Chapter 98: Do You Know What a Celebrity Is?
Xu Youyou frowned slightly and asked, “Why did you run away from home?”
The child replied, “My mother passed away from an illness, and my father took 50,000 yuan to marry me off to an old, crippled bachelor in the village. I didn’t want to, so I ran away.”
Xu Youyou’s brows furrowed tightly. She then remembered that the child had mentioned a younger sister. “You have a little sister, don’t you?”
“I was afraid that after I ran away, my father would force my sister to marry him instead, so I took her with me. We walked for a long time before we reached Hucheng.” The child finished speaking, looking at Xu Youyou with timid eyes, afraid of seeing disapproval in them.
Xu Youyou patted her shoulder and praised, “Good for you! You even thought about your sister. That was really thoughtful of you!”
The child’s eyes lit up instantly.
“Why did you come to Hucheng?”
The child explained, “I heard from people in the village that Hucheng is full of opportunities. Even casual jobs here pay thousands of yuan a month!”
Xu Youyou looked at her and saw that she seemed quite young. “How old are you?”
The child looked dejected and said, “Fifteen.”
Xu Youyou sighed, “Did no one want to hire you because of your age?”
The child nodded vigorously and said, “Hucheng is different from our village. I don’t have an ID card, and I’m small, so no one will hire me.”
Xu Youyou couldn’t help but think of her past life, where she had been unable to find work anywhere due to the oppression of Lu Shaoyan and the Gu family. This child’s situation was eerily similar to hers back then.
“You and your sister survive by collecting garbage?”
The child nodded. “Yes! We’re really good at it! We can earn at least 20 to 30 yuan a day!”
“Where do you live?”
“Under a bridge… We were really lucky! As soon as we arrived in Hucheng, we found a place to stay. There were leftover blankets in the bridge tunnel! And there were pots and pans too—everything we needed. No one even fights us for it!”
Even though it was a miserable situation, the child seemed to feel incredibly fortunate. There wasn’t a hint of complaint in her tone—she genuinely seemed happy about it.
Hearing this, Xu Youyou felt a sense of déjà vu and couldn’t help but ask for the location of the bridge.
She hadn’t expected such a coincidence.
The bridge where the child and her sister lived was the same one where Xie Ran had previously stayed. They were using the miscellaneous items that Xie Ran had left behind. Based on the timing, the two kids must have moved in just days after she had taken Xie Ran away.
Xu Youyou felt a pang of sorrow in her heart. She didn’t yet know what potential these children had, but she had already decided to help them.
“Do you know what a celebrity is?” Xu Youyou asked.
The child nodded. “I do! Last month, I picked up a signed autograph from a celebrity. The recycling station bought it from me for ten yuan—it was super valuable!”
Xu Youyou figured the child had been scammed by the recycling station, but since too much time had passed, there was no point in arguing over it now.
“I think you could be a celebrity,” Xu Youyou said.
The child looked doubtful. “Is it really that easy to become a celebrity?”
Xu Youyou replied, “I own a company that trains celebrities. I think your eyes are really beautiful. You could start as a child actor. If you trust me, I can take you to the company to check it out.”
The child was naturally very cautious, but she genuinely liked Xu Youyou and didn’t want to doubt her friend. “Right now? But I want to take this grain biscuit to my sister first. She didn’t eat much last night.”
Xu Youyou nodded in understanding.
When Xu Fang drove the car over, the child hesitated to get in. She was too dirty. Xu Youyou’s car was clean and smelled nice—she didn’t want to make it dirty.
“I’ll walk there! I can run really fast!” the child said.
Xu Youyou shook her head. “Get in. I have other things to do today, and I’m in a hurry.”
Reluctantly, the child climbed into the car. But once inside, even though she was curious, she didn’t dare touch anything. She sat with her hands neatly on her knees, shrinking herself into a corner as much as possible.
Xu Youyou sighed helplessly. “Relax. The car won’t eat you.”
The child nodded vigorously, but her body remained tense.
Seeing this, Xu Youyou didn’t push further. Instead, she instructed Xu Fang to drive toward the bridge where the child lived.
Before they reached the destination, they saw another child dressed similarly to the first one, but even smaller.
“That’s my sister!” the child exclaimed.
Xu Youyou glanced at the younger girl, who looked about seven or eight years old. She silently cursed the children’s father—how could he be so heartless as to sell off a child that young?
Ye Xiaomei was dragging a fertilizer bag along the roadside, searching the grass for plastic bottles when a car suddenly stopped beside her.
Frightened, she immediately backed away. In her eyes, cars were expensive. Back in her village, whenever someone bought a car, the villagers would gather around and call them a “big boss.”
“Sister!”
A familiar voice came from inside the car. Ye Xiaomei looked through the window in disbelief and saw her older sister.
Xu Fang got out and opened the car door with a smile. “Come on in. Your sister found a job, and you should come take a look. There might be a job for you too.”
Ye Xiaomei was still young and always followed her sister’s lead. She looked to her sister for guidance.
Xu Youyou said, “You and your sister can both be child actors. The company will also provide you with a dormitory. You’ll never have to worry about going hungry again.”
The older child was filled with excitement and asked, “Can we eat meat every day?”
Xu Youyou nodded firmly. “Of course! You might even get tired of eating so much meat.”
The sisters shook their heads together. “How could anyone ever get tired of eating meat? Meat is the best food in the world!”
Finally, Xu Youyou managed to get both children into the car.
On the way, she learned more about their situation.
They were lucky in a way—despite being only fifteen and ten years old, they had managed to escape their mountain village on foot. Though they faced hardships, they arrived in Hucheng safely.
But they were also incredibly unlucky. Their original family was heartless, their father a gambling addict willing to sell his daughters for a few thousand yuan. Their village was steeped in extreme gender discrimination, treating daughters as little more than property to be traded.
Xu Youyou made a call to Xie Ran in advance. So by the time they arrived at the company’s underground parking lot, Xie Ran’s assistant was already waiting.
Xu Youyou didn’t know whether these two children had any talent for acting. She had just needed an excuse to take care of them.
The biggest issue was that neither of them had an ID card. Xu Youyou planned to ask Xie Ran for advice—after all, they were still at an age where they should be in school.
Even though Xu Youyou herself had grown up in an orphanage, she had still managed to go to college. Even if her degree hadn’t secured her the best job, she firmly believed that children should be educated.
Xie Ran found it astonishing that his old bridge shelter had ended up housing these two kids. The coincidence was almost absurd. Seeing the two children, he felt a sense of familiarity.
But business was business.
“Boss, acting requires voice, stage presence, form, and expression. These two kids are too skinny. They won’t fit many roles… but they could definitely play disaster victims in a film.”
Nowadays, it was hard to find malnourished-looking children in the industry. Most kids in disaster scenes looked too well-fed. These two were a perfect fit.
Xu Youyou said, “As long as there’s a role for them, that’s good enough.”
The sisters were thrilled and kept thanking Xie Ran.
Hearing their voices, Xie Ran suddenly seemed thoughtful and asked, “Can you sing?”
