VHBF – Chapter 67 Movie King Daddy (Part 26)

“Grandpas and grandmas, you don’t know how hard it is to pick vegetables. You have to squat in the field the whole time, under the sun, and it takes such a long, long time just to fill one cart. These are the fruits of my, my dad’s, and my grandparents’ labor. This price is already very cheap. You should buy some and try—it’s sweet!”

“Yinyin even knows magic! If you eat the vegetables Yinyin picked, your mood will be good all day, and you’ll become pretty, become cute—just as cute as Yinyin, and as good-looking as Daddy!”

The uncles and aunties watching were amused by the little dumpling. Seeing her working so hard to advertise for so long, they felt that if they didn’t buy something, it’d be like bullying a three-year-old child—the guilt would be too much.

One person started off, saying he’d take three jin of baby bok choy. Another wanted five jin of tomatoes. Someone else asked for two jin of eggplant. The string beans looked good too, so another three jin of those.

In the morning, the little dumpling had eaten a tomato, and she was deeply impressed by how sweet and juicy it was. She picked out a few tomatoes herself, dropped them into a bag, and gave them to her dad to weigh.

After weighing, she lifted her little face and smiled sweetly. “Grandma, you’ve got good taste. This one’s delicious, so sweet!” As she spoke, she recalled the taste, smacked her little lips, looking all greedy.

The auntie who bought tomatoes laughed. While the father was still weighing, she reached out and rubbed the dumpling’s head, enjoying the feel. “Alright, alright. Grandma will go back and have a good taste. Thank you today.”

Yinyin waved her hand, saying it was no trouble.

That’s how business goes—once you get a good start and money comes in, the popularity follows. After that, several more orders came in.

Even those uncles and aunties who originally didn’t plan to buy vegetables, and didn’t lack greens at home, couldn’t resist buying a little after seeing the dumpling work so hard on her pitch.

And when they saw how the dumpling’s eyes curved into crescents with satisfaction every time someone said they wanted to buy, they couldn’t help but add a few more jin. They bought more than they’d intended, but when the child sweetly said goodbye to them, even if they’d bought extra, they felt comfortable. Carrying the vegetables home, they were all smiles.

When the customers left, the dumpling squatted down, staring at the basket of tomatoes with shining eyes, drooling.

Zhu Ji found it funny. He picked the smallest, reddest, best-looking tomato, rinsed it with mineral water, wiped it dry, and handed it to her.

The dumpling quickly waved her hands, conflicted, staring at the tomato in her dad’s hand, her little brows furrowed, looking heartbroken. “Daddy, I still won’t eat it. We need to sell it for money.”

In the end, the dumpling still ate the tomato—because of what her dad said: If you don’t eat enough, how can you work?

The dumpling thought it made a lot of sense. She was planning to sell vegetables the whole day! Grandpa had said if they didn’t sell them today, tomorrow they’d turn yellow, not tasty and not fresh anymore.

But Zhu Ji didn’t have such lofty ambition. He had already set aside some vegetables that could be stored longer—like tomatoes, eggplants, gourds—that would be fine if sold tomorrow.

However, things didn’t go his way. Sometimes adults overthink, while a child’s simple, pure determination works better. The dumpling’s thoughts were straightforward: she was going to sell vegetables, and she was ambitious enough to believe she could sell them all in a single day.

The cute, pretty three-year-old squatted on a stone slab, holding a tomato and nibbling at it bite by bite. She ate with great relish, slurping up the juice, making others around swallow involuntarily.

Very soon, the entire basket of tomatoes was sold out, even the half-basket Zhu Ji had set aside for tomorrow.

Zhu Ji: “…”

After thinking for a moment, he silently handed a baby bok choy to the dumpling, saying she didn’t need to eat it, just hold it and play.

But the dumpling couldn’t bear to play with it. Vegetables were meant to be sold for money, not wasted as toys. She looked at her father with eyes full of disdain, like he was squandering wealth, then carefully took the vegetable into her hands, handling it cautiously as if it were gold.

She even muttered, “Vegetable, vegetable, you’re so pretty—how could you not get sold? Yinyin believes you can definitely fetch a good price!”

This scene made a few passersby stop, curious. “You’re talking to the vegetable? Can it understand you?”

Of course, adults think differently than children. The three-year-old dumpling nodded naturally, saying of course the vegetables could understand. They were very well-behaved. “It’s just that they can’t bear to leave Yinyin, so they don’t get sold. If Yinyin talks to them more, explains nicely, then it’ll be fine.”

Onlookers: “…”

Alright, alright—since you’re this cute, whatever you say is right. An auntie immediately pulled out money, saying, “Give me five jin—I can cook them for several days.”

The dumpling’s face lit up with joy. She quickly turned to her dad and urged him to weigh the vegetables for the auntie.

Just then, another auntie glanced at her phone, then looked closely at the dumpling several times. Muttering to herself, “So alike, really alike…”

After thinking, she brought the phone over, showed the dumpling a photo, and asked if she recognized the person. As she asked, the older auntie’s eyes shone brightly, almost glowing green, as she stared at the dumpling.

The dumpling was busy selling vegetables, but she stole a glance—and immediately recognized that the photo was of herself. She looked at the auntie curiously and asked, “Why do you have my picture?”

This auntie, who looked about thirty or forty, still quite young, lit up with joy and instinctively blurted out, “Child, I’m your mom!”

Zhu Ji: “…”

The dumpling was full of confusion. “???”

What kind of reaction does a “mom-fan” have when she sees her precious baby in real life? This auntie couldn’t tell you—because right now she was so excited her face turned red, glowing with happiness. She nearly reached out to hug the child, but stopped when the child’s father shot her a fierce look, like a wolf guarding its cub. Embarrassed, she pulled her hand back.

“Little Yinyin, I’m your mommy-fan. We have several fan groups, and I’m even the leader of one of them!” She sounded very proud when she said this—she managed a group of five hundred fans. She was a big-time mommy-fan!

At her age, her kids were already in middle and high school, living in dorms. Apart from worrying about their grades, there wasn’t much else to do. She didn’t have to work either, so she had loads of free time every day.

In the past, her days were mostly spent chatting idly with neighbors or playing mahjong, but ever since her eldest sister recommended a show to her, it was like she had suddenly found a second life goal. Her maternal instincts overflowed as she watched that sweet, obedient little girl on the screen, and her heart melted with love.

She herself had two sons—one of them even a fine baby she had to pay a penalty for exceeding the quota. Both boys were tough and rough, practically indestructible, and after they turned three, there wasn’t a shred of joy left in raising them.

At her age, having a third child was unrealistic, so whenever she saw that soft, cuddly little one on the show, she couldn’t help but think—if only that were her daughter!

As she kept watching the show, she even registered a Weibo account, scrolling through every single picture and video of the little girl online.

She didn’t even skip the clip of Yang Bingbing taking her child to pick up bottles. The more she watched, the more she adored her. Such a well-behaved and sensible child, soft and cute, just like a little angel. That was the daughter she dreamed of having!

Later, with nothing better to do, she started joining other “mom fans” online, bragging everywhere that their girl was the best, tirelessly canvassing for votes. The satisfaction of showing off “her daughter” was something only a mom could understand. She got addicted—every day, she clutched her phone and fought on the front lines, even pushing her husband aside.

As one of the earliest mom fans and someone who stayed active online every day, she was honored with a small group leader role, starting a chat group where she chatted with other mom fans every day.

Just the day before yesterday, she was complaining in the group—saying it would take a whole week before they could see the baby again in the next episode, and how unbearably slow that felt. Who would’ve thought she’d run into her here today!

Thinking of this, the auntie’s eyes reddened as she stared at the little dumpling, distressed as she said the child must have had it hard. Then, gritting her teeth, she snapped, “That heartless, black-lunged director—how could he make a three-year-old sell vegetables to earn money?”

When she finished, she shot a fierce glare at the child’s father, as if he were some heinous villain. “And you—sitting there doing nothing, letting your daughter sell vegetables for you? You call yourself a movie king? Hmph! You can’t even sell vegetables—our girl’s far more capable than you!”

Zhu Ji: “…”

The little dumpling was baffled by this torrent of words. She didn’t understand things like “fans,” couldn’t make sense of it, but she did understand the auntie was criticizing her dad. She quickly explained, “No, no! Daddy drives and carries the vegetables, and he does the weighing and the money part. Yinyin only sells vegetables—that’s the easiest job!”

The bystanders were all confused, and then someone suddenly asked if this was that show Daddy and Baby.

Wasn’t this the same kid who won every single time?

“That’s her! Who else could be this cute? Who else could sell vegetables like this? Only our girl is the cutest and most capable—no one can compare!”

Even though this was just a small town, some of the uncles and aunties kept up with trends, watching variety shows and surfing the internet. They never imagined the little one from TV would appear right in front of them. Before, they had only thought she was good-looking and vaguely familiar, just a kid who felt pleasing to the eye. But now—this was the child from the show!

What were they waiting for?

Several of the aunties and uncles waved their hands grandly, no longer stingy. They each bought ten or twenty catties of vegetables at once, and in no time, half the stall was gone.

The mom fans’ eyes shone as they asked to take pictures with little Yinyin. The little dumpling never refused—after all, the people buying her vegetables were all kind aunties and uncles!

The auntie who had first spotted the dumpling squealed in her fan group like a teenager, “Ahhhhhh! I ran into our baby girl at the vegetable market!”

The group chat instantly lit up with replies—where, where?!

The auntie hastily shared her location and hurried to squeeze in for a photo. Seeing the sweetly smiling girl in her phone beside her own face, she felt more satisfied than ever.

What she didn’t know was that her message quickly spread to other fan groups. Many fans squealed, “I know that place! It’s near my house—I’m going right now to bump into our baby girl!”

The aunties and uncles who had recognized the dumpling didn’t leave. Instead, they grabbed little stools and sat nearby, chatting with her as if it were an afternoon tea party—only missing sunflower seeds to crack open.

Not even half an hour later, a crowd of people surged straight toward them—men and women, young and old, with more than a few aunties in the mix.

They didn’t bother with greetings. After carefully looking at the dumpling, they pulled out money.  “I’ll take the whole basket of eggplants!”

“I’m buying all the beans—my grandma loves stir-fried beans!”

“These cucumbers are so fresh! Practical too—you can eat them, make salad, or even use them as a face mask. I’ll take them all!”

“Hey, hey, don’t hog everything—leave some for others, okay?”

There was only half a stall of vegetables left, and now everyone wanted to buy them all. Within moments, everything was about to be swept up. The rest protested—this wasn’t fair. How could they buy out everything and leave none for others?

“Too domineering!”

“This kind of mindset is no good. It’s a new era—we need tolerance and courtesy, understand?”

They hadn’t even exchanged a dozen words before they were nearly fighting over who got to buy more vegetables.

The filming staff: “…”

The onlookers: “???”

All the noise and commotion drew the attention of the whole market. Many people, unless rushing for time, gathered to watch.

“Brother, wasting food is shameful. Can your grandma finish all those beans? If not, don’t waste our baby’s hard work picking and selling them!”

“Sis, can you be more humble? One person taking all those eggplants?”

“And you, little miss—can you eat ten catties of greens? Careful you don’t get diarrhea later!”

“…”

The arguing went on and on—no one would give in. It was truly a rare sight. In this market, greens were usually the hardest thing to sell. Everyone grew them at home, so why spend money?

But now they were fighting to buy them. Curious onlookers stared at the vegetables for a long time. Sure, they were fresh—but nothing unusual. Did they grant immortality or something?

A bystander who’d been watching from the start explained that the little girl selling vegetables was some sort of TV star. “These are her fans—they call themselves mom fans.”

Finally, one auntie shouted, “If you don’t buy now and keep fighting, once the big crowd gets here, none of you will get any of our baby’s vegetables!”

The older uncles and aunties who had been red in the face arguing: “…”

In the end, under Zhu Ji’s coordination, the remaining vegetables were evenly divided among those present. Carrying the heavy bags, everyone smiled in satisfaction. These weren’t just vegetables—these were baby’s vegetables! Vegetables she had personally picked! Which, more or less, made them feel like she was being filial to them.

The mom fans were overjoyed, carrying the vegetables like they were gold, walking with a spring in their step.

The staff stared at the empty baskets, not a single leaf left, stunned for a long while.

Zhang Daxi had only gone to the bathroom, but when he came back, father and daughter’s stall was completely empty. He had been waiting to see them struggle to sell vegetables—yet it was all gone???

He replayed the footage, his eyes widening more and more as he watched. Wow! The movie king’s daughter was even more capable than he’d imagined. No wonder she could get over a hundred million votes for the show—she was even more popular than her father!

Though things hadn’t gone as planned and selling vegetables hadn’t made the father-daughter duo suffer, Zhang Daxi was still satisfied—unexpectedly satisfied!

He could already imagine the reaction once this episode aired. His show was destined to be a smash hit!