Chapter 9 Chapter 9 Is there any point in dwelling on the past?

Fu Mingya was first attracted by the rolling bullet screen at the top of the video, and then his eyes fell on the center of the screen.

The child probably didn’t have enough to eat at the Zhao family, but he was born with a small round face with rosy cheeks.

Zhuzhu and Ji Ning looked so much alike when they were children.

Ji Ning was also a chubby child when she was a child, but she became thinner later. Her facial features, which were originally rounder and softer like her father's, gradually grew to look very much like her mother, with a sharp and bright appearance, and it was difficult to find the shadow of her childhood again.

Fu Mingya turned off the video, stood up, turned around, and walked to the bookshelf.

She pulled out a book with a hard cover, opened the inner page, and a photo fell out.

She was mesmerized.

The door of the study opened.

Ji Guoting came in with a cup of hot tea in his hand. Fu Mingya was always calm and collected, and even though he quickly hid the photo in his hand, he still didn't look flustered.

"Don't hide it." Ji Guoting said gently, "I saw it all. There are words on the back of the photo."

"Knock on the door before entering the study." Fu Mingya said coldly.

"It's been so many years, I thought you had already dealt with this photo," said Ji Guoting.

This photo was taken more than three years ago when Ji Ning was holding Zhu Zhu.

The baby was round and plump, as white as a sticky rice dumpling, and her head couldn't even stand up. She lay softly in her mother's arms, with a small gold locket with her name on it hanging around her neck. Ji Ning was so willful in the past that she insisted on breaking off the engagement and giving birth to this child even though her family was in turmoil. Fu Mingya was naturally vehemently opposed to it, but it was useless. They all knew what kind of temper their daughter had. The more she was suppressed, the more she would become.

"The child has been found." said Fu Mingya.

Fu Mingya's tone was firm and there was no ambiguity in it.

Now it was Ji Guoting's turn to be surprised.

They called the police and used a lot of manpower and resources to secretly investigate the whereabouts of their granddaughter. However, no one expected that the child was abducted to the south city, trapped in the mountain ravines, with no contact with the outside world.

Ji Guoting watched the video on Fu Mingya's tablet.

The little daughter of the Ji family had the most affluent family background. She could have grown up in luxury, just like her mother. But now, she was wearing shabby clothes and looked like a beggar. Even when she looked at people, she was timid, as if she was afraid of being rejected and was trying to please them without realizing it.

Ji Guoting said: "First, we need to investigate the child's true identity. People have similarities, and we cannot simply conclude that she is Zhuzhu based on her appearance."

What will happen after her identity is confirmed? Will she be brought back and reunited with Ji Ning?

This is why Fu Mingya stopped the secretary from continuing the investigation. The car accident was horrible, but somehow it erased Ji Ning's ridiculous past like a piece of chalk.

Fu Mingya has never had high expectations for Ji Ning.

Being well-behaved and quiet, not being ostentatious or overbearing, and going through life step by step is the real blessing.

Her life finally got back on track, but the existence of this child would inevitably disrupt the current peace.

"But no matter what, the Ji family's children must not be left outside." Fu Mingya put the photo away.

…

When Ji Ning returned home, the sun had just set.

Aunt Wu served her some rice and explained that Fu Mingya and Ji Guoting had gone out for something. She then casually asked, "Ningning, where did you go to play after being out all afternoon?"

Ji Ning took the rice bowl and the chopsticks that Aunt Wu handed to her.

She ate in an elegant and graceful manner, and said slowly: "I went shopping in the mall by myself."

"You can ask Xiaoman to go with you next time." Aunt Wu breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "You are unfamiliar with this place, and Madam will be worried."

"Aunt Wu, look at what you said." Ji Ning took a sip of soup, "I grew up in North City."

Aunt Wu wanted to say something else, but was interrupted coldly.

"The soup is cold."

"Cold? Look how confused I am." Aunt Wu changed her address and immediately said, "Miss, I'll go heat it up right away."

Aunt Wu carried the bowl of soup and hurried to the kitchen.

Ji Ning put down her chopsticks without looking back.

…

In the original plot, Zhuzhu lost his life during the first recording of the pilot film.

It was a reservoir with fast-flowing water. When she fell into the water, there was no one around. By the time the production crew realized the child was missing, Zhuzhu had already been washed downstream.

By the time she was pulled out, she had already lost all vital signs.

This was a major oversight by the program team, and they expressed their deepest apologies. They had no intention of shirking responsibility in terms of compensation. We thought the matter would get out of hand, and the program team was prepared for the program to not be recorded. Who would have thought that this accident would not lead to any back-and-forth disputes? The Zhao family made an offer, then regretted it a few days later, demanded more compensation, and promised never to mention the matter to anyone again. It was a straightforward move.

A life was finally saved with a few million dollars. It is said that afterward, the Zhao family took the money and left Yongrui Village with their son, and everything about Zhuzhu's existence was just over, as if it had never happened.

The only people who remembered Zhuzhu were those netizens who initially left messages on the official Weibo account because of the child's experience. However, they simply thought that the little bitter melon did not meet the program organizer's requirements for selecting guests and eventually forgot about her.

In the original plot, the only people who remembered Zhuzhu were her father and mother.

And because of such a deep mark, they ended up with a miserable end.

Now, back to reality, Xiaotuanzi is not yet able to come up with the best solution to protect himself.

All she could do was not to be left alone.

Zaizai is Director Tao’s cute little pendant. Wherever he goes, she follows him with her short legs.

She was in the show crew and had accidentally eaten gossip. It was said that the other brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts who recorded the pilot together were all big names. In the original plot, the staff neglected to take care of her because there were too many celebrity guests and they couldn't take care of them all.

The PD teased her seriously, "The celebrity guests have not been announced yet, Zhuzhu, please keep it a secret."

The little girl nodded vigorously, and put her short fingers on her mouth: "Hmph."

The staff laughed.

The celebrity guests, however, were in perfect harmony and all kept a straight face.

Zhuzhu didn't understand anything and just blinked to see what they were unhappy about.

Looking sad and angry.

The staff stopped laughing.

Suddenly, we received a notice to rectify the situation and change the theme and concept. The whole team worked overtime. The variety show director mobilized all his connections in the entertainment industry and invited so many "big names" to finally save the show.

However, a new theme means new challenges.

Unlike the little brats they dealt with last season, the celebrity guests they faced this time had one thing in common: they were notoriously difficult to deal with.

What's even more frustrating is that the theme of the show is to repair relationships, but the guests and their partners are currently not getting along.

"Bringing a partner along... that means it's twice as hard to deal with," someone whispered.

The program recording is very simple, with a few self-introductions and a few shots of interactions between the guests.

The little amateur Zhu Zhu didn’t have so many “roles”. He spent the whole day almost relaxing, eating melons and boxed lunches.

In the original plot, her death was so horrible that Xiaotuanzi did not dare to slack off until time passed and the sun was about to set.

"Today's pilot recording ends here." said the variety show director.

The little dumpling blinked.

She is still alive.

As long as you are alive, and hold on until the official recording of the show——

Can I see my mother now?

The director thanked them: "Thank you for your hard work!"

The guests greeted us with sour faces and the whole place was silent.

Only the bamboo does not fit the style of the painting.

The baby's clear, babyish voice echoed in the valley, and he said politely, "You're welcome."

Director's touching face.

Who said she was a bitter melon doll? She is clearly a warm-hearted little sweetie!

…

It was late at night, and the light in Ji Ning's room was still on, with light shining through the crack in the door.

Ji Guoting knocked on the door.

"Dad?" The door opened, Ji Ning glanced at Ji Guoting, and then looked past him and behind.

In this family, Fu Mingya has always been the one who has the final say. Ji Guoting has a gentler personality, but the relationship between father and daughter is not that deep.

After losing her memory, Ji Ning could clearly feel that the parent-child and husband-wife relationships in the Ji family were unhealthy, but looking back she could not figure out why.

"Don't look for her anymore." Ji Guoting said with a smile, "Since your mother isn't here, let's just talk for a while."

Ji Ning's room was large, mostly occupied by a cloakroom, and then separated into a rest area. At first, she arranged the rest area in a fanciful way, as if she was deliberately going against the elegant Chinese style of the villa, making it as weird as possible.

Later, she lost her memory and they dealt with most of the traces of the past, leaving only the soft sofa in the corner.

This was ordered by Ji Ning directly from a young designer overseas. It took a lot of time and effort to ship it back to the country. It looked strange and made Fu Mingya frown. However, when Ji Guoting sat on it, he was wrapped up and sank, and felt unexpectedly comfortable.

"What are you busy with?" Ji Guoting asked.

On the desk, Ji Ning sorted out some old graduation photos, textbooks, etc.

"It's strange that there are only a few old things in such a big drawer."

"Dad, I don't even have a class record or anything?"

That day, Ji Ning and Bai Hui met.

It can be seen that they are not very close, but the irony is that Bai Hui seems to be the only one who is willing to tell her the truth.

There were just too many hidden secrets, and Bai Hui couldn't explain them either.

After returning home, Ji Ning was not idle.

She focused on the years after she became an adult, but she could not remember anything. Even the fragments of memory that flashed back to her mind were blank. She could only look for answers in a roundabout way, trying to verify something with everyone who knew about her past.

"Ningning," Ji Guoting said, "Your mother is right about one thing. Is there any point in dwelling on the past? It will only make you waste your time now."

Ji Guoting sighed lightly.

"Dad knows how uncomfortable it is to be kept in the dark."

"It's nothing, actually. Everyone goes through puberty, and that's when you're most rebellious. There's a lot of trivial things that I didn't tell you about, and there's no need to do that."

Ji Ning raised her head in confusion.

"When you were very young, you wrote an essay assigned by your teacher. The topic was time. As you were writing, out of curiosity, you tried to count the time. You counted from one second to sixty seconds, from one minute to sixty minutes, and you were so focused that you didn't stop until a long time later."

Ji Ning listened carefully: "Are you tired of counting?"

"No." Ji Guoting laughed, "You suddenly realized that counting time is too boring. Every second you count is a second wasted. It is better to use this time to do more meaningful things, such as cherishing the present."

"Ningning, you were only ten years old at the time, but you already understood this truth. Now that you've grown up, why are you going backwards?"

The mechanical floor clock in the room is full of artistic sense, which clearly reflects Fu Mingya's taste.

The pointer moves neither fast nor slow, like a witness to the passage of time.

Every second passes by, and perhaps what we should cherish most is the present moment.

This day, she listened to her father.

She returned to China originally for Bai Hui's wedding. The wedding was over, and the noises around her were disturbing, but there was no answer she wanted to hear.

When Ji Guoting left the room, she left the time of her return flight.