Chapter 45

Ji Ruochu was woken up by the fragrant smell of meat buns. As she opened her eyes, bright daylight was streaming in from outside. For a moment, she was still disoriented.

"Daughter, you're awake?" Ji Mochen said as he came in right on time, "Get up to eat breakfast, dad bought meat buns today."

"..."

The little one didn't rub her eyes. She just rolled over on her straw mat.

This was given by the program team yesterday. Because each child had completed the task, and under Ji Ruochu's subtle guidance, they agreed to hand in the task together, the first place belonged to every child this way.

What could the program team do? They could only silently fulfill their promise.

It has to be said that children have an extremely strong dependence on toys. Even Ji Ruochu obviously slept much more soundly yesterday, which led her to subconsciously want to sleep in a little.

"Get up quickly, little pig." Ji Mochen said helplessly with a smile, and went forward to dig his daughter out of her bedding.

Ji Ruochu had no choice but to reluctantly say goodbye to her little straw mat.

Today’s breakfast was a bit abundant: a bowl of millet porridge, half an ear of corn, two meat buns, and Ji Mochen had also taken out the leftover chicken breasts from the fridge and made a mild version of mouthwatering chicken that looked very appetizing.

Seeing the little one craning her neck to look at the dishes on the table, the old father instantly felt proud. His cooking skills were still good!

After putting on her cute pink bib for his daughter and handing her a bottle of chilled milk that had been airing out, Ji Mochen went into the kitchen.

Ji Ruochu did not fuss about being hand fed. She obediently sat in her chair and drank a few sips of warm boiled water before picking up her spoon to drink congee on her own initiative.

The little one scooped up a spoonful of porridge first, blew on it gently twice, then opened her blood basin—small mouth and downed it in one go.

Although they were simple actions, they became extremely cute because a child was doing them. The bullet screen filled up with fans’ body language like {screaming}, {crawling in the shadows}, and so on.

Hiss—

Unexpectedly, the congee seemed to be a bit hot, which made her subconsciously spit it back onto the spoon.

Ji Ruochu: ...

【Hahahaha......】

【The legendary eat-and-spit-out?】

【Spoon: Eek~ Why did you come back?】

After looking at the spit-out congee in the spoon twice, Ji Ruochu blinked and finally decided to pretend nothing had happened and put down the spoon, ready to conquer other delicacies.

After touching the freshly steamed meat buns that had just come out of the steamer, she reached out to the corn, and almost didn't get a good grip on it halfway because the corn was too big.

Tsk, why didn't you split the corn in half? You're not attentive at all when working!

Holding an ear of corn longer than her own face, Ji Ruochu nibbled on it while complaining about a certain old father in her heart.

"Wow! Daughter is so capable, another day of eating by herself!"

Speak of the devil.

Ji Tianwang's footsteps soon sounded from behind, and praises followed. Seeing his daughter's soft and cute appearance, with both hands holding the corn to her chest as she nibbled on it with her head lowered, Ji Mochen laughed and approached, "Here, try the corn your dad personally shucked for you—"

The last word “kernel” slowly disappeared after seeing what the little one had in her hand, and father and daughter fell silent as they looked at the object in each other’s hands.

After hugging and nibbling a small ring around the corn cob, Ji Ruochu subconsciously touched her little teeth.

Damn, careless!

When eating at home before, she didn’t like chewing corn cobs because she found it too much effort. She only wanted to eat a few kernels.

"Don't you not like chewing corn cobs?" Ji Mochen was a little confused, and then worriedly pried open his daughter's mouth to take a look.

【Hahahaha, I was just thinking what kind of dad is Ji Mochen, how could he prepare such a big corn cob for the child, it’s like a teething toy.】

【I really... I'm definitely going to laugh to death in the livestream room of the Ji father and daughter.】

【The refined father and uncompromising daughter, this father-daughter pair is just too funny!】

Pa da.

After getting her teeth checked, Ji Ruochu's expression remained unchanged. She silently put down the corn, wiped her mouth again, and righteously reached out her hand to him, "That’s right, I don't like chewing it."

Looking at the cleanly nibbled ring on the corn cob, Ji Mochen felt somewhat ashamed. Why did he feel that his daughter was becoming more and more fierce?

Although he thought this way, he still placed a small bowl of corn kernels in front of the little one, wiped her hands again, and the father and daughter silently finished their breakfast.

Ji Ruochu remained extremely calm throughout. As long as she was not embarrassed, the embarrassment would be someone else's!

Today, the program team’s tasks were basically the same as yesterday’s. The fathers went to transplant rice seedlings while the children continued to complete various tasks for the east and west families while frolicking around.

They would feed chickens for a while, feed ducks for a while, and before they knew it, it was time for lunch. After running around happily several times, this group of little ones had also gradually figured out the surrounding environment.

After waking up from their afternoon nap and going out to do the task of feeding pigs, they had even made a new friend, a local farmer's child named Tingting.

"That's not how you do it. The pig feed will be scattered everywhere this way," said the little girl who looked to be about the same age as Ji Ruochu as she sat on a small rock watching them.

She thought that if she did chores like this at home, she would have gotten a beating long ago.

"Then what should we do?" Ji Ruochu, who had been watching her playmates make a racket, asked.

Upon hearing this, the program team that had been debating whether to continue allowing this little girl to participate stopped interfering.

The next second, this girl named Tingting carefully put the unfinished biscuits in her pocket and gave a demonstration of feeding pigs herself.

First put all the pig feed in the trough, then tap the side of the trough with the pig feed scoop while yelling a few times with her mouth.

Soon after, the group of pigs that had been scared to huddle in the corner by the few children slowly moved closer to the feed trough.

"Wow!"

The sweaty little ones were shocked in an instant.

"You're so capable, Tingting!"

"What's so impressive about this? I started helping my family with chores when I was four!" Tingting's small chest swelled with pride, and she was extremely smug as she then arranged for her new friends to go wash their hands nearby.

"How old are you now?" After washing his hands, Geng Zhenzhen asked curiously.

"I'm already six and a half!"

"Really?" Fan Jin's eyes widened in surprise. "But you look about the same height as Ruochu. Ruochu is only four and a half!"

The few children looked at the thin and small Tingting, then at Ruochu, and couldn't help but nod. She was not only about the same height as Ruochu, but also darker than Ruochu.

"That's because..." Tingting said, her voice lowered, but she didn't continue.

"I know!" Fan Jin immediately said, "Isn't it because your family is too poor, so you don't get enough to eat?" There was no contempt in the child's tone at all, just earnestness. Fan Hongru had said something about him on the first day they arrived here during his briefing.

The main content was that the people here were extremely poor. Although they were filming a show this time, they also wanted to help publicize this nearby village.

So Fan Jin subconsciously felt that the thin and small Tingting in front of him might come from a family that was too poor to eat enough.

Not getting enough to eat?

Apart from Ji Ruochu, the few children were all shocked. They clearly couldn't understand how there could be people who don't even get enough to eat.

"You poor thing." Lin Xindi looked at her sympathetically. "Why don't you come eat at our house? We have rice at home!"

"We have it too!"

...

The group of children chattered away. What would be somewhat hurtful to one's self-esteem coming from adults' mouths sounded so beautiful coming from children.

"No." Tingting shook her head. "If I go eat at your house, then my grandma won't cook for me in the future. She'll make me go begging all the time."

"Why?"

"Grandma said the things at home will all be my brother's in the future. I'm a money sink. I'll have to marry out sooner or later, so it's just a loss for them to feed me more."

The children were astonished.

"How can your grandma be so nasty?" Mao Ziqing was so angry her face turned red.

"What about your mom and dad? Don't your mom and dad let you eat either?" Geng Zhenzhen asked anxiously, her face already full of panic.

"Mom and dad are out there earning money...they only come back once a year." As Tingting spoke, her eyes were full of longing for her parents.

"My parents are so nice to me. Every time they come back, they buy me new clothes. My little brother has them, so I have them too! It's just a pity that they only come back for a few days each time. After they leave, my grandma doesn't let me eat enough again..."

Upon hearing this, everyone present at the scene and the audience watching the livestream were filled with righteous indignation.

[What year is this that there are still people with such ideas?]

[Normal, it's like this in rural villages, especially in the south. The idea of favoring sons over daughters has penetrated deeply into people's hearts. Don't ask me how I know.]

[Not necessarily, there's no such thing in our family!]

[Actually...there are such families in the north too. My second older sister was sent to live in someone else's home for several years when she was young, just because my dad and mom wanted to have another son.]

[Don't ask, just pretend it's about inheriting the throne.]

"Did you eat enough for lunch today? We still have egg drop soup at our home. Come to our home to eat!" Ji Ruochu thought for a moment and asked.

"I'm almost full!" Tingting immediately nodded her head. Her hands, already washed clean, took out a red bag from her pocket. Inside were the leftover biscuits she had not finished eating.

"There's a kind old man in the village. As long as I go find him, he'll give me some biscuits. Once I finish them I'll be full," said the little girl.

Looking at the biscuits in the red bag, already broken into little pieces, the few children somehow felt stifled in their hearts for some reason.

"But I can't bring them home. I have to finish them outside. If my little brother sees them, they'll definitely be snatched away."

As the little girl spoke, she sat back down on the rock she was on earlier, and continued to carefully eat the biscuits.

"Sister Tingting, here." Fan Jin gritted his teeth and still took out a chocolate from his pocket. "This is what I hid away. It's for you!"

"I have some too," said Mao Ziqing. "I secretly hid some gummies. Wait for me to go back and get them for you."

"And I have..."

Other than the honest Ji Ruochu who had handed over all his snacks, the other children were falling over themselves wanting to give their little treats to this pitiful young lady.

Directing team on the side: Although very touching, but...when did you guys hide those snacks?