Chapter 39

Just like that, the fathers headed to the fields to transplant rice seedlings under the reluctant (RuoRuo: ?) gazes of their babies. As for the kids, after going through the training of saying goodbye to their fathers three times in just two short days, they had gradually gotten used to life without Dad at home. After all...even RuoRuo, the youngest sister, wasn't crying or making a fuss.

Comment: What happened to the "Dad's Home" show?

"Babies," Xuan Chuan said, facing the kids' surprised looks. "The nearby villagers have ingredients waiting for you that you can obtain by completing tasks before dinner."

The few little ones looked up at him, with not a hint of excitement on their faces.

Xuan Chuan: ...

"Ahem, the baby who completes the tasks first not only gets the final ingredient reward, but also a reward given out by the village chief!"

A reward?

The little ones were a bit more interested now and asked: "What is it?"

"The baby who completes the tasks first can take back one of their favorite toys!"

"Wow!"

"Then I'm going to do the tasks!"

"Me too!"

The little peas clamored to compete.

Only then did Xuan Chuan's face show a smile as he announced, "So, I declare that the treasure hunt stage officially begins!"

"Toys, toys, I want toys!" Fan Jin took the lead and ran off, with the other little ones following close behind, except...Ji Ruochu, calmly drinking honey water.

"Doesn't RuoRuo want her own toy?" Xuan Chuan asked curiously.

Toys? Things for little kids, could she be tempted by those?

The little one hugged her milk bottle again and started "glug glug"-ing away. She looked just like someone from ancient times who got drunk to drown their sorrows.

With no other choice, the director's team had to up the temptation: "RuoRuo, your bamboo mat futon is also within the reward range!"

My futon?

Ji Ruochu blinked her eyes. Thinking of the somewhat hard wooden board bed in her room last night, she slowly put down the milk bottle and got up from the small stool.

Seeing everyone looking at her, she patted the nonexistent dust on her pants in a pretentious manner and said arrogantly:

"This task looks pretty fun!"

After saying that, she hung the milk bottle rope around her neck, skipped merrily towards where her little buddies had gone off to with the small basket on her back. Everyone: ...

[RuoRuo: Whether it's bamboo mat or not is a small matter. I just want to play the game!]

[Ji Ruochu: Hey, it's just another fun, carefree day!]

[To be reasonable, RuoRuo, if your little short legs had moved a bit slower, I could've convinced myself to believe your nonsense.]

The show staff held in their laughter and followed Ji Ruochu's footsteps. The executive director's side also breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, there was still this little rascal who cared. Otherwise, they were afraid a large number of wonderful footage would be lost this time.

That's right, the whole program team had great confidence in Ji Ruochu's effect on the show.

And Ji Ruochu didn't disappoint their expectations either. She had barely taken two steps before suddenly changing direction and going against her buddies who were traveling together.

"RuoRuo, aren't you going to find your brothers and sisters?" The staff member asked somewhat puzzledly.

"I feel like the tasks over there must all be taken already. Let's go this way." Ji Ruochu, with bursting competitive spirit, pointed to the small path on the other side with a grin.

Her two little tiger teeth instantly gave her a sense of a little witch.

After saying that, the little one trotted briskly towards the back, and started her search mode for the tasks.

Unknown to her, her actions almost made the directors panic, because—

"You guys want pork?" The villager A played by a show staff member smiled and asked the two little peas in front of him, "Then you'll have to buy it with money. Do you have money?"

The little one shook her head.

"Then there's no way..." Villager A waved his hand dismissively, as if wanting to shoo them away.

"Uncle, we can help you with work!" Fan Jin reacted quickly.

This scene happened almost simultaneously. No matter which household the few little ones went to, they were all told that without money, they could only barter, and would have to add a bit of labor.

Considering the kids' strength, the director team set the task chain to max three loops. To get A's item, they would need to get B's item plus a small task. To get B's item, they would need C's item plus an even simpler task.

And to increase watchability, the program team set C's item to be in the same household. In other words, no matter how the kids ran around, they would eventually have to obediently gather at the fixed C household and complete the game together.

To be honest, this setup was very stable. It tricked the kids but also increased interest, preventing the kids from making too much trouble.

But there was always an exception. No matter how stable the program team set the segments, they couldn't stand up against a protagonist who didn't play by the rules!

For example, the RuoRuo baby who was the first to arrive at the fixed task point right now.

"Granny, how much are the cakes your family sells?" The four-and-a-half-year-old carrot head leaned on the small table that came up to her chin and asked nasally.

Staff: ...Did this go a bit fast?

"Ah, this cake!" The latter reacted quickly, patting her fake wig head and reluctantly following the storyline:

"This cake, granny made it herself. It's not worth any money. As long as you help granny with a favor, I'll give you a cake. How about it?"

Ji Ruochu nodded with an extremely well-behaved look. "It's like this...granny wants to sew some clothes, but her eyesight is poor. Can you help granny thread the needle and line? Granny will give you a cake for that. How about it?"

Ji Ruochu followed the staff's hand and only then noticed there were actually five needles and five different colored threads on the table not far away.

Ji Ruochu looked closely: Goodness, those needles on the table were longer than her own fingers, and the needle eyes were exceptionally big too. This granny's eyesight must be very poor!

Although she complained inwardly, she still followed the instructions.

Seeing this, the other staff couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Fortunately, everything was still going according to plan. It was just a bit ahead of schedule, but no problem. How old was this kid? Sewing and needlework required meticulous effort, there was no way she could finish that quickly, it'd take at least a few minutes—

"Granny, I'm done."

!!!

So fast?!

What just happened?

Didn't she just walk over?

Comments at this time:

[Help, this needle eye is bigger than even my heart! The program team isn't going easy on her, are they?]

[Hahaha, look at the staff's expressions, full of "she's got me stumped".]

[Laughing to death, the other kids are still finding their way, and our RuoRuo already succeeded at the first task.]

"Ah, this..." The staff member paused, and his smile became forced. He stiffly pointed at the big cakes wrapped up in bags on the table, "Thank you little one. You can take a cake from the table."

Ji Ruochu blinked and asked, "Granny, I don't like eating cakes. Can I exchange it for something else?"

"No exchanging allowed. The only things granny has are these cakes. But if you go three houses down, Aunt Li there really likes the cakes I make. You can use this to exchange with her for three eggs."

Ji Ruochu nodded, tiptoeing to reach for the cake. She also understood the program team's tricks now—it was just the style of game tasks.

Too bad the cake was a bit heavy and the table was a bit high. She had some trouble getting it. In the end, the staff couldn't stand watching and enthusiastically helped her put the cake into the small basket on her back.

The accident happened at this moment, because this cake was so big and heavy, about the size of the little one's two faces.

Therefore, as soon as the staff let go, Ji Ruochu with the small basket on her back did a tactical backward lean.

"Ah!"

The staff next to her were frightened and immediately went to reach out to support her, but were still a step too late. With pitter-pattering little steps, the little milk baby with the basket on her back went "plop"—and sat on the ground.

The cake was completely undamaged.

The small basket was completely undamaged.

The little milk baby's butt was a little sore.

Pfft—

Some staff couldn't help laughing out loud, and the laughter spread through the whole yard. The NPC granny behind the table laughed so hard her fake wig became crooked.

The live studio was also filled with "Hahaha".