Chapter 22
Wei Maomao: ???
Liu Ming: ???
The live broadcast viewers: ????????
As Cheng Tingyan gagged, her face pale, question marks filled the air.
Was it really that bad?
Cheng Tingyan quickly realized her instinctive reaction and blushed with embarrassment.
But…
It was so bad, if Maomao ate it, she wouldn’t just cry, she would probably throw up… and she was so young… Thinking of this, Cheng Tingyan quickly hammered her chest, trying to suppress the churning in her stomach. She scooped another full spoonful with her shaking hand.
“Wait.” Wei Maomao pressed her chubby paw down, stopping Cheng Tingyan’s wrist, preventing the spoon from rising. “I’ll eat it.”
Cheng Tingyan didn’t let go.
Wei Maomao puffed out her cheeks and took a small sip directly from the bowl.
With just that small sip, the mischievous glint in her eyes vanished, replaced by an empty numbness…
Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!
Wei Chengli, you big dummy! Big dummy!
How could he forget the cooking wine again! He didn’t even put any ginger, garlic, or scallions!
He only made this mistake the first time he cooked, didn’t he? Why! Why did he still make this low-level mistake after experimenting with so many meals at home! And why did the program team provide so many types of meat! He didn’t even know how to cook them!
The fishy smells of chicken, pork, beef, and fish mixed and separated, combining and reappearing, rampaging in Wei Maomao’s mouth, making her tears stream down her face.
“Maomao!” Cheng Tingyan frantically wiped the tears from Wei Maomao’s face with her handkerchief.
But there were too many tears of sorrow, she couldn’t wipe them all away.
Cheng Tingyan’s hand stopped weakly, and she turned to look at the bowl again.
If Maomao didn’t finish this bowl, she would have to go home and wouldn’t be able to play with them anymore… Was she trying to stay, that’s why she insisted on eating such disgusting food?
She… was the same as her…
But she was still so young…
Looking at the little chubby bunny forcing the food down her throat with a strained neck, Cheng Tingyan felt a pang in her heart, and tears welled up in her eyes. She stepped onto the stool, then onto the table, and took a big mouthful from the bowl.
“Yan Yan!” Wei Maomao, who had just recovered slightly from choking, was shocked. “Don’t eat it!”
“…” Cheng Tingyan swallowed another mouthful. She didn’t even have the strength to reach for her handkerchief, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. She tried to cheer up and said, “I’ll help you finish it.”
With that, she was about to scoop another spoonful.
“No, no, don’t eat it! It’s too bad, we can choose not to eat it!” Wei Maomao, her senses overwhelmed by Cheng Tingyan’s tears, momentarily forgot that she was just a three-year-old. She reached out to stop her, almost rolling off the table.
“Don’t be afraid, you won’t go home.” Cheng Tingyan firmly pushed the little dumpling back to safety on the table and scooped another spoonful with her other hand.
Wei Maomao, failing to stop her, suddenly realized that she couldn’t persuade the obviously stubborn Cheng Tingyan in a short time.
So she could only…
“Wait… you two…” Liu Ming was shocked. The two little ones were making gagging noises while forcing the mush down their throats, crying while drinking, crying while fighting over who got to drink, and stopping each other from drinking…
What was going on?
This bowl of mush was at most unpalatable, it couldn’t be hallucinogenic poison, could it?
In the brief moment Liu Ming was stunned, Cheng Tingyan and Wei Maomao had already taken several mouthfuls each, leaving only a little at the bottom of the bowl.
“Wait! Stop drinking!” Liu Ming rushed forward, disregarding the rule of not appearing on camera unless necessary and trying not to interfere with the filming. She snatched the bowl from Cheng Tingyan and swatted away Wei Maomao, who was trying to take another sip.
“…” Cheng Tingyan lifted her chin, swallowed hard a few times, forcing down the mush in her mouth. Her eyes were slightly red as she looked at the bowl in Liu Ming’s hand. “Just a little… left to finish.”
“I don’t want to eat it anymore. Don’t tell Daddy.” Wei Maomao lay on the table, lifeless.
Liu Ming: “…”
Just how bad was it…
Shi Hongxiao, who was frowning and filming the slumped little bunny on the table, suddenly sensed something was wrong. He instinctively shifted the camera, aiming it at… Liu Ming, who was tilting her head back and pouring the last bit of mush into her mouth.
Pfft!
Liu Ming couldn’t swallow it. The moment it entered her mouth, she spat it out.
“Ugh… Di… Director Wei… Ugh… Cough…” Liu Ming coughed, looking in shock at the mush she had reflexively spat onto the ground. The lingering fishy taste in her mouth made it difficult for her to speak properly.
Ah, what had she done, she had personally served poison to the little ones!
Liu Ming was consumed with regret, Shi Hongxiao silently turned the camera back to the slumped little dumpling.
The viewers in the live broadcast room were also… stunned.
“This… is it really that bad?”
“The ingredients all look normal, it’s just that besides a bit of salt, there’s no other seasoning.”
“Actually, it’s similar to how baby food is made, but Maomao is three years old now, she can eat some adult food, as long as it’s not too spicy or salty.”
“It shows how much she’s pampered, even at three, she’s still a baby.”
“… This, can’t really be considered pampering, looking at the reactions of the two little ones and the staff member, saying it’s not poisonous is already being polite.”
“It’s really not poisonous, he probably forgot to remove the fishy smell from the meat…”
“Right, Director Wei washed the vegetables for so long, he didn’t seem to wash any ginger, garlic, or scallions.”
“I saw in Cheng Feiying’s house, the ginger, garlic, and scallions were in a net bag under the stove, not on the countertop.”
“I also didn’t see Director Wei add any cooking wine, he just chopped everything and steamed it, so no wonder… I can imagine the gagging…”
…
Seeing the comments in the live broadcast room gradually becoming more scientific, with no one mentioning poison anymore, Zhang Shilan slowly breathed a sigh of relief.
The comment “It’s really not poisonous, he probably forgot to remove the fishy smell from the meat…” was posted by Zhang Shilan. In fact, earlier, when Wei Chengli was painstakingly washing and blanching the vegetables, she had already posted several comments about him forgetting to blanch the ginger, garlic, and scallions with the meat. But those comments, along with her later reminder when she saw that he didn’t add cooking wine before steaming the bowl, were quickly drowned out in the sea of other comments.
As expected, even if the staff saw the comments, they wouldn’t remind him…
The efforts Zhang Shilan could make outside the show were extremely limited and ineffective. She could only watch helplessly as her husband left a big bowl of terrifying food for their daughter…
When Wei Chengli first practiced cooking for Maomao, Zhang Shilan had the “pleasure” of tasting a mouthful of the meat stew without any fishy smell removed. It was so soul-crushing that she had no appetite for half a day.
Now, she could only pray that her clever daughter would decisively reject this dark cuisine after tasting a mouthful.
But Zhang Shilan didn’t expect that a small lie would have such a deterrent effect on her daughter.
Did she really want to stay on the show that much? She even drank so many mouthfuls of that stuff…
And Cheng Tingyan… What happened to being cold and having a bad temper? She even helped Maomao drink that stuff, was she an angel descended from heaven?
The other viewers in the live broadcast room, although they hadn’t had the “pleasure” of experiencing the power of that mush like Zhang Shilan, could fully imagine how terrible it was just by watching Yan Yan and Maomao force-feeding themselves as if they were taking medicine, and seeing the staff member in Maomao’s live broadcast room spit it out and gag for a long time.
“Compared to Director Wei’s mush, CEO Shen’s noodles and Wen Xiang’s steamed eggs, although simple, are really normal food.”
“Looking at it this way, Cheng Feiying putting mushrooms in all four dishes and the soup doesn’t seem that excessive…”
“??? Director Wei’s cooking skills are a bit rubbish, but don’t lump him, who messed up with good intentions, together with Cheng Feiying, who deliberately put mushrooms in every dish knowing Yan Yan doesn’t like them.”
“Suddenly I feel like it’s okay for children to be a little picky, watching Yan Yan and Maomao drink that mush like medicine makes my heart ache…”
“It seems that all adults are like this, when they can’t control their children, they lie to them, poor Maomao, what has she been eating every day just to stay on the show.”
“This must be a momentary lapse for Director Wei, he’s just too slow, if he had finished earlier and tasted it himself before giving it to Maomao, he probably wouldn’t have let her eat this, right?”
“The person above is right, the dads’ tasks are almost finished, Director Wei just received new ingredients – ginger, his face turned white, he’s asking the staff if Maomao is awake and if she has eaten the mush.”
“Hahaha, I saw it too, Director Wei doesn’t look good at all now, he probably remembered that he didn’t remove the fishy smell from the meat.”
“I’m dying of laughter, even though they’re doing their tasks separately, it’s like watching a drama series, you have to watch several screens at the same time, now the staff member on the other side is calling the staff member on this side.”
“Hahaha, Director Wei is anxiously rubbing the ginger, the ginger’s skin is almost all peeled off.”
…
Back at the small courtyard where the Wei family was staying, after being assaulted by the fishy smell from a small mouthful of mush and gagging several times, Liu Ming tearfully carried Wei Maomao down from the stone table and took her and Cheng Tingyan to the sink.
After rinsing their mouths with three big bowls of water, Liu Ming finally managed to suppress the lingering taste.
“So fishy.” Liu Ming grumbled, still rinsing her mouth, unable to help but complain.
“So bland.” Cheng Tingyan commented expressionlessly.
“…” Wei Maomao thought for a moment and concluded, “So bad.”
After rinsing their mouths, Liu Ming still felt a strange taste lingering, and looking at the two little ones, their eyes red and faces pale, looking utterly miserable, it made her heart ache.
Liu Ming disregarded the employee code of conduct, rushed into the crowd of staff, and managed to get three plum candies by hook or by crook. She popped one into her own mouth and stuffed one each into the mouths of the two little ones.
Finally, the sweet and sour taste of the plum candy suppressed the strange mushy taste in their mouths.
Only then did Liu Ming have the energy to look at the stove and said angrily, “I’m going to throw away the rest of the food in the pot.”
“…” Wei Maomao, standing next to Liu Ming, reached out her chubby paw and grabbed her pants leg. She sucked on the sour lemon candy, swallowing the sweet and sour juice before looking up and saying, “Daddy said not to waste food.”
“It’s so bad, you still want…” Liu Ming, recalling how the two little ones had fought over the mush, was so shocked that the candy almost fell out of her mouth.
Wei Maomao blinked her eyes innocently and said, “We’ve already eaten it.”
“…” Liu Ming was stunned for a moment, then her eyes lit up, and she slapped her thigh. “Right, let’s save it for Director Wei, let him have a taste himself. I’ll put it in the fridge.” Not to mention, there were still many cooking segments for the dads in the future, she couldn’t just watch Maomao eat this, she had to be a decent human being!
Wei Maomao released Liu Ming’s pants leg. She had already eaten it, so she just endured it. But Yan Yan had also eaten it… and she had even cried… Wei Maomao felt that Wei Chengli’s dinner needed to be “taken care of.”
Actually, if it was just Wei Maomao herself, she would probably have stopped eating after one taste. After all, the mush Wei Chengli normally made, besides being a bit bland due to lack of salt, wasn’t that bad. Even if she didn’t finish this failed product, Wei Chengli couldn’t take her home because of it. But Wei Maomao really didn’t expect Cheng Tingyan, after misunderstanding that Wei Chengli was like Cheng Feiying, using forcing his child to eat food she didn’t like as a method of control and education, to go to such lengths to help her.
Wei Maomao felt conflicted. On the one hand, she didn’t want Cheng Tingyan’s misunderstanding to grow and become more and more distorted, but on the other hand, she clearly felt that after just a few mouthfuls of mush, Cheng Tingyan had become closer to her, closer in every sense of the word.
Before, they had always kept a two-step distance, and the few times they had touched, it was through a handkerchief.
But now…
Wei Maomao moved her left hand slightly, and she felt Cheng Tingyan’s warmth and grip.
While they were rinsing their mouths, Cheng Tingyan had naturally taken her hand.
After two lifetimes, this was the first time they had held hands. Wei Maomao’s heart was pounding, but she also felt guilty because Cheng Tingyan’s initiative was based on a misunderstanding.
She wasn’t like Cheng Tingyan thought, someone being oppressed and hurt by her father.
But…
Wei Maomao turned her head. Cheng Tingyan was also looking at her, her clear and pure eyes filled only with her, overflowing with worry, heartache, and the determination to protect her.
“My dad, his cooking isn’t usually this bad…” Wei Maomao didn’t want to lie, even though she was reluctant to let go of this closeness, she still forced herself to speak.
“Don’t be afraid.” Cheng Tingyan reached out, hesitated in mid-air, and gently poked Wei Maomao’s dimple. She lowered her voice and said, “I’ll eat with you next time, I’ll…”
Cheng Tingyan didn’t finish her sentence, interrupted by the vibrating sound of the phone by the stove.
But Wei Maomao could guess from the determination in her eyes that the unfinished sentence was probably “I’ll protect you.”
What a tempting misunderstanding.
Speaking of which, as soon as Liu Ming brought the bowl with the remaining mush from the stove and sealed it with plastic wrap, her phone started vibrating crazily in her pocket, bumping against the side of the stove several times.
Shi Hongxiao’s camera shifted slightly, and the staff members in Wei Chengli’s and Wei Maomao’s live broadcast rooms connected via phone.
“Maomao? She’s already awake…”
“The food? She finished a whole bowl. Yan Yan also came over and ate some, both of them cried while eating.”
“Yes, he didn’t remove the fishy smell…”
“How do I know? I also tasted a mouthful, almost died on the spot. Oh right, I saved the rest for Director Wei’s dinner.”
Liu Ming ended the brief call.
Not far away, Wei Maomao resisted the urge to give her a thumbs-up.
In Wei Chengli’s live broadcast room, the staff member relayed the message truthfully.
The man who was anxiously waiting immediately slumped in defeat.
The audience in the live broadcast room sighed.
“It seems that Director Wei is quite pitiful, he seems to have already realized he has lost Maomao’s love, hahaha.”
“Of course, when the staff member said she was going to throw away the food, Maomao stopped her. Sharing the hardship is what true father and daughter do.”
“Hahaha, you can’t say that about our Maomao, how could a three-year-old have any bad intentions, she was just afraid that Daddy would be hungry at night!”
“Maomao is such a caring little padded jacket, make sure Director Wei finishes that bowl tonight!”
“Yan Yan doesn’t seem picky here, she drank several mouthfuls of the mush that made the staff member throw up after one bite.”
“Yan Yan is really… I’m going to cry… She was helping Maomao drink it, the mushrooms at her house looked normal and even a bit delicious, but she didn’t touch a single one, this mush is full of mushrooms, and it’s so bad, yet she drank it so much!”
“A child’s affection is truly pure, I doubt I could swallow it if I were her.”
“It’s not about whether you can swallow it, but whether you feel it’s necessary to eat it…”
“But Cheng Tingyan is also quite something, she has never been nice to Rongrong, she even refused the egg her own sister gave her this morning, but she’s so good to a child she just met, sharing a bowl of bad food, she really can’t differentiate between close and distant relationships.”
“Excuse me, but what do you mean close and distant relationships? Do you love all your relatives? Do all your friends have to be ranked below them? Maomao stood up for Yan Yan, protected her house, Yan Yan shared Maomao’s bad food, trying to help her stay, what does Cheng Rongrong have to do with any of this?”
“But Rongrong is also nice to Yan Yan, giving her eggs, always wanting to walk with her, remembering her for everything…”
“Children are the most sensitive, you know, self-preservation? The kindness they can feel is the real kindness.”
…
The arguments in the live broadcast room became increasingly heated, but it didn’t affect the filming in the distant village at all.
Wei Maomao obediently snuggled up to Cheng Tingyan, watching Liu Ming take the big bowl out of the stove and seal it with plastic wrap, feeling a bit melancholic.
In her previous life, she and Cheng Tingyan had agreed to meet at the entrance of a Western restaurant.
If it hadn’t been for that accident, their first meal together after meeting would have been a nice Western meal.
In the three years that followed, Wei Maomao hadn’t eaten Western food again, she even wanted to avoid it when she saw it from afar.
Starting over in this life, Wei Maomao had thought that their first meal together would be at the grand feast table arranged by the program team, with all kinds of delicious food. She could peel a bowl of shrimp for her, or mix a bowl of salad for her, at least… she could serve her a bowl of soup… just like they had said in their online chats many years ago.
Wei Maomao had thought about many things, had many expectations, expectations that had been brewing for a long time.
But she didn’t expect that their first meal together would be this…
There was a lot of disappointment, but… also some strange satisfaction.
They had finally met, had finally eaten together, and had even… held hands.
It was like a beautiful dream, making up for what they hadn’t been able to achieve in their previous life.
But would this dream… wake up soon…
Wei Maomao couldn’t help but tighten her grip on her left hand.
“Don’t worry, that sister said it wasn’t for you to eat.” Cheng Tingyan, also looking at the big bowl, gently squeezed the little chubby paw back, and couldn’t resist poking the little dimple on the paw with her finger.
That sister… Oh, right!
“Yan Yan, that’s Sister Liu Ming.” Wei Maomao pointed to Liu Ming by the stove and introduced. “Daddy said Sister Liu Ming will take care of me when he can’t. But I can go to the toilet and take a bath by myself, am I good?”
Cheng Tingyan looked over when she heard that.
The little chubby bunny, tilting her head up slightly, her eyes sparkling, looked at her as if seeking praise.
Maomao was definitely different from Cheng Rongrong…
Cheng Tingyan once again clearly recognized this, and then she spoke.
“Maomao, you call her sister, why don’t you call me sister?” Cheng Tingyan wanted a chubby bunny younger sister, one who was much, much, much cuter than Rongrong, a whole world cuter.
Poor Wei Maomao, who had worked hard to use her cuteness to start the conversation, was formulating her next move, planning to smoothly steer the topic towards the fact that the Cheng family also had a staff member with the same responsibilities, so that Cheng Tingyan could avoid being dragged into taking a bath with Cheng Rongrong that night under the excuse of needing help. In her previous life, the fall Cheng Rongrong took had been in a blind spot of the cameras, something Cheng Tingyan couldn’t clarify even after many years.
But Wei Maomao was caught off guard by Cheng Tingyan’s question before she could finish planning.
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