"I dropped out of middle school, so what? At least I didn't join in a nationwide cyberbullying campaign against a girl like you all did."
"Most of those who cyberbullied me probably have higher education than me, right? And then what? It's still a fact that your morals are low."
"The law operates on the principle of 'innocent until proven guilty.' Yet you take a few fragments from so-called insiders and think you stand on moral high ground, manipulating public opinion to drive me into a corner?"
The girl's sharp phoenix eyes flashed with mockery as she curled her lips and said coldly, "Dream on!"
"Do you know who killed you? No, you don't. They stand on moral high ground, under holy light—I can't see their faces clearly."
"In recent years, people driven to death by the internet have been everywhere, yet some still refuse to learn to stay silent."
"They are manipulated by the media, driven like mad dogs. Only when they realize their keyboards are stained with crimson, scalding blood do they claim they were deceived and misled."
"Stop deceiving yourselves—you are simply evil."
"Words of praise can be spoken without thought, but malicious words require careful consideration, again and again."
"Even I, who didn't finish middle school, understand this principle. Did all your education go to the dogs?"
"I apologize—I just insulted dogs."
For a few seconds after her speech, the livestream went blank, followed by a flood of comments rapidly scrolling across the screen.
Nie Lingchuan and the production crew fell into silence.
Nie Fuyao glanced at her exercise book, then looked up at the camera again after two seconds. "Oh, I'm talking about certain keyboard warriors. Most upstanding citizens, please don't take it personally."
She's really too damn arrogant, as expected of my Brother Chuan's daughter.】
【Sharp-tongued. Let's see how long your arrogance lasts. I'll blacklist you for life.】
【Blacklist your grandmother. I saw you spreading the most hate earlier—did that hit a nerve, keyboard dog? I apologize—I just insulted dogs.】
【Just insulted dogs.】
【Just insulted dogs +1.】
Nie Lingchuan looked at his daughter with complex emotions, feeling hollow inside.
The sense of loss and guilt almost overwhelmed him.
"Yaoyao, if I had found you earlier, you wouldn't have to face all this now." As he spoke, his eyes grew moist.
Nie Fuyao: "…"
"Why are you crying? We're filming a show. Wipe it off quickly." Nie Fuyao pulled out a tissue and stuffed it into his hand, then leaned in closer. "Is this an act? I checked your profile—you're a Grand Slam-winning actor."
"Heh…" The bitterness Nie Lingchuan had just felt instantly receded as he was amused into laughter. "You little rascal."
He dabbed the corners of his eyes and said, "I was admitted to drama school as the top scorer in the cultural exams. Your mother was even smarter than me—she was accepted by a foreign university with a full scholarship. When I saw your records and found out my daughter had dropped out of middle school, I thought it couldn't be true. Even if you didn't inherit your mother's academic talent, if you took after me, you could at least get into a second-tier university."
Nie Fuyao looked at him with warmth in her eyes, as if recalling something. He seemed to have truly loved Fang Yunwu deeply.
"How did you two meet?"
"It's cliché—on a plane." Nie Lingchuan chuckled softly. "My aunt, your great-aunt, married abroad years ago. Since she had no children, she left her estate to me after she passed away. Ning Sang and I went abroad to handle the inheritance procedures. On the flight back, I met Wutong, who was returning home for winter break. Oh, Wutong is your mother."
"Back then, I hadn't been in the industry for long, but I couldn't help being good-looking—many mothers' generation really liked me. At that time, I was especially popular domestically, and I'm not afraid to admit it, I was a bit inflated back then. But your mother actually didn't recognize me at all. I had removed all my disguises, yet she just kept her head down, focused on a foreign book without even looking up."
[Hahaha, Brother Chuan actually has such a black history.]
[Mothers' generation, that's hilarious. My mom really liked Brother Chuan back then, he's not lying.]
[Didn't you see the data someone compiled about Brother Chuan's fans before? Fans in their thirties make up over 20%, while those in their forties account for over 40%. Among the forty-something fans, male fans make up 70%, and female fans 30%—that's the age group with the biggest gender gap.]
[Brother Chuan was actually a bit inflated? You should have been fully inflated! There are only two actors in the entertainment industry who have achieved the Grand Slam, Brother Chuan and Uncle Jing. Uncle Jing didn't get his Grand Slam until he was 46, but you succeeded in your thirties. Go ahead and inflate!]
"What happened next?" Nie Fuyao asked curiously.
"We parted ways after getting off the plane. I didn't have the nerve to speak up—I still had a bit of an idol image to maintain back then." Nie Lingchuan laughed as he spoke. "About half a month later, Feng Wei and I went out for a meal and ran into your mother again. She was about to return to school and had come to the capital to attend a class reunion. Familiarity breeds comfort, and we exchanged contact information. Can you believe it? I was an idol adored by thousands back then, yet I ended up in a long-distance relationship with your mother."
"I didn't know much about your mother—her family background, her social circle, and so on. Since Little Wutong didn't mention it, I never asked. But she was a calm and self-possessed woman. Since she was my first love, I flew to England almost every month to see her. Ning Sang often teased me, saying I was too eager and that it wouldn't look good if fans found out."
Nie Fuyao looked at the man lost in happiness and couldn't help but feel a twinge of emotion.
"It's been eighteen years since she passed. If you meet someone suitable, you should give it a try. People always need to move forward—don't worry about me."
Nie Lingchuan shook his head. "Better not. I'm afraid that with a stepmother comes a stepfather. Human emotions have their limits. If I really got married, I wouldn't have the right to deprive the other person of their freedom to have children. Then I'd have to take responsibility. Having you is enough for me, Dad."
[Husband, me, me, me! I don't want children, please notice me.]
[You little girls, step aside. Yaoyao is my daughter—I can get an IUD.]
[These women are insane, absolutely insane. Our Chuan fans are still mostly male, but other fanbases must be even crazier?]
[Everyone shut up! I'd get a vasectomy for Brother Chuan.]
[Bro, you win.]
[Bro, you're legendary!]
[I actually understand Brother Chuan. I'm divorced with two kids and don't want to remarry either—I'm just afraid someone might mistreat my two little treasures.]
[There are still plenty of good people in the world. I have a stepmother, and she treats me really well.]
[There are many good people, but you can't gamble your child's entire life on someone's character. I'm afraid I can't afford to lose that bet.]
"I come from a single-parent family. I used to urge my dad to find someone new, but he said he'd only have to endure a few more years of hardship and didn't plan on remarrying. That way, once I finished my Ph.D., he'd be free of burdens. Otherwise, he'd probably still be raising kids at sixty."
"Your dad must be exhausted, waiting until you finished your Ph.D.?"
"I actually graduated several years ago. I'm in Beijing now, living in housing provided by my workplace."