Chapter 23
“Maomao, you call her sister, why don’t you call me sister?”
In the live broadcast, the two little ones were holding hands. Cheng Tingyan looked down at Wei Maomao, waiting for an answer. The latter was slightly open-mouthed, tilting her head up in a daze. Despite being a live broadcast, the scene seemed to freeze, remaining still for several seconds.
“Hahaha, Yan Yan’s soul-searching question.”
“I noticed, unlike the sweet-talking Rongrong, Maomao, despite being the youngest, hasn’t called any other child brother or sister!”
“Right! But what’s interesting is that she calls the staff brother and sister, and the other dads uncle, you can’t say she’s impolite.”
“Children don’t have a strong sense of age, maybe they rely more on visuals than logic. Like with adults who are taller than her, she can easily distinguish whether they are uncles, brothers, or sisters.”
“Poor Director Wei, when he was chatting with Maomao, he kept saying older sister Yan Yan, older sister Rongrong, Maomao didn’t take it to heart at all, hahaha…”
“You guys don’t understand, look at how Maomao rushed to help Yan Yan protect her property this morning, she doesn’t see herself as a younger sister!”
“Right! Our righteous little fighting bunny, less than 0.8 meters tall, with an aura over 8 meters high, wouldn’t consider herself a younger sister, hahahahaha!”
“That’s true, Maomao’s aura is strong when she’s fighting, even Dongdong called her Boss, in Maomao’s eyes, these little beans who are about the same size as her probably don’t count as brothers or sisters, hahaha, they are all weaklings who need protection.”
“Now the question is, a weakling has risen up, will Maomao call her sister now!”
…
Should she call her sister?
Wei Maomao looked at the six-year-old Cheng Tingyan with a troubled expression.
In her previous life, Wei Maomao had watched the third season of “Where’s Baby Going” countless times. The six-year-old Cheng Tingyan had made her feel so much heartache, she had so many regrets of wanting to protect her.
How could she be an older sister…
She was more like a baby.
“Yan Yan.” Wei Maomao gently squeezed Cheng Tingyan’s hand. “There are many older sisters, but there’s only one Yan Yan.”
The three-year-old’s voice, soft and childish, wasn’t loud, yet it seemed to carry a resounding power, filled with sweet enticement.
Cheng Tingyan: “…”
This wasn’t the answer she had expected, it was completely different from the scene she had imagined of the cute little chubby bunny calling her sister adorably.
But…
She felt a bit happy, the cute little chubby bunny didn’t become her cute younger sister, but why was she so happy?
The six-year-old Cheng Tingyan couldn’t fully grasp the deeper meaning that might be hidden in those words. But even if she only listened to the surface meaning, it wasn’t hard to hear that it meant she was different from others to Maomao, special and unique.
Cheng Tingyan liked being different.
Warmth seeped into Cheng Tingyan’s heart from their clasped hands, warmth like a gentle spring breeze, softly brushing away the faint aloofness around her.
Shi Hongxiao seized the moment and gave Cheng Tingyan a close-up. He was the second cameraman assigned to Wei Maomao, but before the day was even over, he had learned that the little dumpling was a strange chemical agent, sometimes the reactions and changes she caused in the people around her were truly interesting.
Just like this time, the little dumpling just said those words.
Still in the same pink dress, still with the same features, just a slight curve of her lips, a hint of a smile, and Cheng Tingyan looked completely different.
Like a dusty jade stone, carefully picked up and meticulously cleaned, its brilliance revealed, captivating.
The cameraman was the eyes of the live broadcast room, so naturally, Shi Hongxiao wasn’t the only one captivated.
“Hahaha… so it can be done like this… Where did Maomao learn this cheesy pick-up line?”
“This Maomao is really… too good…”
“Such a cunning little three-year-old! She’s trying to steal our Yan Yan’s heart to avoid calling her sister!”
“I’m crying, Yan Yan looks so happy, not just happy, but blissful. What’s going on! It’s just a random sentence from a little baby, wake up, Yan Yan.”
“Yan Yan seems so easy to fool, how can she be so gullible! I want to rush into the camera and shake her!”
“Honestly, Yan Yan probably hasn’t had a good life at home, only a child lacking love would be so easy to fool…”
“I see Cheng Feiying cares a lot about Yan Yan, and Rongrong also likes her sister, she shouldn’t be lacking love, right?”
“Hard to say, hard to say. I can only say, if you’re always full, you won’t gobble down a steamed bun.”
“Hahaha, thank you, Maomao, the steamed bun seller.”
“If she’s not lacking love, then our chubby bunny is just too good at fooling people!”
“Wait! At most, we can only say Yan Yan is easy to please! I don’t think Maomao’s words are a lie! From the beginning of the show, she has treated Yan Yan differently!”
“Right, didn’t that staff member’s relative say that Maomao’s family introduced her as a fan of the show and likes older sisters? Yan Yan must be the older sister that Maomao likes!”
“Aww, is that so! I’m suddenly so touched! So before it was… a three-year-old fan protecting her six-year-old idol, how inspiring!”
“Why are you crying in the front row, don’t be fooled by the little chubby bunny! She didn’t call Rongrong and the others sister either! This is just her way of coaxing Yan Yan!”
“Hahaha, so will Yan Yan even realize…”
…
Cheng Tingyan, preoccupied with cherishing those words, naturally… didn’t realize.
And Wei Maomao didn’t give Cheng Tingyan a chance to continue this topic. She pulled her along, running a few steps to the earthen stove, and continued with her original plan.
“Ming Ming.” Wei Maomao reached out and tugged at Liu Ming’s pants leg.
Liu Ming turned around, first looking down at the little dumpling, then at the cameras not far away, which were once again focused on her. She sighed softly.
She had been caught off guard by that mouthful of mush from Director Wei earlier, and she had spent too much time with the children, her screen time had definitely exceeded the limit, it seemed she would be getting a pay cut today…
“Maomao, it’s still a while before the babies’ task, do you want to make some preparations before we go?” Liu Ming covered the microphone slightly and asked in a low voice, “Do you want me to take you to pee?”
“No.” Wei Maomao shook her head. “I’m good, I can go to the toilet by myself, sister can go take care of the other babies.”
“Maomao is so good. The other babies also have other brothers and sisters to take care of them, I still need to stay with you.” Liu Ming couldn’t help but reach out and pat the sensible little dumpling’s head. “If you need anything, just call me, okay? I’ll always be behind you.”
Cheng Tingyan didn’t pay much attention to what Liu Ming was saying, her focus was mostly on the hand Liu Ming used to pat Maomao’s head.
Maomao’s hair looked so soft, she hadn’t touched it yet… Cheng Tingyan twitched her fingers slightly.
“Yan Yan? Yan Yan?” Wei Maomao gently tugged at Cheng Tingyan’s hand, her face full of innocent curiosity. “Which sister takes care of Yan Yan?”
Cheng Tingyan, who was wondering if Maomao’s hair was softer than rabbit fur: ?
“The sister who takes care of Yan Yan and Rongrong is called Su Li…” Liu Ming looked at the small group of people following Cheng Tingyan. “She doesn’t seem to be here now, she’s probably with Rongrong.”
Cheng Tingyan: ?
“If Yan Yan needs any help now, I can also…” Liu Ming stopped mid-sentence, looking at Cheng Tingyan’s confused expression. She had a bad feeling and asked hesitantly, “Yan Yan, you… do you know that there’s a Sister Su Li on your side who takes care of you… um, like going to the toilet, taking a bath, and those things that your dad might not be able to help with?”
Cheng Tingyan shook her head.
Liu Ming: … Great! Look at my big mouth, always stirring up trouble.
“Well, it’s the sister who’s following you, with a bun hairstyle, wearing a blue shirt today, that’s Su Li…” To make sure Cheng Tingyan understood, Liu Ming let down her ponytail and tied a bun right there to show her.
Cheng Tingyan nodded, indicating that she understood.
Liu Ming still felt something was off. The program team had specifically assigned male staff to families with boys and female staff to families with girls, one for each family, specifically to help take care of the children. Since it was the dads who brought their children to the show, the female staff on the girls’ side were even more important. She, Su Li, and Qiu Tong from the Wen family had been selected and trained for two days before starting work…
So did the Cheng family not introduce Su Li to the children… Or did they not care about these things?
But…
Oh, my big mouth, Liu Ming mentally slapped herself, but still looked at Cheng Tingyan and confirmed, “Can Yan Yan go to the toilet and take a bath by herself now?”
“Mmm.” Cheng Tingyan nodded again.
Then Rongrong… Forget it, it’s fine. Six years old was a bit old, some things even biological fathers weren’t really suitable to handle. The other one was only three and a half, some families really didn’t care about these things.
Liu Ming warned herself not to say anything beyond her job responsibilities and quickly urged the two to get ready, as it was almost time for the babies’ task.
“Today’s task for the babies is also very important. If you’re ready, we can set off earlier.” Liu Ming said as she slowly backed out of the camera’s range.
Cheng Tingyan didn’t seem to want to go back and get ready, and Wei Maomao didn’t bring it up for the moment.
But as they were about to leave after taking turns using the bathroom, Wei Maomao pulled out her little bunny backpack.
“Yan Yan, let’s go find the others and give them these things, it’s heavy to carry.” Wei Maomao opened the little bunny backpack and showed Cheng Tingyan what was inside.
“Ah, I forgot!” Cheng Tingyan quickly took out a small bunny keychain from her shoulder bag and handed it to her. “For you…”
It was a palm-sized fluffy white bunny wearing a straw hat and holding a carrot. Most importantly, it was chubby, just like Maomao.
It was a gift that her mother and Cheng Tingyan had chosen for the babies participating in the show. It had been in a bag in her suitcase, and Cheng Tingyan had specifically brought it over. But she almost forgot about it because of that bowl of “delicious” mush… However, she only brought Maomao’s gift, the others had to wait until she went home later.
“Thank you, Yan Yan, I love it!” Wei Maomao exclaimed.
This was the first time Wei Maomao had received a gift directly from Cheng Tingyan. She really had to try hard to control her hand that reached out to take the bunny keychain from trembling.
“Do you want me to hang it on your bag?” Cheng Tingyan pointed to Wei Maomao’s bunny backpack.
“No…” Wei Maomao shook her head. “I’ll put it away carefully, it will get dirty if I hang it.”
“I’ll buy you a new one if it gets dirty.” Cheng Tingyan was amused by the sight of the little chubby bunny solemnly holding another little chubby bunny.
Wei Maomao couldn’t bear to do that, she carefully put the keychain in the inner pocket of her bunny backpack.
“Eh…” Just as she was about to close the backpack, Wei Maomao opened it again and rummaged inside.
Three Rubik’s cubes were lined up on the stone stool.
“How did they get messed up?” Wei Maomao muttered, frowning, picking up one and trying to solve it.
Although they were gifts she had chosen casually, it wouldn’t look good if they were messed up and looked old… Did they get bumped around and scrambled in the bag? She shouldn’t have been cheap, if she had bought the ones with transparent boxes that were two yuan more expensive, she wouldn’t have this problem.
“Maomao, are you trying to create a pattern?” Cheng Tingyan watched as Wei Maomao, with her chubby face scrunched up in concentration, diligently twisted the originally slightly messy colors on the Rubik’s cube into an even more chaotic mess, and couldn’t help but ask.
“… When I bought them, each side was one color.” Wei Maomao twisted it a few more times and gave up. “Forget it, I can’t do it.”
Oh well, it didn’t matter if the gifts for Cheng Rongrong’s left and right-hand men looked like old toys… They would have a lot of better things to play with when they grew up.
But Wang Zhizhi… Wei Maomao frowned, looking at the one she had just tried to solve, well, she had tried her best.
“Are you trying to make each side one color?” Cheng Tingyan asked hesitantly. “Can I try?”
Wei Maomao casually picked one up and handed it to Cheng Tingyan.
From the moment Wei Maomao took out the Rubik’s cubes, the comments in the live broadcast room were filled with a sense of watching a show.
“Hahaha, this is hilarious, I was wondering why Director Wei secretly opened Maomao’s bag before going to do his task, so this was it!”
“I thought those three Rubik’s cubes were for Maomao to play with, it turns out Director Wei was trying to sabotage her.”
“Making food so bad it makes people throw up, then messing up the toys his daughter is giving to her friends, Director Wei is truly a biological father!”
“Poor Maomao, her little chubby hands can barely hold the Rubik’s cube, and she still has to clean up after her dad.”
“Yan Yan is also hilarious, Maomao is struggling so much, and she actually asks if Maomao is trying to create a pattern, hahaha, what pattern…”
“Wait… she solved it?”
“??? Another one is done?”
“Okay, confirmed, Yan Yan wasn’t mocking Maomao just now, she really thought Maomao was trying to create a pattern… After all, solving three Rubik’s cubes so quickly, creating a pattern for Yan Yan must be as simple as eating, right!”
“Hahaha, I’m dying of laughter, look at the little chubby bunny’s shocked eyes, they’re almost popping out of her head, hahaha!”
“Don’t ask, just ask why those with clumsy hands admire the strong, hahaha!”
…
Wei Maomao was truly shocked.
Cheng Tingyan had never mentioned this skill to her in her previous life.
So…
How many more surprises did you have that she didn’t know about?
“Yan Yan, you’re so amazing.” Wei Maomao’s praise was sincere.
Beneath the admiration and surprise, hidden deep inside her, was a bitterness she couldn’t ignore, for the person she had left behind in the past, the person she no longer had the chance to learn more about.
“I’m not amazing, this isn’t hard.” Cheng Tingyan smiled sheepishly, then quickly realized she had misspoken and hurriedly explained, “You’re still young, Maomao, so just now… I’ll teach you, you’re very smart, you’ll learn it in no time! You’ll be even faster than me!”
Wei Maomao was stunned for a moment, then her thoughts no longer lingered on the unchangeable sorrows of the past.
“Yan Yan, you’re amazing. I like that you’re amazing, so I don’t have to learn it!” Wei Maomao said sincerely, then stretched out her hand and said weakly, “My hand hurts from twisting the Rubik’s cube just now.”
Cheng Tingyan took her little chubby paw and looked at it, it seemed a bit red.
“… Then you don’t have to learn it.” Cheng Tingyan held the little chubby paw, rubbed it, and then blew on it. “Where does it hurt? Your palm?”
Where did it hurt…
Her heart hurt…
A six-year-old child, when praised, should laugh out loud, proudly wag her tail, and run around in circles!
Why be so careful, why be so sensitive and immediately suppress her happiness, only caring about others’ feelings…
Silly…
Cheng Tingyan blew on it twice, and when she looked up, the little chubby bunny had red eyes. She hurriedly asked, “Does it hurt a lot?”
“It doesn’t hurt anymore…” Wei Maomao tried to suppress her unstable emotions. She had experienced too many emotional swings today, had cried several times, and hadn’t rested well. She couldn’t lose control again, otherwise, she would definitely fall asleep.
“Really?” Cheng Tingyan gently squeezed the little chubby paw, looking at the little chubby bunny’s eyes, which still had a hint of pink, unconvinced.
“It really doesn’t hurt anymore!” Wei Maomao squeezed Cheng Tingyan’s hand back and said, “I really like that you’re amazing!”
So, show yourself freely, I won’t let those fools hurt you again, I won’t let you shrink back and hide your excellence.
The little chubby bunny’s slightly red eyes suddenly became passionate and intense. Cheng Tingyan felt strangely as if she had been burned by that gaze.
But… could just looking at someone make her feel hot?
“Maomao is also amazing.” Cheng Tingyan couldn’t stand the overly sincere gaze and whispered back. After all, she had never even thought of stopping her dad from swapping houses like that before.
“Oh, I’m not amazing.” Wei Maomao twisted her chubby waist, putting the Rubik’s cube back into her bunny backpack. “I don’t like being amazing, it’s hard work.”
Cheng Tingyan thought of the slightly red little chubby paw and nodded. “Okay, then I’ll be amazing, I’ll do it.” The cute little chubby bunny didn’t need to work hard!
The viewers in the live broadcast room were also speechless. How did Wei Maomao manage to say “I want to lie flat and be a salted fish” so eloquently? And Cheng Tingyan! Someone here was being brainwashed! Who would get their hand hurt from playing with a Rubik’s cube, wake up! If someone wants to be a salted fish, you go carry the salt for her, that’s just like you, the little fool who became radiant with happiness over a single sentence!
Wei Maomao certainly wasn’t the kind of person who wanted Cheng Tingyan to carry the weight of the world. But she knew that these kind words from Cheng Tingyan, if edited into the main episode and broadcasted, would be helpful in showing Cheng Tingyan’s friendly side.
After the mess in the Cheng family in her previous life, Cheng Feiying and Cheng Rongrong were destined to be on the opposing side. Wei Maomao never thought about trying to mend the relationship between Cheng Tingyan and them on this show. So while preventing them from damaging Cheng Tingyan’s image, finding opportunities to show Cheng Tingyan’s kindness was also very important.
Originally, Wei Maomao’s plan was to slowly approach Cheng Tingyan, gradually gain her favor, and when they could get closer, closer to being friends, Cheng Tingyan could at least show kindness towards her.
But she didn’t expect this process to be so fast. She might have to “thank” Wei Chengli’s “good cooking” for that.
Now that the Rubik’s cubes were sorted out, and after checking the bracelet and the fountain pen, Wei Maomao pulled Cheng Tingyan up.
“Ming Ming, let’s go find the other little friends and give them gifts.” Wei Maomao waved to Liu Ming in the crowd of staff. “Maomao doesn’t know the way.”
Liu Ming: “…” Thanks a lot, kid, today’s screen time has almost cost me my entire salary!
But the little dumpling holding the bunny backpack looked so cute and expectant, what else could she do but take her there!
Liu Ming took the staff’s map and calculated. The Wei family’s house was in the middle of the village, also roughly the midpoint of the other families. The first stop for the babies’ task today was near the village entrance. They could go to the Shen and Wen families at the back first, then come back and pass by the Wen, Wang, and Cheng families in that order on their way to the village entrance, finally reaching the task location, perfect.
No sooner said than done, Liu Ming waved for Maomao to follow and called the staff members at the Shen and Wen families while walking. She had to walk and talk at the same time, otherwise, if they went out first and missed them, how sad Maomao would be, who was going to give them gifts.
Thanks to Wei Chengli’s “cooking,” they had finished their meal quickly and set off early.
Under Liu Ming’s arrangement, they gathered the children and their teams from the Shen, Wen, and Wen families along the way. Shen Zilin and Wen Dongyu seemed to really like the Rubik’s cubes Maomao gave them, and Wen Jiangyue practiced writing a few characters with the fountain pen, seemingly very pleased with the gift.
When they reached the Wang family, Wang Zhizhi had a grumpy expression, but he still accepted the Rubik’s cube and thanked her politely.
Wei Maomao had given away four gifts and received four gifts in return, making her little bunny backpack even heavier.
Everything had gone relatively smoothly until they reached the Wang family, when Liu Ming called Su Li, who was only a few houses away, and didn’t hear the crying on the other end.
Waking up and crying for her sister…
It seemed like there was no problem.
But… Liu Ming glanced at Yan Yan, who was trying to help Maomao carry the bunny backpack.
She didn’t know why, but she felt it wasn’t a good idea to go over like this.
Would the viewers watching the live broadcast think… that Yan Yan didn’t care for her own sister and left her to the staff? If Yan Yan didn’t manage to soothe Rongrong, wouldn’t it be worse than if they didn’t go…
She had been careless, Maomao was so well-behaved after waking up, she didn’t expect Rongrong to be like this. If she had known earlier, she would have chosen to go to the Cheng family first, even if it meant taking a detour. But she couldn’t explain this to the camera.
Liu Ming was still hesitating, but the children, who now knew the way, had already left the house and turned left towards the Cheng family without any hesitation.
It was only a few houses away, Liu Ming hadn’t even figured out what to do when the children entered the Cheng family’s courtyard.
Cheng Rongrong was crying quite loudly, and the moment the courtyard gate opened, Wei Maomao clearly heard her calling “sister” while crying.
Heh, who was she trying to make laugh?
Spoiled by her parents at home, she never took Cheng Tingyan seriously. Now, she didn’t even call for Mom when she cried, not even Dad, just “sister,” what was the point?
In her previous life, Wei Maomao really couldn’t understand how the Cheng family had taught Cheng Rongrong. A three-and-a-half-year-old child with 350 tricks up her sleeve… Cheng Tingyan had been completely manipulated in her previous life, swallowing every injustice, taking the blame for everything, unable to explain anything.
Wei Maomao certainly wasn’t just distributing gifts to these children by taking this detour. She just couldn’t let Yan Yan go to the task location with her directly, that would make it seem like Yan Yan had forgotten her sister. She also couldn’t suggest going to find Rongrong first and then doing the task together, because that would still make it seem like Yan Yan had forgotten her sister.
What if, what if it was edited into the main episode…
Sometimes, the audience was very sharp, very imaginative, Wei Maomao didn’t dare to take the risk.
So she had taken this big detour, achieving the goal of coming to find Cheng Rongrong and going to do the task together.
But she didn’t expect that there would be such a big drama waiting for them…
They almost got hit by a flying pot without even knowing it.
But it didn’t matter, wasn’t she here for this?
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