Chapter 36
Guan Miao saw that her daughter had struck up a conversation with Shen Tiantian and smiled, a hint of satisfaction in her eyes.
She looked up and secretly sized up Shen Xiuze, who was sitting on the sofa.
The first impression Shen Xiuze gave was that he was young and handsome, with a mature aura. Because he was accompanying his little brother to the recording today, his style of dress was also more casual.
Guan Miao wanted to get closer to Shen Xiuze, but he was frowning at his phone, seemingly replying to a message, his eyes tinged with a coldness that was inevitably intimidating.
After some thought, Guan Miao gave up and turned to talk to Shen Tiantian instead.
“What does Tiantian usually live stream?”
Guan Miao had just said that she had watched Shen Tiantian’s live stream, but now she was asking what he live streamed. The perfunctory meaning was indeed a bit obvious.
Shen Tiantian was still marveling at how many classes big sister Xixi had. Hearing Auntie Guan’s words, he scratched his chin and thought for a moment.
“I live stream hide-and-seek, building blocks, and eating delicious food, and I show everyone around the sunroom!”
Tiantian counted on his little fingers, his chubby little face beaming with happiness. He felt so amazing!
He had done so many things on the live stream!
Xixi listened to her little brother’s live stream content, and a hint of envy and longing appeared in her light-colored eyes.
She couldn’t help but whisper:
“That’s so nice. It sounds more interesting than mine. But little brother, if you don’t go to class, won’t you get scolded on the live stream?”
Guan Miao, beside her, shouted sternly:
“Xixi, watch your words!”
Xixi’s neck shrank, and she timidly took two steps back, not daring to speak anymore, and lowered her head.
Shen Tiantian was also startled by the shout. His watery eyes glanced at Auntie Guan, then at big sister Xixi.
“Why would I get scolded?”
Shen Tiantian, this little illiterate, had never understood the comments. Every time he live-streamed, he was immersed in the joy of playing games or pretending to be a little star and had no idea what the outside world thought of him.
But Guan Miao was a very materialistic person.
She was participating in this variety show not only to prepare for her comeback in the entertainment industry but also to pave the way for her daughter.
Xixi was going to develop in the entertainment industry in the future. This variety show was mainly live-streamed, so she naturally had to be careful with her words and actions, and there could not be the slightest mistake.
She had gone to great lengths to have Xixi perform musical instruments or dance in every live stream, wasn’t it to gain a reputation for being multi-talented?
But for some reason, the more she did this, the faster the audience left Xixi’s live stream.
Although she still had the support of Guan Miao’s former fans, after these two or three live streams, Xixi’s live stream data was already far behind Shen Tiantian’s.
Guan Miao became more and more anxious, and her attitude towards her daughter couldn’t help but become stricter.
“It’s nothing. Xixi was just joking. No one is scolding her.”
After Guan Miao finished speaking, the remaining two groups of guests also arrived.
These two groups, like Shen Tiantian, were also non-celebrity little guests.
One group was a white-collar mother with her daughter. Her daughter was the oldest of all the little guests, already seven and a half this year.
The last group was more special. It was a grandfather with his five- or six-year-old little grandson.
The little grandson was sturdy and strong, with a round, dark face. When he smiled, he revealed two small canine teeth. Seeing so many people, his expression was a bit shy.
The grandfather had a very optimistic and easygoing personality. Seeing the big stars he had seen on TV, he said with a smile:
“Hello, hello. We live far away, so we were a little late.”
Guan Miao was very good at socializing and quickly replied with a smile, “It’s okay, we just got here too.”
With so many people suddenly crowding into the studio, Shen Tiantian was confused for a moment. Afraid of getting lost in the crowd, he ran to find Shen Xiuze and tugged on the corner of his clothes.
Shen Xiuze was replying to a few work messages. The corner of his clothes was tugged by a small, chubby hand. He raised his eyebrows and looked at the owner of the small hand.
“Are you scared? Do you want big brother to hold you?”
Shen Tiantian’s eyes were bright and round. He shook his little head, but his hands wrapped around his big leg.
“I’m not scared.”
With that, Shen Tiantian looked up again, his watery eyes blinking, and two small red clouds appeared on his cheeks.
“The other wittle fwiends are not being held by their parents.”
Shen Xiuze understood. The little one was a little shy at suddenly seeing so many people.
Shen Xiuze reached out and ruffled his little brother’s soft hair, took his hand, and went forward to greet the other guest families.
Although Shen Xiuze was not a celebrity, he had deep-set features and a high nose bridge. His figure, backlit, was outlined with particular clarity.
Standing next to Qi Nanhuai, an idol who had debuted as a singer and dancer, he was not inferior in the slightest.
The other non-celebrity guests more or less knew his identity and were unconsciously a little nervous when facing him.
“Young Master Shen, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Qi Nanhuai. You must have heard of me.”
Qi Nanhuai had just finished a cover shoot and didn’t want to miss the opportunity to greet Shen Xiuze, so he squeezed in to exchange pleasantries.
Shen Xiuze nodded, his dark brows and eyes hiding an undeniable nobility and indifference.
“I’ve heard a little.”
With this sentence, Qi Nanhuai was already very satisfied.
Being able to talk to the future heir of the Shen family and gain some favor would make his future career path smoother.
Shen Xiuze saw that the other guests had not spoken, pressed his thin lips together, and continued:
“You can just call me by my name.”
The others nodded and politely exchanged names.
On the children’s side, it was much livelier than the adults’.
Although the two little girls were older, they were both very shy. Seeing a group of children, they nervously rubbed their little hands and didn’t dare to speak first.
Qi Nanhuai’s son, Zhaozhao, looked quite well-behaved, but his health seemed to be not very good, and his lips were a little pale.
The other child, from the countryside, had a dark little face that showed nervousness. Facing so many little celebrity guests, his usual lively demeanor was also restrained a lot.
Fortunately, there was Shen Tiantian, this cute little social butterfly.
He took out milk candies and chocolates from his pocket and distributed them to the older brothers and sisters one by one. With his baby-fat cheeks puffed out, he introduced himself to everyone:
“I’m Tiantian. I came with my big brother. This is my first time on a show!”
After thinking for a moment, he even bent his little chubby waist and bowed to his little friends.
“Please take good care of me.”
Qi Nanhuai’s son, Zhaozhao, pressed his lips into a smile, thinking that Tiantian was very interesting, and also said:
“My name is Zhaozhao. Please take good care of me too.”
With a topic, the children were like puppies let out of a cage, suddenly becoming noisy and lively.
“Me too! It’s not fun at all to be on a show. So many people are watching me.”
“But Mom said that being on a show can make you a little star. Do you want to be a little star, Tiantian?”
The children gathered together, their tender voices like jumping little sparrows, chirping nonstop.
After answering this big brother’s question, Shen Tiantian had to turn his face to talk to this big sister.
He busily turned his little head, twisting himself into a sunflower.
Shen Xiuze stood outside the crowd, watching Shen Tiantian inexplicably become the center of the children, and the corners of his lips couldn’t help but lift slightly.
When you were with Shen Tiantian, the atmosphere seemed to easily become relaxed.
After the guest families had gotten to know each other a little, the director came out from behind with a megaphone and a cue card and cleared his throat.
“Hello, everyone, and welcome to the first studio recording of Life Under the Starlight!”
Shen Tiantian let out a “wow,” his round eyes shining as he looked at the director uncle without blinking.
The other children, like a flock of little chicks, let out a “wow” one after another, following Tiantian’s lead.
The director looked on from above, couldn’t help but laugh, and inexplicably found the scene a little fun.
He coughed twice, held the cue card, and quickly moved on with the process.
“Our task today is to take a set of promotional photos for each family and also play two simple little games.”
“The first little game, the children will be in one group, and the parents will be in another. The name of the game is Transporting Beans.”
The director and the staff demonstrated with props to let the children understand how to do it.
Shen Tiantian stood at the very front, his little eyes wide and round. Watching the staff member’s older sister carefully transport the round beans with a ping-pong paddle, he couldn’t help but suck in a breath.
“So hard.”
The beans were round and small. When placed on a ping-pong paddle, they would roll off even if you didn’t move forward, let alone having to go around obstacles and transport them to the small bucket on the other side.
The director shouted through the megaphone:
“Isn’t this game very simple? Everyone must pay attention. There will also be staff members with water guns shooting at you along the way. Be careful not to slip and drop the beans!”
The parents all let out a wail.
The director, on the other hand, quickly took a few steps back with the megaphone to prevent himself from being surrounded and beaten by the parents.
The order of transport was decided by drawing lots. Shen Tiantian was the second to go in the baby group.
The first to go was the non-celebrity guest little girl, whose name was Xiaowan.
The children got ready and stood in a line at the yellow line like little penguins, waiting for the whistle to sound.
Xiaowan stood at the front, her hands and feet trembling with nervousness, her lips pale, and her heart pounding.
The first time she live-streamed, she was so scared of the camera that her gastrointestinal function was disordered, and the afternoon’s live stream was forced to be suspended.
She heard from her mom that it had caused quite a stir, and if someone hadn’t helped them, they would have been cyberbullied into quitting the variety show.
Now, Xiaowan was the first child to play the game, and she was completely at a loss from nervousness.
Shen Tiantian poked his little head out from behind Xiaowan and sized up the track in front of them.
He turned his head and saw big sister Xiaowan’s bloodless face, was startled, tugged on big sister Xiaowan’s sleeve, and asked her what was wrong.
“Big sister Xiaowan, your face is so pale. Are you sick?”
Xiaowan shook her head, took a deep breath, but still couldn’t suppress the feeling of helpless nervousness.
Her tone couldn’t help but carry a slight tremor as she turned her little face and said:
“Tiantian, I’m afraid of not performing well. I’ve never been on a variety show before.”
If this show hadn’t needed non-celebrity guests and had a limited budget, Xiaowan might not have had the opportunity to record a variety show in her lifetime.
But fate was just that strange.
Shen Tiantian patted big sister Xiaowan’s arm, comforted her like Auntie Mu-Mu, and his little milky voice sounded incredibly reliable.
“It’s okay. I haven’t been on a variety show either. Big sister Xiaowan doesn’t have to be scared.”
Shen Tiantian then took out a candy from his pocket.
“Here’s a candy for you. It’s sweet, so you won’t be scared anymore.”
Xiaowan took it and took another deep breath. This time, it was a little better. At least her hands were not trembling anymore.
Shen Tiantian saw that her condition was really bad, blinked his watery eyes, and thought of a good idea.
“Big sister Xiaowan, why don’t I go first!”
Xiaowan was stunned for a moment, then her eyes lit up.
“Can I? Won’t you be scared, Tiantian?”
Tiantian stomped his little feet excitedly on the spot, his eyes curving into a smile as he shook his head vigorously.
“No!”
He was the Long Tiantian little male lead.
A little male lead is meant to shine in the spotlight!
