Chapter 22 Part 1

Shen Qingqing was completely taken aback. Why was he here?!

Wasn’t he supposed to appear only at the end of the variety show when her true identity was revealed? If things had gone according to plan, as long as she performed well, Zhou Yexuan might not have appeared at all.

And yet, here he was—right when she and Zhou Jiayan were caught in a ridiculous mess.

Zhou Jiayan reacted faster than Shen Qingqing. The moment he saw his father, he completely forgot about his so-called suffering at the hands of his stepmother. He dashed forward, calling out, “Dad!”

As soon as Zhou Jiayan shouted, the entire studio and live broadcast chat exploded.

[Oh my god, is this the legendary Mr. Zhou?! Damn, he’s so handsome.]

[Whoever spread the rumor that Shen Qingqing’s husband was some old man was lying!]

[A man like that? Please. Even if he was on his third or fourth marriage, women would still be lining up for him.]

[Mr. Zhou must be devastated seeing his wife and child looking like this.]

[Oh my gosh, my “Shiqing Chaoye” ^[1]a fan-made couple name combining Shen Qingqing and Zhou Yexuan. heart is alive again! I knew if we stuck around long enough, we’d get some good moments. And Mr. Zhou is even more attractive than I imagined—he puts all male celebrities to shame.]

[But why is Shen Qingqing just standing there? Her husband is here, and Yanyan has already rushed to his dad!]

[Is their relationship not good?]

[Why do people keep making assumptions? If they had a bad relationship, why would he still be supporting his wife and letting her and the kid participate in the show?]

Shen Qingqing was a practical person. She quickly reassured herself—after all, this was a society governed by law. What could Zhou Yexuan do, drag her away and dissect her?

She could tell from his expression that his gaze carried not just scrutiny but also a hint of “disdain.” However, it was the same look he had when he saw Zhou Jiayan covered in paint.

But she firmly believed in her philosophy: If I’m not embarrassed, it’s others who will be. And besides, it was Zhou Jiayan who started it all!

Now that things had reached this point, there was no escaping. Taking a deep breath, Shen Qingqing walked over to where Zhou Yexuan and the others were standing.

At that moment, Zhou Jiayan had already run toward Zhou Yexuan. Although he felt a little embarrassed about the paint all over his body, his excitement to see his father overpowered his shyness.

He initially opened his arms, hoping his father would hug him. However, Zhou Yexuan quietly dodged the child’s embrace, rejecting him. Seeing this, Zhou Jiayan settled for the next best thing—hugging his father’s leg.

Being a well-behaved child, he excitedly hugged Zhou Yexuan’s leg at first but quickly let go and stood obediently beside him.

Despite this, Zhou Yexuan’s perfectly neat suit pants were now stained with various colors of paint, making him look quite different from his usual cold and dignified self.

Seeing Zhou Yexuan in this state, Shen Qingqing suddenly had an idea. Since he seemed so “disdainful,” why not drag him into the mess with her?

She recalled how she used to act in the past, walked up to Zhou Yexuan, and called out sweetly, “Honey, what a surprise! I didn’t expect you to come.”

As she spoke, she wrapped her paint-covered arm around Zhou Yexuan’s, smearing his suit sleeve with even more colors. Now, their “family of three” looked incredibly lively and playful.

Shen Qingqing secretly laughed. Since Zhou Yexuan had already gotten himself into this mess, what right did he have to look down on her?

Her affectionate “husband” only further confirmed Zhou Yexuan’s identity, making the online viewers even more excited.

[Wow, Shen Qingqing’s voice is so sweet, and she even took the initiative to hold Mr. Zhou’s hand.]

[They look great together! Their heights match perfectly. Shen Qingqing reaches Mr. Zhou’s chest, making her look so easy to carry.]

[Haha, I think Shen Qingqing is being playful again. She’s intentionally dragging Mr. Zhou into their mess.]

[That just makes it cuter! Now they all match—like a real family of three.]

Zhou Yexuan glanced down at his ruined pants and sleeve. He was sure Zhou Jiayan’s actions were unintentional, but Shen Qingqing? She was definitely doing this on purpose.

He tried to shake her off without drawing attention, but Shen Qingqing held onto him tightly, making it obvious she was doing it deliberately.

Zhou Yexuan smirked, pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket, and looked at Shen Qingqing with the air of a devoted husband. “Qingqing, your face is covered in paint. Let me help you wipe it off.”

With his long fingers, he gently dabbed at her cheek.

Shen Qingqing was startled. Would Zhou Yexuan really be this considerate? She instinctively tried to dodge, but his grip was firm, and soon, the smooth fabric of the handkerchief was rubbing against her face.

At first, it seemed like he was wiping the paint away, but on closer inspection, he was actually smearing it onto the clean areas of her face.

However, to the audience watching the live broadcast, the scene looked incredibly sweet.

[Wow! The first thing the boss does after arriving is clean his wife’s face. He doesn’t seem bothered by the mess at all.]

[Zhou Jiayan must be thinking: “Guess this is my bonus for using too much mobile data. Dad only wipes Mom’s face!”]

[Uh… is it just me, or is her face getting dirtier the more he wipes? Is this really cleaning?]

[Come on, don’t be suspicious of our CEO Zhou! Maybe he’s just inexperienced with this kind of thing.]

Before long, Shen Qingqing’s entire face was covered in paint, and the colors mixed into a murky gray.

Zhou Yexuan, satisfied with his work, kept a calm expression and said regretfully, “Hmm… looks like a dry handkerchief won’t do. You’ll have to wash it off with water later.”

Shen Qingqing’s heart skipped a beat. This bastard! He definitely did that on purpose!

But since there was no mirror around, she had no way of seeing how ridiculous she looked. She could only wait for a chance to check later.

To her surprise, Zhou Yexuan wasn’t done messing with her. He even smiled and said, “Qingqing, shouldn’t you say thank you? I know we don’t need formalities between us, but I’d still like to hear it.”

Shameless!

But since they were still pretending to be a couple in public, Shen Qingqing could only force another sweet smile and say, “Thank you, husband~” in the cutest voice she could muster, hoping to disgust him.

Zhou Yexuan: He miscalculated. He’d rather not have heard that, especially with the way she looked so smug.

While wiping her face, Zhou Yexuan stole glances at Shen Qingqing. Underneath her messy appearance, she was still the same person. Even her little habits hadn’t changed. But the old Shen Qingqing would never have dared to tease him like this, and her gaze back then wasn’t so playful.

She was indeed different from the one in his dream.

In truth, he had arrived at the studio earlier but chose to stay out of the camera’s view. Over the years, he had always avoided being filmed. This time, he originally planned to wait for a break and have someone bring Shen Qingqing and Zhou Jiayan out.

However, Zhou Jiayan’s sudden crying startled him. Could Shen Qingqing really have bullied him, just like in his dream?

He remembered that the “Shen Qingqing” from his memories had once been unable to paint for a long time. Seeing Shen Linyan’s professional and impressive artwork had made her furious, and she had taken out her frustration on Zhou Jiayan. The little boy had burst into tears, but all he got in return was even harsher treatment.

So, without thinking, Zhou Yexuan rushed into the studio, stepping into the camera’s frame to protect Zhou Jiayan before Shen Qingqing could get angry.

However, what he didn’t expect was to see Shen Qingqing acting completely different. Instead of an elegant and composed young lady, she was now standing there covered in paint, looking as if she had been in a playful battle.

Seeing the scene before him, Zhou Yexuan felt something indescribable stirring in his heart.

Things were not as Zhou Yexuan had expected. Shen Qingqing seemed to be “bullying” Zhou Jiayan, but it wasn’t the kind of bullying people usually thought of.

Even so, Zhou Yexuan still decided to take Zhou Jiayan away first. This wasn’t the right place to talk.

He raised his head and signaled to his assistant, Ma Li.

Having followed Zhou Yexuan for ten years, Ma Li immediately understood his meaning and went to find the director, who was still standing there in a daze.

Ma Li was confused about his boss’s actions today. Earlier, when they were outside, the boss said he would take the lady and the young master away during the break. But in the end, he appeared in front of the camera himself.

Didn’t he know what a sensation his appearance would cause?

Would the boss agree to be on camera now? If not, Ma Li would have to contact the online platform to delete the footage. But with how fast the internet spreads information, how could it be completely erased?

While thinking about this, he walked up to the director, Xu Xiang, smiled, and found a reasonable excuse. “Director, our President Zhou has been on a business trip for two months. As soon as he returned to China and found that his wife and child were not at home, he missed them so much that he followed them here. Director, could you let Madam and Young Master Yanyan step outside for a few minutes? There won’t be any cameras following them, and it won’t take too long—just half an hour at most.”

Their conversation was caught on camera, and viewers in the live broadcast room went “crazy” again.

[Damn! Did you hear that, everyone? Mr. Zhou immediately looked for his wife after returning to China!]

[What kind of fairy-tale love is this? He loves her so much!]

[I declare that the Qing Dynasty is now the American Empire today!]

[They must be truly in love! Otherwise, why would Mr. Zhou rush here the moment he returned to China?]

[Sisters, if you’re interested, join our super topic ‘Shi Qing Chao Ye’! I have a feeling we’ll be first on the next CP list! Join early and enjoy early!]

Guided by the discussion, more people joined the “Shi Qing Chao Ye” CP super topic.

At the same time, due to Zhou Yexuan’s outstanding appearance, netizens edited the footage of him appearing for just a few minutes and uploaded it to Weibo. The video was shared tens of thousands of times. However, because of Zhou Corporation’s influence, Weibo suppressed its popularity and did not allow Zhou Yexuan to trend directly on the hot search.

Xu Xiang was delighted to see such a handsome and influential figure at the recording site. After all, it meant higher attention and viewership. He could imagine that the live chat was full of praise.

Then, hearing Zhou Jiayan call out “Dad,” he became even more excited. So this was the current head of the Zhou family!

Many serious financial news outlets couldn’t even invite him, yet he appeared on his show!

As far as he knew, Mr. Zhou always maintained a low profile and avoided the media. Because of Zhou Corporation’s media control, there were no clear photos of him online.

Shen Qingqing had been in the entertainment industry for nearly two years, but she had never appeared in public with Zhou Yexuan.

Although the show had invited the young master of the Zhou family, Xu Xiang had thought the chances of getting Zhou Yexuan to appear were extremely low. He didn’t expect such a big surprise.

It turned out that Zhou Yexuan truly valued his wife, Shen Qingqing, and their child! Who spread the rumor that the Zhou family didn’t like Shen Qingqing?

Thinking of this, he smiled at Ma Li and quickly agreed, “Of course, of course, that’s not a problem. Please go ahead.”

Since Zhou Yexuan was the financial sponsor, Xu Xiang naturally had to be accommodating. Plus, their small production team couldn’t possibly go against Zhou Corporation!

Zhou Yexuan successfully led Shen Qingqing and Zhou Jiayan to a small empty meeting room next door. Ma Li was tactful—he made tea for the three of them, then quietly closed the door and left. Now, only the three of them were in the room.

Through the glass window, Shen Qingqing caught sight of her reflection.

That scoundrel! He actually had the nerve to ask her to thank him. However, since it was just the three of them, now wasn’t the time for revenge. She suppressed her dissatisfaction for now.

Zhou Jiayan clearly liked Zhou Yexuan a lot and stayed close to him.

However, aside from initially hugging Zhou Yexuan’s leg, Zhou Jiayan didn’t display any other intimate actions. He simply sat obediently next to him.

Like many Chinese children, he admired his father but was also afraid of his authority.

Shen Qingqing looked at Zhou Yexuan while communicating with the system in her mind. “System, why did Zhou Yexuan suddenly return to China and even come here? Has the plot changed?”

The system was even more flustered and felt that its mission was extremely difficult this time.

Recently, the host had been treading on thin ice, nearly scaring it to death.

It had just sighed in relief, seeing the relationship between the host and stepson improving. But now, it didn’t expect such a major shift in the storyline.