"Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself."
"I'm Li Miaomiao, the head of the advertising department at Chuqing Children's Clothing. I saw your work a couple of days ago and I think little Yun Shu would be perfect as the spokesperson for our new children's clothing line, so I wanted to ask if you'd be interested in collaborating with us."
Yun Chuman looked at Yun Shu in surprise. The little girl tilted her head in confusion.
She thought for a moment and said, "Thank you for the invitation, but could I have an hour? I need to ask my daughter's opinion on this."
And also, to check if this Chuqing children's clothing company was reliable.
"Of course, you can contact me anytime you have an answer," Li Miaomiao added after a pause, "We are very sincere, please consider it carefully."
"Okay, we'll contact you again."
"You must contact me again."
Li Miaomiao reminded her again before hanging up.
She put away her phone, glanced nervously at the man in the sharp suit in front of her, and tentatively said, "President Gu, Ms. Yun said she wants to ask Yun Shu's opinion and will give me an answer in an hour."
"Hmm." Gu Jijing responded, slowly flipping through the documents in his hand, on which were prominently displayed photos of Yun Chuman, Yun Juan, and Yun Shu.
The large office was quiet except for the sound of rubbing papers.
Li Miaomiao nervously scratched her cheek, momentarily bewildered, unable to understand why she was there. Chuqing Children's Clothing was one of the Gu Family's initial businesses, but it had long been marginalized in recent years. They'd never even seen President Gu, let alone his secretary.
She only knew that she had submitted a report to headquarters a couple of days ago, wanting to sign Yun Shu as the spokesperson for the new children's wear line, and this morning she was brought to President Gu's office.
"Why did you choose Yun Shu as the spokesperson for the new children's wear line?" Gu Jijing put down the documents in his hand, looked up at her, and asked calmly.
"Huh?"
Li Miaomiao glanced at the small red mole on his nose and paused, quickly averting her gaze and lowering her head. "A friend of mine works at an art gallery, so I had the opportunity to see Ms. Yun's work. At the time, I felt that little Yun Shu's image and expressiveness perfectly matched the theme of the new product."
"Later, I watched the live stream of 'Every Family Has Its Own Affairs' and discovered that she and little Yun Juan are siblings. Little Yun Juan has been a highly praised child star in the past two years, which further convinced me that little Yun Shu is very capable! I will definitely secure this spokesperson position for the new product!"
She became increasingly excited when she got to the professional parts.
"'Every Family Has Its Own Affairs?" Gu Jijing flipped through the materials and indeed saw the name.
Hearing his voice, Li Miaomiao instantly calmed down. Realizing where she was, her confidence waned. She reminded him, "It's a family variety show."
Gu Jijing hesitated for a moment before turning on his computer. A moment later, he suddenly turned and asked, "Why do you have Ms. Yun Chuman's contact information? Did a friend at the gallery give it to you?"
"No, no, no, that's the artist's privacy. My friend's younger cousin brother's third elder cousin sister works for the 'Every Family Has Its Own Affairs' program. I found out from her."
"En," Gu Jijing responded indifferently, his attention returning to the computer.
Li Miaomiao looked at him blankly. And then? What should she do now? Why wasn't she allowed to leave? Was she supposed to leave on her own? But wouldn't that be impolite?
She cried inwardly, "Someone save her who just met the President for the first time!"
On the other side, after hanging up the phone, Yun Chuman still felt that Chuqing Children's Clothing was strangely persistent towards Yun Shu.
"Who is it, Mommy?" Yun Shu asked, blinking her big eyes.
"Is it for Little Shu?" Yun Juan asked, also curious.
Yun Chuman nodded. "Yes."
Yun Shu pointed to herself in surprise. "Looking for me? What do they want with me?"
"An elder sister saw Mommy's painting of Little Shu and she thinks you're very cute, so she wants you to be their children's clothing spokesperson."
Yun Chuman didn't hide anything.
"Children's clothing spokesperson?" Yun Shu tilted her head, not quite understanding what that meant.
Yun Juan, on the other hand, was very surprised. He said excitedly, "It's a model! A model for photos! I knew Little Shu is the cutest! Which elder sister, Mom, has such good taste?"
Actually, Yun Chuman wanted to take this opportunity to let the two children understand their interests and hobbies. She was struggling with how to say it when she heard Yun Juan's string of compliments and almost couldn't help but burst into a grin.
She tapped Yun Juan's little nose. Feeling ticklish, the child wrinkled his nose.
"A model?!" Yun Shu's eyes lit up; she knew what that meant!
She stared wide-eyed in disbelief: "Is it really looking for Little Shu, not elder brother?"
"Oh? Does Little Shu want elder brother to wear girls' clothes?" Yun Chuman smiled.
Yun Shu stole a glance at elder brother.
Yun Juan's alarm bells immediately went off: "If you dare nod, I'll... I'll... I'll do what?"
He pondered for a long time but couldn't think of anything he could use to threaten Little Shu.
Yun Shu smiled at him, playfully sticking out her tongue.
Yun Juan sighed helplessly and turned to Yun Chuman, asking, "So, Mommy, did you agree to that elder sister's offer?"
"Not yet," Yun Chuman shook her head.
"No?" Yun Shu's face fell instantly upon hearing this. She lowered her head, her little shoulders drooping, and asked cautiously, "Mommy doesn't want Little Shu to be a model?"
Just like before, she didn't want her and elder brother to appear on TV together.
"Of course not, it's Little Shu's business, so I need to ask Little Shu's opinion before I can give an answer." Yun Chuman patted her little head.
Yun Shu's eyes flickered slightly. Right, Mommy didn't hate her appearing on camera anymore; she even drew her in her paintings!
She snuggled closer to Yun Chuman, nuzzling her arm like a kitten: "Mommy, I'm sorry."
I doubted you.
"Why are you apologizing out of the blue?" Yun Chuman smiled. "Before you make a decision, can you listen to my thoughts?"
Yun Juan and Yun Shu exchanged a puzzled look. Although they didn't know what she was going to say, they obediently nodded, placing their little hands neatly on their laps, and looked up at her intently.
Yun Chuman felt a little nervous under the gaze of the two pairs of eyes. She coughed lightly and asked, "Do you remember when I told you to do what you like and are interested in?"
The two children nodded. They remembered, but hadn't decided what they were interested in at the time.
"But little Juan and little Shu haven't told me what you're interested in," Yun Chuman said, counting on her fingers. "You have so many things you want to do now: go to kindergarten, film variety shows, little Juan wants to audition for a movie, and little Shu has an offer to be a children's clothing spokesperson."
Yun Juan and Yun shu followed her in counting on their fingers; it seemed like quite a lot.
"Are all of these things you're interested in?" Yun Chuman asked. "You need to understand that if you go to kindergarten, you'll have to go every day. Filming variety shows now requires at least three days a week, and then you'll have to film movies and be a spokesperson—you might not even have time to sleep."
Worried, the two children frowned. "What will we do then?"
Not sleeping was not an option. They were still growing and not sleeping would stunt their growth.
Yun Chuman pretended to think for a moment before saying, "Kindergarten and recording the variety show are relatively easy to handle."
"You two aren't old enough for kindergarten yet, so it's not too late to go after this variety show ends. In the meantime, I can teach you all sorts of things."
The two children exchanged a glance.They liked their mommy teaching them new things.
Yun Chuman continued, "The difficult part is what happens after you start kindergarten."
"Little Shu, with your abilities, becoming a spokesperson will likely lead to occasional acting assignments, just like your brother. But acting means sacrificing part of your school life."
"In that case, I want to ask you if you truly enjoy acting? Only if you genuinely enjoy it will you not feel terrible or overwhelmed when sacrificing your school life and putting in double the effort."
"I love it! Mom, I want to try, starting with that spokesperson role!" Yun Shu exclaimed without hesitation, her eyes shining.
She had always enjoyed acting when she helped elder brother with his scenes, but she had never dared to express herself.
Actually, she didn't quite understand mommy's words of ‘overwhelmed’ and ‘sacrifice’. She only knew that seizing this opportunity would allow her to truly step onto the stage.
Yun Chuman wasn't surprised by her reaction. Her guess was right—Yun Shu was very interested in acting.
She smiled gently, "Okay, I'll contact your elder brother Mo later to ask if Chuqing Children's Clothing is reliable. If there are no problems, we'll take this job."
As for balancing studies, that could be discussed later.
Yun Shu's cheeks flushed slightly, and she nodded vigorously with happiness, "En!"
Yun Juan glanced at younger sister enviously, fidgeting with his fingers in a troubled manner.
"Little Juan, what about you? Tell Mom, do you like acting?" Yun Chuman said, looking into his eyes. "Good children don't lie."
Yun Juan pouted, avoiding her gaze, and said awkwardly, "Don’t really like, but I want to act..."
"Why?" Yun Chuman was taken aback.
"Because I need to earn money to support the family!" He looked up, his little face serious.
"Elder Brother, I'll help you earn money to support the family!" Yun Shu said firmly.
The two children earning money—more like supporting her than supporting the family.
Yun Chuman scratched her head, wondering how unreliable she was in the eyes of the two children to be burdened with the responsibility of supporting the family at such a young age.
She smiled helplessly: "Little Juan is a responsible and well-behaved child, but if you want to earn money to support the family, you don't have to do it only through acting."
Yun Juan frowned: "Nowhere else will hire me. I'm a child laborer now."
Yun Chuman almost laughed out loud. He knew he was a child laborer.
She coughed twice, forcing the laughter back: "Don't you know you can earn money by painting?"
Yun Juan's expression brightened at the mention of drawing: "Painting... works?"
"If you draw well, you can earn a lot of money," Yun Chuman asked, "Does Little Juan like painting?"
"I like it! I like it!" Upon hearing that painting could earn money, Yun Juan immediately abandoned his acting career.
Yun Chuman grinned mischievously, "So, do you choose to continue acting, or do you choose to learn to paint with me?"
Yun Juan paused for a moment, jumped up, and threw himself into her arms, "Painting! I want to learn to paint with Mommy!"
Yun Shu looked at them enviously. She didn't like painting, but she wanted to be with mommy and elder brother.
Yun Chuman noticed her expression and pinched her cheek, "Then Little Shu will be our exclusive model for painting from now on!"
Exclusive model? That meant she could be with mommy and elder brother!
Yun Shu also rushed over and hugged Yun Chuman, rubbing her cheek against her shoulder.
Yun Chuman patted the two children's chubby backs, "Alright, it's settled then. Now I'll contact your elder brother Mo and ask him if Chuqing Children's Clothing is reliable."
Yun Juan and Yun Shu reluctantly let go of her and sat down on either side of her. Yun Chuman took out her phone, found Mo Rongwen's chat interface, and sent a video call request.
The other end answered quickly.
Mo Rongwen was dressed in ancient attire, looking like he was on a film set.
Yun Chuman, having sorted the two children's interest-based activities, was in high spirits and casually greeted, "Yo, nephew."
Mo Rongwen: "...I'm hanging up."
Yun Chuman immediately calmed down and said quickly, "Little Shu got a spokesperson offer."
Mo Rongwen withdrew his hand: "Tell me the details."
Yun Chuman: ...
Was the double standard so obvious? Mo Rongwen's fluffy little one learned all this double standard from him!
Author's Note:
【Yun Family Diary】
Yun Juan: I need to earn money to support the family!
Yun Shu: I need to earn money to support the family!
Yun Chuman: Another day of being supported by these two little cubs.