(53) Wenwen's First Variety Show

Yuan Xin’s work was very efficient. It took him no time to sign the contract with the show on Wenwen’s behalf, negotiating terms to make the boy a temporary guest by exception and that he would only join the shooting for three days.

This temporary guest was to receive the same treatment as a first-line star. In order to make Wenwen’s first job go on smoothly, Yuan Xin demanded a clause in the contract stating that Wenwen must be teamed up with Si Yue. His reason was that young children would have a sense of security only when they were with familiar people, so this arrangement was necessary to ensure a smooth shooting.

The production team was literally on their wit’s end, so they quickly accepted all of Yuan Xin’s demands. No matter what, this show must go on, and Director Peng knew very well that his directing career would almost certainly die otherwise.

For this reason, right after signing the contract, the entire production team went on a full blast to produce the most dazzling script possible. Still, their new temporary guest was way too young to be demanded much, so in the end, they aimed to emphasize Wenwen’s relationship with Si Yue. As long as the two could get along in the camera as they did before, the rating surely wouldn’t do badly.

After signing the contract, the show published an official announcement on the internet, the first in a while. Of course, the narration they served to the public must be pleasant enough to not offend anyone. The general gist was that Fang Xueruo had to quit the show for a personal reason, so the production team invited another temporary guest in her stead.

The world was always more tolerant towards children, so this move could be said to be brilliant. Even if Fang Xueruo’s fans were not friendly towards the child who took their idol’s place, passersby would undoubtedly stand by the child’s side, not to mention this was such a lovable and cute little guy.

In the announcement, the show also explained the reason for inviting Wenwen to join. The star they actually planned to invite couldn’t open their schedule, and fortunately, Wenwen was already known to the public and had a group of ‘mommy and daddy’ fans of his own. In order to invite the boy to join their show, the production team persuaded Wenwen’s mother and finally got her permission.

Following this announcement, Fu Yunruo also posted a message on her social media accounts, announcing that her son was going to join a variety show and asking her fans to give the child their support.

Fu Yunruo’s fans, dubbed the Clouddust, were naturally ecstatic.

[Yunyun probably has no choice, lol.]

[I guess the production team bribed the cub with a lot of candies to tempt him over. Well done!]

[Aaaah!!! My cub is going to be on the TV!! Mommy is so proud!]

[My cub, aaaaah!!!!!]

Countless fans quickly rushed to the show’s own official announcement, simultaneously spreading the news far and wide.

Meanwhile, Wenwen was preoccupied with a new, more pressing problem. After it was confirmed that he was going to join the show, he had been busy thinking about the character he needed to set up to attract fans. It was not going to be easy, since he wanted a lot of ‘good’ popularity to let his mother shine.

What kind of children are popular nowadays? Naughty? Clever? Lovely? Silly?

Wenwen recalled the attitudes of adults towards different children and found that most adults generally like sensible and smart children, not unlike the one parents used to compare their children with. Thus, Wenwen clenched his small fists and made a big declaration — he was going to be a very sensible and very smart child!

Early the next morning, the sky was still only slightly bright when the extremely excited Wenwen woke his mother up.

Fu Yunruo looked at the time and sighed. My god, it is only five o’clock!

Wenwen jumped excitedly on the bed, “Mom, quickly get up!”

“…” Still lying on the bed, Fu Yunruo looked up at the little boy who was hopping non-stop and said helplessly, “Wenwen, the shooting doesn’t start until 8:30. It’s still too early!”

“Not early, Mom!” Wenwen countered solemnly, “I still have to do makeup for the camera, which takes a long time.”

“What? Do you know what camera makeup is?” Fu Yunruo couldn’t help laughing.

“Of course!” Wenwen proudly puffed up his belly, “I’m a grown-up now!”

“Why is Mommy’s Baobao so cute, ah?” Unable to stand her son’s cuteness, Fu Yunruo took the boy into her arms and gave him a mommy bear’s hug.

After the early morning’s display of affection, Fu Yunruo totally woke up, so she got off the bed. Wenwen also sat on the edge of the bed and put on his shoes by himself. His cheeks were flushed, as he still didn’t recover after his mother’s ‘great display of love.’

Alas, he had grown so big, but Mom was still so childish. But what could he do? She was his mother, so he could only tolerate her!

The sounds made by the mother and son also woke up Si Yue and Auntie Mei, and the house became lively in an instant. While Fu Yunruo was in the kitchen preparing breakfast, Wenwen ran back to the bedroom and opened the wardrobe, looking for the clothes to wear today. The boy enthusiastically tried several sets, but found none of them were good-looking or fashionable enough. He needed a perfect attire that could show his handsomeness to the fullest!

Wenwen kept rummaging among the piles of clothes, leaving only his two short feet dangling outside the wardrobe. When he got his hand on a cool kid’s military uniform from last summer, his eyes finally lit up. He had only worn this set a few times, so it was still mostly new. The last time he wore it, this military uniform was still very loose on his body, so it should be fit now!

Wenwen took out the outfit and quickly put it on. Fortunately, the size seemed to be right; it was not too long nor too short, just a bit tight. This past year, Wenwen didn’t grow too much in height, but he had indeed grown up — albeit horizontally — causing the originally loose outfit to be a little tight on him.

When Wenwen lowered his eyes, he saw a very obvious round little belly. How could this be? Although he was just a young child now, he still had to maintain his figure as a star-to-be!

Wenwen took a deep breath and tried to flatten his belly, but it didn’t seem to work, and he was still as round as before.

“Wenwen, time for breakfast!”

“Coming!” Wenwen ran out.

Fu Yunruo snorted in surprise when she saw Wenwen had changed. “Wenwen, why are you wearing that?” Last year’s clothes were obviously out of place this year, considering Wenwen was still growing up. Fu Yunruo didn’t expect the child to take out and wear last year’s clothes.

Army green color matched a lighter skin tone very well. Wenwen’s skin was fair and tender, making him look very cute in this kid’s military uniform.

Wenwen replied: “It’s cool!”

Fu Yunruo poured a bowl of meat porridge and brought it to the table to cool down.

“Wow, Wenwen, you look so handsome!” Auntie Mei praised heartily.

Wenwen responded sweetly: “Grandma also looks good in that floral dress!”

“Really?” Auntie Mei smiled and lovingly patted the floral-patterned top made from a comfortable and breathable fabric. “Your mother bought it for me.”

Auntie Mei gave birth to only one son, and it was sure a nice surprise to enjoy the blessing of having a daughter in this life.

“Mom bought mine too~”

Si Yue came out of the kitchen and glanced at Wenwen, who was full of youthful vigor.

Fu Yunruo didn’t expect Wenwen to like this outfit so much. The child never showed a special preference for the things he wore and usually preferred to wear diverse styles of clothing.

When Wenwen’s nose picked up the fragrant aroma of meat porridge, he silently swallowed his saliva. After seeing his bulging little belly once again, he hardened his resolve and decided to skip breakfast, “Mom, I’m not hungry.”

Fu Yunruo turned her head in surprise, “You don’t want breakfast?!”

“Uh-huh!” Wenwen replied crisply.

“If you don’t eat, you’ll be hungry, you know?” Fu Yunruo put Wenwen on his kiddie’s high stool and began to stir the porridge in his bowl with a small spoon, sending the delicious aroma straight into the boy’s olfactory sensors.

Wenwen hesitated. He looked down at his belly, whose roundness became even more eye-catching the moment he sat down. If he ate now, wouldn’t he look even chubbier in front of the camera later…

Fu Yunruo noticed her son’s small movements, and after a while, quickly figured out what this little boy was thinking. Young children nowadays become aware of their appearances faster than previous generations. It seemed that Wenwen thought he looked too plump for the TV camera, so he suddenly had an impulse to lose weight.

Fu Yunruo said softly, “Wenwen, this outfit doesn’t fit. Shall we change to another one? Do you want to wear ill-fitting clothes to the show?”

Wenwen hesitated.

Fu Yunruo assured him, “No matter what Wenwen wears, he is the prettiest baby in the village!”

“Of course!” Wenwen proudly said. He then thought about it again and agreed with his mother. Indeed, wearing ill-fitting clothes would certainly damage his image as a handsome little guy. “Alright, I’ll change again later.”

After being comforted by his mother, Wenwen easily changed his mind and began to eat breakfast happily. Later, he went to change once again, and in the end, decided to wear a white tee, denim trousers, and a cute little straw hat. Now that the boy finally deemed himself ready, he was taken by Fu Yunruo, Si Yue, and Yuan Xin to the meeting place.

By the way, this arrangement was per Fu Yunruo’s request, as she didn’t want her home to appear on the camera.

When the group of four arrived at the meeting place, the crew had assembled and were getting ready, looking busy inside and out. A few makeshift shades were built under the old tree at the village entrance for the casts to rest and do their makeup. Yuan Xin had notified Director Peng, so upon seeing the group’s coming, he hurriedly went to greet them, “Wenwen, you are here?”

“Wenwen is here?” A woman in a light-colored suit and natural makeup came out of one of the makeshift shades. Upon seeing Wenwen, her eyes immediately lit up.

“Wenwen, this is Auntie Xiaoyu. She will be your personal makeup artist from now on.”

Wenwen looked up at the woman and called cutely, “Hello, Sister Xiaoyu.”

Pu Xiaoyu was instantly elated, “What a cute little kid…” She already thought that Wenwen was very cute from the video, but she didn’t expect the real one to be even cuter! Pu Xiaoyu then looked at the woman, who was very similar to the child. This woman was very beautiful and young — standing next to his son, people would mistake them for siblings. Pu Xiaoyu was a professional makeup artist and had seen many actresses who struggled to regain their former appearances after giving birth to kids, but she had never seen someone as good as Fu Yunruo, who was full of a youthful aura.

How envious, ah!

“Go, the shooting is about to start.” Yuan Xin urged.

“Miss Yu, I will leave Wenwen in your care.”

“Don’t worry, Miss Fu. I will definitely transform Wenwen into his most dazzling self!”

“By the way, you can call me Sister Yu. No need to be so formal.”

“I see, Sister Yu. Then you can also call me Yunruo.”

“…” The two women quickly got acquainted with each other and took the child under the shade together.

Si Yue, who was totally neglected on the side: “…” I feel left out.

He confronted Yuan Xin, “Why did you bring her here? Didn’t you initially say that it is enough to just use the show’s makeup artist?”

Yuan Xin said boldly: “How can their makeup artists be as good as our team’s? This is Wenwen’s first job and also his first variety show. Naturally, he must be in his best state, and we must give him our best support possible.”

Si Yue, who, upon coming to this show, didn’t even have a single assistant by his side: “…”

He suddenly felt a bit sour. For just such a little boy, did everyone really ‘betray’ him?

“What? You, such a big grown-up, are actually jealous of a young child?” Because there were many ears here, Yuan Xin didn’t straight up say ‘your son,’ but he still glared dissatisfiedly at Si Yue. What kind of fucked up mentality did this dog man have? How could a father be jealous of his own child?

...

Under the shade, Pu Xiaoyu had begun to put makeup on Wenwen. The boy’s skin was both white and rosy, tender and slippery, and looked very healthy and cute. After Pu Xiaoyu enjoyed touching Wenwen’s face for a while, she finally said, “No need for makeup. Just a light shade of powder is enough.”

Fu Yunruo saw how Pu Xiaoyu applied a bit of face powder on Wenwen, then put on a light, natural color on his little lips.

“All right.”

Fu Yunruo carefully looked at her son’s face and saw no difference from his usual bare face. However, the child indeed looked more radiant and energetic than before.

Pu Xiaoyu then turned her attention to Fu Yunruo. Seeing that the latter’s ruddy and fair skin was also bare with not even a layer of sunscreen, she suddenly couldn’t help but ask, “Yunruo, don’t you apply anything on your skin?”

“Ah?” Fu Yunruo touched her face, “No…” In this remote place, being too flashy would just attract weird eyes, so she was always without makeup.

“What a waste!” Pu Xiaoyu was heartbroken, “If I had a face like yours, I wouldn’t have to do anything, and just carefully maintain it every day!”

The makeup artist pressed Fu Yunruo on a seat, then opened her makeup box and took out a set of skin care products. “How can you waste such a beautiful face? Precisely because you are blessed with a natural beauty that you have to put on effort into maintenance when you are still young. At your age now, you may not see the difference with others, but it will be very obvious once you get older and compare yourself with those of the same age with you but have carefully maintained themselves over the years.”

“Y-yes, I think you are right.” After listening to Pu Xiaoyu’s lecture about the benefits of self-maintenance and the serious consequences of long-time neglect, Fu Yunruo couldn’t help but feel a little scared. After all, which woman did not love beauty? Anyone who could make herself beautiful wouldn’t be willing to grow old ugly.

Pu Xiaoyu examined Fu Yunruo’s face with great care and became even more heartbroken as a result. If only Fu Yunruo had taken good care of herself, her skin would be in better condition!

Wenwen, who was listening from the said, also said with distress, “From now on, I will sure remind Mom to take care of herself more!”

“This set of skin care products is not the most suitable for your skin type. Let me recommend another set for you. Although this one is a little expensive, the effect is really good, and also suitable for your age group…”

Fu Yunruo added Pu Xiaoyu to her friend list and promised to take good care of her skin from now on.

Wenwen glanced at the price on the link sent by Pu Xiaoyu, and his eyes bulged as a result. So expensive! It seemed that he must make even more money!

Pu Xiaoyu helped Fu Yunruo with the skin care products before letting Si Yue in to apply light makeup on him.

At this time, the rest of the casts arrived one by one and came over to greet Wenwen and Fu Yunruo, expressing their goodwill. Among the cast, Wang Huaibei was the most awkward. After all, he was the first who said bad things about the mother and son, in contrast to Xin Xu who stood by their side from beginning to end.

Fu Yunruo accepted the greetings with a polite smile, and Wenwen also greeted his fellow casts politely. When the greetings finally subsided, Fu Yunruo felt her face was sore from smiling too much.

...

Before long, the shooting finally started. Fu Yunruo said several words to Wenwen in advance, telling him not to be nervous and to do everything naturally, just like when how he played every day. Then, Fu Yunruo handed Wenwen to Si Yue’s care and walked outside the camera range, standing with the rest of the crew.

Wenwen looked at the multiple camera lenses, knowing that they were connected to the livestreaming platform, showing his every word and deed for the world to see. The long absence from the camera inadvertently made Wenwen a little nervous, but he soon calmed down. The boy kept reminding himself to be brave; after all, he had experienced the same process countless times before!

As usual, the permanent casts started with light banter to light up the atmosphere before finally calling out the new special guest.

Behind the camera, the director and his staff were watching the real-time data nervously. Unexpectedly, the moment the show began to broadcast, the number of viewers quickly reached its usual peak and kept climbing higher. Even though Fang Xueruo’s fans clamored to never watch the show — let alone contribute to the traffic — following the official announcement yesterday, the current data showed no difference from the previous average, and there was even an upward trend, rivaled only by the explosive rise when Si Yue first joined the show.

The whole production team was beaming with joy. Their show was not going well this season. There were many problems in the middle, and the shooting was even suspended for a time. But who knew that those hurdles were actually a blessing in disguise? Their show was destined to be popular, and no one could stop it!

After hearing that Wenwen was joining the show, the villagers reawakened their enthusiasm and were eager to help, ready to watch their Wenwen’s performance in front of the camera.

The production team didn’t have heavy demands for Si Yue and Wenwen, so the tasks assigned to them were super simple: Wenwen was to go to this house to borrow rice, go to that and that house to borrow vegetables and other ingredients, and then Si Yue was to cook lunch for the two of them.

Even though the tasks were unexpectedly very simple, the audience still watched with relish, steadily raising the stats of the livestream channel.

Wenwen thought about the personality he had set for himself. As a smart and sensible child, what he must do is to be considerate to the adults and help them as much as possible. Along with the task card, the only thing given to them was a piece of Chinese cabbage, and Wenwen had to use this cabbage to do barter with various villagers: getting a carrot from Second Uncle’s house in the west, an egg from Grandma Lin in the east, and a pork bone from the village’s Uncle Butcher…

How to use this Chinese cabbage to exchange for so many items? This must be a call for his ingenuity!

Wenwen then began to develop a plan. First, he would barter the Chinese cabbage for four eggs, the barter one egg for two carrots, and finally, barter two eggs and one carrot for one pork bone…

Wenwen explained his idea to Si Yue and received the older man’s praise. What a clever boy!

Wenwen tried his best to keep his lips from smiling. Um, he must be steady and not look proud. It was enough to praise himself for being so witty in his heart.

Si Yue was carrying the basket. Wenwen wanted to be considerate and offered to help, but his small body was unable to carry the basket alone. In the end, he could only help lessen the weight by supporting the bottom of the basket with his small hands.

Wenwen couldn’t be more familiar with Shanghe Village and took Si Yue directly to Grandma Lin’s house. At their destination, Wenwen knocked on the door and called with his cute voice, “Grandma Lin, can I barter this Chinese cabbage for three eggs?”

Grandma Lin replied warmly, “Of course! Wenwen, wait for a second!”

Grandma Lin walked back to the house and came out with a basket soon afterward.

Wenwen picked up the Chinese cabbage from the basket in Si Yue’s hand. The cabbage was very heavy. Wenwen tried his best to carry it to Grandma Lin.

Grandma Lin took the Chinese cabbage from Wenwen’s trembling hands and put it aside, then lifted the cloth on the basket on her elbow, revealing many tasty-looking eggs.

Wenwen picked up his basket, raised his head, and looked at Grandma Lin expectantly. The old woman quickly moved the eggs from her basket to the other, putting one, two, three, four… twelve eggs in total.

“My family raises only purebred chickens organically. Take these eggs back and ask your mother to cook them for you. They are very tasty and nutritious!”

Wenwen quickly refused, “It’s too many, Grandma Lin. I only need three!”

“How can three be enough for a glutton like you? Take more; Grandma has plenty.” Grandma Lin was about to put more eggs into Wenwen’s basket.

Wenwen had already put the basket on the ground, then grabbed one extra egg in each hand and began to put it back with a serious face: “Grandma Lin, I’m shooting the show now. I’ve counted, and three are already enough.”

“Oh!” Grandma Lin remembered, then nodded quickly, “I see. I have to cooperate with you, right? Okay, only three.” Grandma Lin blinked.

Wenwen nodded.

Grandma Lin then asked in a low voice, “Why did Wenwen join the show? Do you want to be a big star?”

“I’m not even a star yet…” Wenwen puffed his cheeks and replied in a low voice, “I want to make money to buy cosmetics and skin care for Mom.”

After being reminded by Sister Xiaoyu, Wenwen had thought seriously about this problem. Let’s put the matter about saving capital for later — for now, it was more urgent to buy skin care products for his mother.

“She never dresses up or takes care of her beauty.” Wenwen was exasperated by his mother’s carelessness, especially because he remembered that more than twenty years later, the aged Fang Xueruo still looked as young as thirty. No matter what, Mom couldn’t lose to that woman!

Naturally, this goal was easy to accomplish with the right effort. Even without makeup or expensive skin care, Mom was already the most beautiful woman. Once she began to mind her beauty, even a hundred Fang Xueruo wouldn’t be a match for her!

Both Wenwen and Grandma Lin thought they were whispering, but the microphone clearly took every bit of their conversation and broadcasted it to the livestream channel. When the audience heard Wenwen’s cute voice, they became even more excited.

[My cub, ah!!! Why are you so cute!]

[This is my family’s youngest child. Woohoo, Mom is so proud!]

[Help! I’m being drowned by the cuteness!]

[I also want to have a son who buys me skin care products!!]

[Please send me a dozen of such sons. Thank you.]

[I want to give birth to such a baby!]

When Wenwen’s basket only had three eggs left, the first task was completed. The boy wiped his sweat, admiring his hard work. He then lifted the basket and showed it to Si Yue, “I’m done!”

Si Yue gave the boy a thumbs up, “Wenwen is awesome!”

Wenwen almost laughed out in pride, but upon remembering his set-up ‘prudent’ personality, he quickly covered his mouth with both hands, revealing only a pair of big eyes curved into two crescent slits.

The next step was to barter the carrots. Wenwen also knew where the village’s Second Uncle’s house was and took Si Yue there via the shortest path. He was determined to explain his intention to the Second Uncle clearly from right on, especially emphasizing that he only needed three carrots. Although there was a bit of a harmless mishap in the process just now, he wouldn’t allow it to happen again!

The village’s Second Uncle was sitting in his yard, smoking a cigarette when Wenwen came. Seeing the little guy, he put out the cigarette and smiled. “You want carrots? Of course. The vegetable garden is there. Take as many you like.”

“Thank you, Second Uncle!”

Wenwen gave an egg to the Second Uncle and went into the vegetable garden with Si Yue. The carrots and other vegetables in Second Uncle’s house were used in cooking every day, so the field looked a bit sparse here and there.

Si Yue was about to pull out the carrots when Wenwen quickly said: “Uncle Yue, let me pull it out!”

Wenwen was determined to show his best side in front of the camera. Seeing him being so sensible and considerate, the audience would surely like him more, right?

Si Yue raised his eyebrow, but he said nothing and nodded to the eager little guy, “Okay.”

Wenwen carefully took a look at the whole field and found three obviously larger carrots. He stood in front of one of the carrots, grabbed its leaves with both hands, and pulled hard, smoothly taking out a fresh orange-red carrot.

Wenwen smiled happily. He turned to Si Yue, asking for another praise before hurriedly going to pull the second carrot.

Pull! Pull pull pull!!!

Eh? Why didn’t it move? Wenwen exerted his full strength and tried to pull out the carrot for a while. His chubby flesh flushed red in hard work.

Suddenly, Wenwen fell to the ground. His buttock hit the ground hard, and his feet dangled upside down, but in his hands was the carrot that he finally pulled out after a great effort.

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