Serve as Contrast Team in a ‘Dad with Baby’ Show

At noon the next day, someone arranged by Chen Yu came to pick up Lin Momo.

Before leaving, Liu Cuifang asked Lin Momo to change into clean clothes and stuffed a purse made of old cloth into Lin Momo’s hand.

“There is 700 yuan in it. It is inevitable to spend money when you go out. The 200 yuan is for you to spend, and the other 500 yuan is your tuition fee for next semester. You should keep it carefully and don’t lose it,” Liu Cuifang warned.

She saved this money for a long time, secretly hiding it with the next door neighbor. But now, because she was afraid that Zhang Xiaoqiang would return and bully her into giving up the money after Lin Momo leaves, she planned to let Lin Momo take it all with her.

“Take good care of yourself outside, be hygienic, speak sweetly, don’t interrupt when others are talking, remember to say ‘thank you’ when others help you… Don’t trouble others, okay?” Even though Lin Momo already knew this, Liu Cuifang still instructed her repeatedly.

“I will,” Lin Momo agreed.

It wasn’t until the caregiver arrived that Lin Momo felt relieved enough to leave with the two assistants.

On the way, Lin Momo came to know their names.

The young, male assistant wearing glasses was called Zhou Qi, and the plump, young lady was called Wang Xi—both of them were newly recruited by the entertainment company as intern assistants.

When they arrived at the company, Zhou Qi and Wang Xi took Lin Momo through various corridors and finally came to a small room.

“This is the practice room you mentioned? Isn’t this just a utility room!” Wang Xi complained.

“Keep your voice down. Brother Chen Yu told us to keep a low profile, low profile!” Zhou Qi said in a hush, lowering his voice. “The company has a new group of trainees and there are not enough practice rooms to go around. How can they lend us a good practice room? It’s nice enough to have a place to use. This is the key I borrowed through my personal relationship.”

Wang Xi waved her hand helplessly, “Okay, okay. Anyway, it will only be for two days.” Two days from now, the filming team will come to do a test shoot, and Lin Momo will be sent to be with Lin Cheng at that time.

Wang Xi lowered her head and looked at Lin Momo. She wanted to comfort her, tell her that this hardship was only temporary and she has to overcome this little bit. However, thinking of Lin Momo’s previous living environment, Wang Xi stopped herself from talking.

“There’s not much time, we have to hurry up and rehearse. You will stay here temporarily for the next two days,” Wang Xi told Lin Momo instead, pointing to the utility room in front of them.

Lin Momo nodded, indicating that she understood.

…

Wang Xi and Zhou Qi first let Lin Momo watch some similar parent-child reality shows, and then began to rehearse with Lin Momo—the entire afternoon was spent this way.

Wang Xi told her, “Before the official start of the show, the general program team will first go to each star’s home to shoot the pilot film. At that time, the director team may ask you some questions. You should just behave naturally, as if you are at home. Just answer what the other party is asking you.”

“Okay,” said Lin Momo.

“Then let’s try it again. Remember what we told you. Ready? Start!”

As soon as Wang Xi shouted ‘start’, Lin Momo hurriedly waved her hand in the direction of the phone camera and said, “Hello, everyone, my name is Lin Momo.”

After speaking, Lin Momo picked up the ‘art’ drawn by Wang Xi for her, pointed to the matchstick figure on it and said, “See this photo, this person is my dad, and he is a singer…”

“Do you like Dad?”

“Yes.”

“Do you like Dad or Mom?”

“Mom.”

“Why?” 

“Because Mom is gentle with me, and Dad is a bit strict at times.”

Wang Xi nodded, turned to the next page of the notebook, and continued to ask, “How did you get the name Xiao Momo?”

Lin Momo’s surname is ‘Lin’ because when her grandma picked her up, there was a blurry certificate next to it with the word ‘Lin’ on it. And she was lying inside a styrofoam box, so she was called ‘Momo’.1

“Because Dad has a song called ‘Mo’, so he named me ‘Momo’,” Lin Momo dutifully repeated the answer Wang Xi told her to say.

“Very good.” Wang Xi nodded and asked a few more questions. She was a little surprised to see that Lin Momo could repeat the answers word for word.

“Have you memorized all the questions here?” Wang Xi asked Lin Momo, holding the notebook up.

Lin Momo nodded.

“Very good,” Wang Xi smiled in approval. “What do you think, Zhou Qi?” Wang Xi turned to ask Zhou Qi.

“The answer is ‘there’s no problem’—but it somehow feels blunt and a little off,” Zhou Qi replied, rubbing his chin.

“It is a bit,” Wang Xi was frowning, eyes on the recorded video.

In the video, although Lin Momo was able to answer the questions fluently, it felt like she was repeating things learned by rote, without any real emotion. This was especially true when she was talking about her ‘parents’—Lin Momo’s eyes didn’t have the excitement other children would usually have, instead they seemed blank and empty.

“It’s okay, you can recite the answer well, and that means you’ve completed the first step. We’ll just rehearse a few more times to find the right feeling.” 

“Let’s do it again, don’t be nervous.”

“Okay.”

“What’s your name?”

“My name is Lin Momo.”

“Why are you called Lin Momo?”

“Because my father’s surname is Lin…”

……

That evening, when Chen Yu came to the practice room, Lin Momo was still rehearsing. Her voice was a little hoarse, but her expression was much more natural than before.

“Hi everyone, my name is Lin Momo, I am 9 years old…”

“Wait a minute.” Chen Yu interrupted the rehearsal.

“Is there any problem, Brother Chen Yu?”

“This part needs to be changed.” Chen Yu thought for a while, then said, “You can’t say you’re 9 years old.”

Lin Cheng was 32 years old this year. If his child was 9 years old, then wouldn’t it tell the audience that Lin Cheng had a child at 22 years old?

At the age of 22, that happened to be the time when Lin Cheng first became popular and rumors of sex scandals with fans broke out.

With the audience’s imagination, the two things would definitely be connected together.

At that point, becoming popular would not only be impossible, but his image would turn even darker and darker. 

Footnotes

The 沫 ‘Mo’ in Lin Momo’s name means foam, froth, bubbles. She was found in a foam box, hence, her name.