Chapter 101 p1
Braised gluten with meat filling, eel with scallions and oil, braised beef, pig trotters, Suzhou-style braised pork, shrimp with three delicacies… pickled mustard greens with edamame and bamboo shoots, braised eggplant, assorted mushrooms…
Nine insulated containers, a choice of six meat dishes and three vegetarian dishes, it was a sumptuous spread, and… a little bit cruel.
Each one smelled delicious and looked appetizing, but they only had a few bamboo tokens in their hands.
With limited funds, they had to make choices.
Or… did they?
“Are you two going to combine your tokens and not include me?” Wei Chengli, holding his bowl of noodles, listened to the two little ones in front of him discussing getting six meat dishes and two vegetarian dishes, asking the server to put half a portion in each of their bowls. He couldn’t help but interrupt them, his voice tinged with envy.
Liu Ming, standing next to Wei Maomao, helping to hold her bowl: “… “
Su Li, standing next to Cheng Tingyan, also helping to hold her bowl: “… “
Cheng Tingyan turned to look at Wei Chengli, a flicker of surprise in her eyes, which quickly turned into embarrassment. She pursed her lips, but didn’t respond to Wei Chengli, instead, she gently nudged Wei Maomao. “Maomao? Let’s include Uncle Wei.”
Wei Maomao glanced at Wei Chengli, speechless, he was acting like a child, wanting to join the little ones.
“Okay, let’s include him.” Wei Maomao wouldn’t refuse Cheng Tingyan’s request, she turned to Wei Chengli and beckoned him. “Dad, go and tell the uncle, we’ll share.”
Right, this kind of explanation and distribution task, they needed him, right! Including him was the right choice, she hoped this little chubby dumpling wouldn’t forget her second favorite, her old father, next time.
“Okay~~~” Wei Chengli, joining the little chubby dumpling’s love-sharing team, didn’t mind how he was forced into it, he happily walked to the front of the two little ones, holding his bowl, and said to the server, “Six meat dishes, two-thirds of a portion for each, three vegetarian dishes, one-third of a portion for each. The two little ones behind me, same toppings as mine.”
“Director Wei…” The server hesitated, taking the bowl.
Wei Chengli, noticing the server’s hesitation, asked, confused, “Can’t we buy it like this? It’s the same as using our tokens to get the food and then exchanging later. Please help us, we can save a step.” As a dad, he had to face challenges head-on!
“It’s not that you can’t.” The staff member, who had overheard their conversation earlier, said with an awkward smile. “Director Wei, did you miscalculate?”
“Mmm?” Wei Chengli was stunned.
“Three people, nine ‘Meat’ tokens, if you divide them evenly, it’s half a portion of each meat dish per person…” Liu Ming said softly, stepping forward and standing behind Wei Chengli.
Wei Chengli: “… “ How come it was half a portion for two people, but still half a portion for three people? Mental math had failed him!
The server smiled. “Yes. So, half a portion of each meat dish per person, and one-third of a portion of each vegetarian dish, is that okay?”
What else could he say? Wei Chengli quickly nodded, took his bowl with the toppings, and hurried back to his table.
Not long after, Liu Ming and Su Li also brought the other two bowls with toppings to their table.
Wei Chengli buried his face in his bowl, his ears perked up, listening to the sounds of the chairs next to him, he knew the little chubby dumpling and Yan Yan were back, so he buried his face even deeper.
“Dad.” Wei Maomao called out, looking at Wei Chengli.
Wei Chengli: “… “ He pretended to be busy eating, deaf to her call.
“Dad! Daddy, Daddy!”
Ahhh! This little rascal, couldn’t she see he was busy!
The childish voice, calling him repeatedly, finally forced Wei Chengli to look up.
The first thing he saw was Cheng Tingyan’s smiling eyes.
Sob, embarrassing himself in front of others… Wei Chengli looked away, avoiding the six-year-old’s smile, and turned to the little chubby dumpling. “What?”
“Dad, are the chopsticks delicious? Why are you only eating the chopsticks?” Wei Maomao asked with a straight face, pointing at the chopsticks in Wei Chengli’s hand.
Wei Chengli looked down.
The server had good skills, the toppings in his bowl were neatly arranged, they hadn’t been disturbed at all.
Okay… He was too focused on his embarrassment and eavesdropping earlier, he accidentally went from pretending to eat to not eating at all…
“Eat your noodles.” Wei Chengli said, annoyed, tapping the little chubby dumpling’s bowl.
Hmph! He wouldn’t eat with them again!
Eating the most sumptuous noodles, shedding the biggest tears, who would have thought?
Anyway, the other families, who had heard from their babies about Wei Maomao’s incredible work ethic this afternoon, couldn’t imagine it.
The other families, the new parents all chose the most luxurious noodles for their new babies, and the new babies naturally wouldn’t keep it all to themselves.
Even though the new parents said they didn’t want any, the new babies still insisted on sharing the noodle toppings they got with them.
It was all about forceful sharing.
Regardless, the process was full of back-and-forth, but the ending was harmonious.
Zeng Huanian, standing in the monitoring room, looked at the babies and dads happily eating on the screens, his heart filled with warmth.
Finally, a task that embodied giving, sharing, and love~~~ The reason they set the reward threshold so low was for everyone to share~~~ Only through sharing could they have more variety~~~
Oh, there were some families whose sharing was…
Zeng Huanian glanced at Cheng Feiying, who was munching on his beef and eggplant noodles, and Cheng Rongrong, who was eating eel with scallions and oil. What was wrong with these two? They really just got the toppings corresponding to their tokens and ate them all by themselves? If they shared, they could have three dishes! Look at the family three tables away, they had nine dishes, sharing made the meal richer!
He didn’t understand, but he could only respect their choices. Perhaps one didn’t like beef, the other didn’t like eel. At least… Cheng Feiying did give away one “Meat” token, which was considered good.
But Zeng Huanian’s self-consolation was something the viewers in the live broadcast room couldn’t learn.
“Compared to the other families, although Cheng Feiying also shared food with Cheng Rongrong, it seemed so… perfunctory? I don’t know how to describe it… Don’t they want to try each other’s beef and eel? Hahaha, it’s like colleagues sharing food.”
“I feel like Cheng Feiying and Cheng Rongrong probably just want to eat the dishes they chose themselves, that’s quite common. It looks strange today, maybe it’s because of the contrast with the other families’ back-and-forth, hahaha, the comparison makes their table seem particularly selfish and quiet.”
“The other tables are truly hilarious, it reminds me of when I was a kid, my mom would insist on me eating meat, while she only ate vegetables, when I gave her meat, she would say no, cover her bowl, move away, and even scold me! But today, they truly couldn’t get more dishes, while my family wasn’t poor back then, but she just had to do that…”
“Hahaha, the back-and-forth is so funny. I never thought I would see the shadows of our parents from our childhood in these little babies. Parents love doing this, giving you all the good food, refusing to touch it themselves, even when you offer it to them. Then when the children grow up, they say, ‘When you were young, I always gave you the best food, I saved everything for you, blah blah blah…’ But they could have easily afforded to buy one or two more kilograms of meat back then.”
“But seeing the babies like this, I’m starting to think that parents giving all the good food to their children, it might not be the right thing to do, but it’s probably genuine. Maybe when you become a parent, you’ll have this sense of responsibility. But truly, there’s no need…”
“Maybe many people have a giver personality, maybe they have to experience certain things before they realize that accepting and sharing is more important than just giving. But the little babies are truly adorable, if I had a little baby who worked so hard just to let me eat a decent meal, I would cry!”
“Hahaha, Director Wei, who got to eat the six-meat-three-vegetable noodles, is indeed crying, but it’s probably because of math. Math! The lifelong enemy of mankind!”
“Speaking of which, CEO Mao is still amazing, her working speed is incredible, she could work in a factory. Earning enough to support a family at three years old… CEO Mao saying she wants to take care of Yan Yan, she wasn’t kidding. If she wanted to, she truly could, she can do it now.”
“Don’t be too cruel, didn’t you see the close-up of CEO Mao’s right hand on her second cameraman’s feed when they started eating noodles? Her index finger and thumb are so red, I think it’s from using the tweezers, they might even swell up tonight. And did you notice? Earlier, when Yan Yan came over, she wanted to sit on CEO Mao’s right side, but CEO Mao specifically moved, letting Yan Yan sit on her left. I think CEO Mao doesn’t want Yan Yan to see her right hand! Sob, sob, sob, poor little bunny!”
“It’s a bit too much for a three-year-old baby to work this hard… It’s all because of Cheng Rongrong, insisting on arranging Yan Yan’s money. Otherwise, Yan Yan could have redeemed noodles with two meat dishes and one vegetable dish for Cheng Feiying, and she would have enough left for a bowl of plain noodles, just like Little CEO Shen and the others. Then CEO Mao wouldn’t have to work so hard, she could just work a little bit more and add some meat toppings for Yan Yan. But Yan Yan’s money isn’t Yan Yan’s money… CEO Mao must have worked so hard to get the noodles with two meat dishes and one vegetable dish to ensure everyone had a decent meal!”
“It’s truly outrageous, some people, at such a young age, already know how to use their age and family to guilt-trip their older sister. Truly realistic… Reality is like this, in families with multiple children, those who know how to guilt-trip, who know how to manipulate their parents into playing favorites, can get things from the other children. Being taken from them and given to their parents is one thing, it can be considered filial piety or repaying their upbringing, but they even have to take care of their other siblings, it’s truly too much.”
“Watching a variety show and gaining life lessons, people, truly, have to be more aware. Yan Yan, open your eyes, your stepsister, at such a young age, is already arranging your money! Run! Run towards CEO Mao!”
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