Chapter 43
Getting onto the table was slow, but getting off was lightning fast.
Wei Chengli’s outstretched hand of friendship barely served as a safety measure. Within two seconds, Wen Dongyu was already standing on the ground.
“I’m sorry, Uncle Wei… I don’t eat pork.” Wen Dongyu fidgeted with his fingers, embarrassed.
“Oh, you don’t eat pork, what’s there to be sorry about?” Wei Chengli looked at the minced pork with tofu and the stir-fried dried bean curd sheets with pork on the table, coughing awkwardly. “Should I cook some noodles for you? My scallion oil noodles this morning turned out alright.”
“No need to trouble you, Uncle Wei, I’ll eat the bun… Eh, where’s my bun?” Wen Dongyu looked at his empty hands, patted his empty pockets, confused.
“That half of a red bean bun you were holding earlier? Didn’t the pig bite it? I took it, I casually…” Wei Chengli vaguely gestured towards the piglet squatting on the ground. As he gestured, he suddenly realized something and turned to Wen Dongyu in surprise. “How come you don’t eat pork? You ate it yesterday, didn’t you? Your dad said he made you steamed eggs with minced pork yesterday for lunch, it was delicious, he even taught me how to make it.”
“I’m starting today, no more pork.” Wen Dongyu lowered his head, rubbing his toes together. “Xixi is also a pig, I can’t eat pork.”
Wei Chengli understood. He was silent for a moment, then patted Wen Dongyu’s head and said gently, “Then I’ll make you some scallion oil noodles, it’ll be quick.”
“This is my pig, why aren’t you eating pork?” Wei Maomao scooped a big spoonful of minced meat with tofu and rice into her mouth, chewing. “Delicious.”
“Don’t talk with your mouth full, you eat first, we’ll be there soon.” Wei Chengli gently poked the little chubby dumpling’s puffed cheeks, quickly retracting his hand before she could swat him away. He then turned to Wen Dongyu. “Come on, our little Dongdong, come watch Uncle Wei make noodles, okay? I’ll add an egg for you, it’s delicious. Maomao ate a big bowl this morning.”
With that, Wei Chengli didn’t wait for Wen Dongyu’s answer, pulling him towards the stove.
Wei Maomao poked the tofu with rice in her bowl, thinking listlessly, that big bowl this morning wasn’t eaten by her.
Speaking of which, Wei Chengli took Wen Dongyu to the stove, rekindled the fire, filled a pot with water, and while waiting for the water to boil, he dipped his finger in the water spilled on the countertop and squatted down next to Wen Dongyu, who had been very quiet.
“Dongdong, look, the ‘Mao’ character in Wei Maomao’s name, it’s written like this.” Wei Chengli wrote the character “Mao” on the ground with water, then lowered his voice and continued, “This ‘Mao’ character, it also refers to the rabbit in the Chinese zodiac. When we named Maomao, her mom and I didn’t really make any agreement, but we both suddenly didn’t want to eat rabbit anymore. This not eating rabbit thing lasted until Maomao was born, maybe until she was around two years old? Once, I went out to eat with friends, there were many dishes, and I didn’t pay attention, hahaha, I ended up eating stir-fried rabbit, only realizing it after I had taken a bite. Well, I ate it, and it was actually quite delicious, I didn’t feel particularly uncomfortable. After that, I didn’t avoid dishes with rabbit anymore. After all, Maomao and rabbits are completely different. Do you understand what I mean? Sometimes, people might strongly dislike eating certain things because of some events, that’s okay, if you don’t want to eat it, you can temporarily avoid it. But, sometimes, we don’t have to be so strict with ourselves, look, life is so long, you’re still so young, you don’t have to decide to stop eating something starting today. If you feel uncomfortable eating it today, then don’t eat it. Maybe after a while, you’ll feel fine about it again, then you can eat it if you want to. After all, that… um, Xixi? It’s also different from the meat in dishes, right? They are all independent beings. Do you understand?”
Wei Chengli could sense that Wen Dongyu today was very different from the cheerful and silly one from yesterday. He hoped that his personal experience could offer some comfort to this unhappy child. But he was also afraid of sounding preachy, so he kept his head down, earnestly explaining while pointing at the “Mao” character on the ground. He spoke for so long that the water strokes almost dried up before finally looking up at Wen Dongyu.
He was stunned by what he saw. The child was staring at him with wide eyes, his small fists clenched protectively in front of him, leaning back defensively as if to distance himself. What was with this frightened look?
“Dongdong, are you okay?” Wei Chengli reached out to pat the child’s head.
“I…” Wen Dongyu stumbled back two steps, his back hitting the large water jar with a thud. “Rabbits… Rabbits are so cute… you eat rabbits!”
After uttering those trembling words, Wen Dongyu ran towards Wei Maomao at the table. “Boss, Boss, your dad eats rabbits! So scary!”
Wei Chengli: “… “ He didn’t even have time to tell him to keep it a secret from Maomao, this silly kid.
The silly child missed the point, leaving Wei Chengli speechless and slumped on the ground, while the viewers in the live broadcast room were deeply touched.
Why? Because of the contrast.
“Wow, even though Director Wei’s cooking is terrible, he’s actually quite a good person. Earlier, when Wen Dongyu told Wen Xiang he didn’t want to eat pork, Wen Xiang wasn’t as patient.”
“I can understand Wen Xiang’s reaction too. After painstakingly cooking two dishes, his son suddenly says he doesn’t eat pork and pulls out half a cold bun from the fridge, I would be angry too.”
“Wen Xiang also doesn’t pay attention to details. When they went back home, shouldn’t he have checked the leftovers from breakfast? If he noticed that only half a bun from Wen Dongyu’s breakfast was gone, he should at least talk to his son and figure out what was going on, right?”
“How could he not notice? Didn’t he glance at the dining table when they passed by on the way back? I think he was still angry that Dongdong kept arguing with him about money, borrowing and lending, that’s why he deliberately avoided talking to his son properly. Not to mention, Dongdong politely asked him to help heat up the bun, and he ignored him, otherwise, would Dongdong have come to Maomao’s house?”
“Was it Wen Dongyu who wanted to argue? Who started it last night? And from last night till now, how many of Wen Xiang’s fans are attacking everyone online, truly whoever shouts the loudest wins.”
“It’s really a case of ‘comparison is the thief of joy.’ Although Director Wei’s cooking is disastrous, and he loves to eat rabbits, he’s a good person.”
“Hahaha, someone save Director Wei, his cooking was actually decent this morning and at noon, can he ever shake off the label of ‘kitchen killer’?”
“Hahaha, what Director Wei said to Dongdong actually makes sense, but I suspect Dongdong only heard the part about eating rabbits, hahaha!”
…
As the viewers guessed, Wen Dongyu did indeed latch onto the “eating rabbits” part, completely missing Wei Chengli’s good intentions in sharing his personal experience to comfort him.
Wei Maomao kept shoveling food into her mouth while listening to Wen Dongyu rambling about eating rabbits.
What was wrong with eating rabbits? Although she didn’t eat them.
What was wrong with eating rabbits? Although her name had ‘rabbit’ in it.
This was the first time she learned that Wei Chengli and her mother had stopped eating rabbits for a while because of her name.
It was quite interesting.
Perhaps because of Wei Maomao’s indifferent reaction and the steady pace at which she was eating, Wen Dongyu’s initial excitement gradually faded.
“You don’t eat pork yourself, would you stop others from eating pork?” Wei Maomao asked slowly after he calmed down, casually popping a piece of stir-fried pork into her mouth.
Wen Dongyu shook his head. “Whether others eat it or not is their business.”
“Then why were you so surprised that others eat rabbit when you don’t?” Wei Maomao swallowed the meat and tilted her head. “Look at my dad, he eats when he wants to, doesn’t eat when he doesn’t, so free. You can also be that free, you don’t want to eat pork today, so you don’t eat it. Tomorrow, if you want to eat it, you can eat it.”
Wen Dongyu: “But I like Xixi…”
“What, do you think my dad loves me less than you love Wen Xixi?” Wei Maomao narrowed her eyes.
Wen Dongyu suddenly felt a chill run down his spine and shook his head frantically.
“My name is ‘bunny,’ and my dad still eats rabbits, what are you afraid of eating a little pork for?” Wei Maomao finished the last bite of food in her bowl. “The rabbit my dad eats isn’t me, and the pork you eat isn’t Xixi.”
“But you’re not a rabbit, and Xixi is a pig.” Wen Dongyu said stubbornly.
“Then don’t think of it as a pig.” Wei Maomao wiped her mouth and suddenly noticed a familiar figure in the alley outside the courtyard. Her eyes lit up, and she quickly climbed down from the stool.
Just as she was testing her chubby bunny agility, Wen Dongyu clapped his hands loudly, his voice filled with excitement as if he had a sudden realization. “I get it! You’re not a rabbit, you can be a human. Xixi isn’t a pig either, it can be a pig-man!”
What do you mean ‘can be’?
Thump!
Wei Maomao, caught off guard by this hilarious logic, fell to the ground.
Cheng Tingyan stepped into the courtyard and saw the little chubby bunny sprawled on the ground, her face twitching.
“Maomao!” Cheng Tingyan quickly ran over and pulled her up by the back of her collar.
A clean handkerchief wiped her dirty hands and feet, Cheng Tingyan blew on her reddened knee, and frowned. “How could you be so careless?”
How could she be so careless!
Wei Maomao pointed at Wen Dongyu accusingly. “It’s all his fault!”
This matter was a bit complicated to explain. Under Wei Maomao’s angry glare, Wen Dongyu had to start from the moment he went back home with Wen Xiang.
By the time he got to the origin of the “pig-man”, Wei Chengli had just brought the noodles over and happened to hear the last part.
Honestly, Wei Chengli had to admit defeat. He had been so logical and reasonable, yet he ended up scaring the child. On this side, these little ones, through their unintentional conversation, came up with a “pig-man”, and it seemed Wen Dongyu was much better now.
“Thank you, Uncle Wei.” Wen Dongyu politely took the spoon, stirred the noodles, and fished out a boiled egg.
“Cough… I wanted to fry an egg for you, but a boiled egg is safer.” Wei Chengli coughed awkwardly, then turned to Cheng Tingyan. “Yan Yan, have you eaten?”
Cheng Tingyan nodded.
“Are you full? Did he make braised pork with tofu and dried bean curd sheet and egg soup?” Wei Maomao confirmed.
Cheng Tingyan pursed her lips slightly and nodded again.
Wei Maomao was relieved, but the viewers in the live broadcast room were flipping tables.
“Full my ass! She barely ate anything, just some rice soaked in soup!”
“I’m so angry, who would have thought that even though there were no mushrooms in the ingredient bag, Cheng Feiying would have some dried shiitake mushrooms at home!”
“Ahhhh, I want to grab the little chubby bunny’s ears and shout at her, Cheng Feiying put mushrooms in the braised pork again!”
“Cheng Feiying really, he really wants to ‘correct’ Yan Yan’s ‘pickiness’ every meal.”
“I really don’t understand, does Cheng Feiying even know Yan Yan doesn’t like mushrooms? Is this ‘correction’ or ‘deliberate abuse’?”
“And Yan Yan, how can she be so tolerant? She doesn’t complain no matter what Cheng Feiying gives her, just picks out what she can eat. Look at Wen Dongyu, even in his misery, he still knows how to firmly say no to Wen Xiang, Yan Yan just endures, endures, endures!”
“Sigh, to put it inappropriately, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. At least Wen Dongyu got a bowl of noodles here, Yan Yan doesn’t say anything, so she just starves…”
“Thankfully Yan Yan came to find Maomao, at least she got a few bites of food and some fruit…”
…
The familiar small bowl, the familiar fruit.
Four small pieces of watermelon, before Wei Maomao could even savor the taste, they were gone.
“Daddy.” Wei Maomao pushed the watermelon bowl. “More.”
“No more. Little kids can’t eat too much watermelon in one go.” Wei Chengli was focused on eating.
Wei Maomao was furious. He said the same thing at home, and he was still saying it here, when would she ever achieve watermelon freedom! What was summer without watermelon freedom!
Just as the little chubby dumpling was fuming, her internal complaints almost materializing, a small bowl was pushed towards her.
Wei Maomao turned her head, Cheng Tingyan pointed at the three remaining pieces of watermelon in the bowl and smiled at her.
“Yan Yan, eat.” Wei Maomao pushed the bowl back.
Then, Wei Chengli, while eating, watched the two little ones start a bowl-pushing competition, truly, his teeth were on edge watching it. Right, he was the bad guy! Hmph!
Before Wen Dongyu, who had just finished his noodles and was eager to join the bowl-pushing game, could take action, Wei Maomao made a decisive decision, dividing the three pieces of watermelon into four and sharing two pieces each with Cheng Tingyan.
Wen Dongyu, missing out on the game, felt a bit disappointed, but quickly cheered up. He ate one piece himself, then picked up another, and finally pushed the bowl with the remaining two pieces towards Wei Chengli. “Uncle Wei, you eat. Watermelon is quite expensive, two pieces are enough for me.”
With that, Wen Dongyu, holding the watermelon piece, climbed down from the stool and squatted to the side, feeding the pig.
“You eat, how can watermelon be expensive in summer?” Wei Chengli was puzzled.
“At the convenience store, two hundred Baby Coins for one watermelon.” Cheng Tingyan explained softly.
“So expensive? That’s enough to buy two-thirds, oh, I mean more than half a pig… cough, I mean more than half a Xixi.” Wei Chengli, recalling the story of Shen Zilin buying the pig that Shen Jianghe told him while they were grinding beans earlier, exclaimed.
Wei Maomao was stunned for a moment, three hundred Baby Coins for a Wen Xixi? Where did Shen Zilin get the money?
Oh… the loan that could be repaid slowly from a formal institution.
“Dongdong, take it and eat, you don’t need Baby Coins for this.” Wei Chengli called out to Wen Dongyu, then couldn’t help but complain, “Aren’t watermelons provided every day? Two hundred Baby Coins for one watermelon, the program team is really shady, who would buy that?”
Cheng Tingyan glanced down at the empty bowl in front of the little chubby bunny, even the watermelon juice licked clean. Her eyes flickered, and she pursed her lips.
The midday sun was scorching, the program team gave them time for a lunch break.
Seeing that neither Wen Dongyu nor Cheng Tingyan showed any intention of going home for their nap, Wei Chengli went inside to tidy up, preparing to let the babies rest.
When he came back out after tidying up, he found… two more babies in the courtyard.
This… there weren’t enough beds, Wei Chengli pinched the bridge of his nose, troubled.
But he was worried prematurely, the two newcomers weren’t here for a nap.
Wen Jiangyue regretted it on the way there, she shouldn’t have given in to Cheng Rongrong’s persistent pleas and agreed to come find Cheng Tingyan and Wei Maomao with her.
Although the sight of the three-and-a-half-year-old little sister pleading with teary eyes was pitiful, Wen Jiangyue couldn’t shake off the image of Cheng Tingyan’s cold and somewhat awkward expression when she mentioned those “thirty-one yuan and seventy-five cents” at the convenience store.
But… as Cheng Rongrong said, what could a child like her possibly know? She just wanted to play with her sister.
From the mill to home, from finishing lunch to arriving at the Wei family’s courtyard, under Cheng Rongrong’s non-stop chatter, Wen Jiangyue’s conflicting thoughts clashed incessantly.
She had agreed to help Cheng Rongrong reconcile with her sister, but upon entering the courtyard and seeing Wei Maomao’s surprised gaze, Wen Jiangyue just wanted to melt into the wall and become a simple brick.
Cheng Rongrong felt a sudden release on her arm, the arm she had been holding was pulled away. She turned to see Wen Jiangyue, whom she had painstakingly persuaded to come with her, inching towards the courtyard wall.
“Wen Wen.” Cheng Rongrong reached out weakly.
Wen Jiangyue, with great effort, used her reason to suppress her urge to retreat. She stopped, forcing a smile at everyone present.
Although Wen Jiangyue had stopped moving away, she didn’t come back to stand beside her. Cheng Rongrong bit her tongue, suppressing her anger.
Useless.
“Wen Wen, you said you wanted to talk to my sister.” Cheng Rongrong continued, undeterred by Wen Jiangyue’s retreat.
“Yes…” Wen Jiangyue slowly approached Cheng Tingyan, the puzzled gazes from everyone making her palms sweat.
She had to be true to her word, it was too late to regret it, the sooner she said it, the sooner it would be over… Wen Jiangyue tried to encourage herself. Once she stood in front of Cheng Tingyan, she blurted out almost impatiently, “Cheng Rongrong asked me to tell you that she’s very envious of how close you are with Maomao. Cheng Rongrong said that the things she said before were all because she was too envious, she didn’t mean it.”
Silence.
“Cheng Rongrong said, you’re biological sisters, you should be closer than anyone else. She doesn’t know what to do to make you treat her like you treat Maomao.” Wen Jiangyue finished speaking, then added after a moment of thought, “That’s all, nothing else.”
Cheng Tingyan: “… “
Cheng Rongrong was also furious. Why did this person have to start every sentence with “Cheng Rongrong said,” couldn’t she process it herself before speaking? Was this reconciliation? Was this speaking up for her? This was robotic repetition!
Forget it, forget it, the things she told Wen Jiangyue weren’t meant to convince her, weren’t meant for a genuine reconciliation. It was just an excuse to bring her along, to let her, let the audience see, what a pitiful little sister she was, yearning for a good relationship with her older sister.
After Wen Jiangyue witnessed how she was being bullied, she would firmly stand on her side.
Cheng Rongrong tugged at the corner of her clothes, looking at Cheng Tingyan with a pitiful expression.
“Oh, you’re jealous of me.” Wei Maomao nodded, understanding.
Cheng Rongrong gritted her teeth, here came the three-year-old’s verbal assault.
“I’m not jealous of you… I just, just…” Cheng Rongrong lowered her head, pretending to be conflicted.
“You’re jealous of me.” Wei Maomao interrupted impatiently. “Yan Yan is very nice to you, you’re not nice at all.”
“Maomao, how could you say that!” Cheng Rongrong said tearfully.
“If I had a younger sister who said I was fierce, stole my house, and tried to trick me out of my popcorn, and she kept crying even though I didn’t do anything to her, I would spank her every day, three times a day!” Wei Maomao raised three fingers, smiling. “Yan Yan is truly too nice to you. You, you don’t know how to be grateful.”
Why did she have to remember so clearly and even give examples!
Cheng Rongrong suppressed her surprise and wiped her tears. “I didn’t say, I didn’t steal, I didn’t trick, I just like my sister, I want to be with her, but she always ignores me, only plays with you, I’m her younger sister, I’m sad… I just want her to acknowledge me…”
“My daddy said, if you like someone, you should think they are good, and be good to them. If you like someone but think they are bad, and you’re not good to them, that’s not called liking.” Wei Maomao said seriously, ignoring Wei Chengli, who was hiding inside the house and silently waving at her.
“What’s it called then?” Wen Dongyu and the pig poked their heads out from the side.
“It’s called PUA, it means deliberately bullying someone, then controlling their thoughts.” Wei Maomao pointed at the pig, giving an example. “Like if you scolded Wen Xixi every day, then gave it a steamed bun after scolding it, and said you loved it, and if it didn’t let you continue scolding it, it wouldn’t be a good pig.”
Note: PUA stands for Pick-Up Artist, but in this context, it refers to someone mentally controlling you and making you lose self-confidence.
“I’m not P..!” Wen Dongyu hugged the pig’s head tightly, afraid of it being taken away, only taking two steps before turning back to emphasize, “Xixi isn’t a pig, it’s a pig-man.”
The onlookers: “… “
“Maomao, I don’t understand, I didn’t bully my sister…” Cheng Rongrong shook her head, wiping her tears, cursing Wei Chengli in her heart. How could there be such a person, what was he teaching his daughter every day? A conversation between children had to be elevated to this level, how could she continue acting!
“Maomao.” Cheng Tingyan reached out and pulled the little chubby bunny, who was approaching Cheng Rongrong’s face step by step with every sentence.
Wei Maomao turned back.
Cheng Tingyan pursed her lips, pulling her back, then fell silent. She had actually grasped a bit of the meaning, that “PUA” thing. But she still shouldn’t say more. But she was also afraid that the little chubby bunny being so fierce would make others dislike her. After all… at home, whenever Rongrong cried, it was always her who suffered.
Wei Maomao saw Cheng Tingyan’s conflict. She certainly didn’t expect Cheng Tingyan to break free from the Cheng family’s psychological control so quickly. Honestly, it was enough as long as Cheng Tingyan didn’t dislike her for speaking like this.
“You bullied Yan Yan, and you still want her to be nice to you…” Wei Maomao didn’t see any displeasure in Cheng Tingyan’s eyes. When she turned back to face Cheng Rongrong, her courage grew. “Dream on!”
Wei Chengli had already retreated quickly when the little chubby bunny started talking about “PUA”, going back to the inner room to continue tidying up the already tidy bed.
He had figured it out, when this little one was fighting for her Yan Yan, her relentless attacks were unstoppable.
Tsk, but young kids learn fast. He had only casually mentioned it once, and the little one actually remembered it, even pronouncing it correctly.
But Wei Chengli wasn’t just avoiding the little chubby bunny’s firepower by staying inside.
As the saying goes, “Observers see more clearly.” The moral kidnapping outside was a bit too much. Wei Chengli couldn’t bring himself to play along just for the sake of saving face when he knew it was wrong.
Forget it, Maomao wasn’t new to this anyway, let her win for now.
Wei Chengli pretended to make the bed for a while, only coming back out when the voices outside subsided.
Cheng Rongrong was gone, but Wen Jiangyue was still there.
Wei Chengli stepped out of the room, looking at Cheng Tingyan sitting on the deck chair in the courtyard, and couldn’t help but sigh again. Bullying someone felt good for a moment, but bullying the younger one would bring the older one… After Cheng Tingyan went back, what should he do…
“Come here, Daddy has something to tell you.” Wei Chengli scooped up the little rascal and carried her into the bedroom.
Leave a Reply