Chapter 14

What else could Wang Yang do when Wei Sheng had already said that?

He couldn’t just say, Forget about your mom, come save the show first!

Wang Yang still had some dignity left; he couldn’t bring himself to say something so shameless.

—

In the deputy station chief’s office, when Pu Xiangdong heard that Wei Sheng had used the holidays to run a small resale business in the countryside, the corner of his mouth twitched in anger.

But there was nothing he could do. Wei Sheng had used filial piety as his excuse—what could anyone say to that?

Was it wrong for him to be a devoted son to his own mother?

“Director Pu, what do we do now? Should we find someone else from the station to replace Cheng Xinghui?” Wang Yang deliberately provoked him.

“Find who?” Pu Xiangdong glared at him grimly.

That was the right question!

The problem wasn’t about who to find—it was that no one wanted to sign up anymore!

Oh, so I volunteer to solve a problem for the station, but if the show flops, I take the fall?

And if the show becomes a hit, leadership will turn their backs in a second and replace me with one of their connections?

So all the benefits go to the station, and all the blame lands on the employees?

Forget Cheng Xinghui’s vacant spot—even the other three guests in the show’s lineup were now making a fuss about not wanting to continue.

Especially the rich heiress, Chen Mengjie—she outright threw down the gauntlet at him as the producer:

If Wei Sheng comes back, I’ll continue filming with the original cast.

If Wei Sheng doesn’t return, I won’t be back for the next episode either!

After all, they were just employees of the station, merely there to help out. Unlike artists under an agency, they hadn’t signed any labor contracts with the show. If she decided to quit, what could he do about it?

Besides, Wang Yang was also somewhat wary of her coal tycoon father.

“Fine! Go talk to Xiao Wei again. Tell him it’s my personal request—if he’s willing to come back and finish filming the show, and help the station get through this public relations crisis, I won’t forget him if a permanent position opens up next year.”

In the end, Pu Xiangdong backed down.

A permanent position wasn’t much to him, but he had initially planned to use it to secure a loyal follower. Now, to get through this crisis, he had to let it go.

—

Now we’re talking!

Wang Yang nodded in satisfaction.

Trying to PUA employees with empty words and moral coercion? Please! Young people these days don’t fall for that!

Would Wei Sheng sacrifice his principles just for a permanent position at a TV station?

Pfft, if he could fly, he would have flapped his wings and rushed back to work immediately!

But as they say—if you rush in, it’s no longer a business deal.

If he ran back the moment leadership called, wagging his tail and groveling, next time something like this happened, do you think they would hesitate?

If you’re seen as easy to bully, they’ll replace you whenever they please—so what?

People with no backbone will always be the first to be sacrificed, no matter where they are.

Wei Sheng wasn’t looking to burn bridges with Pu Xiangdong just yet, but he wasn’t about to go crawling back either.

—

And wouldn’t you know it?

After leaving Wutong Town, he heard that the locust flowers and purslane from nearby Yangjia Village were excellent, so he made a detour.

He bought up every last bit of dried purslane and locust flowers from the villagers!

These things were dirt cheap in the countryside but considered rare wild vegetables in city markets—often a matter of luck to find.

Especially dried locust flowers.

Locals loved using them for scrambled eggs, steamed bean paste, or even locust flower-stuffed Meat Buns.

That umami flavor—chef’s kiss!

—

Hu Qianqian had originally complained about her son running too far, but when Wei Sheng returned home with a truckload of dried locust flowers and purslane, her evil stepmother face instantly switched to loving mother, her smile turning warm and affectionate.

“I just casually mentioned it—it’s not like I had to eat them. Was it really worth taking extra leave and running so far just to buy these?”

She scolded him lightly for skipping work to buy locust flowers instead of focusing on his job.

But in reality, her lips were practically curling up to the sky!

“Hehe~ The station isn’t that busy right now anyway. Some of my coworkers even took paid leave to go on vacation,” Wei Sheng grinned.

After washing his hands, he immediately helped his mom soak the locust flowers and knead dough, getting everything ready to make locust flower-stuffed big buns for dinner.

—

It wasn’t that he was deliberately playing hard to get by not reporting back to work.

It was just that in the civil service system, if you put on a show of dedication while on leave, you’d only offend coworkers who wanted to slack off.

Besides, it was already past office hours. Most of the higher-ups were out at dinner meetings, so even if he rushed back to the station now, who would see him? What was the point?

—

That evening, the four of them gathered around the table, enjoying piping hot locust flower-stuffed big buns with thick, sticky corn porridge.

The side dishes?

Homemade pickles from the countryside and a plate of pickled Jerusalem artichokes—rare finds in the city!

“It was a lucky coincidence,” Wei Sheng said, grinning with chopsticks in his mouth. “While I was collecting wild vegetables, I saw a house with a whole field of Jerusalem artichoke flowers behind it. I casually asked about it, and it turned out they had already made pickled artichokes. So I bought a whole jar—this time, no one else gets any. It’s just for us!”

—

His words instantly made his mother’s eyes well up.

Years of grievances from her marriage came rushing back, little by little, drop by drop.

Back then, no matter what good things she brought home, within three days, Wei Zhiyong would find a way to send them off to his hometown.

She couldn’t say it yet. If she did, not only would Wei Zhiyong refuse to reflect on his actions, but he’d also argue self-righteously: “They live in the city, enjoying the best food and luxuries, while Mother and Second Brother back in our hometown have nothing. How could she be so selfish?”

Pfft! Why shouldn’t she?

And why does the hometown have “nothing”?

Isn’t it because Wei Zhifei himself is utterly useless?

Oh, he can’t endure the hardships of studying, nor can he handle the struggles of working. He refuses to put in the slightest effort, yet the moment he sees others living a good life, he turns green with envy?

Has the Wei family ever stopped to think? Why was the Hu family able to buy a house in the provincial capital and run a business? Why can they afford to feast on lobsters and crabs during the holidays?

They only see others enjoying prosperity but never see them running out in the dead of night to restock goods. They don’t see the years of relentless hard work, never truly resting, even during festivals, just to keep their business afloat.

Thinking about how much good stuff she had taken from her maternal home over the years—only for nearly half of it to end up benefiting the Wei family—Hu Qianqian couldn’t help but spit harshly.

Eating stolen goods from someone else’s home? Don’t let it rot in your gut!

Perhaps the heavens really did hear Hu Qianqian’s curses.

A few days later, during a late-night snack, Grandpa Hu Yuanzheng excitedly shared a juicy piece of gossip with the whole family—

“That eldest Wei brat who took Wei Sheng’s place at the GD Bureau didn’t even make it through his probation period before getting fired! Hahaha!”

What?!

The rest of the Hu family put down their longan and lotus seed porridge, their expressions all perfectly matching that of intrigued melon-eaters.

“Heh, and people wonder why we say some people are just beyond saving,” Hu Yuanzheng sneered.

“Wei Sheng’s cousin? No real skills to speak of, but he’s mastered every bad habit there is!”

“The GD Bureau was hiring temporary workers for frontline maintenance jobs this time. But what did he do? He slacked off during training and then, when it was time to work, he ended up burning the company’s electrical wiring! The company had to compensate the client a hefty sum because of him.”

“That alone was bad enough, but GD Bureau is wealthy, so they could’ve let it slide. But then this idiot, after reading some trashy novel somewhere, actually went to flirt with a female client who had called for repairs—while wearing his GD Bureau uniform!”

“Pfft—” Wei Sheng nearly spat out his tea.

No way.

No way someone actually believed those shady, illegally published novels about plumbers and electricians having steamy affairs with rich, lonely housewives?

Come on! Even if a rich lady did want some excitement, she wouldn’t go for some sweaty, stinky repairman!

Wouldn’t a fresh, cologne-spritzed young man in a crisp suit, looking clean and speaking sweetly, be way more appealing?

Getting involved in a customer harassment scandal like that—forget about still being a temp! Even if Wei Mian were a permanent employee within the GD Bureau system, he would’ve been fired immediately!

“A scumbag like that dares to take Wei Sheng’s position? Does he even deserve it?” Hu Yuanzheng spat.

The thing he hated most was a man who couldn’t keep his pants zipped.

“Haha! I heard that Wei Zhiyong’s family was still dreaming of finding Wei Mian a city girl to marry. They even insisted she had to be an only child with at least two houses, plus a stable government job. Pfft! He should go look in the mirror first! If a city girl really had all that, why the hell would she choose him?” Hu Qianqian couldn’t help but join in the ridicule.

At that moment, the person being viciously mocked—Wei Mian himself—walked out of the detention center, his face ashen. He was picked up by Wei Zhiyong, whose expression was equally miserable.

“Your mom and grandma are worried sick. I think you should head back home for a while,” Wei Zhiyong said, boiling a pot of frozen dumplings for his nephew. Watching him wolf them down, he felt none of the affection he once did.

He didn’t know why, but when Hu Qianqian had been around, always opposing him and stopping him from spoiling his nephew, Wei Zhiyong had felt like his nephew was flawless—maybe even better than his own son.

But now that Hu Qianqian had taken their son and returned to her family, and no one was stopping him from doting on his nephew or caring for his relatives back home… suddenly, it all felt pointless.

He couldn’t bring himself to admit that Hu Qianqian had been right.

And yet, deep inside, he was starting to fear that she was right.

Because everything Hu Qianqian had told him before—everything he once dismissed as jealousy or spite—was now proving to be true, one by one…

The nephew he thought was clever, kind, and filial turned out to be a selfish, despicable, morally corrupt scoundrel.

The mother and brother he believed treated him like a son and sibling were only ever after his money.

Wanting Wei Mian to go back home wasn’t just out of concern for him—it was also out of concern for his own wallet!

That kid spent way too much money!

Back when Wei Mian first joined the GD Bureau, he kept whining about how all his colleagues drove luxury cars to work and how even a basic wristwatch among them cost tens of thousands.

The implication? He wanted his uncle to buy him the same.

But how could Wei Zhiyong afford that?

In the end, he still couldn’t bear to refuse his nephew. For the first time in his life, he applied for a credit card. Since his job paid well with good benefits, his credit limit was high. He ended up maxing out tens of thousands just to help Wei Mian keep up appearances.

Then the kid claimed he needed to maintain good relationships at work, sweet-talking his uncle into giving him the credit card, saying it was for little things—treating coworkers to milk tea, buying them breakfast, things like that.

At the time, Wei Zhiyong thought, How much could milk tea and breakfast even cost in a month?

But last month, when he got the credit card bill… he almost passed out.

One month.

In just one month, that damn brat had racked up over 30,000 yuan!

(End of Chapter)

—

—PUA (Pick-Up Artist) refers to people who study and teach seduction techniques, often using manipulation. It’s criticized for promoting toxic and exploitative behaviors in dating.

—Artichokes are a type of vegetable from the thistle family, known for their edible flower buds. They have thick, layered leaves with a tender heart at the center, which is the most prized part. Artichokes are commonly eaten steamed, boiled, grilled, or in dips, and they have a slightly nutty, earthy flavor.

—Longan (龙眼) is a tropical fruit native to Southeast Asia, closely related to lychee. It has a thin, light brown shell that is easy to peel, revealing translucent, juicy flesh with a sweet and floral taste. Inside, there is a single dark seed. Longan is commonly eaten fresh, dried, or used in desserts, teas, and traditional Chinese medicine. It is believed to have health benefits such as improving sleep, boosting the immune system, and promoting relaxation.