Category: Back to Three Years Old: Crushing Scumbags on a Parenting Reality Show

Chapter 137

The amusement park was brightly lit, the roaring of the idle machines created a technological buzz.

At the entrance, Wei Chengli’s fear was fake, but after entering, in this vast amusement park without ordinary visitors, they truly felt a sense of loneliness.

Thankfully, the chubby paw in his hand was still warm and strong, the soft, bouncy flesh allowing Wei Chengli to secretly relieve his stress and maintain the facade of a brave father.

Wei Maomao, with Yan Yan on her left and her old father on her right, excitedly entered the amusement park without queues.

But after entering, when Wei Maomao received her amusement park map and saw the numerous “Xs” on it, she realized she couldn’t play this, she couldn’t play that…

“I can’t play this either? It looks like a cartoon.” Wei Maomao said, holding up her map, pointing at the theater with a bear head drawn on it, which was marked with an “X,” she was shocked. She had to pretend she couldn’t read, otherwise she would have asked directly, a cartoon movie, wasn’t it the most suitable for children!

She wanted to watch a movie with Yan Yan!

“This is a 5D cartoon movie. The seats will lift into the air, and they’ll also move and shake according to the plot, so there’s a height requirement… It has to be 102 cm, you’re not tall enough, little one.” The amusement park staff member explained patiently, squatting down.

Wei Maomao: “… “ Hearing the explanation, it sounded even more fun.

102 cm…

Wei Maomao tugged at Cheng Tingyan’s hand, which was holding the map, she tiptoed and peeked.

As expected, Yan Yan’s map had far fewer “Xs” than hers!

She finally came to an amusement park without queues with the person she wanted to go with the most, but… The world was truly unfair to a three-year-old who was less than a meter tall!

Wei Maomao’s energy, full just a moment ago, deflated.

Cheng Tingyan also saw the map full of “Xs” in the little chubby bunny’s hand, just as she was studying the differences between their maps, she noticed the little chubby bunny’s obvious dejection.

This wouldn’t do.

“Maomao, let’s go, let’s go to the carousel, we can both play that. Or this little dinosaur ride, it’s also nearby, I wonder what it is… And this little teacup ride…” Cheng Tingyan said, pointing at Wei Maomao’s map.

Wei Maomao realized that the places she could go to on her map were either just watching performances or… rides for toddlers! Several rides that Cheng Tingyan had mentioned wanting to try in her previous life were all marked with “Xs” on her map. They were already at the amusement park, they didn’t even have to queue, of course, they should play the exciting ones, the ones Yan Yan wanted to play!

“No.” Wei Maomao said, closing her map and patting the one in Cheng Tingyan’s hand. “Let’s go to the places you want to go, I want to watch Yan Yan play on the rides I can’t play! Yan Yan is the best! Play for me, okay?”

Cheng Tingyan was stunned.

Why did these words sound so familiar?

When did she hear them last time…

Oh… It was when they were selling candied tomatoes, and when they were tallying the points, the little chubby bunny said to her with the same cuteness and sincerity, “I just want to see Yan Yan get first place, Yan Yan is the best! Get first place for me, okay?”

Cheng Tingyan only remembered that she couldn’t find any words to refute the little chubby bunny’s soft, childish voice, and she ended up getting first place.

And now… Hmph, she wouldn’t go and play alone.

Just as Wei Maomao was looking at Cheng Tingyan’s map, deciding which ride to go to first, Cheng Tingyan abruptly closed her map. Not only did she close it, she even ran forward, threw it into a trash can, and came back, as if nothing had happened, patting the map in the little chubby bunny’s hand.

Wei Maomao: “… “

“Okay, where should we go?” Cheng Tingyan asked, standing back in her original spot.

Wei Maomao: “Carousel…”

“Ahem, well…” The staff member, who had witnessed the whole thing, trying to hold back his laughter from the little babies’ cuteness, cleared his throat and said, “Our little friend who’s less than a meter tall, she has to sit in the carriage with an adult, she can’t ride the horses. And this friend who’s over a meter tall, she can ride a horse by herself.”

“We’ll sit in the carriage together.” Cheng Tingyan said, holding the little chubby bunny’s paw, she looked around, her gaze landing on Wei Chengli, who was leaning against the wall, yawning. “Uncle Wei, will you sit in the carriage with us?”

“No, I’m not Uncle Wei.” Wei Chengli said, raising his chin proudly. “From now on, please call me ‘Adult’!”

Cheng Tingyan: “… “

“Dad, be nice!” Wei Maomao said, walking towards him, she patted his leg.

“No, I’m not Dad, I’m an adult! Hmph, the adult you’re forced to bring along when you want to play!” Wei Chengli said, feeling sour.

“Dad, won’t you play with us? If you don’t, I’ll ask this sister to sit with us.” Wei Maomao said, walking towards the amusement park staff member.

Wei Chengli: “… “ Mmm, another day of being manipulated.

But in the end, they couldn’t form a team of three.

The other families gradually finished studying their maps, led by the easily scared Wen Dongyu, they decided to stick together. They would first go to the places they could all play at, based on Maomao’s map, which had the most restrictions, then if they had time and energy, the older and taller children could continue playing on the other rides.

After briefly discussing the map at the entrance, the group set off, heading straight for the first ride… the carousel.

Wei Maomao was quite satisfied with this, she could play with Cheng Tingyan, and later, Cheng Tingyan could go and play on the other rides.

But Wei Chengli…

Holding the little chubby dumpling tightly, controlling his pace, Wei Chengli tried to stay behind the Cheng family, but still within sight. He had been on high alert all day, from the aquarium to the swimming pool, afraid that those two would cause more trouble.

Wei Chengli had thought that he could finally relax his tense mind at night, but they were still playing together at this amusement park… Truly, endless overtime.

But Wei Chengli didn’t know that Cheng Rongrong, discouraged and doubting herself after her failed plan, wasn’t planning on causing any more trouble for now. However, someone outside had taken over her ambition, reviving the game.

Jin Youliang had been following the group to the aquarium this morning, and throughout the day, in front of Qin Sichao, he had seemingly effortlessly displayed all his skills, showcasing his ability to be a head director and manage a variety show. So tonight, at the amusement park, he naturally had to show his professionalism, his willingness to share the burden with his colleagues, and came to oversee things.

But Jin Youliang didn’t expect that he came to the amusement park, but there was no joy to be found.

Trailing behind the group, Jin Youliang walked slower and slower, gradually disappearing into the darkness. The only light came from his phone screen. The messages on the screen, like steel bars, pierced towards him, forming a cage, trapping him inside.

Jin Youliang opened a newly received picture, it was a transaction he had almost forgotten about, something from years ago, it was actually dug up.

Hehe, truly impressive!

The light from the screen illuminated Jin Youliang’s twisted smile.

A few months ago, when he first received a message from this strange person, Jin Youliang thought it was spam, a scam.

But the person actually knew about the money he embezzled from a previous project. That project had already been completed, the finances settled, no one within their team had even noticed, but this person knew everything. And… they even pointed out his recent shady income.

Everything this person mentioned could cost Jin Youliang his job.

But this person, they weren’t trying to report him to the authorities, nor were they trying to extort money from him, they offered him an irresistible temptation.

Thinking this person, who knew so much about him, must be either a hacker or someone powerful, Jin Youliang, following their instructions, investigated Shi Dingshan’s family matters while using his position as assistant director to subtly manipulate the “Where’s Baby Going” Season 3 project. He investigated the affair. He threatened someone into switching the medicine. Just when he thought this person was a god, Shi Dingshan turned the tables. Thankfully, he was cautious, otherwise, he would have been the one in trouble, not Shi Dingshan. And thankfully, when following their orders, he didn’t forget to cover his tracks.

The things he was being blackmailed with had been dealt with, the collaboration was over, there was no more to be gained, so Jin Youliang stopped responding. Although he hadn’t disposed of the SIM card he used for contacting them, he hadn’t replied to their messages for days. And the other party had also been quiet for many days… Jin Youliang had always suspected that this person was related to the Cheng family, after all, the things they asked him to manipulate in the variety show were all beneficial to the Cheng family. Come to think of it, the timing of them stopping sending messages coincided with the start of the show’s filming, Jin Youliang’s biggest suspect was Cheng Feiying.

But…

Tonight, he knew he was wrong.

Cheng Feiying was still filming the variety show, but the messages from that person arrived.

And not only did they arrive, they weren’t like the last few messages he had ignored, filled with empty threats and annoying instructions. But… evidence.

Jin Youliang had always thought that this person only knew about his deeds, they didn’t have any concrete evidence. Otherwise, why would they only be able to rage helplessly after he stopped responding?

But he was wrong.

This person not only had evidence of the things he mentioned, they had even more…

His attempt to cover his tracks was just a clown show in their eyes.

With such capabilities, why use him as a middleman, why not just go after Shi Dingshan directly!

Jin Youliang, his face ashen, scrolled through the newly received messages, he pressed the phone screen with enough force to crush it. [What do you want?]

What else could he want? He had already single-handedly sent Shi Dingshan to the hospital today, did he want him to go and assassinate him?

The reply came quickly, a long paragraph, as if it had been written in advance, just waiting for him to ask.

Jin Youliang read their request, then, his eyes widening, he read it again. His thumb, pressing on the screen to reply, used enough force to crush the phone. [Was it you who had someone make Wei Maomao fall in the bathroom yesterday? And now you want to do it again after just one day, do you think the viewers are idiots?]

In the pink children’s bedroom, Bai Lei looked at the newly received message on the screen, her index finger gently tapping on the table, she thought back. She seemed to have seen a few comments this morning about that little chubby menace falling, what, just because one person fell, another person couldn’t fall after a day?

[Tell me more about what happened yesterday.]

Jin Youliang, looking at the message, sneered and started typing his reply.

He only found out that last night’s incident might not have been entirely an accident after Wen Qiming came to find Zeng Huanian this afternoon. They were the assistant directors, but Shi Dingshan didn’t even tell them about such a big matter, so when Wen Qiming came looking for answers, the head director was gone, and the two assistant directors were clueless.

[The order for showering yesterday was Wei Maomao, Wen Jiangyue, then Cheng Rongrong. Cheng Tingyan was supposed to be next, but Wei Maomao needed to use the toilet and cut in line, then she slipped and fell, many staff members know about this. If something happens to Cheng Tingyan again, people will definitely think it’s intentional. Wouldn’t it be safer to do it privately, after the show ends, instead of during the live broadcast?]

Jin Youliang didn’t want to follow their instructions, but he had to be tactful because of the evidence, so he offered a suggestion.

Bai Lei admitted that he had a point.

But…

Bai Lei looked at the key information she had extracted from the original novel, written on the A4 paper in front of her.

Who knew when that first step towards success would come, if she had known Cheng Tingyan had that kind of opportunity, she wouldn’t have waited until now to act.

The timing now was indeed a bit awkward.

Based on what Jin Youliang said, someone must be suspecting that Rongrong was behind last night’s incident. If something happened again after they went back, it would be difficult to explain, it was better to do it during the show…

Heh, Liu Qiongfang’s child, wanting to climb onto Qin Sichao’s ladder to success, was she even worthy?

Bai Lei, having made up her mind, didn’t argue with Jin Youliang, she just sent him two more photos as evidence of his wrongdoings.

[If you don’t want me to expose this, then do as I said, I want to see results tomorrow.]

After sending the last message, Bai Lei put down her phone, gently stroking its worn edges, she smiled.

The prophetic memos, the plan to step by step drag Cheng Tingyan into the mud, the messages detailing the execution of the plan.

Ha, truly interesting, my little miracle.

She didn’t misjudge you, you, who hate them just like I do, you’re truly my good daughter.

It didn’t matter if the plan went off track, I’ll fix it for you.

Bai Lei picked up her phone and paid the hefty remaining balance for the evidence she had acquired.

At the amusement park, Jin Youliang, who had rejoined the group, felt like he was sitting on pins and needles in this summer night.

Logically, his previous attempt to use Shi Dingshan’s illness to bring him down before the show started filming was even more serious than what this person was asking him to do now. But he had something to gain from the former, while the latter was pure blackmail.

Jin Youliang looked at the brightly lit carousel, at the smiling faces.

He truly… hated it…

In the illuminated areas, warmth and joy filled the air, no one knew that in the shadows, malice was brewing.

They arrived late, and as they played, night deepened, they hadn’t even tried all the rides on Wei Maomao’s map when the babies started to get sleepy.

After getting all the babies’ consent, the amusement park staff arranged the last ride for them.

Swoosh… Boom, boom, boom… Bang, bang, bang, bang…

The lights shot into the sky, exploding into a dazzling fireworks display.

“Little bunny!” Cheng Tingyan exclaimed, one hand pointing at the sky on the far right, the other hand quickly squeezing the little chubby paw in her hand.

Wei Chengli, squatting behind them, followed Cheng Tingyan’s finger and saw, mmm, a chubby bunny face, no wonder she sounded so happy.

“Yan Yan…” Wei Chengli leaned closer and whispered mischievously, “Do you like the white, chubby, and silly little bunny in the sky, or the gray, skinny, and clever little bunny we saw at the puppy ride earlier?”

“I like… the white, chubby, and clever one.” Cheng Tingyan said, she had her own opinions now.

“Oh.” Wei Chengli nodded, he placed his hand on the little chubby dumpling’s messy head and whispered, “Baby…”

“Dad!” Wei Maomao swatted Wei Chengli’s hand away and glared at him. “Are you saying I’m white, chubby, and silly?”

“No, you’re white, chubby, and clever.” Cheng Tingyan said, answering before Wei Chengli could.

“… “ Wei Chengli, his attempt to tease his child failed, took two steps back, speechless. “Yan Yan, you need to eat less candy! You’re so sweet… My teeth hurt!”

“I didn’t…” Cheng Tingyan said, unable to respond to Wei Chengli’s complaint.

“Yan Yan, I’ll buy you lots of candy when we get back, I’ll make my dad get his teeth pulled.” Wei Maomao said, pulling Cheng Tingyan’s hand and pointing at the sky. “Look, there’s a little bear!”

“Maomao, why would Uncle Wei’s teeth hurt if I eat candy?” Cheng Tingyan asked, looking at the little bear, seeking an explanation.

Wei Maomao: “… “ Because the six-year-old Yan Yan, you’re truly… very sweet…

The colorful and diverse fireworks show marked a satisfying… comma… for the little babies’ amusement park adventure.

Wei Maomao, on the bus ride back, started to feel sleepy again, then she saw Cheng Tingyan folding something. Struggling to keep her eyes open, Wei Maomao recognized it, wasn’t it the map she wanted to throw away earlier, the one Yan Yan took?

“Yan Yan… This…” Wei Maomao said, yawning twice, unable to finish her sentence.

Cheng Tingyan understood, she folded the map, put it in her bag, and patted it. “When you’re a meter tall, we’ll come again. To watch the little bear cartoon you want to watch.”

Wei Maomao was stunned, she sat up straight, no longer sleepy.

Wei Chengli turned around and made a face at the little chubby dumpling.

Wei Maomao: “… “

A new life, a new journey, a new promise.

On the bus ride back, Wei Maomao glanced at Cheng Tingyan, who was already asleep, next to her.

It was another dreamlike day, although they were at an unexpected age and in unexpected appearances, but they had truly gone to the amusement park together. And they would… go again.

“Dad, do you remember what you said to us before breakfast?” Wei Maomao asked, her heart filled with warmth, she couldn’t even wait until they got back to the villa and the cameras and microphones were turned off, she whispered, her voice a bit muffled.

“I remember. I’ll do it when we get back.” Wei Chengli said, glancing back at Cheng Tingyan, who was sleeping peacefully.

Jealous as he was, he wouldn’t forget about the important matter.

Wei Chengli was true to his word, as soon as they got back to the villa and the live broadcast ended, he asked Liu Ming to take the two children to shower, while he went to the villa next door to find someone.

But he couldn’t find Shi Dingshan, he was almost fooled by Zeng Huanian’s evasive answers. It was only when Qin Sichao arrived that Wei Chengli found out Shi Dingshan had been taken to the hospital this morning.

“He stayed up late last night, then he was triggered by the trending topics this morning.”

“As soon as something was wrong, we gave him his medicine, the ambulance arrived quickly.”

“He’s done the checkups, it’s an old problem, there’s no immediate danger, but the doctor wants to keep him under observation.”

“He’ll stay for one night, we’ll see how he’s doing tomorrow. Lao Shan said he wants to come back tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry, the arrangements that needed to be made have been made, we can continue filming as scheduled.”

Wen Qiming’s matter was stopped by Zeng Huanian earlier, afraid of disturbing Shi Dingshan, they waited until night to ask. Shi Dingshan asked Qin Sichao to explain it to his two assistant directors. Qin Sichao had just finished explaining to them and was about to pour himself a glass of water when Wei Chengli arrived.

Unlike Zeng Huanian, Qin Sichao knew Wei Chengli was close to Shi Dingshan, so he naturally told him everything, there was nothing to hide. Zeng Huanian and Jin Youliang also heard it.

Zeng Huanian was fine, Shi Dingshan’s message earlier meant that Qin Sichao would be in charge while he was away, he just had to listen.

But Jin Youliang was different.

That matter was already difficult and troublesome. And now, without his knowledge, the protection had been arranged, and there was even Qin Sichao, who knew the situation, overseeing things…

He had done so much, even risked using the clues from that person to send Shi Dingshan to the hospital, just to show off his abilities in front of Qin Sichao.

But now, it seemed like he wouldn’t be just showing off, he would be completely exposed.

What should he do…

Jin Youliang felt a headache coming on.

He wasn’t the only one with a headache.

Wei Chengli, after making his rounds, his task unaccomplished, and even more worried, reached the door of his bedroom and heard the two little ones’ laughter inside, soft and sweet…

He hesitated for a moment, then turned and decided to go to the balcony for some fresh air.

Since there was nothing he could do for now, he would let them be happy for a while longer.

In a place Wei Chengli couldn’t hear, the laughter in the bedroom gradually subsided.

Wei Maomao yawned, rubbed her eyes, and tried to look at the door. “Why isn’t Dad back yet?”

“Go to sleep, your dad will be back when you wake up.” Cheng Tingyan said, patting the little chubby bunny.

“No… I want to wait… for Dad… I want to know… what he and Uncle Shi…”

Her unfinished sentence trailed off.

Cheng Tingyan turned slightly and looked at the little chubby bunny next to her.

As expected, she was already sound asleep.

White, chubby… silly…

Cheng Tingyan suddenly thought of the little chubby bunny’s dad’s words when they were watching the fireworks.

Mmm… Sometimes clever, sometimes silly.

In a flash, Cheng Tingyan, who had been reminiscing, took out her handkerchief from the pillow and gently wiped the little chubby bunny’s mouth.

Mmm… Silly when sleeping.

But she was the best little chubby bunny in the world!

They had ridden the carousel, the boat ride, the teacup ride, the puppy ride… They had watched many performances, and they had watched the most beautiful fireworks together.

She wanted to play more with the little chubby bunny in the future, see more things together.

Just thinking about those possibilities made Cheng Tingyan’s heart overflow with sweetness. Just thinking about it made her eyes curve into crescents and the corners of her mouth lift.

She wanted a future, she truly wanted that kind of future.

Cheng Tingyan, exhausted after a long day, comfortably lying in bed after a shower, also felt sleepy. As she thought and thought, her mind became hazy, her thoughts wandering.

She felt sweet, very sweet, she was sweet… Dad’s teeth…

As Cheng Tingyan struggled to keep her eyes open, finally succumbing to sleepiness, the soft click of the bedroom door made her wake up again.

“Not asleep yet?” Wei Chengli asked softly, peeking his head in, looking at the two little ones on the bed. “Yan Yan, why aren’t you sleeping?”

Cheng Tingyan, already half asleep, looked at the head peeking in at the door, she wanted to speak, but couldn’t help but close her eyes.

“Why aren’t you sleeping? What are you thinking about, silly girl?” Wei Chengli asked, trying to coax her to sleep, his task unaccomplished.

“Thinking… I, very sweet. You, teeth hurt. Pitiful…” Cheng Tingyan mumbled, her eyes closed, struggling, then she fell asleep.

Wei Chengli: “… “ Little one, wake up, pick up your manners, then sleep!

Chapter 136p2

No matter how much she changed or sabotaged the plot, even though Cheng Tingyan was no longer the confident, cheerful, and talented girl from the original novel, even though she had become withdrawn, sensitive, and quiet. Once this variety show started, once Cheng Tingyan arrived, the female lead’s halo was activated.

Then what about her? Was she also going to follow the fate of her character in the original novel?

Before transmigrating, Cheng Rongrong had read many novels, including ones about transmigrators. Some transmigrators got the OP protagonist script, they confidently took away the original protagonist’s opportunities, even their love interests, and eventually achieved great things. Some transmigrators got the moral high ground script, no matter how hard they tried, they were suppressed by fate, they couldn’t compete with the original protagonist and eventually failed. Of course, there were also transmigrators who tried to cooperate with the protagonist using their foreknowledge, some achieved a happy ending, some… became stepping stones.

Cheng Rongrong, having read the original novel, knew very well that as the illegitimate daughter, she and the legitimate daughter couldn’t have a happy ending. In the original novel, Cheng Tingyan rose to the top, and she never even offered a helping hand to her half-sister.

And besides, having what others had, how could it compare to having it herself?

Cheng Rongrong had always believed that she was destined for greatness.

But now, she suddenly… wasn’t so sure.

This variety show was nearing its end. She hadn’t managed to gain the other babies’ favor, Qin Sichao’s gaze wasn’t on her, and even her risky attempt to eliminate Cheng Tingyan had failed…

What else could she do?

In the car, Cheng Rongrong, staring blankly out the window, was lost in confusion.

At home, Bai Lei, opening one memo after another, was gradually seeing the light.

Wei Maomao woke up, she was still in the car, she rubbed her eyes, the scenery outside the window was still unfamiliar, she couldn’t tell where they were.

“Awake? Do you want some water?” Cheng Tingyan asked immediately, noticing the little chubby bunny’s movements.

“I…” Wei Maomao was about to speak when she saw the photo in Cheng Tingyan’s hand.

The photographer at the studio hadn’t developed the photos yet, this was clearly taken by Wei Chengli with the Polaroid… A little chubby fish trying to touch a shark’s face with her chubby paw…

Help!

Wei Maomao, embarrassed, closed her eyes, pretending she hadn’t woken up.

Wen Jiangyue, Wen Jiangyue, they were friends, why be so eager to destroy each other?

For the sake of the children’s happiness, Wei Maomao had sacrificed too much, of course… she would sacrifice even more.

She didn’t know if the program team was planning to fulfill all the babies’ wishes at this Shudian stop.

After Cheng Rongrong’s dance academy and Shen Zilin’s night market, on their way back from the aquarium, the babies saw the new facilities in the villa’s courtyard before even getting off the bus.

Fifteen minutes later, Wei Maomao, wearing her swimsuit, looked at the inflatable pool and water slide that occupied the entire courtyard, she touched her chubby belly, her heart filled with despair.

Whatever… Let the world burn…

“Maomao, I’ll hold your hand.” Cheng Tingyan said, slowly approaching the edge of the pool from the water, she reached out to the little chubby bunny who was sitting by the pool, only her feet submerged.

Wei Maomao glanced at the genuine smile on Cheng Tingyan’s face, her expression softening.

Okay, she would let the world burn later…

With a splash, the little chubby fish, without her fancy dress, entered the water, her chubby paws slapping the surface.

“Who wished for this water park?” Wei Maomao asked, looking at the boys who were playing with inflatable ducks. “I remember it was Wen Dongyu, right!”

Hmph!

After the tight-fitting mermaid tail skirt, it was a tight-fitting swimsuit, Wen Dongyu, you’re in trouble!

The little chubby fish’s merciless water splashing marked the beginning of the water battle.

The little ones were happily splashing around in the water, but among the dads, sitting on the villa steps, eating popsicles, some weren’t so happy.

“It’s okay, the water isn’t deep, it’s just a little bit above Maomao’s waist. There are so many of us here, and the cameramen are also watching.” Wen Qiming said, squatting next to Wei Chengli, he handed him a tissue. “Eat quickly, it’s dripping.”

Wei Chengli, hearing his words, looked down at the popsicle in his hand. Okay… His mind had been on the pool for a while, he hadn’t even noticed the melted popsicle dripping on his hand.

“Right, don’t worry. Look at Maomao, she’s so agile in the water, every splash hits its target, and then she runs away, making my son look so clumsy, he hasn’t even hit anyone after splashing for so long.” Wen Xiang said, taking a bite of his popsicle, he continued comforting Wei Chengli. “With Maomao’s skills, yesterday’s incident was truly an accident, she’ll definitely be fine today.”

Wei Chengli: “… “

Wen Qiming: “… “

Sigh, the son was a fool, and the dad was just as bad.

Wen Qiming, reminded by Wen Xiang, wanted to find someone again.

Although Yueyue seemed fine after talking to Yan Yan and Maomao, the hurt was real, it couldn’t just disappear silently.

Thinking of this, Wen Qiming glanced at Wei Chengli before standing up.

This one, he was also a fool!

Losing track of the cameraman, it could happen once, it could happen again.

When Zeng Huanian saw Wen Qiming disappear behind a pillar in the live broadcast window, then the live feed only showed the scenery, no people, he knew he must have gone behind the cameraman again, voluntarily pausing the live broadcast.

As expected, within two minutes, the missing person appeared at the door of the monitoring room.

Zeng Huanian, helpless, pointed at his collar, mouthing the word “microphone.”

“Removed it.” Wen Qiming said, striding into the monitoring room, then he froze when he saw the third person inside.

“Director… Qin?” Wen Qiming asked, surprised.

“Hello.” Qin Sichao said, standing up politely and extending his hand in greeting.

Honestly, he felt for the first time that it was good to be recognized instantly.

Hmph, who was fat, who was so fat that he couldn’t be recognized, only that Wei guy had such bad eyesight!

Wen Qiming was surprised to see Qin Sichao in the monitoring room, but he was even more surprised… that Shi Dingshan, the head director he wanted to find, had been taken to the hospital this morning and hadn’t come back yet.

Because Qin Sichao was there, Zeng Huanian took Wen Qiming to another empty room, first apologized for not knowing about the situation earlier, then apologized again, saying that the other assistant director, Jin Youliang, didn’t know much either, and since it was inconvenient to contact Shi Dingshan for now, he could only focus on filming, then find time to investigate, he hoped Wen Qiming could give them more time.

What else could Wen Qiming say? He couldn’t drag the director, who had a heart attack, out of the hospital to help him investigate yesterday’s incident.

Angry as he was, he was still a human being.

It was a pity that they always handled this matter behind Qin Sichao’s back, missing the person who knew the most.

In the villa’s courtyard, the little babies splashed and rolled around in the pool, it wasn’t until sunset that they reluctantly (still engrossed) got out of the water.

Wei Maomao thought that her day of “tight-fitting” outfits was finally over, she could soon close her eyes and welcome a fresh new day, leaving everything behind.

However, after getting out of the water, showering, eating dinner, and being told to start their “evening sleep,” with a two-hour countdown, Wei Maomao knew it wasn’t over yet.

Everyone’s wishes were truly… a bit too much…

The little chubby fish, lying in the soft bed, her chubby belly patted twice by Yan Yan, her vision went black.

9:30 PM, night had fallen, the breeze was cool.

The grand and massive entrance of the amusement park made the filming crew of dozens seem tiny.

The amusement park, open past its usual hours to accommodate the live broadcast, was empty of ordinary visitors, only the flashing lights and roaring machines, and the staff who were barely visible…

How should she put it…

Although based on the opening hours sign at the entrance, this amusement park did have night sessions, and it was indeed brightly lit. But… such a large place, with only a handful of them, looking at the empty entrance, it truly… felt like walking into the mouth of a technological monster.

In the night breeze, the little babies instinctively moved closer to their dads, closer and closer.

Wei Chengli looked at the other babies clinging to their dads, Wen Dongyu was so scared that he even asked Wen Xiang to carry him. Then he looked at the little chubby dumpling, walking two steps ahead of him, her stride confident, her chubby paw firmly holding Yan Yan’s hand, why wasn’t she coming over!

Hmph, chubby body, fearless heart.

Wei Chengli, seeing that they were about to enter the gate, and the little rascal was still walking straight, showing no signs of seeking comfort, couldn’t help but take a few quick steps forward and poke her. “Aren’t you scared?”

Scared of what?

An amusement park without queues!

She wouldn’t have this opportunity in a lifetime if it weren’t for this show.

In her previous life, after finally paying off her debts and having money to spend, she went to an amusement park she hadn’t been to in years. Because she was used to being poor, she was reluctant to spend money on VIP fast passes, she had to queue for over an hour for each popular ride… Truly, ninety minutes of waiting, three minutes of fun.

How sore her legs were from queuing back then, how strong they were now as she walked forward!

And…

Wei Maomao unconsciously tightened her grip on Cheng Tingyan’s hand.

In her previous life, it wasn’t her who first thought of going to the amusement park.

It was Cheng Tingyan… on the other side of the internet…

When they were sharing some travel videos, Cheng Tingyan mentioned that she hadn’t been to an amusement park in many years. At that time, they hadn’t officially talked about meeting in person, they just jokingly said that maybe they would have a chance to go together in the future.

Whether Cheng Tingyan meant it or not at the time, Wei Maomao was… quite serious about it.

At that time, to pay off her debts, Wei Maomao also hadn’t been to an amusement park in years. The world was changing so fast, Wei Maomao, focused on making money, couldn’t keep up with many things. She was a bit afraid, afraid that if there was truly a day when she could go to the amusement park with Cheng Tingyan, facing unfamiliar places and unfamiliar procedures, she wouldn’t be smart enough, she would be embarrassed.

So… she went by herself first.

Although in her previous life, that “maybe” they talked about eventually became a shattered dream.

But… now they truly had a chance.

To go to the amusement park with Cheng Tingyan, and they didn’t even have to queue!

Such a good thing, Wei Maomao’s heart was about to leap out of her chest, what was there to be afraid of?

“I’m not scared.” Wei Maomao said firmly, facing Wei Chengli’s impolite poke.

Wei Chengli: “… “ Little chubby dumpling, she was truly fearless!

Wei Chengli next to her fell silent.

But Wei Maomao remembered, it was night again, there would probably be no cameras or microphones when they went back, Wei Chengli should go find Shi Dingshan.

A useful dad needed more attention.

“Are you scared?” Wei Maomao asked, tilting her head to look at Wei Chengli, she raised her free chubby paw and said politely, “Hold my hand if you’re scared.”

Wei Chengli: “… “

The flashing lights, changing colors, concealed the conflicted expressions on some of the dads’ faces.

“I’m scared.” Wei Chengli said, finally surrendering to his desire to be close to the little chubby dumpling, he grabbed her paw.

Chapter 136p1

“Baby, look here, smile, raise your right hand, higher, higher, you can almost touch the shark.”

Wei Maomao stared at Wei Chengli, who was a few steps away, holding the Polaroid camera and directing her poses, with an emotionless expression.

Enough was enough! Even the professional photographer at the studio didn’t have this many demands!

Thinking that she still needed this guy to go to Shi Dingshan and put their plan into action, Wei Maomao sighed, raised her right hand, then forced a smile, and continued to cooperate.

“Baby, you’re not tall enough, raise your hand a bit higher, just a little bit. Baby, you’re truly… a bit short…” Wei Chengli said, dejectedly, accidentally revealing his true thoughts as he almost lay on the ground, trying to capture the shot of the little chubby mermaid grabbing the shark’s face using forced perspective.

“Dad, you don’t have a baby anymore!” Wei Maomao said coldly, she lowered her hand, abandoned her stupid dad, and ran towards Cheng Tingyan, who was taking a photo with a group of fish around the corner.

“Hey, hey, hey…” Wei Chengli said, scrambling to his feet and reaching out to stop her.

But the short, little chubby dumpling, dragging her sparkly mermaid tail skirt, had already run away.

Wei Maomao stopped behind the photographer who was taking pictures of Cheng Tingyan. The same sparkly dress, the same shiny crown, Cheng Tingyan looked so pretty wearing them, standing among the floor-to-ceiling aquarium with a school of fish, she sparkled like a real little mermaid princess.

It was so good. Yan Yan, she should be like this, happy and carefree.

Just as Wei Maomao was watching with satisfaction, completely forgetting that she was also a fish waiting to be photographed, Cheng Tingyan, under the photographer’s instructions, turned around and saw the little chubby bunny.

“Maomao, let’s take a picture together!”

The beautiful little mermaid princess, lifting her skirt, ran towards her, her bright eyes filled with joy and anticipation.

Wei Maomao was momentarily stunned, she was pulled to the front of the large glass window.

“Okay, both of our little mermaid princesses, look this way, stand closer, the chubby… mmm, the smaller mermaid princess, raise your scepter.”

The photographer’s instructions came clearly, Wei Maomao, as she raised her scepter, looked down at her slightly protruding belly and instinctively sucked in her stomach.

During lunch, Wei Maomao thought she had to become a sparkling fish to avoid making Wen Jiangyue sad.

It turned out that her self-awareness wasn’t accurate enough.

What sparkling fish…

It should be a sparkling… chubby fish!

Why was this little mermaid dress so tight!

She couldn’t let the beautiful little mermaid princess take a photo with a chubby fish… Wei Maomao, absolutely unwilling to leave a chubby fish in Yan Yan’s childhood memories, tried her best to suck in her stomach.

And so, hidden from Wei Maomao’s view, the beautiful little mermaid princess and a cute, red-faced chubby fish left a precious photo together.

Wei Maomao’s efforts were witnessed and remembered by the viewers in the live broadcast room, they turned into laughter, tears of joy, and red hands from slapping the table too hard.

“Oh my god, hahahahaha, is this still our CEO Mao, who always runs around with messy hair? The three-year-old CEO Mao has finally awakened, is she starting to care about her image?”

“Truly adorable! I’m going to set this screenshot of Little Mermaid CEO Mao secretly sucking in her stomach and tiptoeing as my desktop wallpaper, it’ll be my motivation for 996, hahahahaha!”

“Our CEO Mao doesn’t need to do this! Let go of your little belly! Pretty little mermaids are all the same, I love the unique and adorable little chubby fish!!!”

“I also love the little chubby fish, I can’t stop taking screenshots, hahaha, but I disagree with ‘pretty little mermaids are all the same’! When Yan Yan came out in her costume, that turn, that flick of her tail, that shy and innocent glance, my heart melted! No matter how many pretty little mermaids I see in the future, I’ll never forget that glance, my precious baby!”

“Yueyue is also hilarious, after Yan Yan and Maomao changed into their costumes, Yueyue couldn’t come out of the changing room for a long time, I thought she couldn’t put on the clothes properly. But then she peeked out, looking all sneaky, and said she was embarrassed because the back was backless, hahaha!”

“As expected of our CEO Mao, she immediately turned around, showing her chubby fish back, making Yueyue laugh so hard that she forgot about her embarrassment.”

“Speaking of which, I think Yan Yan was also quite embarrassed when she first came out, until she saw our little chubby fish, hahaha, her expression immediately changed.”

“How did it change? From a shy little mermaid to a hungry little shark, hahaha! Speaking of which, both Yan Yan and Yueyue are quite suitable for this Little Mermaid costume, one is beautiful and delicate, almost ethereal, the other has this cute contrast of going from a serious scholar to a fairy tale character, and then CEO Mao, hahaha, CEO Mao is truly adorable, it’s just… compared to a mermaid princess, she looks more like a meal for a shark.”

“!!! What shark meal! She’s clearly an adorable Hakimi! Princesses are high and mighty, people look up to them, Hakimi is short and chubby, people want to pet her~~~”

*Hakimi(哈基米) : slang for cute cat*

“Hahaha, with that explanation, Hakimi and shark meal aren’t that different! Are you guys even being polite! If you continue like this, CEO Mao will expel you from the bunny fandom!”

…

Wei Maomao, immersed in managing her image, trying to make the photo look better, was oblivious to the joy online.

Solo shots, duo shots, trio shots… Photos with sharks, photos with octopuses, photos with schools of fish… Photos with the floor-to-ceiling aquarium, photos in the underwater tunnel, photos with specimens… Indoors, outdoors, outdoors, indoors…

By the time it was over, Wei Maomao, who had been sucking in her stomach and tiptoeing, was… exhausted.

Truly, beauty came at a price.

On the bus ride back, Wei Maomao, as soon as she sat down, without even saying a word, she leaned her head against the seat and fell asleep.

Some people slept peacefully, even snoring softly.

Some people… their eyes were red with anger, but they couldn’t close them.

Cheng Feiying glanced at his daughter, who was sitting upright next to him, her lips pursed, she hadn’t spoken much since lunch, her expression serious, he kindly opened a bottle of water and handed it to her. “Drink some water.”

Cheng Rongrong shook her head, refusing.

“Then play with this doll you just redeemed.” Cheng Feiying said, picking up the mermaid doll from the bag next to him and handing it to her.

Cheng Rongrong looked at the little mermaid doll, it was delicate and cute, wearing… the same dress as those three, she felt even angrier, she snatched it and stuffed it back into the bag forcefully.

Cheng Feiying knew why Cheng Rongrong was angry, but whose fault was it?

Today, the vouchers were distributed based on the number of qualified photos the babies took. It was her who didn’t take the pictures properly, during the tallying, many of her photos were either missing the head or the tail, obstructed, or blurry… She didn’t even have enough qualified photos to redeem one voucher. And he had to go back with her, find the locations again, and retake the photos. By the time they got enough for one voucher and redeemed this doll, the other families were already eating in the cafeteria.

That was when they found out that the other three girls had all redeemed that photo-taking package.

Not to mention anything else, that package required two vouchers to redeem, even if they returned the doll, they wouldn’t have enough.

Either they had to retake the photos after lunch, reach the next tier, then return the doll and go take the pictures together, or they had to visit the other exhibits with the remaining babies and head back together after they were done.

At that time, Cheng Feiying saw that Cheng Rongrong seemed a bit frustrated, she also seemed to want to take the pictures, so he kindly suggested that they go and retake the photos. After all, the voucher redemption was tiered, each tier required fewer photos than the previous one, they wouldn’t need to take many more photos to redeem another voucher.

Cheng Rongrong refused, so Cheng Feiying didn’t say anything more.

After all, he was also tired from walking around, if Cheng Rongrong didn’t want to retake the photos, he definitely wouldn’t force her to work, right?

It was her own inefficiency, her own choice, she didn’t get to take the Little Mermaid photos, what was she angry about now?

Cheng Feiying glanced at the doll that Cheng Rongrong had stuffed back into the bag, he was starting to feel apathetic. Since she wasn’t grateful, he wouldn’t bother anymore, he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, trying to rest.

Cheng Feiying’s perfunctory parenting was clearly displayed on the tablet in Bai Lei’s hand.

But Bai Lei didn’t even look at it.

All her attention was on the two phones in front of her.

On the newer phone screen was the security footage that Bai Lei was constantly rewinding. The footage showed the room she was currently in.

Soon, Bai Lei found what she was looking for in the zoomed-in footage.

The older phone next to it was turned on, the latest password entered, the screen unlocked.

Bai Lei, her beautifully manicured fingers hovering between two icons, hesitated for a moment, then finally clicked on the notepad.

This phone, she had seen it countless times on the security footage. She had seen it being used, being hidden, being carefully moved from one place to another, she had seen it being unused for days, then being secretly used every day…

During those days of waiting, to avoid spoiling the fun too early, she always squinted, holding the phone far away, not peeking at the content inside.

Now, life had finally become so boring that she had to unravel this miracle.

Then let her see, how interesting this little one truly was.

In the Cheng family’s car, Cheng Feiying was silent, his eyes closed, the quietness made Cheng Rongrong feel… lonely.

Cheng Rongrong didn’t understand.

She had prepared for so long, from the first day of this variety show, she had worked hard to build good relationships with the other babies, to gain their favor, and then isolate Cheng Tingyan together. But those ungrateful brats, they still gravitated towards Cheng Tingyan bit by bit, now it was her who was being isolated.

They started eating before she even reached the cafeteria.

The other three girls all got to take Little Mermaid photos, no one called her.

Why!

Was this the female lead’s halo?

Chapter 135

Outside the aquarium, after Wen Qiming and Zeng Huanian finished their discussion for the time being, Wen Qiming immediately scanned the few groups of people who hadn’t entered yet.

Wen Jiangyue was not far away, Wen Qiming quickly spotted her, but his worry didn’t ease, instead, it intensified.

What was going on! Why were her eyes red! Had she been crying!

What were they talking about? Why were Wei Maomao and Cheng Tingyan both looking at Yueyue with serious expressions! They looked a bit intimidating!

Could they be talking about the slippery floor incident yesterday!

No! He couldn’t wait for the clueless Zeng Huanian to investigate, he had to clarify things with these two little ones!

Wen Qiming frowned, he quickened his pace, anxious.

Wei Maomao, hearing the approaching footsteps, instinctively looked towards the source of the sound, the person was already standing before them.

Killing intent?

Wei Maomao was stunned.

Cheng Tingyan, engrossed in her conversation with Wen Jiangyue, wasn’t as alert as Wei Maomao, she was still lecturing with a stern expression, completely oblivious to the person approaching with a dark expression.

“Maomao already peeled it a bit, it fell on the ground, you can’t eat it anymore!” Cheng Tingyan said seriously, her face stern.

“But I picked it up quickly, they said on TV that it’s fine to eat if you pick it up within five seconds. And it still has the shell, it’s fine.” Wen Jiangyue said softly. “You guys specially saved it for me…” It was still the one she dropped on the floor because of her crying.

“You cried for more than five seconds! It was already a long time when you picked it up, you can’t eat it!” Cheng Tingyan said sternly. “You’ll get a stomachache! I’ll get you another one when we go back, don’t eat this one!”

“But…” Wen Jiangyue said, clutching the quail egg, reluctant. This wasn’t just a snack they saved for her, it was also a symbol of their reconciliation, without this quail egg, they wouldn’t have called her over, she wouldn’t have known they believed her, then she would still be sad for a long time… Wen Jiangyue couldn’t bear to just throw it away.

The approaching tiger, descending the mountain with a fierce expression, hearing what the little ones were talking about, his anger instantly dissipated.

Well scolded, brilliantly scolded, perfectly scolded!

“Ahem… Yan Yan is right. We’ll buy another one next time.” Wen Qiming said, clearing his throat, he reached out and took the quail egg from Wen Jiangyue’s hand.

“Dad!” Wen Jiangyue said, surprised and delighted, she had just noticed Wen Qiming standing behind her.

Wen Qiming, his leg hugged by his soft daughter, his heart also softened, he even couldn’t help but reflect on whether he had entered the “strict father” mode too early, maybe he should wait until she was a bit older before being strict.

Wen Jiangyue didn’t know that Wen Qiming could think about such profound matters in just a second, she tugged at his hand, making him bend down, then whispered in his ear, “Dad, you said you would give me the candy on the bus? Can you give it to me now?”

Just as Wen Qiming was taking out the candy, he heard another even softer voice.

“Dad, they know it wasn’t me!”

Wen Qiming’s hand, reaching for the candy, paused, he looked at his daughter in surprise, he realized that although her eyes were red, she must have cried, but now, her eyes, looking at him, were bright and sparkling, the previous gloominess and dejection gone.

The three little girls happily shared the candies and, hand in hand, followed the guide, who was waving a small flag, into the aquarium.

The tiger, who had been descending the mountain with a fierce expression, now, holding a dirty quail egg, awkwardly became a cat with its tail between its legs.

How should he put it… Was his expression too dark when he came over earlier? Little Maomao seemed to be stunned… Ah, he was so impolite, so ungentlemanly…

Wen Qiming, as he reattached his microphone, reflected on his behavior, feeling ashamed, he followed the little babies.

Giant glass walls reaching the ceiling, a transparent tunnel, a blue ocean, fish and treasures coexisting.

Listening to the guide tell stories about the fish, interacting with them through the glass, racing with them, joy filled the faces of most of the little babies. Each Polaroid photo captured the beauty they wanted to preserve.

Mmm…

Most of the little babies.

Except for Cheng Rongrong.

The trap she had meticulously set, using all her brain cells, was ruined by a certain little chubby menace who was desperate to poop.

Even though that little menace fell, she still felt a bit satisfied.

Even though the program team, as she had expected, couldn’t see through the “Rashomon” situation, they glossed over it, turning it into an accident without any further investigation, she wasn’t implicated at all.

Cheng Rongrong was still… very angry!

Now the program team had separated the families again, Cheng Tingyan was always clinging to the Wei family, she barely had any opportunities. Even if Cheng Tingyan came back to live with them, she couldn’t use the same trick twice. And most importantly, with the families separated, she didn’t have a scapegoat anymore.

Qin Sichao was so close, was she just going to watch as Cheng Tingyan caught his attention again and got that amazing opportunity!

It was all Jin Youliang’s fault.

That plan, after just one failure, he refused to try again, later, he didn’t even bother to pretend, he just used being busy as an excuse and cut off contact. If he had been more capable, if he had succeeded, if he had become the head director, there would be so many more opportunities for her to manipulate things! She wouldn’t be so passive, limited to just a bathroom!

A good hand, played terribly, he deserved to never become a head director.

Hating this, hating that, there were too many people and things she hated, the resentment condensed in her heart, the anger suppressed under her emotionless silence, even the magical underwater world and the beautiful fish couldn’t move Cheng Rongrong.

On the large projection screen, Cheng Rongrong, half-heartedly taking pictures of the fish, didn’t look happy at all.

On the sofa across from the projection, Bai Lei had the same unhappy expression as she sipped her coffee.

In the past few days, Bai Lei had barely watched Cheng Rongrong’s live broadcast, and she only occasionally glanced at the other channels.

But today was different.

Early this morning, the gossip about Shi Dingshan, the show’s head director, exploded on social media.

Even Bai Lei was a bit interested, she browsed through several live broadcasts, wanting to see the director’s current state of mind through the camera.

Of course, initially, it was just out of boredom, pure gossip that she knew was useless.

But as she watched, she noticed something.

What was going on?

It seemed like the families were doing the task individually, the children were running around excitedly in the aquarium, doing their tasks, gathering and dispersing, dispersing and gathering. In each individual live broadcast window, people from other families would often appear.

But!

In Cheng Feiying and Cheng Rongrong’s live broadcast window, it was always just the two of them.

Bai Lei, for comparison, even brought her laptop and tablet, opening several live broadcast windows to watch side by side, in addition to the projection.

Then she watched as Wen Qiming, taking Wen Jiangyue, was walking towards the tunnel ahead, she even saw Cheng Feiying and Cheng Rongrong also walking towards that direction, logically, the two families should have walked together in the tunnel for a while.

But Wen Qiming suddenly stopped and turned around, pulling Wen Jiangyue with him.

He didn’t even turn at a corner, he just turned back directly.

If it were just one family, it could be a coincidence.

But Bai Lei saw that Wei Chengli, taking Cheng Tingyan and Wei Maomao, also encountered Cheng Feiying and the others, and they didn’t even try to join them. Of course, they seemed a bit more polite than Wen Qiming, they didn’t turn around and leave immediately, they just stopped, in an empty spot with no fish, and only continued walking after Cheng Feiying and the others were gone.

As for Shen Jianghe and Wen Xiang, they were even more polite, they would greet and chat for a bit when they encountered them.

But… with so many windows open, the contrast was obvious.

Whether it was Shen Jianghe, Wen Xiang, Shen Zilin, or Wen Dongyu, their attitudes towards the other families and towards their family were completely different. The adults’ enthusiasm and politeness might require closer observation, but the children… Whether they greeted from afar, ran over to join them and look at the fish, or just casually responded when they were right in front of them, it was too obvious.

The most outrageous one was Wang Zhizhi, he just responded with a single sentence, then turned and walked away, his back to them, even his dad couldn’t stop him.

Bai Lei looked at Cheng Rongrong, who didn’t look happy at all in the live broadcast, then at Cheng Tingyan, who was always being held by that stinky Maomao, chatting and laughing with those annoying children wherever she went.

Why!

Why was Liu Qiongfang’s child living so happily, even happier than her child!

At 10:43 AM, Zhang Jin, looking at the tenth missed call on his phone, sighed deeply, he finally answered the call when it rang for the eleventh time. After these past few days, he understood, this person truly didn’t understand what a silent rejection was, as long as he didn’t answer, she would keep calling until his phone died.

Cheng Feiying, that wall between him and the devil, how many more days until he came back!

There was no one else in the room, Zhang Jin placed the phone on the table and turned on the speaker, this was the last bit of distance he could create between himself and evil.

“What’s going on, why do I always have to call so many times before you answer?”

“If your phone is broken, then get a new one, are you out of money?”

“What did she say? Where are we meeting today?”

…

The relentless barrage of questions was followed by increasingly less politeness with each passing day.

Not receiving a response, Bai Lei, who was lying on the sofa, kicked a pillow in frustration and said angrily, “Are you there?”

“Yes… Who are you talking about? Who are we meeting today?” Zhang Jin asked, pretending to be confused.

“Who else could I be talking about, the other agent I called yesterday at noon?” Bai Lei said coldly, sitting up. “What, is Liu Qiongfang afraid to meet me?”

Zhang Jin took a sip of tea and said perfunctorily, “Oh, oh, you mean her. What, you really want to meet her? I thought you were joking.”

“So you didn’t ask her?” Bai Lei asked, after a pause. “What, with Cheng Feiying’s current situation, you, his agent, are just going to watch? Not to mention the future, he’s earned you a lot of money these past few years, right? You’re just going to watch, not even willing to make a phone call?”

“It’s not something Liu Qiongfang can solve…” Zhang Jin said, frowning, his tone less perfunctory, but he was interrupted before he could finish his sentence.

“I’m not going to beat around the bush. Now, the negative comments about Cheng Feiying and Rongrong online, it’s all because of Cheng Tingyan’s portrayal of her unhappy life in our family during the live broadcast. But happy or not, what does a six-year-old child know? Her mom is disabled, she can’t afford to raise her, we took over her custody, we feed her, clothe her, send her to school, isn’t that good enough? We’ve been paying for her mom’s treatment, again and again, there’s no end in sight, isn’t that good enough? Good or not, it’s not up to her, it’s not up to us, let Liu Qiongfang come out and say it.” Bai Lei said patiently, explaining everything to Zhang Jin, then sneered. “If even her own mother, whom she keeps mentioning in the live broadcast, says she’s lying, who would believe her?”

The silence on the other end of the phone lasted for a while before Zhang Jin, startled and holding his breath, finally recovered, he took a few deep breaths, but it couldn’t dispel the chill that had spread throughout his body.

“This… This is useless.” Zhang Jin said, quickly reviewing the things he had seen on the live broadcast. “It’s not just Cheng Tingyan’s portrayal. There’s also Cheng Feiying himself, the mushroom incident, the chicken leg incident, his temper is getting worse, he’s scolding the children, he was clearly biased towards Cheng Rongrong during the grading, and also…”

Zhang Jin tried his best to list examples, proving that the current negative public opinion about the Cheng family wasn’t entirely because of Cheng Tingyan.

But before he could say more, Bai Lei’s cold voice came from the phone again.

“Heh, mushrooms… What’s wrong with mushrooms? Yan Yan loved eating them when she was little, she just became picky when she grew up. What’s wrong with chicken legs? She never liked eating them, she suddenly started liking them and didn’t even tell us, how would we know? Raising children is stressful, it’s normal to have a bad temper, Liu Qiongfang’s temper was even worse when she was raising Yan Yan. Favoritism? We can fabricate a hundred stories about him being better to Cheng Tingyan.”

Initially, when he heard the first part of Bai Lei’s explanation, Zhang Jin was a bit surprised by the truth, but after hearing the end…

“You’re saying… you made all this up? You want me to arrange a meeting with Liu Qiongfang, so she can lie for you? Are you… Are you okay? That’s Cheng Tingyan’s biological mother, not your puppet. How could she possibly listen to you and go against her own daughter? Are you planning to hypnotize her when you meet?” Zhang Jin felt like he was wasting his time answering this call. He didn’t have a solution for this chaotic situation, but what Bai Lei was doing wasn’t even trying to find a solution, it was delusional!

Bai Lei glanced at her newly manicured nails, gently scratching the sofa. “How I’m going to persuade her is none of your business. Call her and arrange a meeting for us. Or give me her number, I’ll contact her myself.”

“This… Forget it, I’ll ask for you.” Zhang Jin said, giving up on arguing with this person with a shocking thought process, he decided to pretend to be rejected later and end this ridiculous situation.

“Don’t mention what I want her to do. Just tell Liu Qiongfang that Cheng Feiying’s online reputation is very bad now, you need me and her to work together to change the public opinion, so you want to meet and discuss the details. She helped Cheng Feiying this time, he will definitely be grateful, after he comes back from that damn show, he’ll definitely thank her properly.” Bai Lei said patiently, instructing him.

Zhang Jin: “… “ Thank her properly? By remarrying her?

Zhang Jin couldn’t help but feel that Bai Lei’s tone, when she said those last few sentences, was a bit… mocking? As if she was talking about a plaything… a toy… a sense of control…

The meaning behind her words also sounded strange, as if Bai Lei knew… that Liu Qiongfang still cared about Cheng Feiying.

What was going on?

He was the one who handled all the contact between the Cheng family and Liu Qiongfang these past two years, and he had only found out about it recently, how did Bai Lei… Was this a woman’s intuition?

Zhang Jin suddenly felt that Bai Lei might not be as brainless as he thought.

If…

If Liu Qiongfang was truly fooled, then indeed… Cheng Feiying’s almost ruined reputation could still be salvaged.

But…

Cheng Tingyan would…

Zhang Jin clenched his phone, which had dimmed, he was once again standing at a crossroads of human nature.

Bai Lei had no idea what kind of dilemma she had created for Zhang Jin.

After the phone call, Bai Lei finally felt a bit relieved, looking at Cheng Tingyan, who was being amused by the little chubby menace imitating a fish on the live broadcast screen, it didn’t sting as much anymore.

Keep smiling, let’s see if you can still smile after I meet your mom.

A six-year-old child, unhappy with her dad and stepmother, lied about her life at home. Her biological mom, unable to stand it, would expose her lies. She wanted to see how many people would still like this lying child, how happy she could still be.

Bai Lei looked at Wei Maomao, who was circling around Cheng Tingyan, her mouth wide open like a shark, making “aww, aww” sounds. Heh, even this little chubby menace, who was always clinging to Cheng Tingyan, wouldn’t like her anymore. Even if that little chubby menace was brainless, would that Director Wei allow his own child to be friends with a liar?

By then, outside the live broadcast, Liu Qiongfang’s words would be spread, while inside the live broadcast, Cheng Tingyan, still oblivious, would continue walking on her lonely but strong path.

That would be truly interesting.

Bai Lei, as she thought about it, chuckled.

After the meat was gone, the bones could still be used to lure the dog.

“See, this is also my miracle.” Bai Lei said, looking at the French windows not far away, the blue sky and white clouds outside, distant, like another life.

Her words of triumph echoed in the empty room, the person who should have seen and heard them was already gone.

Bai Lei suddenly felt a bit bored.

This wasn’t a good sign, the show was about to begin, how could she feel bored already?

People needed to eat when they were hungry, take medicine when they were sick.

When they felt life was meaningless, when they didn’t want to live anymore, they had to find something interesting to do, to be able to continue living.

She had already tried the substitutes, the person who should be stepped into the mud was about to be stepped on, what else…

Bai Lei paced around the room aimlessly, then finally stopped in front of Cheng Rongrong’s bedroom door.

The heart of a watermelon, the yolk of a salted duck egg, the meat inside a zongzi…

The most delicious part was saved for last.

Let her see, this little cupcake she had been saving for so long, what did it taste like?

The little miracle she brought into this world, it should bring her a bit more amusement, right?

Life always brought unexpected little surprises.

Some people, unable to hold back anymore, opened the door to peek at the secret they had been suppressing their curiosity about.

Some people, torn between their conscience and money, once again “struggled” to choose the path of money.

And some people…

“Yueyue, why don’t you get a sea otter plush too? We can connect them!” Wen Dongyu said in the aquarium’s cafeteria, while waiting for their food, he held up his sea otter plush and approached the other little babies who were playing with theirs, adding one more to the sea otter squad.

“I… I used my vouchers for something else.” Wen Jiangyue said, glancing at the five connected sea otter plushes with envy, one’s left paw holding another’s right paw, it was like they were holding hands, so cute…

“What did you get?” Shen Zilin asked, looking at the shopping bag in Wen Jiangyue’s hand. It was the smallest size, about the size of their palms, it looked very light.

“I got…” Wen Jiangyue said, about to take it out.

“I need to go to the bathroom.” Wei Maomao said, getting up and running off.

“Maomao! Don’t run!” Cheng Tingyan said, chasing after her, worried.

Wen Jiangyue also stood up anxiously. “Don’t run, be careful, it’s slippery!”

In a flash, Wei Chengli, who was waiting for food at the dads’ table, also rushed out.

“Don’t chase after her, Uncle Wei is already going. If you keep chasing each other, you’ll get lost.” Wang Zhizhi said, stopping Wen Jiangyue, then asked curiously, “What did you say you got earlier?”

Wen Jiangyue: “… “

The three, Wei Maomao, Cheng Tingyan, and Wei Chengli, left quickly and came back quickly.

Wen Jiangyue, looking at the brand new sea otter plush held up by the little chubby paw, blushed and stood up, flustered.

“Now you can connect yours with ours!” Wei Maomao said, stuffing the sea otter into Wen Jiangyue’s hand, she then took Wen Jiangyue’s hand and connected her sea otter to the squad, six little sea otters on the table, their paws linked together.

Mmm… Actually, Wei Maomao didn’t know how it had come to this. Initially, it was just her and Cheng Tingyan buying the same one and having the two little sea otters hold hands. Then Wen Dongyu saw it… He bought the same one to join the chain, then Shen Zilin… Wang Zhizhi…

Wen Jiangyue, who had run off somewhere, didn’t see it and didn’t get one. But seeing the little girl’s envious gaze earlier, and thinking about her being wrongly blamed and sad last night, Wei Maomao had to get her one.

She used up a small keychain she had redeemed before, it didn’t matter, she could buy those again later.

A little girl’s childhood, it only happened once.

Wei Maomao, satisfied, watched as Wen Jiangyue happily hugged the sea otter plush.

Then, in the next second, she was confused by what happened next.

“What did you say you got?” Wei Maomao asked, staring at the two cards Wen Jiangyue took out, shocked.

“Yours, and Yan Yan’s.” Wen Jiangyue said, pushing the cards towards them. “Little Mermaid dress-up photos, they’ll provide the clothes and makeup, we can take pictures after lunch!”

“Boss, isn’t it amazing! You guys ran off too quickly, you didn’t see Shen Zilin’s shocked expression when he heard Yueyue got these for you!” Wen Dongyu said excitedly.

“I wasn’t shocked!” Shen Zilin said, his face flushed red. “And call me Boss! Employees can’t badmouth their boss!”

“That wasn’t badmouthing.” Wen Dongyu said, raising his chin stubbornly. “It was honesty.”

“You… don’t like them?” Wen Jiangyue asked weakly, noticing that neither of them reached for the cards, her initial excitement vanished.

“I like it.” Cheng Tingyan said, taking the card.

“I like it…” Wei Maomao said, forcing a smile, she reached out her chubby paw and pressed it on the card. “Yueyue, aren’t you taking pictures? You and Yan Yan should take pictures together.”

“I’m not taking pictures.” Wen Jiangyue shook her head. Some of the photos she took were incorrect, she only had enough vouchers for two.

“Yueyue, take pictures with Maomao and Yan Yan. I have two program vouchers left.” Shen Zilin said, glancing at the food tray that had just been brought over by the staff. “I want to eat shrimp rolls, Yueyue, I’ll use my voucher for the photoshoot, you give me your shrimp rolls, how about that?”

Of course… It was a great deal!

Wen Jiangyue swiftly pushed all the shrimp rolls, pork ribs, and diced chicken from her plate to Shen Zilin, she only stopped after Shen Zilin took away his tray, scared.

“We can take Little Mermaid photos together now.” Wen Jiangyue said with a beaming smile.

“… “ Wei Maomao looked down at the Little Mermaid photo in her hand, a mermaid tail skirt, fins, and it was all sparkly. She had opened that box of bunny pajamas to make Yan Yan happy. So now, to make Yueyue happy, she… had to become a sparkly fish?

Chapter 134

Qin Sichao stood by the road, watching as the ambulance drove away, until it finally disappeared at the end of the road.

The sun at 8 AM in midsummer was already scorching, Qin Sichao, dressed in black, stood under the sun without any shade, his body hot, but his heart cold.

A perfectly healthy person, how could he just collapse…

After a long while, Qin Sichao finally moved, he returned to the villa.

Squeezing through the half-open door into the monitoring room on the third floor, Qin Sichao glanced at Jin Youliang and Zeng Huanian, who were sitting side by side, facing the wall of monitoring screens, he walked to the corner silently, dragged a stool, and sat down.

Since Lao Shan wouldn’t let him go with them, asking him to stay and watch over things here, then he would stay and watch.

Although Qin Sichao didn’t say anything, the sound of the stool scraping against the floor still startled the two people in the room.

“Director Qin, please sit here.” Jin Youliang said, standing up immediately and offering his seat, which was directly facing the screens, when he saw Qin Sichao.

“No need, you guys focus on your work.” Qin Sichao said, waving his hand, refusing, then took out his phone.

Trending topic #1: [Truth behind ‘Where’s Baby Going’ Season 3 Director Shi Dingshan’s Divorce]

Trending topic #2: [Shi Dingshan’s son is not his biological child]

Trending topic #7: [Variety show director cuckolded, raising someone else’s child]

Trending topic #12…

Earlier, Shi Dingshan, who was happily drinking porridge, his phone in his hand, suddenly clutched his chest and collapsed.

Qin Sichao never expected that the little pill bottle Shi Dingshan had entrusted to him just a couple of days ago would be used today.

After giving him the medicine and calling 120, seeing that Shi Dingshan had recovered, Qin Sichao finally noticed what was playing on his phone, which had fallen to the ground.

An intimate couple…

A happy “family of three”…

It was truly outrageous, it almost cost someone their life!

Qin Sichao scrolled through the trending topics one by one, then switched to his contacts and started sending messages.

The current source seemed to be marketing accounts, he wanted to see what was going on.

Qin Sichao, his head lowered, his phone screen being tapped furiously by his angry fingers, finally stopped typing after a while. He then talked to the staff member who was accompanying Shi Dingshan to the hospital, and when he looked up, he realized only he and Jin Youliang were left in the room.

“Where are they going?” Qin Sichao asked, standing up, walking to Jin Youliang’s side, and looking at the multiple live broadcast windows on the monitoring wall, showing the inside of a vehicle.

The earlier anger had given him a headache, his chest even felt a bit tight. He needed to distract himself, to avoid being the next one to collapse from anger.

“They’re going to the newly built aquarium, which will officially open to the public next week. The task for this morning is for the babies to use Polaroid cameras to find the fish in the picture books we provided, inside the aquarium, and take clear photos of them. Before we come back, we’ll rank the babies based on the number of qualified photos they take, and reward them with vouchers based on their ranking. They can use the vouchers to choose souvenirs they like from the aquarium’s gift shop, and we’ll pay.” Jin Youliang explained the current situation quickly to Qin Sichao, then gestured towards the chair next to him. “Director Qin, please sit here, Xiao Zeng went to the aquarium with them.”

“The advertising fee for Polaroid cameras is well spent, yesterday afternoon and this morning, that’s already a whole day. The babies are taking pictures, what about the dads, are they all with their own babies today?” Qin Sichao asked, sitting down, his eyes sweeping over the tray on the coffee table between them.

“Yes, each dad is with their own baby. Right, I just contacted Xiao Wang, Director Shi is already at the hospital, undergoing further examinations, he’s doing okay. Director Qin, you haven’t eaten much this morning, right? I asked someone to bring some food, you can eat while watching.” Jin Youliang said, casually mentioning the food on the tray, then continued explaining, “We were originally planning to continue the dad swap, but Director Shi sent a message last night saying to let the dads be with their own babies, so this morning’s task is family-based.”

Glutinous rice stuffed with lotus root, mung bean cake, bite-sized baked flatbreads, braised edamame and peanuts, peeled and diced peaches with toothpicks inserted, and a bowl of porridge with ice.

Was this what he called “asking someone to bring some random food”? This was catering to his recent preferences!

Qin Sichao picked up the bowl of porridge and took a sip.

As expected, it wasn’t plain porridge, he could taste yam and soy milk, it was cold, refreshing, and slightly sweet, one sip and the anger in his heart subsided.

He was truly thoughtful.

Just like Shi Dingshan said, this Jin Youliang was full of little schemes, but he was also useful.

Qin Sichao slowly drank his porridge, listening to Jin Youliang’s whispered instructions, asking someone to adjust the camera angle, asking someone else to reposition the microphone, asking someone to zoom in the lens.

It was a level of busyness that wasn’t there when Shi Dingshan was here.

Qin Sichao glanced at Jin Youliang, who was busy working, from the corner of his eye. He could see that this young man was trying to show off his abilities.

This kind of ambition, it was normal.

But it was best if it was just ambition.

Qin Sichao couldn’t help but wonder if last night’s conversation had opened his mind too much, it still hadn’t fully closed. Sitting here, he kept thinking about the words they discussed last night.

“Who would do something bad without any benefits? When looking for suspects, start with those who would benefit.”

These were the words they discussed when analyzing the bathroom incident last night.

But Qin Sichao felt that those words might also be applicable to analyzing today’s situation.

Putting aside the thoughts of those in the monitoring room at the villa, Wei Chengli, in the car, was feeling quite tormented.

Live broadcast, live broadcast.

Cameras, cameras.

He had been looking for an opportunity since breakfast, but he couldn’t find one…

Now they were in the car, on their way, it was evident that there was no chance to talk to Shi Dingshan this morning.

The key was, Wei Chengli looked at the little chubby dumpling on his left, then at Yan Yan on his right, he… regretted it!

People should truly learn to be content, contentment brought happiness, greed only led to destruction.

Heaven and earth could bear witness, he just casually poked at his egg at the breakfast table earlier, and the little chubby dumpling offered to help him mix the sauce, then he casually complained, “My baby, she doesn’t love me anymore, she only sat next to me on the first day.”

And then…

Under the little rascal’s enthusiastic invitation, “Dad, I love you, sit next to me,” Wei Chengli had to face the consequences of his own actions.

This wasn’t the kind of “sitting next to” he wanted! Let him be the odd one out in the family!

He wanted to sit in the spacious and comfortable seat in the front, Wei Chengli, squeezed between two child safety seats, silently shed tears, he couldn’t be happy anymore.

On the moving bus, he wasn’t the only one who couldn’t be happy.

Wen Qiming, his face grim, stared out the window. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about his expression management in front of the camera, he was just too depressed to manage it.

Last night, because of Wei Maomao’s fall in the bathroom, the program team decided to rearrange the rooms, returning to the one-room-per-family mode.

Wen Qiming received the notification while he was showering, Shen Jianghe was the one who moved out of their room. When he hurriedly finished showering and came out, Yueyue had already been brought over by the staff.

Seeing his daughter sitting by the bed, looking a bit startled, Wen Qiming, who rarely comforted his daughter, even tried to soothe her. But when he asked about Wei Maomao’s fall, Yueyue was very brief, she didn’t seem to want to talk about it. At that time, he even wanted to take Yueyue to the Wei family’s room to check on her, but Yueyue didn’t respond, then the staff also said the doctor said she was fine and it was too late, everyone should rest, so Wen Qiming didn’t insist.

But when Wen Qiming woke up this morning and called Yueyue to get up, he found his daughter hiding under the blanket, secretly crying…

After coaxing and questioning, he finally found out what happened… Wen Qiming was almost angered to death.

No wonder the staff only mentioned it as an accident when they brought Yueyue over last night, no wonder they advised him not to take Yueyue to see Maomao.

So that was it!

Putting aside anything else, Wen Qiming absolutely believed his daughter wouldn’t lie.

She said the floor wasn’t slippery when she left the bathroom, then it wasn’t slippery.

Then who was lying, it was obvious.

Thinking about the dramatic events in the Cheng family these past few days, Wen Qiming couldn’t help but suspect that his daughter was being dragged down.

But they had just figured out the situation when it was 8 AM, the staff came to urge them to go downstairs for the live broadcast.

His last bit of rationality made Wen Qiming suppress his anger, he got his daughter ready and took her downstairs. He planned to talk to the director team after filming the breakfast segment, to ask them what they meant.

But as soon as they went downstairs, Wen Qiming saw the other dads lining up to express their concern for Wei Maomao, they all treated it as an accident, and Wei Maomao didn’t even deny it.

Hearing that, Wen Qiming could guess what the program team was doing, they wanted the person involved to admit it was just an accident.

Rationally speaking, whether it was intentional or an accident, for a live broadcast show, it was definitely more appropriate to handle it as an accident. Having been a host for so many years, Wen Qiming understood this kind of bias.

If it weren’t for Cheng Rongrong’s words, an accident would just be an accident.

But she said it!

Although there was no live broadcast last night for the children, and not many people heard Cheng Rongrong’s words, Wen Qiming couldn’t swallow this injustice.

Not cleaning her own house and throwing dirty water on others, then acting like nothing happened because no one pursued it, how could there be such a good thing?

Looking at that little chubby girl, obediently being comforted by the other dads, even nodding when they told her to be careful next time…

Wen Qiming truly… was about to laugh in exasperation.

Where was her spirit from that day, when he didn’t immediately accept the flowers Yueyue bought him, when she rolled on the ground and made those sarcastic remarks?

Now that she was the one suffering a loss, she just swallowed it silently?

And Wei Chengli, where was his brain? Did he truly think his daughter fell on her own? Didn’t he even suspect anything?

Wen Qiming truly regretted it, he should have asked Yueyue properly last night, he shouldn’t have assumed that his daughter was just startled and let her sleep after comforting her. He should have asked clearly, taken his child upstairs, looked for evidence, then gone to the Wei family, knocked some sense into Wei Chengli, and joined forces to make the program team handle it properly.

But now, the situation was already a mess, if they tried to unravel it, not only would they fail, they would also get dirty themselves.

Truly!

Infuriating!

Wen Qiming stared out the window for a long time, he took many deep breaths, trying to calm himself down, only after a while did he turn back and look at his daughter, who was also looking unhappy.

The most pitiful thing was… during breakfast, he saw Yueyue secretly glancing at Maomao and Yan Yan several times. When Cheng Rongrong said the floor was already slippery when she entered the bathroom, Yan Yan was outside. Yueyue must be afraid that they would believe Cheng Rongrong’s words and think she was the one who made the floor slippery…

It was truly unbelievable.

“Yueyue, look.” Wen Qiming said gently, after calming himself down, he took out a candy from his pocket and handed it to his daughter.

Wen Jiangyue looked down at it and shook her head.

“It’s okay, Dad will give you another one when you want to eat it later. I got a few when I came out, you can have as many as you want.” Wen Qiming said, gently stroking his daughter’s head with one hand, while the other hand tightly clutched the candy.

After breakfast, after announcing the morning’s task, he took advantage of the time when everyone was packing and told the staff he wanted to meet with the director team. But he didn’t see any of them! The staff member who relayed the message only said that the director team had an emergency to deal with, and he could only meet with them after the morning’s task was over.

What emergency!

When their car was leaving, he clearly saw Zeng Huanian at the entrance of the villa next door, about to get into the car with them!

What, were they avoiding him?

When Cheng Rongrong said those words, there were other staff members around, right? Could it be that the program team also knew what the problem was, but they didn’t want to correct it privately?

He wasn’t asking them to publicly contradict their previous statement during the live broadcast.

He just…

Wen Qiming glanced at his daughter, who had leaned against him after he stroked her head.

He just wanted to clear his daughter’s name and shift the blame back to where it belonged!

In the last car of the convoy, Zeng Huanian sneezed again. He had been sneezing since they got into the car, he had a bad feeling about this.

Zeng Huanian, worried, sent another message to Xiao Wang, asking about Director Shi’s situation.

Xiao Wang, squatting in the hospital corridor, looked at the chat window with Zeng Huanian, just two minutes had passed, and he received the same question again… And Jin Youliang, Director Qin, Xiao Zhao, Xiao Li… they were all doing the same.

Xiao Wang, who had already almost rubbed a hole in his phone screen from replying to messages, took a deep breath.

Enough!

Zeng Huanian, waiting for Xiao Wang’s reply, took a sip of water, then, accidentally glancing at his phone, he…

“Director Zeng, you…” Xiao Zhao, in the passenger seat, turned around with a wronged expression, his shoulder wet.

But Zeng Huanian didn’t have time to apologize, he grabbed his phone and started browsing.

Two seconds later, Zeng Huanian slumped back in his seat, defeated, he threw his phone aside and apologized sincerely to Xiao Zhao.

“It’s okay, I was just startled.” Xiao Zhao said, then looked at Zeng Huanian, confused, holding up his phone. “Director Zeng, this ‘Save Director Shi’ group…”

Zeng Huanian’s lips twitched slightly. “Xiao Wang just created the group, it’s probably for us to discuss Director Shi’s current situation. But with this group name, I think after Director Shi recovers and sees it, we’ll be the ones saving Xiao Wang.” Director Shi wouldn’t beat him, but “he” would, he almost had a heart attack when he first saw the group name, he thought something serious had happened to Director Shi.

With such a talent for naming, it was a waste for him to be a production assistant, he should go and work in post-production!

But Zeng Huanian didn’t expect that just ten minutes later, he himself… wouldn’t want to be a production assistant anymore.

The aquarium they were going to this morning was half an hour’s drive from the villa area. It was newly built and would officially open to the public next week. All the facilities were in place, they could visit and play normally, and there were no other tourists, it was the perfect filming location for their show.

He was the one who contacted this place initially. But at that time… it failed. After all, opening the aquarium exclusively for the program team required a lot of manpower and resources, the aquarium had refused.

But after the show aired, seeing the show’s popularity, the aquarium… not only contacted them proactively, but also offered many favorable terms, even saying that once the program team arrived, their staff would be fully prepared to cooperate.

And so… They were originally going to pay to film here, and now they were being paid to come.

Zeng Huanian, as he got out of the car, was still marveling at the world’s fickleness, then in the next second, he was dragged away by a thug… oh no, by Wen Qiming.

“Teacher Wen, this… your cameraman…” Zeng Huanian said, after being dragged a few steps by Wen Qiming, he looked at the empty space where Wen Qiming came from, bewildered.

“Lost him.” Wen Qiming said, getting straight to the point, annoyed. “Yesterday, Wei Maomao fell, because of who?”

“Who? Didn’t Maomao fall on her own?” Zeng Huanian asked instinctively, then looked at Wen Qiming’s collar and waist. “Teacher Wen, where’s your microphone?”

Wen Qiming, hearing the expected answer, sneered. “I’ve also been in this industry for many years, don’t try to fool me with this kind of nonsense. I’m asking you, our Yueyue said the floor wasn’t slippery when she left the bathroom, but Cheng Rongrong said it was slippery when she went in, what does that mean? Is she implying that our Yueyue made the bathroom floor slippery, causing Wei Maomao to fall? What evidence does she have to say that? Clearly, she came out, and then Wei Maomao went in, wasn’t it her who made the floor slippery, and now that something happened, she’s trying to shift the blame to our Yueyue? I can understand you saying it was an accident to the public, but shouldn’t we clarify it privately? Whoever’s fault it is, should be held accountable, why be so ambiguous, who are you implying?”

“No, no, no… Teacher Wen, wait.” Zeng Huanian said, dumbfounded by Wen Qiming’s barrage of questions. “What are you talking about?”

“What, you still don’t understand?” Wen Qiming asked, adjusting Zeng Huanian’s collar, dissatisfied. “Then let me explain it to you properly…”

…

As Wen Qiming finally found someone to vent to, at the entrance of the aquarium, Wen Jiangyue, clutching her microphone pack, looked worriedly in the direction Wen Qiming had left.

“Yueyue, we should go in. Your dad said he had something to do, he’ll join us later.” Shen Jianghe said with a smile, holding Wen Jiangyue’s left hand, his right hand holding Shen Zilin’s.

Wen Jiangyue glanced at Shen Jianghe, then at Shen Zilin, who was already excitedly walking ahead, she finally followed the group.

As soon as they entered the aquarium, the host announced the start of the task, the families could start taking pictures of the fish based on the clues in their booklets.

Wen Jiangyue looked back at the entrance, no Dad.

“Yueyue, why don’t you walk with us first? Your dad can ask the staff and find us.” Shen Jianghe said, squatting down with a smile. “Uncle Shen will teach you how to use the Polaroid camera…”

“Right, Yan Yan, come with us. Today’s task is for each baby to exchange their photos for vouchers individually, she can also take pictures with us.”

Shen Jianghe, entrusted with comforting Little Yueyue, hadn’t even finished speaking when her attention was drawn by Wei Chengli’s loud voice.

Shen Jianghe swallowed his words and looked over as well.

He saw the two little ones, always inseparable, standing hand in hand behind Wei Chengli.

And Cheng Feiying, holding Cheng Rongrong, his face grim, muttered a few words, then turned and left.

Shen Jianghe looked at Wei Chengli’s straight and tense back, he sensed something different.

Yesterday, Shen Jianghe had walked with them for the entire afternoon, watching Wei Chengli diligently take pictures of Wei Maomao, Cheng Tingyan, and Cheng Rongrong. How should he put it, whether it was taking pictures or showing concern, he was quite fair. But people had different levels of closeness, Shen Jianghe could still tell that for Wei Chengli, it was… his own daughter, Yan Yan, the accessory to his daughter, and Rongrong, the stranger he had to take care of for the task.

But how come today…

It wasn’t “Yan Yan and Maomao together,” but “Yan Yan and us together,” and that protective stance…

Just as Shen Jianghe was lost in thought, the small hand in his left hand started to wiggle.

“What’s wrong?” Shen Jianghe asked, turning to look at Wen Jiangyue.

Wen Jiangyue, her lips pursed, looked at the Wei family.

Shen Jianghe followed her gaze and saw Little Maomao beckoning them.

“You go, you can either follow Maomao’s dad or me, but you can’t run around the aquarium alone.” Shen Jianghe said, releasing her hand.

He released her hand, but the little girl hesitated, not leaving.

“What’s wrong?” Shen Jianghe asked, tugging at his son’s hand. “Stop thinking about fish, be considerate of your sister.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the little girl, who had been lingering, ran off.

Shen Jianghe: “… “

Just as she was about to reach Maomao and Yan Yan, Wen Jiangyue stopped, lowered her head, and started shuffling forward…

“Is there gold on the floor?” Wei Maomao asked, unable to hold back, she went to meet her, then looked at the aquarium entrance. “Yueyue, where’s your dad?”

“He… has… something… to do…” Wen Jiangyue said softly.

“What? Oh… He has something to do. Are you okay? You’re speaking so softly today. You didn’t even look at me when I waved at you when we got off the bus.” Wei Maomao said, rummaging through her pocket, she pulled out a vacuum-packed braised quail egg. “Here, for you.”

“I didn’t see you.” Wen Jiangyue said, looking at the quail egg in the little chubby paw, she nervously clenched her hand around her pants, she didn’t take it.

“Eat it. You don’t know how to open it? It’s like jelly. Should I open it for you?” Wei Maomao said, her chubby paw searching for the opening on the quail egg.

But before she could even exert any force, her arm was gently pulled by Cheng Tingyan next to her.

Wei Maomao turned to her, confused.

“Yueyue, I know… It wasn’t you. Maomao also knows.” Cheng Tingyan said, her words vague, but her tone gentle and firm.

What wasn’t? Wei Maomao, still struggling to open the quail egg, didn’t understand what Cheng Tingyan meant.

Then, in the next second, Wei Maomao heard Wen Jiangyue burst into tears, then, like a swift leopard cat, she rushed past her and hugged Cheng Tingyan.

Wei Maomao: “… “

Chapter 133p2

Wei Chengli put on a kind expression, hoping Yan Yan’s answer would be her true thoughts.

And Cheng Tingyan, without hesitation, just glanced at the little chubby bunny next to her, then nodded at her dad. “Mmm, I don’t want to.”

“Okay. Then I have a small suggestion, a suggestion is just an idea, you can choose to follow it or not, it’s entirely up to you.” Wei Chengli said, trying to make himself clear, then lowered his voice again. “I initially thought we could handle the custody issue slowly after the show. But last night… I now think you were right, we should try to resolve it during the show. We have two problems to solve. One, whether your mom is willing to take back your custody. The other, how to make your dad give up your custody. So here’s my small suggestion, Yan Yan, are you willing to… tell one more person about your desire to leave your dad and live with your mom?”

As Wei Chengli said this, he noticed that Cheng Tingyan took a small step back the moment she heard his last sentence. And… Wei Chengli looked at the little girl’s tightly clenched fists, he quickly softened his voice and explained, “That person…”

“Are you talking about Uncle Shi?” Wei Maomao asked, looking at Wei Chengli, but she leaned closer to Cheng Tingyan, her chubby paw covering Yan Yan’s cold fist.

“Mmm… I’ve known Uncle Shi for many years, he’ll keep it a secret. And he’s the head director of this variety show, he can help us with many things. For example, we can ask him to subtly probe if Yan Yan’s mom is willing to take custody of her. And also… mmm, like those scenes where Yan Yan’s dad is being unkind to her, the program team definitely has the most complete footage.” Wei Chengli said, glancing at the little chubby dumpling. “Didn’t you want everyone to see that Uncle Cheng is a bad person? With Uncle Shi’s help, we can… do it better.”

Wei Maomao felt that Wei Chengli was being quite tactful, considering he was talking to two children.

Communicating with Yan Yan’s mom in advance was indeed a good idea. As for the “most complete footage,” Wei Maomao felt that judging from the lively comments she saw on Liu Ming’s phone, there were probably many edited videos online already. If Shi Dingshan was truly willing to help, just providing video materials would be a waste of his talent.

Reality shows were different from filming, the script, the content of the tasks, it was all in the hands of the director team, and they could change it anytime. Just like Jin Youliang did in her previous life, he could completely control the final character portrayal and content. Of course, now it was a live broadcast, it couldn’t be as one-sided as in her previous life. But if the director team was willing to subtly guide certain segments and tasks, maybe Cheng Feiying would show his even worse side. Like during the two days when the babies were playing the role of their dads, she was able to provoke Cheng Feiying several times with cilantro. And Shi Dingshan, he had reputation and status, if they ended up in court, maybe he could be a witness, testifying that Cheng Feiying was a terrible father… Oh, maybe he wouldn’t be that kind.

But a head director was indeed a great help in creating drama in a variety show.

Wei Maomao had also imagined this possibility. But she didn’t trust Shi Dingshan as much as she trusted Wei Chengli. After all, this was Shi Dingshan’s project, and what they were doing might ruin it.

But now… After the baby-dad role swap, Wei Maomao felt that the hammer in their hands was like a toy compared to the one in Shi Dingshan’s hands. If the show was ruined, it would definitely be the director team’s own doing.

And last night’s fall also gave Wei Maomao a bargaining chip.

Wei Chengli had explained the benefits of having Shi Dingshan’s involvement, but the little girl in front of him remained silent, she even took two steps back.

Okay.

“It’s okay, Yan Yan, don’t be nervous. I just said it’s a suggestion, we can still try our best without Uncle Shi.” Wei Chengli said, giving up on recruiting her, he comforted her instead.

“Yan Yan, Uncle Shi will keep it a secret for us.” Wei Maomao said, gently squeezing the cold little fist in her hand. “If he doesn’t, I’ll tell the whole world during the live broadcast that I fell because of Cheng Rongrong, and Uncle Shi and the others wouldn’t let me talk about it.”

Cheng Tingyan: “… “

Wei Chengli: “… “

“Dad, if I say that, will Uncle Shi be scared?” Wei Maomao asked, looking at Wei Chengli innocently.

“Hehe, he’ll be terrified.” Wei Chengli said, patting his chest. He didn’t know if Shi Dingshan would be scared or not, but he could already imagine his heartbroken expression.

Cheng Tingyan bit her lip, she looked at the little chubby bunny and said softly, “Maomao, do you think… we should tell that… Uncle Shi?”

Wei Chengli: “Yan Yan, it’s your decision, why ask her, a three-year-old little…”

“Little what?” Wei Maomao asked, puffing out her cheeks and glaring at Wei Chengli. Seeing him raise his hands in surrender, she turned to Cheng Tingyan and said in a steady voice, “Yan Yan, we need an adult to help us. My dad will tell Uncle Shi, if he doesn’t keep it a secret, I’ll go on the live broadcast and say the program team wouldn’t let me talk about Cheng Rongrong making me fall, he’ll keep it a secret. Cheng Rongrong did that yesterday, if we get injured, the show can’t be filmed, it’s Uncle Shi’s show, if it can’t be filmed, he’ll be sad, so he won’t like Cheng Rongrong, he won’t help them.”

“Right, he should help us. Even if he doesn’t help us, I’m sure he won’t help them.” Wei Chengli added.

Actually, he felt that Shi Dingshan didn’t just dislike Cheng Rongrong, he probably hated her. Who would want to be sabotaged right before achieving success?

And… the video Qin Sichao showed them.

One of the reasons Wei Chengli wanted to involve Shi Dingshan was because of that video. The program team definitely had more information than they did. Maybe there was more than just that one video. Based on Wei Chengli’s understanding of Shi Dingshan, if necessary, he wouldn’t hesitate to use it as compensation for the little chubby dumpling’s fall.

It was a competition, whether they would use it or not was another matter, but they could never have too many bargaining chips.

8 AM, the live broadcast screens, which had been black all night, lit up on time.

“My CEO Mao, my Tutu baby! I finally see you again, is the porridge delicious? Let me cool it down for you, my poor baby!”

“Oh my god, it’s finally live again. I heard a woman shouting that Maomao fell on Director Wei’s live stream last night, then all the live broadcast screens went black one after another, I’ve been anxious until now, I was so worried.”

“I was truly worried, although they quickly posted an explanation saying CEO Mao was fine on the black screen, but without seeing her, I was worried all night!”

“Three-year-old baby, stop being so independent, let the staff help you shower next time, my heart can’t take it if you slip again!”

“Thankfully, thankfully, CEO Mao’s appetite seems good, she’s taking a big bite of the egg pancake, aww.”

“… Am I the only one who feels like something’s wrong? CEO Mao slipped and fell, it’s nothing serious, but all the live broadcast screens were turned off for the entire night. This has never happened since the show started. At night, they usually turn off the cameramen’s feeds and the cameras in the rooms, but the cameras in the common areas are on all night. Yesterday, they were all turned off for the entire night, it’s making people think.”

“Yes! I feel like the atmosphere at the breakfast table is also strange, is it my imagination? Although they’re talking, and the dads are all concerned about CEO Mao, but… something feels off.”

“I also feel like something’s off, it doesn’t seem like a small matter, like a baby falling and being fine. After all… They didn’t even turn off the cameras in the common areas when our CEO Mao wet the bed last time… Yan Yan carrying the wet sheets out to wash was even filmed, and the map on the unwashed bed sheet fluttered in the wind for the whole morning… How can this minor fall be a bigger deal than the bed-wetting incident?”

“This! Although I also think it’s suspicious that they turned off the live broadcast, but our CEO Mao didn’t do anything wrong! Why bring up the bed-wetting incident after she just fell! It’s truly heartbreaking!”

“Right! Our CEO Mao is so cute, she even went in front of the camera before dinner and reassured her mom, her childish voice was so adorable! How can they be so mean, bringing up the bed-wetting incident every day! Three times a day is the limit!”

“Hahaha, enough! I can see that we all love CEO Mao, but! There’s a limit!”

…

In the live broadcast room, the viewers’ love might have a limit.

But in the villa’s hall, Wei Chengli’s love was running out.

“Adding a little bit of this makes it more delicious.” Wei Maomao said, her chubby paw hovering over Cheng Tingyan’s boiled egg, carefully adding sesame oil.

Wei Chengli had already watched, with a cold expression, as this little rascal added soy sauce to the boiled egg with the same carefulness.

What, did she think he didn’t have a boiled egg?

Wei Chengli poked at the egg in his small bowl, indifferent.

Wei Maomao, after adding what she deemed an appropriate amount of sesame oil to Cheng Tingyan’s boiled egg, was about to sit down when she met a pair of resentful eyes.

“Dad, should I pour some for you?” Wei Maomao asked, looking at the ugly, fragmented egg in Wei Chengli’s small bowl, she kindly lifted the small bottle in her hand.

“Mmm.” Wei Chengli nodded, trying to appear reserved.

Wei Maomao, without any perfunctory, added the same amount of sesame oil and soy sauce to his egg as Cheng Tingyan’s.

Before coming downstairs for breakfast, Cheng Tingyan had agreed to let Wei Chengli find an opportunity to talk to Shi Dingshan. To ask for help, good food and good treatment were a must. She couldn’t provide good food and good treatment now, but helping to add some seasoning was also good.

Wei Chengli, happily eating the boiled egg enhanced by his daughter, completely unaware of her little scheme, suddenly thought of Cheng Tingyan, who had finally agreed after being urged by the staff to go downstairs.

“I’ll listen to Maomao, Maomao said we can go find that Uncle Shi, so we can go.”

At that time, Wei Chengli had analyzed a lot, but after hearing Cheng Tingyan’s simple answer, he felt the little girl was a bit indecisive. But now, after eating this fragrant egg enhanced by the little chubby dumpling, his heart was warm and soft, he felt there was nothing wrong with listening to that little rascal, indulging her.

What was being decisive?

Could he eat it?

After eating, he had to get things done. Wei Chengli, after finishing the last bit of egg yolk in his bowl, wiped his mouth and thought he had to have a good talk with Shi Dingshan, he had to get him on their side, otherwise, this egg would be wasted.

It had to be said, a father and daughter were truly… strangely in sync.

Wei Chengli, thinking about finding Shi Dingshan, looked around the hall, at the large group of staff, and as expected, he didn’t see the person he was looking for.

The public restroom, right… Was there one here…

Speaking of which, where was the meeting point in this villa?

But Wei Chengli didn’t know that while he was racking his brains about how to meet with Shi Dingshan without being caught on camera, the person he wanted to see was being loaded into an ambulance at the entrance of the villa next door, quietly leaving the area.

Chapter 133p1

After tricking Cheng Tingyan into eating the candy, Wei Maomao turned around and saw Wei Chengli leaning against the door, his cheeks puffed out, chewing, chewing, chewing.

Usually, she wouldn’t care what an adult ate. But today, it felt different.

Last night, the speculation about Cheng Rongrong’s actions, the guilt over Wei Maomao’s fall, the shock and self-blame, they all kept the six-year-old Cheng Tingyan awake. Wei Maomao, of course, wouldn’t leave Cheng Tingyan alone to fall asleep, so after Wei Chengli left the bedroom, they whispered under the blanket for a long time.

They chatted… for quite a while.

The sounds of Shi Dingshan visiting again outside, the sound of the camp bed being moved, the sounds of footsteps coming and going… Wei Maomao, comforting Yan Yan while listening intently, didn’t miss anything. After the sounds outside subsided, and Yan Yan’s voice gradually softened, her breathing becoming even, Wei Maomao had just closed her eyes when she was woken up by the continuous, gentle knocking on the door.

How should she put it, Wei Maomao could understand Wei Chengli, who was also startled, insisting on sleeping by the door no matter what she said, she could also understand his worry about whether the fall would have any aftereffects, so he wanted to check on her in the middle of the night.

But… she couldn’t understand why he had to ask four times in one night!

Wei Maomao rubbed her eyes, glanced at Cheng Tingyan, who was yawning, then her gaze slowly landed on Wei Chengli’s face.

There were no aftereffects, but they had created three pairs of panda eyes! Thankfully, this room was at the end of the corridor, they probably didn’t disturb the other families last night, otherwise, it would be a panda party today.

The things in this world were truly interesting, a father’s love, something that was completely absent in her previous life, was now a bit too much.

But…

Judging from the number of times she was woken up last night, the one who needed to be checked on wasn’t her, but someone else.

Speaking of which… Shi Dingshan and someone else, she didn’t know who, came over again last night, she had to ask what they were here for.

Thinking of this, Wei Maomao looked at Wei Chengli by the door, chewing diligently, and walked towards him.

Wei Chengli, as he chewed, saw the little chubby dumpling stare at him for a few seconds, then walk towards him with her chubby legs. He pretended to be indifferent, but inwardly, he praised himself for his enthusiastic chewing.

Hmph, little foodie, he could still control her!

Wei Chengli leaned against the door, watching as the little chubby dumpling walked to his feet and patted his… knee with her warm, chubby paw.

“Dad, what are you eating?” Wei Maomao asked, looking up, starting with a casual greeting.

An expected question, but this time, Wei Chengli didn’t have time to be smug.

To maintain his proud image, he was focusing all his energy on controlling his knee-jerk reaction.

This little rascal, if she wasn’t only three years old and hadn’t learned about biology yet, he would truly suspect that she was deliberately targeting this spot.

“I’m eating candy.” Wei Chengli said, exaggerating his smacking sounds. “It’s the same kind of candy you gave Yan Yan earlier.”

“Oh.” Wei Maomao said casually, acknowledging his answer, then moved on to the main topic. “Dad, I seemed to have heard Uncle Shi’s voice last night, he…”

“Why aren’t you asking where I got the candy from?” Wei Chengli asked, still immersed in his own trap, completely unaware that for the little rascal, it was just a casual opening.

“… “ Thinking about the four times she was checked on that night, Wei Maomao patiently followed Wei Chengli’s lead. “Didn’t Uncle Shen give it to us? Every baby and every dad got one yesterday.”

Wei Chengli was stunned, he shook his head. “Not that one, this one is from last night, when I went to the next room to shower, Uncle Shen heard that you fell and asked me to bring it to you.”

“???” Wei Maomao felt like her sleep-deprived brain couldn’t keep up with Wei Chengli’s anymore. “For me? You ate it?”

Wei Chengli smiled. “Mmm! I saw that you didn’t even eat your two pieces, I thought you didn’t like it, and your bitter old father needed a bit of sweet comfort~~~ You know~~ I’m not giving you the other one either, that one is for your mom.” Ask me! Why bitter! Why needing comfort! Get angry!

However, there was no questioning dumpling, no curious dumpling, no angry dumpling, and no crying dumpling…

“Mmm, eat more.” Wei Maomao said calmly, bringing the topic back. “Uncle Shi last night…”

Wei Chengli, who had been feeling sour from the little chubby dumpling feeding another child candy early in the morning and had meticulously set a trap, but failed to catch a single dumpling, reached out to stop her. “Wait… Are you angry?”

Wei Maomao, her topic being repeatedly derailed, sighed helplessly. “No. You’re my dad, you eat, I’m not angry. Uncle Shi…”

“Well… Good morning.”

A familiar female voice suddenly came from behind Wei Chengli, interrupting their conversation.

They both turned to look and saw Liu Ming, with matching panda eyes, standing awkwardly in the corridor.

“Maomao, did you sleep…” Liu Ming was about to ask if Maomao slept well last night, if she was feeling uncomfortable, but she was startled by the dark circles under the little chubby baby’s eyes. “Your eyes!”

“I’m fine.” Wei Maomao said quickly, knowing what Liu Ming was afraid of.

“Maybe I checked on her too many times last night, she didn’t sleep very well.” Wei Chengli added, explaining.

Liu Ming: “… “

Wei Maomao smiled. “Four times, Dad, you woke me up four times!”

“It’s because you were with… cough…” Wei Chengli said, thinking about Cheng Tingyan, who was cleaning up the bed in the room, he swallowed the rest of his words. “Anyway, it’s your own fault.”

“Well, as we discussed yesterday, the live broadcast will resume at 8 AM when everyone goes downstairs for breakfast.” Liu Ming said to Wei Chengli, she made a “six” gesture with her hand and held it to her ear, hinting, “Director Shi asked me to come and get this before the live broadcast starts.”

“Oh, oh.” Wei Chengli said, quickly walking to the camp bed, he took out the phone from under his pillow, put it back in the password box, and handed it to Liu Ming.

Wei Maomao watched the whole thing, envious.

What was going on?

She was the one who fell, but Wei Chengli was the one who got to play with the phone?

Where was the fairness in this world?

Liu Ming, hurriedly carrying the hot potato of a password box, ran off. Wei Maomao, dissatisfied, patted Wei Chengli’s knee. “Dad, what did Uncle Shi come for last night? To give you a phone to play with?”

“Shh, shh, shh!” Wei Chengli said, covering the little chubby dumpling’s mouth, he carried her into the room, closed the door, and whispered, “What’s wrong with you? I was even facing away from you, and you still saw it so clearly, you even recognize a phone… Your mom saw you fall on the live broadcast, she was worried, Director Shi let me call her to reassure her. Don’t let it slip when the live broadcast starts later, we’re not allowed to use phones according to the rules.”

“Not ‘we,’ just ‘you,’ right?” Wei Maomao hummed.

“Behave yourself.” Wei Chengli said, rubbing her messy hair, he glanced at Cheng Tingyan, who must have overheard their conversation.

Their eyes met briefly, Wei Chengli was still hesitating whether to remind Yan Yan when he saw her cover her ears with her hands.

“I can’t hear anything.”

Wei Chengli: “… “ It was this kind of heart-wrenching thoughtfulness! It made him unable to bring himself to knock the little chubby dumpling unconscious and run away with her.

“Is Mom okay now? Is she reassured? I also want to talk to Mom… Dad, you’re playing with the phone by yourself, not including me. You woke me up four times and still didn’t include me!” Wei Maomao complained, then thought for a moment. “Can I say ‘Mom, don’t worry’ to the camera later?”

“Mom is fine now. You can talk to Mom through the camera, she’ll see it.” Wei Chengli said, his heart softening as he rubbed her messy hair, then added, “But do you remember what happened last night, how should we explain it?”

“I fell on my own.” Wei Maomao said, stamping her foot as if annoyed. “Ahh, I, the baby, am so unlucky!”

Wei Chengli couldn’t help but chuckle, he pinched her chubby cheek. “Okay, no need to act, you little drama queen.”

“Hmph.” Wei Maomao said, proudly raising her chin.

How should he put it, just consider it entertainment for her old man, he hoped Wei Chengli would be happier, forget about last night’s scare, and not make any decisions that would make her turn against him.

At this moment, Wei Maomao was still worried about whether Wei Chengli would run away with her. But in the next second, she received a huge reassurance.

“Yan Yan, come here.” Wei Chengli said, beckoning Cheng Tingyan, who was still shaking the blanket. After she came over and stood next to the little rascal, he said softly, “We’re not filming now, and there’s no audio recording. Before the live broadcast starts, let me ask you, Yan Yan, do you truly not want to live with your dad anymore?”

Wei Chengli, still shaken by last night’s events, needed some time to think.

Thanks to Shi Dingshan, he had watched for an entire night, and thought for an entire night. They could just leave, never to return, but… He couldn’t just stand by and watch Yan Yan walk into a tiger’s den, knowing there was danger. To put it more artistically, it would become his inner demon. Wei Chengli even felt that it wouldn’t just be his inner demon, it would also become the little rascal’s…

Since they had reached a point where they couldn’t just walk away, then they had to see this through to the desired outcome.

In a society ruled by law, kicking down the door was the fastest way to restrain the bad guys and ensure Cheng Tingyan’s safety.

But he had to confirm one last time.

Chapter 132

“Sister Mingming! Tell Dad! I really needed to poop when I fell!”

“… She really did, I just checked her for external injuries and was about to examine her more closely, but she struggled and ran towards the toilet, even saying…”

“I said, ‘I don’t want to poop on you!’ Dad, look! My poop was that urgent! Right, Sister Mingming!”

“… Yes, she did say that.”

“Didn’t I immediately poop as soon as I sat down! Didn’t I poop a lot! Sister Mingming, you have to tell my dad!”

“… Yes, she went as soon as she sat down, plop, plop, plop, it sounded like quite a lot.”

“Dad, look! I’m telling the truth! If I had known the floor was slippery, I wouldn’t have gone in! My poop almost fell out, there were so many people outside, they would be so scared if they saw my poop fall out!”

…

Wei Chengli’s hand, holding the water bottle, trembled slightly, what was he looking at…

It was scary for many people outside to see, but it wasn’t scary for him to hear?

He was just following the trend, testing the limits of the little dirty dumpling’s intelligence, how come he was being treated like this?

Did she have to describe it in such detail? He could even imagine the poop falling into the water.

Although he was her dad… was this really necessary…

And…

Wei Chengli looked at the little dirty dumpling, her back straight with pride after getting her witness, so righteous in her words, could she at least remove the chubby paws covering Yan Yan’s ears!

What!

Love for Yan Yan, poop for Dad, was that it!

Looking at the little dirty dumpling, one hand covering Yan Yan’s ears, the other gesturing for Liu Ming to describe the pooping scene in even more detail, Wei Chengli clutched his chest, exasperated.

With Wei Maomao’s persistence and Liu Ming’s efforts, the scene was recreated, the misunderstanding cleared with a forceful mental attack.

What else could Wei Chengli say? He could only say thank you.

Although the little chubby dumpling wasn’t smart enough to notice something was wrong before the incident, and she didn’t love Yan Yan enough to shield her from harm, but Wei Chengli still felt… a bit guilty.

He had thought the Cheng family was a bit shady before, now it seemed it wasn’t just shady, it was toxic!

Of course, Yan Yan was innocent, but… in a film, the first to be eliminated was often not the protagonist targeted by the villain, but the people around the protagonist, the so-called cannon fodder.

Wei Chengli looked at the silly little dumpling, who was still urging Yan Yan to go and shower, carefree, he didn’t want his precious baby to be the cannon fodder!

But…

Wei Chengli looked at the thin little girl, shaking her head, pushing his dirty baby into the bathroom, he couldn’t bring himself to do such a heartless thing, sending her back to the Cheng family.

Liu Ming was also scared by the earlier incident, even though Wei Maomao tried to convince her that there were no bad people here, and nothing unexpected would happen, she still insisted on going into the bathroom with her.

While the dirty dumpling was showering, the staff helped to bring in their luggage, and Wen Xiang also came to pack his things and move to another room arranged by the program team.

Finally, after the clean little chubby dumpling came out, Liu Ming took Yan Yan in, Wei Chengli finally had a chance to be alone with his baby, to grab her and have a proper talk.

“Baby, think about it with your smart little brain, if Cheng Rongrong truly did those things today, isn’t she scary? Isn’t the Cheng family scary?” Wei Chengli whispered into the baby’s ear as he blow-dried her hair with the lowest setting. “You didn’t even do anything, you just fell. Do you still dare to help Yan Yan leave the Cheng family?”

“Dad!” Wei Maomao said, pushing away the hairdryer, she turned to Wei Chengli, her chubby face full of shock. “The Cheng family is so scary, you want to let Yan Yan stay there?”

“Don’t talk about me, talk about you…” Wei Chengli said, turning her messy head back and continuing to blow-dry her hair. “What are your thoughts?”

“I!” Wei Maomao was about to blurt out that she wanted to get Yan Yan out as soon as possible. But she swallowed her words.

Which parent would want their child to risk their safety for a stranger they just met a few days ago…

Wei Maomao, judging from Wei Chengli’s earlier behavior, he probably didn’t want it either.

“Dad, Uncle Cheng is so mean, Cheng Rongrong is so mean, Yan Yan is so pitiful.” Wei Maomao said weakly, leaning against him. “Let’s take Yan Yan away, to a place without Cheng Rongrong. No Uncle Cheng, no Cheng Rongrong, no slippery floor, no falling. You’re the best, Dad~~ You’re the best dad~~ You wouldn’t let Yan Yan stay in that scary place, right?”

As long as they stayed away from the bad people, there wouldn’t be any danger, Wei Maomao hoped Wei Chengli would understand that the threat didn’t come from Cheng Tingyan.

The soft, chubby little dumpling, leaning against his leg, Wei Chengli chuckled.

“What does it matter if I’m good or not? You’ve already decided what to do, haven’t you?” Wei Chengli saw through her, this kind of deliberate flattery only appeared when this little rascal wanted something, especially when it concerned Cheng Tingyan.

“Aww, we need Dad, we can’t do it without an adult.” Wei Maomao said, switching to her cute and coquettish mode.

She was starting to worry that Wei Chengli would be scared and take her away from this variety show early.

The other families might be concerned about the penalty for breaking the contract, but their family had just experienced this incident, and Wei Chengli had a good relationship with Shi Dingshan. If Wei Chengli truly wanted to leave, he might be able to.

That wouldn’t do!

The fragrant, soft, chubby little dumpling tilted her head, hugged his leg, and called him “Dad” sweetly… She kept feeding him sweet nothings.

Initially, Wei Chengli could still watch the little rascal’s performance calmly, his mind remembering that she wasn’t being affectionate because she loved him, but because she wanted to protect Yan Yan.

But…

Who could stay indifferent to a cute and coquettish little dumpling?

It was like stepping into a pet store and seeing a small animal in a transparent enclosure, bouncing around, scratching at the door, rationally, he knew it wasn’t love at first sight, but he couldn’t help but be charmed by its cuteness.

When the bathroom door opened, and Liu Ming came out with a clean Cheng Tingyan, Wei Chengli realized that he had fallen into the three-year-old menace’s cute trap… He finally had a chance to be alone with his baby, but they didn’t even exchange two proper sentences, he spent the entire time being fed sweet nothings.

Oh, and he also dried a head of hair…

Seeing that both of them had been washed by Liu Ming, Wei Chengli finally swallowed his worries and anxieties.

Whatever, she wouldn’t sneak over and hurt someone in the middle of the night after what just happened today, right?

He needed some time to think it over.

After washing the two little ones, Liu Ming mopped the bathroom and the floor outside until it was completely dry, she even dried their slippers, then waited for Wei Chengli, who had gone to another room to use the bathroom, to come back, before finally leaving.

Finally, only the three of them were left in the room, Wei Chengli looked at the two little ones, huddled together in one bed, like little quails under the blanket, he let out a long sigh. “Sleep well, don’t worry, I’m right outside. If anything happens, just shout, I’ll come in.”

After saying that, Wei Chengli glanced at the little rascal, who didn’t even bother to cling to him, he hummed inwardly and left.

Speaking of Wei Chengli outside…

After closing the door for the two little ones, Wei Chengli went to his… room for tonight.

A camp bed, an electric fan, Wei Chengli looked around the corridor, which was 1.5 meters wide and over ten meters long, it was… quite airy.

This way, even if someone came to attack in the middle of the night, they would have to get past him first!

Wei Chengli turned off the corridor light and lay down on the camp bed by the little ones’ bedroom door, feeling relieved.

So the question was, what exactly happened today?

Judging from Shi Dingshan and Liu Ming’s attitude, it seemed they agreed with his little chubby dumpling’s suspicions. If it was Cheng Rongrong, why would she do such a thing? Hating Yan Yan, wanting to hurt her, couldn’t she do it at home? With their family’s level of favoritism, if she hurt Yan Yan at home, no one would even stand up for her, right? Why do it now?

Even though the cameras in the room would be turned off, it was still a live broadcast, even if she used Yueyue as a scapegoat, with several little babies living together and staff members coming and going, it was much riskier than doing it at home.

She didn’t do it when she had better conditions before, and now she created the conditions to do it… Why? Whether it was Cheng Rongrong’s own idea or someone behind her instigating it, why were they so impatient?

Either she suddenly hated Yan Yan so much that she couldn’t wait a few more days to act,

Or there was something that forced her to act against Yan Yan immediately… What would they gain from Yan Yan being injured?

To risk doing such a thing, she must be either crazy or have an ulterior motive, right?

Did she want to extort money from the program team?

Was a healthy Yan Yan in their way?

Or… did they discover his little chubby dumpling’s plan and want to make Yan Yan leave the show early, preventing her from using external forces to leave the Cheng family?

Wei Chengli thought for a while, his limited imagination couldn’t come up with more possibilities, he felt the last two were more likely.

Just as Wei Chengli was trying to rack his brain further, he suddenly heard soft footsteps coming from the stairs.

It seemed… someone was coming up from downstairs?

Wei Chengli had specifically asked when he went to the next room to use the bathroom, Cheng Feiying and Cheng Rongrong were staying in a newly cleaned room on the first floor.

These footsteps seemed to be coming from downstairs, Wei Chengli, startled, sat up abruptly from the camp bed.

Click.

Click.

Two sounds of switches being pressed, the corridor light turned on for a second, then off again.

The sudden burst of light made Wei Chengli’s eyes hurt, then he heard Shi Dingshan’s voice in the distance. “Why did you turn off my light?”

Wei Chengli: “… “ Who turned off whose light!

The corridor light switches, one was at the top of the stairs, the other was near the balcony on the second floor, where Wei Chengli was, they both pressed the switch almost simultaneously, it was impossible to tell who pressed it the second time.

Shi Dingshan wasn’t here to argue about this, he walked over in the darkness, patted Wei Chengli’s shoulder, pointed at the balcony door not far away, and whispered, “Let’s talk over there?”

“I have to guard the door.” Wei Chengli said, patting the bed next to him. “Want to sit?”

Shi Dingshan glanced at the other closed doors on the second floor, he didn’t sit down, but pushed Wei Chengli instead. “Get up, let’s move the bed against the door, if someone tries to open it, we’ll hear the noise from the balcony.”

Wei Chengli thought about it, he didn’t object this time.

Soon, they moved the camp bed against the door and went to the balcony.

“There were many things going on before, I didn’t have a chance to talk to you properly, so I came over now.” Shi Dingshan said, getting straight to the point. “Everyone was surprised by today’s incident. But I guarantee that nothing like this will happen again in the next few days. I’ve arranged for a few staff members to keep a close eye on Cheng Feiying and Cheng Rongrong, even when we’re not filming, they won’t have a chance to do anything. And for Maomao, Yan Yan, and the other little babies, I’ve also arranged for people to look after them, whether they’re outside or inside, there will always be someone watching over them. Something like today, it will never happen again, don’t worry.”

“For the next few days, can you avoid having Cheng Rongrong and Maomao… mmm, and Yan Yan do tasks together? The staff can watch, but they can’t be that close, right… If something unexpected happens, they might not be able to react in time.” Wei Chengli said, he was close to Shi Dingshan, so he didn’t bother with formalities, he just stated his request directly.

Shi Dingshan sighed. “I can only say I’ll try my best to arrange it. If it’s a group task for the babies, then they definitely won’t be in the same group. But if it’s an activity for all the babies, it’s impossible to completely isolate Cheng Rongrong… I think, whether it’s Cheng Feiying or Cheng Rongrong, they wouldn’t risk their own reputation to harm Cheng Tingyan, right? During the tasks, there are so many cameras and staff members, it’s practically full coverage, they wouldn’t do anything bad then. It’s not like a life-or-death feud that needs immediate revenge, they wouldn’t risk everything on this show.”

“That’s what I don’t understand… If it’s her, or them, they could have done it at home, behind closed doors, no one would even know. Why take the risk now?” Wei Chengli asked, echoing Shi Dingshan’s words, then shared his suspicions.

But because the little chubby dumpling insisted on keeping it a secret, Wei Chengli changed “They want to prevent Yan Yan from getting external help to leave the Cheng family” to “Yan Yan has become more assertive on the show, she doesn’t seem as easy to control, maybe they want to injure her and have her leave the show early.”

Even with the changed wording, this was still the most likely scenario in Wei Chengli’s mind.

However, Shi Dingshan had a different thought.

When Shi Dingshan heard Wei Chengli’s earlier words, “People always have motives for doing bad things, right? Could it be that a healthy Yan Yan is in their way? Would they gain more benefits without Yan Yan?”, he was shocked.

He had also discussed it with Qin Sichao earlier, but they were focused on the conflicts and grudges in a blended family… They didn’t even consider this possibility.

But if they thought about it from this angle, it was… even more terrifying!

“Wait, I need to make a phone call.” Shi Dingshan said, taking out his phone.

Three minutes later, Qin Sichao, panting, appeared on the balcony.

“Hello, Director Wei, we meet again.” Qin Sichao said with a friendly smile, extending his hand.

“… Hello.” Wei Chengli shook his hand and said hesitantly, “Hello, you look very familiar, have we met before?”

“Qin Sichao.” Shi Dingshan said, glancing at Wei Chengli. “Didn’t I introduce him to you before?”

Wei Chengli was startled by the name “Qin Sichao,” wait… Was it Qin Sichao, Director Qin? The famous…

“Are you dumbstruck?” Shi Dingshan asked, gently nudging the seemingly petrified Wei Chengli. “Didn’t you say you love Director Qin’s films? You could talk about them so eloquently, and now you don’t even recognize him in person?”

“… “ Wei Chengli was trying to find the resemblance between the chubby middle-aged man in front of him and the photos he had seen before, he was startled by Shi Dingshan’s question, he blurted out, “He’s much fatter than in the photos…”

Wei Chengli’s rationality made him swallow the last word.

It didn’t matter if he didn’t finish the sentence, the other two could fill in the blanks.

Shi Dingshan, who had been tormented by this troublesome matter all night, burst out laughing.

Qin Sichao’s outstretched hand froze.

“Director Wei, Director Shi said he wanted you to make more friends on this show, have you made any?” Qin Sichao asked, offering a friendly response.

Wei Chengli, whose social life had been cut off by the little chubby dumpling from day one: “… “

Before the ally turned into an “enemy,” Shi Dingshan chuckled, interrupting their “friendly” exchange.

Once they mentioned the serious matter, the previous jokes became irrelevant.

“The fact that I’m interested in Yan Yan, many staff members on my team know about it. After all, it’s not a secret, it was a staff member who recommended Yan Yan’s profile. The fact that I, Xiao Jiang, and Xiao Ni are here, almost the entire team knows.” Qin Sichao said honestly, answering Shi Dingshan’s question.

“When signing the contract for this variety show, including the later supplementary agreement for the live broadcast, we would confirm the guests’ recent work schedules. The live broadcast agreement was only signed two weeks ago, right? At that time, we hadn’t heard about any other projects the Cheng family was involved in.” Shi Dingshan said, looking at Qin Sichao. “Within such a short time frame, it’s only you.”

“Seriously? I just had the thought, I haven’t even contacted their family…” Qin Sichao said, still finding it hard to believe. “And besides, I’m making a film, I’m interested in Yan Yan. It’s not like I’m looking for a sacrifice… Would I just take anyone with the Cheng family’s blood? If Yan Yan is injured, would I have to use their Cheng Rongrong? Not to mention anything else, her age isn’t even right, I would have to wait a few more years to film, right?”

Shi Dingshan thought about it. “What you’re saying does make sense. But it’s hard to say with bad people’s logic, maybe they think you’re like a chicken leg, as long as Yan Yan can’t have it, it’ll end up in Cheng Rongrong’s bowl.”

“They’re delusional!” Qin Sichao said, then paused. “Who did you just say was like a chicken leg?”

“What do you think, Director Wei? I think it’s a leak from Director Qin’s side that made the Cheng family do something stupid. Otherwise, why would they be so eager to do this on a live broadcast variety show, just for these few days?” Shi Dingshan asked, looking at his potential ally.

Honestly, Wei Chengli was a bit confused.

The chubby Qin Sichao, the chosen Yan Yan, his suspicion actually had some basis now, so many unexpected things, he didn’t know which one to be surprised about first.

“The problem is, even if there was a leak from Director Qin’s side, even if their logic is that if Yan Yan is out of the picture, Cheng Rongrong will have a chance.” Wei Chengli said hesitantly, looking at the two. “But how did Cheng Rongrong and the others know? Our variety show, we confiscated their phones, they have no contact with the outside world, right?”

“That’s true for the other families, but it’s hard to say for theirs.” Qin Sichao said, taking out his phone, he showed Wei Chengli the missing information before Shi Dingshan could.

The bought vegetables, the outsider caught, Cheng Feiying, being lectured by Director Shi, roaring at his wife on the phone…

Wei Chengli rubbed his forehead, he had truly seen it all today.

After the two huddled together and watched the video, Shi Dingshan took out a password box from his bag and handed it to Wei Chengli. “Speaking of which, I’ll give you this first. The cameras in the babies’ rooms weren’t on at night, and the cameramen also stopped filming after they returned from the night market. But when Maomao fell, you dads were doing your individual interviews. When Su Li called you, the live broadcast wasn’t turned off immediately, the viewers outside still knew that Maomao fell. Of course, she was fine later, we also explained it on the live broadcast. But your wife… she also saw the live broadcast, she contacted our staff earlier, and the staff also talked to the doctor. But I think…” Shi Dingshan said, under the moonlight, shaking the small password box in his hand. “She probably wants to talk to you. We should have asked Maomao to say a few words too… But children, it’s not good if they accidentally reveal something in front of the other babies or during the live broadcast. You just talk to your wife on behalf of Maomao, I’ll wait inside, after you’re done, take…”

“Wait for what, let them have a proper chat, it was a big scare. Anyway, we’re not live broadcasting now, you can return it to me in the morning.” Qin Sichao said, pulling Shi Dingshan.

“… Okay, I’ll have someone come and get it before we start filming in the morning. You make the call on the balcony, it’s best not to let the other guests see, okay?” Shi Dingshan said, after giving his instructions, he looked at Qin Sichao. “Why are you suddenly so nice?” He was just mocking him for having no friends, and now he was being friendly?

“Hehe, I’m a nice person.” Qin Sichao said, pushing Shi Dingshan away.

Shi Dingshan: “… “ Who would believe that?

Anyway, they came, left the phone, and took away their doubts.

One felt he had comforted Wei Chengli, the other had established a friendly relationship with the guardian of the child he wanted to add to his film. Both of them were… quite satisfied.

As for Wei Chengli…

In the cool night breeze, the two-hour phone call swept away all his fatigue from the day.

Sitting back on the camp bed, Wei Chengli was still wide awake.

His phone, a good thing.

Wei Chengli, hiding under the blanket, started to… browse the online comments about the variety show these past few days.

He shouldn’t have browsed, because after browsing…

The sky… was bright.

Seeing Cheng Tingyan again, Wei Chengli’s heart ached.

It wasn’t the kind of jealousy he felt these past few days because of the little dumpling’s favoritism, it was a genuine heartache.

It had to be said, there were hidden talents among the common people.

These past few days, in places Wei Chengli couldn’t see, Yan Yan, sharing the unappetizing mush, Yan Yan, digging tirelessly under the scorching sun for Maomao’s watermelon, Yan Yan, always following Maomao, taking care of her… Yan Yan, being treated with passive-aggression and sarcasm by Cheng Rongrong, Yan Yan, being scolded by Cheng Feiying, Yan Yan, her voice always filled with sadness when talking about her family… The various clips and comments made him laugh until his stomach hurt, and also made his eyes well up several times.

But… this heartache and touch were quickly ended by a certain little rascal.

“Yan Yan, have you brushed your teeth?”

“Mmm.”

“Really? Let me see your teeth.”

“Ah… Mmm? Maomao! Your candy!”

“Hehe! This is truly the last one, I don’t have any more. Eat it quickly.”

Early in the morning, Wei Chengli, who hadn’t slept all night, had just greeted the two little ones when he was blinded by their excessive sweetness.

Candy! Who didn’t have any!

Wei Chengli took out the uneaten candy Shen Jianghe gave him from his pocket yesterday and stuffed it into his mouth.

Hmph, sweet, sticky, just average!!!

“Yan Yan, do you think this candy is delicious?”

“Delicious… Will you eat it next time?”

“Hehe, do you know why it’s delicious?”

“Because Maomao gave it to me!”

“… No, it’s because I put it under the air conditioner last night, it didn’t melt, it’s cold and crispy!”

…

???

Wei Chengli felt that the candy in his mouth, which was melting and sticky, not crispy at all, wasn’t sweet anymore!

Hmph!

Chapter 131p2

Their whispered conversation stopped as they reached the second-floor corridor, ending with Qin Sichao’s curse.

Wei Maomao waited and waited in Wei Chengli’s room on the second floor, she didn’t see Liu Ming, but she did see Shi Dingshan and an unexpected person…

Shi Dingshan glanced at the bedroom, it was Wei Chengli and Wen Xiang’s room, now there were only three people inside, one adult and two children, Wen Xiang must have left when the doctor came for the checkup.

“Come here.” Shi Dingshan said, his gaze sweeping past the two little ones, he beckoned Wei Chengli.

“Come where, just go in.” Qin Sichao said, his mind filled with “what ifs” after walking through the corridor, what if it was Yan Yan who went in earlier.

Look at that child, so skinny, if she fell, who knew what would happen.

If something happened to her, he would also be devastated… This was the little girl he had finally found!

Qin Sichao, filled with worry, pushed Shi Dingshan, who was standing at the bedroom door, aside and entered.

Shi Dingshan: “… “

“They’re the ones who should hear this, what’s the point of telling Director Wei?” Qin Sichao said, annoyed, he walked straight to Wei Maomao and squatted down. “Found it, on the floor by Yueyue’s bed.”

“What did you find?” Wei Chengli asked, confused.

“Don’t mind him. Maomao, how are you? What did the doctor say?” Shi Dingshan asked, he had been called away by Liu Ming, he hadn’t had a chance to contact the doctor.

“She’s fine, she didn’t hit her head. We’ll observe her closely tonight, if there are no problems, then she should be fine.” Wei Chengli said, then turned to look at the middle-aged man squatting next to his baby, who seemed to be chatting with the two little ones. He scratched his head, confused. “What did he say he found by Yueyue’s bed?”

Speaking of which… Who was he? He looked familiar… But he didn’t seem like a staff member…

A clueless dad, with a child who had good eyesight.

Wei Maomao also thought he looked familiar when he was standing at the door, and as soon as he squatted down in front of her, she recognized him.

This… was interesting.

After Jiang Heye, it was Ni Jinyan, and now Qin Sichao himself… He actually came.

And even more unexpectedly…

Wei Maomao looked at Qin Sichao, who was squatting in front of her, ranting and raving, in shock.

He actually knew everything that had happened, he even went to smell the water bottle and personally touched the floor…

Okay, judging from Qin Sichao’s angry expression, Cheng Rongrong’s dream of getting a role in his award-winning film was probably shattered.

The butterfly effect ruining a certain bad person’s good start, Wei Maomao, whose heart had been racing with fear and worry, finally felt a bit relieved.

Yes, bad person.

The floor by Wen Jiangyue’s bed, it was a spot she would definitely step on, no wonder the slippers on Wen Jiangyue’s feet also felt slippery.

Not only did she do something bad, she even tried to frame someone, she was truly evil!

Wei Maomao cursed inwardly, then silently thanked all the detective novels and films she had read in her previous life.

Shi Dingshan briefly explained the situation upstairs to Wei Chengli, he looked at Little Maomao, who was becoming increasingly dazed, and couldn’t help but pull Qin Sichao up. “What are you telling the little baby? Don’t scare her.”

Who was scaring who?

Qin Sichao glanced at the two unharmed little babies, he didn’t argue, he just hummed.

“Anyway, that’s what happened, there’s no evidence, and there’s nothing we can do about it now. Everyone be aware, but don’t show it, we’re almost done, we’ll disband after the filming…” Shi Dingshan said, patting Wei Chengli’s shoulder. “All the cameras are off now, you can talk to them properly. But tomorrow, when the cameras are on, don’t mention these suspicions. Just say that Maomao accidentally fell… It was an accident. Otherwise, without evidence, with their family’s style, causing more trouble would be very troublesome. You suffered a loss this time, I’ll make it up to you later.”

Wei Chengli didn’t answer or object.

His brain was overloaded. He suspected that Shi Dingshan had just given him a hypothetical script.

A three-and-a-half-year-old child meticulously planning to harm someone was already… unbelievable.

And she was even exposed by a three-year-old baby… Even scripts wouldn’t dare to be written like this, right?

But if it was all true…

Wei Chengli’s eyes darkened, would it just end like this?

He couldn’t swallow this injustice!

“Okay, let’s go. Everyone was startled by today’s incident. Let Maomao sleep with you, the other babies probably also want to sleep with their dads, I still have to arrange the rooms. You guys sleep in this room, I’ll find another place for Wen Xiang.” Shi Dingshan said, glancing at Cheng Tingyan, he added, “Yan Yan, you continue sleeping with Maomao, I’ll have someone inform your dad.”

“It’s not convenient with only one room here…” Wei Chengli interrupted, his rationality returning amidst his anger.

“Then you sleep in the small room on the left, let them sleep in this room.” Shi Dingshan said, pointing outside. “There’s also a single bed there, I’ll have someone clean it up for you.”

Wei Chengli: ???

Didn’t they say that because of the scare, the baby could sleep with her dad?

“I have to watch over Maomao, what if she slips again…” Wei Chengli, still traumatized, didn’t want to be separated from his baby for even a second.

“I won’t slip.” Wei Maomao said, patting Wei Chengli’s leg. “The uncles just said, it was Cheng… Mmm, someone made the floor slippery. If no one did it, I’m always fine, I wouldn’t slip.”

“No, the uncles didn’t say anything.” Shi Dingshan said, stroking the dirty Maomao’s head. “Maomao, those aren’t evidence. You can’t say those speculative words, people will accuse you of slander. Do you know what slander is? It’s making false accusations. That person will say you’re falsely accusing her, because you have no evidence, many people who don’t know the truth will also say you’re falsely accusing her. Then, if you can’t explain yourself, you’ll suffer a loss. Do you know what suffering a loss means? It means…”

“I understand, Uncle Shi.” Wei Maomao interrupted Shi Dingshan’s lecture. “I won’t say anything.”

It was enough, Wei Chengli, Shi Dingshan, Qin Sichao, it was enough, she never expected the whole world to see the truth.

Shi Dingshan, satisfied, ruffled the little dirty head again.

A three-year-old baby, so thoughtful~~~

Shi Dingshan left, taking Qin Sichao, who seemed like he wanted to stay and chat, with him.

Wei Chengli, his mind still buzzing from the information overload, grabbed the water bottle on the table and gulped down the entire bottle.

The cold water jolted him back to reality.

So the question was…

“Maomao, was everything they said true? That water bottle, the floor, did you figure it all out yourself?” Wei Chengli asked, looking at the little dirty dumpling with a complicated expression.

“Mmm.” Wei Maomao said casually, focusing on the point she cared about the most. “Dad, there are no bad people here, can I shower by myself?”

“No!” Wei Chengli said firmly, refusing, then continued, confused, “How did you even think of those things? How do you have such a brain…”

Completely baffled, Wei Chengli refused to believe that the girl who was still wetting the bed a few days ago had suddenly become Sherlock Holmes baby.

“Watching more cartoons makes you smarter.” Wei Maomao said vaguely, then quickly changed the subject. “Thank you, Dad, for watching cartoons with me, for explaining them to me. Thank you, Dad, for making my brain grow~~~”

Wei Chengli laughed in exasperation. “I don’t have that ability, I don’t even have such a brain myself.”

“Oh, thank you, Dad, for letting your brain grow into mine.” Wei Maomao said, looking at the door. “Where’s Sister Mingming? If she’s not coming, I’m going to shower by myself!”

“No way!” Wei Chengli said, refusing again without hesitation. His gaze swept past Cheng Tingyan, then landed back on the little dirty dumpling. “You’re so smart… You wouldn’t have known there was a problem inside and still cut in line, right?”

Since everyone was already speculating, he didn’t mind being impolite and following their lead. Earlier, when he was anxiously waiting at the bathroom door, Su Li had explained the situation, Cheng Tingyan was supposed to be the one showering, but this little rascal insisted on cutting in line to poop…

Wei Maomao: ???

At first, Wei Maomao thought Wei Chengli was joking, or being sarcastic. But when she didn’t answer, and Wei Chengli also remained silent, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became eerily quiet, she realized he was actually asking seriously.

Wait…

He couldn’t be thinking in this direction.

In this life, the married Wei Chengli was a normal and loving father. Just now, Wei Maomao almost didn’t notice, he even used the word “cutting in line.” If he misunderstood that she deliberately went in knowing there was a problem, it wouldn’t be good for Yan Yan…

After all, for many parents, their own children were the most important. If there was a situation that could harm their child, they would choose to stay away, not get involved.

Wei Maomao’s heart skipped a beat, this wouldn’t do!

Chapter 131p1

“It’s okay, I told you I was fine, Yan Yan, don’t be scared.”

“Yan Yan, come sit closer, you can sit on this bed.”

“Hey, there are cookies on the table, Yan Yan, are you hungry?”

“Yan Yan…”

…

Chatter, chatter, chatter…

“Will you shut up and let the doctor examine you properly!” Wei Chengli said, his initial worry turning into a throbbing headache.

Of course, he asked her to be quiet because he was worried, definitely not because the little rascal never chattered like this with him.

“Why should I be quiet! I have to watch carefully!” Wei Maomao said, tilting her head as she cooperated with the doctor, raising her arms, kicking her legs. “Why should I shut up, does the doctor need to examine my mouth!”

It was her fault earlier, she was too focused on pooping and gathering evidence, she was worried about Yan Yan walking around and slipping, but she forgot that the six-year-old Yan Yan would be scared, she spoke too loudly in her panic, and scared her to tears. Now she had to seize the opportunity and comfort her properly.

“… “ Wei Chengli, speechless from the little rascal’s retort, was so angry that he almost headbutted something.

But that little menace, after annoying him, turned to Yan Yan as if nothing had happened.

“Yan Yan…” Wei Maomao said, struggling to turn her head to look at Cheng Tingyan as she lifted her chubby foot according to the doctor’s instructions.

“Maomao, focus on your checkup, we’ll talk later.” Cheng Tingyan said softly, interrupting the little chubby bunny’s call, she glanced at Wei Chengli, who was leaning against the wall, looking exasperated. Seeing the little chubby bunny pout, about to speak again, she blushed slightly and added in a low voice, “I’m fine now, I… won’t cry anymore… I’ll just stay here and not move, you focus on your checkup.”

Wei Maomao glanced at the stethoscope the doctor took out, she wiggled her body and agreed. “Okay.”

Wei Chengli: “… “ All his earlier words were wasted!

The little chubby dumpling was annoying, but her chubbiness was also useful.

After the doctor finished the examination and asked the little one to demonstrate the falling posture twice on the bed, he concluded that she was fine. Of course, he still reminded Wei Chengli to observe her closely tonight and contact the doctor immediately if there were any problems.

Wei Chengli, his ears perked up, afraid of missing a single word, nodded repeatedly, he even asked a few more questions before gratefully seeing the doctor out.

When he turned back…

Oh, he shouldn’t have turned back, he should have just left with the doctor.

“Enough, you’re all dirty, and you still have the nerve to get close to Yan Yan.” Wei Chengli said, humming.

“We’re far apart!” Wei Maomao said, dissatisfied, she gestured the distance between her and Cheng Tingyan with her hands.

Yes, yes, yes, two chubby fists apart, very far… Wei Chengli rolled his eyes, he reached out to grab the dumpling. “Come on, let’s go take another shower, Dad will wash you, you might slip again if you do it yourself.”

A bolt from the blue!

“I’ll wash myself!” Wei Maomao, startled, reacted with unprecedented speed, she quickly took two steps back, dodging Wei Chengli’s attack.

“No way!” Wei Chengli said firmly, refusing. “What if you slip again! Come on, I still have to wash the bed sheet you rolled on, don’t waste time.”

“No! I won’t slip here!” Wei Maomao said, scrambling from the bed to the other side. “Boys can’t watch girls shower! I’m not showering! I’m sleeping like this!”

Wei Chengli laughed in exasperation. “What boy! I’m your dad!”

“You’re not a boy, are you a girl then!” Wei Maomao said, running around the room like a pig about to be slaughtered, dodging the “butcher’s” attacks again and again.

“Stop running! You’ll fall again!” Wei Chengli said, stopping, he was about to faint from anger.

“Well…” Cheng Tingyan said weakly. “Sister Mingming… Girls…”

“Right, right, right! Let Sister Mingming come in and be with me!” Wei Maomao said, she was also speechless at her own brain for forgetting about Liu Ming. It was mainly because Wei Chengli’s words earlier scared her so much that she almost forgot about Liu Ming.

It’s okay… She had already been watched pooping… This time, she would just have Liu Ming face the wall.

“Yan Yan is truly smart.” Wei Maomao said, remembering to be nice, her little face turning towards Cheng Tingyan, her voice sweet.

Wei Chengli: “… “

He hadn’t forgotten about Liu Ming, but the little dumpling had just fallen, he was worried, so he wanted to take care of it himself. But this little rascal wasn’t even grateful, it was infuriating! What was wrong with a dad taking care of his three-year-old baby! She was only three years old!

Wei Chengli, scared and angry from tonight’s events, his head throbbing, then he saw the little rascal, narrowly escaping, lying on the edge of the bed, panting… And Yan Yan, she even went over and patted her back.

Wake up, Yan Yan! She only ran a few steps! And she’s already panting! Only you would believe her!

“Then I’ll go find Liu Ming.” Wei Chengli said, unable to watch this drama queen and the naive one anymore, he was about to go and find someone.

“No, Dad, wait.” Wei Maomao called out, stopping him.

Wei Chengli turned back, confused.

Wei Maomao rubbed her belly. “Sister Mingming is busy now, she’ll come and find me after she’s done, let’s wait here for a bit.”

“Oh, right, she’s mopping the floor over there, right?” Wei Chengli said, looking at the dirty little dumpling. “Are you uncomfortable standing like this? Should I go find another staff member?”

“No, I’ll wait for Sister Mingming.” Wei Maomao shook her head, refusing. She calculated, the doctor’s examination took a while earlier, they should have found it by now… She would soon know the final result.

Indeed.

Liu Ming found it.

And not just found it.

“Tsk, this area is truly sticky, stickier than the rest.” Qin Sichao said, squatting next to the green bed, rubbing the hand that had just touched the floor. “This is a bit scary.”

Shi Dingshan, who had already touched the floor before Qin Sichao, didn’t say anything, his face dark. He had originally come to this villa to see Maomao, but as soon as he reached the first floor, he received a call from Liu Ming. He couldn’t understand what she was saying on the phone, so he came up, and he was truly shocked by what he saw.

Liu Ming glanced at Shi Dingshan, she didn’t dare to answer Qin Sichao.

After everyone left the room earlier, Liu Ming, following Wei Maomao’s instructions, used her wet hand to feel the floor, and after finding this anomaly by Wen Jiangyue’s bed, she immediately called Director Shi.

Unexpectedly, Director Qin also came with Director Shi.

Although both directors said it was fine to tell them, it wasn’t a secret, Liu Ming still insisted on pulling Shi Dingshan aside and explaining everything from beginning to end.

Later, Director Shi didn’t hide anything from Director Qin, he summarized the situation. But Liu Ming still cautiously avoided talking to Director Qin.

After all, this matter, how should she put it… It was indeed a bit scary, just like Director Qin said.

“Okay, just mop the floor clean. If you can’t handle it alone, call someone to help you clean up, finish it as soon as possible.” Shi Dingshan said to Liu Ming, then looked at Qin Sichao. “Let’s go.”

Liu Ming was stunned, she couldn’t help but say, “Just mop it clean? Then wouldn’t the evidence…”

“What evidence? It’s just a patch of floor with some shower gel on it.” Qin Sichao said, looking at Liu Ming. “She could have brought it out on her shoes, accidentally spilled it, it could be residue from the previous guests… There are many possibilities.”

“But…” Liu Ming said, thinking about the moment the bathroom door opened, seeing the little chubby dumpling sprawled on the floor, pitiful and helpless, she couldn’t swallow this injustice. “The security cameras in the room might have captured it…”

“With such meticulous planning, would she be caught on camera? Even if she was, then what? Minors under twelve aren’t even criminally responsible for murder.” Qin Sichao said, glancing at the floor next to the bed, he sneered. “Three and a half years old, even if we catch her, it’s pointless. And with just a water bottle and a patch of floor, we can’t even catch her.”

“Four children, staff members coming and going, many people could have touched those two things. The three children all showered in the bathroom before, and there are no cameras inside, there’s no way to know how that slippery water got there. What you know now is just a suspicion, without evidence, it can easily be refuted by another suspicion.” Shi Dingshan said, looking at the seemingly unconvinced Liu Ming, he sighed and explained patiently, “Maomao, who went in first, said it wasn’t slippery, let’s put her aside for now. Then there’s Yueyue, who went in second, and… Cheng Rongrong, the third. One said it wasn’t slippery, the other said it was, it’s already a ‘Rashomon*’ situation. There are no cameras in the bathroom, how can you determine who’s lying? Of course, you would say that Yueyue’s shoes became slippery because they touched the substance on the floor, that Yueyue wasn’t lying, it was Cheng Rongrong who was lying. But think about it, what if Yueyue was lying, what if she smeared the floor and then misled everyone into thinking Cheng Rongrong was lying?”

*Rashomon effect: used to describe the phenomenon of the unreliability of eyewitnesses.*

“And it could also be Little Maomao who smeared the floor between Yueyue and Cheng Rongrong’s beds, making their shoes slippery. Then she went in, made the floor slippery, and pretended to fall. Then she analyzed it for you step by step, using you to mislead others.” Qin Sichao said, his imagination running wild.

Liu Ming’s head was spinning from their hypotheses, but she still clung to her last bit of rationality, she firmly denied, “No, it couldn’t be Maomao, we heard the sound of her slipping as soon as she went in. She didn’t have time to smear anything and even wash the water bottle.”

“Haha, don’t be nervous, we’re just making hypotheses. But… since not many people witnessed this, it could be even scarier… For example, they could also say you were bribed, that she actually waited for a while before making the sound of falling.” Qin Sichao said with a smile. “And Yan Yan was outside the door at the time, right? Since they’re so close, people could also say that Yan Yan was lying.”

Liu Ming took a step back, she felt a bit suffocated.

“Okay, stop scaring her.” Shi Dingshan said, interrupting Qin Sichao’s rambling, he looked at Liu Ming. “Director Qin isn’t saying you’re lying, he’s just telling you that this evidence is too weak, it can’t withstand scrutiny. We can’t get to the bottom of this. Recently, there have been waves of people online defending the Cheng family and attacking Yan Yan and the other guests, you’ve seen it too, right? Clearly online trolls. It means the Cheng family loves doing this. So guess what, if we have no evidence, and we directly target Cheng Rongrong, make a big deal out of it, the things Director Qin just said, no, even worse things might happen.”

Liu Ming bit her lip, not saying anything.

She had to admit, Shi Dingshan was right.

Today’s incident, it seemed too much like an “accident,” even if they called the police, it would be difficult to prove anything. And the public opinion storm would be terrifying…

“Anyway, just keep this between us. I’ll talk to Maomao.” Shi Dingshan said, looking at the dejected Liu Ming, his voice softening. “You’re tired today, go and rest, I’ll call two other people to mop the floor.”

After saying that, Shi Dingshan beckoned Qin Sichao, and they were about to go to Wei Chengli’s room.

They had already reached the door when a soft female voice came from behind them.

“You just called Maomao, Yueyue, Yan Yan… and Rongrong as Cheng Rongrong… You… also believe in Maomao’s suspicion, right?”

Shi Dingshan didn’t answer.

But Qin Sichao turned around and chuckled. “What else? Do we look like fools?”

Fools, they were definitely not fools.

“It doesn’t feel dry and stiff, it must have been smeared recently.”

“She said it wasn’t slippery when she went in, that means she stepped on it after showering.”

“It’s a pity the night market ended too late tonight, otherwise, the cameras in the room would still be on.”

“It’s all your fault, being so considerate, they should have been on!”

“Who would have thought this would happen, a three-and-a-half-year-old child wouldn’t even think of doing this, I wonder who taught her at home.”

“My poor Little Maomao, is being cute a crime? To be hated like this…”

“Wasn’t she quite clever just now? Have you forgotten who was supposed to go in next? Think about it carefully, who was it that you pitied?”

“… Ah! Damn it!”