Raising Kids C15

Chapter 15

Xie Ze pushed away his dad’s hand that was pinching his nose and muttered in a small voice, “No, you have to praise me.”

“And, Daddy, don’t pinch my nose! Auntie said if you do it too much, I won’t be as good-looking as you!”

The little guy, not even as tall as Xie Hui’s waist, was adorably serious about wanting to look good in the future, melting the hearts of the live stream viewers.

【Honestly, I couldn’t accept my idol being married this morning, but now I’m switching to loving his kid. Is that too fickle?】

【Aww, baby, come let big sister hug you! I can!】

【With such a cute son, who even cares about his dad anymore?】

Xie Hui was also holding his phone and had opened the show’s live stream. Seeing these playful comments, he reached down to ruffle his son’s hair.

“Baby, my fans are saying they’re switching to liking you instead. What should we do?”

Although Xie Hui wasn’t someone who particularly cared about fans’ opinions, working in the entertainment industry meant he had to be at least somewhat professional.

At times like this, he wasn’t stingy about joking with his fans. A couple of lighthearted remarks instantly made the atmosphere more relaxed.

Little Xie Ze was clearly new to this situation and looked a bit confused, his mouth slightly open. After a moment, he finally responded with his soft baby voice, seriously addressing the camera:

“Baby likes Daddy the most, so fans will like Daddy too. Daddy says this is called Ai Wuwu.”

Although momentarily shocked, little Xie Ze quickly reacted and patted his dad reassuringly.

“Love the house and its crow(Ai Wu Ji Wu) .’”

Among kids his age, Xie Ze spoke quite clearly, but he still mispronounced some idioms. After being corrected by his dad, he repeated it again.

“Ai Wu Wuwu.”

Xie Hui gave up on correcting him further, figuring that he’d get it right when he got older. He lowered his head and kissed his son’s forehead.

Perhaps because the original host hadn’t given him enough security and love, this little guy especially loved physical affection with his dad.

After being kissed, he shyly buried his face in Xie Hui’s chest and mumbled, “Daddy, boys shouldn’t be kissed in front of the camera. What if other people see it?”

Xie Hui held back a smile and gently nodded. “Mm, okay.”

On the other side, Ke Ting’s face darkened despite his best efforts to maintain composure as he watched the father and son interact so naturally.

Last night, he had indeed been in a bad mood after staying up too late comforting his daughter. Hearing the staff next door praising Xie Hui’s son for being well-behaved had made him impulsively post that comment on his social media.

After posting it, he realized Xie Hui hadn’t publicly announced his child yet. But since many people had already seen it, he couldn’t be bothered to delete it before going to sleep.

Xie Hui’s brief live stream in the morning led to a flood of criticism directed at Ke Ting, with all sorts of attacks forcing him to shut down his comment section.

When the show aired, he knew without a doubt that his daughter would inevitably be compared to Xie Hui’s son.

After Xie Hui finished answering audience questions, it was Chen Heng’s group’s turn. Most of Chen Heng’s fans focused on his career, so his questions were easy to answer.

Ke Ting, on the other hand, had been exposed for a secret marriage and child at the peak of his career. In the fast-paced entertainment industry, he had long since faded from the spotlight.

If he hadn’t mentioned Xie Hui in his post, people probably wouldn’t have even remembered him.

Most of the audience-submitted questions collected by the staff were aggressive, criticizing him for revealing Xie Hui’s private life without permission.

Of course, such questions didn’t pass the screening process. The only ones left were those the staff had fabricated.

During the live broadcast, Ke Zhen remained uncooperative.

At home, she had been spoiled rotten. If not for Ke Ting bribing her with pocket money and pretty dresses, she wouldn’t have even agreed to join the show.

Since the broadcast was live, with no post-production edits, having three well-behaved kids earlier in the segment made Ke Zhen’s spoiled behavior stand out even more.

A misbehaving child was a universal source of frustration, something most viewers could relate to.

By the time the show hurriedly cut the live stream, Ke Ting checked the program’s official account and saw that many people were already calling his daughter spoiled and rude.

Even though Ke Ting himself found her difficult to manage, seeing others criticize his child still made him unhappy.

The production staff understood his feelings, but after being forced to work overtime, they weren’t exactly sympathetic. They glanced at him before quickly returning to their tasks.

After the live segment ended, Chen Heng walked over holding his little princess’s hand and asked in a low voice, “Xie, do you know how to braid hair?”

Yesterday, Chen Yue had neatly braided hair, but today, she was only wearing a headband. When her dad brought her over, she even rolled her eyes at him.

“Mommy always braids my hair nicely!”

Chen Heng had spent over half an hour struggling this morning but still failed to get it right. Now, faced with his daughter’s disdain, he didn’t dare argue back.

“Your mom is talented. I’ll take my time and learn.”

Xie Hui, watching their interaction, curled his lips slightly and replied, “Brother Chen, my kid’s a boy. I don’t know how to braid hair either.”

Chen Heng had only been asking out of desperation, so he wasn’t too surprised by this answer.

“Ah, I’ll have to figure something out when I get back. It’s too hot now to leave her hair down like this.”

On the other side, Ke Zhen was also only wearing a headband. Hearing this conversation, she suddenly started crying again. Her piercing wails made little Xie Ze cover his ears.

“Daddy, let’s go home.”

“That might not be possible. Uncle Director just came over and said that all the dads have to cook lunch together.”

Not far away, Chen Heng heard this and immediately let out a dramatic groan. Why had he ever thought joining this show was a good idea?

“Wow, Daddy, can I have sweet and sour ribs?”

At the mention of food, Xie Ze instantly forgot about the crying child. He stood on his tiptoes, tugging at his dad’s shirt and acting all cute.

“Little greedy cat, isn’t eating too many sweets bad for you?”

“No, I’m not a greedy cat!”

Xie Ze furrowed his little brows in distress, firmly refuting his dad’s words. Even though Daddy teased him, he still really wanted to eat sweet and sour ribs. (QAQ)

“Let’s see if the show prepared the ingredients. If they have ribs, I’ll make them for you at lunch.”

Hearing this, Chen Heng lit up like he had just found his savior. He quickly scooted over and said flatteringly:

“Brother Xie, I have no idea how to cook. How about I help you out?”

Xie Hui actually liked Chen Heng’s easygoing personality, so he didn’t refuse.

Right at that moment, the director’s team arrived to announce the next segment: the dads would be cooking lunch for their kids using ingredients provided by the show.

In past seasons, celebrity dads had always struggled with this segment, leading to plenty of hilarious moments.

But this season, Xie Hui was basically a bug (a game term for an overpowered anomaly).

Audiences loved watching dads who had never set foot in a kitchen try to make lunch, so even though the assistant director had mentioned that Xie Hui was a skilled cook, the director still kept the segment.

The crew led them to the ingredient storage shed. Xie Hui told Xie Ze to go play with the other kids for a while.

Although Chen Yue had been rejected when she first tried to befriend Ke Zhen, she now felt that playing in a group of only three wasn’t ideal.

So, the three little ones held hands and went to invite Ke Zhen to join them.

Sitting on a bench in her princess dress, Ke Zhen pouted dramatically and immediately refused.

“I don’t want to play in the mud with you! You’re all so dirty!”

This time, Chen Yue was truly annoyed. She took her brother and little short-legged Xie Ze and walked off, leaving Ke Zhen sitting alone.

As they walked away, Xie Ze glanced back at the shed.

He actually liked Uncle Chen, but now he suddenly felt just a tiny bit less fond of him.

Back at home, he was always the one helping Daddy in the kitchen. But now Uncle Chen wanted to take his spot? What a big meanie!

As expected, 80% of first-time cooks struggle in the kitchen.

Chen Heng’s decision to stick with Xie Hui turned out to be very wise.

Since he knew he was getting the better deal, he took care of washing vegetables, prepping meat, and lighting the stove before calling Xie Hui over.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Ke Ting was struggling so much he even managed to cut himself while chopping vegetables.

Chen Heng quietly gave himself a mental pat on the back for making the smart choice.

Xie Hui skillfully sliced all the ingredients into evenly sized pieces and set them aside.

At this moment, Ke Ting shamelessly walked over, hoping for help.

Even though they’d had an unpleasant conflict before, Xie Hui didn’t outright refuse. He just nodded coolly in agreement without saying much.

Since most of the prep work was already done, the only thing left was tending the fire. So, Chen Heng took a break while Ke Ting took over watching the flames.

When Ke Ting saw Xie Hui adding sugar to a dish, he quickly spoke up:

“Don’t make it sweet. My daughter doesn’t like sweet food.”

Xie Hui didn’t hesitate at all—he just dumped the sugar in.

In fact, Xie Hui himself wasn’t a big fan of overly sweet food.

But this dish wasn’t for himself—it was for a certain little greedy cat.

What, did Ke Ting think he was some kind of personal chef? Or was he just naturally thick-skinned?

Once the sweet and sour ribs were done, Xie Hui plated them up. Only then did he suddenly seem to remember what Ke Ting had said earlier.

“Oh, sorry about that. My son wanted sweet and sour ribs, so this is for him.”

“There are still ribs left over. If your daughter doesn’t like this, you can just cook a separate dish for her.”

—

—The idiom “爱屋及乌” (ài wū jí wū) literally means “Love the house and its crow.” It expresses the idea that when you love someone, you also extend that love to the people or things associated with them. In this context, little Xie Ze is trying to say that since he loves his dad, his dad’s fans should also love his dad.

However, because he is still young and has trouble pronouncing the phrase correctly, he mistakenly says “爱屋嗚嗚” (ài wū wū wū) instead. The last part “嗚嗚” (wū wū) sounds like baby talk or crying sounds (like “boohoo” in English), which makes it especially cute.