After returning to work, Chu Xiaoyi remained absent-minded for several days, his mother’s words lingering in his mind.
He flipped through his phone and only then realized that his mother had never contacted him in recent years, yet he had never even noticed.
Chu Jiadong would occasionally send a message to check in on him, but Xiao Bi had never done so.
Of course, he had never messaged his mother either.
Chu Xiaoyi: Raising me really isn’t as worthwhile as raising a piece of barbecued pork.
A bitter smile appeared on his face.
He had told them not to interfere in his life anymore, and she had indeed kept her promise.
During the Spring Festival, the moment that affected him most emotionally wasn’t the argument with his father, but the conversation with his mother in the study.
She spoke slowly and calmly, yet every word was like a blade.
Xiao Bi harbored a trace of resentment toward her eldest son.
Because she had never wronged Chu Xiaoyi, she found his actions even harder to accept.
As a mother, she had merely concealed all her emotions beneath a calm surface, yet Chu Xiaoyi had never noticed.
He could blame his father, but he couldn’t blame his mother.
He had always wanted to cut himself off from news of home, even neglecting his mother’s health.
He had nearly become the same kind of person as his father.
Perhaps he was even worse than his father.
At least his father had once been the family’s financial pillar.
Now the family didn’t even need his money.
These days, Chu Jiadong handled the housework and looked after his younger sister, repaying the contributions Xiao Bi had once made to the family.
But how was Chu Xiaoyi supposed to repay his mother?
He seemed to always overlook his gentle, low-key mother.
Sometimes he had even lumped her together with his father.
Only now was he gradually beginning to understand Chu Xiaoxiao’s way of thinking.
She said that everyone in the family had different responsibilities and contributed in different ways.
But in a certain sense, he had already withdrawn from the family unit.
He was no longer truly one of its members.
He didn’t participate in family affairs at all.
What right did he have to vote on major family decisions?
He had been disconnected from his family for five years.
Which was roughly equivalent to contributing nothing for five years.
He wasn’t even sure whether he still counted as a family member.
Even when he returned home, he felt like a drop of oil in clear water.
The difference wasn’t obvious from the outside, yet he could never truly blend in.
Thinking of this, Chu Xiaoyi let out a deep sigh.
He could get along peacefully with his younger sister because their relationship was new and simple.
There wasn’t much they needed to worry about.
But interacting with his parents was difficult.
The threads of memory wrapped tightly around the three of them, making it hard to breathe.
Hearing his artist sigh, manager He Xin asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”
Leaning back in his chair with a despondent expression, Chu Xiaoyi murmured, “Nothing. I just think I’m pretty terrible.”
He wished so badly that he could handle things properly.
When he first returned home, he had already tried hard to control his emotions.
Yet before leaving, everything had still fallen apart.
He could maintain restraint around outsiders.
But around his family, he became irritable and explosive, to the point where it was hard to watch.
He Xin looked at him in surprise, seemingly unable to believe his ears.
It felt as though the sun had risen in the west.
Patting his shoulder comfortingly, He Xin consoled him, “It’s good to have self-awareness. Your personality is pretty awful, but your professional ability is fairly outstanding.”
He Xin: If it weren’t for your talent, who could tolerate all your nonsense?
Chu Xiaoyi: “…”
Everything about his manager was good except that he couldn’t talk, exactly like himself?
Seeing that Chu Xiaoyi had snapped out of it, He Xin handed over his phone.
“Why don’t you take a look at the latest installment of your ongoing gossip series? The forums have cooked up a fresh new story.”
What He Xin showed him was an entertainment forum page.
To summarize its contents simply: passive-aggressive insinuations and baseless speculation.
Someone in the thread claimed that Chu Xiaoyi had secretly married and had a daughter.
According to the rumor, he had once brought a little girl to a famous luxury store in the city, and a sales associate had supposedly heard that the child seemed to have the surname Chu.
In reality, the sales staff had merely been chatting about celebrities they had seen during downtime.
Since Chu Xiaoxiao had caused quite a stir in the store that day, she naturally attracted attention.
Chu Xiaoyi had even called his sister by name in public.
Combined with the striking similarity between their real names, the truth was practically exposed.
Originally, it had been nothing more than a cute little anecdote.
The sales associates hadn’t mentioned their relationship at all.
But once the anti-fans spread the story, it somehow became a tale of secret marriage and a hidden daughter.
Their policy was simple: hit him as hard as possible first.
Although Chu Xiaoyi was only twenty-three years old, he sometimes still felt like a baby himself.
Who would have thought that one day he would be accused of secretly marrying and having a daughter?
Stunned, he said, “Are they sick? I’m only twenty-three. How exactly did I end up with a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter? The law doesn’t even allow that!”
According to marriage laws in mainland China, men cannot marry before the age of twenty-two.
Chu Xiaoyi felt that even if people wanted to attack him, they should at least use some logic.
At minimum, they should be able to do the math.
He Xin replied gleefully, “Excellent. Then they should accuse you of having a child out of wedlock. That makes the problem even worse.”
“…”
Waving his hand irritably, Chu Xiaoyi said, “What kind of nonsense is this? Get someone to delete it already!”
Celebrities all had their own publicity and crisis-management teams.
As long as there was enough money behind it, they could directly control the situation and quietly remove unfavorable posts.
Besides, things posted on gossip forums rarely caused major waves.
Virtually nobody believed such absurd smear posts.
Many celebrities simply chose not to look at them and couldn’t be bothered spending money to remove them.
He Xin hadn’t expected Chu Xiaoyi to request deletion.
In the past, even when facing much harsher smears, he had never bothered taking action.
Surprised, He Xin asked, “You really want it deleted? Back when they were spreading rumors about you and male celebrities, you never asked us to step in. There isn’t some hidden story here, is there?
“Actually, leaving this post up isn’t a big deal. It kind of proves your sexual orientation. Maybe you could even use it to untangle yourself from your rivals…”
As He Xin lazily joked around while assigning the team to delete the posts, he reflected on the countless ridiculous rumors he’d seen about Chu Xiaoyi.
Secret marriage and a daughter really wasn’t a major one.
There was no need to get worked up over it.
Chu Xiaoyi said, “Oh, give me a break! That’s my sister! How is that the same!?”
In the past, he couldn’t be bothered dealing with smear posts.
Even if they bothered him, he would endure it.
But family was off-limits.
Since his debut, he had protected his family’s information carefully.
He would never allow outsiders to pry into their privacy.
He understood all too well how frightening obsessive fans could be.
He Xin had long been aware of his artist’s habits.
With some regret, he said, “What a shame. I was actually talking with a family-oriented reality show recently. I thought it would suit you perfectly…”
He Xin had deliberately shown Chu Xiaoyi the post from the entertainment forum because he wanted to test his attitude and see whether returning home had softened him at all.
Chu Xiaoyi rejected the idea outright.
“Don’t even think about it. I won’t use my family to entertain the public!”
Chu Xiaoyi kept a very clear boundary between his work and his personal life, and an equally clear boundary between himself and his fans. This had even caused quite a few fans to become anti-fans.
Because he was sometimes too calm and too guarded, more extreme fans never felt that he responded to them.
In other words, he didn’t know how to pander to fans or emotionally manipulate them.
Of course, this wasn’t really Chu Xiaoyi’s fault.
If he had known those fan-pleasing tricks, he would have sorted out his family relationships eight hundred years ago. How could things have deteriorated so badly with Chu Jiadong?
He simply wasn’t good at lowering himself or acting submissive, and his speech was often blunt and stiff.
His fanbase was sustained almost entirely by his looks and ability.
Chu Xiaoyi: Anyway, none of my peers are that capable. The competition just makes me look good.
Having experienced the pressure of fame from talent competitions and endured malicious smears from rival-backed interests, Chu Xiaoyi knew very well the weight of public scrutiny.
He could endure the darkness behind the spotlight.
But he didn’t want his family dragged into it.
He Xin sighed regretfully. “Alright then…”
Back at Yurong Terrace, Chu Xiaoxiao sat in the teahouse in the family’s courtyard, looking somewhat dejected.
She felt that her bargain-bin brother was like one of the stray cats outside.
There was clearly a specially built cat shelter waiting for him, yet he refused to return and insisted on wandering around outdoors.
Was he afraid the neighborhood would catch him and have him neutered?
She actually didn’t want to keep thinking about Chu Xiaoyi.
But lately she had nothing else to distract her, which left her feeling helpless.
“Xiaoxiao.”
Suddenly, she heard someone call her name.
Looking around in confusion, she discovered Liang Shuangqi standing outside the glass walls of the teahouse.
She quickly moved toward the window, where it was easier to hear voices from outside.
The little boy wasn’t walking his cat today.
He wore a light-colored down jacket and carried an enormous instrument case taller than himself.
Waving at her seriously, he asked, “Are you growing mushrooms in a greenhouse?”
The teahouse was a beautiful glass room filled with sunlight.
Dressed in pale yellow loungewear, Chu Xiaoxiao was squatting on a wooden bench.
She really did resemble a tiny tender mushroom.
Though perhaps she was a mushroom burdened with worries, constantly sighing.
Chu Xiaoxiao: Life is hard. Mushroom sighs.
After putting on her coat, Chu Xiaoxiao ran outside the teahouse, opened the courtyard’s iron gate for Liang Shuangqi, and invited him in to sit for a while.
Inside the teahouse, Liang Shuangqi struggled to set down the giant instrument case.
Finally letting out a long breath of relief, he felt alive again.
He explained, “My dad went to take care of something. He told me to wait where I was, so I walked over here.”
Chu Xiaoxiao asked in surprise, “Isn’t it cold outside?”
Liang Shuangqi replied, “He thinks it’s not cold. Maybe his skin is thicker. I still think it’s cold.”
Liang Shuangqi had just returned from an extracurricular class.
His father had walked with him halfway through the neighborhood before suddenly turning back toward the entrance to handle something, telling him to wait there for a moment.
Liang Shuangqi’s father had served in the military, so naturally he didn’t think a boy standing in the cold wind for a while was a big deal, especially since he’d be back soon.
Liang Shuangqi wasn’t stupid.
Realizing he was very close to Chu Xiaoxiao’s house, he leisurely wandered over and happened to run into her.
Curiously eyeing the instrument case on the bench, Chu Xiaoxiao asked, “What is that?”
“My cello.”
An expression of admiration appeared on Chu Xiaoxiao’s face.
“Are you going to be a musician when you grow up?”
“No, my mom made me learn it.” Liang Shuangqi answered solemnly. “I’m not going to be a musician. I’m going to be Jack Ma.”
Hearing this, Chu Xiaoxiao became even more impressed and couldn’t help clapping her little hands.
Remembering her gloomy expression from earlier, Liang Shuangqi asked, “Why were you so listless just now?”
Chu Xiaoxiao briefly explained her worries.
The little boy tilted his head but couldn’t think of any solution.
As an only child, Liang Shuangqi had no understanding of what it felt like to have an older brother and couldn’t offer any useful advice.
He didn’t understand why it was so upsetting for a brother to go missing.
Otherwise, couldn’t she just put up missing-person notices?
He simply changed the subject.
“How about I play a piece for you?”
“Sure. Do you need your cello?”
Looking at the enormous case, Chu Xiaoxiao felt a little helpless.
She had never seen such a huge instrument before.
Liang Shuangqi pulled a piece of yarn from his pocket.
Fastening each end to opposite sides of the wooden table and pulling it tight, he said, “Not that one. That’s boring.”
Curiously, Chu Xiaoxiao watched what he was doing.
Liang Shuangqi then pulled out a strange little wooden piece from his pocket and used it to lift the taut yarn while moving it back and forth to tune it.
He casually found a small stick and plucked the stretched yarn.
Sure enough, a crisp note rang out!
Chu Xiaoxiao’s eyes widened in disbelief.
She hadn’t expected yarn to actually make music, and different positions produced different sounds!
After finishing the tuning, Liang Shuangqi naturally began plucking the yarn with the stick.
To her surprise, the notes really connected into a lively melody.
Chu Xiaoxiao had seen instruments perform before, but never yarn.
As soon as the piece ended, she immediately burst into enthusiastic applause, her eyes shining as she looked at the Yarn Music Master before her.
Liang Shuangqi modestly said, “Next time I’ll perform with a calculator for you.”
Liang Shuangqi: Everything can be used as an instrument, except the cello.
“Liang Shuangqi, get out here!”
The two children were enthusiastically playing with the yarn when an enraged male voice came from outside the teahouse.
Turning her head, Chu Xiaoxiao saw an uncle storming over angrily. Through the glass, he stared fixedly at Liang Shuangqi with blazing eyes, looking slightly out of breath.
Liang Shuangqi introduced him calmly, “My dad’s here.”
Liang Chen exploded, “You ran off without even sending me a message!?”
Chu Xiaoxiao was a little worried, but Liang Shuangqi remained composed.
“I was conducting a military exercise for you to test your response capability after losing a child. Can exercises be announced in advance?”
Liang Chen replied, “Exercises can’t be announced in advance, but I can beat you in advance!”
Chu Xiaoxiao said disapprovingly, “Hitting children is wrong.”
Calmly slinging the cello case onto his back, Liang Shuangqi reassured her, “Don’t worry, Xiaoxiao. If he dares hit me, I’ll call the police. If he gets arrested and goes to jail, I’ll come to your house and be your brother, and then you won’t have to be so down anymore.”
Chu Xiaoxiao thought seriously about it.
It didn’t seem impossible.
At the very least, Liang Shuangqi could play yarn and calculators.
Liang Chen didn’t charge into the family’s courtyard. Instead, he waited by the gate for his son to come out.
His attitude toward Chu Xiaoxiao was quite friendly.
Warmly, he said, “Come visit Uncle’s house sometime. I’ll cook braised pork for you!”
Chu Xiaoxiao sensed a sunny and positive energy from Liang Chen and no longer felt much resistance toward what he had said earlier.
After all, Uncle hadn’t gone to jail yet, which proved he hadn’t hit anyone for the time being?
Chu Xiaoxiao watched the father and son leave.
Then she returned to the teahouse and fiddled with the piece of yarn Liang Shuangqi had left behind, plucking it until it twanged repeatedly.
She could make the yarn produce sound too.
She just couldn’t play a melody with it.
Still, it was surprisingly good for relieving stress.
Chu Xiaoyi had originally instructed He Xin to politely decline the variety show invitation.
Unexpectedly, the chief director of Several Generations of Our Family personally came to persuade him, showing an extremely strong desire to recruit him.
Director Li had produced numerous hit variety shows and maintained excellent relationships with major television stations and online platforms. He was considered a heavyweight figure in the industry.
Even though Chu Xiaoyi had no intention of appearing on the show, he still had to meet Director Li and politely turn him down.
Chu Xiaoyi said courteously, “Director Li, I’m really sorry, but I don’t want to expose my family. I know your team is excellent, but precisely because of that, the show could easily become a huge hit. It might seriously affect my parents’ lives…”
“My mother is a high school teacher. She still needs to teach at school, and it wouldn’t be good for her to receive too much attention. Do you understand? My younger sister is also very young. Public scrutiny could affect her childhood.”
Director Li stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“Because you had unpleasant experiences on talent shows before, you’ve maintained a cautious attitude toward variety shows ever since. Is that a fair understanding?”
After pondering for a few seconds, Chu Xiaoyi simply answered, “Yes. I hope you can understand.”
Director Li replied calmly, “What if we put the show aside for now? Let’s not talk about whether you’ll participate or not. If we’re just chatting, what are your thoughts about your family or your family members?”
Chu Xiaoyi hadn’t expected the director to ask such a question.
He fell silent for a moment, unsure how to answer.
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