Chapter 53
Shen Zilin, hearing Cheng Tingyan’s request to not be approached in front of Maomao next time, wasn’t unhappy at all. Instead, he chuckled and asked, “Aren’t you going to ask why I came to find you, even though you said you wouldn’t go?”
Cheng Tingyan wasn’t curious at all, because if Shen Zilin hadn’t come to find her, she would have come out herself later anyway.
But seeing Shen Zilin’s anticipation, Cheng Tingyan still politely asked, “Why?”
“Heh, cough.” Shen Zilin suppressed his smugness, regaining his usual composure as a little CEO. “You were digging so diligently this afternoon, and even said you would go again tonight, it didn’t seem like you would easily give up. Besides, the program team is so stingy, they didn’t even give out a single Baby Coin from all those mystery boxes, I figured you would still come out.”
Hearing the last sentence, Cheng Tingyan nodded in agreement. “They are indeed very stingy.”
But even if the eight mystery boxes belonging to the Cheng family had Baby Coins, they probably wouldn’t have anything to do with her. Of course, Cheng Tingyan wouldn’t discuss these things with Shen Zilin.
Shen Zilin, having received Cheng Tingyan’s agreement, became even more enthusiastic, continuing his complaints. “They’re really stingy, a whole afternoon of tasks, and we only got eight Baby Coins in total, and the prices are so high, my live pig cost three hundred Baby Coins, and your watermelon cost two hundred… They’re truly profiteers.”
“It’s okay, we’ll dig slowly, there are still a hundred and thirty left in the field, let’s try to dig more tonight.” Cheng Tingyan said encouragingly.
“We can’t dig that much. We dug for almost an hour this afternoon, I dug ten, you dug eight. I barely earned enough to cover today’s interest.” Shen Zilin counted on his fingers, sighing. “I think I’ll still owe the program team money for the pig by the end of the show.”
“Don’t worry.” Cheng Tingyan comforted him. “They might give you a very difficult task to complete, so you can repay the pig money all at once.”
Shen Zilin, not comforted at all, exclaimed, “My grandpa did say there’s no such thing as a free lunch, the program team probably won’t let me leave with unpaid debt, but it doesn’t have to be like that, right?”
Cheng Tingyan smiled kindly, she actually thought it was very likely.
So to be safe, although she really wanted the little chubby bunny to eat watermelon, she wouldn’t take out a loan to buy one.
Cheng Tingyan had secretly asked Su Li to help her calculate earlier. Because they had spent a large portion of their Baby Coins on the popcorn bucket and the candied kumquat in the morning, before doing the afternoon relay race, she and Maomao had a total of ninety-seven Baby Coins left. During the relay race, both she and Maomao completed all eight baby tasks, which meant they earned sixteen more. A total of one hundred and thirteen Baby Coins, eighty-seven short of two hundred.
After doing the math, Cheng Tingyan was still lamenting that she would probably have to wait until tomorrow to earn more Baby Coins from new tasks. But then, the staff brought the news that Shen Zilin had reopened the treasure field from yesterday.
When she heard the news, Cheng Tingyan was at the Wei family’s house, watching the little chubby bunny sleep, she had just tucked her chubby hands and feet back into the blanket. She couldn’t stay any longer and had to go “to work.” After all, anyone who wanted to go could dig, such a good opportunity, how could Cheng Tingyan, who had even handled silkworms, miss it?
Because she thought there weren’t many Baby Coins left in the field and was afraid of too much competition, Cheng Tingyan even sped up on the way there. She rushed over anxiously, only to find… only Shen Zilin was there.
The two of them, each occupying a corner of the field, dug for almost an hour, and they were still the only ones there. It wasn’t until the staff reminded them that dinner was almost ready and urged them to go back that they reluctantly put down their shovels. On the way back, they chatted for a bit and agreed to continue digging tonight.
Cheng Tingyan felt that her speed wasn’t good enough. If Shen Zilin could dig ten Baby Coins in a certain time, and she could only dig eight, then most of the remaining one hundred and thirty Baby Coins in the field would probably belong to Shen Zilin.
Counting the eight she dug this afternoon, she was still seventy-nine Baby Coins short of the watermelon for the little chubby bunny.
Thinking about it this way, the afternoon’s relay race task was actually a bit of a loss, wouldn’t it have been better to spend that time digging? …
As Cheng Tingyan thought about it, she stopped talking to Shen Zilin, her mind filled with Baby Coins, addition and subtraction, the areas of land they had already dug and those they hadn’t explored yet… But she didn’t know that at the corner of an alley behind her, a certain pitiful little chubby bunny, because of her, couldn’t even move her feet.
“Ba… by? Baby? Baby, baby, baby!” Wei Chengli gently poked the little chubby dumpling’s plump arm with his finger.
The chubby, lonely figure, leaning against the wall, didn’t move.
Wei Chengli hesitated, then gently reached out and wiped the little chubby dumpling’s face.
Oh, it was dry.
Tsk… It wasn’t what he had expected.
Wait, after being so rudely wiped in the face, how come the little chubby dumpling wasn’t throwing a tantrum?
“Baby? Are you glued to the wall?” Wei Chengli, looking at the little chubby dumpling, who had turned into a wooden block, felt both distressed and amused. “Baby, if you want to follow them, just follow them, what are you doing standing here? Baby? Baby?”
“I’m not following them, I’m a proper ba…” The little wooden dumpling suddenly spoke, then corrected herself, “I’m a proper person…”
“What?” Wei Chengli was stunned, then laughed in exasperation, ruffling the soft hair on the little chubby dumpling’s head. “What are you talking about! I’m saying you can follow them to play, not to stalk them, what’s proper or improper, what’s going on in that little head of yours…”
At this moment, most of the viewers in the live broadcast room couldn’t help but open at least two live stream screens, one showing Yan Yan going to work under the stars, the other showing Maomao foolishly turning into a “Yan Yan-watching stone,” they were laughing so hard their heads were rolling on the floor!
“CEO Mao, are you even trying, why are you so cowardly! Just chase after them, you’ll find out that Yan Yan isn’t going to make new friends, she’s going to work for you, CEO Mao!”
“Hahaha, those two in the field, one burdened with a pig loan at such a young age, the other willingly working 996 for CEO Bunny for free… The program team should make a finance-themed show, the capital world needs you!”
“What’s going on in our little bunny’s tiny head, hahaha, how did she even think of stalking… After saying that, who would believe you’re a ‘proper baby’… My baby!”
“Hahaha, poor Director Wei, a proper person, said a proper thing, and was instantly misinterpreted by a certain improper bunny. Just admit it, little bunny, you really want to follow them!”
“Thankfully, there are only two workers among the seven babies, otherwise, this show would really turn from a parenting show into a child labor show, hahaha.”
“The others don’t have the need. Our CEO Mao, she’s been a lazy bum since yesterday’s digging, and to maintain her lazy bum status, she has evolved into a capitalist at three years old, digging is impossible, she’ll never dig in this lifetime. Wang Zhizhi, needless to say, why bother digging, whatever he digs will be spent on his sister by his dad, hahaha, only a fool would work for free, slacking off is much more enjoyable, always slacking off, always happy. Wen Dongyu, don’t even mention him, he wants to save money, but he also has to take care of the pig and reason with his dad, it’s exhausting.”
“What about Cheng Rongrong? Cheng Rongrong also didn’t go digging?”
“She’s only three and a half, too young, digging is quite tiring. She’s also doing well at home, she even served tea and water to Cheng Feiying this afternoon, and helped with some chores.”
“Tsk, I think it’s because Cheng Feiying’s temper looked too scary this afternoon, he scared the child. Cheng Rongrong is still young, if she was older, she would have run away too.”
“Hahaha, speaking of being scared, I think CEO Mao is also scared, Director Wei has been poking her for a while now, why isn’t she moving?”
“So our CEO Mao is going to stand glued to the wall until tomorrow, hahaha, when Yan Yan comes back later, will she see her from this angle?”
“CEO Mao is so clever, learning to play the victim at such a young age! That’s just like you, my bunny!”
…
If Wei Maomao knew what the viewers were saying online, she would probably faint on the spot.
She wanted to move, the problem was, she couldn’t!
She knew clearly that it was a good thing for Yan Yan to have more new friends!
But why couldn’t she lift her feet?
She understood clearly that Shen Zilin had a good family background and seemed like a decent person, him being friends with Yan Yan was much better than him being friends with Cheng Rongrong.
But why couldn’t she take her hands back!
She understood everything, it was all what she had hoped for…
But…
This useless three-year-old body…
After several failed attempts, Wei Maomao gave up struggling. “Daddy, carry me!”
Wei Chengli, who was suddenly hit in the head by the chubby pancake, was stunned for a moment before reaching out, slipping his hand under her chubby arms, squatting down, and picking her up. He said hesitantly, “Baby, it’s been a long time since you asked Daddy to carry you. Have you finally realized that only Daddy loves you the most in the world~~~”
“… “ Wei Maomao clearly understood his teasing tone and scoffed. “That’s not it! I want you to carry me home!”
“Oh…” Wei Chengli stood up, disappointed, holding the little stinky dumpling under his arm.
Sigh, it was so frustrating, Yan Yan had gone out to play with someone else, and he still wasn’t the stinky baby’s favorite daddy!
Wei Chengli was depressed. He was so depressed that he didn’t even notice the unusual silence in his arms until they reached home.
“Ba… by? Baby?” Wei Chengli lifted the little chubby dumpling up to face him and shook her gently.
Under the dim streetlight, the little chubby dumpling looked at him with her big, black eyes, filled with…
Wei Chengli didn’t want to decipher the unpleasant, somewhat disdainful emotion in those eyes. He chuckled awkwardly and carried the little chubby dumpling into the courtyard.
Then, Wei Chengli discovered that some people, you couldn’t say they were abnormal, because they seemed quite normal, but you couldn’t say they were normal either, because they weren’t quite…
“Baby, this is the little makeup box you got from the mystery box, do you want to play with it?” Wei Chengli placed the makeup box on the table.
Wei Maomao, sitting at the table, resting her chin on her hand, was completely uninterested.
“How about this comb? Little doll? Let’s play with this biting crocodile, okay?” Wei Chengli placed the remaining toys from the mystery box on the table, forcefully taking her little chubby paw and putting it into the crocodile’s mouth. “Look, this crocodile is fun. It has so many teeth, you can press each one, but only one is a trap. Try and find it, come on, Daddy will randomly press one with you… Ah!!!”
Wei Maomao turned back, looking at their fingers caught in the crocodile’s mouth, her face expressionless. “Lots of teeth? Only one trap?”
“Cough, cough, just a slip-up, a slip-up!” Wei Chengli pried open the crocodile’s mouth and checked her little chubby paw. “That was scary, and it hurts a bit, does it hurt? Why didn’t you react at all, you…”
As Wei Chengli spoke, he looked up and saw that the little one had started spacing out again.
In Wei Chengli’s mind, if he carried this little wooden dumpling to find Yan Yan, she would instantly come back to life.
But… This little chubby dumpling was too devoted to Yan Yan. Wei Chengli thought it was fine during the show, but when the filming ended and they had to separate, how heartbroken would the little chubby dumpling be? Plus… with their current relationship with Cheng Feiying, Wei Chengli guessed that after the show, it would be very difficult, even unlikely, for the little chubby dumpling to see Yan Yan and play with her again. In that case, he might as well use this opportunity to let her accept the fact that Yan Yan wouldn’t always be there, that Yan Yan would also have new friends…
Thinking this, Wei Chengli hardened his heart and continued to find other ways to distract the little wooden dumpling.
After circling the courtyard twice, Wei Chengli actually found something he had forgotten earlier.
“Baby! Look what this is! It’s the salt-baked quail eggs we made together this afternoon!” Wei Chengli ran back to the table with a small bowl, peeling the eggs as he spoke. “You were sleeping when they delivered them, I was cooking the potatoes and almost forgot about them. Try it, is it delicious?”
A peeled quail egg was placed in front of Wei Maomao’s mouth, gently pushed in, and she ate it.
Wei Chengli, seeing the little wooden dumpling chewing, nodded with satisfaction and continued peeling the next one.
One, one, another one, he fed her six in a row. Wei Chengli thought for a moment and peeled one for himself. “You’ve had enough with six, I’ll try one too… Mmm, uh… Cough, cough… Tsk… So salty! Don’t you think it’s salty?”
Wei Chengli quickly went to the stove and poured two glasses of water, gulping down one on the way. He placed the other glass in front of the little wooden dumpling and nudged her. “I’m asking you, is it salty or not?”
“What?” Wei Maomao turned to look at Wei Chengli, displeased.
“I’m asking you, are the quail eggs salty?” Wei Chengli asked patiently.
“What quail eggs?” Wei Maomao asked, confused.
“These…” Wei Chengli pointed at the eggshells on the table.
“Oh, you want me to try one and see if it’s salty?” Wei Maomao tried to understand.
“… “ Wei Chengli was speechless. “You already ate six, don’t you know if they’re salty or not?”
“I?” Wei Maomao couldn’t keep up.
“You don’t remember if you ate them, but you should at least know if you can taste them in your mouth, right?” Wei Chengli handed her the glass. “Stop talking nonsense, drink!”
Five seconds later, after being forced to drink a glass of water, Wei Maomao was scooped up by Wei Chengli.
“Where are we going?” Wei Maomao placed her hand on Wei Chengli’s shoulder, confused.
“Heh, heh, heh…” Wei Chengli chuckled coldly. “Daddy received a secret mission, now you have to accompany me. Stop talking, just sit tight.”
Earlier, when he was looking for things in the courtyard to distract the stinky dumpling, he couldn’t help but ask the staff where Yan Yan and the others were. He was just casually curious, but it turned out… he actually needed this information shortly after.
This annoying little stinky dumpling!
“I’m not going!” Wei Maomao wriggled and struggled. “You’re lying, you’re taking me to stalk Yan Yan!”
“How come you’re not clever when you’re supposed to be?” Wei Chengli had to stop, using all his strength to hold the struggling chubby dumpling in his arms, and said angrily, “It’s not called stalking, okay?”
“I’m not going!” Wei Maomao pinched Wei Chengli’s face.
“Alright, alright, fine, we won’t go! As if I’m the one who wants to play with Yan Yan!” Wei Chengli, exasperated, put the little stinky dumpling down.
The little stinky dumpling ran towards their house.
Truly… didn’t appreciate her good father’s heart.
Wei Chengli grumbled as he walked back. When he entered the courtyard and saw the little rascal still standing there with her hands on her hips, fuming, he couldn’t help but ask again, “Are you really not going? Don’t you want to know what they’re playing?”
“No!” Wei Maomao told herself for the five hundred and seventy-sixth time that she was here to give Cheng Tingyan more freedom, not to restrict her.
“Alright, alright!” Wei Chengli gave the little chubby dumpling a thumbs up. “It’s Daddy who misjudged you, I thought you were so dejected because you wanted to play with Yan Yan!”
“I’m going to take a bath!” Wei Maomao turned and ran off. She was going to sleep immediately, once she fell asleep, she would wake up to a new day!
Wei Maomao’s two live streams, because their subject was taking a bath, were casually paused, showing a corner of the courtyard.
But the comments in the live broadcast room didn’t slow down even with the protagonist’s absence.
“Director Wei is so mean! He clearly knows that Yan Yan and Linlin are digging for Baby Coins, not playing, why didn’t he tell CEO Mao! If he told her, CEO Mao would know that Yan Yan wasn’t secretly going out to play with other children!”
“Hahaha, honestly, I think Director Wei did it on purpose. He probably wants to see CEO Mao cry tomorrow when she finds out the truth!”
“Director Wei probably doesn’t want to see CEO Mao cry, he wants to see himself getting beaten, hahaha!”
“It’s because our CEO Mao is so stubborn, Director Wei even offered to take her, but she refused. Now she missed out on the truth…”
“Hahaha, after all, a true CEO never bows down!”
“Our CEO Mao, she can no longer stand, her high fives don’t hurt, she’s lost her appetite, but she still refuses to back down! Impressive, my CEO Mao!”
“Children are like this, sensitive and shy. Although our CEO Mao always seems strong, she’s also a sensitive child. The more important something is, the harder it is to face it, to talk about it.”
“Yes, I think CEO Mao was almost driven to anger by Director Wei’s questioning, in the end, she had no choice but to use the bathroom escape…”
“Help, bathroom escape! How many escape methods does the three-year-old baby know!”
“What! My bunny, my cute little bunny, she’s not crying in the bathroom, is she, hahaha!”
“Hahaha… What’s with this feeling of both distress and amusement!”
“Yan Yan and Maomao, one is digging so hard that my heart aches, the other is stubbornly hiding in the bathroom, also making my heart ache… The live stream should add an ad for heart medication!”
“Shen Zilin: Okay, no one cares about me!”
“Hahaha! Pig: I care about you!”
…
Shen Zilin didn’t know that his name was being paired with a pig and bouncing around in the comments, he was panting, leaning on his shovel.
He had done too many tasks today, dug for a while in the afternoon, and after digging for a short time tonight, he was starting to feel exhausted.
But every time Shen Zilin wanted to call it a day, he would look up and see the figure under the other bright light, digging non-stop, and he would feel… If he stopped now, it would feel like he had lost.
But after repeating this several times, Shen Zilin couldn’t hold back anymore. He dragged his shovel and walked towards Cheng Tingyan.
“Yan Yan, you…” Shen Zilin wanted to ask how long Cheng Tingyan planned to dig, but as he got closer, he was startled. “Why is there so much mud on you?”
“I dug it.” Cheng Tingyan looked up at Shen Zilin, her expression puzzled.
“No… I mean, you were clean after digging this afternoon, how come you’re so dirty after digging for such a short time now… Is the light too dim? Should I point my light over there too?” Shen Zilin stared at the mud stains on Cheng Tingyan’s light-colored dress in shock.
“This afternoon, I had to, see people, tonight, I’ll go straight, to bath, after going back… Don’t, point your light, over here, we agreed to, dig on, opposite sides, didn’t we?” Cheng Tingyan replied, her head still down, her words broken and punctuated by the rhythm of her shoveling.
She was working so hard… Not even taking a break to speak…
“Yan Yan, you and Maomao are using your Baby Coins together, why is Maomao not digging, why are you digging alone?” Shen Zilin’s question slipped out before he could stop himself. He even felt a bit dazed when he realized that he had actually asked the question that had been bothering him all afternoon.
He admired Maomao more, and that admiration extended to Yan Yan, who was good to Maomao. But his question just now… It sounded like he was suddenly on Yan Yan’s side?
Ah, maybe it was because a person who selflessly contributed like this was too dazzling, she was the perfect partner he had been dreaming of!
But before Shen Zilin could figure it out, Cheng Tingyan stopped shoveling.
“Maomao doesn’t need to dig, I can do it myself.” Cheng Tingyan looked at Shen Zilin seriously, reminding him again, “Next time you want to come dig with me, don’t mention it in front of Maomao.”
“Oh, oh, I know.” Shen Zilin, sensing an invisible pressure, nodded quickly, then hesitantly voiced his last question. “But if you dig, won’t you have more Baby Coins, won’t Maomao find out?”
“Maomao is only three, she can’t count, right?” Cheng Tingyan paused, then said firmly, “Mmm, she can’t count.”
Shen Zilin: …
Wait, this was Maomao, who, although only three years old, could propose profit sharing…
She couldn’t count? He didn’t think so.
It seemed that this partner he wanted to work with still needed to develop her brain a bit more.
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