Chapter 954 Extra 27: Family Reality Show 5

The few of them chatted and laughed for a while. Shu Ran had to go film, so she left the group video call, Shi Yuhuai also went offline, then Brother Cheng handed Xixi over to Guan Yu, picked up the tablet and stepped out of frame to talk to his wife alone.

They’d only been apart for half a day. Mu Qiu was lying on the table, looking at the phone camera, blinking as she called him.

“Brother Cheng, you just dumped Xixi in front of the camera?”

Cheng Zhirang found a corner with flowers and said, “I want to talk to you alone. With Guan Yu and Li Yang looking after her, Xixi will be fine.”

Mu Qiu: “What do you want to say?”

Cheng Zhirang slowly blinked and said softly, “I kind of miss you.”

Mu Qiu pillowed her head on her arm, lying there, eyes curving as she smiled: “I miss you too. The house suddenly feels empty and quiet, I’m not used to it. Are you guys coming back tomorrow?”

Cheng Zhirang: “Tomorrow night. Qiuqiu, I really miss you.”

Mu Qiu leaned closer to the screen and said quietly, “I really miss you too. When I take a nap I keep feeling like you should be right beside me, but when I reach out there’s no one there, and I wake up with a start.”

After all these years, they’re far too used to each other’s presence, used to the important role each plays in the other’s life.

Cheng Zhirang lowered his eyes, smiling: “When we get back, let’s send Xixi to Yun City to stay with Mom and Dad for a bit, and we’ll go travel.”

“Isn’t that already settled? I’ve already called Brother Huai and the others. Or do you want to go off on our own? Let’s make it the month after next, okay? I’ve already packed next month full of trips.”

“…” He was a bit exasperated. “Your whole month of travel plans is only three days, at most five, but you make it sound like you’re going to be away the entire month. Have you guys picked a place?”

“We did. Summer sailing, driving along the route, just thinking about the scenery along the road makes me excited ahead of time.”

Cheng Zhirang said, “Then when I’m back, let’s buy a camera, and we should switch the car to an off‑road one. There’s just the right one sitting in the villa district garage.”

The two of them spoke in low voices for a while about the trip. In the end the topic circled back to Xixi.

Cheng Zhirang softly told her how much Xixi loves that pair of overalls: “She cherishes everything you give her. She’s even afraid the overalls will get dirty when she’s making the bed. She had a big cry this morning just because she accidentally bumped into something and thought she’d dirtied the pants.”

Mu Qiu was very pleased with herself: “I gave birth to her, of course she loves me and the things I give her. And that little cat on the pocket, I embroidered it myself. It’s one of a kind; it really means something.”

Cheng Zhirang followed along and asked, “Then why don’t I have a single piece of clothing that really means something?”

“…You want me to embroider a cat on your shirt? So this is what you’re like. I misjudged you, Cheng Zhirang.” Her expression was teasing.

He kept a straight face: “Doesn’t have to be on a dress shirt, it could be somewhere else, like pajamas. Didn’t you embroider Xixi’s name on the little handkerchief you made her? I want one with a name on it too—your name.”

“Whose name you embroider means that thing belongs to them. It’s a territorial mark. Why embroider my name? If you’re going to embroider, embroider your own name.”

Cheng Zhirang’s Lian Yan eyes rested on her in the screen as he said seriously, “Why not? I belong to you, wife.”

Mu Qiu was struck speechless.

Cheng Zhirang had taken the tablet out for a long time and still hadn’t come back into frame; Xixi had already looked up several times.

But she didn’t go out to look for him. When Li Yang asked if she wanted to find her dad, she nodded, but then whispered, “Daddy is talking to Mommy. Xixi can’t disturb them.”

Li Yang looked at her fair, chubby little face and couldn’t help laughing: “Do Daddy and Mommy often do this, ditch you and go off to the side to talk?”

Xixi thought about it, then nodded again. Head down, playing with a toy, she said in a little grown‑up voice, “Daddy and Mommy have endless things to say. Kids shouldn’t butt into adults’ business.”

Guan Yu laughed beside her.

“Xixi, did Mommy tell you that line? That kids shouldn’t butt in?”

Xixi shook her head: “Grandma said it.”

Guan Yu: Oh wow, this topic suddenly turned ambiguous.

The other guests also smiled as they asked her, “Then Xixi, does your daddy often take you to movie sets to play? Doesn’t he shoot movies all the time?”

Xixi answered every question super seriously: “No. When Daddy’s not around, I just follow Mommy.”

“Then have Daddy and Mommy made plans to give you a little brother?”

Xixi frowned: “Don’t want a little brother.”

“Why don’t you want a little brother?”

Li Yang and Guan Yu also asked, “Xixi doesn’t like having a little brother?”

“Don’t like it. It will make Mommy hurt.”

Guan Yu thought for a moment, then held back her laughter: “True, in the months before you were born, your dad practically had prenatal depression.”

Just thinking about it was funny. Back then that top‑ten male maternity nurse’s reactions were like a dad terrified his daughter would make friends with the wrong crowd at school. He practically showed up with a rocket launcher and a stopwatch to time their visits.

As soon as the others heard that Cheng Zhirang had almost had prenatal depression, they perked right up and crowded around Guan Yu, asking questions.

Guan Yu was too busy laughing, and didn’t go into too much detail. She just picked a harmless incident to talk about.

“When Mu Qiu was pregnant, she couldn’t be around electronics much, so it was hard to chat. We went to visit her. You know when you’re out walking around, you pick up a bit of smell, right? Especially since we even brought seafood for them that day. In the end we were stopped at the door by Brother Cheng.”

“He very politely said the smell would make Mu Qiu throw up, then sat us down on the right side of the living room, and put Mu Qiu on the left side, miles apart. We had to practically shout to talk to each other. It was ridiculous. I sat down and just kept laughing with Mu Qiu; we barely said a few words before Brother Cheng announced that it was afternoon fetal‑education time, so we had to leave. We went back and ripped into him in the group chat.”

Just thinking about it was hilarious—like visiting a kid in a military academy under strict management: line up, sign in, take a look, say a few words, then he watches the clock and ushers you out. Super formal.

During that period, in the five‑person group chat without Cheng Zhirang, they were constantly roasting him. Meme stickers everywhere, all of them Cheng Zhirang memes they’d collected online, with captions. Every time, it would make Mu Qiu, secretly playing on her phone, send “hahahahaha I’m dying of laughter” to the group.

If this part ends up getting aired, everyone will know that before his wife gave birth, Cheng Zhirang was even more nervous than the pregnant woman herself.

Everyone huddled together chatting, and the few little kids copied the adults, standing up and sticking their heads in to watch them gossip. They clearly couldn’t really understand, but they laughed along anyway.

When Cheng Zhirang finished the video call and came back into the main room, he found everyone looking at him with smiles full of hidden meaning.

He sat down next to Xixi and asked Li Yang, “What’s going on? Were you guys talking about me?”

Li Yang immediately ratted out Guan Yu: “Sister Guan Yu was badmouthing you!”

Guan Yu: “…Li Yang, you really can’t be fully good or fully bad. You’re stuck in the middle, and it just makes people want to smack you.”

It even rhymed.

Cheng Zhirang raised a brow: “What bad things was she saying about me? Xixi, what bad things did Auntie Guan Yu say about me?”

Xixi only latched onto the part she cared about. She shook her head, then added, “They asked if Xixi wanted a little brother. I said I don’t want one.”