After Chu Zhuo fell sound asleep, Chu Kai cautiously slipped out of the bedroom.
“Xiao Kai,” Zhu Xinqing, who had been waiting for a long time in the dark living room, immediately came forward upon hearing the faint movement.
Chu Kai gently pulled the door handle, leaving only a tiny crack, as if he didn’t even want to disturb the air. “Xinqing, there are pears I bought in the fridge. Please cook a bowl of pear soup for him tomorrow before we set off.”
“Okay,” Zhu Xinqing responded softly, patting Chu Kai’s shoulder.
Come to think of it, back in the year they first met, pears were Chu Kai’s favorite fruit.
Ever since coming home from the hospital, however, Chu Kai rarely ate pears anymore.
Not only did he refuse to eat them himself, but he also wouldn’t let Chu Zhuo have many.
Zhu Xinqing wasn’t a picky eater; she treated pears the same as apples, never feeling that one was overly delicious or overly unpalatable.
However, after seeing a tiny Chu Zhuo crawl over to the dining table to sniff a pear, drooling with desire, only to be severely reprimanded by Chu Kai, she couldn’t help intervening and got into a fight with Chu Kai.
It was also that day that she learned the pheromone of the scumbag Alpha who abandoned Chu Kai smelled like pears.
Chu Kai was a Beta, unable to smell pheromones and requiring no soothing.
But because Chu Zhuo had scent glands and needed soothing, he really loved eating pears and smelling pear fragrance.
The result given on Chu Zhuo’s gender test form was “Probability of differentiating into an Alpha: 98%.” Therefore, Chu Kai believed that Chu Zhuo, having become an individual with his own glands, should no longer be soothed by pear scent, and could even eat fewer pears.
Ever since then, Zhu Xinqing had stood on Chu Kai’s side, and the fruit known as the pear completely vanished from this household.
Seeing Chu Kai look back into the room with reluctance, Zhu Xinqing felt a deep sense of guilt.
This was the first time Chu Zhuo and Chu Kai would be separated for so long.
Yet, Zhu Xinqing truly had no other choice.
She had worked at this entertainment agency for several years, managing only minor, obscure artists.
Even though she ran herself ragged and drank until her stomach hurt, striving hard to secure resources for the artists under her care, the results she achieved fell far short of the target set in the wager she signed with the company back then.
Just as Zhu Xinqing was on the verge of a breakdown, Chu Zhuo brought her a turning point.
While an artist was live-streaming in the practice room, they accidentally caught Chu Zhuo running over from her office to play.
Chu Zhuo’s striking, adorable appearance and milky, sweet voice practically broke the entire live stream room.
After the broadcast ended, many fans left comments in the comment section of her video account.
Although the fans were still dissatisfied with her, they also offered feasible suggestions:
“Open an account for that little darling who flashed across the live stream for a few seconds!”
“You can’t manage the big one and you’re hiding the little one at home, Zhu Xinqing, what are your intentions! Quickly post videos of this cute baby!”
“Oh my god! Such a young age and peerless looks! Hurry up and open an account for him, I want to raise a child virtually, and nobody can stop me!”
“Controlling his looks while failing to control his age! I’m dizzy, aunties will pay for his milk powder, Zhu Xinqing, don’t you dare hide him!”
Consequently, Zhu Xinqing registered a video account for Chu Zhuo.
In just one hour, the account unexpectedly gained over 50,000 followers without posting a single video.
There was only a little over a year left before the wager ended.
Zhu Xinqing couldn’t just sit by and watch this opportunity slip through her fingers.
She swallowed her pride and begged Chu Kai, pleading with him to save her just this once, considering that she had saved him and his son’s lives back then.
“By the way, Xinqing, remember to let him wear this harmonica necklace tomorrow.”
The cold touch of the chain and Chu Kai’s soft call pulled Zhu Xinqing’s thoughts back to reality.
“Oh, oh, okay.” Zhu Xinqing accepted the necklace, instructed Chu Kai to mind his safety, and then went into the room to keep Chu Zhuo company as he rested.
Don’t let Chu Zhuo’s little sweetheart persona fool you; he usually didn’t like to cry, but whenever Chu Kai couldn’t accompany him because of overtime, those clear, spring-like eyes of his would start to well up and turn into a little waterfall.
Chu Kai had long since figured out Chu Zhuo’s personality: as long as he sneaked away, Chu Zhuo would face the reality, grow strong, neither crying nor making a fuss, and obediently wait for him to come back.
Chu Kai also felt heartache for such a sensible Chu Zhuo, but for the sake of making a living, he had no choice but to harden his heart.
Over the past few years, in order to support himself and Chu Zhuo, he had changed jobs many times.
He had worked as a security guard, delivered food, set up small street stalls, and most recently, he moved cargo at a supermarket.
His work had always been unstable, and his income fluctuated.
So three months ago, when Zhu Xinqing said there was a well-paying job with flexible hours that suited him perfectly, he was overjoyed.
However, upon hearing that the job involved helping manage Chu Zhuo’s video account, he flatly refused.
He could still support Chu Zhuo, and he could still afford milk powder; there was no need to expose a young child like Chu Zhuo to the public.
That day, Zhu Xinqing nearly dropped to her knees to beg him.
She begged him to show mercy and save her, just as she had saved him back then.
Having lived together through thick and thin for several years, Chu Kai had long regarded Zhu Xinqing as his own elder sister; he could not possibly turn a blind eye to her plea for help.
When he ran out of Luoshan Village back then and was being bullied, it was Zhu Xinqing who saved them, brought them home, and sheltered them right up until now.
To this day, every penny of rent he transferred to Zhu Xinqing was always returned to him by her through various means.
He knew Zhu Xinqing wasn’t someone greedy for money, nor was she someone who lacked resilience and tenacity.
Had she not genuinely encountered hardship, Zhu Xinqing would never have cast aside her dignity to beg him.
Chu Zhuo, having run out of the bedroom, hugged Zhu Xinqing, saying he didn’t want his auntie to cry and wanted his auntie to smile instead.
The little child understood nothing; he only hoped his dad and his auntie would always be happy and always stay by his side.
Just like that, Chu Kai nodded and agreed, and Chu Zhuo became active on the internet under the name Little Water Chestnut.
Zhu Xinqing had her own marketing strategy.
Becoming popular through videos could earn quick money for a few months, but Chu Zhuo was her own child; she had to plan long-term for him.
She intended to guide Chu Zhuo onto the child star track, so before booking any acting roles, she only published one long video about Chu Zhuo each week.
Unexpectedly, before getting any acting roles, she first received an invitation for the variety show Alpha Dad’s Child-Rearing Diary.
Upon hearing that he could go on adventures with other children, Chu Zhuo immediately jumped up and said he wanted to go.
Chu Kai, however, deliberated cautiously for a long time.
For acting gigs, Chu Kai could join the crew and accompany Chu Zhuo at all times, but this celebrity child-rearing variety show did not allow it.
Zhu Xinqing launched into another round of persuasion, pulling strings to secure a job for Chu Kai in the logistics department of the variety show, after which Chu Kai reluctantly agreed.
Alpha Dad’s Child-Rearing Diary invited a total of four pairs of real father-and-son duos and two pairs of intern father-and-son duos.
According to the production crew’s regulations, the family members of the two intern babies were not allowed to tag along.
Fortunately, Chu Kai had never shown his face in Chu Zhuo’s videos, so Zhu Xinqing exploited a loophole, claiming she wanted to toughen up her younger brother and offering his labor to the crew for free.
Consequently, Chu Kai entered the logistics department under the alias Zhu Kai.
He arrived late, and since the logistics staff had all transferred over from the previous season of the variety show, no one cared to pay attention to him.
Such indifference was better than cold glares, and Chu Kai actually felt a bit relieved.
He kept an eye out for work, following around anyone whose work badge read Logistics Department, helping tidy up rooms and move items.
A female staff member noticed him and handed him a work badge. “You must be Zhu Kai, right? Here is your badge, hold onto it. My name is Liao Zhenzhen, a female Alpha.”
Chu Kai accepted the work badge, pausing for a moment because he didn’t know how to address her. “Liao Zhen…”
“Call me Zhenzhen,” Liao Zhenzhen said, the corners of her mouth curving slightly in a half-smile. “I see on your profile you’re 25 this year; I’m a year younger than you.”
“Zhenzhen,” Chu Kai put on his work badge and returned a smile to Liao Zhenzhen, “thank you.”
The rising sun stretched lazily on the horizon, revealing a semi-circular shape that awakened the entire earth.
The clear, orange-red morning light cast a natural soft halo over the youth, stepping straight into people’s hearts along with his smile.
Liao Zhenzhen’s fixed gaze trembled.
Awkwardly fiddling with the long hair at her shoulder, she said, “You’re welcome. The work in our logistics department is quite miscellaneous; you should mentally prepare yourself.”
“Mm-hmm, Zhenzhen, thank you. I’m strong and can endure hardship.” Chu Kai walked alongside Liao Zhenzhen, looking full of vigor and drive.
Liao Zhenzhen glanced at the Beta beside her.
A simple white short-sleeved shirt and casual black trousers, he completely projected the image of someone from an ordinary family background.
Yet that delicate, fair skin and facial features that naturally compelled a second look made Liao Zhenzhen firmly believe that what she had overheard by accident after the drinking banquet the other night was true.
She couldn’t figure out why Chu Kai, who had both looks and status, unlike her, a graduate with no background or connections, ended up having his sister find him a logistics job.