The Heartless Omega: I Only Want My Daughter - Chapter 16

Today was the first official day of recording, and everyone had spent a busy day traveling before finally gathering, so this first meal was considered a gesture of goodwill from the production team.

However, starting tomorrow, each family would be responsible for their own meals.

The food set on the wooden tables for the five families was the same: three dishes and one soup. There was braised shrimp, braised crucian carp, stir-fried spinach, and seaweed soup, plus a bowl of rice. A rice cooker sat nearby; if there wasn’t enough rice, they could refill it themselves. However, the portions of the dishes were small—once they were gone, that was it.

Wen Ying looked at the dishes and realized she could finish them in three bites. Worried that Little Doubao and Zhiyun wouldn’t have enough to eat, she picked up her bowl and finished a whole serving of plain rice before touching a single piece of the main courses.

She then stood up and went to the rice cooker to serve herself a second bowl.

When she returned, she set her bowl and chopsticks down but didn’t sit. Instead, she went to the courtyard to find water to wash her hands thoroughly. Once back, she sat down and began peeling the braised shrimp for the other two.

There weren’t many shrimps—nine in total. After Wen Ying peeled them, she placed all of them into Pei Zhiyun and Little Doubao’s bowls.

With her hands covered in oil residue from the shrimp, Wen Ying got up again to wash her hands. Unable to find a towel after a quick search, she wiped her hands on her own clothes, sat back down, and resumed eating her rice with her head down. The raised rice bowl almost hid half of her face.

Pei Zhiyun looked at the shrimp meat in her bowl and then shifted her gaze to Wen Ying. Wen Ying had given everything to her and the child, eating none for herself; and because there was so little of the other dishes, she hadn’t touched those either.

Pei Zhiyun suppressed a shallow sigh and used her chopsticks to move some of the shrimp meat into Wen Ying’s bowl, adding a bit of the other dishes as well.

Wen Ying was enjoying her rice, her cheeks puffed out like a squirrel. Looking up to see chopsticks extended toward her, she instinctively lowered her bowl. Pieces of shrimp, carp, and a few strands of spinach landed on her rice.

Wen Ying slowed her chewing and looked toward the source of the chopsticks.

Pei Zhiyun held her own bowl, intentionally looking down to avoid Wen Ying’s gaze, her face half-submerged in the light so her expression was unreadable. She ate her small bowl of rice slowly and meticulously; she still had half a bowl left. It was hard to tell if she wasn’t hungry or if she was just maintaining her figure.

“Nom, nom, nom!”

Little Doubao was truly famished. She didn’t care how many side dishes the two adults gave her; with a spoon in one hand and chopsticks in the other, she ate whatever was there with great gusto. With a masterful spirit of devouring, she soon finished her meal, leaving not a single grain of rice behind. Even the soup was gone.

Once finished, she held the sponsor’s milk with both hands and sucked hard on the straw, gulping down nearly half a carton in one breath.

“Phew…” Satisfied, Little Doubao held the milk and began to space out.

The cameraman zoomed in on her soft, chubby face. She looked like a miniature version of Pei Zhiyun—adorable and precious.

While Little Doubao was finished, the other four families were still eating. For a while, the courtyard was a cacophony of clashing chopsticks and adults coaxing their children.

And, of course, the sound of a child wailing at the top of her lungs.

“I don’t want to eat this! I want to go home and eat fried chicken! Waaah, I don’t want this!”

The loudest crying in the courtyard came from Gao Nianke’s younger daughter, Gao Lin. She had been crying for over ten minutes, starting from the moment they entered the yard. Song Mu held her and tried to soothe her, but to no avail.

Song Mu comforted her daughter, “Baby, we are outside right now. There’s no fried chicken, burgers, or cola here. Look, your older sister is eating properly.”

Gao Lin wasn’t listening at all; she simply increased the volume of her wailing.

Gao Nianke wolfed down the rest of her food, wiped her mouth, and reached out for the little one. “Come here, I’ll hold her. You eat.”

Song Mu sighed and handed the girl over. “Waaah, Mama, I want fried chicken! I want a big drumstick!” Gao Lin continued to cry on her shoulder.

Gao Nianke held her with one arm, saying “there, there,” while using her other hand to serve food to Gao Yu. “Eat up, big sister, so you can grow tall.”

“Okay,” Gao Yu nodded obediently.

After serving the food, Gao Nianke went back to coaxing the younger one. Perhaps influenced by Gao Lin, several other children began clamoring to go home for fried chicken. The adults, suddenly flustered, put down their chopsticks to start soothing their kids. The entire courtyard fell into chaos.

Pei Zhiyun looked at the messy situation around her. Just as she was feeling grateful that Little Doubao was being well-behaved, the child suddenly patted Pei Zhiyun’s thigh and said with a serious face: “Mommy, can I cry and say I want fried chicken too? If I do, will I get a big drumstick?”

“No,” Pei Zhiyun shook her head in refusal. “Mommy told you before we came: crying is fine, but you have to tell Mommy clearly if you are hungry, thirsty, sleepy, hurt, or if you want a certain toy. Mommy will listen to you. In a situation like this, you could cry like the other children, but you wouldn’t get a drumstick even after you finished. Do you know why?”

Little Doubao leaned over, grabbing Pei Zhiyun’s finger, and thought seriously. “Because… because there isn’t a fried chicken shop here.”

Pei Zhiyun: “Mhm?”

“There is no fried chicken shop here!”

Pei Zhiyun was stunned. Children’s logic really was built differently.

Watching Pei Zhiyun educate the child reminded Wen Ying of the time Pei Zhiyun had scolded her in the study for three hours. Feeling a bit apprehensive, she gathered the clean-eaten dishes and took them to where she had washed her hands. Finding some dish soap and a steel wool pad on the windowsill, she gathered herself into a squat and began washing the dishes seriously.

the cameraman followed her with his rig. “Teacher Wen, the staff will wash the dishes. You don’t have to do it.”

“It’s alright, I can wash them myself.” Wen Ying scrubbed the plates briskly with the steel wool. Her movements were practiced and efficient; she was clearly used to doing this. The cameraman didn’t try to persuade her further.

At home, Pei Zhiyun liked to cook but disliked washing dishes. Although she never said it, Wen Ying had noticed, so Wen Ying handled the dishes after every meal though occasionally Pei Zhiyun would take the initiative to do them.

Once Pei Zhiyun finished talking to Little Doubao, she looked up and realized Wen Ying was gone. She instinctively straightened her back and looked around. Seeing her squatting in the back washing dishes, she finally relaxed.

The other families saw Wen Ying washing dishes and wanted to help tidy up as well, but their “little rascals” were crying so hard that it took two people to manage one child. They could only leave the mess for the staff.

Gao Nianke had brought two children; the elder was obedient, but the younger was like a “daughter of the sea”—her tears flowed as endlessly as ocean water.

As for Xu Yi’s son, Xu Guo, and Lu Zhou’s son, Lu Ming, they weren’t crying, but they were acting out. Xu Guo, frustrated because he was sleepy but couldn’t sleep, stepped onto his chair and tried to climb onto the table. Xu Yi pulled him down, and he ended up rolling on the ground in a tantrum.

The other boy didn’t climb the table; he grabbed the wooden table with both hands and flipped it over. Dishes crashed to the ground, shattering into a mess. Teacher Lu Zhou looked on in utter disbelief; she clearly hadn’t expected things to descend into such chaos.

Little Doubao sat nearby, watching the drama while drinking her milk. She even freed up a hand to mimic Lu Ming flipping the table, adding sound effects: “Smash! Thud! Crack-crack-crack!”

Pei Zhiyun was startled and quickly but discreetly pressed Little Doubao’s hand down.

Wen Ying returned from washing the dishes to see the neighboring table overturned. She sat down slowly, her hands resting on her knees. Her eyes instinctively sought out Pei Zhiyun; she was quite close to that table and Wen Ying wondered if she had been hit.

Lu Zhou set the wooden table back up and gave Lu Ming a very stern warning: “I’m telling you, Lu Ming, if you act out again, your father and I will ignore you and leave you here alone!”

Lu Ming gave a cold snort and turned to burrow into Sheng Feng’s arms. “You don’t want me, but Daddy does!”

“You—”

“Alright, alright. He just got here and isn’t familiar with the place. A little temper is normal; he’s just a child,” Sheng Feng cut in, blocking Lu Zhou’s attempt at discipline.

Lu Zhou’s words halted. She nodded. “Fine. A child’s temper. A little fuss is normal.” She stood up to find a broom, swept the broken ceramic into a dustpan, and sat back down without another word—though her expression remained relatively calm.

After over an hour of turmoil, the meal finally ended. The children had cried themselves out and were gradually quieting down.

The director reappeared with his megaphone. He didn’t comment on the chaos, simply following the itinerary. “Little friends, now that dinner is over, are you sleepy? Do you want to go to bed?”

“Yes! I’m so sleepy!” Xu Guo slumped in Xu Jianghao’s arms, his eyes barely able to stay open.

The director said, “Since you’re sleepy, next we will assign the houses. I don’t know if you’ve seen the first season, but once a house is decided, it will not be changed for the entire duration of the filming, no matter the circumstances. The same applies to this season. Houses 1 through 5 have been selected in advance. According to the grades, House No. 1 is the best, and House No. 5 is the worst. We have already secretly assigned the houses based on your performance just now.”

“Assigned already? Based on what criteria?” Xu Yi asked curiously.

Was it based on how much the kids cried? she wondered. If so, Pei Zhiyun’s family would definitely be first. That would be so unfair; kids at this age are supposed to be noisy and moody.

The other families were also full of curiosity, wanting to know what “performance” determined the housing.

“Mommy, I finished.” Little Doubao handed the empty milk carton to Pei Zhiyun.

Pei Zhiyun took it and immediately looked up, resting her chin on her hand, listening intently to the director. Before joining the show, she had binge-watched the first season. The worst house in Season 1 had no shower and no toilet; the guests had nowhere to bathe and smelled for days. There was no air conditioning in the sweltering heat, and the family of three had to sleep on straw mats in the courtyard. The conditions were heart-wrenchingly poor.

Coming here, Pei Zhiyun’s only requirement for the accommodation was a toilet and a place to wash. Food and drink were secondary—after all, it wouldn’t hurt Little Doubao to go hungry for a day or two.

“The houses were assigned based on…” The director deliberately paused for effect.

Every guest focused their attention on him, silently praying they wouldn’t get the worst house. The director scanned everyone from left to right before revealing the secret: “Your houses were assigned based on the order in which everyone finished their meal. The first to finish gets House No. 1, and so on. The last to finish gets House No. 5.”

Support