Chapter 70
On the big screen, the contrasting footage of the happy babies and the hardworking dads from this afternoon played for quite a while.
So long that some dads, who had initially been feeling guilty, gradually straightened their backs.
“Dad is the oldest among all the dads, I’m not as strong as those younger dads. I couldn’t get the cream cake, but you also like pizza, right? It’s better to eat some staple food at night, eating cake is too sweet, you won’t sleep well.” Wen Qiming said, cutting the pizza for Wen Jiangyue.
Honestly, it was a good thing that Shen Jianghe and Cheng Feiying decided to stop when they reached the 1500kg quota after everyone worked together to harvest 9000 kilograms of watermelon. Otherwise, if everyone else had insisted on continuing, Wen Qiming would have been embarrassed to stop at 1500kg. But even though Shen and Cheng accompanied him, the fact that the other three dads eventually reached 3000kg still… made Wen Qiming feel a bit inadequate. This two-tier difference was truly an unfavorable comparison.
But to Wen Qiming’s surprise, the program team, which had been ruthless in the afternoon, suddenly became humane again at night.
With this big screen and the short videos, Wen Qiming looked at the screen, Wen Jiangyue happily playing on the slide on the left, himself sweating profusely on the right, and felt that he had actually done quite well.
So, the sentence he had wanted to say, filled with apology, “Dad really couldn’t carry anymore after reaching 1500kg, you eat pizza today, I’ll definitely buy you a big cake after the show,” was swallowed back. When he spoke, only explanations and persuasion remained.
Wen Jiangyue didn’t know the confidence the big screen gave Wen Qiming or the thoughts in his mind. She couldn’t understand the evasiveness and hedging in his words either. She could feel her dad’s heat and exhaustion just from watching the screen, she didn’t really care whether she got pizza or cake.
After Wen Qiming finished cutting the pizza, Wen Jiangyue immediately forked a piece onto his rice bowl.
“Dad, you worked hard.” Wen Jiangyue said sincerely, deciding to forget her dad’s harshness this morning.
Wen Qiming looked at his daughter’s bright eyes and, for some reason, felt his straightened back weaken again.
Unlike Wen Qiming, who tried to instill in his daughter the impact of his physical limitations on the task and subtly guide her to accept pizza as a more suitable dinner option to cover up the difference in their task completion levels, Shen Jianghe, sitting at the table next to them, was much more straightforward.
Shen Jianghe didn’t beat around the bush, he said to Shen Zilin directly, “I feel my limit is around 2000kg, I can at most upgrade the lamb skewers to steak. But after carrying 1500kg, my arms are already very heavy, continuing would definitely affect my performance in the next few days. Since you like all three things, I don’t think it’s worth it to pay a greater price for a small change, even affecting the rewards for subsequent tasks. What do you think?”
Shen Zilin saw no problem with Shen Jianghe’s analysis and decision.
Calm analysis, decisive choices, not letting small, immediate benefits affect bigger opportunities later on.
This was the correct approach, Shen Zilin nodded in agreement.
But after nodding, he felt… something wasn’t quite right…
What was it…
Then, Shen Zilin heard Cheng Feiying’s voice from the other side.
“The program team is so mean. They’re using the degree of your desire to make dads choose the harder option, to show their love for their children. What’s the difference between steak, hamburger, and roasted chicken? They actually increase the weight requirement for the watermelon by thousands of kilograms, aren’t they mean? Thankfully, I’m smart, I stopped at 1500kg, it’s enough to eat something you like for dinner, we can buy these things anywhere after the show. It’s not like our love will decrease if we choose the lower tier.” Cheng Feiying’s tone was nonchalant, a forced bravado masking his fatigue.
Oh, Shen Zilin seemed to have figured out what was wrong.
Right, the essence of this task was probably to see how much the dad loved his child, not to make the most rational decision.
Shen Zilin felt a strange discomfort, which led him to do something very irrational.
“Love doesn’t necessarily decrease if you choose the lower tier. But love is definitely abundant if you choose the higher tier.” Shen Zilin turned to Cheng Feiying, who was speaking righteously, and interrupted him forcefully.
Cheng Feiying: “… “
Shen Jianghe: “… “
Cheng Feiying, speechless, looked at Shen Jianghe, what was going on, this guy also only carried 1500kg, why wasn’t he lecturing his own dad, why did he have to butt into their conversation!
After throwing out that sentence, Shen Zilin turned back, acting nonchalant, and started eating his lamb skewers.
Shen Jianghe smiled apologetically at Cheng Feiying, not saying anything more, then turned to Shen Zilin. “Are you angry? Because I didn’t carry more watermelons?”
“No. Your decision was right. I would have made the same choice.” Shen Zilin had already snapped out of his sudden irritation, he casually picked up a lamb skewer and handed it to Shen Jianghe. “It tastes good.”
Shen Jianghe: “… “
Cheng Feiying, looking at the father and son at the next table, who had just stirred up trouble and were now happily eating skewers, was about to explode from anger!
But, eating skewers was eating skewers, only they knew if they were truly happy or not.
“Daddy, I know you love us the most. When we go back home, we’ll go eat delicious food together. It’s too hard to eat delicious food here.” Cheng Rongrong said sweetly, pulling off a chicken leg from the roasted chicken and placing it in Cheng Feiying’s bowl. “Daddy, eat the chicken leg, roasted chicken is delicious, thank you, Daddy!”
Cheng Rongrong’s hand had already reached for the chicken leg when Cheng Feiying was ranting about the program team, ready to interrupt his complaints. But for some reason, Shen Zilin suddenly interjected… In Cheng Rongrong’s impression, Shen Zilin wasn’t supposed to be so rude, only those like Wei Maomao and Wang Zhizhi were rude.
But regardless, Cheng Feiying, already tired, seemed even more irritable after being provoked by Shen Zilin, Cheng Rongrong had to bite the bullet and try to divert his attention.
After giving him one chicken leg, Cheng Rongrong quickly pulled off another one, placing it in Cheng Tingyan’s plate as she spoke, “Older sister, have one too, let’s eat together.”
Cheng Tingyan swiftly moved her plate of french fries away and said indifferently, “No, thanks.”
“Don’t mind her, Rongrong, eat it yourself.” Cheng Feiying took the chicken leg from his bowl and put it back on Cheng Rongrong’s plate. “You eat this too, Daddy’s chicken leg from the rice bowl is enough.”
“Older sister, you don’t have any meat.” Cheng Rongrong didn’t retract her hand holding the chicken leg.
“It’s her fault for choosing those things. Look at what she chose, lunchbox, fried chicken, french fries, she thinks highly of me. If she had chosen three meat dishes, she would have meat now.” Cheng Feiying finally found an outlet for his frustration. As for the watermelon field, he had already forgotten about Wei Chengli asking if the babies knew they had to carry watermelons to exchange for food.
“Older sister…” Cheng Rongrong said weakly.
“Why are you refusing your sister’s chicken leg? Do you have to be so distant from your sister? Your french fries, her roasted chicken, didn’t I carry 1500kg of watermelon to exchange for them? Eat together, share your french fries with your sister.” Cheng Feiying felt the two children were a bit annoying, why couldn’t they just eat together, especially Cheng Tingyan, who was always running around outside, she didn’t even know how to get along with Rongrong. “And Cheng… Yan Yan, one night of sleeping out is enough, don’t bother other people’s families, come back and sleep tonight, okay?”
Cheng Tingyan silently glanced at the french fries in her bowl.
She didn’t expect that the food they registered in the afternoon would be exchanged in this way.
But… She was still a minor, she could receive food from Cheng Feiying, regardless of how it was obtained, he couldn’t let her starve to death.
Cheng Tingyan reaffirmed her resolve and abandoned the idea of returning the entire plate of french fries to Cheng Feiying.
“I don’t want your roasted chicken. Do you want these french fries?” Cheng Tingyan asked Cheng Rongrong indifferently.
Her firm and distant gaze made Cheng Rongrong lose her appetite.
Anyway… She had already put on her act.
But Cheng Rongrong thought that Cheng Tingyan, who had chosen the same food items as Wei Maomao, might be planning to feed them to that stinky chubby girl.
“Okay, thank you, Older sister.” Cheng Rongrong, even though she had no appetite, decided to make Cheng Tingyan feel bad, she reached out and grabbed a handful of french fries.
Not many, but it should be enough to annoy Cheng Tingyan, who was always thinking about that stinky chubby girl, right?
Seeing Cheng Tingyan frown as expected, Cheng Rongrong, feeling she had seen through her fake politeness, happily put the french fries on her own plate.
“Daddy, do you want some french fries?” Cheng Tingyan asked Cheng Feiying routinely.
“No, eat them yourself.” Cheng Feiying waved his hand impatiently, stuffing a large mouthful of beef into his mouth.
And so, Cheng Rongrong’s happiness ended when Cheng Tingyan picked up the french fries, one by one, with her chopsticks and placed them on her plate.
Cheng Rongrong looked up, confused, and saw the area Cheng Tingyan was targeting… all around the handful she had just grabbed. Cheng Tingyan didn’t speak, expressing her disdain with her actions.
This coldness and disdain towards her younger sister was exactly what Cheng Rongrong wanted to show the audience.
But why did it feel so unpleasant!
Just as Cheng Rongrong, holding back her anger, was trying to provoke Cheng Tingyan into saying something that would make the audience dislike her, Cheng Tingyan put down her chopsticks, picked up the plate, and left.
Cheng Rongrong was furious, she could only hope that the viewers in the live broadcast room didn’t miss Cheng Tingyan’s cold and heartless behavior.
But Cheng Rongrong didn’t know that the viewers did see Cheng Tingyan’s coldness and disdain, but they didn’t dislike her at all, instead, they only felt sympathy.
“Yan Yan truly, even choosing food for herself, she chose wrong. Who would have thought that she had to choose three meat dishes to get meat…”
“Actually, Yan Yan chose what CEO Mao wanted to eat, hahaha.”
“Cheng Feiying, seriously, blaming the program team for his own shortcomings, he’s the king of blaming others. He’s not even as good as Wen Qiming, honestly admitting his limitations, or CEO Shen, rationally analyzing the pros and cons.”
“Wen Qiming isn’t that honest either, he told Yueyue that pizza was more suitable for dinner because he couldn’t get the cake… He should have just stopped after the first part, why did he have to add that last bit.”
“Three thousand kilograms of watermelon is truly a lot, even Director Wei, the champion of pushing the mill, and Wang Qingchuan, the former athlete, were struggling after reaching two thousand kilograms. I think it’s normal for these dads to only carry fifteen hundred kilograms, or even less. The key is, how will they explain it to their children.”
“At least Wen Qiming is still okay, honestly admitting his limitations to his child. CEO Shen is also honest, saying he didn’t continue because it wasn’t worth it. Unlike Cheng Feiying, acting all capable but disdainful… As if he’s the smartest.”
“I still think the program team set the weight requirement too high, if they reduced it by half, every dad would probably be able to reach the first tier, and there wouldn’t be so much comparison.”
“Hahaha, the person above, don’t be so naive, standards, if you lower them, people might not aim higher. I think what Shen Zilin said makes sense, although it’s just a task on a variety show, not a life-or-death situation, it’s understandable to choose the lower tier, but… Choosing the higher tier is always more… impressive, right?”
“Sob, sob, sob, am I the only one who’s sad that Yan Yan can’t sleep with CEO Mao tonight, poor Yan Yan has to go back home.”
“Yan Yan is truly killing me with laughter, she really has a bit of a cleanliness obsession. When Cheng Rongrong reached out and grabbed the french fries, I thought Yan Yan was going to turn to stone, hahaha, I almost thought she was going to give up the whole plate of french fries, but in the end, she picked up all the fries Cheng Rongrong touched and gave them to CEO Mao. To feed CEO Mao, Yan Yan truly endured a lot.”
“Hahaha, although… But didn’t Director Wei just say that Maomao can’t eat french fries!”
“Look at Director Wei’s live stream! He saw it, he saw the french fries Yan Yan is carrying, hahaha, I’m dying of laughter, Director Wei’s mouth is covered again.”
…
“Daddy, don’t talk.” Wei Maomao, seeing Cheng Tingyan walking towards them with the plate, immediately covered Wei Chengli’s mouth and said seriously.
Wei Chengli: ???
“Maomao, I’m going back home to sleep tonight.” Cheng Tingyan said the most difficult part first.
“Did your dad tell you to go back?” Wei Maomao was mentally prepared, after all, this was a parent-child variety show, it wasn’t realistic for everyone to always eat and sleep at someone else’s house. During his nap, Wei Chengli had taken her aside and told her that Cheng Tingyan and Wen Dongyu would probably be going back to their own homes tonight, so she should be mentally prepared and not make a fuss. But despite his words, when it actually happened, Wei Maomao still felt a bit unhappy.
Cheng Tingyan nodded slightly, placing the plate of french fries on the table. “Maomao, eat, they’re still hot, they’re not good cold.”
“Yan Yan, you’re so kind.” Wei Maomao scooted closer to Wei Chengli, patted the empty space on the bench with her chubby paw, and said, “Sit. Let’s eat together.”
Wei Chengli: “… “ He had just said that eating french fries would cause problems, and the little chubby dumpling seemed to have given up on the idea. Why was it that as soon as Yan Yan arrived, it was as if he hadn’t said anything at all!
“Maomao… Mmm…” Wei Chengli just opened his mouth when a marinated paw covered it.
Cheng Tingyan looked at Wei Chengli, whose mouth was covered by a chubby paw, in surprise.
“Yan Yan, let’s share this.” Wei Maomao pushed the lunchbox between herself and Cheng Tingyan.
“Your dad…” Cheng Tingyan said softly.
“I’m fine.” Wei Chengli removed the marinated paw, if this continued, he wouldn’t even be able to enjoy his meal, he would only be thinking about eating marinated paws.
Just as Wei Chengli expected, as soon as Yan Yan arrived, his earlier warnings were all for naught. Not only was the little chubby dumpling happily munching on the french fries, but when he pulled her clothes to signal her to eat less, he even got slapped twice by her chubby paws.
“You tonight…” Wei Chengli held her paw down, trying to speak.
“Daddy.” Wei Maomao turned to look at Wei Chengli, speechless. “Yan Yan is not staying at our house tonight, can’t I eat french fries?”
Wei Chengli: “… “
He understood.
How come he only understood it now?
So diarrhea was something that could only happen when Yan Yan wasn’t around?
Wei Chengli was stunned by the little chubby dumpling’s double standard.
The viewers in the live broadcast room were also stunned.
“Haha, CEO Mao is truly treating us like family. Has it reached the point where everyone in the world except Yan Yan can know about CEO Mao’s diarrhea?”
“Director Wei is always scaring CEO Mao, it’s not that easy to get diarrhea, hahaha, CEO Mao, don’t believe him, eat boldly.”
“Honestly, when Director Wei initially said she couldn’t eat french fries, I felt CEO Mao was quite concerned, I thought she wouldn’t eat them.”
“French fries are not all the same. These are the french fries brought by Yan Yan! Sorry, CEO Mao, but I was actually afraid you wouldn’t eat even one. Yan Yan probably wouldn’t say anything, but I think she might be secretly sad.”
“I don’t know why, maybe it’s because I already have a negative filter for Cheng Feiying? I always feel like Yan Yan is eating leftovers at home. The french fries too, I felt like she was carefully calculating the portions, only taking her own share for tonight and giving the rest to Maomao.”
“Right! It’s the same feeling as the first night, when they were guessing the dads by tasting the food!”
“Our CEO Mao is still a sweet little bunny, she didn’t waste Yan Yan’s effort in bringing the french fries. Yan Yan chose all three things based on CEO Mao’s list, if CEO Mao refused to eat them, Yan Yan would probably be truly sad.”
“Sweet little bunny! To make Yan Yan happy, she’s risking live broadcast diarrhea. To show my support for CEO Mao, I’ve decided to sleep early tonight, I won’t be watching the fixed camera in CEO Mao’s courtyard!”
“Hahaha, the person above, you’re so obvious!”
“CEO Mao is eating so happily, Director Wei is speechless, hahaha. But speaking of speechless, what’s going on with Wen Xiang, the father and son haven’t spoken a word all night… Are they both just focused on eating?”
“Yeah, it’s understandable that Wen Xiang is exhausted and not talking. But why isn’t Wen Dongyu saying ‘less’ or ‘borrow’ today?”
“It seems the people above haven’t been following Wen Xiang’s live stream from the beginning. The food Wen Dongyu wanted the most, the one he had to carry 3000kg of watermelon to exchange for, is instant noodles with egg and luncheon meat. On the first day of the live broadcast, when they were still at home, Wen Dongyu’s mom made him instant noodles with egg and luncheon meat… Earlier, when Wen Xiang was picking watermelons in the field, after reaching 1500kg, during the break, when the other three dads decided to stop, he went to the program team and specified the brands of luncheon meat and noodles he wanted. He probably decided at that moment to finish the 3000kg and get Wen Dongyu a bowl of instant noodles with egg and luncheon meat that tasted like his mom’s…”
…
The instant noodles with egg and luncheon meat that tasted like his mom’s was something Wen Dongyu couldn’t resist.
He didn’t say anything about the bowl being too big, he just focused on eating.
Borrowing or not, it didn’t matter for this one bowl.
The Wen father and son, one focused on eating, the other secretly observing his son, neither discussing the thousands of kilograms of watermelon nor looking at the big screen, they were quiet.
This kind of peace, it felt like it had been a long time, and yet it also felt like they had only just lost it. Wen Xiang, looking at Wen Dongyu, who wasn’t even lifting his head, felt a bit dazed.
Speaking of Wei Maomao, while eating, her mind was still on alert. She felt that the program team wouldn’t make such a big deal out of this just to simply showcase the dads’ hard work, right?
But even after finishing her meal, she didn’t see the program team pull any big moves.
Instead, after dinner, Wen Dongyu and Cheng Tingyan both packed their luggage and were about to leave.
While Cheng Tingyan was packing, Wei Chengli specifically took the little chubby dumpling outside and whispered to her not to bring a pillow and provoke Cheng Feiying again. Honestly, Wei Chengli felt Cheng Feiying had quite a temper, especially after working hard in the watermelon field this afternoon, his irritability could be felt from afar. Although this was a live broadcast show, with cameramen and staff around, there was always a chance… The little chubby dumpling was only three years old, to put it bluntly, she wasn’t even strong enough to withstand a gentle push, for those sudden outbursts, even if people were following behind, it would be too late.
Wei Chengli was very worried, he hadn’t let go of the little chubby dumpling’s clothes since dinner.
But even if Wei Chengli hadn’t done this, Wei Maomao wouldn’t have insisted on keeping Cheng Tingyan. There were still many nights to come, she couldn’t possibly keep her every night. Don’t push people too hard, this was Wei Maomao’s reminder to herself to control her eagerness.
The program team was very efficient, soon, those who should leave and those who shouldn’t, all left.
Before Wei Maomao could even process the emotion of being separated, it was time for the individual interviews.
In the previous nights, the individual interviews were simply the dads and babies being separated into two rooms, answering a few simple questions from the staff about the day’s tasks, their mood, and their gains.
Wei Maomao had wondered why the individual interviews were so simple before, but now she understood, with the live broadcast, they didn’t have to worry about lacking individual footage.
But tonight’s individual interview was completely different from the previous nights.
[What kind of dad do you think your dad is?]
[Please rate your dad’s twenty qualities, each with a maximum score of ten: a. Strong b. Brave c. Keeps promises d. …]
[If you and your dad are walking on a forest path and encounter a bear, your dad will a. Run away by himself, b. Run away while carrying you, c. Charge at the bear and tell you to run, d. Throw you at the bear and run away by himself, e. …]
…
[What kind of baby do you think you are?]
[Please rate your twenty qualities, each with a maximum score of ten: a. Cute b. Well-behaved c. Smart d. …]
[If you and your dad go to a supermarket and have ten yuan in total, how will you allocate the money? a. Spend it all yourself, b. You get one yuan, Dad gets nine yuan, c. You get two yuan, Dad gets eight yuan…]
…
The endless questions, by the end, Wei Maomao felt dizzy, it was like those personality analysis quizzes she had done online in her previous life, answering and answering, but never reaching the end.
There were so many questions that Wei Maomao even felt like throwing up by the end, she almost wanted to choose randomly…
After finally finishing, Wei Maomao felt she must have answered sixty or seventy questions, she couldn’t help but ask before leaving.
Apparently…
There were forty-eight questions about the dad, and forty-two questions about the baby…
Even more than she had estimated.
Why not add ten more to make it a hundred!
Good job, program team! Torturing the dads with watermelon harvesting in the afternoon, torturing the babies with quizzes at night, Shi Dingshan’s team was truly terrifying!
Wei Maomao, leaning against the wall, walked out, then she saw Wei Chengli, who had just opened the door across from her, also leaning against the wall, dry heaving.
Okay…
Maybe she was wrong, it wasn’t just the babies who were being tortured tonight.
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