Chapter 129
4:30 PM!
It came too quickly!
Wei Chengli, carrying a large bag of photos, pointed at the small pavilion on the right with tears in his eyes as the staff announced the end of the task and that they could head back. “Let me take two more photos over there, they won’t count towards the total, just let me take a few more, then we’ll go back.”
“… “ The staff member looked down and counted the empty Polaroid film boxes that Wei Chengli had used. Hehe, thankfully, he brought many spares, he even took some from the other teams earlier, he was truly a visionary.
Cute Maomao.
Cute Yan Yan.
Cute Yan Yan and Maomao together.
Mmm… He had to take one of Cheng Rongrong too.
They were all children, Wei Chengli maintained his fairness.
True to his word, after finishing taking photos at the pavilion, Wei Chengli, who had taken hundreds of photos throughout the afternoon, shook his sore hand and called it a day.
“Director Wei, you’ve worked hard.” Shen Jianghe said, handing him a bottle of water, he even thoughtfully unscrewed the cap for him.
“It wasn’t hard work, not at all.” Wei Chengli said, taking the water, he glanced at the little chubby dumpling, who was with Yan Yan not far away, and chuckled. “Thank you, CEO Shen, for accompanying us.”
Although the album he got from Wen Xiang did have many overlapping photos with the one Shen Jianghe had, there were still some locations they had to find separately. They had indeed walked quite a bit.
Wei Chengli was so engrossed in taking pictures that he didn’t even notice the distance. But Shen Jianghe had been helping to look after the children along the way, handing them water, bags, tissues, without any complaints, he even offered words of encouragement from time to time, maintaining a positive and supportive attitude, his good temper was beyond Wei Chengli’s expectations.
And most importantly, Shen Jianghe only used thirty sheets of film to take the required photos, he gave all the remaining blank film to Wei Chengli, he was truly a good person!
Wei Chengli, looking at the bag in his hand, filled with hundreds of photos, smiled with satisfaction.
They got into the car, and on the way back, each person took a handful of photos from Wei Chengli and looked at them.
Grand palace halls, towering city walls, pavilions and towers, winding alleys… sunny lotus ponds, shady willow trees…
Wei Maomao and Cheng Tingyan, their heads touching, flipped through their photos together, the corners of their mouths slightly lifted, they were satisfied, even after walking for an entire afternoon.
Shen Jianghe was surprised to receive a few photos of himself, taken candidly by Wei Chengli. Earlier, when Wei Chengli offered to take a few photos of him, he refused, afraid of delaying the babies’ photo-taking time. He didn’t know when this guy took these photos. And they were all… Hahaha, they were quite good.
Even Cheng Rongrong, looking at the cute and lively photos of herself, couldn’t help but praise Wei Chengli in her heart. It’s just… if only he was as good at raising children as he was at taking pictures.
Wei Chengli, unaware of the others’ thoughts, after distributing the photos, he picked out a handful of the little chubby dumpling’s and looked at them repeatedly. Happy! Everyone was so cooperative, they not only completed the task today, but he also took many, many photos of the cute little chubby princess! Bliss!
The joy in the car, captured by the camera, was transmitted to the live broadcast room, and then collided with… a chorus of “sob, sob, sob.”
“Crying, the pain of being in Shudian but not being able to meet the adorable babies, who can understand!”
“Sob, sob, sob, I understand! I’m also in Shudian! Because the babies were wearing ancient costumes, I even cleverly went to the ancient town area in advance! But… they didn’t take the tourist route! I only saw them from afar at the entrance, then they went to a restricted area! Leaving me here, crying my heart out!”
“Hahaha, it seems they truly didn’t take the tourist route, there were many passersby in the background when CEO Mao and Yan Yan were taking pictures at the entrance, then they basically didn’t encounter any more people. But it can’t be helped, it’s a live broadcast, they have to consider many things, they can’t be with too many uncontrollable people.”
“They probably went to the area specifically for filming, I seemed to have seen cameras in the distance later, I wonder if it was another film crew.”
“Speaking of which, Director Wei was truly happy today, he was smiling like a proud uncle for the entire afternoon. But thinking about it, if I could spend the whole afternoon taking pictures of the adorable CEO Mao and Yan Yan, I would also be smiling like that. Sob, sob, sob, let me smile!”
“Didn’t the program team say they’re going to the night market tonight? Does anyone know where there’s a night market in Shudian? I’m in Shudian, very urgent!”
“Hahaha, the person above, don’t even think about it. They didn’t even let them interact with tourists for something like taking pictures, which is long-distance, the night market, which involves close interaction, definitely can’t be a night market for tourists. It must be pre-arranged. Why don’t you go and see if anyone is recruiting extras for a night market scene in Shudian, you might have a better chance.”
“!!! Such a brilliant idea! I’m going to find the casting director’s number now!”
…
Unlike the viewers’ anticipation and excitement for the night market, the babies, exhausted after a long day, couldn’t stay awake for long on the bus ride back, one by one, they fell asleep.
“You want to protect her?”
“Dream on.”
“You’re useless!”
“Hahaha!!!”
Yan Yan, lying on the ground, clutching her ankle, tears streaming down her face. Cheng Rongrong, standing next to her, hands on her hips, laughing.
Wei Maomao, anger surging through her, rushed over with all her might.
“Ah!”
A sharp cry of pain, close by, shattered everything.
Cheng Rongrong, clutching her leg, looked at the little chubby menace next to her, who had just kicked her, her eyes wide open.
Those eyes…
Cheng Rongrong was so scared by the fierceness in those eyes that she couldn’t even finish her cry of pain.
But the loud first half of her cry had already startled the other babies in the living room.
“What happened?” Wen Jiangyue, who was closest, immediately ran to the sofa.
Shen Zilin and Wang Zhizhi, who were playing with blocks by the coffee table, also put down their blocks and followed.
Wen Dongyu looked down at the juice that had spilled all over his pants after being startled by the scream, he didn’t know whether he should go and see what happened or scream too.
“I just woke up, I just sat up, and Maomao… Little Sister Maomao kicked me.” Cheng Rongrong said, aggrieved, pressing on the spot where she was kicked.
“Sorry, I dreamed about a monster.” Wei Maomao said, sitting up, looking at Cheng Rongrong, she apologized sincerely, then looked around, a bit anxious. “Where’s Yan Yan?”
As soon as she opened her eyes, Wei Maomao knew that the scene that had almost made her explode with anger was just a dream. But it was so vivid that it took her a while to calm down and speak.
“It’s okay…” Cheng Rongrong said quickly, but she continued rubbing her leg and even wiped away two forced tears.
“Sister Su Li took her upstairs to comb her hair. Our hair got a bit messy while we were sleeping. Maomao, yours needs to be combed too later.” Wen Jiangyue said, after answering Wei Maomao, she pulled Cheng Rongrong’s hand away and looked at the spot she had been rubbing. “Did she kick you here?”
Cheng Rongrong nodded tearfully.
“It’s your calf, where there’s muscle, the bone wouldn’t be injured.” Wen Jiangyue said, leaning closer to examine it. “It’s a bit red, but not bruised, Rongrong, don’t be afraid.”
“You were pressing your hand so hard that it dented your leg, of course, it would be red.” Wang Zhizhi said, leaning against the sofa next to them, he pressed and rubbed his right arm with his left hand. “See?”
Cheng Rongrong: “… “
Was he crazy! Did he have a permanent anti-second-child filter? Although she did use a little trick to make it look worse, it truly hurt when she was kicked!
“Sorry.” Wei Maomao apologized again, she had nothing to argue about, even though she was asleep and unconscious when she kicked her, it was still her foot, she did kick her.
“It’s…” Cheng Rongrong was about to reply again when the living room door suddenly opened.
Cheng Tingyan, who had just pushed open the door, was met with six pairs of complicated eyes.
“What happened?” Cheng Tingyan asked instinctively.
Shen Zilin cleared his throat and briefly explained what had happened while she was away.
“It was her calf, no bruising. Maomao apologized. Twice.” Wang Zhizhi added the information he deemed important.
Shen Zilin: “… “
Cheng Tingyan, as she listened, quickly walked to the sofa.
Wen Jiangyue, who was sitting next to Cheng Rongrong, stood up and made space for Cheng Tingyan. She pointed at Cheng Rongrong’s leg and said, “Yan Yan, come and take a look.”
“… “ Cheng Tingyan stopped and looked at Cheng Rongrong. “Are you okay? Should we call Dad?”
“I’m fine, it doesn’t hurt anymore, no need to call Dad.” Cheng Rongrong said, putting on a brave face.
But before she could even continue her act, she saw Cheng Tingyan turn her head away, ignoring her, and instead, she walked over to the little chubby menace and squatted down next to her.
“Maomao… Don’t be afraid, dreams are fake.” Cheng Tingyan said, gently lifting the thin blanket covering Wei Maomao, she grabbed her two chubby feet and squeezed them. “Are your feet okay? Which foot kicked her? Wiggle your toes and see if it hurts…”
Cheng Rongrong: “… “ Although she didn’t need Cheng Tingyan’s concern, was the contrast really that stark? She was the one who was kicked!
Cheng Tingyan’s concern was so swift and misplaced, Wei Maomao didn’t even have time to react, her two feet were already in Cheng Tingyan’s hands.
Those were her feet!
Wei Maomao, realizing it, immediately tried to retract her feet, wanting to hide them under the blanket.
However…
It was Yan Yan.
The six-year-old Yan Yan, who always had her own persistence.
Once her chubby little feet were caught, how could she escape?
What else could Wei Maomao do? She could only wiggle each toe obediently, then even stood up and jumped twice to prove that she was truly fine.
The viewers in the live broadcast room were also… speechless.
“Hahaha, with CEO Mao’s chubby little feet, it must have hurt to be kicked. But as for injuries, it’s unlikely for either side to be injured. After all, chubbiness provides natural cushioning.”
“Rongrong is a bit pitiful here, she was the one who was kicked, but Yan Yan only cares about Maomao.”
“??? How is it only Maomao? Didn’t Yan Yan ask Cheng Rongrong if she was okay, and only went to check on CEO Mao after she said she was fine!”
“Whether it’s a casual question or genuine concern, it’s quite obvious. But it’s also normal, people have different levels of closeness. Although Yan Yan and Cheng Rongrong are half-sisters, but after watching the show until now, there’s clearly no sisterly love between them. But CEO Mao, who can resist a cute little chubby who wholeheartedly likes and protects you?”
“Half-sisters, the bond is just like that, honestly, if someone was constantly being passive-aggressive in front of me, and I even comforted them… I would be considered kind for not kicking them.”
“It’s still Cheng Feiying’s fault. Earlier, on the way back, all three little ones fell asleep, when they reached the villa, Yan Yan woke up, just as Cheng Feiying’s car arrived, Director Wei carried CEO Mao in first, Cheng Feiying went to carry Cheng Rongrong, it was Cheng Feiying who placed Cheng Rongrong next to CEO Mao. There were other empty spots on the sofa, why did he have to put her so close?”
“Hahaha, although Cheng Feiying is annoying, we can’t blame him for this. He didn’t know it would happen. And CEO Mao didn’t do it on purpose either. It was just an accident, if we have to blame someone, we can only blame the monster in CEO Mao’s dream. But looking at the close-up of Cheng Rongrong, it doesn’t seem like she’s injured.”
…
An accident?
It truly was.
Was there an injury?
Truly not.
The babies, who finally noticed and started to worry about Wen Dongyu’s juice-stained pants, didn’t notice that Cheng Rongrong, sitting on the sofa, was staring at her reddened calf, a new thought flashing in her dark eyes.
Before leaving for the night market, the host came on stage to tally the results of the afternoon’s photo-taking task. Because the program team had given them enough time, except for Wen Qiming, who had a bad sense of direction and only managed to take twenty-seven photos, the other families all completed the thirty-photo task. But during the tallying, two of Cheng Feiying’s photos were found to be taken at the wrong locations, he was kicked out of the first-place group.
The program team’s generosity continued with the distribution of copper coins, those who completed all the tasks and those who were just a little bit short received almost the same amount, giving the dads and babies, who had been under the sun all afternoon, some comfort.
As some viewers in the live broadcast room had predicted, the night market the program team took them to wasn’t one of the popular ones frequented by tourists near Shudian. It seemed like they had entered the film and television city and used a street set to create one. After all… the vendors and passersby were all in ancient costumes, matching the babies, they must all be NPCs!
Unlike the viewers who were in Shudian but couldn’t have a chance encounter, crying and complaining about the fake night market, asking them to let the little babies experience the real world…
The babies were having a great time at the night market meticulously set up by the program team.
Grilled skewers, candy floss, pan-fried dumplings, fried glutinous rice balls, cheese corn, takoyaki, DIY(do-it-yourself) mini hot pot…
Ring toss, claw machines, whack-a-mole, goldfish scooping, ball throwing, doll painting…
The babies ate their way from one end of the street to the other, then played their way back, they were like mice that had fallen into a rice jar, completely engrossed.
As for the dads…
“Maomao, come here, let me see how many copper coins you have left.” Wei Chengli said, raising his soapy hand.
“What? You want another serving of this? No, don’t eat it, go eat something else, the others don’t need washing.” Wang Qingchuan said, refusing.
“Let him eat if he wants to, it’s just a small pot and bowl, it’s quick to wash.” Wen Xiang said, persuading Wang Qingchuan, then looked at Wen Dongyu, who was following behind Wei Maomao, leading the pig. “Dongdong, do you want another serving of this?”
Wen Dongyu shook his head. “Cooking is too difficult, the food I made was terrible.”
That’s right, at the night market, the babies were responsible for spending the copper coins, and the dads were responsible for… cleaning up.
Each baby had a small pot the size of their palm, they cooked a few dishes under the dads’ supervision, using small solid alcohol blocks, then ate and left. The dads had to wash the pots and bowls.
The babies painted dolls with paint, painted, painted, then left, the dads had to clean up the tables.
Of course, they could choose not to do it, but they had to pay double the copper coins as a cleaning fee.
The program team only gave them a limited amount of copper coins, and the babies were having so much fun, the dads could only try to save as much as possible. The other dads all chose to work, Wang Qingchuan and Cheng Feiying could only follow suit, they couldn’t stand out.
Night deepened.
The dads carried the babies, who were exhausted after a long day and couldn’t walk anymore, they also carried the dolls, goldfish, and balls they had won, and finally headed back.
Back at the villa, they put the yawning babies down at the doors of their bedrooms on the second floor.
Wei Chengli helped to remove Maomao’s microphone and watched as the little chubby princess, hand in hand with her beloved Yan Yan, entered the bedroom.
Speaking of which… After this whole day, he still hadn’t found a chance to talk to the little chubby dumpling alone.
But Wei Chengli didn’t expect that this tiring day wasn’t over yet, not long after, the opportunity came.
Wen Jiangyue entered the room, placed the things she had won at the night market by her bed, then turned to Wei Maomao. “Maomao, just like before, let’s shower in order of age, you go first.”
“I’ve already gone first several times, let’s reverse the order this time.” Wei Maomao said, glancing at Cheng Tingyan.
“You go.” Cheng Tingyan said, reaching out to remove the tassel hair ornaments from Wei Maomao’s hair.
Since she said so, Wei Maomao didn’t waste time being polite, she also started removing them herself, they quickly finished and let their hair down.
But before entering the bathroom, Wei Maomao didn’t forget to take out a plush toy from her night market loot and give it to Cheng Rongrong.
“I kicked you this afternoon, I’m sorry, this is for you.” Wei Maomao said, stuffing the tiger plush into Cheng Rongrong’s hands.
Cheng Rongrong was stunned, she instinctively looked at Cheng Tingyan. Cheng Tingyan was calm and peaceful, even with a hint of a smile… as she looked at the little chubby menace in front of her.
Okay… She was actually this generous, not jealous at all… It seemed they had discussed it before giving her this gift.
Not seeing Cheng Tingyan’s disappointment, Cheng Rongrong, feeling a bit let down, took the plush toy and mumbled another “It’s okay.”
Wei Maomao, having settled one matter, happily went to take a shower.
Cheng Rongrong waited for the little chubby menace to enter the bathroom, then waited for a while longer, she looked at Wen Jiangyue and said softly, “Sister Wen, my feet are sore, I want to sit for a bit, can we switch? You shower first after Little Sister Maomao, then I’ll go, okay?”
“Okay.” Wen Jiangyue nodded in agreement, then looked at Cheng Tingyan. “How about Yan Yan goes first? Then Rongrong.”
Cheng Rongrong’s fist clenched slightly, she couldn’t help but look at Cheng Tingyan too.
“You go first.” Cheng Tingyan said concisely, then pointed at the things on the floor they had just brought back. “I’m going to organize my things.”
Cheng Rongrong’s fist slowly unclenched.
The babies, one after another, went from dirty to fragrant.
Cheng Tingyan finished organizing her things, dried the little chubby bunny’s hair, then untied her own hair. After waiting for a while, the bathroom was finally empty.
But just as she picked up her small basket, about to go take a shower, the little chubby bunny, who had been lying peacefully in bed, suddenly jumped off the bed.
“What’s wrong?” Cheng Tingyan asked, stopping.
“I need to go to the bathroom. Yan Yan, you go take a shower, I’ll go to the bathroom downstairs.” Wei Maomao said, clutching her stomach, she had a bad feeling, the things she ate at the night market flashed before her eyes.
“Your shoes are still wet, don’t go downstairs, the stairs are slippery.” Cheng Tingyan said, stopping the little chubby bunny who was about to rush out the door, she pushed her towards the bathroom. “Take your time, don’t rush.”
Her stomach was in an emergency, Wei Maomao didn’t have the energy to resist, she could only follow Cheng Tingyan’s push and enter the bathroom, using the last bit of her brain to quickly close the door behind her.
Outside the door was Cheng Tingyan, her face full of worry.
And in the bedroom not far away…
Cheng Rongrong, who had just finished showering, her hair still wet, had been listening to their conversation, she clutched the hairdryer in her hand, unable to press the button.
“Ah!”
A scream and the sound of something heavy hitting the floor came from the bathroom simultaneously.
Just one door away, Cheng Tingyan, who hadn’t left yet, her mind went blank.
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