Not only was Mi Dou popular in the barrage of comments, but he was also the hot topic on Weibo.

Among the five families invited by the show, Mi Dou was the youngest, under five years old.

Despite his age, he performed just as well as the other kids.

People expected him to be a pampered little boy from a wealthy family, but to their surprise, he didn’t have a spoiled temperament at all.

Instead, he even had to “work off his debts,” which amused and touched everyone.

What amazed people most was that, despite being treated so harshly by his dad, Mi Dou never cried.

This was a big surprise to everyone.

It seemed that the Zhan family’s parenting style was truly unique.

After the show, Ning Qiuxiu was checking Weibo while putting Mi Dou to bed, seeing everyone praising Mi Dou for being so cute and smart.

She felt a huge sense of satisfaction.

Showing off her husband made her happy, but showing off her child was even better.

Now that she could show off both, it was immense joy.

Mi Dou was very excited today.

With Zhan Qingyue taking a bath, he felt fearless and kept kicking the blanket around, refusing to settle down.

He even kicked his small blanket under the bed.

“Mommy, the blanket fell,” he said, pointing at the blanket on the floor with a confident tone.

Ning Qiuxiu helplessly picked up the blanket, wrapped him up tightly, and rolled him into a cocoon. Mi Dou giggled.

“Go to sleep,” Ning Qiuxiu said, seeing him smiling widely, “If your dad comes out and sees you’re still awake, are you scared he’ll spank you?”

— Zhan Qingyue wasn’t entirely against discipline.

Sometimes, when Mi Dou misbehaved, he’d give a light spanking, but it was more about scaring him than hurting him.

Despite his tough attitude, Zhan Qingyue was very gentle with the kids and was very tender-hearted even if they got a little hurt.

“But I can’t sleep,” Mi Dou said, hugging his blanket and looking at Ning Qiuyou, “Mommy.”

“Hmm?”

“Will I also appear on TV like you in the future and fight bad guys?”

“…” Ning Qiuxiu was amused by his idea.

No wonder he was so excited; he had such far-reaching thoughts. Ning Qiuyou asked him, “Do you like that idea?”

Mi Dou said seriously, “I like fighting bad guys, but… but it will record all the bad things I do and let everyone know.”

So you think being bad is reasonable!

Ning Qiuxiu knew Mi Dou wouldn’t say this unless he wasn’t afraid of her.

She patted the blanket wrapped around him and said, “Then don’t do bad things, and you won’t have to worry.”

Mi Dou bit his blanket and stayed silent, clearly unable to guarantee he wouldn’t be bad.

“…” Ning Qiuxiu felt like she wanted to scold him.

Just then, the bathroom door opened—Zhan Qingyue had finished his bath.

Mi Dou, who had been so defiant in front of his mom, quickly wrapped himself up in his blanket and obediently went to sleep.

Ning Qiuxiu laughed, realizing that the saying “It takes a villain to handle a villain” was true.

She took out her phone to continue checking Weibo.

Earlier, when Mi Dou had interrupted her, she had seen a very familiar name on the trending list, so she decided to look it up.

Sure enough, she wasn’t mistaken. It was an old acquaintance.

The name Ji Weiliang has been a distant memory for some time now.

Back then, her affair as a mistress caused quite a stir, and she ended up in a very embarrassing situation.

When she reappeared in the public eye afterward, it was met with criticism and disdain.

She was signed under Yixing, a company known for its survival of the fittest.

Once Ji Weiliang’s reputation declined, Yixing withdrew all their support from her, leading to her downfall and eventual disappearance from the public sphere.

Despite this, there are still rumors about Ji Weiliang online.

Some say she has married into a wealthy family, others claim she has become a mistress again, and there are even rumors that she is now a small-time model or has opened a store.

The speculation is endless.

Ning Qiuxiu later tried to investigate Ji Weiliang’s whereabouts and found that life had not been kind to her after leaving the entertainment industry.

She used her savings to open a restaurant with friends, but poor management led to financial loss.

She tried other ventures, but none were successful. For the past few years, her life seemed to be a series of misfortunes.

This was a far cry from the glamorous life of becoming the young mistress of the Zhan family and a winner everyone envied, as depicted in the book.

Ning Qiuxiu couldn’t understand why Ji Weiliang’s life had turned out so poorly.

According to the storyline, Ji Weiliang should have had a protagonist’s halo, making it hard to believe she couldn’t succeed at anything.

It seemed the plot had diverged from its original path, and even the protagonist’s halo couldn’t save her now.

As Ning Qiuxiu pondered this, she clicked on the trending topic.

After so many years, many netizens had likely never even heard of Ji Weiliang, so the comments under the trending topic were few, and it seemed like a purchased trend.

The blogger wrote that Ji Weiliang was suspected of having a low-key marriage to some wealthy second-generation individual, but there was no direct evidence or authoritative sources, just old photos of her.

“Wasn’t Ji Weiliang a mistress? Who would still want her?”

“(Eating melon) This trending topic is so awkward. Is Ji Weiliang planning a comeback?”

“Ji Weiliang should stay out of the entertainment industry. A mistress is blacklisted for life.”

“There’s a limit to seeking attention. Ji Weiliang has been out of the spotlight for so long, and now they’re dragging her out to shame her.”

“What are you looking at?” Just as Ning Qiukiu was reading the comments, Zhan Qingyue suddenly leaned in from behind, resting his head on her shoulder and asking in a low voice.

— It’s time to make a baby.

“Do you remember this person?” Ning Qiuyou showed Zhan Qingyue the phone.

“Ji Weiliang?” Zhan Qingyue frowned slightly at the name, “What about her?”

“She’s trending on Weibo. It says she’s gotten married, but I don’t know if it’s true,” Ning Qiuxiu glanced at him, “You seem to have strong feelings about her.”

“It’s not so much about having strong feelings, just that I’d rather not see her.”

Zhan Qingyue was referring to Ji Weiliang, who had caused a lot of trouble with Zhan Qingyue’s brother, Zhan Qingyuan.

Although most of the issues were Zhan Qingyuan’s fault, Zhan Qingyue still held some disdain for Ji Weiliang, especially since she had tried to negotiate with him in a way he found manipulative.

However, if her name didn’t keep coming up, Zhan Qingyue would have nearly forgotten her.

“She’s not worth wasting our time over,” Zhan Qingyue said, leaning down to kiss Ning Qiuyou on the cheek and resting his hands on her waist.

Ning Qiuxiu tried to push his hands away, saying, “Mi Dou is still awake!”

“…” Zhan Qingyue glanced at the bed and saw Mi Dou desperately trying to pretend he was asleep.

His acting was so poor that anyone could tell he was just faking it.

Having a child this old who was reluctant to sleep alone really affected their couple time.

Zhan Qingyue’s voice turned serious, “Mi Dou!”

“Mi Dou is asleep!” Mi Dou said, trying to cover his eyes with his hands.

Zhan Qingyue was almost laughing with frustration, “If you’re asleep, how can you talk?”

“I’m talking in my sleep.”

“…” You really know how to come up with excuses!

Ning Qiuxiu was laughing at the father-son duo.

Although Mi Dou often got teased by Zhan Qingyue, he also knew how to stand up to him.

As he grew older, he became more adept at clever arguments and was no longer just a little one easily molded by his dad.

“Are you having trouble falling asleep?” Zhan Qingyue asked in a softer tone.

Sensing his dad’s gentler demeanor, Mi Dou took his hands off his face and said, “Yes, Dad.”

“Perfect,” Zhan Qingyue smiled, “Your teacher assigned a weekend craft project in the group chat. I checked it out and it looks quite complicated. Since you can’t sleep, you might as well get up and start on the project, so you won’t have to rush later.”

Mi Dou: “……”