Transmigrated as the Movie Star’s Little Good for Nothing - Chapter 7

The gazes of the Gu-Xiang couple were far too passionate…and heavily laden with expectation. It was more than Gu Congjue could handle.

“Ba… ba…”

When he really thought about it, this couple had looked after him incredibly well, providing him with the best food and drinks. Sure, they were unreliable and loved to tease him, but their love and indulgence were absolutely genuine.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, they would raise him to adulthood, and he would accompany them through the rest of their lives. In this new world, they were a “family” in every sense of the word, meant to live under the same roof for a lifetime.

A lifetime was a very long time. He couldn’t stubbornly refuse to call them Dad and Mom forever, could he?

Forget it, just let it go, Gu Congjue thought, suddenly having an epiphany. He lifted a chubby little hand and gently patted Xiang Yuyan’s face. “Ba-ba, Ma-ma!”

The previous attempt had been babble, but these few syllables were clear, deliberate calls for his father and mother.

So what if he had to take a demotion in terms of generational hierarchy? After all, this couple was going to be providing for him for a long time to come!

Exchanging a single utterance of “Mom and Dad” for a lifetime of care from this silly yet open-minded couple seemed like a pretty good trade-off.

“Ba-ba, Ma-ma!” Fearing they wouldn’t understand his intent, Gu Congjue called out a third time.

Once he finished, he pointed his tiny finger at the kindly doctor and medical assistant in the room, waving his plump little hand. It was his way of saying, No doctors, no checkups.

Gu Pingyue and Xiang Yuyan were completely stunned, virtually frozen in place. They stared with wide eyes at their suddenly talkative son. After standing there dazed for a long moment, the two of them ecstatically wrapped their arms around the little guy, tears of profound relief streaming down their faces.

“Waaah, this is amazing!” Xiang Yuyan was so genuinely happy that he began to cry, sniffing as he spoke. “This is wonderful, Hubby! Our son isn’t mute! He’s not mute at all, he can speak, and he called me Mommy!”

“Yes!” Gu Pingyue was equally thrilled. He planted a dramatic, emotional kiss on Xiang Yuyan’s forehead. “I was already bracing myself for the worst, but… heaven hasn’t let us down. Our son is perfectly fine…he’s not mute!”

One kiss wasn’t enough, so Gu Pingyue planted another.

Unable to contain his emotions, Xiang Yuyan held his baby tight and threw himself into his husband’s embrace. “Hubby, we’re so lucky. We are truly, truly blessed!”

The deeply affectionate couple clung to each other, pouring out their gratitude to the universe and professing their love. Squished right between them, Gu Congjue could only look on with an expression of utter helplessness and exasperation.

…I just don’t like to talk. How on earth did they jump to the conclusion that I was mute?

Could this ridiculous couple have any more of an overactive imagination?

With the misunderstanding cleared up, Gu Congjue successfully avoided the medical examination.

The doctor in the clinic was incredibly responsible. He patiently explained the nuances of vocal system development, advising the parents that while a reasonable amount of concern was fine, they absolutely must not rush things.

Following this little fiasco, Gu Congjue also realized that he shouldn’t put on too many airs. What did it matter if his mind was mature? Right now, he was indisputably a six-month-old baby.

And as a baby, he should just focus on drinking his milk, sleeping, and acting cute to charm his parents.

Drinking milk and sleeping were easy enough…he did that every day. But as for acting cute and playing the darling… Yikes. That was a tall order. He could only promise to try his best.

A few days later marked the two-hundredth day since Gu Congjue’s birth.

When he reached his hundredth day, his parents had both been away on business, so they hadn’t celebrated. Now that his two-hundredth day had arrived, the couple gathered a few close friends to host a simple milestone celebration in the villa’s backyard.

The domestic staff received their instructions and began bustling about the backyard around five in the afternoon. They set up long tables, hung up twinkling string lights, and bought a massive spread of KFC and Pizza Hut. As soon as the sun dipped below the horizon and the lights flickered on, it genuinely felt like a lively backyard buffet party.

Except for the food… which left Gu Congjue thoroughly baffled.

His father was supposed to be a wealthy third-generation heir from an illustrious family, not to mention a second-generation celebrity! They lived in a grand, beautifully styled detached villa, yet he chose to treat his guests to standard Western fast food?

Shouldn’t there at least be some shark fin, sashimi, or high-end delicacies?

“Oh my, Young Master, why are you drooling so much?”

Nanny Cui-rong, who was holding the little guy, suddenly felt a wet patch on her hand.

“Come here, let Nanny Rong wipe that for you. Are you hungry?”

Hearing this, Gu Congjue finally realized that his bib was completely soaked with drool.

Curse this body. In his past life, he had worked a part-time job in a fast-food restaurant and grew so sick of the smell of fried food that he practically wanted to vomit at the thought of it. Yet now, smelling it again after so long, he was actually craving it to the point of drooling?

Gu Congjue found himself caught in a dilemma: on one hand, he looked down on fried chicken, fries, and pizza, but on the other hand, he was absolutely starving. He couldn’t stop the saliva from pooling at the corners of his mouth, coating his chubby cheeks and double chin in a glistening sheen.

Damn it, why does it smell better and better the more I sniff it?

When he thought about it carefully, the current year was 2005. Western fast food was still considered a bit of a luxury novelty back then. It had to be a case of scarcity making things precious—that was definitely why it smelled so unbelievably enticing!

“Does the young master want to eat fried chicken? Hang on a moment, I’ll pick out a chicken wing, shred it into tiny pieces, and feed it to you.”

At two hundred days old…just over six months…it was indeed the right time to start introducing meats into his diet. Yang Cuirong calculated the age in her head and readily carried the baby over to rummage through a family bucket.

“Da-da!” Gu Congjue nodded like a woodpecker, urgently grabbing Nanny Rong’s collar with his plump little hands. “Ba-ba da-da!”

He thought to himself that literally anything would do. It didn’t even have to be a chicken wing; he’d happily take a stray piece of fried breadcrumb coating! Just give him a single bite of something!

Ever since his reincarnation, his diet had consisted of nothing but milk, rice paste, pureed fruit, or teething toys. He had honestly had enough! It was bad enough that he had been too poor to afford proper meat and fish in his past life, but how could he be this miserable after being reborn? How had he still not achieved dietary freedom?

Have some mercy and give him some real food!

“Sister Rong, what are you doing?”

At the absolute worst moment, Xiang Yuyan intercepted them.

“Are you trying to feed Little Cong fried chicken?”

“Ah, Young Mistress,” Yang Cuirong froze, halting her hand. “I was just thinking that the young master is past six months old now, so he can start trying oily and savory foods. Besides, he looked like he really wanted some, so…”

Realizing that his fried chicken was in jeopardy, Gu Congjue immediately turned and grabbed Xiang Yuyan’s sleeve, doing his absolute best to squeeze out a pitiful, tearful expression.

“Ma-ma…” Fearing that simple cuteness wouldn’t do the trick, he brought out his ultimate weapon. “Ma-ma!”

“Still, that won’t do,” Xiang Yuyan replied, shaking his head gently but firmly. “I’m still not comfortable with fast food from outside. It’s fine to let him start trying meats, but how can his very first taste of savory food be fried chicken and french fries?”

Under his son’s intense, unblinking stare, Xiang Yuyan ruthlessly snapped the paper lid shut. He picked up the sole remaining fried chicken family bucket that hadn’t been picked over by the staff and began walking toward the back gate.

“I’m taking the fried chicken away. Sister Rong, you should stick to feeding Little Cong his low-sodium meat puree instead.”

Yang Cuirong murmured her agreement.

In the exact moment Nanny Rong agreed, Gu Congjue felt his soul leave his body.

The heart that had so painstakingly overcome its aversion to greasy fumes, only to rekindle a burning passion for fried chicken and fries, was officially dead.

“Xiao Mei!”

“Yo-Young Mistress.” Gao Qiumei instinctively shifted her body to hide Shen Yanxing behind her, bowing respectfully to the approaching man. “Young Mistress, is there something urgent you need me for?”

Her shift rotation perfectly complemented her roommate’s, meaning they split the duties of looking after little Shen Yanxing right down the middle. However, because her roommate had to swap shifts today and had no time to watch the little guy, Qiumei had no choice but to bring Shen Yanxing along to the Gu family’s backyard.

Fortunately, there wasn’t a heavy workload today. The moment she finished her designated duties, she had packed up her belongings, fully prepared to clock out and leave with her child the minute her shift ended.

If Xiang Yuyan hadn’t explicitly called out her name and asked her to wait, she would have clocked out and left more than ten minutes ago.

“Did you skip out on the party because you were worried about the little guy?” Xiang Yuyan offered the fried chicken bucket. “Take this back with you to eat. It’s a perfect chance to enjoy some free food, yet you didn’t even think to take advantage of it.”

“This…” The savory aroma wafting from the bucket made Gao Qiumei involuntarily swallow her saliva. “This is far too expensive. I really don’t have the face to go around freeloading while bringing a child along.”

A family bucket like this easily cost fifty or sixty yuan, which was enough to cover the grocery bill for several home-cooked meals!

While it wasn’t an astronomical amount that an ordinary person could never afford, it was certainly the kind of luxury that required tightening one’s belt for days beforehand. Gao Qiumei had been working for nearly a year now, but she had never been able to bring herself to spend money on Western fast food.

“How is it expensive? This was bought specifically so everyone could enjoy it.”

Seeing that Xiao Mei was hesitant to accept it, Xiang Yuyan simply squatted down and nudged the fragrant bucket into the small child’s arms.

“Here, sweetheart, you hold it. Can you manage? It’s filled with yummy fried chicken and chicken nuggets. It smells so good!”

Compared to the cheerful, giggling baby he had met during their very first encounter, the little guy seemed to have become much more cautious and timid. Back then, he had happily accepted a hug from Gu Pingyue, but now he hid away for the longest time, not daring to reach out for Xiang Yuyan’s bucket of chicken.

“I’ll take it,” Gao Qiumei said, accepting it on Shen Yanxing’s behalf. “The little guy went through some trouble recently, so… he might just be badly shaken up.”

“Something between his biological parents?”

“Yes,” Gao Qiumei answered vaguely, steering away from the details. She held the chicken bucket in one hand while using her other hand to gently stroke Shen Yanxing’s face and head from behind. “You’d think he’s only a year and a half old and wouldn’t understand the messy affairs of adults, but he’s been visibly sullen for days. It really doesn’t seem like he’s completely oblivious.”

“Children are perceptive; they can sense these things intuitively.”

Xiang Yuyan sighed softly, stretching his neck to steal another sympathetic glance at the little boy.

The child truly was beautiful and precious. Compared to his round, chubby appearance from half a year ago, his features had grown sharper and more delicate. He looked less like a baby now, though he was visibly thinner.

Xiang Yuyan felt a pang of pity. He wanted to interact with the boy a bit more, but he refrained, fearing that overdoing it might frighten the already sensitive and reactive child.

Giving up on the idea of playing with him, he gestured for the photographer to come over.

“Little Cong’s two-hundred-day party is meant to share good fortune and happiness with everyone. So both you and the baby have to eat…only then can you claim your share of the luck! If there’s nothing else, come take a photo with me before you leave? Consider it a way for me to report back to my parents-in-law.”

Gao Qiumei had been feeling anxious for a while, assuming her recent dip in productivity had prompted the young mistress to pull her aside for a reprimand. Who could have guessed that he had held her back just to gift her a bucket of rare, delicious food?

She felt a sudden prickle of tears in her nose. Quickly sniffing them back, she set down the fried chicken bucket and her canvas commuter bag, lifting the hiding Shen Yanxing into her arms.

“Okay.” Turning around under the pretext of fixing her hair, Gao Qiumei discreetly wiped the corners of her eyes before turning Shen Yanxing around to face forward. “Come along, Xingxing, let’s take a photo with the handsome uncle. Don’t be scared, that black object is just a camera. It’ll just flash once and be done!”

Later that evening, after the party wound down, a slightly tipsy Gu Pingyue was firmly banned from the bed. He was told he could only join his wife after he drank some sobering soup, took a thorough shower, and completely washed off the smell of alcohol.

After tending to his husband, Xiang Yuyan suddenly remembered his disgruntled son.

“Hey there, my little grumpy piggy. Why are you so quiet tonight?”

His son was currently sleeping in a half-prone, side-lying position, his face buried deep within his tiny pillow. His entire posture radiated an aura of immense distortion and deep-seated resentment.

From an adult’s perspective, the little cub simply had his tiny bottom hoisted high in the air, looking thoroughly displeased with the world.

Fearing that his son might suffocate, Xiang Yuyan gently turned the baby’s face outward, attempting to coax him with a pouch of baby fruit puree.

“You haven’t even had your bedtime milk yet. How can you be asleep already? Today is your two-hundredth day, little guy. How about Mommy opens up a yummy fruit puree for you?”

Gu Congjue didn’t even grant it a glance. He coldly slapped the pouch away with his tiny hand, burying his face right back into the pillow to continue his silent protest.

Even ten pouches of fruit puree can’t make up for the bite of fried chicken I missed out on!

Unfortunately, Xiang Yuyan completely misread the situation. He scratched his temple in confusion. “Hubby, is our son upset tonight? He seems to be throwing a bit of a tantrum…”

“Is that so?”

Gu Pingyue murmured from his spot on the lounge chair, his voice heavy with a pleasant buzz.

“Well… I suppose even a little baby has his own share of troubles.”

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