Chapter 82
Biting was impossible, after all, beneath Wei Maomao’s three-year-old appearance was a “mature” core.
Well… maybe not that mature…
After all, if she was truly mature, she should be focused on her goal and not be distracted by trivial matters.
Wen Qiming was already forty-five years old, this kind of middle-aged man was very stubborn, difficult to control, and hard to change.
Wen Jiangyue wasn’t Yan Yan either, she had her own family and future that she didn’t understand…
There were many reasons to pretend she didn’t hear, even without a reason, she could maintain a proper distance and politeness as an adult.
But…
The reason she couldn’t help but listen was simple.
Wei Maomao couldn’t help but think about… earlier at the market, Wen Jiangyue, holding the flowers, her face beaming with joy as if she had found a treasure.
And it was indeed a treasure.
“There’s a stall selling flowers at the market, the flowers are all so beautiful!”
“My dad loves flowers the most!”
“This is the first time I earned money myself, I can buy flowers for Dad!”
“Do you think they’re pretty? Will my dad like them?”
…
Wei Maomao silently looked at the chicken legs, pork ribs, potatoes, peanuts, and vegetables that Wei Chengli kept putting in her bowl…
How did she answer Wen Jiangyue back then?
“They’re beautiful!”
“The flowers are beautiful, Sister Wen, you’re so kind, your dad will love them!”
…
Ah, why did she answer like that?
It was truly… too presumptuous of her…
Right, this wasn’t a trivial matter, it wasn’t someone else’s life she shouldn’t interfere in, she just wanted to… correct her previous blunder.
“Daddy.” Wei Maomao looked at Wei Chengli, she had made up her mind, the frustration in her heart had an outlet.
“No, don’t call me ‘Daddy’.” Wei Chengli patted his chest warily. “I, I’m a pitiful and innocent little baby today.”
“Daddy, I bought something for you today.” Wei Maomao’s voice became louder, her chubby paw firmly pressing on Wei Chengli’s arm.
“No, you didn’t buy anything, and you didn’t give me anything.” Wei Chengli, having been trained by the little chubby dumpling’s unpredictable behavior these past few days, quickly shook his head and replied vigilantly.
“… “ Wei Maomao reached out with her other chubby paw, touching the skewer of candied cucumber on the table. “I bought…”
“No, baby, this wasn’t bought by you, you said the grandpa at the tanghulu stall gave it to you, have you forgotten?” Wei Chengli grabbed the little chubby paw holding the candied cucumber.
Wei Maomao: “… “
Of course, she hadn’t forgotten. That socially anxious grandpa was quite adorable. They had agreed to rent the stall, and when she gave him the over one hundred yuan, he was too embarrassed to accept it, saying that he had learned the new method of making candied cucumbers, the stall rental was worth it. In the end, it was the program team who persuaded him for a while before he finally accepted the money. Well, Wei Maomao actually thought he gave up because his social anxiety acted up again when faced with the cameras.
But when they were about to get on the car, the socially anxious grandpa chased after them and gave each baby two skewers of candied tomatoes and cucumbers, saying they hadn’t had a chance to eat them after selling for so long, so they should take them and try.
Now, Wei Maomao regretted telling this story to Wei Chengli too early.
“Daddy, you have to cooperate with me.” Wei Maomao glanced at the table, there was nothing else on the table besides the food they bought, the candied cucumber skewer was the only suitable prop.
“Baby, I’ll cooperate. But this truly wasn’t bought by you, it was a gift from the grandpa, have you forgotten?” Wei Chengli tried to distract Wei Maomao. “How about you take two bites, you’ll remember after taking two bites.”
Wei Maomao: “… “
Good job!
Wei Chengli watched as the little chubby dumpling puffed up her cheeks, rolled off the stool, and ran off.
Ah…
Wei Chengli clenched his right hand, which hadn’t been fast enough to catch the little chubby dumpling, sigh, this…
Ahhh! The babies worked so hard selling vegetables to support the family, can’t you guys eat properly! If you don’t eat, we still have to eat!!!
Wei Chengli let out a long sigh.
Thankfully, although the little chubby dumpling ran off in anger, she didn’t disappear completely.
Wei Chengli watched from afar as Wei Maomao went to the Cheng family’s table for a bit, then turned around and came back.
“Baby…” Wei Chengli welcomed the returning dumpling with the most sincere and friendly smile.
Wei Maomao ignored his act, she avoided Wei Chengli’s attempt to pick her up and put her back on the stool, she climbed up herself, huffing and puffing.
“Daddy, I bought this for you!” Wei Maomao said loudly, opening her palm towards Wei Chengli.
The loud voice, clearly audible to the two tables next to them, made Wei Chengli’s head buzz. It seemed… he couldn’t dodge this anymore.
Wei Chengli glanced at the light blue flower hair tie in the little chubby paw, then slowly turned his head, looking at the Wen family’s table.
As expected, the father and daughter there were also drawn by the little chubby dumpling’s deliberately amplified voice, they were both looking at them.
Wei Chengli knew it was time for him to make a choice.
Brother Wen, they were both adults, they could understand each other, they could laugh it off and forget about it after a brief explanation, right?
After all… On the other side of the scale was the adorable and stubborn three-year-old baby.
“Baby, thank you! This… Mmm… This is so pretty! Daddy loves it! Our baby is truly…” Wei Chengli made his choice, he wouldn’t hesitate any longer, he showered her with praise.
But before he could reach out and take the hair tie, the little chubby dumpling closed her paw, hiding the hair tie, interrupting his action and his words.
“Daddy, that’s not how you’re supposed to say it.” Wei Maomao clenched her fist, first glanced at Wei Chengli, then slowly turned to Wen Qiming’s table, her gaze lingering on Wen Qiming’s slightly furrowed brow for two seconds.
Not supposed to say it like that?
Oh, it was… not supposed to be said like that…
Wei Chengli followed the little chubby dumpling’s gaze, the confusion in his heart turning into… embarrassment.
He finally understood what the little dumpling meant.
But!
“Baby, do we really have to do this? Daddy praising you is enough, right?” Wei Chengli leaned closer to the little chubby dumpling and whispered.
The response he received was a chubby foot, kicking off her sandal and stepping on his leg.
White, chubby, warm, forceful, and determined.
Wei Chengli understood.
Wen Qiming also understood.
He had been interrupted by the sudden loud voice from the next table, he initially thought they were arguing or something. But after looking and listening for a bit, he felt… something wasn’t quite right.
And the subsequent conversation between Wei Chengli and Wei Maomao, along with their frequent glances, made Wen Qiming guess what was going on.
But it couldn’t be, right?
What did it have to do with them?
Was it necessary to put on a show for him, pretending to be happy even when receiving a hair tie?
Wen Qiming guessed it, but he also guessed it wrong.
Because in the next second, the curtain was pulled open again, the real performance had just begun.
“Daddy, I bought this for you!” Wei Maomao raised the hair tie and shouted.
Wei Chengli: “… “ Please, why was it the same as the previous sentence, couldn’t she at least change a few words? Was she being this deliberately obvious?
A brief silence, the soft, chubby foot on Wei Chengli’s leg seemed to be applying more pressure.
“Ha… Thank you, Maomao. But the hair ties Daddy likes are pink, don’t you remember all of Daddy’s hair ties are pink?” Wei Chengli tried to recall Wen Qiming’s words and rephrase them.
Wen Qiming: ?
Wei Maomao: ???
This… Wei Maomao did want Wei Chengli to imitate Wen Qiming’s meaning, but it didn’t have to be this realistic, right?
“I… remember.” Now it was Wei Maomao’s turn to continue the act, her scalp tingling. “But you also liked it when other people gave you blue hair ties. There weren’t any pink ones at the market, Dad, don’t you like this blue one?”
After finishing her sentence, even though she was in a three-year-old’s body, Wei Maomao still felt a bit embarrassed.
“Dad likes it, of course, how could Dad dislike a gift from Maomao? But, you didn’t earn much money this morning, right? There’s a saying, ‘Spend money wisely.’ This kind of blue hair tie, it… Mmm… It…” Wei Chengli stammered, then decided to give up on describing its flaws. “Anyway, it’s not something we urgently need, shouldn’t we prioritize buying enough food for lunch? You used this money to buy a blue…”
Wen Qiming: …
Wei Maomao rubbed the goosebumps on her chubby arms, feeling that this was enough.
“Daddy! What are you talking about!” Wei Maomao clutched her chest, looking hurt, then dramatically fell (fake fall) off the stool.
The little chubby dumpling suddenly became a drama queen, falling off the stool. Wei Chengli was startled, his hand wasn’t fast enough to catch her.
“Mao…” Wei Chengli stood up anxiously.
Then he saw the little chubby dumpling, sitting on the ground, pounding her chest and kicking her legs.
“Ah! Daddy! I’m so sad, Daddy! I’m always happy with whatever you buy for me! You like all the hair ties other people give you! I bought you a hair tie, and you… you said I shouldn’t have bought it! I, a three-year-old baby, picked so many vegetables, sold tanghulu for so long, I’m all sweaty, my hands and feet are sore and tired, just to buy you a hair tie! I’m so sad!”
Wei Chengli watched, stunned, as the little chubby dumpling kicked her legs, thrashed around, pounded her chest, and slapped the ground…
This, this was like those scammers pretending to be injured in TV dramas, where did she learn this…
“Daddy, my heart, it hurts so much! I, the baby, I’m so sad! I’ll never buy you gifts again! I don’t want to be sad anymore! I don’t want to love you anymore! I don’t love you anymore!” Wei Maomao, getting into her act, even squeezed out a few tears, she almost threw the hair tie in her hand at Wei Chengli.
Of course, she didn’t throw it, it was just a borrowed prop.
The small, white, chubby dumpling, like an elderly scammer, thrashed around on the ground, even saying lines from old romance dramas…
Honestly, it was hilarious!
Initially, although Wei Chengli was shocked and stiff, he was amused, he just watched the little dumpling’s performance, even forgetting about Wen Qiming next to him.
But as he watched… something felt wrong.
He knew the little chubby dumpling was probably imitating and piecing together old drama scenes she had seen somewhere. But when she looked at him with tears in her eyes and said, “I don’t want to be sad anymore! I don’t want to love you anymore! I don’t love you anymore!”, Wei Chengli’s heart skipped a beat, a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
“… “ Wei Chengli instinctively wanted to pick up the little chubby dumpling and end this out-of-control performance, but at this moment, his body couldn’t keep up with his mind, he couldn’t even speak, he was frozen.
He wasn’t the only one who was frozen.
In the monitoring room, Shi Dingshan stood up and patted Qin Sichao’s shoulder. “Director Qin, please don’t lean on our monitoring screens, okay? When did you develop this habit, practically throwing your whole body onto the screen, touching it… There’s a whole wall of screens, don’t knock any of them down.”
“Weren’t you just not watching the screen! Did you see the little fatty cry?” Qin Sichao, looking at Wei Maomao, who had already gotten up and was dusting herself off on the screen, reluctantly took a step back from the wall of screens.
“I was making tea, little fatty, you mean Maomao? She’s adorable when she cries, it’s better these past two days, when she first arrived, tears would stream down her face with just a blink, such a crybaby.” Shi Dingshan chuckled as he blew on his tea. “If Cheng Tingyan was there, you would also see Yan Yan taking out her handkerchief and frantically wiping her tears, hahaha.”
“No, it wasn’t like that.” Qin Sichao was still stunned by that moment earlier, but this was a kind of shock that Shi Dingshan had to see with his own eyes to understand, it was useless for him to describe it. “You find the replay and watch it later, then we’ll talk.”
Shi Dingshan: ???
He couldn’t find the replay right now, but he could check the comments to see what was going on.
But as Shi Dingshan took out his phone, opened Wei Maomao’s live stream, and looked at the comments, he was met with a screen full of “sob, sob, sob” and “wuwuwu,” he couldn’t understand it at all.
“Crying, crying, crying! Oh my god! How can she be so good at crying! I was laughing at Director Wei talking about blue hair ties and pink hair ties, then I was suddenly hit by CEO Mao’s flying tears… It was clearly an act, but why am I so sad! Aaaaaaaah!”
“When CEO Mao fake-fell off the stool, I laughed my head off, then my head was washed away by tears, never to be found again! Aaaaaaaah, my head!”
“I truly, CEO Mao is the voice of the people! Who was it who saved two months’ worth of allowance at fifteen years old to buy a bouquet of flowers for their mom on Mother’s Day, only to be told it was a waste of money and forced to return it, I won’t say! Anyway, I never bought flowers for my mom again. I’m thirty-six now, my mom asked why I didn’t celebrate Mother’s Day for her, all the other moms in her square dancing group received Mother’s Day gifts from their children. Hehehe! Why do you think! It can’t be because I can’t read a calendar, right!”
“When Wen Qiming was lecturing Yueyue earlier, my fists clenched, truly! When Yueyue saw the flowers being sold at the market, she was so happy, truly… Her eyes lit up, so happy, so, so happy, I’m going to cry now. Why can’t Wen Qiming cherish our best Yueyue, do you not want to receive gifts from your daughter anymore, tell me!”
“With all due respect, when parents buy something for their children, they even expect gratitude. When others give something to their children, they make their children say thank you on the spot. And maybe years later, they’ll even say to their children, ‘I bought you xxx, xxx before, that uncle, that aunt, they gave you xxxx before…’ But when children buy something for their parents, truly… Especially younger children, when they buy gifts for their parents, they truly don’t expect any thanks, they don’t expect them to remember, what they want is probably just a smile from their parents at that moment, when they receive the gift.”
“Right… Truly, they just want to make their parents happy. Just a smile… Is it that difficult? An adult, even if it’s an act, just give them a smile! Even if you can’t force a smile, don’t frown and say things like ‘waste of money’ or ‘return it,’ okay? The child bought it with their own saved money, earned money, not with your stolen money! What they deducted was something they could have had, but they turned it into something they wanted to give you!”
“That’s… not necessarily true. What if the child bought something the parents don’t really need? Or if the price is much higher than the value? Then it’s truly a waste of money…”
“??? Okay, the situation mentioned above does exist. But most people, especially children, can’t afford to buy expensive gifts, right? Most people, the first time they give their parents a gift, it’s with their saved allowance or lucky money. The gift might not be very practical or mature. But! Is the gift itself truly that important? Will the family go bankrupt because of the extra money spent on a gift? Is every single thing parents buy for their children practical and necessary? Will the children criticize their parents for how they spend money? To put it bluntly… It’s all about control, about the dominance stemming from the unequal power dynamic.”
“Hugging the thirty-six-year-old friend, you did nothing wrong! Even if it’s your mother who left an unhealed wound on you, the next surprise can only wait until the stage of providing for her in her old age.”
“I, who witnessed this today, hope I can always remember this day. And when I have children, I won’t forget this day either. Accept love wholeheartedly to receive more love, don’t hurt them, if you hurt them, you’ll have nothing left.”
“Wen Qiming, shaking you violently, did you hear that? Cherish Yueyue’s love, otherwise, you’ll have nothing left! Nothing!”
“I hope Wen Qiming is worthy of CEO Mao’s dramatic performance, rolling around and getting covered in dust. Anyway, I didn’t have CEO Mao as my mouthpiece when I was a child… I feel like I still have love for my parents, but I don’t know when it started, responsibility has overshadowed love. Love, although it can hurt, but at least, the love between parents and children, it shouldn’t hurt…”
“Thank you, CEO Mao, for crying for the fifteen-year-old me…”
“Damn it, the tears I didn’t shed, the words I couldn’t say, they suddenly have a mouthpiece on this parenting variety show… Life is truly unpredictable, who would have thought!!!”
“The best bunny in the world! CEO Mao truly… I’m crying, and she just got up, dusted herself off, and acted like nothing happened. Truly, it’s just me, laughing and crying like a lunatic.”
“As expected of CEO Mao, she’s a master of controlling her emotions. Have you seen Yueyue’s live stream? Yueyue was also startled at first, then her eyes reddened.”
“Director Wei is also struggling, it was clearly a joint performance, but in the end, he seemed to be scared by CEO Mao, hahaha. And that ‘Daddy likes pink hair ties,’ Director Wei truly, for CEO Mao, he’ll take on any role, hahaha.”
…
Some people, for their children, would take on any role, say anything.
Some people…
Wen Qiming initially thought that Wei Maomao was going to use “My dad said…” to interfere in their family matters, just like she always did with the Cheng family.
Who knew…
The rolling little chubby, the dust in the air, the heart-wrenching cries, the stomping and pounding…
He was stunned.
The performance at the next table was exaggerated, it had even gone overboard.
But…
From which sentence did the amusement, helplessness, and slight annoyance turn into a piercing pain…
The mischievous, dramatic little fatty had already gotten up from the ground, dusted herself off, climbed back onto the stool, and was even munching on a chicken leg… But those childish cries of pain, like a curse, lingered in Wen Qiming’s ears.
It was an act, it was fake, it was just a performance for him, even imitating him and slapping him in the face…
Wen Qiming told himself this, but…
His daughter, at some point, had lowered her head, her chopsticks picking at the rice grains in her bowl, one by one by one…
Before Wen Jiangyue lowered her head, Wen Qiming had seen her secretly reddened eyes.
“Daddy! I’m so sad, Daddy!”
“Daddy, my heart, it hurts so much!”
“I, the baby, I’m so sad!”
“I’ll never buy you gifts again! I don’t want to be sad anymore! I don’t want to love you anymore! I don’t love you anymore!”
Like a curse, the voices still lingered in his ears, uncontrollably… transforming from Wei Maomao’s childish voice to Wen Jiangyue’s soft voice. The tone was different, but the same… heart-wrenching pain.
Was it…
That much disappointment and sadness…
He…
Wen Qiming looked at the bouquet on the table, his eyes stinging.
“Yueyue…” Wen Qiming reached out and gently patted his daughter’s head. “Daddy was wrong. Daddy loves the gift Yueyue bought for me. After we finish eating, we’ll go back and put it in a vase, okay? We’ll take good care of it with water, the flowers can stay beautiful for several days.”
Based on Wen Qiming’s usual personality and habits, even if a mistake happened, it definitely wouldn’t be his fault alone. Even if he apologized, he wouldn’t do it in front of so many people, especially not immediately after being slapped in the face so dramatically.
But… He didn’t know why, but he felt he couldn’t wait, if he didn’t apologize immediately, he felt he couldn’t even get through this moment.
Wen Jiangyue, hearing his words, looked up. Her still red eyes weren’t filled with joy, but with suspicion.
“Give Daddy a chance, let Daddy cherish the gift my… Mmm, my baby bought for me, okay?” Wen Qiming hadn’t used such childish words to coax his daughter since she grew a bit older, so it sounded a bit awkward now.
But seeing his daughter’s stern expression soften slightly, Wen Qiming felt that it didn’t matter if he wasn’t used to coaxing children, he could still try his best to do well.
At the next table, Wei Chengli, holding a chicken leg in his chopsticks, the skin untouched, had been eavesdropping on the conversation at the next table, he nudged the little chubby dumpling next to him and whispered excitedly, “They made up~~~”
“Oh.” Wei Maomao, exhausted after her performance, put down the half-eaten chicken leg and was about to get off the table.
“Where are you going again?” Wei Chengli, alert, grabbed the chubby dumpling.
“To return the hair tie to Yan Yan.” Wei Maomao said, shaking the blue hair tie in her hand.
“Didn’t you buy it for me?” Wei Chengli didn’t let go.
“What do you need a hair tie for…” Wei Maomao pushed the bowl of candied cucumbers towards Wei Chengli. “You should eat this.”
The little chubby dumpling ran off.
Wei Chengli angrily picked up a candied cucumber and took a bite.
Hmph!
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