The Heartless Omega: I Only Want My Daughter - Chapter 14

When two families of strangers sit together, the topic is inevitably their children even more so on a parenting show.

Out of every ten sentences Pei Zhiyun and Li Dai exchanged, nine were about the kids. The tenth sentence came from Li Dai’s partner, Zhang Yiwan, who asked Pei Zhiyun when she would be filming her next drama.

It had been a year and a half since her last project.

“Well…” Pei Zhiyun lowered her eyes, her palm resting on her knee as she lightly pinched the fabric of her pants. “We’ll have to see the upcoming work schedule. If a suitable script comes along, I’ll film it.”

Zhang Yiwan leaned half-sideways, her gaze toward Pei Zhiyun full of pure fangirl adoration. “Then I hope a suitable script finds you very soon.”

“Thank you,” Pei Zhiyun replied with a smile and a nod.

Once they finished chatting, Li Dai spoke up. “She has always liked you very much. At home, she often re-watches your old dramas. When she found out she’d be joining this show with you, she was happy for days—she jumped around so much I thought the floor was going to crack. I could even hear her laughing in her sleep at midnight.”

“Oh?” Pei Zhiyun rarely heard such direct praise. She leaned her head forward slightly to look at Zhang Yiwan, her long hair cascading softly over her shoulder. After a moment of thought, she summarized her feelings into two words: “Thank you.”

“No problem, no problem, no problem!” Zhang Yiwan, caught in Pei Zhiyun’s direct gaze, bowed her head shyly and repeated the phrase three times. Her face flushed a deep, burning red.

Li Dai turned toward her wife. She wasn’t jealous or displeased; instead, she reached out with a smile to tidy Zhang Yiwan’s slightly messy hair. Zhang Yiwan immediately sat up straight and calmed down significantly.

After waiting about ten minutes, a noisy commotion drifted in from outside. Judging by the sound, the third family had arrived.

Pei Zhiyun instinctively turned toward Wen Ying, signaling for her to stand up with Little Doubao for the greetings. Wen Ying picked up the drowsy child. Being lifted so suddenly jolted Little Doubao awake, and the water bottle she was clutching nearly slipped from her grasp. Pei Zhiyun reached out and took the bottle from her just in time.

Both families stood up and walked a few paces into the courtyard to welcome the third family.

The first person to cross the threshold was a cameraman walking backward, filming the entrance. Gradually, the third family came into view.

When Li Dai and Zhang Yiwan saw who it was, their expressions froze. They couldn’t help but steal glances at Pei Zhiyun, inwardly drawing a sharp breath.

The newcomer was Xu Yi. She was a third-tier actress with a mediocre reputation in the industry. Her participation in this season was purely the result of capital investment pushing her in. This had caused a stir on the hot search a month ago, with netizens lambasting the move.

Capital-backed casting was common enough, but the real issue was that she and Pei Zhiyun had a history of bad blood.

Three years ago, Pei Zhiyun was set to star in a major female-lead drama. Just before filming began, the investors abruptly replaced her with Xu Yi. Fans and netizens were outraged, boycotting the sudden change and organizing online protests. As a result, the drama was plagued by negative reviews from start to finish. When it finally aired, the ratings were so abysmal that it was pulled mid-broadcast and moved entirely to online streaming platforms.

At the time, a bold reporter had asked Pei Zhiyun about the incident during an interview. She had replied calmly: “Nothing is ever set in stone; there will always be many variables in the middle.”

It was her typical, standard interview style. However, the interview was twisted by some who claimed she was being passive-aggressive toward Xu Yi, hinting at the “role-snatching.” The two fanbases clashed so fiercely that officials had to step in to mediate.

Anyone who truly knew Pei Zhiyun knew that having been a star since age ten, she had already won every major television and film award available. She was never short of resources. Furthermore, she was naturally non-competitive; she filmed when a good script came along and rested when one didn’t. She lived a very comfortable, carefree life.

There had been no hidden sting in her interview. But that didn’t stop people from overthinking.

“Teacher Pei, Teacher Li, you’re already here! I thought I’d be earlier than you, but I guess I’m late,” the newcomer called out from the doorway. Her voice was high-pitched, and she strode directly toward Pei Zhiyun.

“Teacher Pei, long time no see!” Before she even reached her, she opened her arms wide. Without waiting for Pei Zhiyun to speak, she pulled her into a hug.

Pei Zhiyun lightly patted her back. “Long time no see.” Her tone was as calm as her expression, carrying a faint, polite smile.

Xu Yi let go and took a large step toward Li Dai, giving her an enthusiastic hug as well. “Teacher Li, it’s been a long time for us too! The last time we met was on a film set, right?”

Li Dai smiled. “Yes, on set.” The two had worked on a drama together, but they had few scenes together and rarely saw each other.

While Xu Yi was busy greeting the others, her husband trailed slowly behind her, carrying their son. The family was dressed in matching black leather jackets and wore sunglasses. It was a cool, “tough” look, but the director nearby adjusted his hat and turned away, looking too annoyed to even glance at them.

The reason for the director’s disdain had already been discussed by netizens. The show was titled Mommy and Me, and the intended participants were all mothers. However, Xu Yi’s husband, Xu Jianghao, had business ties with the advertisers. Using his connections, he had forced his family into the lineup purely for the publicity.

To maintain the show’s balance, the production had been forced to invite another “mother and father” family. To avoid further backlash from netizens, the theme remained Mommy and Me, and the two fathers would not be given much screen time. Currently, out of the five families, three were same-sex couples (mothers) and two were heterosexual couples. Netizens were tired of complaining, and Xu Yi’s family didn’t seem to care; they appeared very eager.

After chatting with Li Dai, Xu Yi turned around and approached Wen Ying. She openly sized up her and Little Doubao from head to toe. “Teacher Pei, so this is your wife? I finally get to see the real person today. She’s so beautiful; she could totally be an actress. And your daughter is so cute—so soft and delicate, with such big eyes.”

As she spoke, she reached out to pinch Little Doubao’s cheek.

Wen Ying had read Xu Yi’s file. The woman’s features were neat enough, but her tone reminded Wen Ying of a petty concubine from her father’s household—affected, artificial, and quite unpleasant to the ear.

Seeing her reach out, Pei Zhiyun’s eyes turned cold. Just as she was about to step in, Wen Ying spoke first. Her voice was gentle yet firm: “Teacher Xu, you must be exhausted after such a long and arduous journey. Let us go over and sit down to rest.”

Xu Yi’s hand froze mid-air. Her eyes darted in confusion as she looked at Wen Ying. Why did this person speak in such an archaic, strange manner? How did Pei Zhiyun fall for someone like this?

Pei Zhiyun stepped in at that moment, lightly grasping Little Doubao’s exposed ankle. “Indeed, such a long road must be tiring. Let’s sit. There are still two families who haven’t arrived yet; they should be here soon.”

“…Alright.” Xu Yi was forced to drop her hand.

The group returned to their seats. Among the three families, Pei Zhiyun had the most seniority in the industry, but Li Dai was the eldest by age, so her family sat in the center. Pei Zhiyun sat to her right, and Xu Yi—holding her five-year-old son, Xu Guo—sat to the left.

“Mama, I don’t want to sit here, I want to go play!” Xu Guo struggled out of Xu Yi’s lap and ran into the courtyard to play near the director. A cameraman followed him closely.

Worried, Xu Yi started to get up to follow, but noticing out of the corner of her eye that Pei Zhiyun and the others were still seated, she sat back down. She nudged Xu Jianghao with her elbow. “Go watch our son. Don’t let him run around aimlessly.”

“…Fine.” Xu Jianghao stood up and followed.

With the arrival of Xu Yi’s family, the atmosphere at the filming site became much noisier. There were many locals nearby watching the “melodrama.” Besides the hype of Pei Zhiyun’s return, the other big draw was the dynamic between Pei Zhiyun and Xu Yi; many viewers were itching to see them clash on screen.

When the casting replacement happened years ago, the fans’ online war had reached millions of shares and comments. Although Pei Zhiyun’s fans had completely decimated Xu Yi’s camp, the celebrities themselves had never publicly addressed each other. Now that they were actually meeting, those who loved drama weren’t going to miss a second of it.

For now, however, both sides were peaceful, with no out-of-line behavior.

Just as the staff were thinking this, Xu Yi suddenly leaned toward Wen Ying and asked, “Hey, Teacher Pei, how old is your wife? she looks quite young.”

As the words fell, every cameraman immediately bent over their rigs to zoom in for a close-up. Li Dai noticed this and looked down to hide a smirk.

Pei Zhiyun answered, “Twenty-six.”

“Oh, three years younger than you! They say ‘a wife three years older is like holding a gold brick.’ So it’s a ‘younger lover’ romance? I’ve seen a lot of dramas lately about younger women and older sisters,” Xu Yi said. “So, what does Teacher Wen do for a living?”

Li Dai and Zhang Yiwan sat in the middle, leaning back to fully enjoy the gossip. Their heads moved back and forth like spectators at a tennis match. Their daughter, Li Yan, was sprawled on a table nearby doing her summer homework.

Pei Zhiyun replied, “She doesn’t have a job. She stays home to take care of the child.”

“No job?” Xu Yi looked at Wen Ying with a meaningful glint in her eyes and nodded. “Well, that’s fine. Teacher Pei can support the whole family on her own. It’s good for Teacher Wen to stay home and look after the child.”

So, she’s a free-loader, Xu Yi thought. No wonder she wouldn’t announce it to the world. Knowing that Pei Zhiyun’s wife didn’t have a prestigious background, Xu Yi felt a wave of relief. In terms of marriage status, she finally felt she had one up on Pei Zhiyun.

Wen Ying, listening to the exchange, felt something was off. She leaned toward Pei Zhiyun and whispered very softly, “Teacher Pei, in this era, is not having a job a very embarrassing—”

Thud—

Pei Zhiyun suddenly reached out and covered the microphone on Wen Ying’s collar, her expression flitting with tension. “Are you thirsty? I’ll get you a bottle of water.”

“Oh… sure,” Wen Ying said, startled.

Pei Zhiyun’s sudden move had almost hit her collarbone and nearly bumped Little Doubao’s head. Both mother and daughter were stunned. Pei Zhiyun slowly let go of the mic, her heart racing. She stood up, grabbed a bottle of mineral water sponsored by an advertiser, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to Wen Ying.

Although Wen Ying wasn’t thirsty, she took it and drank.

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