After the Lantern Festival, business at the farmhouse started to decline.

Luckily, Qiao Wanqing was clever and had managed to sell all the vegetables from the two gardens during the busy period.

The new crops were still growing.

In a few days, the school would reopen, which would also take a lot of vegetable supply.

Additionally, other merchants in town saw that the farmhouse’s vegetables were selling well and attracting many diners.

They realized that Qiao Wanqing’s vegetables were of good quality. Some small restaurants started buying vegetables from her.

Even though the quantity wasn’t huge, it still helped reduce her supply.

So, she didn’t need to worry about unsold vegetables for now.

“Is there a big demand again today?”

One day, her second uncle, who came to help, noticed that Qiao Wanqing had packed a large amount of vegetables for delivery.

He was surprised because business had been slow, and the farmhouse couldn’t even use up 10 kilograms of vegetables a day.

Since she didn’t need many hands to help, and her second aunt had things to do at home, her second uncle was the only one coming to help with deliveries these days.

He was strong, so Qiao Wanqing only had to pick and bag the vegetables, making her work much easier.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Qiao Wanqing said, “The farmhouse owner has developed her own private customers and only delivers to them once every two weeks.”

Boss Cai, who had a good business mind, made a small fortune from selling raw vegetables.

Realizing that Qiao Wanqing’s vegetables were really popular, she started developing a steady customer base.

She attracted several wealthy customers from the county and the nearby city.

She sent her staff to deliver vegetables to them every two weeks.

This way, she had a long-term stable customer base, which was good for both her and Qiao Wanqing.

Qiao Wanqing admired the boss’s cleverness.

But at the same time, she couldn’t understand why Boss Cai, despite making so much money, was still so stingy!

“This Boss Cai is really good at doing business.”

“Yeah,” Qiao Wanqing said, putting the vegetables into sacks. “If it weren’t for her, all these vegetables would have rotted.”

“By the way, have you thought about leasing the small hill behind your new store in Xishan? You could plant some fruit trees and vegetables there. People from the city love picking their own fruits and vegetables nowadays. It could be a good source of income,” her second uncle suggested.

Qiao Wanqing quickly tied up the sack and asked her second uncle to carry it to the tricycle.

She said, “I promised Boss Cai not to sell raw vegetables.”

Besides, she didn’t have time to handle so much.

The most important thing was that her little child, Kou Kou, only produced a small amount of urine each day.

Although it could be diluted with water, diluting it too much would reduce its effectiveness.

Her second uncle laughed and said, “That Boss Cai is really cunning.”

After everything was arranged at home, Qiao Wanqing felt at ease to go to the city to check out the vegetarian restaurant.

She was a bit hesitant.

Initially, she planned to start with a menu-based service.

If business boomed and customer demand increased, she might consider switching to a self-service model.

But if she worked as the chef herself, she wouldn’t be able to manage things at home.

Hiring a chef, however, seemed out of her budget.

Besides, she had many other questions and things to consider.

She planned to seek advice from the owner of the vegetarian restaurant there to see how to manage things properly.

Initially, Qiao Wanqing planned not to take Kou Kou with her, thinking she could return the same day.

But Gu Yanquan told her that the restaurant owner had an unusual schedule, usually active at night and sleeping during the day.

It wouldn’t be easy to meet him during the day.

This person was quite odd.

With no other choice, Qiao Wanqing decided to stay overnight and took Kou Kou with her.

Driving from the town to City C takes just over two hours, but without a car, it’s very inconvenient.

Qiao Wanqing first had to take a bus to the county town, Linshui County, and then catch another bus to City C.

Last time she went to City X, she managed to hitch a ride with an acquaintance from the town who was heading to City C for some business.

This time, she wasn’t so lucky and had to take the bus herself.

There was actually a direct bus from the town, but it didn’t use the highway and took five to six hours on a very bumpy road.

With a child in tow, that was not convenient.

Since she wasn’t carrying much, she opted for the transfer route instead.

After a long and tiring journey, she finally arrived in City C by noon.

Gu Yanquan was busy with his project and couldn’t pick her up, so he arranged for a driver to fetch her.

The driver looked to be in his thirties and introduced himself as Feng Qi.

Feng Qi? Qiao Wanqing gave him a long, thoughtful look.

He was also a character from the book.

At this point, he was just a young man, but in the book, he was in his fifties and everyone called him Uncle Feng.

Uncle Feng had been a driver for the Gu family for most of his life, showing great loyalty.

The Gu family treated him well, but in the book, he was eventually swayed by his own villainous son.

Ahem.

Gu Siqiao(Koukou’s Name) was quite smart and good at exploiting people’s weaknesses.

Another housekeeper, though less experienced than Uncle Feng, had been with the Gu family for only eight years but received many privileges.

Gu Siqiao used this to his advantage, brainwashing Uncle Feng into thinking the Gu family was unfair.

This led the once-loyal man to become dissatisfied and, under Gu Siqiao’s guidance, tampered with the protagonist’s car, hoping for a fatal accident.

Of course, the protagonist’s plot armor saved him, but it was Gu Yanquan who ended up using the car that day…

Qiao Wanqing sighed softly. It was all such a mess.

Feng Qi took them to the hotel first.

Qiao Wanqing had booked a large room online in advance, and it was conveniently close to the vegetarian restaurant Gu Yanquan had mentioned.

Kou Kou, now a bit older, wasn’t as excited about the city as he used to be.

He was starting to understand things a little more and would shyly observe this bustling world, so different from his own, with a curious and “cool” gaze.

When he was happy, he’d tug on Qiao Wanqing’s clothes and smile.

After completing the check-in, Feng Qi helped her move her belongings to the hotel.

Finally, he politely said to Qiao Wanqing, “Our sir will come later. Miss Qiao, after settling in, I can take you to eat, or if it’s inconvenient for you, I can bring the food to you.”

“No need for the trouble. You can go back first,” Qiao Wanqing planned to order takeout later since she wasn’t that spoiled.

As for Koukou, she had brought milk powder and rice cereal for him, so she could prepare that for him to eat later.

“Miss Qiao, sir instructed me to provide thorough service. Please let me know what you would like to eat.”

“…So domineering, just like Gu Yanqing,” Qiao Wanqing thought.

She then said, “Just order a meal from any nearby restaurant for delivery, one soup and one dish. Thank you.”

Following her instructions, Feng Qi arranged the meal.

Qiao Wanqing placed Koukou on the bed and gave him a small toy.

Koukou especially loved the roly-poly toy that Gu Yanqing had bought for him and never got tired of playing with it.

Seeing Koukou playing happily with the toy, she began to organize her belongings.

Traveling with a child was indeed inconvenient.

For example, there was no stroller or play mat, so she had to keep Koukou on the bed.

However, Koukou was no longer a baby who would lie quietly on the bed.

He was curious about everything in the room and always wanted to crawl over and touch things.

If she didn’t watch him closely, he might crawl to the edge of the bed, and a small mishap could result in him falling off.

Thus, she had to quickly organize her things while constantly glancing at Koukou to ensure he didn’t silently crawl to the edge of the bed.

Despite his small size, Koukou was quite agile, and in just a few seconds, he could crawl a considerable distance.

Just as she finished settling in, Qiao Wanqing received a call from Gu Yanqing.

“Have you arrived at the hotel?” Gu Yanqing asked.

“Yes, just arrived.”

“I might need you to explore by yourself this afternoon, or you can ask Feng Qi to take you wherever you want to go. A business partner arrived unexpectedly, and I can’t leave right away.”

Originally, Gu Yanqing had specially set aside these two days to spend time with his son, who hadn’t seen much of the world, planning to take him out and buy some clothes.

However, an important business partner made a surprise visit.

There was no choice but for Gu Yanqing to handle the situation first.

“It’s fine, go ahead with your work,” Qiao Wanqing didn’t mind and was even secretly a bit happy.

“I’ve already made arrangements at the vegetarian restaurant. I’ll take you there tonight, and we’ll have dinner together.”

“Okay, I…”

Before Qiao Wanqing could finish her sentence, she turned to see that Koukou had crawled to the edge of the bed.

Perhaps seeing how high the bed was, he got scared and turned his back to the edge, trying to slide down, which frightened Qiao Wanqing.

She rushed over and grabbed her silly son.

Kids have a strange way of thinking.

When they see a high place, they know to be scared, but when they can’t see it, they feel it’s safe and aren’t afraid anymore, daring to fall from any height.

“What happened?” Gu Yanqing heard the commotion on her end and got worried.

“Nothing, it’s nothing,” Qiao Wanqing said, her heart still pounding, as she held Koukou, “Koukou almost fell off the bed.”

“…Was he scared?”

“No, he doesn’t even realize it.” The little guy, thinking his mom was playing a game with him, laughed happily, oblivious to the fact that he had almost fallen off the bed. “I’ll hang up now and make some milk for Koukou.”

“Alright, I’ll come by later.”

After hanging up, Qiao Wanqing saw Koukou was engrossed in the pattern on her clothes, scratching it with his fingers.

She sighed and ruffled his hair, “You really scared Mommy.”

Koukou, held in Qiao Wanqing’s arms, lifted his head, blinked his innocent eyes, and suddenly said, “mama.”

Qiao Wanqing momentarily thought she misheard.

Her nine-month-old Koukou, despite her efforts, had only managed sounds like “ba” or “da.”

Now, hearing him say “mama,” even though it sounded more like a scolding tone, filled her with joy.

She hugged Koukou tightly and showered him with kisses, then proudly shared on social media that her son could say “mama” now.

Before, she used to see other moms boasting about their children on social media and thought they were making a big deal out of small things.

Now experiencing it herself, she realized how such little things could bring immense happiness.

After posting, Qiao Wanqing kissed Koukou again, saying, “My little Koukou is so smart.”

Koukou, happy to be praised by his mom, wriggled his little bottom in delight.

In the evening, Qiao Wanqing dressed up because she needed to meet someone.

She applied makeup, wore a black dress with a coat over it, added high heels, and let her hair down, lightly curling it with a curling iron she had brought along.

Although it was a simple outfit and styling, it instantly elevated her appearance and demeanor.

When Gu Yanqing came to pick her up and saw her, his gaze paused for a moment.