Chapter 72
Six o’clock in the morning, the weather was still cool, a good time for work.
Wei Maomao was now extremely wary of the unpredictable program team. This morning, she specifically chose a pair of pants from the mountain of dresses in her suitcase, and the softest, most comfortable shoes.
It had to be said, Wei Maomao’s preparations weren’t in vain. After a simple wash-up and being fed a boiled egg and some water by Liu Ming, she was taken directly out of the village and placed by the edge of a field.
Vegetable fields, vegetable fields, more vegetable fields…
Wei Maomao was quick, she was the first to arrive. While waiting for the others, she found a relatively clean stone bench and sat down.
Were they kidding? With baskets piled up next to her and surrounded by fields of mature crops, the program team’s intentions were obvious.
She would rest while she could, who knew how they would be tortured later.
Wei Maomao didn’t wait long before Shen Zilin and Wen Jiangyue arrived together.
Shen Zilin looked around and took a deep breath. “We just finished watching the dads harvesting watermelons yesterday afternoon, and it’s our turn already? Did anyone ask your dads to list their most desired food items this morning?”
Wen Jiangyue shook her head. “The brother who came said my dad could continue sleeping.”
Wei Maomao, leaning against a large rock, said listlessly, “My dad also went back to bed.”
They hadn’t even started working yet, and she was already exhausted. She had worked herself to death for Wei Chengli in her previous life, and she had only been alive for a few days in this life, and now she had to shoulder the burden of life again, her three-year-old shoulders, she truly couldn’t handle it.
As Wei Maomao remained uninterested, Wen Jiangyue and Shen Zilin, the newly appointed “parents,” were quite motivated, discussing whether the morning’s task would be based on the weight or the number of baskets of harvested vegetables.
“I slept in this morning, how come there’s someone even later than me!” Wen Dongyu, leading the pig, was the fourth to arrive. He was surprised to see only three others there.
Wei Maomao and Wen Jiangyue were also quite surprised, surprised by the pride in Wen Dongyu’s voice when he said he slept in.
“How come… We’re all parents today, and you’re still bringing the pig along?” Shen Zilin was speechless, speaking of which, was this Wei Maomao’s pig or Wen Dongyu’s pig…
“Can’t parents bring pigs along? I’ll work hard and support the family, I won’t be slow just because I’m bringing the pig.” Wen Dongyu said with a determined expression.
Cheng Tingyan and Cheng Rongrong arrived together, brought by the staff, after Wen Dongyu, bored, had walked the pig around in circles a couple of times.
They arrived together, but as soon as they did, Cheng Tingyan quickly walked to the little chubby bunny who was slumped against the stone bench.
“Maomao, did you eat enough this morning?” Cheng Tingyan asked softly.
Wei Maomao immediately sat up straight and looked at Cheng Tingyan’s bag. “Sister Mingming gave me a boiled egg, Yan Yan, did you eat breakfast?”
“One egg isn’t enough for you, right?” Cheng Tingyan asked again.
“After we finish the task, they’ll give us more breakfast to eat with our dads, oh, with the little ones, right?” Wei Maomao, impolitely, pressed her chubby paw against Cheng Tingyan’s small bag. “Yan Yan, what’s the hard thing in your bag? Don’t tell me it’s the boiled egg you didn’t eat this morning! You’ll faint if you work on an empty stomach!”
Cheng Tingyan: “… “
What else could she say? Under the little chubby bunny’s intense and slightly accusing gaze, Cheng Tingyan could only eat the boiled egg.
Wei Maomao watched as Cheng Tingyan ate the boiled egg, thinking to herself, was that Su Li incompetent? Liu Ming had directly shoved the egg into her mouth, how could she let the babies keep their breakfast and not eat it…
Speaking of which…
Wei Maomao glanced at Cheng Tingyan, then at Cheng Rongrong, who was talking to Shen Zilin in the distance.
Both Yan Yan and Cheng Rongrong had simple ponytails today.
“Yan Yan, should I braid your hair?” Wei Maomao asked, but her chubby paws were already swiftly taking out a comb and hair ties from her little bunny bag.
Cheng Tingyan was stunned. “Now?”
“Yes, Wang Zhizhi isn’t here yet, I’m very fast.” Wei Maomao grabbed the small comb.
Early morning, by the field, a group of children, a group of staff, and a pig…
Cheng Tingyan felt that braiding hair in this kind of place was very strange.
But… The little chubby bunny seemed so excited, and she had brought all the tools…
“Okay. Did you see Wen Jiangyue playing with this yesterday, so you also want to play?” Cheng Tingyan asked, untying her hair and squatting down in front of the little chubby bunny.
“No need to squat.” Wei Maomao stepped onto the stone bench and pulled Cheng Tingyan up. As for whether it was playing or not, she would know soon enough.
Cheng Tingyan treated herself as a toy, letting the little chubby bunny work behind her. The little chubby paws gently moved around her head, it felt quite serious. Regardless of whether it turned out pretty or not, Cheng Tingyan felt it was quite interesting.
Thanks to the skilled grandma, thanks to the model child, thanks to these chubby yet nimble hands.
Before Wang Zhizhi arrived, Wei Maomao successfully braided a half-up hairstyle for Cheng Tingyan.
As Wei Maomao tied the last loop, before she could even speak, she heard a gasp from beside her.
“Maomao! How are you so good at this!” Wen Jiangyue had come over as soon as Wei Maomao started braiding Cheng Tingyan’s hair, but she was so stunned by the nimble chubby paws that she held her breath the entire time, not daring to make a sound. Now that the hairstyle was complete, she finally couldn’t help but exclaim, “This is so beautiful! Compared to yours, the one I braided for Yan Yan yesterday was terrible!”
“It’s alright, it’s alright.” Wei Maomao smiled modestly at Wen Jiangyue and handed a mirror to Cheng Tingyan. “It’s done, Yan Yan, do you like it?”
“Hey, with only one mirror, how can Yan Yan see it, the pretty part is at the back.” Wen Jiangyue, anxious for Cheng Tingyan, suddenly turned around and looked at the staff behind them. “Sister Qiutong, can I borrow your mirror?”
Liu Ming nudged Qiutong next to her, chuckling. Finally, it wasn’t her who was forced to appear on camera today, hehe.
And so, under Wen Jiangyue’s instructions, Cheng Tingyan held the mirror, looking at her reflection in the mirror held up by Wen Jiangyue behind her, she saw the hairstyle Wei Maomao had braided for her.
The two braids on each side, joined together at the back of her head, like an exquisite wreath. The ends of the braids and the remaining hair were gathered into a small bun, hanging below the “wreath.” Between the bun and the wreath was a pink velvet flower.
It was truly… beautiful…
Wei Maomao, standing next to Cheng Tingyan, saw the blooming joy in Cheng Tingyan’s eyes through the mirror.
And joy also bloomed in Wei Maomao’s heart.
Wei Maomao had realized yesterday that she had been negligent, she had only remembered the things she had chatted with the online Cheng Tingyan about in those years, forgetting that the six-year-old Yan Yan was still a child. The current Yan Yan might have the same likes and dislikes as her future self, but there were also many things they hadn’t talked about. For example… The grown-up Cheng Tingyan never mentioned that when she was a little girl, she also wanted to try this kind of complex and exquisite hairstyle.
She should have thought of it. The joy that Cheng Tingyan missed, the joy she should have experienced in her childhood.
But thankfully, it wasn’t too late, she would try her best to make up for it, starting now.
“The hair ties I brought aren’t pretty enough, the convenience store is open, let’s go buy some prettier ones.” Wei Maomao said softly, looking at Cheng Tingyan in the mirror.
“It’s already very pretty! Truly very pretty!” Cheng Tingyan put down the mirror and turned to look at the little chubby bunny. “Thank you, Maomao.”
This was her prettiest, prettiest day ever!
Looking at the little chubby bunny’s small, chubby paws, Cheng Tingyan truly couldn’t imagine how she had braided such a beautiful hairstyle.
It made her look… like a princess…
This was a look that only, only Cheng Rongrong could have.
Cheng Tingyan’s face was slightly flushed, her eyes also…
Just as Cheng Tingyan was about to lose control of the tears welling up in her eyes, Wen Jiangyue spoke up softly.
“Maomao, Maomao, good Maomao, good little sister…” Wen Jiangyue mumbled.
Wei Maomao, overwhelmed by the cheesiness, rubbed her arms and looked down at Wen Jiangyue’s hands, which were tugging on her waistband.
This was one of her only two pairs of pants!
“Do you also want your hair braided?” Wei Maomao interrupted Wen Jiangyue’s rambling.
Wen Jiangyue nodded vigorously, her enthusiasm completely unlike her usual quiet and shy demeanor.
Wei Maomao beckoned with her finger, and Wen Jiangyue happily moved closer.
But this time, before Wei Maomao could even start braiding, Cheng Rongrong suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
“Maomao, you’re so good at braiding.” Cheng Rongrong praised.
Hearing Cheng Rongrong’s voice, Wei Maomao almost stabbed Wen Jiangyue’s scalp with the comb.
It was fine to braid Wen Jiangyue’s hair after learning the skill for Cheng Tingyan, just satisfying a little baby’s desire for beauty. But if it was for Cheng Rongrong… Her hand would immediately cramp.
However, Wei Maomao was overthinking it, Cheng Rongrong wasn’t here to freeload a three-year-old’s skills.
“Maomao, you’re so good at braiding, you’re truly amazing! You should have taught Sister Wen yesterday, then today, you could braid her hair, and she could braid yours.” Cheng Rongrong said with a kind expression, then glanced at Cheng Tingyan. “Then Older sister’s hair wouldn’t have been so messy yesterday.”
Wei Maomao, holding the comb, laughed in exasperation.
She truly…
What was wrong with this Cheng Rongrong? It was understandable if she wanted to freeload a hairstyle after seeing someone else with a pretty one, but to come over and try to sow discord, was this even allowed? Wouldn’t she be beaten up in kindergarten after a couple of days for causing trouble?
“I didn’t know how to braid yesterday afternoon. I learned it last night from the grandma next door to Grandma Zhao.” Wei Maomao looked at Cheng Rongrong, amused.
Heh, did she think she was Yan Yan, who wouldn’t speak up for herself? Trying to sow discord, she wouldn’t tolerate it, even if she was a child.
“You became so good in just one night?” Cheng Rongrong couldn’t help but say sarcastically. She didn’t believe it, looking at those short, chubby fingers, how could they braid so meticulously, even smoothing out all the stray hairs, it clearly took a lot of practice. Even if she had pretended to learn yesterday because of the live broadcast, she must have pretended to be bad at it. She didn’t know why the three-year-old fatty would practice this, but to become so skilled in one night, heh, what about those professional hairstylists?
She didn’t believe it, and neither would the viewers in the live broadcast room, they would just watch this three-year-old stinky fatty pretend.
If they hadn’t watched the live broadcast, those viewers might have truly doubted a three-year-old’s ability to braid such a hairstyle. But they had watched the live broadcast!
“Is Cheng Rongrong okay? Seriously? Did she just try to sow discord? Oh my god, how old is she?”
“Three and a half… I don’t think it was sowing discord? Rongrong just saw Wen Jiangyue messing with Cheng Tingyan’s hair yesterday afternoon, making it a mess, while Maomao was watching from the side. So today, she’s just curious why Maomao didn’t help if she knew how to braid. What bad intentions could a three-and-a-half-year-old have? She’s probably just asking because she doesn’t understand.”
“CEO Mao is truly amazing, okay? Don’t assume that just because you’re incompetent, CEO Mao is also incompetent. Are you the center of the world? I watched CEO Mao learn step by step last night, from braiding simple braids to combining them into beautiful hairstyles, that grandma is very skilled, and our CEO Mao is also very dexterous!”
“Hahaha, although her hands are short and chubby, they’re truly nimble! And she has a good memory, look at the one she braided for Wen Jiangyue, it’s different from Yan Yan’s! She really did remember what she learned last night.”
“CEO Mao truly, how can there be such a smart and considerate baby! CEO Mao even braided different hairstyles for Yan Yan and Yueyue! There were many beautiful hairstyles with loose hair yesterday, but CEO Mao chose two styles that gathered all the hair up! Is this in preparation for working in the field, hahaha!”
“Program team, have some mercy, they’re just little babies, don’t give them so many baskets, it’s making me anxious.”
“Where’s Wang Zhizhi? Why isn’t he here yet? It’s going to get hot if we don’t go soon!”
“He’s coming, he’s coming, he’s at the village entrance. Hahaha, don’t rush him, Wang Zhizhi is truly struggling, he’s one against two now, hahaha!”
“Explaining the situation to those who haven’t been watching Wang Zhizhi’s live stream, he didn’t sleep in, he got up as soon as the staff called him. But the program team gave them a second child, Wang Qingchuan was very unhappy about it, he grumbled to the program team for a long time, that’s why Wang Zhizhi was late! It’s all because of Wang Qingchuan, who loves having a second child, forces his son to love the second child, but can’t accept becoming the older brother! Zhizhi is innocent!”
“I’m dying of laughter… The funny thing is, after arguing with the program team for so long, Wang Qingchuan was actually persuaded. He actually believed the program team’s nonsense about ‘letting Wang Zhizhi experience the hardships of taking care of two children, maybe he’ll understand his parents’ difficulties better.’ Looking at Wang Qingbei when she entered the house, anyone with a brain could tell she wasn’t there to discipline Wang Zhizhi, Wang Qingchuan is truly too naive!”
“Wang Zhizhi, I’m so disappointed in you! Why didn’t you shout at Wang Qingchuan, ‘You’re the older brother, take good care of your sister!’ when you left the house? Your dad keeps telling you to take care of your sister! The program team gave you a chance, and you didn’t even take it!”
…
When Wang Zhizhi arrived, Wei Maomao had just finished braiding Wen Jiangyue’s hair.
With everyone present, the program team started reading the morning’s task card for the babies. Wen Jiangyue, beaming with satisfaction, reluctantly put away the mirror.
“Dear new parents, greetings. On this first day of you becoming the pillars of your families, the heads of your households, I believe you’re all excited and a bit confused. About how to be a parent, how to take care of your children, do you have many questions? Don’t worry, our program team will accompany you all the way, guiding and protecting you on your journey as parents. So first, before starting today’s first task, I hope you can recall the questions you answered last night. Then ask yourselves, today, you’ve finally become adults, with the power to make decisions for yourselves and your families. You can decide what to do and what not to do. You can complete tasks, contribute to your families, provide food and clothing, or you can choose not to do the tasks and drink water instead of eating with your families. You can decide whether the daily lives of your dads, who have become children, will be filled with eating or drinking porridge, playing or studying, going to bed at nine or staying up until midnight. You are free, you can freely choose what kind of parent you want to be, freely choose what kind of life your dads, who have become children, will have. Come on, ask yourselves, now that you have the power to decide, what kind of parent do you want to be?”
Wei Maomao: “… “
What a soul-stirring question.
The first task of the morning, as Wei Maomao had expected, was harvesting vegetables in the field.
But the details were a bit different from what she had imagined. It wasn’t based on the number of baskets or the weight, but… freedom.
Thirty minutes, time limit, harvest as much as they wanted, as long as they worked, they would get breakfast.
But the things they harvested within these thirty minutes, after breakfast, they had to sell them at the market, and the money they earned… was theirs to freely spend, to buy lunch.
And this money, before spending it, would be ranked to determine the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth prizes, corresponding to different afternoon tea rewards…
What a well-designed, freedom-themed task.
When assigning the task, the program team also took into consideration the two special families. For the lunch prize ranking, the money earned by Cheng Tingyan and Cheng Rongrong would be combined and then divided by two. And the actual money they could use to buy lunch would be three-quarters of the combined amount… Similarly, because the Wang family had an extra member, the money they could use to buy lunch would be two-thirds of the money Wang Zhizhi earned.
There weren’t many varieties of vegetables in the surrounding fields, the program team only gave them three options to harvest: tomatoes, cucumbers, and loofah.
Wei Maomao had looked at the fields for a while while waiting earlier, all three grew on vines, and the height of the vines wasn’t too high. The tallest, the loofah, also had some within her reach, but there weren’t many, most were hanging higher, where she couldn’t easily reach.
Based on Wei Maomao’s life experience, loofah was definitely the most expensive, then tomatoes and cucumbers, the prices might vary slightly depending on the region. But with the time limit, if she chose loofah, climbing up and down would definitely waste time and energy, and the price difference wasn’t significant enough to justify it.
Wei Maomao chose tomatoes and pulled Cheng Tingyan’s hand.
Wen Jiangyue, seeing this, followed them.
Cheng Rongrong, closely behind, also went to the tomato field.
There were already four of them… Shen Zilin, who had also wanted to choose tomatoes, regretfully stopped.
If everyone sold tomatoes, there would be competition, and he didn’t know how big the market was, if it was a small market, with everyone selling tomatoes, they might not be able to sell them all…
Shen Zilin wasted a few dozen seconds checking out the loofah field, then decisively went to the cucumber field, where the fruits were lower.
Height… He would grow taller when he got older!
As soon as the program team announced the start of the timer, five babies immediately ran off, leaving only Wang Zhizhi and Wen Dongyu by the roadside.
“Wang Zhizhi, what’s this about your family having an extra person? Does your dad really have a sister?” Wen Dongyu finally found a chance to gossip.
“Fake.” Wang Zhizhi answered concisely, his mind still preoccupied with the program team’s words before assigning the task.
“Then you have two children now, one real, one fake.” Wen Dongyu patted Wang Zhizhi’s shoulder sympathetically. “Good luck, you have to support three people by yourself.”
After saying that, Wen Dongyu, pulling the pig, rushed into the group of staff to receive his work tools.
Two children, one real, one fake…
Why did he have to have so many children… Wang Zhizhi looked at the vegetable field, feeling a bit lost.
The program team kept their word. When the first task ended, they didn’t care about how much they harvested, they just labeled the baskets, loaded them onto the truck, and started distributing the task rewards to the babies.
There was a wide variety of breakfast options, both Chinese and Western, they could even mix and match, as long as it amounted to roughly one meal per person. They could choose directly from the program team’s existing breakfast menu and have it delivered, or they could choose the ingredients and bring a chef back to cook breakfast according to their instructions. Of course, the ingredients were also based on the number of people, there would be no leftovers.
This wasn’t the point, the point was that Wei Maomao felt the host kept looking at her when he mentioned that they could bring a chef back and have the chef cook breakfast according to their instructions.
What?
Did she look like the kind of baby who would be vindictive as a parent?
Even if she was, she wouldn’t take it out on Wei Chengli.
Speaking of which, what did Cheng Feiying hate…
Tsk, the program team lacked imagination, wouldn’t it be more interesting if the babies, as parents, became parents to the other dads?
Wei Chengli anxiously paced back and forth in the bedroom for half an hour, then got up, washed up, and continued pacing in the courtyard, finally waiting for his breakfast to return. Oh, no, his baby.
“Baby, I knew you loved me!” Wei Chengli, looking at the table full of soy milk, shaobing, egg pancakes, and rice balls, was overjoyed, he pointed at the camera and said accusingly, “They scared me, saying that after you finished the task, you could choose to bring back ingredients and have the staff cook breakfast according to your instructions!”
“Oh, they didn’t scare you.” Wei Maomao said, taking a bite of the egg pancake.
Wei Chengli: ???
Because of the program team’s generosity for the first task, every baby returned with a full basket.
The other families were all eating well, except for the Wang family…
The abundance of food didn’t seem to ease their tense atmosphere.
“Wang Zhizhi, what’s wrong with you? Is this really necessary?” Wang Qingchuan was truly exasperated!
Cutting the breakfast egg pancake in half and insisting on making his and that… whoever’s portion exactly the same size was one thing, but now he was even using chopsticks to measure the depth of the soy milk! Had this child gone crazy after going out for a while!
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