Back to Three Years Old: Crushing Scumbags on a Parenting Reality Show 255

Chapter 255

Had Yan Yan also been reborn? When? How did she know she was “One Bite Cookie”? Why so suddenly…?

Two simple sentences, a thousand questions.

The questions crowded her throat, then shattered under the weight of the shock, Wei Maomao opened her mouth, but only a gasp escaped.

She felt… unmoored, her hand, gripping the desk, losing its strength.

Then, a hand on her arm, steadying her.

“Don’t… don’t cry…” Cheng Tingyan said, holding her trembling hand, her other hand gently wiping her face.

The hand on her arm, firm but cold, the hand on her face, also cold.

Wei Maomao, not even realizing she was crying, suddenly noticed… Yan Yan was nervous.

The realization pierced through her shock and confusion, even the ache in her heart.

She gripped Cheng Tingyan’s cold hand. “My Weibo username… should be One Bite Cookie.”

Cheng Tingyan, although already certain, her heart still skipped a beat. So Maomao had seen her… that’s why…

Two lifetimes, they could have…

“Calm down, sit down, let’s talk.” Cheng Tingyan said, gently pushing Wei Maomao onto a chair, she turned away, wiping her own tears, then placed two bottles of water on the table.

While Wei Maomao drank, Cheng Tingyan briefly explained how she realized Maomao was Little Cookie, from that Weibo post, she didn’t mention her own frantic actions. Then she asked, “Remember filming ‘Where’s Baby Going’? I regained my memories in that air raid shelter, you… you were earlier, right?”

One of Wei Maomao’s questions, answered before she could even ask it.

So… Yan Yan had avoided Jin Youliang’s trap because she remembered her past life… and then…

There was nothing to hide anymore, looking into Cheng Tingyan’s eyes, Wei Maomao nodded. “About a month before the show.”

After all these years, Cheng Tingyan’s suspicion was confirmed, another reborn person, someone she hadn’t even suspected.

“Then… the changes with Director Shi, was that you?” Cheng Tingyan asked, opening a bottle of water and placing it next to Wei Maomao.

Wei Maomao nodded, taking a sip of water. She felt calmer now, her earlier confusion and turmoil replaced by a strange sense of… clarity.

Cheng Tingyan’s questions, her focus on the facts, it helped.

“I only realized Director Shi knew my dad two weeks after my rebirth, that day…”

Wei Maomao, encouraged by Cheng Tingyan’s gentle gaze, started explaining, focusing on the changes, the outcomes, omitting the details of her three-year-old self throwing tantrums.

But Cheng Tingyan could imagine, a three-year-old, barely able to speak… saving Shi Dingshan, getting on the show, it couldn’t have been easy.

Cheng Tingyan, her heart aching, looked down at her hand, at some point, she had reached out and taken Maomao’s hand, which now held hers, tightly.

She heard more omissions in Maomao’s story.

That carefully chosen perfume, the gift, the shared preferences, the extra gift for Cheng Rongrong…

Cheng Tingyan didn’t believe she was the only one who remembered.

Those thoughtful gestures, Wei Maomao didn’t mention them, Cheng Tingyan didn’t either, but she knew, Little Maomao had done all that for her…

Wei Maomao’s explanation was brief, just to show how it all started.

But when they reached the air raid shelter incident, Cheng Tingyan’s memories returning, their conversation changed.

Cheng Tingyan started adding her own perspective, her own actions.

Maomao had done so much more for her.

But Cheng Tingyan couldn’t be modest, she had done too many… bad things.

She needed some brownie points.

He Rongzheng, she had exposed him, that was her only contribution.

She had to mention it.

She and Maomao weren’t supposed to be like this, they couldn’t be like this.

But as fellow reborn individuals, some things she hadn’t done, Wei Maomao could have. She was just… earlier.

“Actually, even without me, you could have figured it out, after Lu Shijin appeared, they were already suspicious of your mom, and with your memories, it wouldn’t have been difficult to connect the dots and find Grandpa He…” Cheng Tingyan said, her voice softening towards the end, she added, “It was just a matter of time…”

“No.” Wei Maomao said, gripping her hand tightly. “After Lu Shijin, they were already suspicious of Mom, if they had acted even a second sooner…”

Cheng Tingyan’s lips tightened, it was true, she had been targeted almost immediately in her past life…

“Yan Yan, you saved my family.” Wei Maomao said, she had thought it was all because of her, her actions that led to Grandpa He and that mysterious fortune teller, she hadn’t realized there was more to it.

If Grandpa He hadn’t appeared, she wouldn’t have had the time to uncover the truth, to protect her family.

Fear made Wei Maomao tremble again.

Cheng Tingyan regretted her eagerness, she should have taken it slow…

But now, they could only continue.

Thankfully, there were no more life-or-death situations, they stopped when they reached Cheng Tingyan’s departure for university, an event Cheng Tingyan couldn’t explain, and Wei Maomao’s pretense of sleeping that day.

Their conversation, filling in the gaps of their current lives, brought them closer.

Cheng Tingyan, not satisfied with just their current lives, looked at the calmer Wei Maomao and asked softly, “How… how were you in the past life? When…?”

The question was a bit… intrusive.

But she wanted to know, how was Maomao after she was gone?

When they were supposed to meet, they were both doing well, everything was looking up, although her own life ended abruptly, she hoped Maomao had lived a long and happy life.

It was a bittersweet wish. Maomao, in those years, she might have found love, had children, as long as she was happy, it was enough.

But Wei Maomao’s answer disappointed her.

“Three years later, a car accident.” She said simply, not mentioning her three years of living like a zombie, or the child she saved.

She didn’t want Yan Yan to misunderstand.

After all, in Yan Yan’s eyes, she was… a creep.

A car accident? There were no accidents!

Was it He Lanxi and Bai Lei?!

Cheng Tingyan clenched her fists, her eyes reddening.

“Yan Yan?” Wei Maomao asked, startled by her sudden anger.

Cheng Tingyan hadn’t intended to mention her death, but Wei Maomao’s words made her suspicious, she couldn’t help but tell her.

And so, another shocking revelation for Wei Maomao.

“Are they crazy?! That’s too easy for them, too easy!”

Now it was Wei Maomao who was furious.

But after Wei Maomao calmed down and explained the situation, Cheng Tingyan realized it was a genuine accident.

Three years, Maomao was only twenty-four.

Too young, too soon.

Cheng Tingyan’s heart ached for her, forgetting her own untimely death.

After talking about life and death, they felt more at ease, like going back in time, to the day they were supposed to meet, talking about their past lives.

Cheng Tingyan’s struggles in the entertainment industry, Wei Maomao’s efforts to pay off her father’s debts… things they wouldn’t have shared in their previous life, now, after talking about death, they seemed… less significant.

Maomao’s words, Cheng Tingyan felt, they were things Little Cookie wouldn’t have shared so easily.

Did it mean… Maomao was closer to her now than in her past life?

Cheng Tingyan knew she shouldn’t rush.

She had said too much tonight, she should give Maomao time to process it.

They weren’t like their past selves, rushing into things.

But…

She had waited for too long, every second felt like an eternity.

“Have you ever thought… if we had met in our past life, what would have happened…?” Cheng Tingyan asked, standing up and leaning against the desk, her hand reaching for the jar of golden beans she had taken out earlier.

“We would probably be… friends.” Wei Maomao said carefully, omitting “good” and swallowing the overly optimistic “like in this life.”

The show was over, she had to be careful, maintain a safe distance.

Speaking of which…

“Why did you ask me to choose you, every time? And during our hot pot lunch, you didn’t mention being on the show, then you appeared a few hours later, was it a secret?” Wei Maomao asked, finally asking the questions that had been on her mind.

Cheng Tingyan, her hand on the jar, didn’t hear her, her mind replaying Wei Maomao’s words, “We would probably be… friends.”

What friends…?

Whose friend did she want to be?

Who wanted to be her friend?

Hadn’t they both… felt something, in their past life…?

“Didn’t you ever think… if we had met… you… didn’t you ever think about… being with me?” Cheng Tingyan asked, then, realizing her words were a bit clumsy, but she couldn’t stop now.

“What… what do you mean, being together…?” Wei Maomao asked, her eyes wide.

“Marriage.” Cheng Tingyan said softly, she hadn’t expected to be so hurt by that shocked expression.

“No… who would want to… pull a god down from their pedestal and… marry them?!” Wei Maomao said instinctively, then, seeing Cheng Tingyan’s silence, she coughed awkwardly. “I mean… those years, paying off the debts, it was… difficult, I didn’t even want to live sometimes. You were like… my spiritual support… like a god…”

She hadn’t been as cheerful as she appeared online; Yan Yan probably knew that, she didn’t want to hide it.

And seriously, if she didn’t explain now, she would be labeled as not only a creep, but also a blasphemer… wait, was Yan Yan testing her, about the diary? Did she think she was just a delusional fan?

“I also didn’t want to live sometimes, during those years.” Cheng Tingyan said calmly, her pain too deep for anger. “You were also my spiritual support, why didn’t I put you on a pedestal?”

Wei Maomao: “…“

In their past life, they hadn’t shown their vulnerability to each other.

In this life… they were so honest.

But… Wei Maomao smiled wryly.

Because back then, Cheng Tingyan was talking to a stranger, an online persona, while she… she knew it was Cheng Tingyan, her idol, the person behind the Weibo account she had been secretly following.

During those difficult years, her idol was just a message away, her despair so deep, her subconscious clinging to that idealized image, a lifeline, she hadn’t even realized it herself.

Wei Maomao’s silence made Cheng Tingyan’s heart clench.

“And now, am I still on a pedestal?” she asked, her hand tightening around the jar.

Wei Maomao: “…“

A question she had never considered.

Thinking required time, but Cheng Tingyan couldn’t bear the silence.

“Then ask again,” she said, grabbing the jar. “Ask again who would want to pull a god down and marry them!”

Wei Maomao: “…“ Something felt wrong.

“Who… would want to pull a god down and marry them?” she repeated softly, under Cheng Tingyan’s intense gaze.

“Okay, I’ll put you back on your pedestal.” Cheng Tingyan said, gesturing with her hand.

Wei Maomao: “?”

Then Cheng Tingyan grabbed her wrist, pulling her closer. “I would!”

Wei Maomao: “???”