Chapter 29p1
Wang Zhizhi glanced back at Wei Maomao, and in that brief moment, the sounds of stifled laughter around him increased.
Heat, carrying a flush of red, crept up from the base of his ears, spreading across his cheeks…
“I don’t want this treasure!” Wang Zhizhi’s face flushed even deeper as he stepped back, away from Yang Ning.
“Eh?” Yang Ning was also holding back laughter, but she managed to put on a perfectly surprised expression. “What’s wrong? Isn’t this treasure great? Wang Zhizhi, are you shy?”
“…” Wang Zhizhi’s face turned even redder. “I’m not! I’m a big boy now, I don’t want to be kissed by Daddy!”
The shy and stubborn little boy looked truly adorable in his childish innocence.
But amidst the playful laughter, Wei Maomao’s smile gradually faded.
She felt a pang of regret.
The card Wang Zhizhi had drawn was indeed funny, and when Yang Ning first took it out, Wei Maomao genuinely couldn’t help but laugh.
But… Wang Zhizhi wasn’t really a big boy who didn’t need his father’s kisses anymore, like he had just claimed.
Wei Maomao hadn’t watched the fourth season of “Where’s Baby Going,” but she had occasionally come across clips from it. Aside from Wang Qingchuan, anyone with eyes could see that Wang Zhizhi actually longed for closeness with his father. However, Wang Qingchuan was so fixated on educating Wang Zhizhi to “treat his little sister well,” his entire focus on his daughter, that the little curly-haired boy became conflicted and rebellious, growing to resent his younger sister even more, trapped in a vicious cycle within the family.
“Big boys can also be kissed by their dads.” Wei Maomao wiggled her chubby toes in her sandals, unable to hold back any longer. She stepped forward and, looking at Wang Zhizhi, continued, “Daddy is always bigger than us, we’ll always be Daddy’s little babies, even when we grow up, we’re still Daddy’s little babies and can be kissed by him.”
Wang Zhizhi: “…” Who was the one who laughed first?
“Yeah, my mommy and daddy kiss me goodnight every day!” Wen Dongyu nodded in agreement, then sighed. “It’s a shame that only Daddy can kiss me while we’re here.”
Wei Maomao: “…” You don’t have to be so smug about it.
“I have a question. Didn’t you say that the mystery treasures have better rewards than Baby Coins?” Shen Zilin pointed to the card in Yang Ning’s hand. “Is this better than Baby Coins?”
“Of course it is, a kiss from Daddy, isn’t that a better reward than Baby Coins?” Yang Ning cleared her throat. “It can improve the relationship between dads and their babies, the bond between a child and their father is the most precious, right?”
After a moment of silence, only Cheng Rongrong nodded earnestly and replied, “Right!”
“I can ask Daddy to kiss me, and he will. Can I ask the convenience store for beef jerky, and it will give it to me?” Shen Zilin said seriously, then pointed at Wen Dongyu. “His dad kisses him every day, can he exchange an extra kiss for a Baby Coin?”
“But…” Yang Ning, without a script to follow, could only struggle on her own. “But because some dads aren’t good at expressing love, paternal love can sometimes be deep and subtle, children might not be able to feel their dad’s love. Oh, what I mean is, dads love their children, but they might not show it in ways that are easy for children to understand, like kisses and such. So this card can help dads express their love…”
“Sister Yang Yang, my daddy says…” Wei Maomao spoke softly.
Yang Ning’s back stiffened. The story of how this little chubby girl had used “My daddy says…” as a starting point to completely destroy Cheng Feiying had already become a legend within the program team. As soon as she heard this phrase, she wanted to cover the little one’s chattering mouth.
Of course, Yang Ning couldn’t do that.
So she was forced to listen as the little chubby girl said earnestly, “My daddy says… If someone loves you, you can definitely feel it. If you can’t feel the love, there’s nothing there.”
Damn it! Yang Ning wanted to beat up Wei Chengli.
Wei Maomao didn’t say this to refute Yang Ning. In fact, she hadn’t intended to use this phrase here when she had drawn that episode of the cartoon and led Wei Chengli to analyze it.
But…
Wei Maomao glanced at Wang Zhizhi from the corner of her eye.
That treasure card was actually quite suitable for Wang Zhizhi, his sister had just been born, and they were already participating in this show. Perhaps Wang Qingchuan wasn’t yet the daughter-obsessed fanatic he had become in her previous life, maybe Wang Zhizhi still had a chance to hold onto his father’s love, to improve their father-son relationship, like Yang Ning said.
But Wei Maomao also had reservations. A child’s love was still love, and over time, it became a sunk cost. In her previous life, Wang Zhizhi had desperately tried to win back his parents’ love from his sister, becoming stubborn and troublesome, pushing those who were already distant even further away, eventually ending up alienated and alone, consumed by pain and madness.
Wei Maomao hoped Wang Zhizhi would accept the card and try again, but she also hoped he wouldn’t end up hurt like he did in her previous life.
If Wang Zhizhi really couldn’t feel the love, then there was none. Even if there was, when the pain he felt outweighed the love by a thousandfold, was it still love? Instead of being bound and suppressed for so many years by Wang Qingchuan’s empty words of love and hope… perhaps he should consider another possibility.
Obsession was a demon.
Wei Maomao had seen it and experienced it too many times in her previous life.
Wang Zhizhi was different from Cheng Tingyan, Wei Maomao had no intention of deeply involving herself in his life. But… perhaps everyone deserved a chance, a few more choices.
Wang Zhizhi, however, was oblivious to Wei Maomao’s hesitation and her attempt to plan for his long-term well-being.
But the phrase “If you can’t feel the love, there’s nothing there” still struck a chord in his heart, leaving him feeling inexplicably uneasy.
Wang Zhizhi tried to say something to mask his inner panic, then he looked at Wei Maomao and blurted out, “‘Nothing there’ is a bad word, good children shouldn’t say bad words.”
Wei Maomao, who had good intentions: “…”
“Ahem, let’s open the next mystery treasure. Let me see, Wang 2…” Yang Ning had tried to refute Wei Maomao, but after thinking about it for a while, she felt that Wei Chengli’s words were actually quite reasonable. Unable to come up with a rebuttal, she could only quickly change the subject.
Anyway, the children probably only had a vague understanding of love, hehe…
Yang Ning comforted herself and picked up Wang Zhizhi’s second treasure box.
Wang Zhizhi was a bit nervous. He had dug up four boxes in total, and he had shaken each one, but there was no sound of coins clinking. In fact, they were all light and weightless, just like the first one, making no sound when shaken.
There couldn’t be three more “Daddy’s Kiss Cards,” could there?
Thankfully, there weren’t…
Yang Ning, regardless of whether the little ones could read, showed the card as usual and smiled. “Wang Zhizhi’s second treasure box contains fifty Baby Coins!”
Wang Zhizhi let out a long sigh of relief and glanced at Wei Maomao and Cheng Tingyan with a hint of pride.
Wei Maomao gave the proud little curly-haired boy a thumbs-up, temporarily forgiving him for criticizing her earlier.
“Fifty Baby Coins is a bit heavy, do you want to exchange them now?” Yang Ning asked routinely, but if they were sharing, they would probably choose to exchange directly.
Wang Zhizhi nodded, then took the cloth bag Yang Ning handed him, walked to Wei Maomao’s side, poured the Baby Coins onto the ground, squatted down, looked up, and urged, “Come on, I’ll take two, and you each take one.”
Wei Maomao, not minding the dirt, plopped down on the ground.
After Wang Zhizhi took two coins, Wei Maomao took one in each hand. She put the one in her left hand into the cloth bag at her waist, wiped the one in her right hand on her skirt, then held it up high and offered it to Cheng Tingyan, who was standing beside her.
Cheng Tingyan: “…”
“Yan Yan, quick, tired.” Wei Maomao looked up, waving her chubby paw urgingly.
Although she was collecting them to buy popcorn for the little chubby bunny, it still felt a bit strange… Cheng Tingyan sighed softly and took the Baby Coin from her paw.
Cheng Rongrong watched coldly from the sidelines, she thought she had figured it out. Cheng Tingyan must have discovered the secret of the broken red bricks and used it to exchange for Baby Coins with the other children. She had indeed changed some things, Cheng Tingyan was no longer the warm and selfless person from the original novel.
So young, yet so mercenary.
Cheng Rongrong, believing she had discovered the truth, felt that this was the best time for her to take the initiative.
“Wang Zhizhi, why are you giving Baby Coins to Yan Yan and Maomao?” Cheng Rongrong approached the coin-sharing trio, her face full of surprise and curiosity.
Calling Wang Zhizhi “Zhizhi” gave her goosebumps, but she couldn’t let her persona of politeness crumble, and it certainly wasn’t the time to dwell on such discomfort.
“We made a deal.” Wang Zhizhi didn’t look up, he still remembered the strange look Cheng Rongrong had given him when he accidentally walked to her side while digging for treasure.
Cheng Rongrong: “…” How was she supposed to respond to that?
“They told us how to find treasures, we agreed to share half of what we find with them.” Wen Dongyu looked at Cheng Rongrong with confusion. “You’re not going to back out of the deal, are you?”
“I… They didn’t tell me how to find treasures.” Cheng Rongrong quickly picked up the topic, looking at Cheng Tingyan with a hint of grievance. “Sister…”
“Rongrong knows how to find treasures.” Wei Maomao looked up, her face innocent. “Rongrong was the first to find them.”
“I, I don’t know, I was just lucky.” Cheng Rongrong, having decided to stick with the “luck” excuse, now had a flawless expression of surprise on her face.
“Ah!” Wei Maomao acted even more surprised than Cheng Rongrong, slapping a paw on the pile of Baby Coins in front of her, clutching her chest with her other paw, her face full of regret. “I was wrong! Ahhh, what a pity! I can’t share Rongrong’s half anymore!”
Why did it sound like the one who discovered the secret of the red brick fragments wasn’t Cheng Tingyan, but Wei Maomao? Cheng Rongrong felt a slight panic.
“We’ve already dug everything up, whoever digs now can only share half of these few coins.” Wang Zhizhi extended a finger and pushed Wei Maomao’s chubby paw away from the pile of Baby Coins. “It’s my turn to take some.”
“Oh.” Wei Maomao returned to normal in a second.
Cheng Rongrong, excluded from the conversation once again, bit her lip, these two… they were making it impossible for her to speak.
Forget it, she had at least explained it to the viewers in the live broadcast room, hadn’t she?
Cheng Rongrong, who had originally wanted to take this opportunity to subtly criticize Cheng Tingyan’s mercenary behavior, gave up on saying anything more when she realized she had been talking to Wei Maomao the whole time, and the mastermind behind this was likely this three-year-old.
Age was truly a natural advantage. Wei Maomao was only three years old, those negative words couldn’t be applied to her. And she was younger than her, so her words would be even more innocent and unrestrained, effectively restricting her.
Cheng Rongrong pursed her lips, seeming aggrieved as she stepped aside and stopped speaking. But the viewers in the live broadcast room, their mouths wouldn’t stop chattering.
“Cheng Rongrong dug up three treasure boxes purely by luck? Do you believe it? I don’t…”
“It’s still possible, there are lucky and unlucky players in mobile games too, and there weren’t that few boxes.”
“I was watching Rongrong’s live broadcast, she didn’t find a treasure immediately, she was just lucky to be standing in a spot with a box. She dug for Baby Coins around it and just happened to dig up a treasure.”
“No way, do you really believe she didn’t notice the red brick fragments? After Maomao told everyone about the red brick fragments and they all started finding treasures, Cheng Rongrong didn’t find any more, isn’t that suspicious?”
“It’s normal for luck to change, if she could always find treasures, one after another, that would be strange, wouldn’t it?”
“When the edited version of the show comes out, you guys should check out what Wang Zhizhi’s camera captured when there were about ten minutes left on the timer. I saw it in his live broadcast, Rongrong’s shovel almost hit a red brick fragment in front of him, then she stopped and moved away, like she was deliberately avoiding it. Later, Wen Dongyu dug in that spot and found a treasure.”
“??? No way, if that’s true, it’s a bit scary!”
“Right, knowing how to find treasures and not telling anyone, just digging for herself, is understandable. After all, everyone has some selfishness, we can’t set the moral standard for young children too high. But… seeing that others have also discovered it, then hiding the fact that she knew, that’s a bit…”
“Maybe she’s afraid? Afraid that everyone would find out that she knew and didn’t tell them, especially since Maomao told everyone as soon as she discovered it, maybe she’s afraid of being compared?”
“Wait, are you guys already convicting Rongrong? What if she was really just lucky??”
“It’s not convicting, I just don’t believe she was just lucky.”
“Honestly, earlier, Cheng Rongrong could find a treasure box every time she dug up a Baby Coin, one coin, one box. You know, the ratio of coins to boxes buried is 200:15, if she was lucky, that would be too lucky, wouldn’t it?”
“The key is! She even played dumb and acted innocent when Wang Zhizhi and the others were sharing the Baby Coins! It actually scared me a little.”
“Only three and a half years old… Children these days are too mature…”
“Rongrong is three and a half, Maomao is only three. Maomao is also very smart, the phrase she said earlier, ‘If someone loves you, you can definitely feel it. If you can’t feel the love, there’s nothing there,’ really gave me goosebumps. I wish I could have heard Maomao say that to me when I was twenty.”
“Hahaha, that was Director Wei who said that!”
“Friend above, don’t put our Boss Mao and Cheng Rongrong together, okay! Protect our Boss Mao!”
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