"Dad, Dad! Look! Didn't Auntie say a few days ago that she was about to start filming a new show? Why is she livestreaming and selling potatoes? She didn't get scammed, did she?"
It was still a while before school started, and with no summer homework, Zhou Jin had nothing better to do than watch livestreams and scroll through Weibo. He was more passionate about keeping up with gossip than eating his own meals.
So when he suddenly saw Ni Bingyan, who was supposed to be on set filming, livestreaming herself selling potatoes, he was completely shocked!
His aunt was a real, professionally trained actress!
How could she be doing something an internet celebrity would do?!
Zhou Jin's mother had to work, and she worried that if he was left home alone, he'd get addicted to video games and skip meals. She told him to go help out at their family's restaurant—not that she expected him to accomplish much, but mainly so he'd have a place to eat.
The Zhou Family Restaurant didn't open for breakfast, and it wasn't time for customers to arrive yet. While the employees prepped ingredients in the back kitchen, the father and son had claimed a corner to eat some chili oil wontons.
Seeing his son wasn't even focused on his food—and not only that, but was shouting about it—the "Master Brother" raised an eyebrow, about to lose his temper. But then the words registered, and he asked, "Who are you talking about?"
"Who else? Auntie, of course! How many other aunties do I have?"
The reason the several apprentices were so close to their Master, staying in close contact even after leaving to open their own restaurants, was because they were all orphans he had raised.
Although they weren't related by blood, the children of each family treated Ni Bingyan as their real aunt.
The Master Brother took the phone and saw his "Little Junior Sister" wearing light purple sun protection clothing and a large straw hat, digging up potatoes in a field under the blazing sun.
Her movements were incredibly swift! In just a moment, she had dug up a huge pile!
My god!
The Master Brother was utterly dumbfounded.
His Little Junior Sister had been a delicate fairy since she was a child. When had she ever been this down-to-earth?
And that wasn't all. He watched as she picked up a potato, held it up to the camera, and launched into a long, practiced introduction:
"Friends, take a look. These are the potatoes I just dug up. I picked a plant at random, and it yielded this huge pile. The output is fantastic, and most importantly, they're all about the same size, you see?"
"Come on, friends, step right up and take a look!
"These are authentic high-mountain, sandy-soil potatoes from Ning Province. They're perfectly round with a fluffy, tender texture. They're absolutely delicious whether you braise them with chicken or pork! And from my own experience, I can tell you they're fantastic roasted, too!
"I won't lie, since I got here, I've already eaten potatoes for several meals, and I'm not tired of them one bit. They're just really, really good!"
Other than it completely shattering the image of his Little Junior Sister he held in his heart, the Master Brother didn't see anything wrong with it.
In fact, he chuckled. "Your Grandmaster isn't even as smooth as your Auntie when he's selling things. I should call him and tell him to come take some notes, haha! Now see, *that's* what you call professional."
His own Master had been an internet celebrity for a long time, so livestream selling was a common occurrence. He had even helped out a few times, and his own restaurant had benefited from the exposure, seeing a big boost in customer traffic!
Zhou Jin was about to die of anxiety!
"We do need to call Grandmaster! But not for him to learn some stupid sales pitch! It's to raise hell with her management agency!
"Didn't my Auntie go there to film a show? Why are they making her sell products!
"Have you ever seen a real, A-list actress go and compete with internet celebrities for their jobs?
"It's so embarrassing!
"She's being sabotaged! How is she supposed to endorse luxury brands in the future? Who's going to hire someone who sells potatoes to be the face of a luxury brand?!
"If this was really such a great opportunity, why don't you see other actresses doing it?
"Grandmaster makes millions in commission just from casually selling a few things. The money's so fast, what actress wouldn't be envious?"
The Master Brother froze.
'It's really that serious?'
His Master wasn't without connections. His Little Junior Sister had been in the industry for years, always keeping a low profile with a moderately successful career. He'd never heard of her offending anyone. He couldn't believe someone would be so malicious as to set her up like this!
He had to call his Master right away, get him to contact his connections and ask about the situation.
The Master Brother didn't even care about his food anymore. He quickly made the call, only to find that Ni Guangli was already camped out in the livestream.
Unlike Zhou Jin, who had missed the beginning, Ni Guangli had known about this since yesterday. The livestreaming platform had actually called him about it. After getting the news, he called his daughter overnight. He only relaxed after she personally explained the reason for the livestream.
"Don't worry, she's doing a good deed! Ai, I didn't expect it to be so poor there that people are still wearing tattered clothes. You know the kind of life your Little Junior Sister has had since she was a child, and she's so soft-hearted. How could she just stand by and watch? If she can lend a hand, she's definitely going to."
Hearing his eldest apprentice's worries that his daughter's future career opportunities might suffer, he remained unconcerned.
"I don't expect her to earn a ton of money. Living with integrity, living a meaningful and happy life—that's more important than anything."
Forget selling potatoes, as long as she'd turned over a new leaf and stopped debasing herself by pining for that Jiang fellow, he wouldn't object even if she decided to sell donkey dung.
Anyway, the family wasn't short on money, and it wasn't like she'd be unable to land acting roles just because she helped with a poverty alleviation project.
If things really came to that, it's not like he was unwilling to pull a few strings using his old connections.
Hearing his Master say this, the Master Brother finally relaxed. He handed the phone back to Zhou Jin and, raising his eyebrows again, resumed his scolding:
"Are you going to eat your food or not! Always so jumpy! You have no composure at all!"
Zhou Jin took his phone back, fuming but not daring to say a word.
'Easy for you to say now. A minute ago, you were about to jump out of your skin.'
'Whatever. The wontons are getting cold. I'm not going to argue with my old man, or I might not get to eat anything good in the future.'
But before he could even put the phone in his pocket, his dad held out his hand again.
"Right, give it here. I'll place an order. The restaurant always needs to stock up anyway."
Zhou Jin: "..."
'And he calls me jumpy. He didn't buy any when he was still in the livestream, and now he wants me to search for it again. Can't we just eat our wontons in peace?!'
After placing the order on his son's phone, the Master Brother was about to hand it back when he thought of something and pulled his hand back again.
"Wait, let me forward the link to the group chat. I'll let your uncles know. They might need potatoes too."
Zhou Jin couldn't take it anymore and wanted to slam the table, but one look from his dad made him instantly back down.
"Is your own phone broken or something? You just have to use mine to feel satisfied..."
That mutter was his final act of defiance.
「While the father and son bickered over their late breakfast, far away in Beijing, the disciplined President Jiang had not only arrived at work on time but had also just finished a meeting.」
He had just stepped out of the conference room and returned to his office when his special assistant informed him that Ni Bingyan was livestreaming herself selling potatoes. Fury instantly erupted within him.
"Is everyone at her agency dead? After all this time, they still can't find a single person who's still breathing to be her manager?"
If she had even one competent agent with her, she wouldn't be foolishly taking a hit like this!
From that one sentence, the special assistant knew his boss had been bottling up his anger from the meeting and was now looking for anyone to unleash it on.
"Should I contact them and inquire about it?"
'The agency is having a headache over this too.'
'Miss Ni looks down on the subpar agents, and the good ones look down on her. They could try to force an assignment, but then they'd risk offending the man standing right here.'
'Since my boss is such a saint, still managing her affairs even after being dumped, I'm just a humble employee. I have nothing to say. I just need to get the job done right.'
"Forget it. She doesn't like me meddling too much."
She made that very clear last time. If I get involved in her business again now, she'll definitely flip out.
The special assistant thought, 'Since when have you been so considerate of her feelings?'
'If you'd had this epiphany sooner, you probably wouldn't have been dumped, would you?'
After silently roasting his boss, the special assistant remained professional. "In that case, should we place an order and purchase some potatoes? They store well, and buying them for the 'Nutritious Lunch for Mountain Children' program would be quite suitable."
Whether out of goodwill or for tax deductions, mature, large corporations regularly engage in charity.
The companies under Jiang Sheng naturally had this tradition as well.
Jiang Sheng suppressed his anger and nodded slightly.
"Buying some is a good idea. But sending them to the mountain areas isn't ideal. The children there need more protein, like chicken or duck. Tally up the orphanages in the city and send the potatoes there instead."
Thinking that sending only potatoes seemed a bit shabby—the orphanages in Beijing were always well-off, so it might not look good—he added another instruction:
"Weren't they just saying that bag and luggage sales have declined this quarter and production capacity isn't at its maximum? Have them produce a batch of high-quality schoolbags to send to the children as well."
'Since they can't make money, they might as well work hard to earn a good reputation. Otherwise, why does the company keep them around?'
'So, to give away the potatoes, we also have to throw in a batch of schoolbags?'
'Our own factory produces high-end luggage. Making them produce these will probably cause another uproar.'
'Oh well, it's not an assistant's place to worry about this. What the Jiang Family factory produces is ultimately decided by someone with the surname Jiang.'
He was just a little speechless.
'It still comes back to the same thing: if he'd been this thoughtful sooner, would he have ended up getting dumped?'
'I guess all clueless men are like this.'
'They only learn how to be a decent person after they've lost someone.'
'Tsk, tsk.'
'Staying single is the only way to stay safe.'