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

Chapter 27

In stark contrast to the lively atmosphere in the live broadcast room, a silence began to spread within the convenience store.

Meanwhile, the staff member who had been squatting in a corner of the convenience store for a long time finally received the command “You can start now” through her earpiece.

God knows how long she had been waiting for this moment. According to the original plan, after the children were allowed to look around freely for a minute or two, it would be her turn to appear. To stick to the plan, she had initially refrained from immediately answering when Wen Jiangyue asked her about the price of the lollipops.

But after missing that opportunity, she had no chance to speak.

When Shen Zilin came out to stop Wen Jiangyue and even called the program team profiteers, she received the order through her earpiece to pause the plan and give the children more time to express themselves.

She hadn’t expected them to go this far…

Just as she was immersed in envy for their million-yuan savings and engrossed in the gossip about the Cheng family’s drama, it was finally her turn to proceed.

Yang Ning adjusted her clothes, walked out from the corner, clapped her hands to attract the children’s attention, and said, “Alright, all our little babies are here, now it’s time for our task. You can call me Sister Yang Yang…”

“Roast whole lamb… drool…” Wen Dongyu swallowed softly.

“…” The corner of Yang Ning’s mouth twitched slightly, she decided not to argue with this little guy with a daily wage of five yuan and maintained her smile. “This is the convenience store for the first stop of ‘Where’s Baby Going’ season three. As you can see, there are many delicious and fun things here. Have you noticed that there’s a number in front of each item? These numbers don’t represent money, they represent our Baby Coins for this season. What are Baby Coins? We can tell from the name, they are related to us babies. If you complete the tasks given by the program team well, you can earn a certain number of Baby Coins, and then you can come to this convenience store and exchange them for delicious food and fun things according to the numbers in front of the items. Isn’t it simple?”

The children, who had been discussing their assets for a while: “…”

Except for Wei Maomao, who lowered her eyes, and Cheng Rongrong, who slightly raised her head, the other children all had expressions of sudden realization.

“I knew it, the pricing here was strange.” Shen Zilin straightened his tie, glanced at Wei Maomao, who didn’t look up, he coughed and released his hand from his tie.

“I have one yuan.” Wen Dongyu held up the coin in his hand. “Can I exchange it for Baby Coins? I want to eat teddy bear biscuits!”

“You can’t exchange it.” Yang Ning smiled. “And, you’re not allowed to bring money to the show.”

“Oh. Okay.” Wen Dongyu walked over to Yang Ning and stuffed the coin into her hand. “Here you go.”

“…” Yang Ning’s hand trembled slightly as she was forced to accept the coin. She had personally witnessed Wen Dongyu digging this coin out of his shoe… Little boys were truly terrifying.

Wen Dongyu didn’t notice Yang Ning’s momentary stiffness, after giving her the coin, he immediately asked, “Then I handed this over to you, am I a good boy? Do good boys get rewards? Can you give me Baby Coins?”

“Good boy… but no.” Yang Ning tried hard to keep the corners of her mouth from drooping. “There are only two ways to earn Baby Coins. One is by completing tasks to directly earn Baby Coins, the other is by your dads completing certain tasks, and they can use the Daddy Coins they earn to exchange for Baby Coins.”

“Our dads are already doing their tasks, haven’t they earned Daddy Coins yet? How many Daddy Coins can be exchanged for one Baby Coin?” Shen Zilin asked a series of questions, getting straight to the point.

“The task the dads are doing now is to gather ingredients for dinner, there are no Daddy Coins as a reward. The dads need to do specific tasks to earn Daddy Coins. One Daddy Coin can be exchanged for one Baby Coin, but… Daddy Coins can also be exchanged for things the dads themselves need, they might not use them to exchange for Baby Coins for you. So, if you want to exchange for something, work hard to complete the tasks yourselves!” Yang Ning specifically looked at Wen Dongyu, making sure he understood and wouldn’t give her any more strange things.

“Oh, I understand, Daddy also needs to protect his own property.” Wen Dongyu nodded under Yang Ning’s gaze.

Yang Ning: “…” That wasn’t exactly what she meant.

“Then can Baby Coins also be exchanged for Daddy Coins?” Shen Zilin asked sharply.

Yang Ning nodded. “Yes, one Baby Coin can also be exchanged for one Daddy Coin.”

“Boss, can I put my Baby Coins with you later? I’ll take them back when I need to use them!” After hearing that, Wen Dongyu immediately went to Wei Maomao’s side. “Boss, please help me protect my property!”

“Wen Dongdong, your dad…” Wei Maomao didn’t think Wen Xiang would go as far as taking away his son’s teddy bear biscuit money on the show.

But before she could finish her sentence, Wen Dongyu turned his head and looked at Cheng Tingyan. “Yan Yan, you should also put your Baby Coins with the powerful Boss! My dad took away my Charizard, your dad took away your house, we’re both weak and can’t protect ourselves!”

“…” Cheng Tingyan glanced at the little chubby bunny who had just cried, her eyes were still slightly red, and the tear stains on her face hadn’t dried yet, she looked weak, innocent, and pitiful. Maomao was also bullied at home by her dad with that terrible mush… How was she powerful? Wen Dongyu didn’t know anything… Maomao was the one who needed protection.

Wei Maomao wanted to take advantage of Wen Dongyu’s words to tell Cheng Tingyan that she would protect her property, and emphasize Cheng Feiying’s untrustworthiness. But just as she was about to speak, she met Cheng Tingyan’s gentle gaze and suddenly realized she was wrong.

Chinese people attached great importance to family ties. Just the house incident this morning and the matter of Cheng Tingyan and Cheng Rongrong’s assets weren’t enough to paint Cheng Feiying as a bad father. Moreover, personal property was a sensitive topic, those previous conversations might not be edited into the main episode. If Cheng Tingyan agreed to give her Baby Coins to her after hearing what Wen Dongyu said, wouldn’t that make the audience think she was a daughter who didn’t trust her father?

Thinking deeper, Wei Maomao broke out in a cold sweat.

“Wen Dongdong, your dad won’t take your Baby Coins. Uncle Cheng won’t take Yan Yan’s Baby Coins either. They are dads, dads love us. They will exchange their Daddy Coins for Baby Coins to buy us delicious food!” Wei Maomao said with certainty. First, put the high hats on them, as for who would throw the hats away later, that was their own business.

Besides, compared to their ultimate goal, it was just some Baby Coins, Cheng Tingyan could afford to lose them.

“Really…” Wen Dongyu looked unconvinced.

“My dad didn’t take away my sister’s house. It was because you were crying, Dongyu, that Dad wanted to swap houses with your family. My dad won’t take away my sister’s Baby Coins.” Cheng Rongrong said aggrievedly. She wanted to gain Wen Dongyu’s favor, but he couldn’t keep badmouthing Cheng Feiying like that, they were live on air. She couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Your dad won’t take your sister’s Baby Coins, he’ll just keep them safe for her in case she loses them, right?” Wang Zhizhi, who was leaning lazily against the cake display, suddenly spoke.

Cheng Rongrong felt a surge of anger when she heard his voice, what was it to him!

And the world… fell silent once again because of Wang Zhizhi.

“Yan Yan, why don’t you… give your Baby Coins to Maomao for safekeeping?” Thinking of Cheng Tingyan’s personal property of thirty-one yuan and seventy-five cents, Shen Zilin couldn’t help but persuade her.

Wen Jiangyue nodded slightly in agreement.

Cheng Rongrong was first enraged by Wang Zhizhi’s voice, then the words and actions of Shen Zilin and Wen Jiangyue doused the flames on her head with a bucket of ice water, almost freezing her.

“Sister, don’t you trust Daddy? He’s your dad.” Cheng Rongrong said with feigned grievance for Cheng Feiying. She didn’t understand what was wrong with these people, what was so powerful about this three-year-old chubby girl? Since they were like this, don’t blame her for using words to trap Cheng Tingyan. As Cheng Feiying’s daughter, not trusting her own father, but trusting other outsiders, it would be Cheng Tingyan who would lose face if this was broadcasted.

Here it comes, Wei Maomao’s eyes darkened.

As expected, the moral kidnapping of family ties had appeared. But she didn’t expect it to appear so early, and from Cheng Rongrong…

“Yan Yan.” Wei Maomao reached out and gently tugged at Cheng Tingyan’s backpack strap. “You just said you wanted to buy me popcorn.”

“Mmm! I’ll buy it for you as soon as I have 100 Baby Coins!” Cheng Tingyan nodded vigorously and naturally took the little chubby paw on her strap into her hand.

“Then you put your Baby Coins with me, so I can buy you popcorn. And you keep my Baby Coins so you can buy whatever you want.” Wei Maomao tugged at Cheng Tingyan’s hand and smiled sweetly. “Okay?”

You help me protect my property, and I help you protect your property… Is Maomao’s dad like that too…

“Okay.” Cheng Tingyan nodded seriously. “I will protect Maomao, and Maomao’s Baby Coins!”

“…” Wei Maomao paused, something seemed off? But forget it…

In the field not far away, Wei Chengli sneezed several times in a row, feeling like he had been excessively thought about somewhere today.

Back in the convenience store, Shen Zilin pondered, this didn’t seem right. Could it be that everyone’s Baby Coins looked different? What was the point of exchanging them then?

Cheng Rongrong was also confused. But what she didn’t understand was why everyone had become even stranger after she just went to the bathroom, it was inexplicably annoying.

“Alright, babies, it’s time for our task, follow Sister Yang Yang.” Yang Ning suppressed her laughter and waited for the little ones to finish arranging their non-existent money before opening the door of the convenience store and stepping out, waving to them.

Even after they had all gone out, Wen Dongyu was still persistent, squeezing next to Wei Maomao and asking timidly, “Boss… my Baby Coins…”

“I know. Just give them to me when you get them.” Wei Maomao was also speechless, if she didn’t agree, this guy might even whine through the window cracks in the middle of the night!

Wen Dongyu was happy and dashed away like a blur, rushing to the front, next to Yang Ning, urging her, “Hurry, hurry! Let’s go do our task! I’m going to find Baby Coins for Boss!”

Cheng Rongrong watched Wen Dongyu’s retreating figure, utterly speechless. Was he really that childish? How could Cheng Tingyan in the original novel be friends with such a childish creature? It was only the first day, and she already couldn’t control her urge to hit him!

Shen Zilin was a bit more normal…

Cheng Rongrong glanced at Shen Zilin, who was walking not far behind Yang Ning, side by side with Wang Zhizhi, whispering something, and mentally corrected herself, only a tiny bit more normal. Because Wang Zhizhi, who could become sarcastic at any moment, was right there, Cheng Rongrong temporarily gave up on the idea of asking Shen Zilin about the specifics of the investment and turned her attention to Wen Jiangyue.

Slowing down her pace and falling behind a few steps, Cheng Rongrong naturally walked beside Wen Jiangyue, who was at the back, and spoke softly with a hint of grievance, “Wen Jiangyue, I went to the bathroom just now. What were you talking about inside?”

Cheng Rongrong was still curious about what she had missed, so she chose the most approachable Wen Jiangyue.

In the original novel, Wen Jiangyue was a quiet girl from a scholarly family, with some talent and knowledge. Maybe because she was too quiet, she wasn’t mentioned much in the original novel, only appearing briefly in the necessary parts of the show.

Through the limited interaction they had had in the past half day, Cheng Rongrong could sense that Wen Jiangyue was a gentle and compassionate girl, seemingly more normal than the others, so she chose her as the target of her inquiry.

But she didn’t expect that her perfectly normal question would be met with a completely irrelevant answer…

“I seek not the elixir, nor sit in meditation. I toil not for merchants, nor till the land. In leisure, I paint mountains to sell, and use not ill-gotten gains.”

Wen Jiangyue’s gaze was distant, her voice soft, ethereal, but Cheng Rongrong couldn’t appreciate it.

“What are you saying, Wen Jiangyue? I don’t understand…” Cheng Rongrong knew this should be a poem, but she was asking what they had been talking about behind her back, they couldn’t have been reciting poems together, right?

“Nothing.” Wen Jiangyue shook her head, but closed her mouth and didn’t answer any further.

The five-and-a-half-year-old Wen Jiangyue had talent and knowledge, but she was also starting to develop the aloofness of a scholar, which was something Cheng Rongrong would never have expected.

Cheng Rongrong didn’t understand Wen Jiangyue’s words, but the viewers in the live broadcast room were stunned.

“Holy crap, Wen Jiangyue never speaks, and when she does, she drops bombs, so direct?”

“Wen Qiming is truly a man of culture, the child he raised is different, even when scolding someone, it’s like reciting a poem…”

“Wait, I just went to the bathroom, what did I miss? Who’s scolding who?”

“Classmate in the front row, let me tell you, don’t go to the bathroom so often, the fact is, going to the bathroom means missing out on big things!”

“You missed Wen Jiangyue reciting a poem, Tang Yin’s ‘Expressing My Ambition.’ Hahaha, I had almost forgotten it, I only remembered the last line ‘and use not ill-gotten gains.’ I had to search it up to remember the author.”

“Someone please translate it for me!”

“It basically means ‘I don’t refine elixirs like a Taoist, I don’t sit in meditation like a monk, I’m not a merchant or a farmer, in my spare time, I paint mountains and sell them, I don’t use money obtained through immoral means.’ Hahaha!”

“The essence is in the last line, those who are cultured are truly different!”

“It’s a pity, Cheng Rongrong is only three and a half years old, she doesn’t understand.”

“She doesn’t need to understand… Even if Cheng Feiying really took Cheng Tingyan’s money, it has nothing to do with Cheng Rongrong. If Wen Jiangyue wants to recite poems, she should recite them to Cheng Feiying!”

“Tsk, tsk, hard to say, hard to say. Who knows if that two million three hundred thousand includes our Yan Yan’s money. Once the meat is rotten in the pot, can you tell which piece is which after it’s scooped out and divided?”

“Wen Jiangyue, such a quiet and gentle little girl, never saying a word, even went to comfort Cheng Rongrong when she was crying earlier, who would have thought she had such integrity. Interesting.”

…

The comments in the live broadcast room couldn’t reach Cheng Rongrong’s ears, but Wen Jiangyue’s sudden aloofness was enough to irritate her.

Just a small supporting character who wasn’t even worth a few lines in the original novel, actually trying to act mysterious with her, as if she really cared to know.

Cheng Rongrong had her pride, she didn’t pester Wen Jiangyue any further and instead turned her attention to the fool who was jumping around in the distance… Wen Dongyu.

But before she could do anything, they reached their destination.

“Alright, babies, we’re at the task location for today.” Yang Ning stopped by a field and gestured with her hand. “This area circled by colorful ribbons is where we’ll complete our task today.”

Looking at the approximately one hundred square meters of land circled by purple ribbons, Wei Maomao had a bad feeling.

As expected, Yang Ning continued, “In this field, we have buried a total of two hundred Baby Coins. The task for today is called… Treasure Hunt!”

“Two hundred Baby Coins… How many teddy bear biscuits is that…” Wen Dongyu counted on his fingers.

Digging up two hundred Baby Coins in such a large field, even if they could find them all and luck was even, that would be 28-29 coins per person… Just enough to exchange for one lollipop. Moreover, in such a large area, it was impossible to dig them all up, right! Wei Maomao quickly finished her calculation and, looking at the “vast” field, felt an urge to just lie down and give up.

“Maomao, I’ll work hard.”

The clear voice beside her revived Wei Maomao’s spirit.

Oh, she almost forgot, she had exchanged Baby Coins with Cheng Tingyan!

She had to dig up Baby Coins to buy snacks for Cheng Tingyan!

She couldn’t just lie down and give up now.

Wei Maomao looked down at her chubby feet, feeling like she had just set a stone to drop on her own foot.

“Yan Yan, I’ll work hard too!” Wei Maomao raised her chubby face and gave Cheng Tingyan her cutest and most determined smile, hiding the tears of her failed attempt to give up in her heart.

Little chubby bunny… Cheng Tingyan couldn’t help but reach out and poke the dimple that was particularly prominent on Wei Maomao’s face because she was holding back a smile, then her finger subtly shifted and brushed against the little chubby bunny’s hair as she retracted it.

It really was! So soft! Even softer than the fur of the chubby bunny she had raised!

The question that had been lingering in her mind for over an hour was finally answered, Cheng Tingyan smiled contentedly.

“Boss, I’ll work hard too!” Wen Dongyu ran over, loudly breaking the warm and friendly atmosphere between the two.

Wei Maomao: “…” That wasn’t necessary, they were competitors now.

Not far away, Shen Zilin nudged Wang Zhizhi with his elbow. “I want to eat beef jerky, it costs forty coins, do you want some? We can dig together and then share the beef jerky. That bag of beef jerky looks much bigger than two lollipops!”

Wang Zhizhi thought about it and nodded. “Okay!”

“Eat what, eat what? I want to eat beef jerky too, can I dig with you guys?” Wen Dongyu didn’t mind that Wei Maomao had ignored him and happily squeezed towards Shen Zilin.

“More people, more power.” Shen Zilin looked at Wang Zhizhi.

“Okay.” Wang Zhizhi nodded again.

After agreeing, Wang Zhizhi looked towards Wei Maomao and Cheng Tingyan.

“Yan Yan is going to buy popcorn, they don’t want beef jerky.” Wen Dongyu, being a qualified spokesperson, pulled the two towards the field.

They had already run several meters when Yang Ning, who had gotten tools from another staff member, called them back.

“These shovels and buckets are your tools. By the way, besides the two hundred Baby Coins, there are also many mystery treasures hidden in small wooden boxes in the field. We’ll have one hour to dig for treasure, then we’ll go back for dinner, I’ll announce the time every ten minutes.” Yang Ning handed each child a set of tools, completing the final procedure.

Wen Dongyu went up to Yang Ning and looked up. “What are mystery treasures?”

“Mystery treasures, of course, have to remain mysterious. You’ll know when you find one.” Yang Ning smiled. “They are even better rewards than Baby Coins~~”

Alright…

Wei Maomao, determined to get Cheng Tingyan at least one bag of teddy bear biscuits, charged into the field, then after digging for a dozen times, she sat down on the ground.

Why!

Why bury things in the ground!

Couldn’t they bury them in sand or something?

The children’s play areas in shopping malls were all sandpits, who would dig in such hard and thick soil!

Wei Maomao sat on the ground and caught her breath, looking up to see Cheng Tingyan not far away, digging diligently without stopping.

“…” Wei Maomao, holding back tears, got up, leaning on her shovel.

Holding the shovel with both hands, she pressed it down with her belly, then stepped on the edge with her foot, and finally lifted it with force.

Soil…

Soil…

More soil…

Wei Maomao puffed out her cheeks and spat out the dirt that had gotten into her mouth.

Was it Shi Dingshan? It had to be him! This segment didn’t appear in the show in her previous life!

Bad uncle! You’re about to surpass Cheng Feiying and become the number one bad uncle, you know!

Wei Maomao dug two more shovels full of tears, then couldn’t help but run to Cheng Tingyan and watch her.

“I found one!” Cheng Tingyan stopped digging when she heard the little bunny’s footsteps, turned around, and opened her palm towards Wei Maomao.

A bronze coin about the size of a one-yuan coin, with a raised character “Bao” on it. Wei Maomao turned it over, the back was a relief of a cartoon baby’s face.

Alright, quite well-made, if it wasn’t buried in the ground.

“Yan Yan, you’re so awesome!” Wei Maomao, who hadn’t found anything, praised her sincerely. Then she looked down at the spot where Cheng Tingyan had dug, it didn’t seem to be buried very deep, she should be able to reach that depth if she continued digging where she was.

Just then, Yang Ning’s voice came from afar.

“Congratulations to our Rongrong, you found the first mystery treasure!”

Wei Maomao abruptly looked up, what? It hadn’t even been ten minutes, was she that lucky?

She saw Yang Ning in the distance holding a small wooden box the size of a palm, but she couldn’t see what was inside.

“I’m going back to dig.” Wei Maomao didn’t rest anymore, dragging her little shovel back to her spot and started digging furiously.

Cheng Tingyan looked at her dirt-covered hands and smiled helplessly. That dusty little chubby bunny, she really wanted to wipe her clean, but her hands were too dirty to take out a handkerchief from her bag…

By the time Yang Ning announced that twenty minutes had passed, Wei Maomao had finally dug up her first Baby Coin. She was now covered in dirt and could only lean on her shovel, panting.

She really doubted if the program team actually intended for them to eat those snacks.

Dig, pant, shovel, sit… Wei Maomao huffed and puffed, managing to dig up two more coins.

But before the thirty-minute announcement, the announcement of Cheng Rongrong finding another mystery treasure came.

Wei Maomao got up from the ground, she suddenly felt like something was… not quite right…

Chapter 26p2

Wei Maomao was not okay, she really wasn’t okay.

It was so hard, being a three-year-old, it was so hard.

She had prepared “Adventures of the Earth Rabbit” based on the show’s content she had watched in her previous life and her understanding of Cheng Tingyan’s situation, using it to subtly guide, protect, and resolve things during the show through watching it with Wei Chengli and his rambling discussions. But now, facing an unexpected situation, something that wasn’t covered in “Adventures of the Earth Rabbit”… She didn’t even know if a normal three-year-old should have the concept of money, or if they could do basic math. She wanted to guide Cheng Tingyan into revealing what was happening behind the scenes, but she…

Thankfully, there was Shen Zilin, who had aspired to make money from money and become a business tycoon since he was young…

But those were all accidental contributions from others, and she herself, she was so useless!

Wei Maomao felt extremely sad, for the six-year-old Cheng Tingyan, who only had thirty-one yuan and seventy-five cents, and for herself, trapped in the body of a three-year-old, knowing the truth but unable to speak up…

She held back, tried hard to hold back, until Cheng Tingyan was about to sell the gold flower to buy her popcorn, she finally couldn’t hold back anymore.

If she remembered correctly, this small gold flower was part of Cheng Tingyan’s mother’s dowry… Liu Qiongfang had sold all the gold jewelry long ago to pay for her medical treatment, only keeping this small gold flower that was originally attached to it as a memento.

In her previous life, Cheng Tingyan had sent her a picture of this gold flower and joked that her mother had given it to her for self-defense when she was young, and she only found out it was a memento when she was older, thankfully she hadn’t spent it when she was young.

Wei Maomao now knew that the “when she was young” Cheng Tingyan had mentioned was this time.

This fool… was she going to exchange the memento she had kept safe in her previous life for popcorn for her in this life…

She was such a useless person who couldn’t properly protect her, how could she deserve this!

Wei Maomao wanted to hold back, both the sadness and the breakdown.

But obviously, the three-year-old body had its own rules.

Originally, Wei Maomao was just quietly crying with her head down, but when Cheng Tingyan squatted down, her gentle words became arrows piercing her heart.

“I’m not hungry… don’t… exchange…” Wei Maomao wiped her tears, sobbing, struggling to get the words out.

“But…” Cheng Tingyan began.

“Wait.” Shen Zilin finally recovered from the shock of exchanging the gold flower for popcorn. “I got one million yuan for participating in this show. Didn’t you say you were on the first season, Yan Yan? So shouldn’t you have two million for both seasons? I also saw you in commercials on TV, why do you only have thirty-one yuan and seventy-five cents?”

“What seventy-five cents?” Cheng Rongrong, who had suddenly had a stomachache before entering and had gone to the bathroom, rushed back just in time to hear the end of Shen Zilin’s words.

Seeing everyone huddled together, she eagerly wanted to join in.

Shen Zilin turned to look at Cheng Rongrong, and for some reason, he blurted out, “How much money do you have, Rongrong?”

“Me?” Cheng Rongrong stopped and subconsciously looked around.

The low tables around them were filled with snacks, and in front of each snack was a sign with numbers on it, ranging from a few to tens, hundreds, or even more.

Were they discussing buying snacks… These numbers couldn’t possibly represent money, these children probably hadn’t thought of that, right?

Cheng Rongrong smiled knowingly. “We’re here to play, we can’t bring money, right? Maybe these numbers don’t represent money?”

Great, a well-behaved and somewhat intelligent image.

After going to the bathroom, Cheng Rongrong decisively gave up on analyzing the hair clip. Regardless of whether Cheng Tingyan had become accustomed to being mistreated, or had suddenly seen the light and wanted to improve their relationship, or was being guided by Liu Qiongfang, she wanted to walk the path that Cheng Tingyan had taken in the book, no matter what she did, she wouldn’t soften her heart towards her. After figuring this out, Cheng Rongrong was filled with renewed fighting spirit, and naturally, she wouldn’t miss any details now.

However, she didn’t expect that she had missed too much by going to the bathroom.

“Shen Zilin isn’t asking how much money we have now.” Wei Maomao quickly wiped her face and spoke before Cheng Rongrong could continue. “Shen Zilin wants to take us to invest together, he’s asking how much money we have in total. I don’t have any money. Wen Dongdong has five yuan every day, so he has thirty five yuans in thirty days.”

“Soon it will be six yuan every day!” Wen Dongyu raised his head and added, “Call me Wen Dongyu, Boss, call me baby!”

Wei Maomao didn’t even look at him, continuing quickly, “Shen Zilin said his money is too little and he won’t take him to invest. Shen Zilin himself has four hundred…”

“Four million five hundred and sixty-eight thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight yuan!” Shen Zilin raised his head, his heart pounding. This was the first time Maomao had called him Shen Zilin, she must think he was great at saving money!

“So Shen Zilin is asking you now if you want to invest together.” Wei Maomao kept her eyes on Cheng Rongrong the whole time, constantly on guard to prevent others from saying what they shouldn’t say.

Cheng Rongrong was stunned for a moment. The Shen Zilin in the original novel didn’t seem to have made any investments at such a young age, but he was described as having a keen eye for investment and a constantly expanding business empire…

But what Cheng Rongrong cared about more was that Wei Maomao kept calling him “Shen Zilin.” If she remembered correctly, before coming to this supermarket, Wei Maomao hadn’t called Shen Zilin that before, had she?

Had the snacks around them made the three-year-old children aware of the importance of money?

Just as Cheng Rongrong was thinking about how to answer Shen Zilin’s question, an annoying voice came from beside her.

“Heh, why are you asking her? She’s just a three-year-old who only knows how to cry, does she even know what money is, what a million is?” Wang Zhizhi, who had somehow ended up by the cake display, sneered. “Why don’t you ask me, my lucky money adds up to quite a lot.”

“Then you have…” Shen Zilin’s eyes lit up and he turned to Wang Zhizhi, he liked friends who knew how to save.

“Shen Zilin, I have two million three hundred thousand yuan!” Cheng Rongrong interrupted Shen Zilin’s question to Wang Zhizhi and added to Wang Zhizhi, “And I’m three and a half years old this year!”

This Wang Zhizhi was really annoying. Just now, when she went to the bathroom, it was because Wang Zhizhi was inside. She didn’t want to face him alone, so she ran away and waited for a long time for him to come out before going in, which is why it took her so long, almost missing Shen Zilin’s proposal.

When standing in the wind, even pigs could fly. She had given a conservative number, when she went back, she would get more money from her parents. As long as she got on the Shen family’s train, she would have everything she wanted. This Wei Maomao was also silly, if she hadn’t added those explanations, she would have thought they were just casually talking about the money for these snacks.

Cheng Rongrong felt that she had given a number that wasn’t excessive, but was enough to attract Shen Zilin’s interest, and she had also challenged Wang Zhizhi, adding to her cuteness as a competitive little girl.

But after she finished speaking, she felt something was wrong.

Shouldn’t Shen Zilin’s gaze be full of surprise and admiration when he looked back at her? Why did that feeling only last for a moment before turning into a frown?

And that annoying Wang Zhizhi, after touching the cake display, actually sneered and said sarcastically, “Oh, little sister has two million three hundred thousand yuan.”

Cheng Rongrong: ??? Who’s your little sister?

There were too many things to complain about, comments flew across the live broadcast screen, so dense that they were almost fighting each other.

“Am I poorly educated? Are kids these days so knowledgeable about money at three or four years old! My three-year-old niece still thinks potato chips and candy grow out of the snack cabinet!”

“Wen Dongyu’s ‘thirty five yuans’ is killing me, the days before learning multiplication are truly tough. Shen Zilin, worthy of being CEO Shen’s son, starting to raise funds at such a young age.”

“With Shen Zilin’s family background, and he’s six years old, it’s normal for him to know about millions. Cheng Rongrong is amazing, knowing about personal property and millions at three and a half years old? What are they teaching her at home…”

“I’m not poorly educated, but I’m poor, I’m not worthy of participating in this ‘millions’ conversation!”

“That’s just like you, Wang Zhizhi, thirty-one yuan and seventy-five cents versus two million three hundred thousand yuan, taking sibling rivalry to the extreme!”

“I’m getting angry, Yan Yan is selling her gold to buy popcorn, where is her money? Where’s the two million Shen Zilin calculated for her!”

“The first season of ‘Where’s Baby Going’ was two years ago, wasn’t it? Maybe Yan Yan didn’t get a million at that time?”

“Even if it wasn’t a million, it was at least half a million, let’s say ten thousand, okay? Where did the ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight yuan and twenty-five cents go?”

“This is so frustrating! I deleted the comment criticizing Cheng Feiying that I had written, but I still have to scold him.”

“I just hope the Cheng family saved the money for Yan Yan, and she just doesn’t know about it (I’m having a harmonious world peace dream).”

“Keep dreaming, they save Yan Yan’s money and don’t tell her, but Rongrong knows about her own money?”

“Really, I thought Wang Zhizhi was too harsh on Cheng Rongrong at the Cheng family’s house earlier, but now it seems he’s really sharp… I’m impressed!”

“Wang Zhizhi is really smart, he’s been eavesdropping in that corner for a while, he definitely heard about Yan Yan’s assets, this is him standing up for the first child and calling out Cheng Rongrong.”

…

Chapter 26p1

Just like with the Rubik’s cubes, expired snacks were something Wei Maomao had never heard Cheng Tingyan mention in her previous life.

But unlike the amazement she had felt earlier, this time, Wei Maomao was filled with bitterness, a bone-chilling coldness enveloping her.

Expired food, Wei Maomao was no stranger to it, one could even say she was very familiar with it.

In her previous life, to pay off her debts as quickly as possible, Wei Maomao had eaten not only expired food but also food that was past its expiration date. Of course, for her health, she ate less of the latter, usually those that had just passed their expiration date. Those were much cheaper than already cheap expired food, almost like getting them for free. What she ate more often was expired food, cheap, cost-effective, and safe. As long as she calculated the time properly, it was no different from regular food, and if she encountered a sale, she could use even more coupons.

Wei Maomao had spent a long time in her previous life meticulously budgeting even when buying expired food. She didn’t think much of it at the time, after all, every penny saved was real money, reducing the pressure of her debt.

But now, the six-year-old Cheng Tingyan was standing before her, saying things like “one-yuan teddy bear biscuits, if they’re close to their expiration date, you can get a ten or twenty-cent discount,” and “I know a store that often has snacks close to their expiration date”… Wei Maomao felt like a nerve in her brain had snapped.

The problem wasn’t with the expired food itself. It was why the six-year-old Cheng Tingyan knew these things so well!

Wei Maomao was not okay.

Unlike Wei Maomao’s anger at seeing the truth, the viewers in the live broadcast room were mostly surprised, and then confused.

“A six-year-old knowing snack prices, knowing about buy-ten-get-one-free lollipop deals, I can understand, but why does she even know how to get cheap expired snacks?”

“Maybe that small store did a promotion for expired snacks to sell them, and Yan Yan found out?”

“Hard to say, usually small stores don’t pay much attention to expiration dates, Yan Yan just said ‘find those close to their expiration date’ and then ‘ask’ the store owner for a ten or twenty-cent discount, I don’t think it’s a store promotion, it seems like Yan Yan needs to actively search for them and then bargain with the store owner.”

“That’s amazing, Yan Yan is the number one thrifty housekeeper.”

“Wait! Are you guys focusing on the wrong thing? Isn’t the real question why Yan Yan is specifically buying expired snacks? And it takes time and effort to search and bargain just to save ten or twenty cents!”

“I just bought a box of expired snacks online yesterday, hahaha, but that’s because I just started working and I’m a bit poor, but I have a sweet tooth, buying expired food is quite good. But Yan Yan shouldn’t be poor, right? Being this frugal is a bit…”

“Right, the problem isn’t with expired snacks, it’s why Yan Yan, who clearly isn’t poor, is working so hard to save ten or twenty cents?”

“She’s only six, her family probably controls her allowance, right? Maybe they don’t want her to eat too many snacks? If she has a craving, she might want to spend less money to buy more snacks?”

“Although… but… I still feel like something’s not right. Cheng Feiying has filmed so many movies, he has so much money. Even if he controls her allowance, he could still give her a few dozen yuan a week? A hundred? My nephew, from an ordinary family, also gets fifty yuan a week. He can eat teddy bear biscuits until he’s full every day even without a discount.”

“Children from wealthy families don’t really eat those cheap snacks. Look at Shen Zilin, he doesn’t even know the price of lollipops… Spending five yuan on a fifty-cent lollipop.”

…

When Cheng Tingyan mentioned expired snacks, the voices in the live broadcast room were mostly puzzled, with all sorts of speculation arising.

So when Cheng Tingyan, who had just been talking about buying expired food, said she wanted to buy Wei Maomao 100 yuan worth of popcorn, the viewers thought they finally knew the truth.

“I knew it, children from acting families wouldn’t be raised so frugally, even eating teddy bear biscuits, they have to consider buying expired ones to save a few cents.”

“Hahaha, buying 100 yuan popcorn without hesitation, it seems Yan Yan isn’t short of money, she’s just stingy!”

“The thrifty Yan Yan, spending a fortune for the little chubby bunny, hahaha, I was about to write a comment criticizing Cheng Feiying for not giving her enough allowance, thankfully I didn’t post it, otherwise I would have wronged him.”

“The program team doesn’t allow them to bring money or phones, I wonder where Yan Yan hid the money, it can’t be in her shoes like Wen Dongyu, hahaha!”

“Someone save Shen Zilin, hahaha, when he found out that Wen Dongyu’s one yuan was dug out of his shoe, his face turned pale.”

“That’s impossible, our Yan Yan’s feet can’t be smelly!”

…

The moment Cheng Tingyan said she wanted to buy popcorn for Wei Maomao, the seriousness and gloom that were beginning to settle in the live broadcast room instantly dissipated, replaced by laughter and amusement.

However, the amusement belonged to the viewers, not to Wei Maomao.

Lingering on her lips was the familiar scent of jasmine… carrying a hint of gentle warmth, it slightly dispelled the coldness around Wei Maomao, then plunged her heart into deeper bitterness.

Wei Maomao glanced at the handkerchief in Cheng Tingyan’s hand, closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, they were filled with innocent curiosity.

“Yan Yan will take Wen Dongdong to the small store, Maomao wants to go too.” Wei Maomao counted on her fingers and looked at Cheng Tingyan. “Do you often go there?” As if, poor enough to eat expired food, too poor to eat expired food often, right? Wei Maomao knew that Cheng Tingyan wouldn’t be a glutton in the future, so she wouldn’t have been unrestrained in her childhood either.

As expected, Cheng Tingyan shook her head.

“It’s a bit far, I go…” Cheng Tingyan hesitated, swallowing back the words about going to her mother’s house and changing her answer to, “About once a month.”

“Are there many delicious things in the store?” Wei Maomao asked again.

“A lot.” Cheng Tingyan nodded.

“Then…” Wei Maomao seemed to want to continue asking.

“It’s so cheap there! You only go once every thirty days! So you can eat a lot, a lot, a lot each time!” Wen Dongyu interrupted, holding up the one yuan coin in his hand. “My dad says I’m five years old this year, and he gives me five yuan every day! My birthday is coming soon, and I’ll have six yuan every day! Yan Yan is already six years old, so she can buy… um, thirty six yuans worth of stuff! Wow!”

“No…” Cheng Tingyan said awkwardly.

“Yan Yan, do you buy that many teddy bear biscuits?” Wei Maomao tried to keep her expression purely curious, not like Wen Dongyu’s astonished envy.

“Not that many.” Cheng Tingyan was much more patient with Wei Maomao, and her answer was more detailed. “I’ll buy two bags of teddy bear biscuits, two bags of shrimp crackers, and sometimes if there are lollipops close to their expiration date, I’ll buy two more lollipops.” Then she would take them to eat with her mother.

“That’s not even enough for me to eat in one go.” Wen Dongyu shook his head. “Girls eat so little.”

“What do you know, Yan Yan is spending money responsibly. We should learn to manage our own finances from a young age and not waste money. This way, when we grow up, we’ll have saved a lot of money, and we can start our first investment!” Shen Zilin pulled the gluttonous Wen Dongyu away, squeezed to the front, looked at Cheng Tingyan, and said, “Nice to meet you, you’re the first friend I’ve met who knows how to save money from a young age!”

Cheng Tingyan: “…”

She didn’t know whether to refute “responsibly,” “save money,” or “friend” first…

“I’ve saved all my lucky money and allowance since I was young, and now I have four million five hundred and sixty-eight thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight yuan. It should have been four million five hundred and seventy thousand, but I sometimes want to eat snacks…” Shen Zilin scratched his head a little embarrassedly and looked at Cheng Tingyan again. “Unlike you, I can’t earn money from filming variety shows and commercials since I was young, my money is all given to me by my elders. Although I might not have as much as you, I have studied financial management and investment. I hope we can invest together when we grow up.”

“Me too, me too!” Wen Dongyu squeezed forward from behind. “I have five yuan every day! Oh, soon to be six!”

Shen Zilin pushed him back. “No, your money is too little, and you always think about eating. You don’t meet my criteria for a partner.”

“One month, thirty six yuans…” Cheng Tingyan said with difficulty, “Is that still too little?”

“A lot?” Shen Zilin was stunned.

“I…” Although she was a little embarrassed, Cheng Tingyan still decided to tell the truth and dispel the unrealistic expectation on Shen Zilin’s face. “I only have thirty-one yuan and seventy-five cents, which should be less than thirty six yuans, right?”

“Thirty-one yuan and seventy-five cents every month?” Wei Maomao asked weakly.

“…” Cheng Tingyan looked at the little chubby bunny and said honestly, “In total.”

“Impossible!” Shen Zilin was shocked, and then a little hurt. “Yan Yan, are you lying to me because you don’t want to invest with me…”

“I’m not lying to you.” Although Cheng Tingyan didn’t want to interact too much with other children, Shen Zilin’s expression when he talked about cooperation was really sincere, otherwise she wouldn’t have overcome her embarrassment and revealed the amount of money she had.

Shen Zilin felt a bit discouraged, he had finally found a friend who also knew how to save money from a young age, but it wasn’t for saving, it was because she was poor?

“But Yan Yan… isn’t one hundred bigger than thirty-one?” Wen Dongyu struggled to squeeze forward between the low table and Shen Zilin. “You just said you wanted to buy popcorn for Yan Yan, that popcorn says 100.”

“Right, you can afford 100 yuan popcorn, how could you only have thirty-one yuan and seventy-five cents!” Shen Zilin caught the loophole, moved to the left to make some space for the struggling Wen Dongyu to squeeze in, and looked at Cheng Tingyan, hurt. “You lied to me!”

“I didn’t lie to you…” Cheng Tingyan reached back and touched something. As she moved, her originally tied ponytail loosened, and her hair fell softly over her shoulders.

“Mommy said we can’t bring money to the filming. If we encounter a situation where we have to spend money, we can use this to exchange for money, it can be exchanged for four hundred yuan.” Cheng Tingyan gently removed a small gold flower from her fabric hair tie.

Shen Zilin: “…”

“It seems to be gold.” Wen Jiangyue, who had been quietly watching, came over and asked with interest, “Can I touch it?”

Cheng Tingyan nodded.

Wen Jiangyue picked up the small gold flower and weighed it lightly in her hand. “It’s very small and heavy, it should be gold. If it’s still gold after being burned with fire, then it definitely is. Gold costs over 400 yuan per gram now.”

“Wen Jiangyue, you know so much too!” Wen Dongyu looked at her with admiration.

“My dad likes these things.” Wen Jiangyue smiled sheepishly, putting the small gold flower back in Cheng Tingyan’s hand. Then she asked in confusion, “Your mom saying ‘when you have to spend money’ doesn’t mean when you want to buy popcorn, right…”

“Mommy was afraid that I would get lost and wouldn’t have money to take a taxi to find the police.” Cheng Tingyan’s voice became a bit weaker, but she continued with some determination, “But Mommy also told me to judge for myself when it’s necessary to spend money, and I think it is now.”

With that, Cheng Tingyan looked at Wei Maomao, the little chubby bunny had lowered her head at some point, all she could see was a messy head of hair.

“Let’s exchange for 100 yuan worth of popcorn first, and you see if it’s enough to eat?” Cheng Tingyan gently tugged at the little chubby paw in her hand.

The little chubby bunny didn’t speak, and her little chubby paw didn’t respond either.

Cheng Tingyan felt something was wrong, she looked down carefully, and saw suspicious… water droplets on the brown ground in front of the little chubby bunny’s toes?

“Maomao?” Cheng Tingyan squatted down and, as expected, met a tear-stained little face. “Why are you crying? Are you hungry?”

“I’m not hungry!”

 

Chapter 25

Inside the bathroom, Cheng Tingyan couldn’t refuse Wei Maomao and ended up sharing a little secret with the little chubby bunny.

Meanwhile, in the bedroom, Cheng Rongrong, who was waiting for them, was about to lose her friendly facade.

Heh, even a three-year-old wouldn’t be completely uninterested and unexcited about a gift that was right in front of them, even if they were in a hurry to use the toilet!

That Wei Maomao was doing this on purpose!

Cheng Rongrong couldn’t understand. It was their first meeting, and she hadn’t offended the little chubby child, so why was she always ruining her plans?

But she decided not to dwell on it. After all, she was just a three-year-old kid, there would be time to deal with her later. Cheng Rongrong clenched the gift bag in her hand, watching the two walk into the bedroom hand in hand, sneering inwardly.

“Maomao, for you, a little bunny. Look, it’s white and chubby just like you, so cute!” As they approached, Cheng Rongrong presented the plush toy, smiling sincerely, without revealing any of her resentment.

Where was she chubby? This was called baby fat! Wei Maomao complained silently, politely accepting the bunny and thanking her, then taking out the bracelet as a return gift, without arguing.

After all, no matter how strange Cheng Rongrong seemed, she was just a three-and-a-half-year-old child. As long as her words and actions weren’t intended to hurt Cheng Tingyan, Wei Maomao had no intention of suppressing her.

But at this moment, Wei Maomao silently watched Cheng Rongrong. As expected, after giving the bunny, she didn’t leave, but turned to Cheng Tingyan beside her.

“Sister, this is for you.” Cheng Rongrong took out a crystal ball from the gift bag, a shy smile on her face. “The little princess inside is as beautiful as you.”

Seeing Cheng Tingyan staring at the crystal ball in her hand, looking very surprised, Cheng Rongrong was very satisfied with her brilliant plan and held the gift out further.

Didn’t see that coming, did you? Come on, refuse me, and then I’ll insist. If it breaks during the struggle, it’s its own misfortune.

But Cheng Rongrong didn’t know that Cheng Tingyan’s surprise wasn’t because of her, but because of Wei Maomao, who had accurately predicted this moment.

Cheng Rongrong held the crystal ball, calculating the time, her expression gradually turning aggrieved as she said softly, “Sister, you…”

“Thank you.” Cheng Tingyan snatched the crystal ball and quickly took out a shiny hair clip from her shoulder bag, placing it on Cheng Rongrong’s hand before she could retract it. “You always like these hair accessories.”

Cheng Tingyan’s voice wasn’t gentle, it was even a bit stiff and awkward, but Cheng Rongrong didn’t notice at all. And after Cheng Tingyan finished saying what the little chubby bunny had asked her to say, she paid no more attention to Cheng Rongrong.

At this moment, Cheng Rongrong was truly surprised, surprised by the appearance of this gift, and even more surprised that Cheng Tingyan would say such words to her…

This shiny hair clip wasn’t something Cheng Tingyan would like, Cheng Rongrong knew at a glance that it wasn’t something Cheng Tingyan had taken out of her own belongings on a whim as a substitute. But how could she have prepared a gift for her… The only possibility was that Liu Qiongfang had prepared it for Cheng Tingyan, but Cheng Tingyan didn’t like her, so she never gave it to her, until she received the crystal ball.

Exchanging gifts to avoid owing each other was Cheng Tingyan’s style, but there was another question… How could Cheng Tingyan say “You always like these hair accessories”? That kind of thoughtful and friendly words, Cheng Tingyan wouldn’t bother saying them.

Cheng Rongrong had too many questions. She stared at the hair clip in her hand for a long time, even forgetting to say thank you.

Unbeknownst to Cheng Rongrong, Cheng Tingyan and Wei Maomao exchanged a secret smile.

Everything was as Wei Maomao had predicted. Cheng Tingyan felt both surprised and excited. She couldn’t help but think, how could she have thought Maomao was like the chubby bunny she had raised before? Maomao was so much more amazing! And! Most importantly, the reason the little chubby bunny had asked her to give a return gift was that she didn’t want to hear Cheng Rongrong cry.

Earlier, when Cheng Rongrong was crying on the bed, although the others hadn’t blamed her like her dad and Bai Ayi, Cheng Tingyan still felt very uncomfortable, a kind of suffocating feeling. The current Cheng Tingyan didn’t know that this was a conditioned reflex of pain. But she instinctively realized that she needed to stay away from Cheng Rongrong, further away.

She couldn’t talk to anyone about these feelings, not even her mother. But now she had Maomao… although she wouldn’t tell Maomao about it either, Maomao also didn’t like it when Cheng Rongrong cried. This made Cheng Tingyan feel that she wasn’t so alone when it came to Cheng Rongrong.

Cheng Tingyan felt a little bit of unspoken joy. She secretly glanced at the little chubby bunny beside her, who was squatting on the ground, stuffing the bunny plush into her bunny backpack. Maybe because her arms were short, her whole head was buried inside… It was a bit funny.

But Cheng Tingyan didn’t know that those who laughed at others would eventually be laughed at.

At this moment, Wei Maomao, while stuffing things into her bag, was recalling how Cheng Tingyan had spoken to Cheng Rongrong and couldn’t help but bury her chubby face in her bag and giggle. The six-year-old Yan Yan had some comedic talent, she made a friendly statement sound so stiff and blunt, every word resounding. Wei Maomao had to try hard to keep a straight face.

Cheng Tingyan watched the chubby bunny burrowing in her bag for a while, then started to organize her gifts. She put the gifts from the other children in a bag, then glanced at the crystal ball she had just received. The palm-sized crystal ball was crystal clear, the miniature castle inside, from the steps to the eaves, every detail was exquisitely crafted. In front of the castle, a little princess in a pink dress was smiling happily under the falling snow… It was indeed beautiful, but she didn’t look like her, she looked like Cheng Rongrong.

Who the princess looked like, Cheng Tingyan didn’t really care, she didn’t even consider it a gift. From her childhood, anything related to Cheng Rongrong would become troublesome. If it weren’t for the cuteness of the little chubby bunny’s pleas, she would have left immediately when she knew Cheng Rongrong was going to give her a gift.

Cheng Tingyan put the crystal ball in the bag and left it at home, along with the gifts from the other children. Only the sachet from the little chubby bunny, she was reluctant to hang it outside, but didn’t want to leave it at home either. In the end, she wrapped it in a clean handkerchief again and put it in her shoulder bag to carry with her.

Unlike Wei Maomao’s satisfaction and Cheng Tingyan’s nonchalance, even when the staff urged the children to go out and do their task, Cheng Rongrong couldn’t recover from receiving the gift.

Even after they had all gone out, Cheng Rongrong was still wondering why Cheng Tingyan had prepared bag charms for everyone else, but gave her a hair clip… It seemed strangely thoughtful.

Cheng Tingyan couldn’t be cold on the outside but warm on the inside, addicted to being mistreated, and actually treating her as her real sister, could she?

Cheng Rongrong was stunned by her own thoughts and walked with her head down, thinking the whole way. It wasn’t until she reached the village entrance with the group and saw the dads in the field in the distance, as prompted by the staff, that she regained some of her spirit.

“Babies, look, your dads are working hard in the field for your dinner tonight. The harder the dads work, the more ingredients they’ll get. Come on, babies, cheer for your dads!” The host, who had appeared out of nowhere, stood by the field and waved to the little ones.

Standing beside the host, they could clearly see that the place where the dads were was a wasteland. Now, there were many strange facilities on it, and the dads were running and jumping around on them, looking like they were playing games or exercising…

The muddy ground ahead was difficult to walk on, so the host stopped the children from going further and took out a megaphone, holding it right in front of Wen Dongyu, who was closest to him. “Come on, shout into this, shout loudly, let your dad hear your voice!”

“…” Wen Dongyu looked confused. “What should I shout?”

“Cheer for your dad, shout out what you want to say to him now.” The host encouraged. “Don’t you want to eat more delicious food tonight? It’s not the program team who will provide the ingredients tonight, it all depends on the dads’ efforts now.”

Wen Dongyu understood and took a deep breath. “Daddy! I want to eat roast whole lamb lamb lamb lamb lamb lamb…”

“…” The host silently moved the megaphone away. “Next.”

“I haven’t finished yet!” Wen Dongyu pouted.

“We don’t have roast whole lamb on the ingredient list…” The host quickly pointed the megaphone towards Shen Zilin. “Lin Lin, it’s your turn.”

“Then roast whole pig is also okay…” Wen Dongyu muttered. “Lin Lin’s family has a lot of pigs…”

“Daddy, go! You’re the best!” Shen Zilin finished his turn seriously and glanced at Wen Dongyu. Although the pigsty next to their house was smelly, the pigs were still small.

“Daddy, go!”

Wen Jiangyue was a bit shy and only shouted four words. The first time her voice was too soft, so she repeated it again.

When it was Cheng Tingyan’s turn, it was even shorter, only two words, “Go!”

“Yan Yan…” The host wanted Cheng Tingyan to say a few more words, but just as she opened her mouth, the hand holding the megaphone was pulled down.

“It’s my turn.” Wei Maomao, grabbing the megaphone’s ribbon and pulling it down, said seriously.

“Alright… Maomao, you go.” The host squatted down and pointed the megaphone at Wei Maomao’s mouth. “Maomao is so small, you have to shout loudly.”

Wei Maomao nodded, of course.

“Wei Chengli! Stop working so hard! There’s food waiting for you at home!” Wei Maomao clenched her fists and shouted with all her might.

Maybe because she had put in too much effort, it sounded a bit like a squawking chicken.

The first to laugh were Cheng Tingyan, standing next to Wei Maomao, and Liu Ming, in the staff team not far away.

Most of the other people present didn’t know about the “food waiting at home” joke yet, but the dads who had stopped their activities in the distance knew it very well.

Earlier, after Wei Chengli received the ingredient “ginger” and realized that there was a problem with the lunch he had made, he had pestered the staff to call Liu Ming, making all the dads aware of the good deed he had done at noon, and they had already laughed at him.

Now, hearing Maomao’s heart-wrenching childish voice, they laughed even harder. After all, Wei Chengli had been working hard to gather ingredients like a man possessed, making them feel a bit tired.

“Hahaha, Xiao Wei, you can rest, there’s food at home.” Wen Qiming, the oldest, hammered his legs and pointed at his own flat sack not far away. “Give us old folks a chance.”

“It seems like Maomao can’t be appeased, why don’t you share your ingredients with us?” Shen Jianghe picked off a piece of dried mud from his suit pants and pointed at Wei Chengli’s bulging sack outside the field, laughing. “We’ll make finished dishes for you, maybe you’ll have a chance to redeem yourself.”

The others nodded in agreement.

“Maybe, perhaps, if Maomao sees how hard I’m working…” Wei Chengli, whose fighting spirit had been drained by the little one’s voice, said weakly, “I’ll remember to remove the fishy smell when I cook tonight.”

Wen Xiang patted Wei Chengli’s shoulder sympathetically. “Bro, forget it, don’t test your father-daughter bond anymore. Otherwise, one family will be leaving before the first day of filming is even over.” He had chopped all kinds of meat without removing the fishy smell, mixed it all together, and steamed it. If he dared to give this to Wen Dongyu, Wen Dongyu would dare to put mice in his bed! Ah, daughters were better, they only left some food.

“Hahaha…” The others couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.

Wei Chengli: “…”

“Daddy! My amazing Daddy! Be careful, don’t get hurt!”

Cheng Rongrong’s voice came from afar.

But the dads, who had already laughed their heads off after hearing Maomao’s shout, were no longer in the mood to notice the “thoughtfulness” in Cheng Rongrong’s words that seemed different from the other children’s. And because of Wei Maomao’s direct address of her father’s name in her “anger,” no one noticed that among the children who had cheered for their dads, only Cheng Tingyan didn’t include “Daddy” in her words.

Cheering for their dads was just a small interlude on the way to the babies’ task. Everyone was quite happy, except for Wei Chengli, who had faced the iron heart of his little bunny.

Especially the viewers in the live broadcast room, who had witnessed how Wei Maomao and Cheng Tingyan were tortured by Wei Chengli’s mush, were endlessly amused.

“Maomao really can’t forget about that bowl of leftover mush, it seems Director Wei won’t be able to reconcile with his precious daughter until he finishes it, hahaha.”

“But Director Wei has been working really hard after getting the ginger and making the phone call. Now, even if you combine all the ingredients the others have gathered, it’s still less than what’s in his sack, right? He really wants to make up for his mistake at noon.”

“Hahaha, make up? Make up with a new bowl of mush? My niece, who’s only a little over two years old, is gnawing on a pork knuckle, how come Director Wei’s baby food recipe is still so bad.”

“That’s right, look at what Director Wei said to CEO Shen, he worked so hard to gather all that stuff, just to make another batch of mush, hahaha, just removing the fishy smell can’t save our little bunny!”

“No wonder Maomao told Wei Chengli to stop working so hard, with the ingredients he has now, if he makes mush, it would be enough for Maomao to drink until the end of the show, hahaha!”

“Other babies are cheering for their dads, only our little bunny wants to rush up and give her dad a big slap, hahaha, her face was red with anger when she was shouting, it seems she’s really hard to appease.”

“Maomao is so pitiful, Yan Yan at least had a few bites of normal food at noon, she’s only had a few mouthfuls of mush since morning, she must be starving, right? The program team is terrible, there’s only ingredients in each house, no snacks, and they’re not allowed to bring any.”

“Go watch Wang Zhizhi’s live broadcast room, he’s already reached the task location after running away from the Cheng family’s house, it’s truly… a baby’s paradise.”

Back at the field, after Cheng Rongrong finished shouting, the children were taken by the staff to the first location for their task, a convenience store between the village entrance and the vast fields.

The sign said “convenience store,” but it was just a detached single-story building with double doors. From the outside, it looked quite new, not like it originally belonged to the village, more like it was specifically set up by the program team.

In her previous life, Wei Maomao hadn’t seen this task location on the show. Maybe it was because Shi Dingshan was still alive this time, so the filming content was a bit different in this part.

Because of the unknown, Wei Maomao was a little nervous when she stepped into the convenience store. But as she saw what was inside, her nervousness instantly turned into… craving.

It was called a convenience store, but there were no shelves inside. Most of the things were placed on long, low tables that even someone of Wei Maomao’s height could easily see and reach.

Teddy bear biscuits, butter wafers, walnut cookies, mung bean cakes, dried strawberries, candied hawthorn, nut bread, chicken leg bread… A dazzling array of snacks filled the low tables. On the round table in the center, there were many kinds of candies, from soft candies, crispy candies, lollipops, to chocolates of various shapes, it was a feast for the eyes.

Against the wall was a row of equally low transparent display cases filled with both Chinese and Western pastries. Wei Maomao glanced over and saw various fruits, puddings, small cream cakes, and even ice cream…

It really was a convenience store, the kind specifically designed to tempt children.

Wei Maomao couldn’t help but walk towards the few large installations in the store, one of which was a huge glass box taller than her, filled with the kind of buttery popcorn sold at movie theaters! Wei Maomao couldn’t resist leaning closer and taking a deep breath, mmm… even through the glass, it was the familiar sweet aroma.

When she first entered the convenience store, Wei Maomao had quickly realized that if this was a task location, then these things were undoubtedly attainable, they just needed to meet certain conditions, without needing their parents to pay. God knows how excited she was when she realized this, it was like a traveler who had been in the desert for a month encountering an oasis…

It was indeed a sad state of affairs. Since her rebirth, not to mention the mush Wei Chengli had been diligently practicing at home, the meals Wei Maomao had been eating were all baby food made by Zhang Shilan or the nanny. Steamed, boiled, or lightly stir-fried with minimal oil, nutritious, and tasted very much like the kind of bland food eaten during weight loss… Seasoned with only a few drops of oil and a few grains of salt. The only things that were somewhat tasty were fruits, or the baby snacks made by Zhang Shilan herself using fruits and vegetables to extract natural pigments, like yogurt melts and teething biscuits, which had a little natural sweetness… Oh, and the few bites of dim sum she had at the teahouse with Shi Dingshan that day.

Overall, the food she had eaten since her rebirth was so bland to Wei Maomao, with her adult soul, that life almost seemed tasteless. After being tortured by Wei Chengli’s cooking, she had hit rock bottom and was now rebounding. And the candy Liu Ming had given her today was like opening Pandora’s Box.

All along, both the nightmares and the psychological burden of starting over had made Wei Maomao crave sweet and fragrant things. If it weren’t for the fact that she couldn’t move chairs and reach the stove, she would have licked the sugar container clean during those days at home.

And now, her chance had come.

As Wei Maomao was drooling over the popcorn in the glass box, she heard Wen Jiangyue asking the staff member a question.

“Sister, is this lollipop twenty yuan each? Can I bring my dad here to buy one later?”

This number couldn’t possibly represent money, right? Wei Maomao turned around and saw that before the staff member could answer, Shen Zilin had stepped forward to stop Wen Jiangyue. “The prices of the things here are not right, don’t buy anything yet.”

Seeing Wen Jiangyue’s confusion, Shen Zilin added, “Last time, my classmate bought me one, the same as this one, only five yuan, twenty yuan can buy four, don’t be cheated by this profiteer!”

“This lollipop…” Originally, Cheng Tingyan didn’t want to talk much to the others, but she couldn’t stand it anymore and looked at the two, saying, “Buying one at a time should be fifty cents, if you buy ten at once, you get one free…”

Wen Jiangyue: ???

Shen Zilin: “…”

“The prices of the things here are indeed not right. Like this small bag of shrimp crackers, it should only cost fifty cents, but it says ten here.” Cheng Tingyan pointed to the teddy bear biscuits next to it. “This one sometimes costs one yuan, sometimes ninety cents, it depends on the number on the back, there’s a date called the expiration date. If you find one in the store with an expiration date close to today’s date, you can ask for a ten-cent discount. This one says fifteen, it’s too expensive.”

“Yan Yan, you’re so amazing!” Wen Dongyu squeezed over. “I have one yuan, can you help me find that… expiration thing? I want to eat teddy bear biscuits too!”

“Weren’t we not allowed to bring money? Where did you get the money, Wen Dongdong?” Shen Zilin said righteously, stepping in front of Wen Dongyu, hoping to distract everyone from the fact that he had spent five yuan on a fifty-cent lollipop.

“I hid a coin in my shoe, hehe.” Wen Dongyu held up the coin in his hand.

“…” Shen Zilin covered his nose and backed away.

“Fifteen yuan to one yuan… That’s too big of a difference.” Cheng Tingyan shook her head. “It definitely won’t work. I’ll take you to buy them after the filming is over. I know a store that often has snacks close to their expiration date, sometimes if the date is really close, you can even get a twenty-cent discount.”

“Yan Yan…”

Cheng Tingyan looked back and saw the little chubby bunny, who had been wandering around the popcorn, now looking at her from two steps away, seemingly unhappy.

“What’s wrong, Maomao? Do you want popcorn?” Cheng Tingyan walked over and stood on tiptoe to look at the popcorn in the glass box.

Ah, it costs a hundred.

“You really want to eat it, don’t you? You’re drooling.” Cheng Tingyan took Wei Maomao’s hand with one hand and expertly took out a clean handkerchief from her shoulder bag with the other, gently wiping the little chubby bunny’s mouth, smiling. “Don’t be sad. You didn’t eat enough of the mush earlier, right? How about I buy you this?”

Wei Maomao was speechless.

Don’t you know the prices?

Where do you get the money?

No, the question should be… How did you switch so seamlessly from being frugal about two cents for expired snacks to wanting to spend a hundred yuan on this for me?

Chapter 24 p2

Cheng Rongrong was so startled that she hiccuped. She looked up and saw the wide-open door, and standing at the door… Wei Maomao?

The previous loud “bangs” that had startled her were obviously the sound of Wei Maomao pushing the door open forcefully. Really… impolite.

But why was she here? Cheng Rongrong only wondered briefly, not thinking too much about it. Because looking at the seemingly surprised chubby face, she suddenly realized, this was a good opportunity to let Wei Maomao witness her pitifulness, to testify to Cheng Tingyan’s heartlessness in front of another child!

Cheng Rongrong quickly changed her mind and suppressed her hiccups with willpower. Just as she was about to speak, she saw the little fatty turn her back on her and rush out as if her butt was on fire.

“Wow, it really is Rongrong crying! Rongrong is so big and still crying so loudly! Shame on her!”

The surprised voice of Wei Maomao, as if she had discovered a new continent, made Cheng Rongrong so angry that she almost choked on another hiccup.

However, this wasn’t the end, it was just the beginning.

In less than a minute, Cheng Rongrong’s bedside was crowded with people.

“That scared me, I thought it was either a ghost or a bad guy!” Wen Dongyu said, patting his chest. “You’re so big, don’t cry so loudly, you’ll scare the little children.”

What nonsense? Cheng Rongrong almost lost her facade of fragility and helplessness.

“Sister…” Cheng Rongrong reached out to Cheng Tingyan, who was furthest from the bed, almost standing outside the door. Since she was here, don’t let her performance go to waste.

“Rongrong, you keep calling for your sister, do you need any help?” Wen Jiangyue glanced at Cheng Tingyan, who was standing still, and kindly stepped forward to hold Cheng Rongrong’s hand.

“…” Cheng Rongrong wiped her tears with her free hand and sobbed softly. “Sister is not here…”

What a suggestive silence.

“Rongrong…” Wei Maomao clenched her chubby fists, ready to step in.

But she didn’t expect that there was not only a Chubby Blocker, but also a Wang Blocker in this world.

“Sister, sister! You only know how to call for your sister! Don’t you have a dad? Don’t you have a mom?” Wang Zhizhi stood not too far from the bed, arms crossed, looking impatient. “Are you so great just because you’re the younger sister? Isn’t it enough that Mom and Dad take care of you? You have to have… your sister always take care of you too? You call for her, and she has to appear immediately? Is your sister a dog! She has to take care of everything for you, do you want her to chew your food and feed it to you! Go find the adults if you have any problems, find the adults, got it! We children can’t handle you!”

The room suddenly fell silent.

Until Cheng Rongrong couldn’t hold back and hiccuped.

Wei Maomao secretly glanced at Wang Zhizhi, she had almost forgotten… there was a professional younger-sibling-hater here. Her subtle approach was no match for his powerful attack.

Wang Zhizhi, sensing Wei Maomao’s gaze, blushed when their eyes met.

“You… you little girls are the… most troublesome!” The blushing little curly-haired boy turned and ran away, with an air of anger.

Wei Maomao, who was also glared at: “…”

Wait a minute, buddy… A younger sister is a younger sister, but I’m not a second child…

Cheng Rongrong was almost fuming with anger, her hand hidden under the blanket, clutching the bed sheet, was hurting.

“I’m not…” Cheng Rongrong mumbled, sobbing softly and aggrievedly. She couldn’t continue what Wang Zhizhi had said. Some things needed to be ambiguous to leave room for imagination. He had completely torn it apart, exposing the essence of the problem, anything she said now would be wrong.

This younger-sibling-hater! She had been careless… At this moment, Cheng Rongrong really hated the author of the original novel. Since you created such a character, why not write more about him! What was the use of just giving him a label and a not-so-good ending, she was the one who had to endure this younger-sibling-hating process!

Wang Zhizhi’s sudden outburst startled the other children and was also unexpected for the staff. And the outburst was so short, they didn’t even have time to stop him before it was over…

And it wasn’t just the people present who were surprised.

“Wang Zhizhi… didn’t his dad say he brought him on the show to learn how to be a good older brother?”

“Wow, it seems Wang Qingchuan is quite… presumptuous.”

“Wang Qingchuan’s second child is only a few months old, is Wang Zhizhi’s resentment already so strong?”

“Children these days are so selfish, it’s like having a younger sibling is like having an enemy. I actually thought Wang Zhizhi was a good brother.”

“? Honestly, we can’t have too many expectations for children who haven’t developed a mature worldview, can we? Wang Zhizhi is only four and a half years old…”

“The Wang family’s baby girl is only a few months old, she can’t even talk yet, his reaction just now… it feels like the adults at home are putting too much pressure on him.”

“Looking at it this way, Cheng Feiying, who didn’t ask Yan Yan to take care of Rongrong, is better than Wang Qingchuan.”

“Heh, he didn’t? If he didn’t, why is Rongrong crying and calling for her sister? When she’s scared, she doesn’t call for her dad or mom, just her sister?”

“I actually think Wang Zhizhi is right, you should go to the adults if you have any problems, why keep calling for your brother or sister? What can a four, five, or six-year-old brother or sister do? What obligation do they have to do anything for them at such a young age?”

“Sigh, Wang Zhizhi is too angry, Rongrong looks scared.”

“Good! Now Rongrong knows to go to her parents if she has any problems, what’s the point of looking for her sister? Yan Yan is only six, and they’re only half-siblings!”

“But honestly, I had forgotten about them being half-siblings… Yan Yan is only six, what obligation does she have… Those who said Yan Yan was too cold for leaving Rongrong alone with the staff, now that you’ve seen Wang Zhizhi, don’t you think Yan Yan’s temper is actually quite good?”

“Sigh, only those involved know the truth about family relationships. I think as long as they don’t deliberately hurt each other, let them be close if they want to be close, let them be distant if they want to be distant, children have it tough too.”

…

If someone couldn’t voice their own suffering, how could anyone understand their difficulties?

Similar problems were endured silently by Cheng Tingyan in her previous life. In this life, Wang Zhizhi, who came to the show unexpectedly, empathized with her and directly tore down Cheng Rongrong’s stage.

And in the live broadcast room, the comments that were unilaterally criticizing Cheng Tingyan, after being scattered by Wei Maomao’s random punches, now shifted towards a more rational and in-depth discussion due to Wang Zhizhi’s genuine outburst.

Cheng Rongrong didn’t know what was happening in the live broadcast room, but with Wang Zhizhi’s angry departure, she knew that the viewers wouldn’t simply be on her side anymore. And the expressions on Shen Zilin and Wen Dongyu’s faces didn’t show any sympathy for her or dislike for Cheng Tingyan, she knew… she had cried for nothing.

It was all because of!

Without Wang Zhizhi in the room, Cheng Rongrong could only direct her hatred towards Wei Maomao.

It was all because of her!

This morning, when she had used the excuse of forgetting the rule about not bringing snacks into the village to share the potato chips she had brought specifically to build relationships with the other children, this little one came over and cried, ruining the harmonious atmosphere of making friends! She didn’t even play along and even said she was dirty!

The same with the house, because of her interference, not only did they not swap houses, but she and her dad were made to look like a joke!

And just now! She didn’t even ask what was wrong when she saw her crying, she went out and called everyone in! It was her who brought in that annoying Wang Zhizhi!

It was all because of her!

Cheng Rongrong was furious, her toes under the blanket digging into the bed sheet, but on the surface, she still had to pretend to gradually stop crying under Wen Jiangyue’s comfort.

This wasn’t the way she had imagined things would go, but she was forced to take this step by that brat Wei Maomao.

Wei Maomao, of course, didn’t know that the three-year-old who, in her eyes, had been misled by the Cheng family, would have such rich experiences and thoughts. She was busy signaling Cheng Tingyan to get the gift. If she forgot about the gift because of Cheng Rongrong’s incident, and if the editing in the main episode wasn’t good, it would make Cheng Tingyan look inattentive towards the other children.

Cheng Tingyan no longer had the illusion from earlier, when she was walking with Maomao, that she could become close to the other children.

Yes, it was an illusion.

The six-year-old Cheng Tingyan was overly cautious in some aspects.

She had now concluded that it must have been the little chubby paw she was holding on the road, the warmth of that paw, that had given her the illusion of becoming close to the other children.

But she still had to give them the gifts, after all, she was holding the gifts the other children had given her.

The gifts Cheng Tingyan had prepared for everyone were bag charms. She quickly distributed them, one for each person, only Wang Zhizhi’s was temporarily kept in her shoulder bag, ready to be given to him when she saw him later.

Cheng Rongrong, who had stopped crying at some point, also brought out a bag of gifts to distribute.

“This gold tie clip, Dad and I thought it would be perfect for Zilin.”

“Dongyu, this Transformer can transform into sixty different shapes, let’s play together later.”

“My mom saw a picture of Wen Jiangyue wearing Hanfu and said this hairpin would look beautiful on you!”

Wei Maomao watched silently. When it came to giving gifts, Cheng Rongrong was much more eloquent than Cheng Tingyan, and the value of her gifts was also obvious at a glance. Looking at how the other three were cherishing their gifts, it seemed the Cheng family had put a lot of thought into it.

“Maomao…” Cheng Rongrong walked up to Wei Maomao with her bag of gifts.

“Rongrong, I need to pee.” Wei Maomao interrupted Cheng Rongrong, clutching her stomach and pulling Cheng Tingyan beside her. “I can’t do it by myself, Yan Yan, take me.”

“Boss, didn’t you say people who are really in trouble won’t ask little children for help?” Wen Dongyu, clutching his Transformer, squeezed in.

Wei Maomao: “…” Heh, with your level of observation, I doubt you’ll ever have a boss in your life!

Wen Dongyu, who was given a hmph by the little dumpling, was confused and could only watch as the two little girls walked out of the bedroom hand in hand.

That Wei Maomao, she actually used the excuse of needing to pee to avoid accepting her gift, making her lose face! Cheng Rongrong clenched the bunny plush in her hand.

But this time, Cheng Rongrong had really misunderstood Wei Maomao.

Wei Maomao did run away, but not to avoid accepting Cheng Rongrong’s gift.

As everyone knew, in a variety show filled with cameras, there was only one place without cameras, where you could take off your microphone and whisper.

Wei Maomao pulled Cheng Tingyan into the bathroom, locked the door, and gave herself a mental high-five for her quick thinking.

Then she turned around and saw Cheng Tingyan blushing, pulling out tissues from the box beside her while saying in a low voice, “Maomao, you can poop, I’ll help you wipe.”

Wei Maomao was startled, she took a step back, bumping into the door with a thud, almost turning into a bunny pancake.

“Yan Yan…” Wei Maomao glanced at the pile of tissues in Cheng Tingyan’s hand and said with difficulty, “I don’t need to… poop.”

“…” Cheng Tingyan looked confused. “But you could pee by yourself before.”

“Wait…” Wei Maomao understood and said helplessly, “I asked you to come, not for that. I wanted to talk to Yan Yan, things that I don’t want others to hear.”

For the last sentence, Wei Maomao lowered her voice to a whisper. Cheng Tingyan thought she was about to hear the little chubby bunny’s secret and became a little nervous.

Unexpectedly…

“No way…” Cheng Tingyan said after listening, incredulous.

“I saw it, the bunny in her hand is definitely for me! There are two other things in the bag!” Wei Maomao said with certainty.

Of course, she was certain. In her previous life, she had personally witnessed Cheng Rongrong taking out an extra gift for Cheng Tingyan, then looking longingly at the gifts Cheng Tingyan was giving to the other children, and finally looking somewhat disappointed but not saying anything. Of course, the keyboard warriors on the internet had said everything for her later.

But even in front of the six-year-old Cheng Tingyan, Wei Maomao couldn’t reveal her foreknowledge. She could only wait until Cheng Rongrong started distributing gifts, pretend she had seen it and guessed it, before taking the next step.

After all, a three-year-old could be a little clever and imaginative, but she couldn’t be a fortune teller.

“But, she and I aren’t…” Cheng Tingyan didn’t want to say that she and Cheng Rongrong were family, but the gifts… weren’t they supposed to be for the other children participating in the show?

“Did you prepare a gift for Rongrong?” Wei Maomao asked knowingly, leading her on.

Cheng Tingyan shook her head, looking a bit embarrassed. “I…”

Wei Maomao didn’t want to see Cheng Tingyan like this, it wasn’t her intention to make her embarrassed.

But she had to continue, so she interrupted Cheng Tingyan and sped up her prompting. “Rongrong gave you a gift, if you don’t give her one, will she cry again? She cries so loudly.”

Cheng Tingyan: “But I don’t have…”

“No… you do.” Wei Maomao took out a shiny hair clip from her bunny backpack. “I’ll lend it to you, it’s our secret.”

Cheng Tingyan: “No…”

“I really don’t want to hear Rongrong cry again, please, Yan Yan.” Wei Maomao leaned closer, putting her hands together in a pleading gesture.

Cheng Tingyan: “…”

The little chubby bunny was soft and cuddly, pouting aggrievedly, with her chubby paws clasped together, clearly helping someone, yet pleading in a childish voice…

She really wanted to… pinch…

Cheng Tingyan couldn’t resist this kind of cute chubby bunny attack, it was too unfair.

 

Chapter 24 p1

After leaving the Wang family’s house, Wen Dongyu, being the fastest runner, was the first to arrive at the Cheng family’s house three doors down and pushed open the courtyard gate. Then… he was startled by the clear sound of crying from inside and stopped in his tracks.

Two steps behind, Wei Maomao, also hearing Cheng Rongrong crying and calling for her sister, immediately grabbed Cheng Tingyan’s hand and subtly led her further inside.

Knowing the real dynamics within the Cheng family, Wei Maomao was well aware that Cheng Tingyan wouldn’t believe that Cheng Rongrong was genuinely crying for her… But Wei Maomao couldn’t let Cheng Tingyan, who had sensed something was wrong, stop here. In front of the cameras, Cheng Tingyan could choose not to be a good sister, but that had to be after Cheng Rongrong was exposed as not being a good sister.

“Is someone crying inside?” Wen Dongyu asked in a low voice, looking scared.

“It must be Rongrong.” Wen Jiangyue, who was originally walking at the back, quickly caught up, standing beside Wen Dongyu. She then looked back in confusion at the other four, who seemed to have slowed down in unison.

“Oh, it’s Rongrong, that scared me, I thought there was a ghost inside.” Wen Dongyu patted his chest and then looked at Cheng Tingyan. “She’s calling for her sister, is she calling for you?”

“Rongrong is crying so loudly, did something happen that she needs your help?” Wen Jiangyue also looked at Cheng Tingyan.

Wei Maomao clearly felt a slight struggle and retreat from Cheng Tingyan’s hand that was clasped in hers.

“It can’t be Rongrong crying!” Wei Maomao released Cheng Tingyan’s hand, stepped forward, and stood in front of her, then raised her hand high above her head and gestured. “Rongrong is so much taller than me, how could she cry louder than me! My daddy said there are many bad people now, they pretend to be in trouble and ask little children for help, then secretly sell them! People who are really in trouble won’t ask little children for help, they will ask strong adults like Daddy for help! So if Rongrong is in trouble, she would call for her dad, the one calling for sister inside must be a bad person who wants to sell us! We can’t be sold!”

The little dumpling, chubby and short, stood between Cheng Tingyan and Wen Dongyu, not really blocking anything. But Wen Dongyu, who was initially looking at Cheng Tingyan, had his attention drawn to Maomao the moment she started speaking. After listening, he thought… Wow, this little sister is so cool! Awesome!

“Boss, how do you know so much!” Wen Dongyu ran to Wei Maomao’s side and looked back warily at the closed door across the courtyard. “What should we do now? Should we go find our dads to beat up the bad guys!”

“That’s Rongrong’s voice!” Wen Jiangyue, not as easily fooled as Wen Dongyu, looked directly at Cheng Tingyan. “Yan Yan, listen, isn’t it?”

Earlier, Cheng Tingyan had walked around the village with Wei Maomao, receiving gifts from the other children and promising to give them the gifts she had brought when they reached her house. They had chatted about the gifts they were giving and receiving along the way, and it had been quite pleasant. She didn’t know if it was because the little chubby paw she was holding was so warm, but Cheng Tingyan almost felt like she was becoming close to everyone.

But after returning here, getting close to Cheng Rongrong, everything seemed to go back to the starting point.

They were all talking about Cheng Rongrong, asking her about Cheng Rongrong.

What should she say? Should she say that she could always affect Cheng Rongrong’s emotions, should she say that her presence had always made Cheng Rongrong cry, should she say that even now, separated by the courtyard, Cheng Rongrong might be crying because she had come back?

The six-year-old Cheng Tingyan’s understanding of cause and effect was still very simple. Her presence would make Cheng Rongrong cry, and then everyone would start blaming her, this was something that had happened countless times since she was young and was deeply etched in her memory. Even though Cheng Rongrong hadn’t done this for a long time, it was happening again now, and she couldn’t help but think of the past, suddenly feeling exhausted.

Cheng Tingyan knew that the one crying inside was Cheng Rongrong, not the bad person the little chubby bunny thought it was. But under Wen Jiangyue and the others’ gazes and repeated inquiries, Cheng Tingyan felt tired and pursed her lips, not even wanting to speak.

“Boss, it really sounds like Rongrong, is it a bad guy or Rongrong inside?” Wen Dongyu scratched his head.

“My daddy said bad people are really bad now, they record little babies crying and then play it where people can’t see. When people go to check, they get caught and sold!” The chubby little face of Wei Maomao was full of seriousness.

“Wow, so bad!” Wen Dongyu was a little scared, even his shock was expressed in a small voice.

“Then… what should we do now?” Wen Jiangyue, after all, was only five and a half years old, and she was still swayed by Wei Maomao’s serious demeanor. She even moved back a little, leaving the front row closest to the house and returning to the main group, standing beside Cheng Tingyan.

They were live on air, could there really be such bad people? Shen Zilin stood at the very back of the group, quietly watching the little chubby bunny wreak havoc. She was really interesting, but this team still needed him to lead.

“Ahem…” Shen Zilin cleared his throat and stepped forward resolutely.

“Don’t move, I’ll go check. If I get caught, go call my dad!” Wei Maomao said, and without waiting for a response, she ran towards the house with her short legs.

Shen Zilin: “…”

It was a bit… awkward.

Shen Zilin retracted his foot, stepped back to the last row, and secretly glanced at Wang Zhizhi beside him, who had also been silent, hoping he hadn’t noticed that he had just been ignored by Maomao.

Wang Zhizhi, who had been grumpy since morning, glanced at Shen Zilin, then turned back to stare at the back of the little dumpling running away, his face even grumpier.

But none of them, neither Shen Zilin, Wang Zhizhi, nor anyone else, knew that behind the little dumpling’s heroic gesture was the effort to analyze the situation using childish language, and the stubborn determination to divert attention.

This body was only three years old, so Wei Maomao couldn’t use logical analysis to clearly explain that Cheng Rongrong was deliberately creating trouble. But it was precisely because she was only three years old that she could randomly pick up things she had heard and then force them together, muddying the waters.

As for whether she would look stupid when it was edited into the main episode, Wei Maomao didn’t care. As long as there was even a single viewer who thought Cheng Rongrong’s behavior was a bit problematic because of what she had just said, it was progress for her. If no one felt anything was wrong, then she would distort the topic even more. The more random elements she could cram in a short period, the more attention she could divert.

Solving the root of the problem wasn’t something that could be done overnight, at least she was trying to blur the label for now…

But what Wei Maomao, who was trying her best, didn’t know was that there was no “main episode,” her silly act was being broadcasted live the whole time.

The viewers in the live broadcast room were completely overwhelmed by her wild punches. The comments criticizing Cheng Tingyan for “leaving her sister and running around” gradually decreased, replaced by a mixture of shock…

“Maomao is so knowledgeable! I feel like I could be sold and she would still be fine!”

“This is terrifying, when I was in elementary school, an adult asked me for directions, thankfully, he only scammed me out of ten yuan for a taxi and didn’t sell me!”

“I’m numb, reminded of that horror story where there’s the sound of a baby crying outside the door after a power outage, and you get kidnapped and your organs harvested if you open the door!”

“What does Director Wei talk about with Maomao every day! Why does it all seem to make sense but not be age-appropriate!”

“It’s too early to tell these things to a three-year-old, it’s just right for me… Director Wei, please teach me too, I don’t want to be sold and have my organs harvested!”

“Hahaha, so why did Maomao call Rongrong sister, isn’t she the biggest in the world!”

“I guess Maomao knows that the one crying inside is Rongrong, she’s saying this so that she can cover up the embarrassment of crying so many times today, after all, Rongrong, whom she called sister, is crying much louder than her, hahaha!”

“??? Does a three-year-old have such a strong desire to protect her image!”

“Hahaha, Maomao is so good at talking, the legal example she gave sounds so real, if I couldn’t see Rongrong’s live broadcast, I would have almost believed her!”

“Poor Rongrong, so pitiful, she woke up and her dad wasn’t there, her sister wasn’t there, only a bunch of strangers, she cried for a long time, the people outside didn’t even comfort her, they were actually saying she’s a bad guy, hahaha…”

“Honestly, children are more vulnerable when they just wake up, it’s quite normal to cry out of fear when they find themselves alone with strangers, but why did Cheng Rongrong only call for her sister? I don’t think Cheng Tingyan is better to her than Cheng Feiying.”

“She’s a child, she’s crying, of course she’ll call out for whoever comes to mind, is this even worth analyzing?”

“When a child is scared, their first reaction is to seek comfort, I think Maomao is right, Yan Yan is only six years old, she’s still a baby, what power does a baby have? Of course, Cheng Feiying, an adult, can provide more security.”

“When I was young, I only called for my brother when I cried, not my parents, because my parents never cared for me, only my brother did.”

“Tsk, tsk, then according to this logic, it’s interesting, Cheng Feiying seems to be very good to both Yan Yan and Rongrong.”

“For Rongrong, a seemingly good father and a seemingly cold older sister, the latter is actually more reliable? Tsk, tsk, tsk, the Cheng family is quite interesting…”

…

After being shocked by the Wei family’s educational content, the viewers in the live broadcast room did start to think more about the situation in the Cheng family. Although their line of thinking was completely different from what Wei Maomao had anticipated, in terms of the ultimate goal, it was somewhat similar.

As for Cheng Rongrong, when her family had just arrived at this small courtyard at noon, Cheng Feiying had received the task card, so she knew that the dads and babies would be doing their tasks separately in the afternoon and that the dads would go first. When Cheng Rongrong woke up from her nap the first time, it was before 3 pm, she could still hear Cheng Feiying’s voice outside, it wasn’t her turn yet, so she rolled over and went back to sleep. When she woke up the second time, it was already past 3:40 pm. Cheng Rongrong calculated the time, sat up, and started crying.

When the staff member entered the room, she cried out “Daddy” as a formality, and after getting the explanation from the staff member, she naturally switched to crying and shouting “Sister.” According to Cheng Rongrong’s plan, Cheng Tingyan wouldn’t be willing to come in and comfort her. Even if she was dragged in by the staff, she would just stand there like a stubborn log. Then the viewers in the live broadcast room would see how pitiful she was, how dependent she was on her sister, and how cold, heartless, and selfish her sister was.

But Cheng Rongrong didn’t expect that Cheng Tingyan wasn’t home either. She could only cry and shout “Sister” for a while longer by herself, letting the viewers realize that Cheng Tingyan shouldn’t have left her, such a pitiful little sister, alone at home while she went out to have fun. Although the effect wouldn’t be as good as if Cheng Tingyan was there and they could be compared, Cheng Rongrong believed that as long as she kept calling for her sister and cried more pitifully and helplessly, the viewers’ impression of Cheng Tingyan would definitely plummet.

According to her plan, Cheng Rongrong cried alone for nearly ten minutes. Just as she secretly glanced at her watch, calculating that it was almost time for the task, and was about to gradually stop crying under the staff member’s comforting words, there were two loud bangs outside the door.

Chapter 23

“Maomao, you call her sister, why don’t you call me sister?”

In the live broadcast, the two little ones were holding hands. Cheng Tingyan looked down at Wei Maomao, waiting for an answer. The latter was slightly open-mouthed, tilting her head up in a daze. Despite being a live broadcast, the scene seemed to freeze, remaining still for several seconds.

“Hahaha, Yan Yan’s soul-searching question.”

“I noticed, unlike the sweet-talking Rongrong, Maomao, despite being the youngest, hasn’t called any other child brother or sister!”

“Right! But what’s interesting is that she calls the staff brother and sister, and the other dads uncle, you can’t say she’s impolite.”

“Children don’t have a strong sense of age, maybe they rely more on visuals than logic. Like with adults who are taller than her, she can easily distinguish whether they are uncles, brothers, or sisters.”

“Poor Director Wei, when he was chatting with Maomao, he kept saying older sister Yan Yan, older sister Rongrong, Maomao didn’t take it to heart at all, hahaha…”

“You guys don’t understand, look at how Maomao rushed to help Yan Yan protect her property this morning, she doesn’t see herself as a younger sister!”

“Right! Our righteous little fighting bunny, less than 0.8 meters tall, with an aura over 8 meters high, wouldn’t consider herself a younger sister, hahahahaha!”

“That’s true, Maomao’s aura is strong when she’s fighting, even Dongdong called her Boss, in Maomao’s eyes, these little beans who are about the same size as her probably don’t count as brothers or sisters, hahaha, they are all weaklings who need protection.”

“Now the question is, a weakling has risen up, will Maomao call her sister now!”

…

Should she call her sister?

Wei Maomao looked at the six-year-old Cheng Tingyan with a troubled expression.

In her previous life, Wei Maomao had watched the third season of “Where’s Baby Going” countless times. The six-year-old Cheng Tingyan had made her feel so much heartache, she had so many regrets of wanting to protect her.

How could she be an older sister…

She was more like a baby.

“Yan Yan.” Wei Maomao gently squeezed Cheng Tingyan’s hand. “There are many older sisters, but there’s only one Yan Yan.”

The three-year-old’s voice, soft and childish, wasn’t loud, yet it seemed to carry a resounding power, filled with sweet enticement.

Cheng Tingyan: “…”

This wasn’t the answer she had expected, it was completely different from the scene she had imagined of the cute little chubby bunny calling her sister adorably.

But…

She felt a bit happy, the cute little chubby bunny didn’t become her cute younger sister, but why was she so happy?

The six-year-old Cheng Tingyan couldn’t fully grasp the deeper meaning that might be hidden in those words. But even if she only listened to the surface meaning, it wasn’t hard to hear that it meant she was different from others to Maomao, special and unique.

Cheng Tingyan liked being different.

Warmth seeped into Cheng Tingyan’s heart from their clasped hands, warmth like a gentle spring breeze, softly brushing away the faint aloofness around her.

Shi Hongxiao seized the moment and gave Cheng Tingyan a close-up. He was the second cameraman assigned to Wei Maomao, but before the day was even over, he had learned that the little dumpling was a strange chemical agent, sometimes the reactions and changes she caused in the people around her were truly interesting.

Just like this time, the little dumpling just said those words.

Still in the same pink dress, still with the same features, just a slight curve of her lips, a hint of a smile, and Cheng Tingyan looked completely different.

Like a dusty jade stone, carefully picked up and meticulously cleaned, its brilliance revealed, captivating.

The cameraman was the eyes of the live broadcast room, so naturally, Shi Hongxiao wasn’t the only one captivated.

“Hahaha… so it can be done like this… Where did Maomao learn this cheesy pick-up line?”

“This Maomao is really… too good…”

“Such a cunning little three-year-old! She’s trying to steal our Yan Yan’s heart to avoid calling her sister!”

“I’m crying, Yan Yan looks so happy, not just happy, but blissful. What’s going on! It’s just a random sentence from a little baby, wake up, Yan Yan.”

“Yan Yan seems so easy to fool, how can she be so gullible! I want to rush into the camera and shake her!”

“Honestly, Yan Yan probably hasn’t had a good life at home, only a child lacking love would be so easy to fool…”

“I see Cheng Feiying cares a lot about Yan Yan, and Rongrong also likes her sister, she shouldn’t be lacking love, right?”

“Hard to say, hard to say. I can only say, if you’re always full, you won’t gobble down a steamed bun.”

“Hahaha, thank you, Maomao, the steamed bun seller.”

“If she’s not lacking love, then our chubby bunny is just too good at fooling people!”

“Wait! At most, we can only say Yan Yan is easy to please! I don’t think Maomao’s words are a lie! From the beginning of the show, she has treated Yan Yan differently!”

“Right, didn’t that staff member’s relative say that Maomao’s family introduced her as a fan of the show and likes older sisters? Yan Yan must be the older sister that Maomao likes!”

“Aww, is that so! I’m suddenly so touched! So before it was… a three-year-old fan protecting her six-year-old idol, how inspiring!”

“Why are you crying in the front row, don’t be fooled by the little chubby bunny! She didn’t call Rongrong and the others sister either! This is just her way of coaxing Yan Yan!”

“Hahaha, so will Yan Yan even realize…”

…

Cheng Tingyan, preoccupied with cherishing those words, naturally… didn’t realize.

And Wei Maomao didn’t give Cheng Tingyan a chance to continue this topic. She pulled her along, running a few steps to the earthen stove, and continued with her original plan.

“Ming Ming.” Wei Maomao reached out and tugged at Liu Ming’s pants leg.

Liu Ming turned around, first looking down at the little dumpling, then at the cameras not far away, which were once again focused on her. She sighed softly.

She had been caught off guard by that mouthful of mush from Director Wei earlier, and she had spent too much time with the children, her screen time had definitely exceeded the limit, it seemed she would be getting a pay cut today…

“Maomao, it’s still a while before the babies’ task, do you want to make some preparations before we go?” Liu Ming covered the microphone slightly and asked in a low voice, “Do you want me to take you to pee?”

“No.” Wei Maomao shook her head. “I’m good, I can go to the toilet by myself, sister can go take care of the other babies.”

“Maomao is so good. The other babies also have other brothers and sisters to take care of them, I still need to stay with you.” Liu Ming couldn’t help but reach out and pat the sensible little dumpling’s head. “If you need anything, just call me, okay? I’ll always be behind you.”

Cheng Tingyan didn’t pay much attention to what Liu Ming was saying, her focus was mostly on the hand Liu Ming used to pat Maomao’s head.

Maomao’s hair looked so soft, she hadn’t touched it yet… Cheng Tingyan twitched her fingers slightly.

“Yan Yan? Yan Yan?” Wei Maomao gently tugged at Cheng Tingyan’s hand, her face full of innocent curiosity. “Which sister takes care of Yan Yan?”

Cheng Tingyan, who was wondering if Maomao’s hair was softer than rabbit fur: ?

“The sister who takes care of Yan Yan and Rongrong is called Su Li…” Liu Ming looked at the small group of people following Cheng Tingyan. “She doesn’t seem to be here now, she’s probably with Rongrong.”

Cheng Tingyan: ?

“If Yan Yan needs any help now, I can also…” Liu Ming stopped mid-sentence, looking at Cheng Tingyan’s confused expression. She had a bad feeling and asked hesitantly, “Yan Yan, you… do you know that there’s a Sister Su Li on your side who takes care of you… um, like going to the toilet, taking a bath, and those things that your dad might not be able to help with?”

Cheng Tingyan shook her head.

Liu Ming: … Great! Look at my big mouth, always stirring up trouble.

“Well, it’s the sister who’s following you, with a bun hairstyle, wearing a blue shirt today, that’s Su Li…” To make sure Cheng Tingyan understood, Liu Ming let down her ponytail and tied a bun right there to show her.

Cheng Tingyan nodded, indicating that she understood.

Liu Ming still felt something was off. The program team had specifically assigned male staff to families with boys and female staff to families with girls, one for each family, specifically to help take care of the children. Since it was the dads who brought their children to the show, the female staff on the girls’ side were even more important. She, Su Li, and Qiu Tong from the Wen family had been selected and trained for two days before starting work…

So did the Cheng family not introduce Su Li to the children… Or did they not care about these things?

But…

Oh, my big mouth, Liu Ming mentally slapped herself, but still looked at Cheng Tingyan and confirmed, “Can Yan Yan go to the toilet and take a bath by herself now?”

“Mmm.” Cheng Tingyan nodded again.

Then Rongrong… Forget it, it’s fine. Six years old was a bit old, some things even biological fathers weren’t really suitable to handle. The other one was only three and a half, some families really didn’t care about these things.

Liu Ming warned herself not to say anything beyond her job responsibilities and quickly urged the two to get ready, as it was almost time for the babies’ task.

“Today’s task for the babies is also very important. If you’re ready, we can set off earlier.” Liu Ming said as she slowly backed out of the camera’s range.

Cheng Tingyan didn’t seem to want to go back and get ready, and Wei Maomao didn’t bring it up for the moment.

But as they were about to leave after taking turns using the bathroom, Wei Maomao pulled out her little bunny backpack.

“Yan Yan, let’s go find the others and give them these things, it’s heavy to carry.” Wei Maomao opened the little bunny backpack and showed Cheng Tingyan what was inside.

“Ah, I forgot!” Cheng Tingyan quickly took out a small bunny keychain from her shoulder bag and handed it to her. “For you…”

It was a palm-sized fluffy white bunny wearing a straw hat and holding a carrot. Most importantly, it was chubby, just like Maomao.

It was a gift that her mother and Cheng Tingyan had chosen for the babies participating in the show. It had been in a bag in her suitcase, and Cheng Tingyan had specifically brought it over. But she almost forgot about it because of that bowl of “delicious” mush… However, she only brought Maomao’s gift, the others had to wait until she went home later.

“Thank you, Yan Yan, I love it!” Wei Maomao exclaimed.

This was the first time Wei Maomao had received a gift directly from Cheng Tingyan. She really had to try hard to control her hand that reached out to take the bunny keychain from trembling.

“Do you want me to hang it on your bag?” Cheng Tingyan pointed to Wei Maomao’s bunny backpack.

“No…” Wei Maomao shook her head. “I’ll put it away carefully, it will get dirty if I hang it.”

“I’ll buy you a new one if it gets dirty.” Cheng Tingyan was amused by the sight of the little chubby bunny solemnly holding another little chubby bunny.

Wei Maomao couldn’t bear to do that, she carefully put the keychain in the inner pocket of her bunny backpack.

“Eh…” Just as she was about to close the backpack, Wei Maomao opened it again and rummaged inside.

Three Rubik’s cubes were lined up on the stone stool.

“How did they get messed up?” Wei Maomao muttered, frowning, picking up one and trying to solve it.

Although they were gifts she had chosen casually, it wouldn’t look good if they were messed up and looked old… Did they get bumped around and scrambled in the bag? She shouldn’t have been cheap, if she had bought the ones with transparent boxes that were two yuan more expensive, she wouldn’t have this problem.

“Maomao, are you trying to create a pattern?” Cheng Tingyan watched as Wei Maomao, with her chubby face scrunched up in concentration, diligently twisted the originally slightly messy colors on the Rubik’s cube into an even more chaotic mess, and couldn’t help but ask.

“… When I bought them, each side was one color.” Wei Maomao twisted it a few more times and gave up. “Forget it, I can’t do it.”

Oh well, it didn’t matter if the gifts for Cheng Rongrong’s left and right-hand men looked like old toys… They would have a lot of better things to play with when they grew up.

But Wang Zhizhi… Wei Maomao frowned, looking at the one she had just tried to solve, well, she had tried her best.

“Are you trying to make each side one color?” Cheng Tingyan asked hesitantly. “Can I try?”

Wei Maomao casually picked one up and handed it to Cheng Tingyan.

From the moment Wei Maomao took out the Rubik’s cubes, the comments in the live broadcast room were filled with a sense of watching a show.

“Hahaha, this is hilarious, I was wondering why Director Wei secretly opened Maomao’s bag before going to do his task, so this was it!”

“I thought those three Rubik’s cubes were for Maomao to play with, it turns out Director Wei was trying to sabotage her.”

“Making food so bad it makes people throw up, then messing up the toys his daughter is giving to her friends, Director Wei is truly a biological father!”

“Poor Maomao, her little chubby hands can barely hold the Rubik’s cube, and she still has to clean up after her dad.”

“Yan Yan is also hilarious, Maomao is struggling so much, and she actually asks if Maomao is trying to create a pattern, hahaha, what pattern…”

“Wait… she solved it?”

“??? Another one is done?”

“Okay, confirmed, Yan Yan wasn’t mocking Maomao just now, she really thought Maomao was trying to create a pattern… After all, solving three Rubik’s cubes so quickly, creating a pattern for Yan Yan must be as simple as eating, right!”

“Hahaha, I’m dying of laughter, look at the little chubby bunny’s shocked eyes, they’re almost popping out of her head, hahaha!”

“Don’t ask, just ask why those with clumsy hands admire the strong, hahaha!”

…

Wei Maomao was truly shocked.

Cheng Tingyan had never mentioned this skill to her in her previous life.

So…

How many more surprises did you have that she didn’t know about?

“Yan Yan, you’re so amazing.” Wei Maomao’s praise was sincere.

Beneath the admiration and surprise, hidden deep inside her, was a bitterness she couldn’t ignore, for the person she had left behind in the past, the person she no longer had the chance to learn more about.

“I’m not amazing, this isn’t hard.” Cheng Tingyan smiled sheepishly, then quickly realized she had misspoken and hurriedly explained, “You’re still young, Maomao, so just now… I’ll teach you, you’re very smart, you’ll learn it in no time! You’ll be even faster than me!”

Wei Maomao was stunned for a moment, then her thoughts no longer lingered on the unchangeable sorrows of the past.

“Yan Yan, you’re amazing. I like that you’re amazing, so I don’t have to learn it!” Wei Maomao said sincerely, then stretched out her hand and said weakly, “My hand hurts from twisting the Rubik’s cube just now.”

Cheng Tingyan took her little chubby paw and looked at it, it seemed a bit red.

“… Then you don’t have to learn it.” Cheng Tingyan held the little chubby paw, rubbed it, and then blew on it. “Where does it hurt? Your palm?”

Where did it hurt…

Her heart hurt…

A six-year-old child, when praised, should laugh out loud, proudly wag her tail, and run around in circles!

Why be so careful, why be so sensitive and immediately suppress her happiness, only caring about others’ feelings…

Silly…

Cheng Tingyan blew on it twice, and when she looked up, the little chubby bunny had red eyes. She hurriedly asked, “Does it hurt a lot?”

“It doesn’t hurt anymore…” Wei Maomao tried to suppress her unstable emotions. She had experienced too many emotional swings today, had cried several times, and hadn’t rested well. She couldn’t lose control again, otherwise, she would definitely fall asleep.

“Really?” Cheng Tingyan gently squeezed the little chubby paw, looking at the little chubby bunny’s eyes, which still had a hint of pink, unconvinced.

“It really doesn’t hurt anymore!” Wei Maomao squeezed Cheng Tingyan’s hand back and said, “I really like that you’re amazing!”

So, show yourself freely, I won’t let those fools hurt you again, I won’t let you shrink back and hide your excellence.

The little chubby bunny’s slightly red eyes suddenly became passionate and intense. Cheng Tingyan felt strangely as if she had been burned by that gaze.

But… could just looking at someone make her feel hot?

“Maomao is also amazing.” Cheng Tingyan couldn’t stand the overly sincere gaze and whispered back. After all, she had never even thought of stopping her dad from swapping houses like that before.

“Oh, I’m not amazing.” Wei Maomao twisted her chubby waist, putting the Rubik’s cube back into her bunny backpack. “I don’t like being amazing, it’s hard work.”

Cheng Tingyan thought of the slightly red little chubby paw and nodded. “Okay, then I’ll be amazing, I’ll do it.” The cute little chubby bunny didn’t need to work hard!

The viewers in the live broadcast room were also speechless. How did Wei Maomao manage to say “I want to lie flat and be a salted fish” so eloquently? And Cheng Tingyan! Someone here was being brainwashed! Who would get their hand hurt from playing with a Rubik’s cube, wake up! If someone wants to be a salted fish, you go carry the salt for her, that’s just like you, the little fool who became radiant with happiness over a single sentence!

Wei Maomao certainly wasn’t the kind of person who wanted Cheng Tingyan to carry the weight of the world. But she knew that these kind words from Cheng Tingyan, if edited into the main episode and broadcasted, would be helpful in showing Cheng Tingyan’s friendly side.

After the mess in the Cheng family in her previous life, Cheng Feiying and Cheng Rongrong were destined to be on the opposing side. Wei Maomao never thought about trying to mend the relationship between Cheng Tingyan and them on this show. So while preventing them from damaging Cheng Tingyan’s image, finding opportunities to show Cheng Tingyan’s kindness was also very important.

Originally, Wei Maomao’s plan was to slowly approach Cheng Tingyan, gradually gain her favor, and when they could get closer, closer to being friends, Cheng Tingyan could at least show kindness towards her.

But she didn’t expect this process to be so fast. She might have to “thank” Wei Chengli’s “good cooking” for that.

Now that the Rubik’s cubes were sorted out, and after checking the bracelet and the fountain pen, Wei Maomao pulled Cheng Tingyan up.

“Ming Ming, let’s go find the other little friends and give them gifts.” Wei Maomao waved to Liu Ming in the crowd of staff. “Maomao doesn’t know the way.”

Liu Ming: “…” Thanks a lot, kid, today’s screen time has almost cost me my entire salary!

But the little dumpling holding the bunny backpack looked so cute and expectant, what else could she do but take her there!

Liu Ming took the staff’s map and calculated. The Wei family’s house was in the middle of the village, also roughly the midpoint of the other families. The first stop for the babies’ task today was near the village entrance. They could go to the Shen and Wen families at the back first, then come back and pass by the Wen, Wang, and Cheng families in that order on their way to the village entrance, finally reaching the task location, perfect.

No sooner said than done, Liu Ming waved for Maomao to follow and called the staff members at the Shen and Wen families while walking. She had to walk and talk at the same time, otherwise, if they went out first and missed them, how sad Maomao would be, who was going to give them gifts.

Thanks to Wei Chengli’s “cooking,” they had finished their meal quickly and set off early.

Under Liu Ming’s arrangement, they gathered the children and their teams from the Shen, Wen, and Wen families along the way. Shen Zilin and Wen Dongyu seemed to really like the Rubik’s cubes Maomao gave them, and Wen Jiangyue practiced writing a few characters with the fountain pen, seemingly very pleased with the gift.

When they reached the Wang family, Wang Zhizhi had a grumpy expression, but he still accepted the Rubik’s cube and thanked her politely.

Wei Maomao had given away four gifts and received four gifts in return, making her little bunny backpack even heavier.

Everything had gone relatively smoothly until they reached the Wang family, when Liu Ming called Su Li, who was only a few houses away, and didn’t hear the crying on the other end.

Waking up and crying for her sister…

It seemed like there was no problem.

But… Liu Ming glanced at Yan Yan, who was trying to help Maomao carry the bunny backpack.

She didn’t know why, but she felt it wasn’t a good idea to go over like this.

Would the viewers watching the live broadcast think… that Yan Yan didn’t care for her own sister and left her to the staff? If Yan Yan didn’t manage to soothe Rongrong, wouldn’t it be worse than if they didn’t go…

She had been careless, Maomao was so well-behaved after waking up, she didn’t expect Rongrong to be like this. If she had known earlier, she would have chosen to go to the Cheng family first, even if it meant taking a detour. But she couldn’t explain this to the camera.

Liu Ming was still hesitating, but the children, who now knew the way, had already left the house and turned left towards the Cheng family without any hesitation.

It was only a few houses away, Liu Ming hadn’t even figured out what to do when the children entered the Cheng family’s courtyard.

Cheng Rongrong was crying quite loudly, and the moment the courtyard gate opened, Wei Maomao clearly heard her calling “sister” while crying.

Heh, who was she trying to make laugh?

Spoiled by her parents at home, she never took Cheng Tingyan seriously. Now, she didn’t even call for Mom when she cried, not even Dad, just “sister,” what was the point?

In her previous life, Wei Maomao really couldn’t understand how the Cheng family had taught Cheng Rongrong. A three-and-a-half-year-old child with 350 tricks up her sleeve… Cheng Tingyan had been completely manipulated in her previous life, swallowing every injustice, taking the blame for everything, unable to explain anything.

Wei Maomao certainly wasn’t just distributing gifts to these children by taking this detour. She just couldn’t let Yan Yan go to the task location with her directly, that would make it seem like Yan Yan had forgotten her sister. She also couldn’t suggest going to find Rongrong first and then doing the task together, because that would still make it seem like Yan Yan had forgotten her sister.

What if, what if it was edited into the main episode…

Sometimes, the audience was very sharp, very imaginative, Wei Maomao didn’t dare to take the risk.

So she had taken this big detour, achieving the goal of coming to find Cheng Rongrong and going to do the task together.

But she didn’t expect that there would be such a big drama waiting for them…

They almost got hit by a flying pot without even knowing it.

But it didn’t matter, wasn’t she here for this?

Chapter 22

Wei Maomao: ???
Liu Ming: ???
The live broadcast viewers: ????????

As Cheng Tingyan gagged, her face pale, question marks filled the air.

Was it really that bad?

Cheng Tingyan quickly realized her instinctive reaction and blushed with embarrassment.

But…

It was so bad, if Maomao ate it, she wouldn’t just cry, she would probably throw up… and she was so young… Thinking of this, Cheng Tingyan quickly hammered her chest, trying to suppress the churning in her stomach. She scooped another full spoonful with her shaking hand.

“Wait.” Wei Maomao pressed her chubby paw down, stopping Cheng Tingyan’s wrist, preventing the spoon from rising. “I’ll eat it.”

Cheng Tingyan didn’t let go.

Wei Maomao puffed out her cheeks and took a small sip directly from the bowl.

With just that small sip, the mischievous glint in her eyes vanished, replaced by an empty numbness…

Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!

Wei Chengli, you big dummy! Big dummy!

How could he forget the cooking wine again! He didn’t even put any ginger, garlic, or scallions!

He only made this mistake the first time he cooked, didn’t he? Why! Why did he still make this low-level mistake after experimenting with so many meals at home! And why did the program team provide so many types of meat! He didn’t even know how to cook them!

The fishy smells of chicken, pork, beef, and fish mixed and separated, combining and reappearing, rampaging in Wei Maomao’s mouth, making her tears stream down her face.

“Maomao!” Cheng Tingyan frantically wiped the tears from Wei Maomao’s face with her handkerchief.

But there were too many tears of sorrow, she couldn’t wipe them all away.

Cheng Tingyan’s hand stopped weakly, and she turned to look at the bowl again.

If Maomao didn’t finish this bowl, she would have to go home and wouldn’t be able to play with them anymore… Was she trying to stay, that’s why she insisted on eating such disgusting food?

She… was the same as her…

But she was still so young…

Looking at the little chubby bunny forcing the food down her throat with a strained neck, Cheng Tingyan felt a pang in her heart, and tears welled up in her eyes. She stepped onto the stool, then onto the table, and took a big mouthful from the bowl.

“Yan Yan!” Wei Maomao, who had just recovered slightly from choking, was shocked. “Don’t eat it!”

“…” Cheng Tingyan swallowed another mouthful. She didn’t even have the strength to reach for her handkerchief, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. She tried to cheer up and said, “I’ll help you finish it.”

With that, she was about to scoop another spoonful.

“No, no, don’t eat it! It’s too bad, we can choose not to eat it!” Wei Maomao, her senses overwhelmed by Cheng Tingyan’s tears, momentarily forgot that she was just a three-year-old. She reached out to stop her, almost rolling off the table.

“Don’t be afraid, you won’t go home.” Cheng Tingyan firmly pushed the little dumpling back to safety on the table and scooped another spoonful with her other hand.

Wei Maomao, failing to stop her, suddenly realized that she couldn’t persuade the obviously stubborn Cheng Tingyan in a short time.

So she could only…

“Wait… you two…” Liu Ming was shocked. The two little ones were making gagging noises while forcing the mush down their throats, crying while drinking, crying while fighting over who got to drink, and stopping each other from drinking…

What was going on?

This bowl of mush was at most unpalatable, it couldn’t be hallucinogenic poison, could it?

In the brief moment Liu Ming was stunned, Cheng Tingyan and Wei Maomao had already taken several mouthfuls each, leaving only a little at the bottom of the bowl.

“Wait! Stop drinking!” Liu Ming rushed forward, disregarding the rule of not appearing on camera unless necessary and trying not to interfere with the filming. She snatched the bowl from Cheng Tingyan and swatted away Wei Maomao, who was trying to take another sip.

“…” Cheng Tingyan lifted her chin, swallowed hard a few times, forcing down the mush in her mouth. Her eyes were slightly red as she looked at the bowl in Liu Ming’s hand. “Just a little… left to finish.”

“I don’t want to eat it anymore. Don’t tell Daddy.” Wei Maomao lay on the table, lifeless.

Liu Ming: “…”

Just how bad was it…

Shi Hongxiao, who was frowning and filming the slumped little bunny on the table, suddenly sensed something was wrong. He instinctively shifted the camera, aiming it at… Liu Ming, who was tilting her head back and pouring the last bit of mush into her mouth.

Pfft!

Liu Ming couldn’t swallow it. The moment it entered her mouth, she spat it out.

“Ugh… Di… Director Wei… Ugh… Cough…” Liu Ming coughed, looking in shock at the mush she had reflexively spat onto the ground. The lingering fishy taste in her mouth made it difficult for her to speak properly.

Ah, what had she done, she had personally served poison to the little ones!

Liu Ming was consumed with regret, Shi Hongxiao silently turned the camera back to the slumped little dumpling.

The viewers in the live broadcast room were also… stunned.

“This… is it really that bad?”

“The ingredients all look normal, it’s just that besides a bit of salt, there’s no other seasoning.”

“Actually, it’s similar to how baby food is made, but Maomao is three years old now, she can eat some adult food, as long as it’s not too spicy or salty.”

“It shows how much she’s pampered, even at three, she’s still a baby.”

“… This, can’t really be considered pampering, looking at the reactions of the two little ones and the staff member, saying it’s not poisonous is already being polite.”

“It’s really not poisonous, he probably forgot to remove the fishy smell from the meat…”

“Right, Director Wei washed the vegetables for so long, he didn’t seem to wash any ginger, garlic, or scallions.”

“I saw in Cheng Feiying’s house, the ginger, garlic, and scallions were in a net bag under the stove, not on the countertop.”

“I also didn’t see Director Wei add any cooking wine, he just chopped everything and steamed it, so no wonder… I can imagine the gagging…”

…

Seeing the comments in the live broadcast room gradually becoming more scientific, with no one mentioning poison anymore, Zhang Shilan slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

The comment “It’s really not poisonous, he probably forgot to remove the fishy smell from the meat…” was posted by Zhang Shilan. In fact, earlier, when Wei Chengli was painstakingly washing and blanching the vegetables, she had already posted several comments about him forgetting to blanch the ginger, garlic, and scallions with the meat. But those comments, along with her later reminder when she saw that he didn’t add cooking wine before steaming the bowl, were quickly drowned out in the sea of other comments.

As expected, even if the staff saw the comments, they wouldn’t remind him…

The efforts Zhang Shilan could make outside the show were extremely limited and ineffective. She could only watch helplessly as her husband left a big bowl of terrifying food for their daughter…

When Wei Chengli first practiced cooking for Maomao, Zhang Shilan had the “pleasure” of tasting a mouthful of the meat stew without any fishy smell removed. It was so soul-crushing that she had no appetite for half a day.

Now, she could only pray that her clever daughter would decisively reject this dark cuisine after tasting a mouthful.

But Zhang Shilan didn’t expect that a small lie would have such a deterrent effect on her daughter.

Did she really want to stay on the show that much? She even drank so many mouthfuls of that stuff…

And Cheng Tingyan… What happened to being cold and having a bad temper? She even helped Maomao drink that stuff, was she an angel descended from heaven?

The other viewers in the live broadcast room, although they hadn’t had the “pleasure” of experiencing the power of that mush like Zhang Shilan, could fully imagine how terrible it was just by watching Yan Yan and Maomao force-feeding themselves as if they were taking medicine, and seeing the staff member in Maomao’s live broadcast room spit it out and gag for a long time.

“Compared to Director Wei’s mush, CEO Shen’s noodles and Wen Xiang’s steamed eggs, although simple, are really normal food.”

“Looking at it this way, Cheng Feiying putting mushrooms in all four dishes and the soup doesn’t seem that excessive…”

“??? Director Wei’s cooking skills are a bit rubbish, but don’t lump him, who messed up with good intentions, together with Cheng Feiying, who deliberately put mushrooms in every dish knowing Yan Yan doesn’t like them.”

“Suddenly I feel like it’s okay for children to be a little picky, watching Yan Yan and Maomao drink that mush like medicine makes my heart ache…”

“It seems that all adults are like this, when they can’t control their children, they lie to them, poor Maomao, what has she been eating every day just to stay on the show.”

“This must be a momentary lapse for Director Wei, he’s just too slow, if he had finished earlier and tasted it himself before giving it to Maomao, he probably wouldn’t have let her eat this, right?”

“The person above is right, the dads’ tasks are almost finished, Director Wei just received new ingredients – ginger, his face turned white, he’s asking the staff if Maomao is awake and if she has eaten the mush.”

“Hahaha, I saw it too, Director Wei doesn’t look good at all now, he probably remembered that he didn’t remove the fishy smell from the meat.”

“I’m dying of laughter, even though they’re doing their tasks separately, it’s like watching a drama series, you have to watch several screens at the same time, now the staff member on the other side is calling the staff member on this side.”

“Hahaha, Director Wei is anxiously rubbing the ginger, the ginger’s skin is almost all peeled off.”

…

Back at the small courtyard where the Wei family was staying, after being assaulted by the fishy smell from a small mouthful of mush and gagging several times, Liu Ming tearfully carried Wei Maomao down from the stone table and took her and Cheng Tingyan to the sink.

After rinsing their mouths with three big bowls of water, Liu Ming finally managed to suppress the lingering taste.

“So fishy.” Liu Ming grumbled, still rinsing her mouth, unable to help but complain.

“So bland.” Cheng Tingyan commented expressionlessly.

“…” Wei Maomao thought for a moment and concluded, “So bad.”

After rinsing their mouths, Liu Ming still felt a strange taste lingering, and looking at the two little ones, their eyes red and faces pale, looking utterly miserable, it made her heart ache.

Liu Ming disregarded the employee code of conduct, rushed into the crowd of staff, and managed to get three plum candies by hook or by crook. She popped one into her own mouth and stuffed one each into the mouths of the two little ones.

Finally, the sweet and sour taste of the plum candy suppressed the strange mushy taste in their mouths.

Only then did Liu Ming have the energy to look at the stove and said angrily, “I’m going to throw away the rest of the food in the pot.”

“…” Wei Maomao, standing next to Liu Ming, reached out her chubby paw and grabbed her pants leg. She sucked on the sour lemon candy, swallowing the sweet and sour juice before looking up and saying, “Daddy said not to waste food.”

“It’s so bad, you still want…” Liu Ming, recalling how the two little ones had fought over the mush, was so shocked that the candy almost fell out of her mouth.

Wei Maomao blinked her eyes innocently and said, “We’ve already eaten it.”

“…” Liu Ming was stunned for a moment, then her eyes lit up, and she slapped her thigh. “Right, let’s save it for Director Wei, let him have a taste himself. I’ll put it in the fridge.” Not to mention, there were still many cooking segments for the dads in the future, she couldn’t just watch Maomao eat this, she had to be a decent human being!

Wei Maomao released Liu Ming’s pants leg. She had already eaten it, so she just endured it. But Yan Yan had also eaten it… and she had even cried… Wei Maomao felt that Wei Chengli’s dinner needed to be “taken care of.”

Actually, if it was just Wei Maomao herself, she would probably have stopped eating after one taste. After all, the mush Wei Chengli normally made, besides being a bit bland due to lack of salt, wasn’t that bad. Even if she didn’t finish this failed product, Wei Chengli couldn’t take her home because of it. But Wei Maomao really didn’t expect Cheng Tingyan, after misunderstanding that Wei Chengli was like Cheng Feiying, using forcing his child to eat food she didn’t like as a method of control and education, to go to such lengths to help her.

Wei Maomao felt conflicted. On the one hand, she didn’t want Cheng Tingyan’s misunderstanding to grow and become more and more distorted, but on the other hand, she clearly felt that after just a few mouthfuls of mush, Cheng Tingyan had become closer to her, closer in every sense of the word.

Before, they had always kept a two-step distance, and the few times they had touched, it was through a handkerchief.

But now…

Wei Maomao moved her left hand slightly, and she felt Cheng Tingyan’s warmth and grip.

While they were rinsing their mouths, Cheng Tingyan had naturally taken her hand.

After two lifetimes, this was the first time they had held hands. Wei Maomao’s heart was pounding, but she also felt guilty because Cheng Tingyan’s initiative was based on a misunderstanding.

She wasn’t like Cheng Tingyan thought, someone being oppressed and hurt by her father.

But…

Wei Maomao turned her head. Cheng Tingyan was also looking at her, her clear and pure eyes filled only with her, overflowing with worry, heartache, and the determination to protect her.

“My dad, his cooking isn’t usually this bad…” Wei Maomao didn’t want to lie, even though she was reluctant to let go of this closeness, she still forced herself to speak.

“Don’t be afraid.” Cheng Tingyan reached out, hesitated in mid-air, and gently poked Wei Maomao’s dimple. She lowered her voice and said, “I’ll eat with you next time, I’ll…”

Cheng Tingyan didn’t finish her sentence, interrupted by the vibrating sound of the phone by the stove.

But Wei Maomao could guess from the determination in her eyes that the unfinished sentence was probably “I’ll protect you.”

What a tempting misunderstanding.

Speaking of which, as soon as Liu Ming brought the bowl with the remaining mush from the stove and sealed it with plastic wrap, her phone started vibrating crazily in her pocket, bumping against the side of the stove several times.

Shi Hongxiao’s camera shifted slightly, and the staff members in Wei Chengli’s and Wei Maomao’s live broadcast rooms connected via phone.

“Maomao? She’s already awake…”

“The food? She finished a whole bowl. Yan Yan also came over and ate some, both of them cried while eating.”

“Yes, he didn’t remove the fishy smell…”

“How do I know? I also tasted a mouthful, almost died on the spot. Oh right, I saved the rest for Director Wei’s dinner.”

Liu Ming ended the brief call.

Not far away, Wei Maomao resisted the urge to give her a thumbs-up.

In Wei Chengli’s live broadcast room, the staff member relayed the message truthfully.

The man who was anxiously waiting immediately slumped in defeat.

The audience in the live broadcast room sighed.

“It seems that Director Wei is quite pitiful, he seems to have already realized he has lost Maomao’s love, hahaha.”

“Of course, when the staff member said she was going to throw away the food, Maomao stopped her. Sharing the hardship is what true father and daughter do.”

“Hahaha, you can’t say that about our Maomao, how could a three-year-old have any bad intentions, she was just afraid that Daddy would be hungry at night!”

“Maomao is such a caring little padded jacket, make sure Director Wei finishes that bowl tonight!”

“Yan Yan doesn’t seem picky here, she drank several mouthfuls of the mush that made the staff member throw up after one bite.”

“Yan Yan is really… I’m going to cry… She was helping Maomao drink it, the mushrooms at her house looked normal and even a bit delicious, but she didn’t touch a single one, this mush is full of mushrooms, and it’s so bad, yet she drank it so much!”

“A child’s affection is truly pure, I doubt I could swallow it if I were her.”

“It’s not about whether you can swallow it, but whether you feel it’s necessary to eat it…”

“But Cheng Tingyan is also quite something, she has never been nice to Rongrong, she even refused the egg her own sister gave her this morning, but she’s so good to a child she just met, sharing a bowl of bad food, she really can’t differentiate between close and distant relationships.”

“Excuse me, but what do you mean close and distant relationships? Do you love all your relatives? Do all your friends have to be ranked below them? Maomao stood up for Yan Yan, protected her house, Yan Yan shared Maomao’s bad food, trying to help her stay, what does Cheng Rongrong have to do with any of this?”

“But Rongrong is also nice to Yan Yan, giving her eggs, always wanting to walk with her, remembering her for everything…”

“Children are the most sensitive, you know, self-preservation? The kindness they can feel is the real kindness.”

…

The arguments in the live broadcast room became increasingly heated, but it didn’t affect the filming in the distant village at all.

Wei Maomao obediently snuggled up to Cheng Tingyan, watching Liu Ming take the big bowl out of the stove and seal it with plastic wrap, feeling a bit melancholic.

In her previous life, she and Cheng Tingyan had agreed to meet at the entrance of a Western restaurant.

If it hadn’t been for that accident, their first meal together after meeting would have been a nice Western meal.

In the three years that followed, Wei Maomao hadn’t eaten Western food again, she even wanted to avoid it when she saw it from afar.

Starting over in this life, Wei Maomao had thought that their first meal together would be at the grand feast table arranged by the program team, with all kinds of delicious food. She could peel a bowl of shrimp for her, or mix a bowl of salad for her, at least… she could serve her a bowl of soup… just like they had said in their online chats many years ago.

Wei Maomao had thought about many things, had many expectations, expectations that had been brewing for a long time.

But she didn’t expect that their first meal together would be this…

There was a lot of disappointment, but… also some strange satisfaction.

They had finally met, had finally eaten together, and had even… held hands.

It was like a beautiful dream, making up for what they hadn’t been able to achieve in their previous life.

But would this dream… wake up soon…

Wei Maomao couldn’t help but tighten her grip on her left hand.

“Don’t worry, that sister said it wasn’t for you to eat.” Cheng Tingyan, also looking at the big bowl, gently squeezed the little chubby paw back, and couldn’t resist poking the little dimple on the paw with her finger.

That sister… Oh, right!

“Yan Yan, that’s Sister Liu Ming.” Wei Maomao pointed to Liu Ming by the stove and introduced. “Daddy said Sister Liu Ming will take care of me when he can’t. But I can go to the toilet and take a bath by myself, am I good?”

Cheng Tingyan looked over when she heard that.

The little chubby bunny, tilting her head up slightly, her eyes sparkling, looked at her as if seeking praise.

Maomao was definitely different from Cheng Rongrong…

Cheng Tingyan once again clearly recognized this, and then she spoke.

“Maomao, you call her sister, why don’t you call me sister?” Cheng Tingyan wanted a chubby bunny younger sister, one who was much, much, much cuter than Rongrong, a whole world cuter.

Poor Wei Maomao, who had worked hard to use her cuteness to start the conversation, was formulating her next move, planning to smoothly steer the topic towards the fact that the Cheng family also had a staff member with the same responsibilities, so that Cheng Tingyan could avoid being dragged into taking a bath with Cheng Rongrong that night under the excuse of needing help. In her previous life, the fall Cheng Rongrong took had been in a blind spot of the cameras, something Cheng Tingyan couldn’t clarify even after many years.

But Wei Maomao was caught off guard by Cheng Tingyan’s question before she could finish planning.

Chapter 21

A small, white flower bloomed, stubbornly pushing its way through a crack in the cold wall.

Delicate, it swayed gently in the breeze, yet stood firm again and again, displaying remarkable tenacity.

It… looked a lot like… Cheng Tingyan…

Wei Chengli couldn’t help but recall the moment he had encountered Cheng Tingyan. His intention had been for her to bring Cheng Rongrong along to find Maomao, hoping Maomao would quickly forget his absurd hypothetical scenario and get acquainted with Cheng Rongrong, establishing healthy social interactions. His thoughts and words had focused on Cheng Rongrong, not Cheng Tingyan.

So when Cheng Tingyan asked him if he still wanted her to go pick up Maomao even though she was alone, Wei Chengli should have politely declined.

After all, she wasn’t the target of his matchmaking. Moreover, Cheng Rongrong was only three and a half years old and would definitely need Cheng Tingyan to look after her when she woke up. Many children were vulnerable when they woke up, having their older sister there was better than only having the staff, wasn’t it?

But Cheng Tingyan looked at him with those clear eyes, a hint of understanding in them.

In that moment… he seemed to see a flicker of disappointment and a glimmer of anticipation beneath her casual inquiry.

Perhaps it was a lot of points, but that was all he could see.

She was just a six-year-old child, at an age where she should be able to ask for what she wanted loudly and walk away from what she didn’t want.

Just like this little flower, it should have been rooted in fertile soil, clustered together with many other flowers, swaying only slightly in the breeze, not like now, bending low with every gust of wind and struggling to stand upright again.

During the short time Cheng Tingyan waited quietly for his answer, Wei Chengli felt a slight pang in his heart, perhaps from his mistaken perception, perhaps from overthinking.

At that moment, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse. Even when nodding in agreement, he instinctively tried to appear more gentle and friendly.

It was all that little rascal Maomao’s fault. Earlier, when they were swapping houses, she had gone on about “girls also have to protect their own property”… Although Wei Chengli had tried to smooth things over for Cheng Feiying and suggested afterward that Wei Maomao should find an opportunity to apologize to him, it was all for the sake of group harmony… To be honest, Wei Chengli didn’t really approve of Cheng Feiying’s actions of using the good house his daughter had drawn to swap with another family. After all, Cheng Feiying also had two daughters with him. As a father himself, if it were him, although he would sympathize with the family that had drawn the bad house, he would never bear to let Maomao live in a house with a hole in the roof because of his “kindness.”

Therefore, everyone had their biases. Originally, Wei Chengli didn’t really want to think about whether it was the parents or Cheng Tingyan who had a problem in the Cheng family, but Wei Maomao’s repeated and resolute attempts to approach Cheng Tingyan eventually shifted his perspective.

This little flower, blooming all alone…

“Director Wei? Director Wei?”

The voice of the cameraman beside him interrupted Wei Chengli’s thoughts.

He turned his head and saw the director pointing towards the group of people gathering at the village entrance not far away, whispering to him, “We’re going to be late!”

Oh, right, he was rushing to do his task, why was he suddenly distracted by a small flower on the roadside.

But…

Wei Chengli couldn’t help but look back at the corner of the wall.

They really did look alike, except this flower stem seemed to be missing some small thorns.

Not the kind that were sharp and would cut your hand at the slightest touch, but the kind that were… tender, seemingly harmless at first glance, only the flower itself thought they were weapons, soft little bristles.

No… it should be said that the flower itself knew they were useless, but they were already the most powerful weapon it could muster.

If this was used as the setting for a movie’s female protagonist…

“Director Wei? Director Wei?” The director urged. She had also seen the little flower, but she couldn’t understand what was so special about this ordinary white flower that was worth looking at again and again, they were already late!

Wei Chengli snapped out of his thoughts and subconsciously touched his pocket. Oh, his phone had already been handed over to the program team for safekeeping before they got off the car…

“Help me take a picture of it.” Wei Chengli knew his occupational hazard was acting up, and he understood that this wasn’t the time to linger and continue brainstorming, so he beckoned to one of the cameramen, motioning for him to help capture the details of this little flower.

“Director Wei, is there anything special about this flower?” The director motioned for the cameraman to hurry up and take the picture, then took advantage of this gap to ask.

“It’s just, I suddenly feel…” Wei Chengli paused, looked at the director, and said, “Don’t you think it looks a bit like Yan Yan? I want to take a picture and show it to Maomao.”

The director took a closer look at the little white flower: “…”

Where did they look alike? So all directors, those who made art films and those who made variety shows, were different, weren’t they? Forget I asked…

Not only could the director not keep up with Wei Chengli’s train of thought, most of the audience in the live broadcast room couldn’t either, and even started arguing.

“That little flower is so white, where does it look like Cheng Tingyan? She’s not that innocent. When Rongrong led her into the house by the hand earlier, she pulled her hand away as soon as they entered, making little angel Rongrong stumble, it was terrible.”

“Right, this flower looks so well-behaved. Director Wei hasn’t been watching the live broadcast, he has too much of a filter for Cheng Tingyan, she’s not that well-behaved. Earlier, when Cheng Feiying worked so hard to make a whole table of dishes, she was picky about what she ate, I was so angry watching it.”

“Cheng Feiying does have some cooking talent, that stir-fried three delicacies and braised chicken leg, they made my mouth water.”

“So, children who eat well are more likable, Rongrong ate two bowls of rice with gravy, her little belly was bulging but she still wanted to eat, so cute!”

“Cute my foot! Have you guys not switched to Yan Yan and Maomao’s live broadcast room? Yan Yan said herself that she doesn’t like mushrooms or chicken legs, and Cheng Feiying put mushrooms in all three dishes and the soup. Fine, putting them in the stir-fried three delicacies and the braised chicken leg is understandable, but who puts mushrooms in scrambled eggs with loofah and seaweed egg drop soup?”

“Although it’s true that children shouldn’t be too picky eaters, everything should be done gradually. It’s really strange to put mushrooms in every dish. Who is he trying to force-feed? Yan Yan barely ate anything at noon.”

“How bad can mushrooms be, I think they’re quite delicious. Children need to adapt to new foods, otherwise, they won’t eat this or that, how can they grow up properly!”

“It’s just a dislike for mushrooms, it’s not a big deal, right? Don’t you have any foods you don’t like? Pig brain, chicken testicles, durian, ginger, blood sausage, sashimi, fried cicada pupa… Do you eat everything?”

“Right, mushrooms aren’t some irreplaceable nutrient, there’s no need to force-feed them, it will only make children rebellious.”

“Leaving aside the mushrooms, the only meat dish, chicken leg, is also something Yan Yan doesn’t like. Is it really necessary to start forcing her on the first meal of the show?”

“The one who cooks gets to decide, I hate it when adults work hard to cook, and the children are picky and refuse to eat.”

“Come on, tell me what you don’t like to eat, I’ll make a whole table for you, I can work hard, just don’t be picky!”

“Please be kind, guys, let me give you a heads-up! Wei Maomao next door is awake… Please don’t scold our Maomao for being picky just because Director Wei worked hard to cook, because none of you would want to eat the rice he made… o(╥﹏╥)o”

…

At 3:25 pm, Wei Maomao woke up, before the staff member went to call her.

After sleeping for several hours, Wei Maomao felt even more tired than before she slept.

It couldn’t be helped, anyone who had kneaded dough in their dreams for several hours would wake up feeling groggy.

The daily routine she had become accustomed to as an apprentice in her previous life, dreaming about it again in this life, actually felt quite tough.

Thankfully, she wouldn’t have to endure this hardship in this life.

Wei Maomao rubbed her sleepy eyes, comforting herself.

But life was always unpredictable…

Two minutes later, looking at the steaming bowl in front of her, Wei Maomao, who had been carried to the stone table in the courtyard, clenched her chubby fists…

Good job, Wei Chengli!

She had suffered enough as an apprentice for him in her previous life, and in this life, she still had to suffer from the food he made!

“Ming Ming…” Wei Maomao, already knowing that Wei Chengli had gone to do his task, looked pitifully at the staff member who was putting a spoon in the bowl, trying to use her cuteness to her advantage.

The stainless steel spoon trembled, but finally settled in the bowl of mush. Liu Ming didn’t dare to look up, pretending not to hear the little dumpling’s soft plea for mercy. She hardened her heart and said, “Maomao, before Director Wei left, he asked me to remind you, remember what we said about going home if you don’t eat or sleep well?”

Wei Maomao: “…” Great, that line again!

Honestly, Liu Ming also thought this bowl of stuff couldn’t possibly be tasty, but Director Wei insisted that it was a nutritious meal for the little one, something Maomao was used to, and she had to have a bowl after she woke up. Even the size of the bowl was specified by Director Wei before he left…

She was responsible for taking care of Maomao when Wei Chengli wasn’t available, and now her job was to supervise Maomao and make sure she ate her lunch.

So even though she secretly saw the little dumpling pouting, clearly unhappy, and calling her “sister” softly and pitifully, Liu Ming could only silently push the bowl closer to the little dumpling.

Heavens, she had deliberately stirred and loosened the mush before putting it in the bowl so that she could serve less. This was already the friendliest thing she could do within her authority.

Wei Maomao looked at the bowl in front of her, the variety of ingredients was visible to the naked eye, the “deliciousness” was imaginable.

This was too much!

This life was unbearable!

They had already arrived in the village at noon, why didn’t the program team provide lunch! For the sake of “getting used to it in advance” as Wei Chengli had said, she had already eaten this… mush for days. She was hoping to have a good meal today!

Why was life so hard!

From now on, Shi Dingshan was the worst uncle besides Cheng Feiying!

It was better to continue kneading dough in her dreams!

Maybe if she kneaded long enough, she would dream of bread being baked, and she could even eat a few!

Wei Maomao, who had worked hard in her sleep and had her hopes for a good meal dashed, was truly aggrieved, but she still didn’t dare to gamble on whether the rebooked ticket was real, she didn’t dare to gamble on whether Wei Chengli would really take her home if she refused to eat…

After all, she had already acted like a troublemaker today, if she didn’t eat properly…

Hopefully, today’s mush was only mildly bad…

The twenty-four-year-old soul finally rationally picked up the spoon, but the three-year-old body couldn’t help but shed tears of grievance.

“Maomao?”

Cheng Tingyan’s voice was hesitant and uncertain, soft and cautious.

The familiar voice made Wei Maomao, sitting at the stone table, abruptly raise her head. The spoon clattered back into the bowl, she twisted her chubby waist, and looked towards the courtyard gate on her left.

Standing outside the half-open gate was indeed Cheng Tingyan.

Wei Maomao sniffed, lowered her head, and quickly wiped her face with her chubby paws. When she raised her head again, there was no trace of grievance, only a big smile.

“Yan Yan!” The little chubby bunny sitting at the table waved her chubby paws, beaming with joy.

Cheng Tingyan couldn’t help but tighten her grip on the strap of her shoulder bag.

She didn’t quite understand…

Maomao was crying just now, she hated it when children cried. But why didn’t she leave quickly, why did she call out to Maomao?

She understood even less…

Why, now that Maomao had stopped crying and was smiling, did she feel that it was worse than if she had continued crying?

“Careful!” Cheng Tingyan couldn’t figure out what she was thinking, but seeing Wei Maomao wriggling, trying to climb down from the table, she finally stepped into the courtyard, ran to the table, and held the little chubby bunny’s waist.

“Yan Yan, why are you here?” Wei Maomao glanced at the people who followed Cheng Tingyan in. It was only the cameraman and the staff, not Cheng Rongrong or Cheng Feiying.

“Your dad asked me to take you to do your task.” Cheng Tingyan stood on tiptoe, pushing the little chubby bunny towards the center of the table, then took out a white handkerchief with green patterns from her shoulder bag and wiped Wei Maomao’s face. “Why were you crying?”

“…” Wei Maomao wriggled uncomfortably on the table.

Crying because the food was too bad, it was really hard to tell Cheng Tingyan.

Speaking of which!

“Yan Yan, have you had lunch?” Wei Maomao asked with burning eyes.

“Yes, I have.” Cheng Tingyan glanced at the only bowl of mush on the table and said uncertainly, “Your dad said you haven’t eaten yet, is this… lunch?”

Cheng Tingyan suddenly realized that she should have come later, when Maomao’s dad said it was almost time for their task. Or she should have come after Maomao’s dad said to wait another half hour for Maomao to sleep, plus the time for her to eat.

She had just wanted to familiarize herself with the route, how did she unconsciously end up at the courtyard gate, then accidentally see Maomao crying, and then inadvertently call out to her…

“Did I interrupt your lunch?” Cheng Tingyan asked before the hesitant little dumpling could speak. “Then I’ll go back first, and come back later…”

“Don’t go, Yan Yan! It’s really bad anyway, I’ll swallow it quickly.” Wei Maomao didn’t care about her lunch and changed the subject, “What did you have for lunch, Yan Yan?”

Cheng Tingyan extracted the main point of Wei Maomao’s words and quickly listed the four dishes and one soup she had. Her gaze turned to the still steaming bowl on the table. “Were you crying because it was too bad?”

“…” Wei Maomao blushed. Would she be able to regain her dignity in front of Cheng Tingyan after crying several times on their first meeting?

“Really?” Cheng Tingyan asked again, looking at Wei Maomao with concern.

Wei Maomao nodded reluctantly. To salvage her almost nonexistent image, she forced herself to add, “It’s really bad, I wouldn’t cry if it was just mildly bad.”

“Is this… made by Maomao’s dad?” Cheng Tingyan lowered her eyes and asked.

“Yes. And Daddy wants me to finish this whole bowl! If I don’t finish it, he’ll take me home, and I can’t play with everyone anymore!” Wei Maomao complained, then added, “If I didn’t have to finish it, I wouldn’t cry either, I’m brave.”

“Does your dad often make such bad food for you, and insist you finish it?” Cheng Tingyan asked again.

“Yes!” Wei Maomao, who had been tortured by Wei Chengli’s cooking for several days, didn’t catch the hidden meaning in Cheng Tingyan’s words, nodding frantically like a little chick pecking at rice. “Often!”

“So you also…” Cheng Tingyan’s voice and eyes lowered.

“Also what?” Wei Maomao didn’t react for a moment.

“Nothing.” Cheng Tingyan pursed her lips and denied. “I didn’t say anything.”

“You just said…” Wei Maomao began.

Cheng Tingyan raised her hand and covered Wei Maomao’s mouth with her handkerchief. “I didn’t say anything.”

Wei Maomao understood, Cheng Tingyan must have thought she was also being bullied by her father’s “cooking” just like her!

Although… but… Wei Chengli should be different from Cheng Feiying.

Forget it…

Wei Maomao knew that she wasn’t close enough to Cheng Tingyan yet, and she had just spoken carelessly. Even if she pressed her now, she wouldn’t be able to make her break free from the constraints of her family and tell her everything that was happening at home.

But…

Wei Maomao wriggled, freeing herself from the handkerchief. Before she could be silenced again, she spoke quickly, “Yan Yan, my dad’s cooking is really bad. Can you tell me what your dad used to make the dishes today? I want Daddy to learn…” As if.

To Cheng Tingyan, this was a much safer topic than before, so she lowered her hand and put away the handkerchief.

Cheng Tingyan listed the ingredients one by one.

Mushrooms, more mushrooms, and even more mushrooms…

The little dumpling at the stone table clenched the stainless steel spoon in her hand, really wanting to give Cheng Feiying a good beating.

“Yan Yan, you don’t like mushrooms.” Wei Maomao didn’t need to pretend, she was already worried. “Are you feeling uncomfortable, Yan Yan?”

“I’m not uncomfortable.” Cheng Tingyan said softly.

“You’re lying!” Wei Maomao released the spoon, changed from sitting to lying on the table, stretched out her chubby paw, hesitated, and finally didn’t dare to touch Cheng Tingyan’s head, only gently touched the strap of her shoulder bag. “I don’t like the food Daddy makes, it makes me feel so bad every time I eat it! I want to cry every time! Yan Yan must also feel uncomfortable…”

Cheng Tingyan stared blankly at the little chubby bunny in front of her.

She…

Was like the rabbit she had raised, so chubby, soft, warm, and comfortable to hug.

But also… different… not just like that…

“Maomao.” Cheng Tingyan didn’t continue talking about herself, she turned to look at the bowl on the table again. “Can I have a little bit of the food your dad made?”

“No, no, no!” Wei Maomao was horrified and almost jumped up on the table, waving her hands repeatedly. “It’s bad, very bad, extremely bad!”

Why bother, did she struggle so hard to get on this show just to make Cheng Tingyan suffer?

“I want to try it, can I?” Cheng Tingyan insisted.

Wei Maomao could never say no to Cheng Tingyan, whether it was the one across the internet in her previous life or the six-year-old one in this life.

Soon, Wei Maomao was defeated in the silent staring contest and moved aside, giving up the bowl and spoon.

“I see… there are mushrooms in it. The mushrooms you don’t like.” Wei Maomao made a last-ditch effort.

“Mmm.” Cheng Tingyan nodded, stepped on the stone stool, and took the spoon.

She understood that Maomao had been loud and fierce earlier to help her protect the house she had drawn.

Now, she could also protect Maomao. She could help Maomao eat this bowl of bad food!

Cheng Tingyan, full of ambition, scooped up a big spoonful and stuffed it into her mouth.

She chewed and chewed and chewed…

It felt like mud, she could swallow it directly, but mixed with the strange taste, she couldn’t bring herself to swallow it. The longer it stayed in her mouth, the more uncomfortable it became.

How could there be such disgusting food in the world!

The composure on Cheng Tingyan’s face vanished, replaced by shock, then fear. Finally, after forcing herself to swallow with a strained neck, she couldn’t help but gag.

Chapter 20

Wei Chengli realised he had made an inappropriate analogy, but just as he was about to correct himself, the person who was supposed to play along with him closed her eyes, tilted her head, kicked her feet, and fell asleep.

“Maomao? Maomao?” Wei Chengli shook the little dumpling in his arms incredulously.

She remained oblivious, her chubby legs swinging gently with his movements, the cute tips of her sandals leaving two grey marks on his chest.

Wei Chengli: “…”

Although he had gradually gotten used to Wei Maomao’s ability to fall asleep at any moment, why did she have to do it at such a crucial time…

How could she break off with a friend just because of Daddy’s hypothetical situation! Wei Chengli was overwhelmed with guilt.

But his attempts to wake her were futile. In the end, he could only sigh, both amused and exasperated, and put the little dumpling back in his arms.

The soft child nestled in his arms, warm and well-behaved, strangely eased his gloomy mood, allowing him to refocus on the map in his hand.

This was the first stop of the third season of “Where’s Baby Going”, an ancient village a good two hours’ drive from the city. As far as the eye could see, the black-tiled, white-walled houses were mostly only one or two stories high, some arranged in rows of two or three, others connected in longer lines, twisting and turning, giving the whole village an ancient and unorganized charm.

Judging from the map, the families’ houses weren’t far apart.

The Cheng family’s house was the closest to the village entrance. They hadn’t walked far, Maomao and Yan Yan hadn’t even said much, and they had already arrived. Then there was Wang Zhizhi’s house, just a few houses down from the Cheng family’s.

Wei Chengli saw Wang Zhizhi and his father enter the house from afar, then continued walking along the alley paved with bluestone and gravel. After turning two corners, he saw a rather impressive iron gate, that was the house drawn by the Wen family, similar in decoration to the Cheng family’s.

After passing the Wen family’s house, going down a slope and then up another, he arrived at the house Maomao had drawn.

Pushing open the courtyard gate adorned with a “Fu” character, he saw a simple and clean courtyard. On one side of the courtyard was a pile of bamboo baskets, split bamboo strips, and semi-finished bamboo products. On the other side was an open-air earthen stove with a pile of firewood beside it.

And on the earthen stove platform, there was a pile of fresh vegetables…

Wei Chengli suddenly had a bad feeling. He retracted the foot he was about to step into the courtyard, looked at the time on his watch, and asked the cameraman, “It’s almost 1 pm now, after we’ve seen the houses, the program team will arrange lunch for everyone, right?”

The cameraman, caught off guard by Wei Chengli’s sudden question, smiled awkwardly, took out a card from his bag, and handed it over politely. “Today’s first task, to celebrate the official start of this wonderful journey for dads and their babies, is for dads to independently prepare a sumptuous lunch for themselves and their babies. As time is tight, the ingredients have been prepared for you by the program team. After lunch break, dads and babies will complete separate challenge tasks. The dads’ next task will officially start at 3 pm, the babies’ task will start a bit later, at 4 pm.”

Wei Chengli had been prepared for the fact that he might need to cook during this show, and even took the time to practice lighting a fire on the earthen stove of the neighboring film crew before coming here.

But he was a novice cook, even using the gas stove at home took him a lot of time to prepare a meal, and now with the time limit…

The countdown of less than two and a half hours hanging over Wei Chengli’s head made him feel quite pressured. Without saying much, he carried the little dumpling and quickly crossed the courtyard, entering the main room. Not in the mood to examine the surroundings, Wei Chengli only felt the bedding, judged it to be new and clean, and put the little dumpling on it.

But as he was about to leave, Wei Chengli saw the luggage, which had been brought into the room by the program team in advance and piled up by the door, and stopped.

“Maomao, Maomao? Daddy needs some time to make lunch, why don’t you eat your breakfast first to tide you over?” Wei Chengli turned back and gently nudged the little one who was sleeping soundly on the bed.

He nudged her again and again…

An impatient chubby foot lifted up and landed warmly on his wrist, still ignoring him.

“Hmph, don’t regret it later.” Wei Chengli pinched the little dumpling’s chubby cheek and went out with the insulated bag.

As the families found their houses one after another, guided by the task cards, the dads in each live broadcast room started to showcase their culinary skills, whether they existed or not, boiling, stewing, steaming, or stir-frying.

At first, it was quite harmonious, after all, no matter what dish they were making, they had to start with washing the vegetables.

But as the live broadcast went on, something seemed to be off…

“When CEO Shen was cooking noodles, Director Wei was washing vegetables, now CEO Shen and his family have finished eating, how come Director Wei is still washing vegetables…”

“Not to mention the lazy CEO Shen, even Cheng Feiying, who made the most dishes, has finished his last braised chicken leg, and Director Wei is still washing vegetables…”

“Is Director Wei’s vegetable washing speed a bit slow? Maomao hasn’t even had breakfast yet, won’t she faint from hunger?”

“Speaking of which, I’m really curious what’s in Director Wei’s insulated bag, Maomao wouldn’t even eat it when she pretended to sleep in the car.”

“Actually, Director Wei has it tough too, he has to entertain the children while washing vegetables, so of course he’s slower.”

“Hahaha, entertaining the children only took a few minutes, even if each child took a minute, it’s only three minutes in total. Director Wei has been washing vegetables for over an hour, hasn’t he?”

“This… Does Director Wei plan to wash all the vegetables?”

“Does Maomao eat that much?”

…

The viewers in the live broadcast room watched as the Shen family finished their noodles with vegetables and meat slices, the Wen family finished their steamed eggs with minced meat and rice, the Wen family finished their bitter gourd with scrambled eggs and shredded pork with lettuce, the Wang family finished their vegetable and meat stew, and finally, even the Cheng family, who had made three dishes and a soup, was cleaning up…

Wei Chengli… was still washing vegetables…

Washing each type of vegetable three times, peeling those that needed to be peeled, blanching those that needed to be blanched, the vegetables and meat provided by the program team were plentiful, and Wei Chengli meticulously processed them all.

The viewers in the live broadcast room couldn’t figure out what dishes Wei Chengli was planning to make, as it was already close to 2:30 pm.

Various guesses popped up in the comments, and then, in the remaining half hour, they watched as Wei Chengli chopped and minced everything, then piled it all into a large bowl, added water and rice, and put it on the steamer.

As the live broadcast reached 3 pm, Wei Chengli received the task card with one hand and stoked the fire in the stove with the other. The comments in the live broadcast room fell silent for a moment.

“This…”

“So this is the lunch that Maomao missed two boiled eggs for…”

“Although Director Wei finally opened the insulated box and ate the eggs, satisfying my curiosity, if I had another chance, I would beg him to show mercy…”

“The legendary Buddha Jumps Over the Wall* is also a mixture of various ingredients, this should also be good… (Sorry, I can’t continue making this up…)”

“I shouldn’t have said that CEO Shen was slacking off by making noodles, I apologize.”

“But Director Wei is really serious about washing vegetables, and he chops them very finely, is there a slight possibility that it will actually be delicious?”

“With all due respect, unless he adds some secret family recipe or a lot of high-tech stuff, from what I’ve seen, this…”

…

Wei Chengli was unaware of the speechless reactions in the comments. He had tried his best to get the meal steaming before receiving the task card.

“I’ll go do my task, this meal will be ready in about half an hour. Please wake Maomao up to eat when it’s time.” Wei Chengli asked the staff member as he added two more pieces of firewood to the stove.

“Okay. But what if I can’t wake her up…” The staff member said hesitantly.

She had personally witnessed Wen Dongyu, Shen Zilin, and Wang Zhizhi coming to play with Maomao earlier, and even after Wei Chengli went into the bedroom three times, he couldn’t wake her up…

“She should have slept long enough, if it really doesn’t work, you can…” Wei Chengli lowered his voice, “You can secretly tickle the soles of her feet.”

The staff member: “…” It wasn’t really possible to do that secretly.

Regardless, the task still had to be done. According to the show’s previous format, the completion of tasks was related to rewards. Wei Chengli couldn’t imagine how disappointed the little dumpling would be when she woke up and found that others had this and that, but she had nothing.

But just as he was about to leave, Wei Chengli suddenly remembered the children who had come over while he was washing vegetables.

The little boys had all come to play with Maomao, wouldn’t those three identical Rubik’s cubes hurt their feelings…

In the end, before leaving, Wei Chengli went back to the main room, pulled out Wei Maomao’s little bunny backpack, twisted the three Rubik’s cubes, and instantly turned them into three different… Rubik’s cubes.

Maomao, for your social life, your Daddy has really put in a lot of effort!

Wei Chengli stuffed the Rubik’s cubes back into the bag, couldn’t help but pinch the little dumpling’s chubby cheeks a few more times before leaving with a humph.

Perhaps because the feeling of the little dumpling’s cheeks was too good, even after walking almost to the village entrance, the soft and squishy feeling still lingered on his hand. Seeing Cheng Tingyan playing at the entrance of the Cheng family’s house, Wei Chengli, who was in a hurry, suddenly stopped.

“Yan Yan.” Wei Chengli squatted down. “Has your dad gone to do his task?”

Cheng Tingyan nodded slightly.

“What about Rongrong? What’s Rongrong doing?” Wei Chengli asked kindly.

Rongrong…

“Sleeping.” Cheng Tingyan replied concisely.

“Children do sleep a lot. Maomao is also sleeping now, she hasn’t even had lunch yet, she’ll sleep for another half an hour before waking up.” Wei Chengli didn’t mind Cheng Tingyan’s coldness, and said with a smile, “Uncle also needs to go do his task. Can Yan Yan do Uncle a favor? When it’s almost time for your task, can you and Rongrong go pick up Maomao?”

Maomao…

Cheng Tingyan pursed her lips and didn’t speak.

“Yan Yan is a big sister now, Uncle can only feel at ease if Yan Yan is looking after the younger sisters. Didn’t your dad also ask you to look after Rongrong? You can wait for Rongrong to wake up and then take her to pick up Maomao, okay?” Wei Chengli tried to persuade her. Let the cute children play together happily, quickly forget about Daddy’s terrible hypothetical situation!

Rongrong…

Cheng Tingyan clenched her hands. “Dad didn’t ask me to look after Rongrong.”

Wei Chengli: “…”

“No Rongrong.” Cheng Tingyan slightly raised her head, her clear black and white eyes looking at Wei Chengli indifferently. “Just me, do you still want me to go?”

************

 

T/N; Legendary Buddha Jumps Over the Wall*: The dish’s name is an allusion to the dish’s ability to entice the vegetarian Buddhist monks from their temples to partake in the meat-based dish, and implies that even the strictly vegetarian Gautama Buddha would try to jump over a wall to sample it.