Chapter 1
I stared at the little boy holding out a wad of cash and went blank for a moment.
Pressing my lips together, I pushed it back toward him.
“I don’t want your money.”
His eyes reddened at once. He lowered his head, his voice growing softer and softer.
“Grandma said you really like money, so I saved for a really, really long time before I came to find you.”
“The kids at kindergarten all say I’m a bastard without a mom… I always tell them I do have a mom and that my mom is a big star.”
“They keep saying I’m a liar.”
“You might not want me, but I wasn’t lying.”
“They just won’t believe me…”
He hung his head in silence, his small body trembling with sobs as he wiped his tears on his sleeve.
I crouched down, cupped his face, and wiped the tears from his cheeks.
“I don’t want your money, but I can go.”
His head snapped up, his eyes shining.
Disbelief mingled with an irrepressible joy on his face.
He flung himself into my arms.
Burying his round little head in the crook of my neck, he burst into tears again,
as if he had suffered the greatest injustice in the world.
I patted his back gently and helped him catch his breath.
When he had cried himself out, he met my eyes.
His face reddened. His gaze darted away, and he turned his head awkwardly as he explained in embarrassment,
“I don’t usually cry. I’m a man.”
“I only cried because I couldn’t hold it in.”
Seeing him like this, I smiled and shook my head. “It’s okay. I don’t mind.”
He pressed his lips into a shy smile, took my hand, and eagerly introduced himself.
“My name is He Siheng. My nickname is Xiangxiang, so you can call me Xiangxiang.”
I smiled and smoothed his bangs. “I know.”
He nodded, his round eyes lighting up. “You know my name?”
I nodded and said again with certainty, “I know.”
His grandfather had chosen the name Siheng, while I had given him the nickname Xiangxiang.
How could I not know?
I took his hand and led him into my trailer.
My assistants, Zhouzhou and Xiaoxiao, brightened when they saw me bring in a beautiful little boy.
“Ni, where did you kidnap this child from?”
I gave Xiangxiang’s hand a little squeeze and said calmly, “He’s my son.”
The smiles on their faces froze. Panic immediately set in.
“What? Oh my God! No one got a picture, did they?”
“If anyone did, we’re finished!”
Xiangxiang saw that I wasn’t speaking.
He tugged carefully at the hem of my shirt. “Did I cause trouble for you?”
At those words, guilt appeared on the two young women’s previously anxious faces.
I smiled and stroked Xiangxiang’s fluffy head. “Xiangxiang isn’t trouble.”
Zhouzhou and Xiaoxiao hurriedly waved their hands as well. “That’s right. We were talking nonsense.”
Xiangxiang looked at me, then at my assistants, and set down his little backpack.
Kneeling on the floor, he emptied everything inside it.
Pajamas, a yellow cartoon umbrella, a water bottle, even his toothbrush, and a wad of cash were all laid out on the floor.
So he had made preparations before coming to find me.
After laying everything out, he buried his head in the backpack again.
He dug out two cheese snacks and handed them to Zhouzhou and Xiaoxiao.
He looked sweetly at them. “Here, big sisters. These are for you.”
The sight of him instantly melted both assistants’ hearts. Their voices rose several octaves as they thanked him.
“Aww! You’re such a sweet baby.”
“Auntie loves cheese snacks!”
Xiangxiang smiled bashfully at that and pulled out several more.
“Then you can have all of mine.”
After we wrapped for the day, I took Xiangxiang back to the hotel.
Only after questioning him carefully did I learn the truth.
Early that morning, the little rascal had put on his backpack and taken a taxi all the way from Shanghai to Hengdian.
The driver had planned to call the police, but Xiangxiang had offered so much money that he accepted the fare instead.
Xiangxiang had actually arrived that morning. When he saw how busy I was, he stayed with my fans and waited for me to finish work.
He waited all the way until nightfall.
Only after the fans had dispersed did he secretly wait outside my trailer.
He shoveled rice into his mouth in enormous bites. He must have been starving.
The sight made my heart ache. I wanted to say something, yet no words would come.
I could not imagine how a little boy had found the courage to take a taxi alone from Shanghai to Hengdian.
The trip took three or four hours. I did not dare imagine how frightened and uneasy he must have been.
My throat tightened. “What if you’d gotten lost?”
With his cheeks stuffed with rice, Xiangxiang lifted his wrist and pointed at his smartwatch, his words muffled.
He tipped his face up and smiled at me. “I wouldn’t get lost! When I got in the car, I used my watch to take a picture of the license plate and sent it to Xiaomei.”
“And I stayed on the phone with Xiaomei through my Xiaotiancai watch the whole time.”
He had even brought a power bank in case the watch ran out of charge.
The more casually he spoke, the worse I felt.
His plan had been so thorough. He must have spent a very, very long time preparing to come find me.
He lifted his chin proudly, then began chattering about his best friend.
“Xiaomei sits next to me in kindergarten. We’re best friends, and I’m going to marry her when I grow up!”
That finally made me laugh through my tears. “Next time you want to see me, you can call me. I’ll come pick you up.”
After a brief silence, I added, “If your father agrees.”
He nodded quickly and answered with a beaming “Okay.”