Although she wasn't particularly fond of watching big warships, Little Yixi was still very happy to be out playing with her mom and dad.
Even though she would rather her father take her to Disneyland or another amusement park, even a zoo would be fine, she had no interest in seeing big warships.
However, when Chen Yu drove with her and Jounouchi Hiromi to the naval port, Little Yixi was startled by the gigantic ship in front of her, which looked even bigger than her school. Her little face was full of shock, and she held Audis tightly in her arms, a bit scared.
"Impressive, isn't it? This is a really amazing warship in many ways!" Chen Yu picked up his daughter, smiling widely as he spoke to her.
Little Yixi couldn't help but nod as she gazed at the gigantic warship, as tall as a ten-story building and so big that she couldn't see from its bow to its stern, leaving her in speechless wonder.
"This kind of ship is called an aircraft carrier. It has a long deck where airplanes can take off!" Chen Yu explained to Little Yixi while carrying her towards the boarding bridge, with Jounouchi Hiromi following closely beside him, smiling at Little Yixi.
Perhaps overwhelmed by the giant steel construction before her, Little Yixi didn't notice that besides her family, there were no other tourists around this huge aircraft carrier.
Even though it was the naval port open day, and there were many visitors in the port, they were all being guided to two much smaller frigates nearby, with no one coming this way.
Even if someone wanted to come this way, they would be stopped and persuaded to leave by the military personnel at the port.
They boarded the bridge, entered the cabin through a side entrance of the aircraft carrier, and Little Yixi's mouth was slightly agape in astonishment at everything she saw.
The interior of this aircraft carrier wasn't plain and simple like an ordinary warship; it was carpeted like a luxury hotel, with decorations on the walls and soft, bright lighting on the ceilings, making it very pleasant to look at.
Even though Little Yixi didn't like warships, her school had organized visits to the naval port open day. While she couldn't say she was familiar with warships, she wasn't completely uninformed either.
Seeing the beautiful ship interior that resembled the luxury hotels her dad had taken her to before, Little Yixi couldn't help but exclaim, "It's so pretty!"
Hearing his daughter's remark, Chen Yu's smile grew even brighter, but he said nothing, just kept carrying her further inside the ship along the corridor.
The enormous interior of the aircraft carrier was like a city, filled with corridors and rooms, and someone visiting for the first time could easily get lost if they weren't familiar.
After being carried by her dad through hallway after hallway and door after door, Little Yixi was already dizzy and couldn't remember the route.
But with her mom and dad by her side, Little Yixi wasn't worried at all, until they brought her into an extremely luxurious room.
"Happy 11th Birthday, Chen Yixi!"
The room was decorated with colorful banners on the wall, and the people inside were all wishing her a happy birthday, leaving Little Yixi utterly dumbfounded, staring blankly at her mom and dad, not understanding what was happening.
"Every year we celebrate at home, and Dad thought it was a bit plain, so this year I arranged a special birthday party for my little princess." Chen Yu explained to Little Yixi, while also asking, "So, my little princess, do you like the surprise Dad prepared for you?"
"I..." Little Yixi hadn't snapped back to reality yet, seeing the familiar faces of her classmates, friends, relatives, as well as her mom and dad's friends. Her little head was completely overwhelmed.
Luckily, her small body was quickly filled with a huge sense of joy, and she hugged her dad, giving him a sweet kiss on the cheek, "I love it! I love Daddy the most!"
The kiss from his daughter made Chen Yu's heart blossom with joy, and his face bore a silly, proud smile as he hoisted Yixi onto his shoulders.
"Happy Birthday, dear little princess. Please allow me to present you with a birthday gift." Kanbara Alira, who hadn't been seen for many years, looked much older than ten years ago, but his face still wore a kindly smile as he handed a wrapped birthday gift to Little Yixi.
Due to the Eastern University Medical School Affiliated Hospital's longtime employment of Daimon Michiko, Kanbara Alira and Chen Yu had always kept in touch, and every year he prepared a carefully selected gift for Little Yixi's birthday.
Little Yixi sweetly thanked Kanbara Alira as she accepted the birthday gift, though with one arm holding Audis and the other grabbing the present, she was struggling to hold everything.
Jounouchi Hiromi stepped in and took the gift from Little Yixi's arms, setting it aside and told her daughter, "Yixi, how about you get down from Dad's arms? Everyone is here for your birthday, and you should go welcome them! An eleven-year-old can't always cling to Daddy!"
"Okay!" Little Yixi nodded obediently, letting her dad put her down on the ground, and then she ran off towards her friends and classmates.
Watching his daughter play happily with her friends, Chen Yu shook his head helplessly and then started laughing.
"Who would have thought, Professor Chen Yu, that you actually own such a big ship!" Just like Chen Yu, Kanbara Alira was watching Little Yixi, and he suddenly exclaimed with admiration.
Though with Daimon Michiko being such a money-making force, Kanbara Alira indeed wasn't lacking in money, he absolutely couldn't afford such a big ship.
In fact, apart from a few select government countries worldwide, no one can afford or even has access to an aircraft carrier, and Chen Yu's is the only privately owned aircraft carrier in the world.
This naturally led Kanbara Alira to feel both envious and puzzled about how Chen Yu could have acquired such a large vessel, but he didn't ruin the atmosphere by asking.
And Chen Yu, for his part, didn't offer an explanation, just smiled at Kanbara Alira's admiration.
"Thank you for the gift, Uncle Jing. Sorry for the expenses." Jounouchi Hiromi expressed her gratitude to Kanbara Alira. Even though she had become a deity, she remained grateful for the care the elderly man had shown her in the past: "And to think you came all this way for Little Yixi's birthday, we really owe you!"
"Come now, Hiromi, Little Yixi is so adorable, I'm always looking forward to attending her birthday party each year." Kanbara Alira laughed. As he got older, he grew more fond of children, and attending Little Yixi's birthday party was something he eagerly anticipated annually.
"Enough of that, today's Yixi's birthday, celebrating her is the most important thing today," interrupted Chen Yu, putting emphasis on the day's focus.