A Billion Stars Can’t Amount to You

”Today, Uncle Chen picked me up from school. On our way back home, he told me a story about when Miss Ji was pregnant with me. Two months into the pregnancy, Miss Ji had to stay in the hospital for one month before she was discharged. Since Miss Ji became pregnant, her cravings completely changed and she especially liked to eat sour things. What’s more - she complained about how it wasn’t lively enough when she ate with just Mr. He, so he often invited Mr. Chen, Miss Tang, Miss Zhuang, and other friends to dine at their home. At first, they were happy to take care of the pregnant Miss Ji, but after a few days, their teeth were sore and they couldn’t even chew tofu. Gradually they started to make excuses, but because of Mr. He’s abusive ways, nobody dared to fight him, so they still came over for dinner. Every time, Uncle Chen complained to everyone in the WeChat group chat: ’No way are we eating dinner - we’re eating dog food.’ Sitting beside them, Mr. He happened to see those words, so that night when everyone came over for dinner, there was a plate of dog food in front of everyone and a dish of vinegar.”

”I only found out today that I’ve had a younger brother in Miss Ji’s belly for less than two months now. Well, I’m not sure if it’ll be a younger brother, but Mr. He is insistent that if it’s a younger brother, they’ll have an abortion. After Miss Ji gave birth to me, her body got into really bad shape and the doctor says she shouldn’t get pregnant again.”

...

In one breath, Su Xia read all the Weibo posts by ”Green Bean Who Grew Up On Dog Food” from the past five years.

By the time she read the final post, the sky was a little bright outside.

Fortunately, it was the weekend. Having stayed up all night, Su Xia ate some food, took a hot shower, and climbed into bed to catch up on some sleep.

By the time she woke up, it was already late in the afternoon.

Out of habit, she picked up her phone and logged into Weibo to check today’s headlines.

She never imagined that the top searched name on Weibo was ”Green Bean Who Grew Up On Dog Food.”

Su Xia thought ”Green Bean Who Grew Up On Dog Food” made another post, so she quickly clicked it. She never thought that in actuality, the identity of ”Green Bean Who Grew Up On Dog Food” was leaked.

Her real name was He Siyi, the only child and daughter of He Jichen, the director who was momentarily popular thirty years ago, and Ji Yi, the queen of the silver screen. She was also the main actress for the upcoming release of ”A Billion Stars Can’t Amount to You.” Mr. He and Miss Ji from the WeChat posts were He Jichen and Ji Yi.

Everybody was somewhat familiar with those three words, He Siyi. She wasn’t a female celebrity or anything, but since retiring from showbiz almost twenty-five years ago, He Jichen decided to return to the entertainment industry with a new drama. Five years ago, he cast his own daughter to star as the female lead for his drama, ”A Billion Stars Can’t Amount to You.”

After being in production for five whole years, many people only found out about He Siyi because they knew the drama was set to be released today. Although people hadn’t really paid much attention to her before, she instantly got everyone’s attention today when the real identity of ”Green Bean Who Grew Up On Dog Food” was revealed.

Su Xia watched Ji Yi’s work when she was young and really liked her. Her biggest dream as a reporter was to be able to interview Ji Yi just once.

Now that she found out ”Green Bean Who Grew Up On Dog Food” was Ji Yi’s daughter, Su Xia figured she’d try to contact He Siyi through Weibo. She never imagined He Siyi would actually agree to meet with her.

Su Xia and He Siyi were going to meet three days later at three in the afternoon.

Keen on their meeting, Su Xia turned up at the cafe they decided upon before two.

At half past two, the cafe doors opened and a young woman stepped in.

With just one glance, Su Xia recognized that it was Ji Yi’s cool-looking daughter, He Siyi.

Su Xia got up in preparation to shake He Siyi’s hand.

He Siyi shot Su Xia a friendly smile from afar then casually walked over.

They ordered afternoon tea from the waiter. After the waiter left, Su Xia spoke to clarify the reason for their meeting. ”Miss He, it’s like this. I’m a loyal fan of your mother’s and I became a reporter just to personally interview Miss Ji Yi. I’m sure you’re aware of this as I’ve explained this to you on Weibo.”

He Siyi was undoubtedly a woman of high stature; she concentrated fully on looking at Su Xia and listening to what she said. After she finished, He Siyi smiled with a nod and replied, ”I know.”

”So, I asked you to come out today because I wanted to ask you: could you please help me contact your mother and make my wishes come true? The same wish I had ever since I was young?”

This time, He Siyi didn’t smile.

Su Xia saw that she wasn’t saying anything and asked, ”Miss He, is there something wrong?”

”Miss Su, I’m afraid there’s no way to make your wish come true,” said He Siyi apologetically.