Back in the shop.

Lin Momo had already finished cleaning the space she cleared out. Looking at the store that was finally cleaner and tidier, Lin Momo nodded with satisfaction.

Lin Momo tried to move the large tables a few more times, but unfortunately she still couldn’t move them.

Helpless, Lin Momo had to give up and wait for her father to come back.

Lin Momo washed her hands, took the small tomatoes given to her by the noodle shop owner earlier, and started munching while waiting for Lin Cheng to return.

She had already finished most of the bowl of tomatoes, but Lin Cheng still hasn’t come back.

Lin Momo couldn’t sit still any longer, so she just carried the remaining half bowl of tomatoes to the door and waited there.

When Lin Momo came out of the store, she closed the door and then crouched down where she could see the street sign at the street entrance—from this position, she would see it as soon as Lin Cheng came back.

Lin Momo wanted to savor the cherry tomatoes until Lin Cheng comes back, but because the waiting time was too long, one small tomato was eaten after another, and Lin Momo quickly finished all the tomatoes in the bowl.

“He’s not back yet…” Lin Momo whispered.

At this moment, a slender, fragrant hand stretched out, and with a ‘clink’ sound, a one-yuan coin was dropped into the bowl in Lin Momo’s arms.

Lin Momo was stunned and looked up, only to see that the young woman who had just given her the coin had already walked away with two other colleagues.

Lin Momo lowered her head to look at the coin in the bowl, looked at the backs of those people, then chased after them while holding the bowl.

At this time, the three girls were still discussing.

“It’s rare to see beggars on the road now.”

“It’s rare to see them on ordinary roads. But if you go to Chunshan Road on weekends, there are still a lot of them, old and young.” 

“Now it’s organized, right? Some people specialize in taking in disabled children, giving them food, and driving them to a fixed location every day to drop them off, letting them ask for money there, and then take them back when the time comes.” 

“This is too much. It’s pitiful.”

“It really is.”

“But the kid just now doesn’t look like this to me.”

“Maybe she’s really in trouble.”

… …

While the three girls were talking, Lin Mo Mo chased after them.

The girl was startled when she saw Lin Momo running over suddenly.

“Kid, what’s wrong?” the girl in the middle asked. She noticed that there was only one coin in Lin Momo’s bowl and guessed, “Do you want more? Sorry, this is all I have. I rarely carry cash.” The yuan coin just now was leftover change from taking the subway a long time ago.

After saying that, the girl looked at Lin Momo again and asked, “Do you have a QR code on you? If so, I will scan another 5 yuan for you.” 

Lin Momo shook her head and explained, “I’m not a beggar.”

“Huh?” The girl was slightly startled when she heard Lin Momo’s words.

At this time, Lin Momo pointed to the small shop behind her and said to the three of them. “That shop over there, my dad and I are going to open a small restaurant there. I’m waiting for my dad to come back.” 

After listening to Lin Momo’s explanation, the three girls suddenly realized: it turned out that they had made a mistake!

“Sorry, we made a mistake,” the three girls said awkwardly.

“Kid, did you and your dad just get here today? I’ve never seen you before,” the girl on the left said, breaking the awkwardness.

They come here to eat at noon every day, and they have never met Lin Momo. Of course, they have not associated the little girl in front of them with the dad and daughter team from the reality show [Living with Dad] that has become popular in the past two weeks. Celebrity father and daughter were linked together in their minds.

“Yes, we just arrived today,” Lin Momo nodded.

“What are you going to sell?” the girl asked again.

“Scrambled eggs with tomatoes, braised eggplant, shredded pork with green peppers… we have the usual stir-fry dishes. We will open tomorrow. Older sister, if you want to eat, you can come to our restaurant to try it. It is hygienic and clean and tastes delicious.” 

Lin Momo was asked a few questions and, of course, she took the opportunity to promote their own small restaurant!

Hearing Lin Momo’s serious sales pitch, the three girls laughed and responded, “Okay, we will try it when we have time.”

The three girls didn’t take this to heart, and after saying that, they turned to leave.

Seeing this, Lin Momo quickly took a few steps herself to catch up to them. She took out the one-yuan coin from the bowl and gave it back to the girl.

“And this, I’ll give this back to you. Thank you, older sister.”

Seeing the coin in the girl’s hand, the girl quickly waved her hand, “No, just keep it.”

Lin Momo shook her head and insisted on returning the coin to the girl. .

“This…”

Just when the girl was embarrassed by what she had just done and wondered whether to take the coin back, Lin Momo suddenly said again, “This is a lucky coin!” 

Lin Momo didn’t say this because she believed it. She was only fooling the young woman, but she had seen Lin Cheng coming back from the street entrance and walking towards this side.

Lin Momo’s casual words broke the girl’s embarrassment, and she took the coin again with a smile on her face.

Lin Momo, on the other hand, quickly ran towards Lin Cheng with bounding steps.

“Dad!”

Seeing the girl running in front of him, Lin Cheng also had a smile on his face—but then he thought of something. He tried hard to suppress the smile on his face and made a serious expression instead. 

Lin Cheng asked Lin Momo, “Didn’t I tell you to be obedient and stop running around?”

“I didn’t run around.”

“Then what were you doing just now?” As he spoke, Lin Cheng glanced at the three young people in the distance who had already left, talking and laughing.

“I was telling them that our restaurant will open tomorrow, and they can come and try it.” 

Hearing that Lin Momo was actually promoting business for their restaurant, Lin Cheng’s mouth twitched slightly, and the seriousness on his face relaxed, but he felt disturbed in his heart and felt another headache coming on.

In the end, Lin Cheng did not scold Lin Momo anymore but said patiently, “There is a busy road outside here. It is very dangerous. Don’t run around.” 

“Okay.” Lin Momo nodded obediently.

… …

Lin Cheng took Lin Momo back to their store.

Lin Cheng was startled when he saw the much cleaner shop, but he immediately guessed that this must be the result of his precious daughter’s labor.

“Isn’t this much cleaner than before?” Lin Momo moved to stand in front of Lin Cheng and asked with her head raised.

There was a small expression of ‘begging for praise’ on her face but also a hint of uneasiness.

Because, according to Lin Momo’s previous experience, Lin Cheng would say to her with a straight face, ‘You don’t need to do this.’

But this time Lin Momo guessed wrong.

Looking at the little girl’s expectant look mingled with nervousness, Lin Cheng smiled, then raised his hand to rub the top of Lin Momo’s head and praised, “You worked hard. It’s very clean.”

Hearing Lin Cheng praise, Lin Momo’s face lit up with a bright smile.

But the next second, Lin Momo frowned again, and the expression on her face became a little tangled.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Cheng asked.

“Dad, you didn’t wash your hands when you came back…”

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

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T/N: No touching me with dirty hands! —Lin Momo