The main reason Madam Gu and her family came this time was to celebrate Kouko’s birthday.

Kouko’s birthday fell on a Sunday this year, which was convenient because everyone had some free time.

Even if they didn’t, Gu Jingzhi and the others would have made time to come.

This would be Kouko’s first birthday celebrated by the family since they missed his full moon, hundred-day, and first birthday celebrations.

So, even though they were busy, they made sure to find time to give Kouko a special second birthday.

On his birthday, Kouko was very excited and woke up at 5 a.m.

He couldn’t sleep and began bothering his parents.

Gu Yanqing, with sleepy eyes, pulled the restless little rascal into his arms and said, “It’s still not dawn yet. Go back to sleep, dear.”

But Kouko couldn’t settle down.

He wriggled out of Gu Yanqing’s arms, ran to the window, pulled back the curtain, and shouted, “It’s bright! Daddy, the sun is up!”

Gu Yanqing sighed.

The sky was only starting to lighten and wasn’t fully bright yet.

Gu Yanqing had worked late into the night due to unexpected issues at the company and had only slept for about five hours.

With the little troublemaker waking him up, he helplessly said, “Even if it’s bright, everyone is still asleep. Come on, let’s try to get some more rest.”

“No~” Kou Kou stamped his little feet, “I want to find Yuan Yuan, big brother Yuan Yuan~”

“Then I’ll open the door for you. Will you go find him yourself?”

“Okay!” Kou Kou eagerly agreed.

Since the weather wasn’t cold, Gu Yanqing put a little jacket over Kou Kou’s pajamas and opened the door for him.

Yuan Yuan was already sleeping in his own room.

Kou Kou ran to Yuan Yuan’s room, stomping his feet, and knocked on the door, saying, “Big brother, open the door~ Big brother.”

Soon enough, the door to Yuan Yuan’s room opened.

Gu Yanqing watched as Kou Kou went inside and breathed a sigh of relief.

Let this little troublemaker disturb Yuan Yuan.

Qiao Wanqing had already been woken up by the noise, but she ignored Kou Kou because she knew that once this little troublemaker was awake, there was no chance of him going back to sleep.

So, she let him keep Gu Yanqing occupied.

Seeing that Gu Yanqing had handed Kou Kou over to Yuan Yuan, she helplessly said to Gu Yanqing, who had settled back down, “Yuan Yuan is still young and needs plenty of sleep. You shouldn’t always bother him.”

“If his mother finds out, she’ll be worried. Just think about it from his mother’s perspective.”

“It’s fine. Yuan Yuan went to bed early last night,” Gu Yanqing said, pulling her into his arms. “If he didn’t want to deal with Kou Kou, he wouldn’t have opened the door.”

Don’t underestimate Yuan Yuan just because he’s still so young.

He’s very smart and definitely not the type to easily let himself be taken advantage of.

If he doesn’t like someone or something, he won’t just put up with it.

He probably has that main character aura from a young age.

Qiao Wanqing wanted to say something, but the drowsiness overcame her.

Her mind was still foggy when she fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Kouko went into Yuan Yuan’s room and said, “Brother, it’s morning!”

Yuan Yuan, still sleepy, sat up in his little bed with droopy eyes and said, “But I want to keep sleeping. I’m still very tired.”

“No~” Kouko insisted, climbing onto Yuan Yuan’s bed and pressing down on his back, “Play with Kouko!”

Yuan Yuan almost rolled off the bed from the weight, quickly steadying himself, and said, “Let me tell you, yesterday I saw on TV that there’s a monster called ‘Dark Touch’ that grabs kids who stay up too late or wake up too early.”

Kouko: “……”

Yuan Yuan made a spooky face and said, “Dark Touch, are you scared? It might suddenly grab you and take you to a very dark place where even Daddy and Mommy can’t find you.”

Kouko, who was afraid of the dark, immediately got scared and climbed down from Yuan Yuan’s back.

He curled up in his blanket and said, “Kouko wants to go back to sleep!”

“Would you like to sleep with your big brother?”

“Okay.”

Yuan Yuan took off Kou Kou’s little jacket, and the two brothers snuggled together under the covers.

Kou Kou wasn’t really sleepy anymore, but he felt scared and clung tightly to Yuan Yuan.

His little heart was racing, worried that something might come in the dark to grab him.

Probably just his imagination, but before long, he fell asleep.

Feeling Kou Kou snuggled up and slowly drifting off to sleep, Yuan Yuan smiled gently and kept his own accomplishments and accolades hidden.

They slept until just after 7 a.m.

When they woke up, everyone else was already up.

Since it was Kou Kou’s birthday, they planned to take him out to play during the day and then host a small birthday party for his friends in the evening.

Gu Yanqing had already ordered the cake in advance.

Kou Kou often played in the neighborhood and knew a few close friends, so they were planning to invite them for the birthday party.

There was also Xin Xin, the granddaughter of Qiao Wanqing’s uncle, who was also in City C.

Qiao Wanqing had asked her cousin, and she said she would bring her over.

During the day, it was Gu Jingzhi and Madam Gu who took Kou Kou and Yuan Yuan out to play.

Gu Yanqing had work to handle at the company, and Qiao Wanqing, feeling unwell during her pregnancy, took the opportunity to rest on this Saturday.

Since Madam Gu and Gu Jingzhi were taking them out, Qiao Wanqing stayed at home to help with preparations for the evening’s food.

Since they were hosting a small party, food had to be prepared, and the cook couldn’t manage it all alone.

They hired someone to decorate the house, and it looked quite beautiful.

They also prepared a party favor for each child attending, making sure to give Kou Kou’s little birthday a lot of attention.

Even the baby in Qiao Wanqing’s belly seemed to sense that today was special and was particularly active.

She tried some of the cute animal-shaped cookies the cook had made, but ended up feeling nauseous and had to throw up.

Qiao Wanqing was so frustrated by the situation that she lost her temper.

After vomiting, she wiped away the tears from her face and looked at her still-flat belly, saying, “You little troublemaker, if you keep acting up, Mommy won’t like you anymore.”

“…” Unfortunately, the baby inside couldn’t hear her threats since it wasn’t even fully formed yet.

Qiao Wanqing washed her face and left the bathroom.

Just then, she heard a notification sound from her phone, signaling a new message.

Since becoming pregnant, she had been careful not to keep her phone on her at all times.

Even though it might not have a big impact, new mothers tend to be cautious, avoiding any possible harm to their baby.

She had set her phone’s ringer and multimedia volume high to ensure she wouldn’t miss any important calls or messages.

Qiao Wanqing went over, picked up her phone, and sat on the bed.

She saw that the message was from their customer service rep, Ding Yin.

On Friday, two days ago, Ding Yin had expressed dissatisfaction with her current salary and threatened to resign.

Qiao Wanqing had asked her to think it over.

Now it seemed that Ding Yin had reconsidered and sent a long message on WeChat:

“Sister Wanqing, good Sunday. Yesterday, I learned more about the assistant position. It mostly involves taking meeting minutes, organizing materials, running errands for the supervisor, answering calls, and sending emails. I don’t see much technical skill required. Personally, I feel that Assistant Xia’s workload and responsibilities don’t seem to be more valuable compared to our customer service work. Even though my salary is considered high in the industry, the large gap between our salaries feels unfair to me.”

“……” Qiao Wanqing was completely taken aback by this response.

She remembered that Ding Yin had been working for a year already.

Although she was still young, she wasn’t a rookie anymore.

Yet, she was saying things like this.

Should she say Ding Yin was clueless or just lacked emotional intelligence?

If the assistants in Gu Yanqing’s office, who earned a substantial salary excluding year-end bonuses and performance pay, saw this, they’d probably be outraged.

Qiao Wanqing replied: “Next week, I’ll arrange for you to work with Assistant Xia for a day. You can experience it for yourself. If you still hold this opinion, I can only say it’s very regrettable.”

Ding Yin: “Then it’s regrettable. I’m formally resigning now, General Manager Qiao.”

Qiao Wanqing: “……”

It was clear that Ding Yin was just venting.

Qiao Wanqing couldn’t understand what had triggered this reaction.

She was clearly trying to give Ding Yin an out, but Ding Yin didn’t appreciate it at all.

Qiao Wanqing knew that a more diplomatic leader would use kind words to persuade her to stay because positions in customer service had high turnover rates.

It was common for someone to leave after just ten days or half a month if they found it uninteresting or were overwhelmed by customers.

Ding Yin was relatively stable.

But Qiao Wanqing was in a bad mood lately and was feeling frustrated.

She decided to be straightforward: “Fine, think it over some more. A resignation requires a one-month notice period. Tomorrow, I’ll arrange for you to work with Assistant Xia as planned. Understand it first before making any final decisions.”

After sending the message, Ding Yin threw her phone aside and lay down on the bed, deciding to ignore it for now.

Qiao Wanqing wondered how other leaders would handle such situations.

It seemed that earning money alone wasn’t enough; she needed to work on her “leadership skills” and learn how to be a better leader.

Madam Gu and the others returned in the afternoon around three.

Kouko was thrilled to see the living room beautifully decorated and ran around the house excitedly.

His friends started arriving, each bringing birthday gifts for Kouko—stuffed animals, toys, and snacks.

Kouko loved snacks the most.

When Qiao Wanqing tried to collect the gift bags, Kouko refused to give them to her.

He knew that once the snacks were in his mother’s hands, they wouldn’t be his anymore—they’d all be eaten by her in secret!

Even his dad was guilty of this!

So, Kouko handed the gift bags to his grandmother.

Everyone laughed at his gesture.

Madam Gu was especially pleased and whispered to him, “I’ll hide them somewhere your mommy won’t find, okay?”

“Okay!” Kouko happily kissed Madam Gu to show his delight.

Qiao Wanqing’s cousin-in-law and her daughter Xin Xin also arrived.

After not seeing each other for half a year, Xin Xin had grown into a young lady, standing out among the little kids in her pink princess dress.

However, Kou Kou was holding a grudge.

He still remembered that Xin Xin had broken his little spaceship.

So, when Xin Xin handed him a gift, Kou Kou pouted and proudly said, “No!”

Qiao Wanqing quickly intervened: “Kou Kou, you can’t be so rude. Xin Xin gave you a gift, so you should accept it and say thank you.”

“No, no, no!”

“……”

Everyone felt a bit awkward.

Qiao Wanqing took the gift bag from Xin Xin’s hand, smiled at her cousin-in-law, and said, “I’m sorry, Kou Kou is being a bit difficult.”

Her cousin-in-law, who also had children, understood that kids could be like this.

Her own Xin Xin was even more spoiled and impolite, but she couldn’t do much about it.

Every family has their little emperor or princess.

She smiled and said, “It’s fine, Kou Kou is still young.”

Kou Kou, hands on his hips, huffed loudly, “Hmph!”