Chapter 177: Bonus Chapter

However, regardless of their rankings in this vegetable-selling competition, the little friends on the TV screen were all clearly very happy.

Xueyan was happy about getting first place.

Pei Shuo was happy that Xueyan was happy about getting first place.

Emma was happy and felt a great sense of accomplishment after successfully adjusting her prices and selling her green beans, while Lin Yujia happily looked forward to the day his fairy little fish would return to repay his kindness.

Even the last-place little friend, Gu Duanduan, was quite happy because he unexpectedly received a large snack gift bag for the “Fastest Seller Award.”

It was just poor parent Zhou Ziyan who would probably have a hard time cooking dinner tonight.

After all, the abundance of the ingredient packages was ranked according to their points.

“Very good! Our five little friends have successfully returned from selling vegetables, earning enough points for each of their small families to claim their ingredients! Now, please welcome the first-place Lu Li family to claim their ingredients!”

When the host announced the results with a face full of smiles, Lu Li, who was holding Xueyan, also gave the camera a faint smile.

With no intention of letting go, he simply carried Xueyan over to collect the ingredients. On the contrary, when Xueyan noticed the cameraman uncle filming, he was clearly a bit embarrassed and wanted to get down from his brother’s arms.

But it wasn’t until he carried him all the way to the ingredient table that Lu Li finally bore to let go, allowing Xueyan to hop down.

The ingredient package awarded to the first-place family was extremely sumptuous. From meat, eggs, and milk to fruits and vegetables, it was equipped with practically everything.

When the host pulled back the curtain, the other families sequentially let out sounds of envy. This was simply too perfect!

Second place went to Lan Yu and Pei Shuo. This group had truly performed exceptionally well; no one expected them to still rank second even after a 30% deduction.

One could only say that earning foreign exchange and doing foreign trade really did bring in money quickly.

The immensely proud and satisfied Lan Yu also wanted to learn from Lu Li and have a heart-warming interaction with her cub in front of the camera, displaying a great sense of familial affection to move the audience.

As a result, just as she leaned in, the expressionless Pei Shuo swiftly reached out a hand and blocked her face.

With a “pfft,” the on-site cameramen laughed so hard their lenses shook, while the audience’s gloating bullet comments turned into a continuous string of “hahaha”s.

【Teacher Lan Yu, you really don’t have to forcefully copy the interaction mode of our Lu Li and Little Pear.】

【Right, if you insist on copying, I can only think of one idiom—slavishly imitating others and losing one’s own originality [Smirking]】

【You guys are actually more suited for a love-hate relationship haha】

The viewers’ comments were also spot-on. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] One could only say that regardless of which of the other guest groups tried to forcefully imitate Lu Li and Little Pear’s interaction mode, the feeling it gave people was just strangely different.

At the very least, every time everyone watched Lu Li kiss Little Pear, their hearts would soften, feeling it was especially warm and cherishing.

It was just that Lan Yu, flying into a rage from humiliation, clearly wouldn’t let things go so easily. In the end, she forcefully relied on her advantage as an adult to pull away Pei Shuo’s small hand, fiercely planting a kiss on his head before finally giving up.

Won’t give even a little face in front of the camera!?

Holding his head, Pei Shuo’s face completely darkened.

So much so that when he carried the ingredients down, the sulking Pei Shuo completely forgot to ask if his little aunt Lan Yu actually knew how to cook.

The next three families also went up to claim their ingredients in turn, going from sumptuous to plain. When it was time for Zhou Ziyan to lead Gu Duanduan onto the stage, they only received a plate of flour, a few cucumbers, and some eggs.

【My goodness, this feels so difficult, are they supposed to knead the flour and eat it?? QAQ】

【Our Ziyan is a bit miserable, I feel like his luck in this program is always lacking in every sense [Pity.jpg]】

【But being dead last also has its perks, he’ll probably get more screen time this round.】

After all, what a variety show fears isn’t the first or the last place, but rather the consistently lukewarm “average student.”

For instance, from filming the first episode up until the second episode now, the groups with the most obvious rise in popularity were absolutely Lu Li and Lan Yu.

One was incredibly stably excellent from start to finish, while the other was incredibly stably riddled with mishaps from start to finish.

At the very least, when it came to failing, Lan Yu, this temporary parent, could be said to be highly successful.

“Then the timer starts now! Will the parents of our five families please begin preparing dinner? Tonight, our villager public judges will taste test and cast their votes!”

Following the host’s command, the five families rapidly began to prepare for the competition.

Lu Ting and the others, who had been watching the program with great relish the entire time, suddenly grew suspicious and uncertain at this point.

“Wait, does Old Third, that guy, even know how to cook?”

Lu Ting rubbed his chin, feeling like Old Third had never cooked a meal himself from childhood to adulthood, had he?

At home, he certainly never needed to cook for himself, and during the years he lived outside, the high-end bachelor apartment he bought in the city center always had a hired auntie responsible for cooking and cleaning long-term.

“…I can only say, it won’t kill you.”

Amidst the whole family’s confusion, Lu Jing actually gave an answer with a subtle expression.

A long time ago, when Lu Li’s team went abroad for an event, they happened to go to the place where she was interning, so the siblings briefly met up.

Because something suddenly came up at Lu Jing’s firm, causing her to miss the time to go out and eat, Lu Li gave her a call saying there was no rush, and he could help make some simple food to make do.

“And then? How was it after you finished eating?”

Lu Huai never expected these two to have such a history, and asked anxiously.

Because Lu Li was older than him, he indeed had more contact with their Second Sister, Lu Jing, when they were kids. Simply put, he hadn’t been screwed over by Lu Jing any less than a few times.

After all, whenever it was time to take a beating from Lu Ting, Lu Jing’s brain was always sharp enough to figure out a way to dodge it. Since Lu Li had a much more honest and slightly quiet personality, he naturally became the primary target for getting hit.

“Hmm… To this day, I still can’t quite analyze the substances in that meal.”

It might have been some new type of poison for all she knew. Old Third actually had quite a bit of talent in that regard; the crucial problem was that Old Third himself had absolutely no self-awareness about it.

As soon as Lu Jing’s faint words came out, the entire family fell silent.

Even Old Second felt it was dangerous?!

Was it still in time to send Auntie Cheng over as foreign aid now?

“Wait, no, since this program has already been edited and broadcasted, it definitely happened days ago. It’s too late, it’s absolutely too late!”

Auntie Cheng murmured, somewhat regretting why she hadn’t given Young Master Lu Li a bit of special culinary training before he set off.

Who could have imagined that this program would actually force a bunch of big celebrity parents to cook with their own hands?

If only they could know the program team’s next recording location in advance, they could just run over and help out.

But the audience on the screen clearly remained as full of confidence in Lu Li as ever.

【I’m so looking forward to our Lu Li cooking for Little Pear. So happy, I really have to praise Director Guo, all the designed segments are so cute!!】

Since the broadcast of 《Baby? Baby!》 began, if one were to rank the highly popular parents in the program, Lu Li absolutely held a spot in the top two. Even if anti-fans tried to steer the narrative countless times, it couldn’t change this fact.

There were even some unofficial street interviews asking many young viewers which parent they would most want as their own, and Lu Li’s popularity among the kids remained consistently high.

Meanwhile, Xueyan, who was being led by his brother’s hand, was also extremely happy. The exhaustion from selling vegetables all day had completely vanished, replaced by the relaxed joy of returning to his parent’s side.

Just looking at his brother made him so happy.

“This happy? Are you hungry and wanting to eat?”

Lu Li also lowered his eyes to look at Xueyan. Seeing that Xueyan wasn’t listless after coming back from selling vegetables, but was instead brimming with happiness all over, a smile surfaced in the depths of his eyes as well.

If it weren’t for the cameraman constantly following them and filming, and Xueyan not being too keen on always being carried by his parent, he probably would have reached out and scooped Xueyan back into his arms long ago.

“Hmm, I want to eat the food Brother cooks. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Will we be first place, Brother?”

Xueyan looked up and stared at his Third Brother, harboring a slight obsession with the title of first place.

“Okay, Brother will work hard.”

Watching this scene, Lu Li also nodded solemnly.

If Xueyan wanted first place, then naturally, he had to work hard to secure first place.

On the flip side, Lan Yu’s cooking unsurprisingly met with an accident.

Fortunately, Pei Shuo never harbored any expectations from the very beginning. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] He simply rested his chin in one hand, watching placidly as his little aunt spun around in front of the earthen stove like a headless fly, sighing and groaning from time to time.

The rich ingredients of second place falling into Lan Yu’s hands was somewhat of a reckless waste of good things.

In the Lan family, as the second child, Lan Yu had been spoiled by the entire family practically since birth. Her eldest sister, Lan Ying, shouldered all the family affairs and took great care of her little sister, so Lan Yu never had a single opportunity to set foot in a kitchen.

Not to mention this earthen stove in the No. 5 fishing shed that required manually burning firewood!

It took a massive amount of effort just to successfully start a fire.

“Little Aunt, that jar seems to be salt, not MSG.”

Pei Shuo stared at the assortment of bottles and jars on the stove. Just as Lan Yu grabbed a bottle and was about to pour it into the pot, he silently spoke up to stop his little aunt.

After all, if you add too much MSG, it will at most be overly savory and make you thirsty, but if you add too much salt, it becomes completely inedible.

“Oh, it really is salt. You’ve got a pretty good memory, kid.”

After Lan Yu dipped her chopstick in to taste a bit, she marvelled, noting that this kid Pei Shuo was actually reliable.

The cameraman hurriedly aimed the lens back at Pei Shuo.

However, Pei Shuo merely turned his head and locked eyes coldly with the cameraman, not showing a hint of emotional fluctuation as the cameraman had hoped. It was as if he knew the program team was dying to see him throw a crying fit.

Heh, childish.

Tsk, this little guest is seriously hard to film.

Both sides silently roasted each other in their hearts.

【Actually, I feel that since the broadcast began, the most emotionally stable person in the entire show is definitely little friend Pei Shuo…】

【Yeah, I’m really curious what Pei Shuo’s biological mom thinks watching this haha, the little aunt bringing up a kid is a total circus.】

【I remember Lan Yu has never hidden the fact that her family background is profound, right? Rumor has it that it’s the Lan family that built its fortune on media, right?】

It was just that Lan Yu’s family background was also like a mystery online. Searching would yield surface-level information at best, and it was obvious that nothing deeper could be found.

This was Lan Yu’s first time publicly appearing on a program with a family member.

But the netizens watching this scene reached a consensus: the greatest hardship this young master Pei Shuo had ever suffered in his life was probably 《Baby? Baby!》, right?

The reason they felt this way was likely due to that completely unactable, silent sense of relaxation on Pei Shuo.

In trendy terms, his inner core was exceptionally stable!

Including when Lan Yu straight-up set the kitchen on fire a few minutes later. Her shout of “Oh no, it’s on fire—!!” scared the production team into sprinting inside and slamming the pot lid down onto the earthen stove to suffocate the flames. Even then, Pei Shuo didn’t cry or make a single fuss.

It was only when he was carried out by the rescue staff that he coldly wiped his face:

“Little Aunt, let’s go freeload a meal at Xueyan’s house.”

With lingering fear in her heart, Lan Yu also completely abandoned her plan to cook, stating:

“Little Aunt also thinks you are absolutely right.”

Given Lu Li’s personality, he definitely wouldn’t refuse two extra mouths coming over to freeload.

At least from her interactions during the program’s filming, Lan Yu discovered that some of the hate posts online loved to spout nonsense as always. Lu Li’s temper was practically as good as it could possibly get!

At most, he was just a bit quiet.

He was completely unlike the narcissistic, playboy personalities that most male Alphas with such top-tier faces and incredibly smooth-sailing lives easily developed.

However, this kind of personality of Lu Li’s indeed made it easy for him to suffer losses in the industry.

Especially when his talent and family background were excessively high, it was even easier for guys who were inherently insecure and sensitive to interpret it as an act of arrogance and contempt for everyone around him.

The accompanying production staff, watching these two blatantly conspiring to go to Xueyan’s house to mooch a meal, quickly made a phone call to Director Guo, asking if this was within the rules.

Director Guo was silent for a long time before suddenly laughing.

“Sure, if they want to go, let them go. As long as they dare to eat once they get there.”

Countless viewers watched the screen as the program’s post-production team displayed the director’s call via a Q-version telephone line animation, and were also baffled for a second.

【What does Director Guo’s tone mean??】

【Yeah, what do you mean ‘as long as they dare to eat it’? Could it be that the food our Lu Li cooks doesn’t taste good?!】

In the first two episodes, Lu Li’s image as an all-rounder parent had practically deeply rooted itself in the public’s heart.

Compared to Teacher Lin Xiangtao’s clumsy and inexperienced parental actions, Lu Li could even personally put socks on Little Pear while he slept under the covers!

It was just that Little Pear would always very independently and obediently put on his own clothes and socks. The “intern dad” Lu Li, squatting by the bed, actually looked quite regretful about it.

Amidst the anticipation of the masses, the camera cut.

Lu Li had actually successfully prepared three dishes and one soup, arranging them on the table. Regardless of the taste, at the very least, it looked incredibly impressive.

It was just that Xueyan, holding his spoon in his mouth on the side, looked like a little robot whose “pause button” had been pressed, staring blankly at his brother without moving an inch.

“What’s wrong? Does it not taste good? If it’s really bad, just spit it out.”

Lu Li was actually quite nervous as well. He hadn’t cooked in a long time, and back then, he had only learned a tiny bit by following recipes.

And Xueyan just kept his big eyes wide open, staring right at his brother. He then turned his head to look at the equally curious cameraman uncle who was intensely trying to capture the shot not far away.

Dozens of seconds later, his throat bobbed slightly as he forced his head down and swallowed hard.

“…It’s delicious.”

Xueyan’s tiny voice drifted out.

The cameraman revealed a smile.

Lu Ting, sitting in front of the TV, also laughed—this kid Old Third was pretty capable!

Only Lu Xun and the others looked at Xueyan and couldn’t help but feel that Xueyan’s face seemed to have grown a little paler?