The formulaic voice of the customer service representative echoed in his ear.
Lin Fan snapped up with a start, the legs of his chair scraping harshly against the floor with a squeak.
Mengmeng, sitting beside him, was startled and dropped her crayon.
"Yes! I am Lin Fan!" His voice was tight, his heart gripped as if in a fist, his breath catching.
"What... what is the result?"
With his phone pressed tight against his ear, he could hear the heavy pounding of his own blood rushing to his head.
The agony of waiting was magnified infinitely in that single moment.
"Based on the DNA analysis and comparison of Sample A (Lin Fan), Sample B (Lin Mengmeng), and Sample C (Mu Qingxue), the results show..."
The representative paused.
Lin Fan's heart leapt into his throat.
"...it is confirmed that a biological parent-child relationship exists between Sample A and Sample B, with a paternity probability of 99.99%."
"At the same time, it is confirmed that a biological parent-child relationship exists between Sample C and Sample B, with a maternity probability of 99.99%."
"The detailed report has been sent to your email..."
Lin Fan didn't hear a single word of what came after.
His phone slipped from his hand with a soft thud, the screen turning black.
He froze in place, pupils dilated, all the color drained from his face, leaving a blank void.
99.99%...
Him and Mengmeng... father and daughter?
Mu Qingxue and Mengmeng... mother and daughter?!
Boom!
His brain buzzed wildly.
All his previous guesses and doubts were nailed down by these ice-cold numbers!
Not a prank! Not a coincidence!
That little kid who had hugged his thigh and cried was actually his daughter!
That frosty campus belle was actually... the mother of his child?!
This is fucking... absurd!
"Daddy?" Mengmeng tilted her little head to look at him. "What's wrong? Your face is so pale."
Lin Fan slowly lowered his head, his gaze locking onto Mengmeng's small face.
Her large, black-grape-like eyes, her button nose, her pursed lips...
Looking closely, that cool and spirited look between her brows, the calm demeanor she occasionally displayed...
Holy shit! She really does look a bit like Mu Qingxue!
Shock, absurdity, bewilderment...
His heart hammered wildly, carrying a sort of indescribable... excitement?
He, Lin Fan, a high school senior, suddenly had a daughter?
And she was born with the iceberg goddess Mu Qingxue?
He looked at Mengmeng, his eyes softening involuntarily.
This little one was his daughter.
A strange, heavy sense of responsibility quietly took root.
Becoming a father like this came completely out of nowhere, but the feeling... wasn't half bad?
No!
Mu Qingxue! She was still completely in the dark!
Lin Fan snapped back to reality.
Evidence! He had ironclad proof!
He immediately bent down to pick up his phone, rushed to the desk, and opened his battered old laptop.
His fingers trembled slightly, causing him to enter the wrong password a few times.
In his inbox was an email from the testing center.
He clicked it, opened the attachment, and downloaded the file.
It was a PDF featuring an official watermark and complex genetic charts.
Lin Fan took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
He read the report from beginning to end three times, every word and every data point burning itself into his brain.
That's right! His trump card!
He printed out the report, the paper still warm to the touch.
Carefully folding it, he tucked it into the inner pocket of his jacket, right against his chest.
It felt as though he were gripping the key to turning the world upside down.
He stood up, his eyes resolute.
It was time to find Mu Qingxue.
Time for a showdown!
Armed with scientific, irrefutable proof, he would tell her the truth with his head held high!
He wanted to see if the iceberg goddess could still remain indifferent in the face of a DNA report!
"Mengmeng, let's go!" Lin Fan pulled the little girl up.
"Where are we going, Daddy?"
"To find... Mommy!" Lin Fan practically forced the two words out through clenched teeth.
In the afternoon, the sun was just right.
Lin Fan found out that Mu Qingxue might be at the library.
Holding Mengmeng by the hand, he returned once again to this "place of heartbreak."
The library was quiet, save for the rustling sound of turning pages.
Lin Fan quickly spotted that familiar figure at their old spot by the window.
A white shirt, black trousers, her long hair tied back.
She was looking down at a book, the sunlight casting a soft halo around her, looking cold, pure, and beautiful.
Lin Fan's heart accelerated, his palms sweating.
Even though he was clutching his "trump card," seeing her still made him a little nervous.
"Daddy, it's Mommy!" Mengmeng whispered a reminder, her eyes shining brightly.
"I know!" Lin Fan whispered to psych himself up.
What was there to be afraid of! He had science on his side!
Dragging Mengmeng along, he took a deep breath and walked straight toward her.
His footsteps sounded abrupt in the quiet room.
Mu Qingxue frowned and raised her head.
Seeing Lin Fan and that pink-tailed little shadow, a flash of displeasure and vigilance crossed her eyes.
It was them again.
Lin Fan stopped right in front of her, casting a shadow over her desk.
This time, he didn't stutter, nor did he beat around the bush.
He pulled the folded paternity test report straight out of his pocket and handed it to Mu Qingxue.
His movement was crisp, carrying a touch of reckless desperation.
"Classmate Mu." Lin Fan's voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear, carrying an unquestionable certainty. "This is the paternity test report for me, Mengmeng, and you."
Mu Qingxue's gaze fell upon the paper, and her brow furrowed even deeper.
"A paternity test?" Her voice was cold, tinged with suspicion and the irritation of feeling violated. "Classmate Lin Fan, this kind of prank is very childish."
She didn't reach out to take it.
"Whether it's a prank or not, you'll know once you look at it." Lin Fan persisted, pushing the report slightly closer.
"The results show that I, Lin Fan, am Lin Mengmeng's biological father, with a probability of 99.99%."
He paused, meeting Mu Qingxue's icy gaze, and said every single word distinctly:
"And you, Mu Qingxue, are Lin Mengmeng's biological mother, with a probability... also of 99.99%."
The air froze.
A few surrounding gazes seemed to drift their way.
Mu Qingxue's complexion turned visibly pale.
She looked at the unquestionable seriousness on Lin Fan's face, then down at the black-and-white document.
Finally, she reached out a slightly trembling hand.
Her fingertips brushed against the paper, ice-cold.
She took the report and lowered her head to read it.
Time seemed to stretch out.
Lin Fan could hear his own heartbeat and Mengmeng's breathing.
Mu Qingxue's gaze traveled from the client's information to the DNA charts, and finally to the bolded conclusion at the bottom...
Her breathing grew increasingly rapid, her fingers gripping the report so tightly they turned white.
On that ice-sealed face, a drastic change appeared for the very first time.
Shock, bewilderment, disbelief... converging into a collapse-like state of confusion.
Her pupils contracted violently!
"This... impossible..." she muttered to herself, her voice weak and laced with an uncontrollable tremor. "The samples... how were they obtained... they must be forged..."
"The samples were hair from me and Mengmeng, plus the strand Mengmeng helped you pick up last time," Lin Fan explained calmly. "The testing agency is the most authoritative in the city, fully licensed and open to verification at any time. The report number is right here, you can check it."
He pointed to the reference number.
Every single word struck like a heavy hammer, shattering Mu Qingxue's final thread of wishful thinking.
Scientific proof was cold and cruel.
After finishing the report, Mu Qingxue raised her head, her gaze looking hollowly at Lin Fan.
Her expression was as if she were looking at a monster, or an entity that upended everything she knew about the world.
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
The calm and rationality she had always maintained shattered in an instant.
Replaced in their wake were bone-deep shock, bewilderment, and a trace of... fear.
She instinctively took half a step back, her body swaying slightly.
Her gaze shifted away from Lin Fan's face and slowly landed on Mengmeng, who was curiously watching her from the side.
This exquisitely carved little girl...
This absurd story...
Was actually... true?
Her entire world, in that exact moment, was completely turned upside down.