Chapter 54.1

It was already past two in the morning when Jiang Rou and Li Xiao had finished tidying up at home. An An had long since fallen asleep. Jiang Rou couldn’t bear to wake her and only used a warm towel to wipe her face and little hands before tucking her back into the blanket.

When Li Xiao returned home, his phone hadn’t stopped ringing. In the end, he just removed the SIM card.

The next morning, the whole family woke up late. By nine o’clock, there was no movement in the room. However, Li Xin got up earlier than usual. Normally, she would attend evening study until ten o’clock, but after returning to the dormitory, she would read for a while and generally go to sleep around midnight, waking up at six in the morning. Her sleep schedule was fairly regular.

After getting up, she mopped the floor at home and then went outside to buy breakfast.

After eating by herself, she went to the room to read.

Around ten o’clock in the morning, An An woke up, mumbling and squirming into her mother’s arms, needing to use the bathroom. However, her eyes remained closed. By the time Jiang Rou woke up, the little one had already fallen back asleep. Jiang Rou instinctively reached out to check her bottom and found it quite damp.

She quickly sat up, lifted the blanket to check, and saw that her side was dry, but Li Xiao’s side was quite wet.

Jiang Rou was both amused and helpless. She got up to find clothes to change An An into, and Li Xiao, who had also stirred, turned over and noticed that the bed was cold, frowning as he opened his eyes.

Since he had only worn pants after showering last night, he immediately felt the cold.

In a groggy voice, he asked, “Why is the bed wet?”

Jiang Rou came out of the bathroom with An An in her arms and replied, “It’s your daughter’s bedwetting.”

Li Xiao laughed upon hearing this, draped his arm over his eyes, and grinned, “It looks like this year will be very smooth for me.”

“Of course, your daughter is a lucky star.”

She placed An An on the bed and went off to tidy up. Before leaving, she reminded him, “Remember to change the bed sheets after you get up.”

During breakfast, Li Xiao inserted the SIM card back into his phone, and immediately, dozens of missed calls popped up. Li Xiao answered and returned the calls one by one while eating, continuing until noon. Just when he finally finished, another call came in from Chen Feng.

Chen Feng said on the phone, “I watched the GG from last night, it was really well done. Bro, I have good news. A big director is interested in An An and wants her to star in a period drama for just a few days. How about it? Can you lend me your daughter for two days?”

Li Xiao frowned upon hearing this. His daughter was a living person, not a toy. The idea of “lending” her was unacceptable to him.

Without thinking, he shook his head, saying, “I really can’t help with this. My daughter is still young, and she wets the bed in the morning. I wouldn’t want to trouble you.”

Chen Feng countered, “That’s not the point! I’ve seen An An; she’s such a well-behaved child. There are many child actors these days, and some parents even pay to get their children’s roles. This is a great opportunity, and there are many big stars in this drama. If An An becomes popular, it would also benefit your product.”

“The director is particularly sincere. He called me directly. It’s a period drama, in where An An plays the young Chen Ajiao, the daughter of the Princess of Guantao from history. The director has looked at several other children and wasn’t satisfied, but he immediately took a liking to An An last night…”

Li Xiao couldn’t take it in any longer and found an excuse to refuse.

Seeing him frown, Jiang Rou couldn’t help but ask, “Who was on the phone?”

Li Xiao responded directly, “Chen Feng. He said a director is interested in An An and wants her to act in a TV show.”

He shook his head and added, “How old is An An? I can’t believe he even brought this up.”

If not for Chen Feng’s past help, Li Xiao would have hung up the phone immediately.

Jiang Rou nodded, supporting Li Xiao’s decision. She had seen many online discussions about child stars facing difficulties later in life and didn’t want An An to suffer such harm in the future.

“We’re just ordinary people; being a star is still too distant for us.”

However, unexpectedly, Chen Feng did not get discouraged by the rejection. He kept calling throughout the day, becoming increasingly bothersome to Li Xiao.

Chen Feng’s entertainment company had always been lukewarm. Despite being a rich second-generation, he was surrounded by many others like him in his industry, making him just another supporter rather than a key player.

Having a chance to curry favor with a big director was rare, and he was determined not to miss it. He even resorted to both soft and hard tactics.

After much persistence, Li Xiao agreed, though his expression remained grim. Once he had agreed, he ended the call abruptly.

Jiang Rou looked at him with concern, “Are we really going to let An An act in a TV show?”

Seeing his displeased expression, she tried to comfort him, “You don’t need to be too upset. An An is still young and won’t be put in a difficult situation. Besides, this could be an interesting experience for her, and it might be quite amusing for her to look back on when she grows up.”

Li Xiao composed himself and said in a calm tone, “It’s not really about being angry. I just want to cut off my relationship with Chen Feng. If this continues, he will eventually become a burden.”

Seeing that Li Xiao didn’t seem angry anymore, Jiang Rou couldn’t help but comment, “He should really have invited you. Your acting skills are much better than An An’s.”

Li Xiao laughed at this.

Compared to Li Xiao, Chen Feng was clearly more concerned about building connections with the big director.

The next day, Chen Feng sent a car to pick up An An. Li Xiao was not willing to just hand over An An like that. He understood that every parent would be protective of their own child. Since he was busy with work these days and couldn’t get away, he called his assistant to accompany Jiang Rou, Li Xin, and An An.

Li Xiao’s assistant was named Meng Yi. He was a young man, barely in his early twenties, and looked quite presentable. Jiang Rou had heard about him from Li Xiao before. Meng Yi had been recruited from Chang Yong’s team. Jiang Rou had interacted with him a few times before and found him to be quite capable, though he was a bit naive and had a tendency to be bullied by older employees in the company due to his recent graduation.

Li Xiao had been somewhat proud of this when he told Jiang Rou. He explained that Chang Yong was an interesting person. On one hand, he wanted his subordinates to be capable and solve problems for him, but on the other hand, he felt some jealousy towards highly educated talents, fearing they might look down on him.

In contrast to Li Xiao, who had not graduated from high school but was highly competent, Chang Yong trusted him greatly.

Of course, Li Xiao’s significant role was not just due to his low education but also his personal charm. Jiang Rou had noticed this before. Despite Li Xiao’s bad temper and few words, many people who worked with him were very convinced by him.

This aspect made Jiang Rou quite envious because, in her past life, from kindergarten through university graduation, she had always been someone else’s follower and had never experienced being a boss herself.

The shooting location was at S City Film and Television City. Chen Feng did not expect so many people to accompany them. He came early to pick them up, and Li Xiao drove them to the train station. Although he initially intended to fly, he feared that some might have a fear of heights, so he opted for the train instead.

Of course, Chen Feng covered the expenses, and they traveled in business class.

Meng Yi was quite pleased. Before the trip, his boss had informed him that his task was to look after the adults and children, and his salary would remain unchanged.

He took the trip to the film and television city as a kind of vacation.

The business class carriage was not crowded and felt quite spacious. Meng Yi had often accompanied the big boss and smaller bosses on business trips but had never traveled in business class before. This trip felt like a real treat.

An An saw that her mother and aunt were there, as well as Uncle Meng, so she wasn’t scared. She was completely unaware that she was the star of the trip. She wriggled around on her mother’s lap, glanced out of the train window from time to time, and asked Jiang Rou for some candy.

Jiang Rou didn’t give her too much candy and instead offered her some pre-washed strawberries.

An An preferred strawberries over candy. At home, she usually ate the tips of the strawberries while her father ate the bottoms. Now that her father wasn’t around, she ate the whole strawberries herself.

She also generously shared the strawberries with others, including Chen Feng.

Chen Feng watched this and smiled, praising, “An An is really well-behaved.”

Jiang Rou wasn’t very enthusiastic, just smiled and nodded.

Chen Feng, who was known for his chattiness, continued talking even when alone, “I really don’t understand you two. I once wanted Li Xiao to be a model, but he absolutely refused, saying he was afraid you’d find out and divorce him. Now that a big director is interested in your daughter, her future in showbiz is looking bright. Do you know that many of the big stars on TV come from wealthy families? Being a star is great—high earnings and many admirers. A single gig can earn hundreds of thousands. How can you look down on such a lucrative industry?”

He then turned to Li Xin, who was sitting next to Jiang Rou, and said, “Little sister, I think you have a great look. Are you interested in entering the entertainment industry? Given my relationship with your sister and brother-in-law, I would definitely do my best to promote you. Do you know Wang Lili? She’s with our company.”

Li Xin quickly shook her head.

Before they came, her sister had told her that Li Xiao would likely cut ties with Chen Feng in the future, so no matter what he said, she should not take it to heart.

Chen Feng genuinely thought Li Xin was very attractive, with beautiful features, fair skin, and a decent height. With a bit of packaging, she could easily rival stars from Hong Kong.

Reluctant to let go of such a good prospect, Chen Feng couldn’t help but continue, but Jiang Rou quickly diverted the topic, saying, “Mr. Chen, I heard from Li Xiao that Manager Chang and his wife have been having problems lately. Is that true? I’ve had several meals with Manager Chang’s wife.”

Hearing this topic, Chen Feng’s interest was immediately piqued. He straightened up and said to Jiang Rou, “It’s worse than you think; now he doesn’t even go home.”

He clicked his tongue a few times and shook his head, “I heard that guy has been moving his assets around. If you’re on good terms with his wife, it’s best to give her a heads-up. Otherwise, she might end up with nothing and be left out with nothing at all—do you know what ‘leaving with nothing’ means? It’s when you’re kicked out with not a penny to your name.”

“It’s not that I’m targeting that guy. I’ve already warned Li Xiao before. That guy isn’t as honest and decent as he looks on the surface. He looks down on his old colleagues, relying on his sister marrying into a wealthy family, and even fights with his sister’s ex-wife and children.”

For a rich second-generation like Chen Feng, nothing was more detestable than a biological father finding a new stepmother and fighting over inheritance, especially when the new stepmother had ambitious relatives.

“Your Li Xiao was lucky to withdraw early; otherwise, who knows what could have happened later.”

Chen Feng proceeded to share a lot of industry gossip, even mentioning Dong Mingming’s family. He said that Dong Mingming’s father’s mistress was pregnant again and that he had gifted her an island. “It’s pitiful that the wife of the big boss knows nothing about this. She’s out flaunting how good her husband is to her at every event, while everyone is laughing at her behind her back.”

Jiang Rou felt a pang of discomfort upon hearing this and decided to ask Dong Mingming about it once the school term started.