Chapter 12: The Fallen Child Star (12) part 1

The rain had ceased, leaving the banana leaves in the corner of the courtyard washed to a vibrant green. Clusters of unripe grapes hung from the vines, exuding a faint sourness that mingled with the grapes’ inherent sweetness, seeping into the night air.

The three of them had devoured the pickled fish dish, leaving nothing behind. For after-dinner drinks, they had Wangzai milk.

Zhang Qingyi cleared the table and headed to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

Xu Weiheng sat restlessly, fidgeting with his straw.

After posting on Weibo, the anger in his heart had found release, only to be replaced by a belated surge of shyness and nervousness.

In his sixteen years of life, the role of “mother” had always been vacant.

After reuniting with Yao Rong, he tried to accept her and live with her.

However, during this time, he had never once called her ‘Mom’. Whenever he needed to address her, it was always with the somewhat formal and distant “Ms. Yao.”

When editing his post earlier, he had initially written ‘Ms. Yao’, but after much hesitation, he changed it to ‘Mom’.

Yet now, face-to-face with Yao Rong, he still couldn’t bring himself to say that word.

After finishing his drink, Xu Weiheng stood up to throw away the trash. Noticing Ping’an curled up under the table, he found an excuse to slip away: “I’m going to chop some chicken breast for Ping’an’s dinner.”

Only Yao Rong remained in the spacious living room.

She watched Xu Weiheng’s retreating figure, then lowered her head to open Weibo.

As soon as Xu Weiheng’s post was successfully sent, the system notified her.

She read that sentence over and over again, then took a screenshot and saved the image in a special album.

[Host, how do you feel about raising a child?] The usually quiet system was particularly active tonight.

A night-blooming cereus in the corner suddenly unfurled a petal, its fragrance rich and sweet.

Yao Rong’s gaze was drawn to this suddenly blooming flower.

“Raising a child feels like growing a tree or nurturing a flower,” she said.

With careful tending over time, the tree gradually becomes strong, and the flower blooms.

The shady tree, the fragrant flowers, the beautiful blossoms – these are all rewards for the one who planted and nurtured them.

She was now experiencing the joy of that reward.

When she first received the invitation from the Time-Space Management Bureau, she was surprised.

However, an excellent mission executor doesn’t concern themselves with their identity or circumstances in each world. They prioritize the mission issued by the system, so she gladly accepted the invitation.

But because she had never raised a child before, she sometimes made oversights in her actions, and her considerations were inevitably incomplete at times.

It wasn’t until this moment that Yao Rong truly fell in love with this mission.

When she was in the female supporting character group, her every counterattack was for herself.

But now, her every counterattack was not just for herself.

The system, sensing Yao Rong’s thoughts, seemed to have a hint of a smile in its mechanical voice.

[I’m glad you think this way.]

[In the Time-Space Management Bureau, there are many excellent mission executors. Whether in terms of ability or mentality, they all deserve to be called experts. But in our department, after considering ability, mentality, and personality, we unanimously believed that you were the most suitable candidate.]

[Gentleness is a character trait, and also the most powerful force. Everything you’ve done during this period has far exceeded our expectations.]

In fact, regarding the question of ‘how to save Xu Weiheng’, even with data far beyond this era, the system couldn’t give a particularly standard answer.

But during this time, the system felt it had seen the optimal solution from Yao Rong.

To save a person, besides saving their reputation, future, and life, the most important thing is to save their heart, teach them courage, and let them dare to fight against injustice and hardship.

She stood in the light to protect him, slowly giving Xu Weiheng the belief to stand up again.

Because he also wanted to protect her, Xu Weiheng was no longer timid. He even dared to publicly challenge his once-feared, authoritative father.

The bond between mother and son is not just one-sided unconditional giving from one to the other, but a two-way flow of emotion.

After speaking up for a while, the system went quiet again. This was the host’s first mission, which was why it appeared slightly more frequently. Later on, except for transmitting plot information, it would basically not disturb the host.

Though the conversation seemed long, since it took place directly in Yao Rong’s mind, only a few seconds had passed in real life.

The night-blooming cereus was slowly opening its second petal.

Yao Rong carried the flower pot into the courtyard, calling towards the kitchen: “The cereus is blooming. Do you want to come and appreciate it?”

Hearing this good news, Xu Weiheng and Zhang Qingyi quickly came out of the kitchen.

Zhang Qingyi took out her phone to record the entire process of the cereus blooming. She said her son’s summer camp was about to end, and she could send the video to him to watch. After all, she had been watering the cereus regularly, so she deserved some credit for its blooming.

Yao Rong happily agreed: “That’s right.”

As they chatted, Xu Weiheng sat quietly on a small stool, holding Ping’an in his arms, his gaze fixed unwaveringly on the cereus.

In just a few minutes, the cereus had bloomed to its fullest.

Pure and cold, graceful as jade, a beauty under the moonlight.

Indescribably beautiful.

Yao Rong thought she would remember this blooming forever.

After Zhang Qingyi finished recording the video, Yao Rong suggested a few days’ tour around D City.

The Xu family was being investigated by the police for bribing the paternity test agency, so they would certainly behave for a short while. Such a joyous occasion certainly deserved a good trip to celebrate.

“You’ve been in D City for so long, always staying in Ying County, hardly going out. I haven’t traveled in a long time either. Once I finish my current work, let’s set off and tour around D City. What do you think?”

Travel?

Xu Weiheng thought for a moment, his eyes brightening slightly as he agreed.

Seeing Xu Weiheng agree, Zhang Qingyi nodded happily, enthusiastically taking out her camera, saying she would take plenty of tourist photos for Yao Rong and Xu Weiheng.

…

Their first destination was the publishing house in the city center.

Yao Rong had submitted ‘Starry Sky’ directly to a local publishing house in D City. Now that the publishing house had approved the manuscript and learned that Yao Rong was from D City, they invited her to meet at a café in the city to sign the contract in person.

The journey was long. At Xu Weiheng and Zhang Qingyi’s request, Yao Rong began to tell the story she had written.

After all, they had specially rented a van to go into the city, and besides the driver, there were only the three of them as passengers, so they didn’t need to worry about disturbing others.

“To the vast starry sky, humans are as small as dust. Yet since ancient times, humans have never stopped their steps to conquer the stars.”

“The protagonist, Hua, was a space explorer carefully selected by the Blue Star Space Agency. He left Blue Star with a spaceship, but due to a storm, he lost contact with the spacecraft. From then on, he began to drift alone in space.”

“He tossed and turned in the vastness of space, each movement symbolizing humanity’s step forward in conquering the cosmos. His eyes witnessed the boundless universe for mankind, but as his youth faded and body withered, ambitions eroded—he longed only to return to the Blue Star.”

“But his wish remained unfulfilled.”

“In the end, the star explorer belonged to the stars.”