Back to Three Years Old: Crushing Scumbags on a Parenting Reality Show 251

Chapter 251

The mountain night was dark, quiet, and… oppressive.

In the makeshift parking lot, shrouded in darkness, the lone figure in the car could only find solace in the faint starlight filtering through the windows.

Wei Maomao leaned back in the passenger seat, looking out the half-open window.

The summer night air, hot and stifling, made her restless.

Time had passed so quickly, saying goodbye to Yan Yan at the hot pot restaurant, entering the secluded villa with Zhao Can, it felt like yesterday. Half a month had passed, the show nearing its end, the final, inevitable segment of every dating show.

This show, which she had joined as a placeholder, it wasn’t what she had expected.

So many unexpected things.

Like Yan Yan’s sudden appearance, and those hurried words in the restroom.

Choose Yan Yan, every time.

She had kept that promise, that strange request.

From the villa to the factory, from the school to the park, then to this remote mountain village, whenever there was a choice, Wei Maomao chose Yan Yan. And every time… Yan Yan also chose her.

They had solved puzzles together, raced go-karts, passed notes in class, explored street food stalls, fed animals in the park, endured cheesy 4D movies and underwhelming aquariums, fished and treasure-hunted in the mountains, watched the sunrise from a mountain peak…

From the city to the countryside, in less than half a month, they had won and lost together.

They had shared bunk beds in a school dorm when they were short on red strings, enjoyed a luxurious stay in a traditional guesthouse when they had plenty, they had splurged on street food with an unlimited budget, and shared plain steamed buns with pickles when they couldn’t even catch a fish.

They were always together, sharing so many experiences, sometimes Wei Maomao even felt like this wasn’t a reality show, but a beautiful dream.

But shows ended, and dreams always ended.

After all this, sitting here, having made her final choice, waiting to be chosen, Wei Maomao still didn’t know why Yan Yan had asked her to do this.

But… it was still strange, this final choice, it was different.

Every dating show, no matter how unconventional, ended with the same question: “Leave together, or leave alone?”

After watching the sunrise, after their last meal in the mountain village, the guests were separated and taken away for their final interviews and their final decisions.

After half a month together, had they found someone they wanted to continue their journey with? The program team believed everyone had their answer.

Wei Maomao didn’t know about the others.

For her, the question was… would Yan Yan still want to be chosen by her?

This program team was truly strict.

Except for that brief conversation in the restroom before the multiplayer game, they hadn’t had a single chance to talk privately, not even in the school, the park, or the vast mountains.

The question “Why?” had been weighing on Wei Maomao’s mind for days.

For this final segment, the guests were separated, they could choose to leave alone, or choose someone to leave with.

Those who chose to leave alone would be driven away, those who chose to stay were assigned cars, some were asked to wait in the cars, some were given the car keys.

Whether those waiting in the cars would see the person they chose, or a staff member with car keys, whether those with car keys would find the person they chose waiting in the car, or an empty seat, it depended on the other person’s choice.

Like most dating shows, only mutual selection led to a successful pairing.

Wei Maomao, unable to ask Yan Yan, after a moment of hesitation, chose to stay, she sat in the car, giving Cheng Tingyan the final choice.

But why?

Why did she want to be paired with her throughout the show…?

But regardless of the reason, those lost years, they had been… reclaimed, in a way.

It was a pity…

Wei Maomao glanced at the camera, still filming, it was almost over. And after they went home, without the show, without the tasks, how would they interact?

Used to the bitterness, you wouldn’t notice it.

But after tasting sweetness…

It was dark outside, the distant village no longer brightly lit, even the parking lot lights were off. Was it a deliberate attempt to create suspense, or was it just the melancholic atmosphere of an ending?

A light in the distance, approaching.

Although she had told herself that it didn’t matter what Yan Yan chose, seeing the approaching light, Wei Maomao sat up straight.

Despite the darkness, the suspense didn’t last long.

It was someone too familiar.

Before the light even reached the car, Wei Maomao recognized the figure, her heart skipped a beat, a smile playing on her lips, then she composed herself as the figure approached.

The flashlight was bright, Cheng Tingyan, although eager to see who was inside, shielded the light slightly.

The beam illuminated the person in the car, and the weight Cheng Tingyan had been carrying finally lifted.

“Been waiting long?” she asked, getting into the driver’s seat, she handed Wei Maomao a carton of watermelon juice.

“I was just getting thirsty, did you use your remaining red strings for this?” Wei Maomao asked, taking the juice, she reached for a bag from the back seat. “I used mine for this, I hope you like it.”

Inside the small cloth bag was a soft panda plushie, round and chubby, similar to the one they saw in the park.

It wasn’t a staff member, it was Maomao, Cheng Tingyan was content.

Even a rock from Wei Maomao would be a treasure now, let alone such a thoughtful gift.

“I also got something else.” Cheng Tingyan said, smiling, she rubbed the panda plushie, then looked at the camera.

“Mmm?” Wei Maomao asked, then suddenly, the night sky lit up.

The silent night sky, illuminated by countless lights, forming patterns, flowers, and…

Beautiful, romantic.

And silent.

“Drones?” Wei Maomao asked, looking at the changing patterns in the sky, amazed.

“No fireworks allowed in the mountains, so… I got this instead, do you like it?” Cheng Tingyan asked, not looking at the drone show, which had cost her all her remaining red strings, she looked at Maomao, her eyes sparkling.

“It’s amazing.” Wei Maomao said, still staring at the drones. “But we had about the same number of red strings left, why could you get this, and I could only get a panda?”

Cheng Tingyan, hugging the panda, smiled faintly, without answering.

The drone show, illuminating the night sky, it wasn’t just visible from their car.

Wang Zhiqing, following the program team’s directions, also saw it.

Whoever it was, such a grand gesture, she glanced at it, then looked away, the important thing now wasn’t who was celebrating, but…

She opened her car door.

Empty, as expected.

That…

Wang Zhiqing, her lips pressed together, checked the back seat and even the trunk, unwilling to give up.

That heartless Zhao Can, she ran away again!

Wang Zhiqing, her annoyance evident, got into the driver’s seat and started the car.

Zhao Can, waiting in the village, attracted by the lights in the sky, stepped outside and saw the patterns changing, from flowers to flowing water, to a bear covering its eyes?

Right, she knew who it was, her secret CP!

Then she heard a car approaching, she quickly retreated into the house, only peeking out after the car drove away.

Had Wang Zhiqing left yet…?

Zhao Can touched her chest, her heart pounding.

After accepting so many gifts from Wang Zhiqing, especially that bath… it was getting harder and harder to reject her.

And for the past week, either chosen by Wang Zhiqing or paired by the audience, they had been together almost constantly.

But this final decision, she couldn’t give Wang Zhiqing false hope.

She hoped they could still be friends after this.

Zhao Can, peeking out cautiously, her heart filled with guilt and sadness.

In the sky, the bear covering its eyes transformed into a cheerful little bird.

Wei Maomao, her eyes crinkling with laughter, said, “So why did you choose the Black Bear? It wasn’t like you at all.”

“Wasn’t it? I think it was.” Cheng Tingyan said, thinking about her years of blindness, she chuckled self-deprecatingly, she was a blind bear.

Under the changing lights of the drone show, Wang Zhiqing drove away, so did Yang Yuanming. Zhao Can, Xia Lanruo, Xie Dongxing, and Yan Yongzhi, who had chosen to leave alone, were gathered and put into a car.

Alone?

They looked at each other, the awkward silence punctuated by a shared amusement.

“Cheng Tingyan and Wei Maomao probably chose to leave together, right?” Xie Dongxing asked, glancing at the camera, trying to break the ice.

“Mmm.” Zhao Can said, nodding.

The other two also nodded.

Xie Dongxing, glancing at Zhao Can, not daring to mention Wang Zhiqing, tried again. “And Yang Yuanming, I wonder who he chose, he must have driven away alone…”

Then he felt the atmosphere in the car shift, he turned and saw three shocked faces.

Xie Dongxing: “???”

Leaving alone, now leaving together, the viewers, already amused, were now even more so.

“After half a month, even a rock would have figured it out, Xie Dongxing, so oblivious to his own admirer, haha.”

“And Yang Yuanming kept trying to team up with him, did he really think this was a buddy show?”

“For true sweetness, we have to rely on Yan Yan and Maomao, twenty years in the making!”

“From ‘Where’s Baby Going’ to ‘Possible Summer,’ so satisfying, now we just need a wedding show!”

“Zhao Can didn’t choose Wang Zhiqing… if it weren’t for Yan Yan and Maomao’s happy ending, I would be so mad!”

“Thankfully, I voted for YanMao, if I had voted for Zhao Can, those red strings would have been wasted!”

“Voting for Yan Yan was worth it, that drone show was amazing! The program team was being stingy, saying she didn’t have enough red strings, she even offered to pay extra.”

“The program team is actually quite good, drone shows require permits, they must have prepared it in advance. Yan Yan was lucky.”

“Only one couple, but I still think there’s hope for others.”

“You mean Wang Zhiqing? She drove away so quickly, her live stream ended, they must have a designated distance. And Yan Yan is also leaving, why so fast?”

…

Fast, how could she not be fast?

So many unspoken words.

As soon as the drone show ended, Cheng Tingyan started the car, once they reached the designated location, the live stream would be cut, the cameras turned off, the microphones removed.

Wang Zhiqing had driven away quickly, Cheng Tingyan was just as eager.

So eager that Wei Maomao, glancing at her several times, the starlight in her eyes, ignited by the drone show, faded into darkness.

That eager?

That “Choose me” request, so many unanswered questions.

And during these past few days, she had often felt like Cheng Tingyan was looking at someone else through her, it was strange, she didn’t feel uncomfortable, but… it wasn’t simple.

Now, it was finally ending, she would finally know… why.

The road ahead was dark, only the headlights illuminating a small circle.

With completely different thoughts, they drove towards the designated location.

Cheng Tingyan saw the lights, the waiting staff, and…

The car stopped, the staff removed their microphones and drove the car away.

So many words on the tip of Cheng Tingyan’s tongue, but she swallowed them.

The live stream was over.

But… another unexpected turn of events.