After hearing the news from his agent, Mu Yunshang hung up the phone in a daze.
Mu Yunyi raised an eyebrow at Mu Yunshang's vacant, absent-minded expression and asked, "Gone stupid?"
To everyone's surprise, Mu Yunshang did not respond to Mu Yunyi. Instead, he scooped the little dumpling up into his arms and spun around with An Bao several times, cheering aloud: "Hahaha! An Bao! Uncle's dear little An Bao! So that noble benefactor was you all along, An Bao! Hahaha!"
The little dumpling was swung up by Mu Yunshang, both legs bobbing up and down in midair, just like riding a merry-go-round.
An Bao let out a crisp little giggle, her tiny hands clutching Mu Yunshang's neck tight, and declared in her baby voice: "An Bao can fly now! Third Uncle is sooo amazing!"
"Won't you stop? The experts said children can't shake their heads like that—it'll make them stupid."
Mu Yunyi watched Mu Yunshang and the little one—the big and the small—laughing without end, his brow furrowing as he found the sight thoroughly grating. He stepped forward and directly intercepted Mu Yunshang, pulling the little milk bun into his own embrace.
The little chubby one had just stopped spinning in circles, tiny head still swimming as it swayed faintly from side to side. Staring at Mu Yunyi, the child reached out curiously with a little hand and grabbed at the air twice, then gasped and covered its small mouth. "Big Uncle! You—you—you can actually do a splitting technique too? Who taught you? An Bao can't even do that! Big Uncle, you're sooooo amazing!"
Mu Yunyi looked on helplessly as the little one's tiny hands flailed and grasped at the air beside his face, yet missed him entirely. Finding it rather amusing, he ruffled the little one's head and said gently, "An Bao got dizzy from spinning. Stay away from your Third Uncle from now on."
Mu Yunshang was in excellent spirits at that moment and paid not the slightest heed to Mu Yunyi's snide remarks. He simply sat himself down, poured a glass of water, took a sip, and gloated at Mu Yunyi: "Oh, President Mu, President Mu — that capital of yours will never be able to outwit the sharp eyes of the public! That HIT endorsement, heh heh — didn't it land in my lap all the same!"
"Hm?"
Mu Yunyi heard those words and turned to look at Mu Yunshang with a hint of surprise.
He had only made initial contact about that HIT endorsement deal before, and it was certainly possible to secure it for Mu Yunshang — though it would be somewhat troublesome.
He had only been trying to frighten Mu Yunshang before — how could he truly refuse to help him?
But this time the coma had gone on too long. Before he could do anything to intervene, the HIT had already fixed its target on Mu Yunshang……
Seeing Mu Yunyi's curiosity, Mu Yunshang stood up at once and planted several loud, smacking kisses on An Bao's soft, chubby little cheeks, saying, "Of course we have to thank our little An Bao! Our An Bao is a genuine lucky star — a little blessing in the flesh!"
As it turned out, the video of Mu Yunshang and An Bao beating up that internet celebrity at "Lanyue" had unexpectedly gone viral!
These past few days, Mu Yunshang had been busy with matters concerning Mu Yunyi and had no idea what was happening online — which was why that video went viral at the speed of a rocket launch!
The click count, and even more so the like count, kept climbing higher and higher!
All across short-video platforms, netizens are buzzing about where they can spot the "nation's niece" and the "nation's daughter."
The trending searches even included topics like "What color burlap sack does the Nation's Little Daughter like" and "When will the Nation's Little Daughter appear together with her Film Emperor uncle again?"
In short…
The little milk dumpling went viral.
Even everyone was frantically urging Mu Yunshang in the comments of her Weibo post, begging her to bring out the little baby again for another look.
And for HIT to break into the domestic market, this opening battle would certainly need a massive hook to pull it off.
That was why they had sought out Mu Yunshang, hoping he would bring the little ones along to take a set of promotional photos for them!
"You mean to say you want An Bao to go out and make public appearances with you?"
After hearing Mu Yunshang's words, Mu Yunyi's brow furrowed, and he said flatly: "No."
"Ah?" The moment Mu Yunshang saw Mu Yunyi refuse, he was about to argue back—but very quickly, he caught on to what Mu Yunyi meant.
The entertainment industry has always been exceedingly complex, and sometimes, the opinions of netizens can shift in the blink of an eye.
One moment they might adore you, but the very next — at the slightest hint of trouble — the whole crowd will turn on you in a torrent of condemnation and online abuse.
Besides, An Bao had gone through so much just to finally return to the Mu family — she was the Mu family's little princess. Why would she ever need to go out and wear herself out chasing performance slots?
At this thought, Mu Yunshang's initial excitement vanished at once, replaced by a sense of helplessness.
"Ah, forget it. It's nothing but some trifling endorsement deal for HIT—I don't want it anymore."
Mu Yunshang gave a magnanimous wave of his hand and casually pinched An Bao's little cheek, laughing: "Our An Bao is better off being a good little princess — no need to become some 'national darling.' They're simply not worthy."
An Bao blinked her big eyes in bewilderment, not quite understanding what Mu Yunshang was saying, but... she had a vague feeling that Third Uncle seemed somehow sad.
Mu Yunshang didn't hesitate either, and directly called his agent, telling him to turn down the offer from HIT.
The agent on the other end was clearly taken aback by Mu Yunshang's words, but Mu Yunshang had already hung up — and, for good measure, switched the phone off entirely.
He knew his own agent was a real nag who never stopped lecturing, and he simply couldn't be bothered dealing with him.
As president of the Mu Group, Mu Yunyi was naturally still a very busy man.
After spending a short while at Mu Yunshang's apartment, she received one call after another, and with no other option, had to leave for the office first.
But before leaving for the company, Mu Yunyi turned to Mu Yunshang and said, "Take An Bao back to the villa in a bit. Now that An Bao is home, we ought to arrange a banquet for her and make the announcement to everyone."
Since An Bao was one of their own, it was only natural to let all the great families know — the Mu clan had a little princess.
From now on, anyone who dares bully An Bao had better think twice.
Mu Yunyi had barely stepped out when a knock came at the door.
An Bao was sitting in the living room holding Xiao Fengfeng and watching cartoons when she heard a knock at the door. She glanced toward the bathroom where Mu Yunshang was bathing, then looked back at the door, slid down from the sofa, and ran over to answer it.
When Zhao Yan heard that Mu Yunshang had actually turned down HIT's invitation and then switched off his phone to avoid his calls, he was both furious and frantic — he jumped in his car and floored it straight over.
The door had barely swung open when Zhao Yan exploded: "Mu Yunshang, have you lost your mind?! Do you still want to break into the overseas market or not?! Do you have any idea what an incredible opportunity this is with HIT?! You——"
Zhao Yan cursed for a good long while before realizing that Mu Yunshang was nowhere to be seen, and couldn't help but freeze up in bewilderment.
"Mister, who are you? Why did you yell at An Bao's Third Uncle? Are you a bad person?"
A soft, milky voice drifted up from below. Zhao Yan looked down and only then noticed a little dumpling standing right in front of him.
The little dumpling was dressed in pink pajamas, a parrot perched atop their head, their chubby little face scrunched into a disgruntled glare directed squarely at him.
Uh……
Fine, let's just call it a glare… After all, this one was just way too cute.
Zhao Yan's voice softened at once. He squatted down in front of little An Bao, let out a heh-heh chuckle, a glint of cunning flickering in his eyes.