VHBF – Chapter 43 Movie King Daddy (Part 2)

Yinyin woke up with a suffocating feeling.

In her dazed state, she saw a terrifying, ferocious-looking auntie strangling her neck. Suddenly, a refreshing cool sensation surged through her chest, and Yinyin uncontrollably coughed.

The woman snapped out of it.

She looked at the child coughing violently in front of her. Her eyes narrowed slightly, as if in thought, then without saying a word, she turned and walked out.

Yinyin’s throat hurt a little. She didn’t dare cry but spoke with a sobbing tone to the system:  “Uncle System, Uncle System…”

“Weren’t you supposed to help me find Daddy? Who is this bad auntie?”

The system was silent for a moment before replying: “She’ll take you to your father in a while. Don’t say anything yet. Just obediently follow her.”

This time, the system hadn’t chosen the best timing to bring the little cub over. The once kind, modest, and gentlemanly villain—Film Emperor Zhu Ji—had already been pushed to his limits. Having lost everything, he originally intended to quit the industry. But others wouldn’t let him go, continuously targeting and biting at him. With no way out, he uncovered the truth, killed the person responsible, and committed suicide.

The child the cub had possessed this time truly existed, unlike the previous two worlds where the system provided a vessel.

This child was the result of a washed-up actress, Yao Li, drugging Film Emperor Zhu Ji at a celebratory banquet four years ago.

Yao Li had planned to use the one-night stand to latch onto Zhu Ji, who was at the peak of his career. Unfortunately for her, the very next morning, her financial backer called, asking her to go yachting. She didn’t dare delay and hurried off after tidying up.

Seeing the still unconscious Zhu Ji, Yao Li was reluctant to leave, but her backer was a more reliable lifeline.

A month later, Yao Li discovered she was pregnant.

She thought long and hard but wasn’t even sure if the child was her backer’s or Zhu Ji’s. Her first thought was to make the backer take responsibility. To her dismay, though wealthy, the man relied on his wife’s family and was terrified of her. Upon hearing the news, he gave Yao Li money to get an abortion and threatened to blacklist her if she didn’t.

Yao Li was terrified. Her backer even showed signs of discarding her after this incident. Not wanting to end up empty-handed, she turned her thoughts to Zhu Ji.

Zhu Ji was young, handsome, and clean-living—one of the most desirable golden bachelors in the entertainment industry. If she could use this child to make him marry her, she wouldn’t need to worry about resources again. She could even quit acting if she wanted.

But what if Zhu Ji’s first reaction was also to demand an abortion?

Having learned her lesson, Yao Li didn’t dare rashly approach him claiming she carried his child. Instead, she told her backer she’d had the abortion, forged a medical record, and walked away with a hefty sum of hush money. She then returned to her hometown to carry the pregnancy in secret.

By the time she re-emerged, the child was already two years old—the cutest age. Naturally, she didn’t have the patience to raise it herself. She left the child with her mother, who fed the baby until it was plump and round. When Yao Li later took the child back, it looked chubby and adorable, though now it was thinner from neglect.

Another reason Yao Li disliked the child was that—perhaps due to the drugs she had given Zhu Ji—the child was slow to develop. Even at two years old, she couldn’t speak or call for anyone, timid and dumb, like a fool.

Still, something was better than nothing. Yao Li had already planned: even if Zhu Ji didn’t marry her, he should at least give her three blockbuster roles, two major ad endorsements, plus compensation for her two years of lost work and emotional damages. With his tens-of-millions paychecks, wasn’t a million or two a reasonable demand?

But when she finally brought the child out, Zhu Ji was nowhere to be found. He had taken a literary film project in some remote village or mountain and disappeared for over half a year. When he returned, he was busy with promotions and big ad shoots, flying around constantly. With his entourage of bodyguards and assistants, how could Yao Li, who had already been out of the spotlight for years, even approach him?

He didn’t even accept DMs from strangers on Weibo. No matter how hard Yao Li tried, she couldn’t find the right opportunity.

Later, his film was released and swept several prestigious awards at the Venice Film Festival. When Zhu Ji won Best Actor, Yao Li was thrilled. She no longer wanted just money—she wanted to be Film Emperor’s wife.

But before Zhu Ji even returned to the country, scandals flooded the internet.

Yao Li followed the entire drama, nearly breaking her manicured nails as she watched Zhu Ji get detained upon arrival and even dragged into drug rumors. Three years of scheming, wasted overnight!

Now everyone wanted to cut ties with him. Zhu Ji even sold his house and car and lost all his savings. Live as the wife of a penniless, blacklisted actor? Yao Li wasn’t that stupid.

Still, seeing three years of careful planning go up in smoke shattered her mentality. Losing all reason, she turned on the child. The frightened little girl whimpered like a chick, which only fueled Yao Li’s rage. She seized the girl’s throat.

In the original timeline, Yao Li strangled the child to death at this point. That was when the system inserted the little cub into the body.

Yinyin instinctively carried the body’s fear, subconsciously stepping far away from the woman.

She timidly glanced at her, then looked toward the man on the sofa. When their eyes met, her gaze lit up.

But with the fierce, wicked auntie nearby, she didn’t dare move or speak.

Yao Li sneered, fiddling with her nails. “That’s how it is. Anyway, you’re already so unlucky—what’s one more burden?”

“I went back to my hometown after getting pregnant. Later, I even paid your makeup artist for some of your hair to run a DNA test.”

She tossed a paper lightly onto the table.

“That DNA test cost me two thousand yuan. I thought it would be worth it, but tsk…” She scanned him up and down. Handsome or not, what use was that without money? Just looking at his miserable state now, she felt she must have been cursed to waste so much time on a man doomed to fail!

“Anyway, this little burden is your child. Don’t think you can deny it. I won’t raise her—you do it yourself! Think of this DNA report as saving you money.”

“What’s with that look? Don’t believe it? Go get another test! But unless you take this idiot child today, I’m not leaving!”

Zhu Ji looked at the child blinking up at him, eyes sparkling with trust and attachment. His voice, usually clear and gentle, came out slightly hoarse: “Leave her.”

Worried she’d misunderstand, he added: “The child stays.”

“Should’ve said that earlier!” Yao Li clapped her hands, ready to leave, feeling lighter than ever after tossing away such a burden.

But then Zhu Ji spoke again: “You know I’m broke now. As the biological mother, you’re also obligated to share child support.”

The once gentle and elegant Film Emperor even gave a faint embarrassed smile. “I heard the law requires both parents to support their child until adulthood, right?”

Yao Li exploded. She was greedy and vain to the core. To think she had wasted years planning, at the very least hoping for money if not marriage—yet now she was asked to pay money instead?!

The child, startled by Yao Li’s angry return, instinctively ran into Zhu Ji’s arms, trembling slightly.

Zhu Ji froze for a moment, then gently patted her back in comfort.

Yao Li arched a brow mockingly: “Well, well. Who knew this ungrateful brat would cling to you so quickly? Truly father and daughter!” She had given birth and raised the child for three years, yet the girl always avoided her. And now she grew attached to a man she’d just met?

Not jealousy, just bitter unwillingness. She refused to pay any child support. Not a cent!

“So? What do you want?”

Zhu Ji smiled faintly. “Just wait a moment.”

He tapped away on his laptop. Given his work, he often needed to print scripts and contracts, so his living room had a printer.

Soon, he handed her a printed document. “Sign this. Once you sever ties with the child, you’ll no longer have any obligations.”

The Film Emperor’s smile was as warm as ever, completely hiding the misfortunes he’d suffered. His arched brows and faintly curved lips still carried a youthful aura despite his thirty years. For a moment, Yao Li was dazed, recalling the first time she met him.

Back then, he had been the industry’s shining star—a prodigy, a top scholar, the youngest Best Actor, the darling of every director. Every compliment imaginable had been attached to his name.

Yao Li had admired him so much back then, even as jealousy gnawed at her.

But now?

The moment she realized she could sign away all responsibility for the child, she was delighted. A black-and-white contract meant she could legally cut ties with this burden.

Let the fallen Film Emperor and his little fool of a daughter fend for themselves!

She skimmed through it. The document stated: On XX date, I, Yao Li, voluntarily sever all parental ties with Zhu Yinyin. Yao Li will bear no costs for Zhu Yinyin, and once Zhu Yinyin grows up, she will also have no obligation to support Yao Li.

Since Yao Li had already given the child her own father’s surname, and the girl hadn’t been registered due to being born out of wedlock, this arrangement suited her perfectly. Signing it made things neat and final.

She stuffed her copy into her bag and left.

Yet as she stepped out of the Film Emperor’s home, she felt strangely hollow, as if she had lost something precious…

Later, she would always think back to this day. She had believed she’d cleanly cast off a burden, when in reality, she had abandoned a golden treasure—one who would bring endless wealth. From then on, she could only watch helplessly as father and daughter soared higher and higher, to heights she could never again hope to reach.

With the arrogant woman gone, the living room fell silent.

The man and the little girl looked at each other.

Yinyin shyly shuffled forward, cheeks flushed red, raising her tiny hands in a plea for a hug. Her soft little voice, timid and shy, called out: “Daddy…”

Zhu Ji: “…”

So… she’s this quick to warm up to me?