My Wife Is a Superstar

Chapter 882 Shirking Responsibilities

Without turning around, Ning Ran motioned for Nan Chen to come over. “Bring the soup to the dining hall. It's time for dinner.”

It was rare for someone to order Nan Chen around, so he froze for a second before walking over to take the soup bowl.

Ning Ran then walked to the living room, asking Dabao and Erbao to wash their hands and get ready for dinner.

However, Erbao remained seated as she asked again, “Mommy, you'll let me and Dabao go to the competition, won't you?”

"We'll talk about that later,” Ning Ran told her, unsure what decision to make since she did not know what was on Nan Chen's mind.

“Mommy, you promised me this! You can't go back on your words,” Erbao responded, huffing.

It was not that Erbao loved joining competitions but that she liked the liveliness of the environment. There were many kindergartens in the city, and even if each kindergarten only sent out one team, the competition site would still be filled with children. It would be a bustling scene, and that was something Erbao looked forward to seeing.

“Are you trying to say that you won't eat if I say no?”

As Erbao’s mother, Ning Ran naturally knew what was on her daughter's mind

Erbao huffed and pouted.

"Wash your hands and eat, or else this is a definite no,” said Ning Ran, putting on a serious face. “Fine! You're breaking your promise, Mommy.”

Erbao then jumped off the couch and ran barefooted to the room, angry.

As soon as she stomped inside, she slammed the door shut behind her.

"Hey, what's with that attitude? Do you think I'd let you get away with this? How dare you talk back to me?” Ning Ran angrily said before marching over to smack the door.

Right then, Nan Chen walked over and asked, “What are you doing?”

“She's forcing me to relent by starving herself. Am I supposed to give in to that?” Ning Ran gritted out.

“So you're actually going to fight against a child?”

“I want her to come out and eat; I'm not saying that I'm going to fight against her. She'll go hungry if she doesn't eat, and I don't want her to starve herself. Do I really need to spell this out for you?” "Go to the dining room first. She's a kid, after all. We'll need to coax her and reason with her,” Nan Chen said to her.

A glance at Nan Chen told Ning Ran that he seemed confident, so she left it in his hands.

After taking a few steps to the dining room, Ning Ran started wondering how Nan Chen was going to convince Erbao to come out of the room, so she turned around to observe him, hoping to learn a trick or two.

In the next second, she heard Nan Chen knocking on the door and saying, “Erbao, Mommy's been working too hard lately, so she's a little muddle-headed. You have to be more considerate of her...” Anger thrummed through Ning Ran's veins when she heard that.

What the h*lI? Are you seriously doing this? Me? Muddled in the head? You're the one who has a shrunk brain!

Then, she heard Nan Chen continue, “I'll try my best to convince Mommy about the competition, okay? Erbao, you're a reasonable girl, so you won't hold a grudge against Mommy for this, right? Come on, open the door. We'll have our dinner, and we'll persuade Mommy to let you go to the competition together after that, all right?”

Ning Ran was rendered speechless. Nan Chen was twisting the facts, for he was the one who disagreed with letting the children join the competition. That was why Erbao was angry.

Now he’s making himself out to be the good guy? Just how cunning can he be?

Just as Ning Ran was about to confront Nan Chen about the matter, the door opened, and Erbao came out.

So he managed to coax her out of the room by sacrificing my image. Great.

Nevertheless, Ning Ran decided to drop the matter since her daughter was finally out.

Dinner was a somber event as everyone was dwelling on their own issues in silence.

Nan Chen was the kind of man who could stay silent forever if no conversation was initiated, so there was no way he could liven up the atmosphere. That responsibility rested on Erbao's shoulders. "Erbao, have this. Do you really want to go to the competition?” Ning Ran asked, putting a boneless piece of fish into Erbao’s bowl.

“Yes, Mommy. I've already told my teacher that I'll be joining it. We have to make good on our promises,” Erbao answered.

That was a perfect reason, for she was also subtly hinting to Ning Ran that both adults and children had to stick to their promises.

“I'm fine with you performing, but Daddy isn't. Why don't we hear what he has to say first?”

As she spoke, she turned to Nan Chen. The thoughts in her mind went unspoken. You think I don't know how you made me the scapegoat earlier?

Nan Chen only hummed in response, but no one knew whether that was a response in the affirmative or negative.

Ning Ran knew that Nan Chen was giving a vague answer so that he could pass the buck to her. That way, the children wouldn't resent him.

The man was the CEO of a multinational corporation, but he was shirking responsibilities when it came to family matters. Ning Ran was irked, and she was not going to let him get his way.

"So, why are you against the children joining the competition?” Ning Ran persisted, forcing him to express his thoughts.

Nan Chen had no choice but to put down his chopsticks and wipe his mouth before answering, “I didn't say no. I just said we should discuss this another time.”

"You only say that if you disagree. If you agree with it, why would you need to discuss this another time?” Ning Ran retorted.

She's getting harder and harder to deal with. I only said she's muddled in the head because of work, but she's already holding a grudge against me. How petty. Fine, I'll be the villain this time.

“Dabao and Erbao aren't like other normal kids. They can't avoid the crowd in larger-scaled competitions like this. Safety is already an issue, and there are so many staff members hired for the event. Who knows whether or not one of them would be bribed to do something to hurt the kids?” Nan Chen remarked.

Sure enough, appearing in public meant that bad people would have a better chance at hurting the children.

“Mhm,” Ning Ran agreed. “Daddy's right.”

Alarm bells rang in Erbao’s head at that. She could not believe her parents were now on the same side, and that was bad news for her.

Hence, she put down her chopsticks and was about to run back into the room in anger. However, Dabao stopped her and told her, “Listen to everything Daddy has to say first.”

"Also, no matter how well you sing in the competition, you'll always be the winner. It's because we've always been the title sponsor of the television station. Much of their profits from advertising come from us, so if they know that you're my children, they'll make you the victors. What is the point of joining an unfair competition? If you perform well, then your win would be justifiable. However, if you perform poorly but still win the competition, the other children would be upset. They would think that you pulled strings to win the competition, and they'll think you're dishonest people. They'll hate you. You won't enjoy a competition like this, will you?”

Ning Ran finally understood why Nan Chen disagreed in the first place.

The competition would be rigged so that the children of Nan Chen, the star patron of the television station, would win.

Nan Chen went on, “Even if you did win the competition due to your skills, people will still think that you won it because of your father's connection with the television station. They'll still be jealous and hateful of you. Therefore, there's no point in joining a competition like this.”

Dabao understood what his father meant, but Erbao did not seem to. The only thing she was sure about was that they were definitely not going to join the competition, so she was miserable.