"Ma~ mama~" Zhaozhao, who had just turned one, held onto the railing of her crib, babbling away early in the morning as she tried to form her first words.

Lan Yuyan watched his adorable daughter, his heart melting at the sight.

"Is Zhaozhao happy today?"

"Mmm~" The little baby nodded as she cooed, as if she understood perfectly.

"Daddy’s going to step out for a moment. I’ll let Yuanyuan get you changed, and then Daddy will come back in to hold you."

Yuanyuan was the family’s childcare robot.

A baby didn’t really need such privacy from her family, but since they had the resources, the men of the house made it a point to let the robot handle her personal care.

Besides, Interstellar robotics were already highly advanced, and this particular model of childcare robot knew more about looking after a child than most adults.

After all, its programming included a comprehensive encyclopedia on scientific child-rearing, so its every move was straight out of a textbook.

It could mix baby formula with a precision that wasn’t off by the slightest fraction.

Once the robot, Yuanyuan, had Zhaozhao all dressed, Lan Yuyan went back in to pick her up.

Yun Xie and Shi Lichuan were in the kitchen making a cake.

Meanwhile, Cang Hong was decorating the living room, hanging cute dolls and other ornaments all over the house.

When he saw Zhaozhao being carried downstairs, he immediately stepped forward with a smile. "Zhaozhao, sweetheart, happy birthday!"

Upon hearing this, Zhaozhao gave him a big smile.

Her two tiny teeth were adorable.

"I put your gift in your Space Button, okay? You can open it when you’re a little older."

Lan Yuyan accepted it on Zhaozhao’s behalf and put it in her Space Button.

Next came Yuan Ling and the others, each presenting a gift box one by one.

Jiang Qin also gave a gift box containing jewelry and some clothes she had designed for Zhaozhao.

These were all produced by her system, using many of the rare materials from her inventory.

As a result, every item had a special effect, just like the bracelets Zhaozhao wore on her wrists.

"Come, let Mommy hold you."

Lan Yuyan smiled as he handed the child to Jiang Qin, then went to the kitchen to help.

Because they had never held a wedding banquet, they planned to host a grand feast this time.

All of their friends and family had been invited in advance.

Many chefs would also be coming today to prepare the dishes; Yun Xie and the others were only making the cake.

To avoid revealing that they had natural plants at home, everything for the party today was purchased from a research institute through their connections.

...

In the afternoon, the guests began to arrive one after another.

Yun Xie was entertaining his friends and brothers who had traveled from afar, as well as a few elders who had looked after him since he was young.

Shi Lichuan was also hosting his family and some Bounty Hunters he knew well.

Cang Hong had his own guests as well.

In the entire household, only Yuan Ling had no guests of his own. Although Jiang Qin was busy hosting her company’s business partners, she still paid him special attention, occasionally bringing Zhaozhao over to cheer him up.

Mo Chen arrived a little late; after all, it wasn’t easy to get away from Prison Star.

For him to make a trip back, he had to request several days of leave, and there was always the risk that the prisoners would riot in his absence.

But he really didn’t want to miss Zhaozhao’s first birthday party, so he took his annual leave early.

This meant he wouldn’t be able to spend the New Year on the Main Star.

The Mo Family had also been invited. Si Xu, Bai Mufeng, and the others were still on the battlefield and couldn’t make it.

Zhu Yongkang from Moonlight Bar came to the banquet with a few employees, also bringing a gift on behalf of You Wei.

From Long Hao’s side, the guests were Long Yue, two princesses from the Imperial Royal Family, and a Prince.

They also brought several partners, making for a very lively crowd.

Jiang Qin carried Zhaozhao and greeted them one by one.

"Hey, little sweetie, I’m your Auntie Long Qian~"

"The little darling is so cute, I just want to steal her and take her home."

"You have to grow up big and strong, Zhaozhao. When you’re a little older, Uncle will take you to your Imperial Grandma’s palace to play hide-and-seek."

Also overjoyed today were the members of the Lan family. Mrs. Lan’s eyes were fixed on Zhaozhao and never left her.

Yan Mingrui, for his part, never put down his camera, constantly snapping photos of Zhaozhao.

Jiang Qin took a few pictures as well and then made a post on the Star Network.

After all, her fans knew it was Zhaozhao’s first birthday party and had been sending congratulatory messages since early morning, so she had to respond.

***

The neighbors from the surrounding area were also invited today.

Although they had been neighbors for nearly two years, this was the first time any of them had been inside the Jiang family’s home.

Some of them were already fans of Jiang Qin and had to desperately contain their excitement, afraid that if they were too enthusiastic, they wouldn’t be invited again.

However, after getting permission, they all took a few photos to post online.

> Hehe, guess who got invited to Zhaozhao’s first birthday party? It’s me~

> [??? I thought we all agreed to be online-only fans? How did you end up at an in-person event?]

> [What’s the poster’s relationship with Qin Bao? How could you get invited to her first birthday party?]

> [Whoa, isn’t this a member from our Group 108? How did you score an invitation? Are you a relative or a business partner?]

The neighbor replied gleefully: > [I was invited because I’m a neighbor.]

Her main concern was avoiding any misunderstandings. She didn’t mind for herself, but she didn’t want someone to use this to sow discord between Jiang Qin and her fans.

It was a good thing she replied quickly, as some of the more extreme fans were indeed starting to get the wrong idea.

After all, they were all fans, and since this person wasn’t a high-ranking fan from the fan club’s management, some would inevitably feel it was unfair that one person got invited while others didn’t.

But if it was because she was a neighbor, then there was no issue.

People who could afford to live in the same exclusive residential area were bound to have a certain status within the Federation.

This was especially true for the villas near Jiang Qin’s, some of which were used by Federation officials as favors.

They were typically only gifted to High-level females, or to meritorious females and males.

Only a small portion were available for public sale.

Therefore, no one could really be jealous, and they certainly didn’t dare to flame this fan.

...

Soon, the birthday banquet began.

Jiang Qin had arranged a choosing ceremony, a tradition for a baby’s first birthday.

Few people in the Interstellar era still practiced this ritual; perhaps only some traditional families still held such ceremonies.

The table was covered with items, each representing a different profession.

Everyone watched Zhaozhao nervously, eager to see what she would be most interested in.

But in the end, they watched as she crawled all over, gathered every single item together, and then gestured for Lan Yuyan to bring over a Space Button and help her store them.

"Oh my, our sweet Zhaozhao is so clever! She didn’t miss a single one, she wants them all!"

"Zhaozhao is amazing! To understand the principle of ’I want it all’ at such a young age."

"She’ll definitely be an outstanding female when she grows up!"

Everyone lavished her with praise.

Although Jiang Qin had a mother’s bias, she didn’t take all the compliments literally, but she was still happy to hear them.

Once the banquet began, the guests were once again stunned by the sheer extravagance of the feast.

In this day and age, there were very few families willing to serve so much natural food to their guests.

This alone was enough to show everyone just how much they valued Zhaozhao’s first birthday.