In the Years When I Was a Father

Chapter 148: Flirtatious Father of the Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Role (2)

Qi Sheng had no idea how many loops his silly daughter’s brain had gone through before landing on such a peculiar conclusion again.

Looking at the girl in front of him—though she’d reined in her attitude a lot, she still carried that proud, princess-like air—he finally decided he needed to persuade this foolish child to quit the entertainment industry.

Other people enter showbiz with clear goals—either for fame or for fortune. But this silly girl? She was charging straight down the path of a cannon-fodder female side character. The only reason she entered the industry was because she couldn’t stand seeing this world’s heroine, Chu Yi, basking in fame and fan adoration.

Unlike in other worlds, this lifetime, his daughter had neither been reborn nor granted a golden finger. And the protagonist of the world just happened to be her long-time nemesis—perfectly positioned to slap her face at every turn.

The whole feud between the two had been one-sidedly started by Qi Xinglin. They had entered college the same year, both famously beautiful—one was pure, gentle, and approachable, while the other was dazzling, proud, and born into wealth. Unless someone had ulterior motives, most normal people gravitated toward someone of their own social class, like Chu Yi.

So during university, where Qi Xinglin thought she would dominate the campus, she was stunned to find that not only did the average male student prefer Chu Yi, but even Xiao Ge, the handsome campus idol two years their senior, gave special attention to Chu Yi.

This drove Qi Xinglin crazy. On one hand, she hated Chu Yi for always stealing her spotlight. On the other, she was desperate to prove her own charm. She started subtly and not-so-subtly flirting with Xiao Ge. But things didn’t go as planned. Instead of being moved by her haughty attempts, Xiao Ge avoided her like the plague. After being ignored and distanced multiple times, Qi Xinglin snapped. How could she tolerate that?

Back then, things were still relatively simple. With her natural advantages, even if Xiao Ge didn’t fall for her, plenty of guys and girls still flattered and fawned over her. So although Qi Xinglin occasionally couldn’t stand Chu Yi, it never reached the point where she actively clashed with her every time.

At the time, Qi Xinglin had still been proud enough to think that stooping to compete with Chu Yi would make her look bad. But after graduation, she spent two years partying recklessly. When she finally looked back, the “little sparrow” she once looked down on had transformed into a rising star with thousands of fans.

At that moment, something must have snapped in Qi Xinglin’s brain. She gave up the nightlife and insisted on joining the entertainment industry. She claimed it was to “make a name for herself,” but in truth, she just couldn’t stand how carefree Chu Yi’s life had become. Chu Yi had risen to fame through a xianxia web drama, so Qi Xinglin immediately wanted to act too. Heaven only knows how much acting talent a film studies slacker actually had, but her goal was clear: she wanted to win Best Actress.

After conning her mom into backing her first project, Qi Xinglin spent months giddy with joy, daydreaming about success. But in just a few short months, before the dream could come true, she became a laughingstock across the entire internet.

Qi Xinglin had no idea who was behind the smear campaign, but she’d long developed the habit of blaming everything—good or bad—on Chu Yi. So with just a bit of prodding, she immediately pointed the finger at her old rival. It was a textbook cannon-fodder mentality.

Qi Sheng knew that no matter how much he said, the girl would stubbornly cling to her own ideas. So he simply said, “Just stay home these next few days. I’ll investigate things first, and then I’ll decide what to do with you.”

“Dad, isn’t this already a done deal? What’s there to investigate? The most important thing right now is exposing Chu Yi’s true face—and making sure she can never stay in the entertainment industry again!”

Hearing that her father was taking charge, Qi Xinglin—who’d just moments ago been nervous and afraid he’d be mad—suddenly lit up with pride. She thought he was going to serve justice on her behalf. With all sorts of new schemes brewing in her mind, she was just about to share them when her father, who had been calmly sitting on the sofa, suddenly darkened his expression.

Qi Xinglin instinctively shrank back and blinked, looking at Qi Sheng with innocent eyes.

“If you’ve got nothing better to do, come to my company and be my secretary. Or go help your mother as her assistant. If I find out you’re wandering elsewhere, be careful—every single one of your cards will be frozen.”

“Dad!”

“Calling your mom won’t help either.”

His daughter was soft and spoiled—if not kept in check, she’d be running wild. So Qi Sheng decisively used financial pressure to tame the little princess, and successfully shut down her tantrum. Then, wearing a purposely stern face, he turned and left the living room.

When he reached the garage and got into his car, planning to head to the office, he received a call from Lian Jing.

The two had divorced peacefully years ago, and they still occasionally kept in touch for their daughter’s sake. So Qi Sheng wasn’t surprised to see a call from his ex-wife.

“Qi Sheng, come home in the next few days. Linlin’s feeling a little wronged, and I’m worried she might throw a tantrum.”

Qi Sheng handed over the wheel to the driver, moved to the back seat, and only after sitting down did he respond, “I just left home. I saw Xiao Lin—there’s nothing serious going on.”

He signaled the driver to start the car and continued while holding his phone, “Have you found the person who spread the dirt? Why didn’t you clarify things for Xiao Lin right away?”

Lian Jing had only managed to investigate everything thoroughly this morning. However, she hadn’t immediately instructed her assistant to do PR cleanup for her daughter, because she was starting to regret letting the girl enter the entertainment industry in the first place.

Having been in the industry for years, Lian Jing knew better than anyone how deep the waters ran. Lately, she’d been busy planning an international fashion gala and hadn’t had time to consider what her daughter truly wanted. When Qi Xinglin suddenly came to her saying she wanted to become an actress, Lian Jing had initially objected. But after being pestered for a while—and being caught up in her own work—she reluctantly handed over a resource just to placate her.

At the time, she thought her daughter was finally developing some ambition. But now that the scandal had erupted and she understood the full context, she realized her daughter didn’t seem interested in acting at all.

“I wanted this incident to make Linlin regret entering the entertainment circle. Her thinking is too simplistic. She’s never suffered a setback or faced hardship. She can’t handle being ignored or mistreated—she’s just not cut out for this.”

Qi Sheng agreed with Lian Jing’s assessment of their daughter. Simply put, the girl had a “princess life” but a “glass heart.” That kind of personality was perfectly fine for remaining a pampered daughter of the Qi family, but in the chaotic entertainment industry, she was bound to suffer.

The silly girl only saw the side of Chu Yi that was admired and loved by others. She didn’t seem to notice the flood of snarky and critical comments under Chu Yi’s Weibo posts from netizens who constantly mocked or nitpicked at her.

There are even people who dislike money in this world, let alone a public figure. When fame and fortune come hand in hand, a person needs a heart that’s steady in the face of praise or blame.

Others are forced to toughen up, but Qi Xinglin, who grew up in a bubble of comfort and indulgence, had no need to stubbornly push herself into something as unrewarding and harsh as this just to satisfy a moment of competitiveness.

Qi Sheng said, “Yeah, I talked with her earlier. Turns out she doesn’t even like acting. The brat is just playing around. I’ve already decided—after a while, I’ll bring her into the company with me, or let her work as your assistant.”

Lian Jing was a little surprised to hear his plan. It had been ages since she and Qi Sheng sat down for a proper meal. Both of them had their own careers and personal lives. Lian Jing wasn’t exactly the model mother either, so she never really had the right to criticize Qi Sheng for how much he did or didn’t care about their daughter.

She had heard a fair share of gossip about Qi Sheng’s love life, but since she was busy with her own work and their daughter seemed to be living well, she hadn’t worried too much. But now, hearing Qi Sheng making such detailed plans made her feel a bit dazed. In the blink of an eye, it had been eighteen years since their divorce, and the once innocent little girl had grown up.

Lian Jing didn’t object to Qi Sheng’s decision and said, “In that case, I’ll have someone clean up the online mess later.”

Aside from their daughter, the two had no other topics to discuss. Once their plans were agreed upon, they ended the call.

Lian Jing sat half-reclined on the bed, staring at childhood photos of her daughter on her phone, lost in thought. Her boyfriend, who had just finished washing up, walked out of the bathroom and was surprised to see her in a daze.

“What’s wrong? Still worried about Xinglin? If you really can’t bear it, why not just step in and handle it for her?” Lian Jing’s boyfriend was a well-known director. Though he hadn’t produced much in recent years, he had quite a few award-winning films under his belt. His status in the entertainment industry was unshakable. To him, this situation wasn’t a big deal, so he didn’t quite understand Lian Jing’s hesitation.

Lian Jing glanced at her boyfriend, then shook her head with a sigh. “I’ll handle it in a bit. I just suddenly realized how fast time flies.”

The two of them went on to have a deep conversation about the fleeting nature of time.

Back at the Qi house, after seeing Qi Sheng leave, Qi Xinglin angrily tossed her hair and headed upstairs. When she passed the butler Song Yao, she couldn’t help but pout and act cute: “Uncle Song, you’re still the best! I feel like eating mango…”

Song Yao was easily coaxed into laughter by the girl’s sweet words and cheerfully went off to prepare fruit for her. Thinking about the snacks coming her way, Qi Xinglin happily went upstairs, flopped onto her bed, and started zoning out.

She didn’t even like Xiao Ge that much. In truth, she loved herself the most. The reason she’d tried to flirt with Xiao Ge now and then was purely to steal him over to her side—not because she had feelings. But that blockhead still hadn’t changed since college. When Chu Yi came to visit the set, he’d beam with joy, but when acting alongside her, he was all business!

Feeling irritated again, Qi Xinglin frowned at the online criticism. This entertainment industry… didn’t seem fun at all!

As long as the scene had any level of difficulty, Qi Xinglin would end up with multiple NGs (no-goods/takes), so just thinking about the fear of reshooting over and over made her waver again.

Maybe I should just become a variety show celebrity?

But then Qi Xinglin felt a bit unwilling. She thought of how people praised Chu Yi’s acting skills, which snapped her out of her daze. She quickly got up to find the acting textbooks she bought during her short-lived effort to improve. Unfortunately, after digging them out, she only looked at the covers before completely losing interest.

Qi Xinglin pouted in boredom. “There are so many rules just to act in a drama. Maybe I shouldn’t be an actress at all!”

Having made up her mind to quit, she started worrying again about how to outshine Chu Yi. But before she could come up with any ideas, Song Yao entered with a tray of fruit and snacks, and she immediately forgot all her previous troubles and beamed with joy.

Since she had just eaten breakfast, Song Yao didn’t bring too much fruit, but even so, Qi Xinglin was thrilled — she finally had something else to do!

With her mouth busy, Qi Xinglin remembered her new career goal: becoming a variety show regular. So she took the fruit platter and went to the home theater. Sitting casually on a soft cushion, half-leaning against a giant teddy bear, she started watching variety shows.

Qi Xinglin hadn’t paid much attention to variety shows before. After graduation, she preferred traveling, shopping, and taking beautiful photos with her girlfriends. Since she didn’t know much about the content of these shows, she picked the one with the highest popularity and started watching out of curiosity.

This show was a lighthearted, game-based competition with plenty of outdoor challenges between two teams. It was full of laughs and entertainment.

The show began, and Qi Xinglin watched with satisfaction. “Not bad,” she thought. “Looks like doing variety shows should be easy!”

Having discovered a new career path, she squinted her eyes happily, took a bite of mango, and planned to ask her mom for some resources later.

However, just as the thought crossed her mind, the punishment segment of the game left her dumbfounded.

Wait — what’s with repeatedly being thrown into the water?!

She suddenly recalled her miserable experiences of being dunked over and over during filming due to the director’s endless retakes. The smile that had just bloomed on Qi Xinglin’s face slowly froze.

“This must be a one-off,” she told herself. She quickly skipped ahead a few episodes, only to be hit with despair — the supposed glamorous celebrities were either wrestling in mud pits or running under the blazing sun on city streets. They even had to experience basic physical labor firsthand, like fishing trash out of stinky sewers.

Qi Xinglin was utterly stunned by the contents of the show. She stared blankly at the screen, watching those stars work hard on their missions, then curiously turned on the live comments.

Qi Xinglin thought these inhumane challenges would surely provoke the netizens’ outrage and rejection. But what shocked her even more was that those silly fans who usually wrote things like “you’re my little sweetheart” in comment sections were now laughing their heads off and praising the idols for being dedicated!

Qi Xinglin: …

She suddenly felt like her entire worldview was wrong. “Aren’t these people your idols? Why aren’t they throwing a fit when they suffer?!”

She was especially shocked by two female guests on the show, both of whom acted like tough girls. Qi Xinglin’s jaw practically dropped.

“Are fan expectations this high now? Just being a quiet, gentle little fairy isn’t good enough anymore?!”