Chapter Nineteen

The gray hair came into Su Xian's view. Her father was only in his fifties, how could his hair be completely white? It must be fake.

"Let's begin." The man in the video muttered, looking up at the camera. His face was gaunt, and his eyes were sunken. Su Xian tried to search her memory, but she had completely forgotten what he looked like.

The man cleared his throat, looked at the paper with writing on it, and began to read.

"Hello everyone, my name is Zeng Yi. The reason I'm doing this live stream is that I'm trying to find my daughter."

Her father does indeed have that name.

Zeng Yi looked at the camera and stared straight at her. Su Xian suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. "My daughter's name is Zeng Lexian. She also has another name, Su Xian."

Zeng Lexian was indeed her childhood name. Su Xian's hands, which were placed under the table, were clenched tightly.

Zeng Yi lowered his head and looked at the paper in his hand. "My daughter is the popular star Su Xian. I have lung cancer, but she has never cared about me. I have spent all my savings on treatment and I was desperate, so I went live to find her. The doctor said I only have a few months left. I don't ask her to help me with treatment. I just hope to see her before I die."

More and more people replied to the comments on the screen, from initial skepticism to a flood of pre-fire messages. In the video, Zeng Yi began reading aloud the previous content again, this time with greater fluency, without pausing. Tears streamed down his sallow face, settling into his wrinkles.

Su Xian pursed her lips tightly, her hands clasped together on her lap, rubbing her fingers together vigorously, but she couldn't shake off the anger in her heart.

This is her father, who hasn't appeared for 20 years. When they meet again, he doesn't care whether she lives or dies.

Comments grew, with some calling Su Xian an ingrate, others criticizing her for being heartless, and still others telling her to get out of the entertainment industry. Occasionally, comments questioning how she could prove her identity were quickly scrolled down.

For the third time, he started reading the script from the beginning again. More and more people were watching the live stream, and Su Xian watched as the screen was filled with rapidly scrolling insults.

The fourth and fifth time, as Su Xian watched him perform his deep affection for his daughter, she suddenly felt that her acting skills might be inherited from him, a thought that disgusted her.

“I know many people will doubt me, this is my ID card.” He took out his ID card and showed it to the camera. “This is my marriage certificate.” He took out his marriage certificate and opened it.

The photo on the red background shows my parents' faces when they were young.

His mother paid a heavy price to leave him, and she has passed away. How could he dare, how could he dare to tell anyone that they were husband and wife?

Su Xian's eyes were bloodshot. She stared wide-eyed, determined to see his face clearly.

"This is a birth certificate. It clearly shows that Zeng Lexian is my daughter, and also her date of birth."

The black-and-white birth certificate appeared on camera. The only birth certificate had always been with the mother, and it was unexpected that he even had a photocopy.

"And here's my medical record." He pulled out the medical record, opened it to the camera, and it clearly stated: terminal lung cancer.

Zeng Yi put down the medical record, choked up, and said, "My dear daughter, Xian'er, Daddy really misses you. Let Daddy see you one last time." His fingers trembled as he turned off the live stream.

When she was little, he only called her Lexian, and no one ever called her Xian'er. Su Xian felt nauseous and closed her eyes, leaning against the sofa. The RV was eerily quiet, and Su Xian felt a chill in her heart.

“We can issue a statement saying that this is false information,” Bai Lin said softly.

Su Xuan opened her eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling. "What if he has other evidence? He could just do another live stream and completely destroy me."

“I’ll try to contact him first. He must have something he wants from me. If it’s money, then things will be easier,” Bai Lin said.

What if he doesn't want money? But what else could he want if he didn't want money? Could it really be that, as he said, he just wants to see her?

Silence fell over the RV once more. Su Xian heard her phone vibrating incessantly in her bag. She reached into the bag, pulled out her phone, and saw countless unread messages and missed calls on the screen. Without a second thought, Su Xian pressed the side button to turn it off.

"Even if we don't acknowledge him, we can do a live broadcast of the father-daughter reunion, and everyone will be happy." Qingqing, standing by the door, forced an ugly smile.

"To put it bluntly, he only has a few months left to live. Just bear with it and accept it..." Bai Lin looked cautiously at Su Xian.

"For so many years, he has never cared or asked about me. In my heart, he is already dead." Su Xian said coldly.

After all these years, if she really wanted to find herself, how could she not have found a way? But he, reappearing 20 years later, brought her the heaviest blow, destroying her years of efforts, and using his dying body to hold her back.

"Knock knock knock," upon hearing the knocking, Qingqing quickly opened the door, and Director Liu, the executive director of "Snow Abyss," walked in.

"Excuse me, Ms. Su, Director Xu asked me to tell you to rest today. I've called a makeup artist, she'll come over later to help you with your makeup, hair, and clothes."

Su Xian nodded and thanked him.

"You're busy, I'll go back to the shed first. Let me know if anything comes up." Director Liu smiled and glanced at Bai Lin. Bai Lin understood and followed him out of the RV to chat for a few minutes.

"What did he say?" Su Xuan asked.

"He said the crew would stop filming in the afternoon and then asked us to remove our makeup and hair and leave early to avoid running into sasaeng fans, fearing that they might be influenced by online comments and do something extreme."

"What's the situation online right now?" Su Xian asked, looking at Qingqing, who was leaning against the door scrolling through her phone.

"Hmm... On the studio's Weibo account, the trending topics, and other platforms, almost everything is criticizing you."

Su Xian reached out, gesturing for her to show her her work phone.

"Let's not do it, the insults are really harsh," Qingqing said hesitantly.

Su Xian kept her hand outstretched until Qingqing placed the phone in her hand.

"This is even more terrifying than those cases of building collapses caused by reckless actions; it should be banned immediately."

"How heartless! They don't even care whether their own father lives or dies."

"Didn't a master say before that her face was bad, that her eyes were very ambitious, and that she was the kind of person who would do anything to climb up the social ladder?"

"208w has once again lowered the bar for morality. Look at the morally corrupt people you're all following. Ban them immediately, don't let me see them again, it's disgusting."

"He's trying to portray himself as a top student, but he probably just wasted all his time studying."

"He must be busy spending time with S. He probably spends all his time caring about other men than his father."

The comments were filled with increasingly vulgar and abusive language, and many people began to boycott her, demanding that she be banned and her works removed from shelves. Even the production team of "Snow Abyss" was attacked.

Su Xian's hands began to tremble. Why were they judging her without even knowing the truth? Unable to bear watching any longer, she covered her face with her hands, took deep breaths, and tried to calm herself down.

Bai Lin's phone kept ringing – brands, platforms, partners – everyone wanted to know what was going on, everyone wanted to know how risky it was to work with Su Xuan. She could turn off her phone and disappear, but Bai Lin couldn't.

Bai Lin tried to use her connections to contact her father and see how much chance she had of negotiating. But she didn't want to; she didn't want to give her father money. Why should she? What had he ever given her?

While others had a father's love, what did she have? After her mother passed away, did he ever appear? Where was he when she was working and studying on her own?

Why did she want to negotiate? Why did she lie to the public and say that he had no relationship with her? If this lie is also exposed, then there will be no room for maneuver.

But it was even more impossible for her to acknowledge him as Qingqing had suggested. Even if he didn't live much longer, she didn't want to put on a pathetic show that disgusted herself and pleased ignorant onlookers.

Su Xian's mind was in turmoil. She didn't know when she had finished removing her makeup and hair, or how she got back to her apartment.

"Sister Xiaoxian, have something to eat." Qingqing nudged her arm several times. "Sister Xiaoxian, Sister Xiaoxian."

Su Xian lowered her head. Qingqing had bought her favorite boiled beef.

"Eat something, Xiaoxian, you can't go hungry like this." Bai Lin wolfed down her food, her words a little slurred because of the food in her mouth.

Su Xian looked at the clock on the wall; it was already 2 p.m. No wonder Bai Lin was so hungry.

Su Xian picked up her chopsticks, took a slice of beef, and put it in her mouth, forcing herself to eat it numbly.

The three of them finished their lunch quietly and quickly, while Qingqing busied herself cleaning up the trash. Su Xian took a pack of kitchen wipes, first pulling out one to simply wrap the trash, then pulling out another to wipe away the grease stains on the table in circles. One wasn't enough, so she pulled out another, two more, three more...

"That's enough, Xiaoxian, the table is clean now." Bai Lin grabbed her hand.

Su Xian's gaze shifted from Sister Lin's hands to the table; it was indeed clean. She threw the wet wipe into the trash can and sat back down in her dining chair.

“Just now, Mr. Li, the producer of ‘Snow Abyss,’ called me and asked when we could resolve this.” Bai Lin poured two glasses of water and sat down next to Su Xuan. “The investors are worried that your blacklisting will affect the entire show, and they want the production team to replace you as soon as possible.”

Bai Lin took a sip of water. "Originally, the release date announcement for 'Dark Tide' was scheduled to be released tomorrow, but the platform took it down in an emergency."

"Several news media outlets have published articles saying that public figures must set a good example and should not have major moral flaws."

Su Xian picked up her glass and took a sip of water. Had things gotten this far already? She had absolutely no idea what she could do or what she could possibly do to change her current predicament.

“However, Mr. Li said that Director Xu does not agree to replace you.” Su Xuan looked at Bai Lin in shock.

"The production team has urgently adjusted the call sheet, and we will start filming other people's scenes tomorrow."

"Sister Lin, I'll use your phone to call Director Xu."

Bai Lin handed her the phone, and Su Xuan dialed Xu Zhiheng's name. When she returned to the bedroom, Director Xu's call was also answered.

"Director Xu, I am Su Xian."

"Oh, what is it?"

"Director Xu, I want to say thank you."

"I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing it for my work."

Director Xu's voice sounded somewhat serious, but Su Xian found it endearing. Director Xu was actually a very tolerant person. Despite being nearly 60, he enjoyed chatting and laughing with everyone and was always willing to learn about new things.

"You're saying you want to replace it right after this happened? Isn't that a waste of all my hard work?"

"Director Xu, actually I..."

"Su Xian, I don't care about the details of this matter. I only care whether you can resolve it and whether it will affect 'Snow Abyss'."

Director Xu sighed, "I've seen too many actors with strong professional skills who have been held back by personal issues. In fact, actors and their works should be treated separately, but I'm powerless to change this environment."

“I chose you to play Xue during your first audition, but I deliberately rejected you and let you try other roles instead, just to see your reaction from expectation to disappointment, and to see if you would give up.”

"There's something in your eyes like snow—an indomitable spirit. So this time is no different; don't let me down."

Su Xian lay on the bed with her eyes closed. When she first switched careers to become an actress and knew nothing, she studied diligently; when she was criticized for not being able to deliver her lines clearly, she sought out a teacher and practiced relentlessly; when Lu Ran pointed out that she shouldn't waste time on idol dramas, she worked hard to transform her image and hone her acting skills.

From a young age, she was used to not relying on others, and what has sustained her all along is her indomitable spirit. It's the same now. Even if public opinion is overwhelmingly against her, even if the production team and collaborating brands are starting to wait and see, it doesn't matter. It's not the end yet, and there's always a way.

With that thought in mind, Su Xian perked up and went to the living room to announce to Bai Lin and Qing Qing, "I'm going back to Hong Kong."