This was just a small moment, and soon everyone was lively and cheerful.

They sang a birthday song for Kouko and let him make a wish.

At first, Koukuo didn’t understand what making a wish meant.

Yuan Yuan explained it to him.

Once Kouko understood, he sincerely said, “I wish… Mommy will have a… brother—”

Everyone: “……”

Everyone burst into laughter at Kouko’s wish.

Madam Gu didn’t expect her grandson to make such a silly wish.

She laughed so hard she couldn’t straighten up and said, “Make another wish, dear.”

Everyone had decided to fulfill whatever wish Kouko made, as long as it was within their capability.

But Kouko started off with a big one.

Kouko tilted his head and thought for a moment before saying, “Every day… eat cake!”

Facing the big birthday cake, Kouko was almost drooling.

But these grown-ups were making him make a wish before he could eat it!

Everyone again: “……”

Little kid, can you please make a more reasonable wish?

Qiao Wanqing and Gu Yanqing thought he might want a lot of snacks or something similar, so they had prepared a big box of snacks to help him “fulfill his wish” and have a happy, satisfying birthday.

Of course, whether he could actually eat that much later was another matter.

Madam Gu didn’t see the urgency in Kouko’s desire for cake and said, “Make another wish, dear!”

“……” Kou Kou didn’t understand why there needed to be so many wishes.

He decided to skip it and said to Madam Gu, “Grandma, Kou Kou wants to eat… eat cake. After eating… eating the cake, then I’ll make… make a wish!”

Kou Kou’s speech had improved a lot, but he still stumbled over longer sentences.

Everyone was amused by Kou Kou’s straightforwardness.

Madam Gu, not wanting to delay any longer, said, “Of course you can. Once you blow out the candles, we can cut the cake.”

Kou Kou immediately blew out the candles.

Qiao Wanqing held his hand and helped him cut the cake.

As the birthday star, Kou Kou was supposed to wait until after everyone else had eaten, but since he was the youngest and had been waiting for so long, Qiao Wanqing decided to give him the first slice.

Kou Kou finally got the cake he had been longing for and was thrilled.

He happily licked the cream off the top, with some of it getting on his nose and face.

He licked his lips and said with a smile, “It’s delicious!”

Seeing him so happy, Qiao Wanqing cut the rest of the cake and shared it with the other kids, who were all eagerly watching.

Since they were all young and loved sweets, they were very excited.

Yuan Yuan, being older and a child of the family, received his piece last.

After taking it, he walked over to Madam Gu and offered it to her, saying, “Grandma, please eat first.”

Since he no longer had his own grandparents and had been cared for by Gu Yanqing for a long time, he referred to Madam Gu and Mr. Gu as his grandparents.

Everyone was surprised at how considerate Yuan Yuan was.

In contrast, their own little food-lover made them think, “People are so different.”

Madam Gu patted Yuan Yuan’s head with a smile and said, “You’re such a good child. You enjoy it yourself, Grandma isn’t hungry.”

“I’m not hungry either!” Yuan Yuan said.

Seeing that Yuan Yuan sincerely wanted to give her the cake, Madam Gu accepted it with gratitude, saying, “Thank you, Yuan Yuan. You’re really a good child.”

Yuan Yuan blushed a little and smiled shyly.

Gu Yanqing teased Kouko, who had cake all over his face, “Your brother knows to be considerate to elders and let Grandma eat first. What about you, Kouko? Do you want to give a piece to Grandpa?”

Kouko: “……”

Wasn’t this putting him on the spot?

He didn’t yet understand the concept of respecting elders and often wanted to eat everything himself.

Qiao Wanqing had been teaching him to share, and he only reluctantly gave away his snacks and toys to others.

Hearing Gu Yanqing’s words, Kouko looked at his piece of cake and then at his Grandpa.

After a long moment of hesitation, he finally made up his mind, took his little piece of cake, and walked over to Grandpa Gu, saying somewhat reluctantly, “Grandpa, here.”

Gu Yanqing couldn’t help but laugh and said, “You’re going to eat this, and you’re still giving some to Grandpa?”

Qiao Wanqing brought over a freshly cut piece of cake and swapped it for the one in Kou Kou’s hand, saying, “Here, this one is for Grandpa.”

Kou Kou, who was a bit reluctant at first, immediately became happy when he saw that his mom had given him a new piece.

Because Qiao Wanqing usually restricted Kou Kou’s intake of snacks, Kou Kou understood that he could only have one piece of birthday cake today.

So, when his dad asked him to give that piece to Grandpa, he hesitated for a while.

Kou Kou’s face lit up with a big smile as he said, “Grandpa, eat, eat!”

Mr. Gu, pleased, took the cake and said, “Kou Kou is really good.”

“Kou Kou is the best!” Kou Kou proudly puffed out his chest.

“Yes, yes, Kou Kou is the best.”

After eating the cake, the kids started to play excitedly.

The room was filled with many small toys for them to enjoy, and Qiao Wanqing kept an eye on Xin Xin, worried she might bully Kou Kou.

But her worries were unnecessary.

Kou Kou was no longer the naïve child who was easily bullied.

At two years old, he had become quite mischievous himself, and Yuan Yuan was always there to protect him.

If Yuan Yuan had a younger sibling, he would likely be an overprotective older brother.

Even though Kou Kou wasn’t his biological brother, Yuan Yuan unconditionally protected him.

Yuan Yuan was smart enough not to let himself or Kou Kou be at a disadvantage, but he also never bullied other kids.

After watching for a while, Qiao Wanqing thought her son was still a bit of a naive sweetheart.

At least in front of the “main character,” that’s how he seemed.

Kou Kou’s birthday ended happily, and life returned to its usual routine.

Since Ding Yin had already made up her mind to resign and refused to look into Assistant Xia’s work, believing that Qiao Wanqing and her team had arranged everything, Qiao Wanqing had no choice but to let her go and hire a new customer service representative.

At the same time, Qiao Wanqing made it clear that they were not allowed to discuss salaries privately.

If such issues arose again and she found out, she would hold them accountable and demand their resignation.

Their Taobao store’s business gradually became very popular.

Apart from the fake orders, they were receiving hundreds of real orders each day.

However, they faced a major problem—the supply of dried fruits and vegetables from home couldn’t keep up.

With only three plots of land, which also needed to be reserved for the vegetarian restaurant, they couldn’t support such a large-scale output.

Upon receiving this news from Ah Lai, Qiao Wanqing had a brief meeting with Tang Yueyue.

She briefly explained the issue of insufficient green vegetable supply but did not mention the “special vegetable fields” being insufficient, only that they couldn’t find people to plant in the rural areas.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Tang Yueyue, but such matters were better kept as a secret, like something buried in the past.

Tang Yueyue, who was currently on a rise, was stunned by the news for a few seconds.

She blinked and said, “Can’t you hire people with higher wages to plant? Or is that not feasible?”

Qiao Wanqing shook her head, “The costs would be too high, and setting up greenhouses and so on would be too troublesome and expensive. If we want to expand later, we’ll need to find a specialized supplier.”

Tang Yueyue also knew that relying solely on Qiao Wanqing’s supply wasn’t a long-term solution.

She thought for a moment and said, “If we look for new sources, I’m worried they won’t be as good as what you have. It could hurt our reputation.”

Since they hadn’t built a large reputation yet, suddenly selling lower-quality dried fruits and vegetables could lead to customer dissatisfaction.

They might feel that the quality of their products had dropped significantly, which would damage their reputation.

Negative reviews saying the products weren’t as good as before could be very detrimental.

The immediate priority was to find a reliable supplier for good-quality dried fruits and vegetables, or to master a better production process to create tasty dried products themselves.

Qiao Wanqing said, “I’ll find a new supplier. For now, you should look into which non-fruit-and-vegetable products are good to promote. Promote a few options to redirect some customers to other products.”

Tang Yueyue nodded, “I’ll check out which products are easier to push. But with your current condition, won’t it be inconvenient for you to look for suppliers?”

Qiao Wanqing was visibly pregnant now, and with the hot weather, it was quite obvious.

Tang Yueyue felt a bit guilty about asking a pregnant woman to run around.

However, swapping roles wasn’t feasible; Tang Yueyue handled operations, and switching roles would consume a lot of time.

“It’s fine. I’m just overseeing things and letting my assistants handle the tasks.”

Tang Yueyue moved her chair closer and asked, “What does it feel like to be pregnant? Is it tiring to carry a baby? Are you scared of giving birth? I’ve heard it’s very painful.”

“You’re asking so many detailed questions. Are you already thinking about having kids?” Qiao Wanqing teased.

“I’m just asking. It’s something we’ll all go through eventually, right?”

“I already have a second child, and it doesn’t feel that different. It can be tiring in the later stages, but sometimes I even forget I’m pregnant. Besides being a bit more careful with movement, it’s pretty much the same as usual.”

“Does giving birth hurt?”

Does it hurt?

Qiao Wanqing recalled her experience with Koko and said, “It does hurt, but I gave birth quickly. The contractions were uncomfortable, but when it came to giving birth, it felt like it happened in a flash.”

Tang Yueyue: “……”

What do you mean it happened in a flash!

After discussing some personal topics, they returned to their work.

The two young entrepreneurs were full of enthusiasm and ideas, and it seemed like things were going well for them.

They had incurred significant losses initially, but now they were making a profit.

Their daily sales were in the thousands of yuan.

Although this wasn’t comparable to large companies, it was already quite satisfying for them.

Qiao Wanqing asked her assistant to find suppliers of dried fruits and vegetables and have them send some samples for tasting.

At the same time, she searched online for well-reviewed dried fruits and vegetables, bought some to taste, and hoped to find products as good as those from her own sources.

Just like people rely on appearance and dressing, Qiao Wanqing believed that dried fruits and vegetables also depend on the quality of raw materials and the processing techniques used to enhance them.

For example, the Luo couple’s vegetarian restaurant uses ordinary ingredients but still manages to make delicious dishes.

This shows that while the ingredients themselves do have an impact, the craftsmanship and technique can elevate even basic ingredients to a high level.

Gu Yanqing saw that Qiao Wanqing had put Kou Kou to sleep and was sitting on the sofa in the living room, starting to open and eat one package of dried fruits and vegetables after another.

He sat down next to her and said, “Don’t overwork yourself. I’m also contacting people to help you find new sources.”

“It’s fine. I’m actually quite hungry right now.”

After the initial stages of pregnancy, Qiao Wanqing’s appetite had greatly increased.

She craved food every day and had become just as much of a foodie as Kou Kou.

Sometimes she would see something delicious while playing on her phone and couldn’t help but drool.

In the evenings, she had to have a snack.

If there were no snacks, she would eat other treats to avoid being unable to sleep.

She was so greedy.

When she was pregnant with Kou Kou, she didn’t have so many cravings.

According to her memories of the previous owner, Kou Kou was a good child except for the early pregnancy phase.

He was well-behaved and grew up as a good kid.

Aside from kicking around a lot near the time of delivery, he was a good baby otherwise.

Now, with her current pregnancy cravings, Qiao Wanqing wondered if she might end up with a baby even more greedy than Kou Kou.

They might become a pair of foodies, drooling over various foods every day.

The thought of that was too lovely for Qiao Wanqing to imagine.

Gu Yanqing knew that pregnancy was tough and reached out to hug her. “You’ve worked hard.”

“It’s okay, not too hard,” Qiao Wanqing smiled at him, took a chip, and started munching on it. “Crunch crunch,” she said indistinctly, “Ugh, this one tastes bad. I’ll give it a bad review!”

Gu Yanqing chuckled and opened another bag for her. “Try this one.”

Qiao Wanqing tasted it, nodded, and said, “Not bad. You should try it.”

Gu Yanqing, who wasn’t a fan of dried fruits and vegetables, reluctantly took a small piece, chewed a couple of bites, and said, “It tastes bad!”

“……” Qiao Wanqing thought it was fine.

Well, taste is subjective.

Gu Yanqing opened another bag and was about to hand it to her when Qiao Wanqing suddenly said, “Ouch,” and held her belly.

“What’s wrong!” Gu Yanqing, alarmed, looked at her intently.

“He… he moved!” Qiao Wanqing’s face lit up with joy. “The baby moved!”

It was the baby’s first movement.

This baby was a bit slow compared to Kouko, who moved at 17 weeks.

This baby, at 20 weeks, had just shown its first movement.

Both of them were thrilled.

Gu Yanqing placed his hand on her bulging belly and said, “Let me feel it.”

“It’s not very obvious yet, so you might not feel it.”

“Maybe,” Gu Yanqing spoke to her belly, “Come on, baby, move again.”

Unfortunately, the little baby seemed to be ignoring him.

No matter how Gu Yanqing tried to coax it, the baby remained still, as if the earlier movement was just a trick of the imagination.

Not giving any consideration to Daddy at all!