Chapter 13: The Fallen Child Star (13) Part 2

“I remember when you first debuted, you went to an orphanage for an event and sang ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ for the children.”

Xu Weiheng asked curiously, “How did you know that? Did you see my Weibo post?”

Yao Rong smiled gently, “That’s right. You really like this song, don’t you?”

Indeed, Xu Weiheng loved it.

In “2050,” he had played a child named “Star.” Perhaps due to emotional transference, everything he loved most since then had been related to stars.

This naturally included the children’s song “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

It was a song he had heard and sung countless times.

“I…” Xu Weiheng pinched his burning ears, awkwardly saying, “I’d better not go up and sing. This activity is for children, what would I be doing up there?”

Just as he finished speaking, a burly man excitedly rushed onto the stage, grabbed the microphone from the host, and began singing. In the end, he received a soft pillow from the host.

Yao Rong stared at Xu Weiheng, silent but with a clear message.

Xu Weiheng: “…”

As he was about to protest again, a long-haired girl walked onto the stage.

Xu Weiheng: “…”

“Go on,” Yao Rong said, her lips curving slightly as she adjusted his cap. “The hat will hide your face. No one will recognize you. And even if they do, it doesn’t matter.”

Xu Weiheng tilted his head, looking at the simple temporary stage.

He quietly asked himself: Was he really resistant to going up there to sing?

In truth, Xu Weiheng wasn’t resistant, just a bit nervous.

He wasn’t fully prepared to stand on stage again, with everyone’s eyes on him.

But what was there to fear about this simple stage with only twenty or thirty spectators?

He had once performed live in front of millions of viewers.

Xu Weiheng closed his eyes briefly, his lashes as dense as crow feathers trembling slightly over his eyelids. When he opened them again, his gaze was resolute. “Alright, I’ll go up.”

He walked slowly but firmly from the dark crowd into the spotlight, up onto the stage.

The host exchanged a few words with him before handing over the microphone and the stage.

All the stage lights went out for a moment, leaving only the three glow sticks on Xu Weiheng’s wrist illuminated.

He lowered his eyes and began to hum along with the melody.

His voice, clear and elegant yet tinged with youthful nervousness and joy, captured the ears of all listeners. Though it was a familiar children’s song, the way he sang it gave it a fresh charm, something entirely new and unique.

Gradually, audience members began waving their glow sticks to the rhythm.

The crowd started cheering, applauding, and screaming for him.

He shone brightly at the center of the stage.

And Yao Rong, from beginning to end, stood in the crowd, gazing at him tenderly.

…

Meanwhile, at the Xu family home.

Given how quickly information spreads nowadays, the best time for crisis management is within 72 hours after an incident breaks. Beyond this time, many forgetful netizens lose interest in the matter, making it much harder to clarify things later.

Regarding the news that ‘Xu Ji and Xu Yiyuan are biological father and son’, the Xu family did respond immediately.

However, their response not only failed to have any positive effect but actually confirmed the matter.

Later, the police came to investigate.

With the police watching, the Xu family didn’t dare to make any big moves and cooperated with the investigation obediently.

As a result, they missed the optimal time for public relations management.

Now, many netizens believe that Xu Yiyuan is indeed Xu Ji’s illegitimate son.

Because of this, the parent-child variety show ‘Dear Family’ that had previously invited Xu Ji and Xu Yiyuan, specifically called to say there were changes to the contract.

Xu Ji didn’t agree immediately, asking what changes they wanted to make.

“First, of course, is that the pay will be halved. Secondly, our production team intends to contact Xu Weiheng and his mother as special guests to participate in the recording of several episodes.”

Xu Ji nearly roared, “Impossible!”

The tone from the show’s production team immediately changed, hinting at threats and ill will: “Gentlemen, we’re not negotiating with you, we’re informing you. If you’re not willing, we can just terminate the contract. According to the contract, all responsibility would be on your side.”

Xu Ji’s heart sank.

He instantly thought of the tactics used by the ‘Entertainment New World’ show’s production team.

These production teams were courteous and gentle when inviting him, but when it came to turning on him, they could be ruthless.

Beside him, Xu Yiyuan’s face was grim.

He was very unwilling.

But no matter how unwilling he was, he had no other options.

At this moment, Xu Yiyuan’s mother whispered to Xu Ji, “Let’s agree. This might not be a bad thing.”

Hearing this, Xu Ji no longer bothered to argue with the production team.

He quickly hung up the phone and asked, “Why do you say that?”

Xu Yiyuan’s mother looked at Xu Yiyuan and smiled, asking, “How did Yiyuan first debut?”

“By participating in the same variety show as Xu Weiheng…” Xu Yiyuan suddenly slapped his forehead. “Ah! I get it!”

At that time, he and Xu Weiheng had been on the same outdoor variety show.

In the show, he had made Xu Weiheng look like a useless burden to the team. And he himself, stepping on Xu Weiheng, had easily made a name for himself in the entertainment industry.

It hadn’t been that long; that useless Xu Weiheng probably hadn’t improved much.

As for Xu Weiheng’s mother, there was even less to say.

When that mother and son appear on the variety show, at first, netizens might sympathize with them, but how long would that sympathy last?

As long as the mother and son perform poorly, they would once again become stepping stones for his family.