Chapter 15: The Fallen Child Star (15) part 1

By the time Zhang Qingyi learned about this, Yao Rong had already contacted the show’s production team.

“You’re really planning to participate?!” Zhang Qingyi’s exclamation startled a bird perched on the grape trellis, causing it to take flight immediately.

Yao Rong nodded.

Worry crept onto Zhang Qingyi’s face. “The Xu family can’t be up to anything good. I’m concerned you’ll run into trouble if you join so rashly.”

“It’ll be fine,” Xu Weiheng replied.

He gestured for Zhang Qingyi to sit down and explained, “I just inquired with the production team. The idea to invite us was theirs, not the Xu family’s. Most importantly, I still want to be an actor.”

As an actor, the work you create must eventually be presented to an audience.

So he had to step back into the spotlight.

This variety show was the perfect opportunity.

While Xu Weiheng spoke, Zhang Qingyi observed him intently.

As she watched, she felt a sudden wave of emotion.

She still vividly remembered their first encounter on the plane. He had been thin, weak, with a pale face. His words were sharp, as if each one contained a hidden thorn that could hurt others while also tormenting himself.

But now, it was as if he had been reborn.

The change wasn’t just in his appearance, but also in his demeanor, speech, and behavior.

When he spoke now, he exuded a calmness that made it clear this was a young man raised in love, surrounded by it.

“Aunt Zhang?” Xu Weiheng had been talking for a while when he noticed Zhang Qingyi was distracted.

Zhang Qingyi snapped back to reality and chuckled. “Knowing you two have thought this through puts me at ease. When do you start filming?”

“In a month.”

Zhang Qingyi nodded and returned to her room on the third floor. She sat by the half-open window, lost in thought.

Outside, the osmanthus tree was lush with leaves, and cicadas hid in the gaps, their incessant chirping filling the air.

After listening to the cicadas for a while, Zhang Qingyi pulled out her phone.

Her photo album was filled with family pictures.

She stared at them for a long time.

If not for the affair, they truly would have been a model family. Her son’s father was an engineer, she was a photographer, his grandparents were university professors, and his maternal grandparents were newspaper editors. Though not wealthy, they were more than capable of providing a comfortable life for their child.

But the affair was an undeniable fact.

It wasn’t just her who knew about it—the whole country’s netizens knew too.

She had stayed in D City during this time, choosing to handle things quietly. But in a few days, her son’s closed summer camp would end.

After careful deliberation, she had decided to file for divorce.

She couldn’t continue living with her husband without resentment.

But after the divorce, what would happen to her son?

Knock, knock, knock.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door.

Startled, Zhang Qingyi called out, “The door’s open, come in.”

The door swung open, and Yao Rong and Xu Weiheng entered one after the other. Xu Weiheng carried a tray with desserts, fruit, and a pot of flower tea.

Yao Rong smiled and said, “We came to have afternoon tea with you.”

Earlier, when Zhang Qingyi went upstairs, Yao Rong had noticed that her state seemed off. So, after giving her more than two hours alone, she asked Xu Weiheng to join her and check in on her.

Zhang Qingyi quickly pulled up chairs for them.

Yao Rong took out a Bluetooth speaker, played some relaxing music, and invited Zhang Qingyi to try the desserts she had just made.

The dessert was refreshing, sweet but not cloying. After a sip of flower tea, the experience was even better.

Zhang Qingyi silently finished her portion.

After eating and drinking her fill, a strong urge to confide welled up within her. “I’ve been looking at pictures of my son since I came upstairs.”

Yao Rong and Xu Weiheng immediately set down what they were holding and prepared to listen attentively.

Zhang Qingyi continued, “You know, he idolizes his father so much. While sorting through my phone, I found an essay he wrote a few months ago.”

“On the yellow notebook, with his large, childlike handwriting that always went beyond the lines, he carefully wrote: ‘I hope to grow up and be like Dad.'”

Zhang Qingyi let out a bitter laugh, and under Yao Rong and Xu Weiheng’s gaze, she slowly revealed her vulnerability.

“It crushed me. As a mother, I don’t know how to tell my child that the father he idolizes, the man he believes is capable of anything, is actually an irresponsible coward who betrayed our family…”

Such a truth would shatter everything a child understood about their small world.

She could endure the pain of her husband’s betrayal, but she didn’t know how to minimize the harm it would cause her son.

Yao Rong placed a comforting hand on Zhang Qingyi’s back, silently offering her strength and reassurance.

Xu Weiheng, who had been silently fading into the background, quietly raised his hand. “Aunt Zhang, would you like to hear my opinion?”

Zhang Qingyi, not wanting to lose composure in front of the younger generation, made an effort to gather herself. “Go ahead.”

“Don’t hide anything, and don’t try to act strong in front of your son. Just tell him everything as it is. Aunt Zhang, although he’s only seven years old, sometimes he can be stronger and more understanding than you might think.”

Xu Weiheng’s words came from a place of deep empathy.

If possible, he truly wished that when Mrs. Yao was going through her divorce, she could have told him the whole truth, rather than keeping him in the dark for so long.

Zhang Qingyi was deeply shaken.

It was the first time she had heard such advice.

Previously, when she had discussed this matter with her parents and friends, they all suggested not telling the child, to avoid damaging the image of the father in the child’s mind.

But now, faced with Xu Weiheng’s suggestion, Zhang Qingyi couldn’t help but wonder: Have we adults underestimated children? Is what we consider protection actually a form of harm to some extent?

With this thought, Zhang Qingyi instinctively turned her gaze towards Yao Rong for help: “Sister Yao, what do you think?”

Yao Rong was also surprised by Xu Weiheng’s suggestion.

She thought for a moment and said carefully, “I think what Weiheng says makes sense. Qingyi, you know your son’s personality best. Think about it, how would he react if you told him the truth?”

Zhang Qingyi gripped her teacup tightly, hesitating.

“You don’t need to make a decision

right away, you still have time to consider,” Yao Rong said, giving Zhang Qingyi space, and left the room with Xu Weiheng.

…