Chapter 71p2
Wei Maomao was indeed learning diligently.
It was ten o’clock, thankfully, both the skilled artisan and the model she wanted to learn from hadn’t gone to bed yet.
But it was indeed a bit late, even though she offered two toys (from the previous mystery boxes) as tuition, Wei Maomao still felt a bit embarrassed, so she learned diligently, hoping to master it quickly.
Wei Maomao learned quickly, but… this grandma knew too many styles!
Every one she braided looked so good! She wanted to learn them all!
Entering was easy, leaving was an hour later.
Wei Maomao, her face flushed, thanked the skilled grandma and headed straight to her next destination.
Wei Chengli, who had been following and observing, noticed that the little chubby dumpling wasn’t walking in the direction of home, he quickly stopped her.
“It’s eleven o’clock? Not going home yet?” Wei Chengli grabbed the little chubby dumpling. “Where are you going?”
“Dig some Baby Coins, buy pretty hair ties tomorrow.” Wei Maomao answered concisely, pushing Wei Chengli’s hand away.
“Wait, you want hair ties? Didn’t that grandma just offer to give you some, why didn’t you take them?” Wei Chengli didn’t understand.
“Daddy.” Wei Maomao turned to look at Wei Chengli. “Those belong to that sister, she also likes them.”
Wei Chengli was stunned, and unconsciously loosened his grip on the little chubby dumpling.
He watched as the chubby dumpling ran off under the streetlight, took a deep breath.
This had just happened recently, when Wen Dongyu said Wen Xiang gave away his things… He was there when Wen Dongyu said it. The situation escalated, Wen Dongyu and Wen Xiang’s conflict worsened, he saw it all.
But even so, earlier, when the grandma grabbed a handful of hair ties and offered them to the little chubby dumpling, he still didn’t feel… anything was wrong.
Although now that he thought about it, it was wrong. But… he truly hadn’t realized it until the little chubby dumpling’s serious explanation.
The arrogance… of an adult.
Wei Chengli was deeply shaken, he stood there for a while before following her.
The little chubby dumpling, her legs were short, but she was determined. When Wei Chengli caught up, they were already near the village entrance.
“Maomao, wait. It’s too late tonight, let’s dig tomorrow, Daddy will go with you.” Wei Chengli caught up, scooped up the little chubby dumpling, and said.
“Dig…” Wei Maomao just started speaking when she saw… Shen Zilin? Walking towards them from outside the village?
The three quickly gathered under the streetlight.
Honestly, Wei Chengli thought the little chubby dumpling wanting to dig for Baby Coins in the middle of the night was ridiculously diligent. But he didn’t expect that she wasn’t the only one who was ridiculously diligent.
“I’ve already dug some today, you can dig tomorrow. The program team replenishes the Baby Coins in the field to two hundred every day, it’ll be easier to find them tomorrow.” Shen Zilin, leaning against the lamppost tiredly, explained.
He was tired, but also quite pleased.
Although Yan Yan wasn’t coming, Maomao had joined him, partners, as long as one of them was reliable at the same time, it was fine.
“Right, let’s dig tomorrow.” Wei Chengli also tried to persuade her. “Look, it’s useless for you to dig tonight, your Baby Convenience Store doesn’t open until nine in the morning, you can’t buy anything new before you wake up and comb your hair, right? It’s better to dig tomorrow, then you can go and buy things directly. By the way, don’t you also have some hair ties? Mom packed them for you, saying you can tie your hair up if it gets in the way while eating. We haven’t used them yet, right? There seem to be several colors. Daddy learned a few styles today, how about Daddy ties your hair tomorrow?”
“Forget it. We’re switching roles tomorrow, you’ll be the baby.” Wei Maomao thought for a moment, then sighed. “Thankfully, I, the baby, can wash up, dress myself, eat, and go to the bathroom by myself.”
After saying that, Wei Maomao turned to look at Wei Chengli.
“Wait… What do you mean?” Wei Chengli was stunned, then laughed in exasperation. “We’re just switching roles, it’s not like you’ll be taking care of my washing up, dressing, eating, and bathroom needs!”
Wei Maomao looked up at the sky, hard to say, hard to say, this program, which had already deviated so much from her previous life, who knew what they would come up with.
In the end, they didn’t dig for Baby Coins.
Wei Chengli carried the little chubby dumpling, walked Shen Zilin home, then returned.
Exhausted after a long day, the two washed up and lay in their respective beds, but neither of them could fall asleep.
Without the little chubby dumpling’s various antics as a distraction, Wei Chengli finally had time to properly think about tomorrow’s task.
As a director, although he had never filmed a variety show before, he still had some professional insights. After these past few days, Wei Chengli was increasingly confused, it was clearly a parent-child variety show, why didn’t the program team try to mediate when parent-child conflicts arose and the children scattered to other families? But with this new task, Wei Chengli couldn’t help but suspect that what the program team wanted to film… was conflict. Did children truly know how to be parents? Or… could they only imitate? Switching the power dynamic before resolving the previous round of conflict, wasn’t that just the beginning of an even bigger conflict?
Like him, even though he believed the little chubby dumpling was a smart child, he couldn’t help but wonder if she would choose to imitate him… Would tomorrow’s meal be mush, or the ginger feast…
Of course, if he spoke up, those things probably wouldn’t appear on their dining table.
Wei Chengli turned over and looked at the little chubby dumpling in the darkness across the aisle, a blurry silhouette on the bed next to him, also seemingly tossing and turning.
“Baby?” Wei Chengli called out softly.
It was long past filming hours, the cameras and microphones were already turned off, but Wei Chengli wasn’t sure if the little chubby dumpling was still awake, so he only dared to ask tentatively.
The response he received was the chubby silhouette, which had seemed to be tossing and turning, suddenly freezing.
“Baby, are you asleep?” Wei Chengli asked again, amused. “If you’re not, let’s talk about tomorrow’s task?”
“Let’s talk.” Wei Maomao sighed and lay flat on her back.
“Baby, you haven’t been falling asleep so easily these past two days, are you having trouble sleeping?” Wei Chengli asked.
“What about the task?” Wei Maomao turned over.
Now that Wei Chengli mentioned it, she actually… Whether she was sleeping well or not was another matter, but she seemed to have stopped having that nightmare for several days. Perhaps because she was often angered by Wei Chengli during the day, these past few days, she had been dreaming about her life as a hardworking employee in her previous life…
“The task… It’s just the task… How are you planning to start being a parent tomorrow?” Wei Chengli asked cautiously.
Wei Maomao, her mind still replaying her miserable working life in her previous life, felt a bit annoyed, she casually replied, “I’m planning to start by making mush for breakfast.”
Wei Chengli: “… “
Silence, quiet. Wei Maomao waited for a while, hearing no more sound from the other side, so she turned over and went to sleep.
Leaving Wei Chengli alone, agonizing over his failure as a good parent, how his cooking skills had left an indelible scar on the little baby, and now the little baby was going to imitate him and become a terrible parent, it was all his fault… Sob…
Wei Chengli’s mind was racing with thoughts, when the staff knocked on the door in the morning, he felt like he had just closed his eyes.
“Director Wei, you can go back to sleep, I’m here to wake up today’s parent, CEO Mao… oh, Maomao.”
The new staff member outside the door stammered slightly. Wei Chengli glanced at his watch, it was six o’clock. He turned his head, yawned, and said in a low voice, “She went to bed quite late last night, if there’s nothing important, let her sleep a bit longer, okay?”
“The parents have to get up and do the morning tasks, just like you dads did the past few days.” The staff member smiled kindly. “Parents have to earn breakfast.”
Wei Chengli: “… “ This breakfast wasn’t exactly a necessity.
“I’m up.”
The sweet, childish voice came from behind him. Wei Chengli turned around and saw the little chubby dumpling, rubbing her eyes, had already gotten out of bed.
“You sleep.” Wei Maomao, passing by Wei Chengli’s bed, patted it with her chubby paw. “Cover yourself well, don’t catch a cold.”
Wei Chengli: “… “ As expected of the one who could get into character instantly after receiving the task card last night.
Wei Chengli, lying back in bed, couldn’t fall asleep at all. He turned on his side, watching the tiny little chubby dumpling rummaging through her suitcase for clothes and other things.
Wei Maomao, holding the clothes she was going to change into and the box of unused hair ties, walked to Wei Chengli’s bed before leaving and tucked him in.
“… “ Wei Chengli felt a bit dazed. Why did he feel like an elderly person, unable to move, lying in bed, waiting for his child to take care of him?
Wei Maomao’s role transition was swift and smooth, while Wei Chengli was having trouble adapting.
Lying alone in bed, clutching the blanket, Wei Chengli couldn’t help but wonder if the other dads were doing okay, if they also felt strange and uncomfortable like him.
However, Wei Chengli was overthinking it.
When the program team knocked on the door, Wen Qiming happily opened the door and sent Wen Jiangyue off, even encouraging her to do well with the tasks, saying that their breakfast depended on her. Shen Jianghe was similar, opening the door, letting someone in, then watching Shen Zilin leave, his face filled with… a pleased smile?
At the Cheng family’s house, it was Cheng Tingyan who opened the door… Cheng Feiying was still lying in bed, refusing to get up, saying that from this moment on, he was a child with two parents, he had to be twice as beautiful as the other children.
At the Wen family’s house, Wen Dongyu was a bit reluctant to get up. After opening the door, Wen Xiang didn’t urge him or say anything, the program staff could only bite the bullet and wake Wen Dongyu up themselves. But thankfully, the child was just a bit sleepy, he didn’t have any morning grumpiness. After being fully awakened, he resigned himself to washing up and getting dressed.
If Wei Chengli could also watch the live broadcast, he would probably question whether he had overthought things, why he couldn’t immediately feel the joy of being a child.
Of course, Wei Chengli wasn’t the one who had the hardest time adapting to the role swap, nor was he the most unhappy one.
Because the one who had the hardest time adapting to this role swap was… Wang Qingchuan.
Last night, Wang Qingchuan had been overjoyed when he received the program team’s task card.
Being a parent was truly not easy, especially being a parent to two children, one of whom was a stubborn bull. His son was adorable when he was younger, but now he was neither kind to his sister nor considerate of his parents, Wang Qingchuan was exhausted from being a parent.
This task was a blessing, especially after watching the video during dinner, Wang Qingchuan felt that this was a good opportunity for Wang Zhizhi to experience the hardships of being a parent! As expected of a popular parenting variety show, the program team was still reliable in crucial moments.
It could be said that last night, before falling asleep, while Wei Chengli was reflecting on his shortcomings, Wang Qingchuan was dreaming about Wang Zhizhi becoming a considerate, sister-loving, model brother after experiencing being a parent.
However, dawn always brought the awakening from dreams.
In the morning, when the door was knocked on, Wang Qingchuan opened the door, and the program staff outside said they were just here to wake up the parent, Wang Zhizhi, and that Wang Qingchuan could continue sleeping. Wang Qingchuan happily agreed, ready to watch the newly appointed parent, Wang Zhizhi, take on his role.
But in the next second, an unfamiliar woman squeezed in from the doorway and sat down on the chair facing their bed.
Wang Zhizhi, who had just woken up, stared with wide eyes, and Wang Qingchuan, who had been happy just a moment ago, was also startled.
“You… Who are you? Are you a staff member?” Wang Qingchuan asked in shock.
The woman’s sudden appearance, although the morning’s live broadcast had already started with the staff’s knock, made Wang Qingchuan feel very insecure.
“Hello, Zhizhi.” The woman smiled, greeting the dumbfounded Wang Zhizhi sitting on the bed, then looked at Wang Qingchuan, who had asked the question. “Hello, Wang Qingchuan, I’m your younger sister. You can call me… Mmm, Wang Qingshan? Wang Qingbing? Wang Qingbei? Whichever you prefer, I’m fine with any of them.”
Wang Qingchuan: “What… What are you talking about?”
“Shān chuān? Bīng chuān? Bèi chuān?” Wang Zhizhi mumbled, confused. “You’re Dad’s sister, your names can form words.”
“What sister, I don’t have a sister.” Wang Qingchuan’s head buzzed.
“It’s chuān bèi, a type of medicinal herb for relieving cough and phlegm. Zhizhi, do you like this name?” The woman said familiarly, smiling. “Then okay, my name is Wang Qingbei, you can call me Beibei. From today onwards, we’re family.”
Wang Zhizhi: “… “
Wang Qingchuan: “… “
Dream on!
Why don’t you form the word “Sichuan Cuisine”(Chuān
***
T/N: Basically… It’s a wordplay
- Name suggestions: The woman offers three name options (Qingshan, Qingbing, Qingbei), all sharing the “Qing” character with Wang Qingchuan’s name, suggesting a sibling relationship.
- Wang Zhizhi, still confused, notices that combining parts of his father name(Wang Qingchuan) creates phrases:
- Shan-chuan (山川): mountains and rivers
- Bing-chuan (冰川): glacier
- Bei-chuan (贝川): literally “shell river.
- The final line, “Yeah right! Why don’t you make it ‘Chuancai’ (Sichuan cuisine) while you’re at it!” is a sarcastic response to the ridiculous situation.
Leave a Reply