Qiao Wanqing couldn’t resist Gu Yanqing’s insistence and ended up hiring an assistant to help manage things.

It was very convenient; she just had to give instructions, and the assistant would take care of everything, so she didn’t have to do it herself.

She focused on taking care of her pregnancy at home and handling the Taobao store’s operations.

Work was done half-heartedly because she was so tired and always wanted to sleep.

During her first pregnancy, Qiao Wanqing remembered the first three months were tough—everything she ate made her sick, and she nearly needed to go to the hospital.

But this time, her second baby wasn’t following the same pattern.

Aside from not liking strong-smelling or bland foods, she had a big appetite for sour and spicy dishes like spicy noodles, spicy chicken giblets, and sour beef stew.

She could eat two bowls of these dishes at a time.

She also felt extremely sleepy and lazy, like she was just a big pig.

Since she was pregnant, she couldn’t travel back and forth between C City and Dongyang Village as before.

So, she decided to stay in C City during the early stages of her pregnancy and return to Dongyang Village occasionally to visit Qiao Grandma.

They had initially brought Qiao Grandma to C City for the New Year to spend time with Gu Jingzhi and Madam Gu.

If Qiao Grandma got used to living in the city, they planned to have her stay there permanently rather than returning to Dongyang Village.

However, Qiao Grandma had trouble adjusting to city life.

She was used to the freedom and comfort of rural living, where she could go wherever she wanted and visit friends easily.

In the city, neither family really knew each other.

Going out alone wasn’t much fun, and despite chatting with Qiao Wanqing’s family, the different ages and perspectives made it hard to bridge the loneliness she felt deep down.

In short, it was uninteresting, and she wanted to go back to the village.

So, after less than a month, Qiao Wanqing sent her back to Dongyang Village.

Although she was under 70 and in good health, and her second aunt and others were there working every day, Qiao Wanqing didn’t have to worry about her.

“Actually, you should ask her if she wants to find an old gentleman to keep her company. That way, she wouldn’t feel so lonely,” Gu Yanqing suggested.

“…Actually, I did ask her.”

“Did she refuse? Or is she worried about finding someone unsuitable? If it’s the latter, I can help find some good candidates.”

Qiao Wanqing said, “She’s quite traditional and can’t accept that. She even got angry with me.”

Qiao Wanqing had considered this issue a long time ago.

Even the locals knew that old men in their family went out to find a female cat for company.

Grandma Qiao was too lonely on her own.

In today’s open society, finding someone of the same age to support and accompany each other wouldn’t be shameful or embarrassing.

Since Qiao Wanqing explained, Gu Yanqing decided to drop the matter.

…

Days passed, and before long, the baby was three months old.

Qiao Wanqing could still eat and sleep well, though the extreme drowsiness wasn’t as severe anymore.

The most exciting news is that their Taobao store has finally started to show improvement.

Tang Yueyue, who used to run a Taobao store herself, knows a lot about this area.

She learned from past failures and was more careful this time.

Their hard work paid off, and their store’s sales quickly improved and kept rising.

With the loan approved, they now have enough funds to invest more freely.

In addition to Taobao, they also tried selling on Pinduoduo.

Pinduoduo is a relatively new platform.

It’s less strict than Taobao, and the cost of fake orders and shipping is very low—about 1 yuan for fake orders and 1 yuan for shipping.

However, Pinduoduo’s rules are unpredictable.

Sometimes you can make dozens of sales in a day with a few fake orders, but other times, even with a lot of effort, sales might not improve, and there can be sudden drops in store ranking.

It’s hard for beginners to understand its rules, and even many experienced sellers find it confusing.

So, they focus mainly on Taobao and only experiment with Pinduoduo when it’s convenient, picking up some extra money when possible.

Their store needs more staff because one customer service representative is not enough.

Qiao Wanqing and Tang Yueyue decided to hire three more people: two customer service reps and one assistant with some operational knowledge to help Tang Yueyue with the store’s operations.

While hiring customer service reps is relatively easy, finding a good assistant is challenging.

Many new graduates are not interested in the job or lack experience, and those with a few years of experience often have high expectations for salary, big companies, and career growth.

To attract a qualified assistant, Qiao Wanqing and her team had to offer a high salary.

The assistant, who goes by the last name Xia, had just come back from maternity leave.

Because she had been pregnant, she seemed a bit slow in her reactions, but she was very useful and knowledgeable.

She did her job well and was a good fit as an assistant.

However, she was quite plain and had a somewhat clumsy air about her, lacking the agility of a younger girl.

Somehow, they talked about salaries privately.

Ding Yin found out that this unremarkable assistant was actually earning 1500 more than she, an “old employee,” and she was immediately upset.

She was too afraid to complain to Tang Yueyue, who had a short temper, so she went to express her dissatisfaction to Qiao Wanqing instead.

Normally, salary details are kept confidential, and Qiao Wanqing had advised them not to discuss them privately to avoid conflicts.

Seeing Ding Yin’s indignation, Qiao Wanqing could only officially respond: “Salaries are based on abilities, and your positions are different.”

“But I don’t think my abilities are worse than hers. I’ve never made a mistake in customer service, and we even work longer hours than she does.”

“Longer hours don’t necessarily mean a higher salary. As for abilities, the gap might be as wide as the Pacific Ocean.”

Ding Yin wouldn’t listen: “I only believe what I see. I’m an old employee who has been here since the beginning. Why should I be treated worse than a new hire, and why should the difference be so much?”

Qiao Wanqing didn’t know how to respond.

It was a completely absurd question.

Why couldn’t she understand?

Suppressing the urge to scold her, Qiao Wanqing said coldly, “So how do you want to handle this?”

“Either give me a raise, or I’ll resign.”

“…” Qiao Wanqing fell silent and then shrugged. “The salary we offer customer service representatives is already quite good, and I was planning to give you a raise in September. You’re putting me in a difficult position. Think about it and let me know.”

Ding Yin, as a customer service rep, is quite good, but the salary they offer is already higher than at most companies.

Increasing it further would be unfair to the other two customer service reps.

Also, Ding Yin’s request is high—she wants at least a 1500 yuan raise, equal to Assistant Xia’s salary.

With that amount, it might be better to hire a better customer service rep instead.

Gu Yanqing came to pick her up from work.

Qiao Wanqing told him about the situation, and Gu Yanqing shook his head with a wry smile, saying, “You don’t know how to handle being a boss.”

“What should I do then?!”

Qiao Wanqing realized she might have handled it poorly, but she was very irritated.

Since becoming pregnant, her temper has been much shorter, and she gets upset over small things.

“You could have her work alongside that assistant for a couple of days. It might make her understand how her expectations compare to reality.”

In today’s world, many people underestimate the role of an assistant, but it really requires a lot of skill, especially for executives’ assistants.

For example, Gu Yanqing’s assistants come from top universities and have very high standards.

Assistants often have significant influence and sometimes represent the boss themselves.

Qiao Wanqing thought that Gu Yanqing had a point.

Ding Yin did seem to overestimate herself.

The young girl didn’t realize how capable Xia was and judged her based on her appearance, thinking she was slow-witted and didn’t deserve such a high salary.

“I’ll give it a try tomorrow.”

“But,” Gu Yanqing added, “for employees like this, I usually just suggest they find another job.”

Qiao Wanqing: “……”

The two chatted and laughed as they arrived home.

It was Friday, and Madam Gu had said she would come over, along with Yuan Yuan.

This time, they brought a lot of things—bird’s nest, sea cucumber, abalone… basically, they bought the most expensive items they could find.

Madam Gu said, “I checked, and all these are safe to eat during pregnancy and are good for the baby. The kitchen will take turns preparing them for you. Make sure to take care of yourself.”

“……” Qiao Wanqing wondered how she could possibly eat all this.

She was currently having trouble with seafood and would even get nauseous from the smell, so she’d have to wait until the early stage of her pregnancy passed to adjust.

But she knew it was Madam Gu’s good intentions, so she didn’t say anything and only smiled, “Thank you, Mom. You didn’t have to go to so much trouble.”

“Oh, we’re family. There’s no need to be polite. Besides,” Madam Gu lowered her voice, “it’s not my money anyway.”

Gu Jingzhi, sitting nearby: “……”

“Don’t think I can’t hear you.”

Gu Jingzhi wasn’t as animated as Madam Gu, but he was still pleased.

Everyone hopes for a big family, and since they only have one child, Gu Yanqing, it feels even lonelier.

They’re looking forward to having more grandchildren to make the family gatherings more lively.

“When is the due date?” Gu Jingzhi asked.

The question was a bit awkward. Qiao Wanqing answered, “November 11th.”

“…” That’s an unusual due date, but Madam Gu was too excited to care.

She even boasted, “You’ve chosen a great date. The baby is sure to be special.”

Qiao Wanqing thought, “Seriously?”

Madam Gu felt she couldn’t praise the baby enough.

When she had Kouko, she didn’t get to see his growth and birth firsthand, which left her with a sense of regret.

Even though she was thrilled with the unexpected grandchild, she longed for that experience.

Now that there’s another baby on the way, she’s thrilled and wants to give everything she has to the new baby.

Kouko and Yuan Yuan hadn’t seen each other for a long time.

Kouko showed off his new toys to Yuan Yuan, which were educational stickers that Qiao Wanqing had bought.

“What are these?”

Yuan Yuan noticed the educational stickers with pictures of fruits and animals on the wall.

He hadn’t had such luxuries growing up, so he didn’t see what was special about them.

“Press here!” Kouko said, standing on tiptoe and pressing the start button.

The stickers immediately began making sounds.

“Little friend, welcome to the Fruit Kingdom. Come with me and get to know the fruits.”

Yuan Yuan had never seen such a “high-end” toy before and was a bit startled: “It even makes sounds? Does it read the name of the fruit by itself?”

Kou Kou nodded and proudly pointed at the fruit picture, saying to Yuan Yuan, “Kou Kou knows all of them!”

Yuan Yuan, who was in the kindergarten’s senior class, not only recognized these fruits but could also write a little.

He made a surprised face to show appreciation: “You’re really impressive, little brother.”

Kou Kou smiled shyly.

Yuan Yuan decided to test him and pointed at a banana, asking, “What’s this?”

Kou Kou tilted his head, thought for a moment, and then his eyes lit up, “Bu, Bu Nana!”

After a moment, Yuan Yuan realized that “Bu Nana” was the English word for banana, and corrected Kou Kou: “It’s banana.”

Kou Kou, who didn’t know how to pronounce English sounds yet, repeated, “Bu Nana~”

“……” Yuan Yuan was silent for a moment, then pointed at an apple, “What about this one?”

“Apple! A, A Po.”

“This one.”

“Orange, Ou Lun——Ju~”

As an early English learner, Kou Kou showed off his exceptional language talent by creating quirky, somewhat foreign-sounding names for each fruit, which expanded Yuan Yuan’s vocabulary.

Miraculously, Yuan Yuan understood him perfectly.