After Being Dumped by the Film Empress, My Acting Skills Soared - Chapter 33

Chapter 33

“Passable.” The guard took a brief look at the two self-reflection letters and gave a light snort. “You’re adults now; don’t ever do something like this again. Aren’t you embarrassed to have a five or six-year-old child watching you act like this?”

Shao Niannian followed the guard’s words obediently. “Mm-hmm, there won’t be a next time! We’ve learned our lesson. It definitely won’t happen again.”

The guard started to say something more, but his eyes caught sight of Xixi staring at them. His previously loud tone softened instantly. He beckoned Xixi over, paced to a coat rack, and pulled a small handful of candies from his jacket pocket to hand to her.

“Be a good girl, Xixi. Take these candies and play outside for a bit, but don’t wander off. Later, when Grandma comes to bring Grandpa dinner, you’ll go home with her, okay? Grandma made your favorite pumpkin dough knots for dinner tonight.”

Xixi put down her pen and walked to the guard’s side. She obediently took only one candy. As she headed for the door with the puppy, she paused and looked back at Niannian and Jiang Yan, her bright eyes reflecting a maturity far beyond her years.

“Wait!” Niannian suddenly called out to the exiting girl. She searched her jacket pockets only to find a small pack of cream biscuits. “You can have this, too.”

Xixi looked down at the offered biscuits, pursed her lips, and shook her head. “I don’t want them. Sister, you eat them.”

The puppy, however, was running circles around Xixi, wagging its tail and grinning happily at the snacks in Niannian’s hand, clearly hoping she would tear the package open the next second.

After refusing Niannian, Xixi gave the undignified puppy a light, playful kick and led it outside. The dog took after its owner somewhat—it looked back every three steps, its watery eyes fixed on the snacks, its anticipation palpable even from a distance.

Once Xixi and the puppy were out on the nearby sports field, she unwrapped the milk candy and tucked it into her cheek. The sweet flavor spread through her mouth, and the faint scent of milk reached her nose. The puppy pawed at Xixi’s pant leg, struggling to lick the scented wrapper—it was a lot of effort for a little dog.

Inside the security booth, the atmosphere between the three adults finally began to relax once the child was gone.

The guard offered the remaining candies to Niannian and Jiang Yan. He pulled a pack of Double Happiness cigarettes from his pocket and shook it. He bit the edge of a cigarette, letting the bitter filter rest against his tongue, but made no move to light it.

By the time he put the candies away, a few more were missing.

“Find a stool and sit. The school kids haven’t been dismissed yet, so we can sit for a while. We’ll close up once they leave.”

Jiang Yan frowned, holding the candy in her hand without unwrapping it. “So you just told Xixi she’s going home with you tonight?”

“Yeah.” The guard let out a muffled grunt around his cigarette, his tone turning disdainful. “What else am I supposed to do? Wait for her useless father, her cold-hearted aunt, or her spineless uncle to clear their heads and give her a bite to eat? I think they’d be happy if the child just dropped dead!”

“I assume you followed her because you know about her situation? There isn’t a soul in this town who doesn’t know their family’s mess. Ask anyone and they’ll tell you.”

Through the window, Niannian could see Xixi playing with the puppy. “Is the welfare center not good to her?”

“The welfare center? That place is basically a nursing home. They’re understaffed as it is. It’s hard enough for them to find time for the elderly; how could they look after Xixi?”

The guard spoke with anger. “Xixi’s worthless father wants to sell her. He’s gone to the center several times trying to kidnap her. If the staff hadn’t seen him, he really would have succeeded.”

At these words, both Niannian and Jiang Yan felt a strange chill.

If he had succeeded, Niannian couldn’t even imagine what Xixi’s future would look like. Right now, she was being raised on the kindness of neighbors—pitiable, yes—but once trafficked, the issue wouldn’t just be hunger or a lack of education. If she were lucky, she’d end up as a child in a decent home; if unlucky, every dark horror hidden in the corners of society could happen to her.

It took a moment for Niannian to realize her own anger was making her grit her teeth. Her jaw felt sore. “Why does a person like that still have custody? Is Xixi afraid to stay at the center because he shows up there?”

“Yes. Because the center is remote and understaffed, if Xixi went missing, no one would notice for a while. By the time they did, she’d have been sold to who-knows-where.” The guard felt a wave of helplessness. “Xixi is at the age where she should be in school, but she has no household registration and no one is willing to pay her fees, so she just wanders the town.”

“It’s no way to live, day in and day out. But the child is so sensible it hurts. It’s impossible for us to just pretend we don’t see her and let a good kid like that starve or rot in the streets.”

The guard muttered, holding the unlit cigarette to his nose for a deep breath just to satisfy the craving. “But every family has their own problems. We can’t keep this up forever… We old folks just help where we can.”

Niannian was furious, but her mind remained clear. She knew that as long as Xixi’s relatives were alive, they were her legal guardians until she reached adulthood. Outsiders, no matter how much they wanted to protect her, had no legal way to help.

As for the father’s intentions—even if they were obvious to everyone, even if they reported him to the police—there was no easy solution. The law almost always favors the “guardian.” In many cases, people are simply powerless.

Jiang Yan’s eyes darkened as she sat silently, listening.

The harsh reality was laid bare: Xixi could rely on these people to get through today, but what about later? How could she continue a life of wandering, without an education, constantly looking over her shoulder for her own father?

Her life seemed miserable now, but it was only this “good” because so many people were helping her. Later… when that help ran out, it would be much worse.

A somber silence filled the booth.

Niannian went through every legal regulation and case she knew in her head but couldn’t find a solution. She felt this required a lawyer and began thinking about Mr. Li’s legal team. Then she realized that was a long shot. Mr. Li’s team handled commercial cases; they had likely never dealt with something like this. She remembered asking casually when she was younger—stripping someone of guardianship is incredibly difficult. It’s hard enough for divorced couples, let alone for a third-party observer with no evidence to prove Xixi would be happier if her father lost custody.

Assumptions and “I thinks” are not legal basis. Only black-and-white law and judicial discretion matter.

Niannian felt dejected. Her way of showing it was simple: she stopped talking.

“Do you know where Xixi’s father is now?” Jiang Yan asked.

“Where could he go? He’s probably off with his low-life friends. That useless man… his wife jumped into the river, and if her mother-in-law hadn’t stepped in, the mother’s body would still be sitting in the hospital morgue.” The guard slapped his leg in frustration. “Men like him—it wouldn’t matter if he died tomorrow!”

Niannian asked, “Why didn’t anyone call the police when Xixi’s mother was first sold here?”

“Call the police? Would it have helped?” The guard waved his hand. “Both families insisted the daughter was willing and the money was just a bride price. You think no one in the village tried to stop it? They couldn’t… Even the county police came. Those two families cried, screamed, and threatened suicide, saying people just didn’t want to see them do well by marrying off a daughter.”

“You city kids haven’t seen it. They’ll sit right on the ground and wail. How do you beat a scoundrel like that? It went on for half a month, and eventually, no one dared to interfere. Besides, the man claimed he had a mental illness right in front of the police.”

The guard sighed. “If he wasn’t given a wife, he’d take his anger out on the young girls in the village every day. That family’s sheer shamelessness… in the end, it’s what he deserved that his younger son married a woman just like them.”

Everything was a dead end. No matter which way they turned, they hit a wall. There was no exit for this situation.

Niannian instinctively pulled her jacket tighter. It hadn’t felt cold when she was sitting outside, but in the security booth, it felt freezing. Her hands on her knees trembled uncontrollably.

The guard saw the young girl’s silence and knew how absurd these facts sounded, especially in a rapidly developing society. But life and fate could be precisely that—absurd to the extreme, leaving the poor without a shred of hope or a single ray of light.

According to the guard’s original plan, Xixi was supposed to go home with him after the students left so she could bathe and have a good meal.

Unexpectedly, a problem arose. The guard’s wife had collapsed at home from high blood pressure and was rushed to the county hospital. The doctors had notified their children, who were now on their way to pick up the guard. This left Xixi’s arrangement in flux.

The guard was torn between his sick wife and the pitiful, helpless Xixi. This was a burden he had taken on himself, so he couldn’t just shove it onto his children, who were busy struggling with their own lives.

Seeing the guard’s frantic and guilty expression, Xixi stepped forward and waved him off. In her thin, clear voice, she told him not to worry about her and to go quickly.

“Xixi can take care of herself,” she said firmly. Though she was filthy, her eyes were resolute, like a bamboo shoot buried in the dirt—one never knows when it will suddenly burst through the soil to become a tall, straight tree that everyone looks up to.

Niannian’s heart ached. Watching the chaotic scene, her emotions took over, and she blurted out, “She can stay with us for a while. There are empty rooms in our building.”

“If you’re scared, you can share a bed with me.” Niannian crouched down to look Xixi in the eye, lessening the pressure of an adult’s height. “Does that sound okay? Grandpa is busy today, so I’ll take care of Xixi for him? Tomorrow, when Grandma feels better, I’ll take Xixi to the hospital to see them. Is that alright?”

The guard, desperate to get to the hospital, clapped his hands in relief. Before he could even say “good,” he realized the decision ultimately rested with Xixi. He turned his gaze toward her.

For a moment, everyone’s eyes were on the small, thin girl. They were waiting for her choice.

Xixi instinctively took a step back under the heavy, expectant gazes. Her calf bumped into the puppy that had circled behind her. She quickly looked down to avoid their eager eyes. The puppy looked up at her innocently, gave two barks and a bright “smile,” and nuzzled her leg affectionately.

“…”

After a long silence, they finally heard Xixi’s answer.

The girl didn’t care about the dirt as she picked up the little stray. There was dust on her and dust on the dog; both were just “cubs,” yet they looked tragically weathered as if they had survived the world’s harshest storms.

“If I go, can I bring Wangwang with me?”

“I want to bring him…”

Niannian didn’t answer immediately. Taking in a child was something she could discuss with Wen Jing—as long as there was no crying, it would be fine. But a puppy might affect their roommates. Niannian didn’t mind, as she had two large dogs at home, but she couldn’t speak for Wen Jing.

“Of course you can,” Jiang Yan, who had been standing quietly, said with a smile. “But the puppy can’t stay in the same room as you.”

Jiang Yan crouched beside Niannian and reached out to Xixi, taking the puppy into her own arms and gently rubbing its head. The next second, the dog began whimpering and nuzzling into Jiang Yan’s embrace.

That single action sparked a small flash of jealousy in the two people watching. One was jealous of the puppy—having a Best Actress’s embrace, something she hadn’t even experienced yet, stolen by a stray. The other was jealous of Jiang Yan—she had looked after the puppy for so long, yet it had never made such a face in her arms.

The decision was finalized happily. The guard went to the hospital, while Jiang Yan and Niannian each carried a “cub” back to their lodgings.

Xixi was a bit shy at first, muttering softly, “I’m dirty. Sister Niannian doesn’t have to carry me; I can walk.”

Niannian pulled the girl closer. As she wrapped her arms around her, she realized the child was incredibly light. When Niannian’s sister was this age, she had been as chubby as a New Year’s doll; carrying her was exhausting, requiring her parents and a nanny to take turns just to walk through the park.

Niannian reached out and tucked a stray hair behind Xixi’s ear, smiling. “It’s fine. I like carrying you. It’s evening now and the temperature is dropping. It’s warmer this way, otherwise you might get sick.”

“Mm…” Xixi was silent for a moment before asking suddenly, “But Xixi is very dirty. Don’t you mind, Sister?”

“Not at all.” Niannian shifted the girl in her arms with a smile. “When my sister went out to play as a kid, she’d come back much dirtier than you. She’d leave looking like a doll and come back a mud monster. If she didn’t go out, you’d never know there was so much dirt to roll in near our house.”

“And Xixi just has dirty clothes. We’ll just change into clean ones!”

Held in Niannian’s arms, the small, thin girl looked a size smaller than other children her age. Over Niannian’s shoulder, she watched the school recede in the distance and saw the sunset turning the horizon a blood-red color.

Xixi pressed her lips tight, the faint, pleasant scent of Niannian’s perfume in her nose. Her small hands tightly gripped the hem of Niannian’s jacket.

She had never hoped so much for time to just stop right there.