SFBF CH118.2

The box was chosen at random by the challenger. The contents could be animate or inanimate, and the living creatures could be some rather peculiar animals… Although the production team promised the little guests wouldn’t be bitten or injured, it was still a major test of psychological defenses. Timid cubs, or cubs with intense fears of certain creatures, would have a hard time playing this game well.

But holding onto the conviction of re-entering the garden, Gu Duo not only volunteered again, but after randomly selecting a box, he reached his hand inside without a shred of hesitation.

Then, he felt something hard and spiky.

It was a bit prickly at first touch, but Gu Duo didn’t panic and quickly confirmed the item inside—

“It’s a durian.”

Previously, people frequently visited their home to consult Big Dad on work matters, and Auntie Lian Jin had brought durian for them, which Gu Duo knew.

He was absolutely certain it was a durian and got the answer right instantly. Furthermore, his overall time was the shortest, so he secured first place in the second segment without any suspense, once again earning the opportunity to enter the garden and pick vegetables.

Off to the side, holding a slice of watermelon and originally preparing to encourage his cub to reach into the blind box like the other parents, Shen Qing: …Is my cub a bit too awesome?

…Never mind.

He lay back down and waved to his fiercely capable human cubs, hurry over and gnaw on some watermelon!

It had to be said, in this season, freshly harvested watermelon from the field was sweet and juicy. Sitting on the sidelines, soaking up the sun and eating watermelon was truly incredibly comfortable!

With the second segment concluded, Gu Duo, undeniably securing first place, rushed back into the fields with his brother. This time, employing a faster and more efficient approach, he extracted far more information from the farmer uncle.

This included what was planted in which patch, what crops were best planted together (meaning if he saw one plant, he could deduce what other plant was nearby), and what was best to pick and eat this season, etc. Gu Duo gained a very detailed understanding of it all.

While gathering information, Gu Duo also weighed what to pick.

Ao-zai, on the other hand, having freestyled last time only to be backstabbed by a carrot, no longer wanted to act independently. He obediently carried the basket and walked beside his brother, content to be a little laborer.

[The Eldest Young Master’s questions are so logical… I feel like the Eldest Young Master’s IQ is already leagues above mine.]

[Thank you Young Masters for giving me a botany lesson hhh]

[Never expected to learn agricultural knowledge while watching a parenting show!]

What was rather surprising was that in the second round of competition, little An Rong also earned the right to go to the fields to pick vegetables.

For this soft and timid child, many viewers had initially worried he wouldn’t win a single round and would go without vegetables for dinner.

They didn’t expect that little An Rong was only timid around people. When feeling inside the blind box, he simply didn’t know the meaning of fear. Even when he actually touched a living creature—a long-eared rabbit—little An Rong didn’t feel afraid. He even smiled blankly and said he thought he touched a bunny.

And so, armed with this courage, little An Rong and his mother also carried a basket to pick vegetables.

Mother An could handle the vegetable picking herself. At the edge of the fields, An Rong bumped into the Gu brothers. Ao-zai, who was holding the basket with nothing to do, naturally started playing with little An Rong.

As a result, by the time they came out, Ao-zai’s face was covered in dirt again.

Shen Qing, welcoming them outside the garden: “…”

As the second round of vegetable picking ended, looking at the diverse array of vegetables, Shen Qing couldn’t stop smiling.

It wasn’t just because they unexpectedly didn’t have to eat snacks for dinner tonight.

It was simply because being carried by the cubs felt too good!

If they picked any more, they wouldn’t be able to finish it for dinner anyway. Having basically grasped the layout of the crops, Gu Duo lost all his competitive drive. In the subsequent third round, the family of three practically cruised through it, barely lifting a finger.

After the three rounds of competition concluded, every family had picked vegetables at least once. It was now past 5:00 PM, time to cook.

Although it was stated before the competition that families could only eat the vegetables they picked themselves, right before cooking, everyone still swapped ingredients.

Rather than fierce competition, the production team preferred to highlight heartwarming mutual assistance. Thus, not only did the staff refrain from stopping them, the cameramen also earnestly recorded these interactions.

Shen Qing might tease his cubs, but he was quite reliable when it counted. He took the initiative to help his cub trade the carrots.

“But this is the carrot little Ao-ao picked yourself after all, do you really not want to try it? Little Dad really wants to eat it.”

Ao-zai, his chubby face wiped clean again by Little Dad, blinked his eyes, seriously pondering Little Dad’s question.

Shen Qing added, “How about we trade one and keep one? We should let our other friends taste our Ao-zai’s carrot too!”

The way he phrased it made it sound as if the carrot Ao-zai harvested was incredibly precious, as if he had obtained a rare treasure.

This made Ao-zai, who originally regretted picking the carrot, suddenly feel like he hadn’t made a mistake after all…

Ao-zai couldn’t help puffing up his little chest again: “Okay, Ao!”

[Teacher Shen’s EQ is so high, he’s so good at coaxing cubs. A kid raised like this will definitely grow up confident.]

[Hater turned casual turned fan. I’m really curious how all those rumors about Shen Qing having low EQ even started before.]

[I feel like the main thing is respect. Joking aside, Teacher Shen probably genuinely feels that the carrot the cub pulled out is precious, which is why he said that. He really is so gentle qaq]

[Am I the only one who wants to laugh? Did you guys not notice, Teacher Shen didn’t do a single thing all afternoon, yet his family has the most vegetables! Having such capable cubs, of course the parent is happy.]

Ao-zai was very satisfied with Little Dad’s proposal. By coincidence, he knew that An Rong and his mother hadn’t dug up root vegetables due to lack of time, so they didn’t have any carrots.

Thus, Ao-zai hugged the carrot he dug up and wanted to trade with An Rong’s family.

And to ensure little An Rong and his mother could taste the carrot he dug up, Ao-zai specifically chose the larger one to bring over.

Having already changed into clean clothes—a short-sleeved top and little radish pants—Ao-zai, looking like a tender and beautiful white radish himself, appeared in front of An Rong’s family’s stove.

Ao-zai blinked at An Rong’s mother: “Auntie, do you want to trade carrots with Ao-zai!”

“Oh my, it’s Ao-zai!”

Mother An liked Ao-zai very much. She also knew Ao-zai had picked the carrots he disliked the most, so she agreed to trade with the cub on the spot.

Furthermore, to make it easier for Shen Qing to cook, she even took little An Rong on a trip specifically to see what other vegetables Shen Qing’s family needed.

Shen Qing, who was washing vegetables: “…”

Actually, he didn’t know how to cook.

But thankfully, the internet was well-developed nowadays. While eating watermelon earlier, Shen Qing hadn’t actually done nothing.

He had searched up how to make some basic home-style dishes.

So he decided to make a stir-fried mixed vegetable dish tonight.

“…How about this.” Mother An, assessing the situation, proposed: “Why don’t you wash the vegetables first, and I’ll help you stir-fry them later.”

“I couldn’t possibly impose.” Shen Qing glanced over at the director, his eyes darting as he suddenly realized this plan was feasible.

The cooking segment would just be filmed and live-streamed, but it didn’t involve any competition or winning/losing. The director probably wouldn’t object!

“How about this: let’s just merge our two families. I’ll wash, chop, and prep all the vegetables, you handle the stir-frying, and then we’ll eat together.”

His smile was like a spring breeze.

The introverted Mother An found it very hard to refuse.

The two families’ stoves merged, and the happiest of all were the cubs.

The cubs, who couldn’t sit still to begin with, went absolutely wild today. Shen Qing didn’t need to wash the vegetables at all; he was only responsible for fetching and delivering water. The several cubs gathered around a large basin, playing with the water while washing the vegetables.

The sun set in the west, and the evening was a bit muggy, indicating it might rain later tonight.

The ground still carried the dry heat from the sun’s rays. Playing with water at a time like this was incredibly fun, and the joyous, giggling laughter of the cubs continuously drifted from the water basin.

This made Song Yuke, who was originally helping her dad, unable to bear it anymore, and she ran over to wash vegetables with them.

Of course, washing vegetables was just an excuse.

Snuggling the cubs was the real goal!

An Rong, squatting by the water basin, was quiet, well-behaved, and adorable. Song Yuke loved him the moment she saw him and immediately gave his chubby cheeks a vigorous rubbing.

Beside him, Ao-zai, who had experienced Sister Ke-ke’s snuggles firsthand: …

After thinking it over, Ao-zai couldn’t get past his own conscience. Taking advantage of the moment Song Yuke turned her head to shout across to her dad, Ao-zai sneakily dragged little An Rong over… I’ll temporarily stash him next to my brother!

“?”

Little An Rong blinked his large, watery eyes and looked at Ao-zai in confusion: “Brother Ao?”

His voice was tiny and sweet.

“You can’t be this obedient when she wubs you… A-ya~” Not knowing how to educate little An Rong, Ao-zai frantically waved his hands and feet, even spitting out a string of foreign language.

Little An Rong was even more confused.

He tilted his head.

But he seemed to understand: Brother Ao meant he shouldn’t let others rub him so easily.

Blinking in bewilderment, An Rong touched his cheek with a wet little hand, not understanding why he couldn’t be touched.

But since Brother Ao said no, then no…

Little An Rong, his tender face covered in water streaks, nodded to show he understood.

“As long as you understand.” Ao-zai sighed in relief.

“Little Ao-ao.” At this moment, Song Yuke’s voice sounded from behind Ao-zai. At some point, she had already convinced her dad to let her play over here, and she seemed to have heard Ao-zai educating An Rong just now.

Song Yuke: “What have you been doing behind my back?”

“…A-ya.”

Ao-zai froze completely. His entire cub body turned around sluggishly, looking at Sister Ke-ke almost frame by frame: “Ao-zai, Ao-zai didn’t go behind your back… A-ya!”

The latter part of his voice shot up because Ao-zai was being rubbed.

Song Yuke indicated that just because she hadn’t touched him didn’t mean she didn’t intend to.

With a splat, Ao-zai, who looked like a little water radish, turned into a true water radish, pinned to the ground and rubbed until he was soaking wet.

However, since they were playing with water, none of them were dry to begin with. Over here, Ao-zai was being tickled by Sister Ke-ke, laughing uncontrollably. Over there, An Rong thought for a moment… He knew Brother Ao was being tickled by Sister Song because of him.

But he had also just promised Brother Ao not to let anyone rub him anymore…

After deliberating, An Rong proactively pounced over to save Brother Ao!

However, Sister Song, who was athletically gifted and older than the combined ages of both cubs, directly gave little An Rong a taste of a one-way trip.

—Both Ao-zai and An Rong were captured.

Beside them, the only one truly focused on washing vegetables, though already splashed soaking wet by the cubs beside him, Gu Duo: “…”

He wiped the water from his face and continued washing vegetables.

His brother liked playing, Gu Duo understood that, and he knew he shouldn’t interfere too much in his games with the other kids.

Only when his face was plastered with water yet again, and he felt Sister Ke-ke was going a bit too far, Gu Duo looked up and called out with a face full of exasperation: “Sister Ke-ke.”

“A-ya, I know, I know.” Song Yuke didn’t dare offend Gu Duo, so she respectfully stopped, stating she would let them off for today.

The live stream was already plastered with “hahaha”s.

[The Squirrel Alliance’s Waterloo of their cub lives.]

[Our Ao-zai is too loyal, there’s no helping it]

[Never mind Ke-ke, I want to rub these two little beans too qaq]

[Hahaha the Eldest Young Master is still the calmest one. Is he really only 7? It totally feels like he’s the one babysitting!]

Before they knew it, Mother An’s first dish was almost ready.

Hearing Shen Qing say that Ao-zai only disliked the taste of the carrot itself but didn’t reject derivatives made with other foods, Mother An mixed Ao-zai’s carrot with other vegetables to make vegetarian fried meatballs.

Today’s haul dictated that dinner would only consist of vegetables, no meat. So these flavorful vegetarian meatballs were highly welcomed.

Mother An worked quickly, mixing the batter and frying them up. In no time, she had fried a whole basin. The cubs, who had mostly finished washing the vegetables, were called over to eat some meatballs to line their stomachs.

Because the carrots were blended together with other vegetables in a food processor, Ao-zai couldn’t taste the carrots at all, and kept praising how delicious they were.

After eating a few, the cubs were dispatched by the adults to deliver fried meatballs to the other families.

Later, Family No. 6’s Mei Jing, who also didn’t know how to cook, simply defected to them as well.

When the director realized it had turned into chaos and these families couldn’t be separated, he simply waved his hand and proposed that everyone just cook and eat together…

Ultimately, the production team borrowed a few tables from neighboring farmers and pushed them together. The cooking fires of the several families also seemed to merge into one.

After bustling about for an afternoon and evening, everyone was hungry.

Even Shen Qing, who had binged on watermelon all afternoon, felt his stomach was empty after two trips to the bathroom.

Some parents took the lead in wolfing down their food, while some babies were naturally good eaters, like little An Rong and Ao-zai.

As the youngest cubs in the group, Ao-zai and An Rong ate entirely without anyone needing to take care of them. Their little cheeks puffed out one after the other. Though they didn’t eat fast, their chewing speed was definitely not slow.

Completely opposite to the two of them was Duoduo, sitting quietly next to Ao-zai eating his food.

It could even be said that Young Master Duo was the one who was out of place here, because his sitting posture was too standard, his dining etiquette was too standard, and even his chewing speed was standard!

A child like this, even when not surrounded by a bunch of people wolfing down their food, was incredibly conspicuous.

[…Although I know the Gu family young masters come from a prominent background, can this kind of aura really be cultivated in just a few years?]

[Not sure, poverty limits my imagination, maybe the young masters are just naturally this noble]

[Not entirely, look at little Ao-zai, he’s practically diving into his plate to feast! Hahaha]

Not only did the audience in the live stream find it magical, but the other parents and children also looked at Gu Duo as if they were looking at some aristocratic young master.

Someone asked Gu Duo: “Do you not like this food?”

Perhaps it was because he didn’t like it that he was so calm while eating.

The vast majority of the food on the table was made by Mother An. Not only were her videos great, but her cooking was truly exceptional; Mother An was very confident in this.

But now, being evaluated by Duoduo, even though he was a child, Mother An instinctively felt a bit nervous.

Gu Duo shook his head and said, “I don’t dislike it, it’s very delicious.”

After saying that, he politely looked at Mother An, who played the main role, nodded to this very impressive auntie, and said, “Thank you for your hard work, Auntie.”

“Then Gu Duo, is there anything you don’t like to eat?”

Because Gu Duo was silent most of the time—silent and powerful—there were many children who were curious and interested in him.

This question was asked by the older sister of the Fu twin sisters.

Hearing someone call his name to ask a question, Gu Duo didn’t ignore it. Instead, he thought about it very seriously.

Then he answered: “There isn’t anything I particularly dislike.”

“No way, you have to think of one.” The Fu sisters were relentless. In their eyes, how could someone not have something they disliked!

Left with no choice, Gu Duo thought about it again.

He took a bit long to think, completely contradicting his usual smart image, as if he truly didn’t know what he disliked.

In reality, most foods made no difference to Gu Duo. As long as it kept him from going hungry, he liked it.

Only after a long while did he manage to summarize his preferences: “I don’t like sweet things.”

“Like what?”

Gu Duo: “Ice cream.”

“Then what is your favorite food?” someone else asked.

Afraid Gu Duo would have to think for a long time again, the person asking simply added: “Just in this lifetime, what is the most delicious thing you’ve eaten so far?”

This time, Gu Duo didn’t hesitate and answered directly: “The ice cream Little Dad bought.”

[This, hahaha, how can the Eldest Young Master have double standards!]

[Ice Cream: Bet you didn’t expect it, it was me all along :)]

[How much does Duoduo love his Little Dad! His least favorite is ice cream, but his favorite is the ice cream Dad bought… I’m crying from the sweetness!]

On camera, Gu Duo was asked again how ice cream could be his least favorite, yet the ice cream Little Dad bought was his favorite.

Gu Duo touched the jade clasp he always wore on his chest, and said very solemnly: “Secret.”

The first time in his and his brother’s lives that they safely and securely ate a dessert completely belonging to them, without it being snatched away, without being bullied or mocked, was when Little Dad bought them ice cream cake.

At that time, Gu Duo was still nervously guarding against this Little Dad, who had suddenly changed, proactively returned his snatched jade clasp, and bought them ice cream.

He was confused as to why the other person suddenly stopped violently beating him and his brother, and stopped preventing them from studying.

Back then, he hadn’t really tasted the flavor of that ice cream very carefully.

But he deeply remembered, it was a mix of taro red bean and chocolate flavors.

At the very bottom was a base of delicious caramel biscuit, topped with vanilla-flavored ice cream, and additionally decorated with hard chocolates shaped like pine trees and chubby snowmen.

It was exceptionally beautiful and exquisite.

He remembered Little Dad giving them the only two large chocolate pieces.

And since then, Little Dad had always been their Little Dad, never changing again.

They also frequently ate desserts together now.

In that bright, warm living room. Gradually, as a family.

Memories like this, Gu Duo didn’t want to tell anyone else.

This was a secret.

Just like he always remembered Little Dad’s sudden change back then, but he, who was used to understanding and controlling everything, would not ask.

And he would never speak of it to outsiders.