Chapter 54.2

After two days on the train, they arrived at S City Film and Television City on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. The film and television city remained open on this day, and there was no sign of the festive atmosphere. From the car, they could see many people in ancient costumes walking along the streets in traditional styles.

It was getting late, so Chen Feng first took them to their hotel for the night. The next morning, they went to the filming location.

The assistant director personally greeted them and had someone start applying makeup on An An.

Since An An was still young, Jiang Rou and Li Xin stayed with her throughout the process.

Jiang Rou wasn’t very familiar with the specifics of the process, so she had Meng Yi handle the discussions.

From what she observed of the entire production team, the costumes and hairstyles seemed quite meticulous. It was notably different from the poorly made historical dramas she had seen in the future.

An An’s features were very attractive, and even the makeup artist was impressed. “I saw your child at the Spring Festival Gala. The child originally chosen couldn’t come because of chickenpox, and the director was very worried. Then, while watching the Spring Festival Gala, he immediately took a liking to your child. I was there too, and honestly, she resembles our actresses quite a bit—big eyes, fair skin, and she looks well-cared-for. She fits the role better than the previous child we had chosen.”

“Our director is very particular. Every role is carefully selected. Your child’s role isn’t large, but it’s quite important. There’s a scene reenacting the historical story of the ‘Golden House to Hide a Beauty.’ Historically, Chen A Jiao was known for her beauty, so we couldn’t just cast any child.”

“However, your child is a bit young. The director originally intended to find a seven- or eight-year-old girl. But since there’s no definitive evidence about the exact age in historical records—some say she was of the same age as the child in the story—having two children of similar age works too.”

As the makeup artist continued to praise An An, she finished applying the makeup and styled her hair beautifully.

An An’s fair skin required only light makeup. Her eyebrows were shaped, and a bit of powder was applied to her face.

Then the costume designer brought a beautifully crafted ancient-style dress for An An. After changing into the outfit, An An looked like a perfect little lady from ancient times—absolutely adorable.

Throughout the process, An An was very well-behaved because Jiang Rou had explained to her beforehand that they were there to take photos.

An An was quite accustomed to being photographed. Growing up, her parents often took her to the photo studio, sometimes bringing along different outfits for her to change into once they arrived.

As the makeup artist mentioned, An An’s role wasn’t extensive. The director completed filming in two days. There were several scenes where Princess Guantao, the actress, brought her into the palace, held her in her arms, and then had her held by Empress Dowager Dou.

The most significant scene was the “Golden House to Hide a Beauty” segment. The young actor said that if he married Chen A Jiao when he grew up, he would build a golden house to hide her.

An An had no lines. She was simply held by Princess Guantao and then played with the young Han Emperor.

An An glanced at the young actor but showed little emotion. She only followed him when he took her hand.

To those who didn’t know, she might have seemed a bit aloof.

However, the director was quite pleased, thinking that the daughter of Princess Guantao would surely have some temperament.

As long as they were satisfied, Jiang Rou quickly picked up An An and left once filming was done. After two days of work, An An earned 1,200 yuan.

On the way back, Chen Feng didn’t accompany them but left a thick red envelope for An An before they departed.

An An handed the red envelope directly to her mother since, in her memory, red envelopes were meant to be kept by her mother.

Jiang Rou then took the 1,200 yuan and the red envelope and, along with Li Xin and Assistant Meng, went to the city for a grand meal. Before they left, Li Xiao had given Jiang Rou a phone, so during the meal, Jiang Rou called him.

On the phone, Li Xiao asked, “Is it done?”

Jiang Rou fed An An a piece of fish and responded, “Yes.” She added, “Your daughter maintained the same expression throughout. Oh, except when someone spoke, she would stretch her neck out curiously to look.”

She wondered where such intense curiosity came from.

Li Xiao chuckled softly and asked, “When are you going back?”

“I guess tomorrow. It’s already late today.”

“Have you not set out yet? Then stay in the city a bit longer. I’m on a business trip in B City, so I’ll go back with you when you’re ready.”

“That works.”

Since Li Xiao had said so, Jiang Rou decided to let An An and the others enjoy themselves in S City. They ate a lot of delicious food, and the little one played so happily that she forgot to return home.

In the evening, when she heard that her father would come the next morning to return home with them, An An shook her head and said she didn’t want her father.

This made Jiang Rou laugh.

However, when Li Xiao arrived the next morning, An An, who was still in bed, immediately got up when she heard her father’s voice. She excitedly shouted: “Daddy—”

She was really excited.

After Li Xiao arrived, he told Jiang Rou something. “I saw your second sister in B City. She was selling things on the overpass. At that time, I only had five hundred yuan with me, so I gave it all to her.”

Jiang Rou was taken aback. “Didn’t she bring a lot of money from home? Why is she selling things on the street?”

Li Xiao paused for a moment and explained, “I talked to her a bit. She was planning to head south to live in a small city, but unexpectedly, she found an abandoned baby in a trash can at the train station. The baby had a cleft lip, so she decided to take the child with her and came directly to B City. Most of the money was spent on the baby’s surgery. I saw the child, and the recovery was quite good, probably because the surgery was done early. The child doesn’t seem much different from other children.”

Her second sister’s exact words were that since she had no intention of marrying again in this lifetime, the child was a gift from heaven, and they would live well together as mother and daughter.

“Don’t worry. I saw your second sister looking quite happy. She was chatting with other vendors while selling things and even bought a shabby little house nearby to live in. She earns over a hundred yuan a day. The girl is about the same age as An An and is very well-behaved.”

He had wanted to take a look at a hairpin but An An wouldn’t let him, insisting he pay first.

Jiang Rou fell into thought and nodded, “That’s good.”

She had thought that with her second sister’s strong personality, she would surely make a name for herself. But now, it seemed she was quite content with a simple life.

It was the original family that had pushed her into a desperate state.

Li Xiao had slept well on the plane and felt fine. After having breakfast together, they set off for the train station.

Jiang Rou had asked Meng Yi to buy the train tickets a few days earlier—four soft sleepers in one compartment.

—o—o—o—

The train departed around ten in the morning. It was the little one’s first time taking the train with her parents, and she was very excited. Li Xiao’s and Jiang Rou’s beds faced each other, and the little one ran back and forth between them.

Meng Yi and Li Xin’s beds were on the top bunk.

An An, who hadn’t seen Li Xiao for several days, was especially clingy after getting on the train. Shee said, “Daddy, I want to ride the big horse.”

So Li Xiao lifted him onto his shoulder and walked up and down the carriage, making the little one laugh with joy.

Assistant Meng was somewhat surprised. He had been around the boss for a long time and knew that this father and daughter were usually very well-behaved, with An An rarely being coquettish with the boss. The boss himself was usually quite serious and, when busy, would just pick up the child and leave without any hint of tenderness.

He hadn’t expected the father and daughter to be so affectionate.

What shocked him even more was that in the evening, the boss took the initiative to fetch water to wash the feet of the boss lady and the child. After the family finished washing up, the boss lady stayed on the bed with the child while the boss went to the toilet to scrub the dirty clothes.

When they met in the toilet, Li Xiao looked at him and raised an eyebrow, “What? Do you want me to wash yours too?”

“No, no, no.”

Meng Yi was so scared that he quickly ran away.

—o—o—o—

After a two-and-a-half-day train ride, as soon as they arrived home, Li Xiao received a phone call from Chang Yong. On the call, Chang Yong, sounding excited—he announced that his son had been born a few days early—a big baby weighing six pounds and seven ounces.

Li Xiao detected the note of boasting in his voice and smiled as he congratulated him, “Be sure to send me an invitation when the time comes.”

“That’s natural.”

After hanging up the phone, Li Xiao’s smile faded. He tossed the phone onto the sofa, scoffed, and looked on with a hint of disdain.

“What’s wrong with having a daughter? I’ll choose the son-in-law however I want in the future.”

He then called out to An An, “Come here, Daddy wants to ask you something. When you grow up, will you listen to Daddy and marry whoever I picked? Is that okay?”

An An, busy eating a big strawberry, nodded without thinking, “Okay.”

Li Xiao was satisfied.

Jiang Rou was both amused and exasperated. “What does she understand right now?”

Li Xiao played the rogue. “She agreed anyway.”

—o—o—o—

Jiang Rou started school on the 16th, while Li Xin’s school began on the 14th. After sending Li Xin off to school in the morning, the family of three went directly to the You family to pay New Year’s greetings.

Lele was very happy to see An An and brought out a lot of snacks from the room. Mrs. Song laughed and said, “When guests come during the New Year, Lele was worried that the good snacks would be eaten up, so he took some to hide in his room, saying he wanted to save them for An An.”

She then waved to An An, “An An, Auntie heard you went to film? How was it? Did you enjoy it?”

An An, struggling to open a candy wrapper, replied seriously, “Filming is tiring.”

This made the several adults in the living room laugh.

Seeing that An An was having trouble opening the candy, Lele felt anxious and stepped forward to help. An An thought Lele was trying to take it from her and turned away, shoving another snack into Lele’s hand, “You eat this.”

Lele, with a good temperament, said, “I’ll help you open it.”

An An looked at Lele, then at her own hands, before handing the snack to him.

After Lele opened the snack bag, An An was fed a piece of chocolate, which made her eyes crinkle with a smile. Seeing that her brother hadn’t eaten yet, she clumsily took another piece from the bag and fed it to him, saying, “Gege eat.”

After that, she took the bag and fed everyone a piece:

“Mommy eat.”

“Daddy eats.”

“Auntie eats.”

“Uncle eats.”

Making sure everyone was taken care of.

Mrs. Song watched with envy, “I wish I had a daughter as well-behaved as this.”

Jiang Rou adjusted An An’s hair, “She can be naughty sometimes. Last night, to avoid a bath, she pretended to be asleep on the bed. Little did she know, she ended up really falling asleep.”

Since that night during the New Year, when her mother had not given her a bath because she had fallen asleep, An An had learned to pretend to be asleep to avoid baths.

Mrs. Song laughed upon hearing this.

An An seemed to realize they were talking about her and shyly burrowed into her father’s lap.

Lele followed her, trying to coax her to play, “Shall we go play football in the yard?”

An An finally followed Lele to the yard, and soon the sounds of two happy children laughing filled the air.

—o—o—o—

On the 15th, the Lantern Festival, Li Xiao went to the factory for an event while Jiang Rou took An An to meet Dong Mingming, who had said she would introduce her boyfriend.

Jiang Rou had been eager to meet him, so she happily took her child and went out.

Dong Mingming’s boyfriend was a policeman. They were meeting at a small roadside restaurant, and when Jiang Rou arrived, they were already there.

The couple was seated closely together, looking at the menu. The boyfriend was quite handsome, with a strong, upright face and an impression of integrity and reliability.

The man sat straight, and turned to ask Dong Mingming what she wanted to eat. When she seemed to choose something not very good, he frowned slightly. As Jiang Rou sat down, she heard him say, “You shouldn’t eat spicy food for the next few days.”

Seeing Jiang Rou arrive, he nodded, picked up the menu, and stood up to leave.

Dong Mingming puffed up her cheeks, seeming somewhat displeased, but she didn’t say anything.

Dong Mingming’s boyfriend, named Shen He, had just started eating when he was called away by a phone call.

He glanced at Dong Mingming and then, feeling somewhat embarrassed, said to Jiang Rou, “I have some things to attend to. You all go ahead and eat first.”

He then turned to Dong Mingming and said, “Call me when you get back.”

Dong Mingming waved him off, “Go on, go on. I know you’re busy.”

A hint of a smile appeared on the man’s stern face as he reminded her, “No cold or spicy food.”

Dong Mingming impatiently replied, “I know.”

After he left, she expressed her dissatisfaction to Jiang Rou, “I’ve never seen anyone busier than him.”

Jiang Rou, understandingly, said, “Of course, police officers are busy. It’s because of their hard work that we can have peaceful lives.”

Dong Mingming pondered this for a moment and nodded, “That’s true.”

She then praised him, “He’s really good to me. Compared to my dad, the difference in his care is obvious. Even though he’s busy, he always remembers when I’m coming back and sends me messages morning and night. A few days ago, when I had a cold, he bought medicine in the middle of the night and brought it to me. I once lied to him about staying on campus, and at midnight, I had to go to the school dormitory building. It was such a hassle.”

Jiang Rou laughed, “Why put yourself through that?”

Dong Mingming shook her head, “You don’t understand. I was afraid he would change if he knew I had money, but now I find this relationship quite interesting. Even though he doesn’t earn much, he’s willing to spend money on me.”

Seeing the smile in Dong Mingming’s eyes, Jiang Rou felt happy for her.

However, thinking about her father’s situation, Jiang Rou wasn’t sure whether to say something.

Dong Mingming spoke up about it herself, “You know, my dad’s mistress is pregnant again, and he even gave her a property worth several million and an island.”

At this point, Dong Mingming sneered, “Let them enjoy it for a few days. I’ll take it all back later and donate everything.”

“You can definitely do it.”

“Of course. This winter vacation, I’ll go to my dad’s company. He thinks I don’t know anything and gave me a small company to manage. He thinks I’m just playing around.”

After the Lantern Festival, Jiang Rou returned to her routine of taking the child to school. Since the Spring Festival Gala, Li Xiao has become very busy. He was rarely seen in the morning and only came home late at night.

One day, An An even asked Jiang Rou, “Where’s Daddy?”

It seemed she had always thought Daddy was out and hadn’t come back.

Jiang Rou didn’t know how to explain it to her.

Fortunately, a month later, at Chang Yong’s son’s full-month banquet, Li Xiao finally didn’t have to go out. It was the weekend, so the family of three enjoyed a lie-in.

After eating and drinking enough until ten in the morning, he finally got around to preparing to drive out. Jiang Rou didn’t bother him and took the opportunity to hitch a ride to the affiliated high school to see Li Xin.

On the way, Jiang Rou asked him, “How much money are you planning to bring?”

“About a thousand. If it’s too little, people might talk.”

Of course, a thousand wasn’t really a lot, but Li Xiao thought it was sufficient.

Li Xiao had changed to a new car, not a luxury brand, but still not cheap—costing several tens of thousands. It was much more comfortable than a minivan.

Perhaps because they were both still groggy from sleeping in, they only remembered they were going in different directions when the car stopped at the hotel entrance.

The couple exchanged glances, and Li Xiao rubbed his nose, “How about going together?”

Jiang Rou really wanted to refuse, but the doorman at the hotel entrance had already come over to open the door, “…”

After hesitating, she decided to get out of the car with the child.

If she had known, she wouldn’t have gone out; she was just curious and wanted to try out the new car.

Seeing that she might be upset, Li Xiao, trying to appease her, took the child from her arms as he got out of the car and whispered in her ear, “Make sure to eat well later, and I think there will be a good show today.”

Jiang Rou’s curiosity was indeed piqued, “What do you mean? Will Zhao Yun cause a scene?”

Li Xiao shook his head, “I’m not sure about Zhao Yun, but I don’t think her family will be able to hold back.”