Chapter 69
After all the babies had finished registering their three most desired food items with Yang Ning, she announced that they had completed the task and gave each baby ten Baby Coins as a reward.
Ten coins, heavy in their hands, quite substantial.
Wei Maomao recalled that it had been a long time since the program team had been so generous. Except for the “Daddy Kiss Card” task, the rewards for the subsequent tasks had been stingy, they had to run their legs off for just a few Baby Coins, was it really this easy this time?
But Wei Maomao didn’t know that it wasn’t easy at all, it’s just that the difficult part was all on the dads’ side.
As Wei Maomao remained unnecessarily vigilant, Yang Ning announced the babies’ second task for the afternoon.
If the first task still required the babies to think a little, then the second task… was truly a freebie.
The babies’ second task for the afternoon was to play freely at Grandma Zhao’s house…
As soon as Yang Ning finished announcing the task, she waved her hand, and five or six staff members carrying and lifting things rushed in from outside the courtyard. Within five minutes, a children’s slide, a children’s pool, a mini inflatable castle, and a sandbox were assembled in the courtyard…
The spacious courtyard was instantly filled.
A seesaw was set up next to the cleaned slide, rubber ducks floated in the filled pool, cute plushies were thrown into the inflatable castle, a digging set, even a mini excavator, was placed in the sandbox filled with sand…
And that wasn’t all, the staff even carried several boxes into the main hall, pouring out a pile of toys and educational board games on the playmat.
Wei Maomao thought about the few small toys they received from the mystery boxes after working hard for a whole afternoon the past two days, then looked at the playmat covered with toys…
What was going on? Was the program team going bankrupt?
The program team’s actions were so generous that even the naive little babies were trembling in fear.
But amidst this overwhelming bombardment of sugar-coated bullets, there was one person who was inappropriately clear-headed.
“Sister Yangyang, after we finish playing freely at Grandma Zhao’s house, will we get Baby Coins?” Shen Zilin asked, looking at Yang Ning with burning eyes.
“… “ Yang Ning, speechless, made a “wait” gesture at Shen Zilin and retreated to the side, frantically whispering into her earpiece.
And so Wei Maomao watched as Shen Zilin successfully negotiated a non-existent task reward, five Baby Coins per person.
Of course, it would only be distributed after the three-hour free play session.
This was unbelievable, it was basically doing nothing for a whole afternoon, just playing, and they could get fifteen Baby Coins?
Wei Maomao couldn’t understand it, but after thinking about it carefully, weren’t little babies supposed to live a life of sleeping, eating, playing, and sleeping again? She had become so accustomed to working hard on this show that she was suspicious even when receiving normal treatment…
Once she convinced herself to accept it, Wei Maomao felt it was quite good. She hadn’t had a chance to properly play with the six-year-old Yan Yan with all the tasks they had to do every day. And fifteen Baby Coins per person, she and Yan Yan together would have thirty, they could even buy a candied kumquat for Yan Yan with ten more, perfect~~
For the babies, it was truly a wonderful afternoon.
The program team provided enough play equipment, and Grandma Zhao even prepared marinated edamame, boiled peanuts, and sugar-coated tomatoes as snacks for them.
Fun toys, friendly playmates, delicious food, the fulfilling three hours passed by too quickly.
When the staff came to remind the babies that it was almost dinner time and they had to leave, most of them were reluctant. The other babies were fine, just a little bit attached to the fun, they quickly packed up and gathered in the courtyard. Only Wen Dongyu, holding onto Shen Zilin, continued playing the unfinished animal chess game, refusing to get up.
After waiting for a few minutes, Yang Ning was pushed out by the other staff members.
Yang Ning stood next to the two in the room, before she could even speak, Shen Zilin, whose hand was being tightly held by Wen Dongyu, looked up.
“Dongdong said he read a manga about clearing levels in a game world, he thinks we’ll get a hidden reward from the program team if we play with every item they provided.” Shen Zilin smiled kindly. “Now we’re only missing this chess game.”
Yang Ning: “… “ Was it “Dongdong said”? He just casually mentioned it at the beginning, and you immediately believed him, dragging him along to play until now, he truly couldn’t manage without you.
“Dongdong is still young, he still believes in miracles.” Shen Zilin, seeing Yang Ning’s silence, added softly.
Yang Ning shuddered, she realized that to repay his pig loan, a certain little baby was becoming increasingly cunning.
Two minutes later, Shen Zilin, who had successfully obtained ten extra Baby Coins, walked to Wei Maomao and Cheng Tingyan with a triumphant air, shaking the money bag in his hand. “You should have played everything in order with us, look, five for completing the task, and ten more for the hidden task~~~”
Was this a hidden task? It looked more like hidden extortion…
But regardless, Wei Maomao still gave him a thumbs up, impressed. As expected of a mini CEO, putting aside his judgment, at least his money-making skills were impressive.
Receiving Wei Maomao’s praise, Shen Zilin nodded with satisfaction, then turned his gaze to Cheng Tingyan.
Cheng Tingyan hesitated, then, under Shen Zilin’s expectant gaze, also gave him a thumbs up.
Shen Zilin nodded again, but he wasn’t very satisfied. Cheng Tingyan was too easily satisfied, she said they would save money to buy a watermelon, and she actually stopped trying after reaching their goal. She needed ambition, she needed new goals to strive for, to go further, there was no end to making money. After buying one watermelon, they could earn money for the next one! Although Maomao… she might not always have accidents.
Thankfully, Wei Maomao couldn’t read minds, otherwise, she would have given Shen Zilin a piece of her mind.
The babies gathered in the courtyard, said goodbye to Grandma Zhao, who had taken care of them all afternoon, then were led out by the staff.
Wei Maomao had initially thought that since the babies weren’t going back to their own homes, they would probably have dinner together at the small square again tonight. But after being led by the staff through several twists and turns, they stopped at… her own courtyard gate.
After over three hours.
The babies, cheerful, energetic, and smelling of marinated food and sweet fruits, and the dads, exhausted, smelling of sweat, were reunited in the Wei family’s courtyard.
The courtyard was still the same courtyard, but it had been decorated by the program team.
As the babies were led into the courtyard, they immediately noticed that the table that had been added temporarily at noon was gone, even the stone table originally in the courtyard had been moved to the corner by the wall.
The bamboo baskets and other miscellaneous items that were originally piled under the left courtyard wall had all been cleared away, the area was now clean and tidy, with a giant projection screen set up there.
Facing the screen was a row of long tables, with several bowls already placed on them.
Above the projection screen and the tables, a large piece of blackout cloth was hung, covering half of the courtyard.
And the dads… covered in suspicious mud stains, were already waiting there, some slumped over the table, some lying on the chairs, some even sitting on the ground.
“Okay, our babies are here. Dads, please get up and sit at your designated seats, babies, don’t sit randomly, find your dads, tonight, you’ll be having dinner with your dads.” The host said, carefully observing the dads’ expressions.
When people were exhausted, they were prone to losing their temper. Considering the dads’ workload this afternoon, the host felt he had to be extra gentle and cautious.
Thankfully, everyone was still civilized for now. The dads, who were sprawled out in various positions, all sat up properly at his reminder, and the babies obediently followed their dads.
The host breathed a small sigh of relief, but quickly continued with the program.
“Tonight’s dinner for the dads is provided by the owner of the watermelon field, it’s his way of expressing gratitude for your hard work this afternoon.” The host said, gesturing.
The staff brought over covered insulated trays, and before leaving the table, they kindly removed the lids.
In front of the six dads were six black pepper beef rice bowls.
The rice was piled high, the beef covered the entire surface, topped with a golden fried egg, and a giant roasted chicken leg on the side.
After doing manual labor, they needed a hearty meal. Although they were so tired that they had no appetite and just wanted to lie down, seeing this substantial meal, most of the dads still felt the sincerity in it.
Especially when the staff came back with soup and drinks, there was nothing more to complain about.
Wei Maomao, hearing the host mention the “watermelon field” and seeing the mud stains on Wei Chengli’s clothes and the caked mud on his shoes, roughly guessed that their afternoon must have been tough. And seeing the dads’ feast, Wei Maomao truly felt that it wasn’t just tough, it was extremely tough.
Before Wei Maomao could ask any questions, the host, keeping the pace tight, continued.
“Tonight’s dinner for the dads is provided by the owner of the watermelon field. And the babies’ dinner is earned by your dads’ hard work. After receiving your wishes, each dad tried their best, I hope you’ll enjoy this hard-earned dinner brought to you by your dads.” The host said, trying to evoke emotions, then gestured for the staff to continue serving the food.
Soon, an insulated tray with a silver lid was placed in front of each baby.
“Baby, guess what’s inside?” Wei Chengli immediately pressed his hand on the lid.
The staff, who hadn’t intended to help open the lids this time, left, speechless.
The host’s words were quite clear, Wei Maomao glanced at the tray, it was a choice between three options.
“Lunchbox.” Wei Maomao answered without hesitation.
“Ah, my baby is so smart, you know Daddy loves you the most, right!” Wei Chengli beamed and opened the lid.
Love was a bit of an exaggeration.
Wei Maomao pursed her lips and looked at the insulated tray. Inside was a lunchbox, through the transparent lid, she saw…
Mmm, braised pork ribs with fried tofu, shredded chicken salad, stir-fried edamame with tofu and shredded pork, sausage and vegetable rice, it looked quite good.
If it was free-range pork ribs and shredded free-range chicken, it would definitely be delicious.
Wei Maomao was quite satisfied, she turned to Wei Chengli and asked, “What did you do to earn this?”
“Heh, just…” Wei Chengli was about to be modest when he heard Wang Qingchuan’s voice.
“Three braised pig trotters, the adult pig trotters you wanted, your most desired food item, right? You always think we treat your sister better than you, look, am I not good to you? This is… cough, this is what I earned by carrying three thousand kilograms of watermelon for you. Just for these three pig trotters, I worked for almost three hours straight. Tell me, am I not good to you?” Wang Qingchuan pointed at the insulated tray, his face full of righteous indignation.
Wei Chengli: “… “ Ah, this, he felt like there was something wrong with his words, but what was it?
Wei Maomao, also drawn by Wang Qingchuan’s voice, turned to look at the Wang family. But hearing Wang Qingchuan’s words and seeing Wang Zhizhi’s silence, she could only say… Wang Qingchuan did well, it would have been even better if he hadn’t spoken.
“Baby, should we eat while it’s hot?” Wei Chengli, feeling a bit embarrassed to talk about his own efforts after seeing Wang Qingchuan’s self-praise, directly took out the lunchbox from the insulated tray and placed it in front of Wei Maomao.
“You carried three thousand kilograms of watermelon?” Wei Maomao refocused her attention on Wei Chengli.
“Yes. Ha, you don’t even know what three thousand kilograms is, right, baby?” Wei Chengli chuckled. “Do you remember before we came to this show, the day we received the information from the program team, Mom and Dad took you to buy watermelon downstairs, that truck selling watermelons? That truck probably carried a little over a thousand kilograms of watermelon, three thousand kilograms is enough to fill two trucks.”
“A lot.” Wei Maomao looked at the lunchbox in front of her, hesitant to open it. She had guessed that the dads’ afternoon task probably wasn’t easy, judging from their exhausted state and the mud on their clothes. But she didn’t expect the program team to be this cruel… Three thousand kilograms, even for people who were used to manual labor, it would be tough.
“It was alright, it was alright. CEO Shen, oh, Shen Zilin’s dad, came up with an idea, we later formed a line, passing the watermelons one by one to the truck, it saved a lot of effort, we didn’t have to walk back and forth.” Wei Chengli said, even using their spoons and chopsticks on the table to demonstrate what “passing” meant.
Wei Maomao: “… “ Wei Chengli was truly a good dad, when he still had a wife. If in her previous life, her mom hadn’t passed away, he would probably… have always been a good dad, right?
The strong smell of alcohol, the numb expression, that last bowl… the scallion oil noodles that made her think he had regained some of his senses, that maybe he could pull himself together…
The smell and disappointment, even despair, in her memories shattered the hope and wishful thinking in her heart. Wei Maomao knew the past was the past, there was no point in hypotheticals. But she still couldn’t help but wonder “what if,” like… now.
“Come on, eat quickly, be careful of the bones when you eat the ribs.” Wei Chengli, seeing the little chubby dumpling staring at the lunchbox without speaking, thought she was hungry. He smiled, opened the lunchbox for her, and inserted a spoon.
The aroma of the food, no longer concealed by the lid, was tainted by the bitterness of her memories, making it seem greasy.
Wei Maomao looked at the lunchbox, but couldn’t pick up the spoon.
It seemed she no longer held any resentment, but she also couldn’t bear this kindness.
Just as Wei Maomao felt her stomach start to ache, a light and shadow suddenly appeared in front of her.
Thanks to the blackout cloth above, the projection’s image was quite clear.
The giant projection was divided into two screens, both showing still images.
On the right was a bowl of… mush? It was hard to tell what was inside.
On the left was… Wei Chengli falling off a balance beam?
“That’s…” Wei Chengli, also drawn by the image, said weakly.
“The mush you made.” Wei Maomao answered with certainty.
Wei Chengli, speechless, glanced at the little chubby dumpling, there was no need to state the obvious.
“I believe our babies and dads have had a lot of fun these past few days. Because sometimes, the babies and dads do tasks separately. So tonight, during dinner, we’ll show you some highlights of each other’s time apart. Babies and dads, please pay attention, we’ve specifically divided the screen into left and right, during the playback, the moments on both sides are from approximately the same time, which means both babies and dads can see what the other person was doing while they were doing a certain task.” The host explained kindly, then quickly retreated.
Highlights?
A sense of foreboding spread through the room.
The strongest sense of foreboding naturally came from the source of the two still images.
“You’re going to drink mush?” Wei Chengli tried to gauge the amount of mush in the bowl.
“You fell?” Wei Maomao narrowed her eyes, looking at Wei Chengli’s foot, which had already slipped halfway off the beam.
They both asked their questions, then ended the topic with two synchronized “mmms.”
The program team kept their word. The images on the screen, whether still photos or short videos, all showed what the babies and dads were doing when they were apart, at approximately the same time. They were even meticulous enough to divide the screen into three parts when it was Cheng Feiying’s family’s turn…
Some were baby blunders, some were dad mishaps, the moments were all quite amusing.
But as they watched, Wei Maomao sensed something was wrong.
These moments, they were supposed to show what the babies and dads were doing when they were apart, but looking closely, it seemed the program team had a selection criterion.
This criterion wasn’t just “amusing.”
It was… Wei Maomao looked at the right screen, which was frozen on a photo of Wen Qiming, his face flushed, pushing the mill.
If they ignored the babies’ situation on the left screen and only looked at the right, it seemed all the photos and videos were highlighting… the dads’ hard work and achievements?
Admittedly, the tasks assigned to the dads were definitely more numerous and difficult, but the babies also did many tasks that yielded rewards.
Of course, the screen also showed the babies’ efforts and achievements, but compared to the consistent style of the dads’ screen, the babies’ side seemed more like filler to match the corresponding time.
Why?
Based on the past few days, Shi Dingshan’s team didn’t seem like the type to glorify the dads.
Weren’t they… supposed to be more focused on freedom and authenticity?
Wei Maomao suspected that her interpretation of the content on the screen might just be her overthinking.
However, when the content progressed to today, more precisely, this afternoon.
Seeing the babies playing freely and happily on the left screen, contrasted with the dads sweating profusely, carrying watermelons in the field on the right screen, the style of the two screens became an unprecedentedly unified comparison. Wei Maomao started to feel that this wasn’t her imagination, it wasn’t even a coincidence, it was… a deliberate plan.
The food had been served, but there were no sounds of chopsticks clinking.
Wei Maomao, looking at the silently moving figures in the watermelon field on the screen, turned to Wei Chengli and whispered, “Did all the dads carry three thousand kilograms?”
“No…” Wei Chengli had also noticed the bias in the photos and videos on the screen. Although it was showcasing the dads’ efforts, which wasn’t bad for him, he still felt it was strange to suddenly play these, so he instinctively lowered his voice when speaking. “Some dads couldn’t carry anymore and took breaks. In the end, it was me, Wang Zhizhi’s dad, and Wen Dongyu’s dad who finished carrying the last three thousand kilograms, only the three of us carried that much.”
So it wasn’t entirely to praise the dads’ love? Wei Maomao, after hearing this, was even more confused.
“How much did the other dads carry?” Wei Maomao actually wanted to ask Cheng Feiying directly, but considering they were live broadcasting, she decided to be more subtle.
“They all carried fifteen hundred kilograms.” Wei Chengli had nothing to hide, it had already been broadcasted, it didn’t matter if the little chubby dumpling knew.
“Which food tier does fifteen hundred kilograms correspond to?” Wei Maomao asked again.
“Oh, I haven’t told you, right? Three thousand kilograms is for your most desired food, then the other two correspond to two thousand one hundred kilograms and fifteen hundred kilograms. Actually, fifteen hundred kilograms is already a lot, they all tried their best. Anyway, the third item is also something the babies really want to eat, there’s not much difference.” Wei Chengli thought for a moment, then added, “Just eat your lunchbox obediently, don’t even think about freeloading french fries from Yan Yan, okay?”
Wei Maomao turned to look at Wei Chengli.
Wei Chengli took off the microphone on his collar and moved it further away, but after glancing at the microphone securely clipped to the little chubby dumpling’s clothes, he put it back on.
Forget it, there were microphones everywhere, there was no point in trying to hide…
“Baby, Daddy is being serious.” Although his attempt to avoid the microphone failed, Wei Chengli still lowered his voice politely. “You’re still young, your stomach is very weak. Look, you ate some watermelon, and you wet the bed last night, right? If you eat french fries, such oily food, even if you’re not worried about indigestion, you have to think… What if, I’m just saying, what if you get diarrhea? In the middle of the night, while you’re sleeping, then…”
A soft, chubby paw, smelling of marinade, firmly covered Wei Chengli’s mouth.
Wei Maomao was no longer in the mood to watch the screen, nor did she want to analyze the program team’s intentions. At this moment, she just wanted to knock this jerk unconscious!
Ahhh!
Why were her arms so short! If her arms were longer, she could have covered his mouth a whole sentence earlier!
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