Chapter 053

Because the “lost” young Lu Jianxing hadn’t sought help from the nearest staff member, the announcement had to be broadcast several more times. By the time he finally appeared at the entrance of the visitor center, Lu Jianxing had worked up a sweat from walking so fast, despite the cool autumn breeze.

Under the curious gazes of the staff in the broadcast room, Qiao Man successfully claimed his lost son. He waved a cheerful goodbye to the staff and led Lu Jianxing away by the hand.

The unexpected incident had wasted quite a bit of time. By the time they reunited, the lingering glow of twilight had already appeared in the sky. Before the amusement park closed, the three of them hurried to fit in a few more rides. Since the area where the Ferris Wheel was located had been temporarily closed, they didn’t get a chance to ride it. Qiao Man felt a bit of regret as they left the park.

Pei Xiwang drove them back to their residential complex. When it was time to part, Qiao Man took the initiative to invite him, “Would you like to come to our home as a guest?”

“No, thank you,” Pei Xiwang politely declined, his gaze discreetly sweeping over the empty air beside the boy.

Even though he couldn’t see anything, he knew a ghost had to be there. Even if he had spent the whole day with a ghost, it didn’t mean he was willing to continue staying under the same roof as one.

In fact, the Long-braided Ghost had already parted ways with them after leaving the amusement park, drifting off to who-knows-where.

Failing to get his guest to come inside, Qiao Man could only watch regretfully as the car drove away.

He and Lu Jianxing walked toward their home hand in hand. On the way, they encountered several residents out for a stroll and exchanged greetings the whole way.

“Master Xiao Man, back from the amusement park?”

“Did you have fun today?”

“Haha, I even saw your Xingxing on the news!”

Qiao Man’s eyes widened in surprise. “The news? What news?”

“You didn’t know? You guys are on the trending searches.” As the neighbor spoke, he immediately pulled out his phone and tapped on a video from the trending list to play it.

When the content about “Little Lu Jianxing” played from the phone once again, Lu Jianxing looked at his own wooden expression on the screen and remained silent.

Lu Jianxing led Qiao Man inside, who was walking with his head turned back, reluctantly wanting to watch the video a few more times. Once they were through the front door, Lu Jianxing let out a heavy sigh of relief.

“Xiao Man, is it okay if we have noodles for dinner?” He opened the refrigerator. There weren’t many ingredients left. After getting an affirmative nod from the child, he took out the ingredients and began methodically preparing dinner.

In the living room, Qiao Man was busy posting photos as soon as he got home.

First, he posted a nine-photo grid¹ to his social media feed. Then, he sent even more photos to Xiao Jing to share the joy of the amusement park with his best friend, while also expressing his regret over not getting to ride the roller coaster.

“Xiao Man, you’re so brave,” Xiao Jing said enviously over the phone. “I wouldn’t dare ride those things. They look so scary. My mom is too scared to ride them, too.”

Xiao Jing asked again, “Xiao Man, why are your photos blurry? Look, there are white shadows on the edges of so many of them.”

“Oh.” Qiao Man looked closer, swinging his little feet as he said nonchalantly, “Those are ghosts.”

Xiao Jing went silent.

Qiao Man perked up and immediately shared with him, “Let me tell you, we met so many ghosts at the amusement park today. All those scary ghosts in the haunted house were actually real ghosts.”

“The haunted house?”

“Yeah.”

Qiao Man’s little feet kicked back and forth. “We even met a Vengeful Ghost…”

“Ahhh!” Xiao Jing had a breakdown on the other end of the line. “Stop talking! Xiao Man, I’m afraid of ghosts!”

He had actually been to a haunted house before and had been terrified by the ghosts inside, needing his mother to comfort him for a long time before he recovered. If the scary things in the haunted house weren’t people but real ghosts… just thinking about it was terrifying!

Qiao Man was greatly disappointed. “I haven’t even told you how Xingxing praised me in front of the Vengeful Ghost yet.”

Lu Jianxing walked out of the kitchen carrying two bowls of noodles and placed them on the dining table. He untied his apron. “Xiao Man, time to eat.”

“I’m coming!”

Qiao Man hung up the phone, jumped off the sofa, and ran over with a pitter-patter of footsteps.

The noodles were topped with stir-fried shredded pork and green peppers, with two golden fried eggs nestled on top and a garnish of bright green scallions. The bowl was wider than the child’s head, and his entire face was buried in it.

Halfway through the meal, the phone rang.

It was a call from Sister Yun.

As soon as it connected, Sister Yun’s voice, thick with suppressed laughter, rang out, “Little Lu Jianxing, did you find your daddy?”

Lu Jianxing was speechless.

Lu Jianxing took a deep breath, glanced at the child, and said helplessly, “Sister Yun, stop making fun of me.”

“Alright, alright.” Sister Yun finished her laugh before saying, “Xingxing, I have good news. Do you remember that idol drama you finished filming last year? It passed review² and is ready to launch!”

Lu Jianxing froze. “What?”

He instinctively looked at the child across the table. Qiao Man was still holding his noodle bowl, focused entirely on his meal, and hadn’t heard the content of the call. Of course, even if he had heard it, he might not have understood.

Lu Jianxing had been in the industry for several years and had filmed many dramas. He had the looks and decent resources. The idol drama Sister Yun mentioned was one where he was the lead. The filming process had been very smooth, he had put in maximum effort, and his fans had high hopes for it. However, just as it was ready to launch after filming, it suddenly got stuck in the review process. After that, his streak of bad luck began, and the drama was shelved, never to be mentioned again.

And now, it was actually preparing to launch?

He dazed for a moment, vaguely recalling Qiao Man’s previous words.

His luck would slowly return to him.

Snapping back to reality, Sister Yun’s words reached his ears again. “…After this current drama on the Pear Platform³ finishes, yours will take its slot. It’s expected to go online the week after next. You’ll need to cooperate with the promotion during this time. I’ve lined up some work for you… You haven’t had a new work in a long time, and the fans are all waiting.”

Although he hadn’t lacked commercial advertisements during this period, one still had to rely on their work to speak for them in the entertainment industry. This was his first official work to be broadcast since his troubles began.

If the market response was good, it would greatly help increase his popularity and allow him to land better roles in the future.

“I understand,” Lu Jianxing replied. “I’ll do as you say.”

Sister Yun said with a smile, “Oh, by the way, another production crew sent over an audition invitation. I’ve sent it to your email; take a look when you have a chance.”

“Okay.”

“Once your TV series airs, there’ll be even more work. Make sure to get some rest these next few days; you’re going to be busy soon.”

“Mm-hmm.”

After the call ended, Lu Jianxing gripped his phone and sat blankly at the table for a long while.

Immense joy and an indescribable mix of emotions filled his chest like a mass of fluffy clouds, swelling until they were almost ready to overflow.

He looked up at the person across from him.

The shredded pork and green pepper noodles were a hit with the child, who had already managed to polish off more than half the bowl. He ate without looking up, and from Lu Jianxing’s perspective, all he could see was the cute, dark whorl of hair on top of the boy’s head, swaying back and forth as he ate in high spirits.

“Xiao Man,” Lu Jianxing paused, then spoke with a smile. “Do you want some ice cream?”

Qiao Man looked up in surprise, his eyes sparkling. “Wow, really?”

Ever since the weather turned cold, Xingxing hadn’t allowed him to have ice cream for fear he’d get an upset stomach.

“Yeah, just one.”

Lu Jianxing got up and took two containers of ice cream from the freezer. They were leftovers from the summer, one for each of them.

He held up his ice cream and clinked it against the one in front of the child.

“Cheers!”

Clutching his ice cream, Qiao Man happily scooped out a large spoonful, the sweet flavor flowing all the way down to his stomach.

Today was truly a wonderful day!

Translator’s Notes