I can kick my legs, and I can even swing my arms!"

As she spoke, she slid off the stool, stood on the ground, and gestured with her hands as if performing the famous breaststroke.

Bring your hands together and stretch them forward, then spread them apart as if pushing something away.

"Pull in—flip—kick—clamp," she said, demonstrating the movements as she spoke, her lower legs pulling in, flipping, kicking, and squeezing together with practiced ease.

"Like a frog, I dart around in the water. I can swim over five meters! From one end of the pool to the other!"

After she finished speaking, she jumped forward and almost bumped into the table leg.

Chen Hao reacted quickly and grabbed her arm.

Chen Bingzhong walked in from the doorway carrying a thermos, sat down on a chair, and looked at his granddaughter's rosy cheeks, a smile playing on his lips.

"Tingting is amazing," Chen Bingzhong said, his voice not loud, but his tone was full of joy.

Shen Xiaoting climbed back onto her little stool, turned to look at her grandfather, her eyes sparkling.

"Grandpa, would you like to watch me swim?" she asked, placing her hands on the table.

"Come to our swimming pool tomorrow, and I'll swim for you!"

"Okay, we'll go see it tomorrow." Chen Bingzhong picked up his chopsticks and placed a piece of blackfish meat in Tingting's bowl.

The snakehead fish was the one I caught yesterday.

Chen Bingzhong spent half a day fishing in the pond at the east end of the village yesterday and caught this one, which weighs more than two pounds.

Meng Meiling braised the fish, adding ginger slices and garlic cloves to remove the fishy smell, and some dried chili peppers to enhance the flavor. She stewed it for more than half an hour, resulting in tender and smooth fish with few bones.

Shen Xiaoting took a bite of the fish, chewed it, swallowed it, and then spoke again.

"Grandma, Dad taught me to swim, and I learned in no time," Shen Xiaoting said, taking another bite of fish. "Dad said I learned faster than anyone else."

Meng Meiling smiled as she looked at her granddaughter's proud little expression.

She reached out and touched Tingting's hair; it was still a little damp.

"Your father taught you well, so you learned quickly," Meng Meiling said. "Eat quickly, the fish will get fishy if it gets cold."

Shen Xiaoting lowered her head, ate a couple of mouthfuls of rice, and then looked up again.

"Grandma, the bottom of the swimming pool is blue, just like the ocean."

"The pool edge is white, it's so pretty," she said. "Dad even laid non-slip tiles along the edge of the pool, so you won't slip and fall."

"Your father is very thoughtful," Meng Meiling said.

"Dad said I can swim every day from now on, no matter how hot or cold it is, because the pool is heated," Shen Xiaoting added. "I can swim even in winter."

Chen Bingzhong listened to his granddaughter chattering away, a smile playing on his lips.

He didn't interrupt, just listened, nodding occasionally.

Chen Hao sat beside her, eating while listening to his daughter talk.

He didn't interrupt her and let her talk.

Tingting has always been a talkative girl, especially during meals, and she can talk for an hour straight while eating.

After finishing his meal, Chen Hao helped his mother clear the dishes.

Meng Meiling washed the dishes, while Chen Hao wiped the table with a rag.

Shen Xiaoting ran over and whispered a few words to her grandfather, then ran back and took her father's hand.

"Dad, let's go, we're going home," she said.

Chen Hao picked up his daughter and walked out of the convenience store.

The solar streetlights are already on, their white light shining on the concrete road surface.

Shen Xiaoting leaned on her father's shoulder, clutching a piece of dried sweet potato that her grandmother had given her, and took small bites.

The dried sweet potatoes were sun-dried by Meng Meiling herself. They were thinly sliced, semi-dried, soft yet chewy, and sweet.

"Dad," Shen Xiaoting mumbled, still chewing on a dried sweet potato.

"Um?"

"Grandma said the dried sweet potatoes were sun-dried by herself and were cleaner than the ones you buy."

"Yes, everything Grandma makes is clean."

"Dad, I want to eat Grandma's sweet potato porridge tomorrow morning."

"Okay, Dad will go to Grandma's to get some sweet potatoes tomorrow morning and cook porridge for you when he gets back."

"Okay." Shen Xiaoting nodded in satisfaction and stuffed the last bite of dried sweet potato into her mouth.

Back in the old house, Chen Hao placed his daughter in front of the desk and moved a chair to sit next to her.

Shen Xiaoting picked up a pencil, spread out a sketch paper, and began to draw.

She drew a swimming pool today.

There is a rectangular pool with blue grids drawn on the bottom. The grids are not painted evenly, with some grids being darker and others lighter.

A little figure was drawn by the pool. The figure had pigtails, wore a swimsuit, and stretched out its arms as if it were paddling.

"Dad, look, this is me." Shen Xiaoting pointed at the little figure and looked up at Chen Hao.

Chen Hao leaned over to take a look and nodded.

"Tingting's drawing is so realistic," he said. "How did you draw that water ripple?"

Shen Xiaoting picked up a pencil and drew several curved lines in the pool. The lines were wavy and one after another.

"The water is like this; it creates ripples when you swim in it," she said, adding a few more lines to the pool.

"Dad, look, these are water splashes. I splash water when I swim."

"Tingting is very observant," Chen Hao said.

He picked up his pencil and drew a sketch of a swimming pool next to him.

He drew the perspective of the pool wall very accurately, making the near appear larger and the far smaller, instantly giving the pool a three-dimensional shape.

He lightly sketched the reflection on the water's surface with the side of his pencil, creating a grayish, shiny effect that looked just like light reflecting off the water.

He also drew the proportions of the human body in the water accurately, with the size relationships of the head, body, and limbs all correct.

Shen Xiaoting glanced at her father's painting, then lowered her head to revise her own.

Several paving stones were added around the pool, one by one, arranged neatly.

She added a few ripples to the bottom of the pool, curved like the ones she had just drawn.

The little man drew swimming goggles, with two circles in the eye area connected by a line.

After she finished drawing, she looked at it and changed the little figure's arms, turning the originally straight arms into bent ones, as if the figure was paddling.

[Ding! Completed independent sketch of the swimming pool, God-level drawing experience points +132!]

The phone rang.

Chen Hao picked it up and looked at it—a video call with "Shen Mengyao".

He answered the call, and Shen Mengyao's face appeared on the screen. She was wearing a black silk nightgown, her hair was down, and she was leaning against the headboard.