Chi Baiyi, who was being disliked by her daughter, picked up her chopsticks and tasted it.

He ate some shredded carrots first, then frowned.

It's a bit hard.

He ate some more shredded meat, and his brows furrowed even more.

A bit old.

While he was tasting the food, Chi Cheese stared intently at him.

Seeing her father's brow furrowing deeper and deeper, she knew how awful the food must taste.

The little glutinous rice ball sighed like a little adult, "I knew it wouldn't taste good. It looks awful. Dad, how could you bear to let me try it?"

Chi Baiyi "..."

"Dad, you need to work harder! You're not good enough yet!" Chi Nao urged Chi Baiyi with a serious expression.

Chi Baiyi "..."

"You can leave now." Chi Baiyi felt a little upset and wanted to kick Chi Naozi out of the kitchen.

Chi Nao suddenly remembered something, her big eyes blinked, and she beckoned mysteriously to her father, "Dad, come out with me, I have a secret to tell you."

Chi Baiyi glanced at his daughter indifferently. Although he was a little suspicious that his daughter was up to something again, his body still honestly followed Chi Naozi out.

Once outside the kitchen, Chi Nao gestured for Chi Baiyi to bend down, then whispered in his ear, "Dad, have you found out who Lao Zhao is?"

Chi Baiyi's gaze paused slightly.

Chi Nao asked about Old Zhao, the one who made the Chenghuang mask in Anfeng Village and gave it to Yuan Guisheng.

He sent Mu Hai to investigate during this period, but Mu Hai failed to find out who Lao Zhao was.

On the one hand, he suspected that Mu Hai might not have investigated thoroughly enough, just like when he investigated Qin Yuanyao. On the other hand, he felt that it was understandable that Mu Hai hadn't found anything after more than half a month.

After all, with only a few clues such as "Old Zhao, Anfeng Village, being bitten by a wild boar, and riding a yellow mask," it is indeed very difficult to find out the truth in a short period of time.

"No," Chi Baiyi said. "We're still investigating, but we haven't found anything yet."

"Dad, if you find out, you must tell me," Chi Nao instructed.

“You want to follow him to make masks, I found out, of course I’ll tell you.” Chi Baiyi’s deep eyes stared at Chi Naozhi.

Chi Cheese paused for half a second, then realized what she meant and said, "Oh, yes, so you must tell me."

Chi Baiyi didn't miss a single expression on his daughter's face.

Children aren't good at hiding their feelings either.

He clearly saw a moment of blankness on his daughter's face; she seemed to have forgotten that she was looking for Old Zhao to learn how to make the Chenghuang mask—at least, that's what Chi Nao had told him.

Chi Baiyi already had some doubts that Chi Nao's desire to find Lao Zhao wasn't really to learn how to make the Chenghuang mask.

Seeing Chi Cheese's reaction now, he became even more suspicious.

What exactly does Chi Naoqi want from Lao Zhao?

The only way to find out the answer to this question is probably to find Old Zhao...

...

A few days later.

Director Jiang arranged to meet Qin Yuanyao at a very private coffee shop.

Director Jiang gave the contract for the second season of "Our Little Family" to Qin Yuanyao.

"How's it going with your contract termination with Yueyao Entertainment?" Director Jiang asked.

"It's almost done," Qin Yuanyao said.

"I'll give you the contract for the second season first. Take a look. You can sign it after you've terminated your contract with Yueyao Entertainment," Director Jiang said. "By the way, have you finalized your deal with a new agency?"

"We're in talks," Qin Yuanyao said with a smile.

"Which company are you planning to sign with?" Director Jiang asked.

"If the negotiations go smoothly, it will be Zonghai Entertainment."

Director Jiang's eyes widened in surprise. "Zonghai Entertainment? That's great! If you can sign with Zonghai Entertainment, your future prospects will definitely be limitless!"

Qin Yuanyao chuckled, not responding to Director Jiang's words, but instead saying, "Director Jiang, thank you for giving me time to handle my affairs."

Director Jiang looked bewildered. "When did I give you time to handle this?"

Qin Yuanyao blinked slightly in surprise and said, "When netizens were protesting against me on the official Weibo account of Xiaojia before."

Director Jiang was stunned for a moment before finally understanding what Qin Yuanyao was referring to.

"Oh—you mean back then! You don't need to thank me, it was President Chi who asked me to edit it exactly as it was, and I'll give you the contract for the second season later."

"Chi Baiyi?" Qin Yuanyao was taken aback.

"Yes. The protests from netizens were so strong at the time that I wasn't sure whether I should cut you out of the first season's cut, so I called Mr. Chi for advice. Mr. Chi told me to cut it as is and air it as usual, and also told me not to give you the contract for the second season or to your agent for the time being."

Qin Yuanyao was completely stunned. "When...did this happen?"

"When Yueyao was arranging a fling between you and Xingyu."

Qin Yuanyao "..."

It turns out that Chi Baiyi had already given Director Jiang this instruction back then.

But why didn't he just tell her what Chi Baiyi said before leaving when Chi Nai was learning to write at her house that day? It was something he had instructed Director Jiang to say.

His vague statement at the time could easily have led her to mistakenly believe it was Director Jiang's own opinion.

"Actually, if Director Chi hadn't instructed me that way, I wouldn't have dared to edit it exactly as it was and broadcast it as usual. At the time, the netizens were extremely resentful. If I had broadcast it as usual, they probably would have gone directly to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television to report me, and I would have lost my job," Director Jiang said frankly.

Qin Yuanyao was still in shock.

"Take the contract back and take a good look at it. If there's anything you're not satisfied with, let me know and we'll discuss it further." Director Jiang glanced at the time; it was almost time to leave, as he had other things to do.

"I'm leaving now, are you leaving now?" Director Jiang asked casually.

Qin Yuanyao said, "I'm not leaving yet; I have other things to do later."

"good."

After Director Jiang left, Qin Yuanyao drank her coffee while still thinking about what he had just said.

It turns out that the person who had been helping her all along was Chi Baiyi.

The payment receipts for Yueyao Entertainment's payments to social media companies to buy trending topics were clearly found by Yueyao himself, but he lied and claimed that his friend found them by accident.

That's just how conflicted he is.

He helped her behind the scenes, but didn't tell her directly, and didn't even want her to know.

I really don't know what this man was thinking.

If he doesn't want her to know, why is he doing all these good deeds? Is he just bored?

As Qin Yuanyao was lost in thought, the sound of high heels grew closer and closer.

The footsteps stopped in front of the private room, and then there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Qin Yuanyao said.

A woman dressed in a business suit, with impeccable makeup and a cold expression, appeared at the door of the private room.

"Qin Yuanyao?" Yao Mu walked in, wearing high heels, and shook hands with Qin Yuanyao in a businesslike manner. "Hello, I'm Yao Mu."

Qin Yuanyao stood up and shook hands with her. "Hello, I am Qin Yuanyao."

Yao Mu scrutinized her from head to toe with a critical eye for a while, then raised her hand to indicate that she should sit down.

(End of this chapter)

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