Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Wen Cishu didn’t expect what game the production team was playing.

However, many viewers had already caught on from Xiao Qi and Zhou Xu’s live stream.

Earlier, Xiao Qi had unexpectedly spotted his mother at home.

Since Zhou Xu didn’t have time to cover his mouth, Xiao Qi asked in his baby voice, “Mommy, why are you at home?”

Zhou Xu immediately scooped up the little one and carried him away.

Xiao Qi kept waving his tiny hands, calling out, “Mommy, hug~~”

“Aww poor Xiao Qi~ Teacher Zhou, just let Mommy hug him! We can pretend we didn’t see it!”

“So the other parent is at home too! What about the other three families?”

“Then that look from the wife earlier—does that mean he noticed Ming Zai’s dad?!”

“Too bad Ming Zai didn’t notice, or he’d definitely have exposed it like Xiao Qi!”

Back in the living room, Uncle Xu came over and handed them the production team’s blue task envelope.

Bao Yiming took the thick envelope and opened it, reading the instructions together with his little dad.

“Use the money in the envelope to purchase ingredients outside. Note: You cannot use your own money. After checkout, you must photograph the shopping list. Important: The little one is in charge~”

Bao Yiming looked up, puzzled. “Little Dad, aren’t we just filming our daily life at home? Why is there a task like this?”

Wen Cishu pulled him close, laughing. “Have you ever thought about what Daddy’s daily routine is like?”

Bao Yiming tilted his head, counting seriously on his fingers. “Eat breakfast, rest, do tai chi, rest, read and rest, nap, read and rest, eat dinner, playtime with me, get ready for bed, listen to my stories, sleep.”

Wen Cishu burst out laughing.

“Oh!”

Bao Yiming frowned, thinking hard before suddenly gasping in delight as he remembered something different.

“Wash hair? Drink herbal medicine? Visit with Grandpa Xu and Grandma Zhong? Oh, and yesterday you helped Big Daddy with work. Little Dad, you work so hard~”

“I can understand the rest, but why is there a ‘rest’ between lunch and naptime? And why rest again after waking up from the nap? I’m so confused.”

“I get it—people with poor health are like this. Eating and sleeping can be exhausting, so they need breaks to recover. Makes perfect sense.”

“Playing with you isn’t hard work? But helping your Big Daddy with work once counts as hard work?”

“Aww~~ Hubby still has to accompany him at work? Can’t handle it, that one line was just so sweet.”

Wen Cishu took the task card and flipped through it, finding no additional instructions. “But this task seems pretty simple.”

Bao Yiming cuddled up affectionately against his little dad’s shoulder. “I’ve never gone grocery shopping with Little Dad before~ Let’s go right away!”

The father-son pair changed into going-out clothes. Just as they were about to leave, Wen Cishu asked three important questions: “Yi Ming, do you know which supermarket we should go to? How do we get there? And how do we get back after shopping?”

Bao Yiming was stunned. “Isn’t the driver taking us? He probably knows where the supermarket is, right?”

With that, he turned and ran off, yelling for help: “Grandpa Xu—”

Uncle Xu waved his hand, indicating he couldn't be involved in this matter.

Bao Yiming stopped dead in his tracks, his amber eyes widening in surprise.

Wen Cishu said, "Let me look it up on my phone. There must be a supermarket nearby."

He quickly found one. "Let's go."

Bao Yiming asked again, "Can the driver uncle take us? Grandpa Xu?"

This time, Uncle Xu nodded.

"It's just grocery shopping. Why are you two acting like this is some wilderness survival challenge?"

"The producers must've thought this through."

"Definitely. Otherwise, what kind of challenge would that even be if Zhou Xu took Xiao Qi grocery shopping?"

Zhou Xu: "That’s called daily life, not a challenge."

Wen Cishu and Bao Yiming climbed into the black sedan.

He told the driver, Uncle Liu, the location of the supermarket.

In the rearview mirror, Uncle Liu had a complicated expression.

"What's wrong?" Wen Cishu asked. "Isn't this a supermarket?"

Bao Yiming also leaned forward. "Uncle, you okay?"

Uncle Liu shook his head and smiled. "I'll drive."

The father and son shared a look, unsure what was going on.

Viewers were left even more baffled.

Soon enough, the car arrived at a supermarket in a shopping plaza.

They put on their hats and masks, ready to get out when Wen Cishu received a call from the production team.

"Shut off the camera?"

Wen Cishu shot Bao Yiming a suspicious glance. "Then who will film? Or is recording paused for now?"

The staff member replied warmly, "A crew member will take over filming~ Don’t worry."

"Okay." Wen Cishu explained the situation to his son.

Bao Yiming angled the camera to show both himself and his dad, waving. "Bye-bye~ I'm gonna seriously go shopping with Daddy now~~~~"

You could practically feel his excitement.

Before viewers could process this, the livestream cut to another angle—a handheld shot approaching the black sedan.

Everyone assumed it was to capture more interactions between father and son, but as the camera neared the backseat, there was Bao Yiming's shocked little face.

He looked up, blinking slowly as it dawned on him, his long lashes fluttering like sunbeams, the pure shock in his eyes coming through crystal clear to viewers.

He opened his mouth to speak but suddenly snapped it shut, as if he'd seen a cue.

"What's wrong? What's so weird?"

"Is the photographer someone we know? Huh? What's going on? I'm so curious!"

Bao Yiming turned to tug at the person beside him, whispering excitedly, "Daddy~ Daddy~ Look!"

"What is it?"

Wen Cishu was busy organizing the camera gear, planning to leave it in the car instead of bringing it into the supermarket, so he didn’t pay much attention to the person outside, thinking it was just a crew photographer.

Urged by his son, he glanced outside.

A hand clad in black leather gloves slowly pulled the car door open, revealing long, toned legs outside.

Wen Cishu’s attention fixed on the gloves—why did they seem so familiar? But before he could ponder, the man bending down gave him a little jolt.

Bao Tingyuan, wearing a black mask, raised an eyebrow at him, then gestured for them to step out of the car.

Wen Cishu chuckled quietly.

—Was this the production team’s mysterious arrangement?

"It has to be Ming Zai’s big dad! Mommy’s expression totally gives it away, his smile is so warm~"

"Wow, finally! Is Ming Zai’s big dad filming Mommy and Ming Zai?"

Wen Cishu and Bao Yiming got out of the car, fighting the urge to look in the photographer’s direction.

Bao Tingyuan had also changed into a casual gray jacket for the outing, his face covered by a black mask as he walked behind them.

Bao Yiming tiptoed and whispered, "Daddy, the production team’s so sneaky, right? They hid it from us on purpose!"

Wen Cishu nodded. "Yep, we’re mad at them now."

Their voices were just loud enough to reach Bao Tingyuan’s ears.

Behind his glasses and mask, he watched them huddled together with a faint smile.

As they entered the supermarket, Bao Yiming noticed customers pushing carts of different sizes ahead and asked, "Daddy, should we get one too?"

Wen Cishu whispered back.

Bao Yiming turned with a grin. "Photographer Uncle, could you push the cart for us, please?"

Bao Tingyuan nodded and went to fetch one.

When he returned, deadpan, pushing a huge shopping cart, Wen Cishu couldn’t help but laugh, pretending to ignore him.

"Wow, from this filming angle, Ming Zai looks so small, and Mommy seems even more slender and tall… Is this what big dad sees every day? So lucky!"

"Total dad POV—feels like my wife and Ming Zai are both mine!! (squeals!)"

The three entered the supermarket.

Bao Yiming dashed excitedly toward the snack aisle but was quickly reeled in by his daddy.

Wen Cishu said, "Sweetheart, being in charge of the money means buying real food first."

"Ooh!" Bao Yiming came to a halt and started looking around for where to buy food.

But as they passed the outdoor section, colorful tents caught his attention.

"Wow! Dad, let's buy a tent and set it up in my room tonight."

He hugged his dad's arm with a blissful expression. "We can sleep inside together, okay?"

Just imagining the scene felt warm and wonderful.

Wen Cishu naturally thought his son's suggestion was great, but he pointed at the price tag and regretfully reminded him, "That's too expensive for us."

Bao Yiming's face fell.

Before he could stay disappointed for even two seconds, an arm reached over, silently took down the long box of the tent, and handed it to another shopping cart behind them.

The father and son watched the tent move into the other cart, and they simultaneously understood the "photographer’s" intention—their eyes lit up with delight.

Bao Tingyuan gave a slight nod forward, signaling them to keep moving.

"Hehe!" Bao Yiming could no longer hold back, letting out a gleeful chuckle.

"Did you see how they both turned their heads together just now? So cute!"

"I'm calling it out! There's a group of guests blatantly cheating here!"

"Turns out Big Dad isn't just the photographer but also the wallet, hahaha!"

Careful not to overspend, Wen Cishu took out his phone and carefully calculated the cost of every item placed in the cart, occasionally reminding the little monkey.

"Pick the best value eggs, not the ten yuan ones."

"Oh oh!"

Bao Yiming hurriedly put back the four fresh white eggs, looking somewhat reluctant. "But these look so cute."

Wen Cishu gave him a knowing look.

Bao Yiming immediately understood and obediently put them down without another word, continuing forward.

Then, the person behind the "photographer" picked up the egg carton and placed it in the shopping cart.

"Wow, Dad, there are live crabs for sale over there!"

Bao Yiming pointed at the transparent glass tank ahead.

The whole wall was lined with different transparent compartments, each filled with all kinds of live fish and shrimp.

"I'm going to take a look!"

As he ran off excitedly to admire them, Wen Cishu stood in front of the refrigerated section, searching for affordable fruit.

He was carefully checking the prices when suddenly, someone familiar stood beside him.

Wen Cishu pretended not to notice, trying to ignore him.

But when he saw him reach for a box of fresh blueberries, he automatically reached out and rested his hand on his forearm, softly saying, "We don’t need these—we still have some at home."

The moment he said it, he stiffened, avoiding Bao Tingyuan’s gaze, and hurried away, calling out, "Yi Ming? Where are you?"

—Save little daddy!

Bao Tingyuan placed the blueberries into the shopping cart behind him and pushed the cart to follow.

The audience also saw Ming Zai's little daddy floating away in the distance and the unhurried camera perspective following along.

"Hmm? Who were you talking to just now, Mommy? So adorable! Mwah mwah!"

"A Goddess's incredibly tender moment—that lifted gaze paired with that tone, I'm completely melting~"

"Ming Zai's dad! I'm so jealous! Give me your wife already!"

"Look at how composed Dad is~ Quick, catch up, your wife's running away!"

"I went to Little Sweet Potato to find photos of Ming Zai's dad from the back and side—perfect for pairing with the livestream, so delicious~~"