Chapter 52 p2
In the distance, Cheng Feiying and Cheng Rongrong, who had left the table at some point, were sitting on the deck chair under the shade of a tree, watching him…
Wei Chengli turned stiffly to look at the little chubby dumpling at the table.
“Do you want more?” Wei Maomao used her chopsticks to scrape the bottom of the basin, picking out a small piece of potato and placing it in Wei Chengli’s bowl.
“There’s still rice in the pot, do you want to mix it with the sauce?” Cheng Tingyan glanced at the sauce at the bottom of the basin and suggested sincerely.
Wei Chengli facepalmed…
“I… I’ll wash the dishes?” Wei Chengli, looking at Cheng Feiying in the distance, tried to salvage the situation with his labor.
Cheng Feiying waved his hands repeatedly. This time, he wasn’t being polite, he was truly dismissing him.
Wei Chengli, feeling out of place in this courtyard due to his lack of thick skin, after thanking them bravely, quickly left with the pot and the child. As for why the child was dragging another child along, he didn’t want to ask, nor did he dare to ask.
Anyway, they would return the child after resting for a while and going to the square for the afternoon task ranking and reward ceremony.
Wei Chengli thought it was a good plan, but… he didn’t get to rest.
Outside his courtyard gate, at the familiar spot, the familiar child, in the familiar pose, holding the familiar pig…
Wei Chengli sighed deeply and stopped. “Dongdong, have you eaten?”
Wen Dongyu shook his head shyly, even making the pig’s head sway along.
Wei Chengli: “… “
Five minutes later.
The pig was lying under the table, in front of it a basin of green bean stew, topped with two peeled, bumpy, and slightly burnt potatoes.
Wen Dongyu sat at the table, in front of him a lunchbox…
“Did your dad guess that Wen Dongyu would come?” Cheng Tingyan, looking at the lunchbox filled with the same strange food as her dinner, whispered to Wei Maomao.
“That’s what my dad saved for himself. He was too embarrassed to bring it to your house.” Wei Maomao, as always, showed no mercy in exposing her father.
Wen Dongyu, hearing this, put down his spoon and turned to look at Wei Chengli.
“You eat, eat, eat, don’t listen to Maomao’s nonsense. I already ate dinner.” Wei Chengli patted Wen Dongyu’s head, then kicked the little chubby leg under the table in embarrassment.
“Yes, he already ate, he even finished everyone else’s food.” Wei Maomao moved closer to Cheng Tingyan, retaliating verbally.
“That’s because you kept picking food for me!” Wei Chengli, exasperated, reached out to hit her again, but the sensation wasn’t right. He looked down, feeling awkward. “I’m sorry, Yan Yan, I didn’t know your hand was there…”
“It’s okay…” Cheng Tingyan wanted to continue rubbing the little chubby bunny’s leg, but the bunny leg slipped away…
“Daddy!” Wei Maomao was furious! How dare he hit Yan Yan in front of her!
“Get off the stool! I didn’t know Yan Yan’s hand was there! I was trying to hit your leg!” Wei Chengli protested, but seeing Cheng Tingyan’s well-behaved demeanor, his heart softened. “Oh, oh, Daddy was wrong, I’m sorry, I apologize. Right, I have a gift for you!”
Wei Chengli quickly took out the other photo of the little white flower that he hadn’t given to Cheng Tingyan yet and handed it to her.
Cheng Tingyan took it and saw two bright flowers side by side, she and Maomao happily standing in the center of each flower.
“Thank you, Uncle Wei, I like it very much.” Cheng Tingyan pressed the photo against her chest, then carefully put it away in her bag.
Ah, she had used up all her clean handkerchiefs today, otherwise, she could have wrapped it in one. She didn’t expect handkerchiefs to be so useless…
“Look, Yan Yan is smiling! She’s not angry!” Wei Chengli pulled the little rascal, who was standing on the stool with her hands on her hips, about to climb onto the table, down, then pointed at Wen Dongyu to distract her. “Dongdong, eat, why aren’t you eating, are you scared of the fierce Maomao?”
Wei Maomao looked at Wen Dongyu.
He shook his head rapidly.
“This meal…” Wen Dongyu looked at the lunchbox in front of him, hesitating to speak.
“I’ve already eaten it.”
“It’s free.”
Wei Chengli and Wei Maomao spoke almost simultaneously.
Wei Chengli: ???
“Dongdong, is there something on your mind? Why have you been asking me if this costs money, if that costs money?” Wei Chengli couldn’t hold back his curiosity any longer.
Wen Dongyu poked the rice in the lunchbox with his spoon, but didn’t answer.
“Ah… I won’t ask anymore, I won’t. You eat.” Wei Chengli’s curiosity was instantly replaced by kindness, he added, “Don’t judge it by its looks, it actually tastes quite good, ask Yan Yan if you don’t believe me.”
“It’s delicious, very delicious.” Cheng Tingyan, having received the photo, was very cooperative.
“It’s alright, just alright.” Wei Chengli said modestly.
Wei Maomao looked at one, then the other, alright, they had made up, there was no need for her to jump in.
“Eat, eat, eat it while it’s hot. Anything here, you can eat, it’s always free.” Although Wei Chengli didn’t know what Wen Dongyu was suddenly fixated on, it was always right to go along with him, right?
Wen Dongyu, who had already taken a mouthful of rice, took the spoon out of his mouth. “You’re lying!”
Wei Chengli: “Ah? How am I lying?”
“‘Always’ is a lie, ‘always love you’ is also a lie! Promises without a deadline are all lies!” Wen Dongyu put down his spoon and pouted.
“Uh… Well… That…” Wei Chengli, sensing an impending storm, looked around for help, his gaze finally landing on Cheng Tingyan, who was three years older than the little chubby dumpling and seemed more reliable.
Wei Chengli’s pleading gaze was so obvious that Cheng Tingyan was stunned. She hesitantly pointed at herself.
Wei Chengli nodded firmly.
“… “ Cheng Tingyan looked at Wen Dongyu and asked tentatively, “Then… You can eat at Uncle Wei’s house for free, for a hundred years?”
Wei Maomao buried her face in her chubby arms, letting out “pfft” sounds as if she was leaking air.
Wen Dongyu looked at Wei Chengli with teary eyes.
Wei Chengli nodded vigorously.
The redness in his eyes fading, Wen Dongyu nodded with satisfaction. “Uncle Wei, you’re an honest person, you’re truly a good person.”
Wei Chengli: “… “ Great, now he had to live to be a hundred and thirty-three years old, thanks a lot, babies!
At the table, Wen Dongyu was eating heartily from his lunchbox, while the pig under the table was also eating heartily from its basin.
Wei Chengli looked down at the pig, he felt a strange sense of familiarity in its posture, burying its head in the basin to eat.
“Maomao, didn’t Shen Zilin bring a bottle of milk this morning? Can this pig… eat that?” Cheng Tingyan, after watching the pig for a while, suddenly realized something was wrong.
Wei Chengli: ???
After struggling to separate the pig from the basin, Wei Chengli discovered… the basin… was empty.
“Daddy, does this empty basin look familiar?”
Damn it, the devil’s whisper came from behind!
Wei Chengli turned around angrily, he knew it! After accidentally hitting Yan Yan’s hand, this little rascal had been waiting for this moment!
Speaking of… Wei Chengli suddenly realized, the pig had already eaten the bun at noon, it should be fine eating from a basin, right? Ah… He had struggled with the pig for nothing!
Eating a meal was even more tiring than completing an afternoon’s worth of tasks.
When it was time, Wei Chengli quickly took the babies to the small square.
Before the staff announced the rankings, the families chatted for a bit. Wei Chengli then realized that not every family had obtained all eight stamps, there were far fewer competitors for first place than he had imagined. Interestingly, most of those who failed were defeated at the “Food” stage.
Thinking about the bizarre food he had seen arranged on the outer ring of the table when he entered the room earlier, Wei Chengli suddenly felt that the annoying little dumpling he was holding was actually quite cute.
Perhaps the program team had also witnessed the hardships of the pig’s life today, because almost half of the mystery boxes they opened, using the stamps they had earned, contained pig products.
All sorts of cute pig dresses, from bibs to socks, from bottles to milk powder, even teething rings…
The children seemed quite satisfied, especially Wen Dongyu, who loved the pig, and Shen Zilin, who was responsible for raising it.
Besides the pig products, the mystery boxes also contained various children’s toys and fairy tale books.
In short, it was a bountiful harvest for the babies tonight, while the dads could only survive on their love for their children.
After opening the mystery boxes, the final ranking for the relay race was announced. The Wei family won first place, the Cheng family second.
The dads, who had nothing and empty pockets, urged them to open the grand prize mystery box quickly.
Wei Chengli lifted the little chubby dumpling onto the specially prepared podium. Then he saw the little chubby paws rummaging through the box and pulling out…
Wei Maomao examined the golden tie clip in her hand, clicking her tongue inwardly, impressive, it was quite exquisite, seemingly made of pure gold.
“Hey, hey, keep it and play with it.” Wei Chengli took the tie clip that the little chubby dumpling tossed at him, feeling guilty.
Why did the grand prize have to be something for dads, the baby must be so disappointed, the program team was so mean! Their already fragile father-daughter relationship was about to be tested!
Many thoughts raced through Wei Chengli’s mind, then he saw the little chubby dumpling climb down from the podium and pat his leg with her chubby paw.
“Good job, let’s win again next time!” Wei Maomao said seriously.
Wei Chengli: ??? What was going on, although she looked sincere, could she please not act like a short, stocky leader!
With the grand prize awarded, the afternoon’s relay race task finally came to an end.
Wei Maomao, after praising Wei Chengli, had just run back to Cheng Tingyan’s side when Shen Zilin dashed over.
“Let’s go dig for Baby Coins together later.” Shen Zilin said, stretching his limbs.
“No.” Wei Maomao refused outright. “I’m so tired today.”
Shen Zilin looked at Cheng Tingyan.
Cheng Tingyan shook her head. “No.”
Shen Zilin was a bit surprised, his lips moving slightly, but ultimately, he didn’t say anything else, just turned and ran off alone.
Wei Maomao, noticing Shen Zilin’s expressive face, suddenly remembered something.
“Earlier, when I went to your house to find you, you weren’t there, Cheng Rongrong said you went out to play with other children.” Wei Maomao, looking at Shen Zilin’s retreating figure, asked, “Was it with Shen Zilin?”
“… “ Cheng Tingyan coughed. “Mmm.”
No wonder, Wei Maomao recalled that Shen Zilin was already running towards them before she even arrived.
“Maomao, you don’t want me to play with him?” Cheng Tingyan asked cautiously, looking at the little chubby bunny.
“Ah?” Wei Maomao hadn’t yet sorted out her complex emotions, she shook her head instinctively. “No, I like Yan Yan having many friends.” Wasn’t this one of her goals?
“Mmm.” Cheng Tingyan nodded, lowering her gaze.
But some things, they were easy to say.
When the families were leaving, Cheng Tingyan said she was a bit tired and wouldn’t be going to the Wei family’s house. Wei Maomao walked Cheng Tingyan back to her door, watching her enter, but…
As Wei Maomao passed through an alley and bumped into Shen Zilin, realizing that this wasn’t the direction of his house, she couldn’t help but turn back and walk a distance.
Then she saw Shen Zilin calling Cheng Tingyan out, and the two of them left together.
This…
Wei Chengli looked at his stunned, speechless baby, leaning against the wall, he didn’t even know how to comfort her.
And at that moment, Cheng Tingyan, walking side by side with Shen Zilin, completely unaware of what was happening behind her, whispered, “Next time you want to find me, don’t do it in front of Maomao.”
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