Fortunately, Ji Shize later mustered up the courage to rise up and urged his mother to go into the room to start her skincare routine. Before being pushed into the room, Ji's mother sighed helplessly and laughed, "Alright, then you three kids have fun."

"Okay, okay, Mom, you can go in now."

The moment Ji Shize closed the door, he let out a heavy sigh of relief, then turned around seriously to look at Chaochao and Lingling.

...

"One, two, three... Freeze!"

"Ah, Chaochao, your foot moved! I've got you!"

Suddenly, Lingling turned around and pointed at a certain dumpling, laughing triumphantly.

At this moment, Chaochao was standing on one leg in a swaying posture, her leg shaking so badly it looked like a bent instant noodle, and she was swaying back and forth as if she was about to fall.

My lips were still stubbornly clenched: "I...I haven't...I absolutely won't—"

*smack*

"He fell down..."

That barely audible baby voice floated in the air, and Chaochao Ben Tuanzi plopped down on the ground in response.

Ji Shize, who was standing on tiptoe beside her, wanted to help Chaochao up, but Lingling was watching her intently from the front, so Ji Shize dared not make any rash moves.

In just a second or two, Chaochao rubbed his bottom and got up on his own, sighing as he slowly walked back to the starting point.

Seeing this, Lingling turned around with satisfaction. "Let's continue."

The game ended with Ji Shize narrowly winning by encountering Lingling in the last three seconds.

In the second half, Chaochao, who had been completely slacking off, hovered around the starting line. When the butler announced Ji Shize's victory, Chaochao, who was squatting at the starting line, cheered and ran to Shize's side, jumping around to celebrate with him.

Lingling, who was willing to accept defeat, only let out a slight, unwilling hum.

With Chaochao's flattering words ringing in his ears, Ji Shize, having just regained the upper hand, felt all the frustration that had been building up instantly vanish.

but--

He glanced at Chaochao, who wasn't having much of an experience in the "Statues" game, and thought for a moment, "Let's play another game!"

Ji Shize brought out a box of cards: "This time, let's have a competition to see who can flick the cards the farthest. Chaochao and Lingling, you two pick one each. I want this Ultraman one first."

Lingling: "Then I want this magical girl one!"

Chaochao flipped through the cards but didn't see any Peppa Pig cards, but immediately spotted the Pleasant Goat cards.

Her little balloon today is a white sheep, which will surely bring her good luck!

"Whoever takes the closest picture will get a white sticker stuck on their face."

Ji Shize hesitated for a moment before explaining the rules. He thought to himself, "Chao Chao's strength is actually quite good. She should have a pretty good chance of winning this round... right?"

It turns out that adding "吧" to the end of an affirmative sentence is always a bit unlucky.

Half an hour later.

Through the gaps in the white paper, one could vaguely glimpse a pair of clear and resolute eyes. The system didn't know what to say; in short, it was like a mop that had come to life.

Holding the Lazy Sheep card in her hand, Chaochao took a deep breath and exhaled. The note fluttered in the wind, and the little dumpling's vision finally cleared up. "Ha!"

The card was thrown, the card flew up, and the card fell to the ground with a thud at the end.

The entire room fell silent: "..."

The fluttering paper slips slowly fell, obscuring the little dumpling's suddenly dull eyes. At this moment, the little mop head, which had consistently finished last, became a gray shadow in the living room.

Lingling, with five or six pieces of paper stuck to her face, glanced suspiciously at the clean-cut Ji Shize, her meaning clear.

You didn't do this on purpose, did you?

Ji Shize, who had won almost the entire game, weakly protested, "I...I don't know either..."

And he clearly let the ball go...

Is this what they call home-field advantage?

Ji Shize glanced at the Ultraman Tiga card in his hand.

While playing the game, Lingling gradually switched to other cards, such as Little Fairy and Sailor Moon... Chaochao, on the other hand, kept picking the sheep from the Green Green Grassland, such as Happy Sheep, Pretty Sheep, Boiling Sheep, and Lazy Sheep... He, however, insisted on using the Ultraman Tiga card from beginning to end.

Perhaps that's the reason?

At this moment, the Ultraman Tiga card in Ji Shize's eyes seemed to shine with divine light.

With difficulty, Ji Shize tore his gaze away from the card. On one side was a small gray mop, and on the other was the ever-skeptical Lingling. "..."

Desperate to prove his innocence, Ji Shize's mind raced. Suddenly, a brilliant idea struck him, and he hurriedly ran to his room to retrieve a piece of paper.

"I...I have another plan..." Ji Shize said breathlessly.

This time he was truly, truly confident!

Ji Shize glanced upstairs. His father was having a meeting in the study. After confirming that no one was in the hallway, he unfolded the A4-sized white paper.

Two heads and a small mop, huddled together looking down.

This is a simplified map, so simplified that it only has a few lines and two or three circles. Chaochao thinks that if she were to draw it, it would probably look better; at least she would draw a smiley face inside the small circles.

“My dad buried a treasure in our yard a year ago, saying he would give it to me later. But on that day, I secretly followed him and drew a map.”

“It’s right here.” Ji Shize pointed to the golden circle and said in a low, ambitious voice, “Let’s go dig up the treasure!”

In an instant, Lingling and Chaochao's eyes lit up.

Lingling got her name because of the "treasure," while Chaochao got hers because of the "digging."

“But…” Lingling hesitated, her delicate brows furrowing slightly, “Isn’t it a bit inappropriate for you to dig up the things your father buried?”

"Anyway, it's going to be given to me anyway, so it's fine if I get it now," Ji Shize said confidently. His father might even praise him for being smart and decisive.

Lingling was successfully persuaded. "Chaochao, tell me—"

She turned her head and saw the previously listless little mop holding a shovel, looking energetic and ready to give the order. "I'm ready!"

Lingling: "?"

Where did this little shovel come from?

Ji Shize could see clearly that Chaochao took it out of her small backpack.

Chaochao tilted her head in confusion at the shocked looks on her older siblings' faces.

How can you go out to the park without bringing a shovel?

Isn't this the same for all children across the country?