Xiao Meng said, “Just tidy up a bit, then you can head to the village entrance to gather.” After speaking, she turned and left.
There was no courtyard at this residence. Two bare rooms stood starkly by the roadside. An Shijiu chose the larger one and pushed the door open with one hand.
Creak—
The midday sunlight streamed straight in, and dust danced within the beam.
The room was small. At first glance, there was a solid wooden bed covered in a thick layer of dust. Beside it stood a round wooden table with a worn patina, piled with daily necessities.
Bedding, toiletries, a basin, slippers—these were likely the essential supplies prepared by the production team.
After all, the production team had already taken away everything from the guests except basic necessities, including their phones and cash.
The VJ entered the room first, the camera aimed at the two of them, livestreaming their reactions.
An Shijiu did not find it unusual. During missions, she had encountered far worse environments.
As for An Zhe, although he was often scolded and ignored, his family’s conditions had always been good. He had never seen such a poor place before.
He froze slightly.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his mother move, and his heart immediately tightened.
His mother always liked to lie down on the bed as soon as she got home—but here… the bed was covered in so much dust.
An Zhe reached out and grabbed An Shijiu’s arm, his face scrunching up like a bun. “Mom, don’t lie down. I’ll sweep the dust first.”
His dark eyes scanned the room and spotted something that looked like a mini broom.
He immediately went over, picked it up, climbed onto the bed, and began sweeping the dust bit by bit.
“Cough! Mom, you should wait outside first. There’s too much dust!”
An Shijiu’s gaze swept briefly over An Zhe as he worked hard cleaning, but she said nothing. She simply nodded and stepped outside.
【People Leave, Tea Cools】: Good baby, you are a hardworking baby.
【User 3657】: This is reverse parenting, wow!
【Little Angel Xuxu】: If she’s incompetent, just say she’s incompetent. Calling it “reverse parenting”—you really know how to sugarcoat things.
【Easily Excited Baby】: What do you mean incompetent? Doing some work makes her incompetent? Does she have to treat the child like an ancestor to be considered a qualified mother?
【Little Angel Xuxu】: Mother? She deserves that title? Her ex-husband already exposed that she treats the child badly. What normal five-year-old is as quiet and sensible as An Zhe? He’s probably scared of her!
【Easily Excited Baby】: You seriously have something wrong with you! This is the An family livestream room—why do you keep coming here to nitpick? Can’t you just watch your idol instead?
【Yanjing Brother’s Baby】: If the VJ sees this, tell that surnamed An not to get close to our brother during the discussion later!
【Yanjing the Unmatched】: Shameless people are invincible. With our brother’s level of popularity, if she clings once, she’ll do it again!
Before long, An Zhe finished sweeping the dust.
An Shijiu was no longer the same An Shijiu from a month ago. Without needing the system to prompt her, she stepped forward and took out the heavy bedding, laying it out.
After all, those items were quite heavy—too difficult for a child to handle.
Once the two of them had cleaned the room to a reasonable state, they headed out toward the village entrance.
The hill was not large, but many people lived there. Small paths crisscrossed everywhere, with households just a few steps apart.
As soon as he stepped out, An Zhe could no longer tell which way was which.
Even the VJ was confused. Just as he was about to use his communicator to ask someone to guide them, he saw An Shijiu grab An Zhe’s hand and stride decisively in one direction.
The VJ hurried to follow, muttering inwardly—how could a female influencer who livestreamed at home every day possibly have any sense of direction?
After walking for nearly half an hour, they saw a distinctive two-story building standing out among the houses. Only then did he realize they had already reached Route No. 1.
He felt ashamed of his earlier assumptions and developed a new impression of An Shijiu.
At the open space near the village entrance, two rows of chairs were arranged in a figure-eight formation. One side had more chairs, while the other had only six.
It was obvious that the side with more chairs was for the families, while the six chairs were for the managers.
The managers did not have individual livestreams; they were already seated.
After An Shijiu arrived, the VJ also turned off his camera. When everyone gathered together, the broadcast switched from individual streams to a group stream.
Unlike the individual livestreams, the bullet comments in the group stream were all focused on the managers.
The small amount of attention on the family side barely made a ripple in comparison.
Three families had already arrived: the Gu family, the Lin family, and the Xing family. Since they were not very familiar with one another, they chose seats at the ends and the middle.
Only a few scattered comments appeared:
—Who are these families? I don’t recognize any of them.
—Lin Fei—he used to act in quite a few dramas, just never became popular. Still a solid actor. Didn’t expect his son to be this old already.
—If you follow financial news, you’d know the family on the far left is in real estate. Very rich.
An Shijiu glanced over and only recognized Xing Rumei and Shen Yanjing.
Xing Rumei was chattering non-stop with her mother. When she saw An Zhe, she immediately sprang up from her chair. “An Zhe, come sit here!”
Her small hand patted the chair beside her loudly.
An Zhe tugged at his mother’s hand, asking with his eyes.
An Shijiu nodded, and he ran over, sitting beside Xing Rumei.
The managers were all handsome men and beautiful women.
In terms of status, the one seated closest to the camera in the first position was Shen Yanjing.
Although he wore a low-key gray casual outfit, his tall frame, long legs, and strikingly handsome face gave him an undeniable presence even as he sat lazily.
When An Shijiu appeared, he lifted his eyelids for a brief glance before losing interest, as if nothing had happened.
Ji Qingyu, seated beside him, felt a bit nervous.
On one hand, he was sitting next to the company’s pillar and behind-the-scenes boss.
On the other hand, he had a small online account called 【Shijiu’s Former Dog】. Although she had fallen from grace, he still found her face irresistible.
Now this was practically a real-life meeting!
Seeing that his boss showed no reaction to An Shijiu, he concluded that she really had just been clout-chasing back then.
She had truly married such an ordinary man and had a child…
The mere thought of it felt like the sky was collapsing.
Shen Yanjing noticed Ji Qingyu staring straight at An Shijiu and frowned.
“Watch yourself.”
After all these years of lukewarm popularity, he still hadn’t learned his lesson. When they got back, he would arrange more expression management training for him.
He had brought Ji Qingyu along because, since he was joining the show, he might as well make it worthwhile by boosting a struggling artist from his company.
Now it seemed he might as well have brought a newcomer instead.
At that moment, the rising star Qi Xin walked up to Shen Yanjing and extended her slender, fair hand.
“Brother Jing, I’m Qi Xin. You can call me Sanjin. I played a little flower spirit in the drama you just wrapped—do you remember me?”
Shen Yanjing narrowed his eyes slightly.
Seeing that he clearly did not remember, Qi Xin’s gaze flickered as she said something ambiguous, “The coffee I sent—you forgot to return the cup.”
She had striking features, with upturned eyes, a high nose bridge, and red lips. Her voice was natural and unpretentious, and her demeanor was poised and confident.
At first glance, it was difficult to dislike her.
Sure enough, the livestream comments were full of praise.
—Ahhh! Finally seeing brother, what a divine face!
—Didn’t watch the earlier streams at all, didn’t recognize anyone. Now it finally feels like the main event!
—Such a sensible junior, even coming over to greet him.
—Our Sanjin baby has always worked hard. A hidden gem of the entertainment industry!
—The first CP is here: glamorous rising star × cold, godlike Film Emperor.
—Aren’t you afraid of getting attacked by the Yanzi Army for shipping CP?
—As long as the reputation isn’t too bad, we don’t mind.
Shen Yanjing glanced at her sideways but said nothing.
Qi Xin laughed awkwardly. “It’s fine, just consider it a gift. I’ll head back first.” She jogged back to her seat.
Her seat was between He Yun’er and Qin Yize.
—Looks like Qin Se He Ming is really over.
—No choice, the male side clearly refuses to cooperate.
—Our brother only acted in one drama and now people are clinging to him for CP hype. Disgusting.
—Are Qin fans living in a fantasy? Before the drama became popular, our Yun’er was already a top star. Qin who? Nobody even knew him.
He Yun’er only relaxed after Qi Xin sat down, her previously tense body loosening.
She picked at her nails one by one.
Her agent had not told her that Qin Yize would be on this show. Despite knowing she did not want any further involvement with him, they had still tricked her into coming.
Was it because Qin Yize had indeed taken a large portion of her popularity and now surpassed her?
So they still wanted to force her to hype up this CP…
An Shijiu walked over and sat beside An Zhe when she noticed a girl across from her smiling and greeting her.
She did not recognize her and initially did not want to respond. But recalling the social etiquette the system had taught her, she still raised her hand politely in acknowledgment.
Liu Momo’s smile froze on her face.
An Shijiu should have stiffened or shown discomfort upon seeing her—so why was she so calm?
After all, the two of them were sworn enemies on the platform, tearing into each other without mercy. Moreover, Liu Momo’s husband had left An Shijiu to be with her.
Since An Shijiu livestreamed every day, there was no way she didn’t know.
Among the online influencer circles, everyone knew how deeply Liu Momo loved her husband—enduring everything without retaliation.
And now, seeing her, An Shijiu acted as if nothing had happened?