Chapter 67
Wei Chengli felt a little bit annoyed.
It wasn’t because the little chubby dumpling had made him perform “eat grapes without spitting out the skins” on the live broadcast.
It wasn’t because after he swallowed the grape skins, the little chubby dumpling slowly suggested he could also perform “not eating grapes but spitting out the skins.”
It was because…
Wei Chengli squeezed the grapes in his hand and looked at Wen Dongyu, who was squatting a few steps away, patting the pig’s back.
Why did the pig have to perform the exact same act as him!
And it was one thing for a pig to eat a whole grape without spitting out the skin. Now that it had already swallowed it, telling it to “not eat grapes but spit out the skins,” would it even understand? Who was he trying to make things difficult for!
Just as Wei Chengli was both unwilling to perform the same act as a pig and feeling a bit of empathy for the pig being patted on the back, he saw the pig, after being patted by Wen Dongyu, suddenly lift its head and “tui…” spit out a grape skin.
Wei Chengli: “… “
“Tsk.”
Wei Chengli heard the little chubby dumpling’s timely clicking sound.
Before the little chubby dumpling could say anything more hurtful, Wei Chengli quickly left…
Wei Maomao didn’t actually mean to make things difficult for Wei Chengli, she just thought the pig raised by Wen Dongyu was a bit interesting and unconsciously clicked her tongue.
The pig’s perfect performance made Wen Dongyu overjoyed.
“Good job, Xixi, come on, Xixi, let’s perform ‘eating grapes without spitting out the skins’ for our friends in the live broadcast room again!” Wen Dongyu said, stuffing another grape into the pig’s mouth, then looked up, smiling. “Friends in the live broadcast room, can you please click on some ads for us~~”
After Wen Dongyu and Wen Xixi performed the act a couple more times, Shen Zilin reached out and stopped Wen Dongyu from taking another grape.
“Okay, if you repeat the same performance too many times, the audience will get tired of it.” Shen Zilin advised.
Wen Dongyu tilted his head, confused. “What does ‘get tired of it’ mean?”
“It means… they’ll get bored, they won’t want to watch it anymore. If you want Xixi to perform this again next time, don’t do it too many times in a row.” Shen Zilin paused, then lowered his voice slightly. “And even if you do different performances, don’t keep asking the viewers in the live broadcast room to click on ads.”
“Why?” Wen Dongyu, having just understood what “get tired of it” meant, was confused by the second part of Shen Zilin’s words.
“It’s like when you watch TV, an ad appears every few minutes, one after another, constantly… Wouldn’t you find it annoying?” Shen Zilin tried to give an example. “Mmm… It’s also like when you’re walking on the street, passing by shops with loudspeakers, repeatedly asking people to come in and buy things. If you’re just passing by, hearing it once or twice might not be annoying. But if you stop and keep listening, the repeated content keeps playing, constantly urging you to go in, wouldn’t you find it annoying? If you find that shop annoying, wouldn’t you start to dislike it, and would you still go in and buy things from them?”
Wen Dongyu was quite receptive to advice. Earlier, when he was holding Xixi, he initially imitated Wei Maomao and said, “Xixi, let’s perform ‘eating grapes without spitting out the skins’ for “the” uncles, aunties, brothers, and sisters in the live broadcast room.” Shen Zilin almost spat out the grape in his mouth. How could he call the viewers the pig’s uncles, aunties, brothers, and sisters? That was unacceptable. He couldn’t help but offer a suggestion, and Wen Dongyu immediately changed “uncles, aunties, brothers, and sisters” to “friends.”
If Wen Dongyu wasn’t so receptive, Shen Zilin wouldn’t be saying so much now.
Thankfully, his explanation wasn’t in vain.
As soon as Shen Zilin finished speaking, Wen Dongyu nodded vigorously. “I understand! You’re saying if I keep asking the viewers to click on ads, they might help me at first. But if I ask too many times, they’ll get annoyed and won’t help me anymore.”
“Uh… It’s not that they’ll hate you. It’s just… It’s best not to ask too many times.” Shen Zilin scratched his head, then added, “And even if you ask the viewers to click on ads now, it’s useless, did your dad agree to give you the money?”
Wen Dongyu: “… “
“Go ask him, then you’ll know if he’ll agree.” Wen Jiangyue, seeing Wen Dongyu’s initially excited head droop, took two steps forward and said.
Wen Dongyu was a bit cowardly, he lowered his head, scuffing his shoes on the ground, and didn’t answer.
Wen Jiangyue didn’t urge him, she turned to Shen Zilin and praised him sincerely, “Shen Zilin, you know so much, did your dad teach you these things?”
“The things I just said?” Shen Zilin, seeing Wen Jiangyue nod, shook his head. “No, I learned them from watching TV and listening to audiobooks.”
“What audiobooks?” Wen Jiangyue, hearing the word “audiobooks,” became even more curious.
“I don’t remember clearly, I’ve listened to many, I probably heard it from some marketing or business management book. If you’re interested, I can find the book list for you after the show?” Shen Zilin, who liked studious people, said sincerely.
Whether Wen Jiangyue wanted the book list or not was another matter, but many viewers in the live broadcast room were raising their hands eagerly.
“Little CEO Shen, look at me! I want your book list, sob, sob, sob~~~ I can’t believe it, I’m still playing with mud at twenty-six, and a six-year-old little CEO is already self-studying business management, I have to work harder!”
“Hahaha, I also want to see Little CEO Shen’s book list, but the person above, what’s going on with you, hahaha, still playing with mud at twenty-six, are you a sculptor or a construction worker?”
“These little babies are truly something. One second I was amazed by CEO Mao using Director Wei to get ad clicks, the next second I’m watching Little CEO Shen’s business class. Although I don’t mind Wen Xixi calling me ‘brother’ because Wen Dongdong is so pitiful and cute, Little CEO Shen’s correction is truly heartwarming.”
“Earlier, when they were talking about giving their dads a commission fee for their fame, my whole family was shocked. I wouldn’t have thought of that at all, Little CEO Shen truly, so clear-headed and impressive!”
“Little CEO Shen has a vast knowledge reserve, it’s a pity he’s still too young, he doesn’t understand the charm of cute babies. Like me, an old aunt, I wouldn’t find a pitiful and obedient baby like Dongdong annoying. I can watch him feed the pig and get ad clicks all day, hahaha.”
“Heh, heh, I can also watch CEO Mao feed Director Wei and get ad clicks all day!”
“Pfft… The person above, have you thought about it, if Director Wei eats grapes without spitting out the skins for a whole day, he’ll be choked by the bitterness, hahaha!”
“I hope Wen Xiang can be more generous and learn from Director Wei, just give the children the money that belongs to them, that way we can click on ads for Dongdong with more enthusiasm. Otherwise, like with Yan Yan, we don’t even want to click on ads, hmph!”
“Friends, be smart, click on CEO Mao’s ads when you have time, it’s the safest bet. I believe our CEO Mao won’t let Dongdong starve!”
…
Starvation was impossible.
After all, the program team was always coming up with new tasks for their next meal.
And before announcing the new task, while all the dads and babies were gathered, the program team made an official announcement that the next location for the show would still be in this village, which meant the grand relocation originally scheduled for tomorrow morning was canceled.
During the contract signing, the program team had verbally mentioned several potential locations for each stage, but the contract stated that the subsequent itinerary would be based on specific circumstances and would be adjusted by the program team in real time.
Originally, for the second location, the program team had said they might go to Silver Leaf Village, a village where every household made local snacks and worked together to promote their local cuisine nationwide.
The dads didn’t know what had changed, why they couldn’t go to Silver Leaf Village and had to stay here.
The others were fine, but Wen Xiang and Shen Jianghe were a bit…
One had a hole in his roof, leaking during rainy days.
The other lived next door to a pigsty, even with newspapers covering the windows and door, there was still a smell.
They had finally endured until the end of the first location, but the last night they had been looking forward to was gone…
And between the two, Wen Xiang was even more miserable.
Originally, when moving from one village to another, they would definitely have to travel in separate cars, just like when they arrived, dads with their children. He could have had some alone time with Wen Dongyu, maybe they could reconcile while chatting and enjoying the scenery in the car…
But now…
Wen Xiang glanced at the children huddled together, feeling dejected. Wen Dongyu had so many friends now, did he even remember he had a dad?
And at this moment, the one who was a hundred times more miserable than Wen Xiang was Bai Lei, who was watching the live broadcast.
The tablet, with the live stream still playing, was angrily thrown onto the carpet by Bai Lei, making a muffled thud.
Bai Lei was so angry that she was tearing her hair out, but she was alone at home, with no one to vent her anger on.
And so, Zhang Jin, who was also watching the live broadcast and had just seen the program team’s decision, received a call.
Zhang Jin glanced at the person next to him, made a “shh” gesture, stood up, left the room, closed the door behind him, went to the balcony in the living room, closed the balcony door as well, and then answered the call.
“Why did it take you so long to answer the phone? Didn’t you watch the live broadcast?” Bai Lei was furious, she didn’t have a single second of patience, and now Zhang Jin was taking so long to answer the phone, it was adding fuel to the fire.
“I watched it, what’s wrong?” Zhang Jin’s head ached from the sharp voice on the other end of the line, he rubbed his temples. He didn’t understand, the live broadcast had been showing the program team’s host talking about the show’s arrangements, Cheng Tingyan hadn’t even spoken, there was nothing new that could be used to attack the Cheng family, what was she so agitated about?
Not being anxious when she should be, being agitated when she shouldn’t be, truly annoying.
Bai Lei, unaware of Zhang Jin’s inner thoughts, scoffed. “Didn’t they say the second location would be Silver Leaf Village? How can the program team change it so easily, deciding to stay here just like that, what’s going on?”
“The contract didn’t specify the exact location, it’s all up to the program team’s arrangement. Silver Leaf Village was just a plan, it wasn’t finalized in the contract, it’s normal for changes to occur.” Zhang Jin explained.
“Seriously, you signed that kind of contract for him? No specific location, so even if they go to some remote mountain village, some harsh environment, they’ll just go? Do you have any common sense?” Bai Lei retorted, not accepting his explanation at all.
“Those things are definitely written in the clauses, the locations they choose also have basic requirements and limitations, they can’t go to places with harsh conditions that might affect the artists’ health.” Zhang Jin frowned. “What’s wrong with continuing to film in this village? Their current living conditions are the best, there are no dangerous places in the village, why are you so… dissatisfied?”
“What’s there to see if they stay in the same place for two locations…” Bai Lei complained.
Zhang Jin, sensing something was wrong, interrupted her. “You were so agitated earlier, don’t tell me you did something in Silver Leaf Village? The villages the program team films in, they all sign contracts and confidentiality agreements with the village committee in advance, you wouldn’t be trying to pull something, would you?”
“What could I possibly pull?” Bai Lei stepped on the tablet on the carpet. “They’re not even going there.”
“They’re not going, but you… Hello? Hello?” Zhang Jin put down the phone, looked at the disconnected screen, hesitated for a moment, then decided not to call back.
He hoped Bai Lei just wanted to have the people from Silver Leaf Village inform Cheng Feiying about the current public opinion, not to do something even more ridiculous.
Zhang Jin was truly fed up with Bai Lei.
In terms of beauty, Bai Lei and Liu Qiongfang were about the same, each with their own unique beauty. But in terms of personality and temperament, Bai Lei was far inferior to Liu Qiongfang… He truly didn’t understand what Cheng Feiying was thinking.
Zhang Jin sighed, standing on the balcony, his hand instinctively reaching for the cigarettes in his pocket. But after a moment, he just took a few deep breaths and turned to go back to the bedroom.
“Work keeping you busy?” Liu Qiongfang placed a peeled peach on Zhang Jin’s plate and smiled.
“Not too bad.” Zhang Jin sat back down and took a bite of the peach.
The peach was quite sweet. Zhang Jin sighed. Here, he could eat a peeled peach, but at Bai Lei’s… Heh, it was considered polite if she didn’t throw the peach peel in his face.
Thinking about this, Zhang Jin once again felt he was right to come here.
“Have you been watching the live broadcast these past few days?” Zhang Jin asked after swallowing the peach in his mouth.
“Mmm.” Liu Qiongfang turned and washed her hands in the basin next to her.
“Did you watch Yan Yan’s live stream?” Zhang Jin asked again.
“I did.” Liu Qiongfang reached for the towel on the wall.
Zhang Jin stood up and helped her take it with his clean hand. “So is everything Yan Yan said true? The thirty-something yuan allowance, the expired snacks, and the… compressed biscuits? Does Yan Yan really dislike eating mushrooms? And why is she so familiar with loan interest rates, even the latest rates for this year? Your medical expenses, did they pay for them, or did you borrow the money from them?”
Some things, Bai Lei had already said, but Zhang Jin still wanted to confirm here again.
Liu Qiongfang slowly wiped her hands with the towel, but under Zhang Jin’s gaze, she gently shook her head. “I don’t know, Yan Yan never told me those things. I also only learned about them these past two days from watching the live broadcast.”
“What don’t you know? The money, the snacks and compressed biscuits, or the mushrooms?” Zhang Jin frowned slightly, he felt Liu Qiongfang’s answer… was a bit vague.
Not to mention anything else, the small shop selling expired snacks that Yan Yan mentioned in the live broadcast, she said she went there about once a month, which coincided with the frequency of her visits to Liu Qiongfang. And Yan Yan mentioned buying two packs of bear biscuits, two packs of prawn crackers, and sometimes even two lollipops… The quantities made it sound like she would share some with Liu Qiongfang. But regardless of whether she shared or not, did Liu Qiongfang truly know nothing?
“I’m not sure about any of it.” Liu Qiongfang turned her head away.
Is that so?
Although Cheng Tingyan lived with Cheng Feiying and only came here once a month, not knowing anything…
Just as Zhang Jin was about to continue asking, Liu Qiongfang turned her wheelchair, moving it closer to the wall. She reached out to hang the towel on the wall and said, “You must be very busy with work, coming to see me today, you’ve wasted so much time…”
“Don’t tell me you still have feelings for Cheng Feiying?” Zhang Jin, looking at Liu Qiongfang, who was clearly avoiding the question, blurted out a sentence that even he found ridiculous.
Then he saw the towel in Liu Qiongfang’s hand fall to the ground.
“Damn it!” Zhang Jin couldn’t help but curse, he stood up angrily. “It’s been years! Their children are already this old, how can you still…”
“I don’t.” Liu Qiongfang bent down to pick up the towel.
But the towel had fallen in an awkward spot, she couldn’t reach it from her wheelchair.
Zhang Jin was angry, but he still walked over, moved her wheelchair slightly, and picked up the towel. But his mouth didn’t stop. “Didn’t I tell you back then, if you don’t want to divorce, don’t let go so easily? But you, you insisted on divorcing, now he has a wife and children, and you still can’t let go, I truly didn’t expect… You’re truly, truly… I don’t even know what to say to you!”
“You expected it.” Liu Qiongfang took the towel from Zhang Jin’s hand and threw it into the basin. “When you came to fight for custody back then, didn’t you expect it?”
“I…” Zhang Jin was speechless.
Yes, he had expected it.
That custody battle was very difficult.
Even though Liu Qiongfang was in desperate need of money at that time, she didn’t budge when faced with the Cheng family’s offer. She even sold her treasured jewelry to raise money, but refused to agree to transfer custody.
Later, it was because Liu Qiongfang was scammed again, losing the last of her money, and to make matters worse, it happened right before her next surgery. If she didn’t accept the Cheng family’s money for the surgery, she wouldn’t be able to receive treatment and wouldn’t be able to keep custody either. That’s why she transferred Cheng Tingyan’s custody to Cheng Feiying.
During that process, Zhang Jin couldn’t understand it. Even if Liu Qiongfang was worried about the “new mother, new father” situation, but as the biological mother, she didn’t have the money to raise the child and didn’t have the health to care for her, what was the point of holding onto custody… Thinking back, even earlier, Bai Lei would sometimes throw tantrums because Liu Qiongfang brought Yan Yan to see Cheng Feiying, Zhang Jin had some guesses.
But guesses were just guesses, and that was all two years ago…
How could she still be thinking about it after all these years?
And…
“Regardless of what happened in the past, Cheng Feiying has a wife and children now, it’s useless for you to keep thinking about him.” Zhang Jin sighed. “Let’s not talk about how they treat you, just look at Yan Yan, did you see how she was in the live broadcast? Cheng Feiying doesn’t seem to like her very much. If that’s how he treats your child, do you still expect him to have any feelings for you? If he did, your medical expenses, you wouldn’t have borrowed them from them, right? And Yan Yan… Cough, the money Yan Yan earned from appearing on variety shows and filming commercials, wasn’t it enough for your medical expenses? Why did you agree to borrow?”
“After they finish filming… I’ll ask them.” Liu Qiongfang lowered her head, rubbing the towel. “Back then, was it my decision to divorce? Everyone knows, don’t you know? If I didn’t divorce, she would have caused a scene with her pregnancy.”
Zhang Jin was speechless, this person, after years of no contact, was even more… than when she was an assistant. Back then, if there was a scene, it would have been embarrassing for Bai Lei and detrimental to Cheng Feiying’s reputation. But now, with her mindset, she was turning right into wrong!
“Let me just ask you directly.” Zhang Jin, remembering his original intention for coming today, rubbed his face and said, “Many people online are looking for Yan Yan’s mother because of Yan Yan. The program team is also interested in contacting me, hoping to do a phone call segment like in the first season. But you already clarified everything during the call in the first season. If you do it again this time, they’ll definitely ask more in-depth questions related to the current live broadcast content. It’s a live broadcast now, we can’t prepare a script or rehearse beforehand. From Cheng Feiying’s perspective, I think you should decline for now and wait and see. From Yan Yan’s perspective, I think you should accept, of course, in your own name, as if I don’t exist. What do you think?”
Liu Qiongfang slowly rubbed the towel, after a long silence, she finally said, “Then let’s wait and see.”
Zhang Jin understood, he chuckled self-deprecatingly.
No wonder, no wonder there were so many people online looking for Yan Yan’s mother because of Yan Yan these past few days. Liu Qiongfang had clearly watched the live broadcast, but she didn’t seem to want to respond. He had deliberately not mentioned this to Bai Lei, wanting to see if Liu Qiongfang would respond, if there would be any new developments.
But after waiting and waiting, he was getting impatient, there was still no response from her side.
It turned out it wasn’t that she didn’t watch it, wasn’t that she didn’t know what to do, but that she didn’t want to fall out with them…
Zhang Jin came today with the intention of “defecting.”
Cheng Tingyan’s popularity online was already very high, much higher than during the first season.
Judging from their current father-daughter relationship, if the show continued to be live broadcasted, and they continued to interact like this, by the end of the show, Cheng Tingyan’s popularity would be many times higher than Cheng Feiying’s. And Cheng Feiying, most likely, would experience a decline in popularity due to his obvious favoritism on the show.
As an agent who wanted to earn money, live comfortably, and maybe even clear his conscience a bit, he actually wanted to make a new choice. He wasn’t a good person, but if he had the chance, he still wanted to be one.
But he didn’t expect that Liu Qiongfang would still be thinking this way.
It was understandable when they first divorced, but it had been years, what was she still thinking about?
Instead of clinging to an ex-husband whose heart already belonged to someone else, why not focus on her well-behaved, filial, and promising daughter!
If it was someone else, Zhang Jin might have tried to persuade them further.
But Liu Qiongfang…
Zhang Jin, recalling the years Liu Qiongfang spent by Cheng Feiying’s side, knew that she truly loved him. And now, if Liu Qiongfang still had the same feelings for Cheng Feiying, it would be very difficult to persuade her.
And “defecting” was like spilled water. With Liu Qiongfang’s mindset, Zhang Jin was truly afraid that she wouldn’t agree and would even immediately tell the Cheng family, then the water he spilled would truly drown his own path.
What a pity…
Zhang Jin left Liu Qiongfang’s house. After the door closed, he couldn’t help but look back.
Cheng Tingyan, what a pity…
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