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

  • Back to Three Years Old: Crushing Scumbags on a Parenting Reality Show 48p2

    Chapter 48 p2

    Not only was Wei Maomao speechless, but the viewers in the live broadcast room were also speechless.

    “Hahaha, look at Wang Qingchuan’s cleverness, where does he usually use his brain?”

    “Why is he scheming like this, why not just observe his surroundings! He even needs a three-year-old to teach him how to do things!”

    “??? Why is Wang Qingchuan so realistic, suddenly excluding Cheng Feiying? Weren’t they buddy-buddy, moving water jars together before I went to the bathroom? Now they’re broken up by CEO Mao?”

    “How is it CEO Mao’s fault, you were in the bathroom for too long. It’s not Wang Qingchuan’s fault either. Many of you probably haven’t been watching the individual live streams of those inside the house, right? Initially, Wang Qingchuan was moving the water jars, he was probably tired from searching and couldn’t move it on his own. Cheng Feiying went in and said they should move it together, and they would split whatever they found underneath. Wang Qingchuan agreed, and then they lifted and lifted and lifted, hahahahaha… Guess what, after all that effort, the water jar barely moved more than when Wang Qingchuan was doing it alone.”

    “Really, those who missed it missed out, you should have seen Wang Qingchuan’s confused expression, hahaha, when he stopped and looked at Cheng Feiying, his face was screaming, ‘What are you doing?’ I’m dying of laughter!”

    “Wang Qingchuan used to be an athlete, he probably doesn’t like playing with weaklings who slack off, he’ll run if he can, hahaha!”

    …

    As soon as Wei Maomao gave him the hint, Wang Qingchuan froze.

    If what this little girl said was true, then what had he been doing all this time?

    Wang Qingchuan, who had had enough of moving various objects, with a sullen expression, decided to give it a try and went into the house to carry out a table.

    As soon as Wang Qingchuan carried out the table, everyone else immediately knew what the two had whispered about.

    “Sister, did you know this was the firewood? Why didn’t you tell me and Dad…” Cheng Rongrong dusted herself off, saying with a pitiful voice, “Dad was inside moving those heavy, heavy water jars, working so hard for us…”

    “We were just guessing, I was the one who suggested letting Uncle Wang try first, he was here first, do you not like Uncle Wang?” Wei Maomao, without even taking a breath, retorted, then asked with a puzzled expression, “Wasn’t your dad looking for his own firewood? Who was he working hard for?”

    Cheng Rongrong: “… “

    “Alright, Rongrong, that’s enough.” Cheng Feiying couldn’t stand it anymore, what was wrong with this Wei Maomao, always making his daughter speechless, so rude!

    “Daddy…” Cheng Rongrong retreated to Cheng Feiying’s side, clutching his clothes timidly. “Daddy is tired.”

    Cheng Rongrong was actually being sincere, she was starting to feel that the situation wasn’t good. It wasn’t just because of that annoying chubby girl who was always causing trouble… It was mainly because Cheng Feiying was truly too tired.

    Speaking of which, it wasn’t entirely due to her mother’s favor and her proximity to him that Cheng Rongrong held a higher place in Cheng Feiying’s heart than Cheng Tingyan, she had also put in effort.

    Cheng Feiying wasn’t a particularly patient person, especially as he got older, he became more self-centered. Bai Lei, as his wife, could naturally control him, but Cheng Rongrong was different, she was just his daughter. So when she sensed that Cheng Feiying was about to lose his temper, Bai Lei would avoid him, whether she was there or not. If she couldn’t avoid him, having someone else take the brunt of his anger was also an option… Relying on this awareness, she had always been the perfect daughter in Cheng Feiying’s eyes, rarely experiencing his anger.

    Today, during the bike task, it was clear that Cheng Feiying was competing with Wei Chengli. Cheng Rongrong didn’t dare to, nor did she want to, dissuade him, she was just hoping that Cheng Tingyan would make more mistakes so that Cheng Feiying could vent his anger. But for some reason, both of them were hitting every target… Then Cheng Feiying was even pointed out by the younger Wei Chengli for making a basic mistake in drinking water, and even spilled water on himself… It was a disaster.

    When they arrived at this location, Cheng Feiying had only been inside for a short while before wanting to move the water jar together. Cheng Rongrong, seeing this, quickly came out to switch with Cheng Tingyan. Was he kidding? Doing this kind of work when he was already so tired, wasn’t he a ticking time bomb?

    Cheng Rongrong didn’t know when Cheng Feiying would explode, but she felt it probably wouldn’t be long. She had to be even more well-behaved, hoping that Cheng Tingyan would be less so.

    The problem now was, if Cheng Feiying lost his temper on live broadcast, how could she salvage the audience’s perception of him…

    He couldn’t lose his temper at outsiders, it would look terrible.

    The best scenario would be if Cheng Tingyan made a mistake, giving Cheng Feiying a legitimate reason to get angry.

    She had initially wanted to create the image of a good father who favored his older daughter throughout the show, but it seemed that wouldn’t work. Cheng Feiying had already failed to act well several times… Then how about the persona of a loving father in daily life, a strict father in crucial moments? That was also acceptable, right?

    Speaking of which, Wei Maomao watched with an indifferent expression as Cheng Rongrong clung to Cheng Feiying’s clothes and acted pitiful. No matter how this segment was edited, the audience wouldn’t misunderstand that it was Yan Yan who made him move the water jars, right… Let them act all they want. But what Wei Maomao couldn’t have imagined was that in her previous life, Cheng Feiying’s image of a “loving father” in daily life and a resolute “strict father” in crucial moments was, in this life, being planned and shaped in Cheng Rongrong’s mind at this very moment.

    “Good girl, Rongrong.” Cheng Feiying squatted down, wanting to pick up his daughter, but he managed to lift her but couldn’t stand up, stumbling slightly. Anger welled up inside him, he glanced at Cheng Tingyan and said, “She’s not being cooperative, she’s not helping Daddy, then Daddy won’t help her either, she can go get those two kilograms of firewood herself.”

    Wei Maomao: ???

    Wang Qingchuan, who had just come back after verifying the solution at the other side of the courtyard and was missing a few kilograms of firewood, passing by to get a stool: ???

    “Good job, little Maomao, they’re saying anything made of wood counts as firewood.” Wang Qingchuan stopped, sharing his findings, then looked at Cheng Tingyan. “Yan Yan, do you want me to bring you a stool? It’s about six or seven kilograms, you and Maomao can split it.”

    Cheng Feiying: …

    “No…” Cheng Tingyan was embarrassed to trouble someone she wasn’t familiar with, she could move it slowly by herself.

    “Thank you, Uncle Wang! We really can’t carry it… Uncle Wang, you’re such a good person! So, so, so good! What would we do without you! You’re a hero who steps in to help those in need, thumbs up for you!” Wei Maomao stretched out her chubby paw.

    Wang Qingchuan, who was initially enjoying this sweet, childish flattery, almost spat out his last mouthful.

    “It’s nothing, it’s nothing, just lending a hand.” Wang Qingchuan waved his hand and went into the house. He suddenly felt a bit disgusted by Cheng Feiying, but there was no need to make an enemy of him.

    Wei Maomao glanced at Cheng Feiying, who was holding back his anger so much that his entire face was stiff, and lowered her hand with satisfaction.

    But as she turned her head, she met Wang Zhizhi’s gaze, which was filled with a complicated emotion.

    Oh… Hi, this tangled web of love and hate, Wei Maomao forced a smile awkwardly.

    Wang Qingchuan quickly came out carrying a few stools, placed one on the Cheng family’s scale, and, not daring to hear any more praise from the little chubby girl, hurried back to his own scale.

    With those few stools, the Wang family successfully passed the stage, even exceeding the required amount of firewood.

    Wang Qingchuan generously left the extra chair by the scale, giving it to Wei Chengli.

    Honestly, the fact that they could pass the stage just by carrying a few chairs was something Wei Chengli, who had been cycling for ages, couldn’t believe. Especially since the person who came up with this idea included his own silly dumpling… Tsk tsk.

    “Baby, you’re so smart, let’s send you to school after we finish filming.” Wei Chengli, having easily passed the “Firewood” stage without even getting dirty, held the little dumpling’s hand as they walked towards the “Rice” location, chuckling.

    “No!” Wei Maomao shook her head vehemently.

    Wei Chengli chuckled. “Come on, when you go to school, you’ll have a teacher, then you can start your sentences with ‘Teacher said,’ wouldn’t that be fun?”

    “Not fun!” Wei Maomao gave him a sidelong glance.

    Was he kidding? She worked herself to death in her previous life, in this life, she wanted to be a lazy bum, she wouldn’t start working hard at three years old!

    “Why not? Look, Tutu also goes to school, Yan Yan also goes to school, don’t you love Tutu, don’t you love Yan Yan, then you should go to school too.” Wei Chengli was initially joking, but as he spoke, he felt he was making a valid point.

    Wei Maomao was about to retort when the hand Cheng Tingyan was holding was gently squeezed.

    “Who is Tutu?” Cheng Tingyan asked softly, both curious and embarrassed.

    “It’s a little bunny from a cartoon, hahaha, called Tutu, an earthy little bunny who lives in the dirt, not a human.” Seeing Cheng Tingyan blushing slightly and wanting to ask more, Wei Chengli couldn’t help but tease her. “Don’t worry, in the real world, Maomao only loves you.”

    In the next second, Wei Chengli was pleased to see Cheng Tingyan’s slight blush turn into a deep crimson.

    “Hahahaha!” Wei Chengli couldn’t help but laugh out loud, oh, how cute and easily teased children were.

    But as he laughed, he suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

    “What, did I say something wrong? Why are you pinching me so hard?” Wei Chengli looked down at the dumpling. “What, don’t you only love your Yan Yan? Don’t you have any love left for your poor old father?”

    Wei Maomao: …

  • Back to Three Years Old: Crushing Scumbags on a Parenting Reality Show 47

    Chapter 47

    Energy, the more you use it, the less you have left.

    Wei Chengli drank the water offered by the little stinky dumpling, enjoyed her leg massage, and discussed the secret to her hundred percent success rate in the next few rounds with her, until Cheng Tingyan brought the Cheng family’s score to fourteen, only then did he slowly get up.

    The little stinky dumpling had already run towards their own flower, standing next to her beloved Yan Yan. Wei Chengli followed behind, watching her eager figure, and couldn’t help but snort.

    But then, seeing Shi Hongxiao eagerly following the little dumpling with his camera, Wei Chengli’s eyes flickered, and he changed his course, catching up to them.

    After a brief whisper, Wei Chengli got back on the stationary bike.

    Cheng Feiying’s panting next to him sounded like an old ox pulling a cart, Wei Chengli admired his perseverance, but showed no mercy in his pedaling.

    Soon, with the little dumpling’s two accurate hits, the two families were tied again.

    For the last charge, Wei Chengli pedaled hard a few times, then lifted his head, watching the illuminated petals and controlling his speed.

    Standing in the center of the flower, Wei Maomao simply thought that Wei Chengli was deliberately slowing down to keep pace with the Cheng family, waiting for Cheng Feiying. She felt that this guy, sometimes, was quite decent.

    Wei Maomao mentally praised her father’s competence, unaware that countless praises had already been showered upon him in the live broadcast room.

    “Hahaha, Director Wei, as expected of a director, he knows what he’s doing!”

    “Director Wei knows how to adapt, he can’t compete with Yan Yan, so he’s using Yan Yan to compete, he’s truly capable!”

    “To win more love from CEO Mao, Director Wei is really working hard.”

    “Right now, pedaling that little bike, Director Wei must be imagining how to take credit later. He’s probably already envisioning our CEO Mao throwing herself into his arms, praising him in a sweet voice, ‘Daddy is so good, I love Daddy the most~~.’”

    “Hahaha, I’m also imagining it, oh my god, the little chubby bunny throwing herself into his arms, just thinking about it makes me happy!”

    “Don’t get your hopes up, okay? Our CEO Mao sometimes says one thing but means another, have you forgotten that photo of the little white flower Director Wei printed? CEO Mao completely ignored him, hahaha, then carefully put it away herself. What cute bunny hug, I suggest Director Wei doesn’t get ahead of himself, hahaha.”

    “Hey, hey, here it comes, here it comes, hahaha, Director Wei’s speed control is amazing! Both flowers lit up completely at the same time!”

    “So our CEO Mao’s second live stream cameraman is called Xiao Shi, Xiao Shi’s angle is great! He captured Maomao and Yan Yan looking so bright and cute!”

    “So Director Wei’s winning strategy tonight is to print another photo of them together? Handling his daughter, Director Wei is a professional!”

    “A photo together would be great! But considering Director Wei’s family status, I can only offer the first half of the sentence, he better not try to ‘handle’ her, it’s not looking good, he’ll just be asking for trouble…”

    …

    Both scoreboards next to each other showed fifteen. Wei Chengli mentally praised himself for his speed control.

    Just as he relaxed his body, letting the bike wheels gradually come to a stop with inertia, a girl’s voice, filled with concern, reached his ears.

    “Daddy, you worked hard, drink some water.”

    Ah, such familiar words, Wei Chengli looked forlornly at the little rascal who had immediately run to stand next to Yan Yan.

    Hmph… Calling for Daddy when she needs something, going to Yan Yan when she doesn’t!

    Wei Chengli snorted inwardly, turning his head to the left. Cheng Feiying was still sitting on the bike, leaning forward, one hand on the handlebars, the other holding a bottle of mineral water, guzzling it down, while Cheng Rongrong stood below, looking at her father with concern.

    “Brother Cheng…” Wei Chengli frowned slightly, unable to hold back his words.

    Cheng Feiying, hearing his voice, immediately straightened up, using his free hand to give Wei Chengli a thumbs up, smiling nonchalantly, and interrupting, “Young people, they’re different! Impressive, impressive!”

    “It’s not…” Seeing Cheng Feiying was about to take another gulp of water, Wei Chengli quickly stopped him. “You can’t drink a lot of water right after strenuous exercise, you have to drink slowly, small sips at a time.”

    Cheng Feiying’s hand, already halfway to his mouth, froze. In that moment of hesitation, the water spilled out of the bottle due to inertia, splashing all over his face.

    Wei Chengli: “…”

    “Heh… Hehe… I’m not drinking a lot, I’m just hot, I’ll wash my face.” Cheng Feiying wiped the water from his face, still trying to appear nonchalant, but everyone, those who should and shouldn’t have seen, saw the obvious stiffness on his face for a moment.

    Ah, this kind of person who cares so much about saving face, scary…

    Wei Chengli forced a smile and made a few perfunctory remarks, then got off the bike and quickly walked away.

    Thinking about having to follow the Cheng family, follow Cheng Feiying, for several more tasks, Wei Chengli’s hands itched.

    It was hot, the dumpling needed a spanking.

    Wei Chengli, who didn’t have a daughter to offer him water, picked up the half-empty bottle of water he had left on the ground next to the bike and ran towards the two flowers.

    “Yan Yan, what are you wiping?” Wei Chengli had seen Cheng Tingyan squatting behind the little stinky dumpling for a while, and when he ran over, he saw that she was wiping the little stinky dumpling’s leg with a handkerchief.

    “Soy sauce?” Cheng Tingyan sniffed the handkerchief in her hand and answered hesitantly.

    Wei Chengli also squatted down and saw a brown stain on the little chubby leg. Aww, what happened! When did this happen! He didn’t even notice!

    “Oh, at the food task, the table, I bumped into a plate.” Wei Maomao tilted her head and thought for a moment. “A black one.”

    At the “Food” stage, Wei Maomao had been so focused on running back and forth that she only glanced back when a plate was knocked over at the next table. Now, she couldn’t even remember what was on that black plate.

    From “Food” to “Housing”, and now they had finished “Transportation”, he hadn’t even noticed? Wei Chengli felt guilty.

    “It’s dried, I can’t wipe it off.” Cheng Tingyan put away the dirty handkerchief and took out a clean one. “I’ll go ask the staff for some water, I need to wet the handkerchief to wipe it.”

    “I have some.” Wei Chengli, who was feeling guilty, offered the half-empty bottle of water in his hand.

    Cheng Tingyan held the handkerchief, pursed her lips, and didn’t take it.

    “Oh, oh, oh, give me the handkerchief, I’ll wipe it for her.” Wei Chengli misunderstood Cheng Tingyan’s silence, quickly offering his hand, not forgetting to complain, “You little messy dumpling…”

    “No…” Cheng Tingyan didn’t hand over the handkerchief, instead, she took a step back with a troubled expression, her face reddening. Finally, she managed to speak, “Uncle Wei, you… you’ve already drunk from that bottle, haven’t you…”

    “Yes.” Wei Chengli shook the bottle. “There’s still half a bottle left, isn’t it enough?”

    “Daddy, don’t wash my feet with your saliva.” Wei Maomao understood Cheng Tingyan’s meaning before she even spoke. After all, Cheng Tingyan was a bit of a neat freak when she grew up.

    “Oh, oh, oh…” Wei Chengli nodded, watching Cheng Tingyan leave, then turned around and pinched the little rascal’s chubby leg. “I’ll wash your feet with my saliva, I’ll even wash your hands with it!”

    Seeing the little rascal running around, shrieking as he chased her with the half-empty water bottle, the slight embarrassment on Wei Chengli’s face gradually faded.

    But… come to think of it, something he hadn’t noticed while carrying the little rascal the whole way was spotted by Yan Yan first.

    Yan Yan… Wei Chengli looked at Cheng Tingyan, who was running towards them with water from the staff, it seemed he couldn’t blame the little rascal for always thinking about her.

    Because Wei Maomao successfully exchanged maps with Shen Zilin, the next task location for both the Wei and Cheng families was “Firewood.”

    The “Transportation” task had taken quite some time. Wei Maomao roughly estimated that it was almost as long as the “Food” and “Housing” tasks combined.

    So…

    When they arrived at the “Firewood” courtyard and found a family already doing the task inside, Wei Maomao was quite surprised.

    Wei Maomao had checked several other maps earlier and found that although the program team said they were assigning order to avoid collisions, the order was very simple, just choosing one of the eight necessities, “firewood, rice, oil, salt, clothing, food, housing, transportation” as the starting point, then following the sequence.

    Cheng Tingyan said that there was no one at the “Transportation” location when they arrived.

    So the family inside either finished or forfeited the “Transportation” task early, or their first task was “Firewood”…

    Regardless of which one it was, this “Firewood” task couldn’t be harder than “Transportation,” right? After all, “Transportation” almost took half of Cheng Feiying’s life.

    Wei Maomao secretly glanced at Cheng Feiying, who was taking every opportunity to rest against the wall nearby, and suddenly felt that sometimes, it was quite satisfying to let people she disliked complete their tasks smoothly.

    However, this brief moment of satisfaction couldn’t make up for the disappointment that followed.

    “The situation is like this, because each task location can only accommodate a maximum of two families, if it’s full, the families arriving later have to wait in line. But it’s okay, we’ll time the waiting families, and in the end, when everyone reaches the finish line, we’ll deduct the waiting time from their total time, then determine the final ranking. So don’t worry if you’re asked to wait.” The staff member said kindly.

    How could they not worry! Was this just about the ranking!

    Wei Maomao clenched her fists, looking at the half-open courtyard gate.

    She had finally caught up with Yan Yan, but now she had to wait here for the family inside to finish before they could enter and do the task…

    Weren’t they going to be separated again!

    “Hey, hey, Baby, don’t bite your lip, you’ll bite it open.” Wei Chengli picked up the little chubby dumpling, who was so angry that her fur was almost standing on end, and shook her vigorously. “It’s okay, didn’t they say Wang Zhizhi and his dad have been inside for a long time, they’ll probably be out soon.”

    Yes, the other family inside was Wang Qingchuan and Wang Zhizhi. According to the staff, they had completed “Transportation” as their first task, this was their second.

    Wei Maomao didn’t think Wang Zhizhi and his dad would be out soon. After all, they weren’t slow at the “Food” stage, and the Cheng family was even faster at the “Housing” stage, but when the Cheng family arrived at the “Transportation” location, Wang Zhizhi and his dad had already finished throwing fifteen sandbags and left. In other words, the Wang family was faster than both of them at completing the “Transportation” task. But such a fast family had been stuck here for so long, was there something wrong with this task?

    Putting aside the task itself, the key problem now was, it would have been great if they had entered first. Wei Maomao felt that Wei Chengli was quite cooperative today, if they had gone in first, they could have taken their time with the task and waited for Yan Yan.

    Sigh, just a few steps short, so frustrating!

    “Oh dear, didn’t I tell you not to bite your lip? Look at your cheeks, aww, so puffed up like a hamster… If you get any angrier, your eyes are going to pop out!” Wei Chengli poked the little chubby dumpling’s soft, puffed-up cheeks, chuckling. “Be angry all you want, but let me make this clear first, you three little ones walked ahead, it’s your own fault for dawdling with Yan Yan, that’s why Rongrong entered the courtyard first, don’t blame me.”

    “Hmph!” Wei Maomao turned her head away, refusing to admit her careless mistake.

    They waited and waited, but Wang Zhizhi still didn’t come out… Wei Maomao felt like ten years had passed, only to be told it had only been five minutes.

    The “Firewood” task sounded very simple.

    There were two scales in the courtyard.

    The baby would earn a Baby Coin for finding four kilograms of firewood.

    The dad would earn a Daddy Coin for finding eight kilograms of firewood.

    If the firewood found by the baby and the dad combined weighed twenty kilograms, they would complete the task and receive the stamp for the “Firewood” stage.

    Of course, the Cheng family had an extra child. Earlier, when they entered, they had to choose whether to have the two babies take turns searching, or to add five kilograms to the twenty kilogram requirement, allowing the two babies to search together.

    Because the Wang family had been inside for a long time, Cheng Feiying cautiously chose to take turns. Perhaps to appear democratic, he even asked Cheng Tingyan and Cheng Rongrong for their opinions. Cheng Rongrong’s choice aligned with Cheng Feiying’s, while Cheng Tingyan chose to add five kilograms. Although the majority ruled in the end, Wei Maomao could clearly see that Cheng Feiying’s already tired and unhappy expression worsened.

    This was also one of the reasons why her five-minute wait felt like ten years.

    Thankfully, through the gap in the half-open courtyard gate, Wei Maomao could see Cheng Tingyan waiting patiently by the scale under the eaves, otherwise, her five minutes would probably feel like fifty years.

    “Daddy, can you see how much the Wang family has found?” Wei Maomao pulled Wei Chengli to the door, pointing at the scale where some firewood had already been piled.

    Wood was quite heavy, Wei Chengli looked at the thin layer of twigs on the scale and estimated conservatively, “At least ten kilograms?”

    The staff member squatting next to them, timing their wait, looked up and said, “Six kilograms and four hundred grams.”

    “Only six kilograms and four hundred grams after so long?” Wei Chengli was shocked.

    The staff member smiled without saying anything.

    Looking at the knowing smile on the staff member’s face, Wei Maomao had a feeling that the program team might have set them up in this stage too.

    “Brother, can I go in and have a look? I won’t look for firewood, I’ll just stand with Yan Yan for a while.” Wei Maomao said sweetly, pushing Wei Chengli further away and promising, “My dad won’t go in, I’ll leave him to you.”

    Wei Chengli: “… “

    “Cough, cough, cough… Heh… cough, cough…” The staff member didn’t dare to look at Director Wei’s liver-colored face, even stifling his laughter behind coughs.

    To maintain the complete set of guests on the show, the three-year-old little dumpling was allowed in.

    “You can’t go inside the house to look for firewood, or we’ll have to pull you out.” The staff member opened the courtyard gate, repeatedly reminding her.

    Wei Chengli watched with a cold smile as the little rascal nodded and dashed inside.

    “Daddy, I’ll wait for you!” Wei Maomao suddenly turned back.

    “Hmph.” Wei Chengli turned his head away, pretending to ignore her, but in the next second, he heard footsteps approaching. He turned back to see the little stinky dumpling running inside without looking back.

    Heh, that’s just like you, my heartless baby!

    Angry as he was, in the brief moment the courtyard gate opened and closed, Wei Chengli quickly scanned the courtyard.

    He was mainly looking at the stove area that was blocked by the gate earlier. It seemed quite clean, with no firewood piled up, he wondered if there was any unburned firewood under the stove.

    Wei Chengli kept this in mind, planning to check it out once he went in.

    Like Wei Chengli, Wei Maomao also started observing as soon as she entered the courtyard.

    Judging from its condition, this courtyard was similar to the one where they were staying, just a bit tidier? The courtyard was empty.

    The key was, unlike their courtyard, which had two trees, there wasn’t a single tree here, directly eliminating the option of chopping wood.

    Looking at the house, there were only a few rooms, Wang Zhizhi and his dad had been here long enough to thoroughly search them, right?

    Enough firewood for two families, at least forty kilograms? To be safe, it should be more than forty kilograms, and they had only found a little over six kilograms… Where was the rest?

    Stuffed inside the stove? Hidden on the roof? Under the bedding?

    Was it really that difficult? Could the Wang family be the first ones to come to “Firewood”, had no one been here before…

    Wei Maomao walked and observed, thinking, trying to find some clues.

    From the entrance to Cheng Tingyan, the only thing Wei Maomao passed by was the stove.

    She carefully adjusted her course, squatting down briefly as she passed the stove.

    Oh, nothing, the space under the stove was clean, not even any ash.

    Wait…

    Something seemed to be missing.

    Wei Maomao, having already passed the stove, instinctively looked back.

    Huh?

    There wasn’t even a wok?

    Cheng Tingyan had been looking at the courtyard gate for a while. She was both surprised and delighted when the little chubby bunny entered, but her little chubby feet were really too slow, she had been waiting for a long time before she finally reached her.

    “What are you looking at? You’ve been staring for so long?” Cheng Tingyan took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from the little chubby bunny’s face. “The sun is so strong, why didn’t you come here quickly, it’s shady here.”

    “This place is so strange, the cooking area doesn’t have a wok, only a hole.” Wei Maomao, still deep in thought, pointed at the stove.

    “Hole…” Cheng Tingyan pointed to the side of the courtyard gate, then at a spot near the wall where they were standing. “There, and here, there’s also a hole on the ground.”

    Wei Maomao: ???

    Looking closely at the spots Cheng Tingyan pointed at, she saw it!

    That hole by the wall… Wei Maomao stretched out her chubby paws, trying to estimate its size. Based on its location and width, didn’t it look like a tree had been dug out…

    They couldn’t have dug out all the trees in the courtyard just for a task, just to prevent them from chopping wood, right?

    “Yan Yan, what do you think that hole looks like?” Wei Maomao sought more opinions.

    “Like a tree, that was dug out?” Cheng Tingyan had been standing there bored, observing for a while. There was a tree planted in a similar spot in the courtyard where they were staying.

    They agreed, this courtyard seemed even stranger.

    Just then, the door across from them opened, and Cheng Rongrong came out.

    “Older sister, you go find some.” Cheng Rongrong stood by the scale obediently.

    Wei Maomao: “… “

    Cheng Tingyan gently squeezed the little chubby bunny’s hand and went inside.

    “Maomao, aren’t you doing the task later? Why are you here?” Cheng Rongrong turned to Wei Maomao and said meaningfully, “Coming in early is…”

    “Sister Rongrong, you didn’t find any firewood?” Wei Maomao glanced at her slightly dirty hands and took a step back, making her disdain obvious.

    Cheng Rongrong, hurt by Wei Maomao’s action, subconsciously wiped the dirt on her clothes.

    Then she saw the annoying chubby girl, with a smirk, backing further and further away…

    Cheng Rongrong felt like she was going to explode from this silent rejection.

    “Maomao.” Cheng Tingyan, who had only been inside for less than half a minute, suddenly opened the door and came out. She only saw Cheng Rongrong, then continued, “You go find some.”

    “It’s already my turn?” Cheng Rongrong glanced at Cheng Tingyan’s still clean hands, lowered her head, and mumbled in a pitiful voice, “Okay, it’s a bit dirty inside…”

    At such a young age, she didn’t forget to throw her sister under the bus at every opportunity, did she!

    Seeing this clearly, Wei Maomao took a few steps forward, ready to retort, but Cheng Tingyan, who was also walking towards her quickly, grabbed her hand.

    “Maomao, I have something to tell you.” Cheng Tingyan whispered into the little chubby bunny’s ear.

    It had been years since Wei Maomao had someone whisper in her ear like this, and the person doing it was Cheng Tingyan…

    The warm breath tickled her ear, making her momentarily forget that she was about to confront Cheng Rongrong…

    Cheng Rongrong, head bowed, obediently entered the house. But no one at the scene felt sorry for her, and the viewers in the live broadcast room didn’t follow her lead and criticize Cheng Tingyan as she had expected.

    “After watching this courtyard for so long through the Wang family’s camera, I think our guesses are right, hahaha. What’s interesting is that I think Yan Yan also figured it out.”

    “Hahaha, Wang Qingchuan, please stop moving the water jars, I beg you, I don’t think the program team would bury the firewood under the water jars, how is Teacher Wen Qiming going to get them out later?”

    “We should be worried about Cheng Feiying, hahaha, why is he helping Wang Qingchuan lift the water jars! Wasn’t it electricity that was generated by the stationary bikes, not your brain…”

    “Cheng Feiying is really trying hard to complete the task. Cheng Rongrong even crawled under the bed for the firewood… But intelligence, it’s really not something you can acquire through effort.”

    “The program team is still the worst, why are they so mean! I think this is a trap for those who are rule-abiding and honest! Poor Wang Qingchuan, he worked so hard and finished ‘Transportation’ so quickly, only to be stuck at this seemingly simplest stage.”

    “Although we’re just guessing, I think even if the program team’s answer isn’t what we think, they can’t deny our solution.”

    “Right, who says firewood has a fixed form, anything that can burn can be called firewood!”

    “Hahaha, the program team can’t really be accused of bullying honest people, it’s just a fixed mindset. Look at how honest Yan Yan is, she came in, looked around, touched something, then went out to find Maomao, I think she also figured it out.”

    “Yes! She figured it out! Yan Yan said it!”

    …

    “You’re saying, no one lives here?” Wei Maomao asked in surprise.

    “Mmm.” Cheng Tingyan nodded. “The bedsheets and duvet cover are all new and stiff, they haven’t been washed, they smell very new. But there’s a lot of dust on the bedside table. The clothes in the closet smell musty, there’s dried mud in the bowls on the table. Especially, there are a lot of things piled up on the table, in the cabinets, on the shelves, but no food. Not a single bit of food.”

    “There’s no wok either.” Wei Maomao pointed at the stove, then at the hole in the ground. “It’s like they moved away, and took the trees with them.”

    “Maomao, do you think…” Cheng Tingyan lowered her voice hesitantly. “Do they still want those things they didn’t take with them?”

    Wei Maomao thought she knew where the firewood was, but she still went along with Cheng Tingyan’s words. “Probably not…”

    “I also think they don’t want them anymore.” Cheng Tingyan nervously squeezed the little chubby paw. “Do you think the table inside can be used as firewood? It’s such a big table, I scratched it, it’s made of wood.”

    “I think it can! Yan Yan, you’re so smart!” Wei Maomao’s eyes sparkled.

    She decided, even if this wasn’t the program team’s intended answer, she would make it the answer! Yan Yan was the smartest!

    “I’m not smart, you were the one who mentioned there’s no wok.” Cheng Tingyan smiled sheepishly. “Without a wok, I thought, when I… um, when we moved, the wok was definitely something we took with us. But their move was so wasteful, the tables and chairs are a bit old, but they could be repainted, the bowls and plates could still be used after washing, they didn’t even take the curtains… When we moved, um, I, I would take everything I could.”

    Wei Maomao: ???

  • Back to Three Years Old: Crushing Scumbags on a Parenting Reality Show 46 p2

    Chapter 46 p2

    “Daddy, the brothers and sisters said, Uncle Cheng raised the target fifteen times, and Cheng Rongrong missed seven times. Uncle Cheng wasn’t even angry!” Wei Maomao asked loudly, “Then if I miss, Daddy won’t be angry either, right?”

    “No, I won’t…” Even without turning his head, Wei Chengli could sense the death glare from the stationary bike next to him. He said weakly, “No matter how many times you miss, I won’t be angry, okay? As long as you don’t cry when the other families finish the task first.”

    Wei Chengli had figured it out, if he didn’t make his stance clear now, this stinky dumpling might deliberately miss seven times later. He didn’t want to work so hard only to become the tragic control group.

    This little neurotic three-year-old!

    “Why aren’t you going yet?” Wei Chengli shook the little chubby paw on his leg, lowering his voice. “Not in a hurry anymore?”

    Wei Maomao saw that Cheng Feiying’s target had risen, and Yan Yan hit it!

    “Yan Yan hit one. Daddy, Yan Yan is amazing.” Wei Maomao exclaimed.

    Wei Chengli pondered for a moment, then he understood.

    “How many has Yan Yan hit?” Wei Chengli tried to follow Wei Maomao’s train of thought.

    “One.” Wei Maomao waved to Cheng Tingyan in the gradually dimming center of the flower.

    This time, she received a shy, smiling wave back.

    “She hit it on the first try, that’s really amazing.” Wei Chengli tried to offer his praise.

    Then…

    The little chubby dumpling, satisfied, left.

    Wei Chengli was speechless.

    Attitude determined progress. Since he had finally caught up, he didn’t want to fall behind again and be left alone with a dejected little rascal.

    Considering the children’s age, the targets on the petal tips were quite close to the center of the flower, within easy reach even for three-year-old Maomao.

    The difficulty of the task lay in two aspects: the dad’s cycling speed and the baby’s reaction speed.

    Wei Chengli was still young, after securing first place in the morning, he still had the energy to catch up in the afternoon.

    Out of the first three targets, Wei Maomao hit one and missed two.

    The first one she missed appeared behind her, she didn’t have time to react.

    The second one, she was too busy observing the petals and missed it.

    But it was worth it. It seemed the electricity flowed gradually, and the petal whose target would rise would have a faint light extending from its tip before the target actually rose, while all the other petals were fully lit.

    Knowing this, Wei Maomao gained a few seconds of advantage, enough to compensate for her lack of agility.

    While Wei Chengli pedaled and raised three targets, Cheng Tingyan also hit another target on the first try next door.

    Now the score was nine to one.

    “Baby, come on!” Wei Chengli encouraged the little dumpling while pedaling hard.

    Actually, the tiny little dumpling spinning around foolishly in the lit-up flower was truly, incredibly cute!

    “Maomao, come on! It also takes me two tries to hit one.” Cheng Rongrong shouted.

    Wei Maomao ignored Cheng Rongrong, staring at the extending light on a petal tip, the moment the target rose, she threw the sandbag.

    One point.

    Good, her guess was correct.

    “Okay. I’ll try my best.” Wei Maomao turned to Cheng Rongrong and said seriously.

    Cheng Rongrong smiled, then turned to Cheng Tingyan. “Older sister…”

    “Sister Rongrong, come and cheer for me!” Wei Maomao called out. “You’re talking to Yan Yan, your dad is going to be angry if she looks at you.”

    Cheng Rongrong: … So annoying!

    With the mentality of “one down, one to go,” Cheng Rongrong returned to Wei Maomao’s side.

    But when she came back, she saw that Wei Maomao had suddenly run into her own flower, grabbing Cheng Tingyan.

    “Maomao! Come back!” Wei Chengli shouted anxiously.

    Honestly, even from a distance, Wei Chengli could hear Cheng Feiying’s heavy panting next door, he felt that Cheng Feiying couldn’t hold on much longer. Seeing that only two petals remained unlit on the Cheng family’s side, the target was about to rise, and the little rascal had run over at this moment, if the target rose and Yan Yan missed, wouldn’t she be in trouble?!

    Wei Chengli was so anxious that he almost got off the bike, but thankfully, the rascal whispered something to Yan Yan and quickly came back.

    “Daddy, come on!” Wei Maomao said seriously, clenching her chubby fists.

    Wei Chengli: … Every single day, his blood pressure was skyrocketing from this little one…

    Cheng Rongrong didn’t hear what the annoying chubby girl had said to Cheng Tingyan, but that didn’t stop her from staying to cheer for her as the annoying chubby girl had suggested. However, to Cheng Rongrong’s surprise, this three-year-old, while talking to her, actually hit every single target! Cheng Rongrong felt that with her adult reaction speed, hitting one out of two targets was already considered excellent. What kind of luck did this annoying chubby girl have!

    Wei Chengli pedaled much faster than Cheng Feiying. By the time Wei Maomao hit the tenth target, Cheng Tingyan had just finished her four consecutive hits, bringing the Cheng family’s score to twelve.

    Honestly, Cheng Feiying’s panting next to him was getting louder and louder. At one point, Wei Chengli was even a bit worried and wanted to advise Cheng Feiying to stop if he couldn’t keep up, it was just one stamp, if he really wanted it, he could rest and continue later.

    But when Wei Chengli, having prepared his polite suggestion, turned to look, he saw a hint of resentment in the eyes of the man who was sweating profusely and flushed from exhaustion.

    It wasn’t blatant, but it was clear, startling Wei Chengli.

    It was Yan Yan that Cheng Feiying was looking at like that!

    Why… Wei Chengli couldn’t understand. After subconsciously pedaling a few times faster, he even mustered his courage and glanced over again.

    Wei Chengli thought his professional skills were still sharp, he wasn’t mistaken, that was resentment…

    But…

    Wei Chengli mechanically pedaled, but he couldn’t figure it out.

    Perhaps because his mind was blank, Wei Chengli’s pedaling speed increased even further, and Wei Maomao quickly hit two more targets.

    “Daddy, you worked hard, you’re tired, take a break and have some water.” Wei Maomao called out when the petals dimmed again.

    Wei Chengli’s heart warmed, he replied, “Baby, you’re the best! You hit every one! Daddy is not tired! Daddy can do it! Let’s finish this in one go!”

    “You’re tired.” Wei Maomao insisted, rubbing her chubby paws.

    “I…” Wei Chengli sensed something was off, he paused and turned to look at the score board next door.

    Oh… twelve to twelve, both families were tied, he was faster, so he had to wait for the other side, right?

    “Daddy is tired, my heart is tired!” Wei Chengli stopped pedaling, exasperated, and thumped his chest at the stinky dumpling.

    The stinky dumpling didn’t hold a grudge, she went to get water from the staff, she even stood on tiptoe, trying to feed him…

    Wei Chengli’s anger dissipated, he took the water and drank a few mouthfuls.

    “Did Daddy ever tell you what ‘flattery for a reason’ means?” Wei Chengli wiped the water from his mouth, chuckling coldly.

    Wei Maomao shook her head.

    “It’s just like you now, you’re being nice to me not because you want to be nice, but because you have another motive!” Wei Chengli snorted.

    Wei Maomao nodded seriously, indicating that she understood.

    “…” Wei Chengli, seeing the sudden realization on the little rascal’s face, felt a chill down his spine and instantly gave in. “Baby, forget it… Daddy didn’t say anything just now, okay?”

    “The fourth petal is about to light up.” Wei Maomao whispered, pointing at Cheng Rongrong in the distance. “She’s cheering for me, is it also not because… Mmm mmm…”

    “Shut up!” Wei Chengli covered her mouth, exasperated. “Let’s both shut up!”

    Talking too much would always lead to mutual destruction. Thankfully, the little rascal’s voice was soft, even softer than the panting from the bike next door, otherwise, Wei Chengli was really afraid Cheng Feiying would come down and beat them both up.

    Wei Chengli picked up the little rascal and took her aside, lecturing her in a low voice, “Listen, Uncle Cheng is very tired next door, don’t provoke him, and don’t provoke Rongrong, okay? Tired people are very irritable, be good!”

    While Wei Chengli sounded righteous, the viewers in the live broadcast room saw right through him.

    “CEO Mao is so reckless, Director Wei must be exhausted handling her.”

    “Director Wei probably doesn’t want the little chubby bunny to be yelled at by Cheng Feiying, after all, when they arrived, Cheng Feiying was quite harsh towards Yan Yan.”

    “Cheng Feiying probably wouldn’t dare to treat someone else’s child like that, he only dares to yell at Yan Yan, he didn’t say anything when Rongrong missed seven times.”

    “??? Don’t use the word ‘dare’ here, okay? That’s clearly preferential treatment, tsk tsk tsk.”

    “Director Wei is right, people are irritable when they’re tired, and their self-control naturally weakens. Cheng Feiying usually seems nice and caring towards both Yan Yan and Rongrong. He probably doesn’t intentionally yell at Yan Yan, maybe he’s just too tired and can’t control his temper. If Yan Yan was hitting the first fifteen targets, when he wasn’t tired yet, he probably wouldn’t yell at her, it would be Rongrong, who came later, who would get yelled at.”

    “Hahaha, how old is the person above, so naive. Rongrong hit fifteen targets, he wasn’t tired, Yan Yan hits the first one and he’s tired? Schrödinger’s tiredness?”

    “Speaking of, other families are fine, they only have one child. The Cheng family has two babies, the task arrangement is actually a bit unfair. From the two tasks we’ve seen so far, at the ‘Housing’ stage, Rongrong also went in first for two rounds, Yan Yan went in for the third. And now at the ‘Transportation’ stage, Rongrong hit eight targets first, Yan Yan is hitting the remaining seven… Tsk tsk.”

    “Isn’t it fair? Each of them gets half, Rongrong even did more to be considerate of her sister.”

    “The person above clearly doesn’t play puzzle games. Like at the ‘Housing’ stage, it’s definitely easier at the beginning, the pressure is all on the last few rounds, filling in the gaps. It’s the same here at the ‘Transportation’ stage, like Director Wei said, the more tired you are, the more irritable you become. With Cheng Feiying’s physique, it’s hard to say if he can even hit the remaining seven targets. But if he keeps missing, and he can’t pedal the bike anymore, if the task fails… whose fault is it?”

    “Holy crap, is that so? My simple brain didn’t even think of that!”

    “That can’t be right… Rongrong is only three and a half, she’s just being considerate, right? Okay… At most, she just wants to show off, that’s why she volunteered to go first and do more?”

    “Tsk tsk, hard to say, hard to say. After Director Wei’s analysis, I feel like Cheng Feiying’s temper isn’t as good as he usually appears. A three-and-a-half-year-old child also has some awareness, maybe she has already learned to avoid danger and complete her share during the safe period.”

    “How much trauma does it take to learn such self-preservation at that age, poor Rongrong…”

    “The person above, go get your eyes checked, friend, is Rongrong the one who’s pitiful? Is Rongrong, who always volunteers to do the tasks first, the pitiful one? The pitiful one is Yan Yan, who’s always quietly assigned tasks, taking on the leftover work without protest! If it’s self-preservation, a three-and-a-half-year-old Rongrong can figure it out, wouldn’t the six-year-old Yan Yan also know?”

    “Wow, thank goodness CEO Mao arrived in time, she told Yan Yan how to predict the target, now Yan Yan’s success rate has increased, she won’t get yelled at anymore!”

    “That’s not for sure… I think Cheng Feiying, right now, might not even care about the success rate anymore.”

    …

    While the live broadcast room was bustling with discussion, the people in the village were oblivious.

    But some things could be observed, and the analysis drawn was similar.

    Wei Maomao, pulled aside for a lecture by Wei Chengli, glanced at Cheng Feiying in the distance.

    When it came to understanding, Wei Maomao knew more about Cheng Feiying than the viewers in the live broadcast room.

    His bad temper, hidden under the mask of a loving father, wasn’t without clues.

    Yes, tired people were irritable, especially when they wanted to escape the exhaustion but had no way out.

    Earlier, standing in the center of the flower, Wei Maomao saw more clearly than Wei Chengli.

    Logically speaking, the charging speed was related to the cycling speed. To give the target hitter time to react, Wei Chengli would always slow down a bit when charging the last petal. Although Wei Maomao didn’t need it, it was the normal approach.

    Cheng Feiying was different. After Yan Yan hit the target twice, he would speed up every time they reached the last bit of charge. He would tire himself out, slowing down for a long time, then suddenly get a burst of energy at the end… Wasn’t it just to catch Yan Yan off guard?

    Truly living and dying for the sake of face. Was he too embarrassed to admit he was tired and wanted to stop, hoping to use Yan Yan’s mistake as an excuse to quit?

    He wouldn’t even allow her to be distracted at the beginning, but now he was waiting for her to make a mistake, everything had to go according to his wishes.

    Dream on.

    Wei Maomao curled her lip disdainfully.

    “What’s with that look?” Wei Chengli pinched her chubby cheeks. “I told you to be good.”

    “Hmph.” The pinched little dumpling wriggled and turned her back to him angrily.

    “Baby…” Wei Chengli poked her chubby waist.

    The rascal remained unresponsive.

    “There are still three targets left…” Wei Chengli said slowly.

    The rascal instantly turned around.

    He had figured out how to handle her, but Wei Chengli couldn’t bring himself to smile.

    It was infuriating!

    This little rascal, for a while, didn’t want to be close to him anymore, acting all grumpy. Today she was being quite well-behaved at times, choosing delicious plates for him, even bringing him water.

    But Wei Chengli realized once again, it was all for Yan Yan!

    “Tell me, who do you love more, Daddy or Yan Yan!” Wei Chengli pinched her cheeks, exasperated.

    “Baby, of course I love Daddy more than Rongrong!” Wei Maomao replied sweetly.

    Wei Chengli: “… “ He exploded.

  • Back to Three Years Old: Crushing Scumbags on a Parenting Reality Show 46 p1

    Chapter 46 p1

    Wei Chengli glanced around and knew that the Cheng family had already completed the “Housing” task and moved on to the next location. They hadn’t wasted any time at the “Food” stage either, eating thirty plates and guessing all thirty correctly, which was already considered quite fast. It seemed there were always hidden talents out there, what a pity…

    The viewers in the live broadcast room, watching the two families complete their tasks, were comparing their speed and calculating the time. When Cheng Feiying and his daughter left the courtyard, the comments were filled with sighs. Now that Wei Chengli and his daughter had arrived, the screen was overflowing with regret.

    “What a pity, what a pity, just a few minutes short!”

    “The little short legs ran thirty round trips without stopping, that’s already amazing, just a little bit more and they would have met.”

    “CEO Mao worked hard, actually, both families spent about the same time completing the task, but since CEO Mao and her dad had to travel from the ‘Food’ location, they lost time on the road.”

    “Right, honestly, I think the ‘Food’ task was a bit harder than the ‘Housing’ task. CEO Mao, you can do it, speedrun ‘Housing,’ Yan Yan is waiting for you ahead!”

    “Don’t worry, the sadness is only temporary. Cheng Feiying and his daughter’s next task, ‘Transportation,’ is riding stationary bikes, and Director Wei got first place in the bean grinding race this morning. Even if CEO Mao doesn’t catch up after finishing this stage and going to ‘Transportation,’ they’ll catch up at the ‘Firewood’ stage later.”

    “By the ‘Firewood’ stage, it’ll be so many rounds later! This ‘Housing’ stage mainly depends on the babies, CEO Mao, come on! You’re the best! Overtake them in this round!”

    “Hahaha, what’s wrong with you guys? They’ve only been separated for a short time! Just one task! Look how anxious you are.”

    “It’s not anxiety, am I the only one who clicked on the fixed camera in the courtyard before CEO Mao and her dad entered? Covering my face and crying.”

    “I also did that… My cursed hand, why did I have to click on the courtyard camera beforehand? When Director Wei opened the door, I saw so clearly how the little chubby bunny went from full of anticipation to disappointment and dejection! Aww, my heart aches for her.”

    …

    Unlike those in the live broadcast room who could see everything, although Wei Chengli didn’t see the little chubby dumpling’s expression after he opened the door, he was the one who felt her disappointment most acutely.

    The little one in his arms had been tense the whole way, her body stiff and upright like a small balloon filled with air. But when he pushed open the courtyard gate, well… all the air seemed to have escaped at once, leaving her slumped and dejected.

    This boneless softness was quite comfortable to hold, but it also made Wei Chengli’s heart ache.

    “Baby, it’s all my fault, I chewed those radishes, lotus roots, water chestnuts… too slowly.” Wei Chengli bounced the soft dumpling in his arms, apologizing. “It’s all Daddy’s fault, don’t be sad.”

    “No, it’s my fault, I was too slow.” Wei Maomao mumbled. She wasn’t one to blame others, her leg speed had indeed slowed them down in the last round.

    “My poor little baby…” Wei Chengli, who wasn’t even being blamed, felt even more distressed. He patted the little dumpling’s back repeatedly, trying to comfort her. “Don’t…”

    But before he could finish his comforting words, the soft dumpling in his arms… stiffened?

    “Daddy, stop talking, let’s start quickly!” Wei Maomao urged, struggling to get down.

    Not catching up with Yan Yan at the second stage made Wei Maomao a bit sad. But at this crucial moment, she only allowed herself ten seconds of disappointment.

    Wei Chengli, still immersed in his role as a self-blaming, loving father: “… “

    It was frustrating, having a dramatic daughter was frustrating, having a daughter who could switch emotions so quickly was truly frustrating!

    The “Housing” stage tested their memory.

    The large wooden boards erected in the courtyard were easels. When the task began, the staff would clip a huge black and white line drawing onto them, depicting the furniture and objects inside the house.

    In this stage, the baby’s task was to observe the items in the room, then come out and hand the dad a watercolor marker, telling him what color each furniture and object should be.

    The dad’s job was simpler, he just needed to color the items on the drawing according to the baby’s instructions.

    The difficulty of the task lay in the fact that the baby could only enter the room to observe three times.

    In the end, as long as all the colorable areas on the drawing were filled in, both the baby and the dad would receive a coin.

    However, to receive the stamp for this task, all the colors had to be correct.

    If there were any mistakes, they wouldn’t get the stamp.

    But they had a second chance, which was to swap roles, and the room would also be changed. The dad could enter and observe three times, memorize the colors, then come back and tell the baby, who would then do the coloring.

    There were two rooms in total. If a family was struggling to color everything correctly and was particularly persistent in getting the stamp, they could keep switching roles between the dad and the baby until they achieved a satisfactory result.

    “Baby, come on! Look at this huge drawing, it will take Daddy a long time to color it, if we don’t succeed on the first try, it will take you even longer to color it!” Wei Chengli pointed at the drawing, encouraging the little chubby dumpling.

    Wei Maomao didn’t respond and didn’t rush into the room as instructed by the host. She stood in front of the easel and looked at the drawing for a few moments, memorizing a few larger furniture pieces that needed coloring.

    For the first entry, her little short legs darted out of the room in just a few seconds.

    Wei Chengli thought something was wrong and was about to ask when she pounced on the pile of watercolor markers.

    “The bed is yellow, the curtains are blue…” Wei Maomao handed him the markers while urging, “Daddy, just dot it, dot it on the drawing, you won’t remember otherwise.”

    Wei Chengli: “… “ Although it made sense, why did he feel a sense of disdain? She better color everything correctly in one go, otherwise, he would be the one looking down on her!

    Under the little chubby dumpling’s efficient instructions, Wei Chengli diligently dotted the drawing with colors.

    From large items to small items, Wei Maomao took her time during her second entry into the bedroom. After all, Wei Chengli wouldn’t be idle outside.

    In the “Food” task, the program team had sneakily placed the disgusting items on the outer ring of the table, setting up a trap. In the “Housing” task, there was also a similar trick.

    Wei Maomao scanned the toys and comic books on the bed and the floor.

    Tsk, just from that quick glance, she saw planes and dinosaurs, Wen Dongyu’s favorites.

    Using bribes to distract the babies and slow them down, they were truly evil.

    Wei Maomao climbed onto a stool, memorizing the seven dwarf figurines on the desk that needed coloring. As she memorized, she couldn’t help but wonder who would enter the room when it was Cheng Feiying’s turn to color…

    To succeed so quickly, it must be Yan Yan, right?

    Speaking of which, the viewers in the live broadcast room, who were anxiously watching the little chubby bunny’s progress, saw her suddenly smile sweetly while looking at the dwarf figurines… They couldn’t help but wonder, was there some short-legged solidarity going on?

    Wei Maomao had already memorized the remaining small items during her second entry. When she came out, before she could even start choosing the markers, she saw that Wei Chengli was holding markers in both hands, coloring with both hands simultaneously!

    “How come I didn’t think of that?” Wei Maomao patted her head, ah, the brain of a three-year-old.

    Because the coloring part took quite some time, Wei Maomao even had time to enter the room for a third time to double-check everything.

    With Wei Maomao’s accurate memory and Wei Chengli’s vigorous coloring, they successfully earned another stamp.

    “Baby, the staff said that Yan Yan and the others had just left when we arrived. I did the math, we finished the ‘Housing’ task faster than them, we caught up!” Wei Chengli, carrying the once again stiff little chubby dumpling, reassured her as they walked.

    Wei Maomao patted Wei Chengli’s shoulder, sparing a bit of her attention to praise him. “Daddy used both hands to color, Daddy is awesome!”

    Her chubby paw, tense with anxiety, patted Wei Chengli’s shoulder a bit hard, but his heart felt warm.

    “Of course, you’re smart, your daddy isn’t stupid either.” Wei Chengli bounced the chubby dumpling in his arms. “Don’t be so nervous, we’re almost there, we’ll definitely catch up this time.”

    Wei Maomao clutched Wei Chengli’s shirt, but didn’t answer.

    Unlike “Food” and “Housing,” which were held in villagers’ courtyards, the “Transportation” task location, according to the map, should be at the small square where they had dinner last night.

    As the familiar roof came into view, the large tree by the square, with the “Transportation” sign hanging on it, also appeared within Wei Maomao’s sight.

    She quickly saw the crowd of staff, cameramen, and equipment.

    There were quite a few people, Wei Maomao couldn’t tell if they were from the Cheng family’s team or not, she unconsciously tightened her grip on Wei Chengli’s shirt.

    “We’re also here for the task, is there another group here?” Wei Chengli, feeling choked, raised his voice.

    The staff turned around and quickly cleared a path for them.

    Then, Wei Maomao saw Cheng Tingyan, standing in the center of a bright flower.

    Found you, Yan Yan…

    Cheng Tingyan, hearing the little bunny’s dad’s voice, instinctively looked around, and indeed saw Maomao. But before she could respond to the waving little chubby bunny, Cheng Feiying’s angry voice filled her ears.

    “Cheng Tingyan, what are you looking at! Focus on the target!” Cheng Feiying, sweating profusely from riding the stationary bike, saw that the target was about to appear, and not only did a new team arrive, but Cheng Tingyan, who was responsible for hitting the target, dared to get distracted!

    Wei Maomao watched helplessly as the smile that had appeared on Cheng Tingyan’s face instantly vanished, she withdrew her waving hand and frowned.

    Just then, the host approached Wei Chengli and his daughter, explaining the “Transportation” task to them.

    There were two stationary bikes set up in the square, which could accommodate two families simultaneously.

    The dad was responsible for riding the bike to generate electricity, which would travel along the petals on the ground, lighting up the entire flower, then one of the ten targets placed around the petals would randomly rise up.

    The target would stay up for three seconds, and the baby standing in the center of the flower had to hit it with a sandbag within those three seconds.

    Each hit on the target earned one point, a total of fifteen points were needed to receive the stamp for the “Transportation” task.

    The key point of the task was that whether the baby hit the target or the target automatically retracted after three seconds, the petal would dim, and the dad had to ride the bike to light it up again and raise the target. In other words, the baby’s accuracy and the dad’s effort were directly related.

    Of course, if they only wanted the coins and didn’t need the stamp, the dad only needed to raise the target fifteen times to receive his Daddy Coins, while the baby only needed to hit the target five times to receive a Baby Coin.

    Wei Maomao glanced at the score board next to them, which showed “8”, then looked at the petals under Cheng Tingyan’s feet, which hadn’t lit up once since they arrived. She asked the host curiously, “Uncle Host, Uncle Cheng was so nervous just now, where’s his ‘baba’?”

    “It’s ‘target,’ the round board you have to hit with the sandbag…” The host felt that “baba” sounded strange and couldn’t help but explain, then glanced at Cheng Feiying, who was pedaling slower and slower, and lowered his voice. “You have to wait for all the petals to light up before the target rises, you see, there are still a few petals that are dim.”

    “Oh.” Wei Maomao nodded, patting her chest. “Uncle Cheng was so fierce just now, I thought I had interrupted his task.” He hadn’t even finished his own part and was already concerned about someone else’s work.

    Hearing the little rascal deliberately raising her voice to complain about Cheng Feiying, Wei Chengli’s lips twitched. He patted her chubby back lightly.

    What was wrong with this child, did she have to seek revenge immediately?

    “Ow.” Wei Maomao leaned against him, acting weak. “Daddy, I’m so scared. If I can’t hit the target later, will you be mad at me?”

    The little one, soft, well-behaved, and cute, lying in his arms, pouting and speaking in a childish voice, but Wei Chengli saw right through her act.

    “Baby, I’m also scared. If Daddy can’t pedal the bike later, and the target doesn’t rise, and Yan Yan leaves first, will you be mad at Daddy?” Wei Chengli lowered his voice and mimicked her coldly.

    Wei Maomao sat up straight, patted Wei Chengli’s arm, and said seriously, “Yes, I will. Daddy, come on!”

    Wei Chengli: “… “ How come this child had become even more mischievous after he tried to educate her at lunch!

    The score next door was already at 8. Wei Chengli resignedly stretched his limbs and got on the bike. But after sitting down and pedaling for a couple of times, he realized something was wrong… Where was the child who was supposed to be standing in the center of the flower?

    “Maomao?” Wei Chengli called out to the little dumpling, who had somehow snuck into the crowd of staff. “Are you going to do the task or not?”

    The little chubby dumpling quickly ran back, but instead of going to the center of the flower, she went back to Wei Chengli’s side.

    “Daddy, Daddy, I have something to tell you!” Wei Maomao jumped, pulling on his pant leg.

    “Baby, seeing how excited you are, I’m afraid to hear what you have to say…” Wei Chengli remained motionless.

    “… “ Wei Maomao obediently stood still, cupping her hands around her mouth like a megaphone.

    “No, no…” Wei Chengli tried to stop her.

    Of course, it was too late.

  • Back to Three Years Old: Crushing Scumbags on a Parenting Reality Show 45

    Chapter 45

    “Uh… This character, Uncle doesn’t know it either…” In the end, Wei Chengli was defeated by Wen Jiangyue’s clear, inquisitive gaze. He admitted honestly, “I’ll have the staff look it up for you.”

    “No need, no need, it’s okay.” Wen Jiangyue smiled sweetly. “I’ll ask Dad later.”

    Wei Chengli gave the studious child a friendly smile, his thoughts drifting back to the bedroom.

    Sigh, although those babies inside were a bit silly, their lack of culture was… quite nice.

    He should have stayed in the room to watch over the children, letting the little rascal come out to ask for help, to be the illiterate one…

    Wei Chengli, regretting leaving the room, didn’t know that the problem inside the bedroom was no easier than the one outside.

    ***

    “How much is it?” Wei Maomao scratched her head at Wen Dongyu’s abrupt question. “I don’t know.”

    “Boss, you don’t even know how much money you’ll get, and you dared to say you’ll take care of Yan Yan?” Wen Dongyu was shocked.

    Wei Maomao: “…” Kid, that look was too much! It would be weird for her, trapped in a three-year-old body that couldn’t even grasp tens, hundreds, thousands, and millions, to talk about salary, okay!

    Wen Dongyu turned to look at Cheng Tingyan.

    Cheng Tingyan blushed slightly from Wen Dongyu’s exclamation, lowering her eyes and shaking her head. “Adults won’t tell us about these things.”

    “That’s true, I don’t know either. How come only Shen Zilin knows, his dad is so nice.” Wen Dongyu squatted back down dejectedly, petting the pig.

    “Whose dad is so nice?” Wei Chengli, leading Wen Jiangyue in, caught Wen Dongyu’s last words as he opened the door and casually responded.

    “Uncle Wei, you’re also an adult, do you know how much money I can get for being on this show? Not Baby Coins, the kind of money I can use outside.” Wen Dongyu quickly finished his question, not forgetting to add an explanation. “The kind of money Boss will use to take care of Yan Yan in the future.”

    Wei Chengli instantly gripped the back of the chair, wishing he could slap himself back to the moment before he spoke.

    Looking at the babies in the room, gazing up at him expectantly, Wei Chengli suddenly realized something.

    His limit, as a weakling, was probably only handling one baby at a time…

    “Dongdong, about the money, the money… It’s different for every family. You have to ask your dad to know how much yours is.” Wei Chengli could only pray that Wen Xiang wouldn’t investigate the reason behind the question when asked.

    “Oh.” Wen Dongyu lowered his head in disappointment.

    Wei Chengli, feeling guilty and awkward, patted the child’s head gently.

    “Daddy, how much is my money?” Wei Maomao asked.

    Wei Chengli’s heart skipped a beat, his hand tightening, almost practicing his Nine Yin White Bone Claw* on someone else’s child.

    “Enough for you to take care of Yan Yan.” Wei Chengli gritted his teeth, getting straight to the point.

    “Oh.” Wei Maomao knew when to stop. She was just casually asking, after all, they were still filming. But if Shen Zilin was right, he had a million. With CEO Shen’s status and wealth, the price offered to Shen Zilin was probably inflated. But for her, it should at least be a hundred thousand, right? It would be great if it was a few hundred thousand… After all, there were limited things she could do with a three-year-old body, with less starting capital, her growth would be slower. Taking care of Yan Yan was fine, but her mother would need a lot of medical expenses.

    Wei Chengli didn’t know that the little chubby dumpling, suddenly lowering her head, was actually scheming to get rich. He just knew that if these little ones didn’t sleep, he would be the one collapsing!

    But even one little baby was hard to handle, let alone four… Not a single one was willing to sleep obediently!

    After a series of failed attempts, Wei Chengli was forced to lie in bed with his eyes closed, listening to the four babies chattering incessantly, safely surviving the rest of the nap time by pretending to sleep.

    As he had expected, as long as he was “asleep,” no baby would come and ask him questions.

    But people always had to wake up, and tasks always had to be done.

    “Do you want to go back and meet up with your dads… or come with me?” Wei Chengli held the newly delivered task card, hoping they would all choose the former.

    Fifteen minutes later, Wei Chengli, leading a group of somewhat presentable babies, was walking towards the task location.

    As they walked through the alley, Wei Chengli would turn around and wait for the babies behind him after every turn and every few steps, counting heads before continuing forward. After repeating this several times, Wei Chengli suddenly felt like… he was a bit like the mother duck leading her ducklings in that video he had seen before…

    The afternoon’s task wasn’t for dads and babies to fight their own battles, but for families to work together as teams.

    Because they had to help the babies wash up and get ready, Wei Chengli and his group were the last to arrive at the task location.

    Go ahead, model student baby, Wei Chengli watched as Wen Jiangyue ran towards Wen Qiming.

    Go ahead, baby who needs to communicate with your dad and sister, Wei Chengli looked at Cheng Tingyan’s small, thin figure. He didn’t know why, but although she was returning to her own dad, it made him feel a bit reluctant… It was all that stinky dumpling’s brainwashing!

    Go ahead, baby who finally stopped mistaking other people for your dad, Wei Chengli patted Wen Dongyu’s head, gently pushing him forward, watching him reluctantly lead the pig away.

    Go ahead… Oh, this one is his, she has nowhere to go. Wei Chengli sighed softly, habitually pinching the little chubby dumpling’s cheeks, deftly dodging before she could retaliate with her tiny fists.

    Then he got stepped on…

    “You…” Wei Chengli quickly scooped up the little chubby dumpling.

    “Un… cle Wei, that character is pronounced ‘yi’… Dad said it means ‘to bury.’” Wen Jiangyue ran back, still out of breath, and said innocently.

    “…” The frozen Wei Chengli coughed. “Tha… Thank you, Yueyue, Uncle Wei has learned something new.”

    “You’re welcome.” Wen Jiangyue, having shared her knowledge, waved her hand, her cheeks slightly flushed, and happily ran away.

    “Baby, can you stop making that sound?” Wei Chengli poked the little chubby waist in his arms menacingly. “You keep making those ‘pfft’ sounds, are you leaking air?”

    “Hahahaha…” Wei Maomao, who had been holding back with great effort, finally let loose.

    It was hilarious, earlier, when Wei Chengli was “asleep”, Wen Jiangyue told them about what happened in the courtyard. But she didn’t expect Wen Jiangyue to be so serious and follow up on it, hahaha.

    “You better keep leaking air!” Wei Chengli covered the little rascal’s mouth, but when he looked up, he met Wen Qiming’s polite, smiling gaze.

    What else could he do… Wei Chengli forced a similar, appropriate smile in return.

    And out of the corner of his eye, he seemed to have accidentally caught sight of… Wen Xiang, standing next to Wen Qiming, also looking at him… Wei Chengli didn’t dare to look, didn’t dare to think.

    Forget it, a leaking-air dumpling was still easier to raise than a model student dumpling and a troublemaker dumpling.

    Wei Chengli resignedly released his hand, letting the rascal giggle in his arms.

    With dads and babies all gathered, the afternoon’s task officially began.

    The afternoon’s task, which required families to work together as teams, was a multi-stage relay race.

    There were eight stages in total, the task locations scattered in eight different areas of the village.

    In each stage, every family member who completed the task would receive a coin (Daddy Coins for dads, Baby Coins for babies). If all members of a family completed the stage, the family would receive a stamp. If a family member couldn’t complete the stage, they could forfeit the task and the coin reward, while the other successful members would still receive their coins, but the family wouldn’t get the stamp for that stage.

    The final reward was opening mystery boxes.

    Based on the number of stamps each family received, they could open the corresponding number of mystery boxes.

    There was also a special grand prize mystery box, which would be awarded to the family that first collected all eight stamps.

    After hearing the host explain the rules, Wei Maomao frowned slightly. This was also a segment that hadn’t appeared in the show in her previous life… So was it Jin Youliang who had drastically changed the program design in her previous life, or was it Shi Dingshan in this life…

    Wei Maomao, having lost her foreknowledge, was a bit worried about Cheng Tingyan.

    Because each task location couldn’t accommodate too many families at once, before the task began, the six families had to draw lots to receive six different maps, each with a slightly different order of task completion.

    Wei Chengli was quite satisfied with their current accommodation, a normal residential house. For matters of luck like this, he naturally let the little chubby dumpling draw the lot.

    Wei Maomao opened the map immediately after receiving it.

    The program team had added a little twist to this relay race task. The eight locations on the map corresponded to the eight necessities of life: “1 firewood, 2 rice, 3 oil, 4 salt, 5 clothing, 6 food, 7 housing, and 8 transportation.”

    According to the markings on Wei Maomao’s map, they had to follow this order: “3 oil, 4 salt, 5 clothing, 6 food, 7 housing, 8 transportation, 1 firewood, 2 rice”.

    After drawing and checking the map, Wei Maomao didn’t leave. She stood at the lottery spot, waiting for Cheng Rongrong to draw her map before quietly approaching her.

    Unfortunately, she was spotted.

    Cheng Rongrong didn’t open the map right away. Instead, she quickly ran back to Cheng Feiying, handing him the map, and turned back to smile at Wei Maomao.

    That seemingly innocent smile, in Wei Maomao’s eyes, carried a hint of smugness.

    ?

    What, did she look socially awkward?

    Wei Maomao dodged Wei Chengli’s attempt to pick her up and ran to Cheng Feiying, putting her hands together and looking up at him with a sweet smile. “Uncle, can I have a look at your map? Please!”

    Wei Chengli, trailing behind, froze in his steps.

    He didn’t know this little one was such a good actress! At home, she was calling Cheng Feiying a bad guy… but then she turned around and used her cuteness and pitiful act to get what she wanted! Was she becoming a spirit?

    Cheng Feiying slowly smiled, a self-proclaimed benevolent smile.

    Seeing that he wasn’t moving his hand holding the map, Wei Maomao quickly said before he could speak, “Uncle, you’re the best uncle, let me see the map!”

    With that, she took a step closer and grabbed Cheng Feiying’s pant leg.

    Feeling the tug on his pants, Cheng Feiying’s smile froze.

    “Daddy, we’re in a competition, we can’t show our map to others!” Cheng Rongrong shouted. She wasn’t actually three and a half years old, she knew that these randomly drawn maps were just for diverting traffic, they held no other value. But anything that could thwart Wei Maomao, she had to do it immediately, right now!

    Cheng Feiying nodded in agreement. “That’s right, Maomao, we have to compete fairly.”

    “Daddy.” Cheng Tingyan bit her lip, stepped forward, and said softly, “Uncle Host just said that the maps are just for assigning order because each location can’t handle too many people, the maps have nothing to do with the competition itself. Can we… just let Maomao have a look?”

    Cheng Tingyan didn’t know why the little chubby bunny was so persistent, but she also didn’t know why she couldn’t bear to see her pleading like this.

    Cheng Feiying frowned slightly: “… “ This daughter, for the past two years, had been like a silent log, not speaking unless spoken to, why was she talking so much now?

    Cheng Tingyan’s sudden interjection startled Wei Maomao. She didn’t want to hear Cheng Tingyan pleading with Cheng Feiying for this.

    But just as Wei Maomao was caught in a dilemma…

    “Is it unfair just to look? Here’s mine, Boss, you can look!” Wen Dongyu, completely oblivious to the atmosphere, handed over his map.

    Wei Maomao didn’t let go of Cheng Feiying’s pants and turned to glance at the map.

    Cheng Feiying: “… “

    “Done.” Wei Maomao nodded at Wen Dongyu, then hesitated for a moment, looking at Cheng Feiying.

    Wen Dongyu looked at Cheng Feiying with his head held high, even manually adjusting the pig’s head next to him to an angle of haughty disdain.

    Cheng Feiying: ??? Was this kid alright?

    “Fine, fine, let you look.” In the end, Cheng Feiying couldn’t withstand the increasingly contemptuous gazes from the person and pig next to him. He unfolded the map, held it in front of Wei Maomao for a few seconds, then rolled it up. “Alright, you’ve seen it, now let go of Uncle.”

    Cheng Rongrong was unhappy, but she forced herself to endure it.

    These people were truly annoying. Wei Maomao had just argued with her at lunch, and now she was clinging to her dad’s leg, such shamelessness. Cheng Tingyan was also a traitor. As for that Wen Dongyu, who was inseparable from the pig, shouldn’t he get his head checked! And that Wen Jiangyue, she was bullied so badly by Wei Maomao at lunch that she even cried and ran away, yet Wen Jiangyue didn’t show any sympathy or concern for her, she didn’t even follow her out! She even waited tearfully at the corner of the alley for a while, it was infuriating!

    Wei Maomao caught a glimpse of Cheng Rongrong’s displeased expression out of the corner of her eye, but she didn’t care.

    The task order on Cheng Feiying’s map was “7 housing, 8 transportation, 1 firewood, 2 rice, 3 oil, 4 salt, 5 clothing, 6 food,” quite different from the “3 oil, 4 salt, 5 clothing, 6 food, 7 housing, 8 transportation, 1 firewood, 2 rice” on her map. She had to exchange for another one before the host announced the start.

    Before leaving, Wei Maomao didn’t forget to lean in and whisper to Cheng Tingyan, “Don’t worry, Yan Yan, I’ll come find you soon.”

    Fortunately, apart from the troublesome Cheng Feiying, the other families were kind. Wei Maomao went around and, just before the host announced the start, exchanged maps with Shen Zilin, getting one with the order “6 food, 7 housing, 8 transportation, 1 firewood, 2 rice, 3 oil, 4 salt, 5 clothing.” In other words, as long as she and Wei Chengli were fast enough in the first stage, “6 food,” they could overlap with the Cheng family’s tasks later.

    Others might not know, but Wei Chengli was well aware of the little chubby dumpling’s scheming.

    Seeing her return with the exchanged map, he was speechless. “Can you even understand it? Just exchanging randomly? Are you with Yan Yan now?”

    “Daddy, you forgot, you taught me numbers. I’ve exchanged it, we’re almost there.” Wei Maomao patted Wei Chengli’s leg. “Daddy, you have to work hard later.”

    Wei Chengli laughed in exasperation. “I should have never watched those cartoons with you, look how clever you’ve become.”

    This time, he was truly speechless, everything she did was related to those few days of watching cartoons. Honestly, when the little rascal dragged him to watch cartoons, dragging him to explain and explain, he was pleasantly surprised to find that his daughter was really smart, she could quickly understand and remember almost everything he explained, and even discuss it with him later… At that time, he even thought his daughter might be a little prodigy. Now it seemed more like she was a little neurotic…

    Wei Maomao, facing his complaints, didn’t bother arguing with the kind NPC and just chuckled.

    Actually, when the little chubby dumpling was well-behaved, not causing trouble or talking, her tilted head, squinted eyes, and little dimples were really… incredibly cute!

    Wei Chengli couldn’t help but pick her up and bounce her a little.

    However, once the host announced the official start of the relay race, and they found the first task location, “6 food”, and listened to the task description, Wei Chengli no longer found the stinky dumpling cute.

    The task at the “Food” stage was somewhat similar to last night’s “Guess the Dad by Dish” game. However, there were twelve dishes last night, while today, there was a whole table filled with at least a hundred small plates.

    In this stage, the baby’s task was to randomly choose a plate, they could only look, not taste. Then they had to carry one plate at a time, as quickly as possible, from the inner room to the blindfolded dad in the courtyard outside.

    The baby would earn one Baby Coin for every thirty plates delivered.

    As for the dad, not only did he have to eat the food on the plate, but he also had to guess what it was in one try. Correct guesses earned him a point, incorrect guesses earned him nothing, just free food. He had to earn thirty points to successfully complete the task.

    Only after both the baby and the dad completed their respective tasks would they receive the stamp for this stage.

    “You! Tell me, what was the first number on our original map!” Wei Chengli, looking at the table in the distance overflowing with plates, pinched the little chubby dumpling’s cheeks.

    Wei Maomao held up three fingers.

    Wei Chengli did the math and spanked her lightly. “So we were supposed to reach the ‘Food’ stage at the fourth stage, thank you very much, I just ate two bowls of rice for lunch! You could have let me rest before eating again!”

    “Daddy, stop talking, quickly put on the blindfold!” Wei Maomao, clutching her bottom, said seriously. “I’m going to choose the dishes.”

    Honestly, Wei Maomao thought this task was quite simple. Not for the sake of her conscience, but to get through this stage quickly, she would choose carefully. If they were lucky, Wei Chengli would only need to eat thirty mouthfuls, and they could move on to the next stage.

    Wei Chengli had no idea what Wei Maomao was thinking. In his mind, a three-year-old would randomly choose blindly, not to mention how many plates he would have to eat, he didn’t even know what he would end up eating. If the program team set up traps, there was no way to avoid the terrifying dishes!

    Speaking of which…

    He had just spanked this little rascal! How come she wasn’t angry at all, and was still seriously talking about the task…

    Wei Chengli narrowed his eyes, spanked her again, and said petulantly, “I’m not eating, I want to rest!”

    From the moment he decided to spank her again, Wei Chengli was on high alert. However, it was all for naught.

    The little rascal didn’t cry or make a fuss, instead, she patted his shoulder like a wise old man.

    “Daddy, eat.” Wei Maomao persuaded patiently. “I think the plates are very small.”

    “I don’t want to.” Wei Chengli turned his head away. If he was still curious and testing the waters before, now he was certain. This little one, exchanging maps, rushing the task, and even holding back her temper, was all to catch up with the Cheng family’s progress!

    Was he here to enhance their parent-child relationship and make friends?

    He was here to enhance the dumpling’s friendship with others, and make enemies for himself!

    Wei Chengli was about to throw a tantrum.

    “Daddy.” Wei Maomao cupped Wei Chengli’s face with her hand and said patiently, “I’ll choose delicious plates for you.”

    Wei Chengli chuckled. “Do you even know what’s delicious?”

    “I don’t know.” Wei Maomao smiled sweetly. “But I can tell what’s not delicious, those that look bad will probably taste bad, right?”

    Wei Chengli: “… “ Why did he sense a hint of threat in her words, as if she was saying “comply now or face the consequences”?

    “Daddy, I want to go protect Yan Yan, let’s eat now, okay?” Wei Maomao pouted, putting on a pitiful act.

    After the tough act, of course, came the soft act. Wei Maomao felt that the conversation at lunch had made some progress, at least she could say these things in front of Wei Chengli now.

    Wei Chengli: “Eat…”

    Forget it, why bother arguing with a three-year-old?

    Wei Chengli would never admit that he really didn’t want to eat the disgusting things the stinky dumpling carefully selected for him. Nor would he admit that, after being persuaded by her, he actually wanted to see what was going on with Cheng Tingyan.

    But as he was putting on the blindfold, Wei Chengli still held onto the little chubby dumpling’s paw and reminded her uneasily, “Smell them first, choose the fragrant ones, don’t bring the stinky ones.”

    A three-year-old’s legs were truly short.

    Even though the plates were placed on a low table, with over a hundred plates, Wei Maomao had to circle around, looking and choosing, then running back and forth.

    One trip after another, to save time, Wei Maomao ran so much that she was out of breath.

    As the saying goes, “Treat others how you want to be treated.”

    Since Wei Chengli was willing to cooperate, Wei Maomao would definitely choose some delicious and easy-to-guess items for him.

    So Wei Chengli smoothly guessed milk, yogurt, soy milk, whipped cream, marshmallows, white radish…

    As he ate, Wei Chengli couldn’t help but praise the program team for being kind. They were all simple, edible things, each plate with only a mouthful, it wasn’t difficult to eat.

    In a blink of an eye, he had finished thirty items, Wei Chengli hadn’t missed a single guess. The moment he took off the blindfold, he felt like he was the best!

    “Let’s go, Daddy.” Wei Maomao took the map stamped with the first seal from the staff and pulled Wei Chengli along.

    It was frustrating that her legs were short, thirty round trips took too long, she didn’t know if Yan Yan was still at the first task location.

    “Wait, I want to go in and have a look.” Wei Chengli turned to the staff. “We completed the task, can I go in and have a look?”

    After getting the staff’s approval, Wei Chengli scooped up the impatient little dumpling and reassured her as they walked inside. “We completed the task quickly, Yan Yan and the others must still be doing that task. I’ll just have a quick look, see what I haven’t eaten, be right back, quickly!”

    He said a quick look, just a glance, but that glance wouldn’t be quick.

    As soon as Wei Chengli entered the room, an indescribable smell hit his face. He looked closely…

    Good heavens…

    There were two large low round tables, accessible even to three-year-olds, one of which a staff member was refilling. It seemed this task location could accommodate two families simultaneously.

    That wasn’t important, what was important was…

    On those two tables, the outermost ring, closest to the edge and easiest to reach, every few plates, there was a dish with insects, seemingly fried, looking crispy and fragrant.

    Wei Chengli, recalling his words to the little dumpling before she went in, “Smell them first, choose the fragrant ones, don’t bring the stinky ones,” couldn’t help but shiver.

    The program team was anything but kind. Besides the various fried insects, there was stinky tofu, fermented tofu, natto, amaranth stems, cheese, slimy-looking, probably spoiled fish… plates of wasabi, various hot sauces, vinegar… all arranged in the outermost ring, the most accessible area for the babies. The more normal items were all in the inner circles, the babies with short arms would have to ask the staff for help.

    He understood, the highlight of this task wasn’t the dads guessing the dishes, but the dads eating the dishes… As expected, variety show producers had a twisted sense of humor.

    “Mao…” Wei Chengli felt a chill down his spine and hugged the soft, warm source in his arms tightly. “How are you so smart, Daddy survived thanks to you! Why didn’t you bring any of those…”

    “Bugs, stinky…” Wei Maomao waved her chubby paws in the air, then said, “I chose all the white ones, the white ones looked delicious. Were they delicious, Daddy?” Let’s go quickly, okay!

    “Delicious!” Wei Chengli held her tighter. “My baby still loves me.”

    Wei Maomao: … Not really, just finding an excuse to give you something you wouldn’t resist and could eat quickly.

    Returning the favor, Wei Chengli, transformed from a bully into a survivor, quickly walked towards the second task location, carrying the little dumpling.

    The second task location was also at a house.

    Wei Chengli glanced at the “Housing” sign at the door and pushed it open.

    The courtyard was empty, with two large wooden boards erected in the middle, and only a few staff members scattered around.

    No… Yan Yan…

  • Back to Three Years Old: Crushing Scumbags on a Parenting Reality Show 44 p2

    Chapter 44 p2

    Cheng Tingyan didn’t dare to listen anymore, that sweet and persistent voice would make her weak, but as Maomao’s dad said, it would all end eventually.

    Eating too much candy would make the bitterness even more bitter.

    Her survival instincts told her she couldn’t listen anymore, but just as she quietly retreated a few steps, she heard the little chubby bunny inside mention her dad.

    Then a strange “Mmm mmm…” sound?

    Cheng Tingyan stopped retreating.

    In the next second, a loud crash came from the room.

    Cheng Tingyan ran towards the door without hesitation.

    But the person and the pig who had been listening attentively at the door were even faster.

    With the piglet’s efforts, the bedroom door, which had only been slightly ajar, was flung open. Before Cheng Tingyan could even enter, she could see everything inside clearly.

    The overturned stool, Maomao’s dad jumping in anger, the piglet nudging his other foot, and…

    “Uncle Wei, put Maomao down.” Cheng Tingyan hurriedly stepped forward, standing on tiptoe to support the little chubby bunny’s struggling feet.

    “… “ Wei Chengli shooed the pig away with his foot, placed the little chubby dumpling he was holding onto the table, and released the hand covering her mouth.

    “Are you okay?” Cheng Tingyan climbed onto another stool, pulling down Wei Maomao’s collar slightly to check her neck.

    “She’s fine, I was holding onto the back of her clothes.” Wei Chengli explained awkwardly. “She lost her balance, the stool flipped over, I didn’t have time to catch her, so I grabbed the back of her clothes. If I hadn’t, she would have fallen.”

    “It’s because you covered my mouth that I lost my balance.” Wei Maomao, who had been suspended in the air for a while, said angrily.

    “It’s because you…” Wei Chengli was so agitated that he almost repeated Wei Maomao’s words, but he swallowed them back when he met Cheng Tingyan’s gaze, saying dejectedly, “Forget it…”

    “Daddy, why did you cover my mouth, was it because I said Yan Yan’s dad is very, very bad?” Finally able to continue this topic, Wei Maomao wouldn’t let it go.

    “No, it’s because you’re very, very bad…” Wei Chengli leaned against the table weakly. “Did you just ignore everything Daddy said earlier?”

    “I’m not bad.” Wei Maomao insisted, tilting her head. “Daddy, why didn’t you ask me why Yan Yan’s dad is bad!”

    Wei Chengli rubbed his temples: “… “ Daddy, seeing how fiercely you react to even a spark, didn’t dare to ask!

    “Yan Yan doesn’t eat mushrooms, Yan Yan’s dad makes her eat mushrooms every day, do you think he’s bad or not?” Wei Maomao broke the silence with a loud voice.

    After saying that, Wei Maomao cautiously glanced at Cheng Tingyan. Seeing that she didn’t react negatively, she breathed a small sigh of relief. Okay, as expected, as long as she scored points quickly enough, she would have the opportunity to say a few more things without being alienated.

    Wei Chengli straightened up and looked at Cheng Tingyan. “Is that true?”

    Cheng Tingyan didn’t answer.

    “Maomao?” Wei Chengli looked at Wei Maomao.

    “I’m not lying.” Wei Maomao sat down at the table, emphasizing her point.

    “Yes.” Cheng Tingyan didn’t want Wei Chengli to misunderstand the little chubby bunny, so she spoke up reluctantly.

    She didn’t know why, but some things she could easily say to the little chubby bunny, but with anyone else… it was difficult.

    “Did he make you eat mushrooms today?” Wei Chengli asked again with a serious expression.

    “Not yet, but I’ll eat them tonight! She came to eat your noodles this morning, her family made braised pork with tofu and dried bean curd sheet and egg soup for lunch, no mushrooms. Right, Yan Yan?” Wei Maomao answered casually.

    Her response was met with silence.

    Wei Maomao, sitting at the table, leaned forward, looking at Cheng Tingyan, who was silent and avoiding her gaze, and asked hesitantly, “Was I wrong?”

    “He put, shiitake mushrooms.” Cheng Tingyan didn’t want to lie to the little chubby bunny.

    Damn it! Wei Maomao almost cursed out loud.

    Wei Chengli pushed the little dumpling, who was about to climb down from the table, back onto the surface, walked over to Cheng Tingyan, squatted down, and carefully examined her face, parting her hair to check her ears and neck. He then held her wrist, examining both her hands and arms, and finally asked her to lift her legs.

    “It’s okay, no rashes. Do you feel any discomfort? Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, itchy eyes… difficulty breathing?” Wei Chengli asked meticulously.

    Cheng Tingyan obediently cooperated with the examination, shaking her head in confusion.

    “Then it’s not food… “ Wei Chengli breathed a sigh of relief.

    But just as he relaxed, before he could finish his sentence, his mind went blank.

    “Maomao! Next time you say someone doesn’t “eat” something, can you add the word ‘like’!” Wei Chengli gritted his teeth, grabbing the little dumpling from the table, pinching her cheeks. “Ow! You little rascal!” 

    Wei Maomao: ???

    But Wei Maomao had no idea what Wei Chengli was thinking.

    Thanks to her, although Wei Chengli wouldn’t admit it, Cheng Feiying’s image in his mind was truly awful.

    Earlier, after Wei Maomao had said “bad” several times, then mentioned that Cheng Feiying made Cheng Tingyan eat things she didn’t like every day, Wei Chengli’s already exhausted brain… went a bit too far with its assumptions.

    Thinking back now, Wei Chengli felt like he had lost his mind, how could he have mistaken it for a food allergy… If it was an allergy, why would he make it every day, wouldn’t it be disastrous after just one meal?!

    “It’s all your fault!” Wei Chengli pinched her chubby cheeks repeatedly in frustration.

    Wei Maomao: ???

    Wei Maomao, caught in the midst of it all, hadn’t reacted yet, but the viewers in the live broadcast room clearly witnessed how Wei Chengli’s expression switched between seriousness and exasperated anger.

    “Hahaha, did Director Wei just want to say ‘food poisoning’? Although he’s telling Maomao not to focus on people’s bad points, so this is how he views Cheng Feiying in his heart, help…”

    “Someone save Director Wei! It’s not ‘food poisoning’! Based on his observation of Yan Yan and the questions he asked, I think he suspected ‘food allergy.’”

    “Honestly, ‘food poisoning’ and ‘food allergy’ aren’t that different. As a director, his imagination runs wild, my toes have already dug a 2000 square meter mansion for Director Wei!”

    “Hahaha, no wonder Director Wei is pinching Maomao’s face, a perfectly good person, completely misled by the chubby bunny.”

    “Thank goodness they can’t see the live broadcast, otherwise, Cheng Feiying would already be on his way to beat them up.”

    “Director Wei definitely wants to delete this segment, unfortunately, he’s not the director here, hehe…”

    “Hahaha, Director Wei keeps telling Maomao, ‘I don’t believe what you’re saying, you have to listen to me,’ but deep down he’s thinking, ‘My baby is right, they’re all bad guys!’”

    “What is this ‘Tutu’ they’re talking about, is it ‘Tutu Adventures’? Has anyone figured out which cartoon it is! Is this generation of netizens even trying!”

    “Hahaha, I’m dying of laughter, we really can’t find it, I found so many weird ‘Rabbit Adventures,’ but they all seem wrong.”

    “I support CEO Mao taking Yan Yan home! If CEO Mao doesn’t have enough money, we can crowd-fund to raise Yan Yan.”

    “Speaking of, when Director Wei said he would give Maomao the money she earned from the show, he was being serious, right? I’m taking it seriously, from now on, I’m going to keep both of Maomao’s live streams open, and click on the ads in her live streams whenever I have time! Our Yan Yan’s three meals a day, hot water, and warm food, all depend on CEO Mao’s earnings!”

    “It’s a live broadcast, Director Wei has to keep his word. I also have to praise our little CEO Shen, otherwise, Maomao wouldn’t even know she could earn money from being on the show, hahaha.”

    “Speaking of, I read in the gossip news that Cheng Tingyan and Cheng Rongrong don’t have the same mother, right? Yan Yan’s mother is still alive, right? Doesn’t she watch the live broadcast?”

    …

    Wei Maomao’s face was pinched repeatedly by Wei Chengli. It wasn’t until Wen Xixi came to her rescue that she escaped her father’s wrath, her face red with anger.

    Wei Chengli calmed down a bit, squatted down, and confirmed with Cheng Tingyan, “Yan Yan, so you don’t like eating mushrooms, is that right? You don’t like any kind of mushroom? Shiitake, oyster, enoki, lion’s mane, king oyster, button, straw…”

    “I don’t like any of them…” Cheng Tingyan softly interrupted Wei Chengli’s attempt to list all the mushroom names.

    “Then does your dad know you don’t like mushrooms?” Wei Chengli asked again.

    Cheng Tingyan hesitated for a long time, but the person in front of her remained motionless, waiting patiently. Finally, she shook her head. “I don’t know, if he knows.”

    “… “ Wei Chengli was speechless. “Then if you don’t like them, tell your dad, if you tell him, he won’t make them… um, he won’t make them every day?”

    Wei Chengli didn’t know why, but he suddenly didn’t dare to sound so certain.

    Oh, it was all because of the little rascal.

    Wei Chengli reached out, and Wei Maomao dodged him alertly.

    Cheng Tingyan remained silent.

    “Do you want to tell your dad?” Wei Maomao ran back and gently tugged on Cheng Tingyan’s hand.

    If she had a choice, Wei Maomao wouldn’t want to make things difficult for Cheng Tingyan. But Cheng Tingyan was the victim, some topics couldn’t be avoided, whether it was silence, hesitation, conflicted feelings, or a few broken words, it was all her way of expressing herself. Without her, everything they said would be mere speculation, powerless.

    Cheng Tingyan shook her head.

    Wei Chengli didn’t understand. “Why won’t you tell him?”

    “I…” Cheng Tingyan tightened her grip on the warm little chubby paw in her hand. “I don’t think, it’s useful.”

    Cheng Tingyan actually felt that Cheng Feiying probably knew she didn’t like mushrooms, it was an inexplicable feeling.

    He seemed to be deliberately making them, waiting for her to say something.

    She didn’t want to say anything, didn’t want to ask… It was her silent rebellion.

    “Don’t think that way. Even dads aren’t all-knowing, you have to tell him, so he’ll know.” Wei Chengli entered his patient persuasion mode again.

    Cheng Tingyan pursed her lips tightly, expressing her refusal with her attitude.

    “Daddy! I’ll tell him!” Wei Maomao volunteered. As long as Yan Yan revealed the key information and her attitude, she would handle the rest.

    “… “ Wei Chengli glanced at the eagerness on the little dumpling’s face, scoffed, and said dismissively, “Alright, alright, you go, you go, you’re the most talkative one.”

    “Daddy, you told me to stop talking, then told me to talk. So, I was right!” Wei Maomao knew how to push her luck after gaining an inch.

    Wei Chengli laughed in exasperation.

    Stinky dumpling!

    Ignoring his smug little daughter, Wei Chengli turned to Cheng Tingyan. “Then Yan Yan, did you eat enough at lunch? Do you want to eat something here? We have minced meat with tofu, stir-fried dried bean curd sheets with pork, and I can make some more scallion oil noodles from this morning.”

    Cheng Tingyan shook her head gently. “No need, thank you, Uncle Wei, I’m full.”

    Full after eating mushrooms she didn’t like… Really… Wei Chengli couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

    “Do you guys want to take a nap?” Wei Chengli glanced around. “Where’s Wen Jiangyue?”

    Wen Dongyu pointed outside. “Outside.”

    “I’ll go check on her.” Wei Chengli pointed at the beds. “These two beds, think about whether you want to take a nap, if you do, boys on the left bed, girls on the right.”

    With that, Wei Chengli glared at the smug little chubby one and left.

    When he reached the courtyard, he saw Wen Jiangyue sitting upright on the deck chair, reading a book.

    Wei Chengli couldn’t help but sigh softly.

    Look at this child, so well-behaved.

    Speaking of, the families participating in this show this time really… coupled with his own…

    Wei Chengli now felt that he had no hope of making friends on the show, he just hoped that after filming, he wouldn’t have too many enemies.

    Little Yueyue was the best, well-behaved and obedient, her dad was normal too, wouldn’t it be harmonious if everyone was like that!

    “Yueyue, are you tired? Do you want to take a nap? What are you reading?” Wei Chengli walked over to the deck chair and asked gently.

    “Uncle Wei, I’m reading the Song dynasty poem Dad asked me to memorize today, how do you read this character?” Wen Jiangyue held up the thick, self-printed book, pointing to a character. “Listening to the wind, listening to the rain past Qingming, mournful grass, what flower inscription?”

    Wei Chengli looked at the character “瘗”* that Wen Jiangyue was pointing at…

    Now he needed an excuse to borrow a phone and search it on Baidu… Urgent!

    He was wrong, there were no normal dads, not a single one!

    Help! He wanted to go home!

    ***

    T/N:

    瘗(yì): bury / sacrifice

  • Back to Three Years Old: Crushing Scumbags on a Parenting Reality Show 44 p1

    Chapter 44 p1

    Wei Chengli dragged the little rascal into the bedroom. As he pushed the door closed, he heard light footsteps trailing behind. He hesitated, loosening his grip slightly, and ultimately didn’t fully shut the door, leaving a small gap.

    After all, what he was about to say would be broadcast live by the cameras in the room anyway, it might as well let Yan Yan hear it too.

    “Baby.” Wei Chengli lifted the little rascal and placed her on a chair, making her stand. “Let me apologize first. At home, I neglected the fact that you’re only three years old. When watching cartoons with you, I over-interpreted… I mean, I talked to you about many things and used vocabulary that adults find complex.”

    Wei Maomao slightly tilted her head, entering her ignore-everything mode.

    Wei Chengli reached out and turned the little rascal’s face back to face him directly, saying patiently, “Those words and phrases themselves are not problematic. The problem is, you’re only three years old, you haven’t experienced, seen, or learned enough, you can’t properly use those words that I shouldn’t have said and you shouldn’t have remembered.”

    Wei Maomao frowned, pursing her lips.

    Wei Chengli quickly placed his finger vertically on her lips to prevent being interrupted, then quickly continued, “Let’s not talk about whether you’re right or wrong. I’m just asking, you like Yan Yan so much, you became friends with her, then you go and upset her dad and sister, making them unhappy, how does this benefit Yan Yan?”

    Wei Maomao pushed away the finger on her lips, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, but didn’t speak right away. She felt Wei Chengli’s words were starting to make sense.

    Wei Chengli didn’t really need a response and continued, “Look, you’re just Yan Yan’s friend. You’re having fun together filming this show, but after filming, don’t you both have to go back to your own homes? Although our families live in the same city, the city is so big, you’re both little babies, in the future, even if you want to see each other, won’t you need our consent as parents, and someone to drive you? You made her dad angry just now, and made her sister sad earlier, will they still like you? Will they be willing to go through so much trouble to make time and effort for you to meet?”

    “… “ Wei Maomao didn’t need Cheng Feiying and Cheng Rongrong’s approval. As long as she could collect enough evidence of their bad behavior on the show, she would have something to show Cheng Tingyan’s mother later. Then she could get custody and not have to deal with those people anymore.

    The little chubby dumpling pursed her lips tightly, lowering her head silently, looking a bit pitiful. Wei Chengli secretly pinched his arm hard to stop himself from giving in.

    “And, regardless of whether you can see each other in the future, you like Yan Yan, so you must want her to have a good life, right? But look, Yan Yan is only six years old, she can’t take care of herself yet. Not to mention anything else, just her three meals a day, hot water, and warm food, she needs her parents to provide and care for her, right? Living at home, she has to see and play with her sister every day, right? They’re the family she sees and relies on every day, right? You like Yan Yan, so you should hope that she gets along well with them, right? Like earlier, Rongrong came over, seemingly wanting to reconcile with Yan Yan, and you made her cry, that wasn’t good, was it?” Wei Chengli continued patiently, trying to persuade her with reason.

    “Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!” Wei Maomao stubbornly raised her head.

    Wei Chengli had anticipated this reaction. He patted the little chubby dumpling’s soft head and said gently, “I know you feel that Uncle Cheng and Rongrong, sometimes the things they say, make you feel that… um… perhaps they’re not particularly attentive to Yan Yan’s feelings. But many families are like that, it’s not that they don’t love their children, not that they don’t love each other, it’s just that sometimes, they think children don’t understand anything yet, and they’re used to making decisions and controlling things. But, that’s just each family, their own… um, their own situation. Daddy is not saying you’re wrong, or that everything you said is wrong, but, it’s useless, you know, Baby? You’re only three years old, you’re just a friend of a six-year-old in that family, no matter how much you say, you can’t change anything.”

    There were some things that Wei Chengli knew he should have said more tactfully, more diplomatically, more morally upright, especially during a live broadcast. But he also knew that those words wouldn’t convince this stubborn little rascal. He felt he had already spoken from the bottom of his heart, to the point that Cheng Feiying, if he saw this, would probably call him and scold him before blocking his number. He could only hope that the little rascal would understand his good intentions.

    Putting aside Wei Maomao’s reaction for now, the viewers in the live broadcast room were truly moved.

    “Our CEO Mao is always right! But Director Wei… what he said also makes sense.”

    “Sigh, no matter how mighty our CEO Mao is, she’s just a three-year-old baby. After they go home, she won’t be able to protect Yan Yan anymore, she might not even be able to see her.”

    “Director Wei is right, regardless of whether Cheng Feiying and Cheng Rongrong are attentive to Yan Yan’s feelings, she still has to go home. She still needs them to survive… Why bother arguing with them now, won’t it all fall back on Yan Yan after the show ends?”

    “Yes, Director Wei has made it very clear, he’s practically grabbing Maomao’s ears and shouting, ‘Do you want Yan Yan to get beaten after going home?!”

    “Director Wei is really daring, his attitude is so obvious…”

    “Tsk, although Director Wei is playing in the mud, it feels like he’s playing in some very hardcore mud…”

    “It’s true, once the door closes, what happens inside becomes a family matter, unless something major happens, who can see what’s going on? If it weren’t for this show, would we know that Cheng Feiying makes Yan Yan eat mushrooms she doesn’t like every day? Would we know that Yan Yan eats expired snacks and compressed biscuits? Would we know the difference between thirty yuan and two million yuan? Honestly, even now that we’ve seen it and know about it, it’s still a family matter, we can complain all we want, but in the end, it’s none of our business, heh.”

    “Family matters are always the hardest to deal with in this world. You know, nearly thirty percent of violent crimes in China occur within families.”

    “Cheng Feiying is just swapping houses and making her eat mushrooms, that doesn’t count as domestic violence, right…”

    “I think we shouldn’t have such a narrow understanding of violence, isn’t emotional abuse also a form of violence?”

    “He’s just not paying enough attention to Yan Yan. But even if Cheng Feiying sees our anger after the show ends, optimistically speaking, he might realize his mistake. Even better, he might apologize and promise to change. But once the door is closed, who knows what will happen behind it?”

    “Right, after all, they’re a family. I often see comments saying that Yan Yan, Dongdong, and Zhizhi are so pitiful, we should click on their live streams more, give them more traffic and advertising revenue. But I always want to say, what’s the use? Once the door is closed, it’s still those dads you hate who get the money…”

    “That’s true, sigh, our CEO Mao, at such a young age, she really doesn’t understand the complexities, she probably thinks winning every argument means protecting Yan Yan.”

    “Sigh, Director Wei truly… is giving our precious bunny a cruel dose of reality.”

    …

    Cruel? It was indeed cruel.

    A dose of reality? Not at all~~

    “I can, I can change things.” Wei Maomao retorted with a determined look, hands on her hips.

    This conversation today was different from his previous simple request for her to stop saying “My daddy said.” Wei Maomao could sense the change in Wei Chengli’s stance, he was educating her, he was also acknowledging Cheng Feiying’s wrongdoings.

    Limited by her three-year-old body, all Wei Maomao could use was the “My daddy said…” she had painstakingly gathered through staying up late and interrogating her father. She really needed a kind adult NPC to step in and do more. Initially, Wei Chengli was naturally the closest and most convenient one to use. But when the program team sent over the list and introductions of the other families, and Wei Chengli actually believed the slander against Yan Yan on that piece of paper, Wei Maomao began to doubt his usefulness.

    But after being on the show, it turned out… he was the best of the worst.

    Since Wei Chengli was willing to take the initiative today, then she wouldn’t hold back.

    Wei Chengli was amused by the little chubby dumpling’s determined “I can.”

    “What can you do?” Wei Chengli reached out and pinched her chubby cheeks. “You’re just a little rascal who upsets people with ‘My daddy said.’ Think carefully about what Daddy told you, shouldn’t you be nicer to Uncle Cheng and Rongrong in the future?”

    “I shouldn’t.” Wei Maomao immediately replied, grabbing Wei Chengli’s sleeve. “Daddy, let’s take Yan Yan home. I’ll take care of her three meals a day, all with warm food!”

    “Pfft…” Wei Chengli laughed, removing her little chubby paw from his sleeve. “I thought you were capable of something great. After thinking for so long, that’s what you came up with? Taking someone else’s child home, just like that? What are you thinking… Besides, can you even reach the stove? Taking care of her three meals, even your own food is made by me!”

    “I can buy it!” Wei Maomao tugged on Wei Chengli’s sleeve again. “I’ll buy Yan Yan’s meals.”

    “With what? Baby Coins?” Wei Chengli rubbed her chubby cheeks. “My dear, be realistic, okay? How about playing with Yan Yan and Rongrong later, children have short memories, after playing for a while, Rongrong will…”

    “I’ll buy it with real money!” Wei Maomao pressed her hand on Wei Chengli’s face. “I won’t play with Rongrong who bullies Daddy.”

    “You even know about real money? Where did you get your money?” Wei Chengli removed her little chubby paw, laughing in exasperation. “Stop messing around, I don’t believe you really think Rongrong bullied me, don’t make excuses. And why do you have to press your hand on my face every time you say that…” As if performing some strange ritual or declaration.

    She had been waiting for this!

    Wei Maomao puffed out her chest, saying righteously, “Shen Zilin said that when we came to this show, the babies also have our own money. I’ll use that money to take care of Yan Yan.”

    Wei Chengli: “…”

    “Daddy.” Wei Maomao tilted her head slightly, giving Wei Chengli a look of disdain. “You said girls have to protect their own property, you’ll give me my money, right?”

    “What’s with that look!” Wei Chengli pinched her chubby cheeks, exasperated. “Alright, alright, you do have money, but you can’t use it like that. Yan Yan has her own home, stop thinking about taking her away, that’s weird.”

    “Daddy, I’ll ask you another question. When the earthen rabbit left home, Rabbit Daddy didn’t want to return all the money the earthen rabbit had saved with him.” Wei Maomao shook her head, freeing herself from her father’s pinching hand, and said seriously, “Daddy, in the future, if I want to use my money to take care of Yan Yan, will you give me the money?”

    “Baby, can you follow my train of thought, is it possible that Yan Yan can live well in her own home? And as long as you don’t… um, just don’t always use ‘My daddy said,’ you’ll have a chance to see Yan Yan again in the future.” Wei Chengli said helplessly.

    “Daddy, will you give it to me?” Wei Maomao cupped Wei Chengli’s face with both hands, staring at him intently.

    Her chubby face was serious, her bright eyes wide open…

    Looking at his reflection in those serious eyes, Wei Chengli gradually stopped smiling.

    Why, why was she so serious?

    “Baby…” Wei Chengli said softly, “If you have a legitimate reason, I mean, if you need money for something right, your mom and I will of course give you the money.”

    Wei Maomao shook her head. “Will you give me, my money?”

    “Yes, yes, yes.” Wei Chengli patted her head. “Then use your own property, no need for your mom and my money, alright?”

    Wei Maomao smiled with satisfaction.

    The medical expenses, secured.

    “Daddy, Daddy, you’re such a good dad.” Wei Maomao clutched her chest, pleased with her progress.

    “Cut it out.” Wei Chengli scoffed. “I advise you not to daydream, even if you have money, Yan Yan won’t come home with us. Just keep an eye on her, don’t dwell on the unpleasant things. Look at Yan Yan’s dad, his cooking is so much better than mine…”

    “Daddy.” Wei Maomao interrupted Wei Chengli’s praise. Since he brought it up, she might as well add fuel to the fire. “You don’t know, Yan Yan’s dad is very, very bad… He… Mmm mmm…”

    “Shh.” Wei Chengli covered the little dumpling’s mouth, glancing at the slightly open door.

    He wanted Maomao and Yan Yan to face reality, that was true, but there was no need to be so blunt, was there? Cheng Feiying was Yan Yan’s dad after all, his daughter was probably squatting outside, it was too impolite to say such things about him right here.

    Wei Chengli held the struggling dumpling, his eyes fixed on the gap in the door, thinking about how to appease her. Too many things piled up, and trouble inevitably followed.

    Speaking of Cheng Tingyan, earlier in the courtyard, seeing Maomao’s dad come out with a serious expression, grab the little chubby bunny, and leave, she was quite worried and couldn’t help but follow them. She hadn’t intended to eavesdrop, but when she looked back, her retreat was blocked by a person and a pig… If it was just that, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but the key was, Wen Dongyu said, “Will Boss be okay…?” How should she put it, Cheng Tingyan was glued to the door, her face red, unable to move.

    The two people inside didn’t lower their voices, and the door wasn’t far from them. Cheng Tingyan could clearly hear their conversation.

    At first, the inevitable separation and the thought of returning home weighed heavily on Cheng Tingyan, almost suffocating her. Even if it was a beautiful dream, it shouldn’t end before it even truly began… But that was Maomao’s dad, what he said was also right, they… should be obedient.

    Although she hadn’t lived for many years, Cheng Tingyan was already accustomed to accepting her fate.

    Just as she was about to accept reality and leave, Cheng Tingyan heard Maomao say she wanted to take care of her.

    It was like honey in a dream, a ridiculous impossibility, yet she couldn’t help but secretly savor it in her heart.

    Cheng Tingyan knew that Maomao was different, she couldn’t explain why, she had felt it from the moment they met yesterday morning. Now, the facts confirmed her feelings, the little chubby bunny was truly different from everyone else.

    It was good.

    This was enough.

  • Back to Three Years Old: Crushing Scumbags on a Parenting Reality Show 43

    Chapter 43

    Getting onto the table was slow, but getting off was lightning fast.

    Wei Chengli’s outstretched hand of friendship barely served as a safety measure. Within two seconds, Wen Dongyu was already standing on the ground.

    “I’m sorry, Uncle Wei… I don’t eat pork.” Wen Dongyu fidgeted with his fingers, embarrassed.

    “Oh, you don’t eat pork, what’s there to be sorry about?” Wei Chengli looked at the minced pork with tofu and the stir-fried dried bean curd sheets with pork on the table, coughing awkwardly. “Should I cook some noodles for you? My scallion oil noodles this morning turned out alright.”

    “No need to trouble you, Uncle Wei, I’ll eat the bun… Eh, where’s my bun?” Wen Dongyu looked at his empty hands, patted his empty pockets, confused.

    “That half of a red bean bun you were holding earlier? Didn’t the pig bite it? I took it, I casually…” Wei Chengli vaguely gestured towards the piglet squatting on the ground. As he gestured, he suddenly realized something and turned to Wen Dongyu in surprise. “How come you don’t eat pork? You ate it yesterday, didn’t you? Your dad said he made you steamed eggs with minced pork yesterday for lunch, it was delicious, he even taught me how to make it.”

    “I’m starting today, no more pork.” Wen Dongyu lowered his head, rubbing his toes together. “Xixi is also a pig, I can’t eat pork.”

    Wei Chengli understood. He was silent for a moment, then patted Wen Dongyu’s head and said gently, “Then I’ll make you some scallion oil noodles, it’ll be quick.”

    “This is my pig, why aren’t you eating pork?” Wei Maomao scooped a big spoonful of minced meat with tofu and rice into her mouth, chewing. “Delicious.”

    “Don’t talk with your mouth full, you eat first, we’ll be there soon.” Wei Chengli gently poked the little chubby dumpling’s puffed cheeks, quickly retracting his hand before she could swat him away. He then turned to Wen Dongyu. “Come on, our little Dongdong, come watch Uncle Wei make noodles, okay? I’ll add an egg for you, it’s delicious. Maomao ate a big bowl this morning.”

    With that, Wei Chengli didn’t wait for Wen Dongyu’s answer, pulling him towards the stove.

    Wei Maomao poked the tofu with rice in her bowl, thinking listlessly, that big bowl this morning wasn’t eaten by her.

    Speaking of which, Wei Chengli took Wen Dongyu to the stove, rekindled the fire, filled a pot with water, and while waiting for the water to boil, he dipped his finger in the water spilled on the countertop and squatted down next to Wen Dongyu, who had been very quiet.

    “Dongdong, look, the ‘Mao’ character in Wei Maomao’s name, it’s written like this.” Wei Chengli wrote the character “Mao” on the ground with water, then lowered his voice and continued, “This ‘Mao’ character, it also refers to the rabbit in the Chinese zodiac. When we named Maomao, her mom and I didn’t really make any agreement, but we both suddenly didn’t want to eat rabbit anymore. This not eating rabbit thing lasted until Maomao was born, maybe until she was around two years old? Once, I went out to eat with friends, there were many dishes, and I didn’t pay attention, hahaha, I ended up eating stir-fried rabbit, only realizing it after I had taken a bite. Well, I ate it, and it was actually quite delicious, I didn’t feel particularly uncomfortable. After that, I didn’t avoid dishes with rabbit anymore. After all, Maomao and rabbits are completely different. Do you understand what I mean? Sometimes, people might strongly dislike eating certain things because of some events, that’s okay, if you don’t want to eat it, you can temporarily avoid it. But, sometimes, we don’t have to be so strict with ourselves, look, life is so long, you’re still so young, you don’t have to decide to stop eating something starting today. If you feel uncomfortable eating it today, then don’t eat it. Maybe after a while, you’ll feel fine about it again, then you can eat it if you want to. After all, that… um, Xixi? It’s also different from the meat in dishes, right? They are all independent beings. Do you understand?”

    Wei Chengli could sense that Wen Dongyu today was very different from the cheerful and silly one from yesterday. He hoped that his personal experience could offer some comfort to this unhappy child. But he was also afraid of sounding preachy, so he kept his head down, earnestly explaining while pointing at the “Mao” character on the ground. He spoke for so long that the water strokes almost dried up before finally looking up at Wen Dongyu.

    He was stunned by what he saw. The child was staring at him with wide eyes, his small fists clenched protectively in front of him, leaning back defensively as if to distance himself. What was with this frightened look?

    “Dongdong, are you okay?” Wei Chengli reached out to pat the child’s head.

    “I…” Wen Dongyu stumbled back two steps, his back hitting the large water jar with a thud. “Rabbits… Rabbits are so cute… you eat rabbits!”

    After uttering those trembling words, Wen Dongyu ran towards Wei Maomao at the table. “Boss, Boss, your dad eats rabbits! So scary!”

    Wei Chengli: “… “ He didn’t even have time to tell him to keep it a secret from Maomao, this silly kid.

    The silly child missed the point, leaving Wei Chengli speechless and slumped on the ground, while the viewers in the live broadcast room were deeply touched.

    Why? Because of the contrast.

    “Wow, even though Director Wei’s cooking is terrible, he’s actually quite a good person. Earlier, when Wen Dongyu told Wen Xiang he didn’t want to eat pork, Wen Xiang wasn’t as patient.”

    “I can understand Wen Xiang’s reaction too. After painstakingly cooking two dishes, his son suddenly says he doesn’t eat pork and pulls out half a cold bun from the fridge, I would be angry too.”

    “Wen Xiang also doesn’t pay attention to details. When they went back home, shouldn’t he have checked the leftovers from breakfast? If he noticed that only half a bun from Wen Dongyu’s breakfast was gone, he should at least talk to his son and figure out what was going on, right?”

    “How could he not notice? Didn’t he glance at the dining table when they passed by on the way back? I think he was still angry that Dongdong kept arguing with him about money, borrowing and lending, that’s why he deliberately avoided talking to his son properly. Not to mention, Dongdong politely asked him to help heat up the bun, and he ignored him, otherwise, would Dongdong have come to Maomao’s house?”

    “Was it Wen Dongyu who wanted to argue? Who started it last night? And from last night till now, how many of Wen Xiang’s fans are attacking everyone online, truly whoever shouts the loudest wins.”

    “It’s really a case of ‘comparison is the thief of joy.’ Although Director Wei’s cooking is disastrous, and he loves to eat rabbits, he’s a good person.”

    “Hahaha, someone save Director Wei, his cooking was actually decent this morning and at noon, can he ever shake off the label of ‘kitchen killer’?”

    “Hahaha, what Director Wei said to Dongdong actually makes sense, but I suspect Dongdong only heard the part about eating rabbits, hahaha!”

    …

    As the viewers guessed, Wen Dongyu did indeed latch onto the “eating rabbits” part, completely missing Wei Chengli’s good intentions in sharing his personal experience to comfort him.

    Wei Maomao kept shoveling food into her mouth while listening to Wen Dongyu rambling about eating rabbits.

    What was wrong with eating rabbits? Although she didn’t eat them.

    What was wrong with eating rabbits? Although her name had ‘rabbit’ in it.

    This was the first time she learned that Wei Chengli and her mother had stopped eating rabbits for a while because of her name.

    It was quite interesting.

    Perhaps because of Wei Maomao’s indifferent reaction and the steady pace at which she was eating, Wen Dongyu’s initial excitement gradually faded.

    “You don’t eat pork yourself, would you stop others from eating pork?” Wei Maomao asked slowly after he calmed down, casually popping a piece of stir-fried pork into her mouth.

    Wen Dongyu shook his head. “Whether others eat it or not is their business.”

    “Then why were you so surprised that others eat rabbit when you don’t?” Wei Maomao swallowed the meat and tilted her head. “Look at my dad, he eats when he wants to, doesn’t eat when he doesn’t, so free. You can also be that free, you don’t want to eat pork today, so you don’t eat it. Tomorrow, if you want to eat it, you can eat it.”

    Wen Dongyu: “But I like Xixi…”

    “What, do you think my dad loves me less than you love Wen Xixi?” Wei Maomao narrowed her eyes.

    Wen Dongyu suddenly felt a chill run down his spine and shook his head frantically.

    “My name is ‘bunny,’ and my dad still eats rabbits, what are you afraid of eating a little pork for?” Wei Maomao finished the last bite of food in her bowl. “The rabbit my dad eats isn’t me, and the pork you eat isn’t Xixi.”

    “But you’re not a rabbit, and Xixi is a pig.” Wen Dongyu said stubbornly.

    “Then don’t think of it as a pig.” Wei Maomao wiped her mouth and suddenly noticed a familiar figure in the alley outside the courtyard. Her eyes lit up, and she quickly climbed down from the stool.

    Just as she was testing her chubby bunny agility, Wen Dongyu clapped his hands loudly, his voice filled with excitement as if he had a sudden realization. “I get it! You’re not a rabbit, you can be a human. Xixi isn’t a pig either, it can be a pig-man!”

    What do you mean ‘can be’?

    Thump!

    Wei Maomao, caught off guard by this hilarious logic, fell to the ground.

    Cheng Tingyan stepped into the courtyard and saw the little chubby bunny sprawled on the ground, her face twitching.

    “Maomao!” Cheng Tingyan quickly ran over and pulled her up by the back of her collar.

    A clean handkerchief wiped her dirty hands and feet, Cheng Tingyan blew on her reddened knee, and frowned. “How could you be so careless?”

    How could she be so careless!

    Wei Maomao pointed at Wen Dongyu accusingly. “It’s all his fault!”

    This matter was a bit complicated to explain. Under Wei Maomao’s angry glare, Wen Dongyu had to start from the moment he went back home with Wen Xiang.

    By the time he got to the origin of the “pig-man”, Wei Chengli had just brought the noodles over and happened to hear the last part.

    Honestly, Wei Chengli had to admit defeat. He had been so logical and reasonable, yet he ended up scaring the child. On this side, these little ones, through their unintentional conversation, came up with a “pig-man”, and it seemed Wen Dongyu was much better now.

    “Thank you, Uncle Wei.” Wen Dongyu politely took the spoon, stirred the noodles, and fished out a boiled egg.

    “Cough… I wanted to fry an egg for you, but a boiled egg is safer.” Wei Chengli coughed awkwardly, then turned to Cheng Tingyan. “Yan Yan, have you eaten?”

    Cheng Tingyan nodded.

    “Are you full? Did he make braised pork with tofu and dried bean curd sheet and egg soup?” Wei Maomao confirmed.

    Cheng Tingyan pursed her lips slightly and nodded again.

    Wei Maomao was relieved, but the viewers in the live broadcast room were flipping tables.

    “Full my ass! She barely ate anything, just some rice soaked in soup!”

    “I’m so angry, who would have thought that even though there were no mushrooms in the ingredient bag, Cheng Feiying would have some dried shiitake mushrooms at home!”

    “Ahhhh, I want to grab the little chubby bunny’s ears and shout at her, Cheng Feiying put mushrooms in the braised pork again!”

    “Cheng Feiying really, he really wants to ‘correct’ Yan Yan’s ‘pickiness’ every meal.”

    “I really don’t understand, does Cheng Feiying even know Yan Yan doesn’t like mushrooms? Is this ‘correction’ or ‘deliberate abuse’?”

    “And Yan Yan, how can she be so tolerant? She doesn’t complain no matter what Cheng Feiying gives her, just picks out what she can eat. Look at Wen Dongyu, even in his misery, he still knows how to firmly say no to Wen Xiang, Yan Yan just endures, endures, endures!”

    “Sigh, to put it inappropriately, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. At least Wen Dongyu got a bowl of noodles here, Yan Yan doesn’t say anything, so she just starves…”

    “Thankfully Yan Yan came to find Maomao, at least she got a few bites of food and some fruit…”

    …

    The familiar small bowl, the familiar fruit.

    Four small pieces of watermelon, before Wei Maomao could even savor the taste, they were gone.

    “Daddy.” Wei Maomao pushed the watermelon bowl. “More.”

    “No more. Little kids can’t eat too much watermelon in one go.” Wei Chengli was focused on eating.

    Wei Maomao was furious. He said the same thing at home, and he was still saying it here, when would she ever achieve watermelon freedom! What was summer without watermelon freedom!

    Just as the little chubby dumpling was fuming, her internal complaints almost materializing, a small bowl was pushed towards her.

    Wei Maomao turned her head, Cheng Tingyan pointed at the three remaining pieces of watermelon in the bowl and smiled at her.

    “Yan Yan, eat.” Wei Maomao pushed the bowl back.

    Then, Wei Chengli, while eating, watched the two little ones start a bowl-pushing competition, truly, his teeth were on edge watching it. Right, he was the bad guy! Hmph!

    Before Wen Dongyu, who had just finished his noodles and was eager to join the bowl-pushing game, could take action, Wei Maomao made a decisive decision, dividing the three pieces of watermelon into four and sharing two pieces each with Cheng Tingyan.

    Wen Dongyu, missing out on the game, felt a bit disappointed, but quickly cheered up. He ate one piece himself, then picked up another, and finally pushed the bowl with the remaining two pieces towards Wei Chengli. “Uncle Wei, you eat. Watermelon is quite expensive, two pieces are enough for me.”

    With that, Wen Dongyu, holding the watermelon piece, climbed down from the stool and squatted to the side, feeding the pig.

    “You eat, how can watermelon be expensive in summer?” Wei Chengli was puzzled.

    “At the convenience store, two hundred Baby Coins for one watermelon.” Cheng Tingyan explained softly.

    “So expensive? That’s enough to buy two-thirds, oh, I mean more than half a pig… cough, I mean more than half a Xixi.” Wei Chengli, recalling the story of Shen Zilin buying the pig that Shen Jianghe told him while they were grinding beans earlier, exclaimed.

    Wei Maomao was stunned for a moment, three hundred Baby Coins for a Wen Xixi? Where did Shen Zilin get the money?

    Oh… the loan that could be repaid slowly from a formal institution.

    “Dongdong, take it and eat, you don’t need Baby Coins for this.” Wei Chengli called out to Wen Dongyu, then couldn’t help but complain, “Aren’t watermelons provided every day? Two hundred Baby Coins for one watermelon, the program team is really shady, who would buy that?”

    Cheng Tingyan glanced down at the empty bowl in front of the little chubby bunny, even the watermelon juice licked clean. Her eyes flickered, and she pursed her lips.

    The midday sun was scorching, the program team gave them time for a lunch break.

    Seeing that neither Wen Dongyu nor Cheng Tingyan showed any intention of going home for their nap, Wei Chengli went inside to tidy up, preparing to let the babies rest.

    When he came back out after tidying up, he found… two more babies in the courtyard.

    This… there weren’t enough beds, Wei Chengli pinched the bridge of his nose, troubled.

    But he was worried prematurely, the two newcomers weren’t here for a nap.

    Wen Jiangyue regretted it on the way there, she shouldn’t have given in to Cheng Rongrong’s persistent pleas and agreed to come find Cheng Tingyan and Wei Maomao with her.

    Although the sight of the three-and-a-half-year-old little sister pleading with teary eyes was pitiful, Wen Jiangyue couldn’t shake off the image of Cheng Tingyan’s cold and somewhat awkward expression when she mentioned those “thirty-one yuan and seventy-five cents” at the convenience store.

    But… as Cheng Rongrong said, what could a child like her possibly know? She just wanted to play with her sister.

    From the mill to home, from finishing lunch to arriving at the Wei family’s courtyard, under Cheng Rongrong’s non-stop chatter, Wen Jiangyue’s conflicting thoughts clashed incessantly.

    She had agreed to help Cheng Rongrong reconcile with her sister, but upon entering the courtyard and seeing Wei Maomao’s surprised gaze, Wen Jiangyue just wanted to melt into the wall and become a simple brick.

    Cheng Rongrong felt a sudden release on her arm, the arm she had been holding was pulled away. She turned to see Wen Jiangyue, whom she had painstakingly persuaded to come with her, inching towards the courtyard wall.

    “Wen Wen.” Cheng Rongrong reached out weakly.

    Wen Jiangyue, with great effort, used her reason to suppress her urge to retreat. She stopped, forcing a smile at everyone present.

    Although Wen Jiangyue had stopped moving away, she didn’t come back to stand beside her. Cheng Rongrong bit her tongue, suppressing her anger.

    Useless.

    “Wen Wen, you said you wanted to talk to my sister.” Cheng Rongrong continued, undeterred by Wen Jiangyue’s retreat.

    “Yes…” Wen Jiangyue slowly approached Cheng Tingyan, the puzzled gazes from everyone making her palms sweat.

    She had to be true to her word, it was too late to regret it, the sooner she said it, the sooner it would be over… Wen Jiangyue tried to encourage herself. Once she stood in front of Cheng Tingyan, she blurted out almost impatiently, “Cheng Rongrong asked me to tell you that she’s very envious of how close you are with Maomao. Cheng Rongrong said that the things she said before were all because she was too envious, she didn’t mean it.”

    Silence.

    “Cheng Rongrong said, you’re biological sisters, you should be closer than anyone else. She doesn’t know what to do to make you treat her like you treat Maomao.” Wen Jiangyue finished speaking, then added after a moment of thought, “That’s all, nothing else.”

    Cheng Tingyan: “… “

    Cheng Rongrong was also furious. Why did this person have to start every sentence with “Cheng Rongrong said,” couldn’t she process it herself before speaking? Was this reconciliation? Was this speaking up for her? This was robotic repetition!

    Forget it, forget it, the things she told Wen Jiangyue weren’t meant to convince her, weren’t meant for a genuine reconciliation. It was just an excuse to bring her along, to let her, let the audience see, what a pitiful little sister she was, yearning for a good relationship with her older sister.

    After Wen Jiangyue witnessed how she was being bullied, she would firmly stand on her side.

    Cheng Rongrong tugged at the corner of her clothes, looking at Cheng Tingyan with a pitiful expression.

    “Oh, you’re jealous of me.” Wei Maomao nodded, understanding.

    Cheng Rongrong gritted her teeth, here came the three-year-old’s verbal assault.

    “I’m not jealous of you… I just, just…” Cheng Rongrong lowered her head, pretending to be conflicted.

    “You’re jealous of me.” Wei Maomao interrupted impatiently. “Yan Yan is very nice to you, you’re not nice at all.”

    “Maomao, how could you say that!” Cheng Rongrong said tearfully.

    “If I had a younger sister who said I was fierce, stole my house, and tried to trick me out of my popcorn, and she kept crying even though I didn’t do anything to her, I would spank her every day, three times a day!” Wei Maomao raised three fingers, smiling. “Yan Yan is truly too nice to you. You, you don’t know how to be grateful.”

    Why did she have to remember so clearly and even give examples!

    Cheng Rongrong suppressed her surprise and wiped her tears. “I didn’t say, I didn’t steal, I didn’t trick, I just like my sister, I want to be with her, but she always ignores me, only plays with you, I’m her younger sister, I’m sad… I just want her to acknowledge me…”

    “My daddy said, if you like someone, you should think they are good, and be good to them. If you like someone but think they are bad, and you’re not good to them, that’s not called liking.” Wei Maomao said seriously, ignoring Wei Chengli, who was hiding inside the house and silently waving at her.

    “What’s it called then?” Wen Dongyu and the pig poked their heads out from the side.

    “It’s called PUA, it means deliberately bullying someone, then controlling their thoughts.” Wei Maomao pointed at the pig, giving an example. “Like if you scolded Wen Xixi every day, then gave it a steamed bun after scolding it, and said you loved it, and if it didn’t let you continue scolding it, it wouldn’t be a good pig.”

    Note: PUA stands for Pick-Up Artist, but in this context, it refers to someone mentally controlling you and making you lose self-confidence.

    “I’m not P..!” Wen Dongyu hugged the pig’s head tightly, afraid of it being taken away, only taking two steps before turning back to emphasize, “Xixi isn’t a pig, it’s a pig-man.”

    The onlookers: “… “

    “Maomao, I don’t understand, I didn’t bully my sister…” Cheng Rongrong shook her head, wiping her tears, cursing Wei Chengli in her heart. How could there be such a person, what was he teaching his daughter every day? A conversation between children had to be elevated to this level, how could she continue acting!

    “Maomao.” Cheng Tingyan reached out and pulled the little chubby bunny, who was approaching Cheng Rongrong’s face step by step with every sentence.

    Wei Maomao turned back.

    Cheng Tingyan pursed her lips, pulling her back, then fell silent. She had actually grasped a bit of the meaning, that “PUA” thing. But she still shouldn’t say more. But she was also afraid that the little chubby bunny being so fierce would make others dislike her. After all… at home, whenever Rongrong cried, it was always her who suffered.

    Wei Maomao saw Cheng Tingyan’s conflict. She certainly didn’t expect Cheng Tingyan to break free from the Cheng family’s psychological control so quickly. Honestly, it was enough as long as Cheng Tingyan didn’t dislike her for speaking like this.

    “You bullied Yan Yan, and you still want her to be nice to you…” Wei Maomao didn’t see any displeasure in Cheng Tingyan’s eyes. When she turned back to face Cheng Rongrong, her courage grew. “Dream on!”

    Wei Chengli had already retreated quickly when the little chubby bunny started talking about “PUA”, going back to the inner room to continue tidying up the already tidy bed.

    He had figured it out, when this little one was fighting for her Yan Yan, her relentless attacks were unstoppable.

    Tsk, but young kids learn fast. He had only casually mentioned it once, and the little one actually remembered it, even pronouncing it correctly.

    But Wei Chengli wasn’t just avoiding the little chubby bunny’s firepower by staying inside.

    As the saying goes, “Observers see more clearly.” The moral kidnapping outside was a bit too much. Wei Chengli couldn’t bring himself to play along just for the sake of saving face when he knew it was wrong.

    Forget it, Maomao wasn’t new to this anyway, let her win for now.

    Wei Chengli pretended to make the bed for a while, only coming back out when the voices outside subsided.

    Cheng Rongrong was gone, but Wen Jiangyue was still there.

    Wei Chengli stepped out of the room, looking at Cheng Tingyan sitting on the deck chair in the courtyard, and couldn’t help but sigh again. Bullying someone felt good for a moment, but bullying the younger one would bring the older one… After Cheng Tingyan went back, what should he do…

    “Come here, Daddy has something to tell you.” Wei Chengli scooped up the little rascal and carried her into the bedroom.

  • Back to Three Years Old: Crushing Scumbags on a Parenting Reality Show 42

    Chapter 42

    The mush incident, a black mark for life.

    The egg yolk incident from this morning had just been forgiven by the little rascal, and now the terrifying mush from yesterday was being brought up again… Wei Chengli didn’t dare to ask where Wang Zhizhi got his newfound interest and confidence, he simply used the excuse of preparing food for the piglet and quickly fled.

    At this point, the viewers in the live broadcast room also understood, Director Wei was quite adept at using the “pig escape,” and it was clear where the little chubby bunny learned her “bathroom escape” from.

    “Wang Zhizhi is also brave, even Director Wei ran away in fear, hahaha. He must think this kid is crazy, daring to eat anything, even going back for seconds…”

    “It seems Wang Zhizhi really wants to join this family.”

    “Of course, he was brainwashed by Wang Qingchuan last night, compared to that, Director Wei’s mush probably doesn’t seem so terrible anymore.”

    “But Wen Dongdong is the one who’s truly suffering, a perfectly good child, suddenly living a life of frugality. Wen Xiang went out to grind beans this morning and hasn’t been back yet, he still doesn’t know Wen Dongdong only dared to eat half a steamed bun this morning…”

    “Truly pitiful, yesterday morning, when they left home to come to the show, Wen Dongdong ate a whole steamed bun, two shrimp dumplings, a boiled egg, two small sausages, and even drank a glass of milk… This morning, from all the buns, eggs, shumai, and meat pies Wen Xiang left for him, he only ate half a red bean bun, and even put the other half in a small bowl.”

    “Understood… Half a bun for lunch too.”

    “No wonder he’s living so frugally… A few-year-old child, he’s only just seen a tiny fraction of the world. He doesn’t know how to earn money, doesn’t know how to support himself. Not to mention the mountain of debt from all those things ‘borrowed’ in the past years, now every day he wakes up to face increasing expenses and debts… From this perspective, the few hundred Baby Coins Shen Zilin borrowed from the program team are really child’s play.”

    “You guys are missing the point, why are you only focusing on the surface suffering? I’d say Yan Yan is the one who’s truly suffering… Eating expired snacks already shocked me, but now it seems she’s probably also eating expired compressed biscuits, I’m speechless.”

    “I also don’t understand, yesterday morning, three people, two eggs, Cheng Feiying seemed to favor Yan Yan. Rongrong also likes to cling to her sister… But as I kept watching, something seemed off…”

    “Regardless of who’s the problem in the Cheng family, after days of live broadcast, I don’t believe their acting is so good that they can keep it up from beginning to end. — From a 24-hour show observer (self-appointed) who’s currently on summer vacation.”

    “Hahaha, I’d say Director Wei is the one who’s truly suffering, okay? Director Wei is a brick, CEO Mao uses him as she pleases… But his retort to Cheng Feiying earlier was a bit impressive. Knowing they’re live and still daring to talk back like that, he’s truly worthy of being the father of our brave bunny!”

    “Wow, hahaha, what the hell is ‘father of our brave bunny’! It’s just a variety show, they’re just bantering, look, aren’t they talking again?”

    “Tsk tsk, Director Wei is useless, Cheng Feiying just said a couple of things and he’s back to being friendly. Look at our Maomao, she said she wouldn’t play with Rongrong, and she meant it.”

    “Hahaha, come on, they can’t really fight in front of so many people on a variety show!”

    “Honestly, live broadcast is much more interesting. I can imagine, if it was edited like before and only aired in a dozen episodes, these things would definitely be censored by the families and cut out entirely…”

    …

    Just as the viewers thought, on the second day of filming, many people already felt the inconvenience of the live broadcast and regretted signing the supplementary agreement for a full live stream.

    Among them, Cheng Feiying and Cheng Rongrong were the most regretful.

    For Cheng Feiying, Wei Chengli was someone who had pulled strings to join the show at the last minute, a small-time director with little fame, only having won some useless art awards, with no real prospects.

    Someone like that wasn’t even on Cheng Feiying’s list of acquaintances.

    However, Cheng Feiying didn’t expect that it would be this small-time director’s daughter who would repeatedly get on his nerves, making him lose his composure and directly confront the director.

    Cheng Feiying was very angry after being talked back to. But after finishing a bowl of soy milk, he considered the live broadcast and the fact that everyone must have seen the small-time director’s rudeness, and realized that appearing magnanimous and friendly would be more beneficial than detrimental.

    Cheng Feiying knew how to adapt. Seeing the director asking the staff for a large basin, he wiped his mouth and approached him.

    Unlike Cheng Feiying, who had been navigating the entertainment industry for years, Cheng Rongrong, who was poking at the tofu pudding in her bowl, couldn’t bring herself to approach Wei Maomao again.

    Wei Maomao’s relentless, pointed words earlier made Cheng Rongrong realize that the annoying three-year-old was completely on Cheng Tingyan’s side.

    Those previous times, when the annoying brat ruined her plans, it probably wasn’t a coincidence or some random act of justice, she was fighting for Cheng Tingyan…

    Cheng Rongrong, thinking about the two additional family profiles they received a few days ago, angrily stirred the tofu pudding in her bowl.

    Heh, as expected of the female lead from the original story, even a three-year-old brainless fan would support her.

    She wanted to see what a three-year-old brat, besides talking big, could actually do!

    Cheng Rongrong picked up her bowl and finished the mashed tofu pudding in one gulp.

    Since this brat had ruined her plan of isolating Cheng Tingyan, then… she would just isolate both of them!

    Cheng Rongrong strengthened her resolve and stopped Shen Zilin as he passed by.

    “Brother Shen, I overheard the staff saying you took out a loan to buy the piglet this morning. The pig socks are six Baby Coins a pair. That piglet… must have cost much, much more than twenty Baby Coins, right?” Cheng Rongrong pulled down the money pouch from her waist and offered it. “Use this for now.”

    “I gave Wen Xixi to Maomao, what do I need your Baby Coins for?” Shen Zilin was puzzled, instinctively taking a step back with his hands behind his back.

    “But I heard them say that if you can’t repay the piglet money, you have to pay them an extra ten Baby Coins every day…” Cheng Rongrong didn’t retract her hand offering the money pouch. “Brother Shen, use mine first, you can return it to me when you have more, you don’t have to pay extra interest. It’s okay even if you can’t repay it, I don’t need them anyway.”

    A helping hand offered in times of need would become a precious memory. It was just a few Baby Coins, Cheng Rongrong wasn’t interested in those snacks anyway, so she felt good about giving them away. The reason was also valid, she should appear as a very considerate little sister on camera, right?

    However, Cheng Rongrong’s well-intentioned plan didn’t go as expected.

    “Thank you, but no need.” Shen Zilin took two more steps back with his hands behind his back. “I can repay it myself.”

    Without waiting for Cheng Rongrong to say anything else, Shen Zilin turned and ran, much faster than his leisurely stroll earlier, his back looking a bit awkward, as if he was fleeing in a panic.

    Cheng Rongrong: “… “ The business tycoon from the original story, this was his vision and intelligence as a child? When asked about investment and cooperation, he said “when we grow up,” offered interest-free loans but preferred high-interest ones… So his future business empire was all built by hired professional managers, right!

    The first attempt to divide and conquer had failed against Shen Zilin… Cheng Rongrong turned her gaze to Wen Jiangyue.

    Speaking of which, Shen Zilin ran quite fast, quickly crossing the courtyard and reaching the table where Wei Maomao and the others were. But he didn’t speak right away. Shen Zilin cautiously glanced back, seeing that Cheng Rongrong was talking to Wen Jiangyue on the other side of the courtyard and wasn’t paying attention to him, he patted his chest and caught his breath.

    “What’s wrong? Wen Xixi is still here, what are you running from?” Wen Dongyu, squatting on the ground, drinking soy milk and petting the pig, looked up at Shen Zilin in confusion.

    “It’s nothing.” Shen Zilin secretly glanced at Wang Zhizhi, then pointed at the table in front of Wei Maomao and beckoned. “Come here.”

    “Finish this mouthful first.” Cheng Tingyan had just blown on a spoonful of soy milk and was about to feed it to the little chubby bunny. She waved her hand. “Go ahead.”

    Wei Maomao had been watching Shen Zilin talking to Cheng Rongrong across the courtyard. How should she put it, she was quite interested in her enemy’s movements, so she let Shen Zilin lead her to a secluded spot near the courtyard gate.

    At first, Wei Maomao didn’t think it was necessary to go so far… After all, their microphones were still on, what secrets could they possibly share?

    But as they stood side by side, Shen Zilin stretched out his hand. Looking at the single Baby Coin in his hand, Wei Maomao suddenly understood why he had secretly glanced at Wang Zhizhi and then called her over alone.

    Even the six-year-old CEO had his own considerate side.

    “Did your dad exchange it for you?” Wei Maomao, understanding the expectation in the six-year-old boy’s eyes, played along and asked knowingly.

    “Mmm.” Shen Zilin nodded reservedly. “My dad just told me that loans from formal institutions can be repaid slowly, but money borrowed from friends should be repaid immediately. Otherwise, it will affect our friendship! So he exchanged one for me.”

    Our friendship? Wei Maomao was stunned, what friendship did she have with Cheng Rongrong’s right-hand man?

    But the six-year-old boy’s eyes sparkled, she didn’t know if that unconcealable joy came from the single Baby Coin his dad had thoughtfully exchanged for him, or from the… friendship he imagined.

    “Your dad is great.” Wei Maomao smiled and took the coin. Why bother arguing with a child? After the show, they would go their separate ways, there was no need to say anything to hurt a child’s innocent heart now.

    Shen Zilin chuckled, then suddenly covered his mouth and whispered conspiratorially, “I was so scared just now, Cheng Rongrong told me I could use all her money for free, no interest. She even said it’s okay if I can’t repay it.”

    “That… What’s scary about that? Why would you be scared to death?” Wei Maomao, learning of the enemy’s movements, couldn’t understand the child’s logic.

    “Maomao, you’re still young, you don’t understand.” Shen Zilin retracted his hand, straightened his posture, and tightened his tie. “If it was you, you would have fallen for it!”

    Wei Maomao: ???

    Shen Zilin waited for a while, as the silence and awkwardness fermented… He couldn’t hold back anymore, his face slightly reddening. “Ask me!”

    Wei Maomao tried to cooperate. “I’m asking you…”

    “…” Shen Zilin loosened his tie again, and snorted with an inexplicable sense of pride. “My grandpa said, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. There’s no one in the world who would give you money for no reason, and if there is, what they want is definitely much, much more than the money they gave you!”

    “… “ Wei Maomao gave him a sincere thumbs up. “Your grandpa is also great!”

    Shen Zilin slightly raised his chin, trying to suppress his smugness, but the pride on his face was still evident.

    “Are you done? I’m going back to drink my soy milk.” Wei Maomao saw Cheng Tingyan at the table inside the courtyard looking over at them.

    “By the way, you’re already three years old, how come you can’t drink soy milk by yourself, you need Yan Yan to feed you?” Shen Zilin followed Wei Maomao’s gaze into the courtyard, coughed twice, and said reluctantly, “Yan Yan must be tired, let me feed you later.”

    Shen Zilin felt he should learn more from Yan Yan, look how good Maomao was to her!

    However, the little chubby girl in front of him showed no intention of agreeing, instead, she quickly took two steps back and said warily, “There’s no one in the world who would feed me soy milk for no reason, and if there is, what they want is definitely much, much more than the soy milk they’re feeding me!”

    Shen Zilin: ??? What was with this familiar gesture and sentence structure?

    Before Shen Zilin could react, Wei Maomao couldn’t hold back anymore, her composure breaking as she burst out laughing.

    “Ah, you’re copying me!” Shen Zilin’s eyes widened. “No, then why do you let Yan Yan feed you? What does she want? How come you drink it when she feeds you?”

    “Yan Yan…” Wei Maomao smiled, her dimples like pools of honey. “Yan Yan is always right, she can do whatever she wants!”

    Although it was a bit embarrassing to be fed by a six-year-old, if it was Yan Yan, it was… strangely pleasant? Especially when she looked at her so intently and seriously while feeding her, hahaha, it was kind of cute, like playing house!

    Of course, she wouldn’t discuss this with Shen Zilin.

    Shen Zilin: …

    After teasing the child, Wei Maomao turned to go back to the courtyard.

    Shen Zilin hurriedly chased after her for two steps, his face serious, and whispered, “Hey, Wang Zhizhi also took out a loan to buy a drink, does he still owe you money for the popcorn? If he does, don’t tell him I already paid you back!”

    “I know.” Wei Maomao looked up at the sun.

    It was a beautiful day, even making these young kids seem a bit cute.

    Although Wei Chengli had used the “pig escape” to avoid Wang Zhizhi, he still kept his word and returned with a large basin filled with soy milk and tofu.

    “Let it cool down a bit before you feed it.” Wei Chengli put the basin on the table, his heart skipping a beat as he saw another person there. “Zilin, do you want some?”

    “I’ve already eaten.” Shen Zilin said politely.

    “Good, good…” Wei Chengli breathed a sigh of relief, then glanced at the little chubby dumpling who was being fed soy milk by Cheng Tingyan. He poked her. “What’s going on, can’t you drink soy milk by yourself?”

    “It’s hot, I’m blowing on it for her.”

    “Maomao said Yan Yan is always right, she can do whatever she wants!”

    Before Wei Maomao could even swallow the spoonful of soy milk in her mouth, two voices answered Wei Chengli almost simultaneously.

    “Cough, cough, cough…” Wei Maomao choked, glaring at Shen Zilin.

    She had indeed said those words, but it was during a casual conversation when Yan Yan wasn’t around… Who would say it right in front of the person involved, her face was burning!

    He who repeats a parrot will be repeated by a parrot…

    Wei Chengli patted the blushing little chubby dumpling’s back speechlessly, then glanced at Cheng Tingyan, who was slightly flushed and still blowing on the soy milk. He turned to the dumbfounded Shen Zilin and said, “I think you, you should eat something.”

    Shen Zilin: “… “

    The snack of soy milk and tofu pudding was short-lived. Soon, those who could talk and those who couldn’t, those who were scheming and those who were caught in the schemes, all embarked on their journey back home to make lunch.

    Each dad received a bag of ingredients, which, in addition to the dried bean curd sheets and tofu made from the soy milk they had ground that morning, also included other meat and vegetables.

    Interestingly, the staff member distributing the ingredients thoughtfully announced that since Wei Chengli was the first-place winner in the bean grinding competition, he received… two recipe cards.

    But judging from their unified, friendly smiles, it was tacitly understood whether this was a reward or a rescue mission.

    Wei Maomao casually glanced at the recipe cards. The instructions were very detailed, specifying how much of each seasoning to use, even including a small measuring spoon. It was so considerate that… it seemed more like a backdoor opened by Shi Dingshan.

    As expected, Cheng Feiying still held the top spot on her list of most annoying uncles.

    Wei Chengli knew his own limits. Receiving the recipe cards and the spoon, he felt no embarrassment, only gratitude. On the way back, he even excitedly read the two recipes to the little chubby dumpling.

    “Doesn’t it sound delicious!” After finishing reading, Wei Chengli shook the little chubby dumpling in his arms. “Should I make more for lunch? Three blocks of tofu?”

    “Daddy…” Wei Maomao firmly pressed her hand on Wei Chengli’s head. “Promise me, you must make it according to the recipe, two blocks of tofu!”

    “It’s okay, three blocks of tofu just means multiplying the seasoning amount for two blocks by one point five. Oh, oh, I forgot you don’t know multiplication yet, it means…” Wei Chengli tried to explain.

    “Daddy, I can eat a little less. Please follow the recipe!” Wei Maomao pressed her hand down harder.

    The chubby little paw on his head, warm and soft, felt very comfortable.

    But looking at the serious expression on the little dumpling’s face, Wei Chengli had no doubt that if he didn’t behave, those cute chubby paws would turn into deadly claws in the next second.

    “Okay!” Wei Chengli yielded.

    The two recipe cards provided by the program team were for minced meat with tofu and stir-fried dried bean curd sheets with sliced pork and green peppers.

    Anyway, in Wei Maomao’s opinion, they were both simple and quick dishes.

    In the shade of a tree in the courtyard, Wei Maomao lay on a deck chair, sipping the half bottle of drink Wei Chengli had given her, occasionally glancing at Wei Chengli, who was battling the stove in the distance.

    As expected, with Wei Chengli… even with recipes, they were slow dishes.

    Wei Maomao turned over and yawned. She wondered if Yan Yan had started eating yet.

    Earlier, when they were leaving the mill, Wei Maomao had wanted to persuade Cheng Tingyan to come back with them. With the recipe cards, Wei Chengli’s performance had been acceptable this morning, perhaps he would do well for lunch too…

    But Cheng Tingyan refused… She said that Cheng Feiying was apparently making braised pork with tofu and a dried bean curd sheet and egg soup for lunch, there weren’t any mushrooms in the ingredient bag, nothing she disliked.

    Wei Maomao sipped her drink, thinking about how Cheng Tingyan had lowered her voice and smiled reassuringly when she said that. She felt a bit uneasy.

    But there was no reason to force her…

    Cheng Feiying’s cooking skills were quite good, while on this side, there was still a chance of disaster.

    But she still felt uneasy.

    Wei Chengli, stir-frying tofu by the stove, looked back at Wei Maomao and saw the little chubby dumpling lying on the deck chair, swinging her little chubby feet, sipping her drink through a straw with a pursed mouth, occasionally sighing, acting like a little boss…

    It was truly hilarious.

    Wei Chengli suppressed his laughter, plated the minced meat with tofu, then turned around to call the little boss for lunch, only to see a human head and a pig head, one above the other, stuck at the courtyard gate. He almost dropped the plate in his hand.

    In the less than two seconds it took him to steady the plate and look up again, the two heads stuck at the gate had vanished…

    Even more terrifying!

    Wei Chengli quickly put the dish on the table and walked towards the gate, cautiously stepping outside.

    He saw a person and a pig squatting on the ground outside the courtyard.

    “Dongyu, why are you here, why not come in?” Wei Chengli was startled again by the two heads that lifted up in sync. He tried to steady his voice. “Have you finished lunch? Come, do you want to eat some more?”

    “Uncle Wei… can you help me heat this up?” Wen Dongyu held up half a steamed bun.

    “… “ Wei Chengli, looking at the bun that had been forcefully retrieved from the pig’s mouth, felt nauseous. “Why are you heating this up? Just give it to the pig.”

    “Ah?” Wen Dongyu was stunned. “Give it to who? This is my lunch, Brother Sun Qi said I have to heat it up before I can eat it…”

    As he spoke, Wen Dongyu pointed to the cameraman nearby.

    Wei Chengli glanced over. He didn’t know Sun Qi, but it sounded like he was a staff member responsible for taking care of the children.

    “You can’t eat this anymore.” Wei Chengli took the bun from Wen Dongyu. “I saw the pig biting it earlier. You… did you eat it after the pig bit it?”

    Wen Dongyu shook his head.

    “Did you have lunch?” Wei Maomao poked her head out from the courtyard.

    Wen Dongyu shook his head again.

    “Come in.” Wei Maomao said concisely, retracting her head.

    “So do you want to go back and eat? Or eat with us? Where’s your dad? Oh, should I feed this to the pig?” Wei Chengli held up the bun.

    “Come in and eat.” Wei Maomao’s head popped out again.

    Wen Dongyu didn’t move.

    “Then eat with us? Together?” Wei Chengli asked tentatively.

    Wen Dongyu lowered his head, his shoe scuffing the ground lightly.

    “No charge.” Wei Maomao’s voice came from the courtyard.

    Wen Dongyu looked up at Wei Chengli.

    “… “ Wei Chengli laughed in exasperation. “Do I look like someone who would charge you for a meal? Come in quickly, the food’s getting cold.”

    However, the child couldn’t understand such complex sentences. Only after confirming again that it was truly free did Wen Dongyu pull the pig into the courtyard.

    Inside, Wei Maomao was struggling to climb onto the stone stool.

    “Why didn’t you eat with your dad at home?” Wei Maomao finally climbed up, adjusted her position, and looked down.

    “… “ Wen Dongyu lowered his head.

    “You talk so much, just eat.” Wei Chengli also sensed that something was wrong with Wen Dongyu. He patted the little chubby dumpling’s arm and said kindly to Wen Dongyu, “Eat, I followed the recipe today, it’s delicious.”

    Wen Dongyu froze, his face changing.

    He forgot! The ginger dish yesterday was made by Uncle Wei!

    “It’s really delicious!” Seeing Wen Dongyu’s reaction, Wei Chengli quickly emphasized.

    “Eat some tofu.” Wei Maomao used a clean spoon to scoop a spoonful of minced meat with tofu for Wen Dongyu. Honestly, she thought Wei Chengli must have done something wrong, why was the dish all black… but it tasted alright, did he accidentally switch the light and dark soy sauce?

    Wen Dongyu cautiously took a small spoonful of the black mixture, sniffing it tentatively. “It smells good, doesn’t smell like ginger like yesterday.”

    “… “ Wei Chengli laughed awkwardly. “There’s no need to mention yesterday. This minced meat with tofu is a bit dark, but it’s delicious, I minced the meat myself, isn’t it very fine?”

    “Minced… meat?” Wen Dongyu glanced at the black mixture, his spoon clattering back into the bowl. “What… kind of meat?”

    “Pork, a mix of lean and fatty meat, hey… hey… why are you getting down?” Wei Chengli grabbed Wen Dongyu in surprise as he was slipping off the stool.

  • Back to Three Years Old: Crushing Scumbags on a Parenting Reality Show 41 p2

    Chapter 41 p2

    “Ma…” These past two days, Wei Chengli had become somewhat aware of who and what would trigger the little chubby dumpling’s outbursts. Seeing the little dumpling turn around, he instinctively reached out to stop her.

    But some dumplings, although chubby, were agile.

    “My daddy said, don’t be generous with other people’s things, don’t always think about using other people’s belongings.” Wei Maomao flipped her hand, the empty popcorn bucket rolling onto the ground.

    Wei Maomao didn’t want to argue with a three-and-a-half-year-old, but the incident at the convenience store earlier made her realize that even children could be incredibly mean.

    So… it was only fair to return the favor.

    Wei Chengli: “… “

    Cheng Rongrong: “… “ Damn it, she had a whole bucket of popcorn earlier! Was she a pig!

    Cheng Tingyan looked at the empty bucket on the ground. She didn’t know why, but she suddenly had a feeling that the little chubby bunny pulling her along and stuffing her with popcorn on the way here was all for this moment? But… how could she have thought of that…

    Why not? Wei Maomao looked at Cheng Rongrong’s stunned expression and smiled. See, if she categorized her as the kind of person who was inherently bad and didn’t need any adult guidance, combining it with the events from her previous life, it wasn’t difficult to predict where she would try to stir up trouble.

    “Daddy.” Cheng Rongrong quickly masked her momentary surprise, pouting and throwing herself into Cheng Feiying’s arms, feigning grievance. “I thought older sister would save some for you…”

    “My popcorn, one Baby Coin per kernel, you’re afraid your dad won’t be full, why didn’t you buy him more?” Wei Maomao swatted away Wei Chengli’s hand that was trying to cover her mouth again, tugged at her skirt which he was holding, and snorted at Cheng Rongrong. “You’re stingy with your Baby Coins!”

    Cheng Tingyan was speechless on the show in her previous life, in this life, Wei Maomao would be her voice!

    Cheng Rongrong was stunned. How dare Wei Maomao! How dare she say that about her!

    Wei Chengli was speechless, truly speechless. Under Cheng Feiying’s darkening gaze, he quickly scooped up the little rascal into his arms, covering her little ears, and said helplessly, “Didn’t you say you were afraid of Rongrong’s dad last time? Why are you provoking them!”

    “Daddy, you said people should be brave…” Wei Maomao began earnestly.

    Wei Chengli shook his head vigorously. “No, I didn’t say that.”

    “You did…” Wei Maomao insisted.

    Wei Chengli pursed his lips and mumbled, “I’m mute, I didn’t say anything.”

    Wei Maomao: “… “

    “Ah, the tofu, isn’t the tofu almost ready? Let’s go check on the tofu, if we wait too long, there won’t be any soft tofu left.” Wen Qiming, satisfied after watching the drama unfold and finishing the last of his iced oolong tea, pretended to have just remembered the tofu, interrupting their conversation.

    The tofu-making area was in the courtyard next to the mill, just a few meters away.

    Taking Wen Qiming’s cue, both the actors and the audience stood up.

    However, as they were walking towards the courtyard, Cheng Feiying took a couple of steps towards Wei Chengli.

    Wei Chengli instinctively shifted the little chubby dumpling to his other side.

    “Director Wei, you talk a lot at home, huh?” Cheng Feiying had been holding back his anger for quite some time. Because the other party was only three years old, he couldn’t directly confront her, but seeing his daughter being bullied made him truly angry. He could only vent his frustration at her father sarcastically.

    Wei Chengli also felt that Wei Maomao had been a bit too harsh on Cheng Rongrong just now. He nodded good-naturedly. “Yes, I talk too much, I should talk less in the future.”

    Cheng Feiying’s anger wouldn’t be extinguished by Wei Chengli’s friendly attitude. He narrowed his eyes, looking at Wei Maomao by Wei Chengli’s feet, and said, “You should teach Maomao properly, don’t let her say things she doesn’t understand. It’s fine here, but if it was outside…”

    “I think she understands quite well what it means.” Wei Chengli, no longer as good-natured as before, frowned and interrupted Cheng Feiying’s words forcefully.

    Cheng Feiying: ???

    Wei Chengli didn’t look at Cheng Feiying’s current expression. He scooped up the little chubby dumpling and walked ahead quickly.

    Was he kidding… He could talk about him, but why talk about Maomao! And ‘outside,’ what about outside, was he going to hit her?!

    Wei Chengli was quite angry, but the little chubby dumpling in his arms was grinning at some point.

    “What are you smiling about, they’re talking about you, and you’re still giggling.” Wei Chengli patted the little dumpling’s back half-heartedly.

    “Daddy is awesome!” Wei Maomao secretly glanced at Cheng Feiying, who was now scowling, and generously praised Wei Chengli, patting his face. “About the egg yolk, Baby forgives you!”

    “Hmph, as if I need your forgiveness.” Wei Chengli was both amused and exasperated, then couldn’t help but confirm, “Really forgiven?”

    Wei Maomao nodded agreeably. It was quite fun to provoke Wei Chengli for once.

    But despite finding it fun, Wei Maomao didn’t linger in Wei Chengli’s arms. She quickly wriggled down and, ignoring Cheng Feiying’s glare, pulled Cheng Tingyan away.

    Wei Maomao had figured it out, what was there to be afraid of? Even if she was friendly, they wouldn’t be friendly to Cheng Tingyan anyway.

    They entered the courtyard next to the mill and saw the earthen stove still burning, the aroma of soy milk filling the air.

    “Come, come, come, line up if you want tofu pudding. If you don’t want tofu pudding, grab a bowl and have some soy milk.” Wen Qiming called out, holding a large ladle. He then turned to Wen Jiangyue next to him. “Yours is on the table over there, your favorite salty tofu pudding, it’s a bit hot, blow on it before you eat.”

    “Go, have a bowl of soy milk first, then have some tofu pudding.” Shen Jianghe patted Shen Zilin’s head and smiled. “Let me teach you a trick, when you’re in debt, save where you can, don’t hesitate to stuff yourself when there’s free food.”

    Shen Zilin glanced at the half-empty glass of sour plum juice in Shen Jianghe’s hand, thanks a lot.

    “Tofu pudding or soy milk?” Wen Xiang had calmed down after being angry all night and morning. After grinding beans for three rounds and sweating profusely, he had come to his senses. Why argue with a child? It was just a few toys. It was his fault for not buying enough, he would buy two of everything when they went back, fill a whole room for him, with so many toys, he wouldn’t care about giving some away, wouldn’t he become generous then? It was his fault for not buying enough.

    Wen Xiang was reflecting, but whether his reflection was in the right direction was another matter. Anyway, Wen Dongyu didn’t really care about it now.

    “I’m not eating.” Wen Dongyu shook his head, hands behind his back.

    “Why not? I didn’t save much for you at breakfast… Did you go buy snacks?” Wen Xiang frowned.

    “I’m not that hungry yet, it’s not a necessary expense.” Wen Dongyu looked at the big pot in the distance and said seriously.

    “What…” Wen Xiang was confused at first, then his face changed as he understood. “What, are you still going on about last night?”

    Wen Dongyu looked at his seemingly angry dad, grabbed Wen Xixi, and ran away.

    He didn’t know why, but he used to be unafraid of his dad getting angry, he would even have pillow fights with him. But today he felt a bit scared, he’d better run away.

    Wen Dongyu ran a bit too fast and almost bumped into Wang Qingchuan.

    Speaking of which, Wang Qingchuan, having received the drink from his son, couldn’t continue to ignore him like he did last night and this morning. He grabbed a bowl, handed it to Wang Zhizhi, and said stiffly, “This soy milk was ground by all of us dads. Look how hard we work every day, providing food and drinks for you. You see this soy milk, I’m not grinding it just for you, and I can’t take it back for your sister, right? I told you to bring something yesterday…”

    Wang Zhizhi placed the bowl back onto the stack.

    “Wang Zhizhi!” Wang Qingchuan frowned.

    Wei Maomao, holding a bowl of soy milk, her eyes scanning the courtyard, forgot to blow on the spoonful of soy milk. If Cheng Tingyan hadn’t been watching and stopped her, she would have taken a scalding mouthful.

    “I’ll blow on it for you.” Cheng Tingyan took the spoon from Wei Maomao and started stirring and blowing on the soy milk.

    It was strange, the same phrase “don’t be generous with other people’s things,” the day before, when Cheng Tingyan heard it, she felt that Wei Maomao was a bit fierce, not the soft and gentle little chubby bunny she had imagined. But today, her first reaction was that the little chubby bunny was cute even when she was being fierce…

    Actually, Cheng Rongrong used to do the same thing at home. If Cheng Feiying shared some food with them, Cheng Rongrong would first feed some of hers to Cheng Feiying, then say, “Older sister, why don’t you give Dad a bite…”

    Initially, Cheng Tingyan would obediently comply, but either Cheng Feiying wouldn’t eat it, or he would praise Rongrong for being considerate after eating it. But she couldn’t bring herself to do such an intimate gesture before Cheng Rongrong every time. After a few times, she felt annoyed by it.

    Later, besides eating her meals, she stopped accepting any other food Cheng Feiying offered.

    Just now, both Cheng Feiying and Cheng Rongrong didn’t look very happy, but Cheng Tingyan instinctively felt that the little chubby bunny who had spoken up for her was right.

    The little chubby bunny was really smart, she seemed to understand some things that she, even at her age, couldn’t grasp.

    Oh, sometimes she wasn’t that smart either.

    Cheng Tingyan gently blew on the soy milk in the bowl, a smile appearing on her lips. Sometimes she was also silly, not knowing to let it cool down before drinking.

    The courtyard wasn’t that big. With a little observation, Wei Maomao knew what was going on with each family.

    Honestly, she only cared about Cheng Tingyan.

    But… those little ones really…

    “Daddy!” Wei Maomao waved at Wei Chengli, who was sprinkling dried shrimp on the tofu pudding.

    Wei Chengli quickly came over and smiled. “What’s wrong, didn’t you want soy milk? Want tofu pudding now?”

    “Daddy, did you grind a lot of beans this morning?” Wei Maomao asked.

    “A lot, didn’t I tell you, Daddy got first place.” Wei Chengli said proudly.

    Wei Maomao nodded, then confirmed again, “Daddy, how much soy milk and tofu pudding can you make with the beans you grinded as the first-place winner?”

    “That…” Wei Chengli was stunned. They had combined all the ground beans, her question stumped him.

    “Enough for five bowls of soy milk and five bowls of tofu pudding?” Wei Maomao asked, counting on her fingers.

    “Definitely enough.” Wei Chengli estimated conservatively and smiled. “I grinded a big bucket, some of it was used to make tofu, the rest should be enough for at least a dozen bowls of tofu pudding and soy milk.”

    “Okay.” Wei Maomao patted Wei Chengli’s leg and praised, “Daddy is awesome!”

    With that, the little chubby dumpling ran off.

    Wei Chengli was stunned.

    Whenever she praised him, nothing good ever followed.

    Wei Chengli instinctively looked for Cheng Feiying and Cheng Rongrong.

    At the table on the other side of the courtyard, the father and daughter were happily eating tofu pudding together…

    Then…

    Wei Chengli found the little dumpling who had run off. She was holding two empty bowls in her chubby paws, getting soy milk from the big pot.

    “Don’t move! I’ll carry it!” Wei Chengli quickly ran over, trying to take the bowls from her.

    “I can do it.” Wei Maomao dodged him.

    “Didn’t you finish your bowl?” Wei Chengli glanced at her bowl, which only had a little soy milk left, still cautiously guarding her side.

    As he followed her, he realized they weren’t heading back to Cheng Tingyan’s table.

    “Ma…” Wei Chengli started to ask.

    In the next second, the little dumpling reached her destination.

    “Here, eat.” Wei Maomao, holding the bowls shakily, first handed one to Wang Zhizhi, then handed the other to Wen Dongyu, who was squatting and hugging the pig. “Eat the soy milk my dad ground, my dad got first place, he ground a lot. There’s also tofu pudding after you finish the soy milk.”

    Wei Chengli, who had overheard the conversations of those two families: “… “

    Alright, no wonder she had asked him to precisely calculate the amount he had ground even though everything was mixed in one pot.

    Oh, and he had to thank her… She hadn’t forgotten to include him in those five bowls…

    The little chubby dumpling, good at nothing but meddling in other people’s business, Wei Chengli poked her soft head, both amused and exasperated, and sighed at the other two. “Come and eat together, there’s plenty, I’ll get you more later, it’s too hot for you to carry yourselves.”

    Wen Dongyu took the bowl, but didn’t drink. He looked at Wei Chengli cautiously. “Are you treating me? Do I have to pay?”

    “Pay what?” Wei Chengli was stunned. “No need to pay. I’m giving you some soy milk and tofu pudding, and I’m going to charge you?”

    “Dad… no, Uncle Wei, you’re so nice. Thank you.” Wen Dongyu breathed a sigh of relief, touched, but then asked hesitantly, “Then… can you also give Xixi a bowl?”

    “Xixi? Who?” Wei Chengli couldn’t keep up with Wen Dongyu’s train of thought.

    “The pig.” Wei Maomao pointed at the pink piglet on the ground.

    “… “ Wei Chengli was speechless, it already had a name, and the name sounded a bit strange. “Eat, eat, everyone eat. There’s plenty, I’ll get a bowl and cool it down for it later.”

    Wang Zhizhi held the bowl of soy milk, watching them for a while, silent and motionless. Then, he suddenly looked up at Wei Maomao and asked, “Is there any of that mush from last night left? I think I can eat it today, I can definitely finish it!”

    Wei Maomao: “…”

    Wei Chengli: ???