Chapter 47
Energy, the more you use it, the less you have left.
Wei Chengli drank the water offered by the little stinky dumpling, enjoyed her leg massage, and discussed the secret to her hundred percent success rate in the next few rounds with her, until Cheng Tingyan brought the Cheng family’s score to fourteen, only then did he slowly get up.
The little stinky dumpling had already run towards their own flower, standing next to her beloved Yan Yan. Wei Chengli followed behind, watching her eager figure, and couldn’t help but snort.
But then, seeing Shi Hongxiao eagerly following the little dumpling with his camera, Wei Chengli’s eyes flickered, and he changed his course, catching up to them.
After a brief whisper, Wei Chengli got back on the stationary bike.
Cheng Feiying’s panting next to him sounded like an old ox pulling a cart, Wei Chengli admired his perseverance, but showed no mercy in his pedaling.
Soon, with the little dumpling’s two accurate hits, the two families were tied again.
For the last charge, Wei Chengli pedaled hard a few times, then lifted his head, watching the illuminated petals and controlling his speed.
Standing in the center of the flower, Wei Maomao simply thought that Wei Chengli was deliberately slowing down to keep pace with the Cheng family, waiting for Cheng Feiying. She felt that this guy, sometimes, was quite decent.
Wei Maomao mentally praised her father’s competence, unaware that countless praises had already been showered upon him in the live broadcast room.
“Hahaha, Director Wei, as expected of a director, he knows what he’s doing!”
“Director Wei knows how to adapt, he can’t compete with Yan Yan, so he’s using Yan Yan to compete, he’s truly capable!”
“To win more love from CEO Mao, Director Wei is really working hard.”
“Right now, pedaling that little bike, Director Wei must be imagining how to take credit later. He’s probably already envisioning our CEO Mao throwing herself into his arms, praising him in a sweet voice, ‘Daddy is so good, I love Daddy the most~~.’”
“Hahaha, I’m also imagining it, oh my god, the little chubby bunny throwing herself into his arms, just thinking about it makes me happy!”
“Don’t get your hopes up, okay? Our CEO Mao sometimes says one thing but means another, have you forgotten that photo of the little white flower Director Wei printed? CEO Mao completely ignored him, hahaha, then carefully put it away herself. What cute bunny hug, I suggest Director Wei doesn’t get ahead of himself, hahaha.”
“Hey, hey, here it comes, here it comes, hahaha, Director Wei’s speed control is amazing! Both flowers lit up completely at the same time!”
“So our CEO Mao’s second live stream cameraman is called Xiao Shi, Xiao Shi’s angle is great! He captured Maomao and Yan Yan looking so bright and cute!”
“So Director Wei’s winning strategy tonight is to print another photo of them together? Handling his daughter, Director Wei is a professional!”
“A photo together would be great! But considering Director Wei’s family status, I can only offer the first half of the sentence, he better not try to ‘handle’ her, it’s not looking good, he’ll just be asking for trouble…”
…
Both scoreboards next to each other showed fifteen. Wei Chengli mentally praised himself for his speed control.
Just as he relaxed his body, letting the bike wheels gradually come to a stop with inertia, a girl’s voice, filled with concern, reached his ears.
“Daddy, you worked hard, drink some water.”
Ah, such familiar words, Wei Chengli looked forlornly at the little rascal who had immediately run to stand next to Yan Yan.
Hmph… Calling for Daddy when she needs something, going to Yan Yan when she doesn’t!
Wei Chengli snorted inwardly, turning his head to the left. Cheng Feiying was still sitting on the bike, leaning forward, one hand on the handlebars, the other holding a bottle of mineral water, guzzling it down, while Cheng Rongrong stood below, looking at her father with concern.
“Brother Cheng…” Wei Chengli frowned slightly, unable to hold back his words.
Cheng Feiying, hearing his voice, immediately straightened up, using his free hand to give Wei Chengli a thumbs up, smiling nonchalantly, and interrupting, “Young people, they’re different! Impressive, impressive!”
“It’s not…” Seeing Cheng Feiying was about to take another gulp of water, Wei Chengli quickly stopped him. “You can’t drink a lot of water right after strenuous exercise, you have to drink slowly, small sips at a time.”
Cheng Feiying’s hand, already halfway to his mouth, froze. In that moment of hesitation, the water spilled out of the bottle due to inertia, splashing all over his face.
Wei Chengli: “…”
“Heh… Hehe… I’m not drinking a lot, I’m just hot, I’ll wash my face.” Cheng Feiying wiped the water from his face, still trying to appear nonchalant, but everyone, those who should and shouldn’t have seen, saw the obvious stiffness on his face for a moment.
Ah, this kind of person who cares so much about saving face, scary…
Wei Chengli forced a smile and made a few perfunctory remarks, then got off the bike and quickly walked away.
Thinking about having to follow the Cheng family, follow Cheng Feiying, for several more tasks, Wei Chengli’s hands itched.
It was hot, the dumpling needed a spanking.
Wei Chengli, who didn’t have a daughter to offer him water, picked up the half-empty bottle of water he had left on the ground next to the bike and ran towards the two flowers.
“Yan Yan, what are you wiping?” Wei Chengli had seen Cheng Tingyan squatting behind the little stinky dumpling for a while, and when he ran over, he saw that she was wiping the little stinky dumpling’s leg with a handkerchief.
“Soy sauce?” Cheng Tingyan sniffed the handkerchief in her hand and answered hesitantly.
Wei Chengli also squatted down and saw a brown stain on the little chubby leg. Aww, what happened! When did this happen! He didn’t even notice!
“Oh, at the food task, the table, I bumped into a plate.” Wei Maomao tilted her head and thought for a moment. “A black one.”
At the “Food” stage, Wei Maomao had been so focused on running back and forth that she only glanced back when a plate was knocked over at the next table. Now, she couldn’t even remember what was on that black plate.
From “Food” to “Housing”, and now they had finished “Transportation”, he hadn’t even noticed? Wei Chengli felt guilty.
“It’s dried, I can’t wipe it off.” Cheng Tingyan put away the dirty handkerchief and took out a clean one. “I’ll go ask the staff for some water, I need to wet the handkerchief to wipe it.”
“I have some.” Wei Chengli, who was feeling guilty, offered the half-empty bottle of water in his hand.
Cheng Tingyan held the handkerchief, pursed her lips, and didn’t take it.
“Oh, oh, oh, give me the handkerchief, I’ll wipe it for her.” Wei Chengli misunderstood Cheng Tingyan’s silence, quickly offering his hand, not forgetting to complain, “You little messy dumpling…”
“No…” Cheng Tingyan didn’t hand over the handkerchief, instead, she took a step back with a troubled expression, her face reddening. Finally, she managed to speak, “Uncle Wei, you… you’ve already drunk from that bottle, haven’t you…”
“Yes.” Wei Chengli shook the bottle. “There’s still half a bottle left, isn’t it enough?”
“Daddy, don’t wash my feet with your saliva.” Wei Maomao understood Cheng Tingyan’s meaning before she even spoke. After all, Cheng Tingyan was a bit of a neat freak when she grew up.
“Oh, oh, oh…” Wei Chengli nodded, watching Cheng Tingyan leave, then turned around and pinched the little rascal’s chubby leg. “I’ll wash your feet with my saliva, I’ll even wash your hands with it!”
Seeing the little rascal running around, shrieking as he chased her with the half-empty water bottle, the slight embarrassment on Wei Chengli’s face gradually faded.
But… come to think of it, something he hadn’t noticed while carrying the little rascal the whole way was spotted by Yan Yan first.
Yan Yan… Wei Chengli looked at Cheng Tingyan, who was running towards them with water from the staff, it seemed he couldn’t blame the little rascal for always thinking about her.
Because Wei Maomao successfully exchanged maps with Shen Zilin, the next task location for both the Wei and Cheng families was “Firewood.”
The “Transportation” task had taken quite some time. Wei Maomao roughly estimated that it was almost as long as the “Food” and “Housing” tasks combined.
So…
When they arrived at the “Firewood” courtyard and found a family already doing the task inside, Wei Maomao was quite surprised.
Wei Maomao had checked several other maps earlier and found that although the program team said they were assigning order to avoid collisions, the order was very simple, just choosing one of the eight necessities, “firewood, rice, oil, salt, clothing, food, housing, transportation” as the starting point, then following the sequence.
Cheng Tingyan said that there was no one at the “Transportation” location when they arrived.
So the family inside either finished or forfeited the “Transportation” task early, or their first task was “Firewood”…
Regardless of which one it was, this “Firewood” task couldn’t be harder than “Transportation,” right? After all, “Transportation” almost took half of Cheng Feiying’s life.
Wei Maomao secretly glanced at Cheng Feiying, who was taking every opportunity to rest against the wall nearby, and suddenly felt that sometimes, it was quite satisfying to let people she disliked complete their tasks smoothly.
However, this brief moment of satisfaction couldn’t make up for the disappointment that followed.
“The situation is like this, because each task location can only accommodate a maximum of two families, if it’s full, the families arriving later have to wait in line. But it’s okay, we’ll time the waiting families, and in the end, when everyone reaches the finish line, we’ll deduct the waiting time from their total time, then determine the final ranking. So don’t worry if you’re asked to wait.” The staff member said kindly.
How could they not worry! Was this just about the ranking!
Wei Maomao clenched her fists, looking at the half-open courtyard gate.
She had finally caught up with Yan Yan, but now she had to wait here for the family inside to finish before they could enter and do the task…
Weren’t they going to be separated again!
“Hey, hey, Baby, don’t bite your lip, you’ll bite it open.” Wei Chengli picked up the little chubby dumpling, who was so angry that her fur was almost standing on end, and shook her vigorously. “It’s okay, didn’t they say Wang Zhizhi and his dad have been inside for a long time, they’ll probably be out soon.”
Yes, the other family inside was Wang Qingchuan and Wang Zhizhi. According to the staff, they had completed “Transportation” as their first task, this was their second.
Wei Maomao didn’t think Wang Zhizhi and his dad would be out soon. After all, they weren’t slow at the “Food” stage, and the Cheng family was even faster at the “Housing” stage, but when the Cheng family arrived at the “Transportation” location, Wang Zhizhi and his dad had already finished throwing fifteen sandbags and left. In other words, the Wang family was faster than both of them at completing the “Transportation” task. But such a fast family had been stuck here for so long, was there something wrong with this task?
Putting aside the task itself, the key problem now was, it would have been great if they had entered first. Wei Maomao felt that Wei Chengli was quite cooperative today, if they had gone in first, they could have taken their time with the task and waited for Yan Yan.
Sigh, just a few steps short, so frustrating!
“Oh dear, didn’t I tell you not to bite your lip? Look at your cheeks, aww, so puffed up like a hamster… If you get any angrier, your eyes are going to pop out!” Wei Chengli poked the little chubby dumpling’s soft, puffed-up cheeks, chuckling. “Be angry all you want, but let me make this clear first, you three little ones walked ahead, it’s your own fault for dawdling with Yan Yan, that’s why Rongrong entered the courtyard first, don’t blame me.”
“Hmph!” Wei Maomao turned her head away, refusing to admit her careless mistake.
They waited and waited, but Wang Zhizhi still didn’t come out… Wei Maomao felt like ten years had passed, only to be told it had only been five minutes.
The “Firewood” task sounded very simple.
There were two scales in the courtyard.
The baby would earn a Baby Coin for finding four kilograms of firewood.
The dad would earn a Daddy Coin for finding eight kilograms of firewood.
If the firewood found by the baby and the dad combined weighed twenty kilograms, they would complete the task and receive the stamp for the “Firewood” stage.
Of course, the Cheng family had an extra child. Earlier, when they entered, they had to choose whether to have the two babies take turns searching, or to add five kilograms to the twenty kilogram requirement, allowing the two babies to search together.
Because the Wang family had been inside for a long time, Cheng Feiying cautiously chose to take turns. Perhaps to appear democratic, he even asked Cheng Tingyan and Cheng Rongrong for their opinions. Cheng Rongrong’s choice aligned with Cheng Feiying’s, while Cheng Tingyan chose to add five kilograms. Although the majority ruled in the end, Wei Maomao could clearly see that Cheng Feiying’s already tired and unhappy expression worsened.
This was also one of the reasons why her five-minute wait felt like ten years.
Thankfully, through the gap in the half-open courtyard gate, Wei Maomao could see Cheng Tingyan waiting patiently by the scale under the eaves, otherwise, her five minutes would probably feel like fifty years.
“Daddy, can you see how much the Wang family has found?” Wei Maomao pulled Wei Chengli to the door, pointing at the scale where some firewood had already been piled.
Wood was quite heavy, Wei Chengli looked at the thin layer of twigs on the scale and estimated conservatively, “At least ten kilograms?”
The staff member squatting next to them, timing their wait, looked up and said, “Six kilograms and four hundred grams.”
“Only six kilograms and four hundred grams after so long?” Wei Chengli was shocked.
The staff member smiled without saying anything.
Looking at the knowing smile on the staff member’s face, Wei Maomao had a feeling that the program team might have set them up in this stage too.
“Brother, can I go in and have a look? I won’t look for firewood, I’ll just stand with Yan Yan for a while.” Wei Maomao said sweetly, pushing Wei Chengli further away and promising, “My dad won’t go in, I’ll leave him to you.”
Wei Chengli: “… “
“Cough, cough, cough… Heh… cough, cough…” The staff member didn’t dare to look at Director Wei’s liver-colored face, even stifling his laughter behind coughs.
To maintain the complete set of guests on the show, the three-year-old little dumpling was allowed in.
“You can’t go inside the house to look for firewood, or we’ll have to pull you out.” The staff member opened the courtyard gate, repeatedly reminding her.
Wei Chengli watched with a cold smile as the little rascal nodded and dashed inside.
“Daddy, I’ll wait for you!” Wei Maomao suddenly turned back.
“Hmph.” Wei Chengli turned his head away, pretending to ignore her, but in the next second, he heard footsteps approaching. He turned back to see the little stinky dumpling running inside without looking back.
Heh, that’s just like you, my heartless baby!
Angry as he was, in the brief moment the courtyard gate opened and closed, Wei Chengli quickly scanned the courtyard.
He was mainly looking at the stove area that was blocked by the gate earlier. It seemed quite clean, with no firewood piled up, he wondered if there was any unburned firewood under the stove.
Wei Chengli kept this in mind, planning to check it out once he went in.
Like Wei Chengli, Wei Maomao also started observing as soon as she entered the courtyard.
Judging from its condition, this courtyard was similar to the one where they were staying, just a bit tidier? The courtyard was empty.
The key was, unlike their courtyard, which had two trees, there wasn’t a single tree here, directly eliminating the option of chopping wood.
Looking at the house, there were only a few rooms, Wang Zhizhi and his dad had been here long enough to thoroughly search them, right?
Enough firewood for two families, at least forty kilograms? To be safe, it should be more than forty kilograms, and they had only found a little over six kilograms… Where was the rest?
Stuffed inside the stove? Hidden on the roof? Under the bedding?
Was it really that difficult? Could the Wang family be the first ones to come to “Firewood”, had no one been here before…
Wei Maomao walked and observed, thinking, trying to find some clues.
From the entrance to Cheng Tingyan, the only thing Wei Maomao passed by was the stove.
She carefully adjusted her course, squatting down briefly as she passed the stove.
Oh, nothing, the space under the stove was clean, not even any ash.
Wait…
Something seemed to be missing.
Wei Maomao, having already passed the stove, instinctively looked back.
Huh?
There wasn’t even a wok?
Cheng Tingyan had been looking at the courtyard gate for a while. She was both surprised and delighted when the little chubby bunny entered, but her little chubby feet were really too slow, she had been waiting for a long time before she finally reached her.
“What are you looking at? You’ve been staring for so long?” Cheng Tingyan took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from the little chubby bunny’s face. “The sun is so strong, why didn’t you come here quickly, it’s shady here.”
“This place is so strange, the cooking area doesn’t have a wok, only a hole.” Wei Maomao, still deep in thought, pointed at the stove.
“Hole…” Cheng Tingyan pointed to the side of the courtyard gate, then at a spot near the wall where they were standing. “There, and here, there’s also a hole on the ground.”
Wei Maomao: ???
Looking closely at the spots Cheng Tingyan pointed at, she saw it!
That hole by the wall… Wei Maomao stretched out her chubby paws, trying to estimate its size. Based on its location and width, didn’t it look like a tree had been dug out…
They couldn’t have dug out all the trees in the courtyard just for a task, just to prevent them from chopping wood, right?
“Yan Yan, what do you think that hole looks like?” Wei Maomao sought more opinions.
“Like a tree, that was dug out?” Cheng Tingyan had been standing there bored, observing for a while. There was a tree planted in a similar spot in the courtyard where they were staying.
They agreed, this courtyard seemed even stranger.
Just then, the door across from them opened, and Cheng Rongrong came out.
“Older sister, you go find some.” Cheng Rongrong stood by the scale obediently.
Wei Maomao: “… “
Cheng Tingyan gently squeezed the little chubby bunny’s hand and went inside.
“Maomao, aren’t you doing the task later? Why are you here?” Cheng Rongrong turned to Wei Maomao and said meaningfully, “Coming in early is…”
“Sister Rongrong, you didn’t find any firewood?” Wei Maomao glanced at her slightly dirty hands and took a step back, making her disdain obvious.
Cheng Rongrong, hurt by Wei Maomao’s action, subconsciously wiped the dirt on her clothes.
Then she saw the annoying chubby girl, with a smirk, backing further and further away…
Cheng Rongrong felt like she was going to explode from this silent rejection.
“Maomao.” Cheng Tingyan, who had only been inside for less than half a minute, suddenly opened the door and came out. She only saw Cheng Rongrong, then continued, “You go find some.”
“It’s already my turn?” Cheng Rongrong glanced at Cheng Tingyan’s still clean hands, lowered her head, and mumbled in a pitiful voice, “Okay, it’s a bit dirty inside…”
At such a young age, she didn’t forget to throw her sister under the bus at every opportunity, did she!
Seeing this clearly, Wei Maomao took a few steps forward, ready to retort, but Cheng Tingyan, who was also walking towards her quickly, grabbed her hand.
“Maomao, I have something to tell you.” Cheng Tingyan whispered into the little chubby bunny’s ear.
It had been years since Wei Maomao had someone whisper in her ear like this, and the person doing it was Cheng Tingyan…
The warm breath tickled her ear, making her momentarily forget that she was about to confront Cheng Rongrong…
Cheng Rongrong, head bowed, obediently entered the house. But no one at the scene felt sorry for her, and the viewers in the live broadcast room didn’t follow her lead and criticize Cheng Tingyan as she had expected.
“After watching this courtyard for so long through the Wang family’s camera, I think our guesses are right, hahaha. What’s interesting is that I think Yan Yan also figured it out.”
“Hahaha, Wang Qingchuan, please stop moving the water jars, I beg you, I don’t think the program team would bury the firewood under the water jars, how is Teacher Wen Qiming going to get them out later?”
“We should be worried about Cheng Feiying, hahaha, why is he helping Wang Qingchuan lift the water jars! Wasn’t it electricity that was generated by the stationary bikes, not your brain…”
“Cheng Feiying is really trying hard to complete the task. Cheng Rongrong even crawled under the bed for the firewood… But intelligence, it’s really not something you can acquire through effort.”
“The program team is still the worst, why are they so mean! I think this is a trap for those who are rule-abiding and honest! Poor Wang Qingchuan, he worked so hard and finished ‘Transportation’ so quickly, only to be stuck at this seemingly simplest stage.”
“Although we’re just guessing, I think even if the program team’s answer isn’t what we think, they can’t deny our solution.”
“Right, who says firewood has a fixed form, anything that can burn can be called firewood!”
“Hahaha, the program team can’t really be accused of bullying honest people, it’s just a fixed mindset. Look at how honest Yan Yan is, she came in, looked around, touched something, then went out to find Maomao, I think she also figured it out.”
“Yes! She figured it out! Yan Yan said it!”
…
“You’re saying, no one lives here?” Wei Maomao asked in surprise.
“Mmm.” Cheng Tingyan nodded. “The bedsheets and duvet cover are all new and stiff, they haven’t been washed, they smell very new. But there’s a lot of dust on the bedside table. The clothes in the closet smell musty, there’s dried mud in the bowls on the table. Especially, there are a lot of things piled up on the table, in the cabinets, on the shelves, but no food. Not a single bit of food.”
“There’s no wok either.” Wei Maomao pointed at the stove, then at the hole in the ground. “It’s like they moved away, and took the trees with them.”
“Maomao, do you think…” Cheng Tingyan lowered her voice hesitantly. “Do they still want those things they didn’t take with them?”
Wei Maomao thought she knew where the firewood was, but she still went along with Cheng Tingyan’s words. “Probably not…”
“I also think they don’t want them anymore.” Cheng Tingyan nervously squeezed the little chubby paw. “Do you think the table inside can be used as firewood? It’s such a big table, I scratched it, it’s made of wood.”
“I think it can! Yan Yan, you’re so smart!” Wei Maomao’s eyes sparkled.
She decided, even if this wasn’t the program team’s intended answer, she would make it the answer! Yan Yan was the smartest!
“I’m not smart, you were the one who mentioned there’s no wok.” Cheng Tingyan smiled sheepishly. “Without a wok, I thought, when I… um, when we moved, the wok was definitely something we took with us. But their move was so wasteful, the tables and chairs are a bit old, but they could be repainted, the bowls and plates could still be used after washing, they didn’t even take the curtains… When we moved, um, I, I would take everything I could.”
Wei Maomao: ???
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