Chapter 4: Oh, I Have No Father

Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Oh, I Have No Father

As they walked onto the stage, Nan Zhi reached to hold Nan Yi’s hand.

Nan Yi subtly pulled away.

Sure enough, the cameras caught this small detail, and the livestream chat immediately exploded with taunts.

Once Nan Zhi and Nan Yi had fully emerged into the spotlight, the comment stream fell silent for several seconds.

Then:

[Is Nan Zhi really this beautiful without makeup?]

[Can’t deny this mother and son are incredibly good-looking.]

[Good heavens, what on earth did Nan Zhi do to her face before?]

[...Seriously, are you guys this shameless? She’s a vicious woman. Who cares if she’s pretty?]

[Damn it, I was almost fooled too. Looks like Nan Zhi is going for the pitiful, innocent damsel act, huh?]

[With those skinny arms and legs, I bet they’ll starve on the first day.]

[Perfect time to kick them off the show and get a replacement!]

...

The host conducting the interview steadied himself and put on a standard fake smile.

"Our comment section is really fired up. Looks like everyone is giving Nan Zhi and Nan Yi a warm welcome!"

The audience: ’They call *this* a welcome? Is he just spouting nonsense with his eyes shut?’

And so, the insults in the chat grew even more vicious.

Nan Zhi remained unfazed.

"Thank you."

Failing to get the reaction he’d hoped for, the host didn’t delay any longer and quickly moved on to the interview.

"Are you two confident about the experience ahead?"

Nan Zhi: "Yes."

Nan Yi: "No."

They were completely out of sync from the get-go.

The atmosphere turned a little awkward.

The host immediately shifted the focus to Nan Yi.

"It looks like you and your mom feel differently. Why aren’t you confident? Don’t you believe in your mom?"

Nan Zhi shot the host a deep, meaningful look.

Somehow, despite being a veteran who’d seen it all, the host felt a chill creep up his spine.

Thankfully, Nan Zhi didn’t interject.

With a placid expression on his little face, Nan Yi answered succinctly,

"It’s not that."

The host braced himself and pressed on.

"If you were to give your mom a score out of ten, what would you give her?"

"A ten."

"What do you think about your mom being an actress?"

"It’s fine."

"..."

Nan Yi didn’t fall for any of the host’s series of loaded questions.

His attitude, however, was a little cold, like a sesame-filled rice ball frozen stiff.

It was a stark contrast to the endearingly childish answers of the three kids before him.

The audience didn’t like it either, and the comments grew critical:

[This kid is way too precocious. He feels so scheming.]

[So composed? The show’s crew must have rehearsed with him. This is definitely special treatment!]

[He would have been better off just staying silent like last time. What are these answers?]

[Everything about him, from start to finish, screams one word: Fake!]

...

In reality, they had arrived in a rush, so Nan Yi hadn’t done any rehearsal at all. He was completely improvising.

Seeing how his answers were completely airtight, leaving no room to pry, the host was getting anxious. He posed a pointed question:

"Do you ever miss your dad, sweetie?"

The studio fell silent.

Everyone knew Nan Zhi was a single mother. What was the host trying to imply?

A chill entered the eyes of Nan Zhi, who had been mostly silent. She covered her microphone and said to her son,

"You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to."

Nan Yi gave a subtle pout.

Then, he looked at the host, his large, dark eyes wide open.

"Do you have a dad?"

The host, as if reading the mockery in Nan Yi’s eyes, nodded instinctively.

"Of course I do! I..."

"Oh. I don’t."

Nan Yi bluntly exposed the host’s malice, adding an explanation for good measure,

"I just thought you didn’t know, mister, so I wanted to make sure I told you."

Nan Zhi couldn’t help but smile. She naturally and affectionately raised her hand to pat the back of Nan Yi’s head.

Nan Yi’s back went completely stiff.

But his expression remained impassive, so at first glance, the change went unnoticed.

In the livestream chat, some people finally started to speak up for them:

[People keep saying the crew is biased towards Nan Zhi and Nan Yi, but I’m getting the complete opposite impression.]

[That was really over the line. At the end of the day, Nan Yi is only four and a half. Is it necessary to open old wounds in front of the child?]

[I’m also from a single-parent family. Someone asked me that once, and I slapped him so hard he was looking for his teeth on the floor.]

[Trash-talk Nan Zhi all you want, but have some decency when it comes to the kid.]

...

Unfortunately, the voices defending the mother and son were few, and they were quickly drowned out by a flood of new insults.

And with that, the interview concluded.

During the parent-child games that followed, the production team didn’t pull any more stunts.

Finally, the filming for the pilot episode was drawing to a smooth close, and it was time for the drawing.

The host announced, "In this box are four different identity cards. There are some relatively good ones and some especially bad ones. To be fair, we’ll decide by drawing lots. What you draw will determine your living standard from now on! So, be sure to choose carefully!"

The tension in the air instantly ratcheted up.

Even the audience couldn’t be bothered to insult Nan Zhi anymore, instead cheering for the contestants they supported.

Following the order of appearance, Nan Zhi was the last to draw.

As she reached into the box, her fingers brushed against a single card.

’Fair?’

A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched Nan Zhi’s lips.

’She knew that no matter when her turn was, this was the only card she would ever draw.’

The host announced, "Contestants, please hold on to your identity cards. You are not allowed to trade them! And to our audience, don’t go anywhere! Tune into the individual livestreams, where we’ll reveal the results in two hours!"

As his voice faded, the cameras shut off, and the livestream was temporarily suspended.

Nan Zhi flipped over the identity card—[Night Market Snack Stall Owner].

She first raised an eyebrow in slight surprise, then chuckled softly.

The smile that bloomed from the corners of her eyes was like a night-blooming cereus, slowly unfurling.

-

There were two hours until the next livestream.

Nan Zhi saw the other three contestants and their children gathered in the large backstage lounge, talking amongst themselves while pointedly ignoring her and Nan Yi.

’She didn’t try to join them and invite a snub, nor did she think there was anything wrong with their behavior.’

’After all, they had made a gesture of goodwill yesterday. It was the original "Nan Zhi" who had kissed up to the powerful and kicked down the weak, treating the most famous one, Fu Chao, completely differently from the other two!’

’So it was only natural that she’d earned their resentment and been ostracized.’

Nan Zhi merely glanced curiously at the two little Cubs playing a game in the corner—Xie An’an and Qi Zhang.

’According to the Tactician’s memories, this novel, titled *Top-Tier Couple*, told the story of an award-winning actor and a popular starlet who meet on a reality show with their kids. After they each hit a low point in their careers, they meet again at the top and fall madly in love.’

’The main villain, Nan Yi, was gloomy, paranoid, and ruthless, with an unrequited obsession for the female lead.’

’...What a dramatic love story.’

Except, the female lead, Xie An’an, was four years old.

The male lead, Qi Zhang, was five.

And her own little villain-in-the-making, her Cub, was four and a half.

’No matter how she looked at it, Nan Zhi found it hard to imagine their epic saga of love, hate, and revenge.’

’The only thing she could confirm was that this reality show, *Cub Observation Diary*, played a pivotal role in the novel. It was the first major story arc, so it was no wonder the Tactician had fought tooth and nail to get her into it.’

’Naturally, Nan Zhi had to be on high alert.’