Chapter 56 p1
After spending quite some time picking tomatoes under the scorching sun in the vegetable garden, the staff told the babies they could choose to rest in this courtyard or at the small square before continuing with their next task.
Wen Jiangyue and Cheng Tingyan, completely engrossed in their tasks, after confirming that Wei Maomao didn’t mind skipping the break, unanimously decided to just have a quick drink and continue.
Cheng Tingyan’s fondness for hidden tasks was evident, Wei Maomao could understand her eagerness to start the third task.
But Wen Jiangyue…
Such a good child, driven by the program team to the point that she wanted to quickly complete the task just to observe the third person in need of help, to see what kind of act they would put on… Wei Maomao was truly impressed by this reason for rushing the task.
Regardless of their reasons and thoughts, they all had the same goal in the end.
Soon, they found the third task location according to the map.
A traditional Chinese courtyard house, an elderly woman, three baskets of unshelled edamame.
The elderly woman had gray hair, was short in stature, and her wrinkled face was somewhat stern, unlike the previous elderly woman who pretended to be lame and sat in a wheelchair, she wasn’t particularly kind.
“Help me shell the edamame.” The elderly woman pointed at the baskets, and without waiting for them to respond, she went back to the main hall with her hands behind her back.
“There’s no story?” Wen Jiangyue was a bit disappointed.
“Besides shelling edamame, what else can we do?” Cheng Tingyan looked around.
Wei Maomao glanced at the small stools in the shade under the eaves and waved to the other two. “Come here and shell them, it’s cooler here.”
During the “Oil” task earlier, thanks to Wei Chengli, Wei Maomao and Cheng Tingyan didn’t have to shell many peanuts before passing. But edamame was different, they couldn’t be smashed or pounded, they had to be shelled one by one by hand. Edamame also had fuzz, after shelling a few, their hands and faces, even their noses, felt itchy.
Cheng Tingyan, while shelling, couldn’t help but turn her head and sneeze softly. She then looked at Wei Maomao, thinking that the little chubby paws might be slow at shelling, wanting to help her with some. But when she looked closer, although those paws were chubby and fleshy, they were incredibly nimble at shelling edamame. She saw the white paws constantly moving up and down, the edamame kernels falling into the bowl one after another like raindrops.
“Maomao, you’re so good at this.” Cheng Tingyan, after watching in awe for a while, even stopped shelling her own edamame, couldn’t help but praise her softly.
“Just average.” Wei Maomao smiled modestly, it was just one of the ordinary skills of an ordinary worker from a previous life.
Wen Jiangyue, hearing this, came over and took a look. Comparing Wei Maomao’s bowl, which was more than half full, to her own, which barely had anything in it, she exclaimed, “Maomao, you’re not just average, you’re extraordinary!”
Just practice makes perfect after shelling so many chestnuts, nuts, and other things in her previous life. It was a pity that her hands in this life were small and chubby, otherwise, she could have shelled even faster. Wei Maomao wasn’t complacent about the praise. Instead, she smiled and said, “I’ll help you guys shell after I finish mine.”
“No, no, no, I can do it.” Wen Jiangyue, unable to continue watching the spectacle, quickly sat back down and focused on shelling her own edamame. She was a five-and-a-half-year-old big sister, how could she let a three-year-old little sister shell edamame for her, that would be too mean!
Cheng Tingyan, hearing this, also looked away. Although Maomao’s shelling was fast and mesmerizing, she wanted to help, not be helped!
For a while, the three of them focused on their own tasks, the only sounds were the cracking of edamame pods and the soft thudding of kernels falling into the bowls.
Then, a sudden, heavy, continuous “dadadadada” sound broke the silence.
Wei Maomao looked up, following the sound, and saw the elderly woman in the main hall across from them… using a sewing machine?
This NPC was so free. She was concise when assigning the task, not even bothering with a backstory or a reason for needing help, and now she was doing her own thing, was she a part-timer hired by the program team…
Wei Maomao glanced at her a couple of times, and as she looked away, she accidentally saw Cheng Tingyan.
Cheng Tingyan was staring intently at the elderly woman in the main hall.
Mmm… This familiar gaze, it was the same look she had when looking at the lettuce patch with earthworms earlier, Wei Maomao thought as she continued shelling edamame.
Then, in the next second, she heard Cheng Tingyan speak.
“Do you think that ‘dadada’ thing has anything to do with the Baby Coin task?” Cheng Tingyan asked.
Wei Maomao thought it was more likely that the program team had rented a bit of the elderly woman’s time and space to assign the task, and now she was back to her own work.
Wen Jiangyue, however, took a few more glances at the main hall and nodded. “It’s possible, we’ll ask after we finish shelling the edamame.”
Wei Maomao glanced at Cheng Tingyan, her edamame shelling speed was rapidly increasing.
Did she like hidden tasks that much? She never mentioned having a gaming addiction in her previous life…
After Wei Maomao finished shelling her basket of edamame, the other two had only finished a little over half, but they both refused her offer to help.
When all three finished shelling their edamame, they carried the three small bowls to the elderly woman to hand in their task.
The elderly woman, still sewing without lifting her head, waved her hand dismissively. “Okay, this edamame is your reward, remember to return my bowls.”
“Grandma, what is that thing you’re using?” Cheng Tingyan, watching as the elderly woman pulled a lever, and the frayed edge of a piece of fabric became neat and smooth after passing under the needle and thread, was fascinated.
“It’s a sewing machine, not many people use them now, children your age probably haven’t seen one before.” As the elderly woman spoke, she turned a knob and stepped on a pedal, the rapid “dadadadada” sound of the machine filled the air, quickly finishing another seam.
“Grandma, are you feeling well? Is there anything else we can help you with?” Wen Jiangyue scrutinized the elderly woman, who was moving quite nimbly, she couldn’t figure out what the program team had asked her to “pretend” to be.
“There was another task, but before you came, a young man said you did an extra task earlier, so you don’t have to do the second task here. So there’s nothing else now. Oh, remember to return the bowls.” The elderly woman stopped the sewing machine, used a flat pair of scissors to snip the thread, and with a shake, a pillowcase was completed.
Wei Maomao: … So it was true that they had given themselves an extra hidden task at the chicken coop. But the program team was a bit too stingy, adding one there, then deducting one here. Come to think of it, only the “Daddy Kiss Card” task gave them more Baby Coins, the other tasks were all very stingy, she didn’t know who they were planning to sell all those things in the convenience store to.
“Grandma…” Cheng Tingyan, hearing that there was no hidden task, no more Baby Coins to be earned, was a bit disappointed, but now she had a new goal. “This sewing machine is so amazing, can you make something for me too? I can… um, give you eggs and tomatoes?”
“No, no.” The elderly woman waved her hand, folded the pillowcase, and placed it aside, then took out another piece of fabric and placed it on the sewing machine. “I have a lot of work to do, I don’t have time to make toys for little kids.”
“It’s not a toy…” Cheng Tingyan was a bit anxious, but just as she was about to explain, a phone rang from the elderly woman’s pocket.
“I don’t have time to make anything, even if it’s not a toy, I have to rush these to sell at the next market, I don’t have time for you.” The elderly woman waved her hand at Cheng Tingyan, took out her phone, glanced at the caller ID, removed her earpiece, and answered the phone. “Hello, who are you looking for? Oh, this is Zhao Lanhua, who is this? What? Police station? Oh, oh, hello, officer. Ah? My bank cards are all at home, impossible, I wouldn’t give them to anyone… What do you mean money laundering? I don’t understand… Mmm… Okay, okay, I’ll find a private place.”
As the elderly woman spoke, she stood up and hurried into the house.
Wei Maomao: … This familiar conversation, why did it give her a bad feeling?
Was this… the program team’s design? Or…
Just as Wei Maomao was hesitating whether to follow her and take a look, she felt a poke on her arm.
“Maomao.” Cheng Tingyan whispered, pointing at the room the elderly woman had just entered, her expression serious and worried. “It might be a scammer.”
“Ah?” Wei Maomao couldn’t react. She also thought it sounded like a phone scam, but was this something a six-year-old Yan Yan would know?
Cheng Tingyan, thinking that Wei Maomao didn’t understand, explained softly, “I… Mmm (mouthing the word ‘Mom’)… received a fake call from the police station before, they said her bank card was used for money laundering, she followed the instructions of the fake police officer and did many things, then all the money in her bank card was gone. It was all stolen by the scammers… Do you think this grandma…”
“Exactly the same!” Wen Jiangyue, who had been eavesdropping, interjected in surprise. “What this grandma just said is exactly the same as what happened to your mom! Then it must be a scammer, right?”
Cheng Tingyan: …
Wei Maomao: …
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Did I say something wrong?” Wen Jiangyue was puzzled by their silence.
“No… You’re right. It might be a scammer. Let’s go find the program team and let the brothers and sisters talk to Grandma, we’re just little babies, Grandma won’t listen to us.” Wei Maomao felt that this elderly woman seemed much more serious than the first one, she was also very businesslike with them, it didn’t seem like she would doubt the authenticity of the police just because of a child’s cuteness. So it was best to leave this troublesome issue to the program team.
The three quickly reached an agreement and looked around.
“Sister Mingming!” Wei Maomao waved to Liu Ming.
After a few words, Liu Ming, with a serious expression, took two other staff members and went to knock on the door.
Seeing that the program team was handling it, Cheng Tingyan finally relaxed.
Then, Wen Jiangyue, out of nowhere, asked, “Yan Yan, why did you mouth the word ‘Mom’ just now?”
Cheng Tingyan: …
Wei Maomao: …
Okay, good question, and she wasn’t even the one who had to ask it, even better.
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