Chapter 56 p2
“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you saying anything again?” As Wen Jiangyue spoke, she suddenly realized something, her voice becoming hesitant and cautious. “That… Is it because being scammed is a bad thing, so Yan Yan didn’t want to say it out loud… using mouth movements to… protect… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t…”
“It’s not that.” Cheng Tingyan wasn’t the type to shift blame, she interrupted Wen Jiangyue’s apology. “It’s because… my family situation is a bit complicated, that’s why I mouthed the word.”
Honestly, Cheng Tingyan had been thinking about how the elderly woman might be in the middle of being scammed, she had simply thought that since she was facing away from the camera, she could just mouth the word to Maomao. She had momentarily forgotten about Wen Jiangyue’s presence.
But it was no big deal. Cheng Feiying and Bai Lei had told her not to mention her mother on the show, she had accidentally mentioned her… It wasn’t the first time. When they went back, they could get angry, they could yell at her, whatever.
It’s just… Cheng Tingyan looked at Liu Ming, who was trying to squeeze through the door crack, she hoped the elderly woman’s money wouldn’t be stolen. Last time, her mom’s money was stolen, they almost couldn’t afford to continue her hospitalization, she had cried for a long time.
“Yan Yan, the brothers and sisters will help Grandma, it’s okay.” Wei Maomao pried open Cheng Tingyan’s tightly clenched fist, placing her chubby paw inside, and offered words of comfort. “It’ll be okay.”
The soft, chubby, warm paw curled up in her hand, Cheng Tingyan couldn’t help but squeeze it gently, the suffocating feeling in her chest lessening significantly.
As expected, the little chubby bunny was the best!
Wei Maomao wasn’t feeling good at all right now. There were more and more things she didn’t know about from her previous life. So Yan Yan’s mother had even been scammed through a phone scam. Then they must have gone through an even tougher time… Those damn scammers! She was so angry!
Convincing an elderly person was never easy, especially when the other party claimed to be from the police station.
When Liu Ming came out of the room, her back was soaked with sweat.
From squeezing through the door, from the heat, from the stuffy room, and also from nervousness…
Phone scams, she had heard of them, but this was her first time encountering one directly. Thankfully, she had the idea of calling 110 with her phone, otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to counter the scammer’s well-rehearsed script.
But those little babies were truly amazing, Liu Ming looked at the three little ones being fed milk by the staff in the distance with admiration. An elderly person’s money in the countryside, that was their life savings, their program had accumulated good karma thanks to these little babies.
Before she could even take a good look, Liu Ming was pushed aside from behind.
The elderly woman, who had a neat bun and a stern, impatient expression when she entered the house, now had messy hair and red eyes, instantly scaring two of the three babies who were drinking milk.
Wei Maomao, also startled, swallowed her milk with a gulp, trying hard not to be the third one to spit it out.
Then she saw the somewhat disheveled elderly woman, calling them “good children” repeatedly, trying to stuff a handful of pink bills into their arms.
“Pfft…” Wei Maomao joined the milk-spitting team in the end.
Thankfully, she used her last bit of reason to turn her head, preventing the elderly woman from facing an even worse situation.
The three of them were stunned by the money offensive, just as Liu Ming arrived in time, they all dodged behind her.
“Good children, take it! It’s just a small token of my appreciation. If it weren’t for you, Grandma wouldn’t even be able to afford a coffin!” Zhao Lanhua insisted, holding out the money.
The three shook their heads in unison behind Liu Ming.
“Then you take it, you take it and buy yourself something nice, then buy something for the children.” Zhao Lanhua shoved the money into Liu Ming’s hand. “It was the children who reminded me, and you came to persuade me, you take some too.”
As she spoke, Zhao Lanhua took out another handful of bills of various denominations from her pocket and added them to the pile, pushing it into Liu Ming’s hand.
Liu Ming was terrified by the elderly woman’s attempt to empty her pockets as a way of expressing her gratitude. She repeatedly refused but couldn’t dodge. The three little ones behind her were using her as a shield! It was a waste of the praise she had just given them in her heart!
The long, drawn-out tug-of-war, even longer than receiving lucky money during Chinese New Year, finally ended when another elderly woman rushed into the courtyard.
“Lanhua, is your money still there?” Wang Guihua, who had been cleaning the chicken coop and hadn’t been watching the live stream, opened it to see comments about phone scams flooding the screen. After reading them, she realized something had happened to Zhao Lanhua and hurried over.
“Yes, yes, it would be gone if you came any later.” Zhao Lanhua patted her leg. “I have to thank you for recommending me this part-time job, if it weren’t for these little children, I would be lying in your coffin.”
“Dream on.” Wang Guihua retorted, then froze.
Little children…
Wang Guihua’s gaze followed Zhao Lanhua’s finger, heh… Wang Guihua instinctively covered her face, then awkwardly moved her hand away.
“Cough, hello.” Wang Guihua smiled. It was okay, all elderly women looked the same, with wrinkles all over their faces, she had even changed her clothes after cleaning the chicken coop, these little ones wouldn’t recognize…
“Grandma, your leg doesn’t hurt anymore?” Wen Jiangyue peeked out, smiling.
That’s right, she was no longer the little baby who would run away in awkwardness after witnessing someone doing something bad!
“Heh, heh…” Wang Guihua chuckled awkwardly, then her expression changed, a fake smile filling every wrinkle on her face. “Right, it doesn’t hurt anymore. After eating two of the eggs you collected for me, the pain is gone, I’m all better!”
Wen Jiangyue: …
Cheng Tingyan: …
Wei Maomao: …
How did you manage to eat two eggs in that less than one minute between leaving and coming back? Did you eat them raw without even washing them…
Regardless, Wang Guihua, feeling she had successfully covered her lie, instantly calmed down, even her scolding voice became louder.
“Those damn scammers, even targeting elderly people’s money! You don’t know, your Grandma Zhao, she makes one pillowcase and sells it at the market for eight yuan. They’re all made of the best pure cotton, the fabric alone costs six yuan. She has to cut, sew, and it takes a lot of time to make one, she only earns two yuan per pillowcase. These people aren’t just scamming her money, they’re trying to take her life!” Wang Guihua gripped Liu Ming’s hand tightly. “You’re filming a show, you have to spread the word and educate people, don’t let anyone else be scammed!”
“Okay, okay.” Liu Ming nodded repeatedly, this was something they should do, she believed Director Shi would also include some legal education in the final edit. But… Ah, this grip, so strong, why couldn’t she pull her hand away! Her screen time was going to exceed the limit again… her salary, aww, her salary was going to be deducted again…
Wei Maomao thought for a moment, in her previous life, the show also filmed similar tasks about helping villagers, but it was dads and babies as teams, each family assigned to a different villager. There were no hidden tasks, they just did whatever the villagers asked. And this elderly woman, Zhao Lanhua, hadn’t appeared on the show. So in her previous life… this grandma’s money, most likely… So this was also something that had changed.
Wang Guihua, who had “eaten two eggs,” continued her passionate speech, from Zhao Lanhua’s son who worked away from home, to the hardships of her life in the village, then thanking the program team for choosing elderly people who spoke Mandarin for the acting roles, which was how Zhao Lanhua was saved.
Zhao Lanhua, listening from the side, felt a bit embarrassed. She hadn’t really put much effort into the acting job she took from the program team, she just provided some baskets, stools, and bowls, and wasn’t particularly patient with the little children… But she was saved by them in the end.
Her money, all her money was in that bank card. When she heard the explanation of “money laundering” on the phone, she was terrified. If those staff members hadn’t barged into the room, she would have believed everything the person on the other end of the line said… She was so close, truly so close.
Oh, right.
Zhao Lanhua remembered why those three children hadn’t left immediately after completing the task, why they had heard her phone call.
“Come, come, come, you must want this.” Zhao Lanhua went back into the house and brought out the three money bags that the program team hadn’t taken away yet. They had refused the bills earlier, they would definitely want this, right?
“The program team initially told me to go get some firewood from the courtyard while you were shelling edamame, then pretend to hurt my hand and drop the firewood. If you offered to help me carry the firewood, I could give you these three money bags. Later, they said I didn’t need to pretend to hurt my hand anymore, and they didn’t take these back.” Zhao Lanhua revealed the truth without hesitation. Looking at the three children who didn’t dare to take the money bags, she turned to Liu Ming. “They all helped me, them helping me keep my money is more useful than carrying firewood, don’t you think they deserve more?”
Liu Ming, whose hand was still trapped in Wang Guihua’s iron grip: …
The viewers in the live broadcast room couldn’t believe that Wei Maomao and her friends’ third hidden task could be twisted into this.
“After all these twists and turns, when Grandma Zhao answered the phone, I initially thought it was a scam prevention hidden task set up by the program team, but then I thought it was too advanced, those babies are so young. It turns out… it was indeed advanced, even Director Wei didn’t have time to tell CEO Mao. Thankfully, Yan Yan was there, otherwise, Grandma Zhao would be in trouble.”
“Suggesting the author of ‘Tutu Adventures’ to add scam prevention content! That way our CEO Mao will have a chance to use a new ‘Daddy said’!”
“Phone scams, those scumbags! Yan Yan is so smart! Grandma Zhao should also thank Yan Yan’s mother for paving the way for her.”
“You can’t say that, even without Cheng Tingyan, wouldn’t the program team intervene if they saw Grandma Zhao being scammed? It’s just that Cheng Tingyan was the first to notice, don’t make her sound like a savior.”
“??? Where did this hater come from, go back to your troll farm! Anyone with eyes can see that if Yan Yan and the others had left immediately after completing the task, the program team might not even have captured the part where Grandma Zhao answered the phone. Grandma Zhao even took off her earpiece when she answered the phone, the staff probably wouldn’t have noticed what she was saying.”
“Exactly, it was the babies who heard it first, noticed it first, then called someone. What, the first person to jump into the river to save someone doesn’t count as a rescuer? You want to wait for the fifth person to jump in? You might as well just stay in the water!”
“I’m so angry thinking about it, maybe that stepmother bought another batch of trolls, so annoying! I get angry every time I think about the expired snacks and compressed biscuits Yan Yan ate… Even if Yan Yan’s mother was scammed and became poor, but Yan Yan is living with Cheng Feiying, right? Does she have to live such a miserable life! Like Shen Zilin said, where’s the money from the first season! If they have the guts to film the snack cabinet in their bedroom, they should have the guts to show the bank statements!”
“I’m dying of laughter, they probably also threatened Yan Yan not to mention ‘Mom’ on the show, right? Otherwise, why would she mouth the word ‘Mom’? Even controlling whether she can call her ‘Mom,’ this is truly a case of ‘new mother, new father’!”
“The program team is also stingy, they only let Grandma Zhao give those three money bags, no extra reward?”
“Better than nothing, Yan Yan is eight Baby Coins closer to the watermelon…”
“Sixteen, right? Director Wei also completed two hidden tasks, he’ll probably exchange them for Baby Coins and give them to CEO Mao when they go back.”
“Speaking of, it seems Director Wei has exchanged all his Daddy Coins for Baby Coins, he’s probably the only dad who’s doing that, right? He’s definitely a daughter slave.”
“Hahaha, I’m dying of laughter, the babies refused to take the money, so Grandma Zhao went to the kitchen to cut some cured meat, I wonder if Director Wei is scared, there’s no recipe for this!”
…
Under Zhao Lanhua and Wang Guihua’s insistent persuasion, when they left Zhao Lanhua’s courtyard, the three babies each had a bowl of edamame, a piece of cured meat, and four Baby Coins in their pockets, a truly bountiful harvest.
Wen Jiangyue, recalling that before they left, Grandma Zhao had asked Cheng Tingyan what she wanted her to help with before she answered the phone, and Cheng Tingyan said she had a piece of fabric she wanted to turn into handkerchiefs, then remembering that she had blurted out earlier about Cheng Tingyan mouthing the word “Mom”, turned to Cheng Tingyan and asked, “Yan Yan, how many handkerchiefs did you bring? Are you running out of them? I brought three, and one is still unused. I can give it to you?”
“I brought five. Keep yours. Even with one more, it probably won’t be enough. I asked Grandma Zhao to make me a few more.” Cheng Tingyan thought about the new pillowcase in her suitcase, based on its size, it should be enough to make six to eight handkerchiefs, right?
“Five? Five isn’t enough?” Wen Jiangyue was surprised. “Do you have a lot of things to wipe, Yan Yan?”
“Not a lot, just one thing, but I have to wipe it frequently.” Cheng Tingyan’s lips curved into a slight smile.
Wei Maomao: …
Stop asking, have some shame!
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