Chapter 23 (2 in 1)

They had arrived at Three Sophora Village and spotted the production crew, so Zhi Li and the others had no choice but to get out of the car.

Compared to Zhi Li’s reluctance to part with the chicks and Jiang Yuexiao’s concern for his stomach, Xu Qingying was utterly carefree. The moment they reached the village entrance, she was the first to hop out of the car.

Two crew members assigned to film them also quickly jumped out, afraid of being mocked by their colleagues if seen.

Why bother! Why clutch their thirty-yuan fortune and carpool together!

After getting out, Xu Qingying checked her clothes thoroughly and indeed plucked a few chicken feathers off them.

Once she finished picking the feathers off her own clothes, Xu Qingying guessed Zhi Li probably had some too and looked up to call her over. But before she could speak, Zhi Li had already scampered off with quick, light steps.

“Grandpa! Grandma!” Zhi Li stretched out her hands to the elderly couple, palms open to reveal a pile of candies, and said sweetly, “Thank you for bringing us to the village! These candies are super delicious!”

Earlier, when Xu Qingying had offered money, the elderly couple refused. Now, faced with the candies held out by the child and her eager, hopeful eyes, they found it hard—and unwilling—to say no.

The grandmother accepted the candies and gently patted Zhi Li’s head with her wrinkled hand, smiling kindly. “No need to thank us. Come visit Grandma sometime, and I’ll make you some tasty snacks.”

Zhi Li happily agreed, “Okay!”

After saying goodbye to Zhi Li, the elderly couple got back into their car and drove home. Along the way, the grandmother unwrapped a candy and handed it to her husband at the wheel. “I usually don’t let you eat much sugar, but today’s special. You can have one.”

After eating the candy, the grandfather smacked his lips, his eyes crinkling with laughter. “So sweet!”

As he spoke, he glanced in the rearview mirror.

Zhi Li had waved energetically at them before running back to her mother, obediently letting her pluck a few stray chicken feathers from her clothes. The little boy who had been scowling since they met stood aloofly with his hands in his pockets—until Zhi Li tiptoed to pluck a feather from his collar, making his short hair seem to bristle in shock.

The grandfather withdrew his gaze and said sincerely, “That kid is just as adorable as our granddaughter.”

The grandmother wholeheartedly agreed and, while her husband wasn’t looking, secretly unwrapped a second candy, savoring the sweetness with narrowed eyes.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yuexiao stared in disbelief at the feather pinched between Zhi Li’s fingers. He had checked his clothes thoroughly before getting out of the car—how had this one escaped?!

“Come here, don’t waste it,” Xu Qingying said, taking the feather Zhi Li had plucked from Jiang Yuexiao. “When we get home, I’ll make you guys a shuttlecock.”

Zhi Li whipped her head around, looking up at Xu Qingying. “Mom, we can play shuttlecock together then!”

Xu Qingying chuckled. “Of course! We’ll invite your brother too.”

Hearing this, Zhi Li whipped her head back, gazing eagerly at Jiang Yuexiao.

Jiang Yuexiao: “…”

Xu Qingying was getting revenge! Revenge for him decisively getting into that car!

Still staring at Jiang Yuexiao, Zhi Li counted excitedly on her fingers, listing the others at home. “We’ll invite Brother, Grandma, Dad, Auntie Butler, Wei Liang—and Lightning can join too!”

Grandma, currently slacking off while watching the livestream: “…”

On his birthday, Wei Liang watching the live stream:…

At that moment, Song Yin was about to head home from school when she heard Zhi Li’s plan in the live stream. She abruptly stopped in her tracks and fell silent, her gaze landing on the wristwatch Zhi Li had bought for her last weekend.

The child had good taste in watches—it was versatile. These days, Song Yin couldn’t be bothered to pick other watches to match her outfits, so she simply kept wearing it.

Even just for the sake of the watch, she couldn’t refuse too harshly. She needed to find a gentle and appropriate reason.

“…” Song Yin rubbed her forehead. Known among her students as the strict and unfeeling Professor Song, this was the first time she’d been troubled by something unrelated to work.

Jiang Yuexiao heard that his grandmother and father were also mentioned. The image of a poker face and an ice block inexplicably flashed through his mind. If he could see them kicking a shuttlecock, sacrificing a bit of his coolness might not be so bad.

So, Jiang Yuexiao nodded expressionlessly at Zhi Li.

Zhi Li smiled sweetly.

Three Sophora Village had many old sophora trees. In July, the trees were in full bloom, their clusters of white flowers swaying in the breeze.

As the first family to arrive, Zhi Li and the others had to wait for the other three families before they could choose their house. Xu Qingying pushed their luggage under the shade of an old sophora tree and had Zhi Li and Jiang Yuexiao sit on the suitcases to rest.

“Mom, these flowers smell so nice.”

“Do you like them?” Xu Qingying plucked two clusters of sophora flowers from a low-hanging branch and casually straddled the large suitcase. “How about I teach you how to weave a flower crown?”

Zhi Li slid her pink little suitcase toward Xu Qingying, excited. “I want to learn!”

“I won’t.” Jiang Yuexiao, who considered sitting on a suitcase undignified, gripped the suitcase handle and stood straight beside it. He couldn’t resist adding a jab at Xu Qingying, “Childish.”

Unaware of the sarcasm, Zhi Li generously offered, “Once I learn, I’ll make a flower crown for you, Brother!”

Would wearing a flower crown be any less childish?!

Jiang Yuexiao was about to call it childish again when Xu Qingying shot him a knowing glance.

Xu Qingying smiled. “Yes, yes, you’re not childish. You just have a stomachache.”

Jiang Yuexiao: “…”

He fell silent, pressing his free hand against his stomach again, determined not to let it betray him.

[Hahahaha, Jiang Yuexiao’s weakness is in Xu Qingying’s hands!]

[His dignity! This is the dignity of an eight-year-old!]

[He’s already shared a ride with two cages of chickens—what dignity does he have left? (dog head)]

Although many in the live stream had a poor impression of Xu Qingying, thinking she was dramatic, loved throwing shade, and smeared others, they couldn’t deny how stunningly beautiful she was.

Her radiant charm, coupled with a bold, striking beauty, made her stand out among the few in the industry who could rival her.

Moreover, in the morning’s live stream, Xu Qingying hadn’t caused much trouble. Gradually, the barrage of criticism against her dwindled.

Meanwhile, the much-discussed carpooling incident from the live stream trended on social media.

With the massive audience, the show’s soaring popularity, and Xu Qingying’s infamy, the hashtag #XuQingyingZhiLiJiangYuexiaoUnconventionalCarpool quickly climbed the trending list, soon landing in the top three.

——

In the company cafeteria.

The assistant finished getting his meal and chose a seat.

Although their company had a two-day weekend, they still had to come in for overtime on weekends during critical phases like project wrap-ups. Today, the assistant had just returned to the company after accompanying Jiang Yanheng on a business trip abroad.

The assistant set down his tray and picked up his phone to scroll through trending social news. Suddenly, his gaze froze—he actually saw a trending hashtag featuring the boss’s wife, stepdaughter, and young master sitting in a row.

An unconventional carpool?

Could the young master really share a ride with his stepmother and stepsister?

With this thought, the assistant clicked on the trending topic while shoveling a mouthful of plain rice into his mouth.

The first thing that caught his eye was a scene of a truck kicking up dust and feathers flying everywhere. The young master, whose looks and demeanor were strikingly similar to the boss, was desperately clutching his growling stomach as Zhi Li and Xu Qingying cheerfully named their makeshift BGM like calling roll.

No matter how cold and aloof his expression was, it couldn’t hide the sheer despair etched on his face.

“Pfft—!” The assistant spat out the rice he’d just eaten before he could even swallow it.

Colleagues working overtime nearby all turned to look at him.

“Sorry!” The assistant was relieved no one was sitting across from him. He quickly grabbed napkins to clean up, his face contorting between suppressed laughter and the struggle to maintain composure—an internal battle that left his features in chaos.

After tidying up, the assistant sat back down and stared at his overturned phone. He resisted, resisted again, but ultimately gave in to temptation, picking up his phone to rewatch the video compiled by netizens.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

The assistant roared with laughter internally, forgetting to eat altogether. When had he ever seen the young master—who usually acted like a mini tycoon with his perpetually cold expression—look so utterly defeated?

Mid-laugh, the assistant suddenly noticed someone blocking his view.

Assuming a colleague had come to sit across from him for lunch, he said without looking up, “The seat’s free. Go ahead.”

But years of workplace instincts nagged at him. Something felt off. After a pause, he reluctantly tore his eyes from the livestream on his phone and slowly looked up at the person across from him.

Holy—!

The assistant gaped in shock at Jiang Yanheng standing right in front of his table, nearly tipping backward. When had the boss gotten here?!

Even more shocking was that Jiang Yanheng had apparently been watching his phone for who knows how long. Now, he finally lifted his gaze from the screen, his cool eyes narrowing slightly as they fixed on the assistant.

Assistant: …

Small, pitiful, and helpless.

Jiang Yanheng often ate in the company cafeteria. Having just returned from his business trip that morning, he attended a meeting and, noticing it was already noon, headed to the cafeteria for a quick meal.

While eating, he noticed some employees occasionally glancing his way. Though staff had looked at him during meals before, this time felt slightly different.

Jiang Yanheng had no interest in non-work-related matters and was about to leave after finishing his meal when he passed his assistant, whose face was a riot of expressions as he ate.

Glancing at the phone screen, Jiang Yanheng’s eyes flickered with surprise—his son had actually tolerated sharing a truck with two cages of chickens?

No wonder those employees had been looking at him.

Even if they didn’t know the exact relationship between Xu Qingying and him, they definitely recognized Jiang Yuexiao.

“J-Jiang President.” The assistant forced himself to appear composed as he stood up, giving a slight nod with an especially trustworthy tone. “I’ll immediately contact the PR team to have them remove the trending topic.”

Jiang Yanheng gave him a strange look, his voice icy. “Compile the videos.”

Assistant: ???

Is he asking me to organize them before handing them over to the legal team?

This thought had just crossed the assistant’s mind when he heard Jiang Yanheng’s indifferent instruction before leaving, “Package them and send them to me.”

P-Package?

The president wants me to package and send them to him?

The assistant stared blankly at the paused video on his phone. Known for his efficiency and decisiveness, he was uncharacteristically bewildered. After all these years, was the president finally trying to improve his relationship with his son?

Otherwise, he couldn’t understand why his workaholic boss would spend time watching these videos.

A few seconds later, he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly looked at the video again, this time with even greater scrutiny.

“!!!”

The assistant’s eyes widened in shock. Why did the watch on the boss’s wrist share the same style as the ones worn by Madam, the young master, and the stepdaughter?!

Had the workaholic boss really changed his ways???

Meanwhile, Jiang Yanheng used his lunch break to hold a brief video conference with several board members. As soon as the meeting ended, a new email arrived in his inbox.

He moved the cursor to open the email, which indeed contained the program videos compiled by his assistant. Each video had a brief note below it, making the content immediately clear.

Jiang Yanheng first clicked on the group carpool video.

Soon, rhythmic giggling sounds played from the computer.

The video wasn’t long, and he finished watching it quickly.

Jiang Yanheng dragged the progress bar back and listened again, though it was unclear whether he was more interested in Zhi Li and Xu Qingying’s vivid discussion about Beggar’s Chicken or Jiang Yuexiao’s increasingly audible stomach growls.

After the video ended again, a faint, almost imperceptible trace of a smile appeared on Jiang Yanheng’s stern face. Moments later, he picked up his phone, the dial of his mechanical watch glinting in the sunlight from the window, and tapped open a chat window.

At the Jiang family villa, the butler, who was also watching the *Shining Children* livestream during his lunch break, suddenly received a message from Jiang Yanheng. Upon reading it, he rubbed his eyes in surprise.

[Mr. Jiang: Have the kitchen prepare Beggar’s Chicken for dinner tonight.]

Butler: “!!!”

——

Three Sophora Village.

Unaware that their video had been seen by both Auntie Butler and their father at home, Zhi Li was diligently learning from Xu Qingying how to weave a sturdy flower crown while keeping the strings of sophora flowers neatly arranged.

After weaving for a while, Zhi Li secretly glanced at the flower crown in Xu Qingying’s hands, then looked down at her own. “Mom, why does my flower crown look different from yours?”

Jiang Yuexiao pretended to casually glance at the two flower crowns and immediately fell silent.

The flower crown in Xu Qingying’s hands was perfectly round, with each string of sophora flowers seamlessly connected as if they had naturally grown into a circle. Zhi Li’s flower crown, on the other hand, could only be described as a clump.

“Your hands are smaller, and you don’t have as much strength yet,” Xu Qingying said, adjusting the size of Zhi Li’s flower crown. “The flower crown you made on your first try is much better than the ones I made when I was just learning.”

In her previous life, although Xu Qingying managed four flower shops, she started as an employee in a small flower shop and only mastered the art of floristry after long hours of practice.

Now, forget weaving a flower crown—she could even make a little rabbit out of these locust flowers if she wanted.

Jiang Yuexiao couldn’t stand seeing Xu Qingying so pleased with herself. He pointed at Zhi Li’s flower crown and said coolly, “This one looks nice.”

“!!!” Zhi Li turned to look at Jiang Yuexiao, her dark eyes filled with astonishment.

This ugly flower crown—and her brother actually said it looked nice?

Xu Qingying raised an eyebrow and said leisurely, “Different people have different tastes, and that’s normal. Sweetheart, since you think Mommy’s flower crown is pretty, you can wear the one I made. And since your brother thinks your flower crown is nice, how about you give yours to him?”

Zhi Li looked at Jiang Yuexiao with eager anticipation.

Jiang Yuexiao stiffened under her gaze. Xu Qingying, you’re ruthless!

“Brother, I’ll finish it soon!” Zhi Li was overjoyed that the ugly flower crown she was making looked beautiful in her brother’s eyes. Her little voice rose with excitement, as if bubbling with sweetness. “I’ll put it on you in a bit!”

Jiang Yuexiao’s lips twitched, but under Xu Qingying’s barely suppressed smirk and the surrounding cameras, he swallowed his refusal. His gaze remained fixed on Zhi Li’s flower crown.

Even the ugliest flower crown could grow on you if you stared at it long enough. He was sure of it.

[Hahahaha Jiang Yuexiao got played by Xu Qingying!]

[Maybe he really does think Zhi Li’s flower crown is nice.]

[Or else? Did he lie to spare Zhi Li’s feelings?]

[That’s not impossible.]

[Stop overanalyzing! Do you realize Jiang Yuexiao is being turned into a doting brother in your imaginations?]

[How could he be a doting brother? He just wears matching outfits with Zhi Li, has a family watch set with her, and praises her flower crown—that’s all!]

In less than a few minutes, both flower crowns were finished.

Zhi Li put on the one Xu Qingying made and skipped over to Jiang Yuexiao, holding up the ugly flower crown with her tiny hands. “Brother, let me put this on you!”

“……” Jiang Yuexiao really didn’t want to wear it. After all, he still hadn’t managed to find it appealing. But under Zhi Li’s hopeful gaze, he resigned himself and lowered his head. “Go ahead.”

It was his fault for not inviting the kid to his birthday party, leaving her to face online criticism. He deserved this.

After placing the flower crown on Jiang Yuexiao, the two children stood under the big locust tree, gazing toward the village entrance as they waited for the other three families to arrive.

“Brother,” Zhi Li called softly, “while I was making the flower crown, I thought the locust flowers smelled really good.”

Jiang Yuexiao: “I can smell them.”

Zhi Li: “But they’re not just fragrant—they’re sweet too.”

“???” Jiang Yuexiao suddenly turned his head. In his line of sight, Zhi Li was plucking locust flowers from the crown on her head one by one and popping them into her mouth, eating them with practiced ease and obvious delight.

Gurgle—

A certain sound erupted again. Jiang Yuexiao closed his eyes helplessly. The kid couldn’t crack his cold demeanor, so now she was cracking his stomach instead.

[Locust flowers are delicious! My family loves candied locust flowers.]

[I’ve had locust flower omelets before!]

【Zhi Li is eating so deliciously, I also want to pick some locust flowers from the neighborhood to eat.】

“Brother,” Zhi Li plucked another locust flower from the flower crown she was wearing and handed it to Jiang Yuexiao, her face lit up with the eager expression of wanting to share delicious food with a friend. “Do you want some?”

Jiang Yuexiao firmly refused, “I don’t—”

Gurgle.

Gurgle, gurgle.

“Brother,” Zhi Li looked down at Jiang Yuexiao’s stomach. “Your stomach is upset again.”

Gurgle.

Jiang Yuexiao pressed one hand against his stomach while the other reached up to the flower crown on his head. With a stern, expressionless face, he fiercely plucked a locust flower from the crown and stuffed it into his mouth.

So fragrant.

So sweet.

The two had been eating for who knows how long when a taxi pulled up at the village entrance, stopping in front of the large locust tree.

Wu Shuai got out from the passenger seat, while Wu Han, Yu Xinrou, and Wang Hanlin, who had carpooled together, sat in the back.

Wu Shuai had endured Wang Hanlin’s tantrums the entire ride, his temples throbbing with a headache. As soon as he stepped out of the car, he saw Zhi Li waving at them, her eyes curved into crescents, her voice sweet and clear. “Uncle Wu, Sister Hanhan!”

As for Yu Xinrou and Wang Hanlin, Zhi Li didn’t greet them—they weren’t even looking at her, and from the moment they met, she had never seen a smile on Wang Hanlin’s face.

Wu Shuai walked over, eyeing the outfits of Zhi Li and Jiang Yuexiao. “Wow,” he said with a grin. “Where did you two get those grass wreaths? I’d like to make one for Hanhan too.”

“This isn’t a grass wreath,” Zhi Li corrected earnestly, tilting her little face up. “This is a locust flower crown that Mommy made for me.”

Wu Shuai paused, then scrutinized it again, posing the existential question, “Then where are the flowers on them?”

Zhi Li blinked, touching the flower crown on her head before looking up at the one on Jiang Yuexiao’s head. She gasped in surprise, “Brother, where did all the flowers on your crown go?!”

Jiang Yuexiao: “…”

Clutching the last remaining locust flower in his hand, he expressionlessly hid it behind his back, experiencing for the first time in his life the mortification known as social death.

By the end of this episode’s livestream, the cool image he had painstakingly maintained for eight years might very well be ruined.

“Oh!” Zhi Li stretched out her little hands, patting her own flower crown repeatedly. “Why can’t I feel any flowers on my crown anymore?”

Zhi Li was genuinely bewildered.

Where were the flowers?

Where had all the flowers on the crown gone?!

It wasn’t until she tasted the refreshing sweetness on her tongue that realization suddenly dawned on her. She quickly looked back at Jiang Yuexiao’s flower crown and asked him, as if seeking confirmation, “Brother, did I eat all the flowers from the crown?!”

But I didn’t eat that many! There were so, so many flowers on the crown before—how did it end up so bare now? QAQ.