Chapter 7
While the Wei family was poring over the information, the other families also received news of the addition of two families.
It was fine for the other families, but the atmosphere in the Cheng family was not so good.
“Two more families? Won’t that mean even less screen time for our Rongrong?” Bai Lei threw the freshly printed email at Cheng Feiying. “Why didn’t they even discuss it with us before adding people! They even added a girl who’s half a year younger than our Rongrong, so Rongrong won’t be the youngest sister anymore. What happened to the plan of creating a ‘group favorite’ persona for her?”
Cheng Feiying picked up the paper and said helplessly, “Director Jin is just an assistant director, by the time he heard the news, everything had already been decided, the contracts were signed. I heard it was Director Shi who made the decision, and he didn’t discuss it with them either. Besides, it’s just half a year younger, it’s not like the younger the child, the cuter they are. Even if she was a year younger, our Rongrong would still be cuter. Let me see… Wei Maomao, listen to this, the name doesn’t even sound grand, Maomao, it sounds like a cat. Three years old, cute, cute, cute…”
“Just look at the photo, she’s just a chubby girl, what’s so cute about her that you have to say it so many times.” Bai Lei said irritably.
“That’s how they introduced her, they even wrote ‘cute’ three times…” Cheng Feiying said innocently. “But I don’t think she’s that cute from the photo, she’s chubby, not as cute as our little princess Rongrong. It’s ridiculous that they dare to say that, why don’t they just say their child is the cutest in the universe.”
Bai Lei interrupted impatiently, “What else did they write?”
“You only looked at the photo, didn’t you read the words?” Cheng Feiying sighed and continued reading after receiving a glare. “A loyal fan of ‘Where’s Baby Going,’ tsk, they’re even sucking up to the program team, no wonder they were added. And then there’s nothing else, oh, and ‘likes older sisters.’ Well, she can play with our Rongrong then, a chubby ball and a little princess, it’s a good contrast.”
After that, Cheng Feiying handed the photo to Cheng Rongrong, who was sitting on the play mat in the living room reading a book. “Rongrong, take a look, this is the new brother and sister who will be filming the show with us in a few days.”
“Rongrong doesn’t have time to play with her.” Bai Lei said, but she didn’t stop her daughter from taking the photo. “Rongrong, do you still remember what to do when filming the show?”
Unlike Wei Maomao, who had baby fat, often had a head full of natural curls, and could yawn a hundred times a day, Cheng Rongrong was a little girl with more than ten rubber bands in her hair, a delicate hairstyle, a lace dress, and a very energetic look.
Now being questioned by her mother, Cheng Rongrong looked at the photo and answered fluently, “Love my sister, take care of my sister, always play with my sister.”
Bai Lei nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Cheng Feiying.
Cheng Feiying said helplessly, “You just want me to control myself and favor Cheng Tingyan more, right? I can remember such a small thing.”
Bai Lei frowned, “Call her Yanyan.”
“Okay, Yanyan, Yanyan. We’re still at home, I’ll pay attention when we’re on the show.” Cheng Feiying said nonchalantly.
“You need to get used to it now at home, otherwise the audience will notice.” Bai Lei’s frown didn’t relax. “You need to adapt well from today onwards, both of you.”
Cheng Feiying looked away, “Actually, there’s no need for me to pretend to favor her. With her temper now, even if I treat her normally, the audience won’t think anything of it, right…”
“Everyone knows our family situation. If you and Rongrong don’t act well, others will think that we’re mistreating Cheng Ting… cough, Yanyan at home. Can you imagine how unpleasant the speculation outside will be?” Bai Lei emphasized. “But as long as you and Rongrong always act very nice to her, if she’s still cold and indifferent, it’s her own problem.”
“We didn’t mistreat her at home, but if she acts like that on the show…” Cheng Feiying still hesitated. “It would be better for her to pretend to be well-behaved, like she was in the first season. Anyway, for her mother’s sake, she has to be obedient. The three of us can show a loving father and filial daughters.”
“Who are you going to show a loving father and filial daughters with?” Bai Lei glared at Cheng Feiying. “She’s only six years old, how well can she pretend? Do you think the audience are fools?”
A six-year-old couldn’t pretend well, could a three-and-a-half-year-old?
Cheng Feiying looked at her younger daughter, who was reading a picture book again not far away, and thought of how she had pretended to like Cheng Tingyan a few days ago according to Bai Lei’s request, innocent, cute, and full of admiration, completely unlike her usual indifferent attitude towards her older sister.
Well, so the talent for acting was indeed only inherited by her younger daughter.
“I’m talking to you!” Bai Lei kicked Cheng Feiying’s leg.
“I know, I know. We’ll do as we discussed before.” Looking at her younger daughter who had perfectly inherited her talent, Cheng Feiying dispelled her previous hesitation again.
“As for Cheng… Yanyan, I already talked to her a few days ago, she just needs to be herself on the show.” Bai Lei glanced at the door. “Speaking of which, isn’t the promotional video about to be filmed? They should be sending Cheng Ting… Yanyan back in the next few days, right? There are some things we need to remind her of again, tell her not to talk about family matters outside.”
“You want us to change how we address her, but you’re not even doing it yourself.” Cheng Feiying muttered in a low voice. After receiving a glare from Bai Lei, he sighed and said, “She won’t talk nonsense. She can’t pretend, but she can keep her mouth shut.”
Thinking of how Cheng Tingyan was like an invisible person when she lived here, becoming more and more withdrawn in the past two years, Bai Lei snorted softly but didn’t say anything more.
Love was something that the more people shared it, the less each person received. Bai Lei, who had several older and younger siblings, knew this all too well.
Her daughter deserved the best, deserved it all.
Bai Lei looked at Cheng Rongrong, who was engrossed in the picture book, and thought of the night when the program team first came to invite them. Her daughter, who was always full of energy, suddenly asked her timidly, what if everyone liked Cheng Tingyan and not her when they went on the show?
It wasn’t just asked once, Rongrong had been unhappy about it for several days.
The anxious and slightly scared look, Bai Lei still felt heartbroken when she thought about it now.
Her daughter would not play second fiddle to Liu Qiongfang’s daughter.
Fortunately, Rongrong had always been understanding and knew what it meant to tolerate it temporarily on the show. She had done a good job pretending to be a good sister last time. Unlike Cheng Tingyan, who was like a mute, she probably didn’t even understand what pretending was.
But it didn’t matter if she didn’t understand, just like an animal, she could train her in advance.
“Hey.” Bai Lei kicked Cheng Feiying again. “We need to start preparing for the show, tell her to come back tomorrow, okay?”
Cheng Feiying nodded in agreement.
From beginning to end, Cheng Rongrong only glanced at the two photos handed to her by her father, the rest of the time she kept her head down, seemingly immersed in the world of the picture book in her hand. The conversation between the two people beside her was not righteous, and they didn’t try to hide it from her at all, just like always.
When Cheng Rongrong first transmigrated, this body was still a baby. As soon as she opened her eyes, it was a scene of a heated argument, with curses and flying objects.
Thanks to their unrestrained words, it only took her a while to understand that she had transmigrated into a book.
She had transmigrated into an entertainment industry novel with a strong female lead.
In the novel, the female lead participated in two seasons of a parenting reality show when she was young. She was beautiful, kind, and well-liked by the audience, successfully establishing a solid fan base. Later, after the variety show aired, she was spotted by a famous international director and invited to star in his new film. The film went on to win numerous awards and was still considered a classic decades later. Although the female lead, who played the protagonist’s childhood, didn’t have many scenes, the character was likable, which further increased her popularity.
There was no need to say more, from childhood to adulthood, from small awards to big awards, the female lead’s stage gradually grew bigger, and amidst the flashing lights and praise, she lived up to the “strong female lead” trope.
Perhaps the only unhappy part of the female lead’s life was the slightly disharmonious family relationship in her childhood. Of course, that slightly disharmonious family relationship was also resolved when the female lead participated in the parenting reality show for the second time. After that, everything was smooth sailing, every chapter was satisfying.
But the problem was, Cheng Rongrong didn’t transmigrate into the female lead, but into the female lead’s half-sister.
This younger sister wasn’t mentioned much in the novel. She was the “ball” that the previous generation had successfully forced a marriage with… And then, because she was spoiled and refused to participate in the third season of the parenting reality show with the female lead, she gave her father and the female lead the opportunity to repair their father-daughter relationship on the show. After the female lead’s father came to his senses and returned to his ex-wife and the female lead, the book didn’t mention this younger sister in detail anymore. It wasn’t until the end of the novel that there was a vague description that seemed to be a comparison: in front of a poster for one of the female lead’s new movies, a rough-looking woman with three children, one on her back, one in her arms, and one holding her hand, forcefully pulled away her daughter who said, “Mommy, this older sister’s eyes look like yours.”
Since Cheng Rongrong had transmigrated, she naturally wouldn’t let things develop as they did in the original novel.
On the night she transmigrated, she interrupted their argument about whether to have Cheng Feiying bring his eldest daughter back from his ex-wife so that they could go on the first season of “Where’s Baby Going” with her crying.
Although she interrupted the argument, Cheng Rongrong didn’t want to change that part of the plot.
Of course they had to go. If they didn’t go, how could her father, whose career was already on the decline, get more opportunities and maintain his popularity until she grew up and went on the third season?
Accept what couldn’t be changed, change what could be changed.
Cheng Rongrong had a clear mind.
With her efforts, her parents argued less and less, and their relationship became better and better. Correspondingly, Cheng Tingyan’s position in this family became more and more awkward, and she was less and less liked by her father.
But it wasn’t enough.
She wanted her father.
She wanted the audience’s love.
She also wanted the invitation from “the international director”.
Some things would end, and some would begin with this parenting reality show.
But…
Cheng Rongrong, pretending to read the picture book, glanced at the two photos she had seemingly casually placed aside.
One was of Wang Zhizhi making a funny face and gnawing on a chicken leg.
The other was of Wei Maomao wearing a bunny nightgown and yawning.
One was the “anti-second child” expert who was supposed to participate in the fourth season of “Where’s Baby Going,” and the other was a random passerby who hadn’t appeared in the book.
Why was this happening?
Was it because she, the butterfly, had flapped her wings?
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