Chapter 18
“Cheng Feiying is a good guy, sacrificing a mansion for a shack!”
“Our little angel Rongrong is clearly scared of the hole in the roof, but to stop her brother from crying, she bravely agreed to swap, even pretending that she likes looking at the stars. So sweet~~”
“The younger sister is so understanding, the older sister is not so good, coldly saying ‘whatever,’ as if everyone owes her money.”
“Right, Cheng Tingyan is already six years old, she doesn’t know how to give in to the younger ones. It was the same with the eggs this morning, Rongrong even gave her egg to her, but she just put down her fork and stopped eating, so stingy.”
…
When Cheng Feiying took the initiative to approach Wen Xiang to swap houses, comments not much different from those in Wei Maomao’s past life floated across the live broadcast screen.
Even though Cheng Tingyan responded quickly this time, unlike her long silence in the past, compared to the other two’s enthusiastic and proactive offerings, her indifferent response still fell short.
But this time, before the comments could escalate to more severe wording, a chubby little dumpling rolled into the camera, like a sharp blade from the sky, slashing apart the amicable scene between the Cheng and Wen families, then relentlessly making random slashes with her words.
At first, when Wei Maomao barged into the camera and childishly stopped them, the live broadcast room was filled with rows of simple “Hahaha…” comments. However, as she spoke in her seemingly random but poignant childlike language, the laughter in the comments gradually subsided.
Sometimes, people were blinded by a single leaf.
The longer this leaf existed, the more logical it would seem. Over time, people would even completely forget its existence, forget that they could remove it and see a different view.
Now, the little dumpling had stirred things up.
The leaf…
Shattered…
Could things belonging to a child solely belong to them?
How far could parental authority and control over their children extend?
A child of only a few years old, was she still an independent person?
“Looking at it this way, Cheng Feiying did decide to swap houses himself before asking for his daughters’ opinions.”
“Cheng Feiying’s heart is in the right place, but he should have asked for his daughters’ opinions before swapping, he was careless.”
“Heh, he knew to ask when they were eating eggs this morning, why didn’t he ask now? He listens to the people for small matters, but makes decisions for big ones?”
“Am I the only one who doesn’t understand why Cheng Feiying, with two daughters in tow, and Rongrong being so young, would be willing to swap for a broken house… It feels strange.”
“Didn’t he say he had experience living in broken houses? Maybe Yan Yan and Rongrong are more adaptable.”
“I also think it’s strange, I wouldn’t keep my daughter living in a broken house just because she had lived in one before.”
“Strange +1”
“Strange +2”
…
“Although… but Maomao shouldn’t be doing this either, using a new word she just learned so casually. ‘Being generous with other people’s things’ is quite a derogatory term, I think Cheng Feiying was at most careless, it’s not that serious…”
“Where is Maomao wrong? Didn’t Cheng Feiying use his daughter’s things to do a favor?”
“Why are you all criticizing our chubby bunny! And what if he had asked his daughter first? When I was young, my dad’s friend came to stay at our house, and my parents asked me if I was willing to give up my bedroom for him. I said no. Guess why I still remember those five slaps to this day…”
“Cheng Feiying can’t hit anyone, the cameras are rolling.”
“Who knows, the filming will end someday.”
“If you respect someone, you should respect their hard work. The issue isn’t whether you ask first and then swap, or swap first and then ask, but whether you have some sense. What does someone else’s belongings have to do with him, he shouldn’t even ask.”
“What’s wrong with you people? What do you mean someone else’s? Although the house was drawn by Cheng Tingyan, isn’t it the family’s house? Can’t Cheng Feiying, as an adult father, make this decision?”
“Heh, if your family pooled ten dollars to buy a lottery ticket and won five million, even if you split it equally, you should at least get your share, right? Your dad decides to give it all away, and you think it’s okay?”
“What’s wrong with us! What’s wrong with you! Cheng Tingyan is the oldest child, that’s right, but she’s only six years old. When you were six and won a big prize on the street, your dad gave it away casually, would you be happy? Wouldn’t you have a problem?”
“I think Yan Yan is quite good, although she’s cold, she has a warm heart, at least she agreed to swap. If it were me, heh, he could keep dreaming.”
“Yan Yan seems much quieter than in the first season. Although it looks like they’re taking good care of her this morning, I always feel that where there’s a stepmother, there’s a stepfather. No matter how well Cheng Feiying does, it’s still different.”
“He’s not doing that well either. The egg thing this morning, they only had two eggs left, couldn’t he have made scrambled eggs? He had to make fried eggs, playing the ‘two peaches kill three scholars’ trick, our Yan Yan couldn’t even refuse.”
“Rongrong giving her egg was friendly, Yan Yan not eating it was also friendly, and who says you have to finish the food someone gives you.”
“Right, I hate it when people put food on my plate.”
“Cheng Feiying seems to have quite a lot of say at home, Director Wei is not so lucky, he can’t control Maomao at all, she’s so talkative, look at how many times Cheng Feiying’s face has changed.”
“Just saying, I think Director Wei was super cool when he said he wouldn’t give Maomao’s things away, it’s better to have a dad who stands up for you than no dad at all.”
“I don’t care, our little warrior Maomao who wants to protect girls’ property is the coolest, hahaha.”
“It’s a pity that the little warrior is too small, she probably can’t protect it.”
“??? No way, is Cheng Feiying still going to swap houses after all this?”
In the live broadcast room, the originally one-sided wind was stirred and swept by the little dumpling, turning into tornadoes that emerged from all directions, battling each other. Some things were no longer taken for granted. The appearance of controversy made public opinion start thinking, thus creating a turning point, giving everything another possibility.
And Wei Maomao, who was under the camera, was completely unaware of all this.
At this moment, she was hanging on Wei Chengli’s leg, peeking out with her little head.
She watched Cheng Feiying’s struggle, Cheng Rongrong’s anger, the awkward silence she had created, and also… Cheng Tingyan.
Just and brave, pitiful and fragile, terrified and scared… Wei Maomao had just put on a big show, but she didn’t dare to look at Cheng Tingyan once during the process.
She was afraid.
She was afraid that if her gaze was discovered, Cheng Tingyan, who was suppressed by the agreement with the Cheng family, would… be forced to become Cheng Feiying’s sword against her.
She was also afraid of seeing incomprehension in Cheng Tingyan’s eyes, of seeing dislike for her childish behavior.
Wei Maomao wasn’t afraid of getting hurt, but she was afraid of Cheng Tingyan being labeled with those hurtful words again.
Wei Maomao wasn’t afraid of that kind of look, but she was afraid that she would be too sad and unable to control her performance.
She wanted Cheng Tingyan to stay out of it, she would fight this battle alone.
Only now, when everything had temporarily come to an end, did Wei Maomao dare to secretly glance at Cheng Tingyan.
And Cheng Tingyan, as if sensing her gaze, looked back, her eyes clear and bright, seemingly without any emotion.
This was already good enough, Wei Maomao relaxed a little and continued to look at the center of the awkwardness, Cheng Feiying.
Now, it was a dilemma for Cheng Feiying whether he swapped or not.
Wei Maomao wouldn’t make a fuss anymore, that would only give him a way to retract his decision.
Her goal was to tear off his hypocritical mask, to change the custody in the future, to give Cheng Tingyan the freedom to leave the Cheng family without carrying a bad reputation, not to fight over a house for the moment.
Anyway, they still had their own clean house as a backup. Even if he still swapped in the end, she could kindly invite Cheng Tingyan to live with them. Wasn’t it all about the great principle of unity and mutual assistance? She had also drawn a lot of cartoons about that.
Either way, Cheng Tingyan wouldn’t be the one to lose, Wei Maomao was enjoying the show.
But she didn’t expect someone unexpected to come and give Cheng Feiying a way out.
“We’re not swapping houses anymore!” Wen Dongyu shouted, raising his fist. His fair face was marked with red eyes and tear stains.
“Right, right, right, we’re fine with living here.” Wen Xiang quickly echoed.
Although he didn’t know why his crying and whining son had suddenly changed his mind, Wen Xiang was truly relieved. This house might be good, but it was too hot to handle.
“Hahaha, then let’s not swap. I’ll go check your roof later, get a few planks of wood, otherwise it’ll be troublesome if it rains.” Cheng Feiying’s expression softened, and he quickly took the opportunity to back down. While expressing his continued friendliness, he didn’t forget to give Wen Dongyu a loving look.
Thank heavens, thank earth, thank goodness only one of these children was abnormal.
However, Cheng Feiying didn’t expect that he had thanked them too early.
“Daddy! I’m a boy…” Wen Dongyu clenched the picture of the house he had despised in his hand. “Boys, also have to protect their own property!”
Wen Xiang: “…” Wait, why are we jumping back into this muddy water!
Why was the topic of property coming up again… Cheng Feiying’s smile gradually froze.
Wen Dongyu, as if injected with some strange stimulant, didn’t seem to notice the adults’ increasingly distorted expressions. He just twisted his waist and then plastered himself against Wen Xiang’s leg.
“Ah!” Wen Xiang, caught off guard by the hard bump against his leg, took a step back, crying out in pain.
“Daddy! Do you want to be the forest police and protect my property with me?” Wen Dongyu hugged Wen Xiang’s leg tightly and looked up at his father with deep affection.
Both his actions and words were… strangely… familiar…
It was Wen Dongyu who was speaking, but everyone present couldn’t help but look at the little dumpling still hanging on Wei Chengli’s leg.
Wen Xiang looked at the soft and chubby little dumpling a few steps away, then looked down at his own thin, monkey-like son. Why imitate her, son? You didn’t even consider the difference between you two, could the feeling of clinging to our legs be the same? You almost broke your daddy’s leg!
“Daddy! Daddy! Protect my property!” Wen Dongyu, not getting a response from Wen Xiang, started jumping while holding onto his father’s leg.
“Ow, ow, ow!” Wen Xiang’s head throbbed from his son’s rough actions, and he instinctively gave in. “Protect, protect!”
He didn’t know what was there to protect about a broken house with a hole in the roof…
“Then will you help me get back the airplane that Mommy gave to Qiang Qi next door?” Wen Dongyu pressed on, getting to the point. “And the fire-breathing dragon you gave to Zhuang Zhuang downstairs last time, will you get it back for me?”
Wen Xiang: “… That was so long ago, how do you still remember? Boys should be more generous. If you really want it, I’ll buy you a new one.”
“I want the original one!” Wen Dongyu started to tear up.
“I’ll buy two new ones for each of you.” Wen Xiang, afraid of being pestered again, compromised a step further.
Wen Dongyu looked up at his father carefully, not seeing any more concessions. He wiped his face, snorted, and got off Wen Xiang’s leg.
“Daddy! You protect my property too! Boys also want to protect their own property!” Wen Dongyu turned and hugged Wei Chengli’s other leg, then glanced at the little dumpling hanging on the other leg, staring at him with wide eyes. He hesitated for a moment, then looked up resolutely. “Forest Police Daddy, baby is scared!”
Wei Chengli: “…” He was numb, he didn’t want either of his legs anymore.
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