VHBF – Chapter 50 Movie King Daddy (Part 9)

From years of experience as a livestreamer, he was certain that a young man with outstanding looks and bearing, dressed head-to-toe in designer brands, yet picking up trash with a three-year-old child carved from pink jade—such a bizarre scene was guaranteed to bring him tons of traffic!

Yang Bingbing wasn’t hard to recognize. The video quickly attracted huge attention online. The screen was filled with comments of “hahaha”, others squealing “That kid is so cute!” and wondering if it was part of some variety show being filmed.

“That handsome guy doesn’t look like someone short on money. And he’s so good-looking, almost like a celebrity. Isn’t this just a publicity stunt?”

Many said the same thing. Normally no one would think too deeply about it, after all, who would imagine that a big-name celebrity would take a kid out to pick up trash? But once someone mentioned “celebrity,” people began to scrutinize more carefully.

One netizen recognized Yang Bingbing and hesitantly said: “Doesn’t he look like that actor Yang Bingbing? The one who played Young Lord?”

Young Lord was the role Yang Bingbing had in a recent hit drama. In it, he played a free-spirited young marquis roaming the jianghu. The role was very similar to his real personality, so his natural performance was praised by netizens as excellent. He gained a wave of popularity and many new fans.

At noon, instead of going home, Zhu Ji called Yang Bingbing to ask about the child. Was the child doing okay? Did he have any trouble taking care of her?

On the other end of the line, everything sounded cheerful. The little dumpling even squeezed in to call “Daddy,” telling him not to work too hard and to come home early. Since it all sounded fine, Zhu Ji hung up reassured, saying he’d return in the evening.

By the time the sun set, Zhu Ji arrived home.

After a whole day of “battle,” Yang Bingbing and the little dumpling had harvested quite a lot. They sold a big sack of bottles and were counting the money, “splitting the spoils.”

The little dumpling was clever. With the experience of selling bottles, she counted the messy pile of change: the biggest denomination was a ten-yuan note, more of it was five- and one-yuan bills, and even some coins worth just a few mao.

This trip earned 29 yuan and 80 cents. She had her uncle count it once again, and only after confirming it was correct did she nod her little head in satisfaction.

Then, with great heartache, she pulled out one yuan, two yuan, three yuan…

She pushed the money toward her uncle. “Uncle, a total of three yuan and forty cents. That’s your wage. I can’t give you more!”

Yang Bingbing: “…”

When she saw her uncle didn’t respond, she thought he was unhappy with the amount. Feeling a little guilty, she admitted to herself that uncle had indeed helped a lot—otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to pick up so many bottles. Being an honest child, she clenched her heartache and said: “Or—or I’ll add another forty cents.”

Saying this, she pushed four ten-cent coins toward him, speaking earnestly: “Uncle, forty cents is a lot. You can buy several candies with it!”

Yang Bingbing: “…”

He looked at the little dumpling’s scrunched-up face and her utterly sincere expression. Clearly, she really thought forty cents was a fortune. “…”

Just as they finished splitting the money, the sound of a key turning in the lock came from outside. The little dumpling’s eyes lit up. She quickly hid the money in her tiny schoolbag and hurriedly whispered to her uncle: “Uncle, Daddy doesn’t let Yinyin pick up bottles. You mustn’t tell him, okay?”

“This is our secret. Uncle, pinky promise!”

Suppressing his laughter, Yang Bingbing reached out to hook pinkies with her. The moment they finished, the door opened. The man stepped inside, and the little dumpling dashed over, flinging herself at his leg. “Daddy’s home!”

Zhu Ji chuckled, picking her up. “Mm, Daddy’s home.”

He set the takeout food he had brought on the table and asked if they had eaten. After a whole day of picking bottles, selling them, and splitting the money, the uncle and niece both shook their heads vigorously, speaking in unison: “Not yet!”

Zhu Ji raised an eyebrow, sensing something was off, but couldn’t quite pinpoint it. So, the three of them had dinner together.

All night, Yang Bingbing couldn’t stop sneaking glances at his Brother Ji. When he wasn’t looking at him, he looked at the little dumpling beside him. The more he looked, the more he wanted to laugh. Afraid he’d give himself away, he quickly excused himself after the meal.
“I’ll come see my little niece again tomorrow!”

Zhu Ji: “You seem very free these days? No schedules to catch up on?”

Yang Bingbing waved his hand. “No, no. I asked my manager for leave.” He wagged a finger proudly. “A whole year’s worth of vacation! Brother, you can’t be jealous of me!”

“…”

But things on Weibo didn’t calm down just because everything seemed peaceful at home.

The haters weren’t letting up. They kept smearing him online, especially harping on one point: How could Film Emperor Zhu have a child if he wasn’t married? Wasn’t it because of messy relationships, an unrestrained private life, and an “accident” leading to a kid? Who was the child’s mother? Could it be some “escort girl”?

The words were as nasty as they could get. Malice was amplified without end. Even though some fans and bystanders spoke up for him, saying such viciousness shouldn’t be directed at a child, the haters never tired of it.

The more outstanding a person, the more some admired and envied, while others grew jealous and resentful—wishing for nothing more than to drag them down from the skies into the mud, to be trampled on.

After coaxing the little dumpling to sleep, Zhu Ji turned on his computer.

This laptop was practically his last remaining asset—an ultra-high-end model worth over a hundred thousand. As a computer science major who used to have plenty of money, of course he bought the best.

Before logging in, he checked Weibo again. Seeing the malicious remarks targeting his child, his usually gentle gaze turned icy cold.

His fingers flew across the keyboard. Following the trail of some of the more extreme user IDs, he slipped into their computers. From there, he traced the chat logs of the hired “water army” and locked onto their ringleader’s machine.

The ringleader was cautious, always contacting clients only by phone and deleting records afterward. As a result, Zhu Ji only confirmed that someone had hired trolls to smear him—but who exactly was behind it, there was no hard evidence.

Zhu Ji had always known deep down the truth about that earlier scandal on the internet accusing him of being arrogant and bullying juniors.

It referred to a particular incident while filming, when he had scenes opposite supporting actor Wei Ming.

Zhu Ji had always pursued perfection, while Wei Ming’s acting was exaggerated and superficial. The director didn’t seem to care much, but Zhu Ji couldn’t tolerate obvious flaws in his own work. So whenever Wei Ming made a mistake, he would stop and demand a retake.

The secretly recorded video, however, deliberately chose certain angles and was heavily edited. Watching the clip, Zhu Ji looked stiff-faced and displeased, completely different from his usual warm and clear demeanor, insisting again and again on a redo.

Standing opposite the film emperor, the young man acting with him had red-rimmed eyes, looking so aggrieved that he was about to cry—clearly painted as being harshly oppressed.

The video stirred such controversy for two reasons:

First, it clashed with the public’s long-held impression of Zhu Ji. Instead of his usual modest, mentoring self, he appeared domineering and severe on set, deliberately making things hard for a newcomer.

Second, people are visual creatures—they only believe what they see, and they naturally sympathize with the weak. Almost instinctively, they sided with Wei Ming, saying, “Even if the younger actor isn’t good enough, there’s no need to be so fierce. As a senior, isn’t he supposed to guide his juniors instead?”

And besides, the younger boy already seemed to be working hard. What more did Film Emperor Zhu want? Surely he wasn’t just using his seniority to bully others?

In this matter, the one who benefited was Wei Ming. As Zhu Ji was increasingly blackened, Wei Ming was mentioned again and again, using people’s sympathy to draw in a flood of new fans.

Zhu Ji had sensed the deliberate setup at the time, but he didn’t care. Now that he did, he followed the trail from Wei Ming’s latest Weibo post.

That post was a reposted advertisement collaboration announcement. Ever since he blew up from that incident, Wei Ming’s resources had been excellent, and his popularity had steadily climbed.

Inside the bathroom of a five-star hotel, a young man lay soaking in the bathtub, a glass of red wine set by the side, his eyes closed in rest.

Suddenly, a piercing alarm blared in his mind.

“Warning, warning—someone is invading the host’s computer. Data leakage may cause unknown trouble. The system will automatically draw on the host’s energy to block the intrusion.”

Wei Ming’s heart jolted. Without even wiping off the water, he rushed out in panic and asked the system: “What’s going on? Who is it?”

The strange voice in his head replied: “Unknown danger. Unknown danger. Unable to detect.”

Wei Ming darted to his computer. Before his bath, he had just posted a Weibo update—he hadn’t even shut it down. Recently he had landed an endorsement with an international luxury brand, and today, right after signing the contract, he had rushed to announce it.

Touching the scorching heat of his computer case, Wei Ming felt uneasy. Was it some hacker attack?

But even the supposedly omnipotent system within him couldn’t trace the source. If it couldn’t, then he certainly couldn’t either.

On the other side.

Zhu Ji stared at the garbled code on his computer screen, his gaze deep and contemplative.

“Daddy, how much does one meal cost?”

Zhu Ji rubbed Yinyin’s little head and explained patiently: “If you buy groceries and cook at home, maybe ten to twenty yuan. If you want to eat meat, then more like thirty to forty.”

He thought for a moment and added: “Ordering takeout isn’t healthy, and it’s expensive.”

“Daddy, then how much is takeout?”

“Sometimes dozens, sometimes hundreds—it depends on what Yinyin wants to eat…”

Zhu Ji had never raised a child before, but he didn’t believe in brushing kids off just because they were small. It was important for them to develop a proper understanding of money from an early age.

After explaining, he noticed the little one deep in thought and asked: “Why are you asking these questions? Don’t worry, Yinyin. Daddy can still support you.”

Yinyin’s heart ached for her father. See? Daddy was putting on a brave face again. Uncle had already said Daddy worked so hard every day hauling bricks, yet he didn’t earn much.

But for the sake of Daddy’s pride, she didn’t expose his “lie.” Instead, she thought hard about the little stash of savings she had built up.

After two days of collecting bottles with Uncle, Yinyin had saved a thick wad of coins.

She began calculating how many days her small savings could feed Daddy.

But after all the math, her head was spinning.

“Daddy, if… if I have fifty yuan, how many days can we eat?”

Zhu Ji glanced at the dishes on the table. Tonight he had made soup for Yinyin, buying the best ingredients he could within his means. With a child around, he couldn’t help wanting to give her the best. Just tonight’s groceries had already cost more than fifty. Looking at her earnest little face, he said: “Tonight’s dinner alone cost nearly a hundred.”

“A hundred? How much is that?”

“A hundred is two fifties.”

Yinyin was stunned, frowning tightly. Two days of bottle-collecting wasn’t even enough to feed Daddy one meal?!

Thinking back on her past bottle-collecting days, plus the help from uncles and aunties, it had been just enough to raise herself. But Daddy ate so much?!

When Yang Bingbing came by, Yinyin secretly leaned close to his ear and whispered with emotion: “Raising Daddy is sooo expensive!!!”

Yang Bingbing: “…”

He almost couldn’t resist giving Yinyin money to “help raise her dad.”

Meanwhile, ratings were falling at the famous variety TV channel Fruit TV. They planned to cancel an old program and launch a brand-new variety show to regain viewership.

The director in charge was a big name in the television drama industry who had switched over to variety programming. This was his very first show.

After discussing with screenwriters, they positioned it as a parent-child reality show. Such programs were hugely popular overseas but rare in China, where romance, challenges, and singing competitions dominated instead.

Zhang Daxi was bold in introducing this format because he wanted an explosive hit. The TV industry had become difficult; with new regulations restricting everything, survival was hard.

Last year, one of his dramas was blocked, causing tens of millions in investment to go down the drain. Not only had he angered investors, but he himself had lost even the house he sold to fund the project. This time, it was do or die!

But the show wasn’t guaranteed to air. The station was cautious. They appointed two directors—one a veteran variety show director, the other Zhang Daxi—and planned to let both of their shows air simultaneously in a direct PK. Whichever one scored higher ratings and better response would become the final confirmed program.

Zhang Daxi was pulling his hair out. Being a perfectionist, he had already sent invitations to several A-list and even top-tier stars.

Now there was only one guest slot left. The stars already invited were famous enough, but they were too conventional, lacking the explosive buzz factor he needed…