Chapter 99
This afternoon, both the dads and the babies had a fulfilling day.
The dads worked together to smoothly rehearse the anti-fraud skit provided by the program team and even went to visit the stage being set up at the village square.
Except for Shen Zilin, the other babies, with the program team’s help, opened the doors to a new world. And Shen Zilin… harvested another big bag of freshly dug Baby Coins.
As the sun began to set, the acting lessons on both sides ended. The new babies, sipping on iced watermelon juice, went back to their respective homes to rest, while the new parents… still had to work to earn their dinner.
Unlike this morning, where they could choose a task that suited them, there was only one job available tonight…
Working all day, as they worked, the babies started to regret not taking a nap.
“How many have you guys picked?” Wen Dongyu asked, shaking off the translucent disc from his tweezers and looking around.
“I don’t know.” Wen Jiangyue said, straightening up and stretching her back, taking a deep breath. “I’m so tired.”
“No time to count…” Wang Zhizhi, next to her, directly used his fingers to remove the remaining disc fragments from the large silicone sheet that hadn’t been picked clean by the tweezers.
“I’m on my third sheet.” Cheng Rongrong, focused on her work, replied.
Shen Zilin picked off the last circle from the large silicone sheet in his hand, glanced at the pile of large sheets next to him, and said, “I just finished my fifth sheet.”
“How much is five sheets?” Wen Dongyu asked Shen Zilin.
“Sixty circles per sheet, six jiao for picking off the small discs, another six jiao for picking off the small rings. Five sheets is five times one yuan and twenty cents.” Shen Zilin grabbed a new, intact silicone sheet, then looked at Wei Maomao and Cheng Tingyan. “What about Maomao and Yan Yan?”
“I finished four sheets…” Cheng Tingyan pursed her lips, she was a bit slow, mainly because she couldn’t stand seeing any fragments left behind, she always wanted to pick them clean with her hands.
Wei Maomao, her hands still working, replied listlessly, “I don’t know, maybe my sixth, seventh, or eighth sheet…”
“One sheet is one yuan and twenty cents, how many sheets do we need to buy dinner?” Wen Dongyu glanced at the pig squatting by the staff’s feet in the distance. “Do you think we can eat Xixi’s milk powder and oatmeal?”
“… “ Wen Jiangyue shook her sore hand. “Twelve yuan for a bowl of noodles with two meat dishes and one vegetable dish, ten yuan for a bowl with one meat dish and one vegetable dish, eight yuan for a bowl of plain noodles, and six yuan for a bowl of plain noodles with soy sauce. We should be able to earn enough for two bowls of plain noodles with soy sauce, right? Don’t even think about Xixi’s food.”
“Let’s work hard, two bowls of plain noodles with soy sauce is…” Wang Zhizhi looked at Li Mu among the staff.
Li Mu raised his hand, crossing his two index fingers to form a “ten.”
“It’s ten sheets.” Wang Zhizhi stopped working, walked to Wen Dongyu, and examined the silicone sheets he had finished picking. “You’ve finished four, six more to go.”
After saying that, Wang Zhizhi looked at Li Mu again.
Li Mu gave him a thumbs up.
Learning was effective, Wang Zhizhi returned to his table, satisfied.
“We can’t just let him eat plain noodles with soy sauce…” Wen Dongyu quickly finished picking the last two circles on the sheet in his hand, shaking the silicone sheet with only circular holes left. “I have to work hard! I don’t want to be a parent who lets my baby starve!”
“Older sister.” Cheng Rongrong suddenly called out to Cheng Tingyan.
Cheng Tingyan’s hand, holding the tweezers, paused, she looked up.
“Older sister, we’re so slow, let’s buy Dad better noodles, and we’ll eat plain noodles with soy sauce…” Cheng Rongrong said, twisting her right wrist slightly. “What do you think, Older sister?”
“The program team’s rule is that the type of noodles your dad gets to eat is based on half of the combined amount you and Yan Yan are willing to spend, then the remaining money is for buying your own noodles.” Wang Zhizhi, looking at them, said strictly. “If you want to buy twelve yuan noodles for your dad, both you and Yan Yan have to contribute twelve yuan. Then the remaining money is yours to spend, how much Yan Yan has left and what kind of noodles she eats is her own choice, don’t try to control her.”
Cheng Rongrong: “… “ If she could earn enough for twelve yuan noodles plus a bowl of plain noodles with soy sauce, she wouldn’t be wasting her breath talking to Cheng Tingyan. And this Wang Zhizhi, what did it have to do with him?
This whole day, the babies were kept busy by the program team, like true 007 workers, Cheng Rongrong didn’t even have time to approach Jiang Heye again. Finally, during nap time, Cheng Feiying took forever to eat lunch, he was the last to leave the table, she chased after him to the Wang family’s house, only to be stopped by the staff, Jiang Heye was already asleep! If she couldn’t get close to Jiang Heye, then Wang Zhizhi was completely useless to her.
Cheng Rongrong, exhausted after a long day, decided to ignore Wang Zhizhi.
“Brother Zhizhi.” Cheng Rongrong twisted her wrist, looking aggrieved. “I’m only three years old… Older sister is six, three years older than me. I’m working very hard…”
Wang Zhizhi: “… “
Cheng Rongrong smirked inwardly, some things, she didn’t need to spell them out, everyone could understand. Could a three-year-old do the same work as a six-year-old? Would a six-year-old have the nerve to ask a three-year-old to contribute the same amount of money? Oh, she could have the nerve, but the viewers were watching.
“Sister Rongrong, you’re three and a half years old. I’m only three.” Wei Maomao quickly pulled off a rubber ring, put down her work, and flipped over the silicone sheet she had finished picking. “I’ve finished seven sheets. Sister Rongrong, you’re half a year older than me, you’re not working hard enough.”
After saying that, Wei Maomao, as if nothing had happened, picked up her tweezers again. But her working speed increased, the tweezers practically creating afterimages.
Cheng Rongrong was speechless. Damn it, how could she forget about this… Aaaah, why did this one have to join the show, she wasn’t the youngest anymore, not having the age advantage was truly inconvenient!
Wei Maomao, her hands still working, glanced at Cheng Rongrong from the corner of her eye. Good, her face was red with anger. Talking about three years old and six years old, why not just directly ask Yan Yan to pay double? If their family relationship was good, it was fine for the more capable one to do more work. With their family dynamics, did they even have any morals? They just wanted to guilt-trip others.
But… Wei Maomao’s hand speed increased even further. Since you want to guilt-trip for the audience to see, I’ll let you!
Wei Maomao was still concerned about the public opinion in the live broadcast room, but she didn’t know that she didn’t need to work so hard anymore, because the public opinion was already a strong wind, blowing directly at Cheng Rongrong.
“Oh my god, when I heard Cheng Rongrong say she was three and Yan Yan was six, I actually thought for a second, ‘Right, Yan Yan is older, she can do more.’ If it wasn’t for CEO Mao… I would have been fooled!”
“Those who are more capable can do more, but being asked to do more is annoying. Especially when, after doing more, they’re even told how to spend their earnings, why? If Yan Yan earns more and Cheng Rongrong earns less, will they have to listen to the one who earned less when deciding what to eat for dinner?”
“Right! Using CEO Mao’s, oh no, Director Wei’s words, it’s called ‘using other people’s things to show generosity’! The worst!”
“Yes, Cheng Rongrong’s words seem harmless at first glance, but thinking about it carefully, later, when they combine their money, Cheng Rongrong’s share might not even be enough for half of Cheng Feiying’s meal, she’ll have to rely on Yan Yan’s money to eat dinner, how can she be so comfortable making decisions?”
“Why is she so comfortable? It’s obvious that she’s used to it! I want to see how they’ll treat Cheng Feiying tomorrow. No, I can already imagine it!”
“I’ve always felt that the program team’s two piecework tasks today are quite realistic. In real life, parents work hard to earn money, they always want to earn more, bring back more good things. But I didn’t expect to see the issue of elderly care reflected in it. Hahaha, with Cheng Rongrong’s logic, when it’s time for elderly care, Yan Yan will also be guilt-tripped, right? Is being three years older a sin?”
“The key is, don’t you guys think this Cheng Rongrong, her way of speaking is a bit strange… It’s like she always leaves things unsaid, wanting people to fill in the blanks… I don’t know how to describe it, it’s just uncomfortable to listen to.”
“Hahaha, the person above, that’s called being passive-aggressive, hahaha. It’s like, ‘I’m aggrieved, but I won’t say it, you figure it out yourself.’”
“Oh my god, look at CEO Mao’s speed! Is she even faster now? I just saw Shen Zilin finish two rows, how come CEO Mao is already on a new sheet? Wait, did she change her posture?”
“Yes, she changed her posture, she used to pick off all sixty small discs from the whole sheet first, then pick off the small rubber rings. Now she’s alternating between discs and rings, even hanging the rings on her fingers while picking them off. Saving time on moving her arm and flicking off the rings one by one, that’s why she’s faster. Hahaha, but there’s one problem… CEO Mao’s fingers are too short, she can’t hang many rings, she has to take them off frequently.”
“Hahaha, I’m dying of laughter! Those short, chubby fingers are truly enduring so much! If CEO Mao’s hands were as slender as Yan Yan’s, she could hang more rings at once, she would be even faster!”
“It’s useless even if Yan Yan’s fingers are long, hahaha, she’s so meticulous, picking off each ring so cleanly! What are these called again, sealing rings? I feel like the ones she picked off can be used directly, no need to trim the edges.”
“It seems Director Wei will be able to eat the most luxurious noodles with two meat dishes and one vegetable dish tonight! Sadly, there’s no surprise~~~ I want to see Director Wei receive another surprise!”
“The person above is so mean, Director Wei: ‘Listen to me say thank you~~~’”
…
One large silicone sheet, sixty small discs and sixty small rubber rings to be picked off, not counting rework, that’s 120 picks per sheet.
Calculating the price, it meant ten sheets for noodles with two meat dishes and one vegetable dish, 8.4 sheets for noodles with one meat dish and one vegetable dish, 6.7 sheets for plain noodles, and five sheets for plain noodles with soy sauce. And this was just for one person.
The time limit for tonight’s sealing ring picking task was one hour, much shorter than this morning’s. Even though Wei Maomao shared her secret for faster picking, the babies, exhausted after a long day, truly… couldn’t work any harder.
They tried their best, but their final results were mostly around a dozen sheets.
Shen Zilin and Wang Zhizhi, who were faster, chose noodles with two meat dishes and one vegetable dish for their babies, while they themselves ate plain noodles. Wen Dongyu and Wen Jiangyue, who were slower, chose plain noodles with soy sauce for themselves, while their babies could only eat noodles with one meat dish and one vegetable dish.
Cheng Rongrong completed 12.6 sheets, Cheng Tingyan 17.8 sheets. Cheng Tingyan, who had learned from Wei Maomao and increased her speed, was actually faster than Shen Zilin and the others, but after averaging with Cheng Rongrong…
“Mmm… So how do you want to redeem?” The host looked at Cheng Tingyan, then at Cheng Rongrong.
“Older sister, because we chose a very difficult task for Dad this morning, he’s very tired, let’s get him the noodles with two meat…” Cheng Rongrong said weakly.
“Okay.” Cheng Tingyan, not wanting to hear Cheng Rongrong’s reasoning, interrupted her.
“If you redeem the noodles with two meat dishes and one vegetable dish for your dad, then you won’t have enough left for a bowl of plain noodles with soy sauce.” Wang Zhizhi, who had gone to Li Mu for a quick lesson, came back, interrupting Cheng Rongrong.
“… “ Cheng Rongrong looked at Cheng Tingyan with a wronged expression, as if she had said everything and yet said nothing.
Cheng Tingyan, under her gaze, unconsciously bit her lip, right, it was this look, every time Cheng Rongrong did this at home, it would be followed by…
Just as Cheng Tingyan was about to be pulled into unpleasant memories, a warmth suddenly enveloped her hand.
Cheng Tingyan looked down, a warm, chubby paw was placed in her hand.
“Exchange, exchange, exchange. You won’t regret it after exchanging, right?” Wei Maomao looked at Cheng Rongrong.
“I won’t regret it. I want to get the noodles with two meat dishes and one vegetable dish for Dad! It’s okay if I don’t eat.” Cheng Rongrong said firmly.
She wasn’t a three-and-a-half-year-old child, she wasn’t afraid of going hungry, putting aside Cheng Feiying, the program team definitely wouldn’t let a child starve, it was better to take a stand. As for Cheng Tingyan, whether she wanted to join her or not, it was her choice, she had already shown her filial piety.
The host, after hearing Cheng Rongrong’s self-sacrificing declaration, looked at Cheng Tingyan. “Then Yan Yan…”
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