Chapter 4

Butler Chen stood to the side, dumbfounded.

Who would have thought that the fearless little young master would actually have a day where he lowered his head?

Everyone knew that his usual routine of crying, making a fuss, and throwing tantrums was unstoppable. But now, in front of the new madam…

He didn’t cry or make a fuss. Instead, he was being so obedient and adorable.

For her to be able to achieve this, the new madam was definitely no ordinary person!

And she really wasn’t. After all, how could someone capable of switching souls be considered ordinary?

Ruan Xizhi looked at the little one. “You want to eat?”

Xing Xiaochi nodded eagerly like a pecking chick. “Yes!”

“But you just said you wouldn’t eat even a single bite.” Ruan Xizhi teased him with a smile. “You didn’t even open your mouth.”

“I…” Xing Xiaochi pouted, acting spoiled. “I don’t care. I’m hungry now. I want to eat now.”

Xing Xiaochi was spoiled to the core—whatever he wanted, he had to get. So, he reached out to snatch the fried chicken drumstick from Ruan Xizhi’s hand.

Unfortunately, how could a child be a match for Ruan Xizhi? She simply pressed a hand against his forehead, preventing him from even touching her.

Meanwhile, Xing Xiaochi flailed his short arms and legs like a little octopus, looking both ridiculous and adorable.

Seeing that his usual tricks weren’t working, Xing Xiaochi resorted to threats. “I’m going to tell everyone that you’re starving me and abusing a child!”

Ruan Xizhi let out an exaggerated gasp. “Oh no, I’m so scared. Go ahead and tell them.”

She tilted her chin toward the side. “There’s a surveillance camera here anyway. Let’s see who believes you.”

Xing Xiaochi was stunned. He turned his little head and sure enough, he saw a black device pointing right at them.

The black camera lens even seemed to nod at him, as if saying, Yes, I’ve recorded all your false accusations.

Xing Xiaochi immediately panicked.

No matter how mischievous he was, he was still a child with a good nature. Realizing that he had just told a lie out of spite, his ears turned bright red.

Seeing that she had successfully bluffed the little troublemaker into silence, Ruan Xizhi smirked. “It’s not that I won’t let you eat.”

Xing Xiaochi’s eyes lit up instantly, staring at her with anticipation.

Ruan Xizhi had never really planned on depriving him of food. Besides, after a day of running around, the kid was probably starving. However, she wanted to teach him that threats wouldn’t work on her. The only way to get what he wanted was to behave.

Correcting bad habits wasn’t something that could be done overnight; it had to be a gradual process.

Plus, she suddenly found it amusing to train Xing Xiaochi. Just thinking about having a cute, obedient little helper to serve her tea and follow her around while she lazed about felt quite nice.

Ruan Xizhi pointed to the dining cart. “Go eat your nutritious meal over there first, and then I’ll give you this drumstick. How about that?”

Xing Xiaochi despised vegetables more than anything—they were his ultimate nemesis. And there were so many of them.

He hesitated, but Ruan Xizhi wasn’t done tempting him.

She picked up another fried chicken drumstick and took a big, crispy bite in front of him. With a satisfied sigh, she said, “Mmm, so delicious~”

Xing Xiaochi swallowed his saliva, glanced at the dining cart again, and finally…

He couldn’t resist the temptation of fried chicken.

“Alright, I’ll eat!”

He turned to Butler Chen and, for the first time ever, made a request. “Grandpa Chen, can you bring me the vegetables?”

Butler Chen was momentarily stunned, wondering if he had misheard.

The little tyrant was actually asking to eat vegetables?!

This was such earth-shattering news that the butler almost cried with joy. “Yes, yes! I’ll bring them over right away!”

For a moment, the dining room was filled with harmony.

The little one ate vegetables. The big one ate a chicken drumstick.

Meanwhile, the audience in the live stream chat was laughing hysterically, completely forgetting that they had originally come to criticize Ruan Xizhi.

【HAHAHAHA I seriously suspect Ruan Xizhi knows how to handle kids.】

【This is exactly how you should deal with bratty kids. Otherwise, they’ll run wild.】

【When did Ruan Xizhi become this hilarious? I’m laughing so hard I’m crying.】

【Seeing how delicious that chicken looks, I just ordered KFC.】

【+1 +1】

While most were laughing, a few haters still popped up.

【As expected of a stepmother. Only a stepmother would do something like this.】

【So disgusting. How can she bully a child? Kids cry and fuss—it’s normal!】

【Ruan Xizhi is so selfish, eating good food while leaving the kid with scraps.】

These bizarre comments angered most of the audience.

【Are you blind? That’s just “a little” fussing to you?】

【So making a kid eat vegetables is selfish? What, should she feed him sh*t instead?】

【You can hate, but at least use some common sense. Honestly, I suddenly don’t feel like hating Ruan Xizhi anymore—I just want to hate you.】

【So these idiots were the ones lowering our IQ. Sorry, I can’t coexist with morons. I’m switching sides for today.】

【Count me in.】

Unaware that she had just gained a bunch of temporary fans, Ruan Xizhi continued enjoying her meal.

Xing Xiaochi obediently finished his nutritious meal and proudly showed his empty bowl to her. “I finished it all!”

As he spoke, his eyes kept darting toward the chicken drumstick in her hand.

Ruan Xizhi found his chubby little face amusing and handed him the drumstick.

Xing Xiaochi had never found fried chicken so delicious before. He took a big bite—

Mmm~

So good!

Better than any drumstick he had ever eaten!

【HAHAHA bribing a brat with just one drumstick.】

【Not gonna lie, Xing Xiaochi actually looks pretty cute like this.】

【As long as kids aren’t crying and throwing tantrums, they’re all angels.】

As Xing Xiaochi happily chewed on his chicken, Ruan Xizhi yawned. Feeling full and sleepy, she was about to head back to her room when a staff member handed her a card.

She opened it and saw the details for the first episode of Mommy’s Back!

The camera zoomed in, revealing the message to the live-stream audience.

“Hello, moms and babies! The show is about to begin! Tomorrow at 10 AM, we’ll head to a deserted island for a two-day immersive bonding experience. Are you ready? Let’s set sail together!”

—Nope.

Ruan Xizhi slammed the card on the table.

If she had a choice, she wouldn’t set sail at all, let alone go to some godforsaken deserted island.

She just wanted to lie in bed, be served meals, and live as a happy couch potato.

Maybe she should quit the show?

She immediately went to check the contract she had signed.

The moment she saw the breach of contract penalty, she gave up on quitting.

Leaving the show meant breaking the contract, and the penalty was based on headcount—she and Xing Xiaochi together owed 30 million.

Ruan Xizhi: “………”

She was no longer the billionaire CEO from her past life. Now, she was just a mere cannon fodder with barely any money in her pocket.

Well, she could still get by.

After all, the world was vast—if she wanted to lie down, anywhere could be her bed.

That was how she comforted herself, but with only a few hours left until ten o’clock tomorrow, she might as well enjoy the last bit of soft bed.

The mattress had just the right amount of bounce, making Ruan Xizhi narrow her eyes in comfort. She recalled how she used to sleep on the tiny, narrow office couch every day because of her busy schedule. She had no idea what she was thinking back then—wasting her life on monotonous work instead of enjoying a good life.

Fortunately, heaven had given her another chance to wake up and enjoy the present.

Ding—

Her phone on the bedside table vibrated. Ruan Xizhi rolled over twice before lazily picking it up.

Upon checking, she saw a new message.

[We don’t need the alimony anymore. Just withdraw from the parent-child reality show, and consider the alimony as your compensation.]

Ruan Xizhi raised an eyebrow.

There were a few previous messages. She scrolled up and finally understood.

The sender was her original body’s father—or rather, her adoptive father. Now that the original owner had been kicked out of the Ruan family, she could at most call him “Uncle.”

And an uncle was no different from a stranger.

Would she waste her time reading messages from a stranger?

Of course not. Ruan Xizhi wasn’t about to spend her life on this nonsense. She set the phone aside, ready to sleep again, but the phone buzzed persistently—he was calling.

It seemed like she wouldn’t be able to sleep peacefully unless she dealt with this.

Fine. If she wasn’t allowed to sleep well, she wouldn’t let them have it easy either.

The moment she answered, an angry voice blasted through.

It was the original owner’s adoptive mother.

“Ruan Xizhi, don’t be ungrateful! If it weren’t for us, would you have gotten where you are today? Would you have been able to enter the Xing family?”

“You know full well that Ruier is participating, yet you still insist on joining? Are you doing this on purpose? Even if you want to ride on someone’s fame, you can’t just latch onto our Ruier! Can’t you see how scheming you are?!”

She then demanded, “Withdraw from the show immediately!”

In her previous life, no one had ever spoken to Ruan Xizhi like this. She was always the one giving orders.

But she didn’t get angry—she never wasted emotions on strangers. She simply responded casually:

“And who are you to me?”

A simple question rendered the woman speechless.

“I… I’m your… you…” Guo Mei stuttered for ages but couldn’t come up with an answer.

Back when they kicked Ruan Xizhi out, she had personally told her never to call her “Mom” again. Now that she had to answer, she found herself unable to.

“You you me me.” Memories from the original owner’s past surfaced in Ruan Xizhi’s mind, darkening her expression. She sneered, “Auntie, please get your identity straight before trying to boss me around.”

“Also, what do you mean I’m riding on your daughter’s fame? The production team invited me first. It was Ruan Miaorui who insisted on joining.”

Ruan Xizhi scoffed and threw the words right back at her: “The real schemer here isn’t me.”

The other side fell silent, probably never expecting such a sharp rebuttal.

The original owner had been fierce to outsiders but a total pushover at home—a perfect soft target.

But Ruan Xizhi was different. She had no sympathy for these so-called adoptive parents.

Since they had no response, she didn’t bother wasting more time.

Before hanging up, she coldly declared, “Don’t worry, I’ll pay back every cent of the alimony—not a penny more, not a penny less.”

She wanted to respect the original owner and fulfill this obligation.

However, when she saw the total amount of alimony in the text, she felt like she had spoken too soon.

Fifty million for twenty-three years of raising her.

Why don’t they just go rob someone?!

Still, Ruan Xizhi had been a CEO in her past life and was a numbers expert. She immediately did the math and sent a message back.

[Ruan Xizhi: Since you’ve raised me for years, I’ll give you a 5% discount for your daughter using me for clout. The show’s appearance fee will be deducted from the alimony—twenty-five million. You’re welcome.]

Ruan Father: “……..”

Ruan Mother: “……..”