After Being Blackened All Over the Internet, I Ruled the Military Variety Shows-Chapter 29: A Phone Call at Home

Lu Zhengzheng was pushing her suitcase forward, when she suddenly heard a hesitant "Mom" from behind.

Her steps came to an abrupt halt, and she looked back nervously.

Jiang Lingxi was lowering her eyes to answer the phone, not noticing the change in Lu Zhengzheng's mood at that moment.

After hesitating before calling out 'Mom,' the person on the other end of the phone cautiously tested, "Xixi, have you been busy lately?"

"It's okay." Jiang Lingxi paused after responding, "How are things over there?"

"Everything is fine here, really fine, you don't have to worry, just focus on your work."

"Hmm."

There was a few seconds of silence.

Then a more cautious voice came through again, "Xixi, tomorrow is the monthly visiting day at the Juvenile Detention Center. Do you want to go see your brother with us?"

Jiang Lingxi could even hear the woman on the other side holding her breath after asking, fearing she might miss her next response.

"Okay."

The voice in the receiver suddenly became excited, "Then, then come over tomorrow morning, and we'll set off together!"

"Okay."

The voice returned to being cautious, "Make sure you rest well, don't keep skipping dinner just to lose weight, it's bad for your stomach..."

Before she could finish, Jiang Lingxi heard a somewhat hoarse male voice coming through the receiver: "Talking to Xixi?"

Jiang Wenhu nodded at her husband, unable to restrain her happiness, "Xixi just said she will go with us to see Xiaoxu tomorrow."

"I'm not going to see that brat. He always gives me a hard time. You two can go tomorrow, I'm not going."

As Jiang Wenhu saw her husband heading towards the door, she quickly called him back, "We're about to have dinner, where are you going?"

"Going out to chat with Lao Liu about the recent market trends."

"Jiang Runcheng, stop making excuses with me, are you going to drink again?"

"Men's affairs at the drinking table, don't interfere, I'm leaving, and don't wait up for me tonight."

Accompanied by the sound of a door being slammed in anger, Jiang Wenhu's muttering came through the receiver, "I told you that business was unreliable, why won't you believe it. Drinking, drinking, why not drink..." Her words abruptly ended, followed by the sound of her pacing back and forth.

Jiang Lingxi guessed she probably forgot her call with her daughter was still connected, so she quietly hung up the phone.

She raised her eyes to meet Lu Zhengzheng's anxious and worried gaze.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Lu Zhengzheng let go of her suitcase and jogged to Jiang Lingxi, "Xixi, are you... are you having dinner?"

More accurately, do you still feel like having dinner?

Jiang Lingxi was puzzled by the question and nodded, "Of course, I'm having dinner."

Only then did Lu Zhengzheng breathe a sigh of relief, "That's good." She didn't have to order takeout or eat alone.

The two entered the elevator together.

"Why did you suddenly ask me if I'm having dinner?"

Lu Zhengzheng lowered her head and replied softly, "Xixi, every time you get a call from home, your mood worsens, sometimes lasting for several days. I heard you call 'Mom' when you answered the phone just now, so I was a bit worried."

Jiang Lingxi lightly patted her shoulder, "It won't happen in the future, don't worry."

"Mm-hmm."

After getting home, Lu Zhengzheng put her luggage away and happily went into the kitchen. After assuring her help wasn't needed, Jiang Lingxi poured herself a glass of water and sat on the balcony lounge chair, drinking while deep in thought.

The original person's memories of the family were sparse, only slightly more than Shen Yunqing's. She could feel the original person intentionally avoided engaging with the family.

There were natural reasons for this.

Three years ago, the original person's father, Jiang Runcheng, went bankrupt in business and piled up significant debts, forcing the family to move from a spacious villa to a cramped old apartment.

It didn't stop there because they couldn't repay the debt; debt collectors came to the house, and some crossed the line by vandalizing when they didn't get money.

The original person's brother was only a fifteen-year-old boy then, reckless with youthful energy, and impulsively stabbed the leader during a confrontation.

The stabbed person immediately reported to the police, and although Jiang Lingxu didn't go to jail due to his age, he was sent to the Juvenile Detention Center for education, and now it's almost three years.

Later, the original father wanted to make a comeback, but examples of overcoming such drastic life steps and succeeding are exceedingly rare, and he wasn't one of them.

Over time, due to his constant failures, he developed a drinking problem, coming home drunk every day.

The original person's mother, Jiang Wenhu, who used to be a pampered housewife, had to find work at her age to support the family as her husband drank and her son was confined.

As for the original person, three years ago, she had just been accepted into university. With the family upheaval, she had to give up her studies and, by chance, enter the entertainment industry. After earning money with her looks to relieve the family burden, she stayed there by force of circumstance.

But deep down, she harbored resentment toward her family.

It can only be said that upheaval leaves people unprepared.

The once happy family of four became fragmented, never to return to its past warmth.

Quietly reviewing the short twenty-plus years of the original person's life, Jiang Lingxi felt she somewhat understood why the original person developed this unpleasant and annoying temperament.

The entertainment industry is really a place of fame and profit, and lacks privacy. With such a terrible family background, a sense of inferiority inevitably grew within.

But the entertainment industry is not a place that allows for inferiority, making it harder to mask insecurity.

Especially with the studies interrupted abruptly three years ago.

These hurdles are not easily overcome for a girl who grew up carefree in this era.

Updat𝓮d from freewēbnoveℓ.com.

Only she knows how many setbacks and difficulties she went through.

"Xixi, dinner is ready, come and eat."

Lu Zhengzheng's cheerful voice snapped Jiang Lingxi out of her thoughts, and she looked up at the neon lights outside the glass window.

Remembering a phrase often said by someone: Everything will be okay.

*

Jiang Lingxi stood at the edge of the old residential area.

It was a weekday, and during the rush hour for work and school, the crowd in the residential area nearly knocked off her sunglasses.

Once the crowd thinned out, she carefully stepped past the small puddles left on the uneven ground from last night's rain, heading into the neighborhood.

"Three-oh-three, this is it."

Looking at the mottled security door with traces of red paint from years past, Jiang Lingxi fumbled the key she found this morning from her pocket, and somewhat awkwardly unlocked the door.

Before stepping inside, an indescribable odor hit her, one that was not blocked even by her mask.

This made her hesitate for a moment before entering.

Jiang Wenhu was busy mopping the small living room floor, quickly looking toward the door at the sound of it opening. Her face brightened seeing her daughter but soon turned embarrassed and cautious, "Xixi, you're here so early. Stand by the door for a bit; it doesn't smell good inside. Let me spray some air freshener first before you come in."

Jiang Lingxi removed her sunglasses and mask as she entered, turning to glance at the partially closed bedroom door beside her, hearing the fluctuating snores from within, "Dad's still asleep?"

Jiang Wenhu hadn't noticed the disdain on her daughter's face, and her heart had just warmed. Hearing this, she couldn't help but darken her expression, muttering quietly, "He came back past midnight drunk again, vomited all over. I closed the bedroom door before bed, and he was so drunk this time he didn't even know how to open it. Meanwhile, I forgot to close your brother's room door after packing his things last night, so I moved to sleep there, but couldn't wake him this morning. Let's not bother with him. It's just us going today anyway; they always end up awkward when they meet, so it's better he doesn't go this time."

Jiang Lingxi was silent for a moment, "Did you eat yet?"