Serve as Contrast Team in a ‘Dad with Baby’ Show

In the afternoon, a car from the program team came to pick up Lin Cheng and Lin Momo.

On the way, Lin Momo was still holding the four pieces of candy, as if she was holding some kind of treasure instead of simply sweets. She had put the candies in her bag to secure them, and then took them out again to appreciate them, smiling and murmuring to herself from time to time, her voice low enough that no one could quite hear what she was saying.

Seeing the girl’s funny behavior, the corner of Lin Cheng’s mouth curled up, secretly thinking it was cute.

“You better eat it before we reach our destination,” Lin Cheng reminded with a blank expression.

“Huh?” Lin Momo looked at Lin Cheng suspiciously.

Without waiting for Lin Cheng’s explanation, Lin Momo realized herself: candy is also a ‘prohibited item’, and these would definitely be confiscated by the program crew when they arrive at the recording location.

The expression on Lin Momo’s face suddenly collapsed. Looking down at the few pieces of candy in her hand, her small face was conflicted. Of course she didn’t want these to be taken away by the program crew, but she was also reluctant to eat them.

Ah, so difficult…

From the corner of his eyes, Lin Cheng saw Lin Momo’s brows wrinkling into a tight ball, and he tried very hard not to laugh.

“Give it to me,” Lin Cheng opened his hand towards Lin Momo. Seeing the girl’s puzzled expression, he said, “I’ll keep it for you temporarily.” 

“Okay.” After a pause, Lin Momo added, “Thank you.”

“En,” Lin Cheng responded and put the candies into his pocket.

… …

The car soon arrived at the location where they drew lots last week, Xisha Lane, Shangbei Road.

Compared to the nervousness during the previous recording, this time, for their next recording, Lin Momo was more filled with anticipation and even a little indescribable joy.

The car stopped at the entrance of the alley, and Lin Momo got out of the car after Lin Cheng.

When they walked into the alley that gave off a bit of an aged atmosphere, the director team was already waiting in front of the No. 4 house.

“We meet again,” the director greeted them with a smile on her face. “The house behind me is where dad and baby will be staying this week. How do you feel?” 

“So-so.” Lin Cheng said very ‘honestly’.

The expression on the director’s face stiffened slightly.

This time, the popular star Bai Yulin’s family got a job as a vocal teacher at the university and will live in a one-person classroom apartment at the school; actor Gao Yuankai got a job as a hardware store owner and will live in the rooms above the store; Duan Bei got a job as a phone customer service personnel and will live in the residence provided by the company; as for the wealthy father’s family, perhaps the program team discovered the bright spot of the brat’s ‘tremendous talk’ and directly arranged for his father to be a corporate executive and they will live in a luxurious apartment in the city center.

Compared with the other four families, it wouldn’t be conservative to call Lin Cheng’s team’s circumstances as ‘so-so’. 

“What do you think, Momo? How does this place compare to where you lived last week?” The director asked, changing the target to Lin Momo instead.

Hearing the question, Lin Momo carefully surveyed the house in front of them and very accurately said, “It’s a bit better.”

The director didn’t hear an ideal answer from Lin Momo either, so she decided not to waste time on this question anymore.

The director pointed to the storage box next to her and asked Lin Momo, “Do you remember this box, baby?”

“Yes,” Lin Momo nodded.

“Then, baby, you know what will happen next?”

“You’re going to collect our things.”

“Yes, did baby bring any toys this time?”

“No.”

After finishing speaking, Lin Momo took the initiative to open her luggage to let the on-site staff check inside.

Lin Cheng, standing behind Lin Momo, also handed over his wallet and mobile phone to the program team, and took off his coat for the other party to check.

“This will also be temporarily confiscated,” the staff member said, pointing to the few pieces of candy in Lin Cheng’s pocket.

“I have low blood sugar,” Lin Cheng said expressionlessly.

As soon as the words came out, the corners of the staff’s mouth twitched: Lin Cheng doesn’t seem to have low blood sugar? And why didn’t they see his low blood sugar matters in last week’s recording?!

The staff all complained frantically in their hearts.

However, seeing Lin Cheng maintain his expression and nonsense, in the end they had no choice but to turn a blind eye to these small ‘prohibited items’.

“Alright, it’s all checked; let’s go to the next stage.” The director took two envelopes from the staff and handed one to Lin Cheng.

“The room you are about to stay in is Room 1 on the 2nd floor. There are two keys in the envelope, one is the room key and the other is the key to the iron door outside. Please keep them both safe. There is also a copy of the household instructions and precautions provided by the landlord in the envelope. Please read it carefully before moving in.”

After a pause, the director handed over another envelope and said, “This envelope contains this week’s money for your family’s living expenses and for purchasing steamed bun ingredients—a total of 800 yuan. Dad and baby can allocate the budget by yourselves.

“Finally, this tricycle is also yours for the week.” The director pointed to the tricycle parked in the alley next to the father and daughter.

Father and daughter looked at the tricycle that they would use as a means of livelihood and transportation for the coming week.

It was a human-powered tricycle, with a pedal bicycle in the front and a carriage welded in the back. The entire body looks rusty, but it should still be barely usable. 

There was a small platform table on the back of the tricycle, which could be used to store things. There were two coal-burning stoves squeezed next to the platform with some burnt or half-burned briquettes, and a dozen large steamers piled up in the corner. Finally, there was a small place where people could stand and move around.

In addition, there was a ‘Temporary Stall Permit’ sign on the back of the carriage which stated that their stall allocation was by the head of Xisha Bridge, from 4am to 9am in the mornings and 7pm to 11:00pm in the evenings.

“The stall fee for this month has been paid in advance, and you can use this tricycle freely, but in the process, if there are repairs, fines or other unplanned expenses, you need to bear them yourself,” said the director.

Lin Cheng nodded, expressing his understanding.

“Do dad and baby have any more questions?” the director asked.

“No.”

Lin Momo followed Lin Cheng’s words and shook her head.

The director nodded and smiled at the two of them. “Then dad and baby, please do your best this week.” 

After the director finished speaking, the recording of this week’s show officially began.

T/N: This note is probably too late at Chapter 20 lmao but the crew refers to Lin Momo as 宝贝 ‘bao bei’ which means ‘baby’ or ‘treasured one’. It’s basically a term of endearment for kids.

Time for another visual aid so that we’re all imagining the same thing! The ‘tricycle’ provided to the Lin Cheng team this week should look something like this. I tried to find something where the ‘cart’ portion is at the back—like the author described—but couldn’t find one; this should be similar enough.