Assistant Bai Really Does Have a Three Year Old Child - Chapter 15

In the lounge, Director Guo was arranging tasks for the staff at the door, leaving only Bai Tan and the mother-daughter pair, Lin Zhiwei and Xiao Wan, in the room.

After a long silence, Lin Zhiwei stood up and sat beside Bai Tan.

By reflex, Bai Tan moved slightly to the side, his eyes constantly cast downward.

From nearby, the sound of Xiao Wan’s sobbing could be heard from time to time.

“Xiao Tan.” Lin Zhiwei’s voice was gentle, a smile hanging at the corners of her lips. “Last time you came to Wanwan’s birthday party, I was too busy and didn’t have time to take a good look at you. I’m sorry.”

As she spoke, she gently took Bai Tan’s hands, cradling them in her palms.

Unable to control itself, Bai Tan’s fragile little heart skipped a beat again. He instantly looked up at this woman, whom he had not looked at properly for sixteen years.

“You’ve grown taller, and you’ve become more handsome,” Lin Zhiwei smiled.

From the moment Bai Tan looked up, it was difficult to withdraw his gaze from her face.

Those warm and delicate hands were clearly not as large as his own palms, yet just like when he was a child, they completely enveloped his youthful hands. They seemed to echo the words: “Mama loves you. Even if it comes to the point of divorce with your father, Mama will take you with her.”

Whether as a child or now, Bai Tan never doubted her words.

He also habitually ignored what others said whenever she was around.

For instance, Li Wenyan’s sentence: “Not loving someone means simply not loving them anymore.”

It seemed every child possessed an innate dependence on their mother. Bai Tan slowly pulled his fingers out and gripped Lin Zhiwei’s hand in return, nodding his head.

“Apologies for keeping you waiting.”

Director Guo finished arranging the work and entered the room, sitting down with a bold posture. “Ms. Lin, if you have something to say, please speak directly.”

Lin Zhiwei let go of Bai Tan’s hand. Bai Tan actually reached out instinctively to try and grasp it again.

Finally, he stopped awkwardly in mid-air and silently withdrew his hand.

Lin Zhiwei smiled slightly:

“It’s like this. Regarding the trouble your production team has encountered recently, I have heard about it. Furthermore, someone may have leaked information claiming that our Wanwan did this.”

Director Guo nodded.

“Our Wanwan is young, playful, and doesn’t know better. In truth, she is a very kind girl. She knows she has caused trouble for so many people… she feels very guilty in her heart and was afraid of being blamed, so she dragged me here to apologize to you.”

Lin Zhiwei gently pulled Xiao Wan close, patting her shoulder.

Xiao Wan immediately lowered her head, her eyes brimming with tears:

“Director Guo, I’m sorry. I was immature and caused trouble for you. I hope you can be the bigger person and forgive me this once. I promise never to do it again.”

What could the director say? He had to give Lin Zhiwei face, after all.

He gave two dry laughs and scratched his cheek:

“Regarding this matter, we will find a way to handle it ourselves. You don’t need to keep it on your mind anymore. Let’s just leave it at that.”

“Director Guo.” Lin Zhiwei, however, did not end the topic. “You also know that our Wanwan usually loves to write small articles. When she was young, she often secretly wrote them under her homework. Her father and I caught her several times and scolded her many times, but it seems she truly loves it. Even after being scolded, she never said she would give it up, and she has finally achieved some results with great difficulty.”

Director Guo nodded like a chick pecking at grain: “Yes, yes, yes…”

“So, I am afraid that if this matter is exposed and attracts criticism, it will strike a blow to her self-confidence. If she stops writing, her book fans will also feel very regretful. You see…”

Director Guo slowly raised his eyes, glanced at Lin Zhiwei, and then slowly shifted his gaze to Bai Tan.

He understood. This mother and daughter had come here to put on a tragic show because they hoped to find someone else to take the fall for this matter.

“Your meaning is that there should be no more room for a reversal in this matter, and it should continue according to what is being said on the internet, correct?”

Lin Zhiwei took a deep breath and nodded firmly.

To the side, Bai Tan was suddenly stunned. He slowly and with great difficulty raised his head, his moist eyes staring straight at this woman he had thought of day and night.

Lin Zhiwei grabbed Bai Tan’s hand, her brows deeply furrowed:

“Xiao Tan, Mama knows she has done you wrong by not being by your side all these years, but regarding this matter… after all, Wanwan is young, and her heart is very fragile. She isn’t as strong as you and doesn’t have enough endurance. So Mama also hopes this matter will end here. Once the heat of the topic dies down, Mama will make up your birthday to you. Whatever you want, just speak up, alright?”

She added another sentence: “No matter how much money it costs, I will never go back on my word.”

Bai Tan tilted his head back, staring at the crystal lamp on the ceiling.

Only ten-odd minutes ago, he had heard the words he had yearned for: “Xiao Tan, you’ve grown up and grown taller.”

At that moment, he truly thought that if his mother asked him to die, he might willingly jump off this building.

If the conversation had stopped at the sentence “you’ve grown up,” he really would have done it.

Bai Tan slowly took a deep breath and looked at Lin Zhiwei with a smile:

“When I was eight years old, the year you left, you said you were very busy and told me not to disturb you. So, in sixteen years, I never made a single phone call to you because I was afraid you would be unhappy.”

“But, am I not also your…”

The smile fell away bit by bit, replaced by trembling lips and a trembling voice.

His throat felt as if someone were strangling it; there was no way he could continue speaking.

“I’m sorry, Xiao Tan. I know this matter has caused you grievance. Mama will definitely find a way to compensate you, alright?”

Bai Tan stood up and pulled his hand out of hers:

“Are you finished? If you’re finished, I’m going to work.”

He did not want to know what else Lin Zhiwei had to say. He turned, opened the door, and left.

Director Guo sighed secretly.

They say that even if the bones are broken, the tendons remain connected, yet there really was a mother who could do things so heartlessly.

Lin Zhiwei lowered her head, pressing her hand in a fist against her nose, desperately forcing back her tears.

Meanwhile, Xiao Wan, who had been sobbing incessantly just a moment ago, cast a contemptuous glance at the door.

Earlier, Yang Yueqian had called to say the secret was out and told her to find a way.

Xiao Wan curled her lips.

Did you really think that just because you recorded all the audio evidence, you could kill me?

Xiao Wan knew that she held the absolute trump card that Bai Tan would never obtain in his lifetime.

In another lounge.

Bai Tan told himself “don’t cry” in his heart countless times. A man should not shed tears easily.

But he had to admit that the trump card Xiao Wan held would always keep him completely suppressed.

And Xiao Wan’s tears would also forever keep that woman completely suppressed.

Like the year his parents divorced, the scene of that little boy crying under the covers was replaying today after all the ups and downs.

A child who has suffered a grievance will habitually seek comfort from their mother, so what should he do?

Bai Tan leaned against the window, his light-colored sleeves stained with dark marks from his tears.

After an unknown amount of time, Bai Tan washed his face, put on his coat, and headed out.

However, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw a black figure standing outside the door.

“Teacher Huo…” Bai Tan tried his best to raise his pitch so that his voice wouldn’t sound so hoarse.

“I’m sorry, Teacher Huo. I would like to ask for another half-day of leave from you.”

“Mm, okay,” Huo Yang replied in a low voice.

Watching Bai Tan bow to him and turn to leave, the gaze fixed on Bai Tan also slowly followed him into the distance.

Just as Bai Tan stepped out of the production team’s main gate, a horn sounded behind him.

The window of a black car rolled down, revealing a face with distinct features:

“I called you but you didn’t answer. Get in the car.”

Bai Tan pulled out his phone and took a look. Li Wenyan had indeed called him seven or eight times, but his phone was on silent, and his mind wasn’t on it, so he had automatically ignored them.

After getting into the car, Li Wenyan took a cup of milk tea out of the storage box and handed it to Bai Tan:

“Full sugar.”

Bai Tan’s nose was still red as he took the milk tea:

“Why is it full sugar?”

“Because eating something sweet makes people happy.” Li Wenyan pointed to his own head. “Sugar is beneficial for dopamine secretion, helping the brain resist bad moods.”

Bai Tan smiled:

“I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”

“How much money is needed?” Li Wenyan suddenly changed the subject.

“What do you mean, how much money?”

“I heard Director Guo say that the non-disclosure agreement you signed includes compensation clauses. So, how much is it? I’ll pay it.”

“Why?”

“There is no ‘why.’ If I must find a reason, just consider it as me being a foolish person with too much money. Is that okay?”

Bai Tan was amused by this sentence and took a sip of the milk tea.

It was indeed very sweet. The thick sugar coating stuck to his throat, and the bad mood from just now seemed to ease slightly.

“No need for compensation. Director Guo took pity on me being a first-time offender and decided to spare me this once.” He said this while staring blankly ahead.

Perhaps he was pondering why, even though he clearly saw through the wolfish ambitions of that mother and daughter, he still chose to compromise.

“Good. Since the matter has passed, don’t think about it anymore.” Li Wenyan started the car.

“Don’t you blame me?” Bai Tan asked.

“Leaking secrets…” Li Wenyan thought about it very seriously. “Everyone has times when they have a big mouth and can’t hold a secret. Or perhaps during a conversation, emotions ran high and they didn’t pay attention and said a bit too much. It’s quite normal.”

Bai Tan smiled:

“CEO Li, you are so good to me. Thank you.”

“You should know I am a businessman. The most meaningless thing in the business world is the words ‘thank you.'” Li Wenyan reached out a hand and touched Bai Tan’s hair. “Make something delicious for me; that has more value.”

“Okay.”

On the day of the press conference.

Bai Tan was not in the mood to choose clothes for today, but he understood that his mother and Xiao Wan would be watching his every word and action through the screen.

He chose a beautiful pleated shirt, changed into it, and meticulously cared for every strand of his hair, ready to depart.

He took one last look at the USB drive containing the audio evidence, picked it up, and threw it into the trash can.

The scene of the press conference was crowded with people. Reporters filled the seats, and fans from various houses who had received the news were held back behind the cordon, holding high the support banners for their respective artists.

Seeing Bai Tan get out of the car, they couldn’t help but burst out into loud curses:

“You traitor! You’d better resign in shame and stay far away from Brother Huo Yang!”

“You aren’t worthy of being Brother Huo Yang’s assistant! You’re a petty person who lost his conscience for profit!”

Bai Tan finally understood the point they were angry about:

As an assistant, one should always guard the boss’s privacy, yet he had casually leaked the boss’s privacy in a single sentence.

It was indeed the act of a petty person.

Bai Tan ignored them and slowly moved into the venue through the circle of reporters.

In the past, the people sitting on the stage at such press conferences were usually first-line stars. It was rare for a small assistant like him to experience this high-up scenery. He really had to thank Xiao Wan.

The director, producer, and several lead actors sat in a row on the stage, with the small assistant who was out of place squeezed among them.

Even though his boss, Huo Yang whom he should be paying attention to at all times was sitting beside him, Bai Tan was not in the mood to care.

He didn’t notice that Huo Yang beckoned a staff member over and whispered a few words in his ear.

The press conference began. Various groups of people were filled with righteous indignation, turning the press conference into a denunciation rally.

Director Guo knew the truth and found it hard to say anything, trying his best to speak up for Bai Tan.

The producer, on the other hand, perhaps because he had argued with his teenage son and menopausal wife before leaving the house, was in a fit of rage and let out all sorts of nonsense:

“It is my failure in management. I feel that having such an employee in the production team is an extraordinary humiliation! We will continue to investigate the reasons why the party involved disregarded the non-disclosure agreement to spread information. But please rest assured, I will never tolerate this!”

In front of the screen, Xiao Wan was curled up on the sofa holding an iPad, unable to hide her smile.

She glanced at the door of the opposite room, knowing her mother was still blaming herself for this matter and hadn’t eaten much for the past few days.

But as long as Bai Tan was unhappy, she was happy.

A discarded pawn who is disliked by others should recognize reality and hide in his own old, broken, and small place, staring enviously at the happiness of others like a rat in the gutter. This was his fate.

Why did he have to come out and entangle her mother? Or did he think that a child who was born must be loved?

If there was love, why was she her mother and not his?

It was laughable.

At this moment, at the press conference scene.

A reporter in the audience raised their hand to ask a question, inquiring in detail about Director Guo’s next arrangements, and Director Guo answered them one by one.

The bullet comments in the live broadcast room piled up layer by layer:

So this is the brother’s new assistant. At one glance, you can tell he got in because of his face.

Brother, fire him! Once disloyal, never used for life! If you continue to keep him, there’s no guarantee that one day he won’t even leak your bank card password.

Big mouth. Why did he have to talk about the production team’s secrets? He deserves to be denounced.

Most of the bullet comments were criticizing Bai Tan, while the rest demanded that Huo Yang drive the person away as soon as possible.

Bai Tan sat on the stage, looking at the written apology statement he had prepared in advance.

His head felt groggy and heavy. He could no longer hear what that reporter below was saying with their opening and closing mouth.

He slowly closed his eyes, only feeling his consciousness constantly sinking along with his body.

Suddenly, Director Guo beside him nudged his arm.

Bai Tan barely opened his eyes only to find a reporter standing below, staring straight at him.

“Mr. Assistant, I will repeat my question once more. Given that you signed a non-disclosure agreement but still casually revealed the contents of the agreement to others, was it because there was some kind of profit involved?” That reporter was aggressive, speaking as if it were a factual matter.

Bai Tan did not want to answer such a meaningless question again. He picked up the apology statement, his voice hoarse:

“I won’t waste everyone’s time any longer. Now, I will make a sincere apology for the mistake I committed.”

In front of the screen, Xiao Wan immediately prepared to start screen recording.

She was going to record it and watch it ten times a day every day, every year.

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