Chapter 325

Zhu Xueheng drank the remaining bit, set the beer aside, and saw his daughter still not happy.

"I'll go work out in a bit, okay?"

Liang Yan was finally satisfied, "Dad, you're great!"

Zhu Xueheng's "Thank you, babe" hadn't left his mouth when a snide voice came from beside him.

"You've already been manipulated?"

Zhu Xueheng: …

No wonder Su Yi always ends up fighting with his daughter; he's just too unlikeable!

Zhu Xueheng was angry but chose to stay silent.

He smiled at his daughter, watched Liang Yan return to their trio to keep eating hot pot, and carried his own bowl away from Su Yi.

Su Yi snorted coldly, also holding his bowl, and went over to watch Shi Xu's commotion!

So tragic—it's Shi Xu who's tragic!

The older daughter Guoguo orders him to serve the dishes, while the younger daughter Jiu Jiu attacks with cuteness, trying to snatch her sister's food.

When Shi Xu doesn't give Jiu Jiu anything, Jiu Jiu starts teary-eyed. At the same time Guoguo keeps urging for food; when Shi Xu fails to serve Guoguo in time, Guoguo decides to serve herself.

What slightly comforts Shi Xu is that Guoguo knows her little sister must eat food made especially for her, and won't feed her sister what she herself is eating.

After much effort Guoguo and Jiu Jiu finally get full, the two sisters play together, and Shi Xu, with an empty stomach, turns around to see that the only one still not finished is Su Yi.

"You guys ate that fast?"

Shi Xu feels a bit weary, even doesn't really want to eat.

Su Yi swallows the shrimp ball in their mouth and says, "No, to be precise, everything's gone, only you are left."

He's just bored watching the commotion, always wanting something to eat. He picked up this bad habit from Su Yu.

Shi Xu is hungry but has no appetite. Not wanting to force anything down, they lift the milk beside them and take a sip, trying to tease Su Yi, "You eat so much, aren't you worried about your figure?"

"No, I do. I work out every day!"

Su Yi says it through clenched teeth, clearly full of resentment.

"Your daughter forcing you?"

Su Yu, Liang Yan, Tang Can, Ji Yan and Mingmeng are playing Aeroplane Chess; Guoguo pushes her sister's stroller over to watch.

Zhu Xueheng is on the phone on the other side, leaving only the two of them at the table.

"No, it's my older brother!"

Su Xi works out daily, and after noticing Su Yi spends three days fishing and two days idling, they demand Su Yi send them a fitness video every day.

Su Yi harbors deep resentment over this. Su Xi is really overbearing! They occasionally duel with Su Yi to test their progress; if Su Yi loses, their training doubles for that day!

And they have never won!

When Shi Xu sees Su Yi in a bad mood, Shi Xu's own mood improves. After the meal, Mingmeng and Ji Yan go together to check on Ji Yan's studio development, while Shi Xu takes the two daughters to coax them into a nap.

Su Yi still watches the scene from the side.

"Tsk tsk tsk, you're really useless!"

Guoguo obediently falls asleep, but after Shi Xu has been coaxing Jiu Jiu for half an hour, she becomes even more energetic!

Earlier Jiu Jiu was playing with a blanket corner; now she wants to toss her own little pillow and play with Shi Xu!

"Indeed! Raising kids is exhausting!"

Shi Xu rarely looks after the kids himself. These past two days of caring for them have made them reflect—were they a bit over the line before? Both children's responsibilities have been shouldered by Mingmeng.

…

"He knows how tiring it is to raise kids!"

Mingmeng, who is in Ji Yan's study, recalls what Shi Xu said last night and feels a bit like laughing.

When her mother-in-law, with a noblewoman's airs, demanded that she bear another son, Shi Xu didn't immediately side with her, and Mingmeng was very angry!

She's almost driven crazy by raising the kids; she has no desire to have another!

Just a few hours yesterday, Shi Xu couldn't hold on any longer!

"You know, let go when you should, don't try to fight everything yourself!"

Ji Yan hands her studio program over to Mingmeng.

After watching it, Mingmeng suddenly gets an idea.

"What if I create a show where husband and wife swap roles? The wife goes to work, the husband stays home to take care of the kids!"

Ji Yan remains silent for a while, then says, "I get what you mean, but in reality the wife, after going out to work, still has to clean up the mess and look after the kids."

Moreover, the show doesn't align with mainstream thinking. If she releases it, the response would probably be small. One person's power can hardly affect everyone.

"You're so negative!"

Mingmeng is surprised. After Su Yi recovered from illness, Ji Yan was full of vigor from head to toe. Now, when they say this, they seem somewhat resigned.

"The longer you work, the more realistic you become; ideals remain just ideals."

Ji Yan's studio has been operating for two years; its signed artists are still producing short dramas and some short videos.

Rather than calling her studio an entertainment-industry studio, it's more of a high-quality influencer studio.

She doesn't want to break into TV dramas, movies, or singing shows?

She does!

But her studio has been jointly boycotted and blocked within the circle. People inside the industry dare not use her artists, and she cannot pass the relevant approvals.

Her mother sought connections, and the other side told them that approvals and releases aren't the issue. The problem is they must agree to capital investment, returning to a normal entertainment-industry model.

Ji Yan's studio model is far too abnormal!

Not to mention that all the actors are women; even ugly people can play the lead, and compensation is based on individual labor and each one's traffic rather than the artist's star level, which doesn't match mainstream expectations.

Short dramas and short videos don't matter; people just watch for the thrill.

But a TV drama can't do that!

If Ji Yan doesn't change, they can't agree either. The forces behind those people, added together, aren't any weaker than the Xu family's.

When Ji Yan received the news, she hesitated for a long time and finally decided not to change. She founded the studio to discover people with acting skill and talent. Since that track doesn't welcome her situation, she won't go.

After hearing about the program Mingmeng mentioned, Ji Yan's first reaction was that it was unrealistic.

"Is this program not realistic? It will definitely resonate with mothers who are also struggling to care for their children!"

Ji Yan stopped trying to impose her view on Mingmeng, saying, "If you make this program, be prepared to take a loss."

Never mind how many people would be willing to swap jobs with their wives; even if there are, what happens after the swap?

Men voluntarily sharing housework with women? How likely is that?

A woman who has already tried working, has money in hand, would still be willing to stay home, raise children, and do housework?

If a woman refuses, it could spark family arguments, even divorce. They won't see it as their own problem; the blame falls on Mingmeng's production team!

Complaining‑savvy netizens will unite 100% to get Mingmeng's program taken down. How can a taken‑down program recoup its costs?

Mentioning a loss makes Mingmeng wilt.

"Will it really lose money?"

Mingmeng looked at the financial report in Ji Yan's hand; Ji Yan's studio is thriving. Even her somewhat eccentric Abnormal Talent Group has good tip revenue and promising development.

"It will. Anyway, I'm not investing; you handle it yourself."

Two years ago, Ji Yan would have invested in this project. But now she doesn't want to waste money on it. Her precious daughter is painstakingly earning pocket money to Draw card!

She can't hold the child back!

Su Yu didn't know Ji Yan's thoughts. She woke up and went to train.

At first she found it quite tiring. Training was too hard; she's just a child, with a bodyguard to help, so nothing should go wrong, right?

But when she was five, she was almost kidnapped at school.

A child's parent entered the school, intending to assault Su Yu and kidnap her to extort money from the Su Family. If Su Yu hadn't been clever and fairly strong, she would have been seized and taken away by that parent.

After that, she consciously joined training to improve her abilities.

"So soft, it's hot—why is it so hot this year?"

"Regional issue; this place is relatively cool!"

The temperature in the forest this year is also high.

"Great‑grandmother has already asked Uncle Butler to have bodyguards check the water pipes everywhere; they'll spray water later. After spraying, the temperature should drop a bit."

Liang Yan, a bit weary, said, "Let's go back indoors!"

Su Yu led the way inside, "Then let's go!"

The supervising teacher followed inside, muttering as they walked, "You can't do this; what about high‑school military training?"

After high‑school military training comes college military training. The former lasts from seven days to a month; the latter is usually a month.

During training, they can't always stay in comfortable temperatures. Sunbathing is a perfectly normal drill.

"What should we do, what to do!"

Su Yu was unfazed: "When the boat reaches the bridgehead it straightens itself; if the bridgehead isn't straight, just fill the lake!"

At worst, after the middle‑school exam she could skip to second year of high school and apply to skip military training.

Liang Yan and Tang Can didn't want trouble, stayed silent; after all, Xiao Yu's little sister/Softie will figure something out.

Fine then!

The teacher fell silent and continued indoor training with the three kids.

From the next room came Guoguo's wailing cries. After Su Yu and the others finished their routine, they went over to watch.

"Guoguo's crying is getting more genuine!"

Completely different from the previous pretentious howling!

Guoguo whimpers, while sister Xiao Yu stands and talks, no back pain!

"I can't go on; I still need to grow taller, I can't train! I'm still in my developmental stage!"

The new teacher instructing Guoguo was very strict, "Don't worry, this is the plan we decided at last night's meeting; it's perfectly suitable for a child of your age and won't affect your normal growth and development."

They didn't assign many tasks to Guoguo; it's just that Guoguo herself was somewhat resistant, working slowly, making it seem time‑consuming.

Su Yu, Liang Yan, and Tang Can heard the teacher being undermined and giggled.

Guoguo endured these water‑deep, fire‑hot days for two months.

When school was about to start, Mingmeng and Shi Xu asked Guoguo whether she wanted to stay here or return to school; Guoguo didn't think for a second and chose to go to school!

Guoguo was sent to Su Yu's alma mater for kindergarten.

Su Yu only celebrated at home for Guoguo, "Congratulations, little sister, on starting school!"

"Thank you, sister!"

Guoguo was still worried on her first day at school. She feared other kids might bully her again!

"Sister, can you escort me into the class?"

Guoguo thought it through. Su Yu is said to be very famous; if she escorted her to the class, other kids might not dare to bully her.

Su Yu didn't agree, "Little sister, I'm worried that if I go, everyone's expectations for you will be too high. They'll want you to be the top performer just like me!"

So far, Su Yu hasn't been strained and can maintain her current grades. But the higher the grade, the more complex the questions, and the more pressure Su Yu must bear. Everyone thinks she's a prodigy, can do everything, and will definitely be first.

This intangible expectation is conveyed through their words, giving Su Yu some psychological pressure.

Guoguo didn't understand. She only sensed that Su Yu was unwilling to take her over, and felt a bit sad.

Su Yu explained seriously, "If I take you over there, they'll want you to be first at everything."

"Is being first that hard?"

"Very hard!"

Su Yu uses running as an example, "For example, fifty meters, you have to finish it within thirteen seconds, maybe even shorter. Perhaps someone else could be better than you."

Su Yu finished speaking and marked off a stretch, letting Guoguo run fifty meters while she timed it.

Guoguo's result was twenty seconds.

"I can run even faster!"

Guoguo puffed out their cheeks, not very satisfied with the result. Previously, when they were being chased by their mother, they ran faster!

But today, here with Sister Xiao Yu, they just can't run fast!

Darn!

Why is that, exactly?

"But at school, you're required to maintain the fastest speed at all times; there's a high chance you can't make a mistake, otherwise others might gossip about you."

Can Guoguo, who can't accept someone who hurt them in kindergarten, also accept others belittling them?

"That's so hard!"

Guoguo proved with action that nothing in the world is difficult, as long as one is willing to give up.

On the first day of school, Guoguo used their newly learned acting, blending into a group of equally whiny children, not noticeable at all!

That day was the day Guoguo ate the most snacks.

The teacher, to appease them, took them to eat cupcakes. Children who studied earnestly in class got candy as a reward, and after class everyone ate apple pie together!

In the afternoon there was a small party with all kinds of delicacies. The teacher let the children go on stage to introduce themselves!

The children who introduced themselves could also receive the teacher's little snacks.

Back home, Guoguo was overjoyed! After bragging to Mingmeng and Shi Xu, they went to brag to Su Yu as well.

"Sister, school is so great, why didn't you tell us?"

If they had known that this school had so many tasty foods, they wouldn't have gone to train in the mountains! They would have obediently agreed to go to school!

Su Yu patted Guoguo's head, "You'll know when you have to do homework at school!"

Su Yu's lessons are taught by a private tutor. Guoguo's, at first, will most likely be taught by Mingmeng, who wants to maintain mother‑daughter bonds, or by Shi Xu, who wants to maintain father‑daughter bonds.

Su Yu can imagine that later there will be the roaring of two parents!

"Is doing homework hard?"

Guoguo tilted their head, "They don't have homework!"

"Once you try, you'll know whether it's hard or not!"

Guoguo, unhappy, puffed out their cheeks and sulked, "Can't you tell people in advance? If everything has to be experienced by oneself, what's the use of your experience?"

Su Yu was a bit stunned by Guoguo's question. She seemed to have said something similar before.

"Hmm, studying earnestly isn't hard; not studying earnestly is very hard!"

Guoguo still wasn't satisfied, "Sister, what you said is the same as saying nothing!"

Su Yu's mouth twitched, thinking of a good plan, "I can let you know in advance whether it's hard; want to try?"

Thanks to the darlings for casting their votes~

This chapter is four thousand words~

Good night, darlings~