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

Chapter 9

In order to let the little dumpling and her new cameraman get acquainted, Zhang Shilan took Wei Maomao and Shi Hongxiao to the park downstairs to play.

Only Shi Dingshan and Wei Chengli were left in the house.

The relaxed and amiable expression on Shi Dingshan’s face gradually disappeared as the three of them left. He rubbed his face with his chubby hand and pointed at the teacups on the table. “Let’s switch to a bar.”

Wei Chengli frowned, thinking about what happened at the teahouse.

But before he could persuade him, Shi Dingshan shook his head and took a gulp of tea. “Forget it, let’s just drink this.”

There were some things that Shi Dingshan didn’t mention, and Wei Chengli couldn’t pry into his personal matters. Seeing that he was in low spirits, he could only try to distract him with things he knew.

“Why was the decision to do a live broadcast so sudden?” Wei Maomao had been woken up early before, and Wei Chengli only had time to discuss with Shi Dingshan how to coax the little dumpling to eat obediently. He hadn’t had time to ask about the supplementary contract in detail.

“It wasn’t sudden. Someone from the higher-ups wanted to do it, but I was against it at the time because I thought having a live broadcast window during filming wouldn’t help the overall effect of the variety show, it was just a way to make money.” Shi Dingshan’s expression didn’t improve with the new topic, but became even more gloomy. He sneered, “But I understand now. Blocking someone’s way of making money is like killing their parents. Who doesn’t want to make more money and live a better life? Besides, making money openly is better than secretly harming people.”

Wei Chengli: “…” Was this topic unsafe? Why did he feel like he heard a bit of gritted teeth at the end?

Shi Dingshan didn’t need anyone to agree with him. He poured himself a cup of tea and drank it in one gulp. After calming down a bit, he said, “Live broadcast first, then edit and broadcast. The traffic and rewards from the individual live broadcast rooms will be split 50/50 with the station. Both exposure and income will increase, which is also good for you.”

Seeing that Shi Dingshan was drinking tea like it was alcohol, Wei Chengli decided to change the subject again. “Speaking of which, I only knew that you had a seven-year-old son, I didn’t know you had one this old. The young man looks very promising, are you planning to bring him into the industry this time?”

Shi Dingshan held the cup and didn’t speak for a long time.

Wei Chengli started to miss the ice-breaking little dumpling.

“The seven-year-old is the one I had with my second wife, we’re in the process of getting a divorce. This one is from my first wife. Although he’s not my biological son, he’s a good kid. I’m not sure about bringing him into the industry, he’s interested in it himself, and this is a good opportunity.” Shi Dingshan lowered his eyes, turning the empty teacup in his hand. “Actually, I used to think that whether a child was biological or not was very important. But now I’m starting to think that maybe the person themselves is the most important.”

Wei Chengli: “…” So there were no safe topics in this world anymore?

“Speaking of which, I used to neglect him quite a bit, after all, he wasn’t my biological son. After I divorced his mother, I basically didn’t see him a few times. Until a few days ago…” Shi Dingshan paused. “A few days ago, I told him that he wasn’t my biological son, and then I lied to him that I had an incurable disease and was going to die soon, but that I wouldn’t leave him a penny in my will.”

“You… he… he didn’t know he wasn’t…” Wei Chengli struggled to keep up with the plot.

Shi Dingshan shook his head. “He didn’t know before. He was surprised when he heard it, but he quickly expressed his understanding. Not only did he not ask me for any money, he also thanked me for telling him, saying that he wouldn’t be troubled by those ‘whys’ anymore, that he was very grateful for my honesty, and even asked if I needed any help. He didn’t elaborate on what those ‘whys’ were. But I can guess that before he knew we weren’t related by blood, he probably resented me as a father. Actually, it was my fault. A biological father who doesn’t give love and a stepfather who doesn’t give love, the latter should hurt the child less, I should have told him sooner.”

Wei Chengli: “…” He had a lot of questions, like why did he suddenly decide to tell him, and why did he lie, and what exactly happened at the teahouse… But he held back and didn’t ask anything more.

“He’s a good kid. But other people… money, haha, money is a good thing.” Shi Dingshan didn’t elaborate further, just kept turning the cup in his hand. He wasn’t drinking, but he seemed drunk.

Meanwhile, Wei Maomao, who was in the park downstairs, was also about to get drunk.

“Put! Me! Down!” Wei Maomao, whose face was parallel to the ground, clenched her fists, her face red with anger.

After “flying” a few more steps, Wei Maomao was put down, into the arms of Zhang Shilan, who had rushed over.

“Mommy!” Maomao was furious.

Zhang Shilan hugged the little dumpling and soothed her, looking at Shi Hongxiao helplessly. “Weren’t you going to play on the seesaw? Why did you carry her over…”

“She didn’t want to play on the seesaw… she wanted to go on the slide… she’s too small.” Shi Hongxiao blushed slightly in embarrassment.

“Then you could have carried her over, it’s not safe to carry her like that.” Zhang Shilan said, seeing the young man’s face getting redder and redder. She coughed and explained, “Look how chubby she is, if her clothes aren’t strong enough and can’t hold her weight, she’ll fall face first.”

Wei Maomao: Weight? What happened to being “chubby and cute”?

“I…” Shi Hongxiao stammered, unable to speak.

Zhang Shilan didn’t really want to say these things to her friend’s child. But Shi Hongxiao would be filming Maomao later on the show, so she had to consider Maomao’s safety in advance.

“Look, this is how you hold a child. One hand supports her bottom, the other hand supports her back…” Zhang Shilan adjusted the little dumpling in her arms and demonstrated for him, then handed her over to Shi Hongxiao, gesturing for him to try.

Wei Maomao and Shi Hongxiao both leaned back at the same time, as if they were two magnets of the same polarity repelling each other.

“No, no, no…” Shi Hongxiao not only leaned back, but also waved his hands and quickly retreated a few steps. He blushed and pointed at Wei Maomao’s arm, saying, “The baby is too soft, like tofu, I don’t dare, I’m afraid I’ll break her.”

Zhang Shilan: ??? Afraid of breaking her but not afraid of strangling her?

Wei Maomao: ??? What happened to the dark and ruthless gambler and blackmailer?

The butterfly’s wings had created a different future. Wei Maomao didn’t know when Shi Hongxiao had fallen into the abyss of gambling in her previous life, or how he had sunk so deep. Even though the young man in front of her looked very normal, even shy and friendly, Wei Maomao still couldn’t look at him with the same eyes she used to look at ordinary people.

However, he was just a cameraman for the show, and Shi Dingshan was still alive, so he couldn’t possibly steal her from the show and sell her for gambling money, right?

Shi Dingshan’s visit made Wei Maomao realize that she had indeed changed some things.

Although she couldn’t be sure whether it was good or bad, at least it proved that everything could be changed.

So, Wei Maomao worked overtime even later that night.

Her overtime tools were an old tablet she had secretly found in the storage room and her chubby fingers.

The circles weren’t round enough, the squares weren’t square enough. She reset them again and again, her chubby fingers rubbed red, much worse than when she was twisting the toothpaste tube and the necklace.

The day after Shi Dingshan’s visit, after filming a promotional video with the program team, Wei Maomao “forgave” Wei Chengli and invited him to watch the latest cartoon she had discovered, “The Adventures of the Clay Rabbit.”

To be honest, Wei Chengli could understand why Wei Maomao was obsessed with “Where’s Baby Going” before, and he could also understand why she later worked hard to learn how to dress, eat, and even bathe herself in order to participate in the show. He was even supportive of her wanting to watch documentaries to gain knowledge and moving around, saying she wanted to exercise…

But he really couldn’t understand why she wanted to drag him along to watch this crudely made cartoon, which was just a bunch of simple lines put together, obviously just a few pictures flashing back and forth for a few seconds, and dared to call itself a “cartoon.”

As a director, he sincerely felt that this thing was hurting his eyes. He didn’t know where Maomao had dug up this terrible video with only three views.

The most terrifying thing was that Maomao not only demanded that he watch it with her, but after watching it, she also forced him to retell the story, and then demanded that they discuss and analyze the simple and childish plot together.

After just two days, Wei Chengli couldn’t help but want to use overtime as an excuse to skip the remaining three days and go straight to the filming location.

Then, he was forced back by his daughter’s tears.

So, before the show officially started, they happily lived a happy life, one working hard to produce and upload at night, the other watching with tears during the day.

This kind of life continued until the night before the official filming of the show.

At the dinner table, Wei Chengli couldn’t help but plead, “We’re going to officially start filming tomorrow, you’ll be able to play with your brothers and sisters soon, can we not watch this ugly rabbit today?”

Wei Maomao didn’t say anything, she just scooped a spoonful of tasteless stew into her mouth with one hand and clicked on the next episode with the other.

“Bad baby, tell me the truth, are you deliberately making me watch such an ugly video because you dislike the food I cook!” Wei Chengli paused the video, trying to resist.

Of course not.

Wei Maomao lowered her eyes and pushed the phone playing the video a little closer to Wei Chengli.

She was staying up all night, working like a thief until dawn, just to get revenge on him? He was giving his cooking too much credit.

Under the little dumpling’s silent gaze, Wei Chengli gave in once again.

“Fine, fine, fine. I really don’t understand, no one else is watching this, how can they maintain this update speed…” Wei Chengli sighed and clicked play. “Okay, what’s the first one about today… oh, today the clay rabbit met a puppy. It gave the puppy something to eat, and the puppy played with it. Oh, the next day, it met the puppy again, and another puppy, it gave them both something to eat. But neither puppy played with it, the rabbit cried…”

Wei Chengli habitually explained as he watched. After a few pictures flashed by, he quickly finished watching and met the little dumpling’s expectant gaze. He sighed and started the next part, “This story tells us that not every time you eat together, you will play together. Making friends is not just about eating and drinking together.”

This “cartoon” was really strange. It covered everything from simple everyday etiquette to complex astronomy, geography, poetry, and even legal subjects like anti-gambling. At first, Wei Chengli was afraid that Wei Maomao wouldn’t understand, so he just explained it from a child’s perspective. But later he discovered that his baby was really smart, and after a few back-and-forth discussions, they could actually discuss deeper things in a decent manner. If it weren’t for the crude production of this video, he thought it would be good for early childhood education.

It was a pity that Maomao only recognized this one and ignored other educational videos for children.

Wei Chengli felt that his explanation was quite profound, but Wei Maomao felt that he was being a bit perfunctory tonight. She pointed at the bag in the clay rabbit’s hand in the video and said, “The rabbit gave the puppy a bag of cookies, and they played together. The rabbit gave the puppy half a bag, and the puppy didn’t play with it.”

Wei Chengli replayed the few seconds of animation, and it was indeed true. But how could she tell that those oddly shaped fragments were cookies…

“Hmm… so this story means that you have to give enough cookies to play together? Just like when we go to the store, we have to pay enough money to buy things. It’s a kind of exchange.” Wei Chengli thought for a moment and explained again.

Father and daughter were once again out of sync. Wei Maomao hated these correction moments the most these days.

“The first puppy ate all the cookies. The rabbit’s cookies were only enough for one puppy. It shouldn’t have given any to the second puppy.” Wei Maomao said, finishing the last bit of stew.

“Then… what if the second puppy was hungry?” Wei Chengli felt that today’s cartoon was a bit difficult, or maybe he couldn’t keep up with his daughter’s thinking.

“If there aren’t enough cookies, don’t give any to the second dog.” Wei Maomao was a little tired.

Wei Chengli frowned and thought for a moment. “If the rabbit doesn’t have more cookies, it shouldn’t care about the second dog?”

“If it cares, it shouldn’t cry.” Wei Maomao said coldly.

“You mean, either the rabbit only gives cookies to the first puppy, and they can play together. Or the rabbit shares the cookies with both puppies, and they don’t play with it because they didn’t get enough, and it shouldn’t cry?” Wei Chengli tried to understand.

Wei Maomao nodded perfunctorily, that was good enough.

Anyway, whether it was a documentary or a cartoon, it was just to give her a basis for the things she would say on the show later. She needed a reason to “evolve.”

After all, she was only three years old, she couldn’t say that she had learned this knowledge in her dreams.

Being a cub was really too difficult.

Wei Chengli looked at the distorted rabbit and dog in the picture, feeling like something was wrong. But since Wei Maomao was finally letting him off the hook, he didn’t discuss it further and quickly clicked on today’s second animation. He had to finish watching today’s quota, and he still had to pack his luggage.

Of course, if he could foresee that one day, Wei Maomao would say loudly on the show, “Daddy said, if the rabbit doesn’t have enough cookies to share, it shouldn’t look for a second puppy. If Mommy and Daddy don’t have enough love to share, they shouldn’t have a second baby.”

Perhaps, he wouldn’t be in such a hurry to pack his luggage today.

Chapter 8

Officially signing the contract for the third season of “Where’s Baby Going” was only the first step in Wei Maomao’s long journey. She still had a lot to do before the official filming began.

But she didn’t know if it was because a three-year-old’s body was really troublesome, or if her soul and body weren’t in sync yet. She couldn’t stay up late at night, she couldn’t exercise for long during the day, and if she tried a little harder, she would become sleepy in the next second.

She couldn’t work hard at night, and she couldn’t wake up during the day. The feeling of being powerless made Wei Maomao even more anxious.

One day, Wei Maomao, who had just woken up from her nap but wasn’t fully awake, was carried out by her mother, yawning. She saw Shi Dingshan sitting in the living room, drinking tea with Wei Chengli.

It had been more than a week since they last met at the teahouse. There were five days left until the official filming of the third season of “Where’s Baby Going.”

Wei Maomao didn’t know if it was her imagination, but she felt that Shi Dingshan looked… a little thinner, and his complexion was much paler.

But his spirits seemed to be quite good.

Five more days… he should have escaped, right…

Wei Maomao wriggled in her mother’s arms and successfully wriggled to the ground, running to the living room.

“Unc…” Before Wei Maomao could reach the table, she suddenly slammed on the brakes, and the words she was about to say got stuck in her throat.

It was only a few steps from the hallway to the living room. But after entering the living room, Wei Maomao realized that there was another person sitting on the sofa behind Shi Dingshan, who had been blocked by the corner wall before.

A young man who looked to be in his early twenties, thin, wearing sportswear, with a clean crew cut and glasses. At first glance, he looked gentle and scholarly, like a college student.

But…

No way.

Looking at the rather obvious red mole between his eyebrows, Wei Maomao subconsciously took a step back.

As a result, her short legs twisted, and bam… the chubby dumpling fell on her butt.

Her coordination was really bad! All those days of training were for nothing! Wei Maomao clenched her small fists angrily. The sudden setback and physical pain made her temporarily forget about the person a few steps away.

Then, she was helped up by that person.

Well, to be precise, she was lifted up like a chick by the back of her clothes and placed on the sofa.

“Are… are you okay?”

Okay? Why don’t you try being face down and carried like a bag for a few steps?

Wei Maomao, sitting on the sofa, rubbed her belly, which was a little sore from being strangled by her clothes. But when she looked up and met the eyes of the young man who seemed to be looking at her with concern, the little bit of anger she had just felt dissipated.

Scary.

Wei Maomao looked away and didn’t answer. When Wei Chengli came over, she buried her head in her father’s arms and didn’t look at the young man again.

“Oh, you haven’t paid any attention to Daddy for days, and now you suddenly want Daddy to hug you?” Wei Chengli chuckled, stroking the little dumpling’s head. “Hahaha, Maomao is shy because she’s meeting her older brother for the first time.”

???

Wei Maomao clenched her small fists and used all her strength to stop herself from hitting her father in front of her.

You’re a director?

You can’t even tell the difference between shyness and fear?

And “older brother”…

This was a scheming and ruthless person who could hide the clues to his father’s death and blackmail his stepmother for more than ten years, a gambling addict who gambled to the point of losing everything, from a gambler to half a casino owner to bankruptcy and debt! He might even be related to his father’s death!

Sob, sob, sob, why was such a scary person in their house!

Oh…

Because of Shi Dingshan… Wei Maomao stepped on her father’s thigh with a wooden face and looked at Shi Dingshan over her father’s shoulder. The latter smiled at her kindly, holding his teacup. “Maomao likes her older brother so much, how about being Uncle’s daughter-in-law in the future?”

Wei Maomao: …

You two directors who have abandoned your eyes, get fired today!

“Haha, in your dreams.” Wei Chengli rolled his eyes at Shi Dingshan.

Wei Maomao patted her father’s shoulder. Okay, he could be re-employed after being fired.

But what Wei Maomao didn’t notice was that her father glanced at the table and gave Shi Dingshan a look.

“Maomao, have you missed Uncle these past few days?” Shi Dingshan asked as he tidied up the scattered papers on the table, occasionally lifting them up to align them. After attracting the little dumpling’s attention, he smiled and continued, “Uncle missed you, so I came to see you while I was here to sign a new contract.”

New contract?

Wei Maomao took a step back and looked at Wei Chengli.

Wei Chengli’s thigh was hurting from being stepped on by the little dumpling. He twisted his face and forced a smile. “You’ve been dozing off during the day these past few days, and you don’t listen to Daddy. You don’t like the food Daddy cooks, and you don’t let Daddy take care of you, you only want Mommy. I’m worried that when we go on the show, without Mommy, you won’t eat or sleep well, and that will be bad for your health.”

Wei Chengli paused at this point.

The little dumpling in front of him just looked at him quietly, not intending to answer.

Wei Chengli had no choice but to continue on his own, “So, I thought about it and signed a new contract with the program team. If you don’t eat or sleep well on the show, we’ll come back. You might be unhappy, but our baby’s health is the most important, right?”

Unbelievable, utterly shocked, was this show owned by your family?

Wei Maomao reached out and pinched Wei Chengli’s face. The latter kept a serious expression even though his face was distorted.

Those papers… Wei Maomao looked at Shi Dingshan’s hand. It wasn’t far away, she could even see a bit of red showing through the back of the last sheet, like a seal.

Wei Maomao didn’t ask to go up to the table to take a look. After all, she was just an illiterate child now.

“Uncle, Daddy is lying to me.” Wei Maomao pulled Wei Chengli’s face with some force, then let go without hesitation and looked at Shi Dingshan.

“He’s not lying to you. He even took you to the hospital to see the doctor a while ago, right? Didn’t the doctor tell you to eat and rest well? Our show is responsible for the children’s health. If your father thinks your body is not suitable for participating in the show, we definitely won’t force you to stay.” Shi Dingshan explained patiently, then added, “If you want to stay on the show with your friends, you have to listen to your father, eat well, and rest well. How can you not eat the food your father cooks?”

How could she eat it?

Because he always burned the stir-fries, he just boiled the vegetables, meat, and rice together in one pot. Worried about indigestion, he stewed everything until it was mushy. Unsure about the amount of seasoning, he only added a few grains of salt… How could she eat it?

Even if his cooking skills couldn’t improve by leaps and bounds in the short term, he could at least learn a few home-cooked dishes to get by, right? But he also had to make sure the food was nutritionally balanced… So he took the shortcut…

Anyway, a child’s taste buds weren’t real taste buds, as long as the food was healthy and wouldn’t kill her, it was fine, right?

“Daddy’s cooking is bad…” Wei Maomao suppressed her anger and tried to squeeze out some pitiful tears. “Is Uncle lying to me?”

Looking at the little dumpling tugging at the corner of her clothes, her black eyes filled with tears, asking him pitifully and cutely. Shi Dingshan’s conscience ached.

“Uncle is not lying to you. The contract has been re-signed.” Shi Dingshan said sincerely.

Wei Maomao didn’t believe it.

She thought it was 100% a lie made up by Wei Chengli to get back at her for ignoring him and disliking his cooking these past few days.

Then…

Shi Dingshan came over with the contract, “Didn’t you see the picture Uncle Zeng brought over last time? Look, isn’t it the same?”

Looking at the official seal and signature on the last sheet of paper, Wei Maomao couldn’t help but curse inwardly.

The possibility of it being a lie instantly dropped from 100% to 70%.

“But it doesn’t matter, as long as Maomao eats well and listens to Daddy, the program team won’t send you home.” Shi Dingshan decided to go back and eat some pig hearts to make up for his lost conscience today.

Haha…

Wei Maomao sneered inwardly, but she still held back.

She hadn’t been paying attention to Wei Chengli these past few days because what he said about Cheng Tingyan that day really pissed her off.

In her previous life, Wei Chengli became an alcoholic and went bankrupt. Even relatives and friends who used to visit them stopped coming. Later, when he was falsely accused of sexual harassment by an actor in the crew, no one in the industry spoke up for him except for an assistant director in his crew and Cheng Tingyan, who was filming in the next crew at the time.

That actor stirred up trouble, and the assistant director who spoke up for Wei Chengli at the time was said to be incompetent and only got into the crew through his connections with Wei Chengli, that they were birds of a feather. And Cheng Tingyan hadn’t even acted in any of Wei Chengli’s films. It was just that the two crews were next to each other, and she had received some guidance from Wei Chengli. As a result, rumors spread that she had long been having an affair with Wei Chengli in order to become popular again.

Although it was later proven that the actor’s accusations were all false, and that he was mentally unstable.

But some things, some false and sensational rumors, once they appeared, became a carnival of gossip, an indelible label, and the truth was forgotten by people over time.

Wei Maomao couldn’t control what the other families thought after reading the Cheng family’s description of Cheng Tingyan. But how could Wei Chengli think that way!

Although Wei Maomao knew very well that Wei Chengli didn’t know anything about what happened in her previous life, and she shouldn’t have taken it out on him, she couldn’t control herself.

At least before the show started, she could still be angry for a while!

Once they were on the show, it would be just her and Wei Chengli, and she would have to eat what he cooked and listen to him.

Wei Maomao still didn’t believe that the papers in Shi Dingshan’s hand were as they said, but to be safe, she would learn to be more patient.

“Don’t be unhappy, Maomao.” Shi Dingshan patted the little dumpling’s head apologetically and gently turned her face. “Let me tell you something happy. Come, meet my eldest son, Shi Hongxiao. When we go on the show, he’ll be one of Maomao’s cameramen, he’ll make our Maomao look beautiful.”

What!

Wei Maomao turned her head stiffly, looking at Shi Dingshan in shock.

What kind of grudge was this?

Was this the legendary “repaying kindness with enmity”?

Chapter 7

While the Wei family was poring over the information, the other families also received news of the addition of two families.

It was fine for the other families, but the atmosphere in the Cheng family was not so good.

“Two more families? Won’t that mean even less screen time for our Rongrong?” Bai Lei threw the freshly printed email at Cheng Feiying. “Why didn’t they even discuss it with us before adding people! They even added a girl who’s half a year younger than our Rongrong, so Rongrong won’t be the youngest sister anymore. What happened to the plan of creating a ‘group favorite’ persona for her?”

Cheng Feiying picked up the paper and said helplessly, “Director Jin is just an assistant director, by the time he heard the news, everything had already been decided, the contracts were signed. I heard it was Director Shi who made the decision, and he didn’t discuss it with them either. Besides, it’s just half a year younger, it’s not like the younger the child, the cuter they are. Even if she was a year younger, our Rongrong would still be cuter. Let me see… Wei Maomao, listen to this, the name doesn’t even sound grand, Maomao, it sounds like a cat. Three years old, cute, cute, cute…”

“Just look at the photo, she’s just a chubby girl, what’s so cute about her that you have to say it so many times.” Bai Lei said irritably.

“That’s how they introduced her, they even wrote ‘cute’ three times…” Cheng Feiying said innocently. “But I don’t think she’s that cute from the photo, she’s chubby, not as cute as our little princess Rongrong. It’s ridiculous that they dare to say that, why don’t they just say their child is the cutest in the universe.”

Bai Lei interrupted impatiently, “What else did they write?”

“You only looked at the photo, didn’t you read the words?” Cheng Feiying sighed and continued reading after receiving a glare. “A loyal fan of ‘Where’s Baby Going,’ tsk, they’re even sucking up to the program team, no wonder they were added. And then there’s nothing else, oh, and ‘likes older sisters.’ Well, she can play with our Rongrong then, a chubby ball and a little princess, it’s a good contrast.”

After that, Cheng Feiying handed the photo to Cheng Rongrong, who was sitting on the play mat in the living room reading a book. “Rongrong, take a look, this is the new brother and sister who will be filming the show with us in a few days.”

“Rongrong doesn’t have time to play with her.” Bai Lei said, but she didn’t stop her daughter from taking the photo. “Rongrong, do you still remember what to do when filming the show?”

Unlike Wei Maomao, who had baby fat, often had a head full of natural curls, and could yawn a hundred times a day, Cheng Rongrong was a little girl with more than ten rubber bands in her hair, a delicate hairstyle, a lace dress, and a very energetic look.

Now being questioned by her mother, Cheng Rongrong looked at the photo and answered fluently, “Love my sister, take care of my sister, always play with my sister.”

Bai Lei nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Cheng Feiying.

Cheng Feiying said helplessly, “You just want me to control myself and favor Cheng Tingyan more, right? I can remember such a small thing.”

Bai Lei frowned, “Call her Yanyan.”

“Okay, Yanyan, Yanyan. We’re still at home, I’ll pay attention when we’re on the show.” Cheng Feiying said nonchalantly.

“You need to get used to it now at home, otherwise the audience will notice.” Bai Lei’s frown didn’t relax. “You need to adapt well from today onwards, both of you.”

Cheng Feiying looked away, “Actually, there’s no need for me to pretend to favor her. With her temper now, even if I treat her normally, the audience won’t think anything of it, right…”

“Everyone knows our family situation. If you and Rongrong don’t act well, others will think that we’re mistreating Cheng Ting… cough, Yanyan at home. Can you imagine how unpleasant the speculation outside will be?” Bai Lei emphasized. “But as long as you and Rongrong always act very nice to her, if she’s still cold and indifferent, it’s her own problem.”

“We didn’t mistreat her at home, but if she acts like that on the show…” Cheng Feiying still hesitated. “It would be better for her to pretend to be well-behaved, like she was in the first season. Anyway, for her mother’s sake, she has to be obedient. The three of us can show a loving father and filial daughters.”

“Who are you going to show a loving father and filial daughters with?” Bai Lei glared at Cheng Feiying. “She’s only six years old, how well can she pretend? Do you think the audience are fools?”

A six-year-old couldn’t pretend well, could a three-and-a-half-year-old?

Cheng Feiying looked at her younger daughter, who was reading a picture book again not far away, and thought of how she had pretended to like Cheng Tingyan a few days ago according to Bai Lei’s request, innocent, cute, and full of admiration, completely unlike her usual indifferent attitude towards her older sister.

Well, so the talent for acting was indeed only inherited by her younger daughter.

“I’m talking to you!” Bai Lei kicked Cheng Feiying’s leg.

“I know, I know. We’ll do as we discussed before.” Looking at her younger daughter who had perfectly inherited her talent, Cheng Feiying dispelled her previous hesitation again.

“As for Cheng… Yanyan, I already talked to her a few days ago, she just needs to be herself on the show.” Bai Lei glanced at the door. “Speaking of which, isn’t the promotional video about to be filmed? They should be sending Cheng Ting… Yanyan back in the next few days, right? There are some things we need to remind her of again, tell her not to talk about family matters outside.”

“You want us to change how we address her, but you’re not even doing it yourself.” Cheng Feiying muttered in a low voice. After receiving a glare from Bai Lei, he sighed and said, “She won’t talk nonsense. She can’t pretend, but she can keep her mouth shut.”

Thinking of how Cheng Tingyan was like an invisible person when she lived here, becoming more and more withdrawn in the past two years, Bai Lei snorted softly but didn’t say anything more.

Love was something that the more people shared it, the less each person received. Bai Lei, who had several older and younger siblings, knew this all too well.

Her daughter deserved the best, deserved it all.

Bai Lei looked at Cheng Rongrong, who was engrossed in the picture book, and thought of the night when the program team first came to invite them. Her daughter, who was always full of energy, suddenly asked her timidly, what if everyone liked Cheng Tingyan and not her when they went on the show?

It wasn’t just asked once, Rongrong had been unhappy about it for several days.

The anxious and slightly scared look, Bai Lei still felt heartbroken when she thought about it now.

Her daughter would not play second fiddle to Liu Qiongfang’s daughter.

Fortunately, Rongrong had always been understanding and knew what it meant to tolerate it temporarily on the show. She had done a good job pretending to be a good sister last time. Unlike Cheng Tingyan, who was like a mute, she probably didn’t even understand what pretending was.

But it didn’t matter if she didn’t understand, just like an animal, she could train her in advance.

“Hey.” Bai Lei kicked Cheng Feiying again. “We need to start preparing for the show, tell her to come back tomorrow, okay?”

Cheng Feiying nodded in agreement.

From beginning to end, Cheng Rongrong only glanced at the two photos handed to her by her father, the rest of the time she kept her head down, seemingly immersed in the world of the picture book in her hand. The conversation between the two people beside her was not righteous, and they didn’t try to hide it from her at all, just like always.

When Cheng Rongrong first transmigrated, this body was still a baby. As soon as she opened her eyes, it was a scene of a heated argument, with curses and flying objects.

Thanks to their unrestrained words, it only took her a while to understand that she had transmigrated into a book.

She had transmigrated into an entertainment industry novel with a strong female lead.

In the novel, the female lead participated in two seasons of a parenting reality show when she was young. She was beautiful, kind, and well-liked by the audience, successfully establishing a solid fan base. Later, after the variety show aired, she was spotted by a famous international director and invited to star in his new film. The film went on to win numerous awards and was still considered a classic decades later. Although the female lead, who played the protagonist’s childhood, didn’t have many scenes, the character was likable, which further increased her popularity.

There was no need to say more, from childhood to adulthood, from small awards to big awards, the female lead’s stage gradually grew bigger, and amidst the flashing lights and praise, she lived up to the “strong female lead” trope.

Perhaps the only unhappy part of the female lead’s life was the slightly disharmonious family relationship in her childhood. Of course, that slightly disharmonious family relationship was also resolved when the female lead participated in the parenting reality show for the second time. After that, everything was smooth sailing, every chapter was satisfying.

But the problem was, Cheng Rongrong didn’t transmigrate into the female lead, but into the female lead’s half-sister.

This younger sister wasn’t mentioned much in the novel. She was the “ball” that the previous generation had successfully forced a marriage with… And then, because she was spoiled and refused to participate in the third season of the parenting reality show with the female lead, she gave her father and the female lead the opportunity to repair their father-daughter relationship on the show. After the female lead’s father came to his senses and returned to his ex-wife and the female lead, the book didn’t mention this younger sister in detail anymore. It wasn’t until the end of the novel that there was a vague description that seemed to be a comparison: in front of a poster for one of the female lead’s new movies, a rough-looking woman with three children, one on her back, one in her arms, and one holding her hand, forcefully pulled away her daughter who said, “Mommy, this older sister’s eyes look like yours.”

Since Cheng Rongrong had transmigrated, she naturally wouldn’t let things develop as they did in the original novel.

On the night she transmigrated, she interrupted their argument about whether to have Cheng Feiying bring his eldest daughter back from his ex-wife so that they could go on the first season of “Where’s Baby Going” with her crying.

Although she interrupted the argument, Cheng Rongrong didn’t want to change that part of the plot.

Of course they had to go. If they didn’t go, how could her father, whose career was already on the decline, get more opportunities and maintain his popularity until she grew up and went on the third season?

Accept what couldn’t be changed, change what could be changed.

Cheng Rongrong had a clear mind.

With her efforts, her parents argued less and less, and their relationship became better and better. Correspondingly, Cheng Tingyan’s position in this family became more and more awkward, and she was less and less liked by her father.

But it wasn’t enough.

She wanted her father.

She wanted the audience’s love.

She also wanted the invitation from “the international director”.

Some things would end, and some would begin with this parenting reality show.

But…

Cheng Rongrong, pretending to read the picture book, glanced at the two photos she had seemingly casually placed aside.

One was of Wang Zhizhi making a funny face and gnawing on a chicken leg.

The other was of Wei Maomao wearing a bunny nightgown and yawning.

One was the “anti-second child” expert who was supposed to participate in the fourth season of “Where’s Baby Going,” and the other was a random passerby who hadn’t appeared in the book.

Why was this happening?

Was it because she, the butterfly, had flapped her wings?

Chapter 6

After the teahouse, Shi Dingshan disappeared without a trace.

But Director Zeng, as he had said, came with the contract the next afternoon.

He also brought along information on the other families participating in the variety show.

“Including our family, there will be a total of six families participating this time.” Zhang Shilan leaned on the sofa, flipped through the information briefly, and then let out a small cry of surprise, “Four girls, three boys, six families with seven children?”

Next to her, Wei Maomao perked up her ears and lowered her head to stuff watermelon into her mouth.

“Yes, Old Shi said before that one family had been on the first season with their eldest daughter, and this time they’ll be going with both their eldest and second daughters. Their eldest daughter is Cheng Tingyan, the older sister that our Maomao likes to watch the most, right Maomao?” As Wei Chengli spoke, he reached out and poked the little dumpling’s waist.

Likes… the… most…

“Pfft… cough cough cough…” The watermelon in Wei Maomao’s mouth sprayed out, and she started coughing violently, her face turning red.

No way? He couldn’t have noticed something, right? Was this a director’s intuition?

“Just talk, why are you poking her!” Zhang Shilan quickly patted her daughter’s back, looking at her pitiful coughing, and couldn’t help but slap the back of Wei Chengli’s hand. “With you like this, how can I trust you to take Maomao out alone?”

?

Going back on her word after just signing the contract?

Wei Maomao tried hard to suppress her cough, looked up, and curved her lips into a smile, “Mommy! Cough, um, I’m okay!”

The little dumpling, her face flushed, pursed her lips tightly, pretending that nothing had happened. The coughing sounds were muffled in her throat, turning into a “kaka” sound.

“…” Zhang Shilan looked at the little dumpling who had coughed so hard that tears were streaming down her face. She was really going to be pissed off by this father and daughter pair. She patted the little dumpling’s back unconsciously with more force. “Go, go, go! I’ll let you go! Cough, cough properly, don’t hold it in!”

Mommy was angry, so the big and small became obedient.

After Wei Chengli poured warm water for the little dumpling and completely soothed her cough, he didn’t dare to continue the previous topic, seeing that his wife’s expression had softened a little.

Wei Maomao, on the other hand, felt a little guilty. She waited and waited, and finally took the initiative to speak, “Daddy, older sister…”

“What about older sister?” Wei Chengli pretended not to know.

“Play… a few older sisters…” Wei Maomao tried hard to think like a child, not daring to ask Wei Chengli logically why he thought she liked Cheng Tingyan the most.

“Four girls, our Maomao is the youngest. Then there’s Cheng Rongrong from the Cheng family, half a year older than our Maomao, three and a half years old this year. Wen Jiangyue from the Wen family, five and a half years old this year. The oldest is Cheng Rongrong’s older sister, six years old, the older sister Cheng Tingyan that our Maomao likes the most.” Wei Chengli smiled. “Every time Cheng Tingyan appears on TV, our Maomao is glued to the screen. We’ll get to play together this time, are you happy?”

Oh, case solved…

Wei Maomao lowered her eyes and stuffed a piece of watermelon into her mouth. Hmm, it seemed that she still had to be careful in the future, Wei Chengli’s observation skills were really good when he was in a normal state.

“There are three boys, all older than our Maomao.” Zhang Shilan picked up another document and pointed to the words on it, asking Wei Chengli, “What are these notes? Are they notes from the program team?”

Notes?

Wei Maomao wiped the watermelon juice from her mouth and leaned closer, pretending to be innocent and curious.

Then… she was pushed away by her dear father.

Wei Chengli took the documents and looked at them with his wife, pressing on Wei Maomao’s head with one hand and laughing, “Silly baby, you can’t even read, what can you understand?”

Wei Maomao looked down at her involuntarily clenched fists, two drops of watermelon juice dripping from them.

Hmm, her fists had become hard again.

Perhaps there was finally a telepathic connection between father and daughter at this critical moment. Although Wei Chengli pushed the little dumpling away, he still dutifully explained, “Those are not notes from the program team, they are simple descriptions of the children’s personalities that we asked the parents for, so that everyone can get to know each other in advance. Like these boys… Shen Zilin, six years old, mature and steady, intelligent, strong desire to win. Wen Dongyu, five years old, innocent and romantic, super heartwarming. Wang Zhizhi, four and a half years old, lively, loves to eat, a bit lazy, aspires to be a good brother. This Wang Zhizhi is the one I mentioned to you before, the one that Old Shi said the station leader strongly recommended. Aspires to be a good brother, hahaha, that’s interesting.”

Wei Chengli and Zhang Shilan laughed at the children’s interesting introductions.

Wei Maomao also laughed, a cold laugh at their naivety.

Shen Zilin, his father was a domineering president, and he was a mini version of his father. She didn’t know if he was smart or steady, but he was very competitive and had always been the number one loyal supporter of Cheng Rongrong.

Wen Dongyu, his father was a singer, and like his father, he was a romantic. He was warm, but only to Cheng Rongrong. He was considered the second most loyal supporter of Cheng Rongrong.

Wang Zhizhi, in her previous life, he had participated in the fourth season of “Where’s Baby Going,” and the chief director was still Jin Youliang. Wei Maomao hadn’t watched it, but in the occasional clips she had seen, Wang Zhizhi hated his younger sister, who hadn’t appeared on the show, and by extension, all little girls. So on the show, he was constantly subjected to “loving education” by his athlete father. The “aspiring to be a good brother” in this introduction seemed more like his parents’ wishful thinking.

Speaking of which, was Wang Zhizhi’s sister born yet? Wei Maomao frowned, trying to remember.

“Maomao? Maomao? Baby, don’t get distracted, listen carefully. We need to know a little about our older brothers and sisters so that we can be friends with them. Do you remember the mature brother, the heartwarming brother, and the lively brother?” Wei Chengli patted Wei Maomao’s little head.

Wei Maomao curled her lips.

Someone save the child.

She wasn’t going to make friends with them.

She was going to slay monsters, okay?

“Alright, let’s take a look at the introductions of the older sisters. Who should we look at first, let’s look at Cheng Ting… oh, let’s look at older sister Wen Jiangyue first.” Wei Chengli deliberately changed his words and, as expected, received an eye roll from his daughter. He chuckled in satisfaction. “Wen Jiangyue, oh, the introduction is very simple, she’s a studious older sister.”

Wei Maomao grabbed a piece of watermelon and sighed inwardly.

Wen Jiangyue wasn’t just studious, she was a study machine… Who could memorize the Three Hundred Tang Poems at the age of five and a half? Anyway, she couldn’t even recite them all when she was in her twenties in her previous life. Come to think of it, Wen Jiangyue should have already learned addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and was starting to tackle word problems…

It was a pity that she was still stepped on by Cheng Rongrong on the show and became a stepping stone.

“Then there’s Cheng…” Wei Chengli drew out his words and peeked at the little dumpling. The latter took a bite of the watermelon without even looking up. “Alright, it’s older sister Cheng Rongrong, Maomao, don’t just eat watermelon, listen carefully. Cheng Rongrong, understanding, humble, kind. Not bad, first there’s the studious older sister Wen Jiangyue, now there’s the easygoing older sister Cheng Rongrong. Next is… hmm…”

Wei Maomao nibbled on the watermelon, but the rest of the sentence didn’t come for a long time.

Was he trying to keep her in suspense again? How old was he…

Wei Maomao looked up and saw that Wei Chengli was frowning, holding the paper, not looking like he was trying to tease her.

Oh, right, it was Cheng Tingyan’s turn, what good words could the Cheng family write?

“Cheng Tingyan, a bit cold, a bit of a temper, strong and brave.” Zhang Shilan read out the words on the paper, but looked at Wei Chengli with some confusion. “Is this the girl from the first season? I thought she was quite well-behaved in the first season?”

“I looked into it before, they’re a blended family, there might be reasons in that regard, the child might be affected. But that being said, when she was four years old and participated in the first season, her father and stepmother’s child should have been one and a half years old, she didn’t seem to be affected at that time.” Wei Chengli leaned closer to his wife’s ear and lowered his voice.

The watermelon in Wei Maomao’s hand had been squeezed into a pulp, the juice dripping into the plate.

That’s right.

The information age.

Everyone knew that the Cheng family was already a blended family when they participated in the first season of “Where’s Baby Going,” so they all thought that the difference in Cheng Tingyan’s behavior between the first and third seasons was her own problem.

In the third season, her younger sister was well-behaved and humble, trying to please her. Her father clearly favored her between the two children. But Cheng Tingyan was always cold and indifferent to them. So even though it was a blended family, everyone still thought that she didn’t know what was good for her, that she was a stubborn element who was destroying the harmony and beauty of the family.

Those people, they… knew nothing…

“Maomao?”

“Baby?”

Her parents’ overlapping calls pulled Wei Maomao back from her increasingly deep memories.

The little dumpling looked up and saw her parents looking at her with worry and caution.

“Baby, if that older sister Cheng Tingyan… um, doesn’t want to play with you, don’t provoke her. If she bullies you, you must tell me, okay?” Wei Chengli said cautiously, then pulled out a handful of photos from the document bag and persuaded, “Why don’t we look at the photos of the other brothers and sisters first, maybe there are others that our Maomao will like more?”

Wei Maomao clenched her fists. Okay, now she was a single child.

Chapter 5

“It’s also a coincidence that you asked. We had already finalized the families a while ago, and there was no budget to add anyone else. It just so happened that last week we secured a new sponsor, and the budget increased significantly, so adding you is no problem.”

“It’s already a great help that you can let us participate. For this last-minute addition, I’m sure it’ll cause you trouble with the station… We can forgo the appearance fee. Sigh… I don’t know why this child is suddenly so stubborn. You have no idea how persistent she can be. I’m constantly being pestered by her all day long.”

The sound of conversation, the clinking of bowls and chopsticks, pulled Wei Maomao out of her sleep bit by bit.

Until the keywords were triggered…

Money?

Forgo?

Wei Maomao, who had been struggling to pay off debts in her previous life, suddenly opened her eyes.

Round table, steamer baskets, the aroma of various dim sum and tea…

Wei Maomao was in a trance for a moment, almost thinking that she had been reborn to another point in time.

Of course not.

“How can we invite people to film a show and not pay them? Don’t worry about the station. After the previous families were confirmed, a leader from the station suddenly wanted to arrange for an athlete family to join the show, it seems to be his relative or something. But the budget was tight at that time, so we arranged for them to be on the next season. This time it’s just right, the sponsor is giving us a lot, enough for both of your families, someone will take care of things with the station.” Shi Dingshan stuffed a shrimp dumpling into his mouth, thought for a moment, and then said, “It’s good that you agreed to participate. Don’t take it personally, but I think art films are good, but they tend to be a bit niche. You’re still young, it’s good to come out and film variety shows, get to know more people in the industry, having more friends won’t hurt.”

A few years ago, Wei Chengli and Shi Dingshan met at an art exhibition. One was a young and up-and-coming art film director, the other was a well-known commercial film director. The two, who were a generation apart, unexpectedly hit it off and became friends. Although they usually treated each other as equals, Wei Chengli knew very well that whether it was the previous invitations or the current help in joining the show, it was all Shi Dingshan wanting to give him more opportunities. He humbly accepted the guidance and poured Shi Dingshan more tea as a token of his gratitude.

Shi Dingshan picked up his cup, just as he was about to say something, he suddenly noticed that the little dumpling, who was originally sleeping soundly in the baby chair next to Wei Chengli, had sat up at some point and was looking at them with a serious expression, as if she was listening carefully to their conversation.

“Oh, the little darling is awake? You’re so serious, can you understand what we’re saying?” Shi Dingshan put down his cup, raised his eyebrows at the child, and said with a smile, “We’re saying that we’re going to find professional uncles and aunts to record Maomao’s childhood. Are you happy?”

Extremely happy!

Wei Maomao gave Shi Dingshan a sincere smile, then focused her gaze on his neck.

Suddenly, a face intruded from the side, blocking her view of the target.

“Baby, you slept in today, we couldn’t wake you up. But Daddy still kept his promise and brought you here to have morning tea with Uncle Shi, isn’t Daddy great?” Wei Chengli said with a smug smile.

“Great.” Wei Maomao nodded.

A three-year-old’s body was indeed weak. She had only stayed up a little late, and she had slept so soundly…

No matter how unreliable he was before, Wei Chengli had indeed helped her a lot by bringing her here while she was asleep.

Thinking of this, Wei Maomao gave a thumbs up and sincerely added, “Really great!”

Wei Chengli, who hadn’t been praised by his daughter for a long time, lit up and couldn’t help but start rambling, “Of course, I even brushed your teeth and washed your face, I was so gentle, you didn’t even feel…”

Wei Maomao reached out and pushed away Wei Chengli’s smug face, looked at Shi Dingshan, who was already coughing from laughing, and waved, “Uncle, come~”

Who could refuse a cute little dumpling? Shi Dingshan couldn’t.

And as expected, as soon as Shi Dingshan walked up to the little dumpling, the necklace around his neck was grabbed again.

“Ha, I knew you liked this. But Uncle needs this, you can’t play with it. But I bought you a new one.” Shi Dingshan bent over and struggled to take out a small box from his pocket.

But before he could open the box and show the little dumpling his new gift, he felt his neck loosen, and at the same time, a faint smell of medicine wafted to his nose.

Shi Dingshan subconsciously looked down, and sure enough, only the lid of the little gourd was left on the necklace.

Amazing, she couldn’t open it yesterday, and today it only took her a few seconds. As expected, the potential of children was limitless. He really should have taken out the gift first…

“Maomao is so… great…” Shi Dingshan said with a helpless smile, but his words of praise gradually faded away when he saw what the little dumpling was holding in her chubby paws.

This medicine…

“Uncle, candy, can I eat it?” Wei Maomao raised her hand holding the medicine and asked as if she had a craving.

“This is not candy, you can’t eat it.” Shi Dingshan quickly took the gourd and the spilled pills from the little dumpling’s hand.

There were a few deformed pills in the small handful. Shi Dingshan leaned closer to take a look. Under the bright light of the private room, he could actually see some scattered white spots on the deformed parts.

The medicine looked and smelled the same, but how could it be so easily crushed…

Shi Dingshan frowned and pinched a few other intact pills, crushing them effortlessly.

Damp?

From the outside, there were only one or two inconspicuous white spots, but after being completely crushed, there were quite a few white spots inside the pills.

Rubbing the fine white spots on the pills, the surprise and anger on Shi Dingshan’s face were suppressed and changing.

“Maomao can’t eat it. Can Uncle eat it?” Wei Maomao peeked at Shi Dingshan’s expression and decided to emphasize it again.

Shi Dingshan clenched his hand tightly, pulled out a wet wipe with the other hand, and carefully wiped the palm of Wei Maomao’s hand that had touched the pills. Then he looked at Wei Chengli with a serious expression, “Something came up, I have to go.”

Things changed too quickly, Wei Chengli didn’t even have time to react, he just nodded instinctively.

Shi Dingshan threw away the wet wipe, strode to the door of the private room, paused, then turned back, and spread his hand holding the medicine to Wei Chengli, “I’m not angry at Maomao for leaving suddenly. The medicine in this necklace is nitroglycerin, I change it every half a month with the latest date. It can’t deteriorate, but now it’s not right. It’s a good thing Maomao opened it, don’t tell her.”

“What’s wrong?” Wei Chengli asked subconsciously, “Is it a problem with the airtightness?”

Shi Dingshan shook his head.

This gourd pendant was custom-made by him, it was airtight, and it had an insulation layer. He never wore it while showering, and he would turn the interface from time to time. The possibility of an airtightness problem was very small. Now the only problem left was the pill itself, or…

As a director, he could really think a lot, and his perspective could be very biased. Shi Dingshan felt his heart beating a little fast, he didn’t dare to think further for the time being, he just emptied his mind, took a breath and said, “It’s okay, I just wanted to tell you, I’m afraid you’ll misunderstand that I’m angry at Maomao. Right, wipe her hands again. Oh, the box on the table is a gift. And don’t worry about the variety show, I’ll have Xiao Zeng bring the contract over as soon as possible.”

Shi Dingshan pointed to the box on the table, gave a brief explanation, and left quickly.

Deteriorated medicine…

Wei Chengli’s scalp tingled a little, and he hurriedly carried the little dumpling to the bathroom in the private room to wash her hands.

But when he was drying her hands, he felt something was wrong.

“Maomao, is this from when you took Uncle Shi’s pendant… uh, Uncle Shi’s gourd?” Wei Chengli gently touched the slightly red index finger and thumb of the little dumpling’s right hand.

Why did it feel a little swollen…

It was just that the medicine had deteriorated, it couldn’t be poisonous, right…

Wei Chengli frowned and checked the little dumpling’s two chubby paws over and over again. Fortunately, her palm, which had the most contact with the medicine, was fine, only those two fingers were not right. Then it might be because she had used too much force when turning the pendant…

It wasn’t good to casually touch someone else’s necklace pendant, such a personal item… It wasn’t appropriate to casually open someone else’s medicine either… Wei Chengli felt that he should educate the little dumpling. However, it seemed that she had done a good deed by accident again this time.

Just as Wei Chengli was wondering if he should teach Wei Maomao about the rules, the little dumpling impatiently pulled back her chubby paws that had been checked for a long time and ran to the outer private room.

When Wei Chengli chased after her, she was struggling to climb onto the baby chair.

“Don’t touch other people’s things without permission next time, look, your fingers are all red.” Wei Chengli finally gave the little dumpling a light reprimand, then carried her onto the chair with a mixture of anger and amusement. Seeing that she was ignoring him and had already started grabbing the snacks on the table nonchalantly, he couldn’t help but say, “Your mother will be heartbroken when she sees your little red hands, you explain it to her yourself.”

Explain?

Explain what?

Explain why she didn’t sleep in the middle of the night, practicing opening things from big to small, from toothpaste tubes to necklaces?

Success always came to those who were prepared…

Wei Chengli opened the box that Shi Dingshan had left on the table. Inside was a palm-sized jade gourd, the kind that couldn’t be opened.

What a beautiful misunderstanding.

Wei Maomao rubbed her sleepy eyes, grabbed a big shrimp dumpling and stuffed it into her mouth. After finishing it, she licked her slightly red fingers.

She was just giving it a try. After all, no matter how unreasonable she was, she couldn’t call him out for breakfast every day.

But judging from the current situation, Shi Dingshan’s luck was good, and her hard work had paid off.

She knew very little about the truth, and she had done what she could.

The butterfly had flapped its wings and created the first gust of wind.

The rest was up to Shi Dingshan himself.

Chapter 4

In her previous life, Wei Maomao had watched both the first and third seasons of “Where’s Baby Going” that Cheng Tingyan had participated in over and over again. However, she had only skimmed through the second season, which had the best reputation, so she naturally wouldn’t have paid special attention to Shi Dingshan, the chief director of the second season.

In fact, it wasn’t until Wei Maomao was about seventeen years old in her previous life that she learned about Shi Dingshan from related news on trending topics.

News of a vicious crime.

During an anti-gambling operation, the police arrested several people for gambling, one of whom, a man named Shi Xiaoxiao, repeatedly asked the police during the interrogation whether they had received any specific reports before the operation, which aroused the police’s suspicion.

After a detailed interrogation, an old case was uncovered from the gambling case.

Fourteen years ago, Shi Xiaoxiao’s father, the famous director Shi Dingshan, died of a heart attack in a hotel. A few days later, while sorting through his father’s belongings in his old house, Shi Xiaoxiao discovered several security cameras and found a special video from the stored surveillance footage.

The video clearly showed his young stepmother switching the medicine in the pendant of his father’s necklace while his father was taking a shower.

According to Shi Xiaoxiao’s confession, because Shi Dingshan’s will was very unfair in terms of property distribution, nearly 90% of the inheritance was left to his younger brother Shi Xuxuan, who was born to his young stepmother. Therefore, he did not hand over the video to the police at the time, but chose to blackmail his stepmother for a long time.

According to Shi Xiaoxiao’s confession, it had become more and more difficult to get the money in the past two years, and he often felt like he was being followed, suspecting that the other party was going to fight back desperately. And the place they went to this time was very secretive. If someone hadn’t followed and reported them, how could they have been caught so accurately?

Since the other party was being unreasonable, he couldn’t be blamed for being unjust. Shi Xiaoxiao handed over the surveillance video from back then.

Shi Dingshan was a well-known commercial film director before his death. Later, he became interested in variety shows and directed several popular ones. Even though he had passed away for more than ten years, his name still remained in the industry.

Celebrity, criminal case, family ethics, the news was hot for quite a few days, and there were many follow-up reports.

Shi Dingshan was alone in the hotel and died of a heart attack. The medical staff who arrived at the scene found from the scattered pills that he might have taken expired nitroglycerin tablets.

It wasn’t until more than ten years later that the truth came out. Those expired pills were not due to his negligence, but were switched by his second wife.

Some things, after re-investigation, were finally settled.

But some things… never had an explanation.

Why was the inheritance distribution so unfair when they were both his sons? The old Shi family house was equipped with surveillance cameras, why didn’t Shi Dingshan’s wife know anything about it? Shi Dingshan had call records with both his wives and his eldest son before his death, was his heart attack related to those calls? How much potency did the expired pills still have, and had Shi Dingshan taken them? If Shi Dingshan had taken the normal pills in time, could he have held on until the ambulance arrived? Was Shi Xiaoxiao, who was already in debt and desperate, really trying to retaliate because he thought he had been reported by his stepmother, or did he want to avenge his father when he still had the heart and strength?

Those unanswered questions eventually became the source of inspiration for many gossips and rumors.

And now, having traveled through time and space, the protagonist of those gossips was standing right in front of Wei Maomao.

Chubby, with a kind smile, he was stuffing a little cat doll into her hand.

No wonder she had no memory of such an uncle.

Because he had died when she was so young that she couldn’t even remember things properly…

“Look, baby, this is a small bowl for feeding the kitty. If you use it to feed the kitty, it’s Wei Maomao feeding the kitty, isn’t that cute~~” Shi Dingshan’s eyes crinkled with a smile as he shook the toy food bowl he had taken out in front of the little dumpling. But the little dumpling just stared at him, unmoved by the shaking bowl.

Shi Dingshan followed the little dumpling’s gaze and looked down. Was there something wrong with the neckline of his T-shirt?

“Uncle…” Wei Maomao, who had been piled on the table with the toys by Shi Dingshan, clenched her fists and stood up.

Shi Dingshan, who was standing by the table, hurriedly reached out to protect her.

The soft little dumpling leaned over, and before Shi Dingshan could even sigh at her cuteness, he felt a tightness around his neck.

“Maomao likes this? This is a little gourd…” Shi Dingshan tilted his head with difficulty. Even though he was already a little suffocated by the necklace, he still patiently smiled and introduced, “Do you know what a little gourd is? Cough… there’s a song that goes like this, a vine…”

Wei Maomao had no time for him.

He didn’t even know how to solve the problem of one gourd, let alone seven.

Tsk, why was the mouth of this gourd so tight…

According to the analysis of those news reports in her previous life, expired pills would have some differences in appearance. Wei Maomao didn’t know if it was true, and she didn’t know if Shi Dingshan would be able to tell the difference even if there was one. She couldn’t even judge what was in his gourd now because she didn’t remember the specific date of Shi Dingshan’s death.

However, it was already mid-July, and the third season of “Where’s Baby Going” was officially announced to start in mid-August, which meant that filming would begin in early August. In other words, Shi Dingshan might have less than half a month left to live.

Now that he was right in front of her, she had to give it a try.

Not to mention the distant future, just for the kindness that was right in front of her…

Wei Maomao tried her best to twist the pendant, but her will couldn’t match her body, and her chubby fingers couldn’t exert enough strength.

It was too tight, why was it so tight! If it was this tight, even if it was real medicine, would he be able to open it when he felt uncomfortable?

Her complaints didn’t help. Just as Wei Maomao was considering whether to just ask Shi Dingshan to open it for her, a phone rang.

A three-year-old child couldn’t shake this huge world.

The pendant in her hand was easily taken away. Wei Maomao watched helplessly as Shi Dingshan took out his phone and said “Okay, I’ll be right there” to the other side after only a few words.

Shi Dingshan came and went in a hurry. Before Wei Maomao could even pretend to be a three-year-old throwing a tantrum, he had grabbed Wei Chengli to the table to watch over her.

The table was so high, and the person was so far away.

Wei Maomao only had time to stand on the table and shout at Shi Dingshan, “Uncle, will you come again tomorrow?”

Shi Dingshan responded by winking and nodding at her while talking on the phone, and his chubby hand waving high as he turned and left.

“Hmph, you like Uncle Shi so much. Why don’t you miss Daddy so much when he goes out?” Wei Chengli pouted slightly, blocking Wei Maomao’s view of the empty doorway.

Was that like?

That was the frustration of being afraid that he wouldn’t live.

Wei Maomao pushed her father’s face away and glanced at the clock on the wall.

2:20 pm.

Although she didn’t remember the exact date of Shi Dingshan’s death, she remembered the report saying that he had just finished lunch at that time.

In other words, he had survived today, at least until lunch tomorrow. That was why she didn’t try to keep him.

“Daddy. Tomorrow, morning, have breakfast with Uncle.” Wei Maomao patted her father’s big face, which was leaning in for love, and emphasized seriously, “Definitely!”

Wei Chengli: ???

He was jealous…

Wei Chengli was indeed not very reliable. But Wei Maomao had already proved in the past two weeks how stubborn she could be.

So at the dinner table, when Wei Maomao emphasized for the seventeenth time that she wanted to have breakfast with Shi Dingshan tomorrow morning, Wei Chengli honestly made the call in front of her.

Shi Dingshan, who had been busy all afternoon, hadn’t had time to continue the previous topic about the variety show with Wei Chengli, so he happily agreed and immediately booked a teahouse that was said to be very suitable for children to eat at.

Wei Maomao’s heart, which had been tangled all afternoon, finally relaxed a little.

Late at night.

In the master bedroom, Wei Chengli was telling Zhang Shilan about the afternoon, unable to hide his jealousy.

He didn’t know if he was being too sensitive, but he felt that his precious daughter had been a little disgusted with him lately. Wasn’t it said that the chance of a daughter disliking her father only started during puberty… Sob, sob, sob.

“Old Shi had something to do in the afternoon, so he left before we could talk about the specifics of the variety show. From the tone of his voice today, although he said that all the families had been found, it sounded like he was deliberately trying to provoke me. There should still be a chance. I think if we talk about it tomorrow and there’s still a chance to join, we’ll join. Sigh…” Wei Chengli sighed as he spoke.

Zhang Shilan frowned slightly, “Didn’t you say we’d ask about the specific filming arrangements first and then discuss it? Are we going to join directly now?”

“Looking at Maomao these past few days, it doesn’t seem like she’ll forget about it. If we keep delaying it and she really can’t go in the end, who knows what she’ll be like. Didn’t those experts we found before also say that there’s no external stimulation, and the reason why Maomao’s mood fluctuates so much might be because she’s thinking too much without realizing it? They told us to take her out more often, let her exercise more, and when she’s tired from playing, she won’t have time to think, and she’ll be able to sleep better at night.” Wei Chengli patted the back of Zhang Shilan’s hand. “Now that she’s getting better these past few days, why don’t we just go along with her?”

“You always say that I spoil the child, look at you… She’s still so young, does she really know what filming a variety show is? Really…” Zhang Shilan’s voice trailed off.

This was the trouble of a family that spoiled their child. Even though they knew that she was being unreasonable, they couldn’t bear to be harsh.

“Don’t worry, there’s still some time before filming starts, I’ll work hard to learn how to take care of children, I’ll take good care of Maomao. Besides, this is a parent-child variety show, I heard it can make the parent-child relationship better…” Wei Chengli felt that his father-daughter relationship with the little dumpling needed to be saved.

Zhang Shilan laughed in exasperation, “Oh, so you’re going for the sake of your relationship with her!”

Wei Chengli: “…”

Although the master bedroom and the children’s room were separated by a corridor and some distance, the couple had been keeping their voices down, not daring to speak loudly even when they were joking, for fear of waking up the sleeping child.

But they didn’t know that behind the pink bedroom door of the children’s room, Wei Maomao, who should have been sound asleep, was clenching her fists and cheering herself on in the darkness.

Chapter 3

Shi Dingshan’s visit was very sudden. On the phone, Wei Chengli didn’t even have time to discuss his thoughts in detail with him. He just mentioned the previous variety show invitation, and the other party said that he happened to be nearby and would be right over.

Then the call was hung up and couldn’t be reached again…

Ten minutes later, Shi Dingshan and his big bags and small bags squeezed through the door.

“I told you to participate earlier and you wouldn’t do it, now that all the other families have been found, you’re finally anxious?” Shi Dingshan muttered as he dragged the bags and boxes into the house.

“Maomao is still sleeping…” Wei Chengli helped him while lowering his voice. “It’s fine if they’re all found, I was just asking casually. Keep your voice down, don’t let the child hear…”

“Maomao! My little darling!” Shi Dingshan brushed his hand, directly pushing Wei Chengli, who was blocking his way, to the side. He kicked off his shoes, stepped on the disinfectant at the door, rubbed his hands, strode forward, and picked up the little dumpling who was peeking from the corner with her little head sticking out.

Well… she was awake. Wei Chengli sighed, feeling defeated, and resignedly began to pack up the things that Shi Dingshan had brought.

Wei Maomao was searching her limited memory for who this kind-looking, chubby uncle was. She was caught off guard, lifted up, and almost hit the ceiling.

Up, down, up, down… up again…

“Dad…” Wei Maomao, whose head was starting to spin, cast a pleading look at her father and called out weakly.

The latter was bent over with his back to her, trying hard to pull the remaining bags and boxes into the house. The bags and boxes rattled, but he didn’t seem to notice.

Well, that’s just like you, Wei Chengli!

Fortunately, the person’s strength was average. After lifting her a few times, he started to pant and quickly put her down.

By this time, Wei Chengli had also finished packing up the doorway and closed the door.

“Maomao, go play by yourself for a while, Daddy has something to talk to Uncle Shi about.” Wei Chengli patted the little dumpling’s head and coaxed.

Uncle Shi?

Wei Maomao tilted her head and thought about it, but she couldn’t think of such an uncle.

Perhaps… he was an uncle who had no contact with her family after she started to remember things in her previous life.

Wei Maomao glanced at the two of them without much interest. Just as she was about to turn around and leave, she saw Wei Chengli walk to the cabinet in a few steps and take the TV remote control from the top.

“Alright, go play now, you can watch some TV if you want.” Wei Chengli was holding back a lot of words because of the phone call that had just been hung up and couldn’t be reached again. He was thinking about getting rid of his increasingly clever daughter so that he could talk business with Shi Dingshan.

Wei Maomao looked down at the remote control that Wei Chengli had proactively stuffed into her hand and narrowed her eyes.

Tsk, this was interesting.

In the past two weeks, she had been actively seizing every opportunity to reiterate that she really wanted to participate in that variety show.

And her parents had spared no effort to divert her attention, including but not limited to controlling the time she spent watching the variety show “Where’s Baby Going” on TV, inviting various friends and children of friends to go out and play with her, constantly interrupting or diverting the topics she brought up…

Now Wei Chengli suddenly took the initiative to hand over the TV remote control and was so eager to send her away. Wei Maomao keenly sensed something was wrong.

The little dumpling, who was originally going to leave, didn’t leave. Instead, she innocently, cleverly, and weakly took the initiative to move closer to the chubby uncle.

“Uncle~” The little dumpling tilted her head and smiled proactively.

Shi Dingshan was instantly smitten by the cuteness attack and picked up the little dumpling. He glared at Wei Chengli angrily, “I have nothing to talk to you about, I’m just here to play with our little darling.”

After that, Shi Dingshan smiled and lowered his head to coax the little dumpling, “We haven’t seen each other for a few months, and our little darling still remembers Uncle, how smart and cute~~”

Wei Chengli watched as the big one and the small one were about to start chatting, his scalp tingling. He hurriedly took out a dollhouse castle from Shi Dingshan’s gifts and shook it at the little dumpling, coaxing, “Wow, Maomao, look what Uncle Shi brought you, it’s your favorite dollhouse, go play with it.”

Exaggerated…

Wei Maomao once again confirmed that Wei Chengli just wanted to get rid of her, so she didn’t even give him a look.

Shi Dingshan, on the other hand, waved his hand, piled the toys and the little dumpling on the table, and then looked at Wei Chengli and said bluntly, “You can pack those up later, but I want to ask you, I called you twice before, and I asked Xiao Zeng to come to you once, and you didn’t agree, why did you suddenly change your mind today?”

Xiao Zeng… Director Zeng…

In the past two weeks, Wei Maomao had figured out that Director Zeng, who had been to their house before… was one of the assistant directors of the third season of “Where’s Baby Going” in her previous life.

It was really frustrating.

The day Director Zeng came to invite their family to participate in the third season of “Where’s Baby Going” was the day Wei Maomao was reborn.

That day, as soon as Wei Maomao opened her eyes, she found that she had changed from a bloody corpse lying on the road to a chubby dumpling with short arms and legs in a child’s room.

The little fox gauze quilt, the castle bed, the foam crawling mat… It was a familiar yet blurry world hidden in her memory.

At that time, Wei Maomao thought that this was all a flashback from the depths of her mind, a chaotic and blurry last dream about her childhood bestowed upon her by heaven.

She stumbled to open the pink door, and sure enough, her mother was outside to pick her up, young, beautiful, and gentle, and the sweet smell of pastries from her memory.

Years of suppressed pain and grievance poured out, and Wei Maomao threw herself into her mother’s arms and cried her heart out. Finally, after throwing a punch at her clueless young father who dared to come up and hug her, she finally collapsed from exhaustion and fell asleep.

It wasn’t until Wei Maomao woke up again at night that she awkwardly realized that this was not a flashback, but a rebirth…

And what was even more embarrassing was that it wasn’t until a few days later that she realized that the young man in the living room, besides her parents, who was so frightened by her crying that he could only frantically throw tissues at them, was not the Grim Reaper, but Director Zeng, who had come to invite their family to participate in the variety show.

Later, when she figured out the timeline, Wei Maomao couldn’t help but feel regretful. She had missed out on a hundred million.

And now, this uncle called that person Xiao Zeng, in a familiar tone of addressing a junior, and his surname was Shi…

Actively racking her brains, Wei Maomao suddenly thought of a possibility. Her heart skipped a beat, and her back felt cold. Her body involuntarily stiffened.

“Uncle…” Wei Maomao slowly raised her head, trying hard to maintain the innocence on her face, squeezed out a smile, and pointed at herself, “Me, Wei Maomao.”

Shi Dingshan immediately stopped questioning Wei Chengli. His chubby face was full of a kind smile, and he rubbed the little head with his chubby hand. “Yes, your name is Wei Maomao, our Maomao is so good.”

“…” Wei Maomao tried hard to suppress the turmoil in her heart. She pointed at Wei Chengli with her backhand. “Wei Chengli.”

Then Wei Maomao slowly pointed her finger at the chubby uncle in front of her and said softly, “Uncle…”

Shi Dingshan understood.

“Shi Dingshan, Uncle’s name is Shi Dingshan. Shi is the Shi in benefactor, Maomao, do you know what a benefactor is? It’s those monks on TV, they…” Shi Dingshan smiled and interacted with the little dumpling.

Wei Maomao didn’t pay much attention to what Shi Dingshan said after that. She was completely stunned after hearing the three words “Shi Dingshan,” and then she understood.

The other meaning of benefactor aside, he was indeed the person in charge of the matter.

The first season of “Where’s Baby Going” that Wei Maomao had been watching repeatedly these days was actually just lukewarm when it first aired, even a little cold. It wasn’t until the second season of “Where’s Baby Going,” when Shi Dingshan took over as the chief director, that it became a huge hit, even bringing the previous first season along with it.

And the third season of “Where’s Baby Going” that Wei Maomao was trying her best to participate in, was originally going to be filmed by Shi Dingshan in her previous life. However, when it finally started filming, the position of chief director fell to Jin Youliang, one of the assistant directors from the second season. The third season was abruptly turned from a parent-child variety show into a controversial one, and in the end, although its popularity was not inferior to the second season, it was achieved by stepping on several guests and sacrificing its reputation.

In her previous life, Cheng Tingyan’s image as an arrogant, indifferent, and extremely jealous bad sister, which she couldn’t get rid of for more than ten years, began with this terrible third season of “Where’s Baby Going.”

And later, Jin Youliang, with his ability to create conflicts and topics, and his strong style of pitting guests against each other, participated in the production of a total of five seasons of family sitcoms, solidifying the image of the vicious sister on Cheng Tingyan, who participated in the show, for seven or eight years. And because Cheng Tingyan’s image had been damaged in the reality show, she couldn’t even use the argument that actors and roles should be viewed separately to get rid of the solidified impression brought about by the drama series.

Starting from the third season of “Where’s Baby Going,” from variety shows to sitcoms…

From the age of six, Cheng Tingyan bore all the malice, but it was Jin Youliang and the Cheng family who made a fortune.

And all of that was because…

Shi Dingshan, he died before the filming of the third season of “Where’s Baby Going” began.

Chapter 2

Before her rebirth, Wei Maomao had worked in the food service industry for quite some time. What she used to find most troublesome were the screaming and crying children in the store.

The tantrums of a child could indeed achieve victory in most cases. However, such victories were mostly temporary, stemming from the adults’ annoyance or compromise from losing face, and could not last.

Wei Maomao, who was reborn, didn’t want to use that kind of noisy way to get an unstable victory.

It was just…

Three years old was not an age where one could reason.

Wei Maomao didn’t make a fuss, but she still chose to cry.

Wei Chengli, who thought he was doing a good job coaxing the child, unilaterally felt that it would only take a few more minutes to completely divert his daughter’s attention. However, he didn’t expect that after being distracted for a second, the chubby little dumpling would struggle to roll down from his arms and quickly crawl back to the sofa, curling up. The soft, round little face stared at the TV without saying a word. A pair of black grape-like bright eyes blinked twice, and the crystal clear light in them took on a physical form, instantly rolling down the pink cheeks and pattering onto the equally tender arms.

When the little dumpling first shrank back on the sofa with red eyes, Wei Chengli still wanted to coax the suddenly sulking child with a smile. However, once the tears fell, the situation was different.

Weak.

Helpless.

And pitiful.

The silent tears were like the grievance of being abandoned by the world.

This was true sadness, Wei Chengli swore with his professional ethics as a director.

However, why would such earth-shattering sadness appear on the face of his own three-year-old baby?

Not being able to go out and play… was it that sad?

The smile on Wei Chengli’s face instantly disappeared, and the hand he stretched out again carried a hint of panic.

Unlike Wei Chengli, who was stunned and a beat slower, Zhang Shilan had already taken the little dumpling into her arms, coaxing her in a low voice, wiping and patting her.

Compared to the unreasonable crying and shouting, this kind of well-behaved crying was obviously more heartbreaking.

Wei Maomao didn’t mention going anywhere anymore, she just watched the first season of “Where’s Baby Going” playing on TV and cried quietly.

Tears fell like broken beads, hitting Wei Maomao’s small, white, lotus root-like arms, and were randomly wiped away by Zhang Shilan. However, the beads fell so fast and so much that Zhang Shilan’s movements became more and more flustered, and her coaxing voice became more and more urgent.

And Wei Maomao, who initially just wanted to cry a little to make her parents realize that she was really sad, was lost in the huge sadness she had unintentionally released.

Yes, huge, monstrous sadness that, with just a little indulgence, drilled out and swallowed Wei Maomao, who was still having nightmares every night even after being reborn.

How could she… not be sad…

The mother she lost in her youth, the father who was devastated to the point of madness, the heavy debts that fell on her shoulders, and Cheng Tingyan… The only light in her difficult life was extinguished right before her eyes…

Even though none of this had happened yet, they were all still fine.

But as long as she thought about the past, as long as she indulged herself in a moment of recollection… Darkness, boundless darkness would rush towards her, engulfing her and dragging her away…

Oh… It didn’t drag her away.

Just as her consciousness was about to be swallowed by sadness, Wei Maomao suddenly felt a pain in the soles of her feet and couldn’t help but cry out.

Her body’s instinct temporarily pulled her back to reality from the overwhelming sadness.

“Maomao, be good, be good, don’t cry, if you don’t cry, Daddy will take you to play with your friends, okay?” Wei Chengli squeezed out a smile under the little dumpling’s tearful glare, put his hands behind his back, and pretended that it wasn’t him who had just ruthlessly scratched the soles of her chubby feet.

Although he felt a little guilty, Wei Chengli didn’t think he had scratched the wrong place.

After all, the little dumpling, whose face was now flushed red and starting to get angry, looked much more lively than the little dumpling who had just cried silently as if she had lost her soul.

Wei Maomao hugged her right foot and looked down at the red soles of her feet, her face puffed up with anger.

His daughter was crying and he pinched the soles of her feet!

This was her biological father, this was actually her biological father! Ahhh! She was so angry she was deformed!

She was so angry that she forgot to continue crying.

Zhang Shilan breathed a sigh of relief and took a soft tissue from the side to gently wipe the little dumpling’s face. As she wiped, she looked at Wei Chengli worriedly, “Maomao wants to play with her friends now, why don’t we…”

“Just… go there!” Wei Maomao kicked her old man’s hand that was reaching over again and pointed at the TV with one finger.

Wei Maomao was determined and pointed clearly, but… her body couldn’t keep up.

Not long after, the little dumpling, who had just been stubborn for a while, fell asleep soundly in her mother’s arms, the tear stains on the corners of her eyes were grievances she didn’t have time to tell.

Wei Chengli gently pulled the small gauze quilt from the corner of the sofa and exchanged glances with Zhang Shilan, who was carefully holding the little dumpling in her arms. There was no relief in their eyes that they didn’t need to continue coaxing the child for the time being, only the same worry.

The little dumpling slept soundly. Wei Chengli gently covered her with the gauze quilt, trying to dispel the depression in his heart, and then looked up at his wife and coaxed, “It’s okay, she just made a fuss, she’s tired and fell asleep. Didn’t the doctor say yesterday that children get tired and need to sleep?”

Zhang Shilan was not comforted at all. She frowned and sighed, “Why is she tired again? She slept for almost two hours during her nap, and it’s only been less than an hour since she woke up. Why don’t we change hospitals and go see another doctor?”

“Yesterday’s doctor is a relatively famous pediatrician in the province. The two specialist appointments I made are not until next Monday. This sudden falling asleep today is the first time, right?” Wei Chengli asked.

“Yes.” Zhang Shilan nodded. “She didn’t sleep when she was arranging flowers with me in the morning.”

“That’s much better than yesterday and the day before. And all the tests yesterday were fine. I guess it’s like the doctor said, maybe it’s because Maomao’s mood has been fluctuating a lot these past few days, and she keeps having nightmares at night and not sleeping well, that’s why she always wants to sleep. Especially crying, it consumes a lot of energy. I found that she gets sleepy as soon as she cries.” Wei Chengli analyzed and comforted, “Let’s take her to see the doctor again next week. But it’s much better today, I guess she’ll be fine before next week.”

Zhang Shilan gently touched the soft little head in her arms, lowered her head and remained silent.

Wei Chengli reached out and gently poked his wife’s arm, “What are you thinking about?”

What was she thinking about…

She was thinking about the seemingly collapsed crying the day before yesterday.

Or the quiet sobbing yesterday.

Or the silent tears today.

Her carefree little chubby baby, her little chubby baby who was only three years old, why was she suddenly so sad these past few days, why did she have so many tears that couldn’t be shed, what exactly was in those dreams that made her wake up in a cold sweat and tears…

Her arm was gently patted again, dispelling the many doubts that Zhang Shilan had just gathered.

“I’m thinking…” Zhang Shilan looked up, her eyes filled with confusion, “I don’t want her to cry.”

Wei Chengli choked. She was right, he didn’t want her to cry either.

But let’s not talk about before, just now, the little dumpling was so shrewd, there was no way to coax her or fool her. If he didn’t want her to cry, he had to agree to her request.

But Maomao was only three years old, and he really wasn’t confident that he could handle taking her out to record a variety show for so many days by himself.

Let’s not talk about whether he could do it or not, just looking at Maomao’s condition these past few days, where she would immediately fall asleep after being a little tired or crying a little, it was obvious that she wasn’t suitable to go out and film a show.

In addition, he had already rejected the invitation from the program team before, and now they might have already invited someone else. How could he go back on his word…

There were too many restrictions in reality, so Wei Chengli could only pin his hopes on the fact that the three-year-old little dumpling didn’t actually understand what a program was, what participating was, and was just talking nonsense for fun, and would soon be distracted by something new.

Wei Maomao…

Of course not.

Perhaps it was because Wei Chengli had been too annoying before, but during the half hour that Wei Maomao was in a coma, she rarely dreamed of Cheng Tingyan, but of her father from her previous life.

Her father who drank himself into a stupor after losing his wife.

Her father who guaranteed a loan for someone and ended up carrying a mountain of debt, going to film every day with a bottle of alcohol in his mouth.

Her father who was falsely accused, didn’t want to clear his name, but became even more decadent, and finally chose to end his own life on her mother’s death anniversary…

The little dumpling woke up with her fists clenched, her heart pounding with panic. When her father’s big face, which she wanted to kiss, suddenly appeared in front of her, she couldn’t help but punch him.

Well, that was much better.

Looking at Wei Chengli, who was clearly not in much pain but still clutching his face and pretending to be hurt while peeking at her reaction, Wei Maomao slowly exhaled.

Were you the only one who lost her?

Were you the only one who felt pain?

The words she couldn’t bring herself to ask the man with the cloudy, alcohol-tinged eyes in her previous life, she naturally had no reason to ask in this life.

Hate, perhaps she didn’t hate him.

But resentment, how could there not be?

The little fleshy paw pushed away her father, who was pretending to be hurt and wanting a kiss of reconciliation. Wei Maomao stood up on the sofa and glanced at the clock on the wall.

This time, she had fallen asleep for half an hour again…

It had happened several times in the three days since her rebirth.

Thinking too much during the day, her emotions fluctuating too much, not sleeping well at night, the doctor yesterday said that her parents were confused, only Wei Maomao herself knew.

The body of a three-year-old child was indeed too weak, too weak to bear her adult soul that was riddled with holes of sadness and numbness.

Except for the uncontrollable emotional ups and downs on the day she was reborn, Wei Maomao had been consciously controlling herself for the past two days.

Controlling her emotions, her amount of exercise, even her thoughts.

She was just trying to fake cry before, but she didn’t expect that the valve of sadness couldn’t be opened at all.

However, these were all minor issues.

Wei Maomao pushed away the little rabbit doll that Wei Chengli handed over to make peace, ignored the Peppa Pig cartoon he had specially turned on, grabbed the remote control, and switched to a new episode of the first season of “Where’s Baby Going.”

Where she couldn’t see, Wei Chengli sighed heavily at his double failure to coax the child and divert her attention.

Wei Maomao was a determined and persistent little dumpling, and in the next two weeks, Wei Chengli got a good taste of it.

Finally, on an afternoon filled with the chirping of cicadas, Wei Chengli still bit the bullet and dialed a number in his contacts.

Chapter 1

Wei Maomao died.

A dazed child, a speeding car, a numb body acting before the mind could catch up, breaking through the hot, sticky air, pushing the chance of life onto someone else.

The pain of being torn and crushed squeezed out a strong metallic scent. A dark red river gurgled and surged before her eyes. On the other side of the river, a shocked child cried until they were gasping for air.

If only… back then… she had been in time…

There was no comfort of success in her slowly closing eyes, only a deep unwillingness to be trapped in memories.

In the vast and endless void, there was a soft sigh.

This year, Wei Maomao was 24 years old. She saved a child, and then she died.

————

Summer rain always came so suddenly.

In the blink of an eye it took to put a baking sheet in the oven, the clear sky outside the window was replaced by a downpour driven by strong winds. The sky instantly darkened.

Zhang Shilan swiftly leaned over and closed the half-open kitchen window. She wiped the raindrops from the back of her right hand with a tissue and turned to walk quickly towards the bedroom.

The light pink bedroom door was ajar, leaving only a small gap. She lightened her movements and slowly pushed the door open.

Inside the room, layers upon layers of curtains blocked out the last bit of daylight from the heavy rain, and also blocked most of the sound of the rain. The clattering sound heard in the kitchen was reduced to a slight drizzle here.

The bedroom was dark. Zhang Shilan didn’t turn on the light immediately. She just took off her shoes, stepped on the foam crawling mat, and tiptoed to the castle bed that occupied the entire wall on the left. She looked down at the small bed surrounded by pillows.

In the dimness, a small, chubby dumpling was sleeping soundly under the little fox gauze quilt, seemingly undisturbed by the heavy rain.

Zhang Shilan’s eyes softened. She bent down and pulled the quilt with her clean left hand, covering a small chubby foot that had escaped.

Just as she straightened up and was about to leave, she seemed to remember something and reached out to touch the head of the little chubby dumpling.

One touch…

A hand full of water!

…

“Maomao?”

“Maomao??”

“Maomao…”

…

Wei Maomao, sitting in the taxi, seemed to hear someone calling her name, softly, barely audible. But looking around, there was only the silent driver in the driver’s seat next to her and the continuous drizzle outside the window.

It was a continuous autumn rain, not a good day to go out.

But… neither of them had any intention of rescheduling, and neither of them even mentioned the rain.

Finally going to meet, Wei Maomao squeezed her phone, which had already been clenched so tightly it was hot. The corners of her mouth unconsciously rose.

Nervousness and anticipation intertwined into a thumping heartbeat. Unbeknownst to Wei Maomao, the taxi seemed to be speeding up strangely. The scenery outside the window changed rapidly, and soon she saw the familiar shop sign.

And the person under the shop sign…

“Maomao!”

The raised voice seemed to come from both far and near, familiar yet strange. With this sound, the taxi suddenly shook violently. The car, the scenery outside the car, and even the tall figure holding an umbrella in the distance all came to a standstill, froze, and then the whole world shattered like a falling mirror.

So close…

Yet worlds apart…

Wei Maomao opened her eyes. The darkness around her made it impossible to tell day from night. There was even a moment of trance where she didn’t know where she was.

“Baby, why are you sweating all over again? Did you have a nightmare?”

Along with the familiar yet strange female voice beside her ear, a small orange light lit up beside the bed.

Wei Maomao stretched out her chubby paws and rubbed her eyes, turning her head to look at the woman who woke her up. In the dim yellow light, she saw blurry eyebrows and eyes and… a scent that was too nostalgic.

“Mommy~” Wei Maomao opened her arms to the woman, ignoring the apron still tied around her, and hummed, looking up.

The soft, milky voice just after waking up seemed to carry a hint of grievance.

Zhang Shilan originally wanted to take off her apron first, but the little dumpling, who seemed impatient, wriggled and called out again. Her heart softened, and she naturally ignored everything else and picked up the chubby dumpling.

The soft, cloud-like chubby flesh of the dumpling, smelling of milk.

The warm embrace of a mother. The sweet smell of fresh pastries.

Wei Maomao clung tightly to her mother’s arm, burying her face deep in her arms. After a long, long time, she let out a soft breath.

Great, this nightmare was interrupted by her mother in time.

This was the third day since Wei Maomao was reborn back to her childhood.

In just three short days, she had dreamt of that day again and again. Finally, this time, she was awakened before the car accident happened.

Wei Maomao had heard a saying before her rebirth, “The cruelest thing in the world is to completely tear apart the most beautiful thing in a person’s heart right in front of them.”

If it hadn’t been for the car accident that year, that would have just been a passing phrase.

However, on that day, for the 21-year-old Wei Maomao, the most beautiful thing left in her life was truly shattered before her eyes.

Outside the taxi, Cheng Tingyan, who was only a few steps away, was hit by a car right in front of her, blood spreading…

The only light in her life was extinguished before her eyes, and for the next few years, until Wei Maomao’s death, she never saw the light again.

Even though she was lucky enough to return to the age of three, that fatal moment still turned into a nightmare, clinging to her bones.

Cheng Tingyan… Wei Maomao, leaning in her mother’s arms, murmured the name in her heart. She clenched her chubby paws tightly and shook her head, as if trying to temporarily shake off the car accident that had turned her world upside down.

“Okay, okay, you’re uncomfortable because you’re sweating, right? Come on, let’s go wash the little dirty cat.” Zhang Shilan was amused by the little dumpling that was arching in her arms. She touched the sweaty little head and carried the dumpling to the bathroom.

Half an hour later, the little dumpling, washed and dried, sat on the sofa and turned on the TV. Before she could even eat a few of the yogurt melts her mother had just baked, her father, who had skipped work and returned home early, came back.

Wei Maomao tilted her head and glanced at the clock on the wall. It wasn’t even 3:30 in the afternoon yet.

Hmph, another day of not working hard.

Glancing at her father, who was carrying big and small bags into the door, with complicated feelings, Wei Maomao grabbed a handful of red date yogurt melts and stuffed them into her mouth, turning back to continue watching TV.

The chubby little dumpling, with her freshly washed, soft hair draped over her shoulders, her snow-white chubby feet swaying gently, her mouth stuffed full, her cheeks bulging as she crunched non-stop… She looked like a soft, chubby little hamster. Wei Chengli thought his daughter was the cutest in the world! As for the slightly disgusted look the little baby had just given him, well, it must be dissatisfaction with her dear father coming home late!

As an already well-known director, Wei Chengli blindly and automatically beautified his daughter’s disgust. His heart and eyes were filled with only the word “cute.” He hurriedly washed his hands and disinfected them, then rushed to the sofa and picked up his daughter, spinning her around and coaxing her loudly, “Baby, did you miss Daddy! Daddy promises you, I’ll be home early tomorrow!”

The sudden rotation almost made Wei Maomao choke on the yogurt melt in her mouth. The little dumpling, who rolled her eyes from choking, raised her hand and slapped Wei Chengli’s face, who was leaning in to kiss her.

She knew her father was unreliable, but she didn’t expect him to be so unreliable when he was young!

Cough, cough… Wei Maomao stretched her neck, forcing the half-melted yogurt melt down her throat.

She was so angry that she couldn’t help but want to slap her old man’s face hard!

“Don’t move her while Maomao is eating, she’ll choke!” Zhang Shilan, who was attracted by Wei Maomao’s coughing, snatched the little dumpling from Wei Chengli’s arms and started to feed her water that was at room temperature.

Wei Chengli, whose face had been slapped several times by the fleshy paws, was not annoyed at all. He took a wet tissue from the side and wiped the pastry crumbs off Wei Maomao’s paws, apologizing repeatedly with a smile.

“Every time you say you’ll be careful next time, you forget again.” Zhang Shilan, both angry and amused, also took a wet tissue and wiped the pastry crumbs off her husband’s face. “With your ability to take care of children, how can you go out with Maomao alone for a few days? It’s a good thing you have some self-awareness and didn’t agree to that variety show.”

“It’s not my fault that our Maomao is so cute and chubby. I forgot for a moment that she was still eating.” Wei Chengli smiled and secretly squeezed Zhang Shilan’s hand, which was wiping his face. “I also think I can’t take her out alone. If she bumps into something, we’ll be heartbroken. It’s just…”

“Agree to… what~~”

A curly-haired head squeezed in, and a soft, milky voice forcefully joined the lovey-dovey conversation.

“It’s nothing.” The freshly washed and dried dumpling head was as fluffy and soft as a cloud. Wei Chengli couldn’t help but reach out and rub it a few times. Then he turned his head and lowered his voice to Zhang Shilan, “It’s just that Maomao has been watching this show a lot these two days. Do you think she wants to go? When Director Zeng came to our house to mention it last time, this clever little ghost wouldn’t have understood, right?”

Wei Maomao: “…”

I’m still here, I still have ears, do you think I’m not here just because you lowered your voice? Do you not see me!

Wei Maomao turned her head and glanced at the TV, where the first season of “Where’s Baby Going,” which she had been replaying for the past three days, was on its second loop.

It wasn’t until she was a teenager that Wei Maomao learned that her family had received an invitation for the third season of “Where’s Baby Going” when she was a child. But her parents didn’t accept the invitation at the time, and as a result, she didn’t meet Cheng Tingyan until more than ten years later. And then, after only three short years, she lost her again…

Now that she had been given a chance to start over, she naturally wouldn’t waste it.

It was only the beginning of July. The third season of “Where’s Baby Going,” which was originally officially announced to start filming in mid-August in her previous life, had already sent an invitation?

It was fortunate that she had been replaying the first season on TV for the past few days since her rebirth, which indeed left her old man with the impression that she liked the show very much. And now he was talking about related matters.

Limited by her age of three, Wei Maomao didn’t dare to express her thoughts too completely or logically. Originally, she wanted to take the subtle approach and wait for the program team to come and invite her, so that she could have some positive influence.

From the sound of it, it turned out that she had already heard about the program team coming to invite her in her previous life.

That was really great.

Three years old, wasn’t it just the age to be ignorant, to take the wind as rain, to be completely unreasonable?

“Want… to go!” Wei Maomao stood up on the sofa and stared firmly at her parents, who were secretly holding hands and whispering.

Zhang Shilan coughed and forcefully pulled back her hand that had been held by her husband.

Wei Maomao apologized to her mother in her heart. After all, there was a time for lovey-dovey moments, and the matter of participating in the show was imminent.

It was just that the child had tried her best to express herself, but Wei Chengli didn’t think that the unclear conversation just now could be understood by Wei Maomao. He reached out and picked up the little dumpling again, lifting her up and laughing, “Go, go, go, where does our Maomao want to go? Daddy will take you to the park downstairs to see the dogs, okay?”

You say okay! Who are you fooling!

Wei Maomao took a deep breath, endured and endured, and finally managed to resist the urge to slap Wei Chengli’s face. Her small fist clenched at a 90-degree angle and pointed at the TV: “Go there!”

“Okay, beep beep, let’s go~” Wei Chengli responded with a smile, picked up the little dumpling and put her on top of the TV. “Beep beep! We’re here!”

Wei Maomao: “??!@&#T*#O*P…”

Wei Maomao knew how annoying her middle-aged father could be, but she didn’t realize that her young father could be so annoying!

The little dumpling’s eyes rolled back, almost fainting from her artificially intelligent old man. As a result, Wei Chengli still felt that he was witty and cute, holding Wei Maomao and making “beep beep” sounds as he walked back and forth between the TV and the sofa.

The chubby paws hammered at her chest, which was already suffocating from anger. Wei Maomao couldn’t help but wonder if going on “Where’s Baby Going” with such an old man would end her hard-won rebirth prematurely.

But…

Wei Maomao, who was being carried back and forth like cargo by her old man, took the opportunity to look at the TV. The screen was cutting to a little girl with a ponytail, wearing a light green floral dress.

Cheng Tingyan.

If she couldn’t participate in the third season of “Where’s Baby Going” and meet Cheng Tingyan in advance this time, if she couldn’t change the bad history from the beginning, then her rebirth would have lost too much meaning.

“Go there!” Wei Maomao said firmly again, slapping her old man, who seemed to be immersed in the strange role of a porter, twice, and pointed at the TV again. “Go, play!”

Wei Maomao couldn’t quite remember how she expressed herself when she was three years old, so she could only learn from the first season of “Where’s Baby Going” she had been watching these two days. Being able to understand what adults said and express her thoughts clearly in short sentences was her current positioning of herself.

The positioning was accurate, and both Wei Chengli and Zhang Shilan understood.

However…

The problem was that a three-year-old child didn’t really have a say, even if she was the beloved little baby of the family.

A moment later, Wei Maomao looked incredulously at her parents, who clearly understood but pretended not to, and started to coax the child with snacks and toys. Finally, she couldn’t bear it anymore and used her ultimate move.