Raising Kids C16

Chapter 16

If Ke Ting knew how to cook, he wouldn’t have thick-skinnedly come over to ask Xie Hui for help in the first place. Hearing those words, his face darkened slightly, and he gripped the fire tongs tightly without saying another word.

Although Ke Ting had taken over Chen Heng’s task, Chen Heng didn’t actually intend to slack off. Instead, he stayed nearby, ready to lend a hand if Xie Hui needed help.

Sensing the tension in the atmosphere, Chen Heng took the initiative to chat with Xie Hui.

“Brother Xie, judging by your cooking skills, how long have you been practicing? I’ve never heard you mention it before.”

“Not for long, I just cook casually.”

Even in this setting, Xie Hui’s natural grace, combined with his long fingers skillfully handling the spatula, made it impossible for others not to focus on him.

Ke Ting lowered his eyes, staring at the fire. On the surface, he seemed indifferent, but in reality, his heart was drowning in jealousy.

His own career had crumbled due to the revelation of his secret marriage and child, and even after returning to the industry, he faced obstacles at every turn, receiving little to no attention.

Meanwhile, Xie Hui—who had been in a similar situation—was now doing far better than him. Even his child was more well-behaved.

The frustrations in his career, combined with watching Xie Hui’s evident success, made Ke Ting’s emotions turn increasingly bitter.

On the other side, Ke Zhen, despite insisting she didn’t want to play with the others, couldn’t resist lifting her dress slightly and following along when they went off to play.

The three children squatted by the field ridge, watching the fish in the water. A staff member nearby explained that these were rice-field fish.

Hearing this, Xie Ze couldn’t help but swallow his saliva.

His dad’s sweet and sour fish was delicious, but unfortunately, his dad always said that eating too many sweet things would cause cavities.

Ke Zhen also squatted down to observe, but soon got bored. Seeing that the others weren’t talking to her, she suddenly spoke up loudly:

“Chen Xing, Chen Yue, why did your parents give you such ordinary names? My uncles and aunts have names like that.”

Chen Xing had a reserved personality, so even when upset, he only frowned slightly. But Chen Yue stood up, placed her hands on her hips, and retorted:

“Because Mommy said that she and Daddy are like the night sky, and my brother and I are the stars and the moon. We are their everything! And how is ‘ordinary’ any of your business? Your dad named you Ke Zhen—was it because you’re so annoying?”

After finishing her words, Chen Yue, puffed up with anger, grabbed her brother’s hand in one and Xie Ze’s in the other and stomped off.

She definitely didn’t want to play with this kid anymore. So annoying!

Ke Zhen stood frozen for a moment, watching them leave, then suddenly threw herself onto the ground, rolling around and wailing.

Xie Ze glanced back, a little concerned. “She’s crying… What should we do?”

Chen Yue patted his head, pulling him forward as she walked.

“We didn’t do anything wrong. My dad says that just because someone cries doesn’t mean they’re right. And I can already smell the food—come on, let’s go eat!”

At first, Xie Ze hadn’t thought much of it, but after the reminder, his stomach started growling too. He swallowed his saliva and quickened his short legs.

When they got back, Chen Yue immediately explained the situation to her father and then glanced at Ke Ting.

“Uncle, Ke Zhen is over there crying.”

The moment Ke Ting heard this, he hurriedly set down the fire tongs and rushed outside.

Chen Heng didn’t scold Chen Yue for making the girl cry. Instead, he even praised her a little.

Children who are too unruly are certainly hard to like, but a kid who’s too timid and lets themselves be bullied would be even more heartbreaking for a parent.

After finishing up the food, Xie Hui habitually picked up his little rascal with one hand while still holding the spatula in the other, seemingly effortlessly.

“Learn from Yue Yue, okay? Don’t go picking fights, but don’t let yourself get bullied either. Understand?”

This little guy was indeed well-behaved, but Xie Hui worried that his excessive obedience might lead to him getting pushed around in the future.

“Got it!”

Xie Ze nodded vigorously, memorizing his father’s words.

“Baby, go get the bowls and chopsticks—we’re about to eat.”

“Okay!”

Xie Ze wriggled out of his father’s arms, washed his hands thoroughly, and carefully counted how many sets of tableware were needed, then placed them neatly on the table.

Just as he finished, Xie Hui and Chen Heng brought out the dishes. The food looked quite good, especially the sweet and sour pork ribs that Xie Ze had specifically requested. The dish was sprinkled with sesame seeds, making it smell irresistible.

Since Ke Ting and his daughter hadn’t returned, they held off on eating. Eventually, the kids all sat at the table, resting their heads on their hands and staring toward the door.

By the time the dishes were starting to cool, Ke Ting finally came back carrying his daughter. He didn’t offer any apology for making everyone wait and sat down with a cold expression.

Chen Heng figured that Ke Ting was probably upset about what his daughter had said, deliberately putting on a sour face to bother them. But Chen Heng couldn’t be bothered to deal with him and focused on serving food to his own kids instead.

A child’s confidence comes from their parents. If he, as a father, forced his daughter to back down now, it would be as good as telling her that she shouldn’t stand up for herself when others bullied her in the future.

“Brother Xie, I gotta say—your cooking is way better than the show’s hired chefs!”

The two kids sitting on either side of Chen Heng both looked up at Xie Hui and nodded enthusiastically.

As for Xie Ze, he wasn’t paying attention to anything else—he had washed his hands and was fully focused on gnawing his pork ribs.

“Brother Chen, aren’t you worried the chefs will get mad and stop cooking for you later?”

“Hey, hey, no way! Director, make sure you cut that part out later—pretend it never happened!”

The warm, lively atmosphere on their side contrasted sharply with the silence on the other.

The director knew this wasn’t ideal, but he hadn’t expected Ke Ting to be so oblivious to the situation when casting him for the show.

Nowadays, whose child isn’t treasured? How could everyone be expected to indulge his daughter?

—

After a few days of filming, the production team arranged a flight back. Since it was a public schedule, there were quite a few fans at the airport to welcome them.

Xie Hui only wore a baseball cap, covering half of his face. With the airport being crowded, he carried his son in his arms.

Xie Ze had on the sunglasses that his dad had bought him last time. His chubby little hands hugged his dad’s neck as he curiously observed the bustling scene.

Before getting into the car, two entertainment reporters squeezed over, holding microphones up to Xie Hui and quickly asking:

“Mr. Xie Hui, since you brought your son onto a variety show, does that mean you plan for him to enter the entertainment industry? Do you want him to become a child star?”

Initially, Xie Hui didn’t intend to respond, but after hearing the question, he felt he should give an answer.

“No. My son’s future should be his own decision when he grows up. I don’t plan to interfere.”

“Also, I have no intention of making him a child star. I just wanted to work while bringing my kid on a paid vacation.”

After he finished speaking, Brother Jiang shut the car door.

Although it wasn’t explosive news, Xie Hui’s clear statement about not planning to make his child a star still attracted a good amount of clicks when it was published.

—

As soon as they got home, little Xie Ze went straight to check on his sunflowers. Only after confirming that they had been well taken care of by the housekeeper did he return to find his dad.

He hovered around his dad, who was unpacking luggage, chattering away like a little sparrow.

That evening happened to be the broadcast of the first edited episode of their show, so Xie Hui planned to watch it with his son.

He prepared some fruit and drinks, sat on the sofa, turned on the massive living room TV, and tuned into the channel.

Halfway through watching, Xie Hui’s phone rang. He glanced at it and saw a message from Brother Jiang, reminding him to interact with the audience on Weibo.

The original Xie Hui hadn’t paid much attention to online opinions about himself, and Xie Hui was even less interested. However, as an entertainer, he wasn’t too aloof to engage in basic promotional activities.

When he opened the Weibo post where he had previously shared the show’s promotional content, the comments made him frown.

He had always known that the internet amplified people’s malice to the extreme, but he hadn’t expected someone to be this brainless.

The criticism toward his son was actually… about Xie Ze saying he wanted to eat fish at the supermarket.

【This kid is terrifying. He’s only three, and just because some water from a fish splashed on him, he wanted to eat it? Imagine if this were about people—if someone made him mad, would he want to kill them? Xie Hui’s son has such a dark heart.】

Xie Hui fed his son an apple slice with a fork, watching him sit properly on the sofa, attentively watching TV. Then, he lowered his head and replied to the comment.

【Are you that fish?】

Xie Hui’s reply quickly pushed that comment to the top. Many onlookers found the original comment absurdly self-righteous. The fish were already in the supermarket’s fresh food section—they were meant to be eaten.

Later, people dug up the commenter’s history and found out they were a professional internet troll, sparking another round of backlash.

Meanwhile, after posting that reply, Xie Hui took a photo of Xie Ze engrossed in watching TV and posted it with the caption: 【Watching the show together.】 Then, he put his phone away.

He wasn’t addicted to electronic devices, especially when spending time with his son. Responding to Xie Ze’s occasional childish remarks was far more entertaining to him than looking at his phone.

—

In the show, Xie Hui and his son were featured first, followed by Chen Heng, and lastly, Ke Ting’s family.

Xie Hui’s warm and harmonious interactions with his son made viewers smile and wish they had such an adorable child.

Chen Heng, on the other hand, was the classic hands-off dad. Fortunately, his wife had raised their child well. Despite frequent mishaps, his gruff, exasperated attempts at braiding his daughter’s hair had an oddly comedic charm.

Only Ke Ting’s family left the worst impression on viewers. Ke Zhen was closest to her grandmother, who spoiled her beyond measure. She showed little respect for her mother and used tantrums, rolling on the ground, and crying to get what she wanted.

The earlier controversy about Xie Hui’s son wanting to eat fish after getting splashed was completely overshadowed by the chaos in Ke Ting’s household.

—

Although Xie Hui had taken on a parenting show, he was still active in the entertainment industry. His contracts were with his company, and he had other work obligations.

Brother Jiang notified him about an audition for a movie. Since Xie Ze followed him around like a little tail, Xie Hui decided to just bring his son along.

He arrived a bit late; the audition time had already passed. However, since they hadn’t found a suitable candidate yet, Xie Hui still had a chance.

Brother Jiang didn’t take Xie Hui to the film set but to the director’s home. When the housekeeper opened the door and welcomed them in, Xie Hui unexpectedly saw a familiar face inside.