Chapter 10

Qin Lie wasn’t someone who could be easily fooled—he could clearly see Tang Weiyi was avoiding the question, and he could also tell there was something odd going on here.

But he wasn’t the nosy type. Since Tang Weiyi didn’t want to say more, he didn’t bother pressing. After all, it had nothing to do with him anyway.

He assumed little Shi Yan had only added him on WeChat on a whim. Once the novelty wore off—and especially after the parents intervened a few times, forbidding him from visiting the fire station—he’d eventually get bored, just like a child losing interest in a toy.

He even reminded Tang Weiyi to tell Tangguo not to bring Shi Yan to the fire station again.

But unexpectedly, that very night, he received a voice message from the child on WeChat.

A soft, sweet voice said:
“Chief Uncle, good night! Please protect me so I don’t sleepwalk tonight!”

It sounded like a simple good night message… or maybe more like a little one-sided wish or prayer from a child.

Qin Lie—the role model of steely resolve in the fire department, a man forged in the iron discipline of military-style training—felt an unexpected warmth blooming in his chest.

Thankfully, no matter how stirred he was inside, his expression remained impassive as always. No one could see through it.

After a long moment, he opened WeChat and tapped the message field to type a reply, but then hesitated—and instead sent a voice message:
“Mm. Sleep well tonight.”

“Yay!” Little Shi Yan was over the moon when he heard his Chief Uncle reply. He nearly jumped off the bed in excitement.

But remembering he couldn’t wake his mom—who he had only just tricked into thinking he was already asleep—he restrained himself and just rolled around the bed in joy.

Chief Uncle replied to me!

From the next day onward, Shi Yan began sending voice messages through his smartwatch from time to time:

“Good morning, Chief Uncle!”

“Chief Uncle, I ate so many shrimp for lunch today! But Mommy only let me eat ten. She said if I ate too many, I’d turn into a shrimp! Boohoo! I’m still growing—shouldn’t I eat more?!”

“Chief Uncle, good night! I didn’t sleepwalk last night! You must have been protecting me!”

Qin Lie was usually extremely busy—missions, training, daily routines. He almost never had time to reply to messages. And yet, the little rascal kept sending voice notes, never discouraged.

Still, no matter how packed his schedule was, Qin Lie would always find time to listen to Shi Yan’s bedtime messages—and would send him a short blessing in return:

“Sleep well tonight.”

—

That morning, Shi Xia was still sleeping soundly when her phone rang.

It was Mrs. Chen:
“Isn’t today the day to get your stitches removed? Did you book the doctor? After you’re done, come straight home. Have you bought your plane tickets? If not, I’ll get them for you. Bring Xiao Yan along—I haven’t seen my precious grandson in ages!”

Shi Xia couldn’t even open her eyes. She groaned in protest:
“Mom… Mrs. Chen… Madam Shi! Please have mercy. I didn’t go to bed until 3 AM! Can’t I go to the hospital a bit later? Just let me sleep a little longer!”

She was exhausted. Severely sleep-deprived. Her brain was practically frozen, and her voice was limp and lifeless.

Mrs. Chen, now full of concern:
“Why were you up so late? Aren’t you not filming anything recently?”

Shi Xia mumbled drowsily:

“Just an ad shoot… It was scheduled ages ago. We should’ve wrapped early, but there was a problem with the location. We had to wait until after the main team finished using it to start shooting.
But your daughter was amazing—almost every take was a one-shot pass! Super efficient! The director was very satisfied!”

Sigh… What a tough life for a humble actress.

Even though the location had been booked in advance, once a big-name celebrity needed it, they had no choice but to step aside and wait.

She didn’t get home until 2 AM. By the time she washed up and got into bed, it was nearly 3.
She’d barely had four hours of sleep—she was exhausted! Absolutely dead tired!

Mrs. Chen quickly ended the call, overwhelmed with heartache. She couldn’t help but grumble to her husband:
“Ugh, you see? Being a celebrity is so exhausting! She might as well just come home. It’s not like we can’t afford to support her!”

Mr. Shi (Shi Hongzhen), scrolling through real-time hot search topics on his phone:
“You’re right.”

Mrs. Chen got annoyed:
“All you ever say is ‘you’re right.’ Can’t you say anything else?”

Then she added:
“Anyway, no matter what happens this time, the blind date must be a success!”

That finally caught Mr. Shi’s attention.
“Who are the candidates? Are they all from Yun City?”

Mrs. Chen:
“There are several. I’ll show you their profiles.”

She opened her iPad and flipped through the photos.
“Let’s look at the ones from Yun City first. Once we get back to Haishi, there are more lined up!”

Mr. Shi: “……”

Wow… she’s going all out.

Still, these young men seemed promising… Hmm. Worth considering.

—

After getting her stitches removed, Shi Xia was sent straight to the airport by their driver, Mr. Zhao.

Mrs. Chen had already booked the tickets for her, Shi Yan, and her assistant Tangguo.

Tch, she really spared no effort just to make her daughter go on a blind date!

Check-in, baggage drop, security screening—all went smoothly.

It was only right before boarding that Tangguo finally had a chance to put down all the bags she was carrying and glanced at the flight info.

Startled, she leaned over and asked:
“Xia Xia, why are we flying to Yun City? Isn’t your family in Haishi?”

Had they accidentally booked the wrong flight?

Shi Xia, wearing sunglasses and listening to music, kept her gaze on Shi Yan through the lenses. Distracted, she glanced at their tickets and said:

“Oh, Yun City, Haishi—doesn’t matter. I guess the blind date’s in Yun City.”

Tangguo: “……”

That casual, huh?

And she had to go to the blind date? Shouldn’t the guy be coming to her?

She suddenly felt bad for Shi Xia. She was a celebrity, after all—how did she end up being forced into blind dates by her family?

And from the looks of it, Shi Xia had given in.

All the gods, please—don’t let her run into a walking disaster of a man!

Seeing Tangguo standing there with her hands pressed together, eyes closed, praying silently, Shi Xia couldn’t help but twitch her lips:
“What are you doing?”

Tangguo replied:
“I’m praying for you. That you don’t meet some weirdo.
What if the guy can’t handle rejection and posts about your blind date online? You’d be trending on social media in the worst way!”

It would be a PR disaster!

Shi Xia chuckled:
“Alright, keep going—pray hard. The more sincere you are, the better the results.”

Tangguo: “……”

—

Right before boarding, Shi Yan quietly took advantage of Shi Xia being distracted and sneakily sent a voice message to his Chief Uncle on WeChat:

“Chief Uncle, I’m going on a plane now with Mommy. I think she’s going on a blind date… Hmm… I might be getting a dad soon.”

Shi Yan was already used to the fact that Chief Uncle didn’t reply right away. So after sending the message, he obediently turned off his smartwatch for the flight.

But when they landed, he was surprised to find that Chief Uncle had already replied to him earlier:

“Then you have to help your mommy choose carefully.”

Shi Yan had originally been in a bit of a sulky mood—stemming from the possessiveness that young children often feel toward their moms.
He didn’t want to share her with anyone.

But after hearing that voice message from his Chief Uncle, he suddenly stood tall with pride, feeling totally refreshed.

That’s right! He was a little man now—he had to protect his mommy!

Any unreliable, shady, stinky man?
Out! All of them!