Chapter 129: The Father Who Exploited His Child Star 22

Xie Chu watched, wide-eyed, as a tooth flew out of his mouth while he was laughing.

It happened so fast that he didn’t even have time to register the pain. He just stood there, stunned, then ran over and picked it up. Only after confirming it was indeed a tooth did tears instantly well up in his eyes.

Clutching the tooth in his palm, he threw himself into his father’s arms.

“Waaah, Daddy, my tooth flew out!”

Xie Hui heard his son crying and tried to hold back, but he couldn’t help but laugh.

Eventually, hearing Xie Chu cry for too long, Xie Hui patted his back comfortingly and whispered,

“It was going to fall out anyway. Now that it’s out, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

The little one, genuinely sad, lifted his head from his father’s embrace upon hearing his words, tears still in his eyes, and earnestly corrected him:

“Waaah, Daddy, it didn’t fall out, it flew out! It just flew out! It flew out when I wasn’t paying attention while I was laughing, waaah!”

The more Xie Chu insisted on correcting Xie Hui with such earnestness, the more Xie Hui couldn’t resist the urge to laugh.

“So, are you still eating carrot porridge tomorrow?”

This question successfully disrupted Xie Chu’s crying rhythm. His sobs paused for a moment, then he nodded and replied,

“Waaah, yes, I want to eat it.”

With his rhythm broken, Xie Chu couldn’t remember why he had been crying. He could only take out the tooth he was clutching in his palm and hand it to his father.

“Daddy, look, it’s this one.”

“Come, let Daddy see your teeth first.”

Xie Chu opened his mouth and bared his teeth for Xie Hui to see. The one that flew out was a bottom incisor. With a missing incisor, he looked even more adorably funny.

But when Xie Hui saw the still-wet tear stains at the corners of his son’s eyes, he inexplicably felt that as a father, he shouldn’t be like this. He cleared his throat and said seriously,

“Hmm, Daddy remembers, if a bottom tooth falls out, you need to throw it onto the roof so the new tooth can grow well.”

This was purely a saying from the Entruster’s memory, a rural custom about children losing teeth. Xie Hui didn’t believe this method worked, but it was quite effective for coaxing the little one to stop crying now.

“Really?”

“Mm.”

Xie Chu held the tooth and threw it forcefully onto the roof.

Xie Hui sighed as he watched Xie Chu, after wiping away his tears, squatting there petting a string of plump orange cats.

A front tooth was fine, but when the back teeth started to fall out, that would really give him a headache.

Throughout the entire period of tooth replacement, Xie Hui went through it all with the child, changing toothpastes many, many times.

Finally, when his tooth replacement period was over, Xie Hui let out a huge sigh of relief. At last, he didn’t have to see his son looking teary-eyed every day.

Xie Chu’s grades remained excellent throughout elementary school. His personality was also very likable, enthusiastic and generous, and he had many friends. Every time he had a birthday, when he invited people to celebrate at home, the entire living room would be packed.

Xie Hui was never stingy with money, and he made sure Xie Chu’s every birthday was celebrated grandly.

After graduating from elementary school, he entered junior high. The rebellious phase seemed to have bypassed this overly obedient and well-behaved child.

Xie Hui had already prepared himself to face a difficult teenager. At that moment, he even subtly empathized with facing his own main god.

Unexpectedly, every time Xie Chu came home, he was exactly the same as before, completely unchanged.

Xie Chu grew rapidly in junior high, his height shooting up like a growth spurt. He enjoyed sports, and his skin became slightly tanned from the sun.

Because he hadn’t taken any film projects during elementary school, even if Xie Chu updated his personal social media now, his likes wouldn’t exceed a hundred.

Instead, he once went viral in a video filmed by someone else: a video of him playing basketball on campus gained over a million likes on a short video app.

Later, it was revealed that he had been a child star when he was little. Someone made a comparison between his childhood and his current self.

The chubby, baby-faced little one, placed alongside the tall, sunny big boy he was now, created a strange sense of “nurturing” satisfaction.

If it were anyone else, they would definitely capitalize on this popularity for a wave of hype.

Xie Chu didn’t, and his company had no such plans. Instead, they hoped the popularity would subside as quickly as possible, so as not to disturb Xie Chu’s personal life.

On the contrary, the actor Xia Li, who had previously leveraged Xie Chu’s popularity, once again heavily rode this wave of attention. Some netizens, unaware of the truth, were misled and turned around to accuse Xie Chu of piggybacking on popularity.

From beginning to end, Xie Chu never paid attention to these online comments.

Under the guidance of his godfather and Uncle Xu, Xie Chu had long learned to disregard others’ opinions. Their words were harmless to him, and there was no need to take them to heart.

Rather than arguing with people across the internet, he’d rather think about what delicious food his father would make for him that night.

Three years of junior high passed, and Xie Chu, with excellent grades, entered a good high school. High school required boarding, so Xie Hui finally relaxed and began to focus on developing his Snack Shop.

Many people had wanted to collaborate with Xie Hui before, but Xie Hui had declined because he wasn’t sure if he would have the energy to constantly oversee things.

If something went wrong later, it would also damage his reputation, and even more so, it would affect Xie Chu in the future.

Whether it was the father of a future international superstar or the father of an ordinary child artist, Xie Hui didn’t want his existence to become a blemish on Xie Chu.

He carefully studied the sauce recipe, found a businessman he thought was good to partner with, and expanded the Snack Shop, which originally had only one small storefront.

The partner Xie Hui chose was indeed very talented in business, and coupled with the excellent recipe provided by Xie Hui, it took less than two years to successfully promote this brand of sauce internationally.

After one classic spicy sauce became popular, Xie Hui successively launched several others.

Food is something that can be very infectious; good taste is key. Xie Hui was not greedy. After it became popular, he handed the recipe over to his partner, and they split the profits.

When the sauce was widely promoted, Xie Hui’s Snack Shop closed. It happened to be Xie Chu’s senior year of high school, and he bought a house near the high school.

Most parents are very nervous during their child’s senior year of high school, wishing they could spoon-feed their child to save time for studying.

Xie Hui wasn’t that exaggerated, but he went to the market every day to buy fresh ingredients and cooked whatever Xie Chu wanted to eat.

Before the college entrance exam, Xie Chu had told his father that he wanted to attend film school; he still hadn’t given up on his dream.

As long as it wasn’t illegal, Xie Hui respected all his choices and hobbies.

Xie Hui’s mind was on cooking for his son every day, making all sorts of dishes. During such a tiring period in senior year, Xie Chu not only didn’t lose weight from exhaustion but actually gained a bit.

Besides him, Xie Hui also arranged special homemade cat food for the cats in the house.

All day long, besides pondering food, Xie Hui would go to the park to play chess with old men his age. His retirement life was quite leisurely and comfortable.

This time, Xie Chu, who had not appeared in the public eye for a long time, once again made headlines in a unique way.

It had nothing to do with the Entertainment Industry; he simply became the top science scorer in the province. After subsequent interviews with reporters, it was revealed that when he was young, he was a child artist familiar to many.

At the time, many people had lamented why such a talented young actor had suddenly faded from the industry.

Unexpectedly, he made headlines again, and in such an unconventional manner.

Xie Chu successfully entered the film academy as he wished. At that time, Director Xu’s hair had already turned completely white. When Xie Chu held his appreciation dinner, he, his nephew, and his nephew’s wife also attended.

Gu Jingtong is now a well-regarded director in the industry, achieving more than his uncle did in his youth.

While filming a certain drama, Yang Yu was the Female Lead Actress, and the two developed feelings while working, planning to marry next year.

After their initial collaboration, Yang Yu never forgot Xie Chu. Every time she traveled for filming, she made sure to bring him gifts and have her assistant send them over.

Even after all these years, their affection showed no signs of fading.

…

At an audition site, Xia Li sat on a bench, wearing a mask and holding a script. His assistant nervously urged him to review the script again.

“Brother Xia, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there are a lot of people at this audition, several A-list male stars have come.”

Xia Li frowned irritably and replied in a low voice,

“Am I that much worse than them?”

“And, Brother Xia, I heard that Xie Chu will also be attending this audition.”

For Xia Li, the name Xie Chu was the last thing he wanted to hear. He knew that his achievements in the industry were all thanks to Xie Chu.

He didn’t thank Xie Chu; instead, he was somewhat annoyed by him, even uncontrollably thinking that it would be better if he disappeared.

When Xie Chu faded out of the industry, he was relieved. With the original gone, he could do everything with peace of mind.

Who would have thought that after a few years, Xie Chu would gradually become active in the industry again, and this time he even wanted to compete for the same role as him!

“So what if he comes? Does he think that after being out of this industry for so many years, he can still be like before?”

“Isn’t he still studying in college? For a newcomer’s first film, would the director trust him with a leading role? Don’t dream.”

Xie Chu, sitting behind with a hat on, was a bit embarrassed now, pulling his hat lower. And Gu Jingtong, who had just sat down, the director of this drama, was also quite embarrassed.

Many of those past incidents were things he had personally called his godson about; he knew all the inside stories!

Now, seeing Xia Li actually stepping on his godson in front of him, he gave a light cough and stood up.

“My godson, Gu Jingtong’s godson—why shouldn’t he be allowed to take the lead role in my production?”