The Twin Babies Play Spot the Difference on a Parenting Show Again

[Story complete. For another parenting variety-show novel, check out my ongoing series, The Reborn Tiger Parent Doesn't Want to Compete Anymore. Ningbao has a new surprise waiting for you every day!] [Story blurb] Yu Xi transmigrates into a melodramatic rich-family novel, becoming a despised little nobody who has been kicked out of his wealthy family. The original host schemes and plots, only to meet a miserable end. Even his two children grow up warped, doomed to die and become disabled. Looking at the little toddler kneeling before him, neither servile nor arrogant, Yu Xi thinks the original host must have been completely crazy. He has two adorable little ones like these! What more could he possibly want? Yu Xi, a little-known star who left showbiz after being mocked by everyone, is reborn. He takes one child in each hand and joins a livestream variety show. The onlookers gather in the livestream early, eager to see what new antics he'll get up to. But his style really is completely different. In other livestreams, parents gently coax their babies out of bed. In the twins' livestream, Yu Xi lies in bed with his eyes closed, doing nothing. “Dad can't get up without a kiss from my babies.” As soon as he says it, one child plants a loud kiss on his left cheek. A little while later, something warm and soft hesitantly lands on his right cheek. When it's time to carry water, the other dads strain under their buckets, while Yu Xi has a child in each bucket beside him. During the race, the other dads sprint as their kids cheer them on. Yu Xi has both hands full and is delighted. When everyone else's dumplings are on the table, the Yu family is still playing rock-paper-scissors to decide who made the ugliest ones. The production crew: Don't you want to win? Yu Xi holds down one child in each arm as they try to escape. “Sure. I want to win the kids' hearts.” [Nuannuan is so adorable! Give Auntie a kiss.] [Ruanguo really is aloof and soft, but your ears have gone red.] [They're twins, but one is lively and cheerful while the other is so unpredictable.] [What could a little kid possibly do wrong? Yu Xi raised him badly. He deserves to die!] Yu Xi, the real culprit who deserves to die, reads the comments and ruffles the head of the child beside him. My dear, how many times have you taken the blame for your little brother? He turns and glares at the little muddy monkey who just got into a fight nearby. “Lu Nuannuan, go stand in the corner and think about what you've done!” The outraged viewers in the livestream: Nuannuan? Wasn't he Ruanuan? Another case of mixing them up again? Gradually, everyone notices that Ruanuan laughs more, Nuannuan has become more composed, and the twins are starting to look more and more alike. This game of telling them apart seems to be getting harder. Even Yu Xi, the universally despised one, is growing more likable by the day. Three heads, one big and two small, crowd around the test results in front of them. Nuannuan cheers: “Is it a boy?” Ruanuan calmly replies: “A girl, I think.” Yu Xi is on the verge of tears: “...” A fourth head joins them, and a soft laugh rings out. “Buy two, get one free. Three little ones for the price of one grown-up.” Reader's notes: 1. Set in a fictional world where men can marry and have children. No real-world setting. 2. The kids can be mischievous or well-behaved. Their personalities are shaped by their environment, so don't derail the comments. 3. Raising kids is the main focus, with romance as a secondary element. 4. I'll be sending out random waves of red-envelope gifts in the comments. Mwah! My next story, The Reborn Tiger Parent Doesn't Want to Compete Anymore, is now available. Written by Zhu Guli Tu. Please add it to your reading list and give it some love! Blurb: After staying up for three days and nights to type the final full stop, Cen Ning drops dead. His only thought before losing consciousness is that it's a shame he won't be able to crush those foreigners at next week's academic conference. Cen Ning is a born competitor. Or rather, all three children in the Cen family are born competitors. His eldest brother has two doctorates from Harvard and is preparing to take the company public on Wall Street. His second brother graduated from Yale, speaks eight languages fluently, and is a force to be reckoned with at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Encouraged by his brothers, Cen Ning has been raised to be a tiger-parented child since he was little. He competes in extracurricular activities in kindergarten, intelligence in elementary school, grades in middle school, and academics in college. Now, at a top research institute in the country, he's worked himself to death. Reborn as a three-year-old, Cen Ning swings his little feet while watching cartoons. Competitors die young. Lying flat is the way to be happy. He secretly hides the notice for his eldest brother's summer camp and grabs the game controller in his little paws. “Big Brother, play a game with Ningbao.” He quietly feeds his second brother's exam-prep books to the family's little yellow dog, then props his round chin on his hands and blinks his big eyes. “Second Brother, the puppy says it's hungry.” The two older brothers are so charmed by the toddler that their hearts tremble. What's the point of studying when playing with this little one is so much more fun? Cen Ning is so soft and sweet that his award-winning actor father takes him on a group variety show to toughen him up. The other children rack their brains to earn rewards, while Ningbao yawns in his dad's arms. The other children help their parents in the kitchen, while Ningbao gets kicked out after ruining things for the Nth time. The other children sing, dance, and show off their talents in front of the camera. Ningbao's chubby little paws clap until they're red as he cheers them on. [Ningbao is so laid-back. Now I suddenly don't want to compete anymore.] [He doesn't compete himself. He even drags all the other kids into doing nothing with him.] [The director's team is about to lose it. All the children have become just as laid-back as Ningbao.] Among the little kids filming the variety show is a strikingly handsome mixed-race child. The moment he appears, he draws every child's attention, and they all scramble to follow him around. They fight over who gets to be on his team for the games. Meanwhile, Ningbao munches on snacks and watches the drama, thinking to himself: “You can compete all you want. In twenty years, he'll still be my wife.” The mixed-race kid suddenly leans close to Ningbao's face, his lips red and teeth white, looking very pretty. “Doesn't Ningbao want to play with me?” Ningbao chokes on his snack and quietly blushes. “Then I'll compete! What's there to be afraid of? I'll do it one last time!” A little scene: Twenty years later, Cen Ning stares in horror at the handsome face right in front of him. “Wait, wait... Hold on, this isn't right!” “Wait? I've waited twenty years. I'm done waiting.” Ian lightly lifts his chin with one finger, his thin lips brushing against his trembling, soft ones. “You're an adult. What's wrong with it?” “I-it's just wrong! The position is wrong! I'm supposed to be on top.” Cen Ning's eyes turn bright red, his fingers nervously twisting the man's shirt. Ian raises his brows in surprise, then immediately understands. “Got it.” “What do you mean, you got it? Let go of me, you pervert!” Theme: Love and responsibility must not be betrayed