Director Zhou reviewed the footage three times. First, he watched the main camera; then he watched the side camera; finally, he asked the technician to slow the footage down frame by frame.

The monitor room was silent.

On the screen, Xiao Nian held the bowl carefully with both hands as he walked in a straight line toward Shen Qingyu. Xiao Heng followed half a step behind him, his small face serious as he reminded his brother about balance.

Then Liu Xin entered the frame with the tray.

At normal speed, the movement looked like an accident: a crowded kitchen, a distracted staff member, a child passing by, and warm sauce tilting on a tray.

But under the slowed footage, the problem became obvious.

Liu Xin’s path had originally been far enough from Xiao Nian, and there had been no need for contact. Then, just as Xiao Nian passed, her elbow shifted outward. It was not much, only a little, but it was enough to tilt the tray, enough to make the small dish slide, and enough to send the sauce toward the child’s shoulder.

Director Zhou’s expression sank completely.

The assistant beside him looked pale. “Director Zhou…”

“Play the second angle.” The technician immediately switched screens. From the side camera, the movement was clearer. Liu Xin had looked down at Xiao Nian before her elbow moved. It was only a brief glance, almost instinctive, but it was there. The assistant’s mouth went dry. “This… doesn’t look like a complete accident.”

Director Zhou did not speak, but his face was cold enough that the entire monitor room seemed to drop several degrees. He had worked in variety shows for over twenty years, and he had seen careless staff, malicious editing, planted conflicts, celebrity temper tantrums, and sponsors trying to manipulate scripts. But children were the bottom line. Adults could fight, calculate, and use tears, rumours, acting skills, and public opinion as weapons. Children could not be used as props in someone else’s narrative.

Director Zhou pointed at the screen. “Where is Liu Xin now?”

“Outside the kitchen. The field director asked her to stop working temporarily.”

“Bring her here.”

The assistant hurried away.

Director Zhou looked back at the monitor. On screen, Shen Qingyu had already crossed the distance and caught Xiao Nian, moving too fast for someone who was supposedly careless with his children. His first reaction had not been to accuse, perform for the camera, or protect his own image. It had been to pull the child behind him.

Director Zhou had seen many parents on variety shows. Some were naturally loving, some performed love very well, and some loved their children but were too aware of the camera. But Shen Qingyu’s reaction had no performance in it. That was instinct, and instinct was difficult to fake. The door opened, and Liu Xin entered with red eyes.

She had clearly cried. Her face was pale, and her hands twisted nervously in front of her. At first glance, she looked pitiful enough to make anyone soften their voice. Director Zhou did not soften his.

“Did someone instruct you?”

Liu Xin’s head snapped up. “No! Director Zhou, I really didn’t mean it. I was just nervous. There were too many people in the kitchen, and I—”

Director Zhou clicked the mouse, and the slowed footage played again. Liu Xin’s voice stopped. On the screen, her elbow moved once, clearly.

Director Zhou asked, “Why did you move your elbow toward the child?”

Liu Xin’s lips trembled. “I… I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“I really don’t know.” Her tears fell again. “Director Zhou, I swear I wasn’t trying to hurt him. I just… I just suddenly felt that he was too close, and I wanted to avoid him, but somehow…”

“Somehow?”

Liu Xin pressed her hand against her forehead. “I can’t explain it. At that moment, I felt like if something happened, Teacher Shen would definitely lose his temper. Then everyone would see…”

She stopped abruptly, and the monitor room went silent.

Director Zhou looked at her. “See what?”

Liu Xin’s face turned bloodless.

“I didn’t mean that.”

“What did you mean?”

Liu Xin opened her mouth, but no words came out, because even she seemed frightened by what she had almost said. Director Zhou’s eyes sharpened.

Everyone in the room felt that something about this matter was wrong. It was not simply malice, because malice had direction. This was stranger, like someone had walked into a fog and, without knowing why, taken the path that would cause the greatest misunderstanding.

Director Zhou thought of yesterday’s question card. That question had also been selected out of order, and the staff member who read it had looked confused afterward, as though he did not know why he had chosen it.

Director Zhou had been in the industry too long to believe in coincidence, but this did not feel like ordinary human manipulation. It felt like the show itself kept being pushed toward a script, and in that script, Shen Qingyu would always look bad.

Director Zhou closed the footage window.

“Liu Xin, from now on, you are removed from all guest-facing work. You will cooperate with the programme team’s internal investigation. Until we confirm whether there was external contact or intentional misconduct, you are suspended.”

Liu Xin’s eyes widened. “Director Zhou!”

“Also,” Director Zhou said coldly, “you will apologise again to Xiao Nian and Teacher Shen after the livestream break, without excuses.”

Liu Xin’s lips trembled, but this time, she did not argue. Lunch resumed thirty minutes later. The programme team announced only that the kitchen process had been temporarily paused to check safety procedures. The livestream had not been cut completely; instead, the camera focused on the families resting in the courtyard while logistics dealt with the matter. But viewers were not fools, especially after yesterday, when their suspicion had already been awakened.

【They’re checking the footage, right?】

【Please release the replay.】

【The side angle looked suspicious.】

【I don’t want to accuse wrongly, but her first reaction was really strange.】

【She blamed Xiao Nian before asking if he was okay. That’s the part I can’t accept.】

【Shen Qingyu handled it so well. If he had snapped, people would definitely call him difficult again.】

【That’s the scary part. I feel like everything around him is designed to make him snap.】

【You mean like yesterday’s question?】

【And today’s Room One heater?】

【Why does it feel like he keeps being pushed into bad situations?】

The protagonist halo was quiet, but Shen Qingyu could still sense it. Quiet did not mean gone; a predator that failed one pounce would simply circle again.

In the courtyard, Xiao Nian sat beside Shen Qingyu, still holding his father’s uninjured hand. His eyes were no longer red, but he refused to go too far away. Xiao Heng sat on the other side, staring at Shen Qingyu’s bandaged fingers.

Lu Jingheng had applied burn ointment, wrapped the reddened fingers with thin gauze, and checked the medicine instructions twice. Shen Qingyu had told him three times it was unnecessary, and Lu Jingheng had ignored all three.

Now Shen Qingyu sat under the old locust tree with his pale coat draped loosely over his shoulders, one hand bandaged and the other occupied by Xiao Nian. He looked calmer than anyone else, and that calmness made Tang Mianmian walk over with two cups of warm tea.

“Teacher Shen.”

Shen Qingyu looked up and Tang Mianmian handed him one cup. “The village aunties made ginger tea. It’s not elegant, but it’s warm.”

Shen Qingyu accepted it. “Thank you.”

Tang Mianmian sat down beside him without asking too many questions, and for a while, neither of them spoke.

Then Tang Mianmian said, “You reacted very fast.”

Shen Qingyu lowered his eyes to the tea. “When you have children, you react before you think.”

Tang Mianmian nodded.

She had twin daughters, so she understood this better than anyone.

“If it were me,” she said lightly, “I might not have been as calm.”

Shen Qingyu smiled faintly. “I wasn’t calm.”

Tang Mianmian looked at him.

Shen Qingyu’s tone was still relaxed. “I was just angry after checking that Xiao Nian was safe.”

Tang Mianmian studied him for a moment, then laughed softly. “That is a very expensive kind of anger.”

“Expensive?”

“Mm.” Tang Mianmian took a sip of tea. “Ordinary people’s anger burns themselves first. Your anger waits, calculates, and then sends the bill.”

Shen Qingyu paused.

Then he smiled, and this time, the smile was real.

The bullet comments immediately noticed.

【Tang Mianmian is good.】

【She gets him.】

【“Your anger sends the bill” — accurate.】

【I love women who understand things.】

【Shen Qingyu smiled again. Save the clip!】

Nearby, Wen Xuci had been helping Wen Nuonuo tie her scarf. After finishing, he walked over too.

“Teacher Shen, how is your hand?”

Before Shen Qingyu could answer, Lu Jingheng said, “Red.”

Wen Xuci: “…”

Tang Mianmian: “…”

Shen Qingyu looked at Lu Jingheng. “That is still not a diagnosis.”

Lu Jingheng’s face remained expressionless. “It is an observation.”

Xiao Heng raised his hand. “The affected area is small. Dad’s pain level should be low, but Father’s anxiety level is high.”

Lu Jingheng looked at him.

Xiao Heng calmly added, “This is also an observation.”

The bullet comments laughed again.

【Father’s anxiety level is high HAHAHAHA.】

【Xiao Heng’s medical report is in.】

【Lu Jingheng: red. Xiao Heng: emotional damage.】

【Shen Qingyu is surrounded by analysts.】

Wen Xuci smiled. “It’s good that it isn’t serious.”

Lu Jingheng’s gaze moved to him again, still calm and still cold.

Wen Xuci seemed not to notice. “Teacher Shen, if you need help during the lunch task, call me.” 

The air shifted, and Tang Mianmian’s eyes brightened with the unmistakable expression of someone watching drama from the front row.

Shen Qingyu had not even spoken when Lu Jingheng said, “I can help him.”

Wen Xuci smiled gently. “Of course.”

Lu Jingheng looked at him, and Wen Xuci looked back. The two men did not say anything else, but the bullet comments had already built an entire palace of imagination.

【Ohhhhhhh.】

【Wen Xuci is brave.】

【President Lu’s jealousy has entered the village.】

【He said “I can help him.” Translation: stay away from my wife.】

【Wen Xuci didn’t even do anything.】

【He smiled. That was enough.】

Shen Qingyu took one sip of ginger tea, then said calmly, “Lu Jingheng.”

Lu Jingheng turned toward him.

Shen Qingyu handed him the tea cup. “Too hot.”

Lu Jingheng accepted it immediately, lowered his eyes, and blew on it once.

The oppressive atmosphere vanished.

Wen Xuci’s smile deepened, and Tang Mianmian nearly choked on her tea.

Xiao Heng observed seriously. “Dad’s reassignment method is efficient.”

Shen Qingyu did not change expression. “Drink your water.”

Xiao Heng obediently drank.

The livestream audience nearly went insane.

【Too hot. He just handed it to Lu Jingheng.】

【And Lu Jingheng blew on it. Naturally.】

【This is not jealousy. This is domestication.】

【President Lu is scary for outsiders and a tea-cooling device for Shen Qingyu.】

【I can’t breathe.】

Not far away, Xu Zhixia watched the scene quietly.

His adopted daughter Xu Xingxing held his sleeve and whispered, “Dad, is Uncle Shen’s hand okay?”

Xu Zhixia looked down at her. The little girl’s eyes were full of concern.

He touched her hair. “It should be okay.”

“Then why did the auntie almost spill sauce on Xiao Nian?”

Xu Zhixia paused. He had entered the entertainment industry later than Shen Qingyu and Wen Xuci, and he had heard many rumours about Shen Qingyu, most of them bad. Bad temper, difficult to work with, jealous, unkind to Shen Jianing, and the kind of person one should politely avoid.

Yesterday’s livestream had shaken those impressions, but Xu Zhixia was cautious by nature. He did not like judging too quickly in either direction. But children were sensitive. Xu Xingxing was shy and usually afraid of strangers, yet when Shen Qingyu crouched down to comfort Xiao Nian, she had watched without fear. Children could sense cruelty, but they could also sense safety. Xu Zhixia looked at Shen Qingyu under the tree. He still did not know the truth of everything, but at least one thing was clear. A person who first told a frightened child, “You did nothing wrong,” was not the heartless person the rumours described.