Chapter 179: Shocking the Gong Family for a Hundred Years (Guaranteed First Update)

Spending the night at a stranger's house, Xi Zi showed no fear at all, sweet-talking everyone—Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, Auntie, Little Aunt, Cousin—calling them all with perfect ease.

But this startled Gong Yuandong and his wife so badly they nearly believed their daughter had a secret illegitimate child outside.

And the child's age matched exactly the timeline of Gong Rui's rural posting!

Plus, a gossipy neighbor aunt came over to ask.

"Teacher Gong, we just saw your Xue bringing back a little boy—what's going on?"

Gong Rui hurried forward to explain.

"Auntie, he's a young actor from our film crew—he plays my son and's staying with me to experience real life."

"Oh, an actor's son," the woman replied skeptically.

Mom Zhuang Che quickly shut the door, looked at the brat with concern, and warned: "You can call me Mom at home, but don't you dare call me that outside."

Xi Zi nodded quickly: "I usually call her Sister."

Gong's father: "Calling her Sister is still wrong!"

Gong Rui didn't care much—once the movie came out, the neighbors would understand; no need to explain now.

"Mom, Xi Zi's hungry—let's eat!"

Xi Zi immediately patted his little belly.

Gong Rui's brother and sister-in-law immediately started bringing dishes to the table, while her parents asked warmly about her filming—how it was going.

"Yeah, pretty good," Gong Rui said. This time she performed far better than in "Jihong"—not only was she better prepared, but the whole team was stronger.

Of course, Wei Ming deserved great credit—he was the creator of this character, and his interpretation helped her understand the role better.

Gong's mother said: "That's good—if you can stay at Shanghai Film Studio, it'd be a blessing."

Indeed, Gong Rui's chances of staying at Shanghai Film Studio were growing, but she no longer felt the same enthusiasm as before.

Gong Rui ate while picking food for Xi Zi.

Though Xi Zi was mischievous at home, he was very worldly-wise away from it; though the Shanghai dishes didn't suit his taste, he kept exclaiming, "Wow! Grandma and Auntie's food is so delicious!"

The little boy charmed Gong Rui's mother and sister-in-law so well they returned the compliments, praising Xi Zi for being well-mannered, polite, and handsome.

This made Gong Rui's eldest nephew jealous—he was two years older than Xi Zi, but still just a kid.

He pushed his bowl away.

"I'm full!"

Then he sat alone, reading this month's "Youth Literature."

Since the food didn't suit his palate, Xi Zi finished quickly and sidled up to his "cousin."

Though Xi Zi couldn't read well, he recognized pictures—he spotted that his cousin was reading the final chapter of "The Game of the Brave," written by his older brother.

He'd already heard this story from Wei Ming—his dad had even made him and Le Le a chessboard exactly like the one in the novel, though without elephants or lions.

Seeing his son ignore Xi Zi, Gong Rui's older brother quickly pulled out a copy of "Children's Literature" for Xi Zi to look at.

Gong's father chuckled: "He's so young—he couldn't possibly understand."

Gong Rui's brother said: "Even if he can't read the words, he can look at the pictures."

"Thank you, Uncle, but I've already read it."

Gong Rui added: "Xi Zi's biological mother is an editor at 'Children's Literature'—he reads every issue."

Hearing this, Gong Ying chimed in: "Xiao Ning, maybe Xi Zi's mom knows your favorite writer."

At this, Gong Rui's nephew softened toward Xi Zi and asked: "Does your mom know Wei what?"

"Say that and I'm wide awake," Xi Zi boasted. "I know him!"

"You know him? You're lying!"

"Who's lying? Wei what is my brother!"

Gong Ying blurted: "Your brother isn't Wei Ming?"

She'd seen her sister's photo of the "family of four"—she knew exactly how Xi Zi and Wei Ming were related.

"What? Wei Ming? The famous writer Wei Ming?"

"Wei Ming is Xi Zi's brother?"

Gong Rui's parents looked stunned—they were loyal readers of Wei Ming, and since their daughter was filming his novel adaptation, they bought every new work the moment it came out.

But for the past few months, Wei Ming hadn't published any novels—only some excellent essays, which helped them learn his age, hometown, and family details.

Gong Rui had to explain: "Xi Zi's full name is Wei Xi. Writer Wei Ming is his cousin, but there's a big age gap between them."

Gong Rui's parents nodded—they suspected Wei Ming had helped get Xi Zi cast, unlike their own Xiao Xue, who got the role purely on talent.

After the shock, Gong Rui's older brother laughed: "So Xi Zi thinks every Wei writer is his brother!"

Gong Rui added: "No—only the children's story writer Wei what is his brother. Wei what is another pen name of Wei Ming."

"Ah!"

The adults gaped in astonishment; Gong Rui's eldest nephew dropped his magazine in shock.

Seeing his "cousin" stare at him with a complicated expression, Xi Zi stuck out his little waist proudly: "And I know all the later stories of 'Black Cat Detective'!"

Wei Ming told him several episodes during the New Year.

The "cousin" immediately smiled and took Xi Zi's hand: "Xi Zi, tell me about them!"

Watching the two boys chat warmly, Gong Rui's older brother still couldn't believe it: "One writes serious literature, the other writes children's tales—how can they be the same person?"

Gong's father: "Yes, children's tales are hard to write—especially ones beloved by kids."

Gong Rui: "There are always geniuses we can't understand."

And he can write wuxia too—I haven't even mentioned that.

But after dinner, when they cleared the table, Gong Rui pulled her mother aside and pulled out a stack of drawings.

"Mom, this is a comic series a friend asked me to submit to your publisher."

Gong's mother Zhuang Che put on her glasses: "Heroes Emerge from the Young?"

Hearing the title, Gong Rui's older brother Gong Xu hurried over: "What? What's going on?"

He'd been following this novel—it came out every two months in "Story Weekly," too slow—he was just waiting for the ending.

Seeing the comic version, Gong Xu's eyes lit up: "This novel's been turned into a serial comic! The art style's interesting!"

!

Only ten drawings—he flipped them back and forth, still craving more.

Gong Rui said: "The original author and artist created this comic together—they want to publish it, so they came to me."

Gong Xu exclaimed: "Xue, you know Wei Kuangren too?!"

Gong Rui nodded, not revealing Wei Ming's other alias.

But Gong Xu himself spotted the clue.

"This artist Liu Rulong—he's the one who illustrated Wei what's books, isn't he?" Then he muttered: "Wei Ming, Wei what, Wei Kuangren?"

Her brother had some brains after all—Gong Rui smiled sweetly: "Yes, Wei Kuangren is another pen name of Wei Ming. He wrote this novel."

Gong Xu: "…."

Gong Ying, who'd come over to eavesdrop: "…."

Gong's father, holding a newspaper but not reading a word: "…."

Then the sister-in-law said: "Is he splitting himself into three?"

Gong Rui explained: "He says it's for readers' convenience—different pen names for different genres."

Gong's mother squinted: "Xue, do you know him?"

Gong Rui grew flustered, then said: "Yeah, I've met him."

Gong's mother suddenly doubted whether her daughter had gotten the role purely through talent.

She'd seen the comics and said she'd take them to her supervisor tomorrow.

"I'll get back to you soon."

Time to sleep. The eldest nephew really wanted Xi Zi to sleep with him so he could hear more about "Black Cat Detective."

But he had to sleep with his parents—Xi Zi would naturally choose Mom and Little Aunt.

After Xi Zi fell asleep, Gong Ying whispered across him to her second sister.

"How can someone be this talented? He even writes songs!" Gong Ying sighed. He'd make a perfect brother-in-law—if only he weren't younger than her.

Gong Rui knew exactly what her sister was thinking—she felt she was far too unworthy; just being a pair of siblings who could talk honestly was enough.

Gong Ying asked: "What's he working on now? He hasn't published anything new."

"He's preparing a long novel," Gong Rui said. "He went to Guangzhou recently."

Gong Ying smiled: "Sis, you two must be in touch often."

"Not really," Gong Rui lied. "Just occasional letters and calls. He keeps tabs on our filming progress."

In the next room, Gong Rui's mother lay awake, troubled by a woman's intuitive unease.

Was her daughter, now grown, avoiding romance because she'd been captivated by such an outstanding young man?

Women were like that—once they'd seen an exceptional man, ordinary ones became unbearable.

Wei Ming was truly outstanding—his parents were kind, his sister was a top student, his brother was a national treasure—but the age gap was a problem. Sigh—what a headache.

The next day, Zhuang Che brought the drawings to her workplace and handed them to Sun Director, in charge of serial comics.

Coincidentally, he had an appointment with Zhang Leping that day, so he invited Zhang Lao to take a look.

"San Mao Joins the Army" and "San Mao's Wanderings" were wildly famous comics—Zhang Leping was the "Father of San Mao." Aside from Sun Wukong and Nezha, San Mao was arguably the most famous original Chinese cartoon character of modern times.

Zhang Lao studied the ten drawings carefully—and soon he smiled.

Seeing Zhang Lao smile, Sun Director and Zhuang Che knew—it was settled.

In Beijing, Wei Ming was bidding farewell to Wu Tianming; he had completed the audition for the male lead and had preliminarily confirmed Li Baotian for the role.

Although he was the oldest and not from Shandong.

But after makeup and costume, he fit the character better, and people from Xuzhou were quite close to Shandong; crucially, he was the only actor among them who could convey the humor Wu Tianming wanted.

Li Baotian had previously played comic roles on stage, which greatly enhanced his chances in the competition for this part.

"I'm going to visit your father—do you need me to bring anything?" Wu Tianming asked; he was now heading to Gouzitun to recruit Wei Jiefang.

Wei Ming smiled and pulled out a letter.

……

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(End of chapter)