Chapter 114: Mengmeng is Very Clever (Revised)

“Dad, what are you thinking about?” Mengmeng seemed to have a sixth sense, looking up with her pure eyes fixed on her father.

Cao Shujie felt a chill under his daughter’s gaze and quickly shook his head. “I was just wondering if you wanted some candy.”

“Candy? Sweet? Where is it?” Upon hearing the word ‘candy’, Mengmeng’s round face lit up with joy. Her eyes darted around, but not finding any candy, she felt a bit disappointed, thinking her dad was teasing her.

Taking the opportunity, Cao Shujie said, “Mengmeng, come down first, and I’ll get you some candy.”

“No way, you’re tricking me!” Mengmeng was sharp and refused to come down, suspecting her dad was just trying to coax her down.

Seeing his daughter purse her lips tightly, tears threatening to spill from her eyes, Cao Shujie felt a headache coming on. “Mengmeng, I really am not lying. How about you come with me to get the candy, and you can give one to your brother Dongdong too. How about that?”

“Really?” Mengmeng blinked, a bit doubtful, wondering if he was truly not deceiving her.

Cao Shujie nodded quickly. “Absolutely true. Come with me and see for yourself.”

“Alright then!” Mengmeng agreed.

With that, Mengmeng hugged her dad’s leg and slowly slid down, keeping her eyes on him to make sure she got her candy.

Cao Shujie was truly impressed by his daughter. It reassured him that Mengmeng would definitely not be easily taken advantage of when she grew up.

Feeling content with this thought, Cao Shujie didn’t mind being outsmarted by his daughter. He considered it practice for her future.

After greeting his brother-in-law, Cao Shujie stood up, holding Mengmeng’s little hand, and went to their bags to get the candy.

It was a pack of fruit candies they had bought at the Yiling City department store, with red, green, yellow, and blue candies, all looking quite pretty.

Seeing her dad actually take out a pack of candy, Mengmeng’s eyelashes seemed to dance with joy.

“Dad, give it to me!” Mengmeng stretched out her hand, bouncing with excitement for the candy.

Cao Shujie calmed her down, whispering, “Mengmeng, don’t rush. I’ll get it for you right now.”

“Okay!” Mengmeng agreed happily.

Once Cao Shujie opened the bag and placed a red fruit candy in her palm, Mengmeng’s round face showed two dimples.

She quickly picked up the red candy with two fingers and popped it into her mouth, too delighted to speak or call her cousin, savoring the taste.

But she wasn’t done. Feeling the sweetness on her fingers, she put them in her mouth, sucking them clean.

“…” Cao Shujie was at a loss for words. His daughter acted as if she had never had candy before, though they never strictly forbade her from eating it, just limited her to two pieces a day.

Mengmeng was cooperative and never threw tantrums over candy.

Cao Shujie then placed a blue fruit candy in her hand, and as she was about to put it in her mouth, he coughed and said, “Mengmeng, this candy is for your brother Dongdong.”

“Oh, okay!” Mengmeng agreed readily, not being possessive of food and often quite generous.

She carried the blue candy in her palm over to her cousin Cheng Tiandong, handing it to him before returning to her dad, showing her empty hand to indicate the candy was delivered.

Cao Shujie pretended to glance at his nephew, seeing Cheng Tiandong with a full mouth, not in a hurry to eat the candy, but setting it aside for later.

Mengmeng ran around her dad, who worried she might choke on the candy. “Mengmeng, don’t run around,” he called.

But Mengmeng didn’t listen. Seeing her dad reaching out to catch her, she dodged and ran to her cousin again.

Next to Cheng Tiandong, Mengmeng noticed the blue candy was untouched and was puzzled. Was it not tasty?

She looked at her dad, then at her cousin, and finally at the candy.

Cao Shujie and the others watched, curious about what she would do.

Then they saw Mengmeng pick up the candy, tilt her head back, and open her mouth as if to swallow it whole.

Even Cao Shujie thought his daughter was going to eat the candy she had given away. But Mengmeng only sniffed it before placing it back.

She declared proudly, “It’s my brother’s candy, I won’t eat it.”

Seeing her announce this so proudly, Cao Shujie sighed in relief, thinking she was going to eat the candy she had just given away.

When Mengmeng bounced back to him, Cao Shujie patted her head and said, “Mengmeng, you’re amazing. You did great.”

“Hee hee!” Mengmeng was overjoyed with her dad’s praise.

Mengmeng was so lively that Cao Shujie had to keep a close watch on her, worried she might cause trouble if left unattended.

That night, they didn’t rush back to Cao Family Village but stayed at his mother-in-law’s house.

Without needing to worry about driving, Cao Shujie had a few more drinks with his father-in-law.

After dinner, back in the bedroom, Cao Shujie said, “Honey, remember to tell mom tomorrow morning that we have to head back in the morning.”

“I already told her, alright? Get some sleep, you’ll be driving tomorrow,” Cheng Xiaolin urged him to rest.

Watching Cao Shujie fall asleep quickly, Cheng Xiaolin frowned slightly, then gently smoothed his forehead, helping him sleep even better.

The next morning, after breakfast at his mother-in-law’s, Cao Shujie didn’t linger and drove his wife and child back to Cao Family Village.

On the way, he received a call from his mother, Wang Yuelan, asking if they were coming back that day.

Cao Shujie replied, “Mom, we’re on our way. We’ll be home in just over half an hour.”

Hearing this, Wang Yuelan reminded them to drive safely before hanging up, letting her son focus on driving.

When they returned to Cao Family Village, it was just past 9 in the morning. Before getting out of the car, Cao Shujie noticed his father walking four dogs back and forth on the road, but the dogs didn’t seem to be listening to him.

Seeing his son’s car, Cao Jianguo was a bit puzzled. “Shujie, why are you back so soon?”

Before Cao Shujie could respond, Cheng Xiaolin spoke up, “Dad, there wasn’t much for us to do over there. Besides, we need to keep an eye on the orchard, and the calves need feeding. We just couldn’t stop worrying.”

(End of chapter)