Chapter 125

Given all the things Lu Mingzhe had done, He Dongling found it hard to hold any lingering attachment to him. Divorce was a relief for both of them.

But that didn’t mean she could face the woman her husband had cheated with during their marriage calmly and without any emotion.

Especially since Li Lulu had sent her photos several times under anonymous accounts, staking her claim.

Back when He Dongling hadn’t yet let go of the relationship, every breakdown was something she had to endure raw and real.

Even without any messages attached, the angle of the photos made it obvious who had taken them.

Li Lulu and Lu Mingzhe had recently starred together in a historical drama that had viewers wailing from the emotional torment.

Many fans, heartbroken by the show, would spontaneously seek out “sweet moments” off-screen, hoping to make up for the regrets in the plot with real-life pairings.

Even though Lu Mingzhe had previously announced he was married, his wife rarely appeared in the public eye. Plus, the current He Dongling was essentially invisible in the industry.

Aside from her impressive education, she couldn’t compare to Li Lulu, the popular rising starlet.

Plenty of fans even felt that He Dongling didn’t deserve Lu Mingzhe at all, calling for him to divorce and be with Li Lulu instead.

He Dongling, who often went online, had seen all of this. From initial hysteria to later disappointment and eventual calm, it had drained every last bit of her love.

【Li Lulu? Why is she on this variety show? Isn’t it a parenting one? My goddess doesn’t have a kid already, does she? No way, my OTP is doomed, sob sob.】

【It’s probably not a kid. I think it might be her little brother? I remember Lulu mentioning in an interview once that she has a super cute younger brother, and she hopes her future kids will be like him!】

【Yeah, yeah, definitely her brother, no way it’s a child.】

Li Lulu walked past He Dongling while holding her younger brother’s hand. She was at the peak of her popularity, and her appearance boosted the viewership ratings by a notch.

The crew treated her with great enthusiasm, proactively pulling out a chair for her and even bringing over a small fan. It was a world of difference from how they’d treated He Dongling earlier.

While the other guests hadn’t arrived yet, most of the camera shots were focused on Li Lulu.

He Dongling and An An were nearby, so naturally, they got a bit more screen time as well.

The adjustments to her routine and exercise from the suburban villa had worked wonders. He Dongling looked incredibly youthful now, not at all like someone who had given birth.

She was wearing a skirt today, a white knee-length one that gave off a pure vibe, like a lily slowly blooming. It easily reminded people of the school beauty from high school days.

An An, standing beside her, was dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, with a cartoon rabbit backpack on his back, a sun hat on his head, and a leash in his hand. A husky sat quietly nearby.

The mother-son duo had high visual appeal and gradually drew some attention.

【Who is this pair of guests? They haven’t been introduced yet, right?】

【According to the show’s usual flow, they introduce everyone after all the guests have arrived.】

【I’m a bit curious. Honestly, even with the sunglasses, this mom looks so pretty, and her vibe is amazing, sob.】

【This kid is so well-behaved, just sitting there petting the husky’s head.】

【The husky is well-behaved too, just lying there letting him pet it.】

【She must have a good temper. Everyone knows that husky owners are either crazy or super patient.】

【Who raises a husky without going crazy? Who raises a husky without going crazy! It’s all just holding it together, holding it together!!!】

This parenting variety show had been popular for a long time, with each season maintaining relatively stable viewership ratings.

For an average director, data like that would be more than satisfying, enough to live comfortably off for life, milking the show indefinitely.

But the director of this show was different. He wasn’t content with the status quo and wanted to climb even higher, aiming to make it the hottest variety show in the country.

Almost every season, he added new elements to the recordings.

For example, this time, he required each guest to bring a pet that accompanies their child, with a huge surprise hidden for later.

It was precisely because of the director’s constant innovations that the show had such strong viewer loyalty.

Even after changing guests, plenty of viewers were still willing to tune in for the content itself.

【This woman looks kind of familiar to me, and so does the kid, but I can’t place them right now.】

【Sob, it’s been so long since we’ve had such a pure little white flower beauty in the industry. How is she not famous? I don’t believe it!!】

【I declare this my internet son. So cute! Stop petting the dog’s head already, you’ll make it cry from all the rubbing.】

The husky went from being lively at first to gradually looking utterly defeated.

It lay on the sand with its ears drooping, occasionally lifting its eyelids to glance at An An, somehow coming across as kindly.

For some reason, it made many live-stream viewers think of “giving up on life.” Could a husky really give up on life?

The remaining guests arrived one after another. This season featured a total of five groups.

He Dongling and An An were invited purely because the director wanted to see her clash with Li Lulu, which was why he’d sent her the invitation.

After all, one was the legal wife who had married Lu Mingzhe back when he wasn’t famous yet, and the other was part of the currently hot CP.

People love drama by nature, and the more the guests tore into each other on the show, the higher the ratings would soar.

Li Lulu herself didn’t fit the requirements for this parenting variety show, but the director was so eager to pair her with He Dongling that the rules became flexible in the hands of the rule-maker.

Not to mention, after the first two episodes wrapped up, the surprise he had prepared starting from the third episode was guaranteed to make everyone’s jaws drop!

The third group was last year’s newly announced married film empress, now forty years old, with a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter.

When Zhu Yinghou announced her marriage, nearly half the entertainment industry sent their congratulations.

In the industry, someone like Zhu Yinghou, with top-tier skills and acting prowess while maintaining popularity on par with rising starlets, was one of a kind.

Not to mention her husband was her official CP from the historical drama that skyrocketed her to fame on debut, the first love of many people’s childhoods.

Everyone was thrilled to see them together, fulfilling the CP dreams of countless fans from back then.

The fourth group was a popular rising starlet and her son. Her husband wasn’t in the industry, reportedly from a powerful background, and her resources post-marriage were clearly on another level compared to before.

The last one was in a situation very similar to He Dongling’s. She was the youngest ever winner of a best actress award, but unfortunately, she took a wrong turn back then.

Young and naive, she was kept by an industry bigshot as a canary, trapped by his side for many years, only to be kicked out when she aged and lost her appeal.

Last year, she announced that she had been secretly married to her assistant for several years, and they had an adorable daughter together.

With all five groups assembled, Li Lulu’s popularity, which was decent among the others, paled in comparison to Zhu Yinghou’s.

When Zhu Yinghou appeared on site, the barrage exploded with comments, causing even the robust servers to lag for a moment.

The production team hadn’t released the specific guest list beforehand, letting netizens speculate freely.

The show’s loyal fans had guessed nearly every female celebrity in the industry with kids, but no one had thought of Zhu Yinghou.

After all, ever since she won her third international best actress award, Zhu Yinghou had become extremely low-key, rarely appearing in the public eye. She had even stated publicly that she planned to step back from the industry and focus on her family.

Most people could understand that. At her level in the industry, protecting her reputation was only natural.

【What am I seeing! Everyone, tell me, what am I seeing!!】

【I can’t be wrong, right? It’s really Zhu Yinghou.】

【Director, how many surprises do you have that I don’t know about? You even got Zhu Yinghou to come.】

【Does anyone remember how happy I was when they announced it back then? I was genuinely thrilled.】

【Since Zhu Yinghou is appearing on this variety show, can I be a little bold and hope her husband shows up for a visit?】

【You’re really daring with that thought, but I hope it happens too.】

【No wonder the production team was so secretive this time. They were holding back a big move!!】

In previous seasons, when announcing guests, the show’s official Weibo would always tease and sometimes even release fake info on purpose to throw people off.

But there had never been a time like this when not a single scrap of information leaked out, making it unusually low-key compared to her once flamboyant style.

This starkly different attitude only stirred up even more curiosity and itch in people’s hearts.

Now that the real results were announced, it truly shocked everyone.

The previous online predictions about which female stars would join the show this time had almost all been wiped out.

After all, even if they racked their brains, they simply couldn’t bring themselves to believe that Zhu Yinghou would actually participate in a variety show that, for her, meant lowering her status, especially after her official announcement of fading from the circle.

Because of Zhu Yinghou’s presence, this program was elevated to a height it shouldn’t have reached, to the point where even people who normally wouldn’t watch such variety shows downloaded the app.

Li Lulu’s expression had started to look a bit unnatural ever since Zhu Yinghou appeared; she had joined this program precisely to dominate the spotlight.

She had even asked her manager to use connections to inquire around, repeatedly confirming that no one with higher popularity than her would be there before deciding to take on this variety show.

Her career was currently on the rise, but compared to other popular young actresses, she had too few standout works to her name.

And the data from those representative works simply couldn’t compete with other young actresses of the same age.

So Li Lulu desperately hoped to attract more buzz through this variety show, ideally catching the attention of major directors.

She had planned everything out perfectly, but she never imagined the production team had hidden a trump card like Zhu Yinghou!

The moment Zhu Yinghou appeared, Li Lulu, who had hyped her participation in the show multiple times beforehand and even secretly bought water armies, instantly became a joke.

Any one of Zhu Yinghou’s works from over the years could easily crush Li Lulu.

Today, dressed in casual attire and standing there holding her daughter’s hand, Zhu Yinghou exuded a mature charm that came with age, making her the focal point of everyone’s gaze.

Li Lulu had originally assumed that He Dongling, with her failed marriage, would look as haggard as she imagined, preferably unrecognizable.

But she never expected that when He Dongling reappeared in the public eye, she would look so stunning.

Compared to her spirited and lively aura from her unmarried days, she now had an added touch of serene elegance.

The smile on Li Lulu’s face was barely holding up, and with the cameras constantly on her, she had to draw on her lifetime of acting skills to keep it together, though it still looked somewhat stiff.

Zhu Yinghou had decent relationships with most people in the industry, but no particularly close ties; it was familiar but not overly warm, leaving no room for criticism.

She was participating in the variety show because her husband owed the director a favor, so she came specifically to repay it, and also to take the opportunity during filming to spend quality time with her daughter.

The host, holding a megaphone, introduced each of the five mothers’ representative or famous works one by one, followed by a edited video clip on the big screen, provided by each mother.

The front part played the mothers’ classic scenes, and the back part showed short films of them with their kids.

For the video’s effect, most chose their famous scenes from when they were young, contrasting the fresh-faced little fairies with their later selves as mothers.

Given Zhu Yinghou’s status, she was naturally placed first.

Her classic scene was from her debut guest role as a red-clad heroine, with her hair in a high ponytail, looking valiant and spirited, full of unrestrained heroism, especially the close-up after kicking open the door, which had amazed countless people back then.

The later part related to her daughter even included shots from the hospital and the postpartum center.

She had been famous for so long that her fans weren’t particularly fixated on her image; they could fully accept the fact that their idol, like them, would gradually age.

It showed her postpartum exhaustion gradually recovering, then her daughter learning to speak, learning to walk, and running to find her mom.

Xiao Yangyu stood obediently beside her mother; this was her first time seeing these things, her big, shiny black eyes filled with curiosity.

The second group was Li Lulu, playing a clip from her recently popular period drama, followed by scenes of her playing with her younger brother.

Having systematically studied acting, the shots taken by a professional cinematographer were very aesthetically pleasing.

The third one played was for another popular young actress, Song Qiqi, selecting a scene from her debut drama where she turned back with a smile.

In the later child-related footage, it subtly revealed her current living environment.

With the buzz from the incident involving Lu Mingzhe and Li Lulu, He Dongling was placed fourth.

She had burst onto the scene with tremendous momentum back then, even praised by many industry insiders as potentially becoming the second ancient costume goddess, and the slightly blurry video did nothing to diminish her beauty.

He Dongling’s most famous work from that time was her role as a little fairy, but for this introduction, she chose a guest role as a saintess.

In light blue clothing with exquisite makeup, her headpiece wasn’t as plain as now; the overall blue-and-white tones emphasized symmetrical aesthetics, complex yet orderly, highlighting a theme of cool detachment.

The role wasn’t long, edited down to just over ten seconds, but it sent the barrage into a frenzy.

【I remember now, this is He Dongling!!!】

【I loved watching her works when I was little, and I thought she’d definitely become a top-tier actress, sob.】

【What happened later? Why didn’t she continue acting?】

【So pretty, so pretty, licking the screen, I knew the beauty I saw as a kid didn’t just disappear; turns out you went off to have a baby, no problem, I’ll lick the screen for the kid too!】

【Weak question: Does anyone remember who He Dongling married back then?】

This barrage prompted many to think, but He Dongling was so obscure now, and with the live viewers mostly young people, they weren’t familiar with the once sensational rumors.

Some people deliberately left the live stream, opened their browsers to search, and soon barrages of exclamation marks appeared.

【?? Holy crap】

【Director, come out here, who taught you to film a show like this?】

【Putting He Dongling and Li Lulu in the same cast, director, are you really not worried they’ll start fighting?】

【Munching on melon seeds, watching the drama, so that cute little baby’s dad is Lu Mingzhe?】

【What? Lu Mingzhe is married?】

【Yes, to He Dongling; they got their marriage certificate before he blew up with that movie.】

After all, it was the hottest CP of the moment, and now with He Dongling as the legal wife, plus bringing a child, it instantly dumbfounded all the CP fans.

During the live broadcast, Li Lulu couldn’t check her phone, but she could roughly guess what people would be discussing after He Dongling’s short film played.

She had originally thought He Dongling would choose the little fairy role that made her famous, something lively and cute like that, which hadn’t been popular in recent years and would even be maliciously smeared by many as a burdensome white lotus.

When it was confirmed that He Dongling would be on the show, Li Lulu had her manager buy water armies and list out all the junior sister roles in so many film and TV works.

Even if she did choose it, it would be affected by the lingering public opinion storm.

But unexpectedly, He Dongling chose an entirely unrelated role, rendering all of Li Lulu’s previous efforts useless.

【Li Lulu’s expression looks a bit unnatural…】

【Duh, how could a mistress act natural in front of the wife?】

【Who said our Lulu is a mistress? They were never together, okay? It was just publicity for work.】

【Haha, I get shipping in the drama, but calling for them to be together outside while ignoring he’s married is baffling.】

【Lu Mingzhe has mentioned his wife all these years, but she’s never appeared on his Weibo with the kid; who knows if they didn’t divorce long ago?】

【Lu Mingzhe protected his kid so well before, but now the birth mom is bringing him on a show to cash in? Trying to come back and earn entertainment industry money?】

The barrage plunged into heated discussion over this issue, while the video on the big screen continued.

In the later part about interacting with the child, He Dongling adopted a child’s perspective for filming, hanging the camera around An An’s neck.

The lens swayed back and forth until Haha appeared in the frame, one person and one dog sneaking outside, waiting for He Dongling to come find them.

Among the five guest groups, this filming style was very novel, giving the audience a refreshing feeling.

The last female star’s early works weren’t great, so they played a clip from a currently airing web drama, using the opportunity for a bit of promotion.

After everything finished playing, the director had all the families’ children go draw lots to select the rooms they’d live in for the next seven days.

The children obediently lined up in front of the host, each taking a card from the box, then returning to stand by their mothers, and with their moms’ help, scratching open the cards.

Haha had been obediently lying nearby all along. During the wait for the other guests to arrive, it had already been petted by An An so much that it lost all its temper, its lazy appearance successfully drawing Xiao Yangyu’s attention.

She quietly let go of her grip on her mother’s clothes, scooted over, and squatted down beside Haha, reaching out to pat its head.

After she approached, Haha just lazily lifted its eyelids, glanced at what was yet another annoying human cub, and then closed its eyes again to rest.

Annoying human cub with no sense of boundaries. Who exactly is the Husky here!

Xiao Yangyu’s initial pat on its head was purely a test. Once she discovered the dog had a good temper, she stretched out both hands and firmly hugged the Husky’s neck, like a pauper who had suddenly picked up a gold brick, enthusiastically rubbing against it.

【Haha: Me? Was I molested?】

【Xiao Yangyu seems to really like dogs. The rabbit that Zhu Yinghou brought is probably one she bought temporarily and isn’t too familiar with.】

【I’m more curious about what this Erha has been through to become so world-weary and obedient.】

【Ask He Dongling’s son Haha. When I was on the phone with my boyfriend just now, I casually counted, and this dog’s head was petted eighty-six times in just twenty minutes!】

【Large dogs really do look so well-behaved.】

Zhu Yinghou had only just scratched the card her daughter handed over. When she looked back, her daughter was nowhere to be seen, which made her a bit panicked. As she subconsciously wanted to go look for her, the assistant beside her spoke up to remind her:

“Sis, she’s over there playing with the puppy.”

Xiao Yangyu seemed to notice her mother looking for her too. She waved her little hand toward her mother, while her other hand was still wrapped around Haha’s neck, reluctant to let go.

“Mommy!”

Zhu Yinghou set the card aside, walked over, and squatted down beside her daughter, reminding her in a very gentle voice:

“This is someone else’s pet. If you want to play with it, you should ask its owner first, okay?”

“Oh…”

An An, who had just finished getting his card and thought of Haha, happened to come over at that moment. After hearing what this auntie said to the little sister, he replied in a crisp voice:

“It’s okay~ You can feed it.”

Xiao Yangyu knew who this puppy belonged to, so now that she heard An An say this, her eyes lit up.

“Really? What should I feed it?”

“Um, this.”

An An pulled out Haha’s usual snacks from his pocket and handed them to Xiao Yangyu. Xiao Yangyu took them and passed them to her mother, staring at her with pleading eyes, urging in a soft, milky voice:

“Mommy~”

Zhu Yinghou helplessly helped her tear open the packaging, glancing at He Dongling not far away.

The reason she participated in this variety show was simply to repay the favor her husband owed back then. She had no intention of getting too entangled with people in the industry.

Having reached her current status, Zhu Yinghou knew better than anyone how complicated this circle was.

Unfortunately, she had a little ancestor who didn’t seem to cooperate at all.

“Do you like Haha~”

An An quite liked this little sister and scooted over to sit close to her. A flash of confusion passed through Xiao Yangyu’s big eyes.

“Haha? Mommy said haha is laugh.”

“No, its name is Haha.”

An An pointed at the Husky that was eating the snacks. Despite its not-small size, it was very polite and careful while eating, as if afraid of accidentally bumping into Xiao Yangyu who was feeding it.

“I like it!”

“Then let’s play together.”

“Okay!”

Xiao Yangyu happily agreed, stood up, and hugged her mother’s leg, very skillfully acting spoiled:

“Mommy, I want to play with the puppy.”

Zhu Yinghou felt a bit of a headache upon hearing her daughter’s coquettish plea and helplessly rubbed her forehead.

She was an older mother, having gone through a lot before reuniting with her first love. Xiao Yangyu would be her and her husband’s only child in this lifetime, so she inevitably spoiled her daughter a bit.

She usually indulged her a lot, and even while recording the show, she couldn’t bear to refuse. Seeing her daughter staring at her with those pleading eyes waiting for an answer, Zhu Yinghou gently nodded.

“Alright, alright, play with the puppy.”

Once the two children were together, Zhu Yinghou inevitably had to exchange a few words with He Dongling.

Before coming to the show, Zhu Yinghou’s manager had sent her information on the other guests. She also knew about He Dongling’s current career difficulties, so their conversation topics all revolved around the children.

A large part of the reason Zhu Yinghou chose to retire from the industry was related to Xiao Yangyu.

She had already reached the pinnacle of her career and wanted to devote all her energy to her daughter. Besides hiring nannies and childcare experts, she herself would accompany her all day, so the little one was very clingy to her.

She was also very bold, full of confidence that even if she got into trouble, acting spoiled with Mommy would make it all go away.

“She really likes puppies. Tonight, she might not want to go back to the room with me.”

Zhu Yinghou got a headache just thinking about it. Even if Xiao Yangyu just shed a few tears, she couldn’t bear it. There was definitely going to be a tough battle that night.

“Why not get one?”

He Dongling was a bit curious about this. For ordinary people, raising a dog might be something to consider carefully, but for someone with Zhu Yinghou’s conditions, it was completely unnecessary.

“My husband is allergic to the fur of many animals.”

Movie Emperor Jiang also doted on his daughter a lot and had once bought a very cute Samoyed. But every time Xiao Yangyu played with the puppy and he hugged her afterward, he would have a very severe allergic reaction.

Xiao Yangyu couldn’t bear to see her daddy uncomfortable, so with red eyes, she sent the puppy to her grandparents to raise.

“Oh, I see. Your daughter looks very cute, Sister Zhu.”

No mother dislikes hearing others praise her child; it’s even more gratifying than being praised herself.

“She really is cute, like a little angel who descended into my and my husband’s world. Your son is too; he looks very smart.”

The conversation was only about the children, and the two mothers chatted quite pleasantly.

Zhu Yinghou’s own strength and status already drew many cameras to her side. Now that they were chatting and happened to be not far from the children, almost all the lenses were focused around them.

Others might be fine, but Li Lulu was practically grinding her teeth in frustration. She gently pushed her younger brother’s shoulder, signaling him to go over and talk to Zhu Yinghou’s daughter.

That way, she could naturally join in and talk to Zhu Yinghou, maybe even getting an unexpected surprise.

Her brother usually had a good relationship with his sister, so he was quite willing to listen to her now. He scooted over and squatted down beside Xiao Yangyu, just like when he played with his little friends, saying:

“Don’t play with the dog; it’s super dirty and it bites. If it bites you, you’ll need shots, and it’ll hurt a lot. Let’s go play something else.”

Xiao Yangyu’s little face scrunched up. She really liked puppies, so she didn’t like hearing these words.

At home, she didn’t raise one only because she didn’t want her daddy to feel bad. Now that she finally had a dog she could pet freely, she was happy, but someone had poured cold water on her, making her expression sour.

Zhu Yinghou wasn’t too pleased either, her face turning cold.

An An, who was hugging his cartoon water bottle and drinking, first put the lid back on, then said:

“Do you bite people?”

When asked this, Little Brother Li didn’t react at first and subconsciously shook his head.

“You don’t even bite people, and Haha definitely doesn’t!”

“Are you calling me a dog?”

Little Brother Li was so angry he wanted to fight like he usually did in kindergarten. As soon as he clenched his fist, Xiao Yangyu was scared into bursting into tears.

Zhu Yinghou hurriedly ran over and scooped her daughter into her arms, gently patting her back to soothe her:

“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. Mommy’s here.”

He Dongling hadn’t reacted in time just now, but now she quickly pulled An An behind her.

An An was still holding Haha’s leash, hiding behind his mother and looking over at that rude little friend.

Li Lulu walked over with a very unpleasant expression, squatted down, and hugged her brother, saying:

“He’s young and doesn’t know better. Besides, large dogs do have the risk of biting. Isn’t your son a bit too rude, Miss He?”

Before He Dongling and An An could even respond, the frightened Xiao Yangyu, afraid her mother wouldn’t let her play with the big dog anymore, started refuting in a voice laced with sobs:

“You’re lying! It doesn’t bite! and He hits people!”

Li Lulu was in a bad mood, and her expression wasn’t well-disguised. When she looked over, it scared Xiao Yangyu like a koala, clinging tightly to her mother, whimpering softly in grievance there.

Zhu Yinghou had a good temper and was easy to talk to about other things, but when it came to her daughter, it was hard for her to remain calm and indifferent.

“Miss Li, please keep your voice down a bit.”

An An led Haha over to stand behind Aunt Zhu. After thinking for a moment, he took out a piece of snack from his pocket that he’d meant to feed to Haha, stood on tiptoe, and handed it to Xiao Yangyu, hoping to comfort her and keep her from feeling too sad.

This angle wasn’t captured by the cameras. When An An passed it over, Xiao Yangyu’s hand eagerly snatched the dog treat into her palm and even winked at him.

— Translator’s Notes —

• currently hot CP: In Chinese entertainment/fan culture, CP is shorthand for ‘coupling’ or ‘couple’—a fan-promoted pairing. ‘Currently hot CP’ means a pairing that is very popular or trending at the moment.

• Erha: Erha is the transliteration of the Chinese slang 二哈 (er-ha), an internet nickname for a husky dog; used here as a pet name.

• water armies: Water armies are paid online commenters/fans used to boost a celebrity’s image or promote a topic; the term denotes orchestrated online propaganda.

• OTP: OTP stands for ‘One True Pairing,’ a term used by fans to describe their favorite romantic couple in a fictional series or real life, whom they believe are meant to be together.

• little white flower: ‘Little white flower’ (小白花) is a Chinese internet slang term used to describe a female character or celebrity who appears innocent, pure, fragile, and often evokes sympathy, but can sometimes be used ironically to imply a hidden manipulative nature.

• barrage: In the context of live streams or videos, ‘barrage’ (弹幕, dànmù) refers to the real-time scrolling comments that appear overlaid on the screen, often moving from right to left.