Chapter 97: Film Emperor (17)

“Yes, we have a child.”

Assistant Zhang calmly responded to the friend who had come asking questions, letting the other party ramble incoherently for a while until they finally regained their wits and managed to form coherent sentences.

“Wait, what?! When did you get married and have a kid? How come I never knew?!”

Assistant Zhang didn’t reply, and sure enough, it didn’t take long before the friend filled in the blanks on their own.

“Judging by the child’s age, you must’ve been studying abroad at the time, right? No wonder nobody knew. You really kept this under wraps!”

Assistant Zhang replied with a few vague remarks, and the friend sighed emotionally, “Yeah, I guess with the Film Emperor’s situation, it wouldn’t be easy to go public. But still, I can’t believe you actually snagged that gorgeous man! Ugh, I’m so jealous. I won’t even ask for wedding candy—just get me the Film Emperor’s autograph, will you?”

“Of course.”

These past few days, her messages were practically flooded by friends. The process was always the same: initial freakout—questions about the child or Film Emperor—followed by requests for wedding candy or autographs.

Anticipating this, Assistant Zhang had already collected a stack of the Film Emperor’s autographs from Feng Yu.

Despite taking on a “side job” and earning an extra salary, Assistant Zhang didn’t slack off on her actual work. She was currently on a business trip in Lian City, a neighboring city of S City, shopping in a local specialty mall.

The items were mid-priced but unique. She swiftly picked out dozens of items and asked the store to package and ship them.

These gifts, along with the Film Emperor’s autographed photos, would soon reach the hands of her friends.

She had a wide social network and often kept in touch with people even when she didn’t need anything. Otherwise, if she only contacted them when she needed help, it would seem too opportunistic and make things harder.

While shopping, she didn’t forget to pick out gifts for her newly assigned “second boss.”

And of course, her now-official “daughter.”

Though she had never been a mother, Assistant Zhang was a pro at picking gifts.

Back in H City, Qian and the Film Emperor soon received the gifts she sent.

The weather had recently turned chilly in H City. The Film Emperor received a cashmere scarf, which was part of a matching set with Qian’s.

There were also some specialty snacks and handcrafted souvenirs.

The child’s gifts were even more abundant—sports toys, roller shoes, and a whole pile of clothing.

All were this season’s new releases from the children’s clothing brand QIAN.

“All the current season’s new items are here, except for the special custom piece—because it’s too ugly,” Assistant Zhang texted.

Upon learning that QIAN was a brand owned by ZaiYe, Tong Jianxu had looked into it.

In the domestic children’s clothing market, the brand had received decent reviews over the past couple of years, and every season’s new launches were quite popular—with one exception:

The designer’s “special custom piece.”

Each season, QIAN would release one special custom item. Usually, in other companies, this would be the best-looking and most popular piece. But QIAN was different—their custom designs were always poor sellers because they were just too ugly.

The heavily criticized designer claimed her aesthetic was fine—the problem was the boss.

Internally, these custom designs were nicknamed “Boss’s Whimsy” because ZaiYe always insisted on abstract themes for them.

Some past design themes were fairly reasonable, like “Sadness,” “Remembrance,” “Joy,” or “Mischief.”

Others were baffling, like “Drowning in toys like drowning in the ocean,” or “Looks like a dog, a cat, a pig, and also a duck.”

The tormented designers even refused to sign their names on the custom pieces.

This season’s custom theme, decided two months ago, was: “The noisy and frightening sound of cicadas in high school.”

The result was a dress, complete with a matching hat and backpack. From the photos, the outfit made the child look like a giant bug—undeniably terrifying.

Tong Jianxu looked at the outfit on the official website and bluntly commented, “The boss’s taste is truly questionable.”

Sitting nearby, ZaiYe paused his furious typing and looked up. “What’s wrong with the dress? It’s unique. And safe. At least no human trafficker would dare abduct a child wearing this.”

“Looks like Assistant Zhang skipped buying it. I’ll have someone send over two sets later.”

Tong Jianxu: “Heh, don’t bother. I’m not letting my kid go outside dressed in something that hideous.”

“And by the way, how many days has Assistant Zhang been gone? Why hasn’t our dear boss gone back to work yet?”

Tong Jianxu wished he could kick him out three times a day. What kind of game company CEO spent all day hanging around a film set?

ZaiYe looked visibly annoyed. “Aren’t I working?”

Despite everything, he stubbornly stayed there, preferring to bicker with Tong Jianxu in a tiny break room rather than leave the child’s side.

If it weren’t so obvious that he was trying to win the kid’s heart, Tong Jianxu might’ve actually been impressed.

But working away from the company wasn’t exactly convenient. As the CEO of a publicly traded game company, ZaiYe was always busy. Even staying near the set, he only had time to sit down and talk with the child during their daily lunch.

Every now and then, during breaks from work, he’d glance up, quietly watching the kid play before going back to work.

He stayed at a nearby hotel and came to the set every morning. On days when he didn’t have time for breakfast, Tian Miao would get it for him—or he’d just swipe Qian’s yogurt and snacks.

At first, Qian said nothing. Later, she started sighing every time she saw him take her stash, sighing so much that even ZaiYe lost his appetite.

“You’re saying I can’t even drink one of your yogurts?” ZaiYe complained.

Qian quietly leaned in and whispered, “Are you out of money? I’ll tell Sister Tian Miao to buy more and leave them for you.”

ZaiYe: “…”

For a moment, he wasn’t sure whether to be touched by her filial piety.

Ever since Assistant Zhang sent those clothes, the child—who already didn’t lack clothing—began wearing a new outfit every day.

Compared to the style of clothes Film Emperor Tong picked out for the child, the outfits chosen by Assistant Zhang made her look even more adorable.

One time, while relaxing and scrolling through videos, Film Emperor Tong saw a glowing little dress and thought about buying one for the child. Just then, the glowing dress Assistant Zhang had sent arrived.

It was a fluffy petal skirt with layered ruffles, paired with a soft furry coat and a matching fluffy hat.

As soon as it got dark, the warm orange glow from within the petal skirt became visible, twinkling star-like lights sparkling through the two layers of gauzy outer skirts.

“Qian, look over here.” Tong Jianxu captured the child’s cutest moments with his camera, smiling as he took photo after photo.

“That’s right, give me a smile—so cute.” He stood up and crouched down repeatedly, taking pictures from different angles.

Zaiye didn’t say a word. He quietly pulled out his phone beside Tong Jianxu and found a good angle to take pictures of the child too.

The two were unusually harmonious, taking pictures of the child from all directions without disturbing each other. One browsed through the photo album admiring his adorable daughter and shared them with his agent; the other posted the photos to his Moments with visibility set to “only me.”

Zaiye was getting busier with work, and without an assistant around, he couldn’t be bothered to order food anymore—he just ate whatever the crew ate.

But the child, seeing all of this, became even more worried about her “down-on-his-luck” dad.

One day, Zaiye was frowning at the computer screen when Qian quietly approached him.

“This is for you.” She slipped something into his pocket.

Zaiye was caught off guard. “What?”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a hundred yuan bill.

It was the child’s allowance—he’d just seen her ask Tong Jianxu for it the day before.

Zaiye: “……”

The child whispered mysteriously, “I’ll get you more tomorrow.”

Zaiye: “……” I can’t.

His pride as a boss couldn’t take the hit.

A few days later, Assistant Zhang called him seven times in a row urging him to come back. Zaiye truly couldn’t stay any longer.

Before he left, he ruffled Qian’s head.

“I’ll come see you next time… You be good, okay?”

As soon as Zaiye left, Tong Jianxu breathed a sigh of relief—but he also noticed the child’s sudden gloominess and felt a little conflicted.

Fortunately, kids cheer up easily as long as they have someone to play with.

Coincidentally, Tong Jianxu had fewer scenes recently, so he took Qian to play ball during his free time.

Qian ran around the plaza chasing the ball, but after a while, when she couldn’t catch it, she refused to run anymore. The two ended up playing “dodgeball” instead, taking turns throwing the ball at each other.

Tong Jianxu went super easy on her, basically flooding the court with leniency, and the two had a great time.

His expensive tailored suit pants were covered in dusty ball marks, while the tiles where Qian stood had been wiped clean by her clothes.

When they got tired of playing ball, Tong Jianxu taught her how to roller skate.

He put on her knee pads and helmet, then held both of her hands, guiding her to glide forward.

At first, she didn’t dare to move. The moment he pulled her forward, the child let out a panicked yet excited scream.

Holding her hands felt like guiding a toddler who was just learning to walk.

“Daddy, don’t let go.”

“I won’t, don’t worry. Daddy won’t let you fall.”

“You can’t let go, okay?”

“Of course I won’t. Don’t be afraid, just slide forward.”

Every time she nearly fell, Tong Jianxu immediately caught her.

And every time he caught her, she would laugh.

After a while, she got the hang of it and wanted to try on her own.

“Daddy, I want to slide by myself. Let go.”

But Tong Jianxu was even more hesitant to release her hand, afraid she’d fall.

“You might fall. Let Daddy hold you.”

“No, I want to do it myself. I want to slide over there.”

“That’s too dangerous. How about tomorrow Daddy puts you in a thicker coat and lays a soft mat next to you first?”

“No, no, I want to slide now.”

When the child broke free from his hands and slid forward on her own, a wave of bittersweet emotion suddenly welled up in Tong Jianxu’s chest.

He chased after her, watching her stumble forward. Twice, she nearly fell, making his heart clench—it felt like the first time he was suspended on wires for a scene and couldn’t get used to it, his heart floating in the air.

Finally, she made it to the end and turned around to look at him, face full of joy and excitement, arms raised high.

Tong Jianxu didn’t know just how proud his smile was in that moment. He praised her over and over: “Amazing! That was awesome—you slid all the way!”

Qian wanted to skate every day. Seeing how much she enjoyed it, Tong Jianxu found a free day to take her to try a different kind of skating.

About thirty minutes by car from the film set, there was an ice rink inside a newly opened mall. Though it wasn’t very big and there weren’t many people, it was the closest one around.

Tong Jianxu wore a mask and cap, revealing only his eyes. The child was dressed similarly, and even Tian Miao, who often appeared in public with him, wore a mask and glasses.

He took Qian along the edge of the rink for a lap. Once she got tired, he let her sit on a bench to rest and went back out to skate alone.

He’d learned how to ice skate for a previous role, where he played a figure skater who retired due to injury. To do the part justice, he trained hard for several months and got fairly decent.

He’d found it fun and would occasionally skate since.

Wearing only slacks and a casual knit top, his striking appearance and proportions made even the simplest moves on the rink appear elegant. Gradually, the few bystanders stopped skating and leaned on the side to watch.

He jumped and spun to a piece of music the mall was playing, his clothes hugging his figure as he glided. When he leaped, his tousled hair flew, and the hem of his shirt lifted, revealing his lean waist.

Someone in the crowd let out an excited but suppressed squeal.

Passersby who heard the noise also gathered around the rink to watch.

One person got so excited they even threw a flower toward him.

Tong Jianxu caught it, saw a girl holding a bouquet and her slightly speechless boyfriend beside her, and nodded toward them.

After another jump, he skated over to the rest area, chest rising and falling, and handed the flower to the child.

“Qian, do you want to skate again?”

“Yes! Daddy’s amazing! Take me skating with you!”

Tong Jianxu picked her up and skated around the rink with her in his arms. Qian happily shook the flower as they went, and after three laps, the poor flower was practically falling apart from all the shaking.

Film Emperor Tong was about to fall apart too.