Chapter 235: A Celebrity’s Alcoholic Father – 3

The production crew pursued authenticity, so the props they prepared were quite comprehensive.

The suitcase Xie Chuan carried was heavy. Standing at his own front door, he felt a flicker of trepidation. He took a deep breath, waiting for the door to open from the inside.

“Xie Chuan, do you not come home often? You look a bit nervous?”

A staff member, trying to liven up the atmosphere, asked curiously from the side. Xie Chuan nodded slightly.

“Yeah. I was too busy with work before. Sometimes I even spent New Year’s Eve^[1] with the film crew.”

Xie Chuan’s acting was very evocative, and he had filmed several hit TV dramas. Although he played supporting roles, the response had been good. It was just a pity that his agency wasn’t very supportive.

If he had better luck in the future and could land a good movie script, there was no telling if he might skyrocket to fame.

While they were talking, the door was opened from the inside.

“You’re back?”

Xie Hui gave a simple greeting. He opened the shoe cabinet, took out a pair of plush slippers, and placed them in front of Xie Chuan before turning around to head into the living room.

Xie Chuan’s good friend from the same company, Xu Shuo, was clearly much more emotional when meeting his parents. His mother even turned her head away to wipe tears, and Xu Shuo’s eyes had reddened as well.

Xie Chuan changed his shoes, placed his suitcase in the living room, and gave a simple acknowledgement.

“Yeah, I’m back.”

The interaction between father and son ended there. Xie Hui busied himself in the kitchen, while Xie Chuan took his suitcase back to his bedroom and introduced the various decorations in his room to the production crew.

One cameraman followed Xie Chuan into the bedroom, while another filmed Xie Hui’s silhouette in the kitchen.

While Xie Hui was cleaning vegetables, he felt a momentary sense of relief that this Reality Show was produced by CCTV^[2] to evoke forgotten family bonds.

No matter how powerful the corporate capital was, they wouldn’t be able to tamper with a program like this.

Xie Hui cooked with great skill. Even while just cooking, he stood very straight.

The house was in a good location. The outdoor sunlight filtered through the window and fell onto his shoulders. Only after he finished preparing all the dishes did he call Xie Chuan over to help, scooping the rice and bringing it to the table.

During the meal, Xie Hui didn’t put food in Xie Chuan’s bowl. He only occasionally asked about his work.

“How has work been lately? Still as busy as before? No matter how busy you are, you need to pay attention to your health.”

Xie Chuan used to think his father’s cooking was just average, but after not seeing him for a while, it tasted incredibly delicious. He stuffed food into his mouth, chewed with effort, and swallowed before answering.

“Work is fine. It’s just recording this variety show… Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.”

After finishing dinner, while Xie Chuan was clearing the table, he heard his father ask again.

“What do you want to eat tonight?”

“Dad, what vegetables are left at home? Just cook whatever you see fit.”

While other guests were helping their parents with many tasks, Xie Chuan spent most of his time during the recording staying in his bedroom, reading scripts or playing games.

In fact, he knew himself that the effect of the broadcast might not be great this way. But Xie Chuan simply liked this mode of interaction, where his father arranged everything inside and outside the house and gave him a reminder to be good at home before heading out.

Even if… this was just his face-saving father putting on an act because they were on a show.

Ever since he had gone against his father’s arrangements, every time they met, the look in his father’s eyes was filled with loathing.

Whenever Xie Chuan was infuriated by his father, his mind would be filled with memories of his childhood.

Back then, their family’s conditions were average. His father’s job was very relaxed, and he put all his heart into him. He would help him with homework and take him out to play, never letting him feel envious of other children.

Thinking of those memories, no matter how much anger Xie Chuan felt toward his father, he couldn’t bring himself to vent it.

Xie Chuan admitted he was greedy in this regard. He enjoyed his father’s protection and even recklessly thought that if people wanted to scold him after the show aired, let them scold.

Even now, Xie Chuan didn’t dare to ask the reason for his father’s change.

If his father could maintain this current state of life, it wouldn’t matter even if he was scolded to death after the broadcast.

In the other filmed households, the interactions with the children were incomparable.

Xu Shuo, who also brought his parents on the show like Xie Chuan, was constantly busy at home, letting his parents sit on the sofa to watch TV and rest.

He did housework and cooked clumsily, creating many jokes due to his lack of skill, which maximized the entertainment value of the show.

On the final day, Xie Hui bought many ingredients in the evening, intending to make hotpot for Xie Chuan.

It was early autumn, and a bit of summer heat still lingered in the air. In the Original Host’s memory, Xie Chuan loved to eat hot things during this slightly chilly season. Steaming hotpot was his favorite.

While washing the vegetables, Xie Hui called out, and Xie Chuan proactively ran out to help. He rolled up his sleeves and walked over, bowing his head to wash the vegetables by the sink. His technique wasn’t exactly skilled. After washing them, he set them aside to drain.

“Go find those plates too. They haven’t been used in a long time, so give them a wash. You only do things when I tell you to.”

With something already simmering in the pot, Xie Hui looked at the tall Xie Chuan, who was somewhat in the way in the kitchen after finishing the vegetables, and pointed to a cabinet nearby.

Xie Chuan walked over and opened the cabinet, taking out all the plates. He found a basin to hold them, intending to wash them at the outdoor sink. As he walked out the kitchen door, he didn’t forget to poke his head back in to say something to his dad.

“Dad, you used to call me a millstone^[3]. If you don’t push, can this millstone turn by itself?”

After saying that, seeing his father’s furrowed brows, he quickly turned and left, running incredibly fast.

Xie Hui cursed at his retreating back before turning back to continue cooking.

There wasn’t much content to film for the first episode of the variety show. After finishing this hotpot meal tonight, Xie Chuan would have to leave tomorrow.

For this meal, Xie Hui prepared quite a lot, even letting the filming staff sit down to eat together.

Xie Hui’s cooking was good. On a slightly chilly early autumn night, sitting in an air-conditioned room eating fresh, fragrant, and spicy hotpot made everyone feel very refreshed.

Because Xie Chuan had to catch a very early flight the next morning, he took a shower and went to sleep after dinner. Lying on the large bed that smelled of sunlight, he had a very beautiful dream.

Outside, Xie Hui had no intention of resting even after finishing cleaning the living room. The staff members who were about to leave were called back by the assistant director, who signaled the cameraman to continue working.

Xie Hui took out some of the Pickled Vegetables he had prepared a while ago. From the memories of the Original Host, he knew that Xie Chuan loved eating them. He had started making them even before the renovations began, and they were at their peak flavor now.

While the camera was in their home, Xie Hui spoke very little, and he remained silent throughout this process.

After slicing the Pickled Vegetables, he tossed them into a pan to stir-fry briefly, then packed them into a jar, sealed it, and placed it into a nearby bag.

There were several other types of portable food items, and Xie Hui prepared a bit of each.

When the last jar was tucked away, the cameraman thought he could finally get off work. To his surprise, he watched as Xie Hui opened a cabinet again and pulled out a bag of flour.

The cameraman knew he was being paid overtime, but he couldn’t help but yawn and ask, “Old man, it’s so late. Aren’t you going to sleep?”

Xie Hui looked up at him, placed his index finger to his lips to signal for silence, and replied in a lowered voice, “That boy works hard out there. Last time he came back, he kept mentioning how he missed my dumplings. I haven’t had the time to make them these past few days, so I’ll get them ready now so he can have them for breakfast tomorrow.”

The cameraman rubbed his aching eyes and continued working. Previously, he hadn’t quite understood why they were working overtime. He even thought that filming someone cooking was pointless; they weren’t a food show, after all.

He had even speculated that once the Reality Show aired, this group of guests would definitely have the lowest ratings.

From the start of filming until now, it had been nothing but cooking various dishes every day, with nothing else happening.

But the words the old man just spoke made him fall silent.

He thought of his own mother still living in the countryside. Every year, he would complain about how she loved to fuss over things.

This past Lunar New Year^[4], when he was preparing to leave, she was still up in the middle of the night making tofu just so he could have a cup of steaming hot soy milk.

At the time, he hadn’t felt much of anything. He was even a bit annoyed, thinking his mother was just looking for work in such cold weather instead of staying in her warm bed. Why bother making tofu?

The cameraman could no longer remember the taste of that soy milk. In a rare moment of distraction during work, his head was filled with the memory of the expectation and love in his mother’s eyes as she handed him that bowl of soy milk.

Xie Hui scooped flour into a basin, added water to knead the dough, and set it aside before starting to fry the dumpling filling.

Xie Hui closed the door tightly so as not to wake Xie Yun. The exhaust fan was running normally, but when he added the chili peppers, he was still choked by the fumes and turned his head away to cough twice.

The director signaled the cameraman to capture the time on the wall clock: one o’clock in the morning.

The light was still on in the kitchen. A man stood before the stove, spatula in hand, stir-frying. It was a very common scene.

Once the filling was done, he set it aside to cool. Xie Hui then began rolling out the dumpling skins. After each dumpling was neatly wrapped, he arranged them in rows and put them in the freezer.

By the time he finished everything, it was nearly three o’clock.

The next morning, when Xie Chuan woke up early and planned to skip breakfast to head straight to the airport, he saw the living room lights were on the moment he stepped out of his bedroom.

Xie Hui walked out carrying a bowl of steaming dumplings. He set them on the dining table and said with a frown, “What are you standing there for? Do I need to give you a formal invitation to eat?”

“Dad, you made food for me this early? Why didn’t you get more rest?”

“It’s not like I made it specifically for you. Don’t I need to eat too? I just made an extra portion for you while I was at it.”

Xie Chuan grinned so wide his gums almost showed. He wasn’t bothered by his father’s words. He sat down at the table, picked up his chopsticks, and began to eat. For some reason, he thought back to when he was a child.

Every time he brought home a certificate of merit^[5] from an exam, his father would say to his face that it was nothing and he shouldn’t be too proud. Yet behind his back, he would take that certificate and show it off to his friends.

One of those uncles had a child with poor grades and had scoffed that it was just a piece of paper. His father had actually argued with the man until he was red in the face over that topic.

As expected, he was still that same familiar father, with a sharp tongue but a soft heart.