Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Like Wen Cishu, veteran fans who knew Chu Han well were also shocked when they heard Xing Xing say his full name.

"Is Xing Xing using his mom's surname? That doesn't sound right."

"No way! Did the goddess finally divorce that good-for-nothing first love of hers?"

"Didn’t Chu Han marry her first love and wasn’t she happy? Didn’t she leave acting after winning Best Actress to be a homemaker?"

"Not at all. The guy was afraid Chu Han would become too famous for him to match."

"No way! I always thought Chu Han just didn’t like the entertainment industry..."

In the kitchen, Zhu Wei was kneading dough. Seeing them return with eggs, she smiled and said, "Eggs are perfect! I’ll make a few different dishes with them later."

Bao Yiming placed the basket of eggs on the counter. "Auntie, we’re going to pick more vegetables from the garden then."

"Sure, go ahead." Zhu Wei pointed to the water. "Get some water if you're thirsty."

Bao Yiming ran over, unscrewed a bottle, and handed it to Xing Xing. Then he opened another bottle and left it for Auntie Zhu Wei.

"Auntie, we’re heading out now."

"Thank you, Yi Ming. Go on." Zhu Wei smiled at the good-looking boy—it was hard not to like him.

Bao Yiming took Xing Xing’s hand as they walked out.

Xing Xing held the water bottle. "I can walk by myself."

Bao Yiming stopped. "Auntie told me to take care of you. Be good." He reached out and patted Xing Xing’s head.

Xing Xing pulled back, dodging the touch, but didn’t pull away from Yi Ming’s warm hand.

"If Xiao Qi saw this, he’d definitely say, 'Hmpf! You’re not allowed to dodge Yi Ming brother!'"

"Ha ha ha! You’ve perfectly captured how Xiao Qi talks!"

On the path between fields, Wen Cishu was still in shock.

In the original novel, Bao Yiming and Chu Han only met in adulthood.

Chu Han didn’t appear until much later.

What was happening now? How would this affect their fates?

Wen Cishu’s biggest worry was his son repeating the same mistakes.

But he couldn’t just interfere—he decided to observe first.

Once the potatoes filled about half the basket, Wen Cishu and Rong Rong took them inside.

Noticing some mud on the back of her uncle’s clothes, Rong Rong quickly brushed it off before taking his hand again.

She couldn’t help but look up at him, giggling and beaming.

Wen Cishu was carefully avoiding stepping on the vegetables nearby and didn’t notice the little girl’s movement.

"Rong Rong is such a sweetheart~"

"I can't imagine how stunning his daughter would be if he had one."

"A quarter Chinese-French heritage like Ming Zai? Have one already, I'm ready to be reborn!"

From another direction, Zhou Xu was also carrying Xiao Qi toward the kitchen.

The basket in his hand held some leafy greens.

When Xiao Qi saw Wen Cishu, his two tiny white hands raised a big green pepper, calling out in a sweet, childish voice, "Uncle~~"

Wen Cishu paused and waited, exclaiming with delight, "Wow, did Xiao Qi pick this?"

Xiao Qi looked at the gentle, smiling uncle and nodded happily, his little hands swaying slightly.

The four of them walked inside together.

Zhu Wei had already kneaded the dough and was letting it rise.

Seeing her daughter's joyful expression, she asked, "Rong Rong, was the vegetable garden fun?"

"Mm!" Rong Rong trotted to her mother's side. "Mom, Xingxing's mom said she went to pick chives."

Hearing this, Zhou Xu turned around, "This farm is so well-stocked—we won’t go hungry."

Wen Cishu placed the potatoes by the sink and took Zhou Xu’s basket of vegetables.

"I can't cook either, so I'll handle the washing."

He reached out, casually rolling up his already cuffed sleeves even higher, revealing slender, snow-white forearms. When his fingers brushed against the bracelet, he tugged it gently over his wrist.

"Huh? He's actually wearing a beaded bracelet? How did I only notice now?"

"Same here—I just couldn't look away from his face. I swear I'm not usually like this!"

"Is this what they mean by 'porcelain-white wrists'? He really gives off the vibe that he'd probably even sweat perfume."

Zhou Xu said, "After Bao Yiming finishes washing, I’ll chop the vegetables. Sister Wei, will you stir-fry or should I?"

Zhu Wei joked, "Looks like your identity as a culinary master can’t stay hidden any longer. You handle the stir-frying. I’ll mix the dumpling filling and start wrapping once the dough is ready."

Rong Rong quietly lifted the lid covering the dough to check on it. "Mom, I want to wrap dumplings too."

"Okay."

While washing the potatoes, Wen Cishu stealthily looked around at everyone.

It felt like it had been a long time since he last experienced such a strong sense of warmth and activity.

In the Bao family mansion—it was always the housekeepers bustling about taking care of everything. He’d never even set foot in the kitchen before...

Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, Bao Yiming and Xingxing were walking single-file through the vegetable patch, chatting with each other.

One carried green beans, the other was carrying a pumpkin.

Wen Cishu found himself thinking of Bao Tingyuan.

In his memory, the family of three never seemed to have such particularly warm moments.

But Bao Tingyuan…

He found it hard to associate this person with "cozy domesticity" or "everyday life."

Wen Cishu glanced at the bamboo-knot bracelet.

-

Inside the car.

Bao Tingyuan held a just-printed set of documents in his hand.

It contained brief details about Chu Han and Chu Heng.

Earlier, Wen Cishu had noticed something unusual in Xingxing’s expression, so Bao Tingyuan sent Albert to do some quick digging.

According to the documents, Chu Han and her husband hadn’t divorced, and Xingxing was registered under the name Lin Heng at school.

It wasn’t clear why the name was changed to “Chu Heng” in the program.

Recalling Wen Cishu’s reaction at the time, it was as if the name “Chu Heng” triggered some kind of visceral reaction in him.

At this moment.

Just as Bao Tingyuan looked up from the documents, he noticed Wen Cishu gazing distractedly at the bracelet.

—What was he thinking?

Behind the lenses, his green eyes resembled a bottomless lake, hiding feelings even he himself hadn’t noticed.

His hands even seemed to want to reach through the screen and tightly embrace the person in the frame.

Albert, who had originally intended to approach for work instructions, immediately sensed the tense atmosphere surrounding Mr. Bao.

It was as if a storm cloud had rolled in from nowhere, heavily blocking out all sunlight.

He silently took a step back, puzzled:

Wasn’t Mr. Wen doing fine in the program?

Why was Mr. Bao suddenly being so unlike himself?

-

On the show.

All the guests had gathered in the kitchen, some stir-frying, others wrapping dumplings—the activity was in full swing.

Since Zhou Xu was cooking, Wen Cishu helped take care of Xiao Qi.

He picked up a slice of honeydew and fed the toddler, smiling as he said, “Xiao Qi, you're such a cuddly little thing, aren’t you?”

“Nuh-uh~”

Xiao Qi held the honeydew in his tiny hands, nibbling on it while stealing a glance at his dad, who was working the stove.

He looked up and whispered, “Mr. Wen~ Xiao Qi wanna tell you a secret.”

“Really?”

Seeing that the toddler was willing to share a secret, Wen Cishu naturally bent down to his level. “Tell me, Xiao Qi.”

Xiao Qi said in a baby voice, "Mommy says Daddy is the one who’s clingy."

"Hmm?" Wen Cishu chuckled. "Oh, is that so?"

He had thought Zhou Xu always kept Xiao Qi close because the little one didn’t like walking.

Turns out it was Dad who couldn’t stand being away from his kid.

Xiao Qi noticed something odd as his uncle leaned in—why did it seem like long hair was sticking out?

Curious, he tugged at the brim of the hat and pulled it up.

A flood of black hair spilled down Wen Cishu’s shoulders, startling Xiao Qi so much that his already large eyes went as wide as dinner plates, his little mouth hanging open in shock.

"What? There’s long hair under the hat? Am I seeing things?"

"No way—! An actual long-haired pretty boy? My nose is bleeding…"

"Those phoenix eyes are stunning! Oh my god, a pure classical beauty, like he stepped out of a painting!"

"You should go into showbiz! Star in a historical drama as the bewitching male consort—I’ll binge-watch religiously for the ratings!"

"Wow, this face is breathtaking no matter if he’s dressed as a guy or girl."

"Mommy, look! Uncle’s hair is so long, even longer than yours!"

Rong Rong was the first to see this and immediately tugged at her mother’s sleeve excitedly.

Zhu Wei and Chu Han turned their heads almost simultaneously.

Wen Cishu was already standing straight, running his fingers through his hair before tucking it back under the hat.

His waist-length hair was sleek and jet-black, flowing with his movements like he belonged in a shampoo ad.

Chu Han asked, "How do you keep your hair so healthy?"

Due to her work, she often had to style her hair for performances—dyeing, perming, and using hairspray had left it dry and damaged.

Zhu Wei’s eyes sparkled with envy. "It’s been ages since I’ve seen hair this dark. What’s your haircare routine?"

Bao Yiming, who had also noticed, explained, "The nannies give my little dad hair treatments."

"Oh, I see," Chu Han said with a smile. "Mr. Wen, maybe you shouldn’t wear the hat. You look better like this."

In the entertainment industry, she’d met plenty of handsome young men, but none with the same one-of-a-kind vibe as Mr. Wen.

"Right, right," Zhu Wei agreed. "If it’s inconvenient, just pull it back with a hair tie."

She glanced down at her daughter. "Rong Rong, should we give Uncle one of your hair ties?"

"Okay, okay!" Rong Rong had several little braids tied by her mom—one less wouldn’t matter.

Just then, Bao Yiming seemed to remember something and fished through his pocket. "Don’t worry, kiddo! I have one!"

He handed it to his little dad.

Wen Cishu took it and tied his hair, then paused, puzzled. "Yiming, why do you have a hair tie?"

"When we got out of the car earlier, Papa suddenly gave it to me."

Bao Yiming wore a knowing smile, "I didn't know why earlier. Now I get it~"

"Oh." Wen Cishu couldn't help but glance at one of the cameras filming.

"What?! Is that the kind of 'big daddy' I'm thinking of?!"

"If there's a little daddy, then of course there's a big daddy—that tracks, girls!"

"So can I call *wife* now? I've been holding back for so long, waah~"

"Wife seems to be looking at someone off-camera... (my money's on Ming Zai's big daddy)"

"I always thought Ming Zai had a Chinese-French mixed mom! How did this happen? This completely blows my mind!"

"A Chinese-French mixed big daddy, tsk, is he even worthy of our stunning beauty? Seriously."

"Exactly! We need to check out his looks (ugh, someone dig up Ming Zai's family info? I'm dying to see a family photo of the three of them)."