Even Tang Can was somewhat impressed that Gu Beisheng had successfully collected all eight points.
The ladder was not particularly difficult to climb, and there were safety ropes around the children plus a fall net beneath them. But it was much like looking down from a skyscraper: even behind secure glass, absolute safety did not stop a person’s head from spinning and legs from weakening.
Tang Can could climb without reacting because he was an adult who did not fear heights. Gu Beisheng was only four and a half, yet he could complete this sort of challenge. As expected of the novel’s male protagonist, he practically came equipped with an overpowered-protagonist bonus.
And the production team was truly devious. They had placed the event requiring the most physical strength at the very end. The children had already hiked into the mountain, spent half an hour digging ginseng, spent twenty minutes fishing, then walked another winding mountain trail for more than half an hour before arriving here. Most of their energy was already gone.
Otherwise, five-year-old Youyou would not have earned only four points. Of course, the fact that he insisted on wearing sunglasses also contributed.
His hands and feet were already weak while climbing. Then a branch caught his sunglasses and he instinctively reached out to save them. Just like that, he fell away from the ladder and ended his attempt…
As for the twins’ “excellent result” of two points, Cen Jiaojiao deserved enormous credit.
Zhengzheng was jealous that his older sister had harvested the most valuable five-pronged ginseng, and he was unhappy that his mother kept praising her, so he demanded to take the final challenge himself.
In fact, the production team had always given special consideration to the twins’ group. They had received bonus opportunities in the room-allocation game on the first night, and in all three rounds today, both children were allowed to participate with only the higher score counting.
But Zhengzheng simultaneously looked down on his sister’s climbing ability and feared that she would beat him again and steal the spotlight. He threw himself into a tantrum, rolled around, and refused to let his sister climb. Then the two siblings started fighting again.
Most families with multiple children could not escape the iron law that “the crying child gets the milk.” When both of Cen Jiaojiao’s children were good at crying and causing scenes, the more troublesome younger son naturally received more indulgence from the whole family.
Unable to withstand his tantrum, Cen Jiaojiao habitually asked her daughter to yield. Zhengzheng would climb first; if his score was poor, then Aiai could go afterward.
This time, however, Aiai refused. Even after Zhengzheng earned only two points, she would not participate in the competition.
Cen Jiaojiao was so overwhelmed she practically wanted to search the ground for her missing head. She soothed her son, who was bawling after losing, while simultaneously coaxing her daughter to compete. Watching this, Tang Can—the professional kindergarten teacher—could only shake his head.
But his previous life as a kindergarten teacher had already exhausted every ounce of concern he possessed. In this life, there was no possibility he would rush forward to interfere. Exactly: respect other people’s destinies and abandon the compulsion to save everyone.
If he was going to help anyone, he would help his own little future villain.
Tang Can was thinking precisely this when the toddler, who was preparing to put on the safety harness, suddenly stopped and pointed at his left hand. “Daddy… aren’t you wrapping it?”
That was what cartoons always showed. Injuries had to be bandaged. Serious injuries even got carried away on white stretchers. Bad Dad’s wound was still leaking pale yellow fluid…
Tang Can immediately put on a deeply gratified smile. “It’ll heal faster if I leave it open to the air for a while before wrapping it. Dengdeng, don’t worry about Daddy. When you climb, just watch your footing carefully and don’t get hurt. Daddy has money now, so we can always find another guesthouse to stay in.”
After saying that, he used his right hand to rub the child’s fluffy head and sighed inwardly. Even after turning dark, this child still knew how to care about him. How obedient and sweet must he have been before he darkened?
As the child listened, he transformed back into a wooden statue. He nodded blankly, and not a single word Tang Can said afterward entered his mind.
If he took first place, he could live somewhere warm and eat until he was full. In the past, he had never had a choice, but now that he did, he absolutely had to be first. He loved being first far too much!
Still, Dengdeng truly was tiny. Although he was the youngest child on the parenting show, the twins were only half a year older and yet looked more than half a head taller. It was difficult for anyone to place overly high expectations on him.
A staff member conducted a pre-competition interview and asked whether he wanted to earn eight points like big brother Beisheng. The child tilted his head back and looked toward the highest red flag, then nodded with complete seriousness.
The comments instantly melted:
【Hahahaha, Dengdeng agreed so seriously. But this time I’m siding with Tang Can too. Baby, as long as you don’t get hurt, that’s enough. [starry eyes]】
【I never noticed before that Dengdeng really is such a mini little baby. How did Tang Can raise this child? He made our baby so skinny and tiny!】
【Auntie’s precious sweetheart has such huge ambitions! Too good, too good! Baby, you can definitely get eight points and win first place!】
【This is hilarious. Beisheng can earn eight points because he’s received professional training since he was little and his physical ability is far above ordinary kids. What is a tiny little shrimp like Dengdeng supposed to compete with?】
【Exactly. Certain mom-fans need to wake up. Your kid only has a pretty face.】
【To be fair, everyone calling Dengdeng a divine-looking child should calm down too. He just has the advantage of being mixed-race. Mixed children are often prettiest as toddlers and their peak doesn’t last long. If you want truly god-tier looks, Beisheng is the one to watch. He’ll definitely grow into a top-tier 185-centimeter handsome guy…】
The internet was arguing fiercely, while staff at the location had already begun preparing to wrap up. Everyone assumed the tiny child in front of them would manage two or three meters at most, and they were ready to finish this segment quickly.
Although everyone communicated mostly through glances and whispers, the child had been accustomed to reading faces and moods since he was very young. He was especially sensitive to shifts in the emotions around him.
The staff auntie interviewing him put little gloves on his hands. The child walked step by step toward the rope ladder like a tiny wooden figure. Although a fierce desire to win burned inside him, being looked down on before the competition still left him somewhat dejected.
At that moment, a loud, furious cheer suddenly thundered from behind him. “DENGDENG!!! DADDY’S BEST BABY!!! YOU CAN DO IT!!! BE SAFE!!! WHEN YOU COME DOWN, WE’LL GO EAT CAULIFLOWER MUSHROOM!!! GO, GO, GO!!!!”
The child whipped his head around and met Bad Dad’s gaze five steps away. Tang Can was waving more than half a kilogram of kidney-tonic tea like an overenthusiastic cheerleader.
The child nodded outwardly but complained inside: He didn’t even wish for me to get first place. Sure enough, he’s a bad guy.
Yet when he turned back toward the rope ladder soaring into the sky, his little shoulders straightened even more. With one powerful jump from the ground, he grabbed a high section of rope with both hands like a tiny monkey. Then his lower body swung upward, easily skipping three rungs at once.
He pulled against the side ropes of the ladder for leverage while angling both feet outward to maximize contact with the rungs. His little bottom stuck slightly backward, his whole body moving like a spring that repeatedly compressed and released. Pull, bounce, pull, bounce—he climbed rapidly upward.
The scene fell silent at first. Then came one sharp intake of breath after another. Everyone thought the same thing: What do you mean “like a little monkey”? He was practically a little monkey in the flesh!
They had not seen signs of it anywhere else, but his tree-climbing ability possessed a startling amount of ancestral talent!
Tang Can did not react at first either. For a moment he almost suspected that beneath the future villain’s skin was secretly the Monkey King. But after thinking carefully… there was actually a clear explanation. This ability had probably been trained into him by the original Tang Can…
Not long after being weaned, the child had been left to survive on his own inside the villa. The original scumbag had possessed no heart whatsoever. Even the food he bought and brought home was divided into tiers: expensive items were placed high up, cheap ones lower down.
The cheap food allotted to the child was rationed too. Fortunately, the original Tang Can never remembered the exact quantities of the expensive items he bought. The perpetually hungry little child had therefore developed the agility to climb all over the place.
This was not some exceptional inherited talent. It had been forced out of him for the sake of staying alive.
Everyone else had already begun clapping and cheering, but Tang Can’s fists clenched hard enough to turn rigid.
Dengdeng also suffered from insufficient stamina, but hardship of this level meant almost nothing to him. He gritted his teeth and drove himself upward. When he could no longer bounce, he climbed little by little. The second half held almost no suspense, and he successfully pulled down the final little red flag.
His legs trembled all the way down from exhaustion, but he still relied on himself to inch down to the final rung.
His little foot was cautiously feeling for the ground when Tang Can suddenly appeared and scooped him directly into his arms. The child’s body stiffened sharply, but he soon relaxed, collapsing into the warm embrace that carried a faint pleasant scent while continuing to pant heavily.
Dengdeng’s fans in the comments went completely feral:
【AAAAAH MY PRECIOUS DENGDENG IS AMAZING!!!】
【Holy crap, eight points! Dengdeng is my god!!!】
【Baby, so you were actually a sweet, beautiful little monkey! I love you! Auntie wants kisses!】
【@Tang Yichen fans, where are the idiots who were dragging our precious Dengdeng earlier? Sorry not sorry, our baby didn’t just get eight points—he has thirteen total and WON FIRST PLACE!】
【I calculated the time. Dengdeng was two minutes faster than Beisheng!!】
【Looks like that certain family’s noble professional childhood training isn’t all that impressive. They can’t even beat a skinny little “shrimp.” [shrug]】
【And the people saying Dengdeng’s cute phase will be short and he’ll grow ugly—how about you turn into a pig first! Did you really think Dengdeng is like Tang Can, that guy with no fans? Anyone who bad-mouths our Dengdeng is dead!】
At the livestream location, Tang Can’s extravagant praise did not fall behind either.
After his habitual storm of compliments, Tang Can revealed some genuine emotion. “Dengdeng was incredible. Daddy is very proud. But being this incredible is really hard work, so it’s also okay not to be incredible sometimes. Do you understand?”
Seeing the little child in his arms once again give that wooden, obedient nod, Tang Can knew he had not listened at all. Tang Can was not in a hurry. How could three years of harm be erased in three days?
“Thank you, precious Dengdeng. Tonight Daddy gets to enjoy luxury because of you!” Tang Can ruffled the child’s fluffy head several more times and could not resist breaking into song. “My baby is clever, brave, and strong; I’m so jealous of myself~ Hahahaha!~”
“Hot-spring villa! Here we come!~”
At that, light involuntarily appeared in the child’s eyes, though he struggled hard to keep the corners of his lips flat.
Tang Can was once again overwhelmed by the child trying desperately to pretend he did not care. He ruffled the fluffy head two more times and still did not feel satisfied.
Ah! He really wanted to bury his face into that fragrant, soft little neck, cheeks, and tummy and inhale to his heart’s content!
*
After Dengdeng’s competition ended, Cen Jiaojiao was shocked but did not forget to keep coaxing her daughter. This time, however, Aiai was unusually firm and refused to climb no matter what anyone said.
So the twins’ group ultimately kept Zhengzheng’s two-point result, bringing their three-round total to nine. Apart from Beisheng’s twelve and Dengdeng’s thirteen, Little Youyou, the sunglasses-wearing cool kid who had performed steadily but unremarkably, also had nine.
First and second place were obvious. The other two groups were tied, however, which made everyone wonder how the broken wooden shack mentioned for last place yesterday would be assigned. Would both families have to squeeze into it together?
At the awards stage, Tang Can and Dengdeng unquestionably won the hot-spring villa. Tang Yichen and Beisheng received an ordinary hotel room one tier below.
As for the other two tied groups, Wei Kai deliberately kept everyone in suspense again, saying the production team needed another meeting to discuss the special situation.
Originally, Cen Jiaojiao had been too exhausted to want to venture deeper into the mountain. She had thought earning a little over one hundred yuan by reselling the ginseng would be enough. But now there was still a risk that she would have to remain in the mountain and sleep in a broken wooden hut. Gritting her teeth, she decided to go deeper and gamble on her luck.
If they got lucky and found another five-pronged ginseng, she could simply pay for a hotel herself.
The other three groups all planned to try their luck farther inside. Tang Can, without question, chose a different route down the mountain.
Wei Kai naturally did not want to let a conversation magnet like Tang Can escape so easily. Especially once they were deeper in the mountain, the more exhausted the guests became, the less energy they would have to hide their emotions. With a little provocation, they might even openly tear into one another.
“You really won’t try? If you get lucky and find Ganoderma, you could sell it for at least two or three hundred. Cauliflower mushroom is so expensive. Even if you take your child down now, you won’t be able to buy much…”
Tang Can held the child, whose battery had completely run out, and tugged at his lips. “Thanks for the blessing. If I really have that kind of luck, I probably don’t need to go deeper into the mountain to find it. I’ll save myself the effort.”
The guide beside them also tried persuading him. “You’ll hardly ever find any around the outer area. If you want Ganoderma, you still need to go farther in. Put in the effort and you’ll eventually…”
Wei Kai signaled Cen Jiaojiao with his eyes. Cen Jiaojiao looked utterly unimpressed. “I’m not persuading him. The fewer people, the better. I’d rather pick all the Ganoderma myself.”
The child listened with intense temptation, but Tang Can merely coughed and gave a weak smile. “Effort is for people who came prepared. I didn’t, so I’m withdrawing first~”
Before he had even finished speaking, he was already carrying the child in front, kidney-tonic tea hanging behind him, racing down the mountain after the old guide.
In truth, he still had some energy left, but this amount of exercise had already reached his personal limit in this lifetime. He could not add another drop.
Besides, it might have been fine if Wei Kai had not tried stopping him. The more the man persuaded him, the more suspicious Tang Can became. That trap-loving director almost certainly had bad intentions. In that case, doing the exact opposite was probably the correct choice.
Just as he thought this, Tang Can abruptly stopped and grabbed the old man in front of him, whose pace had been growing faster and faster. “Uncle, what’s that red thing over by the tree stump?”
Without even looking, the old guide reflexively denied it loudly. “There’s nothing there! You saw wrong!”
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!!!
Tang Can had originally thought it looked a little far away and could not be bothered to move, but when he saw the old guide’s eyes flicker, he smiled. “Now that you say that, you’ve got me interested.”
