Chapter 39 p2
“Baby, are you okay? Let me see!” Wei Chengli rushed into the group of babies, scooped up his own, and held her high, asking anxiously, “Which foot did the pig bite? Let me see!”
Wei Maomao expressionlessly lifted her left foot, which had just been washed with hand soap and rinsed several times with water, slowly raising it until it was level with Wei Chengli’s nose.
Wei Chengli: “…” This expression, this attitude, this foot, why did he have a bad feeling about this?
Silence spread between father and daughter.
The silent standoff had just begun when it was interrupted by the second person to arrive.
Shen Jianghe came to a stop, bending over with his hands on his knees, panting heavily. “Maomao, Yan Yan, are you alright?”
Both shook their heads.
“Daddy…” Shen Zilin, standing behind Shen Jianghe, tugged at his clothes gently.
“Wait a moment.” Shen Jianghe carefully examined the two little girls’ hands and feet, then turned to his son’s iodine-stained hand. “And you, are you okay?”
“Daddy…” Shen Zilin glanced at the chubby little girl in Wei Chengli’s arms, hesitating to speak, only pulling Shen Jianghe’s clothes to the side.
Shen Jianghe noticed Shen Zilin’s glance, a small flower blooming in his heart. He put on a helpless expression. “Alright, alright, now you want a hug from Dad.”
With that, Shen Jianghe scooped up his seemingly dazed son.
“Who! Who wants a hug from you!” Shen Zilin, forced to sit on Shen Jianghe’s arm, was so flustered that he momentarily forgot about the pig.
“Just act spoiled, no need to be tsundere, okay?” Shen Jianghe patted his son’s back, then turned to Wei Maomao apologetically. “Maomao, I’m so sorry, your friend gave you a pig as a gift, and it caused so much trouble, really…”
Wei Maomao: “Gift pig?”
Shen Zilin: “Dad!”
Sometimes, the tacit understanding between parents and children was truly remarkable. Like Wei Chengli, just from that slight lift of the foot, he had already thought of some unlikely possibilities, and was starting to plan for his future. And like Shen Jianghe, completely oblivious to his son’s attempts to stop him, he blurted everything out.
The viewers in the live broadcast room watched helplessly as Shen Zilin, like a frostbitten eggplant on this hot summer day, wilted little by little.
“So, this is… a gift pig? A gift… man-eating pig?”
“For Maomao, right? Didn’t Shen Jianghe give Shen Zilin examples of how to make girls happy yesterday… he mentioned giving pets.”
“Instead of fluffy cats and dogs… he went to the pigsty next door and grabbed a pig?”
“No… that can’t be right? That pigsty is pretty dirty, and probably smelly, CEO Shen spent a long time sealing the windows with newspapers last night, how could there be such a clean and cute little pig there?”
“I, I’ll explain. I visited Shen Zilin’s live broadcast room this morning, let me timidly speak… It’s indeed from that pigsty, but he didn’t just grab one randomly, Shen Zilin took out a loan from the program team to buy it. Currently, he paid a down payment of twenty Baby Coins for this pig and still owes three hundred Baby Coins…”
“Wow… as expected of a businessman, even pigs are bought on loan?”
“It was Shen Jianghe’s idea to take out a loan, they even washed the pig together this morning.”
“Hahaha, I’ll add to that, washing it wasn’t enough, Shen Jianghe even wanted to tie a bow on the pig, hahahahaha!”
“CEO Shen’s taste, ordinary people can’t quite handle it, haha.”
“No wonder Shen Jianghe was the second fastest after Wei Chengli, every step of this gift-giving process involved him, he’s jointly responsible!”
“Honestly, saying CEO Shen is jointly responsible is a bit unfair. I saw the staff mention this morning that this piglet is only a month old, still drinking milk and hasn’t started on solid food yet. Then Shen Zilin, to build rapport with the pig, fed it a boiled egg…”
“Hahaha! Got it, it tasted meat. Eggs are delicious! No wonder it went straight for CEO Mao’s chubby foot!”
“This is awkward now, the gift almost ate the recipient, hahaha. I think Shen Zilin was pulling on his dad because he didn’t want to mention the pig gift anymore, but CEO Shen messed it up.”
“Hahaha, his son finally asked him something he’s good at, and it backfired the next day, CEO Shen is really having a hard time.”
“I’m dying of laughter, the target of affection changed from girl to baby girl, mistakes are inevitable, hahaha!”
“Director Wei with the egg yolk, CEO Shen with the loan pig, poor CEO Mao, what would you do without Yan Yan!”
“Tsk tsk, the worst one just appeared on camera. Cheng Rongrong couldn’t hold onto the pig, but nothing happened to her. Cheng Feiying arrived and immediately checked her all over, asking repeatedly. If it weren’t for Cheng Rongrong mentioning Cheng Tingyan, would he even remember he has a daughter who pried a pig’s mouth open with her bare hands?”
“Honestly, I’m almost used to it. Cheng Feiying seems to care about Yan Yan verbally, but when something happens, it’s always Rongrong who gets all the attention.”
“Men’s words, deceitful ghosts!”
…
Cheng Feiying was unaware of the online discussions. From his perspective, he had two daughters, it was only natural to check on them one by one. However, he had been slow to arrive, unaware that the contrast between people was highly amplified in front of the camera. Regardless of what Wei Chengli and Shen Jianghe had unintentionally done, their reactions upon arrival were enough to highlight Cheng Feiying’s favoritism.
The other dads also arrived quickly. Since nothing had happened to their babies, they hadn’t run as desperately as the first two.
After checking on each other, confirming that the babies were all fine, the dads were relieved and headed back to the mill, after all, there were two more rounds of beans waiting to be ground.
As for how Wei Chengli was fueled with adrenaline during the next two rounds of bean grinding, steadily securing first place to Wang Qingchuan’s astonishment, that’s a story for another time.
Because of the piglet incident, both Wei Maomao and Shen Zilin, covered in mud from rolling on the ground, had to go back to clean up and change their clothes. The other babies unanimously agreed to go back to the village with them, waiting until everyone was ready before continuing their journey.
Now the only question remaining was…
Shen Zilin picked up the rope attached to the piglet’s collar and hesitantly walked towards Wei Maomao. He stopped before getting close.
“Maomao, do you want to keep this piglet?” Cheng Rongrong, acting as a mind reader, stood beside Shen Zilin. Wen Dongyu seemed a bit out of it, she had to repair the image she had damaged in front of Shen Zilin.
Shen Zilin looked at Wei Maomao with anticipation.
“Brother Shen, why don’t you keep it, and we can all play with it together?” Wei Maomao couldn’t bear to reject the child’s goodwill. If it was a cat, a dog, or even a chicken, she would have kept it. But… a pig, it would grow to several hundred pounds in no time. Their house was too small, she couldn’t handle it…
“You, you don’t like it? Is it because it chased after you?” Shen Zilin’s eyes dimmed slightly, but his instinct made him want to try and salvage the situation.
“It’s very cute. But I’m still a little baby, I can only take care of myself. How about we let its mommy take care of it!” Wei Maomao tried to persuade him.
“Its mommy can’t, she makes it so dirty.” Shen Zilin disagreed.
Wei Maomao: “…”
“Brother Shen, can I take care of it?” Cheng Rongrong chimed in.
“You can’t, you can’t hold onto it.” Shen Zilin’s rejection was even quicker. He paused, glancing at Wei Maomao. “Maomao is right, you’re a little baby, you can’t hold onto it either. But I’m a big baby now, I can!”
Wei Maomao: “…”
“Then, then I’ll give it to you, you don’t have to take care of it, I’ll take care of it, okay?” Shen Zilin, feeling he had found the perfect solution, his eyes sparkled.
Wei Maomao: ??? Giving a pig with a dedicated pig keeper?
“You’ll feed it, bathe it, and put it to sleep?” Cheng Tingyan, seeing Wei Maomao’s hesitation, asked Shen Zilin for confirmation.
“Yes, I’ll do it.” Shen Zilin nodded sincerely.
At this point, Wei Maomao didn’t know what to say. It was just the nominal ownership, she didn’t really care, why hurt a sincere pig keeper.
Wei Maomao nodded. Shen Zilin, the newly appointed pig keeper, got his wish and didn’t feel anything was amiss, happily chattering on the way home.
“It’s very well-behaved, the most well-behaved of all the piglets!”
“I checked with the pig farmer this morning, it’s very healthy.”
“The assistant brother said that after a few days, when it gets used to everyone, we won’t need to use the rope anymore.”
“It’s still drinking milk now, but it can already eat other things! I fed it a boiled egg this morning!”
“Pigs are very smart, Dad said when it grows up, it can guard the house, it will bite bad guys when they come!”
…
Shen Zilin’s happiness manifested in non-stop chatter.
As Wei Maomao listened, she couldn’t help but glance at him when he mentioned the boiled egg, heh, the second Egg Yolk Man. Her gaze then naturally drifted to the silent Wen Dongyu nearby.
The role of the chatterbox had changed today, she really wasn’t used to it. When she saw Wei Chengli this morning, Wen Dongyu didn’t even call him “Dad” anymore, was it because Wen Xiang had lectured him too harshly last night?
But no matter how much Wei Maomao thought about it, she couldn’t imagine how Wen Xiang had “lectured” him last night.
Because they had to gather soon, the babies didn’t return to their respective homes but decided to go to the two who needed to change clothes and wait for them there.
They arrived at Wei Maomao’s house first. Cheng Tingyan led Wei Maomao by the hand, walking at the front, and Wen Jiangyue quickly followed.
Just as the three entered the courtyard, they heard Shen Zilin’s voice from behind.
“Boys come with me, girls stay here, what are you doing?”
Wei Maomao turned around and saw that Wen Dongyu had already stepped halfway into the courtyard, while Cheng Rongrong was still standing beside Shen Zilin, seemingly intending to follow them.
It wasn’t like they were bathing together, waiting in the courtyard was fine. Looking at Wen Dongyu’s unusual silence, so different from yesterday, Wei Maomao wanted to say something.
But before she could speak, Wen Dongyu retracted his foot and walked to Shen Zilin’s side without a word.
In the end, as Shen Zilin had assigned, Cheng Rongrong stayed, and Wen Dongyu went with them.
Wei Maomao really didn’t want to leave Cheng Tingyan alone with Cheng Rongrong, so she apologized to Wen Jiangyue, using the excuse that Cheng Tingyan’s hands needed to be washed thoroughly after touching the pig, and pulled her into the inner room.
Although Wei Maomao had proven with her actions last night that she could bathe by herself, and the showerhead had been adjusted to the right height for her, Liu Ming still followed them in, worried. However, she couldn’t enter the bathroom, as even Cheng Tingyan, who had already washed her hands, was sent out. This was truly the most privacy-conscious three-year-old she had ever met, Liu Ming thought as she leaned against the doorframe, a smile appearing on her face.
Just then, she felt a tap on her back, startling her.
“Can’t you walk without making a sound? You scared me.” Liu Ming turned around and saw Su Li, patting her chest.
“You scared me first. I saw you standing here motionless from outside, I thought something had happened to you, why didn’t you go in?” Su Li yawned. “I thought you had fallen asleep standing here.”
“Maomao is capable, she can do it herself.” Liu Ming took two steps back, making sure they were in the camera’s blind spot, and lowered her voice. “It’s all your fault, yesterday you dragged me into talking about your messy business with Director Jin until so late, I was so sleepy today that my reactions were slow. When the pig grabbed Maomao, I wasn’t even as fast as the cameraman.”
“Shh, they’ll hear us.” Su Li nudged Liu Ming.
“Blind spot. Do you think I’m stupid?” Liu Ming retorted. “Anyway, it’s all your fault. If you don’t want to listen to me, don’t come to me to talk about those things next time.”
“I’ll listen to you, I’ll listen to you, okay. Although Director Jin brought me onto the team, I haven’t sold my soul to him. The Cheng family is so weird, I don’t dare to get involved, I’ll just do my job. Next time, if there’s something I need to do, I’ll be the first one to jump in, definitely won’t give them a chance to stir up trouble.” Su Li promised.
“You better remember that.” Liu Ming snorted. “Don’t care what schemes Director Jin and Cheng Feiying are cooking up, just do your own job, don’t be used as their pawn. Anyway, I think Yan Yan is a good kid, use your own brain to observe the world, don’t believe everything Director Jin says.”
Su Li obediently nodded, then couldn’t help but sigh. “So why did I have to get first place in our childcare training… The person who got first place had to go to the Cheng family and watch over two kids!”
“Heh, of course it’s because you’re gullible that you got first place. Do you think Qiu Tong and I would be like you if we were at the Cheng family? Would we pretend to be deaf and dumb when they talk about ‘family mutual assistance’? And even help them keep secrets? Only you… Silly Pear.” Liu Ming scoffed.
Su Li: “…”
Both Wei Maomao and Shen Zilin chose to wash off the mud, so it took some time.
Wang Zhizhi, finding the sun outside too strong and the pigsty smelly, went to the inner room to read the comic books Shen Zilin had given them.
However, Wen Dongyu enjoyed staying outside in the sun. Wang Zhizhi called him in several times, but he refused to go.
What was there to do inside, it was so warm outside…
Wen Dongyu didn’t know why, but he always felt cold. He had thought it might be because of the hole in the roof when he felt cold sleeping last night. But he still felt cold this morning, even now, basking in the sun and sweating, his body still didn’t feel warm.
It was so strange, was he sick?
Wen Dongyu touched his forehead, but when you’re sick, you should feel hot, his head was cold.
The summer sun was high in the sky, yet Wen Dongyu couldn’t help but rub his arms.
His skin was sweating, but he felt cold inside, did he need to wear more clothes?
But this was Shen Zilin’s house, he didn’t have any of his clothes here… Wen Dongyu felt lost.
Lost in thought, his gaze landed on the pink thing under the table.
When Shen Zilin finished his bath and came out with Wang Zhizhi, they saw Wen Dongyu sitting on the ground under the blazing sun, foolishly hugging… a pig?
No… Shen Zilin stared blankly at the two pig hooves resting on Wen Dongyu’s shoulders… or rather, he had lifted the pig upright and was tightly embracing it?
“Let’s give the piglet a name!” Wen Dongyu said enthusiastically when he saw them come out. “What do you think, how about calling it Shen Xixi?”
Wen Dongyu didn’t know where the coldness was coming from, but through a long, tight hug with a piglet, he had inadvertently found the constant warmth of another living being, making him feel much better for some reason. He felt that this piglet was very special, it should have a special name, like “Xixi”!
“Don’t you remember… your name is Dongdong… Do you really want to call it Xixi?” Wang Zhizhi couldn’t quite process this.
Wen Dongyu nodded vigorously and asked back, “My name is Dongdong, isn’t it great if its name is Xixi?”
“Xixi is fine, but it can’t be Shen Xixi, I gave it to Maomao. How about Wei Xixi?” Shen Zilin read it aloud and nodded. “It’s alright, quite catchy.”
Wang Zhizhi looked at Shen Zilin incredulously. “Just Xixi, does it need a ‘Wei’? Do you really think Maomao would like it if it was called Wei Xixi?”
“Everything we own should be engraved with our surname.” Shen Zilin said solemnly, then turned and pointed to the room. “It’s written in the comic book I gave you. Oh, you can’t read yet, right? You can take it back and ask your dad to read it to you.”
Wang Zhizhi, who had just had a big fight with Wang Qingchuan last night, shut his mouth. Wei Xixi it is, as long as you’re happy.
Twenty minutes later, it did indeed get a similar name.
“Don’t call it Wei Xixi!!” Wei Maomao, who had just finished bathing, looked at Wen Dongyu hugging the pig in various poses in the courtyard, and slammed her hand on the table. “Wen Xixi, call it Wen Xixi!”
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