Ren Mei covered her chest with both hands—ah, this heart-wrenching love~
The fragile An Shijiu, at this moment, wished she could grab a spoon, stab it into her head, and dig the system out.
So annoying. Extremely annoying!
【Look, look! Ye Qingyin and Ye Xuxu have started making their move!】
【They’ll first show the audience their influence over the Gu family and the Shang family, and keep creating interactions with Shen Yanjing!】
【Then gradually win over the Xing family and the Lin family!】
【And become the true group favorites!】
Director Li stepped forward and clapped his hands.
“Our first segment is for the children to introduce themselves. Who would like to go first?”
Ye Xuxu immediately stood up. “Me, me!”
Ye Qingyin smiled slightly. The child who introduced themselves first would be remembered more easily.
Gu Mohan was too reserved to take the initiative. Shang Ruoshui had been raised boldly, almost recklessly. The child from the Lin family was said to be so introverted that it bordered on autism.
As for the An family, whose popularity was similar to theirs, most of it came from An Shijiu’s scandals.
Netizens criticized them more often, and the positive comments were mainly about her strength. Her son, An Zhe, had little attention.
The Xing family was a complete outsider family. Their child probably wouldn’t dare to stand out on a variety show.
This spotlight—Xuxu was bound to take it.
But in the next second, her smile froze on her face.
“Let me do it!” A loud, spirited voice stood out from the crowd.
Xing Rumei blinked her big eyes, her little face flushed red, and she bounced her way to the center.
“My name is Xing Rumei. Because my dad’s surname is Xing, and my mom’s name is Mei, they gave me this name. Of course, I really like my name too!”
“I’m five years old. I like singing, dancing, horseback riding, fishing, and playing the piano.”
“My favorite friend is my cousin. My second favorite is An Zhe, the kid sitting next to me. We’re both very well-behaved—we get five little red flowers every day in kindergarten!”
“I’m done introducing myself, thank you everyone~” After speaking, she even lifted her skirt and spun around, bowing in three directions.
—What a chatterbox. Is her family in comedy or something?
—Hahaha, I’m dying. She even bowed in three directions—can her little legs keep up?
—I noticed this girl earlier. Her mouth hasn’t stopped once. Mom Mei should give her some water later.
—Her voice is really loud!
—Wait, don’t her parents care? Xuxu clearly stood up first.
—So what? If there’s 100 yuan on the ground and you see it first, does it become yours?
After hearing Xing Rumei’s introduction, Ye Xuxu’s eyes turned red. She pressed her lips tightly and refused to speak.
It was over, it was over. She had said so much—her mom’s prepared introduction definitely couldn’t compare anymore.
Tears streamed down her face.
A glint flashed in Ye Qingyin’s eyes. She put on a helpless expression and gently tugged at Su Ziyu beside her.
“Sister Su, do you have any tissues or a handkerchief?”
Su Ziyu’s attention was drawn. She turned her head and immediately saw Ye Xuxu crying, and exclaimed, “What’s wrong with Xuxu? Why is she crying?”
Gu Mohan immediately jumped down from his seat and ran to Ye Xuxu, his face full of anger. “Who bullied you? I’ll beat them!”
—Xuxu was clearly the one who spoke first. That Xing family kid has no manners at all.
—Our poor Xuxu, look at those little pearls falling.
—Make Xing Rumei apologize!
The commotion grew a bit loud, and Director Li quickly ran over. “What’s going on?”
Ye Qingyin smiled. “Children’s moods change like June weather. It’s nothing, don’t worry about her. Let’s not delay everyone’s time.”
Shang He also came over. He had been paying attention to Ye Qingyin’s side and had naturally noticed that Ye Xuxu had wanted to go first earlier.
In a voice that wasn’t loud but was clearly heard by everyone, he said, “Is it because you wanted to introduce yourself just now but Xing Rumei went first, so you’re a little upset?”
While rubbing her eyes, Ye Xuxu glanced at her mother and said through sobs, “I didn’t want to be first… I was just afraid of being last~”
Her mother had told her that this was the first broadcast. By the time the last person introduced themselves, the audience would have lost interest.
Ye Qingyin spoke in a gentle yet firm tone, “Baby, it doesn’t matter what order you go in. You can’t throw a tantrum over this. Little Mei didn’t do it on purpose—she probably just didn’t hear you.”
The system clicked its tongue in amazement: 【This is the art of language.】
【Little Mei didn’t have any bad intentions. Children aren’t like adults—they don’t have life experience or understand the rules of every situation. When kids talk in a group, they naturally talk over each other. Stepping forward to introduce yourself is nothing unusual.】
【But by isolating this point and saying ‘not intentional,’ the hidden meaning is that Little Mei did do something wrong.】
Shang He’s remark had been heard clearly by everyone.
Xing Qingze frowned, examining Ye Qingyin with a questioning gaze.
Only then did Ren Mei seem to react, pulling Xing Rumei over.
The system urged: 【Your butt’s glued to the chair—get up and go take a look!】
At a moment like this, if one didn’t go over to show concern—even if it was insincere—they would definitely be criticized. The Lin family, the butler group, and even the camera crew had all gathered around.
The only ones still sitting were this unknown family of three: An Shijiu, Shen Yanjing, and An Zhe.
All three looked utterly bored.
No matter what the system said, An Shijiu remained unmoved.
She truly didn’t understand what there was to watch—no one was dead, injured, or bleeding.
The barrage of comments was filled with demands for the Xing family to discipline their child and for Xing Rumei to apologize.
Su Ziyu held Xing Rumei’s hand. “Sweetie, that little sister said she wanted to introduce herself first, but you went ahead of her and made her so upset that she cried. What do you think you should do?”
Xing Rumei looked confused. She couldn’t understand at all why Ye Xuxu was crying like this.
Ye Qingyin glanced around at everyone.
That was enough. If they really forced Xing Rumei to apologize, it would seem a bit excessive.
She quickly waved her hand and pulled Su Ziyu back. “Sister Su, what are you saying? They’re just children, there’s no need to be so particular. It’s just Xuxu being sensitive.”
“Everyone, please go back. Sorry for delaying everyone’s time.”
She guessed that Xing Rumei’s mother must be feeling quite stifled inside.
But it couldn’t be helped. Xing Rumei’s personality clashed with Xuxu’s persona—they had to suppress her momentum from the very beginning.
Unfortunately, in the next second, her expression froze again.
Xing Rumei’s mother didn’t feel stifled at all. Both mother and daughter were broad-minded enough to accommodate mountains and seas.
Although Ren Mei felt this was a small matter not worth crying over, her thinking was simple—since they had made someone cry, apologizing wouldn’t hurt.
Smack—a slap landed on Xing Rumei’s backside.
It even made a bouncy sound. “Look at that little sister crying—hurry up and apologize!”
Xing Rumei was used to being hit. She rubbed her butt, then reflexively bowed and gave a silly smile. “Sorry, Little Sister Xuxu.”
Ye Qingyin: …
It felt like all her scheming had been thrown at a rock.
Fortunately, it wasn’t she who had asked for the apology.
The system burst into laughter: 【Hahaha, blunt people are truly the natural enemies of green tea!】
—Wait, they really forced a child to apologize?
—Damn, first time seeing moral coercion. Is Ye Xuxu some kind of princess to be this domineering?
—It’s not really Xuxu’s fault, right? Kids just feel wronged. Su Ziyu was the one who felt bad and asked for the apology. Didn’t Ye Qingyin also say it wasn’t necessary?
—Rich people sure have big tempers. Even their kids do.
—I feel bad for Little Mei. She’s got such a good temperament, didn’t even show it on her face. Compared to her, Ye Xuxu really seems too delicate.
Ye Qingyin held Ye Xuxu’s hand, and she gradually stopped crying.
Shang He patted her head. “It’s okay, Xuxu. You won’t be last. Uncle will have Sister Ruoshui introduce herself after you, alright?”
Director Li signaled for the cameras to return to their positions. Hearing Shang He’s words, he twitched at the corner of his mouth and quickly said to Ye Xuxu, “No need to wait—let’s do your introduction now. Uncle will personally take you to the center, okay?”
Ye Xuxu still wanted to act coy for a moment, but Ye Qingyin nudged her from behind, and she obediently went up.
Her eyes were still red. Embarrassed, she said, “Hello, Uncles and Aunts, Big Brothers and Sisters, little brothers and sisters. My name is Ye Xuxu—‘Xuxu’ as in lifelike. I’m five years old. Gu Mohan and Shang Ruoshui are my good friends. I hope the other children will like me too.”
With Xing Rumei’s fancy bowing performance before her, she felt too embarrassed to imitate it. She simply pressed her lips together and went back.
Ye Qingyin frowned. The effect was far worse than she had expected.