If there was really a behind-the-scenes operation, the chief director would have liked to give Lin Cheng’s team a good time for this week.

But this place was selected according to the votes done online by netizens.

Although there were many shops on Liuming Street, because it was an old street and most of the shops have been in business for more than ten or twenty years, the program team was unsuccessful in trying to find a shop that would agree to let them use it as a temporary recording venue. 

In the end, only this small restaurant that was already closed down could be found.

… …

Lin Momo looked at the small restaurant in front of her. Although it didn’t match her imagination, she didn’t dislike it when she heard Lin Cheng say it belonged to their family. She couldn’t wait to take out the key and ran forward to open the door.

The key was inserted into the keyhole, and with an audible click, the lock opened—it was indeed their store!

Lin Cheng pushed the door open, and the father and daughter walked into the store one after the other.

The overall situation of this store was similar to what was described in the [Family Background] card: the entire store was not big, with the inside and outside adding up to less than 30 square meters. The space on the first floor was divided into a dining area in the front and a back area consisting of a small kitchen. It also had two floors: with debris left over from when it closed all piled up downstairs, and living space upstairs.

Because no one had cleaned it for a long time, at first glance, the whole shop was full of dust. Cardboard boxes, meal boxes, wine bottles, and all the garbage that the previous shop owner had not had time to clean up were scattered all over the floor. Five tables and more than 20 stools were placed in a haphazard manner inside the place.

“We have everything we should have for a shop,” Lin Momo said, pulling at Lin Cheng.

Quite different from the despair that others felt when seeing such a scene, Lin Momo was hopeful when she saw that the store was fully equipped with tables, chairs, and benches, and she had already begun to count the assets in their shop.

Seeing Lin Momo rolling up her sleeves and getting ready to get into it, Lin Cheng stopped her.

“Eat something first and then clean up.”

“I’m not hung–.”

Before she could finish the last word, Lin Momo’s stomach growled in a very timely manner.

Lin Cheng walked into the kitchen and looked around.

Compared to the mess in the dining area outside, the kitchen inside was much neater and could be used after some simple tidying up and cleaning.

Lin Cheng took off his coat and rolled up his sleeves. He originally planned to clean up the kitchen first, then go to the nearby fresh food store to buy some ingredients and show his daughter his skills.

The problem was, when he opened the refrigerator, there was no power, and when he turned on the faucet, there was no water.

Lin Cheng tried the gas stove, and sure enough, there wasn’t any gas either.

Lin Cheng made a few calls and found out that because the bills had not been paid for a long time, all the water, electricity, and gas in this store had been stopped. To reopen, he needed to go to the business hall to re-apply and pay the fees.

Faced with this situation, Lin Cheng could only go to the small noodle shop next door to buy Lin Momo a bowl of noodles.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

It was not yet lunch time at this time and there were not many diners in the noodle shop. The owner of the noodle shop was very enthusiastic when he met Lin Cheng.

“Are you going to open the shop next door?” While the clerk was cooking the ordered noodles, the boss and Lin Cheng started chatting.

“Yeah,” Lin Cheng nodded.

“What are you going to do?”

“Will open a small restaurant.”

Hearing this, the boss nodded but then quickly frowned.

“The people who come to eat on our street are either nearby residents or employees of nearby small companies. They are basically old customers. If you open a new store, you may not be able to get any business,” the noodle shop boss said in a sincere tone. 

Lin Cheng’s expression remained unchanged and he just said, “It’s just to try.”

At this time, Lin Momo, who had been waiting for Lin Cheng next door, ran over.

Seeing Lin Momo next to Lin Cheng, the noodle shop owner raised his eyebrows and asked, “This is?”

“My daughter,” Lin Cheng introduced.

Hearing Lin Cheng’s introduction, Lin Momo felt a little happy inside and called out to the noodle shop owner, “Hello, uncle.” 

“How good,” the boss smiled down at Lin Momo. Then he looked at Lin Cheng and said, “Your daughter looks quite like you. There’s just this little one?”

“Mm, just this one,” Lin Cheng replied.

Lin Cheng was also in a good mood when the noodle shop owner said that Lin Momo looked like him.

The two chatted for a few more words.

When the noodles were cooked, the noodle shop owner—who found Lin Momo to be very cute—took a paper bowl and filled it with cherry tomatoes for her.

Back in their own store, Lin Cheng glanced at Lin Momo and said, “You stay in the store, I’ll pay the utility bills.” Lin Cheng just checked online and found that the place to pay for water, electricity and gas is on this street, not too far out.

“I’m going with you,” Lin Momo said. She immediately put down the bowl and chopsticks and stood up.

Lin Cheng glanced at the heavy sunshine outside and rejected Lin Momo’s ‘companionship application’ without a second thought.

“If you don’t want to go out and turn into coal when you come back, just stay here,” Lin Cheng said to Lin Momo half-jokingly.

Before leaving, he warned Lin Momo, “I’ll be back soon, don’t run around.” 

“Okay.” Although she was unwilling, Lin Momo nodded obediently.

Before going out, Lin Cheng glanced at the minivan parked along the street next to their shop that looked like it might fall apart at any time. He decisively gave up the idea of ​​driving it out and left on foot.

Serve as Contrast Team in a ‘Dad with Baby’ Show translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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T/N: C’mon, program team. You could have cleaned up the place and made sure the utilities were working yeah?

Shameless plug for my other translation work: I Livestream Divination To The World. We just finished a ‘fake daughter swapped for real daughter’ story. Bring lots of melon seeds.