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

Chapter 76

Perhaps it was because the program team had put in so much effort in setting up and arranging everything, creating a strong kindergarten (or rather, retirement home) atmosphere. When the staff signaled for the newly appointed parents to go out and work, most of the babies didn’t run off excitedly as usual, but turned to their dads, said a few words, then obediently gathered around the staff.

The babies, some holding hands and marching forward, some waving goodbye reluctantly, some looking back with worry in their eyes… eventually, they all left.

When the last staff member accompanying the babies left the Wei family’s courtyard, several dads… breathed a small sigh of relief.

However, the babies were gone, but the supervisor remained.

The host, who had stayed behind, squatted in a corner of the courtyard, watching the dads leave their designated activity areas and gather together, chatting and laughing about the babies’ adult-like behavior, seemingly quite relaxed and happy. He couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous.

Ah, why was it that as the host of a parent-child variety show, his job was always so dangerous, he felt like he was about to get beaten up every second…

But even if he was afraid of getting beaten up, he still had to work, no work, no money.

“New children, please stay within your designated activity areas, please engage in your assigned activities obediently while the new parents are out working hard to earn money for the family.” The host said through the microphone, his voice carrying far.

The others… were fine for now, but Wang Qingchuan was undoubtedly the one who had the strongest reaction to his “assigned activity.”

Hearing the host’s words, Wang Qingchuan couldn’t help but retort, “They’re all out selling vegetables, they can’t see us. We’re just playing house for the babies, we can just act properly when they’re around.”

Here it comes, the host’s scalp tingled, but thankfully, the program team had provided solutions for various possible situations beforehand, he quickly replied professionally, “Today, we want the dads and babies to swap lives, not just play house for the babies. The babies are experiencing the hardships of their dads earning money, and the dads should also experience the joy of being babies. I believe that when you’re working hard outside, you wouldn’t want your babies to promise to be good, then disobey you behind your backs, right?”

Wang Qingchuan: “… “

“Hahaha, okay, okay, we won’t be hypocrites, we’ll participate in our activities obediently, setting a good example for the babies.” Wen Qiming, who was already standing by the recliner, said as he half-lay down, casually picking up a book from the pile on the coffee table and starting to read.

Cheng Feiying had agreed with Cheng Rongrong’s suggestion, although watching fish for a whole morning was a bit boring, it was still better than running around doing tasks and cooking. But next time, if they had a choice of activities, he would choose “free play.”

As everyone started their activities, Shen Jianghe and Wen Xiang also walked to the large wooden table and sat down.

Shen Jianghe smiled at Wang Qingbei, who was already sitting obediently at the table, then turned to Wen Xiang. “Lego or building blocks?”

“Either is fine.” Wen Xiang replied listlessly, leaning back in his chair.

Shen Jianghe looked at Wang Qingbei again.

“Puzzles first, then Lego, then we can play with the dance mat when our hands get tired, then we can sit down, rest, and play video games.” Wang Qingbei had a full schedule, she pulled a puzzle box closer and poured out the pieces.

Shen Jianghe chuckled. “Building blocks or Lego, either one is probably enough for the whole morning.”

Just as Wang Qingbei was about to speak again, the host’s voice came from afar.

“Child Wang Qingchuan, Child Wang Qingchuan, why haven’t you started your activity?” The host said loudly through the microphone.

“Oh, maybe it’s because my child doesn’t listen, so I’m also not listening after becoming a child.” Wang Qingchuan, far away from the bed board, said with a rebellious expression.

Wang Qingbei’s fingers, holding the puzzle pieces, tightened.

“… “ The host gestured to the staff next to him.

A few seconds later, the giant projection screen on the wall suddenly lit up.

“These past few days, the dads have worked hard, completing tasks for their families.”

Following the host’s words, the screen started showing footage of the babies digging for Baby Coins, then exchanging them for drinks for their dads, working hard to complete the “Help the Villagers” task and bringing home ingredients, Shen Zilin winning the “Real-Life Monopoly” task and adding a barbecue dish to their dinner…

Unlike the previous night’s contrasting footage of the babies and dads at the same time, this time, it was all about the babies, all about their efforts, their achievements, and how they shared their rewards with their dads.

Wang Qingchuan: “… “

Here it comes, the guilt trip, fashionably late.

“Yesterday, our babies completed the task of playing at Grandma Zhao’s house and each received five Baby Coins. It seems that although our dads are grown-ups, after becoming children today, they still need some encouragement. So, for this activity today, all the new children who obediently follow the new parents’ instructions will receive a reward of five Daddy Coins!” The host said enthusiastically.

The dads, bombarded by the motivational speech: “… “

So they had already become children who needed incentives to be obedient, how did it come to this?

Speechless and hesitant gazes from all directions landed on Wang Qingchuan.

Wang Qingchuan: “… “

And so, when the projection screen went dark, Wang Qingchuan finally lay down “peacefully.”

Just as the others were secretly relieved that they had chosen decent activities, the host dropped one last bomb before turning off the microphone.

“Yesterday, Shen Zilin and Wen Dongyu played with all the play equipment provided by the program team at Grandma Zhao’s house, unlocking a hidden task and receiving an extra ten Baby Coins as a reward!”

Shen Jianghe, who was picking up a Lego box, was hit right in the heart.

And Wen Xiang, who had been slumped in his chair like a boneless creature, suddenly sat up straight, grabbed a box, and started working on it without even checking what it was.

“Mmm… Can I ask a question? What are Baby Coins and Daddy Coins?” Jiang Heye’s gaze swept over Shen Jianghe, who was petrified, and Wen Xiang, who was suddenly energized, before settling on the former.

Shen Jianghe chuckled wryly, pulled over the Lego box, and as he opened it, he briefly explained it to Wang Qingbei. After finishing his explanation, he patted his pockets, realizing they were empty, he hadn’t brought any today, he turned to Wen Xiang. “Wen Xiang, take out your Daddy Coins and show them to Xiao Wang.”

Wen Xiang looked up silently, his hands still busy building with Lego.

“The Daddy Coins Dongdong gave you before he left, show Xiao Wang what they look like.” Shen Jianghe, thinking Wen Xiang had forgotten about the new coins he received, reminded him.

Wen Xiang slowly took out a coin from his pocket, he didn’t give it to Wang Qingbei, just held it in his hand and showed it to her.

Shen Jianghe: “… “ What was going on, it was just a look, not giving it to her, why was he being so strangely stingy?

But Shen Jianghe didn’t know that it wasn’t necessarily stinginess, it was more like helplessness.

Honestly, after this morning, Wen Xiang felt that Wen Dongyu, as a parent, was doing… quite well. Although he had slept in a bit, he got up as soon as the staff called him. When he came back from his task, he brought back a plentiful breakfast.

It’s just that, like last night, they didn’t talk. It wasn’t intentional, at least not on Wen Xiang’s part, he just didn’t know what to say. He had thought about it a lot during his lonely days, it seemed like every time he spoke, it didn’t end well, it was better to stay silent, so they could at least have some peace.

Like last night and today, his son wasn’t running around anymore, they were eating together peacefully, it was good.

But this wasn’t a normal state, Wen Xiang knew that very well.

Especially…

Before the babies left, several of them went to talk to their dads, Wen Dongyu also came over.

He stuffed a handful of Daddy Coins into his hand and said the longest sentence he had said in the past two days.

“Here, these are for you, use them however you like. If I’m late coming back from selling vegetables, buy yourself something to eat.”

After saying that, Wen Dongyu ran off, not giving Wen Xiang a chance to reply.

And Wen Xiang… truly didn’t know what to say, the words were stuck in his throat, he couldn’t form a complete sentence, let alone say it out loud.

He had given him a handful of Daddy Coins, so friendly. But when Wen Dongyu left the courtyard, he looked back and waved, but… it was at Wei Chengli, well, at the pig next to Wei Chengli. He didn’t look at Wen Xiang at all.

After Wen Dongyu left, Wen Xiang secretly counted the Daddy Coins in his pocket, there were twenty.

Whether twenty was a lot or not was another matter, but because they had been arguing non-stop since the first day, the Daddy Coins Wen Xiang earned from tasks… he hadn’t exchanged any of them for Baby Coins.

Wen Xiang couldn’t help but think about the other day, when Wen Dongyu came back with a chicken leg and an egg, happily saying he was treating him… Then he said a few things that made Wen Dongyu drop the chicken leg and run off.

Wen Xiang truly didn’t understand how things had become like this. When they were at home, he and Wen Dongyu got along so well, like friends, like brothers, even if they occasionally argued, it was just playful bickering, and they would make up quickly.

Unlike now… It seemed like everything had become heavy, complicated to the point where he couldn’t even think about it.

His brain wasn’t working, so he could only use his body. Just like he had carried 3000kg of watermelon yesterday, he could certainly complete all the activities today.

Wen Xiang put away the Daddy Coin and continued to focus on building with Lego.

And Wang Qingbei, after confirming with the host that she could also get Daddy Coins for completing tasks, also focused on her puzzle.

And so, Shen Jianghe watched as the other two at the table… became competitive?

The babies, who had been taken to the “market” by car, naturally didn’t know what was happening in the Wei family’s courtyard.

As soon as Wei Maomao arrived, she saw that the market was more crowded than she had expected.

But… Wei Maomao glanced at the amount of goods on the stalls around her and knew… This was definitely a fake market.

“Grandma Zhao, let’s set up together.” Wei Maomao grabbed Zhao Lanhua, who was getting off the car. Real or fake market aside, she still remembered her side quest.

Zhao Lanhua naturally had no objections.

“Babies, the variety of vegetables we have is quite limited, don’t set up your stalls together, spread them out, it’ll be easier to sell.” Yang Ning said, pointing at several obvious empty spots between the stalls. “We’ve reserved spots for you, you can ask the staff to take you there.”

Liu Ming approached Wei Maomao.

“Let’s go together.” Wei Maomao grabbed Cheng Tingyan’s hand and looked up at Liu Ming.

“The stalls are…” Liu Ming tried to repeat Yang Ning’s words.

“It’s okay, let the other stalls squeeze a bit.” Zhao Lanhua could tell as soon as she got off the car that this was a fake market set up for the variety show, not a scam. The vendors were all familiar faces, some from their village, some from the two neighboring villages, even the people walking around were all familiar.

“… “ Liu Ming glanced at Grandma Zhao, who seemed to know everything, and nodded. “Okay.”

“I also want to be together.” Wen Jiangyue said timidly.

Liu Ming: “… “

“Me too!” Wen Dongyu squeezed his head into the conversation.

Wang Zhizhi, who wanted to work hard and sell vegetables to support his family: “… “

Shen Zilin, who felt that being together with the same type of goods wasn’t good for sales: “… “

Cheng Rongrong, who had already set a new target, had no interest in being together.

In the end, Liu Ming, receiving instructions from the director, reluctantly arranged a five-stall row for them, while the other three were taken to other locations by the staff.

Speaking of other locations…

This market only had four rows of stalls, from where Wei Maomao and the others were, they could see Wang Zhizhi and the others diagonally across, two rows away.

And so, Wei Maomao saw Su Li move the vendor selling bananas next to Wang Zhizhi and let Cheng Rongrong set up her stall there.

Interesting, not targeting Shen Zilin today, switched to Wang Zhizhi?

Didn’t she hate Wang Zhizhi?

Wei Maomao was a bit curious, but she didn’t dwell on it.

Soon, her attention was focused on selling vegetables.

Oh, to be precise… on being asked about the prices.

After setting up the stall, Wei Maomao thought that even if the market was fake, the customers might be somewhat real. But after being asked about the prices a few times, she knew… it was all fake! Not only was it all fake, these extras were also a bit mean!

Just three types of vegetables, the program team had given them suggested prices after they finished harvesting this morning.

Per kilogram, tomatoes were 2.5 yuan, cucumbers 2.3 yuan, and loofah 3 yuan.

What did little babies know? They naturally set the prices according to the program team’s suggestions.

Wei Maomao also followed the crowd.

The program team had even prepared small wooden price tags for them, electronic scales to be placed in front of their stalls, and a staff member behind each stall to help with weighing and calculating (a human calculator), it was quite professional.

And then…

These extras couldn’t possibly all be illiterate, right?

Asking about prices, asking about prices, still asking about prices, they didn’t even haggle, they just asked, then smiled and left…

After a few rounds, Wei Maomao suspected that either the program team had deliberately arranged the real customers for last, or they were planning to let them fail to sell anything.

Did they want to film the babies panicking because they couldn’t earn money to support their families?

They wouldn’t be that cruel, right…

Many thoughts were clashing in Wei Maomao’s head, lost in thought, her expression unconsciously became serious.

Then, she was suddenly pushed from the left.

The small, innocent, chubby bunny fell to the right, landing in Cheng Tingyan’s arms.

“Ahhh, sorry, baby, Grandma used too much force.” Zhao Lanhua pulled the chubby baby up, her face full of guilt.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, Yan Yan caught me.” Wei Maomao calmed her startled heart, respecting the elderly.

Speaking of which, she was caught again…

Wei Maomao turned to look at Cheng Tingyan, who smiled gently.

“It’s good that you’re okay… I just saw you looked unhappy, I wanted to tell you not to worry.” Zhao Lanhua forced a kind smile. “This kind of market is like this, it’s close to the village, so most of the customers are from the neighboring villages. And in the villages, every household has some land, they usually grow their own vegetables, so there might not be many people buying vegetables. But there are some, you just have to wait, don’t worry, baby.”

What Zhao Lanhua didn’t say was that these tomatoes, loofah, and cucumbers were all in season, almost every household nearby grew some, they were already hard to sell at the market. The ones grown in the large fields in the village were usually bought in bulk by trucks and sold elsewhere. Zhao Lanhua looked at the familiar faces walking around, none of them looked like they would buy these vegetables. And many of them had children with them… Clearly just here to have fun.

But that girl said this market was arranged by the program team, they… wouldn’t forget to arrange some real customers, right?

If worst came to worst, she would buy them herself. Zhao Lanhua touched her pocket, making up her mind.

Just as Zhao Lanhua decided to buy everything if necessary, someone… made a sale.

No, it should be said, someone closed their stall.

Wei Maomao initially didn’t know what had happened, it was Wen Jiangyue, who was next to her, separated by Cheng Tingyan, who noticed it first. Then the discussion started, and Wei Maomao followed their gazes and saw it too.

She missed the beginning, but saw the end.

The vegetables in front of Cheng Rongrong and Wang Zhizhi seemed to have been bought, no… it should be said, bought out?

Wei Maomao stood up and saw the man standing in front of Cheng Rongrong in the distance. He picked up Wang Zhizhi’s basket, poured all the vegetables into Cheng Rongrong’s basket, then… paid, and finally, carrying the basket… left?

A big spender!

This… Shi Dingshan was being unfair, she also wanted a big spender!

Wei Maomao, who hadn’t even sold a single tomato after being asked about the prices for so long, couldn’t help but grumble.

Wang Zhizhi, with only one basket left, and Cheng Rongrong, with no baskets left, went to Shen Zilin’s stall for a bit, then came towards the five of them.

The smugness on Cheng Rongrong’s face was evident, but Wei Maomao didn’t have time to pay attention to her.

Wei Maomao was looking at the two staff members who were originally standing behind Cheng Rongrong and Wang Zhizhi, helping them calculate the prices. They seemed to be talking into their microphones, and their expressions… looked quite bitter. Then they even chased after the big spender who had just bought out the two stalls.

Strange.

Wait…

In her previous life, in the third season of “Where’s Baby Going” filmed by Jin Youliang, there seemed to be this kind of big spender too.

It was in Silver Leaf Village, the village famous for its snacks, during the second location.

The babies carried baskets, selling Silver Leaf Village’s local specialties on a pedestrian street in the city. Cheng Rongrong also encountered a big spender who bought out her entire basket. He even praised her for being so young and already helping to sell things, saying she was smart and capable, and even gave her an extra hundred yuan… as a tip?

Cheng Rongrong didn’t take it.

The comments were all praising Cheng Rongrong for being beautiful, kind-hearted, hardworking, and not greedy at such a young age.

So what kind of luck was this? The director changed, the location changed, the things being sold changed, but the big spender who bought everything remained the same…

No, Wei Maomao looked at Cheng Rongrong, who was getting closer.

So were the customers in both her previous life and this life arranged by the program team?

Were they the program team’s favorites?

Shi Dingshan… added to the blacklist.

“Let’s help you sell yours too.” Wang Zhizhi approached, his face slightly flushed, and said.

“Did you already sell everything? How are you so fast! You’re so amazing!” Wen Jiangyue, who also hadn’t made a single sale and had been asked about the prices multiple times, said with envy. “How did you sell them?”

“I’m not amazing…” Wang Zhizhi waved his hand and glanced at Cheng Rongrong. “She’s the amazing one… That person bought hers, and she said he might as well buy mine too… I didn’t even say anything, and they were all sold.”

Actually, Wang Zhizhi didn’t want Cheng Rongrong to help him sell. If it was a normal task, he would definitely refuse and sell them slowly himself…

But today, thinking about having to support two people at home, when Cheng Rongrong spoke to that customer, Wang Zhizhi… couldn’t bring himself to refuse.

Although he had earned money now, Wang Zhizhi didn’t know why, but he couldn’t feel happy. He even felt a bit guilty seeing his friends who hadn’t sold their vegetables yet.

“Cheng Rongrong, you’re so amazing.” Wen Jiangyue sighed.

Look at her, selling a whole basket, then another whole basket, while she… hadn’t even sold one.

“I’m not amazing.” Cheng Rongrong chuckled modestly, then continued, “That uncle said he saw me selling vegetables at such a young age and thought I was very capable, so he bought all my vegetables and even gave me an extra hundred yuan as a reward. I told him that Zhizhi’s vegetables were picked together with mine, they’re all fresh, so the uncle also bought Zhizhi’s. It’s just… I asked if he wanted to buy more, but he said no. I can’t help you with your vegetables…”

As she spoke, Cheng Rongrong showed everyone the pink banknote in her hand.

Wei Maomao: ???

Perhaps because the astonishment on Wei Maomao’s face was too obvious, Cheng Rongrong’s smile widened, she looked at Wei Maomao and said kindly, “That uncle happened to see my vegetables first, if he had seen Maomao’s first, he would have bought Maomao’s, and this hundred yuan would have been given to Maomao… After all, Maomao is even younger.”

Wei Maomao: ????????

Cheng Rongrong saw more confusion on Wei Maomao’s face, but no envy or jealousy as she had expected, she was a bit disappointed.

But it didn’t matter, this little fatty was too young, she probably hadn’t reacted yet. After she thought about it and saw the purchasing power of a hundred yuan, she would probably be green with envy!

Envy and jealousy were impossible, but Wei Maomao was truly confused…

The big spender’s script was 99% similar, why did Cheng Rongrong accept the hundred yuan this time?

Didn’t she say she wouldn’t take money that didn’t belong to her?

Chapter 75

Wei Maomao finished washing the apple by the stove, took a bite, and ran back to Cheng Tingyan.

“Yan Yan, eat, it’s sweet.” Wei Maomao said, taking another big bite of her apple.

“Uncle Wei…” Cheng Tingyan looked at the little chubby bunny’s dad, who was looking at them from afar, and couldn’t bring herself to take a bite.

Usually, she would have just eaten it. But today, wasn’t it the babies being parents and the parents being babies… The little chubby bunny’s dad looked a bit pitiful.

“What’s wrong with him?” Wei Maomao, holding the apple in her mouth, glanced back, she didn’t miss the hint of pity. She said, speechless, “I got him a fruit platter for breakfast, he ate until he was full, I even helped him finish the last two pieces of melon.”

Actually, Wei Maomao could roughly guess why Wei Chengli was acting pitiful.

But if he wanted to be treated the same as Yan Yan for everything… then he would only be hurting himself in the end.

After all… she had already done enough in her previous life.

In this life, everything she had could be Yan Yan’s.

He wasn’t used to it now, but he would have to get used to it eventually.

But despite her thoughts, considering it was the day of the role swap between parents and babies, Wei Maomao felt she couldn’t disappoint the newly appointed baby too much.

At least not today.

The little chubby bunny, taking small steps, ran back to the stove and ordered Wei Chengli to bring her a fruit knife. She cut off a piece from the apple she hadn’t bitten into yet.

Although Wei Chengli was a baby today, he was still obedient in the face of the three-year-old parent. He cut the apple exactly as Wei Maomao instructed.

But he didn’t expect that after cutting off a piece, the little chubby dumpling didn’t take it away.

“Eat it, I’m sharing it with you.” Wei Maomao waved her hand, she was about to run back to Yan Yan, then suddenly turned back. “Ah, this one rolled on the ground earlier, I washed it, you can peel it before eating.”

After saying that, the little chubby dumpling, along with her apple missing another chunk, ran off.

Wei Chengli looked at the apple on the counter. It was a small piece, not very big, but under the little chubby dumpling’s instructions, it was the largest part of the apple that hadn’t been bitten into.

Peel it?

No way.

Wei Chengli picked up the apple piece and popped it into his mouth.

Mmm… Of course he had to eat all of the three-year-old parent’s love in one bite.

Cheng Tingyan didn’t know what the little chubby bunny had run back for, she just saw the two busy by the stove, and just as she was about to go over, the little chubby bunny came back.

The smooth cut on the apple was very obvious among the uneven teeth marks, it was proudly displayed by the little chubby bunny like a trophy.

“Yan Yan’s, Yan Yan eat. Mine, can share.” Wei Maomao said with a firm tone after showing off the apple, she nudged Cheng Tingyan’s elbow with her paw.

Cheng Tingyan felt… something was wrong. But after thinking about it carefully, she felt it made sense.

Relieved of her burden, Cheng Tingyan took a small bite of the apple and said it was very sweet.

Wei Maomao was satisfied.

The apple was delicious and sweet, the little chubby bunny was adorable. But Cheng Tingyan wasn’t distracted by the happiness in front of her, she didn’t forget to ask her question.

“Your dad said you went to find Grandma Zhao, how come it was Grandma Wang who gave you the apple?” Cheng Tingyan asked after swallowing the apple in her mouth. As for her disappointment at not seeing the little chubby bunny when she entered the courtyard, she was too embarrassed to mention it.

“It was Grandma Zhao. She came to give us handkerchiefs, to thank us for preventing her from being scammed last time. You, me, and Yueyue, each got one, Grandma Zhao even embroidered different animals on them.” Wei Maomao pointed her chin towards the house, then continued, “Grandma Zhao left, and later, I remembered that we’re going to the market today, so I wanted to ask if she wanted to go and sell her pillowcases. Grandma Zhao walks very fast, I walked a long way before I found her. Grandma Zhao said it’s not market day today, there’s no market, and asked if we had been tricked. She also said that a few years ago, someone tricked the villagers into going to a newly opened market, and when they arrived, they discovered that the bad guys were trying to trick them into joining some bad… Mmm, doing bad things together.”

Cheng Tingyan’s eyes widened as she listened, she even forgot to take another bite of the apple.

“Don’t be scared, Yan Yan.” Wei Maomao chuckled. “Sister Liu Ming explained to Grandma Zhao later, it’s a real market. Grandma Zhao will also be going. The place where we were talking was very close to Grandma Zhao’s house, so I followed her to see her pillowcases. Grandma Wang came later and gave me the apple.”

Wei Maomao explained the situation as simply as possible.

Actually, the situation wasn’t very complicated, but it wasn’t that simple either.

The market they were going to sell vegetables at wouldn’t be a scam, but… it definitely wasn’t the regular market that Grandma Zhao mentioned, the one they had every five days.

Thinking about it, they were live broadcasting, with so many people, if it was a real market, it would be difficult to control the situation.

Grandma Zhao had given them three beautifully embroidered handkerchiefs, clearly handmade with a lot of time and effort. Each one had a different pattern, a little chubby bunny, a small white flower growing from a crack in the wall, and an ancient-style book scroll… It was obvious that Grandma Zhao had asked the program team for information before embroidering them. Not to mention anything else, the one she gave Cheng Tingyan, with the wall and the small white flower, Wei Maomao could tell it was exactly the same as the photo Wei Chengli gave her on the first night.

Although they had accidentally prevented Grandma Zhao from being scammed, this gift… was truly heartfelt.

Wei Maomao felt a bit embarrassed, she wanted to give something in return.

But the three-year-old baby looked around, the house was bare, she touched her pockets, only some Baby Coins…

Truly, her pockets were cleaner than her face.

Wei Maomao had nothing to give back now, and the future was a matter for the future, it couldn’t solve her current embarrassment. So she thought of inviting Grandma Zhao to the market, her pillowcases could get some screen time on the live broadcast. It was like using someone else’s flower to offer to Buddha, getting free advertising from the program team. Who knows… maybe someone with good taste and interest would see it and buy something from Grandma Zhao?

In her previous life, although Wei Maomao didn’t see any villagers, let alone Grandma Zhao, in the final cut of the third season of “Where’s Baby Going,” like other variety shows, the villages they visited experienced a surge in tourism afterwards. Even if no one in the live broadcast room would buy a pillowcase online, it might create an impression and lead to new opportunities during the future tourism boom, right?

Anyway, going to the market together, no one would lose anything, right?

Wei Maomao had a good plan, she even managed to catch up with Grandma Zhao.

But she didn’t expect that the market could be fake.

Just when Grandma Zhao felt that something must be wrong with the market and was about to call the police, Liu Ming rushed over and pulled her aside for a while. When they came back, Grandma Zhao didn’t mention the bad guys at the market anymore, but she still agreed to go together.

Wei Maomao guessed that Liu Ming and the program team had a certain level of credibility in Grandma Zhao’s eyes, but she might still be a bit worried.

So, although the market might be fake, Wei Maomao’s goal of inviting Grandma Zhao to the market… could be considered somewhat achieved.

After finishing her apple, Wei Maomao washed her paws and took out the three handkerchiefs from the house.

A little chubby bunny, a small white flower, a small book scroll.

Wen Jiangyue, touching the exquisite book scroll on the handkerchief, where she could even see two columns of text, was overjoyed, she treasured it and took it to show Wen Qiming.

Cheng Tingyan’s reaction was much more subtle, she liked it, but Wei Maomao felt she kept looking at the one in her hand.

Right!

Wei Maomao turned and ran back to the bedroom, when she came out again, she was holding a photo in her paw.

“My dad asked the cameraman brother to take this, he said it looks like you.” Wei Maomao handed the photo of the small white flower growing from a crack in the wall to Cheng Tingyan and said, “Like Yan Yan, you’re beautiful no matter where you are!”

It was a strong little white flower, resiliently surviving and blooming beautifully in any environment.

Limited by her three-year-old vocabulary, Wei Maomao couldn’t express her complex feelings in detail, she could only try her best to convey them.

Cheng Tingyan took the photo.

The six-year-old Yan Yan, without Wei Chengli’s experience, without Wei Maomao’s past life, could only understand what Wei Maomao had said.

But that was enough.

Cheng Tingyan, who already liked the small white flower on the handkerchief, truly felt its specialness.

In Maomao’s eyes, it was special, special like her, so it was special to her as well.

Wei Maomao didn’t understand the six-year-old Cheng Tingyan’s circular logic, but she saw the faint smile on her lips.

What someone cherished was a treasure.

The special thing in Wei Maomao’s heart was the small white flower, like Yan Yan.

And Cheng Tingyan… was…

Wei Maomao noticed that Cheng Tingyan was secretly looking at her handkerchief again.

This chubby bunny, Wei Maomao unfolded the handkerchief, a chubby white bunny was resting on a watermelon, its left paw holding a small slice of watermelon, and there was a suspicious pink stain on the corner of its mouth.

Wei Maomao reached out and wiped the bunny’s mouth, mmm, as she had thought, it wasn’t a stain, it was intentionally embroidered with pink thread.

Speaking of which… Grandma Zhao must have embroidered this bunny the night before last, before her bed-wetting incident became known throughout the village.

Wei Maomao looked up and saw Cheng Tingyan’s gaze fixed on her finger, which was touching the chubby bunny’s mouth.

“Cough…” Wei Maomao cleared her throat.

Cheng Tingyan quickly looked away, turning her head to the side.

The six-year-old Yan Yan, acting like she was caught red-handed, was so flustered.

Wei Maomao couldn’t help but chuckle, she moved closer and gently tugged at the handkerchief in Cheng Tingyan’s hand. “Yan Yan, do you like the small white flower or the little bunny?”

Cheng Tingyan turned to look at Wei Maomao, pursed her lips, and didn’t answer.

Wei Maomao understood, she didn’t want to lie, but she also didn’t want to cause trouble for others.

It was the six-year-old Yan Yan’s cautiousness and kindness.

“Yan Yan, I like the small white flower, how about we swap handkerchiefs?” Wei Maomao said softly.

Cheng Tingyan’s eyes lit up, but quickly filled with hesitation and conflict.

“Look at this photo, my dad gave it to me on the first night we arrived. I put it under my pillow, afraid of bending it, I put it in my bag, afraid of getting it dirty, in the end, I put it in a book. Look, it’s still flat.” Wei Maomao took the photo from Cheng Tingyan’s hand and showed it to her from all angles, then continued, “I really like the small white flower, I really do. Do you want to swap handkerchiefs with me?”

Of course she did!

Cheng Tingyan, holding the watermelon-eating bunny she had taken a liking to at first glance, gently touched the pink stain on the little chubby bunny’s mouth.

It truly looked like the little chubby bunny from that day, eating watermelon so happily.

It’s just that Maomao couldn’t eat watermelon like that anymore…

Wei Maomao could tell that Cheng Tingyan truly liked the chubby bunny handkerchief.

She truly hoped that they could become closer in the future, that Yan Yan could tell her directly if she liked something.

As long as she had it, as long as she could have it, Yan Yan would have it too!

Wei Maomao carefully folded the small white flower handkerchief in her hand. It was funny, she also liked this one more.

Without any support, using only her two chubby paws to refold the handkerchief, Wei Maomao was afraid of dropping it, so she folded it very carefully. As she folded, Wei Maomao couldn’t help but think about the time when she had just been reborn, she wasn’t used to her three-year-old body yet, she was so clumsy, she even had to practice squeezing a bottle at night by imitating squeezing toothpaste. But after several all-nighters drawing animations, her fingers were calloused, and the dexterity from her previous life gradually returned.

She was grateful for her diligence, now, not to mention peeling beans, even braiding hair was no problem for her, folding a handkerchief with her bare hands was a piece of cake.

As she folded, her mind wandered, and Wei Maomao, lost in thought, missed the look in Cheng Tingyan’s eyes as she watched her fold the handkerchief.

That bright joy, even greater than the joy she had shown when receiving the watermelon-eating bunny earlier.

Wei Maomao missed it, she didn’t see it. But the viewers in the live broadcast room, with the close-up shot, saw it clearly.

“Awww~~~ CEO Mao and Yan Yan exchanging customized handkerchiefs, how can they be so cute! The handkerchiefs are cute, the babies are even cuter, awwwww~~~”

“I’m crying! When Director Wei was standing in the corner, staring at the small white flower for a long time, even asking the cameraman to take a picture of it, I thought he had gone crazy after making the mush at noon. Now I realize, it was me who was crazy!”

“CEO Mao truly, the queen of tsundere! On the first night, when Director Wei took out the photo to appease her, to stop her from using the terrifying phrase ‘My dad said…’, CEO Mao said the flower didn’t look like Yan Yan at all. But how come, it turns out she not only thinks it looks like her, she even put it under her pillow, afraid of bending it, put it in her bag, afraid of getting it dirty… CEO Mao, is this the upgraded version of ‘holding it in your mouth, afraid of melting it, holding it in your hand, afraid of dropping it’!”

“Hahaha, I really want Director Wei to hear CEO Mao’s high praise for the photo, he was so annoyed by her lack of appreciation that day. It seems our Director Wei still has good taste, he’s just completely controlled by CEO Mao, hahaha!”

“CEO Mao has good taste, and Yan Yan also has great taste, hahaha, that watermelon-eating bunny is amazing, what kind of master embroiderer is Grandma Zhao! Although the species are different, the essence is exactly the same, that bunny is practically CEO Mao transformed, hahaha!”

“The children’s friendship truly, is this the legendary ‘handkerchief friends’? Both wanting the handkerchief with the other’s likeness embroidered on it, truly, awwwww~~~~ Why don’t I have such good friends, I’m going to drown my sorrows in vinegar!”

“Yan Yan truly… The way she looked at CEO Mao folding the small white flower handkerchief, so gentle, it’s like… It’s like she’s glowing… I don’t know how to describe it!”

“Joy from within! Hahaha, I can’t describe it either. But I understand the feeling, it’s probably like when you give your photo to your best friend, and then you see your friend cherishing it, carefully holding it like a treasure… That feeling of being treasured, of being safely kept?”

“Ah… After reading the comments above, I feel a bit sad. Yan Yan truly, so sensitive and perceptive. Awww~~~ CEO Mao, stop folding the handkerchief, go and hug Yan Yan! (Shouting in CEO Mao’s ear!)”

“Hahaha, a hug is fine, but picking her up… The person above is making things difficult for our short and chubby bunny!”

“CEO Mao truly, a three-year-old child, yet so determined. Who said it on the first day? CEO Mao wrote in her profile that she’s a fan of the show and likes older sisters, everyone guessed she liked Yan Yan. It seems she truly likes Yan Yan, and it’s such a firm liking! And now it’s mutual, I truly… Mmm, am I really watching a parent-child variety show? There’s no ‘parent-child,’ just a bunch of cute babies, sob, sob, sob~~~”

…

Whether the babies were cute or not, it was a matter of opinion.

After Wen Dongyu brought Wen Xiang… Mmm, and the pig to the Wei family’s courtyard, all the babies and dads were present.

The babies were about to set off to the market to sell vegetables and prepare for lunch and afternoon tea, while the dads would stay at the Wei family’s house, participating in the activities arranged by their children.

Before the babies left, the program team, to reassure them, set up the necessary equipment for the dads’ activities.

In one corner of the courtyard, the program team brought a pile of books for Wen Qiming and a fish tank with several goldfish for Cheng Feiying.

Oh, and for Wang Qingchuan, the bed board that had been meticulously cleaned by Wei Chengli was also moved there, along with the stone benches underneath.

In the remaining, larger part of the courtyard, the program team brought a large wooden table, two sets of brand new Lego, three sets of wooden puzzles, and a stack of board games. In the open space enclosed by three sides of blackout cloth, they set up the giant projection screen again, along with three different game consoles, three boxes of cartridges, five bags of discs, a dance mat, and finally, a karaoke machine…

After the staff finished setting up the majority of the courtyard, leaving everyone dumbfounded, the host stepped forward and gestured with his hand. “The table, the projection, this area, all these things, this is the ‘free play’ area arranged by Parents Wen Dongyu, Shen Zilin, and Wang Zhizhi for their children, Wen Xiang, Shen Jianghe, and Wang Qingbei.”

All the dads except Wen Xiang and Shen Jianghe: “… “

All the babies: “… “

If they had known “free play” meant this, who would have chosen anything else (who would have wanted to go sell vegetables)?

“Okay, our activity areas are all set up, now please take your positions, new children. New parents, you can rest assured, are you ready? We’re going to the market!” The host concluded.

“Wait!” Wang Qingchuan raised his hand.

“Mmm… New child, what’s your question?” The host glanced at the bed board not far from Wang Qingchuan. “Your activity is very simple, just lie down and wait for Parent Wang Zhizhi to pick you up.”

“… “ Wang Qingchuan, speechless, took a deep breath. “Did you forget a child?”

The host: ???

Wang Qingchuan pointed at Wei Chengli.

“Ah, Child Wei Chengli. Parent Wei Maomao arranged the following activity for him: When other children come to play at home, Child Wei Chengli must entertain them well.” The host smiled. “So, his activity is to be a good host and take care of the other children.”

Wang Qingchuan: “… “

Okay, now he understood why Wei Chengli had been so diligently wiping the bed board and even asked him to try it out.

It seemed he had misunderstood… Director Wei wasn’t gloating, he was just… being a good host.

Wen Qiming, also remembering the scene of Wei Chengli wiping the bed board, couldn’t hold back his laughter, he turned his head away from the camera and burst out laughing.

But in this world, there was always joy and sorrow.

The abundance and freedom of the “free play” area made Wen Xiang, who had been increasingly gloomy these past few days, relax a bit, not to mention Jiang Heye, who was already curious about the reality show.

But Shen Jianghe felt a little bit… uncomfortable.

It wasn’t the “free play” area itself, it was just…

“When playing with Lego, if you make a mistake and need to take it apart, use the tool, don’t do it with your bare hands, you might hurt your nails. Check the wooden puzzle pieces for splinters, they’ll hurt if you get poked. The dance mat feels a bit slippery, try wearing socks or shoes to see which is less slippery, it’s easy to fall if it’s too slippery.” Shen Zilin, who had already inspected the “free play” area, said with a serious expression. He glanced at Shen Jianghe, who seemed a bit helpless, and continued, “I don’t know if they’ll give you snacks this morning, don’t eat anything spicy, you had hemorrhoids yesterday… Mmm…”

“Okay, okay, I know!” Shen Jianghe finally couldn’t take it anymore, he covered Shen Zilin’s chattering mouth.

He could say with certainty that among all the parents present, oh, no, the babies, there was no one who acted more like a parent than his son.

He had helped him get his clothes and pants in the morning, even wanted to help him put on his socks… During breakfast, he asked a million questions, “Is this good?,” “Do you want more of that?,” … Then it was, “Eggs are good for you, meat is good for you, vegetables are even better for you, and fruits are a must, right?”… Shen Jianghe barely survived the sock incident, then almost choked to death at the breakfast table.

And on the way to the Wei family’s house, it was even worse…

Holding hands, even helping him watch out for ditches…

This was a role swap between babies and parents, not a dementia simulation!

The only thing Shen Jianghe could be thankful for was that when he got old and had dementia, his life might not be too bad.

But right now, it was truly… a bit too much!

“No, I can do it myself!” Shen Jianghe had just stopped Shen Zilin from continuing when he had to reach out and catch his son, who was about to squat down and pull up his socks for him.

“If you don’t wear your socks properly, you’ll slip on the dance mat.” Shen Zilin said, looking up seriously.

Shen Jianghe wanted to cry but had no tears. “I’m not going to play with the dance mat!”

Chapter 74

Wang Qingchuan really… didn’t know how to respond to Wei Chengli’s enthusiasm.

“So ‘lying down and doing nothing’ really means lying down and doing nothing.” Wen Qiming, who had followed them in, looked at the bed board and sighed, then patted Wen Jiangyue’s head. “Looking at it this way, the reading activity you arranged for Dad is quite good.”

Some compliments, under such circumstances, were worth giving.

While they were talking, Wen Dongyu and Shen Zilin also arrived with their dads.

The courtyard suddenly became crowded. Wang Qingchuan took the opportunity to greet the other dads, temporarily ignoring the overwhelming enthusiasm.

Greetings were brief, and everyone’s focus and curiosity quickly shifted to Wang Qingbei.

The dads had been staying at their own homes, so they had only heard about the new member of the Wang family from their children at the breakfast table. The children had just mentioned it casually as something new, they didn’t know any details, leaving the dads quite curious. Now that they had actually met her, they couldn’t help but chat with her more.

Wang Qingbei was also interesting, no matter how they chatted, she stayed in character, speaking to Wang Zhizhi and Wang Qingchuan with familiarity. If they didn’t know she was an actress hired by the program team, they might have actually thought she was Wang Qingchuan’s real sister…

Coupled with Wang Qingchuan’s annoyed expression, it was truly… very entertaining.

“Speaking of which, if Cheng Feiying hadn’t brought both his daughters to the show this time, maybe both of you would have a younger sister now.” Wen Qiming chuckled.

“Cheng Feiying has it easy, his two daughters are earning money to support him. You, on the other hand, have one child earning money to support two of you, it’s not easy.” Shen Jianghe sighed.

Wang Qingchuan: “… “ Not easy? Was this sister something he wanted? He saw Wang Zhizhi and that whoever playing house happily, they probably didn’t think it was difficult at all!

Speaking of Cheng Feiying, he arrived.

“How does it feel to be sent here by your two daughters?” Wen Qiming was the first to see Cheng Feiying at the courtyard gate.

“Hahaha, very secure.” Cheng Feiying, striding into the courtyard, was in a good mood. These past few days, it had been one task after another, he also had to cook, he was exhausted from morning till night. Today was great, after the staff woke him up briefly, and his two daughters left, he went back to sleep until past eight o’clock, and when he woke up, a table full of delicious breakfast was waiting for him. After breakfast, he didn’t even have to do tasks, he could do whatever he wanted, it was wonderful.

Cheng Feiying’s happiness was evident to everyone.

Wen Qiming glanced at the two little girls following behind Cheng Feiying and chuckled. “What activities did Yan Yan and Rongrong choose for you? Two daughters earning you two incomes, shouldn’t they choose two activities for you?”

“One, just one.” Cheng Feiying waved his hand. “Brother Wen, please don’t give the program team any ideas, I can’t handle it. I only have one activity, what was it called again, Rong…”

Feeling a bit embarrassed to repeat what Cheng Rongrong had said when choosing the activity, Cheng Feiying, pretending he couldn’t remember the name, looked down at Cheng Rongrong, hoping she would continue. But he saw her staring at a strange girl standing next to Wang Qingchuan, her mind seemingly elsewhere.

That was the new member of the Wang family, right? Cheng Feiying also glanced at her.

“What was it called again?” Wen Qiming, not getting an answer, asked again.

“Right, what was it called, I suddenly can’t remember. Rongrong?” Cheng Feiying nudged Cheng Rongrong gently.

But she was like a puppet, her mind absent, stumbling forward with the force of Cheng Feiying’s nudge. Her body moved, but her gaze remained fixed, it was clear her mind hadn’t returned yet.

Cheng Feiying, being ignored, felt a bit embarrassed, why couldn’t she space out at any other time, why did she have to space out when he needed her?

“Cheng Ting… Yan…” Cheng Feiying, not wanting to waste any more time on Cheng Rongrong, turned his head to the other side, searching for another answer provider.

His searching gaze, naturally, found nothing.

Cheng Feiying didn’t see Cheng Tingyan at her usual spot, he looked around and finally found her next to Wei Chengli by the stove.

Annoying! Always hanging out with the Wei family, she might as well just live there.

Cheng Feiying regretted not just saying it himself, his two daughters had no tacit understanding, neither of them could pick up his cues, his good mood from the morning started to sour.

One was too far away, he could only use the one who was still within reach.

Cheng Rongrong’s shoulder ached from the sudden, strong shake, her scattered thoughts returning due to the shock.

Cheng Rongrong came back to her senses, following the force on her shoulder, she looked up and met Cheng Feiying’s darkening expression.

“Daddy, what’s wrong?” Cheng Rongrong forced a smile that was supposed to be cute.

“I’ve been talking to you for a while now, what are you thinking about? I’m asking you, the morning activity you arranged for me, what was it called again?” Cheng Feiying frowned slightly.

“It’s ‘Watching Fishy Get Pretty.’ Mom said Daddy’s eyes are very beautiful, they’ll become even prettier after watching fish, we have lots of fishy at home for Daddy to watch. There are no fishy here, I hope Daddy will always be prettier!” Cheng Rongrong repeated what she had said at home when choosing the activity.

“Haha, right, that’s it, it’s so childish that I couldn’t remember.” Cheng Feiying chuckled awkwardly.

“Very good, very good.” Wen Qiming’s lips twitched, who would believe he couldn’t remember something so simple…

Cheng Feiying… had initially wanted to rely on their father-daughter bond, letting Cheng Rongrong say those innocent, childish, and sweet words, but… the delay ruined the effect, leaving only awkwardness.

He didn’t know what was so interesting about it, it was just the Wang family getting an extra person. If he hadn’t brought Cheng Rongrong, their family would have gotten one too.

Cheng Rongrong had seen Cheng Feiying’s displeasure earlier, but she didn’t have any brainpower left to appease him, she was only focused on cooperating with him and answering those questions.

Cheng Rongrong was currently only concerned about one thing, why… why was Jiang Heye here!

Jiang Heye, a print model, with no acting experience, was directly chosen by the internationally renowned director Qin Sichao to star in his new film. The film later won numerous awards, and Jiang Heye, as the female lead, naturally received countless awards, achieving both fame and fortune, a sparrow transformed into a phoenix.

But the key was, that film, which was still considered a classic decades later, the film that propelled Jiang Heye from obscurity to A-list stardom, granting her access to countless resources… was the same film in the original novel where Cheng Tingyan played the younger version of the female lead, boosting her popularity and marking the first step in her journey as the protagonist of a feel-good story.

Because she was determined to get the role of the younger version of the female lead in this film, Cheng Rongrong had secretly searched for information about Qin Sichao, Jiang Heye, and the other important characters she could remember. That’s why she could immediately recognize Jiang Heye, who was standing next to Wang Qingchuan.

But why?

Why was Jiang Heye here?

Before Qin Sichao discovered her, shouldn’t Jiang Heye just be an ordinary model, with barely any photos online?

A popular variety show like “Where’s Baby Going” should be a resource that the current Jiang Heye couldn’t even dream of getting.

And judging from Jiang Heye’s position and the reactions of the dads around her, she should be the new NPC in the Wang family… a relatively important, second child character.

Although this variety show had already deviated significantly from the original novel due to her appearance, how could… even with the butterfly effect, Jiang Heye shouldn’t be here, shouldn’t she be busy shooting magazines, waiting to be discovered by Qin Sichao? If she was here, what about the film she wanted to star in? If the female lead was here, whose younger version was she supposed to play? Could that film still be like in the original novel…

Wait!

A thought flashed through Cheng Rongrong’s confused mind.

Unless…

Cheng Rongrong forced her gaze away from Jiang Heye and started looking around.

Where was Qin Sichao? Had he also come?

Cheng Rongrong thought of a possibility that she didn’t want to admit, but was very likely the reason for the current situation.

The original novel didn’t elaborate on the time and process of Qin Sichao discovering Jiang Heye, it focused more on Cheng Tingyan successfully getting the role of the younger version of the female lead. After all, it was normal for supporting characters to not have a complete timeline.

If Qin Sichao had already chosen Jiang Heye, then it would be a piece of cake for her to get a role on “Where’s Baby Going” with just a word from him. And if Qin Sichao was now interested in Cheng Tingyan, then having Jiang Heye participate in this variety show, whether it was for her to familiarize herself with the environment, to observe Cheng Tingyan, or to generate buzz… it all made sense.

But why!

Didn’t the original novel say that Cheng Tingyan was chosen by Qin Sichao because she sang a beautiful and ethereal children’s song on this variety show?

She had already messed with Cheng Tingyan’s kindergarten, without meeting the talented music teacher from the original novel’s kindergarten, Cheng Tingyan couldn’t sing at all!

She couldn’t sing, she couldn’t dance, how could she still be chosen by Qin Sichao!

Cheng Rongrong felt this was completely illogical!

But for someone who had transmigrated into a novel, the most terrifying thing was the powerful inertia of the original plot.

Cheng Rongrong didn’t find anyone who looked like Qin Sichao among the staff, but she didn’t let her guard down.

After all, regardless of why Jiang Heye was here, the fact that she was here, despite not being qualified for this variety show, meant she had already been chosen by Qin Sichao.

So even if Qin Sichao wasn’t present, he might be watching the live broadcast on the monitoring screens with the other directors, or… since this was a live broadcast variety show, he could even be watching it on his phone.

Cheng Rongrong tried to calm down, to regain control after being shocked and frightened by the appearance of a strange person in a place she shouldn’t be.

Jiang Heye’s presence only meant that she had most likely received instructions from Qin Sichao.

But regardless of the instructions, everything was still uncertain.

She still had a chance.

No, it should be said that with Jiang Heye here, her chances were even greater.

Compared to the original novel, where Jiang Heye was just a name, and she could only see her photos and works online, now, she could interact with the real person!

Wang Qingbei felt that her conversation with the dads was going well, at least they were much more polite and friendly than Wang Qingchuan, except for the occasional attempts to make her go out of character.

But she wouldn’t go out of character, never again.

Wang Qingbei was immersed in her role as a good little sister, then, her right hand was suddenly tugged gently.

Imagine how terrifying that was.

A person, deeply immersed in a role she had created, constantly vigilant and cautious, while maintaining a relaxed and comfortable facade, it was mentally exhausting. And while she was focusing on interacting with several people, a cool little hand suddenly slipped into hers…

Wang Qingbei’s hair stood on end, she instinctively retracted her hand.

Almost simultaneously, a sweet little girl’s voice came from below her right side.

“Sister, you’re so pretty!”

Wang Qingbei, whose heart was pounding: “… “

Cheng Rongrong, whose friendly hand was suddenly left hanging: “… “

“Ah, ah, hello.” Wang Qingbei, realizing she had overreacted, quickly smiled. “Hello, little sister, you’re also very pretty.”

Cheng Rongrong: “… “ She was no longer happy.

But the unpleasantness continued.

“Cheng Rongrong, you scared Beibei.” Wang Zhizhi stepped forward, shielding Wang Qingbei behind him, his brow furrowed slightly. “Don’t suddenly touch Beibei.”

Cheng Rongrong: ??? Did he even hear what he was saying?

“It’s… “ Wang Qingbei, seeing the two children seemingly about to confront each other, instinctively wanted to say it was okay. But she had only uttered one word when she saw… Wang Zhizhi turn to look at her.

His gaze was worried, protective…

Wang Qingbei was stunned.

Wasn’t she scared? Yes, she was.

What should a protected person say? She should say thank you.

Although the little girl who scared her didn’t do it on purpose, but… the one who wanted to protect her was also a child.

She shouldn’t hurt the feelings of the one who protected her, no matter what.

“Thank you, Zhizhi, I’m okay now.” Wang Qingbei said, gently placing her right hand, which she had been clenching in her left hand, on Wang Zhizhi’s shoulder.

Cheng Rongrong couldn’t help but stare at Jiang Heye with wide eyes, she was here to gain favor, not to watch their “father-daughter bonding”! Even a future Best Actress shouldn’t be acting this realistically!

“Don’t mind them, Rongrong, they’re addicted to acting.” Wang Qingchuan, seeing Cheng Rongrong seemingly intimidated by the two, felt like he had found an ally, he went over to comfort her.

“They’re so interesting. Zhizhi looks like a parent, and Sister also looks like a baby.” But Cheng Rongrong quickly recovered, turning to Jiang Heye with a smile. “Sister, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. You’re just too pretty, I couldn’t help but want to hold your hand…”

Jiang Heye: “… “

Was she… really that pretty?

“Mmm, our Beibei is very pretty.” Wang Zhizhi nodded in agreement, then added, “Cheng Rongrong, you’re a parent now, you have to be careful when playing with our Beibei, don’t scare her.”

Jiang Heye gently bit her lip, trying to control the tears welling up in her eyes. How… did it feel like she really had a parent now…

While Jiang Heye was touched, Cheng Rongrong felt a lump in her throat. She now declared that the person she hated the most had shifted from that stinky chubby girl back to this stinky Wang Zhizhi!

But anger aside, hate aside, Cheng Rongrong didn’t know how long Jiang Heye would be here, she had to improve their relationship before going to sell vegetables.

As the female lead chosen by Qin Sichao, Jiang Heye would definitely have some say in who played the younger version of the female lead, right!

While Cheng Rongrong was trying to win over Jiang Heye, Wei Maomao returned to the courtyard, munching on an apple.

The happy little chubby bunny, holding a whole apple in her left hand, continued munching on a half-eaten one in her right hand.

But as she entered the courtyard and took a few steps, the apple in her right hand slipped and fell to the ground, rolling away.

Just like Cheng Rongrong, who had been too preoccupied with Cheng Feiying earlier, Wei Maomao now… couldn’t care less about the delicious apple on the ground.

Jiang Heye!

Wei Maomao stared at the woman standing among the dads, her eyes wide with shock.

In this brief moment of shock, thoughts, similar yet different from those of Cheng Rongrong earlier, raced through her tiny bunny head.

Qin Sichao, Jiang Heye, the award-winning film… Cheng Rongrong’s classmate A from the same singing and dancing class who had a small role in the film. A small role, a few short scenes, but a highlight on Cheng Rongrong’s resume in her previous life.

Didn’t they say that before Qin Sichao’s film, Jiang Heye was just a print model, she had never been on TV or in a movie?

Another butterfly started to wonder if her tiny wings had created a storm too big.

But Wei Maomao didn’t have as many thoughts as Cheng Rongrong. She was only momentarily shocked by the ever-changing world, then quickly calmed down.

After recovering from her shock, Wei Maomao immediately thought of her apple.

Ah, within how many seconds of falling on the ground could she pick it up, blow on it, and still eat it?

The short-legged bunny ran towards the apple that had rolled away. But before her chubby paw could grab it, a fair, slender hand picked up the half-eaten apple.

“Thank you, Yan Yan.” Wei Maomao happily ran over, her chubby paw reaching out.

Cheng Tingyan glanced at the little chubby paw and took a step back. “It fell on the ground.”

“It’s okay, blow… Mmm, we can wash and cut off the dirty part and eat it.” Wei Maomao decided to be a clean and hygienic child like Yan Yan!

Cheng Tingyan didn’t speak, her eyes slowly sweeping over the whole apple in Wei Maomao’s left hand.

Wei Maomao smiled and handed her the apple. “This is for you, it didn’t fall on the ground, I was holding it properly! My hand and the apple are both washed!”

As she spoke, Wei Maomao saw Cheng Tingyan’s ears suddenly turn red, a faint pink blush spreading across her fair cheeks.

Wei Maomao: ???

“That sister over there is the new member of the Wang family, she’s now Wang Zhizhi’s dad’s younger sister, Wang Qingbei.” Cheng Tingyan briefly relayed the news she had just heard from Wei Chengli, her gaze drifting towards the woman standing next to Cheng Rongrong. She added softly, “Cheng Rongrong said she’s pretty, she was staring at her, and even went to hold her hand. But Wang Zhizhi said Cheng Rongrong is a parent now, she has to be careful when playing with their Beibei, don’t scare her.”

“Oh, Wang Zhizhi is so cool!” Wei Maomao gave Wang Zhizhi a thumbs up.

“… “ Cheng Tingyan glanced at the little chubby bunny.

“Yan Yan, take it and eat, the apple is very sweet. I got it from the grandma raising chickens, she gave it to me.” Wei Maomao said, stuffing the whole apple into Cheng Tingyan’s clean hand.

“I’m saying, if you want to play with Wang Qingbei, don’t suddenly grab her hand.” Cheng Tingyan pointed out the main point.

“Huh?” Wei Maomao glanced at Jiang Heye. “I’m not going, I want to eat my apple.”

As she spoke, Wei Maomao, catching Cheng Tingyan off guard, snatched back the half-eaten apple. “I’m going to wash my apple.”

Cheng Tingyan: “… “

The little chubby bunny ran off with the dirty apple, to the water basin by the stove. Because she was short, she even climbed onto a stool, sticking her butt out as she washed the apple…

Cheng Tingyan stood there, watching, watching, then she smiled.

Okay, although she was so captivated by the pretty sister that she dropped her half-eaten apple, she didn’t go to play with the pretty sister like Cheng Rongrong.

Cheng Tingyan looked at the red fruit in her hand.

And this one, the one she gave her, she had been holding it properly.

Wei Maomao, munching on her apple again, burped contentedly, completely unaware of the tightrope she had just walked on.

The viewers in the live broadcast room, watching Wei Maomao happily munching on her apple, were also speechless.

“Hahaha, CEO Mao only knows apples! Clean apples, dirty apples, Yan Yan’s apple, her own apple… CEO Mao, with her mind full of apples, doesn’t even understand what Yan Yan is saying, hahaha! Yan Yan was practically saying, ‘You were staring at the other pretty sister, you even dropped your apple, do you want to go play with her? Go ahead, just don’t grab her hand, be careful not to get beaten up by Parent Zhizhi.’”

“Oh my god, was that our precious Yan Yan being jealous? Is this something I can watch for free, hahaha! Yan Yan, with your subtle hints, CEO Mao will never understand! Besides, CEO Mao has you, other pretty sisters are not even as good as a half-eaten apple!”

“Even when jealous, Yan Yan is so cute. And the key is, she doesn’t even care about Cheng Rongrong, hahaha, she was just casually chatting with CEO Mao from a bystander’s perspective. But when it comes to CEO Mao, the little bunny hasn’t even approached the other sister, and she’s already giving her warnings, I’m dying of laughter.”

“What’s there to care about with Cheng Rongrong? A giant who says she wants to be close to her sister, a dwarf who’s actually good to her sister. Unlike our CEO Mao, she’s the little bunny who stayed up late to learn how to braid Yan Yan’s hair, Yan Yan would never let the new pretty sister steal CEO Mao away.”

“Yan Yan! Be confident! CEO Mao is still the CEO Mao who came for you! Although the new sister is beautiful, you’ll always be the most beautiful in CEO Mao’s heart, hahaha!”

“Speaking of, Wang Qingbei does have a certain charm, both Rongrong and Maomao were captivated, hahaha. And our baby Zhizhi, ah, how can he be so good! Tiny Zhizhi, with such great protectiveness! When he stood in front of Wang Qingbei, I almost cried!”

“Hahaha, I feel like Wang Qingbei was about to cry too, it seemed like if Zhizhi wasn’t only four or five years old, she would have called him ‘Dad’ on the spot, hahaha…”

…

Chapter 73p2

These words…

Were they something he should be saying…

Were they something the kind of parent he wanted to be should be saying…

No, they weren’t.

“I’m sorry, I’ll rephrase that.” Wang Zhizhi took a deep breath, and when he looked at Wang Qingchuan again, he had calmed down. “Our family, it’s just me, you, and her. I’ll take care of you and her, it’s just you and her. You can play on your own, you don’t have to be together, you don’t have to care about each other. Mmm… As long as you don’t fight, it’s fine.”

Wang Zhizhi had thought that if he ever became a parent, he would definitely only have one child, not a second one!

But the program team had made him a parent ahead of time and even given him a second child. He didn’t know what the best approach was. All he could offer was the kind of life he wished he had.

When Wang Zhizhi apologized, Wang Qingchuan thought he was going to say something else.

“What’s the difference between that and what you said before!” Wang Qingchuan frowned. “I know you’re playing the role of a parent in this pretend game. But what Dad is telling you now is the reality, it’s about you and your sister, don’t pretend you don’t understand.”

“I understand.” Wang Zhizhi tried to be patient. “The uncles from the program team said I’m free now. I can freely choose what to do. I’m the parent, I choose to sell vegetables, to buy food and toys for you and Beibei. My sister is your daughter, when you were the parent, you went to sell vegetables and bought food and toys for her.”

“What I bought was what I bought, I’ve been telling you for so long, you’re the older bro…” Wang Qingchuan knew it, he knew it was hard to change a stubborn person. Now, there was no perspective-taking, only greater rebellion.

“Brother.” Wang Qingbei interrupted Wang Qingchuan, smiling. “Brother, go pick vegetables too, buy me some flowers to wear.”

Wang Qingchuan: ???

Who are you?

Disciplining a child who wouldn’t listen was already annoying enough, and now there was a random person butting in, Wang Qingchuan was fuming.

But before Wang Qingchuan could speak, Wang Zhizhi spoke first.

“Beibei, I’m the parent, I’ll buy them for you. My dad… Mmm, your Brother Chuanchuan, let him do his own thing.” Wang Zhizhi said seriously.

“Hahaha!” Wang Qingchuan chuckled, turning to Wang Qingbei. “You’re even speaking up for him, he doesn’t even understand!”

Wang Qingbei ignored Wang Qingchuan, and when she looked at Wang Zhizhi again, her eyes softened. “Okay, I’ll listen to Zhizhi, I don’t need Brother Chuanchuan to buy them for me, let him do his own thing.”

Wang Zhizhi, feeling he had successfully rebalanced the family with two children, breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at Wang Qingbei, strangely, after just one breakfast, he felt she wasn’t so unfamiliar anymore.

Wang Qingbei felt Wang Zhizhi’s kindness, especially his earlier words, refuting her attempt to help him… Wang Qingbei didn’t think Wang Zhizhi didn’t understand that she was helping him complain about Wang Qingchuan. But regardless of whether he understood or not, he had stuck to his earlier statement, “I’ll take care of you and her, it’s just you and her. You can play on your own, you don’t have to be together, you don’t have to care about each other.”

Before joining the show, Wang Qingbei had heard Director Zeng mention the Wang family’s situation and had even stayed up late to catch up on some of the videos.

A family with two children, the father ignored the older child’s feelings, excessively trying to make him instantly mature and accept the younger sibling, to love and care for her. Honestly, this desire for a harmonious and loving family wasn’t wrong, but in reality, even an older child, even an adult, might not be able to meet Wang Qingchuan’s expectations.

Before becoming Wang Qingbei, she was a very independent person in real life. She believed that people should love and protect themselves first, without harming others, after building a strong and independent core, then they could love and protect others. Obviously, Wang Qingbei didn’t agree with Wang Qingchuan’s high demands on the not-yet-five-year-old Wang Zhizhi.

But… since she had taken this job, she would play the role of Wang Qingbei well.

Wang Qingbei, Wang Zhizhi’s “daughter.”

In this stage, her persona wasn’t fixed, it should change based on the kind of parent Wang Zhizhi chose to be.

Now, Wang Zhizhi was a fair, just parent who wanted his children to have independent lives, so she could play the role of a cute, considerate daughter.

When she accepted this job, Wang Qingbei had thought it was quite simple, just playing the fake daughter of a child, and changing her persona based on the child’s parenting style.

In reality, after getting started, Wang Zhizhi was a good parent, her role as the daughter wasn’t difficult either.

It’s just that… she couldn’t help but be annoyed by this Wang Qingchuan.

Unable to resist retorting Wang Qingchuan, going out of character once, Wang Qingbei mentally deducted ten points from her performance.

It was truly difficult not to get angry when encountering someone with different values, someone who constantly challenged her.

Wang Qingbei maintained her friendly and well-behaved smile, finished the breakfast on her plate, and thought, just you wait, Wang Qingchuan, this stage will eventually end!

Unlike Wang Qingbei, who knew there would be a time for “revenge” later, the viewers in the live broadcast room were truly angered by Wang Qingchuan, they wished they could whisper in Wang Qingbei’s ear, telling her to be their mouthpiece and retort Wang Qingchuan for them.

Retorting, well, she couldn’t retort anymore for now.

But Wang Qingchuan definitely wouldn’t be happy anymore.

As soon as they finished breakfast, the program team delivered new task cards.

The card for Wang Zhizhi said, “Please arrange the children’s activities for the morning, you can arrange them according to your own ideas (the content needs to be reviewed by the program team for appropriateness), or you can choose from the following options, and the program team will make specific arrangements: a. Free play b. Reading c. Watching cartoons d. Calligraphy practice e. Talent training f. Physical training g…”

Wang Zhizhi’s card was folded several times, the content was several times longer than the usual task cards, it took the program staff a long time to finish reading it.

And the task cards for the other two had much fewer words. They simply said, “Please follow the parent’s arrangements for the morning’s activities.”

“What do you… want to do?” Wang Zhizhi looked at the two and asked.

“I want to lie down and do nothing.” Wang Qingchuan, who had either been ignored or refuted during breakfast, imitated Wang Zhizhi’s laziness from the past two days.

“Free play?” Wang Qingbei, participating in a reality show for the first time, was quite interested.

Wang Zhizhi nodded and looked at the staff, who hadn’t left yet. “I’m arranging ‘lie down and do nothing’ for Dad, is that okay?”

The staff: “… “

Was that okay?

It was here, the bizarre content they couldn’t review, it had arrived…

The staff member signaled Wang Zhizhi to wait, then went back to the group of staff and made a phone call. After a while, he came back and replied, “It’s reasonable, it’s allowed, we’ll make arrangements.”

“Then Beibei can also go for ‘free play,’ right?” Wang Zhizhi asked again.

This time, the staff member could nod. As expected of a fellow professional, less troublesome, a good person.

Wang Qingchuan wasn’t interested in the morning’s activities, but it didn’t matter, his blood pressure would soon rise.

“Why… do we have to take her with us?” Wang Qingchuan stood at the gate of the Wei family’s courtyard, reluctant to enter.

“It’s not us taking her. It’s you going to the activity, and she’s also going.” Wang Zhizhi, who had been asked by the program team to take his “children” to the meeting point, corrected him.

“It’s unnecessary, we’re just playing house at home. You’re going to do tasks this morning, she doesn’t need to continue acting, right?” Wang Qingchuan was speechless… The program team didn’t even explain what the morning’s activity was. It wasn’t until they were brought to the gate of the Wei family’s house that Wang Qingchuan realized that although they had their own activities, the program team was actually treating them as babies, gathering them in one place… Even having the fake parents send them to the door, was this kindergarten! And all the other dads were together, what was he doing with a fake sister?

“It’s okay, you play, oh, you lie down and do nothing. She’ll play by herself, she won’t ask you to play with her.” Wang Zhizhi, like a mature parent, comforted Wang Qingchuan, who was reluctant to “enter kindergarten,” then turned to Wang Qingbei. “Right, Beibei?”

“Mmm, I’ll play by myself, Brother doesn’t need to worry about me.” Wang Qingbei replied obediently.

Wang Qingchuan: “… “

He was already annoyed, and they were still acting like a loving father and daughter! So infuriating!

“Xiao Wang, why aren’t you going in?”

Just as Wang Qingchuan was about to turn around and go home, Wen Qiming’s voice, filled with amusement, suddenly came from behind him.

Wang Qingchuan: “… “

“Ah, this must be the new member of your family that the program team mentioned. Hello, I’m Wen Qiming, Wen Jiangyue’s dad.” Wen Qiming greeted Wang Qingbei kindly.

“Hello, I’m Wang Qingbei, Wang Qingchuan’s younger sister.” Wang Qingbei smiled, then glanced at Wang Zhizhi. “Now I’m the daughter of Parent Wang Zhizhi.”

“Fake sister, fake daughter.” Wang Qingchuan added.

“Hahaha, good, good, good.” Wen Qiming’s smile widened, he looked at Wang Zhizhi and teased, “You gained a daughter for free, Parent Zhizhi, it’s not easy, good luck!”

“Zhizhi, what activities did you arrange for your… um, them?” Wen Jiangyue peeked out from behind Wen Qiming.

“Lie down and do nothing, free play.” Wang Zhizhi pointed at Wang Qingchuan and Wang Qingbei respectively.

“Look, Zhizhi’s arrangements are so childlike.” Wen Qiming patted his daughter’s head.

“I chose reading for you because I know you like reading.” Wen Jiangyue turned her head away. “Next time I’ll arrange ‘lie down and do nothing’ for you too.”

Wang Qingchuan, who had been annoyed by Wen Qiming’s laughter, which sounded like he was enjoying the show, couldn’t help but retort, “Yueyue is quite good, she didn’t arrange for you to recite poems? Last time, when Yueyue used the ‘Daddy Kiss Card,’ how many poems did you make her recite, ten?”

“Five…” Wen Qiming didn’t understand Wang Qingchuan’s sudden strange tone, he just chuckled. “I can also recite poems. But “our” Parent Yueyue has her own ideas. When we were parents, we arranged things for our children. Now that the children are parents, we should listen to their arrangements.”

Wen Qiming felt that Wen Jiangyue was trying to be a parent who followed her child’s wishes, otherwise, she wouldn’t have chosen reading, which he liked, as the activity. Wen Qiming thought the activity was good, but he couldn’t appear too happy.

After all… The children had only been parents for a short time, if he was too happy, and when their roles were reversed, what if Wen Jiangyue also demanded that he be a parent who followed her wishes, that wouldn’t be good.

Wang Qingchuan, straightforward and clueless about Wen Qiming’s convoluted thoughts, seeing that Wen Qiming seemed fine with reciting poems, felt like his punch had landed on cotton, it was no fun at all.

But now that he was blocked by another dad at the door, Wang Qingchuan… couldn’t just turn around and leave.

In the end, both families entered the Wei family’s courtyard.

In the courtyard, the sunshade cloth had already been hung over half the space. But only Wei Chengli was there, …wiping the bed board?

“Hahaha, Brother Wang, you’re here.” Wei Chengli, hearing the sound, saw Wang Qingchuan entering the courtyard and waved enthusiastically with the rag in his hand.

Wang Qingchuan’s frustration subsided slightly, at least Wei Chengli didn’t immediately ask about that sister…

However, all enthusiasm had a source.

“Brother Wang, come and see, is this board clean enough? The program team just brought it over, they didn’t even clean it.” Wei Chengli said, patting the bed board placed on two stone benches. “Brother Wang, come and try it, see if it’s sturdy, you’ll be lying on it for the whole morning, I specifically chose a shady spot for you.”

Wang Qingchuan: ???

Chapter 73p1

The breakfast Wang Zhizhi brought back was plentiful. Before the soy milk, he had already divided the bacon, sausages, fried bread slices, and egg pancakes between the two of them.

Initially, Wang Qingchuan thought it was quite amusing seeing the tiny little person holding chopsticks and dividing the food for them. It was the child’s first day as a parent, wanting to play house and be in charge, so he, as the dad, would cooperate.

The bacon and sausages, served individually, were distributed one by one, taking turns, Wang Qingchuan didn’t see any problem with it. But when it came to the fried bread slices, it became a bit strange.

The fried bread slices were clearly cut from a large round steamed bun, dipped in egg batter, and fried. A large round bun, when sliced, would inevitably have smaller pieces around the edges, the closer to the center, the larger the slices.

Wang Qingchuan noticed that when Wang Zhizhi distributed the slices, if he gave him a large one, he would also put a large one on that… whoever’s plate, if he gave him a small one, that whoever would also get a small one, very evenly distributed, it didn’t seem random at all.

And when it came to the egg pancake, Wang Qingchuan knew his feeling wasn’t wrong.

A whole egg pancake, usually, they would just tear it apart with chopsticks, right? But this time, Wang Zhizhi insisted on folding it and cutting it with a knife, making sure his and that whoever’s portions were exactly the same size.

Wang Qingchuan figured it out, this kid was putting on a show for him.

What?

Was he being deprived of food and clothing because there was an extra sister in the family? The sister was only a few months old! One was almost five years old, the other was only a few months old, they didn’t even eat the same things, how could there be any unfairness?

At such a young age, he was so petty.

Wang Qingchuan started to feel annoyed, and seeing Wang Zhizhi still measuring the soy milk, he couldn’t hold back anymore.

But even after Wang Qingchuan spoke up, Wang Zhizhi’s hand, holding the chopsticks and measuring the depth of the soy milk, remained steady, he didn’t give up on his persistence because of his dad’s complaint.

A few seconds later, two glasses of soy milk, finally adjusted to almost the same level, were placed in front of Wang Qingchuan and… well, Wang Qingbei.

Wang Qingchuan watched as Wang Zhizhi finished dividing the soy milk, then picked up a ladle and started serving porridge into the two empty bowls, alternating between left and right, he was truly exasperated. “Wang Zhizhi, that’s enough! It’s just breakfast, do you have to divide it so evenly? We can tell you’re a fair and impartial parent, you’re the fairest and most just, okay? Do you want to count the rice grains in each spoonful after you finish serving the porridge?”

“No need.” The bowl wasn’t big, Wang Zhizhi had just finished serving the last spoonful, he turned the ladle sideways and skimmed off a layer of rice soup from both full bowls.

Both bowls now had the same amount of porridge.

“Thank you, Zhizhi.” The woman, who had been silent, eating whatever Wang Zhizhi gave her, suddenly spoke up. Before Wang Zhizhi could even finish serving, she reached out and took the bowl closer to her, even handing Wang Qingchuan his bowl.

Wang Qingchuan: “… “

“Brother, drink while it’s hot.” The woman smiled kindly and continued to focus on her breakfast.

Wang Qingchuan: ???

What was wrong with these two?

One was playing a never-ending fairness game, the other was addicted to role-playing!

Unlike Wang Qingchuan, who was about to be driven mad by these two, the viewers in the live broadcast room were thoroughly entertained.

“The program team is truly amazing! I thought the role swap between babies and dads was already dramatic enough, but this Wang Qingbei from the Wang family is truly something, hahaha. Don’t be fooled by her quietly eating now, earlier, when Wang Zhizhi went out to work, she almost drove Wang Qingchuan crazy.”

“Sob~~~ The one who went to watch CEO Mao braid Yan Yan’s hair is raising her hand timidly, tell me how Wang Qingchuan was driven crazy! Quickly tell me, make me happy!”

“Hahaha, he wasn’t exactly driven crazy, but he did seem quite annoyed. This morning, after Wang Zhizhi was taken away by the staff, Wang Qingchuan started asking this girl, ‘What’s your name?’, ‘Where are you from?’, ‘Are you an extra hired by the program team?’, ‘How did you get this job?’… Anyway, Wang Qingchuan, with a curious expression, asked for a long time, then the girl smiled and said, ‘Brother, what are you talking about? I’m Wang Qingbei, your younger sister.’ Hahaha, it was hilarious, Wang Qingchuan’s face immediately darkened.”

“This girl is wasting her talent if she doesn’t become an actress, have you noticed, she even has her own camera now, her name is Wang Qingbei, hahaha, I’m dying of laughter. Earlier, she was acting like she was at home, coming and going, oh, and she even cleaned the room next to Wang Zhizhi’s bedroom, even made the bed, it seems she’s truly the younger sister.”

“The best part was, when she was cleaning the room, she encountered a box she couldn’t move, she turned to the door and called Wang Qingchuan ‘brother,’ hahaha, truly… The experience of being an older brother was truly forced upon Wang Qingchuan. He was ordered to move several things by her, thinking he had built a rapport with her, then asked again, ‘What’s your name?’, ‘Where are you from?’, ‘How many days will you be here?’, and then, hahaha… She was still Wang Qingbei!”

“Yes! I had her live stream open the entire time, I can testify, Wang Qingchuan still doesn’t know her real name, hahaha!”

“Our Beibei is very professional! The program team should give her extra chicken legs! But although Beibei is professional, she’s still kind-hearted, the only time she went out of character this morning was when she helped Zhizhi with his porridge bowl. That porridge was steaming, Zhizhi filled the bowls to the brim, if Beibei hadn’t helped and let Zhizhi carry them to them like before, he would have gotten burnt.”

“To be honest, even a random girl has that much common sense, how come Wang Qingchuan was only focused on being angry at Zhizhi for being too fair, not noticing the full, hot porridge bowls? Tsk tsk tsk…”

“What’s there to be angry about with fairness? So many children in families with two or three children are crying for a fair parent. It’s so difficult to be impartial, our Zhizhi, at such a young age, knows to strive for it, and Wang Qingchuan has the nerve to be angry, he should be angry at himself!”

“Fairness is much harder than favoritism. Although Zhizhi is still young, his understanding of fairness seems… hahaha, not that comprehensive yet. But he’s truly trying his best. The program team even gave Wang Qingchuan a sister, but Wang Zhizhi didn’t take the opportunity to let him experience the taste of parental favoritism towards the second child, it truly surprised me.”

“The program team is too kind to the dads, the speech they gave to the babies before assigning the task this morning, asking them to think about what kind of parents they want to be. The babies are so kind, how could they possibly be bad parents… They wouldn’t make their dads eat mush and drink ginger juice, force them to eat a pot of food they dislike, make them memorize fifty poems a day, make them calculate every decision, tell them everything is borrowed, and threaten to beat them if they don’t take care of their fake sisters.”

“Ah, that summary… Just reading it makes my fists clench.”

“Sob, sob, sob, the kindest Zhizhi in the world, he’s even asking if his fake sister has enough to eat…”

“Of course she has enough, he prepared the food based on an adult male’s portion for both Wang Qingchuan and Wang Qingbei. Hahaha, Wang Qingbei has been eating non-stop, it’s all Daddy (Zhizhi)’s love.”

…

“I’m full, thank you, Zhizhi, the breakfast you brought back is very plentiful.” Wang Qingbei put down her chopsticks, finished her sentence seriously, then smiled. “Zhizhi, don’t call me ‘sister,’ I’m your dad’s younger sister, now I’m another baby in this family, you can call me Beibei.”

“Girl, you don’t have to act so hard.” Wang Qingchuan was truly speechless, such a pretty girl, why was she so stubborn? “Even according to the program team’s arrangement, parents and babies are just different in terms of work division, it’s not like we have to completely reverse our roles…”

“Brother…” Wang Qingbei turned to look at Wang Qingchuan.

“Don’t call me ‘brother’…” Wang Qingchuan raised his hand to stop her.

“Chuanchuan?” Wang Qingbei changed her address.

“No… Don’t call me Chuanchuan either!” Wang Qingchuan’s scalp tingled, what was this, sounded like a type of skewer, was she being polite?

“Brother, eat, it’ll get cold if you don’t.” Wang Qingbei didn’t indulge him, finishing her sentence directly.

“Sis… Mmm, Beibei. I’m going to the market to sell the vegetables we picked this morning, the money from selling the vegetables will be used to buy our lunch, is there anything you want to eat?” Wang Zhizhi tried his best to get into the role of a parent with an extra daughter.

“Everything Zhizhi buys is delicious, I like vegetables, any vegetable is fine, I’m easy to feed.” Wang Qingbei said with a smile.

Wang Qingchuan stuffed a piece of egg pancake into his mouth and looked at Wang Zhizhi with dissatisfaction. “Why didn’t you ask what I want to eat?”

Wang Zhizhi looked at him, puzzled. “I know what you like to eat.”

“No, you don’t.” Wang Qingchuan leaned back in his chair, holding the egg pancake in his mouth. “Parent Zhizhi, I want to eat braised beef, boiled mutton, and roast duck for lunch.”

“Okay, if they have it at the market, I’ll buy it for you.” Wang Zhizhi mentally noted it.

Wang Zhizhi readily agreed, but Wang Qingchuan wasn’t happy.

His son, who was quite adorable a few years ago, had become a ticking time bomb this year. Just during the few days of filming, the father and son had been bickering over trivial matters.

What, when he was the parent, this child was a handful. Now that their roles were reversed, he had suddenly become mature? Obedient and well-behaved?

Wang Qingchuan didn’t believe it.

“Parent Zhizhi, there should be pretty hair accessories, nice handkerchiefs, and cute clothes at the market. You can earn money now, you’re a parent, be more generous, buy some for your sister too.” Wang Qingchuan didn’t believe this child could change overnight. Of course, if this role-playing game could truly make him understand the hardships of being a parent, make him emotionally stable and get along with his sister, he wouldn’t mind playing along for a bit longer.

Usually, if Wang Qingchuan brought up this topic, Wang Zhizhi would explode in the next second, even if he didn’t talk back, he would give him the cold shoulder.

However, not today.

Wang Qingchuan, looking at Wang Zhizhi, who seemed to be thinking with a calm expression, was a bit surprised. Could it be that the program team hadn’t lied to him, could this new type of role-playing game truly make children see things from another perspective?

Of course, in the next second, Wang Qingchuan knew he was being too optimistic.

“Beibei, do you want pretty hair accessories, nice handkerchiefs, and cute clothes?” Wang Zhizhi’s face was slightly flushed. “I don’t know how to choose things girls like, if you want them, can I ask Yan Yan, Maomao, and Yueyue to help me choose?”

This time, even Wang Qingbei was stunned.

But she quickly smiled. “Zhizhi, you’re truly a good parent, I’ll like whatever you buy.”

Wang Qingchuan was truly impressed by this girl, her words were so sweet, why not just call her Wang Qingtian!*(tian means “sweet.)

But now wasn’t the time to tease her.

Wang Qingchuan tapped his fingers on the table. “Parent Wang Zhizhi, I’m asking you to buy something for your sister. Forget about the Baby Coins, you’re going to the market to sell vegetables today, it’s real money, right? This is also the first money you’ve earned in your life, Dad and Mom won’t take any, Dad hasn’t been very satisfied with your attitude towards your sister recently. Shouldn’t you be nicer to your sister? Dad and Mom are very fair, when your sister grows up and can earn money, we’ll also let her buy you gifts. Your mom and I only have you two children, you’re the closest to each other, you have to get along, right?”

Wang Qingchuan felt he had spoken from the bottom of his heart, then he saw Wang Zhizhi frown.

“Our family, it’s just me, you, and her.” Wang Zhizhi pointed his finger at himself, Wang Qingchuan, and Wang Qingbei one by one, then continued, “I’ll take care of you and her. It’s just you and her. You’re the closest to her now, you have to get along with Beibei.”

Wang Zhizhi, angered by Wang Qingchuan, retorted thoughtlessly, parroting his words. But as soon as he finished speaking, he was stunned by his own words.

Chapter 72

Six o’clock in the morning, the weather was still cool, a good time for work.

Wei Maomao was now extremely wary of the unpredictable program team. This morning, she specifically chose a pair of pants from the mountain of dresses in her suitcase, and the softest, most comfortable shoes.

It had to be said, Wei Maomao’s preparations weren’t in vain. After a simple wash-up and being fed a boiled egg and some water by Liu Ming, she was taken directly out of the village and placed by the edge of a field.

Vegetable fields, vegetable fields, more vegetable fields…

Wei Maomao was quick, she was the first to arrive. While waiting for the others, she found a relatively clean stone bench and sat down.

Were they kidding? With baskets piled up next to her and surrounded by fields of mature crops, the program team’s intentions were obvious.

She would rest while she could, who knew how they would be tortured later.

Wei Maomao didn’t wait long before Shen Zilin and Wen Jiangyue arrived together.

Shen Zilin looked around and took a deep breath. “We just finished watching the dads harvesting watermelons yesterday afternoon, and it’s our turn already? Did anyone ask your dads to list their most desired food items this morning?”

Wen Jiangyue shook her head. “The brother who came said my dad could continue sleeping.”

Wei Maomao, leaning against a large rock, said listlessly, “My dad also went back to bed.”

They hadn’t even started working yet, and she was already exhausted. She had worked herself to death for Wei Chengli in her previous life, and she had only been alive for a few days in this life, and now she had to shoulder the burden of life again, her three-year-old shoulders, she truly couldn’t handle it.

As Wei Maomao remained uninterested, Wen Jiangyue and Shen Zilin, the newly appointed “parents,” were quite motivated, discussing whether the morning’s task would be based on the weight or the number of baskets of harvested vegetables.

“I slept in this morning, how come there’s someone even later than me!” Wen Dongyu, leading the pig, was the fourth to arrive. He was surprised to see only three others there.

Wei Maomao and Wen Jiangyue were also quite surprised, surprised by the pride in Wen Dongyu’s voice when he said he slept in.

“How come… We’re all parents today, and you’re still bringing the pig along?” Shen Zilin was speechless, speaking of which, was this Wei Maomao’s pig or Wen Dongyu’s pig…

“Can’t parents bring pigs along? I’ll work hard and support the family, I won’t be slow just because I’m bringing the pig.” Wen Dongyu said with a determined expression.

Cheng Tingyan and Cheng Rongrong arrived together, brought by the staff, after Wen Dongyu, bored, had walked the pig around in circles a couple of times.

They arrived together, but as soon as they did, Cheng Tingyan quickly walked to the little chubby bunny who was slumped against the stone bench.

“Maomao, did you eat enough this morning?” Cheng Tingyan asked softly.

Wei Maomao immediately sat up straight and looked at Cheng Tingyan’s bag. “Sister Mingming gave me a boiled egg, Yan Yan, did you eat breakfast?”

“One egg isn’t enough for you, right?” Cheng Tingyan asked again.

“After we finish the task, they’ll give us more breakfast to eat with our dads, oh, with the little ones, right?” Wei Maomao, impolitely, pressed her chubby paw against Cheng Tingyan’s small bag. “Yan Yan, what’s the hard thing in your bag? Don’t tell me it’s the boiled egg you didn’t eat this morning! You’ll faint if you work on an empty stomach!”

Cheng Tingyan: “… “

What else could she say? Under the little chubby bunny’s intense and slightly accusing gaze, Cheng Tingyan could only eat the boiled egg.

Wei Maomao watched as Cheng Tingyan ate the boiled egg, thinking to herself, was that Su Li incompetent? Liu Ming had directly shoved the egg into her mouth, how could she let the babies keep their breakfast and not eat it…

Speaking of which…

Wei Maomao glanced at Cheng Tingyan, then at Cheng Rongrong, who was talking to Shen Zilin in the distance.

Both Yan Yan and Cheng Rongrong had simple ponytails today.

“Yan Yan, should I braid your hair?” Wei Maomao asked, but her chubby paws were already swiftly taking out a comb and hair ties from her little bunny bag.

Cheng Tingyan was stunned. “Now?”

“Yes, Wang Zhizhi isn’t here yet, I’m very fast.” Wei Maomao grabbed the small comb.

Early morning, by the field, a group of children, a group of staff, and a pig…

Cheng Tingyan felt that braiding hair in this kind of place was very strange.

But… The little chubby bunny seemed so excited, and she had brought all the tools…

“Okay. Did you see Wen Jiangyue playing with this yesterday, so you also want to play?” Cheng Tingyan asked, untying her hair and squatting down in front of the little chubby bunny.

“No need to squat.” Wei Maomao stepped onto the stone bench and pulled Cheng Tingyan up. As for whether it was playing or not, she would know soon enough.

Cheng Tingyan treated herself as a toy, letting the little chubby bunny work behind her. The little chubby paws gently moved around her head, it felt quite serious. Regardless of whether it turned out pretty or not, Cheng Tingyan felt it was quite interesting.

Thanks to the skilled grandma, thanks to the model child, thanks to these chubby yet nimble hands.

Before Wang Zhizhi arrived, Wei Maomao successfully braided a half-up hairstyle for Cheng Tingyan.

As Wei Maomao tied the last loop, before she could even speak, she heard a gasp from beside her.

“Maomao! How are you so good at this!” Wen Jiangyue had come over as soon as Wei Maomao started braiding Cheng Tingyan’s hair, but she was so stunned by the nimble chubby paws that she held her breath the entire time, not daring to make a sound. Now that the hairstyle was complete, she finally couldn’t help but exclaim, “This is so beautiful! Compared to yours, the one I braided for Yan Yan yesterday was terrible!”

“It’s alright, it’s alright.” Wei Maomao smiled modestly at Wen Jiangyue and handed a mirror to Cheng Tingyan. “It’s done, Yan Yan, do you like it?”

“Hey, with only one mirror, how can Yan Yan see it, the pretty part is at the back.” Wen Jiangyue, anxious for Cheng Tingyan, suddenly turned around and looked at the staff behind them. “Sister Qiutong, can I borrow your mirror?”

Liu Ming nudged Qiutong next to her, chuckling. Finally, it wasn’t her who was forced to appear on camera today, hehe.

And so, under Wen Jiangyue’s instructions, Cheng Tingyan held the mirror, looking at her reflection in the mirror held up by Wen Jiangyue behind her, she saw the hairstyle Wei Maomao had braided for her.

The two braids on each side, joined together at the back of her head, like an exquisite wreath. The ends of the braids and the remaining hair were gathered into a small bun, hanging below the “wreath.” Between the bun and the wreath was a pink velvet flower.

It was truly… beautiful…

Wei Maomao, standing next to Cheng Tingyan, saw the blooming joy in Cheng Tingyan’s eyes through the mirror.

And joy also bloomed in Wei Maomao’s heart.

Wei Maomao had realized yesterday that she had been negligent, she had only remembered the things she had chatted with the online Cheng Tingyan about in those years, forgetting that the six-year-old Yan Yan was still a child. The current Yan Yan might have the same likes and dislikes as her future self, but there were also many things they hadn’t talked about. For example… The grown-up Cheng Tingyan never mentioned that when she was a little girl, she also wanted to try this kind of complex and exquisite hairstyle.

She should have thought of it. The joy that Cheng Tingyan missed, the joy she should have experienced in her childhood.

But thankfully, it wasn’t too late, she would try her best to make up for it, starting now.

“The hair ties I brought aren’t pretty enough, the convenience store is open, let’s go buy some prettier ones.” Wei Maomao said softly, looking at Cheng Tingyan in the mirror.

“It’s already very pretty! Truly very pretty!” Cheng Tingyan put down the mirror and turned to look at the little chubby bunny. “Thank you, Maomao.”

This was her prettiest, prettiest day ever!

Looking at the little chubby bunny’s small, chubby paws, Cheng Tingyan truly couldn’t imagine how she had braided such a beautiful hairstyle.

It made her look… like a princess…

This was a look that only, only Cheng Rongrong could have.

Cheng Tingyan’s face was slightly flushed, her eyes also…

Just as Cheng Tingyan was about to lose control of the tears welling up in her eyes, Wen Jiangyue spoke up softly.

“Maomao, Maomao, good Maomao, good little sister…” Wen Jiangyue mumbled.

Wei Maomao, overwhelmed by the cheesiness, rubbed her arms and looked down at Wen Jiangyue’s hands, which were tugging on her waistband.

This was one of her only two pairs of pants!

“Do you also want your hair braided?” Wei Maomao interrupted Wen Jiangyue’s rambling.

Wen Jiangyue nodded vigorously, her enthusiasm completely unlike her usual quiet and shy demeanor.

Wei Maomao beckoned with her finger, and Wen Jiangyue happily moved closer.

But this time, before Wei Maomao could even start braiding, Cheng Rongrong suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“Maomao, you’re so good at braiding.” Cheng Rongrong praised.

Hearing Cheng Rongrong’s voice, Wei Maomao almost stabbed Wen Jiangyue’s scalp with the comb.

It was fine to braid Wen Jiangyue’s hair after learning the skill for Cheng Tingyan, just satisfying a little baby’s desire for beauty. But if it was for Cheng Rongrong… Her hand would immediately cramp.

However, Wei Maomao was overthinking it, Cheng Rongrong wasn’t here to freeload a three-year-old’s skills.

“Maomao, you’re so good at braiding, you’re truly amazing! You should have taught Sister Wen yesterday, then today, you could braid her hair, and she could braid yours.” Cheng Rongrong said with a kind expression, then glanced at Cheng Tingyan. “Then Older sister’s hair wouldn’t have been so messy yesterday.”

Wei Maomao, holding the comb, laughed in exasperation.

She truly…

What was wrong with this Cheng Rongrong? It was understandable if she wanted to freeload a hairstyle after seeing someone else with a pretty one, but to come over and try to sow discord, was this even allowed? Wouldn’t she be beaten up in kindergarten after a couple of days for causing trouble?

“I didn’t know how to braid yesterday afternoon. I learned it last night from the grandma next door to Grandma Zhao.” Wei Maomao looked at Cheng Rongrong, amused.

Heh, did she think she was Yan Yan, who wouldn’t speak up for herself? Trying to sow discord, she wouldn’t tolerate it, even if she was a child.

“You became so good in just one night?” Cheng Rongrong couldn’t help but say sarcastically. She didn’t believe it, looking at those short, chubby fingers, how could they braid so meticulously, even smoothing out all the stray hairs, it clearly took a lot of practice. Even if she had pretended to learn yesterday because of the live broadcast, she must have pretended to be bad at it. She didn’t know why the three-year-old fatty would practice this, but to become so skilled in one night, heh, what about those professional hairstylists?

She didn’t believe it, and neither would the viewers in the live broadcast room, they would just watch this three-year-old stinky fatty pretend.

If they hadn’t watched the live broadcast, those viewers might have truly doubted a three-year-old’s ability to braid such a hairstyle. But they had watched the live broadcast!

“Is Cheng Rongrong okay? Seriously? Did she just try to sow discord? Oh my god, how old is she?”

“Three and a half… I don’t think it was sowing discord? Rongrong just saw Wen Jiangyue messing with Cheng Tingyan’s hair yesterday afternoon, making it a mess, while Maomao was watching from the side. So today, she’s just curious why Maomao didn’t help if she knew how to braid. What bad intentions could a three-and-a-half-year-old have? She’s probably just asking because she doesn’t understand.”

“CEO Mao is truly amazing, okay? Don’t assume that just because you’re incompetent, CEO Mao is also incompetent. Are you the center of the world? I watched CEO Mao learn step by step last night, from braiding simple braids to combining them into beautiful hairstyles, that grandma is very skilled, and our CEO Mao is also very dexterous!”

“Hahaha, although her hands are short and chubby, they’re truly nimble! And she has a good memory, look at the one she braided for Wen Jiangyue, it’s different from Yan Yan’s! She really did remember what she learned last night.”

“CEO Mao truly, how can there be such a smart and considerate baby! CEO Mao even braided different hairstyles for Yan Yan and Yueyue! There were many beautiful hairstyles with loose hair yesterday, but CEO Mao chose two styles that gathered all the hair up! Is this in preparation for working in the field, hahaha!”

“Program team, have some mercy, they’re just little babies, don’t give them so many baskets, it’s making me anxious.”

“Where’s Wang Zhizhi? Why isn’t he here yet? It’s going to get hot if we don’t go soon!”

“He’s coming, he’s coming, he’s at the village entrance. Hahaha, don’t rush him, Wang Zhizhi is truly struggling, he’s one against two now, hahaha!”

“Explaining the situation to those who haven’t been watching Wang Zhizhi’s live stream, he didn’t sleep in, he got up as soon as the staff called him. But the program team gave them a second child, Wang Qingchuan was very unhappy about it, he grumbled to the program team for a long time, that’s why Wang Zhizhi was late! It’s all because of Wang Qingchuan, who loves having a second child, forces his son to love the second child, but can’t accept becoming the older brother! Zhizhi is innocent!”

“I’m dying of laughter… The funny thing is, after arguing with the program team for so long, Wang Qingchuan was actually persuaded. He actually believed the program team’s nonsense about ‘letting Wang Zhizhi experience the hardships of taking care of two children, maybe he’ll understand his parents’ difficulties better.’ Looking at Wang Qingbei when she entered the house, anyone with a brain could tell she wasn’t there to discipline Wang Zhizhi, Wang Qingchuan is truly too naive!”

“Wang Zhizhi, I’m so disappointed in you! Why didn’t you shout at Wang Qingchuan, ‘You’re the older brother, take good care of your sister!’ when you left the house? Your dad keeps telling you to take care of your sister! The program team gave you a chance, and you didn’t even take it!”

…

When Wang Zhizhi arrived, Wei Maomao had just finished braiding Wen Jiangyue’s hair.

With everyone present, the program team started reading the morning’s task card for the babies. Wen Jiangyue, beaming with satisfaction, reluctantly put away the mirror.

“Dear new parents, greetings. On this first day of you becoming the pillars of your families, the heads of your households, I believe you’re all excited and a bit confused. About how to be a parent, how to take care of your children, do you have many questions? Don’t worry, our program team will accompany you all the way, guiding and protecting you on your journey as parents. So first, before starting today’s first task, I hope you can recall the questions you answered last night. Then ask yourselves, today, you’ve finally become adults, with the power to make decisions for yourselves and your families. You can decide what to do and what not to do. You can complete tasks, contribute to your families, provide food and clothing, or you can choose not to do the tasks and drink water instead of eating with your families. You can decide whether the daily lives of your dads, who have become children, will be filled with eating or drinking porridge, playing or studying, going to bed at nine or staying up until midnight. You are free, you can freely choose what kind of parent you want to be, freely choose what kind of life your dads, who have become children, will have. Come on, ask yourselves, now that you have the power to decide, what kind of parent do you want to be?”

Wei Maomao: “… “

What a soul-stirring question.

The first task of the morning, as Wei Maomao had expected, was harvesting vegetables in the field.

But the details were a bit different from what she had imagined. It wasn’t based on the number of baskets or the weight, but… freedom.

Thirty minutes, time limit, harvest as much as they wanted, as long as they worked, they would get breakfast.

But the things they harvested within these thirty minutes, after breakfast, they had to sell them at the market, and the money they earned… was theirs to freely spend, to buy lunch.

And this money, before spending it, would be ranked to determine the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth prizes, corresponding to different afternoon tea rewards…

What a well-designed, freedom-themed task.

When assigning the task, the program team also took into consideration the two special families. For the lunch prize ranking, the money earned by Cheng Tingyan and Cheng Rongrong would be combined and then divided by two. And the actual money they could use to buy lunch would be three-quarters of the combined amount… Similarly, because the Wang family had an extra member, the money they could use to buy lunch would be two-thirds of the money Wang Zhizhi earned.

There weren’t many varieties of vegetables in the surrounding fields, the program team only gave them three options to harvest: tomatoes, cucumbers, and loofah.

Wei Maomao had looked at the fields for a while while waiting earlier, all three grew on vines, and the height of the vines wasn’t too high. The tallest, the loofah, also had some within her reach, but there weren’t many, most were hanging higher, where she couldn’t easily reach.

Based on Wei Maomao’s life experience, loofah was definitely the most expensive, then tomatoes and cucumbers, the prices might vary slightly depending on the region. But with the time limit, if she chose loofah, climbing up and down would definitely waste time and energy, and the price difference wasn’t significant enough to justify it.

Wei Maomao chose tomatoes and pulled Cheng Tingyan’s hand.

Wen Jiangyue, seeing this, followed them.

Cheng Rongrong, closely behind, also went to the tomato field.

There were already four of them… Shen Zilin, who had also wanted to choose tomatoes, regretfully stopped.

If everyone sold tomatoes, there would be competition, and he didn’t know how big the market was, if it was a small market, with everyone selling tomatoes, they might not be able to sell them all…

Shen Zilin wasted a few dozen seconds checking out the loofah field, then decisively went to the cucumber field, where the fruits were lower.

Height… He would grow taller when he got older!

As soon as the program team announced the start of the timer, five babies immediately ran off, leaving only Wang Zhizhi and Wen Dongyu by the roadside.

“Wang Zhizhi, what’s this about your family having an extra person? Does your dad really have a sister?” Wen Dongyu finally found a chance to gossip.

“Fake.” Wang Zhizhi answered concisely, his mind still preoccupied with the program team’s words before assigning the task.

“Then you have two children now, one real, one fake.” Wen Dongyu patted Wang Zhizhi’s shoulder sympathetically. “Good luck, you have to support three people by yourself.”

After saying that, Wen Dongyu, pulling the pig, rushed into the group of staff to receive his work tools.

Two children, one real, one fake…

Why did he have to have so many children… Wang Zhizhi looked at the vegetable field, feeling a bit lost.

The program team kept their word. When the first task ended, they didn’t care about how much they harvested, they just labeled the baskets, loaded them onto the truck, and started distributing the task rewards to the babies.

There was a wide variety of breakfast options, both Chinese and Western, they could even mix and match, as long as it amounted to roughly one meal per person. They could choose directly from the program team’s existing breakfast menu and have it delivered, or they could choose the ingredients and bring a chef back to cook breakfast according to their instructions. Of course, the ingredients were also based on the number of people, there would be no leftovers.

This wasn’t the point, the point was that Wei Maomao felt the host kept looking at her when he mentioned that they could bring a chef back and have the chef cook breakfast according to their instructions.

What?

Did she look like the kind of baby who would be vindictive as a parent?

Even if she was, she wouldn’t take it out on Wei Chengli.

Speaking of which, what did Cheng Feiying hate…

Tsk, the program team lacked imagination, wouldn’t it be more interesting if the babies, as parents, became parents to the other dads?

Wei Chengli anxiously paced back and forth in the bedroom for half an hour, then got up, washed up, and continued pacing in the courtyard, finally waiting for his breakfast to return. Oh, no, his baby.

“Baby, I knew you loved me!” Wei Chengli, looking at the table full of soy milk, shaobing, egg pancakes, and rice balls, was overjoyed, he pointed at the camera and said accusingly, “They scared me, saying that after you finished the task, you could choose to bring back ingredients and have the staff cook breakfast according to your instructions!”

“Oh, they didn’t scare you.” Wei Maomao said, taking a bite of the egg pancake.

Wei Chengli: ???

Because of the program team’s generosity for the first task, every baby returned with a full basket.

The other families were all eating well, except for the Wang family…

The abundance of food didn’t seem to ease their tense atmosphere.

“Wang Zhizhi, what’s wrong with you? Is this really necessary?” Wang Qingchuan was truly exasperated!

Cutting the breakfast egg pancake in half and insisting on making his and that… whoever’s portion exactly the same size was one thing, but now he was even using chopsticks to measure the depth of the soy milk! Had this child gone crazy after going out for a while!

Chapter 71p2

Wei Maomao was indeed learning diligently.

It was ten o’clock, thankfully, both the skilled artisan and the model she wanted to learn from hadn’t gone to bed yet.

But it was indeed a bit late, even though she offered two toys (from the previous mystery boxes) as tuition, Wei Maomao still felt a bit embarrassed, so she learned diligently, hoping to master it quickly.

Wei Maomao learned quickly, but… this grandma knew too many styles!

Every one she braided looked so good! She wanted to learn them all!

Entering was easy, leaving was an hour later.

Wei Maomao, her face flushed, thanked the skilled grandma and headed straight to her next destination.

Wei Chengli, who had been following and observing, noticed that the little chubby dumpling wasn’t walking in the direction of home, he quickly stopped her.

“It’s eleven o’clock? Not going home yet?” Wei Chengli grabbed the little chubby dumpling. “Where are you going?”

“Dig some Baby Coins, buy pretty hair ties tomorrow.” Wei Maomao answered concisely, pushing Wei Chengli’s hand away.

“Wait, you want hair ties? Didn’t that grandma just offer to give you some, why didn’t you take them?” Wei Chengli didn’t understand.

“Daddy.” Wei Maomao turned to look at Wei Chengli. “Those belong to that sister, she also likes them.”

Wei Chengli was stunned, and unconsciously loosened his grip on the little chubby dumpling.

He watched as the chubby dumpling ran off under the streetlight, took a deep breath.

This had just happened recently, when Wen Dongyu said Wen Xiang gave away his things… He was there when Wen Dongyu said it. The situation escalated, Wen Dongyu and Wen Xiang’s conflict worsened, he saw it all.

But even so, earlier, when the grandma grabbed a handful of hair ties and offered them to the little chubby dumpling, he still didn’t feel… anything was wrong.

Although now that he thought about it, it was wrong. But… he truly hadn’t realized it until the little chubby dumpling’s serious explanation.

The arrogance… of an adult.

Wei Chengli was deeply shaken, he stood there for a while before following her.

The little chubby dumpling, her legs were short, but she was determined. When Wei Chengli caught up, they were already near the village entrance.

“Maomao, wait. It’s too late tonight, let’s dig tomorrow, Daddy will go with you.” Wei Chengli caught up, scooped up the little chubby dumpling, and said.

“Dig…” Wei Maomao just started speaking when she saw… Shen Zilin? Walking towards them from outside the village?

The three quickly gathered under the streetlight.

Honestly, Wei Chengli thought the little chubby dumpling wanting to dig for Baby Coins in the middle of the night was ridiculously diligent. But he didn’t expect that she wasn’t the only one who was ridiculously diligent.

“I’ve already dug some today, you can dig tomorrow. The program team replenishes the Baby Coins in the field to two hundred every day, it’ll be easier to find them tomorrow.” Shen Zilin, leaning against the lamppost tiredly, explained.

He was tired, but also quite pleased.

Although Yan Yan wasn’t coming, Maomao had joined him, partners, as long as one of them was reliable at the same time, it was fine.

“Right, let’s dig tomorrow.” Wei Chengli also tried to persuade her. “Look, it’s useless for you to dig tonight, your Baby Convenience Store doesn’t open until nine in the morning, you can’t buy anything new before you wake up and comb your hair, right? It’s better to dig tomorrow, then you can go and buy things directly. By the way, don’t you also have some hair ties? Mom packed them for you, saying you can tie your hair up if it gets in the way while eating. We haven’t used them yet, right? There seem to be several colors. Daddy learned a few styles today, how about Daddy ties your hair tomorrow?”

“Forget it. We’re switching roles tomorrow, you’ll be the baby.” Wei Maomao thought for a moment, then sighed. “Thankfully, I, the baby, can wash up, dress myself, eat, and go to the bathroom by myself.”

After saying that, Wei Maomao turned to look at Wei Chengli.

“Wait… What do you mean?” Wei Chengli was stunned, then laughed in exasperation. “We’re just switching roles, it’s not like you’ll be taking care of my washing up, dressing, eating, and bathroom needs!”

Wei Maomao looked up at the sky, hard to say, hard to say, this program, which had already deviated so much from her previous life, who knew what they would come up with.

In the end, they didn’t dig for Baby Coins.

Wei Chengli carried the little chubby dumpling, walked Shen Zilin home, then returned.

Exhausted after a long day, the two washed up and lay in their respective beds, but neither of them could fall asleep.

Without the little chubby dumpling’s various antics as a distraction, Wei Chengli finally had time to properly think about tomorrow’s task.

As a director, although he had never filmed a variety show before, he still had some professional insights. After these past few days, Wei Chengli was increasingly confused, it was clearly a parent-child variety show, why didn’t the program team try to mediate when parent-child conflicts arose and the children scattered to other families? But with this new task, Wei Chengli couldn’t help but suspect that what the program team wanted to film… was conflict. Did children truly know how to be parents? Or… could they only imitate? Switching the power dynamic before resolving the previous round of conflict, wasn’t that just the beginning of an even bigger conflict?

Like him, even though he believed the little chubby dumpling was a smart child, he couldn’t help but wonder if she would choose to imitate him… Would tomorrow’s meal be mush, or the ginger feast…

Of course, if he spoke up, those things probably wouldn’t appear on their dining table.

Wei Chengli turned over and looked at the little chubby dumpling in the darkness across the aisle, a blurry silhouette on the bed next to him, also seemingly tossing and turning.

“Baby?” Wei Chengli called out softly.

It was long past filming hours, the cameras and microphones were already turned off, but Wei Chengli wasn’t sure if the little chubby dumpling was still awake, so he only dared to ask tentatively.

The response he received was the chubby silhouette, which had seemed to be tossing and turning, suddenly freezing.

“Baby, are you asleep?” Wei Chengli asked again, amused. “If you’re not, let’s talk about tomorrow’s task?”

“Let’s talk.” Wei Maomao sighed and lay flat on her back.

“Baby, you haven’t been falling asleep so easily these past two days, are you having trouble sleeping?” Wei Chengli asked.

“What about the task?” Wei Maomao turned over.

Now that Wei Chengli mentioned it, she actually… Whether she was sleeping well or not was another matter, but she seemed to have stopped having that nightmare for several days. Perhaps because she was often angered by Wei Chengli during the day, these past few days, she had been dreaming about her life as a hardworking employee in her previous life…

“The task… It’s just the task… How are you planning to start being a parent tomorrow?” Wei Chengli asked cautiously.

Wei Maomao, her mind still replaying her miserable working life in her previous life, felt a bit annoyed, she casually replied, “I’m planning to start by making mush for breakfast.”

Wei Chengli: “… “

Silence, quiet. Wei Maomao waited for a while, hearing no more sound from the other side, so she turned over and went to sleep.

Leaving Wei Chengli alone, agonizing over his failure as a good parent, how his cooking skills had left an indelible scar on the little baby, and now the little baby was going to imitate him and become a terrible parent, it was all his fault… Sob…

Wei Chengli’s mind was racing with thoughts, when the staff knocked on the door in the morning, he felt like he had just closed his eyes.

“Director Wei, you can go back to sleep, I’m here to wake up today’s parent, CEO Mao… oh, Maomao.”

The new staff member outside the door stammered slightly. Wei Chengli glanced at his watch, it was six o’clock. He turned his head, yawned, and said in a low voice, “She went to bed quite late last night, if there’s nothing important, let her sleep a bit longer, okay?”

“The parents have to get up and do the morning tasks, just like you dads did the past few days.” The staff member smiled kindly. “Parents have to earn breakfast.”

Wei Chengli: “… “ This breakfast wasn’t exactly a necessity.

“I’m up.”

The sweet, childish voice came from behind him. Wei Chengli turned around and saw the little chubby dumpling, rubbing her eyes, had already gotten out of bed.

“You sleep.” Wei Maomao, passing by Wei Chengli’s bed, patted it with her chubby paw. “Cover yourself well, don’t catch a cold.”

Wei Chengli: “… “ As expected of the one who could get into character instantly after receiving the task card last night.

Wei Chengli, lying back in bed, couldn’t fall asleep at all. He turned on his side, watching the tiny little chubby dumpling rummaging through her suitcase for clothes and other things.

Wei Maomao, holding the clothes she was going to change into and the box of unused hair ties, walked to Wei Chengli’s bed before leaving and tucked him in.

“… “ Wei Chengli felt a bit dazed. Why did he feel like an elderly person, unable to move, lying in bed, waiting for his child to take care of him?

Wei Maomao’s role transition was swift and smooth, while Wei Chengli was having trouble adapting.

Lying alone in bed, clutching the blanket, Wei Chengli couldn’t help but wonder if the other dads were doing okay, if they also felt strange and uncomfortable like him.

However, Wei Chengli was overthinking it.

When the program team knocked on the door, Wen Qiming happily opened the door and sent Wen Jiangyue off, even encouraging her to do well with the tasks, saying that their breakfast depended on her. Shen Jianghe was similar, opening the door, letting someone in, then watching Shen Zilin leave, his face filled with… a pleased smile?

At the Cheng family’s house, it was Cheng Tingyan who opened the door… Cheng Feiying was still lying in bed, refusing to get up, saying that from this moment on, he was a child with two parents, he had to be twice as beautiful as the other children.

At the Wen family’s house, Wen Dongyu was a bit reluctant to get up. After opening the door, Wen Xiang didn’t urge him or say anything, the program staff could only bite the bullet and wake Wen Dongyu up themselves. But thankfully, the child was just a bit sleepy, he didn’t have any morning grumpiness. After being fully awakened, he resigned himself to washing up and getting dressed.

If Wei Chengli could also watch the live broadcast, he would probably question whether he had overthought things, why he couldn’t immediately feel the joy of being a child.

Of course, Wei Chengli wasn’t the one who had the hardest time adapting to the role swap, nor was he the most unhappy one.

Because the one who had the hardest time adapting to this role swap was… Wang Qingchuan.

Last night, Wang Qingchuan had been overjoyed when he received the program team’s task card.

Being a parent was truly not easy, especially being a parent to two children, one of whom was a stubborn bull. His son was adorable when he was younger, but now he was neither kind to his sister nor considerate of his parents, Wang Qingchuan was exhausted from being a parent.

This task was a blessing, especially after watching the video during dinner, Wang Qingchuan felt that this was a good opportunity for Wang Zhizhi to experience the hardships of being a parent! As expected of a popular parenting variety show, the program team was still reliable in crucial moments.

It could be said that last night, before falling asleep, while Wei Chengli was reflecting on his shortcomings, Wang Qingchuan was dreaming about Wang Zhizhi becoming a considerate, sister-loving, model brother after experiencing being a parent.

However, dawn always brought the awakening from dreams.

In the morning, when the door was knocked on, Wang Qingchuan opened the door, and the program staff outside said they were just here to wake up the parent, Wang Zhizhi, and that Wang Qingchuan could continue sleeping. Wang Qingchuan happily agreed, ready to watch the newly appointed parent, Wang Zhizhi, take on his role.

But in the next second, an unfamiliar woman squeezed in from the doorway and sat down on the chair facing their bed.

Wang Zhizhi, who had just woken up, stared with wide eyes, and Wang Qingchuan, who had been happy just a moment ago, was also startled.

“You… Who are you? Are you a staff member?” Wang Qingchuan asked in shock.

The woman’s sudden appearance, although the morning’s live broadcast had already started with the staff’s knock, made Wang Qingchuan feel very insecure.

“Hello, Zhizhi.” The woman smiled, greeting the dumbfounded Wang Zhizhi sitting on the bed, then looked at Wang Qingchuan, who had asked the question. “Hello, Wang Qingchuan, I’m your younger sister. You can call me… Mmm, Wang Qingshan? Wang Qingbing? Wang Qingbei? Whichever you prefer, I’m fine with any of them.”

Wang Qingchuan: “What… What are you talking about?”

“Shān chuān? Bīng chuān? Bèi chuān?” Wang Zhizhi mumbled, confused. “You’re Dad’s sister, your names can form words.”

“What sister, I don’t have a sister.” Wang Qingchuan’s head buzzed.

“It’s chuān bèi, a type of medicinal herb for relieving cough and phlegm. Zhizhi, do you like this name?” The woman said familiarly, smiling. “Then okay, my name is Wang Qingbei, you can call me Beibei. From today onwards, we’re family.”

Wang Zhizhi: “… “

Wang Qingchuan: “… “

Dream on!

Why don’t you form the word “Sichuan Cuisine”(Chuāncài) then!

***

T/N: Basically… It’s a wordplay

• Name suggestions: The woman offers three name options (Qingshan, Qingbing, Qingbei), all sharing the “Qing” character with Wang Qingchuan’s name, suggesting a sibling relationship.
• Wang Zhizhi, still confused, notices that combining parts of his father name(Wang Qingchuan) creates phrases:
  • Shan-chuan (山川): mountains and rivers
  • Bing-chuan (冰川): glacier
  • Bei-chuan (贝川): literally “shell river.
• The final line, “Yeah right! Why don’t you make it ‘Chuancai’ (Sichuan cuisine) while you’re at it!” is a sarcastic response to the ridiculous situation.

Chapter 71p1

It wasn’t just the babies who were tortured by the program team for over an hour in the evening.

Even though Wei Maomao wasn’t very curious, Wei Chengli still shared his experience of the mental attack immediately.

And soon, Wei Chengli received a calm confirmation from the little chubby dumpling.

Comparing their experiences, they discovered that they were both answering questions during the individual interviews, and… from the same question bank.

“So you were also asked ‘What kind of dad do you think your dad is?’, ‘What kind of dad do you want?’, ‘What kind of baby do you think you are?’, ‘What kind of baby should a baby be?’… those kinds of questions?” Wei Chengli, frowning slightly, picked out the questions he was most concerned about from the complex and detailed questions, confirming with the little chubby dumpling again.

“Mmm.” Wei Maomao answered briefly, then took a sip of her almost empty orange juice.

Ninety questions, the program team had kept them for over an hour, a glass of room-temperature orange juice for the baby, a glass of iced lemon juice for the dad, that was the program team’s last act of humanity.

So they did know that answering so many questions would make them want to vomit!

Wei Chengli, who had finished his lemon juice during the quiz, looked at the little chubby dumpling’s orange juice and licked his lips enviously.

“So many questions, do you think…” Wei Chengli, who could only drink water, tried to analyze the reason behind the program team’s strange actions. However, before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by the little chubby dumpling’s raised paw.

“Daddy, stop asking. I don’t want to answer questions anymore.” Wei Maomao finished the last bit of sour juice in her glass, wiped her mouth, then stretched and casually glanced at Wei Chengli’s wrist.

It was almost ten o’clock…

So late, it seemed she could only ask Liu Ming to tell her tomorrow.

Wei Maomao thought about the thing she was supposed to do tonight, but was probably too late now, and felt a bit annoyed.

But regardless of her curiosity, annoyance, or the late hour, the program team’s task card arrived as it pleased, unstoppable.

The content of the task card this time was simple, yet complex.

Simple because it only had two sentences: [Starting tomorrow, the babies and dads will switch roles. Babies will become parents, responsible for working and supporting the family, dads will become children, responsible for being pretty.]

Wei Chengli’s eyes were on his own task card, but his ears were listening to the staff member next to him reading the little chubby dumpling’s task card, every word, identical.

Okay, both the dozens of mind-numbing questions tonight and the contrasting footage shown during dinner now had a reason.

It wasn’t meaningless torture, it wasn’t a sudden act of kindness, it wasn’t even a mid-show summary, it was all preparation for this task…

Wei Chengli gripped the thin task card, the words were simple, just babies and dads switching roles.

But!

Starting tomorrow, when would it end?

How were the babies supposed to act as parents, how were they supposed to support the family?

And how were the dads supposed to act as children…

Wei Chengli didn’t believe that the program team would just give them these two lines and let them do whatever they wanted.

Pitfalls, every word seemed to have a hidden pitfall…

Just as Wei Chengli was trying to decipher more from those two short sentences, the little chubby dumpling sitting next to him jumped off the ground and was about to run out of the courtyard.

“Where are you going!” Wei Chengli quickly followed, grabbing the back of her clothes and pulling her back into his arms. “No running to Yan Yan’s house! We agreed to sleep in our own homes!”

Wei Chengli was truly afraid that the little dumpling, who was so attached to Yan Yan, would suddenly change her mind and go provoke Cheng Feiying again.

But to Wei Chengli’s surprise, the little chubby dumpling didn’t struggle, she just turned to look at him with a helpless expression.

“Daddy, I’m going to be a parent tomorrow, working and taking care of you, I’ll be very busy. I’m still a baby now, I have my own things to do.” Wei Maomao sighed tiredly.

Wei Chengli: ??? She was adapting to the role a bit too quickly, wasn’t she?

Since the little chubby dumpling had said so, Wei Chengli, who was about to be taken care of tomorrow, couldn’t stop her.

But it was getting dark, for safety reasons, Wei Chengli still wasn’t comfortable letting the little chubby dumpling go out alone.

Wei Maomao didn’t mind Wei Chengli following her, she was just worried that because the program team’s interview had taken much longer than expected, the person she wanted to see might already be asleep…

As the little dumpling, leading a team of people, hurried through the alley, the viewers in the live broadcast room finally recovered from the terrifying ninety questions.

“Hahaha, for over an hour earlier, I thought the program team had gone crazy, now it seems it was all foreshadowing for tomorrow. But this foreshadowing is a bit too much, I didn’t even answer the questions, just watching, and I felt my brain knotting up.”

“So the reason the program team showed the contrasting footage of the babies playing and the dads working hard during dinner was to set an example for their role swap tomorrow? Hahaha, they’re afraid the babies won’t know how to be parents, but are they also afraid the dads won’t know how to be babies?”

“I don’t know about the other babies, but our CEO Mao, she got into character instantly. Hahaha, ‘Let me slack off today because I have to work tomorrow,’ she’s quite organized for her age.”

“CEO Mao is going to be a parent, tomorrow’s breakfast will be mush! The kind without ginger! Strongly suggesting the program team prepare the same ingredients from the first day’s lunch for CEO Mao, hahaha!”

“The program team knows how to play. Will the babies finally turn the tables when they become parents?”

“Our CEO Mao isn’t the kind of person who would retaliate with mush~~~ She’s too preoccupied with braiding hair, she has no time for Director Wei, hahaha.”

“CEO Mao truly… This afternoon, a child from the neighbor’s house passed by Grandma Zhao’s courtyard, Wen Jiangyue saw her and took out a dressing table from the toy pile, wanting to play with braiding hair, CEO Mao was just watching from the side. Then Wen Jiangyue pulled Yan Yan to braid her hair, CEO Mao watched for a bit, then secretly went to ask Grandma Zhao if she could contact the neighbor and ask her to teach her how to braid hair tonight. I thought it was just a three-year-old’s whim, I didn’t expect that after being bombarded by ninety questions, CEO Mao still remembered.”

“Hahaha, to be honest, Wen Jiangyue’s hair-braiding skills are inversely proportional to her memorization skills. Yan Yan’s hair was truly a mess… In the end, Yan Yan had to retie her ponytail herself, otherwise, it would have been a whole afternoon of black history, hahaha.”

“Our CEO Mao, so eager to learn even late at night, I’m truly curious about how beautiful she’ll be tomorrow morning~~~ I’m so excited!”

“Raising my hand timidly… I don’t think CEO Mao is learning to braid her own hair. I saw her approach Grandma Zhao after seeing Yan Yan being pulled to braid her hair, isn’t she learning to braid Yan Yan’s hair?”

“The person above, don’t be timid! Be confident! I think you’re right. CEO Mao… She doesn’t even have the concept of combing her hair in the morning, she just rubs her hair and gets out of bed, hahaha. If Director Wei didn’t take care of her, she would be running around with messy hair all day. CEO Mao doesn’t seem like the type who wants to be prim and proper.”

“Honestly… Cheng Feiying truly… The moment he showed the most love for Yan Yan was probably on the first day, before leaving the house, when he divided the two eggs among the three of them! Some things, you can’t judge based on a single incident, the truth is often hidden in the details. Cheng Rongrong’s hair, he braids it every day, although not as meticulously as on the first day, it does get rougher each day, but even today, the roughest one, it was still braided and decorated with several hair clips… But Yan Yan’s ponytail, she always ties it herself.”

“I always thought Yan Yan just liked simple ponytails, after all, it suits her temperament, clean and neat. Until today, when I saw Wen Jiangyue pulling Yan Yan, wanting to braid her hair like the little girl who just walked past the courtyard, although Yan Yan was a bit embarrassed, she seemed… quite expectant?”

“Aww! You guys are so observant! My heart ached! CEO Mao, learn well, make both you and Yan Yan beautiful tomorrow!”

Chapter 70

On the big screen, the contrasting footage of the happy babies and the hardworking dads from this afternoon played for quite a while.

So long that some dads, who had initially been feeling guilty, gradually straightened their backs.

“Dad is the oldest among all the dads, I’m not as strong as those younger dads. I couldn’t get the cream cake, but you also like pizza, right? It’s better to eat some staple food at night, eating cake is too sweet, you won’t sleep well.” Wen Qiming said, cutting the pizza for Wen Jiangyue.

Honestly, it was a good thing that Shen Jianghe and Cheng Feiying decided to stop when they reached the 1500kg quota after everyone worked together to harvest 9000 kilograms of watermelon. Otherwise, if everyone else had insisted on continuing, Wen Qiming would have been embarrassed to stop at 1500kg. But even though Shen and Cheng accompanied him, the fact that the other three dads eventually reached 3000kg still… made Wen Qiming feel a bit inadequate. This two-tier difference was truly an unfavorable comparison.

But to Wen Qiming’s surprise, the program team, which had been ruthless in the afternoon, suddenly became humane again at night.

With this big screen and the short videos, Wen Qiming looked at the screen, Wen Jiangyue happily playing on the slide on the left, himself sweating profusely on the right, and felt that he had actually done quite well.

So, the sentence he had wanted to say, filled with apology, “Dad really couldn’t carry anymore after reaching 1500kg, you eat pizza today, I’ll definitely buy you a big cake after the show,” was swallowed back. When he spoke, only explanations and persuasion remained.

Wen Jiangyue didn’t know the confidence the big screen gave Wen Qiming or the thoughts in his mind. She couldn’t understand the evasiveness and hedging in his words either. She could feel her dad’s heat and exhaustion just from watching the screen, she didn’t really care whether she got pizza or cake.

After Wen Qiming finished cutting the pizza, Wen Jiangyue immediately forked a piece onto his rice bowl.

“Dad, you worked hard.” Wen Jiangyue said sincerely, deciding to forget her dad’s harshness this morning.

Wen Qiming looked at his daughter’s bright eyes and, for some reason, felt his straightened back weaken again.

Unlike Wen Qiming, who tried to instill in his daughter the impact of his physical limitations on the task and subtly guide her to accept pizza as a more suitable dinner option to cover up the difference in their task completion levels, Shen Jianghe, sitting at the table next to them, was much more straightforward.

Shen Jianghe didn’t beat around the bush, he said to Shen Zilin directly, “I feel my limit is around 2000kg, I can at most upgrade the lamb skewers to steak. But after carrying 1500kg, my arms are already very heavy, continuing would definitely affect my performance in the next few days. Since you like all three things, I don’t think it’s worth it to pay a greater price for a small change, even affecting the rewards for subsequent tasks. What do you think?”

Shen Zilin saw no problem with Shen Jianghe’s analysis and decision.

Calm analysis, decisive choices, not letting small, immediate benefits affect bigger opportunities later on.

This was the correct approach, Shen Zilin nodded in agreement.

But after nodding, he felt… something wasn’t quite right…

What was it…

Then, Shen Zilin heard Cheng Feiying’s voice from the other side.

“The program team is so mean. They’re using the degree of your desire to make dads choose the harder option, to show their love for their children. What’s the difference between steak, hamburger, and roasted chicken? They actually increase the weight requirement for the watermelon by thousands of kilograms, aren’t they mean? Thankfully, I’m smart, I stopped at 1500kg, it’s enough to eat something you like for dinner, we can buy these things anywhere after the show. It’s not like our love will decrease if we choose the lower tier.” Cheng Feiying’s tone was nonchalant, a forced bravado masking his fatigue.

Oh, Shen Zilin seemed to have figured out what was wrong.

Right, the essence of this task was probably to see how much the dad loved his child, not to make the most rational decision.

Shen Zilin felt a strange discomfort, which led him to do something very irrational.

“Love doesn’t necessarily decrease if you choose the lower tier. But love is definitely abundant if you choose the higher tier.” Shen Zilin turned to Cheng Feiying, who was speaking righteously, and interrupted him forcefully.

Cheng Feiying: “… “

Shen Jianghe: “… “

Cheng Feiying, speechless, looked at Shen Jianghe, what was going on, this guy also only carried 1500kg, why wasn’t he lecturing his own dad, why did he have to butt into their conversation!

After throwing out that sentence, Shen Zilin turned back, acting nonchalant, and started eating his lamb skewers.

Shen Jianghe smiled apologetically at Cheng Feiying, not saying anything more, then turned to Shen Zilin. “Are you angry? Because I didn’t carry more watermelons?”

“No. Your decision was right. I would have made the same choice.” Shen Zilin had already snapped out of his sudden irritation, he casually picked up a lamb skewer and handed it to Shen Jianghe. “It tastes good.”

Shen Jianghe: “… “

Cheng Feiying, looking at the father and son at the next table, who had just stirred up trouble and were now happily eating skewers, was about to explode from anger!

But, eating skewers was eating skewers, only they knew if they were truly happy or not.

“Daddy, I know you love us the most. When we go back home, we’ll go eat delicious food together. It’s too hard to eat delicious food here.” Cheng Rongrong said sweetly, pulling off a chicken leg from the roasted chicken and placing it in Cheng Feiying’s bowl. “Daddy, eat the chicken leg, roasted chicken is delicious, thank you, Daddy!”

Cheng Rongrong’s hand had already reached for the chicken leg when Cheng Feiying was ranting about the program team, ready to interrupt his complaints. But for some reason, Shen Zilin suddenly interjected… In Cheng Rongrong’s impression, Shen Zilin wasn’t supposed to be so rude, only those like Wei Maomao and Wang Zhizhi were rude.

But regardless, Cheng Feiying, already tired, seemed even more irritable after being provoked by Shen Zilin, Cheng Rongrong had to bite the bullet and try to divert his attention.

After giving him one chicken leg, Cheng Rongrong quickly pulled off another one, placing it in Cheng Tingyan’s plate as she spoke, “Older sister, have one too, let’s eat together.”

Cheng Tingyan swiftly moved her plate of french fries away and said indifferently, “No, thanks.”

“Don’t mind her, Rongrong, eat it yourself.” Cheng Feiying took the chicken leg from his bowl and put it back on Cheng Rongrong’s plate. “You eat this too, Daddy’s chicken leg from the rice bowl is enough.”

“Older sister, you don’t have any meat.” Cheng Rongrong didn’t retract her hand holding the chicken leg.

“It’s her fault for choosing those things. Look at what she chose, lunchbox, fried chicken, french fries, she thinks highly of me. If she had chosen three meat dishes, she would have meat now.” Cheng Feiying finally found an outlet for his frustration. As for the watermelon field, he had already forgotten about Wei Chengli asking if the babies knew they had to carry watermelons to exchange for food.

“Older sister…” Cheng Rongrong said weakly.

“Why are you refusing your sister’s chicken leg? Do you have to be so distant from your sister? Your french fries, her roasted chicken, didn’t I carry 1500kg of watermelon to exchange for them? Eat together, share your french fries with your sister.” Cheng Feiying felt the two children were a bit annoying, why couldn’t they just eat together, especially Cheng Tingyan, who was always running around outside, she didn’t even know how to get along with Rongrong. “And Cheng… Yan Yan, one night of sleeping out is enough, don’t bother other people’s families, come back and sleep tonight, okay?”

Cheng Tingyan silently glanced at the french fries in her bowl.

She didn’t expect that the food they registered in the afternoon would be exchanged in this way.

But… She was still a minor, she could receive food from Cheng Feiying, regardless of how it was obtained, he couldn’t let her starve to death.

Cheng Tingyan reaffirmed her resolve and abandoned the idea of returning the entire plate of french fries to Cheng Feiying.

“I don’t want your roasted chicken. Do you want these french fries?” Cheng Tingyan asked Cheng Rongrong indifferently.

Her firm and distant gaze made Cheng Rongrong lose her appetite.

Anyway… She had already put on her act.

But Cheng Rongrong thought that Cheng Tingyan, who had chosen the same food items as Wei Maomao, might be planning to feed them to that stinky chubby girl.

“Okay, thank you, Older sister.” Cheng Rongrong, even though she had no appetite, decided to make Cheng Tingyan feel bad, she reached out and grabbed a handful of french fries.

Not many, but it should be enough to annoy Cheng Tingyan, who was always thinking about that stinky chubby girl, right?

Seeing Cheng Tingyan frown as expected, Cheng Rongrong, feeling she had seen through her fake politeness, happily put the french fries on her own plate.

“Daddy, do you want some french fries?” Cheng Tingyan asked Cheng Feiying routinely.

“No, eat them yourself.” Cheng Feiying waved his hand impatiently, stuffing a large mouthful of beef into his mouth.

And so, Cheng Rongrong’s happiness ended when Cheng Tingyan picked up the french fries, one by one, with her chopsticks and placed them on her plate.

Cheng Rongrong looked up, confused, and saw the area Cheng Tingyan was targeting… all around the handful she had just grabbed. Cheng Tingyan didn’t speak, expressing her disdain with her actions.

This coldness and disdain towards her younger sister was exactly what Cheng Rongrong wanted to show the audience.

But why did it feel so unpleasant!

Just as Cheng Rongrong, holding back her anger, was trying to provoke Cheng Tingyan into saying something that would make the audience dislike her, Cheng Tingyan put down her chopsticks, picked up the plate, and left.

Cheng Rongrong was furious, she could only hope that the viewers in the live broadcast room didn’t miss Cheng Tingyan’s cold and heartless behavior.

But Cheng Rongrong didn’t know that the viewers did see Cheng Tingyan’s coldness and disdain, but they didn’t dislike her at all, instead, they only felt sympathy.

“Yan Yan truly, even choosing food for herself, she chose wrong. Who would have thought that she had to choose three meat dishes to get meat…”

“Actually, Yan Yan chose what CEO Mao wanted to eat, hahaha.”

“Cheng Feiying, seriously, blaming the program team for his own shortcomings, he’s the king of blaming others. He’s not even as good as Wen Qiming, honestly admitting his limitations, or CEO Shen, rationally analyzing the pros and cons.”

“Wen Qiming isn’t that honest either, he told Yueyue that pizza was more suitable for dinner because he couldn’t get the cake… He should have just stopped after the first part, why did he have to add that last bit.”

“Three thousand kilograms of watermelon is truly a lot, even Director Wei, the champion of pushing the mill, and Wang Qingchuan, the former athlete, were struggling after reaching two thousand kilograms. I think it’s normal for these dads to only carry fifteen hundred kilograms, or even less. The key is, how will they explain it to their children.”

“At least Wen Qiming is still okay, honestly admitting his limitations to his child. CEO Shen is also honest, saying he didn’t continue because it wasn’t worth it. Unlike Cheng Feiying, acting all capable but disdainful… As if he’s the smartest.”

“I still think the program team set the weight requirement too high, if they reduced it by half, every dad would probably be able to reach the first tier, and there wouldn’t be so much comparison.”

“Hahaha, the person above, don’t be so naive, standards, if you lower them, people might not aim higher. I think what Shen Zilin said makes sense, although it’s just a task on a variety show, not a life-or-death situation, it’s understandable to choose the lower tier, but… Choosing the higher tier is always more… impressive, right?”

“Sob, sob, sob, am I the only one who’s sad that Yan Yan can’t sleep with CEO Mao tonight, poor Yan Yan has to go back home.”

“Yan Yan is truly killing me with laughter, she really has a bit of a cleanliness obsession. When Cheng Rongrong reached out and grabbed the french fries, I thought Yan Yan was going to turn to stone, hahaha, I almost thought she was going to give up the whole plate of french fries, but in the end, she picked up all the fries Cheng Rongrong touched and gave them to CEO Mao. To feed CEO Mao, Yan Yan truly endured a lot.”

“Hahaha, although… But didn’t Director Wei just say that Maomao can’t eat french fries!”

“Look at Director Wei’s live stream! He saw it, he saw the french fries Yan Yan is carrying, hahaha, I’m dying of laughter, Director Wei’s mouth is covered again.”

…

“Daddy, don’t talk.” Wei Maomao, seeing Cheng Tingyan walking towards them with the plate, immediately covered Wei Chengli’s mouth and said seriously.

Wei Chengli: ???

“Maomao, I’m going back home to sleep tonight.” Cheng Tingyan said the most difficult part first.

“Did your dad tell you to go back?” Wei Maomao was mentally prepared, after all, this was a parent-child variety show, it wasn’t realistic for everyone to always eat and sleep at someone else’s house. During his nap, Wei Chengli had taken her aside and told her that Cheng Tingyan and Wen Dongyu would probably be going back to their own homes tonight, so she should be mentally prepared and not make a fuss. But despite his words, when it actually happened, Wei Maomao still felt a bit unhappy.

Cheng Tingyan nodded slightly, placing the plate of french fries on the table. “Maomao, eat, they’re still hot, they’re not good cold.”

“Yan Yan, you’re so kind.” Wei Maomao scooted closer to Wei Chengli, patted the empty space on the bench with her chubby paw, and said, “Sit. Let’s eat together.”

Wei Chengli: “… “ He had just said that eating french fries would cause problems, and the little chubby dumpling seemed to have given up on the idea. Why was it that as soon as Yan Yan arrived, it was as if he hadn’t said anything at all!

“Maomao… Mmm…” Wei Chengli just opened his mouth when a marinated paw covered it.

Cheng Tingyan looked at Wei Chengli, whose mouth was covered by a chubby paw, in surprise.

“Yan Yan, let’s share this.” Wei Maomao pushed the lunchbox between herself and Cheng Tingyan.

“Your dad…” Cheng Tingyan said softly.

“I’m fine.” Wei Chengli removed the marinated paw, if this continued, he wouldn’t even be able to enjoy his meal, he would only be thinking about eating marinated paws.

Just as Wei Chengli expected, as soon as Yan Yan arrived, his earlier warnings were all for naught. Not only was the little chubby dumpling happily munching on the french fries, but when he pulled her clothes to signal her to eat less, he even got slapped twice by her chubby paws.

“You tonight…” Wei Chengli held her paw down, trying to speak.

“Daddy.” Wei Maomao turned to look at Wei Chengli, speechless. “Yan Yan is not staying at our house tonight, can’t I eat french fries?”

Wei Chengli: “… “

He understood.

How come he only understood it now?

So diarrhea was something that could only happen when Yan Yan wasn’t around?

Wei Chengli was stunned by the little chubby dumpling’s double standard.

The viewers in the live broadcast room were also stunned.

“Haha, CEO Mao is truly treating us like family. Has it reached the point where everyone in the world except Yan Yan can know about CEO Mao’s diarrhea?”

“Director Wei is always scaring CEO Mao, it’s not that easy to get diarrhea, hahaha, CEO Mao, don’t believe him, eat boldly.”

“Honestly, when Director Wei initially said she couldn’t eat french fries, I felt CEO Mao was quite concerned, I thought she wouldn’t eat them.”

“French fries are not all the same. These are the french fries brought by Yan Yan! Sorry, CEO Mao, but I was actually afraid you wouldn’t eat even one. Yan Yan probably wouldn’t say anything, but I think she might be secretly sad.”

“I don’t know why, maybe it’s because I already have a negative filter for Cheng Feiying? I always feel like Yan Yan is eating leftovers at home. The french fries too, I felt like she was carefully calculating the portions, only taking her own share for tonight and giving the rest to Maomao.”

“Right! It’s the same feeling as the first night, when they were guessing the dads by tasting the food!”

“Our CEO Mao is still a sweet little bunny, she didn’t waste Yan Yan’s effort in bringing the french fries. Yan Yan chose all three things based on CEO Mao’s list, if CEO Mao refused to eat them, Yan Yan would probably be truly sad.”

“Sweet little bunny! To make Yan Yan happy, she’s risking live broadcast diarrhea. To show my support for CEO Mao, I’ve decided to sleep early tonight, I won’t be watching the fixed camera in CEO Mao’s courtyard!”

“Hahaha, the person above, you’re so obvious!”

“CEO Mao is eating so happily, Director Wei is speechless, hahaha. But speaking of speechless, what’s going on with Wen Xiang, the father and son haven’t spoken a word all night… Are they both just focused on eating?”

“Yeah, it’s understandable that Wen Xiang is exhausted and not talking. But why isn’t Wen Dongyu saying ‘less’ or ‘borrow’ today?”

“It seems the people above haven’t been following Wen Xiang’s live stream from the beginning. The food Wen Dongyu wanted the most, the one he had to carry 3000kg of watermelon to exchange for, is instant noodles with egg and luncheon meat. On the first day of the live broadcast, when they were still at home, Wen Dongyu’s mom made him instant noodles with egg and luncheon meat… Earlier, when Wen Xiang was picking watermelons in the field, after reaching 1500kg, during the break, when the other three dads decided to stop, he went to the program team and specified the brands of luncheon meat and noodles he wanted. He probably decided at that moment to finish the 3000kg and get Wen Dongyu a bowl of instant noodles with egg and luncheon meat that tasted like his mom’s…”

…

The instant noodles with egg and luncheon meat that tasted like his mom’s was something Wen Dongyu couldn’t resist.

He didn’t say anything about the bowl being too big, he just focused on eating.

Borrowing or not, it didn’t matter for this one bowl.

The Wen father and son, one focused on eating, the other secretly observing his son, neither discussing the thousands of kilograms of watermelon nor looking at the big screen, they were quiet.

This kind of peace, it felt like it had been a long time, and yet it also felt like they had only just lost it. Wen Xiang, looking at Wen Dongyu, who wasn’t even lifting his head, felt a bit dazed.

Speaking of Wei Maomao, while eating, her mind was still on alert. She felt that the program team wouldn’t make such a big deal out of this just to simply showcase the dads’ hard work, right?

But even after finishing her meal, she didn’t see the program team pull any big moves.

Instead, after dinner, Wen Dongyu and Cheng Tingyan both packed their luggage and were about to leave.

While Cheng Tingyan was packing, Wei Chengli specifically took the little chubby dumpling outside and whispered to her not to bring a pillow and provoke Cheng Feiying again. Honestly, Wei Chengli felt Cheng Feiying had quite a temper, especially after working hard in the watermelon field this afternoon, his irritability could be felt from afar. Although this was a live broadcast show, with cameramen and staff around, there was always a chance… The little chubby dumpling was only three years old, to put it bluntly, she wasn’t even strong enough to withstand a gentle push, for those sudden outbursts, even if people were following behind, it would be too late.

Wei Chengli was very worried, he hadn’t let go of the little chubby dumpling’s clothes since dinner.

But even if Wei Chengli hadn’t done this, Wei Maomao wouldn’t have insisted on keeping Cheng Tingyan. There were still many nights to come, she couldn’t possibly keep her every night. Don’t push people too hard, this was Wei Maomao’s reminder to herself to control her eagerness.

The program team was very efficient, soon, those who should leave and those who shouldn’t, all left.

Before Wei Maomao could even process the emotion of being separated, it was time for the individual interviews.

In the previous nights, the individual interviews were simply the dads and babies being separated into two rooms, answering a few simple questions from the staff about the day’s tasks, their mood, and their gains.

Wei Maomao had wondered why the individual interviews were so simple before, but now she understood, with the live broadcast, they didn’t have to worry about lacking individual footage.

But tonight’s individual interview was completely different from the previous nights.

[What kind of dad do you think your dad is?]

[Please rate your dad’s twenty qualities, each with a maximum score of ten: a. Strong b. Brave c. Keeps promises d. …]

[If you and your dad are walking on a forest path and encounter a bear, your dad will a. Run away by himself, b. Run away while carrying you, c. Charge at the bear and tell you to run, d. Throw you at the bear and run away by himself, e. …]

…

[What kind of baby do you think you are?]

[Please rate your twenty qualities, each with a maximum score of ten: a. Cute b. Well-behaved c. Smart d. …]

[If you and your dad go to a supermarket and have ten yuan in total, how will you allocate the money? a. Spend it all yourself, b. You get one yuan, Dad gets nine yuan, c. You get two yuan, Dad gets eight yuan…]

…

The endless questions, by the end, Wei Maomao felt dizzy, it was like those personality analysis quizzes she had done online in her previous life, answering and answering, but never reaching the end.

There were so many questions that Wei Maomao even felt like throwing up by the end, she almost wanted to choose randomly…

After finally finishing, Wei Maomao felt she must have answered sixty or seventy questions, she couldn’t help but ask before leaving.

Apparently…

There were forty-eight questions about the dad, and forty-two questions about the baby…

Even more than she had estimated.

Why not add ten more to make it a hundred!

Good job, program team! Torturing the dads with watermelon harvesting in the afternoon, torturing the babies with quizzes at night, Shi Dingshan’s team was truly terrifying!

Wei Maomao, leaning against the wall, walked out, then she saw Wei Chengli, who had just opened the door across from her, also leaning against the wall, dry heaving.

Okay…

Maybe she was wrong, it wasn’t just the babies who were being tortured tonight.

Chapter 69

After all the babies had finished registering their three most desired food items with Yang Ning, she announced that they had completed the task and gave each baby ten Baby Coins as a reward.

Ten coins, heavy in their hands, quite substantial.

Wei Maomao recalled that it had been a long time since the program team had been so generous. Except for the “Daddy Kiss Card” task, the rewards for the subsequent tasks had been stingy, they had to run their legs off for just a few Baby Coins, was it really this easy this time?

But Wei Maomao didn’t know that it wasn’t easy at all, it’s just that the difficult part was all on the dads’ side.

As Wei Maomao remained unnecessarily vigilant, Yang Ning announced the babies’ second task for the afternoon.

If the first task still required the babies to think a little, then the second task… was truly a freebie.

The babies’ second task for the afternoon was to play freely at Grandma Zhao’s house…

As soon as Yang Ning finished announcing the task, she waved her hand, and five or six staff members carrying and lifting things rushed in from outside the courtyard. Within five minutes, a children’s slide, a children’s pool, a mini inflatable castle, and a sandbox were assembled in the courtyard…

The spacious courtyard was instantly filled.

A seesaw was set up next to the cleaned slide, rubber ducks floated in the filled pool, cute plushies were thrown into the inflatable castle, a digging set, even a mini excavator, was placed in the sandbox filled with sand…

And that wasn’t all, the staff even carried several boxes into the main hall, pouring out a pile of toys and educational board games on the playmat.

Wei Maomao thought about the few small toys they received from the mystery boxes after working hard for a whole afternoon the past two days, then looked at the playmat covered with toys…

What was going on? Was the program team going bankrupt?

The program team’s actions were so generous that even the naive little babies were trembling in fear.

But amidst this overwhelming bombardment of sugar-coated bullets, there was one person who was inappropriately clear-headed.

“Sister Yangyang, after we finish playing freely at Grandma Zhao’s house, will we get Baby Coins?” Shen Zilin asked, looking at Yang Ning with burning eyes.

“… “ Yang Ning, speechless, made a “wait” gesture at Shen Zilin and retreated to the side, frantically whispering into her earpiece.

And so Wei Maomao watched as Shen Zilin successfully negotiated a non-existent task reward, five Baby Coins per person.

Of course, it would only be distributed after the three-hour free play session.

This was unbelievable, it was basically doing nothing for a whole afternoon, just playing, and they could get fifteen Baby Coins?

Wei Maomao couldn’t understand it, but after thinking about it carefully, weren’t little babies supposed to live a life of sleeping, eating, playing, and sleeping again? She had become so accustomed to working hard on this show that she was suspicious even when receiving normal treatment…

Once she convinced herself to accept it, Wei Maomao felt it was quite good. She hadn’t had a chance to properly play with the six-year-old Yan Yan with all the tasks they had to do every day. And fifteen Baby Coins per person, she and Yan Yan together would have thirty, they could even buy a candied kumquat for Yan Yan with ten more, perfect~~

For the babies, it was truly a wonderful afternoon.

The program team provided enough play equipment, and Grandma Zhao even prepared marinated edamame, boiled peanuts, and sugar-coated tomatoes as snacks for them.

Fun toys, friendly playmates, delicious food, the fulfilling three hours passed by too quickly.

When the staff came to remind the babies that it was almost dinner time and they had to leave, most of them were reluctant. The other babies were fine, just a little bit attached to the fun, they quickly packed up and gathered in the courtyard. Only Wen Dongyu, holding onto Shen Zilin, continued playing the unfinished animal chess game, refusing to get up.

After waiting for a few minutes, Yang Ning was pushed out by the other staff members.

Yang Ning stood next to the two in the room, before she could even speak, Shen Zilin, whose hand was being tightly held by Wen Dongyu, looked up.

“Dongdong said he read a manga about clearing levels in a game world, he thinks we’ll get a hidden reward from the program team if we play with every item they provided.” Shen Zilin smiled kindly. “Now we’re only missing this chess game.”

Yang Ning: “… “ Was it “Dongdong said”? He just casually mentioned it at the beginning, and you immediately believed him, dragging him along to play until now, he truly couldn’t manage without you.

“Dongdong is still young, he still believes in miracles.” Shen Zilin, seeing Yang Ning’s silence, added softly.

Yang Ning shuddered, she realized that to repay his pig loan, a certain little baby was becoming increasingly cunning.

Two minutes later, Shen Zilin, who had successfully obtained ten extra Baby Coins, walked to Wei Maomao and Cheng Tingyan with a triumphant air, shaking the money bag in his hand. “You should have played everything in order with us, look, five for completing the task, and ten more for the hidden task~~~”

Was this a hidden task? It looked more like hidden extortion…

But regardless, Wei Maomao still gave him a thumbs up, impressed. As expected of a mini CEO, putting aside his judgment, at least his money-making skills were impressive.

Receiving Wei Maomao’s praise, Shen Zilin nodded with satisfaction, then turned his gaze to Cheng Tingyan.

Cheng Tingyan hesitated, then, under Shen Zilin’s expectant gaze, also gave him a thumbs up.

Shen Zilin nodded again, but he wasn’t very satisfied. Cheng Tingyan was too easily satisfied, she said they would save money to buy a watermelon, and she actually stopped trying after reaching their goal. She needed ambition, she needed new goals to strive for, to go further, there was no end to making money. After buying one watermelon, they could earn money for the next one! Although Maomao… she might not always have accidents.

Thankfully, Wei Maomao couldn’t read minds, otherwise, she would have given Shen Zilin a piece of her mind.

The babies gathered in the courtyard, said goodbye to Grandma Zhao, who had taken care of them all afternoon, then were led out by the staff.

Wei Maomao had initially thought that since the babies weren’t going back to their own homes, they would probably have dinner together at the small square again tonight. But after being led by the staff through several twists and turns, they stopped at… her own courtyard gate.

After over three hours.

The babies, cheerful, energetic, and smelling of marinated food and sweet fruits, and the dads, exhausted, smelling of sweat, were reunited in the Wei family’s courtyard.

The courtyard was still the same courtyard, but it had been decorated by the program team.

As the babies were led into the courtyard, they immediately noticed that the table that had been added temporarily at noon was gone, even the stone table originally in the courtyard had been moved to the corner by the wall.

The bamboo baskets and other miscellaneous items that were originally piled under the left courtyard wall had all been cleared away, the area was now clean and tidy, with a giant projection screen set up there.

Facing the screen was a row of long tables, with several bowls already placed on them.

Above the projection screen and the tables, a large piece of blackout cloth was hung, covering half of the courtyard.

And the dads… covered in suspicious mud stains, were already waiting there, some slumped over the table, some lying on the chairs, some even sitting on the ground.

“Okay, our babies are here. Dads, please get up and sit at your designated seats, babies, don’t sit randomly, find your dads, tonight, you’ll be having dinner with your dads.” The host said, carefully observing the dads’ expressions.

When people were exhausted, they were prone to losing their temper. Considering the dads’ workload this afternoon, the host felt he had to be extra gentle and cautious.

Thankfully, everyone was still civilized for now. The dads, who were sprawled out in various positions, all sat up properly at his reminder, and the babies obediently followed their dads.

The host breathed a small sigh of relief, but quickly continued with the program.

“Tonight’s dinner for the dads is provided by the owner of the watermelon field, it’s his way of expressing gratitude for your hard work this afternoon.” The host said, gesturing.

The staff brought over covered insulated trays, and before leaving the table, they kindly removed the lids.

In front of the six dads were six black pepper beef rice bowls.

The rice was piled high, the beef covered the entire surface, topped with a golden fried egg, and a giant roasted chicken leg on the side.

After doing manual labor, they needed a hearty meal. Although they were so tired that they had no appetite and just wanted to lie down, seeing this substantial meal, most of the dads still felt the sincerity in it.

Especially when the staff came back with soup and drinks, there was nothing more to complain about.

Wei Maomao, hearing the host mention the “watermelon field” and seeing the mud stains on Wei Chengli’s clothes and the caked mud on his shoes, roughly guessed that their afternoon must have been tough. And seeing the dads’ feast, Wei Maomao truly felt that it wasn’t just tough, it was extremely tough.

Before Wei Maomao could ask any questions, the host, keeping the pace tight, continued.

“Tonight’s dinner for the dads is provided by the owner of the watermelon field. And the babies’ dinner is earned by your dads’ hard work. After receiving your wishes, each dad tried their best, I hope you’ll enjoy this hard-earned dinner brought to you by your dads.” The host said, trying to evoke emotions, then gestured for the staff to continue serving the food.

Soon, an insulated tray with a silver lid was placed in front of each baby.

“Baby, guess what’s inside?” Wei Chengli immediately pressed his hand on the lid.

The staff, who hadn’t intended to help open the lids this time, left, speechless.

The host’s words were quite clear, Wei Maomao glanced at the tray, it was a choice between three options.

“Lunchbox.” Wei Maomao answered without hesitation.

“Ah, my baby is so smart, you know Daddy loves you the most, right!” Wei Chengli beamed and opened the lid.

Love was a bit of an exaggeration.

Wei Maomao pursed her lips and looked at the insulated tray. Inside was a lunchbox, through the transparent lid, she saw…

Mmm, braised pork ribs with fried tofu, shredded chicken salad, stir-fried edamame with tofu and shredded pork, sausage and vegetable rice, it looked quite good.

If it was free-range pork ribs and shredded free-range chicken, it would definitely be delicious.

Wei Maomao was quite satisfied, she turned to Wei Chengli and asked, “What did you do to earn this?”

“Heh, just…” Wei Chengli was about to be modest when he heard Wang Qingchuan’s voice.

“Three braised pig trotters, the adult pig trotters you wanted, your most desired food item, right? You always think we treat your sister better than you, look, am I not good to you? This is… cough, this is what I earned by carrying three thousand kilograms of watermelon for you. Just for these three pig trotters, I worked for almost three hours straight. Tell me, am I not good to you?” Wang Qingchuan pointed at the insulated tray, his face full of righteous indignation.

Wei Chengli: “… “ Ah, this, he felt like there was something wrong with his words, but what was it?

Wei Maomao, also drawn by Wang Qingchuan’s voice, turned to look at the Wang family. But hearing Wang Qingchuan’s words and seeing Wang Zhizhi’s silence, she could only say… Wang Qingchuan did well, it would have been even better if he hadn’t spoken.

“Baby, should we eat while it’s hot?” Wei Chengli, feeling a bit embarrassed to talk about his own efforts after seeing Wang Qingchuan’s self-praise, directly took out the lunchbox from the insulated tray and placed it in front of Wei Maomao.

“You carried three thousand kilograms of watermelon?” Wei Maomao refocused her attention on Wei Chengli.

“Yes. Ha, you don’t even know what three thousand kilograms is, right, baby?” Wei Chengli chuckled. “Do you remember before we came to this show, the day we received the information from the program team, Mom and Dad took you to buy watermelon downstairs, that truck selling watermelons? That truck probably carried a little over a thousand kilograms of watermelon, three thousand kilograms is enough to fill two trucks.”

“A lot.” Wei Maomao looked at the lunchbox in front of her, hesitant to open it. She had guessed that the dads’ afternoon task probably wasn’t easy, judging from their exhausted state and the mud on their clothes. But she didn’t expect the program team to be this cruel… Three thousand kilograms, even for people who were used to manual labor, it would be tough.

“It was alright, it was alright. CEO Shen, oh, Shen Zilin’s dad, came up with an idea, we later formed a line, passing the watermelons one by one to the truck, it saved a lot of effort, we didn’t have to walk back and forth.” Wei Chengli said, even using their spoons and chopsticks on the table to demonstrate what “passing” meant.

Wei Maomao: “… “ Wei Chengli was truly a good dad, when he still had a wife. If in her previous life, her mom hadn’t passed away, he would probably… have always been a good dad, right?

The strong smell of alcohol, the numb expression, that last bowl… the scallion oil noodles that made her think he had regained some of his senses, that maybe he could pull himself together…

The smell and disappointment, even despair, in her memories shattered the hope and wishful thinking in her heart. Wei Maomao knew the past was the past, there was no point in hypotheticals. But she still couldn’t help but wonder “what if,” like… now.

“Come on, eat quickly, be careful of the bones when you eat the ribs.” Wei Chengli, seeing the little chubby dumpling staring at the lunchbox without speaking, thought she was hungry. He smiled, opened the lunchbox for her, and inserted a spoon.

The aroma of the food, no longer concealed by the lid, was tainted by the bitterness of her memories, making it seem greasy.

Wei Maomao looked at the lunchbox, but couldn’t pick up the spoon.

It seemed she no longer held any resentment, but she also couldn’t bear this kindness.

Just as Wei Maomao felt her stomach start to ache, a light and shadow suddenly appeared in front of her.

Thanks to the blackout cloth above, the projection’s image was quite clear.

The giant projection was divided into two screens, both showing still images.

On the right was a bowl of… mush? It was hard to tell what was inside.

On the left was… Wei Chengli falling off a balance beam?

“That’s…” Wei Chengli, also drawn by the image, said weakly.

“The mush you made.” Wei Maomao answered with certainty.

Wei Chengli, speechless, glanced at the little chubby dumpling, there was no need to state the obvious.

“I believe our babies and dads have had a lot of fun these past few days. Because sometimes, the babies and dads do tasks separately. So tonight, during dinner, we’ll show you some highlights of each other’s time apart. Babies and dads, please pay attention, we’ve specifically divided the screen into left and right, during the playback, the moments on both sides are from approximately the same time, which means both babies and dads can see what the other person was doing while they were doing a certain task.” The host explained kindly, then quickly retreated.

Highlights?

A sense of foreboding spread through the room.

The strongest sense of foreboding naturally came from the source of the two still images.

“You’re going to drink mush?” Wei Chengli tried to gauge the amount of mush in the bowl.

“You fell?” Wei Maomao narrowed her eyes, looking at Wei Chengli’s foot, which had already slipped halfway off the beam.

They both asked their questions, then ended the topic with two synchronized “mmms.”

The program team kept their word. The images on the screen, whether still photos or short videos, all showed what the babies and dads were doing when they were apart, at approximately the same time. They were even meticulous enough to divide the screen into three parts when it was Cheng Feiying’s family’s turn…

Some were baby blunders, some were dad mishaps, the moments were all quite amusing.

But as they watched, Wei Maomao sensed something was wrong.

These moments, they were supposed to show what the babies and dads were doing when they were apart, but looking closely, it seemed the program team had a selection criterion.

This criterion wasn’t just “amusing.”

It was… Wei Maomao looked at the right screen, which was frozen on a photo of Wen Qiming, his face flushed, pushing the mill.

If they ignored the babies’ situation on the left screen and only looked at the right, it seemed all the photos and videos were highlighting… the dads’ hard work and achievements?

Admittedly, the tasks assigned to the dads were definitely more numerous and difficult, but the babies also did many tasks that yielded rewards.

Of course, the screen also showed the babies’ efforts and achievements, but compared to the consistent style of the dads’ screen, the babies’ side seemed more like filler to match the corresponding time.

Why?

Based on the past few days, Shi Dingshan’s team didn’t seem like the type to glorify the dads.

Weren’t they… supposed to be more focused on freedom and authenticity?

Wei Maomao suspected that her interpretation of the content on the screen might just be her overthinking.

However, when the content progressed to today, more precisely, this afternoon.

Seeing the babies playing freely and happily on the left screen, contrasted with the dads sweating profusely, carrying watermelons in the field on the right screen, the style of the two screens became an unprecedentedly unified comparison. Wei Maomao started to feel that this wasn’t her imagination, it wasn’t even a coincidence, it was… a deliberate plan.

The food had been served, but there were no sounds of chopsticks clinking.

Wei Maomao, looking at the silently moving figures in the watermelon field on the screen, turned to Wei Chengli and whispered, “Did all the dads carry three thousand kilograms?”

“No…” Wei Chengli had also noticed the bias in the photos and videos on the screen. Although it was showcasing the dads’ efforts, which wasn’t bad for him, he still felt it was strange to suddenly play these, so he instinctively lowered his voice when speaking. “Some dads couldn’t carry anymore and took breaks. In the end, it was me, Wang Zhizhi’s dad, and Wen Dongyu’s dad who finished carrying the last three thousand kilograms, only the three of us carried that much.”

So it wasn’t entirely to praise the dads’ love? Wei Maomao, after hearing this, was even more confused.

“How much did the other dads carry?” Wei Maomao actually wanted to ask Cheng Feiying directly, but considering they were live broadcasting, she decided to be more subtle.

“They all carried fifteen hundred kilograms.” Wei Chengli had nothing to hide, it had already been broadcasted, it didn’t matter if the little chubby dumpling knew.

“Which food tier does fifteen hundred kilograms correspond to?” Wei Maomao asked again.

“Oh, I haven’t told you, right? Three thousand kilograms is for your most desired food, then the other two correspond to two thousand one hundred kilograms and fifteen hundred kilograms. Actually, fifteen hundred kilograms is already a lot, they all tried their best. Anyway, the third item is also something the babies really want to eat, there’s not much difference.” Wei Chengli thought for a moment, then added, “Just eat your lunchbox obediently, don’t even think about freeloading french fries from Yan Yan, okay?”

Wei Maomao turned to look at Wei Chengli.

Wei Chengli took off the microphone on his collar and moved it further away, but after glancing at the microphone securely clipped to the little chubby dumpling’s clothes, he put it back on.

Forget it, there were microphones everywhere, there was no point in trying to hide…

“Baby, Daddy is being serious.” Although his attempt to avoid the microphone failed, Wei Chengli still lowered his voice politely. “You’re still young, your stomach is very weak. Look, you ate some watermelon, and you wet the bed last night, right? If you eat french fries, such oily food, even if you’re not worried about indigestion, you have to think… What if, I’m just saying, what if you get diarrhea? In the middle of the night, while you’re sleeping, then…”

A soft, chubby paw, smelling of marinade, firmly covered Wei Chengli’s mouth.

Wei Maomao was no longer in the mood to watch the screen, nor did she want to analyze the program team’s intentions. At this moment, she just wanted to knock this jerk unconscious!

Ahhh!

Why were her arms so short! If her arms were longer, she could have covered his mouth a whole sentence earlier!