The village was small to begin with, mostly inhabited by elderly folks and a handful of middle-aged men who hadn’t amounted to much. In its heyday, the place had been bustling, thanks to the coal mines scattered throughout the mountains. There had been no fewer than forty or fifty mines, big and small. But years of relentless digging had turned the once lush green hills into barren wastelands. Even though the government had shut down the mines over a decade ago, the land had never recovered.

Nie Yatou lived in the heart of the village, in a three-room mud-brick house that was cluttered and barely furnished. The place was a mess, with hardly anything of value in sight.

"Woof…"

As soon as she stepped into the courtyard, a scrawny mutt trotted over, circling her feet and wagging its tail so vigorously it looked like a propeller. She bent down to pick up the dog, and the moment she held it, she could feel how emaciated it was—almost skin and bones. It wasn’t surprising, really. Nie Yatou could barely feed herself, let alone take care of a dog. The dog had been given to her by a kind-hearted woman in the village, who thought it would be good for her to have some company and a bit of security at night.

Back inside, she rummaged through her belongings and finally found her household register. It dawned on her then that she didn’t even have an ID card. The register had only one page, and the name listed as the head of the household was simply "Nie Yatou."

She grabbed a cloth bag, stuffed the register and the little dog inside, slung it over her shoulder, and headed out.

When she arrived at the riverbank, Ning Sang and the others were lounging in the shade of the trees. Chen Jing couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow when she saw Nie Yatou show up with almost nothing in hand.

"Aren’t you bringing anything?" Chen Jing asked, her tone a mix of disbelief and mild exasperation.

"If the bloodline matches and we get along well, I'll stay. Whether I bring anything from here doesn't matter. If it doesn't work out, just cover the eighteen years of upbringing expenses, and I'll return," Nie Fuyao said, her fingers gently scratching the little yellow dog's chin. "If the bloodline doesn't match, just pay for my travel expenses."

The group exchanged uneasy glances.

Ning Sang frowned, "Your father might very well be Nie Lingchuan, the legendary actor."

"I don't know him," Nie Fuyao replied nonchalantly, though deep down, she felt the bloodline connection was likely genuine. After all, in this world, coincidences were almost non-existent.

"It's time to go," she yawned, her demeanor lazy and slightly arrogant, exuding an air of indifference.

**

Nie Lingchuan was a national icon, an actor with a fan base of three hundred million. His admirers ranged from eight-year-olds to eighty-year-olds, spanning all genders and ages, with male fans slightly outnumbering female fans at a ratio of six to four. According to big data, he was the only male actor whose male fan base surpassed that of female fans.

He debuted at sixteen, winning the Golden Lion Award for Best Supporting Actor with his first film, and from then on, awards seemed to come his way effortlessly. He had won all four major domestic awards twice over. Nie Lingchuan was the youngest actor in the domestic entertainment industry to achieve a grand slam.

At thirty-five, he stepped back from the limelight to establish Yunhuang Entertainment, which had since become one of the top three entertainment companies. When the media broke the news that he had a daughter, Weibo crashed instantly.

"I don't believe it. He's not even married, so where did this daughter come from?"

"Wake up, you're living in the past. Having children out of wedlock is common now. Face reality."

"Is my idol's image shattered? Was it a secret affair or just a fling?"

"The media reported that the award-winning actor's daughter is eighteen this year. Doing the math, he became a father at 23. Looking back at major events that year, he did have a girlfriend."

"Here's some info: twenty years ago, the actor indeed had a girlfriend. She was a non-celebrity, a top student at Harvard University in the U.S."

"Harvard... a senior of mine by over a decade? Let me dig around and see who she is."

"Let's not stray from the topic. We're talking about the actor's biological daughter, who grew up in a remote village in Qing Province. I'm not discriminating against rural areas, but this upbringing really doesn't match our actor's status."

"Who are you to decide what matches? Can blood ties be severed by urban-rural divides? You say you're not discriminating, but that's exactly what you're doing."

Regardless of the fans' and bystanders' attitudes, many industry insiders have also started discussing this privately.

Nie Lingchuan's resume is too dazzling; his male contemporaries have been overshadowed by him with no chance to rise.

The industry has a limited number of good scripts, and the pie is only so big. The more he takes, the more others' interests are harmed.

Thus, many have not hesitated to spend money and effort to tarnish Nie Lingchuan's reputation behind his back.

What's infuriating is that while these men in their thirties are still playing young roles in idol dramas, he has already moved behind the scenes. In just seven years, he has turned Yunhuang Entertainment into a top-tier media company in the industry.

It's truly a case of comparing oneself to others and feeling utterly defeated.

Now, with Nie Lingchuan suddenly having a daughter, many in the industry sense an opportunity for attention and are secretly stirring the pot, trying to dethrone him from his pedestal.

Nie Fuyao had a smartphone she had scrimped and saved for over two years of part-time work, but it was destroyed in a fight a couple of days ago. She was unaware of the various posts and discussions about her online, and even if she had known, she wouldn’t have cared.

Accompanied by Ning Sang and others, she traveled to the southern city to catch a flight, arriving in Kyoto around eight in the evening. By ten, she found herself in a villa. There, she sat face-to-face with a strikingly handsome man.

"Kid..." Nie Lingchuan’s heart raced as he looked at the young girl before him, his unease palpable.

"Fuyao," Nie Fuyao corrected him, releasing a small dog from her arms. "My name is Nie Fuyao."

"Fuyao?" Nie Lingchuan paused, then smiled. "Fuyao, that’s a good name. Who gave it to you?"

"Myself," she replied, tucking the dog between her ankles to keep it from scurrying around and dirtying the carpet. "The woman who gave birth to me was named Fang Yunwu. She died in a car accident when I was three months old."

"I know about that," Nie Lingchuan said, his hands clasped tightly together, trembling slightly. "You must be tired. Your room is ready. Get some rest tonight."

Sensing his emotional turmoil, Nie Fuyao nodded and followed a young, energetic man upstairs. He was an intern economist, learning the ropes under Ning Sang.

Left alone in the living room, Nie Lingchuan and Ning Sang sat in heavy silence. Nie Lingchuan leaned back on the sofa, his gaze distant, lost in memories of a radiant and gentle woman from his past.

She was the only woman he had ever loved, his first love, and he still carried a torch for her. Their romance had lasted less than two years, and just as their relationship was at its peak, she had vanished without a trace.

At first, he thought she had fallen for someone else. But two months ago, he received a call from an elderly woman. She told him that Fang Yunwu had given birth to his child and had died in a car accident three months after the baby was born.

Nie Lingchuan immediately hired a private investigator to track down the child. After weeks of searching, he finally received news of the child’s whereabouts. However, what the investigator uncovered next was beyond anything he could have imagined.