“Xiao Kai,” Zhu Xinqing returned to her desk and lightly turned on the computer. The contents of the contract backup flickered onto the screen. As she browsed through them, she tried to soothe Chu Kai, “Calm down, and make sure Xiao Zhu doesn’t recognize you first.”
Hearing Chu Kai’s muffled, inchoate murmurs, Zhu Xinqing helplessly massaged her brow.
Every single word on the contract felt like a cold shackle, binding them firmly in place.
The variety show had already started recording; there was no turning back now.
“Perhaps,” Zhu Xinqing could not completely hide the sorrow in her brows, “he forgot about you long ago.”
Realizing that her casual words might have pierced Chu Kai’s heart, she quickly tried to mend them:
“What I mean is, scumbags like Yan Chi generally have terrible memories. That actor Zou Simi, who is also constantly caught up in scandals, is completely face-blind. Yan Chi might be face-blind too.”
Chu Kai’s mind was an absolute mess, and he instinctively retorted, “He doesn’t have face blindness.”
Zhu Xinqing paused slightly, then offered consolation once more: “But it’s been almost five years. Can he still recognize you? Even if he does recognize you, what then?”
The sharp edge of her words was replaced by a heavy sigh.
Zhu Xinqing had seen plenty of stars with backgrounds like Yan Chi’s.
Most of them were arrogant and heartless.
Even if Yan Chi truly recognized Chu Kai, he would probably just treat him like a total stranger.
On the other hand, Chu Kai’s out-of-control emotions had already given everything away.
“Xiao Kai, the penalty for breach of contract is simply too massive; we can’t be too impulsive,” after stating the harsh reality, Zhu Xinqing offered a calm solution. “Try your best not to be recognized these next few days, and I’ll think of something. Once you and Xiao Zhu are back, we’ll make a decision. Alright?”
The phone receiver fell silent for a few seconds before a choked “Alright” came through the line.
That single-word reply made Zhu Xinqing’s heart ache all the more.
She remembered that when she had first met Chu Kai, he possessed that exact same gentle disposition.
Several years ago, at dusk, Zhu Xinqing was holding a contract in one hand and a bottle of wine she had just bought from a convenience store in the other.
She drank as she tilted her head back, mockingly glaring at the termination notice in her grip.
Passing by a small alleyway, she vaguely noticed a few figures ahead.
Annoyed, she pushed forward and told those people not to block her path.
“Why is there someone lying on the ground?” Zhu Xinqing bent down, trying to make out the person’s features in the gathering gloom.
“Watch out!”
Chu Kai raised his hand and forcefully shoved Zhu Xinqing to the side, causing the assailant’s incoming fist to miss entirely.
“Nosey busybody!” With a shout, the assailant lashed out with a kick aimed straight at Chu Kai’s stomach.
Bang!
Fortunately, Zhu Xinqing reacted in time, smashing her wine bottle directly against the attacker’s leg and quickly kicking off her high heels to use as a weapon, engaging the three muggers in a brawl.
Seeing this, Chu Kai crawled a few feet away, grabbed his phone from the suitcase and backpack that the thugs had emptied out, and called the police.
After taking a sobering pill at the police station and finishing their statements, Zhu Xinqing finally learned that the three men had lured people in under the guise of apartment viewings just to rob them.
“Ms. Zhu, thank you so much today.” Emerging from the police station, Chu Kai, carrying a black backpack and pulling a suitcase, was still bowing slightly to express his gratitude.
“Don’t mention it, just a small effort,” Zhu Xinqing said, looking Chu Kai over before asking, “Are you looking to rent a place?”
And just like that, Chu Kai became Zhu Xinqing’s tenant.
Yet the money he had on hand wasn’t even enough for the muggers to split evenly, let alone cover a full month’s rent.
When he collapsed from exhaustion while working at a shop, he had to take a trip to the hospital, leaving him completely unable to scrape together the rent.
Zhu Xinqing had hesitated over whether to keep renting her apartment to this Beta, but after hearing about his collapse and accompanying him to the hospital posing as his older sister, she changed her mind.
She didn’t want the world to have one more homeless person.
When Chu Kai woke up, he offered another round of thanks and promised to find work to make up for the rent.
Finding a job wasn’t that easy, though. It had taken Zhu Xinqing, someone with actual work experience, half a month to land one.
Naturally, it would take even more effort for Chu Kai, a Beta who could only manage light physical labor.
Zhu Xinqing remembered how, in the span of just a single month, those innocent, clear, and naive eyes of Chu Kai’s had almost been beaten down until they lost all vitality.
Later on, when faced with overbearing bosses and colleagues, Chu Kai would still shrink back timidly.
“Xiao Kai,” Zhu Xinqing took a deep breath to pull herself out of her memories, solemnly assuring him, “Don’t worry, I am Xiao Zhu’s great aunt, and I will protect him.”
Chu Kai rubbed his eyes with his hand, struggling to adjust his state of mind. “Sister Qing, I know. I believe you.”
“I’m going to hang up now, they’re still filming over here.”
After Chu Kai ended the call and started walking toward his lodging, rapid footsteps sounded behind him.
“Zhu Kai!” Liao Zhenzhen ran up, sweating profusely, and planted a sun hat onto Chu Kai’s head. “How are you? Are you feeling better?”
Chu Kai steadied the sun hat, answering with a guilty conscience, “Yeah, much better. It was just too hot earlier, the sun gave me a bit of a headache.”
“That’s good. This hat belongs to Brother Liu from your dorm; just return it to him later,” Liao Zhenzhen adjusted her breathing and hurried forward. “The guests are heading toward the village chief’s house; I’m going ahead to help out, you go back to the next room and rest for a bit.”
For filming convenience, the staff temporarily stayed in a large courtyard right next to the village chief’s residence.
There were many rooms inside; aside from the monitoring room and prop storage, the rest had been converted into bunk-bed dormitories.
Chu Kai shared a room with five other male Betas, while Liao Zhenzhen stayed in the female Alpha dormitory diagonally across from them.
“I’ve already rested,” Chu Kai said, keeping pace with Liao Zhenzhen. “I’ll go help out too.”
Seeing Liao Zhenzhen glance at him suspiciously, he curved the corners of his eyes and smiled. “I’m really fine.”
Since he insisted, Liao Zhenzhen didn’t try to persuade him further.
The sun grew increasingly blazing. Sweat beaded on both of their foreheads, and their steps naturally slowed down.
“It’s roasting,” Liao Zhenzhen complained. “This variety show got delayed by over a month, and now it happens to land right in the peak of summer.”
Chu Kai had also caught wind of the show’s delayed recording.
Rumor had it that a television series starring Lead Actor Wang needed reshoots, which happened to clash with the variety show’s schedule.
The notoriously dedicated Best Actor Wang immediately announced he could withdraw from the reality show to do his utmost to compensate the production team for their losses.
However, finding a father-child celebrity duo of the same caliber as Best Actor Wang was no easy task.
The director insisted on waiting for Wang’s schedule to clear up.
What Chu Kai didn’t know was that precisely because of this wait, the Yan Group invested in the show, adding a new singer, Yan Chi, who was “guaranteed admission” by the conglomerate.
“Do you think these kids would rather read ten thousand books in the city, or walk ten thousand miles right here?” Liao Zhenzhen turned her head and asked Chu Kai with a smile.
Not a single guest had dropped out because of the delay; instead, they were willing to ask for leave at the very start of the school term just to appear here, which already answered the question.
At the mention of the words school term, Chu Kai’s expression quietly darkened.
Due to household registration issues, Chu Zhu still couldn’t attend kindergarten.
Once they finished recording this variety show, they would finally have enough money to buy a home, settle their registration, and send Chu Zhu to school.
The moment he thought of this, Chu Kai felt even more aligned with Zhu Xinqing’s decision.
“You can read books here too,” Chu Kai stiffly changed the subject. “I saw those older kids carrying picture books in their schoolbags when they handed in their toys.”
He had brought picture books for Chu Zhu as well.