Chapter 49
When they arrived at the “Rice” task location, there were no families currently doing the task.
Wang Qingchuan kept his promise and obediently waited in line at the door.
As Wei Maomao entered, Wang Qingchuan even called out with a smile, “Baby, remember to tell Uncle how to pass quickly when you come out.”
Actually, Wang Qingchuan was just casually teasing the little girl.
But… he actually got his wish!
The “Firewood” stage involved finding firewood, and the “Rice” stage was still about finding rice…
Except this time, it was about finding rice from a bag filled with various grains and separating it from the other grains.
Wei Chengli had filmed documentaries about rural life before. Almost as soon as he saw the bag filled with beans, corn kernels, and kidney beans, all significantly larger than rice grains, he had an idea of how to pass.
So picking rice became finding a sieve…
With two families doing the task simultaneously, following the previous pattern, there must be two sieves. Wei Maomao found the first one and gave it to Wei Chengli, who began sifting the rice. She then helped Cheng Tingyan search, and luckily, she found the second sieve.
Even Cheng Feiying had to force a smile and praise Wei Maomao.
But beneath this seemingly harmonious cooperation, Cheng Rongrong sensed Cheng Feiying’s growing displeasure.
Although it took some time to find a sieve in the spacious house, sifting the rice was quick.
The bag of mixed grains, which would have taken them an hour or two to pick through by hand, they managed to sieve out all the rice in just a few rounds.
Both families finished the task at about the same time, each receiving a small bag of white rice as a reward, once again progressing together.
Wang Qingchuan, waiting at the door, once again got a free tip and couldn’t help but speed up his sieve-searching efforts.
After all, hitching a ride and effortlessly completing tasks was something he definitely wanted to experience again.
With a new goal in mind, Wang Qingchuan searched for the sieve with even more vigor than he had searched for firewood earlier. Soon, he successfully left the “Rice” stage and chased after “Oil.”
Wang Qingchuan was enthusiastically pursuing victory, while Wang Zhizhi, carried under his father’s arm, was miserable but persevered. He had had enough of crawling around in the storage room at the “Firewood” stage.
The “Oil” task location was quite far from “Rice,” all the way at the edge of the village. Wang Qingchuan, carrying his son, sprinted all the way and arrived at “Oil” just as it was starting.
The task at the “Oil” stage was to experience the traditional method of pressing peanut oil.
The baby would earn one Baby Coin for shelling a bag of peanuts.
If the family shelled two bags of peanuts (three bags for Cheng Feiying’s family), they would meet half the requirement for the stamp.
The dad had to lift a large mallet and repeatedly strike a wooden wedge inserted into a wooden trough filled with peanut paste, one hundred strikes earned him one Daddy Coin. If he kept striking until enough oil was pressed to fill a glass bottle, he would meet the other half of the requirement for the stamp.
The staff member apologized, explaining that this task location was special, because there was only one oil press, so only one family could do the task at a time, the waiting time for the other families would be recorded. However, to ensure fairness in oil yield, they would replace the peanut paste with fresh ones after each family completed the task.
“Daddy, you’re ahead this time.” Wei Maomao tugged on Wei Chengli’s pant leg.
“Who would have thought… They didn’t say the next stage could only be done by one family at a time.” Wei Chengli glanced at Cheng Feiying in front of him awkwardly.
He had been trying to keep some distance, remembering the awkward incident during the bike task earlier, but as a result, Cheng Feiying and Cheng Rongrong had entered the “Oil” task area first.
“It’s okay, Baby, Daddy will work hard later.” Wei Chengli glanced at the giant mallet. They had just gotten off the bikes and only completed two stages, after tiring his legs, he now had to tire his arms, sigh.
“Okay.” Wei Maomao looked at Cheng Tingyan and Cheng Rongrong in the middle of the field, who had already received three bags of peanuts and started shelling them, feeling dejected.
The little chubby dumpling slumped against his leg, warm and soft. Wei Chengli patted her head, looking at the two little girls diligently shelling peanuts, and suddenly had an idea.
“Baby.” Wei Chengli picked up the little chubby dumpling and took a few steps back, asking in a low voice, “Look, there are a lot of peanuts in one bag. Daddy swinging the mallet to press the oil should be faster than you shelling peanuts. That means, Cheng Fei… um, Uncle Cheng, after he finishes pressing the oil, he’ll help Yan Yan and Rongrong shell peanuts. The oil press will be empty then. At that time, I can ask them to stop timing us and let us start the task. Wouldn’t that be faster than waiting for them to leave before we start?”
“Mmm!” Wei Maomao nodded vigorously.
“But here’s the problem. I just thought of a way for you to shell peanuts easily. If you tell Yan Yan now, it will be much easier for her to shell the peanuts. However, the method is very simple, Rongrong will figure it out immediately, then Uncle Cheng’s family will finish shelling the peanuts very quickly. Maybe before Uncle Cheng even finishes pressing the oil, Yan Yan and Rongrong will have finished shelling the peanuts. When the oil press is empty, they might just leave together… then we won’t be able to save any time.” Wei Chengli bounced the little soft dumpling in his arms, chuckled, and whispered like a devil, “So, Baby, do you want to tell Yan Yan, or do you want to keep it a secret, so we can catch up to them quickly and continue doing tasks together?”
“Daddy…” Wei Maomao tugged at Wei Chengli’s smirking face, urging him like he was an idiot. “Tell me!”
“Hey, hey, hey, talk nicely, don’t pull my face, okay? Although your daddy doesn’t rely on his looks for a living, I still have to show my face to your mother when I go back.” Wei Chengli grabbed her little paw and pulled it away. “Okay, okay, it’s very simple, you little babies don’t have much strength, the most troublesome and time-consuming part is cracking open the peanut shells, right? So I’ll take the mallet and hit the bag a few times, the shells inside will all be crushed, hit it a few more times, maybe most of the peanuts will even fall out with a good shake, then you just need to pick out the rest, it’ll be much faster. It doesn’t matter if they’re crushed, no one said the shelled peanuts have to be whole, right?”
Wei Maomao was speechless. The method wasn’t difficult, it was just not something she would have thought of, because it was a bit…
But the program team even allowed using furniture from an abandoned house as “firewood”, crushing a few peanuts shouldn’t be a big deal, right? After all, they could still eat them even if they were crushed.
“Put me down.” Wei Maomao wriggled.
However, Wei Chengli held the little chubby dumpling firmly and smiled. “Hey, have you thought about it? If you tell Yan Yan now, they’ll finish the task and leave. We’ll have to work hard to catch up.”
“Daddy.” Wei Maomao wriggled again, cupping Wei Chengli’s face with her hands. “Put me down quickly, my hands hurt from shelling peanuts!”
Wei Chengli put the little chubby dumpling down.
Watching her roll away, Wei Chengli clicked his tongue twice.
Although he had expected this outcome, still… Hmph!
This little rascal, when she said she wanted to protect Yan Yan at the “Food” stage, she wasn’t just saying it… She really prioritized protecting her, playing together came second. At such a young age, she was quite determined. Wei Chengli watched as the little chubby dumpling, after finishing her explanation at the peanut shelling area, ran to the oil pressing area, bustling around like a little hamster. He couldn’t help but feel both amused and exasperated.
The little trick Wei Chengli had shared for shelling peanuts was quite effective. After being hit by the mallet, the peanuts could be easily rubbed to release the kernels, it was indeed fast and effortless.
However, there was one thing Wei Chengli had overlooked.
It wasn’t until Cheng Feiying finished pounding the three bags of peanuts with the mallet, looked over, and gave him a strained smile, that Wei Chengli realized… Ah, he seemed to have increased the workload for someone who was already exhausted, adding insult to injury.
This point was further confirmed by Cheng Feiying’s increasingly slow movements as he resumed pressing the oil.
Wei Chengli, watching him, felt a bit awkward and quickly averted his gaze. He then saw his own little chubby dumpling squatting next to Cheng Tingyan, watching Cheng Feiying press the oil with great interest. Wei Chengli thought that if those three bags weren’t raw peanuts, the little stinky dumpling would probably be snacking while watching the show.
Honestly, the happy smile on her chubby face was so obvious that Wei Chengli suspected that when he told her the trick for shelling peanuts, she had already anticipated that someone would suffer as a result.
Cheng Feiying truly felt exhausted, his arms were so heavy he could barely lift them.
This entire day, from pushing the mill in the morning to riding the bike, moving water jars, and pounding with the mallet in the afternoon… all these physically demanding tasks. Was he here to raise a child or to be a laborer…
The most annoying thing was that Wei Chengli and Wei Maomao insisted on doing tasks alongside them. If no one was following them, he might have given up when he couldn’t keep up anymore, just completing the basic requirements and not bothering with the stamp. And that Wang Qingchuan too… Why was he chasing them so closely?
Admitting defeat in front of so many people, Cheng Feiying felt… he really couldn’t do it.
Between pride and reality, he had to choose one, Cheng Feiying chose to continue mechanically swinging the mallet. Damn it, he had even wasted almost ten strikes on those peanut bags, it was all because of that Wei Chengli with his stupid ideas and that Wei Maomao who couldn’t stop spreading the word! It was their own task, what did it have to do with them, why were they meddling! Shelling peanuts was so easy for children, why did he have to help with the pounding!
Cheng Feiying’s resentment, by some strange twist of fate, became his last bit of strength, finally allowing him to press enough oil to fill the bottle.
When he turned around, he realized that the three bags of peanuts had already been shelled by his two daughters, they had completed the task.
So… the children could have just slowly shelled them themselves.
Cheng Feiying smiled, praising his two daughters, thanking Wei Chengli, the gloom hidden in his eyes only noticed by Cheng Rongrong.
Separation came once again, Wei Maomao reluctantly held Cheng Tingyan’s hand, then let go.
So, doing tasks with her dad was really inconvenient. Wei Maomao rubbed the peanut shells vigorously, glancing at Wei Chengli, who was diligently pounding the wedge in the distance. If she was alone, she could choose to only do the basic task or even forfeit the task, and she would have caught up. With one more person, there was one more responsibility. Wei Maomao couldn’t ignore someone else’s hard work, she could only speed up her own efforts.
Wei Chengli was indeed working hard. By the time he finished pressing a bottle of oil, Wei Maomao had only shelled a little over half of the two bags of peanuts…
With Wei Chengli’s help, they quickly finished shelling the remaining peanuts. When they left, Wang Qingchuan had only pressed half a bottle of oil.
“Walk slowly!” Wang Qingchuan called out, waving farewell as he swung the mallet.
Copying homework was something that, once started, was hard to stop.
Slow, they wouldn’t be slow. On the contrary, because they were walking too fast, Wei Maomao almost bumped into someone at the corner of the alley.
“Maomao!” Wen Jiangyue reacted even faster than Wei Chengli, grabbing the little chubby girl who was about to be bounced off her father’s leg.
“I’m sorry, Uncle Wen…” Wei Maomao clutched her head and apologized.
“It’s okay, it’s okay, are you alright?” Wen Qiming, bravely resisting the urge to rub his aching leg, forced a smile.
Since they had bumped into each other, it was fate, Wen Qiming took the opportunity to suggest sharing information about the tasks they had completed.
Coincidentally, the Wei family hadn’t done “Salt” and “Clothing” yet, while the Wen family had already finished them.
The “Salt” task was quite simple.
Although it was called “Salt”, it was actually about making salt-baked quail eggs.
The baby was responsible for stir-frying two bags of salt in a small children’s pot, while the dad was responsible for brushing fifty quail eggs… brushing their shells white.
Then they would layer the salt and the brushed quail eggs in a pot provided by the program team, repeating the process until it was full.
“The children just need to slowly heat the salt in the pot, one batch at a time, for safety, fry a small amount each time, after all, we need many layers, one pot per layer is fine. As for brushing the quail eggs…” Wen Qiming glanced at Wei Chengli and smiled. “Find some vinegar in the kitchen, soak them in vinegar water, you can brush them quickly. Oh, and soak more than fifty eggs, some might break during the brushing process.”
Wei Chengli cupped his hands, the kitchen newbie was taking notes.
“The sister watching the pots said they’ll give us the baked quail eggs tonight.” Wen Jiangyue added, then rubbed her arms and said, “‘Salt’ was easy to complete, ‘Clothing’ was scary, I almost couldn’t do it.”
“Hahaha, it wasn’t that bad.” Wen Qiming chuckled. “At least the dad’s part was easy, just picking two kilograms of mulberry leaves. The children have to carry the silkworms by hand to eat the mulberry leaves their dads picked. Actually, the silkworms are white and chubby, quite cute, not scary.”
Wei Maomao’s expression changed instantly. She grabbed Wei Chengli’s pant leg and said seriously, “Daddy, quickly finish talking about the tasks we’ve done, hurry!”
Wei Chengli was confused, but he still started talking about the tasks they had done, the ones the Wen family hadn’t done yet.
“Maomao, what’s wrong? Are you also afraid of silkworms?” Wen Jiangyue asked softly, then added, “We saw Yan Yan and Rongrong earlier, they also seemed a bit scared after hearing about it.”
“I’m not…” Wei Maomao stopped mid-sentence and asked, “Did your dad also teach Uncle Cheng how to brush the quail eggs?”
Wen Jiangyue nodded.
Wei Maomao shook Wei Chengli’s pant leg vigorously. “Daddy! Talk faster!”
“Falling, falling!” Wei Chengli, one hand saving his pants, the other scooping up the little rascal, naturally sped up his explanation.
Soon, under Wei Maomao’s urging and Wei Chengli’s efforts, the two families parted ways at the intersection.
Wei Chengli, being dragged by the little rascal by his collar, quickened his pace while trying to figure out how to appease the suddenly impatient little dumpling. “We’re almost there, almost there, we’re walking very fast, any faster and we’ll be flying, why are you suddenly in such a hurry?”
Wei Chengli, who had missed some of the conversations while squatting at the “Firewood” location for too long, didn’t know why the little chubby dumpling was suddenly agitated, but the viewers in the live broadcast room, who had been watching the live stream, knew exactly why.
“Yan Yan said she’s afraid of bugs earlier, no matter how white and chubby they are, silkworms are still bugs…”
“Tsk, CEO Mao must think it’s too difficult for Yan Yan to handle bugs with her bare hands, so she wants to catch up.”
“But even if she catches up, it’s useless, it’s a family task, catching silkworms is still the baby’s task, which means unless Cheng Rongrong helps her, Yan Yan will have to do it herself.”
“She doesn’t necessarily have to do it herself… The program team said at the beginning that tasks can be forfeited.”
“Right… At the ‘Food’ stage, after being force-fed houttuynia cordata, soybean juice, and fertilized duck eggs, Wen Xiang snapped and forfeited…”
“Hahaha, the program team was truly evil, placing those terrifying things on the outermost ring of the table. Dongdong, with one hand holding the pig, could only avoid those bugs with his utmost filial piety.”
“Indeed, houttuynia cordata, soybean juice, and fertilized duck eggs, if you don’t look and smell carefully, they actually look quite ordinary… Poor Wen Xiang, hahaha, after finally reconciling with his son, he was so ‘filially-pied’ twice that he didn’t even dare to get angry, it wasn’t until he took a bite of the hairy fertilized duck egg that he finally snapped.”
“Wen Xiang forfeited because he couldn’t take it anymore, Wen Dongyu only loves his pig, he doesn’t care about collecting all the stamps. But I don’t think Cheng Feiying will let Yan Yan forfeit.”
“Right, I also think Cheng Feiying won’t give up on the task. Didn’t you guys see that when Cheng Feiying and Wen Qiming met earlier, after chatting for a bit, Cheng Feiying realized the tasks were done in sequence and compared their progress with Wen Qiming? I guess he discovered that they had caught up to the Wang family and were actually quite fast. Then he quickly took his children to ‘Salt,’ he’s brushing quail eggs with the speed of a machine.”
“Actually, it’s understandable, Cheng Feiying almost worked himself to death for this relay race, now that the grand prize is within reach, he has to work hard.”
“Cheng Feiying is actually being a bit inconsiderate, working hard is fine, but why not share some tips with Wen Qiming? He got the secret to brushing quail eggs and ran off. He’s not even as good as CEO Mao, who was anxious but still insisted on waiting for Director Wei to finish explaining before leaving.”
“I did the math, Director Wei has two tasks left, Cheng Feiying has three, they’re the fastest two. In other words, if Cheng Feiying shakes off Director Wei, he actually has a chance to win first place.”
“How can he win first place… Yan Yan is afraid of bugs.”
“I guess in Cheng Feiying’s eyes, that’s just Yan Yan’s problem…”
“Honestly, they’ve already come this far, I think Director Wei might actually forfeit the ‘Clothing’ task for Maomao, but Cheng Feiying, tsk tsk, hard to say, hard to say.”
“CEO Mao, come on, even if you can’t complete the task for Yan Yan, catching up can at least prevent Cheng Feiying from forcing Yan Yan to continue!”
“Wow, is Cheng Feiying brushing eggs that fast? He’s already finished? Shouldn’t he consider getting a job at an egg factory?”
“Damn it, he’s starting to complain about the children being too slow at stir-frying salt…”
“Although it’s a baby pot, safety should still be a priority. Okay, now I think he’ll personally put the silkworms into Yan Yan’s hands…”
“Director Wei, hurry up, run to the end of that alley, then turn left! Run!”
“Wow, watching a parent-child relay race, I’m getting the tension of a police chase, I’m so nervous.”
“I’m so tense, two eyes aren’t enough… I don’t even know if I should keep watching ‘Tutu Adventures’ or ‘Director Wei’s Pursuit.’”
“Hahaha, the person above, you should watch Director Wei’s pursuit first, that cartoon, I also searched for it, it’s so bizarre, I can’t believe Director Wei has such taste, I don’t think ‘Tutu’ is actually written as ‘Earthen Rabbit’!”
…
Wei Chengli tried his best to catch up, but in the end, he was still a bit short.
“Baby…” Wei Chengli looked at the empty courtyard and several pots filled with salt-baked quail eggs, trying to comfort the little chubby dumpling who was stiffening again in his arms.
“Daddy, hurry!” Wei Maomao wriggled down.
This time, the little chubby dumpling didn’t even bother being soft and immediately threw herself into the salt stir-frying task.
Wei Chengli didn’t dare to waste time either. As he passed by the kitchen, he cleverly followed the smell and found two basins under the table… both basins contained over a dozen quail eggs soaking in vinegar water. These should be the extras that Wen Qiming mentioned, the ones left over after soaking more than needed. Tsk, they should have soaked even more!
He secretly took them back, quickly brushed them a couple of times, rinsed them with water… Perfect, white and shiny!
By the time Wei Chengli finished brushing the almost thirty stolen eggs, the ones he had soaked himself were also ready, saving him a lot of time!
Wei Chengli, immersed in brushing eggs, finally looked up proudly, then he saw…
“Maomao! Why are you frying two pots at once! That’s very dangerous!” Wei Chengli stood up.
“Daddy is brushing eggs. I’m not in danger!” Wei Maomao, standing between the two baby pots, didn’t even lift her head, stir-frying with her left hand, then her right, looking very serious and skilled.
Wei Chengli: “… “ What was going on, why did she look like a seasoned chef, even more professional than him when he cooked?
With the three-year-old baby working so hard, how could he be complacent? Wei Chengli swallowed his words of self-praise and focused on brushing eggs.
It had to be said, teamwork made the dream work. They quickly finished the “Salt” task.
The “Clothing” task location was outside the village. Even with the map, it was hard to navigate the roads outside the village. While Wei Chengli was still trying to figure out the map, the little chubby dumpling had already used her cuteness to capture a wild villager for directions.
According to Wen Qiming, the “Clothing” task required the dad to pick two kilograms of mulberry leaves from the field, then the baby had to choose ten leaves as feed, carry the silkworms from the basket, and place them on the leaves, transporting a total of twenty silkworms to complete the baby’s task. Afterwards, the baby could continue transporting silkworms, the stamp task would be completed when ten mulberry leaves were eaten (with less than 2 grams remaining).
The task location was in a mulberry grove, not only far, but also difficult to find. Thankfully, they had a villager guiding them, so they didn’t take any wrong turns.
When Wei Chengli arrived at the location marked with the “Clothing” sign, carrying the little dumpling, he saw a dad and two little ones already at the pavilion not far away.
Wei Maomao, eager to see if there were any mulberry leaves in the basket Cheng Feiying was carrying on his back, pressed her hands on Wei Chengli’s shoulders, struggling to climb higher.
“Stinky baby! If you step on my face, I’ll lie down right here, believe it or not!” Wei Chengli gritted his teeth as he carried the little monkey who was using him as a climbing frame towards the pavilion.
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