Chapter 57 p2
While doing tasks with Shen Zilin this morning, Cheng Rongrong tried to chat more to get closer to him. But Shen Zilin, as they chatted, would either steer the topic to Cheng Tingyan or to Wei Maomao…
Cheng Rongrong tried to change the subject several times, but Shen Zilin always brought it back to those two. As they continued chatting, Cheng Rongrong became a bit angry. But she stayed silent for a while, and Shen Zilin, instead of noticing her displeasure, also fell silent. They continued doing the tasks in silence until Cheng Rongrong finally broke the silence again.
She realized then that although she could act well as the pitiful younger sister who wanted to be close to her older sister but was constantly rejected, highlighting Cheng Tingyan’s coldness towards her, by constantly approaching Cheng Tingyan and being rejected, the other children participating in the show this time were either blind or completely lacking in empathy, they seemed to ignore her completely, it didn’t affect their interactions with those two at all. Like yesterday afternoon, she was spoken to like that by Wei Maomao, even cried and ran away in front of Wen Jiangyue, but they didn’t chase after her, and today, they even went to do tasks happily with those two… What a bunch of unlucky kids!
If she couldn’t influence the other children to dislike Cheng Tingyan and could only affect the audience’s perception, it still achieved most of her goal, so Cheng Rongrong continued to play the role of approaching, being rejected, and leaving sadly.
But Shen Zilin this morning made her realize that if she continued with this persona, she would only drift further and further away from these children. When the distance became too great, she might even be excluded from their little group. If that was broadcast, with a group of children on one side and her alone on the other, it would be fine for viewers who had been following the live stream from the beginning, but those who joined halfway might think it was her fault that she was excluded.
Cheng Rongrong decided to change herself, to break free from the persona of leaving sadly after being rejected.
Although she hated Wei Maomao, everyone liked her, so she would pretend to like her too!
Cheng Rongrong tried, she approached, and then… was mercilessly ignored by the stinky chubby girl.
She should have continued talking, asked where they were going, continued trying to get closer to Wei Maomao, closer to the center of these annoying children’s affections. But looking at that carefree, smug, annoying chubby face, she just wanted to kick this stinky chubby girl, who had embarrassed her countless times, off the stool.
Forget it, Cheng Rongrong suppressed her malice and decided to focus on winning over Shen Zilin for now. At least Shen Zilin wasn’t as annoying!
Ever since that incident at the convenience store, when Cheng Rongrong subtly used the phrase “Mom told you to listen to Dad before we came, otherwise Dad will be angry” to suppress Cheng Tingyan, Wei Maomao had felt that although she was young, this person was truly not good, so she rejected her without hesitation.
After rejecting her, Wei Maomao’s attention shifted away from Cheng Rongrong. Then she heard Cheng Feiying say to Wei Chengli, “The main course I made for lunch is noodles, you haven’t touched the steamed buns you brought, remember to take them back and eat them tonight.”
“No! We’ll leave them in the fridge here! We’ll come back and eat them tonight.” Wei Maomao raised her chubby paw and interjected.
Cheng Feiying: …
Wei Chengli: …
“Hahaha, if you don’t give your dad a chance to practice, how can he make delicious food for you?” Cheng Feiying glanced at the annoying chubby girl, then looked at Wei Chengli, he didn’t believe that a director would actually freeload like this.
Wei Maomao also looked at Wei Chengli, secretly making a heart shape with her hands.
Wei Chengli turned his head away, avoiding Cheng Feiying’s gaze.
Cheng Feiying, seeing the slight curve of Wei Chengli’s lips, was puzzled, what was wrong with this guy, why was he always so happy? Why was he always smiling!
Wait…
Cheng Feiying abruptly turned his head and saw the heart shape made by the chubby paws, which hadn’t been retracted yet.
He was so angry!
Cheng Feiying understood, and yet didn’t want to understand, what should he do, make a heart shape back at him?
Wei Maomao knew that Cheng Feiying had seen her little gesture, but this kind of gesture couldn’t be learned by Cheng Feiying, so she slowly retracted her chubby paws, acting nonchalant.
Wei Chengli, hit by the chubby heart, dodged for a moment, then secretly turned back, meeting Cheng Feiying’s speechless gaze.
The ball was kicked back to him.
Wei Chengli touched the empty chicken wing plate, and under their burning gazes, weakly suggested, “Brother Cheng is right, I also need to improve. How about I practice tonight? Let Yan Yan come and try my cooking tonight to see if I’ve improved? When I’m good enough, I’ll cook a feast for everyone?”
“Okay.”
“Sure.”
Cheng Feiying and Wei Maomao exchanged glances, their expressions showing mutual disdain.
Their tacit understanding came so quickly that Cheng Rongrong, who was about to object, lost her chance to speak. Even if Cheng Feiying didn’t want to cook for them, didn’t want to eat with them, eating here was still better than letting Cheng Tingyan go out, right! At least there were so many cameras here! How could they keep letting Cheng Tingyan go out? They had let her go out so many times before, she was now closer to those children outside than to them… Why should she be the one making friends while she had to stay home with a bad-tempered dad? Cheng Rongrong, thinking about how Cheng Tingyan had disappeared yesterday afternoon while she was serving tea and water, doing chores, felt angry.
Cheng Rongrong was very unhappy.
Wei Chengli, however, felt a weight lifted off his shoulders, he almost hummed a tune while clearing the dishes. Eating out was good, but it wasn’t as comfortable as eating at home. He believed the little chubby dumpling and Yan Yan also felt the same~~~
But, mmm… did he forget something?
What did he forget…
As Wei Chengli happily walked towards his house, swinging a bag of steamed buns, and saw the familiar spot, the familiar duo of a child and a pig… he finally remembered what he had forgotten.
“Dongdong… have you eaten…” Wei Chengli asked weakly, holding onto a shred of hope.
Mmm… The familiar head shake, what was going on, did this pig no longer need someone to manipulate its head, could it shake its head with just a pat?
Wei Chengli shook his head, dismissing the untimely curiosity, and tightened his grip on the plastic bag.
What should he do? Although they hadn’t made any promises, he had eaten his fill, and only brought back a bag of steamed buns, he felt so guilty!
Wei Chengli instinctively looked around.
Empty…
Oh, the little chubby dumpling and Yan Yan had run off with a pillowcase, only he was here, aww.
Wei Chengli’s awkwardness and guilt were so obvious that the viewers in the live broadcast room felt both amused and sympathetic.
“Director Wei is still a decent person, Dongdong said he hasn’t eaten, and he immediately felt guilty with only a bag of steamed buns, hahaha!”
“Office worker here, raising my hand timidly, so why is Dongdong here again today? I took a peek while working, he was happily going home after finishing his task… How come after I worked for a while and heated up my lunch, he’s here at Director Wei’s again with a dejected look?”
“A college student on summer vacation is here to explain the situation to you office workers! Wen Xiang, really, Dongdong happily brought back chicken legs and eggs, he didn’t even say anything, just said he wanted to treat his dad, then Wen Xiang said something like, ‘Have you ever treated me when I bought you so much food and drinks? We’re family, why do you have to separate yours and mine, and even treat each other…’ Anyway, it was that kind of sarcastic remark, then Wen Dongdong became unhappy, they argued for a bit, Wen Dongdong left the chicken legs for Wen Xiang and ran here with the eggs.”
“Wen Dongdong genuinely wanted to treat him, he even saved half for Wen Xiang, I’m watching Wen Xiang’s live stream, he’s staring at the bag of chicken legs in a daze.”
“Actually, I have children, I understand Wen Xiang. In his mind, they’re family, Wen Dongdong rarely brings anything back, and now he’s separating yours and mine, it’s hurtful to a father.”
“??? I also have children, how can I understand Wen Xiang? A cub hunting and bringing back prey to treat others, how adorable, he has to make a big deal out of it and make everyone unhappy. Besides, wasn’t he the one who started separating yours and mine, saying it was ‘borrowed’, and now he’s being sensitive?”
“I think Wen Xiang is just being stubborn, he always regrets it after Dongdong runs away. Actually, it would be better if Dongdong stayed and they had a big fight and cleared the air. Dongdong, why don’t you let Wen Xiang see your pitiful, hurt expression? What’s the point of only showing it to Director Wei?”
“Oh my god, does an injured person have to show their wounds to the perpetrator to be considered a qualified victim?”
“Sigh, who would want to show their sadness to the person who hurt them? Although Dongdong is so young, he probably only knows sadness, he doesn’t know he’s being hurt.”
“Everyone can talk about principles, those who understand Wen Xiang are thinking about their own relationship with their children. Those who understand Dongdong are thinking about their own relationship with their parents. It’s hard to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, that’s why there are so many more unhappy families than happy ones.”
“That’s true, every family has its own problems. Wang Zhizhi’s family has also been arguing a lot about his sister these past few days, but Wang Zhizhi isn’t as fragile as Wen Dongyu, I think he’s getting stronger and stronger. Shen Zilin’s family doesn’t argue, hahaha, it’s just that their son is always out digging in the field and doesn’t even ask for help, and his dad doesn’t exchange any of his Daddy Coins for Baby Coins, truly a cold-hearted merchant family. CEO Mao’s daughter slave family, we won’t even discuss, only Wen Jiangyue’s family is relatively normal.”
“Wen Jiangyue’s family is even funnier, okay… Wen Jiangyue ran away when Wei Chengli was fighting to wash the dishes at noon, after going back home, she told Wen Qiming that she had heard Maomao say they were going to eat there and wanted to take her dad along to join them, but seeing how unwilling Cheng Feiying looked, she didn’t dare to say anything. And Maomao and her dad were so brave, facing the challenge head-on. Hahaha, Wen Jiangyue, at such a young age, even her tone when imitating them was so accurate. Guess what Wen Qiming said after hearing that… Oh, you all watched the live stream, you should know.”
“Office worker here, raising my hand timidly… I don’t know…”
“Wen Qiming said, ‘Daddy will teach you a poem, Sitting alone in the bamboo grove, playing the zither and whistling long. Deep in the woods, no one knows, only the bright moon shines upon me.’ Maybe Wen Qiming was trying to teach Wen Jiangyue to mind her own business and cultivate inner peace and detachment. Then Wen Jiangyue was upset, saying, ‘Didn’t we agree not to study during the show?’”
“It seems being cultured comes with a price, it’s hard on Wen Jiangyue.”
“It can’t be harder than Wen Dongyu… Running away from home, with two eggs, where else could he go, he had to come to Director Wei’s… And well, it’s burnt… Hahaha! Help, although it’s really pitiful, it’s so funny!”
…
Speaking of Wei Maomao, she didn’t expect that the “piece of fabric” Cheng Tingyan mentioned was actually a brand new pillowcase.
Wei Maomao truly… Even though she had promised not to cry anymore, and five handkerchiefs were definitely enough for one day, she was still dragged to Grandma Zhao’s house by the determined Yan Yan.
Thankfully, Grandma Zhao was truly efficient, she turned the pillowcase into six handkerchiefs in two minutes, otherwise, Wei Maomao, standing there, would have fainted from the heat on her face.
Life was truly too difficult.
No one else in the world had a life as difficult as hers.
However, when Wei Maomao returned home, exhausted, she saw another person with a flushed face and a dejected spirit.
Wei Maomao glanced at Wei Chengli, who was picking at the burnt, blackened toast with his fingers, then at the bumpy piece Wen Dongyu was eating, tsk tsk tsk.
“Boss, want some? Uncle Wei made egg toast, I brought the eggs, Uncle Wei provided the bread, it’s delicious!” Wen Dongyu enthusiastically offered the other bumpy piece from his plate.
Wei Chengli hung his head low.
“No, thanks. I’m going to the bathroom.” Wei Maomao, overwhelmed by the burnt smell, ran off.
Wen Dongyu looked at Cheng Tingyan. “Want some?”
Cheng Tingyan shook her head politely.
“I’m going to… wash the pot.” Wei Chengli placed the toast he had picked clean of the burnt parts, now also bumpy, on Wen Dongyu’s plate and ran off.
“It’s delicious.” Wen Dongyu took a big bite of the toast, looked at Wei Chengli by the stove, then at the door to the room Wei Maomao had entered. He suddenly jumped off the stool, went to Cheng Tingyan’s side, lowered his voice, and asked, “Do you think Uncle Wei will raise me if I only eat egg toast every day?”
“… “ Cheng Tingyan looked at Wen Dongyu’s sincere, hopeful expression, and said awkwardly, “You have parents, you have a home, how can Uncle Wei raise you?”
“You also have parents, you also have a home, but Boss can still raise you.” Wen Dongyu said enviously. “You’re so lucky, Boss said she would raise you, and she will.”
“Maomao… was just saying that. I can’t really be raised by her.” Cheng Tingyan said with difficulty. Although she knew it was impossible, she couldn’t deny that she had been moved when she heard it yesterday at noon.
“Anyway, someone is willing to raise you. Do you think I should ask Uncle Wei to raise me, or ask Boss to raise me? Who’s more likely to agree?” The troubled Wen Dongyu took a bite of the toast, then suddenly added, “But you know, wanting to live with Uncle Wei and Boss requires a test, right?”
Cheng Tingyan was stunned and shook her head.
“Wang Zhizhi told me. He’s so bad, he went to find Boss on the first night. Boss said that only those who can eat the disgusting mush her dad made can live with them.” Wen Dongyu whispered mysteriously.
“I never said that.” Wei Maomao, standing behind Wen Dongyu, interrupted with a scowl.
“Ah! You scared me! Boss, why are you so quiet…” Wen Dongyu patted his chest. “Wang Zhizhi said it. By the way, how disgusting is the mush your dad made? Is it more disgusting than ginger eggs? Is it more disgusting than burnt bread crusts?”
“Yes, it’s super disgusting.” Wei Chengli, holding a glass of water, said gently from behind Wen Dongyu.
Wen Dongyu: …
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