Chapter 5 Variety

Qing Ning TV Station Building.

A staff member from the production team threw the phone onto the table, complaining, “What kind of people did Xu Qingying find? The older one gave you half a minute, and the younger one—I hadn’t even finished my question before he muttered something and hung up!”

“I don’t know who they are, but they’re definitely loaded,” a colleague remarked with a click of the tongue. “You weren’t here yesterday when I came back from setting up cameras at their place. Do you know where Xu Qingying’s second husband lives? Bauhinia Mansion!”

“Bauhinia Mansion? That exclusive villa district right in the city center?”

As everyone knows, most villas are located in the suburbs—spacious but far from downtown. For convenience, many wealthy people prefer high-end apartments in the city center instead.

Bauhinia Mansion perfectly combines the advantages of both villas and luxury apartments, complete with a private lake, equestrian grounds, and a golf course. It was built early; nowadays, such a project wouldn’t even get approved.

In short, only the ultra-rich and influential can live in Bauhinia Mansion.

“Xu Qingying’s got skills—she actually landed a real tycoon.”

“Landing a tycoon doesn’t matter. Did you hear how that family responded? They might as well have outright said they look down on Xu Qingying and her daughter!”

A colleague wondered, “Didn’t Xu Qingying’s stepson just hang up? How does that mean he looks down on them?”

“Right before he hung up, I had just asked, ‘We heard your stepmother is bringing her biological daughter home. Can you share your thoughts about your future sister—’ Before I could finish, he coldly snapped, ‘Little brats are such a hassle,’ and hung up. Isn’t that disdain for his stepsister?”

The rest of the team agreed—it made sense.

“So what do we do? Do we really post their description of Xu Qingying’s daughter on the official blog?”

“Of course we do!” the Boss immediately decided. “Xu Qingying’s family is meant to be the contrast to the others. Look at how harmonious the other families are, and then look at Xu Qingying’s side—what a stark difference! That recording has to be released!”

——

The Jiang Residence.

Steam rose in the bathroom, with dense foam and red petals floating in the bathtub.

Soon, the tub’s massage function activated, rippling the water gently.

Caught off guard, Zhi Li tightened her grip on the little yellow duck in her hand.

“Quack!”

“Wow!”

“Quack quack!”

“Wow wow!”

Xu Qingying couldn’t help but laugh, dabbing a bit of foam on Zhi Li’s nose. “Are you two performing a duet?”

The bathroom was comfortably warm, and Zhi Li had been soaking for a while. Her fair little face was flushed pink from the steam, looking so tender it seemed like water could be squeezed from it.

“Mommy, it’s shaking!” Zhi Li exclaimed as if discovering a new world, excitedly plopping back down. She grabbed Xu Qingying’s hand, wanting her to feel the vibrations at the edge of the tub, but then noticed she had splashed a lot of water onto the floor.

Zhi Li stared guiltily at the wet tiles and peeked at Xu Qingying. “Mommy, I made the bathroom messy.”

“Water splashing is normal during baths,” Xu Qingying said casually, picking petals out of Zhi Li’s hair. “We’ll just wipe it dry later.”

Seeing that Mommy wasn’t angry like Auntie would be, Zhi Li beamed. “I’ll wipe it! I’m really good at cleaning floors, and I’m super good at finding hairs stuck in carpets too!”

Their bedroom was so big—cleaning it all alone must be hard for Mommy. She wanted to help as much as she could.

Although Zhi Li didn’t finish her sentence, Xu Qingying inexplicably understood. “The carpets in the bedrooms will be cleaned by others, and others will also look for hairs on them. Mommy isn’t tired.”

Zhi Li was puzzled. “But aren’t we the ones living here?”

“Didn’t a sister help you open the door when you got out of the car? And didn’t you see other uncles and aunties cleaning during the tour earlier?” Xu Qingying explained. “They were all hired by your grandmother to work at home. They’ll help clean the bedrooms too.”

Zhi Li: “!!!”

So the uncles and aunties she saw earlier were all paid!

Zhi Li fell into a little confusion.

Her new grandmother spent a lot of money to enroll her in expensive classes and also paid many people to clean the house, including the bedroom she and Mommy lived in.

In Zhi Li’s limited five-year-old understanding, her grandmother had said that someone smiling at you when you first meet means they like you. Her cousin had said that their aunt preferred her cousin brother and spent more money on him—and indeed, their aunt usually smiled the most at him.

So—

Spending money = liking = smiling.

Zhi Li scratched her cheek.

This was also why she didn’t understand why Xu Xia would smile. Liking = smiling, not liking = not smiling. Cousin Xu Xia had said she didn’t like her, so why did she smile?

Grandmother spent a lot of money on her when they first met, so she must like her too, right? But then why didn’t Grandmother smile?

Zhi Li looked at Xu Qingying and voiced her confusion, her big eyes filled with innocent bewilderment. “Mommy, if Grandmother likes me, why doesn’t she smile?”

Xu Qingying: “…”

In her past life, Xu Qingying had grown accustomed to people wearing masks. Those who smiled at you might not actually like you—they might even hate you. And those who didn’t smile might not necessarily dislike you; they might just be reserved.

Xu Qingying had never raised a child before and wasn’t sure whether to explain things to Zhi Li using adult logic or child logic—especially since Zhi Li had experienced living under someone else’s roof.

“Your grandmother—” Xu Qingying paused, recalling her recent meeting with Song Yin. She believed that someone of Song Yin’s temperament would never openly scold or say she disliked Zhi Li, who had no blood relation to her.

According to Zhi Li’s criteria, the smiling servants in the villa liked her, and the grandmother who spent money on her liked her too. At the very least, before she could take Zhi Li away, letting Zhi Li grow up in this “loving” environment wasn’t a bad thing.

So, Xu Qingying decided to tell a little white lie. “Your grandmother is reserved. Even if she likes you in her heart, she’s too shy to show it. And if she doesn’t show it, she won’t smile.” As for the complexities of human nature and masks, Zhi Li could learn about those when she was older.

Reserved.

Zhi Li tilted her head, another question popping into her mind.

If others use smiles to show they like me, I’ll smile back to show I like them too. But if Grandmother is reserved and doesn’t smile, how should I respond to show I like her?

Just as Zhi Li was about to ask again, she was interrupted.

Afraid that Zhi Li would dwell on it further, Xu Qingying changed the subject. “Zhi Li, Mommy has some work coming up that will need your cooperation.”

Sure enough, Zhi Li set aside her confusion and asked instead, “What kind of work?” Mommy working meant earning money, and of course she wanted to help Mommy earn money! That way, living in such a big and beautiful house, Mommy would have plenty of confidence.

Xu Qingying carefully chose her words, “It’s a variety show. Tomorrow, they’ll film some scenes at home and others outside with other people. The footage will be broadcast online like a TV drama for everyone to see. Just act naturally at home, and when we’re outside, it’ll be like going on a trip.”

Hearing the word “trip,” Zhi Li immediately stopped playing with her little yellow duck and eagerly asked, “Does a trip mean we get to go out and play?”

“Yes,” Xu Qingying nodded. “We’ll go out to play with lots of people.”

Lots of people!

Zhi Li happily squeezed her little yellow duck, its quacks filling the air as she firmly promised, “Zhi Li will help Mommy with work!”

Seeing Zhi Li so excited, Xu Qingying’s heart softened.

Mentioning the variety show inevitably made Xu Qingying recall the plot.

The book mainly revolved around several variety shows planned by the protagonist. As the contrasting character who got humiliated in the first show, the original host had to film the introductory episode alone without her stepson, creating a stark contrast with the other three families. The online ridicule that followed made the original host think of Zhi Li, who was being fostered by the Xu family.

A week later, on the eve of the show’s live broadcast resuming, the original host brought Zhi Li back to the Jiang household. Coincidentally, the very next day, the stepson who had been abroad also returned.

During the family variety show, the original host kept pressuring Zhi Li to learn how to please her stepbrother. But Zhi Li stubbornly refused to communicate with her, naturally ignoring her demands, which infuriated the original host into constantly scolding Zhi Li for being cowardly and unworthy of being her child.

Meanwhile, the stepson Jiang Yuexiao showed no respect to the original host either, growing increasingly sarcastic as filming progressed. In a fit of rage, the original host lost her rationality and decided to teach Jiang Yuexiao a lesson—using Zhi Li’s hands to feed him food he was allergic to. Unexpectedly, Jiang Yuexiao had such a severe reaction that he went into shock and was hospitalized.

By the end of that episode, the original host became the universally despised evil stepmother online. When the author wrote about someone exposing how the original host was kicked out of the wealthy family, Xu Qingying—still a reader at the time—cheered while also asking in the comments about Zhi Li’s fate.

Unfortunately, before she could see Zhi Li’s story unfold, she found herself transmigrated into this world.

The original host had already signed the contract for the family variety show. Xu Qingying could have backed out or not brought Jiang Yuexiao along, but the plot’s force was too strong. The moment she even considered the idea, she nearly had another heart attack and was almost sent back to the afterlife.

After both of them finished washing up and turned off the lights, the bedroom plunged into darkness.

Zhi Li snuggled into the soft bedding, immediately feeling how spacious the bed was—she could sleep sideways, lengthwise, any way she wanted. Above her, a mist-like white canopy draped down.

“Do you like it here?” Xu Qingying asked.

“Yes!” Zhi Li hugged Xu Qingying tightly, her soft cheek pressed against her mother’s arm. “I love the big, beautiful house! I love blowing bubbles with Mommy in the bathroom! And I love sharing the same blanket with Mommy! Mommy, you smell so nice.”

Xu Qingying turned and pulled Zhi Li into her arms. “We used the same shower gel, so you’re a little fragrant pear too.”

A moment later, she leaned over and kissed Zhi Li’s forehead. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”

Zhi Li felt a little shy but still leaned in to plant a kiss on her mother’s cheek, murmuring softly, “Goodnight, Mommy.”

Not long after lying back down, drowsiness began to envelop Zhi Li. Just as she was about to drift off to sleep, her eyes suddenly flew open, as if a little lightbulb had lit up above her head.

She finally knew how to respond to her reserved grandma about liking something!

The next morning, Zhi Li, excited by the thought that the little machine outside the bedroom would start recording as soon as she stepped out and that she could help her mom work and earn money, got up early all by herself. She washed her face, brushed her teeth, and applied fragrant lotion on her face without any help.

Seizing the opportunity, Xu Qingying styled Zhi Li’s hair with tiny diamond clips, picked out a wine-red plaid dress from the wardrobe, and paired it with the little pear-shaped bag that Zhi Li adored. The whole outfit turned out both adorable and endearingly dorky.

At the same time, the live broadcast for *Shining Children* officially began on schedule.