Chapter 46 – “I’m Not Worthy

“Isn’t that right? Now that Mr. Yu has fallen from grace, people are throwing every kind of accusation at him. Truly heartless!”

“Could this be the so-called explosive dirt that crowd mentioned before? I’m dying laughing. What utter nonsense. What a load of crap. If there really were a three- or four-year-old child, I’ll wash my hair standing on my head!”

“Exactly, exactly. Right, Chu Xiu-jie?”

At this moment, Wang Yuxiu looked at the group chat, now buzzing with people loudly arguing, then glanced again at the question she had previously asked Liu Wu. Liu Wu hadn’t left any written evidence, but he did admit there was a child. However, because the matter involved many complications, he didn’t give them any clear or specific details.

After all, in these fan circles, real-name authentication wasn’t possible, not to mention how quickly everything could change—like fans unfollowing and turning on him, or anti-fans joining as undercover agents. It was all just too messy.

So, if they wanted to resolve things quickly with Time and Light, they had to grasp the leverage Time and Light was using behind the scenes to stir up the situation—trying to smear Yu Mozhi and extract a massive breach-of-contract penalty. They couldn’t be too hasty.

Others didn’t know the truth about Mianmian. If someone really tried to use Mianmian to spread rumors, and Time and Light was manipulating things behind the scenes, then they shouldn’t blame them for being ruthless in return.

Still, she had told Chu Xiu that because the matter involved a contract termination, a big storm was bound to come, and they shouldn’t worry—the situation would be handled properly.

So in reality, even Chu Xiu was at a loss. Watching the group chat laugh and joke, saying “how could that possibly be true,” she simply fell silent.

“…Let’s wait and see, sisters.”

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***

“So it really was Mianmian they were talking about before. They must’ve accidentally snapped a picture of her. Should we wait and let it brew a bit? I bet the company will reach out to us before long.”

Inside the studio they had already rented, the renovations were complete, but most of the furnishings hadn’t been unpacked yet. Everything was just stacked in a corner. On a beige sofa, Yu Mozhi held the little dumpling on his lap. The script for the role of “little girl #3” was spread out on her lap, while his own script lay off to the side.

The “rookie dad’s” side profile looked both cool and gentle in the sunlight. That finely sculpted, beautiful face was bathed in the soft light fragmented by the curtains. Pen in hand, he was teaching the little one in his arms phonetics, writing pinyin annotations above the Chinese characters in the script bit by bit.

“a, o, e…”
The little one clutched her notebook, loudly reciting the pinyin in a milky, childish voice alongside her father. While reading, her wide eyes kept stealing glances at the lollipop in Yu Mozhi’s other hand, her gaze full of longing.

“Once you learn it, I’ll give it to you.”

“Mianmian already knows it!”

Mianmian’s tiny hand reached out and clung to Yu Mozhi’s sleeve.

But she couldn’t reach.

The adorable little girl’s eyes shimmered with watery brightness. She turned her head and, in a flash, put on a pitiful expression:

“Daddy, Daddy, Mianmian loves Daddy the most! Daddy is the best Daddy in the whole world… so, so… sweetie…”

Her intentions couldn’t be clearer.

She was a total little drama queen.

Even knowing that she was putting on an act—who could resist a little girl like this? The answer: obviously no one!

Not even Yu Mozhi.

Yu Mozhi sighed, unwrapped the candy, and popped it into the little one’s mouth. Then he pointed at a line in the script:

“Read this sentence.”

The little one, one cheek puffed up with the lollipop, mumbled out a reply.

What a perfect picture of a doting father and his obedient daughter.

Liu Wu, who was running around anxiously: …I’m not worthy.

(End of Chapter)