( Note: Qiao Wanqing is the original body owner’s real name )

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year,

Yesterday evening, there was a light rain.

Today, the weather on the fifth day was overcast, but the south wind blew, making it warmer. It was just right for going out to play—not too cold, not too hot.

Koukou’s health has also recovered.

He can eat and drink and is lively again.

Because Grandma Qiao’s joints ache on windy days, she didn’t want to move from her nest and didn’t go out with them.

Qiao Wanqing originally wanted Koukou to stay at home with Grandma Qiao because it’s inconvenient to carry a child, but his health has just recovered.

But when Grandma Qiao held Koukou and saw everyone leaving without him, Koukou suddenly became unhappy.

He cried loudly, feeling like a child abandoned by his parents, which made Qiao Wanqing feel extremely guilty.

Especially when Koukou was brought over to her, he tightly grabbed her clothes and refused to let go.

Qiao Wanqing’s heart melted.

Finally, thinking that the weather wasn’t cold and there were many people who could help carry him, she decided to take him along.

Huang Daxian saw everyone going out to play and wanted to follow along too.

What was originally a small outing turned into a large tourist group.

They all went in Gu Yanqing’s car.

Her second uncle’s house is very close to the foot of West Mountain, so they waited for them there.

Because the Matchmaker Temple (Yuelao Temple) hasn’t been completed and opened yet, they put up a high fence to prevent tourists from sneaking in.

It was Qiao’s second uncle who had the key, so the car could enter through the back mountain road gate.

“Wow, this Matchmaker Temple is so big!” After getting off the car, Tang Yueyue saw the towering Matchmaker Temple and widened her eyes. “I thought it was just a small temple.”

The Matchmaker Temple is called Yuexia An Temple and is almost completely finished. It covers a large area, estimated to be several hundred square meters.

They came up from the main road in front of the temple’s front hill, where there’s a Three Lives Stone.

Walking past the Three Lives Stone, you can see a Marriage Fate Tree, the kind often seen in TV dramas where people throw red fortune cards.

Further ahead are incense burners and the Matchmaker Shrine with its bright red gates tightly closed—you can’t see inside, but if the outside looks so splendid, the inside shouldn’t be any less.

In addition, to the left is the Sun Viewing Platform, and to the right is the Magpie Bridge Immortal, two small scenic spots.

Indeed, it’s much larger than Qiao Wanqing had imagined.

“One of the key tourist attractions developed in the city, how could they be perfunctory here,” her second uncle chuckled, “It’s been nearly two years since they started construction. If they built a small temple here, the city leaders would definitely be furious.”

“Are there any other restaurants here?” Gu Yanqing asked aloud while holding Koukou.

“Many have asked, but once they hear about signing a five-year lease and paying the rent all at once, they scatter. There was one opened next to Meishan before, didn’t make much profit, and closed down. Everyone’s worried about losing money.”

Gu Yanqing knew government projects weren’t like private ones, which usually lease year by year with rent rising yearly.

But the government insisted on a one-and-done approach, signing for five years and requiring payment up front.

And being the first to venture into the crab-eating business here, you’d need to lease land, build the restaurant yourself, and possibly even pave roads from scratch.

The investments, plus rent and initial operations, would require several hundred thousand at the very least.

Even if the Matchmaker Temple was beautifully restored, its location was limiting.

Who knew how many visitors it would draw in the future?

No one wanted to take the first step; they were probably waiting for a trailblazer.

So, opening a restaurant here required courage and foresight.

He couldn’t help but glance at the young woman beside him, seeing excitement and anticipation in her eyes, without any hint of hesitation.

He knew she wasn’t thinking so deeply, just eager to dive in, but sometimes such enthusiasm could yield unexpected results.

He had looked up some information after returning to the hotel yesterday.

When the Matchmaker Temple was still a small shrine, it was quite effective, attracting many city folks for prayers, albeit without much publicity and limited fame.

Now, with all the refurbishment effort and time invested, the publicity was sure to catch up.

From the city to the town, it was just over two hours’ drive—not too far.

Short trips here on weekends would be a good choice.

“Tied to his wife.” Tang Yueyue quipped from behind.

“What?” Qiao Wanqing didn’t catch it clearly.

Tang Yueyue smiled, “I was just saying the weather is really nice.”

“… “

After looking around, Second Uncle finally said, “Let’s go. I’ll show you the places around where you can build.”

Although the temple was built, there were still many odds and ends lying around, and the floor hadn’t been cleaned yet, scattered with gravel and sand.

Qiao Wanqing was afraid that Yuanyuan might slip, so she took the initiative to hold his hand.

Yuanyuan liked her very much and extended his hand without hesitation.

Qiao Wanqing held his hand, achieving the milestone of holding hands with the male lead.

She could now consider herself a legitimate supporting character who has held hands with the male lead.

“Your hand is so cold. Did you not wear enough clothes?” Qiao Wanqing held his little hand, which felt almost icy.

Although today’s weather was warm, Yuanyuan’s hand temperature was clearly abnormal.

Yuanyuan shook his head and said, “Auntie Qiao, my hands are always cold.”

“He’s a bit frail, so his hands are cold,” explained Gu Yanqing beside her. “His health isn’t very good.”

Of course, Qiao Wanqing knew about Yuanyuan’s poor health and the reasons for it.

After a moment’s thought, she said, “You’ll get better as you grow up. Just make sure to take good care of yourself.”

The grown-up male lead is known for his vigorous activities (heavy fog) seven times a night.

The area around the Matchmaker’s Temple is quite spacious.

After walking around, Qiao Wanqing and the others found two suitable places.

There are two roads leading to the Matchmaker’s Temple.

One is a cement road that can be directly driven up, located behind the mountain, which is the road they just came up.

However, it is a bit winding.

The other is a staircase on the front hill. Cars can only be driven to the other side of Meishan, and the long staircase follows with nearly a thousand steps, presumably to test the sincerity of single people who come to worship the Matchmaker.

Cough.

“These two places are both along the road, convenient, and if you need to pave your own road, it’s probably better to do so by the roadside,” Second Uncle explained to them. “Take a look at whether you prefer the front hill or the back hill.”

“Then it should be the front hill,” Qiao Wanqing felt like this was a no-brainer.

“The front hill has a great location with lots of tourists. Everyone will see our restaurant right away, right?”

“Exactly!” Tang Yueyue agreed. “It’s a prime location. People won’t even know about places on the back hill.”

“Don’t choose the front hill.” Just as Qiao Wanqing was about to finalize her decision for the front hill, Gu Yanqing suddenly spoke up.

Curious about his opinion, Qiao Wanqing asked, “Why do you say that?”

“Most people who come to eat usually visit the Matchmaker Temple first and then eat. The front hill is inconvenient for traffic. You can only choose to walk down the stairs, and many who drive have to turn back to park. It’s inconvenient. But for those walking, it’s much easier to come straight down from the back hill.”

Qiao Wanqing nodded, seeing some merit in his reasoning.

Gu Yanqing continued, “It’s easier to go up than to come down. After climbing those high stairs, people may find it hard to walk down and might prefer taking the road, even though it’s longer, it’s less tiring. Plus, those who walk up usually won’t choose to return the same way. The scenery around the back hill road is nice, and in the future, the tourist route will likely be Meishan, the stairs, the Matchmaker Temple, and then down the back hill road.”

“In that case, opening on the back hill roadside would be better?”

Gu Yanqing nodded again. “Actually, it’s just 100 meters difference from the Matchmaker Temple. There’s no good or bad position. Right now, you should consider the consumer’s route and convenience.”

“But wouldn’t people not know there’s a restaurant back there?” Tang Yueyue asked, not buying into the idea that “good wine needs no bush.”

“It’s simple,” Gu Yanqing said confidently. “At the entrance of the stairs, they’ll surely put up a sign or a map. By then, with a little extra money and some connections, you can have them include your vegetarian restaurant on it. Tourists will naturally see it at a glance.”

“That makes a lot of sense,” Tang Yueyue felt convinced.

Listening to him, Qiao Wanqing realized her initial thoughts were too shallow.

If they set up on the staircase side, where it’s neither up nor down, those who come specifically for vegetarian meals, without interest in climbing stairs or visiting the Matchmaker Temple, could easily reach them by driving directly to the back hill instead of parking and walking through the temple and then descending the stairs.

It would be too troublesome.

Inconvenient transportation renders everything else meaningless, especially since modern people are so lazy.

“After considering everything, let’s go with the back hill,” Qiao Wanqing said to her second uncle.

“Alright,” her second uncle agreed as they settled on a decision. “Let’s go and check out the specific location.”

As they walked towards the back hill together, Qiao Wanqing held Koukou’s hand while walking beside Gu Yanqing.

She whispered softly, “You have quite a foresight, Mr. Gu.”

Gu Yanqing calmly responded, “I’m honored that Miss Qiao thinks so highly of me.”

“Don’t act like I used to look down on you.”

“Hmm? Miss Qiao, didn’t you say that before?”

“… Did I say something before?” Qiao Wanqing couldn’t recall, completely forgetting that she might have “looked down” on Gu Yanqing in the past.

“I think I just found you annoying.”

Gu Yanqing: “…”

Walking behind them, Tang Yueyue listened to their banter and felt like she was being fed dog food.

Do these two really not have an affair?

Seeing Gu Yanqing’s usually impassive face now with a gentle smile, it was too obvious.

If this isn’t love…

…

After finishing with the site, and still early in the day, they decided to go see the plum blossoms.

Due to guests at Second Uncle’s house and their familiarity with mountains and trees, they didn’t understand what was so appealing about a few plum trees and decided to head back first.

Located at a higher altitude in Xishan, Meishan was shrouded in mist after the recent rain, appearing like a fairyland.

The plum blossoms hadn’t yet withered after blooming for a while, now resembling a sea of red clouds, especially beautiful.

Although it was only the fifth day of the first lunar month, there were many tourists. Unfortunately, Qiao Wanqing’s family had sold out of vegetables last year and hadn’t grown any yet; otherwise, they would sell very well now.

Koukou was still being carried by Gu Yanqing and was very interested in the plum blossoms all over the trees.

He insisted on reaching out to grab them. Qiao Wanqing was worried that his little hands might get scratched, so she picked up some that hadn’t fallen on the ground, letting him grab them and also put one on his head.

“Putting on a little plum blossom, our Koukou is also a little prince.” Qiao Wanqing put one next to his ear.

Koukou didn’t know he was being deceived by his unscrupulous mother and still laughed happily.

Qiao Wanqing then asked Yuanyuan, “Would you like one too, Yuanyuan?”

“No, flowers are for girls. Yuanyuan is a boy,” Yuanyuan replied, apparently not easily fooled.

“It’s okay, doesn’t your little brother look good with one?”

Yuanyuan politely refrained from saying it was ugly, just giggling while looking at Koukou.

Qiao Wanqing felt a bit sorry that Yuanyuan didn’t fall for it, so she put another blossom on her son’s other ear and remarked, “Doesn’t it look a bit like the little girl Xiao Fang from our village?”

“Babababa!” Koukou enthusiastically chimed in, playing along.

Gu Yanqing watched their mother-son interaction with amusement and a hint of helplessness, letting Qiao Wanqing tease Koukou without saying a word, his face adorned with a faint smile.

Tang Yueyue, already feeling overwhelmed by their affectionate display, quietly took out her phone and captured a family photo.