Shen Yuze knew that plenty of rich kids were indeed chasing entertainment careers, publicly calling it “the kid messing around as an artist,” but it was all capital maneuvering behind the scenes—the waters ran deep. With Shen Yuze’s looks, debuting would be a breeze. Backed by the Shen Family’s massive tree, a major award within a decade would be effortless if handled right.
But—what did that have to do with him?
Shen Yuze had plenty of life plans, but becoming a celebrity wasn’t one of them.
Especially not by lowering himself to join her company!
Had Shen Guoning’s favoritism toward her gone to her head already?
Shen Yuze said coldly: “Aunt ‘Wang,’ instead of wasting time on me, you should focus on yourself.”
“…?”
“Aren’t you tired, worrying about so much while pregnant?”
Wang Shiya froze. The baby in her belly was already over four months along, and these four months had been exceptionally grueling. Shen Guoning was nearing seventy—natural conception at that age was impossible; it required medical intervention. She’d begged and wheedled endlessly to convince him to give her a child, but his sperm motility was poor. They’d burned through fortunes, and she’d endured countless ordeals, finally succeeding in implanting two embryos.
For the first three months, she hadn’t even dared to get out of bed, fearing any movement might cause a miscarriage. Only now, in the fourth month, could she venture out. She’d kept it airtight, not telling family or friends, yet Shen Yuze already knew! If he knew, then his mother Deng Hong must too. If Deng Hong found out, could her unborn child still be safe…?
With one simple sentence, Shen Yuze terrified Wang Shiya out of her wits. She imagined a slew of palace intrigue drama scenarios and lost all interest in pestering him about debuting.
Shen Yuze ignored her completely, brushing past without a glance. His mind was full of Lu Ping waiting at the auditorium entrance. If not for Wang Shiya’s nonsense, he would’ve seen Lu Ping five minutes ago.
The trophy in his arms felt heavy. Shen Yuze couldn’t wait to present it to his little prince.
Watching the teenager’s hurried departing back, Wang Shiya’s glamorous face twisted in rage.
She leaned against the wall, pondering alone for a moment before steeling her resolve. She pulled out her phone and dialed a number.
The first call didn’t connect. She waited patiently and dialed a second.
“—Hello, Xiaoya, what’s up?”
An elderly male voice came through.
At the sound, Wang Shiya softened her tone, cooing flirtatiously: “Can’t I call you even if there’s nothing wrong?”
A low cough came from the receiver, followed faintly by a secretary saying, “Shen Zong, it’s time for your medicine.”
Yes, the person on the other end was none other than Shen Yuze’s father, Shen Guoning.
Nearing seventy, with a head of white hair and wrinkles etching a stern, inscrutable face, no one knew what Shen Guoning was truly thinking. At his age, he should have handed over the company reins to his unpredictable heirs, yet his elder son and daughter clashed daily in brutal power struggles. He only intervened if things escalated enough to harm the business.
Even on a Sunday, Shen Guoning had no concept of weekends. He sat behind his massive desk, accepting the medicine from his secretary and swallowing it with water.
With the phone on speaker, it stayed silent. Wang Shiya, far away across Jiao River, didn’t dare interrupt.
Once the secretary left, Wang Shiya spoke again: “I saw Yuze today.”
Shen Guoning grunted in acknowledgment.
“He performed brilliantly in the competition and took first place.” Wang Shiya knew what he wanted to hear and reported dutifully. “You’ve praised his English before, and hearing it firsthand, it’s impressive… Even without me as a judge, he would’ve won.”
“I didn’t make you a judge to give him a backdoor.” Shen Guoning’s voice was low. “The child in your belly will be his sibling. Get to know each other; don’t let them grow distant.”
Hearing this, Wang Shiya’s heart ached bitterly.
No one knew that her role as judge in this English speech contest came directly from Shen Guoning’s orders. When the organizers first approached her, she’d wanted to decline—her pregnancy made her prone to spotting, so she preferred staying in. But Shen Guoning learned from the housekeeper that Shen Yuze was participating and insisted she judge.
The reason was simple: “You’ll all be family someday.”
Without that carrot dangling, why would Wang Shiya throw herself at Shen Yuze? Months ago, she never would’ve left the Capital for this godforsaken Jiao River!
When Shen Yuze inexplicably transferred to Jiao River, Shen Guoning had seemed indifferent, only sending the housekeeper along. But in truth, he’d been monitoring Shen Yuze’s every move in secret.
Shen Guoning had too many children. His eldest pair, over forty, had firmly entrenched themselves in the group’s leadership; the pair in Wang Shiya’s belly would likely live out their days as idle royalty. Only seventeen-year-old Shen Yuze was awkwardly positioned—too young to compete with his siblings if he entered the company soon, yet too talented to just buy off with a payout.
After all… Shen Guoning had always felt Shen Yuze was the child most like himself.
Shen Yuze was very smart, but precisely because he was too smart, Shen Guoning sometimes couldn’t fathom his thoughts.
On the phone, Wang Shiya chattered on with more flattery and coquetry, wheedling Shen Guoning into buying her things under the pretext of discomfort. He said: “Didn’t I already give you a card? Buy what you want; no need to ask.”
“But I have to ask you,” Wang Shiya replied. “If I just swipe it, it’s me buying; if I ask you first, then it’s a gift from you.”
She was adept at playing cute, and Shen Guoning knew she was buttering him up—and it worked.
Busy as he was, Shen Guoning wrapped up the call after a bit.
Before hanging up, Wang Shiya added: “Oh, right, I mentioned the debut thing to Yuze, but he’s not interested in my proposal.”
This wasn’t her own idea; she was just Shen Guoning’s puppet. He’d thought that if Shen Yuze was keen on entertainment, he could play around young, then Shen Guoning would set him up with a company—make movies, sign artists. If managed well, it was a solid path.
But Shen Yuze wasn’t interested.
“Not interested?” Shen Guoning asked. “Didn’t you say before that he registered some account online with a bunch of fans?”
The @fake-diaond account had been discovered by staff under Wang Shiya. Her MCN company had scouts trawling for talent online, signing and grooming them into influencers. During one search on a high school social platform, they found @fake-diaond. Unlike raw gems, this was a shining diamond! Handsome, young, rich—with a little push, he’d explode across the net!
The staff submitted @fake-diaond to Wang Shiya, asking if the boss wanted to sign him. Seeing the photo, she instantly recognized Shen Yuze!
Wang Shiya thought: The young master is still just a kid after all. Kids have vanity. Why else post photos online?
She’d reported it to Shen Guoning, intending it as fodder to trip up the young master. Unexpectedly, he hadn’t gotten angry. Instead: “He’s my son. If he wants entertainment, let him pursue it.”
And so, Wang Shiya had brought up debuting to Shen Yuze today.
Wang Shiya said on the phone, “Who knows what kids are thinking these days? Maybe he just wanted to share his life. It’s just that…”
“Just that?”
“N-Nothing.” Wang Shiya hesitated for a moment. “I must be overthinking it.”
She wasn’t sure if she should trust a woman’s sixth sense, but Wang Shiya always felt that there was something off about the @fake-diaond account. The photos posted were indeed of Shen Yuze, but some of the mood logs inside didn’t seem like they came from him.
The account had photos of the view from floor-to-ceiling windows, and the location matched Shen Yuze’s high-rise apartment. There was also a time when he shared a video of taking the cat he gave to school to the pet hospital, and the voice outside the video was unmistakably Shen Yuze’s.
But did Shen Yuze like mystery novels? Did Shen Yuze like chewy glutinous treats? Would Shen Yuze complain about the cafeteria auntie’s shaky hands?
…So weird.
Of course, these were just Wang Shiya’s personal guesses and couldn’t be taken as fact. After all, she wasn’t close to Shen Yuze. Maybe he seemed cold on the surface, but privately he was someone who loved chewy glutinous treats.
…
“Achoo—!”
Outside the auditorium, Lu Ping sneezed for no reason. It was late autumn, and the weather was chilly, especially at this time when the sun was about to set but hadn’t yet. Waves of cold air surged up, and Lu Ping was dressed lightly, so he couldn’t help shivering a few times.
After the event ended, Lu Ping politely declined invitations from Chen Miaomiao and the others, waiting alone outside the auditorium doors for Shen Yuze to come out.
He had just sent Shen Yuze a text message, but there was no reply—either he hadn’t seen it, or something was holding him up.
Lu Ping had just listened to that speech and was still full of excitement. He had a bellyful of words he wanted to say to Shen Yuze!
But Shen Yuze didn’t show up, no matter how long he waited left or right. Gradually, the heat in his heart dissipated… Damn, when was that guy coming out? He was about to turn into a popsicle prince!
Lu Ping found a spot out of the wind and squatted down. The school uniform jacket he was wearing belonged to Shen Yuze. School uniforms were loose-fitting to begin with, and since Shen Yuze was tall, the clothes were a full size larger on him. The baggy jacket gave a strong sense of security. Lu Ping squatted in the corner, tucking both knees into the jacket, zipping it up, and then pulling the hem all the way down to his ankles, leaving only a pair of sneakers exposed—ta-da! He had transformed from a little mouse into a fat penguin!
Penguin Pingping lowered his head and began poking at his phone.
Lu Ping: Shen Yuze, when are you coming out?
Lu Ping: Hurry up, I’m freezing to death!
Lu Ping: Before the little match girl froze to death, her wish was to eat roast turkey.
Lu Ping: Before I freeze to death, my wish is to see the champion trophy.
Lu Ping: Pitiful, weak, and cold.jpg
Lu Ping: …
Lu Ping: The user you have dialed has frozen to death. I am his smart housekeeper Pingping~ Please leave a message after the beep—!
Unfortunately, it was like throwing a stone into the sea.
With nothing to do, Penguin Pingping switched out of the messaging app and opened another one.
The app he chose was Partner.
This week, because of midterms, he hadn’t logged into the @fake-diaond account for a full week. Fans in the comments were asking where he had gone, and even his inbox was flooded with all sorts of greeting messages.
He first opened the inbox and replied to the fans who cared about him. Suddenly, his eyes landed on one message.
@SYMedia: Hello, I’m a talent scout from SY Media! Are you interested in signing with an MCN company? Your style is great. If interested, please contact VX: xxxxx…
Lu Ping: “…” Another spam message.
Ever since he created this account, every few days he would receive business cards from various MCN companies in the backend, hoping to sign “him.” Lu Ping ignored them all. He had never intended to make money from this account—he didn’t even run promoted ads, let alone sign with any company.
Lu Ping directly unfollowed and blocked the harassing account in one smooth motion, without even blinking.
After deleting it, Lu Ping stared blankly at the @fake-diaond account.
If it were the old him, he definitely would have posted a photo of Shen Yuze holding up the trophy on the podium by now… But now, he wasn’t sure if he should continue doing that.
Why had he created this account in the first place?
—Out of vanity, loneliness, and inferiority.
What he wanted to hold onto from beginning to end wasn’t the fleeting data or fans’ adoration, but the respect and affection he had never felt in real life.
But now, those things he once lacked were coming to him one by one.
The perfect moon he had once gazed up at, carrying moonlight so thick it couldn’t melt, had descended to his side. He discovered that the moon wasn’t so perfect after all—it had its waxing and waning, its various moods… But its imperfections were exactly what illuminated Lu Ping.
Lu Ping was no longer that vain, lonely, inferior kid.
Lu Ping had been filled by the moon.
He had also filled the moon.
So, did he… still need this account now?
