Chapter 116
Carrying the ball and throwing it into the basket, blindfolded and listening to sounds to place facial features, identifying babies by their hands and feet, transporting a child on a unicycle, relay race, hand-in-hand balloon delivery, three-legged race…
For each game, Wei Chengli gave it his all, he was even more competitive than during the outdoor competition on the first day, which was only for the dads.
There was no other way, his adorable little chubby dumpling had solemnly held his hand before the series of parent-child games began, looked at him seriously, and said, “Dad, I want to win.”
The little chubby paw, firm and strong, like a warm little clamp, how could Wei Chengli say no?
And the little chubby dumpling wasn’t just all talk.
Height wasn’t enough, she jumped to make up for it.
While others were throwing balls, she was bouncing around, like a ball throwing a ball.
Her loud voice cut through the other babies’ voices, her instructions clear and concise. When Wei Chengli took off his blindfold, the cartoon character before him had all its facial features in place, it even looked almost identical to the official version.
As for the chubby little hands and feet, there was no need to say more, even if he could only see them, let alone touch them, he wouldn’t get it wrong.
Game after game, effort after effort, but… age was still a problem.
They won some, they lost some, the points went up and down, Wei Chengli’s heart was in his throat, it was truly a thrilling experience.
For games that required a lot of physical strength from the little babies, no matter how hard the three-year-old tried, she couldn’t compete with the older children.
In the end, they were only three points away from second place, third place…
Wei Chengli looked down at the little chubby dumpling sitting on his foot, her soft hair was soaked with sweat, no longer fluffy and soft, he felt a pang of guilt and wiped the sweat from his face.
Although he had truly given it his all, but… his baby, when he wasn’t participating, she went out to work and came back with first place…
“Baby, it’s okay, we’ll fight again next time.” Wei Chengli said softly, bending down to comfort her.
Wei Maomao stood up, looked at the scoreboard in front of the host, and sighed softly.
Third place… She could only hope she would still be able to get the flour, eggs, milk, butter, and sugar she wanted…
No matter what kind of dessert she made, these were the basics, it would be troublesome without them.
In her previous life, Wei Maomao had told Cheng Tingyan that if there was a chance, she would make desserts for her. Freshly baked, warm, the most fragrant and freshest…
Not just desserts… They had talked about many things for the future. Wei Maomao could even clearly recall the longing and the rapid heartbeat she felt when they talked about those possibilities.
But who would have thought, there was no future, there was no “later.”
The things she wanted to do, she had to do them as soon as possible.
Next time, later, in the future… Who knew which would come first, those or the future.
The past ruthlessly dragged her back into sadness, Wei Maomao’s eyes, looking at the scoreboard, gradually became unfocused.
Wei Chengli, squatting down, wanting to comfort the little chubby dumpling again, was caught off guard by her expression. There were no exaggerated emotions, no tears, just a calm and profound… sadness.
Two heavy blows, one hit his head, the other made his heart clench.
When was the last time…
She was like this…
Was it… when he didn’t agree to bring her to this show?
Wei Chengli didn’t have time to dwell on his wandering thoughts, he gently poked the little chubby dumpling. “Baby? Are you okay, baby? Daddy will try harder next time, okay?”
Wei Maomao, already exhausted, almost fell over from Wei Chengli’s poke, she quickly grabbed his leg to steady herself.
“… “ Wei Maomao turned to look at Wei Chengli and gestured for him to squat lower.
Wei Chengli obediently squatted down.
In a flash, the chubby paw expertly reached for his armpit and tickled him, shaking him back and forth.
“You worked very hard, you’re amazing.” Wei Maomao said, she had seen it, this time, not getting first place was entirely because her three-year-old body lacked strength and stamina, it wasn’t Wei Chengli’s fault. On the contrary, Wei Chengli was truly dedicated, he was one of the best among the dads.
“Not really… Next time, next time I’ll try harder.” Wei Chengli said, but his heart was warmed by his little chubby dumpling’s praise, a smile unconsciously spreading across his face.
But he celebrated too early.
“Move.” Wei Maomao said, dissatisfied.
Wei Chengli: “… “
Praise was temporary, demands were eternal. So why did she have to imitate this action of his! Was he that boring? Was this the only thing she could learn from him!
The sweetness in his heart turned bittersweet, but Wei Chengli still cooperated with the little chubby dumpling, swaying back and forth with her, completing their parent-child interaction – picking her up and swinging her around.
After calculating the points, it was time to collect the ingredients for making desserts.
This time, the first place went to Shen Jianghe and Shen Zilin.
Because of the incident this morning, they hadn’t reconciled yet, they were just forced together by the program team, both of them felt a bit awkward. And because it was too awkward to talk, they both put 200% effort into playing the games. Silent and dedicated… they worked hard and earned first place.
As they were called to the front by the host, a new board, covered with strips of paper representing different ingredients, was brought over by the staff.
Another board, with dessert recipes, was also brought over.
“As the first-place team in this parent-child game, you can take all the ingredients. If you don’t know what to make, you can refer to this board with recipes.” The host said, tapping the board lightly.
Wei Maomao took two steps forward.
Okay… There were still plenty of other ingredients she wanted, but there were only two strips of paper for [Butter].
If the first and second place teams both took the butter, she wouldn’t have any left.
Why were there so few of this essential ingredient? Wei Maomao frowned slightly and looked at the other ingredients again.
Oh… There were also agar-agar powder, tapioca starch, corn flour… It seemed the desserts weren’t just Western-style, but also included soups and Chinese desserts.
Wei Maomao turned to look at the board with recipes, the words were a bit small, but she could see a few dessert names, it seemed to be as she had guessed.
She could also make those other desserts, but what she wanted to make for Cheng Tingyan the most… was cookies.
She really wanted the butter.
If she had known, she would have tried harder! They were only one point away from second place.
Life was unpredictable, Wei Maomao sighed like an old man.
Almost at the same time, Shen Zilin also sighed.
He… couldn’t understand the things on these two boards by himself…
And the host had even moved far away, he could only… look at Shen Jianghe.
The lingering awkwardness between them was palpable.
No words were spoken, but Shen Jianghe understood.
“Let’s take a look at the recipes here first.” Shen Jianghe said, walking to the recipe board and starting to explain the contents to Shen Zilin.
Soon, the Shen family made their decision.
The host, looking at the strips of paper in Shen Zilin’s hand, was a bit surprised. “Just these?”
“Mmm.” Shen Zilin nodded firmly.
First place, of course, they had to choose what they wanted. The games were already tiring enough, they had to choose a simple dessert to make, they couldn’t fall into the program team’s trap and give themselves more work just because they could “choose anything” and “more ingredients meant better taste.”
The host looked at Shen Jianghe, who also nodded firmly.
When it came to weighing the pros and cons, Shen Jianghe started to realize that he and his son were truly in sync.
“Okay, so what are you going to make?” The host asked, even though he already knew the answer.
“Brown sugar agar-agar jelly.” Shen Zilin said with a smile.
Amazing!
Wei Maomao saw an angel’s halo above Shen Zilin’s head.
It turned out that her earlier efforts were a bit wasted. Although everyone actively participated in the parent-child games, when it came to the dessert-making segment… It could be said that she was motivated because she wanted to choose the ingredients she wanted. But the others, they probably just wanted to choose something simple.
Wen Xiang and Wen Dongyu, who were in second place, took the ingredients for pumpkin steamed cake without hesitation.
Facing the two remaining [Butter] strips on the board, Wei Maomao felt the soreness in her arms and legs.
If she had known! Why did she work so hard!
You guys, who ran away as soon as you saw the lengthy steps for Western-style desserts… You should have said something earlier!
After the simplicity of the first and second place teams, the host was finally touched to see someone taking more than a few ingredient strips… It had to be CEO Mao!
The fourth place team was Wen Qiming and Wen Jiangyue.
Wen Qiming’s physical strength wasn’t very good during the games, which made him feel even more guilty after hearing his daughter’s words about him breaking his promises and not being trustworthy.
So, during the ingredient selection, he and Wen Jiangyue chose bubble tea, which she liked.
Although making tapioca pearls seemed quite troublesome based on the recipe, but… after this whole day, he had to let his daughter have some fun, right… Amusement park, Sudoku board games, they couldn’t make up for those now, but they could at least have some bubble tea.
The top four teams smoothly finished their selection, then it came to the last two teams, and things got complicated.
“I want to eat cream puffs!” Wang Qingchuan said, standing in front of the ingredient board, his eyes immediately landing on the strip of paper with the most words. He looked down at Wang Zhizhi. “I’m a baby today, you’ll make it for me, right?”
Hehehe! Annoying, they were truly annoying!
Wang Qingchuan was truly speechless, during the games, whatever he was good at, Wang Qingbei would try to compete with him. Taking turns wasn’t enough, they had to do it together, and for the last bean-sorting game, Wang Qingbei even secretly grabbed the beans he had already sorted! Oh my god, he exposed her, and Wang Zhizhi still blindly defended her! Fine, fine, fine, he would just give up, if they wanted to cause trouble and didn’t want to win, then they would lose together! Lose together with him!
She liked being the parent, right? Then do the things a parent should do! Go and make those cream puffs with the longest recipe!
Wang Qingchuan thought he had cleverly set a trap, but Wang Zhizhi didn’t even respond to him, he just looked at Wang Qingbei and asked, “Beibei, what do you want to eat?”
“I want to eat coconut milk pudding.” Jiang Heye said, quickly scanning the recipe board and making her choice.
Wang Qingchuan looked at the board, he saw it and laughed in exasperation.
Dissolving gelatin, mixing it, adding coconut milk, mixing again, then putting it in the fridge and waiting?
So simple, they must be dreaming!
“Wang Zhizhi, am I like this? Last week, you said you wanted to eat fried chicken, didn’t I buy it for you? I want to eat cream puffs, shouldn’t you also make them for me?” Wang Qingchuan said coldly.
Putting him in a sack, beating him up, somewhere without cameras… Jiang Heye clenched her fists, mentally beating up Wang Qingchuan.
“Brother…” Jiang Heye said, gritting her teeth.
“You only had five yuan, I wanted to eat fried chicken, and your sister wanted to eat… milk powder? Who did you buy it for?” Wang Zhizhi asked, patting Jiang Heye gently with one hand, while the other hand tightly gripped the badge on his chest.
“How come I only had five yuan!” Wang Qingchuan frowned.
“Who did you buy it for?” Wang Zhizhi repeated.
“You, you, I bought it for you.” Wang Qingchuan said angrily, pointing at the ingredient board. “I want to eat cream puffs.”
Wang Zhizhi chuckled. “Liar.”
Wang Qingchuan: ???
“Beibei, is coconut milk pudding enough? The ones I had before, they seemed to have mango in them too.” Wang Zhizhi looked up at Wang Qingbei.
Jiang Heye thought for a moment. “Adding some fruit would be good, it’s not troublesome. Let me see, mmm… there’s no mango on this ingredient board, but there’s shredded coconut and red beans, should we take them?”
“Yes.” Wang Zhizhi nodded.
Wang Qingchuan: “… “ Did he not exist?
“Okay, we can make two kinds.” Jiang Heye said, starting to take the ingredient strips based on the recipe.
“Didn’t I say I would buy it for you? Didn’t you hear me? How am I a liar?” Wang Qingchuan said angrily. “This isn’t right!”
“… “ Wang Zhizhi sighed, took off the badge on his chest, and said, “Now, I’m Wang Zhizhi. When you didn’t have just five yuan, you only bought clothes for my sister, you didn’t buy me any toys. With only five yuan, you wouldn’t even buy me anything. You lied to me, I know.”
After saying that, Wang Zhizhi put the badge back on.
“When did that happen?” Wang Qingchuan asked, after thinking for a moment. “I don’t even remember, why are you holding a grudge for so long?”
“Listen to your sister, she wants to eat coconut milk pudding, so we’ll eat coconut milk pudding.” Wang Zhizhi said, not even turning back, he ignored Wang Qingchuan and focused on Wang Qingbei, who was taking the ingredient strips.
Wang Qingchuan, grumbling and complaining, was ignored, he couldn’t change their decision, he could only go back, frustrated and sullen.
The drama that unfolded in front of everyone at the Wang family’s table made Wei Chengli click his tongue, he wouldn’t complain about the little chubby dumpling imitating his “picking up and swaying” action anymore.
The Cheng family was the last to go up and collect their ingredients.
Cheng Feiying’s expression was grim, but he didn’t have as much to say as Wang Qingchuan. Although the reason they were last place was definitely because Cheng Tingyan refused to participate in any of the games, and the three-and-a-half-year-old Cheng Rongrong alone couldn’t compete with the older children, but Cheng Feiying also knew that his own performance today was truly terrible… He didn’t know what was wrong with those games, it was like they were specifically designed to target him, either testing his balance or his spatial reasoning, all things he wasn’t good at. The more he played, the more frustrated he became, the more he lost…
They were last place, his own incompetence had been broadcasted for all to see, although Cheng Feiying was angry at Cheng Tingyan, who didn’t participate in a single game, he couldn’t say anything in front of everyone.
Thankfully, it seemed the ranking didn’t have as much impact on the ingredient selection as the host had initially said.
They didn’t have that much variety, so they could just make something simple, he was also very tired.
But while Cheng Tingyan had no objections to what they made, Cheng Rongrong voiced her opinion.
She wanted to make… mochi with banana filling.
Cheng Feiying, looking at the recipe for mochi, which was almost as long as the one for cream puffs, immediately read it out loud to Cheng Rongrong, emphasizing that he was just a baby, if they chose this, it would be the new parents who did the work, making the mochi dough, whipping the cream, it was all physical labor, he was only responsible for eating, not making.
He had already made it clear, Cheng Feiying felt that the three-and-a-half-year-old Cheng Rongrong should have some self-awareness.
However, Cheng Rongrong still wanted to choose it.
Because… Jiang Heye liked it.
Knowing the plot of the original story, knowing some of the small details, Cheng Rongrong felt she couldn’t waste her foreknowledge, she had to seize every opportunity to get closer to her. After all, Cheng Feiying was useless now. Although her mom had some connections with the He family, they weren’t that close, it was already difficult for her to get roles for her dad, let alone find suitable ones for her. She had to rely on herself! It seemed it was no longer easy to establish her “good girl” persona by stepping on Cheng Tingyan on this show, at least she had to win over Jiang Heye, who was practically delivered to her doorstep!
Cheng Feiying couldn’t understand why Cheng Rongrong was making things difficult for herself, he emphasized the difficulty of making mochi dough and whipping cream again. He hadn’t made them before, but he had seen it on set, whipping cream without a machine, even adults would find it tiring. He wouldn’t do such a thing.
Cheng Rongrong understood what Cheng Feiying meant by repeatedly emphasizing it. He was just lazy and cowardly!
“Older sister…” Cheng Rongrong looked at Cheng Tingyan, who had been silent, seemingly indifferent.
“My dad is not a dad who would make mochi dough or whip cream.” Cheng Tingyan said calmly. “And I, who am playing his role today, am not either.”
Cheng Feiying: “… “ He couldn’t refute that.
“Older sister, mochi with banana filling is very delicious, let’s make it together.” Cheng Rongrong said, lowering her eyes, a glint of cunning flashing in them. “Older sister, do you not want to make desserts with me? Are you going to Maomao’s house? Older sister, you have delicious desserts to eat outside, so you don’t care about Dad and me anymore? Dad and I don’t have anything delicious… You won’t even bring any back.”
Her voice was soft, aggrieved, and clear.
But Cheng Tingyan didn’t feel any sympathy, she just asked, confused, “When Dad goes out to eat, does he care about what we eat at home? Did he ever bring anything back?”
Cheng Rongrong was stunned, she was even distracted by the question, she couldn’t help but think back seriously.
He truly… never did!
“Okay, okay, okay! Make the mochi if you want to make it.” Cheng Feiying interrupted the conversation between his two daughters.
What the hell, the more they talked, the more annoying it became, what did it have to do with him? Why were they always bringing him up?
Let her make it if she wanted to, it was none of his business if she couldn’t, he didn’t even want to eat it.
Cheng Feiying glared at his two daughters, then swiftly took the ingredient strips for mochi based on the recipe and stuffed them into Cheng Rongrong’s hand. “Here, here, here, you make it, you make it.”
Cheng Rongrong was finally satisfied, but seeing Cheng Tingyan, who had just turned around and walked straight towards that little menace, she felt annoyed again.
The one who used to be like a transparent person at home, how come she was becoming more and more assertive, more and more stubborn?
Just a three-year-old little menace, could she really change her fate?
And it wasn’t just Cheng Rongrong who noticed Cheng Tingyan’s change, the viewers in the live broadcast room also saw it.
“Today’s Yan Yan, she seems particularly different. In the past two days, when the babies were playing the role of their ideal parents, it wasn’t that obvious. But today, when they’re asked to play the role of their dads, Yan Yan has become much more assertive.”
“I don’t think it’s assertiveness. It’s more like… she’s gone from being reserved to being more open. Did you notice? Yan Yan rarely talks about her family, what her dad is like, what her mom is like, she rarely mentions it. And when she accidentally talks about it, she seems a bit nervous. Unlike today, she even cooked cilantro, her words are more direct, I think this ‘imitating dads’ segment is truly good!”
“It’s about making the babies reveal their real dads, why can only the dads talk about their babies…”
“Cheng Feiying, this person is truly terrible, even without Yan Yan’s acting, I can imagine him being like this. But Cheng Rongrong… who did she learn her guilt-tripping skills from? How is she so good at it? She must have drunk a lot of green tea growing up? If she wants to do something, she should just do it herself, why drag Yan Yan into it… Our Yan Yan just wants to go and eat at CEO Mao’s house, what’s wrong with that? Facing Cheng Feiying, she would probably get indigestion no matter what she eats.”
“Sob, sob, sob, our CEO Mao is truly a little angel, as soon as Yan Yan went over, she immediately asked her what kind of cookies she wanted to eat! So it’s not just plain butter cookies, she’ll also make different shapes? My CEO Mao, your age is holding you back!”
“Any kind of cookie CEO Mao makes will be delicious! I’m willing to eat them all! Please send me a cookie made by CEO Mao! I just want one! One is enough!”
“I’m not greedy, I don’t even want a whole one anymore, just let me have a bite… Just one bite…”
…
Although the ingredients were limited, Wei Maomao was serious about making cookies.
In her previous life, she had met Cheng Tingyan online, using the username “One Bite Cookie,” Cheng Tingyan had often jokingly asked if her cookies were truly that delicious, to be eaten one bite at a time, and even asked if she would have a chance to try them in the future.
And Wei Maomao had already decided that the first time she made desserts for Cheng Tingyan, it had to be cookies, to satisfy Cheng Tingyan’s curiosity from back then.
She never expected that something she didn’t have a chance to do in her previous life would have a chance to be realized now.
“I want to eat… bunny cookies.” Cheng Tingyan answered without hesitation.
Wei Maomao: “… “
Ah… well, she could make them, but why did it sound… wrong…
“Do you want to eat any other shapes? We can make a few different animals.” Wei Maomao suggested kindly.
“No, just bunny cookies.” Cheng Tingyan said firmly.
Wei Maomao: “… “ Okay, as long as you’re happy.
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