Chapter 122
“This courtyard, the first time I came to find you, you were crying while drinking mush.”
“This is the room where we slept together. We shared many secrets here, secrets we couldn’t tell the adults outside.”
“This is the bed we slept in together. And that one, you wet the bed on that one.”
…
“No! There’s no need to remember that!” Wei Maomao shouted, stopping Cheng Tingyan’s reminiscing in embarrassment.
Overly agitated, her voice too loud, Wei Maomao’s eyes flew open.
The bright sunlight, unhindered by the thin curtains, blinded her.
Wei Maomao instinctively closed her eyes, her mind clearing slightly.
Oh, it was a dream…
That’s right, the real Yan Yan wouldn’t be so mean. Last night, when they came back, their conversation reached “That bed…”, and Yan Yan just smiled meaningfully, she didn’t say the rest!
Heaven pitied her, Yan Yan had spared her and didn’t say it out loud, and she even added it in her dream…
“Maomao? Are you awake? What did you say there’s no need to remember?” Cheng Tingyan asked, startled, clutching the damp handkerchief in her hand. She had just returned to the bed when she heard the little chubby bunny, who was sound asleep, suddenly mumble and even open her eyes.
“Nothing, I was just dreaming…” Wei Maomao said, refusing to reveal her embarrassing dream, she rolled over, rubbed her eyes, and as soon as she opened them, she saw the handkerchief in Cheng Tingyan’s hand.
“Don’t be afraid, it was just a dream.” Cheng Tingyan said, holding up the damp handkerchief, she climbed back onto the bed, expertly pressed the handkerchief against the little chubby bunny’s mouth, and started wiping.
Wei Maomao: “… “ For a moment, she didn’t know which was more embarrassing, the dream or reality.
“Let’s wipe the… toothpaste.” Cheng Tingyan said calmly, her tone sincere, as if there was no lie in her words. After swiftly wiping the little chubby bunny’s mouth, she started wiping a small spot on her own pajamas. “If Uncle Wei sees it, he’ll think we didn’t learn how to brush our teeth yesterday.”
Wei Maomao: “… “ She was speechless.
Whatever, maybe the six-year-old Yan Yan wouldn’t remember this when she grew up… Sob~~~
The journey from here to Shudian Film and Television City was about seven hours.
According to the program team’s schedule, they would depart after breakfast. That way, they could arrive at the next location before dinner.
The program team didn’t arrange any tasks yesterday morning, giving the families time to pack in advance.
At the Wei family’s house, Wei Chengli had almost finished packing, he just needed to pack the things he didn’t put away last night for sleeping. Wei Maomao followed Wei Chengli around for two minutes, confirming that there was nothing for her to do, she pulled Cheng Tingyan to the Cheng family’s courtyard to pack her remaining belongings.
Wei Maomao couldn’t help but feel that even though she didn’t bring any cilantro today, Cheng Feiying’s expression seemed even worse than in the past two days… But he didn’t say anything harsh, he just treated them like random passersby.
That was perfect, Wei Maomao quickly started packing with Cheng Tingyan.
It was a seven-hour car ride, she couldn’t leave Yan Yan in the Cheng family’s car.
Cheng Tingyan didn’t have many things, she had already packed a small suitcase to bring to the Wei family’s house for their sleepover yesterday. Now, after stuffing the rest of her things, she only had two suitcases left. They were mostly clothes, after all, it was a live broadcast, a different outfit every day was a must. And after so many days of continuous live broadcasting, she naturally had more clothes. Most of them were new, so packing was quick, they soon finished packing everything.
After confirming that nothing was left behind, Wei Maomao made a small fist with her chubby paw, palm up, and gestured towards the staff.
Liu Ming: “… “
What else could she do? She had already promised this little one on their way here.
Receiving Wei Maomao’s signal, Liu Ming first peeked at Cheng Feiying, who was eating breakfast in the courtyard, then, with the other staff member, each carrying a suitcase, they tiptoed away, like thieves, swiftly exiting the courtyard.
The two carrying the suitcases, the two little babies holding hands, the cameraman, and the other staff members… The group that was leisurely when they arrived, now looked like a desperate tornado, rushing out of the gate, their unity and agility resembling a group being chased by a dog…
“Dad, Older sister took her luggage, is she not leaving with us?” Cheng Rongrong asked, poking at the egg in her bowl, trying to look disappointed and aggrieved.
Cheng Feiying, without even looking up, finished the last bit of porridge in his bowl, then reached for a bun from the plate in front of him, and said coldly, “Let her be.”
“But isn’t it one car per family… We’re family.” Cheng Rongrong said, seizing every opportunity to emphasize this point.
“Why do you care? Does she care about you?” Cheng Feiying said impatiently, he didn’t want to talk about this anymore, he threw the bun he had just picked up into Cheng Rongrong’s bowl, and as if one wasn’t enough, he added another one. “Eat your bun.”
Badmouthing Cheng Tingyan in front of Cheng Feiying, this was something Cheng Rongrong was very good at at home.
But here, how come her skills were regressing…
She had finally managed to get Cheng Feiying to say something negative, and it sounded like he was blaming both of them equally.
And the key was…
Was he crazy!
She was only three and a half years old, she had already eaten a bun, an egg, and half a bowl of porridge, couldn’t he see?
She was already full, and he added two more large buns to her bowl, was he trying to make her explode, reduce the number of family members by one? Or did he think her current image on the live broadcast was too good, there was still room for wasting food?
Ahhh! She was so angry!!!
Cheng Feiying, he truly didn’t see it. He didn’t even bother to pay attention to anything other than himself.
This show was truly annoying, so annoying, so annoying.
Starting from that damn baby-dad role swap… no, starting from the first time that little menace stopped him from switching rooms with the Wen family! It had been so annoying!
And the key was, this program team was inhumane. They were doing it on purpose!
During the baby-dad role swap, the babies got to be their ideal parents for two days, then they had to go on stage and comment on their parents’ performance, and during the individual interviews, they even had to grade their parents’ performance. It seemed like the dads still had the power to judge the babies, but it was all a trap! Last night, during the individual interviews, the program team actually asked them to grade the babies’ performance in imitating them, imitating how they acted as parents for the past day and a half!
How could he grade them!
If he gave them low scores, wasn’t he admitting that they, the dads, were bad parents?
And if he gave them high scores… He couldn’t possibly give high scores to the negative aspects that were amplified by the babies. After all, this was a live broadcast, he wasn’t the only one in the world who had eyes.
In short, coming to this show was a huge mistake!
Cheng Feiying felt frustrated and unlucky. But it wasn’t just because of this show.
He had struggled for several years before finally getting his chance to be famous, but it was all too fast, the decline came too quickly.
And he, now, didn’t have the same energy and drive as when he was younger, to find joy in hardship and strive for a better future.
Maybe he just didn’t have the luck…
Whatever.
Although the show was trash, he didn’t want to pay the penalty for breaking the contract. For the remaining time, he would just go through the motions, why bother scheming, why bother getting angry!
Cheng Feiying’s desire to give up was evident on his face.
Cheng Rongrong really wanted to throw the two buns in her bowl at his face.
The dad who was in a bad mood after being asked to grade the babies’ performance in imitating them wasn’t just Cheng Feiying.
The shortcomings they mentioned on stage a few days ago, when commenting on the babies’ performance as their ideal parents, the low scores they gave during the first grading, it was like slapping themselves in the face during the second grading.
The babies might have had their shortcomings as parents. But they themselves… were truly just average.
Shen Jianghe and Wen Xiang, who were deeply reflecting, and Wen Qiming, who was trying to reflect, they truly… regretted not praising the babies’ performance to the skies and giving them perfect scores.
This guilt lingered until today, lingered even in the car.
During the seven-hour car ride alone, they decided to discuss drawing skills, show their poverty, and do some math problems, to bridge the gap with their babies.
Of course, there were also those who couldn’t stand each other.
Unlike Cheng Tingyan, who directly left with the Wei family’s car, Wang Zhizhi was still in the same van as Wang Qingchuan.
Wang Zhizhi got into the car first and waited for a while, he waited until Wang Qingchuan and the staff got into the car, waited until the car started, waited until the village and the villagers seeing them off at the village entrance became smaller and smaller in the distance, only then was he willing to believe that Beibei truly wasn’t coming with them.
Yesterday at noon, after lunch, Wang Qingbei had transformed back into Jiang Heye and left.
In the end, she was truly just… a temporary “daughter,” a temporary “family member.”
Oh, and there was also the permanent… Dad.
Wang Zhizhi glanced at Wang Qingchuan next to him, and when he looked over, quickly closed his eyes.
Let the seven-hour sleep begin!
In some cars, the silence was eerie, while in others, it was truly… lively.
“Little bunny!” Cheng Tingyan said, gently touching the pillowcase Wei Maomao had spread out.
“Grandma Zhao is so amazing! She even embroidered candied tomatoes for the little bunny!” Wei Maomao exclaimed, then urged Cheng Tingyan to open the small cloth bag Grandma Zhao Lanhua had given each baby at the village entrance before they left. “Yan Yan, look, what did Grandma Zhao embroider for you!”
“A small white flower?” Cheng Tingyan said with a smile, untying the drawstring of the cloth bag, she took out the pillowcase inside. “Ah, this is…”
Wei Maomao, her furry little head leaning closer, also exclaimed in surprise, “Yan Yan washing tomatoes! Grandma Zhao can embroider a cartoon Yan Yan!”
“It does look like her! Is this the hairstyle Yan Yan had that day, the wreath-like one? Grandma Zhao is amazing!” Wei Chengli, hearing the exclamations from the back seat, couldn’t help but turn around, leaning over the back of his seat, craning his neck to look.
“Mmm! It’s the hairstyle Maomao did for me that morning!” Cheng Tingyan said, kindly holding the pillowcase closer for Wei Chengli to see more clearly.
“Maomao is amazing! She also braided beautiful pigtails for Yan Yan today.” Wei Chengli said with admiration. “Grandma Zhao is also very up-to-date, although it’s a cartoon Yan Yan, the details are very accurate, it looks just like her!”
“Dad… Those aren’t pigtails, it’s a fishbone braid…” Wei Maomao corrected Wei Chengli’s lack of knowledge, then pointed her chubby paw at the tomatoes on Cheng Tingyan’s pillowcase and her own, and said to Cheng Tingyan with a smile, “The tomatoes you washed have become the candied tomatoes I’m holding.”
“Maomao…” Cheng Tingyan said softly, glancing at the little chubby bunny holding candied tomatoes on Wei Maomao’s pillowcase.
Wei Maomao tilted her head. “Mmm?”
“Nothing.” Cheng Tingyan mumbled, embarrassed, and swallowed her words.
Although she loved the little chubby bunny, she wanted to collect all the little chubby bunnies, but this time, she had a cartoon version of herself, not the small white flowers Maomao liked. It didn’t seem suitable for an exchange.
Before she could even say it, Wei Maomao, the clever one, understood from her gaze, which was fixed on the pillowcase in her hand.
“I like the cartoon Yan Yan, do you like the little bunny?” Wei Maomao asked softly, leaning closer to Cheng Tingyan.
And she saw those eyes light up instantly.
Cheng Tingyan nodded quickly.
“Then let’s switch.” Wei Maomao said with a smile, handing over her pillowcase.
In the front seat, Wei Chengli, watching the two little ones happily exchanging pillowcases, their “I like you, you like me” interaction, smacked his lips, feeling a twinge of jealousy, and turned back around.
He rummaged through the large cloth bag next to him, filled with local specialties given by the enthusiastic villagers when they were seeing them off, and pulled out a bag of cherry tomatoes.
Hmph, you have tomatoes, I have them too~~~
Wei Chengli hummed and threw a cherry tomato into his mouth.
Tsk…
Okay… It was even more sour…
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