Chapter 120
All things must come to an end.
From the faint light of dawn to the gradual dimming of the sky.
The initial bustle of the crowd quieted down after the show began, only to become lively again as it ended.
The summer breeze stirred, villagers helped children find their parents, supported the elderly, chatted and laughed as they dispersed in small groups, their palm-leaf fans swaying.
With the joint effort of the program team and the village committee, soon, only the dads, babies, and the program team staff remained on the small square.
There were always contrasts in life, the quietness after the excitement brought a chill, mixed with a hint of untimely loneliness.
Wei Maomao leaned against the edge of the stage, watching the lively atmosphere gradually fade away, disappearing into the alleys, she unconsciously tightened her grip on Cheng Tingyan’s hand.
“Okay, our Anti-Fraud Gala has come to a successful conclusion! Thank you to our babies and dads for your active participation and hard work!” The host said, standing on the stage, then started clapping.
First the staff, then the dads, the applause gradually grew louder.
After the applause subsided, the host continued with a smile, “Today is our last day here. Tomorrow, we’ll embark on a new journey. So, now, I’m going to announce the destination of our next stop! Drumroll~~~ We’re going to…”
“Where is it…” As his voice slowed down, the host opened the envelope in his hand, but quickly closed it again. “Ah, right, before announcing the next location, there’s one more thing I need to mention. Before the show started filming, we collected the wishes of our little babies about where they wanted to go, and soon, some of our little babies’ dreams will come true! At the next stop, we can fulfill several babies’ wishes at once, after all, it’s a very amazing place, do you want to guess where it is?”
Wei Maomao: ???
What going somewhere?
What wishes?
Wei Maomao turned to look at Wei Chengli.
Wei Chengli, who had been secretly glancing at the little chubby dumpling, touched his nose, feeling guilty. He bent down and whispered into her ear, “Uh… That was during the last two days before the show. When the program team called to ask, you were sleeping. You must remember, right? You were always sleeping during those days, and you couldn’t be woken up, and they seemed to be in a hurry. So I answered for you… Uh, and then I forgot to tell you…”
“Just like how you forgot to tell me it was a live broadcast?” Wei Maomao truly wanted to go back and cook a pot of mush for Wei Chengli overnight, the kind without removing the fishy smell, to nourish his brain!
Wei Chengli, embarrassed by the little chubby dumpling’s words, chuckled awkwardly, but still tried to salvage his pride. “But I think the place I chose for you is quite good. Didn’t the program team ask you where you wanted to go? I said you wanted to go to a place where you can make a wish, and the wish will definitely come true. Like a very, very big wishing tree, or a very beautiful wishing fountain… The program team will fulfill every baby’s wish of where to go, although there might be some compromises, but I emphasized that the specific image wasn’t important, the content was. When you get to that place, you can make a new wish, and go wherever you want, right? Dad just postponed your wish~~~”
Wei Maomao stared at Wei Chengli in shock.
What?
Would the program team actually accept such a bizarre idea?
Didn’t they call in a hurry to finalize the location for the next stop? And now there was a postponed wish, they even had to add an extra location, why would they agree? They even agreed to a wish that increased their workload, did he have a mole in the program team?
Oh… maybe he did.
Shi Dingshan was truly Wei Chengli’s good friend.
Wei Maomao, speechless from shock, became the focus of the live broadcast under Shi Hongxiao’s camera.
How should she put it, truly a good deed.
The viewers in the live broadcast room were also shocked by Wei Chengli’s answer.
“Logically, it makes sense, but why would the program team agree…”
“Because it’ll look good on camera? Honestly, just thinking about ‘wishing tree’ or ‘wishing fountain,’ I can already imagine a beautiful, dreamlike scene.”
“Hahaha, although… But! Isn’t this like digging up a magic lamp from the ground, and the lamp says you can make three wishes. Then after making two wishes, for your third wish, you say, ‘Please let me make three more wishes’? Playing like this, the wishes will be endless! It’s like a nesting doll!”
“I’m dying of laughter! ‘Where’s Baby Going’ has been running for three seasons, and this season, they’re actually taking the title literally… In the previous two seasons, they just asked for a general preference before the show started, right? Like countryside or city, mountains or water? I feel like those two seasons must have had some kind of script, the program team probably decided where to go, then had the babies say something vaguely similar, just to make it seem like they were following the title.”
“There are seven babies? If they all have different wishes, and the locations are far apart, wouldn’t they have to go to seven places? Live broadcasts are already more difficult than pre-recorded ones in terms of clearing the area, it’s unlikely they’ll go to so many places, right? Isn’t it usually four locations?”
“What did the host just say? He said the next stop can fulfill several babies’ wishes at once, then the next stop must be quite amazing. Either it’s a place with convenient transportation, or there are various terrains, facilities, a complex…”
“Not necessarily, if it doesn’t work out, they can just build sets. That day when the babies were playing at Grandma Zhao’s house, the bouncy castle could be a fairy tale castle, adding a small inflatable pool next to the sandpit could be the seaside, those slides, seesaws, they could be combined into an amusement park, and placing them next to a hill could be the mountains~~~”
“Hahaha, is the person above trying to kill me with laughter! So economical and time-saving… The program team should hire you immediately! Why don’t you just say that board games are equivalent to an arcade, and those stacks of books are a library, hahaha!”
“Guys, stop talking. I’m truly afraid that in the next second, the host will point at that skinny tree next to CEO Mao and say, ‘Go make a wish, that’s your wishing tree’!”
…
If that were truly the case, Wei Maomao wouldn’t feel aggrieved at all.
Wei Chengli’s answer of “going somewhere,” it sounded a bit unreliable at first, she couldn’t understand why the program team would agree to such a delayed and then re-arranged wish.
But since he said it, and they actually agreed…
Thinking about it, it was… actually quite good!
If the wish could be postponed, then it could be diverted.
“Where does the baby want to go?”
“I want to go to Mom’s house, I want to live with Mom.”
Quite reasonable, right?
Saying a few words from the heart while making a wish, also quite reasonable, right?
It wasn’t complaining, it wasn’t whining, it was just expressing her feelings.
Those words were for the tree, for the fountain, for the kind-hearted god.
As for the staff members and the viewers outside who happened to hear it, it was just a coincidence.
If she could choose, Wei Maomao hoped her wish would be fulfilled at the fourth location, that way, she could give Cheng Feiying one last blow without worrying about him withdrawing from the show.
As Wei Maomao thought about it, her expression softened, she even looked at Wei Chengli with a hint of approval.
Wait, hold on…
Wei Maomao suddenly turned to look at Cheng Tingyan, who was standing next to her.
Although it was unlikely, but when the program team contacted Yan Yan before, could she have already made such a wish?
“Yan Yan, did you tell the program team where you wanted to go?” Wei Maomao asked, pulling Cheng Tingyan’s arm.
“Zoo.” Cheng Tingyan answered softly.
“Where?” Wei Maomao thought she had misheard.
“Zoo. A zoo is… a place where many animals are kept in cages, and people can watch them from outside.” Cheng Tingyan explained softly, thinking the little chubby bunny didn’t know what a zoo was.
“I know what a zoo is. But Yan Yan, you don’t like zoos!” Wei Maomao said, her brow furrowed, her confused words slipping out.
“Mmm?” Cheng Tingyan was stunned.
Wei Maomao bit her tongue, realizing her slip-up, she quickly tried to cover it up. “Yan Yan, you like to be clean, and the animals in the zoo don’t shower often, you wouldn’t like it.”
“Mmm…” Cheng Tingyan nodded, glancing at the little chubby bunny.
The little chubby bunny who showered every day was the cutest!
Wei Maomao didn’t know what Cheng Tingyan was thinking, in fact, all her thoughts were now occupied by anger.
“You don’t like it, and you still said you wanted to go? Did your dad tell you to say that?” Wei Maomao asked directly.
As long as it didn’t involve the core issues of medical expenses, loans, and custody, Wei Maomao felt there was nothing she couldn’t say directly in front of the camera.
Wei Chengli next to her was startled.
By the little chubby dumpling’s directness, and by the possibility that the Cheng family would actually do such a pointless thing.
Cheng Tingyan, holding the chubby paw in her hand tightly, pursed her lips and shook her head. “Auntie Bai said I have to go to the zoo. My dad… agreed with Auntie Bai.”
“Yan Yan, I don’t understand. I’ve been with you for a few days, I know you don’t like zoos.” Wei Maomao said, her free hand counting on her fingers, she asked in confusion, “That Auntie Bai, she’s been with you for years, doesn’t she know? Ugh~~~ Stepmothers are truly scary! Where there’s a stepmother, there’s a stepfather!”
Cheng Tingyan was stunned, she was that direct? She couldn’t help but glance at Wei Chengli, worried that he would mind the little chubby bunny talking about other adults like that.
Wei Chengli, next to her, was even more shocked than Cheng Tingyan. Meeting her gaze, he instinctively defended himself. “I didn’t say that…”
“Mmm, it’s from a TV drama.” Wei Maomao said calmly, she wasn’t trying to throw her dad under the bus.
No matter where she heard it from, she couldn’t be this direct…
What was wrong with this little rascal! How could she say such a confusing thing with such obvious anger and indignation!
Was it okay to say that? They were live broadcasting, baby! Directly saying “where there’s a stepmother, there’s a stepfather”! From cilantro to this, she was attacking on all fronts…
And that “ugh~~~” sound of disgust, she said it so perfectly… How many times had she secretly said it behind their backs, ahhh…
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