Chapter Fifty-Three: Like Father, Like Daughter—Masters of the Perfect Plan! (Please add to your favorites and vote for recommendations!)

Wu Ming’s sudden appearance at the doorway startled Chen Antang, who had been badmouthing his mother. As for Chen Boshi, who had long been under the tyranny of the “Demon King,” she leapt from her father’s arms to the floor in shock.

“Mom? When did you get here?”
“Grandma, are you some kind of cat demon? How do you walk so quietly now?”

Seeing the identical expressions on the father and daughter’s faces, as if they were carved from the same mold, Wu Ming chuckled, “So what are you two gossiping about in here? I think I just overheard—hmm?”

“Mom! I was telling you off!” Chen Antang interrupted righteously before his mother could finish. “How could you be so unreasonable at your age? The health supplements I bought for you were expensive—if you don’t take them, they’ll go to waste!”

Noticing the cold sweat on her son’s brow, Mrs. Wu raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Is that really what you said?”

“Absolutely!” “That’s right, Grandma, exactly like that!”

Watching the two of them nod furiously, Wu Ming smiled with an inscrutable meaning.

At that moment, her phone chimed in her apron pocket. She pinched it out with two fingers, and upon seeing the WeChat message, her eyes instantly lit up!

“Brother Shixin, you’ve finally resurfaced! Where have you been lately?
What? The audition is tomorrow?!
Why didn’t you tell us about something so important ahead of time? This is a huge milestone in your acting career!
What time, and where?
Alright! Brother Shixin, do your best! I’ll definitely come to support you tomorrow! By the way, I’ve prepared a surprise for you, but as for what it is… I can’t tell you now! Oh, don’t be so impatient—you’ll find out soon enough!”

Watching his own mother send a voice message with a face full of joy and shyness, Chen Antang’s jaw nearly hit the floor. He swore to the heavens: in his memory, his mother had never been this gentle, not even to his late father.

He stared at her in a daze as she finished the recording, then, feeling an inexplicable pang as if his mother might be finding him a new stepdad, finally closed his gaping mouth. “Mom, who are you messaging...?”

Once Wu Ming put away her phone, all traces of shyness and delight vanished from her face. Narrowing her eyes at her son, who was away from home ten months out of the year, she waved her hand dismissively, as if shooing a fly. “Children shouldn’t pry into what they shouldn’t know. The wontons are ready—eat them while they’re hot. I have things to do, and you can clean up the dishes yourselves.”

With that, the old lady picked up her rolling pin and went back to her bedroom.

As soon as they heard her door close, father and daughter both breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“Dad! Why are you such a coward? I told you everything for nothing…” Chen Boshi complained, disappointed. “I thought you’d come home and finally get Grandma under control, but now… tch, you’re just a pushover.”

Embarrassed by his daughter’s disdain, Chen Antang forced a laugh, then, remembering he should maintain dignity as a father, put on a stern face. “Is that how you speak to your father? How is this cowardice?”

“Then what would you call it?”

Thinking back on his mother’s behavior, Chen Antang furrowed his brows, put on a serious expression, and said in a low voice, “It’s called strategy.”

“Oh? Really?” Chen Boshi replied expressionlessly, unimpressed by the familiar excuse.

“Ahem.” Chen Antang coughed to cover his awkwardness, then asked, “Boshi, are you sure Grandma’s spent a lot of money lately?”

“Yes!” Boshi was certain—her grandmother had “borrowed” all her pocket money for the past two weeks.

“This so-called celebrity—are they famous?”

“Famous? Not at all! From what I know, he’s just a background extra who’s only been in Rongdian for less than two weeks!”

Hearing this, Chen Antang stroked his chin. Recalling his mother’s earlier demeanor, he said angrily, “Boshi, your grandma… she’s probably been scammed! So many people in Rongdian have been tricked by these so-called debuting stars over the years. As an experienced agent, I’ve seen my share of con artists. At her age, she’s especially vulnerable!”

A con artist?

Boshi’s eyes sparkled. Of course he was a con artist! That old fraud had used the dirtiest tricks to frame her dear Xinhusband, deceived everyone, then conned her grandmother and many other grannies, even dragging her into the fan club by force.

He was nothing but a liar!

“Exactly, Dad! He’s the worst kind of scammer, both for money and for love! So, what should we do to save Grandma from his clutches?”

Antang’s eyes rolled, and he waved his hand grandly. “From what I overheard, she’s going to some event tomorrow. Why don’t I quietly follow her and track down the scammer? With my connections in the entertainment industry, exposing a conman like that will be a piece of cake.”

Hearing her father’s plan, Boshi’s eyes sparkled with admiration. She bumped her little fists together and gave him a thumbs-up.

“Brilliant! Dad, that’s the steady approach. You really do have my genes!”

Though the phrasing felt odd to Antang, he decided it was fine. “Boshi, you’re off school tomorrow, right? Why not come with me?”

Unexpectedly, Boshi turned away. “No, Dad! I’m so cute, like a firefly in the dark—if I go with you, we’d attract too much attention. Besides, I have tutoring tomorrow. This glorious and arduous mission is all yours! Go for it—whether Grandma comes to her senses depends on you!”

“…Boshi, isn’t your tutoring in the afternoon?”

“Dad, you have to understand my situation! I’m a left-behind child with no civil rights, totally dependent on Grandma for everything. If your plan succeeds, my life will definitely improve. But if I go with you and we fail, and Grandma catches us, you’ll just walk away unscathed, but I’ll be miserable! So, Dad, remember—this has nothing to do with me. If it works, great; if not… you know what to do, right?”

“…Don’t worry, sweetheart, I won’t sell you out.”

“Nice! You’re a teachable father!”

…

Early the next morning.

Li Shixin got up at dawn.

After tidying himself up, he stood before the full-length mirror in his bedroom.

Counting today, it had been half a month since he arrived in Rongdian. Looking back on the past ten days, it felt like a dream.

Bathed in the bright sunlight streaming through the window, he gazed at the deep-set, still-aged yet more spirited features in the mirror, and took a deep breath.

He closed his eyes slightly and summoned the system interface.

User: Li Shixin.
Remaining lifespan: 40 days.
Physical age: 64 years and 52 days.
Current applause points: 180,032.
Unclaimed lottery items: small folding stool x3, walking stick x16, dentures x5…

“Phew.”

After taking inventory of his possessions, Li Shixin steeled himself and poured all his remaining applause points into the “rejuvenation” option.

Bathed in a warm light like a shower of holy radiance, he felt his bones crackle as if popcorn was popping.

During his days at the scrapyard, he had managed to “harvest” a few applause points from Bilibili’s young fans and used them for two small rejuvenations. His body was slowly adapting to the drowsiness that came with the process.

Fighting off the urge to sleep, after more than ten minutes, the fatigue suddenly vanished.

What followed was a surge of refreshing vitality!

Slowly opening his eyes, he saw that his hair—untrimmed and unruly after more than ten days—now gleamed and stubbornly stood upright toward the sky.

Li Shixin’s lips curled into a faint smile.

Straightening his back, he picked up the outfit he’d prepared the night before, which had been buried at the bottom of his trunk for who knew how many years.

It was a crisp white shirt, a navy blue mandarin-collar suit, and a pair of pure black leather dress shoes—actually, the funeral clothes he had prepared for himself long ago.

He carefully dressed in the well-pressed outfit, smoothed his hair with mousse so every strand stood neatly back, and saw in the mirror the handsome visage of an older gentleman from the Republic era.

With this new look, and after placing the last stick of “Peak” chewing gum in his breast pocket, Li Shixin’s smile widened.

“Old charmer, go forth. Conquer the entertainment world!”