Chapter 007

The airport.

Qiao Man sat atop a high stack of luggage on a trolley, clutching Lu Jianxing’s hand. His round eyes darted around, taking in everything with intense curiosity.

The airport was incredibly modern. Having lived on a mountain his whole life, Qiao Man had never seen anything like it. The giant LED advertising screens alone were enough to keep him transfixed, let alone all the other high-tech facilities. When an airport shuttle bus loaded with passengers drove past them, Qiao Man’s eyes went wide with wonder.

He turned his head back, eyes sparkling. “Xingxing!”

Lu Jianxing ruffled his hair and asked, “Do you want some ice cream?”

“Yes!” Qiao Man’s attention was instantly diverted.

Life down the mountain was simply too good. Back on the mountain, Qiao Man had never even heard of ice cream. Consequently, from the moment he had his first taste of the cold treat Maomao bought for him, he had fallen deeply in love with it.

With the promise of ice cream dangling in front of him, Qiao Man became exceptionally obedient, doing exactly as he was told. Once he could no longer sit on the luggage trolley, he settled into Lu Jianxing’s arms, peering over his shoulder to observe their surroundings. After boarding the plane and buckling his seatbelt, the brilliant blue sky and fluffy clouds were right before his eyes. Qiao Man pressed his face so hard against the window that his chubby cheeks were squashed flat.

The future is so wonderful, he thought. Not only are there mobile phones, but there are also giant airplanes. When I travel back home later, I can tell Master all about this. It would be even better if Master could ride in a plane too.

Their flight was bound for A City, where they were headed to sign a contract with the production team of Wilderness Challenge.

The apartment Lu Jianxing rented was also in A City. He had only been away to film on location, even though his role had been recast shortly after he joined the production. Returning home this time, he didn’t leave the child behind. Although he had initially tried to drop him off at a police station, after everything that had happened, Lu Jianxing no longer entertained that thought.

He would just work hard. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t afford to raise one more child.

Two hours later, the plane reached its destination. Lu Jianxing hoisted the boy back onto the luggage trolley and pulled a hat out of Maomao’s backpack to put on him. Naturally, he was also fully disguised, wearing a hat and a face mask himself.

Qiao Man pushed up the brim of his hat and reminded him, “Xingxing, my ice cream.”

“I’ll buy it for you once we get home.” Lu Jianxing pressed the hat back down. “Keep it on. Don’t let people see you.”

Let people see? See what?

Qiao Man sat on the trolley, happily swinging his little feet. Xingxing said he was taking him “home,” which surely meant he had accepted him as his father. Hehe.

Maomao took over the trolley. “Brother Lu, let me handle this.”

Lu Jianxing didn’t refuse.

Maomao pushed the trolley with Qiao Man on it, trailing a few steps behind as Lu Jianxing walked out first.

The arrival gate was packed with people, everyone craning their necks to look inside. The most conspicuous among them were several young girls holding light-up fan boards. They had been waiting for a long time, and finally, the person they were waiting for appeared. The crowd erupted into enthusiastic cheers.

“Xingxing!!!”

“Lu Jianxing!”

“Look over here! Look here!”

Trailing behind, Qiao Man was startled by the sudden explosion of screams. His whole body gave a little jump, and he looked around with a bewildered expression. He watched as Lu Jianxing walked toward the excited crowd, where the sound of camera shutters and flashes was constant. It was a scene he had never witnessed before.

He instinctively tried to climb down from the trolley, wanting to run over and protect Lu Jianxing, but Maomao held him back.

Maomao lowered his voice to soothe him. “Don’t be afraid, baby. Look over there. Those are all Brother Lu’s fans.”

“Fans?”

“They are all people who like Brother Lu.”

Qiao Man looked more closely. He could sense a wave of warm affection emanating from the crowd, and Lu Jianxing was currently being enveloped by this surging tide of love.

“They knew Brother Lu was coming back to A City today, so they’ve been waiting here since early this morning. They came specifically to welcome him back.”

Qiao Man let out a soft “Wow.” “There are so many of them.”

“This is actually considered a small crowd. Back when Brother Lu was more popular, there were even more… ahem.” Maomao cleared his throat. “Brother Lu needs to go say a few words to them. Baby, let’s head out first.”

Qiao Man watched the scene longingly. “Can’t I go over there too?”

“Maybe next time, baby,” Maomao comforted him.

Brother Lu was a single man in his twenties. If a strange child suddenly appeared by his side, wouldn’t these fans abandon the fandom¹ on the spot?

Qiao Man gave a disappointed response, constantly looking back until Lu Jianxing’s figure vanished from his sight.

Sister Yun had already arranged a car to pick them up. After Lu Jianxing finished greeting his fans and bid them a reluctant farewell, he stepped into the car and instinctively looked around the interior.

“Where’s Xiao Man?”

“I had Maomao take him home first,” Sister Yun said, her voice full of fighting spirit. “First, we’re going to sign the contract for Wilderness Challenge!”

…

The apartment Lu Jianxing rented wasn’t large, just a two-bedroom unit, but it was in an excellent location near the city center and was decorated very cozily. In a city like A City where land was at a premium, renting such a place was not cheap.

Before they had set out, Lu Jianxing and Sister Yun had already discussed the arrangements.

Since he had decided to raise the child, he intended to do it properly. The spare room had been cleared out to serve as a nursery. Sister Yun had already hired someone to do a quick renovation; a child’s bed and wardrobe had been moved in, the walls were covered in playful wallpaper, the floor was laid with a soft carpet, and several large plush toys were scattered about.

Maomao opened the door and invited the boy in. “How is it? Baby, are you satisfied?”

Qiao Man ran inside to inspect the room, but quickly came trotting back out. “Brother Maomao, where does Xingxing live?”

“Brother Lu lives in the room next to yours.”

Qiao Man said happily, “Then I’ll sleep with Xingxing. You can sleep in this room.”

Maomao turned around in shock. “What?”

Qiao Man didn’t see anything wrong with the idea. He cheerfully opened the door to the neighboring room and ran in to inspect it. When he was on the mountain, he always slept with his Master. Besides, hadn’t he slept with Xingxing every night for the past few days? Xingxing was a bit of a restless sleeper, but he held Xiao Man very tightly every night.

By the time Lu Jianxing returned with Sister Yun after signing the contract, the little boy was bent over, huffing and puffing as he hung his clothes in Lu Jianxing’s wardrobe. His suitcase lay open on the floor, already more than half empty. He had unpacked it all by himself.

“Brother Lu, Sister Yun, you’re back.”

Lu Jianxing pointed at the child. “What’s he doing?”

Maomao said with a long face, “Xiaoman insisted on sleeping with you. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“Where’s the ice cream?”

“Bought it. It’s in the fridge. He said he wanted to wait for you to come back before eating it.”

“…”

Lu Jianxing took the ice cream from the fridge and coaxed the busy child out of the room.

“Brother Lu, is the contract signed?”

“It’s signed.”

Sister Yun took the signed contract for Wilderness Challenge out of her bag, but her face didn’t show much joy.

Noticing this, Maomao asked with concern, “What’s wrong?”

“The format for this season of Wilderness Challenge has changed,” Lu Jianxing said. “It used to be a solo competition, but this season allows for a teammate to collaborate.”

Maomao: “Isn’t that a good thing?”

Qiao Man had the ice cream spoon in his mouth, his eyes darting around.

Lu Jianxing shook his head. “But who should I find?”

The biggest feature of Wilderness Challenge was its realism. The production team would drop contestants into genuine deep mountains and old forests, giving them very few resources at the start. Everything after that depended on the contestant’s individual survival skills. If Lu Jianxing wanted to use this show to make a comeback, he had to perform exceptionally well to catch the audience’s attention. Therefore, the teammate he found couldn’t just avoid being a burden; they had to be perfectly in sync and able to help him.

Unfortunately, Lu Jianxing didn’t have any friends like that. Or rather, after his downfall, he didn’t have any friends left at all.

By changing the rules this season, Wilderness Challenge undoubtedly hoped to see teammates turning against each other for the sake of drama.

Maomao asked, “Can’t we just find someone from the company?”

Sister Yun sneered. “How would that be helping Xingxing? They’d probably be too busy trying to stand out themselves.”

If one couldn’t stand out in this variety show, it would be a wasted opportunity, or worse, they’d end up as a stepping stone for someone else.

Furthermore, Wilderness Challenge had no script and no editing; it was a live broadcast from start to finish. Everyone’s every move was under the camera’s lens. Moreover, in previous seasons, the production team had shown no mercy to the contestants. It wasn’t unheard of for the uglier side of human nature to erupt in desperate situations. Lu Jianxing’s past scandals had only just been cleared. Even though he was exonerated, so much time had passed that most of the general public either didn’t know or didn’t believe it. He still had a massive number of anti-fans. If negative news broke now, it would only make a bad situation worse.

Where on earth could he find such a teammate?

While everyone was lost in thought, a small, fair, tender hand was raised in front of them. Fearing they hadn’t noticed, the hand reached up even higher and waved.

Everyone looked over, meeting the child’s radiant little face.

Qiao Man straightened his clothes, puffed out his chest, and looked around confidently.

Could there possibly be anyone more suitable than him?

Lu Jianxing was stunned. “You?”

“Yes!” Qiao Man tilted his head up and said confidently, “I’m very capable.”

“Sweetie, this isn’t a game. The place Xingxing is going is very dangerous,” Sister Yun coaxed. “Why don’t you stay home like a good boy and wait for Xingxing to come back, okay?”

Qiao Man’s eyebrows furrowed. “Very dangerous?”

Sister Yun: “Yes!”

“I’m going,” he said firmly. “I’m Xingxing’s father. I have to protect him.”

Sister Yun: “…”

Maomao quickly pulled up photos of previous recording locations for Wilderness Challenge on his phone to show him. These were genuine primeval forests, filled with not only venomous insects but also wild beasts. Never mind that he was just a child; even adults would be terrified of some of those dangerous areas.

Qiao Man glanced at them, not at all frightened by the pictures Maomao had intentionally sought out. He said nonchalantly, “My home is on a mountain.”

Maomao tried to scare him. “Baby, there are wild wolves on the mountain. They’ll sneak in and carry you away while you’re sleeping at night.”

So what?

Ever since Qiao Xiaoman started walking, he had been fighting wolves on the mountain.

If there were wolves, didn’t that mean he should go even more? What if Xingxing was carried off by a wolf? Xiaoman had only just found his son!

But the three adults all looked at him with disapproval, especially Lu Jianxing. Qiao Man thought for a moment and said, “Then I’ll perform a Divination for you.”

Lu Jianxing hesitated for a moment. “Divination?”

The child didn’t answer. He had already climbed off the sofa and run to find his tattered bundle.

Sister Yun whispered, “Let Xiaoman do a reading for you. This show is so dangerous, after all. If there’s a problem, we can prepare early.”

Lu Jianxing opened his mouth but didn’t argue.

Qiao Man soon ran back with several copper coins². He cupped the coins in his palms, silently reciting his request in his heart. After a moment, he opened his hands and let the coins fall.

The copper coins clattered onto the table, rolling a few times before settling with a click.

The three of them leaned in and studied them seriously for a long time, but none of them could make heads or tails of it.

Lu Jianxing asked sincerely, “What does the hex³ say?”

Qiao Man clenched his small fists and said with a determined tone, “It says… I have to go!”

Lu Jianxing: “…”

Translator’s Notes