"Zhou Muyue."
This woman had always been kept hidden behind the scenes by Lu Yunzhan. Shen Zhiyu had only ever heard her name without laying eyes on her.
To know your enemy and yourself is to win a hundred battles.
Since she wanted to protect Zhouzhou well, she naturally had to gather information on her opponents.
"Zhou Muyue?"
"You know her?"
"What a totally unfamiliar name. She probably isn't in our circle, is she?" Her friend's voice carried a hint of playful intrigue. "Judging by the name, it's a woman. Why are you looking her up? Has she got something to do with your man?"
"Just run a background check on her first." She probably wasn't someone from their circles.
If she belonged to their circles, even if they had never met, they would have at least heard of her.
"All right. Got it. Wait for my news."
Shen Zhiyu lost all remaining sleepiness.
Xiao Bai urged her to rest a while longer. "If you don't sleep a bit more, your face is going to look terrible tomorrow, oh."
Xiao Bai didn't dare to say that Shen Zhiyu's complexion already looked terrible right now.
[Take this, it's good for your health.] Xiao Bai prompted her to hold out her hand.
A pill appeared in the palm of Shen Zhiyu's hand, completely transparent.
Without hesitation, she swallowed it.
Just like the previous one, it melted the moment it touched her tongue, leaving her no chance to savor the taste.
[Don't worry about Zhouzhou either. The fever was caused by the medicine.] Xiao Bai's tone carried a trace of guilt.
"Didn't you say the medicine had no side effects?" Shen Zhiyu's gaze turned cold, looking rather chilling.
[I forgot that one pill is an adult dosage. A child should only take half.] Xiao Bai explained hastily: [But you don't need to worry. Zhouzhou is even more resilient than I imagined.]
[To clear out the toxins and impurities accumulated in the body, running a fever and sweating is also a way of purging them.]
[If you don't believe me, smell him. Doesn't his body odor smell different from ordinary sweat?]
[Tomorrow morning when he wakes up, he'll be full of vigor.]
Shen Zhiyu checked the pajamas Zhouzhou had just taken off, and sure enough, there was a layer of dark gray residue on them.
Especially across the back, where he had sweated the most, the grime seemed even thicker.
Shen Zhiyu tossed the clothes into a bucket, added laundry detergent to soak them, and decided to wash them at daybreak.
As dawn approached, sleep finally overtook Shen Zhiyu.
At the same time, the production crew's staff arrived.
When the knocking sounded, she was still somewhat groggy.
The staff came in to turn on the indoor cameras and informed her, "Gather at the village square at seven o'clock."
"We've marked the path to the square, so remember to watch for the signs."
"Oh right, Teacher Shen, the guests who arrive early will get a more bountiful breakfast." The staff member was a young round-faced girl who whispered this secretly before leaving.
Shen Zhiyu smiled and thanked her for her kindness. "Thank you."
Back inside the room, Zhouzhou had woken up.
Sitting up in bed with a messy tuft of hair sticking straight up, he looked around here and there. After a long moment of processing, a look of sudden realization dawned on him as he said, "Oh. I came out with Mommy to record a show. We're not at home."
Shen Zhiyu stepped forward to touch his forehead, then pressed her own forehead against his—his temperature was no longer hot.
"Your temperature is normal." Shen Zhiyu straightened up. "Get up. We need to go to the square to gather for breakfast."
"Big Sister said arriving early gets you good food."
Hearing about good food, Zhouzhou immediately thought of the chicken stewed with vermicelli from the previous night, his eyes brightening. "Mommy, do they have that dish we ate last night?"
"Breakfast probably won't have it, but we can go eat it at noon."
Hearing that he could have it at noon, Zhouzhou came back to life entirely.
Once relaxed, Zhouzhou's little puppy nose came into play. He sniffed the air and asked, "Mommy, what's that smell? It smells sour and funky."
Shen Zhiyu: "……"
Zhouzhou's remark successfully executed two people.
Zhouzhou was one, and she was the other.
Zhouzhou had sweated from a fever, while she had sweated from nightmares, followed by sweating while taking care of him.
It was already the middle of summer when sweating came easily, and after all that, even a flower would smell funky.
Shen Zhiyu tossed him straight into the bathroom. "You ran a fever in the middle of the night and sweated all over, so the stinky person is you. Go wash it off quickly."
When Zhouzhou came out of the bathroom, he was once again a clean, plump little steamed bun.
Shen Zhiyu also took a shower, instantly feeling refreshed and revitalized.
After the mother and son packed up, Shen Zhiyu poured Zhouzhou a bottle of milk, and following the signs, they headed to the square, where the staff and cameras were already waiting.
The sprawling square was half-occupied by the production crew, while the other half was left for the locals to do square dancing.
However, today's grandpas and grandmas weren't dancing; instead, they gathered around the perimeter of the production zone, watching the crew with curiosity.
Thinking she had delayed so long that all the other guests must have already arrived, Shen Zhiyu took her son by the hand and approached, only to discover that the others had not yet arrived.
She and her son were the first group of guests to arrive.
She glanced at the time: 6:47 AM.
There was still some time before the gathering.
"Teacher Shen, just find anywhere to sit," the director said, raising the megaphone in his hand.
Shen Zhiyu stood before the long dining table, examining the setup.
It was a long table with five chairs placed on each side.
The production crew apparently hadn't arranged the seating according to the guests' status.
Does that mean she could just sit anywhere?
Shen Zhiyu's gaze fell upon the breakfast laid out on the table: steamed buns, pan-fried dumplings, wontons, soybean milk... Whatever breakfast staples ordinary households had, this table had them all.
She chose the very first seat on the right.
Zhouzhou naturally sat down in the seat to her right.
No sooner had the mother and son seated themselves than Gu Shiyu and her son arrived.
Seeing Shen Zhiyu and her son already seated, Gu Shiyu said in surprise, "You guys got up really early."
Gu Shiyu probably hadn't rested well; even with concealer, she couldn't hide the fatigue beneath her eyes.
"Didn't you sleep well?" Shen Zhiyu looked at her tired complexion and couldn't help asking, "Is the child sick?"
Xiang Xianqi was sitting to Zhouzhou's right, and upon hearing her words, he waved his hands hurriedly. "It's not me. It's Mommy who has trouble sleeping in new beds."
Gu Shiyu nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'm picky about beds. I didn't fall asleep until I was exhausted, and then the production crew came and woke us up."
As she sat down, she covered her mouth and let out a massive yawn. "So exhausted. Why did the production crew make us get up this early?"
Shen Zhiyu shook her head; she wasn't clear on that either.
The third team to arrive was Liang Weixia.
The father and daughter sat across from Shen Zhiyu and the others.
Liang Mu'ai was dressed in athletic wear, her hair tied into a high ponytail that bobbed up and down as she walked.
Liang Mu'ai greeted them: "Hello, two Aunties, hello Little Brother, hello Big Brother."
Zhouzhou gave a shy greeting, "Hello, Big Sister."
Xiang Xianqi nodded calmly, "Hello, Little Sister."
Liang Mu'ai had inherited her parents' good looks and was exceptionally pretty at such a young age.
She also had a pair of dimples; when she smiled, the dimples deepened, looking terribly sweet.
The more Gu Shiyu looked at her, the more she liked her.
The fourth team to arrive was Xu Anxin and her son.
Her son was carried in in her arms.
Seeing that Shen Zhiyu, Gu Shiyu, and Liang Weixia were already there, she beamed. "Who knows if there'll be any good food left for us since we're the fourth to arrive."
"Even if there's no fancy food, there should still be something to eat. Don't worry." The production crew shouldn't be cruel enough to deny the guests breakfast.
Xu Anxin placed her still-sleepy son down onto a chair, slumped into her seat herself, and complained, "So heavy."
Xu Zijun wasn't fat, but a five-year-old child had some weight to him, and carrying him all the way here had truly been quite tiring.