Chapter 60

That evening at the dinner table, Fang Zhi told her family about the New Star Competition.

Chen Junjie was the most excited. He abandoned his meal and plopped right down in front of the computer to look up information on the New Star Competition. Liu Chunhua leaned over, a touch of worry in her expression, though her overall mood was joyful.

Surprisingly, the calmest one was Chen Nian.

Calm wasn’t quite the right word. Chen Nian shoveled rice into her mouth with mechanical motions, her face downcast and listless.

Fang Zhi glanced at her. “Do you know about the New Star Competition?”

Chen Nian nodded, not looking up.

“Where did you hear about it?” Fang Zhi pressed.

Several seconds passed before Chen Nian replied, “Online.”

“Oh.” As Fang Zhi watched her, a slow wave of suspicion and irritation welled up inside. “Do you know if anyone else is entering?”

“Anyone else?” Chen Nian finally raised her head, meeting Fang Zhi’s eyes. “Is someone?”

Fang Zhi let out a breath of relief. “Even if others are, it has nothing to do with us.”

“Mm.” Chen Nian murmured in acknowledgment.

The conversation seemed to fizzle out there. By the time Chen Junjie and Liu Chunhua had finished buzzing with excitement and the meal was nearly over, Fang Zhi spoke up again. “You don’t want me to go, do you?”

“Huh?” Chen Nian blinked in bewilderment.

Everyone at the table turned to her, their faces still glowing with the earlier joy.

The family had reached a consensus years ago: Fang Zhi wanted to be a star, and they all supported her dream.

If she was going to chase stardom, the New Star Competition was an opportunity too good to pass up. There was no reason to say no.

“Ah, no, I don’t,” Chen Nian said. “I’m just… a little worried. The main competition is in Shanghai for months.”

“We have to get through the auditions first,” Fang Zhi replied. “Only the top performers stick around that long.”

Chen Nian tugged the corner of her mouth into a smile. “I have confidence in you.”

Her expression didn’t exactly scream confidence, but when Chen Nian said it, success was a hundred percent guaranteed.

Of course Fang Zhi would sail through the auditions, advancing round after round—and compared to her previous life’s performance, she might even place higher.

After dinner, Liu Chunhua pulled Chen Nian into the bedroom. Her opening words were startling. “Don’t worry too much about Zhizhi—that’s for your dad and me to handle. We know making it as a debut idol isn’t easy, but the family has some savings now. We’ll put off buying a house and keep the money as a safety net.”

“A house?” Chen Nian’s eyes widened.

“Yeah, that little villa.” Liu Chunhua smiled and flicked her forehead. “It can wait a bit longer.”

For a moment, Chen Nian was so touched she nearly teared up—as if her parents were dipping into house funds to back her own career.

Liu Chunhua laughed at her. “Jealous enough to cry your eyes out?”

Chen Nian leaned in and hugged her mom’s waist. “I already know I have the best parents in the world, but you two always make me say it again.”

“You’ve grown up, and that mouth of yours has gotten sharper too.” Liu Chunhua ruffled her hair playfully.

With that, the decision to enter the competition was more or less settled.

Since she was going to walk the same path alongside Fang Zhi as in her previous life, Chen Nian needed to prepare herself and bring her A-game.

By the time she stepped out of the bedroom, a smile lit her face.

Fang Zhi eyed her, and Chen Nian grabbed her hand, pulling her to the computer. She opened a webpage, and together they pored over the New Star Competition’s themes and rules in detail.

Over the next week, their conversations revolved almost entirely around the New Star Competition. They loaded videos of similar contests onto the MP4 and dissected them after school.

Come the weekend, Fang Zhi headed to Teacher Zheng’s for her usual lessons, as always. Chen Nian knew Teacher Zheng’s no-nonsense personality; without a direct nudge, she wouldn’t tailor any advice to the competition.

Chen Nian decided to take the initiative. Kids had thick skin—a rejection could be brushed off with a laugh.

The two boarded the bus, sharing a pair of earphones and playfully tussling all the way to their stop.

The two o’clock sun blazed overhead. The old neighborhood lay quiet, with hardly a soul outdoors.

Chen Nian was still chatting with Fang Zhi, head down, when a figure suddenly appeared from the stairwell. “Hey, what a coincidence—running into you again.”

Chen Nian’s heart lurched. When her eyes met Han Lijuan’s, her mind buzzed like a swarm of bees.

Han Lijuan paid her no mind, though. She beamed at Fang Zhi. “Here for your lesson? Teacher Zheng’s been swamped lately. You know about that competition? Everyone’s cramming last-minute to join in.”

“Yeah,” Fang Zhi replied breezily, throwing the gauntlet right back. “I’m entering too.”

“You’ll definitely get a great result,”

“Your Teacher Zheng said that out of all the students she teaches, you’re the most talented one!” Han Lijuan said excitedly, reaching out to grab Fang Zhi’s arm.

Chen Nian finally snapped to her senses. She pulled Fang Zhi into her arms and yanked her back a good distance.

“What are you doing?” Chen Nian stared coldly at the woman in front of her, her gaze fierce, as if she were facing down a child trafficker.

“Aiyo, this is…” Han Lijuan wasn’t intimidated at all. She kept smiling. “Is this your classmate? Here to take the class with you?”

“None of your business,” Chen Nian said.

“How is it none of my business…” Han Lijuan fished another business card out of her bag and held it out to Fang Zhi. “Auntie’s introducing you to a great teacher. Zhixiao took lessons there before—that teacher’s amazing, especially at pre-competition coaching. You know the Youth Contest, right? Zhixiao took first place, all thanks to that teacher…”

Chen Nian snatched the card from her hand.

Han Lijuan bristled. “Hey, kid. If you want one, Auntie can give you another…”

Chen Nian took several deep breaths to tamp down the storm of emotions churning inside her. She gave Fang Zhi a push. “Go to your class.”

Fang Zhi glanced at her and nodded obediently. “Okay.”

“I’ll wait for you outside,” Chen Nian said. “Call me when you’re done.”

Fang Zhi looked puzzled. “Aren’t you going to the shop?”

“No,” Chen Nian replied.

She planted herself between Fang Zhi and Han Lijuan, watching as Fang Zhi headed upstairs until she vanished into the stairwell.

Han Lijuan opened her mouth to speak, but Chen Nian cut her off. “What’s your angle in getting close to Fang Zhi?”

“What kind of way is that to talk, kid?” With Fang Zhi gone, Han Lijuan’s smile evaporated completely. “What angle could I have? Can’t I just recommend a good teacher?”

“I don’t buy that you’re being kind,” Chen Nian said.

Han Lijuan was so furious she was at a loss for words. “If I’m not kind, then I must be a bodhisattva come down to earth…”

Chen Nian interrupted her. “If the teacher’s so great, why didn’t you send Fang Zhixiao there?”

Han Lijuan froze.

Chen Nian’s voice was ice-cold, utterly unlike that of a teenager. “After the Youth Contest, did Fang Zhixiao ever take first place again? The middle school entrance exam is so important—did you let her focus on her studies?”

“No. 1 Middle School is the best high school in Anliang. Did you sabotage her into going to some lousy school, or force her to switch cities entirely?”

“How’s Fang Zhixiao doing in school now? Does she make good money? Enough to support you both?”

“Do you really think you’ve done right by her, raising her that way? Or are you just that selfish and vicious—unable to make your own money or live well, so you turn the kid into a tool?”

Chen Nian’s voice rose, her emotions spiraling out of control. “Do you sleep easy at night? When you see other people’s parents, do you never stop to reflect? You think you’ve played a smart game—does that make you happy? Satisfied? When you picture your old age, aren’t you afraid?”

“What you sow, heaven reaps. You call yourself a bodhisattva—are you not scared of lightning striking you down?”

“You…” Han Lijuan’s hand lashed out in a slap.

Chen Nian caught her wrist. Stronger than the middle-aged woman who spent her days at home smoking and drinking, she held on tight and squeezed harder. “Whatever your game is, stay away from Fang Zhi. You don’t deserve to breathe the same air as her.”

Han Lijuan swung her other hand. Chen Nian blocked it and shoved her backward with force.

Han Lijuan hit the ground hard and opened her mouth to curse, but Chen Nian whipped out her phone and dialed 110. “Hello, there’s someone here trying to abduct a child…”

Han Lijuan’s words died in her throat. She stared in disbelief at the scrawny girl—who looked like a stiff breeze could knock her over, yet stood unyielding as a blade—listening in stunned silence as Chen Nian reported the situation with clear words and practiced phrasing.

“Five minutes? Got it. I’ll keep her here.”

Terror crashed over Han Lijuan like a tidal wave. She scrambled to her feet and bolted away.

Only when Han Lijuan’s figure had completely disappeared did Chen Nian lower the hand holding her phone.

The screen was dark. She hadn’t actually made the call. No evidence. No legal grounds to haul away this blatant villain.

Her body gave out all at once. Her arms and legs turned to jelly, and Chen Nian slumped against the stairwell, sitting down right there.

When Fang Zhi came out after her lesson, Chen Nian was waiting at the stairwell.

She had just gotten to her feet, her movements stiff and awkward, and the smile she forced for Fang Zhi looked strained.

After heading upstairs, Fang Zhi had texted Chen Nian, who replied that Fang Zhixiao’s mom had already left and everything was fine.

But now, as Fang Zhi watched Chen Nian in this state, she sensed that the problem was serious.

“What’s wrong?” She stepped up to Chen Nian’s side and steadied her arm. “Feeling unwell anywhere?”

“My legs went numb from all the waiting.” Chen Nian forced herself upright. “I’m beat. Let’s head home and crash.”

They barely exchanged another word the whole way back.

The moment they got home, Chen Nian collapsed into bed and passed out. She was genuinely wiped out. She’d been wound tight as a spring for that hour and a half while waiting for Fang Zhi, and now exhaustion crashed over her just as hard.

Sleepiness rolled in like the roar of crashing waves—one breaker was enough to swallow a person whole.

She dreamed of Fang Zhizhu again, but this time it was a little Fang Zhizhu.

The little Fang Zhizhu didn’t share Fang Zhi’s demeanor. She huddled in the corner of the room, endlessly crooning a tuneless song.

The room morphed into a prison, a cage. The floor beneath Fang Zhizhu’s feet was no longer solid ground but a stage.

She sang on and on, twirling ceaselessly, until she lost control entirely, her face contorting in anguish.

Chen Nian watched from a distance, her heart ablaze with worry, knowing full well she couldn’t reach her—as remote as the divide between a movie screen and the real world.

Applause rang out, mingled with gleeful laughter. Chen Nian whipped her head around to see Fang Wei and Han Lijuan in the audience below the stage, their laughing mouths stretching impossibly wide, like bottomless crimson pits.

Chen Nian lost it, charging toward Fang Zhizhu like a maniac, ripping through everything in her path.

She screamed at her: “Stop singing! Stop dancing! Get down here! Get down!”

Fang Zhizhu couldn’t hear a thing. Pain knifed through Chen Nian’s chest, stealing her breath.

She pushed with all her might—then suddenly, air flooded her lungs. Her eyes flew open to Fang Zhi’s face.

Fang Zhi gazed down at her, the warmth of home glowing behind.

She clasped Chen Nian’s arm. “What happened? Nightmare?”

Chen Nian seized her hand in a death grip. Her voice came out raw and rasping: “Don’t do the competition. Please, just don’t do the competition, okay?”