Chapter 47

Qiao Huan was unusually worried as she tried to find a way to get more camera time for Bai Jike, who kept his head down and worked hard without ever speaking up.

This was even harder than investigating a case.

Ye Yiwei was anxious too, but... Zhuo Yang was standing right beside him.

It was one thing for Zhuo Yang to know who he was, but getting along with this rough, reckless brute was another matter entirely.

Still unaware that he had just enjoyed a brief burst of popularity, Zhuo Yang casually threw an arm around Ye Yiwei's shoulders. "What's wrong, brother?"

Ye Yiwei unobtrusively stepped half a pace back and helplessly raised an eyebrow toward the side, signaling for Big Pear to look.

Bai Jike had to slow down because he was looking after a child, and he was having a hard time managing everything on his own.

Ye Yiwei had meant for Zhuo Yang to keep an eye out so nothing went wrong.

But.

Zhuo Yang completely misunderstood him.

"Xiao Bai, I'll leave these two kids to you."

Zhuo Yang whisked a still-bewildered Constantine away from Qiao Huan and solemnly handed him over to Bai Jike.

Bai Jike, suddenly entrusted with a major responsibility: ...

Qiao Huan and Ye Yiwei: ???

But... maybe this could work?

"Oh, yay! The big demon king is finally gone!"

Xiaomi clapped her hands happily.

Xiaomi, the child Bai Jike and Ye Yiwei's team was responsible for, both respected and feared the cold, strict Ye Yiwei.

Having finally spotted someone her own age, she went right up to him without a trace of shyness.

Bai Jike crouched down and, drawing on the experience he had just gained looking after the children at Huixin, said earnestly, "You two need to get along, just like a graphics card and a fan, understand?"

Constantine nodded, while Xiaomi shook her head furiously.

Then Constantine, whom Qiao Huan had just pulled aside for a crash course in "Bai Jike's possible speech tactics 101," explained it to Xiaomi, and she finally understood.

The two children's relationship successfully took a step forward.

Bai Jike naturally had no idea that Qiao Huan, that old hand, had already read through his entire repertoire of speech tactics, and he smiled shyly.

He really was a communication genius.

Then he rubbed both their heads and picked up things that would be easy to light as he walked.

The two children were already very clever, and with Bai Jike's encouragement, they soon began to help.

The work wasn't difficult, and two neat bundles of firewood soon stood beside their little base.

Ye Yiwei hadn't been idle either; he found Zhuo Yang some work to do away from the cameras.

On top of that, he was particularly fixated on water, and seeing how deftly Bai Jike was handling the two children, he went with Zhuo Yang to check out the riverbank, where they accidentally managed to gather some river snails.

It wasn't even noon yet, but the scorching heat had already left many people drenched in sweat.

The adults might have been able to tough it out, but the children, who had been pampered since they were little, were as limp as loofahs wilted in the sun.

Seeing how listless the two children had become under the blazing sun, Bai Jike took them to sit in the shade of a tree.

Bai Jike casually plucked two blades of grass, and his nimble hands flew back and forth under the camera. Before long, he had woven a grasshopper and a rabbit.

Used to living in the city, they had never seen anyone turn scraps into treasures like this, and both immediately gazed at Bai Jike in admiration.

"Is this the little grasshopper Wild Grass?! Big brother, can you make me a cruise ship too?"

"I... I'll try. It might not look very good." Bai Jike's ears grew hot, and he plucked two more blades of grass.

"Big brother, you're so clever!"

Seeing this, Ye Yiwei chuckled inwardly.

While the camera was still trained on Bai Jike and the children, Ye Yiwei wore a slightly puzzled expression as he held out several of the river snails in his basin to Bai Jike.

"The river snails I found just now seem different from the others. Take a look..."

As soon as Bai Jike saw what was in Ye Yiwei's basin, his previously somewhat reserved expression turned serious.

"Brother Ye, where did you find these?"

"Right by the river."

"Does the production team have a lighter? Sorry for the trouble, but could I borrow it?" Bai Jike asked, turning his head.

After filming him for so long, the production team had come to understand that Bai Jike was somewhat socially anxious.

Today was the first time they had heard him say so much so fluently in front of the camera.

The cameraman seized the opportunity and aimed the lens at the utterly unremarkable snail, waiting for Bai Jike to explain.

"Isn't that just a river snail? I've seen one in a book," Xiaomi said, leaning forward.

"Look closely. This snail isn't the kind of river snail we normally eat. It's an apple snail, which can be extremely destructive to the environment."

"Look here..." As Bai Jike spoke, he took out one river snail and one apple snail from Ye Yiwei's catch.

"A river snail's spiral is cone-shaped, while an apple snail looks flattened from the side."

"Then... does that mean we can't eat it?"

"If you really can't find any other food, it can serve as food in a pinch," Bai Jike explained patiently.

"But... apple snails must be cooked at a high temperature before they can be eaten. Otherwise, the parasites inside them are very likely to invade the human body and cause various diseases."

"And apple snails have a habit of eating rice leaves... It looks like they've invaded these waters."

As he spoke, Bai Jike looked at the surrounding area.

The water here wasn't clear, making it just right for apple snails to grow.

"You know quite a lot about these things." Ye Yiwei and Qiao Huan exchanged a "plan worked" look and laughed together.

The two of them had just tagged Bai Jike in related information on Weibo yesterday. He must have seen it!

In fact, Bai Jike, who hadn't looked at Weibo at all, had simply recalled some unpleasant memories—

During one of his few outdoor training sessions, he had accidentally eaten just one apple snail mixed in with the river snails and spent three whole days in the hospital!

At the thought of the intense pain from his twisting stomach and **, Bai Jike's scalp went numb.

He looked down at the seemingly harmless apple snail in his hand and cursed inwardly, This thing is just like a scam organization. I'd recognize it even if it were reduced to ashes!

But he still stammered, "Mm... I saw one before, when I was traveling with my family."

"Hahahaha, he's so cute! What kind of new educational tool person is this? He's dead serious when he's explaining things, but he can barely speak when he's facing the camera."

"Am I the only one who thinks this is scripted? This is so awkward..."

"Thanks for the invite. I'm afraid you really are the only one."

Bai Jike stared intently at the apple snail sitting as quiet as a chicken in his hand.

It seemed this one hadn't started breeding yet. Once breeding season arrived, those densely packed pink snail eggs...

A wave of nausea hit Bai Jike, and he refused to think about it any further.

Suddenly, Bai Jike felt something wet on his hand.

Perhaps because the apple snail had been out of the water too long, some mucus suddenly oozed from a gap in its shell.

Pink, shell-less eggs the size of grains of millet came spilling out in a crowd, sticking directly to his hand.

"Aaaah! My trypophobia is going to make me faint!!"

"Blech... I really admire Xiao Bai for staying Still as a Mountain. I'll go throw up first, out of respect."

"Even a handsome guy can't overcome how disgusting that thing is. I'm out."

The camera was too close, and the livestream chat filled with wails.

The director sitting in front of the monitor felt her temples throb, and most of the crew following along turned pale too.

Only the cameraman in front of them continued to hold up his camera with professional dedication.

Of course, that was only because the camera was too expensive for him to afford to replace.

What he feared had come true!

In that instant, Bai Jike could no longer register any information from the outside world.

His round eyes went wide, and his face turned pale.

Bai Jike instinctively wanted to fling the revolting thing away, but then he suddenly remembered that these snail eggs were exceptionally resilient and had caused countless people to fall ill.

A sense of duty suddenly took over. Bai Jike steadied himself and forced himself to say:

"Brother Ye... c-could you get me a piece of cardstock..."

"No problem."

Ye Yiwei immediately brought over the cardstock and the lighter.

Bai Jike, who loathed the thing with every fiber of his being, wasted no words and stuck all the snail eggs on his hand onto the cardstock bearing an inscription.

Then he put them together with the mother apple snail, found an open patch of ground, and set the harmful thing and the eggs alight.

When the last flicker of flame had stopped dancing, Bai Jike and Ye Yiwei both checked the paper they had just burned for any remaining embers that hadn't been put out.

The cameraman was also conscientious, providing a shot of the fully extinguished fire.

Only then did Bai Jike belatedly realize that he was still on a livestream.

His ears reddened slightly, and he instinctively wanted to hide from the camera, but remembering what he had just done, he couldn't help adding:

"Everyone... please d-don't light fires in the wild if you can avoid it."

"If... if you're in the habit of camping outdoors, th-the... um..."

Perhaps sensing the expectant gazes behind the screen, Bai Jike felt inexplicably anxious, and his brain's CPU nearly overloaded.

The more anxious he became, the less he could think of a way to address the fans in the livestream.

"What's wrong? Did he forget his lines..."

"Call me big sister. If you don't like that, 'friends' works too, hahaha."

"Is it that hard to think of something to call us? Come to my place and I'll teach you (doge for protection)."

Bai Jike couldn't see the teasing in the livestream chat. Looking at the dark camera lens, he felt like an ant on a hot pan.

He grabbed a fistful of his hair, and suddenly a flash of inspiration crossed his mind.

"Right! Comrades, remember that after you're done using a fire, you must put the flames out to avoid causing forest fires, wildfires, and other man-made disasters."

Bai Jike spoke with a solemn expression.

I'm so clever, Bai Jike thought with an inward chuckle.

"Hahahahaha... I really didn't want to laugh, but he actually called me 'comrade'!"

"Why is he so cute?! He's so efficient when he's doing things, but he stammers whenever he speaks..."

"I didn't expect him to be so young and yet know so much about this. What company is he an artist with? Sisters, point me in the right direction, please."

Watching Bai Jike finally muster the courage to face the camera, Ye Yiwei suddenly felt the gratification of seeing his own son grow up.

Very good, Bai Jike!

Keep this up, and you'll definitely become famous!

While most of the cameras were capturing Xiu Si and the others, a broadcast director wearing a staff badge quietly approached A-Yi and A-Er.

"Brother A-Yi... the discussion under the topic is still mostly about those few."

A-Yi gave a cold snort and said through gritted teeth, "It's fine. Let's see how much longer they can keep hopping around."

"This time, we'll make them our stepping stones," A-Er said coldly.

Looking at the ambitious pair, the staff member could never have imagined that they were actually trembling with fear inside.

Wuwuwu, before, I just thought Qiao Huan was scary, and then I thought Constantine was scary too. How come even Bai Jike, who's always so quiet, is this scary now?!

Elsewhere, Constantine, who had watched the other children help their proxy parents catch fish and shrimp, could no longer sit still.

While Bai Jike was fixing Xiaomi's hair, he took a small bucket the production team had prepared especially for the children and walked to the riverbank.

But just as he was about to catch something from the river as he had that day, whispers on the wind carried words to his ears that made his head feel as if it would split open.

"I don't know what's gotten into Producer Fan, insisting on sending her child to suffer in a place like this."

"You don't know? Fan Hui is already preparing to file for bankruptcy! I reckon she just wants to use her child to get one last wave of attention."

"Oh... now I remember. Doesn't she have a movie coming out soon? The projections aren't looking good?"

"Is she having her child play up his misery on the show to ride one last rebound, then boost her movie's box office?"

"What a heartless mother. She'll do anything for her movie."

"Hey, are you done? Let's go, or the director will start yelling again in a minute..."

The two voices grew more and more distant, but Constantine's vision blurred.

Bank... bankruptcy?

He was simply too clever.

Clever enough to realize clearly how unusually Mom had been treating him lately.

So, Mom has been willing to come close to me lately only because I can bring her attention?

No...

The two people's words rooted Constantine to the spot.

Dreamship's lifeless eyes and arm that would never move again flooded uncontrollably into his mind.

He couldn't help recalling those nights when he had no one for company.

The only warmth was nowhere near him.

Darkness seized his heart, and even breathing brought a stabbing pain like a knife.

Mom...

Tears had soaked Constantine's face without him noticing, and he instinctively wanted to go in search of that sliver of warmth.

But his foot slipped, and he fell straight into the river.

"Ah—!" Xiaomi, having spotted Constantine, screamed and covered her eyes.

"Constantine!"

Bai Jike had just stood up to stretch his limbs when he saw Constantine fall into the river.

He saw Constantine struggling in the water and, after estimating the river's depth at that spot, dumped all the river snails out of the small basin in front of him and dashed to the bank.

"What kind of script is this now? Somebody hurry and save him!!!"

"Has the production team gone mad? They actually let a child fall into the river?!"

"It was probably an accident... Could you stop making everything into a conspiracy?"

"That's hard to say. Don't you know the theme song Xiu Si sang was for one of Fan Hui's rivals? Maybe they're using the kid to stir up some publicity."

"What's he doing with that basin?"

Amid the uproar in the livestream, someone finally noticed something odd.

The other three, who had been searching for ingredients in the distance while secretly keeping an eye on Bai Jike, couldn't help but have their pupils contract when they saw Constantine fall into the water.

The livestream was in a heated uproar, but Bai Jike had no time to think about any of it.

Once he had located Constantine, he grabbed the basin and jumped straight into the water.

"Can you speak? Can you move? If you can, move your fingers!" Bai Jike flailed twice in the rushing river and swam to his side.

Constantine's fingers twitched weakly, and his will to survive made him cling tightly to Bai Jike's arm.

Seeing how pale he was, Bai Jike knew he had exhausted his strength struggling earlier.

Luckily, at least he could still hear what was being said...

"It's all right. I'm here to save you."

Bai Jike turned the basin upside down on the water, letting Constantine lie with his upper body over it to stay afloat.

He himself pushed Constantine from behind, swimming toward the riverbank.

"So the basin was for the kid to hold on to?!"

"That looked so professional. What did Bai Jike do before this?"

"Whoa, I thought Xiao Bai was the skinny, weak type, but I didn't expect him to be so well built!"

"Hahaha, there's not a single member of Xiu Si with a bad body. Welcome aboard, sis—time to catch up!"

As soon as the two came ashore, the production team wrapped them up tight in towels.

Qiao Huan, who had also rushed to the bank, picked Constantine up and helped him cough out the water before letting him lie down and rest.

"Are you okay?" Bai Jike, filled with guilt, leaned close to ask.

Constantine pressed his lips tightly together and said nothing.

"Oh dear... how could you let a child run around by himself?"

"You're so competitive, but what does that have to do with the child? Now look at him... tsk, tsk, tsk. Poor thing."

A-Yi and A-Er stood to one side, speaking with false concern. However bad their acting and however afraid they were inside, after spending so many years in the entertainment industry, their performance at that moment was first-rate, as though their hearts ached for Constantine.

Constantine still said nothing and even closed his eyes slightly.

Given this child's personality, it was far too unusual for him not to fire back at them...

Qiao Huan knew he was probably feeling unwell, so he didn't press him.

He merely turned a fierce look on the pair.

A-Yi and A-Er shuddered at once.

But that also confirmed it for them.

It seemed betting on the relationship between Constantine and his mom had indeed been the right move.

Actually, all it would take was a single word from him now to clear Bai Jike's name.

But... he wasn't going to open his mouth.

"Ah, he's still just a little kid," A-Yi sighed.

In the livestream viewers' eyes, Constantine's behavior now was tantamount to admitting that what had just happened was because he had done something he hadn't wanted to do.

That was why he resisted answering Qiao Huan's questions, even though they had been getting along well just a little while ago.

"Does that mean... Xiao Bai asked the kid to do something where the camera couldn't see?"

"I think I saw Xiao Bai say something to him just now..."

"I think I saw it too..."

Qiao Huan looked down at Constantine, who had sustained a few bruises while struggling in the water, and signaled for Zhuo Yang to cover the cameraman's lens.

"Xiao Feng, take Constantine and Xiaomi to the hospital for a checkup. Let's end today's livestream here."

The director knew this was a fairly serious incident. After closing the livestream, he had the public relations team write an announcement and put it on a scrolling display.

The viewers were also a little worried about the clever little fellow and said they wanted to hear how he was doing later.

But some people had already noticed the scattered bruises on Constantine's fair skin.

"Those of you above, stop it. Whatever happened, you can't hold them up from getting medical care..."

"Sigh... Xiao Bai really did fail to keep an eye on him this time."

"Move along, everyone. Let's wait for the official announcement."

"I told you this was a publicity stunt. Just wait... maybe Fan Hui will even have to thank Bai Jike for his heroic rescue!"

Bai Jike trudged along dejectedly, following close behind the staff member carrying Constantine.

"Hmph, he failed to watch the child himself. Now he's putting on a show of being terribly worried. Who's that act for?"

A-Yi looked at the four people following close behind Constantine and sneered.

"That's enough. Don't think nobody saw the dirty things you did just now!"

Xiao Yue, who had long since grown fed up with the pair's behavior, charged forward and pointed a finger at them as she berated them.

"And you and your manager are squeaky clean?"

A-Er raised an eyebrow and laughed instead.

Having secretly witnessed Xiao Yue's private affairs that day, they had long held something over her and weren't afraid of his accusations in the least.

"You..." Xiao Yue pressed her red lips tightly together, nearly unable to resist the urge to lay hands on them right there.

"Comrade Xiao Yue." Qiao Huan grabbed Xiao Yue's wrist just in time.

The anger hadn't left Xiao Yue's face, but she calmed down.

"...I just saw them whispering with a staff member, and she even showed them her phone."

After saying that to the four of them, Xiao Yue shot the pair a fierce glare. Seemingly eager to leave this place as well, she hurried into the van.

"Thank you." Qiao Huan knew what was going on now and immediately gave instructions. "Xiao Bai, go to the hospital with Brother Ye and keep an eye on the children."

At some point, Qiao Huan had become the backbone of Xiu Si.

He wouldn't allow himself to panic.

But Xiao Bai didn't move.

His eyes were full of disappointment and self-reproach.

"After all, Xiaomi was just frightened, and Constantine's condition also calls for someone attentive to look after him." Qiao Huan patted Bai Jike's arm and handed him a bottle of water. "This is Felix Felicis. Take some good luck to them, okay?"

Bai Jike's eyes came back into focus. A moment later, he drained the bottle of water in one go.

Only then did Qiao Huan breathe a sigh of relief.

In fact, even he didn't realize how much his manner and expression at that moment resembled Qiao Tang's after she became captain of the Criminal Investigation Department.

"Then... what about you?" Bai Jike, water still dripping from the ends of his hair, came back to his senses and asked.

"Don't we still have people waiting for us here?"

Qiao Huan's expression turned cold. His gaze swept straight over A-Yi and A-Er, sharp as a knife and fine as a thread. They stood to one side with their arms folded, lingering instead of leaving.

He had long known that people in the entertainment industry would stop at nothing and show no humanity in their pursuit of fame and fortune.

But...

None of this should ever have been aimed at an innocent child!

Qiao Huan's gaze grew colder.

"We'll take good care of Constantine and Xiaomi." Ye Yiwei trusted Qiao Huan's judgment completely. He gave the pair a sharp, cutting look before getting into the production team's car bound for the hospital.

Under that gaze, A-Yi and A-Er shuddered involuntarily and shrank back a little.

But when they pictured themselves making a smooth comeback and filling their basins and bowls with money, the two quickly held their heads high again and looked at the two solitary figures of Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang with smug satisfaction.

However frightening Xiu Si might be, could they be more frightening than the resentment of spending twenty years in the entertainment industry without becoming famous?

More frightening than those sleepless nights spent reading malicious comments, or the greasy hands of potbellied investors?

A-Yi and A-Er had made up their minds, and any sense of morality had long been cast behind them.

This was their battle with their backs to the river. As long as they won, everything that had come before would be rewritten.

There were more than one or two entertainers in the industry who had become wildly popular despite the dirt on them, so why couldn't the two brothers join their ranks?

"Since you've already guessed what we're after, we brothers won't waste words." A-Yi said, "Right here on this land, let's settle it with a livestream. What do you say?"

No cameras were trained on Qiao Huan or Zhuo Yang at that moment, and only then did the former reveal his true expression.

"All right."

Qiao Huan's voice was like snow flying beneath a scorching sun, carrying an unhesitating pressure that frightened even Zhuo Yang a little.

Not far away.

A woman wearing sunglasses watched the scene, her vivid red lips curving into a lovely smile.

"Have the legal team prepare the documents. The trash doesn't have much time left," she told her assistant.