Chapter 20

"Dear Mom" features a different focus in every episode. The pilot episode served as an introduction for the guests to meet the audience, while the first episode focused on the three pairs of mothers and daughters getting to know each other and finding their rhythm.

The theme for this second episode is to recreate the guests' daily lives at home; therefore, the filming began at the guests' own residences. The livestream is divided into three separate perspectives, each corresponding to one pair of guests, with a main channel managed by a director to switch between the feeds.

When the production crew arrived at Ning Fei's home, she was already wearing a delicate, light makeup look. Her smooth, dark hair was pinned back with a blue crystal clip, giving her an elegant and refined appearance.

[How does my goddess manage to look this beautiful all the time?! I'm swooning!]
[Teacher Ning always manages to stun me every time she appears. She's just too gorgeous!]

Some viewers were looking for Ning Yuxuan.

[Why is it only Teacher Ning? Isn't Ning Yuxuan there?]
[Yeah, where is she? Did she not finish her makeup yet?]

The staff were also looking for her. The main goal of this episode was to capture authenticity, so the production team had not arranged any styling or set tasks for the guests in advance. They only brought their equipment into the guests' homes once the livestream officially started.

After circling the house and failing to find her, a staff member had to ask Ning Fei for help: "Teacher Ning, where is Yuxuan?"

Ning Fei cleared her throat. "I called her just a moment ago; she should be out any second."

The staff member nodded in understanding. "Is Ms. Yuxuan touching up her makeup? Can we go inside to film?"

When they came to Ning Fei's house for the pilot, Ning Yuxuan had appeared completely bare-faced, without even a drop of foundation. It was normal that she might want to tidy up her look and change her image before appearing on camera this time to give the audience a surprise.

Ning Fei wore a troubled expression and was about to speak when footsteps echoed from the stairs. The cameraman quickly pointed the lens toward the sound.

Ning Yuxuan appeared in her pajamas, one hand clutching her long hair behind her head, while the other waved at the camera. "Morning."

Staff: "..."

So, Ning Yuxuan wasn't in her room touching up her makeup; she had just woken up?

[It's already past ten in the morning! Did Ning Yuxuan really just crawl out of bed?]
[Sleeping in until you wake up naturally is just too satisfying! That's the life of a full-time daughter for you.]

Ning Fei apologized to the crew on behalf of her daughter. "I'm sorry. I intended to wake Xuanyuan up earlier, but she said..."

While tying her hair, Ning Yuxuan took over the conversation. "I heard this episode is all about being authentic and showing the guests' daily lives exactly as they are. If I had purposely woken up early, wouldn't that violate the program's purpose?"

[...Isn't that just an excuse for sleeping in?!]
[I have to say, Ning Yuxuan's complexion actually looks pretty good—rosy and fair. Is this the effect of getting enough sleep?]
[Could it be fake-natural? She's probably trying to cultivate an 'effortless beauty' persona, but in reality, she's wearing foundation, blush, and contouring...]
[To the one above, look at her messy hair, the water droplets on her eyebrows, and that pimple on her chin. Do you think that looks fake?]
[You're right, Ning Yuxuan actually has a pimple, hahaha. That's a bit too realistic.]

Both Ning Yuxuan and Ning Shiyue inherited Ning Fei's excellent skin—a natural, porcelain-white complexion. When Ning Shiyue participated in a talent show, the television station produced a spin-off show about their dorm life. Dozens of young men around twenty years old lived together, and among them, Ning Shiyue's skin was the best.

Ning Yuxuan's skin was also very good, and she rarely broke out. However, she had eaten too much spicy food and drank an entire bottle of soda yesterday, so a pimple appeared immediately this morning.

As she spoke, Ning Yuxuan tied her hair into a loose low ponytail, but because her technique was too careless, a strand of hair didn't get tucked in, and several stray locks fell around her cheeks.

Ning Fei examined her daughter's hair and frowned slightly. "How about Mom redoes your hair for you?"

She rarely interfered with her daughter's lifestyle habits; as long as it didn't affect her health, Ning Fei wouldn't force her to change, whether it was sleeping in or not liking makeup. But that one untucked strand of hair was genuinely bothering her. Ning Fei thought that, in current slang, she might have a bit of OCD.

Ning Yuxuan blinked. "Sure."

She readily pulled the hair tie from the back of her head and handed it to Ning Fei. This moment happened to be the kind of mother-daughter interaction the crew wanted. The cameraman immediately found a good angle, focusing on their profiles.

Ning Fei was nearly 1.65 meters tall, which was considered statuesque among actresses of her generation, and Ning Yuxuan was even a few centimeters taller. Compared to their full faces, the mother and daughter's profiles were even more similar, with the curvature of their foreheads and bridges of their noses being almost identical.

[疯狂截图ing, this side-profile shot is a masterpiece!]
[Waaa, how can one possess such high-quality and consistent beauty genes? I'm so jealous!]
[It's a pity Ning Shiyue isn't here; otherwise, it would have been a triple-beauty hit.]

Ning Fei's technique was skillful. After twisting her wrists a few times, she finished braiding her daughter's hair into a fluffy plait. The staff, accustomed to seeing stylists work on celebrities, were amazed by Ning Fei's skill and praised her sincerely: "Teacher Ning, your hands are so nimble; you're almost as good as the stylists on our team."

Ning Fei smiled. "It's been a long time since I braided hair. Luckily, the skills I practiced in the past haven't gotten rusty."

The staff member asked curiously, "Did you practice that while on set?"

Ning Fei nodded. "I learned some from the hair and makeup artists on set, and I researched some myself. When Xuanyuan was little, she especially loved all kinds of beautiful hairstyles, so whenever I had time between filming, I would ask the artists on set for tips and then braid my daughter's hair when I got home."

[Teacher Ning must have been so exhausted from filming, yet she still remembered to learn how to braid for her daughter.]
[Loving someone really means thinking of them wherever you are, just like Teacher Ning.]

Once her hair was fixed, the crew asked the two to do whatever they usually did to show the audience their daily life on a day off. Ning Yuxuan thought for two seconds after hearing this: "Should I do what I normally do at this time?"

Staff: "Yes."

Ning Yuxuan turned her head to look at the clock on the wall. "Usually at this time on a Saturday... I'd still be sleeping. Should I go back and take a nap?"

Staff: "..."

Ning Fei patted her daughter's back helplessly. "Xuanyuan."

The production team couldn't really film the guests sleeping in bed. The staff shifted their focus: "Teacher Ning, what do you usually do on the weekends?"

Ning Fei thought for a moment. "If I'm not going out, I usually watch movies, do some flower arranging, or work on puzzles."

The staff member's eyes lit up. "I remember in the last episode, Yuxuan bought you a lot of puzzles. Why don't we do a puzzle together?"

As long as Ning Yuxuan didn't go back for a nap, anything was fine. The morning's activity was decided. Ning Fei let her daughter choose, and Ning Yuxuan picked a 1,000-piece landscape puzzle from the boxes they had bought previously.

When she was alone, Ning Fei liked to do puzzles on the bay window in her home, where there was plenty of sunlight. But since the production crew was filming this time, Ning Fei placed the felt board in the living room, where the space was wider and more suitable for the staff to set up their equipment.

Ning Yuxuan and Ning Fei sat on the floor side-by-side, surrounded by acrylic boxes for sorting, and began to categorize the puzzle pieces by color. Ning Fei was a very patient person; otherwise, she wouldn't have a hobby like puzzling.

Ning Yuxuan was completely different, especially since she had been woken up by an alarm today; after only a short while, she began to feel drowsy. Ning Fei looked at her daughter beside her. "Xuanyuan, why don't you go find some music to play?"

Ning Yuxuan felt as if she had been granted amnesty and stood up quickly. "Yes, ma'am!"

Ning Fei smiled helplessly. She didn't know who her daughter had inherited this restless temperament from. There was a Bluetooth speaker in the living room. Ning Yuxuan connected her phone to it and opened a music streaming app. She hadn't listened to much music lately, so when she opened her playlist, it was full of heartbreak songs she had added a long time ago.

Ning Yuxuan remembered that these songs seemed to be the ones she played when she was venting in her room after arguments with Gu Yunhao. Thinking of Gu Yunhao, Ning Yuxuan wrinkled her nose and decisively swiped the screen to go back. After a moment of thought, she opened the search bar and entered the name "Ning Shiyue."

Sure enough, the app displayed songs sung by Ning Shiyue—live stage performances from his talent show days, songs released by his group, and a few solo singles. However, that group had disbanded after only a year. Since then, Ning Shiyue had focused more on acting, and apart from two original soundtracks he sang for his own dramas, he hadn't released any new songs in a long time.

Ning Yuxuan chose the first song on the list. The living room's high-end audio equipment immediately began playing one of Ning Shiyue's solo singles. The sound was so loud that it startled even Ning Yuxuan.

The viewers in the livestream also woke up instantly.

[Isn't this Ning Shiyue's song! Even though he's not here, his spirit is always with his mom and sister!]
[Hahahaha, the one above is hilarious, it sounds like Ning Shiyue is dead.]
[Wow! Ning Shiyue's fans must be so pleasantly surprised! His vocal tone is truly recognizable and has a youthful feel, it's a pity he doesn't release new songs anymore.]
[And I remember Ning Shiyue's singing skills were decent too; professional judges said back then that he had potential, he just lacked professional training.]

When Ning Shiyue debuted, Ning Fei had already retired from the acting circle. She had followed her son's career closely throughout, watching the talent show from start to finish.

The song had only played the intro when Ning Fei recognized it. She looked up at her daughter. "Is this Xiao Yue's 'The Umbrella and You'?"

Ning Yuxuan glanced at her phone. "Yes. It's only been a few seconds; how did you recognize it, Mom?"

Ning Fei smiled. "I've listened to it a lot before."

Ning Yuxuan sat back down next to Ning Fei, and the two continued to puzzle amidst the music.

Meanwhile, the livestreams from the other two perspectives were also taking place simultaneously. Jiang Ning'an was in the study reading a script with her mother. Unlike Ning Fei, Qin Man was still on the front lines of the entertainment industry, even though she was over fifty. However, compared to when she was younger and fighting for her career, she had become much more cautious in choosing scripts, with only one project meeting the audience every year or two.

In the first half of last year, the movie starring Qin Man had taken the box office crown for the summer season.