Usually, there are plenty of people around who come to seek advice from this big shot who’s enjoying double success in career and love, right at the peak of his life: "President Shi, you’re so busy with work every day, do you ever feel pressure? Do you ever get anxious?"

Someone next to them would joke, "How could President Shi, who’s raking in money every day, possibly be anxious? The only one who understands his happiness is the God of Wealth."

Shi Wangyue thought about it. How does he usually answer that?

[Of course I get anxious. In a constantly changing era where resources are scarce, no one can fully control everything. My way of healing anxiety is to stay home and rest, cook with my family, read, drink tea. Family is the source of my energy.]

Some people agreed with this answer, some people laughed.

Those who agreed felt the big shot was making a lot of sense; they’d had the same kind of experience.

Those who laughed thought the big shot’s answer was really perfunctory, like he didn’t even bother drafting it.

They felt that if your family doesn’t create anxiety for you, that’s already good enough. How could they possibly heal your anxiety?

He pulled himself out of his light, shallow thoughts.

Shi Wangyue walked over and sat cross-legged beside Ning Youguang. "Out of all four seasons, it’s probably only when I’m with you that I look forward to a rainfall like this."

—The best kind of life didn’t pause for his past, but appeared right in his present.

At the same time, he noticed that on the tea tray beside her, there was a cup with a faint ring of tea stain at the bottom—it was the one she’d drunk from.

He picked up the teapot and poured tea into another clean cup.

Outside, the rain pattered against the window; compared to that, the sound of tea being poured by his ear was much softer, warmer.

"Misty rain stretching on and on, a Jiangnan summer." Ning Youguang turned her head and gave Shi Wangyue a gentle smile. "When I was little, on days like this at home, Grandpa would often drag me to drink tea and play chess with him. I was there for chess, but not for tea."

Shi Wangyue raised his cup and drank with a smile in his eyes. "Grandpa actually bullied a little kid, that’s not fair."

"Not fair." Ning Youguang smiled too. "Back then I thought the same. I always felt he was afraid I was too smart, that I’d win too many chess games against him. So he’d come to me for brain-burning stuff like chess, but when it came to brain-nourishing stuff like tea, he’d leave me out..."

"Old folks need to save face. Smart kids shouldn’t hold it against them." Shi Wangyue nodded lightly and raised his cup with elegance. "But cherish how long the summer days are."

"But cherish how long the summer days are."

...

While Shi Wangyue and Ning Youguang were idling away the time at home after the rain—

Xie Yizun was on the set of a slow-living variety show, getting ready for the first day of his "life experience" shoot.

Given that he’d officially be joining the production team for filming the next day, and that he was a brand new, couldn’t-be-newer rookie sent over by Lemon Entertainment—

So, after arriving at the show’s location—

Right after finishing lunch, Xie Yizun was pulled into a small room by the staff for a pre-interview:

"May I ask, why did you come to participate in our show?"

It was his first time on a show, but Xie Yizun wasn’t nervous at all. Sitting at the table, his attitude was extremely earnest. "Wasn’t it arranged by the company?"

The PD-jiejie beside him immediately made a time-out gesture and walked over to Xie Yizun. "You can’t be that honest, little bro, the cameras are rolling."

So the pre-interview had to start over.

The staff once again asked Xie Yizun, who was sitting upright at the table with an even more serious look on his face, the same question.

Xie Yizun beamed with youthful energy. "I wanted to come here to experience the life I long for."

"Then can you tell us what kind of life you long for?"

Xie Yizun thought for a moment. "To become a huge star that everyone pays attention to."

The PD-jiejie froze, then reminded him again from the side, "Netizens will roast you for that."

Xie Yizun’s beautiful peach blossom eyes opened a fraction wider. "Roast me for what? Is there anyone who doesn’t want to debut?"

Not long ago, because Young Master Xie wanted to debut, the company had painstakingly picked out a manager for him. This manager had followed him out here as well to accompany him throughout the job.

At this moment, she was standing off to the side.

Ever since Xie Yizun started answering the staff’s questions, she’d had her face in her hands.

After the PD-jiejie finished her second reminder, [Change it to something that fits our show.]

Xie Yizun really couldn’t wrap his head around this "life you long for" concept, but he did know the kind of life his grandma lived.

[The life I long for is growing vegetables in the backyard at home.]

...

He was young, and he looked good. Even though he was a complete rookie, he was still a rookie personally sent over by Lemon Entertainment, a top domestic entertainment company.

If you don’t look at the monk, you at least look at the Buddha.

After the teenager dragged his suitcase into the small house where the show was being filmed, he was warmly welcomed by the seniors.

The two permanent hosts of the show would intentionally or unintentionally cue him from time to time, giving him chances to show his face.

On a slow-living show, what the guests are supposed to do is eat, chat, and by the way, enjoy life.

This summer, it was raining in the capital on the afternoon of the shoot, but in the coastal town thousands of kilometers away, it wasn’t.

After the host—who was also a regular guest on the show—led Xie Yizun to stuff his suitcase into the small room where he’d be staying, he wandered off toward the kitchen.

It was five in the afternoon, and the crew was just filming the segment where the guests prepare dinner.

When Xie Yizun walked into the kitchen, he saw that there were already two men and one woman inside, all people he knew of but wasn’t familiar with.

Compared with how he wasn’t familiar with them, the people already working in the kitchen knew him even less.

Even so, when he walked in, everyone turned to look at him in unison, eyes lighting up—

"The kid’s really good-looking."

"The kid looks so familiar."

Those were the people who didn’t know his exact background.

"As expected of the Summer Actress’s son, he’s just as gorgeous as his mom." This was said by a top-tier domestic actor who was also a permanent guest and one of the investors of the show. He was very clear on Xie Yizun’s background.

But no matter how clear he was, on camera it wasn’t appropriate for him to take the initiative to greet a kid who was, for now, a nobody in the entertainment industry.

So he just held the menu, looking at Xie Yizun, who had just walked in, with a kindly smile.

Before coming on the show, the company had told him that the production team only knew he was a trainee Lemon Entertainment was preparing to debut. He’d be joining the show as a trainee, and all he needed to do was be respectful to the seniors and be diligent when there was work to do.

Xie Yizun grinned, his smile bright as sunshine, and respectfully greeted each of the three people in the kitchen in turn.

He was good-looking, and his smile was endearing. His exquisite, pretty face was full of youthful energy.

No one could bring themselves to be cold to a face like that, especially when one of them knew his background very well.

So after entering the kitchen, Xie Yizun quickly blended in with the guests there.

And he was assigned the job of washing dishes.

On variety shows, for newbies, the first thing to grab when they enter the kitchen is always the dishwashing duty.1314