Sylvia looked at Queena in surprise. “Grandma, isn’t this a bit too early? He’s still so young.”
Queena smiled lovingly. “Even though there’s no blood relation…”
She continued to smile at Sylvia. “But since he is now your child, he is a child of the Hipps Family. He will have everything a Hipps Family child should have. I won’t neglect him just because of this.”
“Grandma, thank you on behalf of the child.” Sylvia patted Alex’s head. “Hurry up and thank your great-grandma.”
“Thank you, great-grandma. I will take good care of it.” Alex didn’t understand the significance of the seal, but he could tell from Sylvia’s attitude that it was something important.
“Good boy.” Queena smiled again and praised Alex.
Seeing that Queena was a bit tired, Sylvia took Alex and left.
As Austin escorted them out, he whispered, “Your grandma will be discharged in a week. How about we hold a family reunion then?”
“I was thinking the same. We can introduce Alex to everyone and celebrate grandma’s discharge at the same time. Two birds with one stone.” Sylvia nodded and said to Austin, “Grandpa, you don’t need to worry about these small matters. I’ll discuss it with Uncle. You should also take care of yourself.”
“I know.” Austin couldn’t help but pinch Alex’s smooth little cheek. “When will you and Franklin have a baby?”
Sylvia pressed her red lips together. “It will happen sooner or later.”
The elevator door opened, and she walked in with the child, waving at Austin to signal him to go back.
Alex stood beside Sylvia without asking to be held, looking down at the seal in his hand.
“Godmother, does this seal have any special meaning?”
Sylvia squatted down to look him in the eye and told him seriously, “This represents your identity as a member of the Hipps Family. Even though neither of us has the Hipps surname, we are still part of the Hipps Family. You must keep this seal safe as it represents your identity. Don’t lose it, understand?”
Alex nodded firmly, his young face tense and his pink lips tightly pressed together. “I understand. I will protect it well.”
Sylvia ruffled his hair and said no more.
After leaving the elevator, she got into her car and sent a message to Carley on her phone. “Let’s have lunch together. I want you and Olivia to meet my godson.”
Carley was working on reports with Olivia, complaining as she picked up her phone. “This quarter’s report is so hard to do, so many details.”
Her complaining expression turned into a happy smile. “Hey? Sylvia wants to have lunch with us.”
“Miss Andrews?” Olivia looked at Carley with her phoenix eyes. “It’s been a while since we saw her!”
Carley smiled gleefully, her tone full of admiration. “Oh, she’s a busy person. Didn’t you see that big family marriage alliance between the Saunders family and the Gates family? She attended that! And the Fire Dance Festival in Middle Evroya, Sylvia was a huge hit there.”
“Carley, aren’t you jealous of her? She’s so outstanding.” Olivia blinked, her eyes showing a hint of allure.
Carley’s invisible charm made Olivia push her playfully. “Why are you flirting with me? I’m honored to be friends with Sylvia. How could I be jealous of her?”
Olivia was pushed onto the seat. “That’s true. She’s just too amazing.”
“She asked what you want for lunch.” Carley continued typing on her phone. “Hot pot, barbecue? Or Japanese or Korean food?”
Olivia thought for a moment. “How about Japanese barbecue? Isn’t there a baby? Can the baby eat it?”
“Sylvia said the Japanese barbecue place also has Japanese food, and kids seem to like shrimp. So let’s go for Japanese barbecue.” Carley happily replied to Sylvia and then looked at Olivia with a grin. “It’s decided!”
“The Japanese barbecue place is close to our office, so we don’t need to drive.” Carley checked the address and put away her phone. “Should we prepare a gift for the child?”
Olivia was stunned; she had no experience in this area and rarely interacted with children.
“Carley, what should we give? Toys? Books? Or clothes?”
Carley immediately dismissed her ideas. “How about something meaningful? Let’s go to the mall now.”
Ten minutes later, Carley’s car was parked in the underground parking lot of a nearby mall.
She dragged Olivia straight to the gold jewelry counter. Olivia looked at a pair of gold bracelets in front of her and twitched her mouth. “This? Your idea of meaningful?”
A pair of gold bracelets?
Too old-fashioned!
“Then what do you suggest?” Carley liked the festive look of the bracelets.
“Jade for safety. How about we give jade?” Olivia pointed at a jade. “One of us can give a bracelet, and the other can give a necklace.”
Carley compared gold and jade and agreed with Olivia’s suggestion. “Alright, let’s choose jade! Jade looks more elegant.”
After making their choice, the two girls went straight to the Japanese barbecue restaurant, which was famous as an internet celebrity spot.
Many influencers loved coming here to check in.
When they entered, they saw two or three influencers filming videos while tasting food.
Carley pulled Olivia along as she spoke. “By the way, my brother plans to invest in an influencer company, setting up a short video group-buying interface specifically for restaurant reviews. Are you interested in investing? I think it’s promising. We could invest together; we won’t need to manage it ourselves since my brother will hire professional managers. We just need to collect dividends at the end of the year.”
“The influencer economy is booming now. I had thought about starting an influencer incubation company before.” Olivia glanced at the influencers filming nearby. “I didn’t expect your brother to think of it too.”
They arrived at their reserved seats and had just sat down when Sylvia arrived with Alex.
The chubby little boy immediately attracted a lot of attention.
“Oh my gosh! He’s so cute!” An influencer checking out the restaurant suddenly rushed over and blocked their path. “Everyone look, there’s an adorable little boy here! So cute, I want to take him home.”
She reached out with her long manicured nails to pinch Alex’s cheek.
The little boy frowned and moved away unhappily as the live stream camera focused on his face.
The influencer had about thirty thousand followers-not many-but there were three or four hundred people watching her live stream. Unexpectedly, a cute little boy appeared on screen.
Instantly, it attracted a large number of viewers. “So cute!”
“I want to bite him.”
“Adorable!”
“Is he a customer here?”
The comments kept coming rapidly when suddenly a fair, slender hand blocked the camera.
A cold voice with an icy tone said, “Pointing your camera at my child without permission is quite rude, isn’t it?”
The viewers only saw that hand and heard that cool voice.
The chat exploded.
“The mom must be super beautiful!”
“Oh my gosh! That voice is amazing!”
“So much better than the influencer’s voice!”
“I want to hear more from the mom!”
“Influencer, show us what the mom looks like.”
The influencer looked up and saw an exquisitely beautiful face-no makeup but as radiant as a lotus flower, stunningly beautiful.
In contrast, her own heavily made-up face with thick filters looked unrecognizable.
The woman in front of her was breathtakingly beautiful.
It was the first time in her life she had encountered such a beauty up close-unparalleled in her short life.
She stared wide-eyed in shock. “Who… who are you?”
She seemed familiar somehow?
Like she’d seen her somewhere before, but she was sure she didn’t know such a beautiful woman.
“Oh my gosh! It’s Sylvia!”
“That looks like Sylvia!”
“Hurry up, check your phones! Yes, yes, search for her photos on social media; you’ll find plenty.”
Some customers had already started comparing photos. “Wow! It really is her!”
“Isn’t that child her godson?”
“What an adorable baby.”
The influencer felt like she was about to crash; she couldn’t afford for her carefully maintained persona to collapse.
With a stiff face, she immediately apologized to Alex. “I’m sorry, baby; I filmed you without your parent’s permission earlier. That was my mistake.”
“You look so cute; please forgive Auntie?”
Alex looked at her quietly and spoke clearly. “I can choose to forgive you, but not because I’m cute or not cute. It’s because I have a broad mind. So please don’t use my appearance as a topic anymore. Okay?”
“This kid’s logic is amazing!”
“Impressive!”
“I suggest the kid start live streaming!”
The live stream viewers were once again shocked and couldn’t help but exclaim.
Upstairs, Carley and Olivia heard the commotion and rushed down immediately. Seeing Sylvia having a conflict with an influencer and hearing the discussions around them, they quickly understood what had happened.
Carley was instantly displeased and walked over to the influencer. “Please respect our privacy.”
Saying this, she picked up Alex into her arms. “Baby, let’s go eat.”
She teased Alex, “The barbecue here is super delicious.”