Chapter Ninety-Nine: What a Terrible Title!

I’m off!

Yu Zhile called out to the three women in the living room who mattered most in his life.

Qin Haiyu answered with a hum. “Honey, please pack up the braised goose rice from last time for dinner! Mom probably hasn’t had that restaurant’s braised goose rice before.”

Yu’s mother reminded him, “Come back early! Don’t drink if you’re driving, hear me?”

“Dada!”

The baby suddenly called out to her father just as he reached the door.

Holding the little one in her arms, Qin Haiyu frantically sent her husband a look begging him to make himself scarce, while soothing their daughter. “Daddy’s going out to buy something tasty for the baby! Look, baby, watch TV!”

Yu Zhile quickly opened the door and slipped outside. Lately, whenever he stepped out the door—whether it was just to water the flowers outside, bring in the laundry, collect a package, or take out the trash—the baby would suddenly burst into tears.

As long as she couldn’t see her father, she cried.

Thinking of how clingy the baby was, Yu Zhile felt secretly delighted. His wife was rather envious of him too, but the moment he heard the baby crying, he couldn’t bear it at all.

Now, that sharp little gaze had spotted him again. After seeing him open the door and slip away, the child’s eyes welled up at once, and she suddenly began to wail, calling after him in a slurred, tearful voice for “Daddy.”

Yu Zhile, eavesdropping with his ear pressed to the door, let out a long sigh.

What a little tyrant.

Why was she so attached to her father?

Hearing the baby’s cries from inside, Yu Zhile helplessly opened the door again and poked his head back in, like a child playing hide-and-seek, even supplying his own dramatic sound effects. “Daddy’s here!”

The baby, who had just started crying, instantly stopped. Instead, she was delighted by the father’s head peeking out from behind the door, and broke into a grin.

Qin Haiyu said helplessly, “Honey, if you spoil her like this, then don’t even think about going out to eat with your friends!”

Yu’s mother agreed with a smile. “Go on. What child doesn’t cry? If she’s this clingy now, when she starts kindergarten or primary school she’ll only cry even harder. Better to let her get used to it now. You were the same when you were little. The moment I stepped out, you’d bawl your eyes out. No matter how your dad coaxed you, it didn’t work, and in the end he simply ignored you. After crying a few times, you never cried again!”

That may have been true, but hearing the baby cry still tugged at the heart.

“I’ll tease her a little, then I’ll go!”

Yu Zhile shut and opened the door repeatedly, popping his head out from time to time to surprise the baby. Before long, the child’s sorrow at not being able to see her father turned into little claps of delight, and she began eagerly waiting for him to appear out of nowhere from the doorway.

After repeating this several times, Yu Zhile closed the door, waited a moment, and only after hearing no more crying from the baby did he finally slip away in peace.

Inside, the baby was still staring at the doorway. At that moment, it seemed she had even begun to understand the passage of time; after so long, with the door not moving and Daddy not popping out again, she suddenly pressed her lips together. Her beautiful eyes grew misty once more, and with a sobbing little voice she called for Daddy again.

Qin Haiyu could only coax their daughter helplessly, complaining to her mother-in-law, “Mom, this daughter was born by me, and I’m the one who takes care of her the most every day. So why is it that when I go out, she doesn’t cry, but when her father leaves, she cries nonstop?”

Yu’s mother smiled as she took her granddaughter into her arms to comfort her. “Usually, daughters cling to their fathers, and sons cling to their mothers. Lele was the same when he was little. Whenever I went out, he’d cry his eyes out. But whenever his dad left, he wouldn’t react at all—sometimes he’d even look happy about it!”

“Pfft!”

Hearing that, Qin Haiyu felt much better.

It seemed the second child would be better off as a boy after all.

This little brat didn’t even cling to his mother, so this baby account had already been ruined.

At that moment, Yu’s mother added, “But when a daughter clings to her father when she’s little, she ends up clinging to her mother when she grows up. It’s different for sons. Sons cling to their mothers when they’re little, and when they grow up, they don’t cling to anyone! Especially during the rebellious phase—you really do regret not having given birth to a strip of char siu pork instead, because you ended up with a son!”

Huh. So the baby account still wasn’t ruined after all; it could still be raised.

Qin Haiyu suddenly became curious whether her husband had been especially rebellious as a child, so while coaxing the baby, she also gossiped about his black history.

...

Half an hour later.

At three in the afternoon, the roads were not too congested, and Yu Zhile arrived smoothly at the restaurant where he and Old Yang had met more than once for their “dates.”

Old Yang had arrived ahead of time again. By the time Yu Zhile entered, tea had already been ordered, side dishes had been served, and he was waiting in a private room for Yu Zhile’s arrival.

The moment Yu Zhile walked in, he teased, “Old Yang, when you’re being extra polite for no reason, you’re up to something.”

Yang Bing laughed awkwardly, motioning for Yu Zhile to sit down, then handed over the restaurant’s standard tablet menu for him to order the main dishes. “Can that really count as being polite for no reason? I told you the purpose when I invited you out to eat.”

Yu Zhile was only teasing. He ordered three dishes and a pot of soup, then said, “The ratings for ‘I Am a Singer’ are so good now. The station leaders must think pretty highly of you, right?”

Yang Bing nodded. “Yes, which is why I wanted to use this chance to fight for a show of my own. I’ve got some confidence, but to be safe, I still wanted to talk to you and hear your suggestions and thoughts.”

Yu Zhile asked curiously, “What kind of show are you thinking of using to compete for it?”

Yang Bing replied, “Still a music show! I think there are actually a lot of creative angles in music programs that haven’t been tapped yet.”

Yu Zhile finished ordering and handed the tablet back to Old Yang. “Such as?”

Taking the tablet, and seeing that Yu Zhile had once again politely ordered three dishes and a soup, Yang Bing added two snacks as well before submitting the order. Then he said, “For example, on New Year’s Eve, when you wore the panda suit and stood in for Cailanlan to perform the piano piece—that idea!”

Hearing that, Yu Zhile was slightly surprised.

He could almost be certain what sort of new program Old Yang had come up with.

And in this world, that program would indeed be even more creative and more compelling than “I Am a Singer.”

Yu Zhile said, “Tell me your plan.”

Yang Bing spoke at length. “That night, after you trended on the hot search as Mr. Panda, people online were all talking and wondering who Mr. Panda actually was. Some guessed it was Cailanlan, others guessed it was another pianist, and so on.

“Then it suddenly struck me: if there were a music show where every singer participated under this kind of concealed identity, and the audience and judges had to guess who they were, wouldn’t that be incredibly interesting?”

Yu Zhile gave him a thumbs-up and praised him. “Old Yang, that concept is brilliant!”

Yang Bing said excitedly, “You think a music show like that would be really interesting too?”

“Not just interesting—it sounds like a guaranteed hit! Especially if you get singers with similar vocal signatures to take part. Then whether the audience guesses right or wrong, there’ll be plenty of buzz and conversation.”

Yu Zhile asked curiously, “So, what are you planning to call this show?”

Yang Bing said, “How About Guessing Who I Am? What do you think of that title?”

“What kind of lousy name is that?” Yu Zhile complained speechlessly.

Such a great show, and it had just happened to come together through one fortunate idea, and yet this guy had given it such a dud of a name?

Yang Bing said awkwardly, “Then what do you think would be a more attractive title for viewers?”

Yu Zhile pretended to think for a moment, then said, “Let’s call it The Masked Singer.”