Chapter 60
There was no suitable place to hang a curtain in the bedroom.
It wasn’t appropriate to install hooks or nails on the walls when staying at someone else’s house.
Wei Chengli circled the room inside and out, thinking that he either had to ask the program team for a large screen to place between the two beds or inquire about moving one bed to the study, which was also available to them.
Actually, Wei Chengli preferred the first option. Although the little chubby dumpling seemed independent and slept alone at home, she was still only a three-year-old child, and this wasn’t the familiar environment of their home. Even though the two rooms were adjacent, he still wasn’t comfortable leaving her alone in the other room.
Just as Wei Chengli was about to talk to the staff, a chubby dumpling rolled in.
“Maomao! My pillow!” Wei Chengli grabbed the little rascal who was trying to dash into the bedroom with a pillow on her head.
“Here you go, here you go.” Wei Maomao, having used it for its intended purpose, tossed the pillow into Wei Chengli’s arms.
“Why did you take my pillow outside? It just rained, it’s damp.” Wei Chengli flipped the pillow over and checked it. Before he could take a closer look, he noticed who was following behind the little chubby dumpling…
Seeing Cheng Tingyan, also holding a pillow, and Wen Dongyu, dragging his suitcase, Wei Chengli’s head buzzed. “Dongdong, didn’t I say I had to talk to your dad first to see if he would agree to let you sleep here tonight? Why is your luggage already…”
Wen Dongyu placed his suitcase against the wall, ran over with a dissatisfied expression, looked up at Wei Chengli, and pointed at Cheng Tingyan. “Uncle Wei, look at this pink pillow, is this my luggage!”
Cheng Tingyan: “… “
“Yan Yan is sleeping with me tonight, Uncle Cheng agreed.” Wei Maomao took the pillow from Cheng Tingyan’s hand, carefully holding it on her head, and ran into the bedroom.
“What did you say, and he agreed?” Wei Chengli couldn’t believe that they had managed to persuade Cheng Feiying to let Yan Yan stay over in such a short time.
And… Wei Chengli glanced at the pillow that had been ruthlessly thrown at him by the little rascal earlier. Good job, she carefully carried Yan Yan’s pillow, but casually tossed his, right! He was truly experiencing different treatment every day…
“I know this! I heard everything!” Wen Dongyu squeezed in front of Wei Chengli, raising his hand, eager to explain.
Two minutes later, through Wen Dongyu’s vivid reenactment, Wei Chengli finally understood why his pillow had been forced to go on a trip outside.
“Boss is truly amazing! And this pillow is also amazing!” Wen Dongyu concluded enthusiastically, then looked at Wei Chengli with anticipation. “Uncle Wei! When you talk to my dad about letting me stay here tonight, bring a pillow too, okay!”
“First of all, the main point of my conversation with your dad isn’t about where you sleep tonight.” Wei Chengli patted the pillow in his hand helplessly. “Secondly, your Boss’s success in getting Yan Yan to stay over wasn’t entirely because of the pillow, it’s useless for me to bring one.”
Wen Dongyu didn’t quite understand.
Wei Chengli patted Wen Dongyu’s head, who was tilting his head with a confused expression, then turned and called out to the bedroom. “You two, come out for a minute.”
Cheng Tingyan came out, holding Wei Maomao’s hand.
“Uncle Wei…” Cheng Tingyan said awkwardly. “I should have asked you first, if I could…”
“No, no, it’s okay.” Wei Chengli had already heard from Wen Dongyu how Cheng Tingyan had subtly expressed her desire to stay over, it made him feel a bit uncomfortable. Children her age should be able to directly say what they want, like Wen Dongyu… He didn’t know how Cheng Tingyan developed such a sensitive and cautious personality.
“It’s okay.” Wei Maomao pulled Cheng Tingyan’s hand. “Wen Dongyu only asked him because he wanted to sleep with him, you’re sleeping with me.”
“I haven’t even talked to you yet!” Wei Chengli, looking at his overly loud chubby baby, laughed in exasperation. “You even know how to use the tactic of ‘retreating to advance’ at such a young age.”
“Daddy…” Wei Maomao stared at him with a puzzled expression. “What’s ‘retreating to advance’?”
“It means you clearly wanted Yan Yan to stay over, but you told Uncle Cheng that you wanted to go sleep at his house…” Wei Chengli narrowed his eyes.
“Oh.” Wei Maomao nodded, her expression even more puzzled. “Didn’t you say that, Daddy? If you want someone to agree to something, first ask them to agree to something they dislike even more, then when they refuse, you mention your original request, and they’ll agree. You said it, when we were watching the episode where Tutu bought ice cream!”
Honestly, when Wei Maomao drew that episode, she had thought about using it on Wei Chengli during the show to avoid appearing too cunning. But she didn’t expect that Wei Chengli would perform so well on the show, well… except for the mush incident. It turned out her preparation wasn’t in vain, she just didn’t expect it to be used by Cheng Feiying.
After Wei Maomao’s explanation, Wei Chengli remembered.
So all along, the knife that stabbed him was sharpened by himself?
Ah… Why did he have so much to say before participating in the show!
Wait…
“So, you took my pillow… Was it because it had just rained and you didn’t want to take your own pillow because it might be dirty, or was it to make Uncle Cheng think I would also go?” Wei Chengli recalled what Wen Dongyu had recounted earlier, the words the little chubby dumpling said to Cheng Feiying, then looked at the gray pillow in his hand, it indeed didn’t look like something a little girl would use.
So, the thing Cheng Feiying disliked more, was it Maomao going to sleep there, or Maomao taking him along…
“Ah, the task cards are here!” Wei Maomao, pulling Cheng Tingyan’s hand, ran towards the courtyard.
Wei Chengli: “… “ Little rascal, always good at doing bad things and changing the subject.
The babies and dads received different tasks in the afternoon.
The babies would be playing a real-life Monopoly game in the village, while the dads would be going fishing on a fishing boat.
After reading his own task card, Wei Chengli took the little chubby dumpling’s card and looked at it enviously. “Yours looks really fun.”
Wei Maomao took back her card and shook her head. “Not fun.”
Wei Chengli ruffled the little chubby dumpling’s soft hair. “Don’t take it for granted. You don’t even know what Monopoly is, you’ll know what fun is after playing it. And the entire village is the game board! It sounds fun just from the task description!”
Wei Maomao lowered her gaze, not arguing with Wei Chengli anymore.
It was here, the real-life Monopoly, a task that had appeared in the show from her previous life. In her previous life, it was during this task that Shen Zilin’s interest and admiration for Cheng Rongrong turned into something more. Putting aside whether the task itself was fun or not, just the fact that Shen Zilin started his journey of becoming Cheng Rongrong’s right-hand man, protecting and supporting her, during this task made it not fun at all.
Wei Chengli didn’t understand the little chubby dumpling’s deep thoughts.
He was feeling frustrated, envious of the fun he couldn’t have.
And in this hot weather, who wanted to go fishing…
Wei Chengli sighed, wishing he could be thirty years younger.
But it was good that the dads could do a group activity in the afternoon, it was a chance for him to talk to Wen Xiang. Casually bringing it up during the task was better than specifically going to their house to talk, right… Wei Chengli thought.
But while his thoughts were beautiful, reality was often cruel.
To create an opportunity to talk, Wei Chengli didn’t even get to play with the little chubby dumpling for long before arriving at the riverbank meeting point for the task ahead of time. Initially, he was quite lucky, he was the first to arrive, Wen Xiang was the second.
While waiting for the others, Wei Chengli carefully and slowly steered the conversation towards Wen Dongyu.
Wen Xiang’s reaction was quite calm, he didn’t seem interested in discussing the topic, just kept saying things like “It was really troublesome for Dongdong to keep eating at your house,” “Sorry for bothering you,” “We’re so grateful”…
He was so polite that Wei Chengli couldn’t continue beating around the bush, he had to cut to the chase and try to bring up the topic of “borrowing” in a joking manner.
And then…
Wen Xiang exploded.
How hard parents worked, how unappreciative children were. They had over a hundred dinosaurs at home, why was he so stingy? Children who didn’t earn money had no private property to protect. His parents loved him so much, and he had to say such hurtful things. Who else would love him as much as his parents! He had been making a fuss over a few toys for days. He, as a father, had already apologized, but he was still fixated on borrowing and repaying. Fine, then borrow, borrow, borrow!
Wei Chengli’s head buzzed from Wen Xiang’s outburst, he wanted to interject and talk about how pitiful Wen Dongyu was. But Wen Xiang’s relentless rant, almost without taking a breath, made him try to speak several times but fail.
Later, seeing the tears welling up in Wen Xiang’s eyes, Wei Chengli froze, too scared to even open his mouth, let alone interrupt.
Thankfully, Wen Qiming arrived, and before he could even reach them, Wen Xiang wiped his eyes and stopped talking.
So, in the end, Wei Chengli only managed to say, “It seems Wen Dongyu took your words about his food, expenses, and toys being borrowed from his parents seriously, the child is quite upset.” He didn’t get to say anything further, just listened to Wen Xiang vent.
He didn’t dare to continue either.
He had already made a grown man cry, what else could he do!
Honestly, although Wen Xiang was a father, Wei Chengli felt his personality was still quite childish. As a father, he should be more tolerant… These two, it didn’t seem like a father-son conflict, it was more like two children having a tantrum and arguing.
It seemed that regardless of the type of relationship, if one couldn’t find the right way to love and express it, it would be a disaster.
Somehow, at this moment, Wei Chengli had an untimely thought. Should he bring the pillow… oh no, the omnipotent little chubby dumpling with him next time…
And at this very moment, it wasn’t just Wei Chengli who thought of Wei Maomao, but also the viewers in the live broadcast room.
“Although it’s a bit rude, but I have to say! Director Wei, you’re truly a master of theory but a weakling in practice! Learn from CEO Mao, why do you care about the other person’s reaction? Just say what you need to say!”
“Sigh, Director Wei, your thick skin, let CEO Mao smear some mud on your face before you come out again. At times like this, you shouldn’t listen to him, you might end up being persuaded instead of persuading him…”
“Don’t just blame Director Wei, I was also scared when I saw tears in Wen Xiang’s eyes. I wouldn’t dare to continue either.”
“Missing our CEO Mao, who’s always fearless for Yan Yan, she wouldn’t care if the person in front of her is laughing, crying, or angry.”
“I feel Wen Xiang truly loves his son, when he cried, I felt his genuine sadness and hurt. Of course, I’m not saying his attitude towards Wen Dongdong is right, I’m just saying… he must also be feeling very sad.”
“These two, father and son, what’s the point of both being sad in front of Director Wei? Director Wei isn’t a mirror. You two should communicate properly, what’s with this father-son angst, just talk it out, I’m begging you.”
“Friends, don’t just assume the one who cries is the weaker, more pitiful one, okay? Wen Xiang has lived for almost thirty years, how can he be more fragile than Wen Dongdong? Saying that parents are heartbroken by their children, please… In this situation, who hurt whose heart first!”
“I don’t deny that Wen Xiang loves his son, but I want to say that sometimes, love can also be a form of harm. Like Wen Xiang, he loves his son, too much, so he can’t handle his son’s disagreement and opinions, he feels hurt, then he inflicts that hurt back onto his beloved son. In other words, if he didn’t love him so much, maybe it would be better.”
“The person above, that’s not called love, okay? That’s called possessiveness!”
“This incident tells us that although there’s no exam for becoming a parent, for everyone’s sake, it’s best to make sure you’re mentally strong before becoming one, otherwise, it’s just a cycle of intergenerational trauma.”
…
Meanwhile, Wei Chengli, oblivious to the online discussions, was missing the little chubby dumpling dearly. At that very moment, the little dumpling was fighting fiercely in the village.
Real-life Monopoly, the village as the game board, the babies as the players.
Following the route marked on the new map provided by the program team, the babies rolled the dice and moved accordingly.
They could use Monopoly money to buy empty houses they landed on, pay rent if they landed on houses owned by other babies, and encounter Chance or Community Chest spaces, these basic rules were the same as in a regular Monopoly game. But the program team added a new rule: Babies landing on the same space had to duel, the winner could demand one Monopoly dollar from the loser or make the loser move back three spaces.
The game had a two-hour time limit, the baby with the most Monopoly money at the end of two hours was the winner. If there was only one baby left with Monopoly money before the two hours were up, the game would end early, and that baby would be the winner.
The ultimate winner would receive a grand prize from the program team.
And the baby who moved across the most spaces, the baby who won the most duels, the baby who landed on the most Chance spaces, and the baby who encountered the most Community Chest spaces would all receive special rewards.
Honestly, after opening eight mystery boxes and getting four pig products and four toys, Wei Maomao had become immune to the various rewards mentioned by the program team, it was more practical to just give her some Baby Coins.
But…
She still had to win.
Wei Maomao didn’t want Cheng Rongrong to have Shen Zilin as her right-hand man and receive such strong support from the Shen family in this life. It might become a problem in the future. And… Shen Zilin seemed quite normal now.
Actually, Wei Maomao wasn’t sure what caused the change in Shen Zilin during this game in her previous life. But judging from the broadcast episodes, Cheng Rongrong had performed exceptionally well in this game, not only winning, but winning beautifully. So the best she could do was to prevent Cheng Rongrong from winning.
Luck played a big role in Monopoly.
In her previous life, Cheng Rongrong’s dice rolls were average, but she won most of her duels, landed on more Chance spaces, and even when she encountered Community Chest spaces that required completing mini-games, she performed very well.
Wei Maomao recalled that most of the duels and Community Chest challenges were brain teasers, which might be a bit difficult for other babies, but shouldn’t be a problem for her.
So… Sorry, Cheng Rongrong.
Wei Maomao rolled the first dice with the intention of bullying the younger child. But she didn’t expect that things wouldn’t go as she had imagined.
The Chance cards no longer provided bonuses like moving forward a certain number of spaces, landing on a specific location, or receiving random Monopoly money like in her previous life. Instead, they gave random items like a pack of bait, a sturdy fishing hook, a sturdy fishing rod, a small net, a large net, these seemingly strange and out-of-place items, which, thinking about it carefully, were probably related to the dads’ fishing task.
The Community Chest cards also no longer contained brain teasers like solving a maze or playing matching or elimination games. Instead, they became ordinary penalties like moving back spaces, randomly deducting Monopoly money, or losing turns.
And the duels between babies landing on the same space were no longer about testing short-term memory or solving riddles. Instead, they became competitions of playing marbles, throwing sandbags, hopscotch, even blowing bubble gum to see who could blow the biggest bubble…
Overall, there was no longer any intellectual challenge, it was all about having fun.
As they rolled the dice and played the game, Wei Maomao’s initially tense nerves gradually relaxed.
Two hours passed, except for Wang Zhizhi, who gave up and quit less than an hour in, the other babies all made it to the final settlement.
The winner was… Shen Zilin, receiving the only grand prize, an extra plate of grilled meat for dinner.
It wasn’t that Wei Maomao didn’t try hard enough, it was just that in the early stages, Shen Zilin kept landing on the same space as Wang Zhizhi. One was a competitive little CEO, the other was a lazy bum… Wang Zhizhi kept losing so badly that Shen Zilin even felt embarrassed.
Shen Zilin accumulated a large amount of property in the early stages, half the credit belonged to Wang Zhizhi.
But Wei Maomao wasn’t unhappy. As long as it wasn’t Cheng Rongrong who won, it was fine. Besides, she had quite a lot of fun, especially seeing Cheng Tingyan win against Cheng Rongrong in a duel two houses away, it was truly satisfying.
The “Speedy Legs Award” for the baby who moved across the most spaces went to Wen Jiangyue. The “Strongest Challenger Award” for the baby who won the most duels went to Cheng Tingyan. The “Lucky Duck Award” for the baby who landed on the most Chance spaces went to Wen Jiangyue again. And the “Never Give Up Award” for the baby who encountered the most Community Chest spaces went to… Wei Maomao. Each of the four received three Baby Coins.
How should she put it, Wei Maomao felt this award was truly unnecessary.
Meanwhile, on the fishing boat, Wei Chengli was trying to stun a fish in the water with his oar.
He truly didn’t understand… Why was it that they all threw out a baby, some babies brought back fishing rods and bait, some babies brought back fishing nets, some babies brought back skilled fishing assistants… And his baby…
Wei Chengli glanced at the oar in his hand, was his baby making a joke?
Would he even be able to eat meat tonight!
He had no shame left to freeload at Cheng Feiying’s house again today, he had to be resourceful, baby!
On the boat, drifting along with the water, Wei Chengli, watching the others catching fish one after another, was still hoping his baby would bring back something useful. And unbeknownst to him, the real-life Monopoly game had ended, his baby had received her final item… the “Never Give Up Award.”
Regardless, until the end of the real-life Monopoly game, Wei Maomao didn’t notice any difference in Shen Zilin’s attitude towards Cheng Rongrong. To be precise, when they gathered at the end, those two didn’t even speak to each other.
Wei Maomao suspected that the Chance and Community Chest cards in her previous life were designed to test intelligence, allowing Shen Zilin to see Cheng Rongrong’s cleverness, which might have led to what happened later.
Compared to Jin Youliang, who was looking for brains among a bunch of little babies, Shi Dingshan, who was finding joy in nostalgic games, was truly more interesting.
Of course, three Baby Coins were truly stingy!
While Wei Maomao complained that three Baby Coins weren’t even enough to fill the gaps between her teeth, Cheng Tingyan was calculating, three plus three equals six, eight minus six equals two.
Great!
Earlier, when Cheng Tingyan and Shen Zilin landed on the same space and had a duel, Shen Zilin had asked her if she wanted to go dig for Baby Coins after the game. Because she would be sleeping with the little chubby bunny tonight, Cheng Tingyan estimated they would be together before bedtime, she wouldn’t have a chance to secretly dig up eight Baby Coins.
Now she only needed to dig up two! She just needed to find an opportunity to slip away for a short while.
Victory was within reach, Cheng Tingyan was very satisfied with this afternoon’s game!
The one who received the consolation prize was quite happy, while the one who received the grand prize sighed.
Shen Zilin felt tired, what was the point of the grand prize, it didn’t even come with a single Baby Coin! He didn’t even know if the energy he gained from eating a plate of grilled meat would be enough to dig up three Baby Coins… It would have been better to get the consolation prize!
And Cheng Tingyan… They had agreed to diligently dig for Baby Coins!
Although Maomao was very cute, how could someone who was focused on her career be constantly distracted by cuteness and not dig!
Most importantly, without Cheng Tingyan, he had to face Cheng Rongrong alone… It was truly tiring!
When they first met, Shen Zilin had found Cheng Rongrong, the confused little sister who forgot she couldn’t bring snacks and had to share them with everyone at the village entrance, a bit interesting. But that bit of interest disappeared when he heard that Cheng Tingyan only had thirty yuan allowance at the convenience store.
And now… Cheng Rongrong’s repeated attempts to give him Baby Coins for free were truly making him a bit scared!
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