Chapter 96
Not long after the babies left in the morning, the staff led the dads to… Wei Chengli’s house.
Ever since the day Wei Maomao had an upset stomach and didn’t go to the “school,” when they all had lunch together in the Wei family’s courtyard, the program team seemed to favor using the Wei family’s house for group activities.
Same morning, same separation of dads and babies, same Wei family’s courtyard, the dads were already guessing on the way there if the babies would be arranging activities for them again today.
Honestly, the babies’ arrangements yesterday, except for Wang Qingchuan having to lie on a bed board, were quite good for everyone else, they wouldn’t mind doing it again. Wang Qingchuan, listening to the other dads’ increasingly serious discussion, secretly felt relieved that he had specifically reminded Wang Zhizhi before leaving this morning to choose a mainstream activity if he had to arrange something for him.
Some learned from their mistakes, while others took advantage of kindness.
Wen Qiming was the one taking advantage.
When they arrived at the Wei family’s courtyard, the staff brought the babies’ choices for today.
Three options: Do the things the babies usually do at home, engage in mental activities, or engage in physical activities.
The staff first announced the families who chose [Do the things the babies usually do at home], it was the Wei, Shen, and Wen families.
The first one arranged was Wei Chengli, a sofa was pushed in, two screens, one big and one small, were brought in, along with paper, pen, and a bowl of colorful yogurt melts, a baby snack.
Both the 1800-word review and the adorable baby snack made the dads laugh. But the funniest thing was the cartoon playing on the big screen, with its bizarre and almost grotesque art style. The key was, the staff even said it was the cartoon Wei Chengli and Wei Maomao loved watching at home. Director Wei’s taste was truly something, it shocked the other dads who had crowded around to watch.
The babies chose the general direction, and the program team made specific arrangements based on the questionnaires from the day before yesterday. Very meticulous, Wei Chengli couldn’t argue with it.
Wen Qiming, amused, couldn’t help but chuckle. “Xiao Wei is truly having a hard time. Thankfully, our Yueyue just recites ancient poems at home, I just have to recite some texts.”
But the text he had to recite was a Buddhist scripture.
Wen Qiming looked at the vertically written scripture in his hand, the convoluted sentences giving him a headache.
And he couldn’t even blame anyone… Who could he blame? Blame Wen Jiangyue, who simply chose [Do the things the babies usually do at home], which seemed easy? Or blame himself, who honestly wrote [Yueyue usually recites ancient poems at home] yesterday? Or… blame the program team, who, after praising his profound knowledge, had to find him a different kind of text to recite?
Life was tough, Wen Qiming let out a long sigh, he glanced at Wang Qingchuan and Wang Qingbei, sitting at the stone table on his right, each holding a tablet, they were the puzzle-solving duo, assigned mental activities. Wen Qiming didn’t like games, nor did he like puzzles, so he couldn’t judge which task was more difficult, theirs or his. But Wen Qiming’s gaze swept past Wang Qingbei, who was clearly enjoying herself, and landed on Wang Qingchuan, who was frowning, his right hand tapping aimlessly on the tablet. Mmm, at least he wasn’t the only one struggling.
Oh, and there was also, Wen Qiming turned his head to look at Cheng Feiying, who was strapped into equipment in the corner, jumping around in front of the big screen.
Having two children was truly not easy. According to the staff, Cheng Feiying’s two daughters, one chose mental activities, the other chose physical activities… The Wang family was playing a time-limited puzzle game on a tablet, while Cheng Feiying was playing a motion-sensing game…
In this hot weather, sweating profusely, Wen Qiming watched Cheng Feiying, who was jumping around like a frog, for a while, then looked at the scripture in his hand, he suddenly felt that it wasn’t that… particularly… difficult.
This morning, the dads were working hard in the Wei family’s courtyard, while the babies were also busy outside.
But as Wei Maomao had predicted, limited by their hand speed, based on the time it took for everyone to reach the first tier, [Survival Lunch], even without taking breaks in the break room, they should be able to earn enough points for the third tier. And if the program team’s little trick worked, and the babies were lured by the break room, only earning enough points for the second tier, [Ordinary Lunch], would also be normal.
After Li Mu’s calculations, the other babies also discovered the hand speed issue, so they worked even harder, they not only refused to go to the break room, they even refused the water offered by the staff. It wasn’t until Liu Ming finished feeding Wei Maomao water and was asked by Maomao to relay a message to Su Li, asking her to put a straw in Yan Yan’s cup, that the other staff realized the babies weren’t thirsty or hungry, they were truly in hardworking employee mode.
In the monitoring room, Qin Sichao’s initial enthusiasm gradually turned into a frown. But looking at Shi Dingshan, who didn’t seem to have any reaction, he couldn’t bring himself to ask.
After watching the staff feed the babies water with straws and open small cakes for them on the screen, Qin Sichao finally stood up and went outside.
The babies’ task today, especially the break room they could go to anytime and stay as long as they wanted, had a hint of testing their humanity. But… They were just little babies… He could only say, thankfully, these babies all seemed to have their own ideas and were mentally strong, otherwise… Qin Sichao didn’t have much faith in the current online environment. Even for little babies who hadn’t fully developed their values, if they lingered in the break room and only brought back steamed buns and pickled mustard greens for their dads, they probably wouldn’t escape criticism.
This… Was this Shi Dingshan’s idea…
Or was it, like the supplementary rule for the “strength” task yesterday, just the idea of another person in charge?
Qin Sichao took out his phone, deciding to talk to Zeng Huanian.
But just as he sent the message, he saw Shi Dingshan’s two assistant directors not far from the monitoring room.
“Why did you add something to my task without authorization?” Zeng Huanian had left the village for a while this morning, when he came back, he discovered that there was an extra break room in the piecework task he designed, he was furious. “You even raised the point requirement for each lunch set! They’re guests, they’re children, how can you expect them to make so many things?”
“If they can easily earn a bunch of points and easily redeem the highest tier, [Surprise Deluxe Lunch], what’s the point? Would they still cooperate like they are now? Would they still consider calculations and strategies? This is a live broadcast reality show, not a pretend play. If there’s no difference between the reward tiers, the guests are satisfied with their food, but would the viewers still enjoy watching? Besides, the first tier, [Survival], and the second tier, [Ordinary], they only require a few points to redeem, they won’t starve.” Jin Youliang said disdainfully, glancing at Zeng Huanian. “You’re so conservative, so fair, so concerned about the guests and not the ratings, you’re not suited for reality shows, you should go and make food shows next time, let everyone eat their fill.”
“You…” Zeng Huanian was speechless.
Jin Youliang had indeed hit Zeng Huanian’s sore spot. Shi Dingshan had said more than once that Jin Youliang’s mind was more agile, he was better at creating drama.
But!
“What’s with that break room? Who told you to set up that room!” Zeng Huanian said angrily, pointing at it.
“What’s wrong with the break room? You also said they’re children, children should rest when they’re tired. I even arranged snacks and drinks for them inside, isn’t that considerate?” Jin Youliang said, but inwardly, he was angry that this loophole had been exploited by that little chubby girl again.
Zeng Huanian scoffed. “Do you even believe your own words? Or do you think I’m an idiot? That room is clearly a temptation for the babies, to slow down their progress. Why put children through such a test! Does Director Shi know you’re doing this!”
“Oh, Director Shi knows.” Jin Youliang said nonchalantly.
Zeng Huanian: “… “
“Although it was my suggestion, Director Shi didn’t object.” Jin Youliang said, smiling, looking at the stunned Zeng Huanian.
A critical hit, attacking his weakness, Zeng Huanian couldn’t argue with Jin Youliang anymore, he stormed off angrily.
After both assistant directors left, Qin Sichao came out from the corner.
How should he put it, it was good that the test of the babies’ humanity wasn’t Shi Dingshan’s idea. But… it wasn’t that good either, it seemed Shi Dingshan had agreed to it.
Qin Sichao felt that whether it was painting, writing, drama, or variety shows… a person’s work was greatly influenced by their experiences and their state of mind when creating it. When Shi Dingshan was making commercial films, he mostly went for lighthearted and comedic approaches. In recent years, his variety shows were also mostly inspirational and heartwarming.
But this time… Qin Sichao admitted that this variety show was very impressive and interesting. But in terms of style, it was quite different from Shi Dingshan’s previous works. Qin Sichao leaned against the wall, looking at the directions the two assistant directors had gone, he was worried about Shi Dingshan’s situation, but he didn’t know what to do.
But…
Were variety show productions this flexible?
He had just asked if there were any suitable NPC roles for Jiang Heye, and they actually created one.
The task yesterday, the useless supplementary rule that was quickly cracked by the babies, they just added it as they pleased.
And today’s break room and point adjustments, they also did it as they pleased.
If that was the case…
Qin Sichao returned to the monitoring room and patted Shi Dingshan’s shoulder. “What are your plans for the next location? I have a few ideas, do you want to hear them?”
Shi Dingshan: “… “
From a certain point onwards, the threads of fate diverged, never to return to their original course.
As for the future, Wei Maomao, immersed in braiding ropes, wasn’t concerned about it for now.
One rope, another rope, and another…
Practice makes perfect, Wei Maomao’s hand speed became faster and faster, she no longer needed to refer to the sample, she had memorized where to stop and which bead to thread.
Speaking of which, it was interesting, when she first came back to life, she had so much trouble adapting to her three-year-old body, she even had to practice opening a small gourd pendant all night by imitating squeezing toothpaste.
And now she could peel beans, braid hair, and even braid ropes.
Wei Maomao’s points were far ahead, when she reached the third tier, [Abundant Lunch], the other babies were still struggling to reach the second tier. Although the points required for the fourth tier were almost double that of the third tier, Wei Maomao, after calculating, felt she should have no problem reaching it.
Then the question was… Wei Maomao threaded a bead, continued braiding blindly, and glanced at the matchbox assembling team next to her.
Yan Yan had been folding the matchboxes individually earlier, after getting the hang of it, she started folding three at a time.
But Wen Jiangyue still had to glue each box one by one. The folding speed increased, but the gluing speed couldn’t keep up, there was already a pile of folded matchboxes waiting to be glued.
Now Yan Yan had stopped folding and was helping to glue the boxes.
And…
Wei Maomao looked at the two who were attaching tags in the distance, they seemed to be throwing each completed tag into the box below, she couldn’t see their progress from here. She only knew that Wang Zhizhi had reached the first tier earlier, while Cheng Rongrong was a bit slower.
Based on the speed of the first tier, Wei Maomao estimated that neither of them could reach the fourth tier, Cheng Rongrong might even struggle to reach the third tier. But anything was possible, what if Cheng Rongrong’s final points were higher than Yan Yan’s, then there would be more drama.
Wei Maomao’s rope-braiding speed increased, if she finished early, she could help glue the matchboxes. One person folding, two people gluing, the speed should be about the same. No matter what, she had to prevent that “what if” from happening.
[10:59] Wei Maomao finished braiding the last rope, after calculating, she gave the last batch of braided ropes to the staff for inspection, then immediately joined Cheng Tingyan’s matchbox gluing team. Wei Maomao called out to Cheng Rongrong, asking how many tags she had completed, but she didn’t answer.
[11:00] All of Wei Maomao’s braided ropes passed inspection, she successfully redeemed the fourth tier, [Surprise Deluxe Lunch].
[11:05] Shen Zilin successfully redeemed the third tier, [Abundant Lunch], and started helping Wen Dongyu screw screws.
[11:15] Cheng Tingyan and Wen Jiangyue’s points reached the amount required for the third tier, [Abundant Lunch], Wen Jiangyue successfully redeemed it. Wei Maomao pulled Li Mu over to count the number of tags Cheng Rongrong had completed, they concluded that even if they continued working together, they couldn’t help Cheng Rongrong reach the third tier. Shen Zilin raised his hand, requesting the program team to heat up the food in the break room.
[11:17] Wen Dongyu successfully redeemed the third tier, [Abundant Lunch]. Li Mu calculated the points gap for Wang Zhizhi to redeem the fourth tier lunch. Cheng Rongrong said that since she couldn’t reach the points required for the third tier, and their family was destined to not get the third tier lunch, she might as well give her extra tags to Wang Zhizhi. Wang Zhizhi hesitated.
[11:18] Wang Zhizhi decided to give all the tags exceeding the third tier requirement to Cheng Rongrong, helping her reach the points needed for the Cheng family to redeem the third tier lunch. Cheng Rongrong refused, Wang Zhizhi insisted, saying it was to repay the favor she did for him yesterday by helping him sell his vegetables. Cheng Rongrong, speechless, accepted the tags.
[11:20] All the babies’ finished products were inspected, except for Wei Maomao, everyone redeemed the third tier lunch.
For the last ten minutes, the babies enjoyed a feast in the break room, taking advantage of the program team one last time.
The viewers in the live broadcast room, who had been worried for the babies, were truly impressed.
“As expected of CEO Mao, she even calculated that last meal!”
“Hahaha, I’m dying of laughter, what’s wrong with Wang Zhizhi, was he serious about repaying the favor yesterday? He even gave up the fourth tier, [Surprise Deluxe Lunch], to repay it immediately.”
“The program team is truly too cruel to the little babies, who can finish this within the time limit? Oh, CEO Mao!”
On the way back, the little babies were burping with the smell of fried chicken and pizza.
Shen Zilin took out a tissue, wiped his mouth carefully, then walked a few steps faster to catch up with Wei Maomao, saying sincerely, “Maomao, you’re truly fast, you did the work of two people by yourself!”
“Not just two, Maomao even helped Yan Yan and me!” Wen Jiangyue added, offering more praise.
“Right!” Shen Zilin nodded. “She did more than two people’s work!”
“Boss, you’re so amazing!” Wen Dongyu squeezed in, then looked at Shen Zilin. “Boss, you shouldn’t keep asking Boss to borrow money from you, she can earn money by braiding ropes!”
“Don’t call me ‘Boss’…”
“Don’t call me ‘Boss’…”
Wei Maomao and Shen Zilin spoke almost simultaneously, they looked at each other, then both smiled wryly.
“Boss’s dad can eat the deluxe lunch today, that’s great.” Wen Dongyu, selectively listening, then scratched his head and said, “Our dads are eating the same thing, that’s good too.”
Wang Zhizhi walked alongside them, silent, but he was indeed comforted.
Although he had tried his best to be fair these past two days, Wang Zhizhi had also discovered a secret. It turned out that hearts were truly biased. Even if his actions were fair, but… like with the lunch sets today, Wang Zhizhi had thought that if it was just his dad, he would also want to get the best lunch. But it was because his dad had also done his best for him when carrying watermelons that day. And Beibei… the kind, kind Beibei… He wanted to do better, do more, he wanted the kind Beibei to have the best, the most luxurious lunch.
They both wanted to do their best, but their reasons were completely different. One was for fairness, the other was genuine care… Was that… also a kind of bias?
This kind of bias was a secret that even surprised Wang Zhizhi himself. Of course, he wouldn’t show this bias, he wouldn’t become the kind of person he disliked the most, but… Could it be that actions were actions, and thoughts were thoughts?
Wang Zhizhi’s little brain couldn’t process it.
“Zhizhi, don’t be unhappy.” Wen Jiangyue, noticing that Wang Zhizhi, walking at the edge of the group, was silent, went over to comfort him. “It’s normal that we couldn’t earn enough points for the deluxe lunch, none of us could.”
“Mmm…” Wang Zhizhi nodded.
“It’s normal for Zhizhi to be unhappy, his dad got him his favorite food last time by carrying watermelons.” Wen Dongyu, always drawn to excitement, chimed in. “But Zhizhi, don’t be unhappy, it’s just that we didn’t have enough time. Dad could keep carrying watermelons, if you kept attaching tags, you could also get the most points!”
Wen Jiangyue: “… “ It seemed like he was comforting him, but something didn’t sound quite right.
Wei Maomao, listening, glanced at Wang Zhizhi. It was a pity, if only he had accepted the extra points from the Cheng family, not from Cheng Rongrong, but from Yan Yan. Then Cheng Feiying would only be able to eat the [Ordinary Lunch]~~~ And he couldn’t even blame Yan Yan. Wei Maomao casually thought about it and felt she was quite mean. But… Wei Maomao thought about Cheng Feiying’s darkened expression this morning, some people were truly too annoying.
Yes, too annoying, Cheng Rongrong also felt that some people were truly too annoying.
This Wang Zhizhi… A favor, once received, should be kept, what was this about repaying it immediately! She wanted to use it for something more useful! Jiang Heye was living at their house now, she still had use for Wang Zhizhi! And he just used it to upgrade their lunch… Did she lack this one meal?
Anyway, Cheng Feiying’s mood this morning was definitely ruined, the difference between the second tier lunch and the third tier wasn’t that big!
It was all because of… Cheng Rongrong couldn’t help but glare at Cheng Tingyan in front of her.
Why did she have to speak at the same time as her! Why did she have to say “physical activities” when she said “mental activities”! And… Cheng Rongrong glanced back at the host, who was trailing behind the group of staff, they could only choose one! What was this about combining both… If it was double the hardship, Cheng Feiying, whose mood had just improved last night, would explode again.
Explode, well, he hadn’t exploded yet.
But after entering the Wei family’s courtyard, among the group of dads and Wang Qingbei, only Cheng Feiying was sweating profusely and smelly.
Since most of the babies redeemed the third tier lunch, preparing the food was quick.
By the time the babies arrived at the Wei family’s courtyard, the food was also ready.
Rice bowls, rice bowls, plates of rice bowls.
Oh, and… a group of people?
Wei Chengli looked at the plates and bowls on his table, which were different from the ones on the tables next to him, then at the group of people, dressed in uniforms, walking towards their table…
He felt a bit scared.
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