Chapter 1
Wei Maomao died.
A dazed child, a speeding car, a numb body acting before the mind could catch up, breaking through the hot, sticky air, pushing the chance of life onto someone else.
The pain of being torn and crushed squeezed out a strong metallic scent. A dark red river gurgled and surged before her eyes. On the other side of the river, a shocked child cried until they were gasping for air.
If only… back then… she had been in time…
There was no comfort of success in her slowly closing eyes, only a deep unwillingness to be trapped in memories.
In the vast and endless void, there was a soft sigh.
This year, Wei Maomao was 24 years old. She saved a child, and then she died.
————
Summer rain always came so suddenly.
In the blink of an eye it took to put a baking sheet in the oven, the clear sky outside the window was replaced by a downpour driven by strong winds. The sky instantly darkened.
Zhang Shilan swiftly leaned over and closed the half-open kitchen window. She wiped the raindrops from the back of her right hand with a tissue and turned to walk quickly towards the bedroom.
The light pink bedroom door was ajar, leaving only a small gap. She lightened her movements and slowly pushed the door open.
Inside the room, layers upon layers of curtains blocked out the last bit of daylight from the heavy rain, and also blocked most of the sound of the rain. The clattering sound heard in the kitchen was reduced to a slight drizzle here.
The bedroom was dark. Zhang Shilan didn’t turn on the light immediately. She just took off her shoes, stepped on the foam crawling mat, and tiptoed to the castle bed that occupied the entire wall on the left. She looked down at the small bed surrounded by pillows.
In the dimness, a small, chubby dumpling was sleeping soundly under the little fox gauze quilt, seemingly undisturbed by the heavy rain.
Zhang Shilan’s eyes softened. She bent down and pulled the quilt with her clean left hand, covering a small chubby foot that had escaped.
Just as she straightened up and was about to leave, she seemed to remember something and reached out to touch the head of the little chubby dumpling.
One touch…
A hand full of water!
…
“Maomao?”
“Maomao??”
“Maomao…”
…
Wei Maomao, sitting in the taxi, seemed to hear someone calling her name, softly, barely audible. But looking around, there was only the silent driver in the driver’s seat next to her and the continuous drizzle outside the window.
It was a continuous autumn rain, not a good day to go out.
But… neither of them had any intention of rescheduling, and neither of them even mentioned the rain.
Finally going to meet, Wei Maomao squeezed her phone, which had already been clenched so tightly it was hot. The corners of her mouth unconsciously rose.
Nervousness and anticipation intertwined into a thumping heartbeat. Unbeknownst to Wei Maomao, the taxi seemed to be speeding up strangely. The scenery outside the window changed rapidly, and soon she saw the familiar shop sign.
And the person under the shop sign…
“Maomao!”
The raised voice seemed to come from both far and near, familiar yet strange. With this sound, the taxi suddenly shook violently. The car, the scenery outside the car, and even the tall figure holding an umbrella in the distance all came to a standstill, froze, and then the whole world shattered like a falling mirror.
So close…
Yet worlds apart…
Wei Maomao opened her eyes. The darkness around her made it impossible to tell day from night. There was even a moment of trance where she didn’t know where she was.
“Baby, why are you sweating all over again? Did you have a nightmare?”
Along with the familiar yet strange female voice beside her ear, a small orange light lit up beside the bed.
Wei Maomao stretched out her chubby paws and rubbed her eyes, turning her head to look at the woman who woke her up. In the dim yellow light, she saw blurry eyebrows and eyes and… a scent that was too nostalgic.
“Mommy~” Wei Maomao opened her arms to the woman, ignoring the apron still tied around her, and hummed, looking up.
The soft, milky voice just after waking up seemed to carry a hint of grievance.
Zhang Shilan originally wanted to take off her apron first, but the little dumpling, who seemed impatient, wriggled and called out again. Her heart softened, and she naturally ignored everything else and picked up the chubby dumpling.
The soft, cloud-like chubby flesh of the dumpling, smelling of milk.
The warm embrace of a mother. The sweet smell of fresh pastries.
Wei Maomao clung tightly to her mother’s arm, burying her face deep in her arms. After a long, long time, she let out a soft breath.
Great, this nightmare was interrupted by her mother in time.
This was the third day since Wei Maomao was reborn back to her childhood.
In just three short days, she had dreamt of that day again and again. Finally, this time, she was awakened before the car accident happened.
Wei Maomao had heard a saying before her rebirth, “The cruelest thing in the world is to completely tear apart the most beautiful thing in a person’s heart right in front of them.”
If it hadn’t been for the car accident that year, that would have just been a passing phrase.
However, on that day, for the 21-year-old Wei Maomao, the most beautiful thing left in her life was truly shattered before her eyes.
Outside the taxi, Cheng Tingyan, who was only a few steps away, was hit by a car right in front of her, blood spreading…
The only light in her life was extinguished before her eyes, and for the next few years, until Wei Maomao’s death, she never saw the light again.
Even though she was lucky enough to return to the age of three, that fatal moment still turned into a nightmare, clinging to her bones.
Cheng Tingyan… Wei Maomao, leaning in her mother’s arms, murmured the name in her heart. She clenched her chubby paws tightly and shook her head, as if trying to temporarily shake off the car accident that had turned her world upside down.
“Okay, okay, you’re uncomfortable because you’re sweating, right? Come on, let’s go wash the little dirty cat.” Zhang Shilan was amused by the little dumpling that was arching in her arms. She touched the sweaty little head and carried the dumpling to the bathroom.
Half an hour later, the little dumpling, washed and dried, sat on the sofa and turned on the TV. Before she could even eat a few of the yogurt melts her mother had just baked, her father, who had skipped work and returned home early, came back.
Wei Maomao tilted her head and glanced at the clock on the wall. It wasn’t even 3:30 in the afternoon yet.
Hmph, another day of not working hard.
Glancing at her father, who was carrying big and small bags into the door, with complicated feelings, Wei Maomao grabbed a handful of red date yogurt melts and stuffed them into her mouth, turning back to continue watching TV.
The chubby little dumpling, with her freshly washed, soft hair draped over her shoulders, her snow-white chubby feet swaying gently, her mouth stuffed full, her cheeks bulging as she crunched non-stop… She looked like a soft, chubby little hamster. Wei Chengli thought his daughter was the cutest in the world! As for the slightly disgusted look the little baby had just given him, well, it must be dissatisfaction with her dear father coming home late!
As an already well-known director, Wei Chengli blindly and automatically beautified his daughter’s disgust. His heart and eyes were filled with only the word “cute.” He hurriedly washed his hands and disinfected them, then rushed to the sofa and picked up his daughter, spinning her around and coaxing her loudly, “Baby, did you miss Daddy! Daddy promises you, I’ll be home early tomorrow!”
The sudden rotation almost made Wei Maomao choke on the yogurt melt in her mouth. The little dumpling, who rolled her eyes from choking, raised her hand and slapped Wei Chengli’s face, who was leaning in to kiss her.
She knew her father was unreliable, but she didn’t expect him to be so unreliable when he was young!
Cough, cough… Wei Maomao stretched her neck, forcing the half-melted yogurt melt down her throat.
She was so angry that she couldn’t help but want to slap her old man’s face hard!
“Don’t move her while Maomao is eating, she’ll choke!” Zhang Shilan, who was attracted by Wei Maomao’s coughing, snatched the little dumpling from Wei Chengli’s arms and started to feed her water that was at room temperature.
Wei Chengli, whose face had been slapped several times by the fleshy paws, was not annoyed at all. He took a wet tissue from the side and wiped the pastry crumbs off Wei Maomao’s paws, apologizing repeatedly with a smile.
“Every time you say you’ll be careful next time, you forget again.” Zhang Shilan, both angry and amused, also took a wet tissue and wiped the pastry crumbs off her husband’s face. “With your ability to take care of children, how can you go out with Maomao alone for a few days? It’s a good thing you have some self-awareness and didn’t agree to that variety show.”
“It’s not my fault that our Maomao is so cute and chubby. I forgot for a moment that she was still eating.” Wei Chengli smiled and secretly squeezed Zhang Shilan’s hand, which was wiping his face. “I also think I can’t take her out alone. If she bumps into something, we’ll be heartbroken. It’s just…”
“Agree to… what~~”
A curly-haired head squeezed in, and a soft, milky voice forcefully joined the lovey-dovey conversation.
“It’s nothing.” The freshly washed and dried dumpling head was as fluffy and soft as a cloud. Wei Chengli couldn’t help but reach out and rub it a few times. Then he turned his head and lowered his voice to Zhang Shilan, “It’s just that Maomao has been watching this show a lot these two days. Do you think she wants to go? When Director Zeng came to our house to mention it last time, this clever little ghost wouldn’t have understood, right?”
Wei Maomao: “…”
I’m still here, I still have ears, do you think I’m not here just because you lowered your voice? Do you not see me!
Wei Maomao turned her head and glanced at the TV, where the first season of “Where’s Baby Going,” which she had been replaying for the past three days, was on its second loop.
It wasn’t until she was a teenager that Wei Maomao learned that her family had received an invitation for the third season of “Where’s Baby Going” when she was a child. But her parents didn’t accept the invitation at the time, and as a result, she didn’t meet Cheng Tingyan until more than ten years later. And then, after only three short years, she lost her again…
Now that she had been given a chance to start over, she naturally wouldn’t waste it.
It was only the beginning of July. The third season of “Where’s Baby Going,” which was originally officially announced to start filming in mid-August in her previous life, had already sent an invitation?
It was fortunate that she had been replaying the first season on TV for the past few days since her rebirth, which indeed left her old man with the impression that she liked the show very much. And now he was talking about related matters.
Limited by her age of three, Wei Maomao didn’t dare to express her thoughts too completely or logically. Originally, she wanted to take the subtle approach and wait for the program team to come and invite her, so that she could have some positive influence.
From the sound of it, it turned out that she had already heard about the program team coming to invite her in her previous life.
That was really great.
Three years old, wasn’t it just the age to be ignorant, to take the wind as rain, to be completely unreasonable?
“Want… to go!” Wei Maomao stood up on the sofa and stared firmly at her parents, who were secretly holding hands and whispering.
Zhang Shilan coughed and forcefully pulled back her hand that had been held by her husband.
Wei Maomao apologized to her mother in her heart. After all, there was a time for lovey-dovey moments, and the matter of participating in the show was imminent.
It was just that the child had tried her best to express herself, but Wei Chengli didn’t think that the unclear conversation just now could be understood by Wei Maomao. He reached out and picked up the little dumpling again, lifting her up and laughing, “Go, go, go, where does our Maomao want to go? Daddy will take you to the park downstairs to see the dogs, okay?”
You say okay! Who are you fooling!
Wei Maomao took a deep breath, endured and endured, and finally managed to resist the urge to slap Wei Chengli’s face. Her small fist clenched at a 90-degree angle and pointed at the TV: “Go there!”
“Okay, beep beep, let’s go~” Wei Chengli responded with a smile, picked up the little dumpling and put her on top of the TV. “Beep beep! We’re here!”
Wei Maomao: “??!@&#T*#O*P…”
Wei Maomao knew how annoying her middle-aged father could be, but she didn’t realize that her young father could be so annoying!
The little dumpling’s eyes rolled back, almost fainting from her artificially intelligent old man. As a result, Wei Chengli still felt that he was witty and cute, holding Wei Maomao and making “beep beep” sounds as he walked back and forth between the TV and the sofa.
The chubby paws hammered at her chest, which was already suffocating from anger. Wei Maomao couldn’t help but wonder if going on “Where’s Baby Going” with such an old man would end her hard-won rebirth prematurely.
But…
Wei Maomao, who was being carried back and forth like cargo by her old man, took the opportunity to look at the TV. The screen was cutting to a little girl with a ponytail, wearing a light green floral dress.
Cheng Tingyan.
If she couldn’t participate in the third season of “Where’s Baby Going” and meet Cheng Tingyan in advance this time, if she couldn’t change the bad history from the beginning, then her rebirth would have lost too much meaning.
“Go there!” Wei Maomao said firmly again, slapping her old man, who seemed to be immersed in the strange role of a porter, twice, and pointed at the TV again. “Go, play!”
Wei Maomao couldn’t quite remember how she expressed herself when she was three years old, so she could only learn from the first season of “Where’s Baby Going” she had been watching these two days. Being able to understand what adults said and express her thoughts clearly in short sentences was her current positioning of herself.
The positioning was accurate, and both Wei Chengli and Zhang Shilan understood.
However…
The problem was that a three-year-old child didn’t really have a say, even if she was the beloved little baby of the family.
A moment later, Wei Maomao looked incredulously at her parents, who clearly understood but pretended not to, and started to coax the child with snacks and toys. Finally, she couldn’t bear it anymore and used her ultimate move.
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