Baby Genius: Dad, Where Are You

The airport was filled with people. Wearing a lacy white dress and holding her pink suitcase, Eva Xu walked towards the exit.

It had been five years since she left China, but it seemed that she was fated to return.

As she looked around, her lips formed a grim line.

Things had changed. It definitely wasn't the same as before when she left this place. "Mommy, where are we going?"

Dark lashes framed the little boy's large eyes as he stared up at her. He looked so adorable that anyone would swoon at the sight of him.

If it weren't for her actually holding his hand, Eva Xu wouldn't believe that she had been a mother at her young age.

Under Jason Xu's expectant eyes, Eva Xu smiled. "Jace, we'll arrive home shortly. Plus, it isn't necessary for you to speak English, okay? It's time for you to practice your Chinese," she instructed gently, ruffling his short hair.

"I know you want to see the ferris wheel. How about we'll go there after settling our luggage?"

'Jace' was a nickname she had given him ever since he was born. The only dream she had for him was that he would grow up to be happy and healthy.

Jason Xu nodded and warmly shook her hand. He then pointed at the huge ferris wheel overlooking the entire city and said excitedly, "Mommy, is that the place where you and Daddy first met?"

Eva Xu flushed at the question. When the little boy questioned her about his father, she had no choice but to make up a story. She had said that they met on the ferris wheel, when in all honesty, she didn't know who his father was. If it wasn't for that night five years ago, Jason Xu wouldn't even be born.

Of course, staring into her young boy, she didn't regret any of it.

As soon as they booked a room in a hotel, her phone rang. She answered only to hear a familiar voice from the other end of the line. He was Jake, her teacher while she was studying abroad. Although he was already getting old, his style had always followed the trends.

"Eva, you still haven't found a stable job, right?" he said in fluent Chinese.

Glancing at Jason Xu's sleeping figure, Eva Xu tucked him in and walked to the balcony silently. "No, why?"

"I happen to have a friend who needs another designer. The salary's really good, but the competition is fierce. However, since I'm the one who taught you, you're very qualified for the job."

Jake was the one who had taken care of her back then. That was why she was close to him. Eva Xu had no reason for her to doubt the company Jake had introduced, so she smiled and agreed. When she searched up the company that Jake had mentioned, she found that it was indeed a very famous company. Without another thought, Eva Xu quickly booked herself an interview on the second day.

However, Jake was right to say that the competition was fierce. It seemed that she was also going up against Julia Zhu, another excellent designer. Jake had warned her that Julia Zhu was very manipulative. However, at the sight of her innocent face, Eva Xu couldn't help but to strike a conversation with her.

"You must be outstanding for Jake to choose you as his student, Miss Xu. For sure, you're extra qualified for the position," Julia Zhu complimented.

Eva Xu smiled faintly. "I'm flattered. Thank you!"

"Please prepare your own design drawings."

A man with a beer belly walked into the room. Everyone stood up to show their respects.

Eva was so nervous that her palms were sweating. She had always been like this ever since she was a child. Her heart would beat so fast as if she had just ran a marathon. She didn't even know how she could take on the pressure in the designing field.

Finally, it was time for the interview. With an uneasy heart, she entered the door. There were around three or four people at the other side of the table. A young man was sitting in the middle. His eyes were sharp so she didn't dare look up.

"Are you Miss Xu? Are you sure you've sketched these by hand?"

His voice was loud and clear. "Yes, I guarantee that they're all designed by me," Eva quickly explained.

However, as soon as she opened her mouth, everyone except the young man burst into laughter.

Her heart sank.

"Miss Xu, please have a look."

She raised her head and found that the young man was very handsome. He had large eyes and extremely muscled arms, but that wasn't the point.

She stared at the sketches that he was holding, and her eyes widened in surprise.

"It seems that you have a special understanding with your design." Seeing her wide and innocent eyes, Santosh Qiu couldn't believe that such a beautiful lady would have such disgusting intentions in her mind.

"No– no..." Eva tried to explain. Her face flushed in embarrassment. The naked pictures weren't the ones that she had submitted for the company at all. In fact, they were far from it!

Before she could even explain, Santosh Qiu waved his hand. "That's it for the day, Miss Xu. You may go back and await our notice."

His words were said so firmly that everyone knew that he wasn't going to keep her.

However, Eva still felt a glimmer of hope as she walked out of the room. Although her face was extremely red, she plastered a smile on her face in hopes that she would still be chosen despite the mix-up.

After waiting for two days, no one had called her back. No matter how gullible she was, Eva knew for a fact that it meant that it was over for her. She was so sad that she stayed in her room and accompanied her son to watch Star Wars. "What happened in the interview, Mommy?" Jason asked innocently, knowing that it was the reason why she was so sad.

Jason was an incredibly gifted child. When he was in kindergarten, his teacher asked that he should be transferred to primary school. If it hadn't been for the age limit, he would've already been in Grade One

Once she explained to him, he stood up. He was wearing the suspenders that Eva had given him. Like an old man, he waved his fingers at her face. "You were framed!" he announced.

Puzzled, she stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"Mommy, your submission must've been changed. Did you leave before you went in for the interview?"

All of a sudden, something occurred to her. "I was so nervous that I went to the washroom. I gave my sketches to Julia Zhu and asked her to keep them for me."

"She's the one behind it! The bad woman doesn't want you to be hired!" he accused.

"Really? But she doesn't look like a bad person."

Jason kept silent for a while before sighing in frustration. "But you don't look like..."

Eva raised her eyebrows and ruffled his hair. "Of course, your Mommy is not a bad person!"

"I was about to say that you don't look like a fool."

In a twinkling of an eye, a week had already passed. With the pocket money left by her uncle, Eva rented a two bedroom apartment in the community for both of them. After all, the cost of living in the hotel was pretty high.

That day, Eva intended to cook a big meal for Jason, but when she went into his room to look for him, the young boy was nowhere to be seen.

She guessed that he must've gone downstairs to play. She smiled, put on her high heels, and walked downstairs to look for him.

What she didn't know was that Jason had gone to the Dolly Group alone. Seeing the dark circles under his mother's eyes, he couldn't bear it anymore. He searched the web and found that the company was actually very powerful in China.

He wanted to get justice for what had happened to his mother.

Unfortunately, because he was too young, the security guards didn't allow him to enter.

Jason went back to the community, sighing. When he heard that his mother was calling for him everywhere, he got out of the bushes and walked to her side.

"Where have you been? Let's go back for dinner, okay?"

Jason took her hand. "Mommy, the Dolly Group is a big brand in China. In fact, it monopolizes the clothing design industry."

Eva nodded. "That's the company that Jake recommended me, but they didn't want to hire me. I heard that Julia was the one that they've recruited, and her monthly salary is at least a hundred thousand dollars."

Eva was supposed to work for that company if it weren't for someone else's tricks.

Jason frowned. "If there's a chance for you to work for the Dolly Group, will you give it a try? I have a way to let people know what that woman has done."

A gleam flashed in his eyes. Seeing that his son was being particularly charming, Eva couldn't help but follow him to the Dolly Group's gates.

Jason knew for a fact that a large company such as this one would have hidden surveillance cameras around the vicinity. If Julia really switched Eva's drafts, then the company would have a video as proof. Then the Dolly Group would definitely fire Julia.

Today, Eva and Jason were going to act. After all, it wasn't easy to get a hold of those tapes.

With a fierce look, Eva stood in front of a security guard with Jason. Recognizing the young boy, he frowned. "Little boy, why are you here again?"

Eva straightened her back. "My son was robbed of an orange diamond! He saw that person walking into your company! How dare you stop him! Are you working for that man!"

The security guard didn't believe a word that she had said. It was apparent that the purpose of their arrival was to cause trouble. After all, it was impossible for a child to have a diamond in the first place.

The security guard winked at the other security guards and they all came over.

On the other side, Santosh Qiu walked towards the elevator. When he saw his staff, they all greeted him with a bow of their heads, but as he was waiting for the lift, he could see a group of guards standing by the company door. They seemed to be surrounding a woman and her son.

The company had always promoted politeness, and this was no way to deal with outsiders. With a frown, Santosh approached them.

Eva recognized that the man who was approaching them was also the chief interviewer who sat in the middle that day. She pulled her hat down in a hurry.

Today, she wore absolutely no makeup and a pair of glasses was perched on the bridge of her nose. She hoped that the man didn't recognize her.

As soon as Jason raised his head, he noticed that Eva had lowered hers. Knowing that she wanted to maintain a safe distance from the man, Jason kept silent.

Santosh turned to the guards. "What are you doing?"

The security guard fidgeted at the sound of his voice. "The lady said that her son lost his diamond and that the thief snuck into our company."

'Well, isn't that just embarrassing?' Eva's eyes twitched. There wasn't any diamond in the first place. It was just so her son could sneak in and find the surveillance video.

She could already feel her face burning at the assumption.

Fortunately, Santosh didn't recognize that she was the woman who had submitted the pornographic pictures on the day of the interview. He waved his hand. "You should cooperate with her investigation. Don't give others the chance to find fault in our company."

He then glanced at his watch. "My meeting's about to start. You have to deal with the rest of this problem."

The security guard bowed his head as replying obediently, "Yes, Mr. Santosh. Please go ahead with your work. We can handle it well from here." Once Santosh was gone, Eva finally revealed her face.

Whenever someone mentioned Santosh, Eva couldn't help but stiffen up subconsciously. She didn't know why.

Considering his boss's warning, the security guard's attitude towards the mother-and-son pair changed immediately. "Madam, please don't joke around. We didn't see anyone running into the building."

Eva frowned. "I bought that diamond in the States. In fact, it costs one million and three hundred thousand dollars. Do you really want me to go and 'forget about it'?"

Her words worked. The security guard immediately paled and took them to the place where they store all their surveillance.

Jason came up with an idea to get the security guard to leave while Eva was checking all the places she had been during the interview. After dragging the progress bar for more than ten minutes, she finally found what she needed.

The scene changed to the general manager's office on the sixth floor of the building.

Santosh was busy overlooking the files of the new product. He narrowed his eyes at the different paragraphs. They were listing the requirements that they needed for the overseas expansion.

Just then, his secretary, Cathy Lin, knocked on the door and came in.

She was a tall and stylish woman. Her pointed chin and curvy figure was brilliant. There were rumors that she went to the hospital for injections to make her features even more charming.

Using her ten centimeter heels, Cathy walked towards Santosh and handed him a paper bag.

"This is a package at the front desk. I've already opened it for you. You can see it yourself."

Santosh furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't remember buying anything from an online store.

Without another word, he took the bag and found a black U-disk in it. He frowned. "You can leave now, Cathy."

Once Cathy Lin had left, he inserted the disk into his laptop. Suddenly, a video popped out. It was what really happened in the interview.

There was also a hand-written note and a bunch of new designs in bag.

There were several sets of outstanding designs, with some strong European styles mixed with a more conservative and traditional touch from the East. They were exquisite and beautiful. It was evident that they were drawn by experts. On the bottom corner was Eva's signature.

Santosh quickly called Cathy Lin in. He placed the drawings and the disk back into the bag. "Fire Julia immediately, and contact a person named Eva from the interview and ask her to take her place."

Cathy Lin furrowed her eyebrows. Why did Santosh decide to fire the new designer all of a sudden? And Eva... Wasn't she the one who had submitted the pornographic pictures?

Cathy Lin widened her eyes. "Are you crazy? You want to fire a capable employee and ask an incapable woman to join in our design team?" She wanted to know the reason so bad, but she had no other choice but to follow.

"Hello, is this Miss Eva?"

"Yes, who are you?"

"I'm the HR manager of the Dolly Group. We've received notice from our superior that you're hired as a member of the design team. Are you free to come here at eight tomorrow morning? We can sign the contract immediately."

A smile broke through her sullen face. Eva grinned from ear to ear. "That's great! I'll be there!"

Finally hanging up, Eva put down her phone and rushed towards Jason. She picked him up and kissed him again and again. "I'm so proud of you!" She squealed. "I'm already hired."

Jason didn't want to interrupt his mother. Instead, he allowed her to be happy as he leaned back and jumped out of her arms.

What he really wanted to do was groan at his mother's obliviousness.

'Why do other people's Mommies have to be so smart while my Mommy is so naive? She's so oblivious!'

With a sigh, he returned to his drawing.

Next day, Eva almost jumped out of her bed at excitement as she rushed into the bathroom to get ready.

Before dawn, she was already dressed formally and was applying makeup in front of her mirror.

The amount of light entering his room was so bright that Jason woke up. He rubbed his eyes with his chubby hands and opened his eyes, only to see that his mother was already ready.

"Jace, I've already placed the breakfast on the table. Don't forget to eat it later. Mommy's going to sign the contract with the Dolly Group later."

Eva trusted Jason with all her heart. She could still remember how when the boy was still one-year-old, he already knew how to suck the milk from a feeding bottle.

When he nodded, she already set off.

The HR manager smiled when he saw Eva come in.

"Miss Eva, please come here. I'll tell you the rules of the company later. If you don't have any problems, can you begin working immediately after signing the contract?"

She tried to control her happiness. To be honest, she had been looking for clothing companies located in China for such a long time, but only the Dolly Group fitted her work ethic. Her mouth twitched.

When the manager requested that she work immediately, she agreed without any hesitation.

"That's great."

The manager thought highly of Eva, and he was extremely satisfied with her response. He placed the labor contract in front of her. Once she had signed her name, he took her to the elevator and they headed up the fifth floor.

As soon as they went upstairs, they could hear someone screaming at the work area.

Seeing the woman's slim figure, Eva immediately recognized her as Julia, the woman who had played tricks on her during the interview.

Julia was outraged that her stuff was being moved all over the place. She pointed at the group of innocent designers. "I may be a newbie, but we're still colleagues! Do you really think it's that easy to bully me?" she shrieked.

The fight didn't last long, since the HR manager stepped in between them almost immediately.

The manager was already bubbling with rage since Julia had thrown most of their decorations onto the tiles.

He glared. "You have been removed from our designer list. I've already asked someone to put all your things at the front desk. You may leave!"

Julia couldn't believe that the Dolly Group would fire her! Didn't they know that she was the most experienced designer in the group? She frowned. "According to the contract, if the company fired me without any reason, you would have to pay three hundred thousand as liquidated damages," she snapped.

The manager had already reached his limit with her. "Julia, on the day of the interview, you changed Miss Eva's work and used it to get your own position. Your behavior is inconsistent with our company's image. The reason is good enough to fire you."

It turned out what Eva had suspected this entire time was true! Her son was right!

A pair of vicious eyes was directed at her. Eva found herself glaring right back.

Julia pointed at Eva and said in an aggrieved voice, "She's the one who accused me for nothing! It's unfair that you'll believe her words without any evidence."

It was ironic that a person who was hired unfairly would ask for fairness in these types of situations.

The manager never thought that Julia would be so shameless.

He sneered. "We already have proof of the theft. Do you still want to deny what you've done? Do you really think that you could stay after that? I advise you to find another company before the news gets out. You should know that the Dolly Group isn't a company to be trifled with."

Hearing the manager's words, all the designers turned to Julia, as if waiting for her next response. It was as if they were watching another episode of reality TV. Julia clenched her fists, glaring at Eva with resentment.

Eva stared back with a clear conscience. She didn't do anything wrong. In fact, she even exposed Julia for her wrongdoings.

Having enough, Julia snorted and picked up her black bag from the desk. Without another word, she stomped out of the room and slammed the door behind her, surprising the other workers.

The manager sighed. He pulled Eva forward and introduced her to the team. "This is Eva, our new designer, and she will be taking over Julia's position in the future. She is an overseas student from America. In fact, her teacher is none other than Jack, an internationally known stylist. You can ask for her help if you have encounter any problems with your Western projects."

Eve was used to being praised by different people, but this time, she bowed her head modestly. "I'm not as good as what the manager has said. My name's Eva, but you can call me Eila. It's nice to meet you."

She bowed respectfully.

Jack often said that connections in the designer field was important, so since she was new, it was best to play it safe.

Someone barked out a laugh. "Eila? Is that even a real nickname?"

Since the manager was afraid that Eva might not be able to adapt herself to the new environment, he made sure to not arrange too much work for her. He only gave her a design draft and a list of designs that the company had done in the past few years to educate her of their process.

However, as she gazed at what seemed to be hundreds of paragraphs, she could already feel herself dozing off. Within the first hour, she had already fallen asleep in front of the computer.

At twelve o'clock, the designer teams all went out for lunch one after the other, but sleeping Eva didn't intend to wake up at this point.

The sun glared through the glass window, dazzling. Santosh stretched and closed the documents.

With a sigh, he walked out of his office.

The news that a foreign company had chosen to cooperate with a state-owned enterprise disturbed his thoughts. He wanted to see the design team to see if they could come up with any ideas for the next season.

As soon as he entered the room, he could see Eva lying on the table, sleeping sweetly under the glaring light.

The sun shone on her face, highlighting her delicate face. She had a high nose and cherry lips, which made her look like a fairy who had just stepped out of the garden.

Santosh's heart skipped a beat. He had always thought that he wasn't interested in a lot of women, but there was something about her that caught his eye. Then he glanced at his watch.

He didn't want to interrupt her, but it was already time for lunch. He sighed and walked out, meeting up with the HR manager.

"The designer may not be familiar with the company, given that it's her first day of work. Help her out. And oh, you haven't had lunch yet, right? Why don't you take her to the restaurant next to the company? She might be starving."

The manager touched his bulging stomach subconsciously. Actually, he had already finished up his meal.

Ignoring his strange expression, Santosh added, "You can order all the dishes you want. Since I'm the one who's responsible for what had happened in Dolly's interview, your meal will be compensated."

If he hadn't eaten anything before this, the manager would've thanked him and even praised him as the 'Great Mr. Santosh', but he really couldn't eat anything now!

Given that it was the CEO who had advised him to do so, the manager nodded in a hurry. Walking over with heavy footsteps, he woke her up and invited her to lunch.

Time passed very quickly. Before six o'clock in the evening, the manager announced that it was time to get off work.

Eva had intended to ask if anyone wanted to go home with her, but given that a lot of the female members in the team were indifferent towards her, it made her a bit shy to initiate a conversation.

The manager noticed some of the female colleagues' responses to Eva, and he knew for a fact that they were just jealous of the newbie. Thinking back to Santosh's advice, he had no choice but to approach her. "Eila, where do you leave? How about I'll drive you home?"

"I live in the West Second Ring. Do you live around there too, Manager?" Eva smiled.

He was actually living in the East First Ring. Although the direction was totally different, the manager still said, "Yes! Let me drive you home."

'It's just four blocks away,' he comforted himself.

The HR manager was Leon Li. He had worked for the company for almost five years. In fact, he was already considered an old employee. He was admired by many employees because of his work ethic. In fact, he was twenty six when he was first named manager.

Of course, compared to Leon Li, there was another legendary superior in the Dolly Group. He was Santosh, the iron-faced devil. Although he was the CEO of Dolly, nothing much was known about him.

Some people said that he was the one who had registered Dolly as a corporation. It was also rumored that he was the son of the underworld's leader. Although there was much gossip about him, nobody knew about his relationships. They didn't know if it was because he blocked the news completely or if it was because he wasn't interested in women.

When Leon Li parked his car near the neighborhood where Eva live, a small figure jumped out of the darkness. "Mommy!" Jason yelled.

Eva felt the warmth surging through her heart. She opened the car door to greet him.

Before Leon Li could figure out what was going on, he also got out of the car. He was about to ask Eva who the boy was when Jason said, "Mommy, have you brought me a new Daddy?"

His heart skipped a beat and he broke out in cold sweat. "Don't talk nonsense, boy. I already have a wife."

If his wife saw this scene, she might take away all his salary this month.

Jason was so adorable, but to prevent from putting himself into an even more awkward position, Leon Li found an excuse and drove away.

Seeing her manager's receding car, Eva snorted. "You scared that uncle away," she accused, rubbing his nose.

"He's too shy to be my father."

"Uncle is just here to send Mommy home. It's getting dark, Jace. Don't go out again. There could be kidnappers around the community. You could get kidnapped," she warned, grasping his face.

He pushed her hands back. "I was hiding behind a tree, so the bad guys couldn't see me. What's more, Mommy, is that that uncle driving towards the east?"

'East? It seems that he is actually going east. Why would he go out of his way for me?' she thought.

'He's a good man. If there's a chance in the future, I'll be sure to pay him back.'

Jason was delighted. 'It means that my Mommy's so pretty that someone likes her on her first day of work,' he thought, but then again, he couldn't help but be worried.

'What if Mommy forgets me if I got a new Daddy or brother?'

He frowned. "Mommy, as your eldest son, if you find a man who likes you in the future, you have to introduce him to me. You can only marry him if I agree, okay?"

Amused by his mature tone, Eva nodded.

Almost all of the employees had left the Dolly building. However, the light of the office located on the sixth floor was still on. Spring was coming soon, and the new product show was in the works. Santosh needed to sort out the documents.

Maybe it was because he had been sitting there for so long that Santosh felt a little sore. Suddenly, a pair of hands pressed against his shoulders.

He turned to see Cathy. "I'll be fine after taking a walk. I won't bother you." He smiled lightly. "Thank you."

Cathy didn't stop massaging him. "You've already known me for so many years, you know," she flirted. "You don't have to be so polite."

"It's late. Why haven't you left yet?"

"My boss is still in the office. As his secretary, who gives me the right to leave?" Cathy smiled and walked to the water dispenser. Without another word, she made a cup of instant coffee for him.

Coffee always kept him awake.

She handed the cup to him. "For the sake of all my hard work, how about inviting me to get some midnight snack later?"

Although Santosh was smart, his EQ wasn't that high. Except him, almost everyone at Dolly knew that Cathy was interested in him.

Therefore, in his opinion, her proposal to get some midnight snack was just another business transaction, or a way for him to reward his employee. He agreed without hesitation.

After work, the duo went to an Italian restaurant. They ordered two steaks and a bottle of wine.

As Santosh was cutting his steak, Cathy smiled and pointed out the window. "Isn't that our new designer, Eva? Is the little boy beside her son?"

Santosh turned his head to see that Eva was waiting in line at a Western Restaurant. She was holding hands with a cute little boy who looked like he was around seven-year-old.

When she turned, Eva saw him too.

Santosh thought that it wasn't a big deal to invite one more employee to have dinner with them, so he waved at Eva through the glass window.