Cannon Fodder Refuses C26
by MarineTLChapter 26: The Film Emperor Dad Who Was Sacrificed in the Entertainment Industry (End of Arc)
Early in the morning, Shen Yijing’s brain was forced to boot up. He still wasn’t fully awake and sat there zoning out for a while.
“Shen Yijing? Can you at least tell me what you were doing last night? If you don’t say anything, how am I supposed to handle PR for you?”
“Bro, what time are you talking about?”
“8:30 p.m. The timestamp is right there on the photo.”
If it were someone else, creating buzz with the other lead before the show aired wouldn’t have been that bad. With the right approach, both could gain more fans. Then they could endorse a product together, drawing in loads of CP (couple) fans to go wild for them.
But for someone like Shen Yijing, that wasn’t a good look. He disliked scandals, had maintained a clean reputation for years, and even the smallest whiff of gossip could lead to accusations of his image collapsing.
“8:30… That wasn’t me. I was brushing Jiujiu’s feathers at that time.”
Shen Yijing yawned after speaking and dragged his little one out from under the blanket. Jiujiu shook his head, wanting to ask what his dad was up to. Didn’t he know his cub still needed proper sleep to grow up tall?
“You’ve got so many weird habits—still needing to brush feathers. You’ve barely got a few and you want them brushed one by one.”
Jiujiu sat there sulking, hugging his wings. Who said fewer feathers didn’t need brushing? They’d even seen someone with a bald forehead last time still trying to maintain appearances. Precisely because he had so few, he had to pay more attention! If he had a glorious plume, he’d gift feathers to everyone he met.
“Alright, let’s get up and go see what this is all about.”
Meanwhile, Shen Yijing’s assistant was being ambushed by reporters. He hadn’t even figured out what was going on—he was just there to pack Shen-ge’s stuff!
“Where were you at 8:30 p.m. last night? Were you with Miss Liu and Mr. Shen?”
Reporters were always rougher with assistants than with the stars. The assistant glared at the mic nearly shoved into his mouth.
“Absolutely impossible—it wasn’t Shen-ge. At 8:30, he was brushing Jiujiu’s feathers. Jiujiu won’t sleep without his grooming session.”
After saying that, he slipped away quickly. Fortunately, he had lots of experience helping Shen-ge shake off stalker fans.
It wasn’t just Shen Yijing—everyone around him was baffled. Why was that little chick so high-maintenance?
If you didn’t brush his feathers, he’d roll around, throw a tantrum, even threaten Shen-ge by lying on his head and pretending to cry so no one could sleep.
Both sides gave consistent statements, but many still suspected they’d coordinated their stories in advance.
Shen Yijing’s fans weren’t idle either. Plenty of them found clues to prove that the man spotted with Ms. Liu wasn’t Shen Yijing—just someone who looked a bit like him.
Fans who had been there at the time also testified that Ms. Liu was innocent too—the photo had been maliciously edited, and there were multiple people around her, not just one man.
His agent contacted the crew and found out the person in question was an actor from the production. Shen Yijing had a stand-in on set, and when he left early, the stand-in took over some duties.
Apparently, the director felt the scenes between the stand-in and the female lead weren’t visually appealing, so they were pulled aside for a discussion.
Ms. Liu hadn’t gone to the hotel alone with that actor. Even though it was late—around 10 p.m.—and they left around midnight, there were eight people in the room. Two female screenwriters in their forties, two assistant directors in their fifties, and other crew members. Even the director was present.
That Shen Yijing had been wrongly accused infuriated not just his agency but his fans too. They dug up plenty of evidence showing that the ones stirring up the gossip and driving the narrative were actually Su Ru and Chang Wu.
Many speculated that since their drama hadn’t generated much buzz, they were resorting to smearing Shen Yijing’s name out of spite.
Shen Yijing hadn’t expected a past collaboration to cause this much trouble. He made up his mind: next time, if he could choose, he’d rather work with veteran actors. Those who’d been in the industry longer were more protective of their reputations—scandals like this would never happen.
His agent, unable to stomach the injustice, waited for the buzz to die down and then had Shen Yijing clarify on Weibo:
Shen Yijing: Didn’t do anything. Was brushing feathers for my cub.
The attached photo showed Jiujiu holding a tiny comb, posing proudly in front of the camera—looking just like he had on set.
In the drama, the tyrant male lead was raising chickens while the female lead was sneaking around having an affair behind his back.
In real life, when scandals were swirling around him, Shen Yijing was brushing a chicken’s feathers at home.
This strange overlap between character and actor reignited interest in the drama.
Jiujiu followed his dad from set to set—even tagging along on international shoots twice.
While Shen Yijing was reflecting on what he gained from each role, a chubby little bird sat next to him, counting with his wings the best foods they’d had in each place.
At a celebration party for an international award, Shen Yijing wore a low-key black suit. Yet he remained the center of attention.
Most people tucked a pocket square or a flower into the breast pocket of their suit. Shen Yijing had Jiujiu sticking out of his.
Jiujiu accompanied his dad around, offering toasts and thanking the director. But while the grown-ups exchanged pleasantries, he yawned.
So boring. Honestly, he pitied his dad. Back in the Heavenly Realm, his dad never had to say these empty words. Drowsy from the chatter, Jiujiu planned to fall asleep just like that.
As Shen Yijing passed a sofa to speak with the screenwriter, a few nearby actors were gossiping—and what they said caught Jiujiu’s attention.
“Their company really splurged last time. Invested so much and still lost everything.”
“Well, serves them right. When they debuted, they tried stepping on others to rise up. Now look—neither of them can catch a break.”
From those few lines, Jiujiu could roughly guess that the male and female leads of this world had once bullied his dad—and now they were floundering in the industry.
That put his heart at ease. Even if he couldn’t avenge his dad personally, at least he could flap his wings in applause while watching them fall from grace.
And he could secretly gloat when his dad wasn’t looking.
In this world, Shen Yijing didn’t work too late into his career. Feeling there was nothing left in the industry worth chasing, he retired.
He settled with his parents in a small city. Father Shen gradually noticed something odd about Jiujiu—even after decades, the little bird still looked exactly as he did when they first met.
Eventually, Shen Yijing stopped posting photos of Jiujiu on social media. Some speculated Jiujiu had passed away, and that Shen Yijing didn’t mention him to avoid sadness.
When asked about it, Shen Yijing never gave any response.
Father Shen, who realized Jiujiu wasn’t a normal bird, still took him along whenever he snuck out for snacks.
Even though they always got caught, Jiujiu couldn’t resist delicious food.
Whenever they were caught, Shen Mom would scold Father Shen for being too old to act so childish, and Shen Yijing would scold Jiujiu for always eating junk.
Jiujiu always listened obediently—but the next time Grandpa waved at him, those little claws ran over faster than anyone.
When he left this world, Jiujiu was still curled up closest to his father’s heart.
Upon returning to the Divine Realm, the Star Lord from last time didn’t appear—but had left a note and a small storage ring beside it.
【Little Highness, I have to go out for a while. The things inside are all gifts for you. They can be used in the mortal realm, but remember, the Emperor Lord must never find out.】
Jiujiu tucked the ring into his thick fur, dipped a bit of ink, and gently pressed on the letter left by the Star Lord.
The small black paw print seemed to tell the Star Lord that Little Highness had read it.
Although the Star Lord was not there to accompany him, before leaving, the Star Lord had thoughtfully prepared everything to prevent Little Highness from being completely lost upon entering the next world. He created a small space for him.
Here, before going to find the Emperor Lord, he could first understand the situation.
When Jiujiu flew inside, he saw a plate of pastries placed above, with his favorite big peaches beside it.
Sitting there, eating a bite of pastry then a bite of peach, he unconsciously finished his meal. Only then did he realize he hadn’t even had time to look around.
The pastries and peaches were Jiujiu’s favorite foods. As he sat there planning to repent, he suddenly remembered this and immediately stopped his repentance to stand up.
No, what was there to repent for? He definitely wasn’t the only little one in this world who couldn’t resist delicious food.
After comforting himself like this, Jiujiu rubbed his belly with his wings, feeling still hungry. His eyes darted around, and he began to search everywhere.
The Star Lord spoiled him so much, there was no way only one set of treats was prepared.
(End of Arc)
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