The child who had spoken first pointed at the car and said excitedly to Li Shuai,
“Look, it really is An Zhe’s family car!”
Xing Rumei said, “His dad and mom are so good-looking!”
Li Shuai said, “But An Zhe doesn’t seem to recognize his dad.”
Xing Rumei said confidently, “I know! It’s because his parents are divorced, so he ignores his dad!”
An Zhe cautiously stopped walking and looked toward his mother.
An Shijiu showed no awareness at all and remained immersed in the joy of just having ridden in the car.
It was amazing—there was no need to circulate inner energy; just sitting there achieved a speed comparable to using lightness skill.
When Shen Yanjing saw the little boy, he cleared his mind.
He restrained himself from automatically assigning any role to him, so as not to produce unnecessary emotions.
He only believed in the established fact proven by DNA testing.
He had just taken a step forward.
Then he saw the little boy recoil several steps to the side, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
An Zhe looked at this stranger, then at the car, and then at his mother, who was clearly very happy sitting inside.
He remembered that a long time ago, his mother had held him and said that he was her bargaining chip, something that could be exchanged for a lot of money.
His eyes gradually dimmed, and he lowered his head.
Was the time to exchange him for money already here?
Suddenly, within his lowered line of sight, a pair of white sneakers appeared—the very pair he had taken out of the shoe cabinet that morning and placed by his mother’s feet.
When he raised his head, he indeed saw his mother standing right in front of him.
His vision slowly blurred.
If he were exchanged for money with this man, would he never see his mother again?
An Zhe sniffed, took off his schoolbag, and pulled out an orange larger than his hand.
The bright orange fruit covered his entire palm; from above, only his round, pale fingers could be seen.
“Mom, this is for you. Take it back and eat it.”
This had been the fruit portion of his breakfast.
An Shijiu took the orange, which looked full of juice, and the way she looked at An Zhe changed once again.
The system was already too exhausted to complain.
Although the Host was not a bad person, she had never shown any intention of getting close to little An Zhe.
Today, just one orange had softened her instantly.
What a rare sight.
An Shijiu could naturally see the vigilance in An Zhe’s eyes toward Shen Yanjing.
Since she had accepted his gift, she would naturally handle the matter.
“Don’t worry. If you’re unwilling to give him your hair, I won’t let him touch you.”
An Zhe blinked, and the redness in his eyelids faded slightly.
Ah, giving hair?
So it wasn’t about letting this man take him away to exchange for money.
That was good.
He nodded solemnly at his mother, then obediently took her hand and walked toward the car.
Throughout the entire process, he did not spare Shen Yanjing a single extra glance.
Shen Yanjing: …
Thus, the assistant teacher and the little children clinging to the fence watched as the group got into the car and drove away.
The car stopped at the entrance of the apartment building. Inside the car, no one spoke; the atmosphere was cold and tense.
Shen Yanjing did not have much free time and had no intention of going upstairs again.
From the front passenger seat, he turned around and looked at the little boy sitting in the back.
The little boy also raised his head to look back at him, his pitch-black eyes filled with deep vigilance.
Shen Yanjing said, “Your name is An Zhe, right? Can I pluck a few strands of your hair?”
Agent: …
Two bodyguards: …
An Shijiu: OvO (no emotional fluctuation whatsoever)
The system said: 【I was saying your brain’s like it’s plated with steel, and your child’s father is the same—no social buffer at all, just asking for it directly!】
An Zhe instinctively looked at his mother, but received no signal from her gaze.
His eyes shifted, and he recalled what his mother had done during yesterday’s livestream.
“You can have it, but you have to pay.”
An Shijiu’s eyes lit up instantly as she looked at An Zhe in surprise.
So smart~
Shen Yanjing took out his phone. “How much do you want?”
This straightforward atmosphere made An Zhe feel as if he were negotiating something important.
Sweat formed on his forehead.
What should he do? There were no numbers in his head—how much counted as a lot of money?
Suddenly, inspiration struck. With a blank expression, he said, “You can decide.”
Shen Yanjing raised an eyebrow and glanced at him. With those words—“you decide”—it would be difficult for him to give too little.
He frowned and cast a glance at An Shijiu.
A perfectly good child, yet she had raised him to be shrewd and worldly.
An Shijiu did not catch that look at all and continued fiddling with her phone.
With a flip, she displayed her payment code.
“Just send it to me.” She smiled broadly, showing all her teeth.
In the end, Shen Yanjing’s handkerchief held a few strands of hair, and the Cayenne sped away.
An Shijiu held An Zhe’s hand as they stood at the entrance of the apartment building. Looking at the extra one hundred thousand yuan in her phone, she smiled brightly.
“Good son, let’s go eat something nice today.”
An Zhe said happily, “Okay!”
An Shijiu said, “Alright, where can we find something delicious?”
In the end, An Zhe led the way, and the two of them went to the nearest shopping mall to eat hot pot.
After finishing the hot pot, just as they were preparing to head home, An Shijiu’s phone suddenly rang.
A string of numbers appeared on the screen.
The system said: 【Press the green button to answer the call.】
After An Shijiu answered, a strange voice came from the other end.
“Hello, may I ask if this is Ms. An? I’m the director of 《Cute Kids探险记》. I would like to invite you to participate in our program. May I ask if you’re available today?”
The system said: 【Here it comes! That kids’ variety show—the first time little An Zhe meets the female lead is through this program. You must participate!】
An Shijiu said, “I’m available.”
“Ah? Oh, then would it be convenient to meet and talk in person?”
“Convenient.”
“Haha, Miss An is very straightforward. I’m currently at the coffee shop on the first floor of XX Mall. I wonder if you’re nearby?”
An Zhe tugged at her sleeve and whispered, “Mom, this is XX Mall.”
What a coincidence~
An Shijiu paused briefly, then came back to her senses and said, “Alright, I’ll come down now.”
“Okay, then we—”
Beep, beep, beep.
Director Li looked at the call that had already been hung up, and his smile froze on his face.
Was inviting this internet celebrity really the right decision?
It felt like not only was her reputation poor, but even communicating with her was somewhat difficult.
On the way to the first floor,
the system explained to An Shijiu the description of the kids’ variety show in the original story.
Most of the main plot of the original story took place after the male and female leads had grown up. The variety show’s storyline only appeared in flashbacks.
Only the main characters were mentioned.
In the show, the single-parent female lead rose from being an unnoticed background figure in the audience’s eyes to a little angel.
In the middle and later stages, she became the most popular group favorite in 《Cute Kids探险记》.
Her mother also gained attention for her emotional stability and effective parenting.
The evaluation given by netizens was “gentle yet firm.”
During the program, it was revealed that Film Emperor Shen had joined the show because of her, and the popularity of their pairing was extremely high.
After the show ended, the female lead’s mother married Film Emperor Shen, and the female lead and the male lead became neighbors.
The male lead was the only son of a wealthy family, domineering in personality. His role in the kids’ variety show was to dote endlessly on the female lead and cling to her.
As for An Zhe’s memories at the age of eighteen,
he and his mother had practically served as a contrast group.
Because An Shijiu was a low-quality internet celebrity who had secretly married and had a child, the director had originally brought her in purely to generate controversial attention.
Coupled with little An Zhe’s gloomy and unlikable personality,
the mother and son were frequently compared by netizens to the female lead and her mother.
They were labeled as a low-quality mother and son duo. After only two episodes, they were heavily criticized and strongly resisted, and were then persuaded by the director to withdraw.
Little An Zhe, who had long lacked affection and failed to make friends on the show, opened his heart because of a piece of candy given by the little angel female lead.
From then on, he remembered her, and after an unexpected reunion at the age of eighteen, he developed an obsessive attachment.