The next morning, when Gu Yanqing woke up, he felt like his head was splitting.

The white liquor he bought here wasn’t as good as what he usually drank, but it had a high alcohol content.

Those small cups, each a mouthful, and after less than four small cups, Gu Yanqing was already drunk.

Reflecting on yesterday, Gu Yanqing felt a bit regretful.

Qiao Wanqing was unusually gentle yesterday, and if he hadn’t been drunk, he would have definitely teased her a bit.

But it was okay; there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.

Yuan Yuan was still sound asleep.

Gu Yanqing got out of bed feeling uncomfortable all over from yesterday’s heavy drinking.

He hadn’t even taken a bath yet. Now was the time to wash up.

Ever since the incident where Kou Kou peed on him and he had no clothes to wear, Gu Yanqing had learned his lesson and left two sets of clothes here at Qiao Wanqing’s place for emergencies.

After he finished showering, he happened to see Qiao Wanqing carrying a big bag of stuff coming in through the yard gate.

Despite Qiao Wanqing’s delicate appearance, after a year of growth, she had transformed from the weak woman who couldn’t push a millstone to a strong woman who could carry a sack of things briskly.

Seeing her like this, Gu Yanqing paused for a moment, then hurried over to help her.

Qiao Wanqing said, “No need, I’m almost there. Don’t dirty your clothes.”

“What’s all this stuff?” Gu Yanqing helped her unload the bag.

“Peas,” Qiao Wanqing wiped the sweat off her forehead.

Gu Yanqing reached out to tidy her messy hair.

Qiao Wanqing felt this gesture was too intimate and blushed slightly, awkwardly brushing his hand away a couple of times, saying, “It’s okay, I’ll wash my hair tonight.”

Gu Yanqing withdrew his hand and glanced down at the sack she had carried in. “Do you need help unpacking?”

“I’ll manage on my own. It’s a bit dirty.” Qiao Wanqing looked at Gu Yanqing, who had showered and changed into a light blue shirt, looking clean and fresh.

She hesitated to let him handle these things.

Reflecting on herself, with messy hair and dirt on her clothes, Qiao Wanqing felt not only like a strong woman but also like a village girl.

Back when she didn’t have feelings for Gu Yanqing, she didn’t think much about her appearance.

She was even proud of being able to farm and prosper with her own hands.

But now…

Qiao Wanqing looked at Gu Yanqing, deftly untying the rope of the sack, and asked, “Mr. Gu, are you intimidated by my toughness?”

Gu Yanqing helped her pour out a sack of muddy peas and said, “I think you could be even tougher. It would be best if you could carry me over the threshold in the future.”

“Dream on.”

Qiao Wanqing heard his non-serious response and smoothed out the peas with her own hands, letting them sunbathe so they wouldn’t need to be shelled by hand; they would pop out on their own.

“Wanqing, I like you for who you are. It doesn’t matter what you do or how you look,” Gu Yanqing said.

Qiao Wanqing paused in her movements and then said, “Oh.”

There was a hint of happiness in her tone that she couldn’t quite conceal.

Thinking about it, Gu Yanqing really wanted to find a lady from a matching background.

In books, he wouldn’t have remained single for so long.

He seemed to prioritize feelings over status.

In May, when peas were ripe, Qiao Wanqing took advantage of the early morning with mild sun to bring in the peas from the fields to dry.

After eating so much greasy food yesterday, no one had much of an appetite today.

She planned to make pea cold noodles to stimulate everyone’s appetites.

Since the peas hadn’t been exposed to much sun yet, they had to be shelled by hand for today’s dish.

Luckily, there were many hands at home, so the shelling was done quickly, with even Yuan Yuan helping out.

When Kou Kou saw everyone shelling peas, he wanted to join in.

Qiao Wanqing picked out a clean and plump raw pea for him.

Since he didn’t know how to shell them, she wasn’t worried he would choke while eating them.

Kou Kou grabbed some peas and sat playing by himself.

But when the adults weren’t paying attention, he quickly picked up a dirty one and stuffed it into his mouth.

Before anyone could react, he had successfully eaten a mouthful of mud, which was both exasperating and amusing.

“Spit it out, Kou Kou,” Qiao Wanqing grabbed his little arm with one hand and gently held his chin with the other, urging him to spit out the mud he had eaten.

Kou Kou was engrossed in his play and ignored her, trying hard to free himself from her grasp to continue playing.

“Kou Kou!” Qiao Wanqing raised her voice, but Kou Kou wasn’t afraid of her and refused to spit it out.

Qiao Wanqing didn’t let go, and he started crying.

Sometimes, this little cutie could be so annoying!

Seeing Kou Kou being disobedient, Gu Yanqing teased him, “Kou Kou, look over here at Daddy.”

Kou Kou stopped crying and looked at Gu Yanqing.

Gu Yanqing continued, “Do what Daddy does, spit out what’s in your mouth.”

With that, Gu Yanqing made a few spitting motions.

Sure enough, Kou Kou found it amusing and started “ptoo ptoo ptoo” to spit out the mud from his mouth, just like Gu Yanqing.

“You’ve got some tricks up your sleeve,” Qiao Wanqing said, seeing Kou Kou mimic Gu Yanqing and spit out the mud.

“Even Yuan Yuan, at three years old, still eats things randomly. I think all the nannies at home have to coax him like this,” Gu Yanqing said innocently, pointing at Yuan Yuan.

Innocently caught in the crossfire, Yuan Yuan muttered, “…”

“Now I won’t eat randomly anymore!” Yuan Yuan tried to salvage some dignity.

Gu Yanqing affectionately patted his head. “Yuan Yuan is so smart now.”

Kou Kou saw Gu Yanqing patting Yuanyuan and ran up to him, “thud thud thud,” also leaning his head forward, and “hmm hmm,” begged to be patted.

Gu Yanqing laughed and patted his head, “Kou Kou is very smart too.”

After the peas were shelled, they needed to be ground into a paste using a stone mill, then filtered and precipitated.

Qiao Wanqing could now push the stone mill, but she didn’t need to anymore since she had laborers.

“Mr. Gu, keep it up.” Qiao Wanqing put the peas and water into the stone mill and smiled at Gu Yanqing.

Seeing her waiting for him to embarrass himself due to lack of strength, Gu Yanqing said, “I work out in my spare time, so Wanqing, I have a lot of strength.”

Qiao Wanqing, who had read many novels, including some explicit ones, couldn’t help but think inappropriately when Gu Yanqing mentioned his strength…

Ugh, ugh, ugh! Qiao Wanqing shook those dirty thoughts out of her head, feeling it was too indecent.

“By the way,” Gu Yanqing, pushing the stone mill without even panting, asked her, “how is your vegetarian restaurant coming along?”

“It’s almost ready. I’ll go set it up in a while, and it should open by the Dragon Boat Festival. The only problem is I haven’t decided on a name yet, so the signboard isn’t made.”

She had thought of several names, but none felt perfect, so she hadn’t decided on one.

Gu Yanqing hadn’t heard her mention any names and said, “Stop overthinking. Just call it Si Qiao Vegetarian Restaurant; it has a good meaning.”

“No way!”

When Qiao Wanqing heard this name, she regretted it deeply.

When she first arrived and wasn’t familiar with the rules of this world, she didn’t dare to change Kou Kou’s name, so she let him be called Gu Siqiao.

Later, when registering his household, Gu Yanqing handled everything, and she forgot about changing the name, so Kou Kou’s official name became Gu Siqiao.

Thinking about it now, she felt embarrassed.

“I think it’s pretty good. Many people name their restaurants after their babies.”

Qiao Wanqing rolled her eyes, “Then it might as well be called Single’s Vegetarian Restaurant.”

“Single’s Vegetarian Restaurant…” Gu Yanqing repeated the words with a serious expression, “That’s a good name.”

“Seriously, isn’t this a bit tacky?”

Qiao Wanqing had thought of many names and was most satisfied with this one, but she felt it might be too common and worried she would regret choosing it.

Gu Yanqing said, “What is most common can also be most refined. As long as it’s simple and memorable, it’s good.”

“Really? Then should I just go with this one?”

Gu Yanqing nodded, “It’s fine.”

Qiao Wanqing trusted Gu Yanqing not to mislead her. Since he thought it was good, it must be.

She had already contacted an advertising company, and the design for the signboard was ready according to her requirements.

Now, she just needed to send them the name, and they would immediately produce a digital version for her to see.

Qiao Wanqing sent the name over.

The designer was available and quickly created a design.

She showed it to Gu Yanqing, who stopped pushing the stone mill, took a look, and bluntly said, “Ugly.”

“…This is already the best advertising company in the county!”

“Call me hubby, and I’ll find you a better one.”

“…Get lost!”

Qiao Wanqing used to think Gu Yanqing was a serious person, probably because in the book, he was much older, about twenty years older, and acted like a stern parent with authority.

But the current Gu Yanqing seemed different.

“Then at least wipe my sweat,” Gu Yanqing “conceded.”

Even though it was only May, the weather was already getting hot, and today’s sun made it even warmer.

Gu Yanqing had been pushing the stone mill for quite a while, and his forehead was covered in fine sweat.

Qiao Wanqing took a tissue and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Being so close, she could smell the faint fragrance on Gu Yanqing, fresh and pleasant.

She wondered if this subtle person was even wearing cologne.

Maybe it was the heat radiating from Gu Yanqing, but she felt her fingertips burning, even though she wasn’t actually hot.

Gu Yanqing noticed her reddened earlobes and smiled silently.

As long as one person takes the initiative, there will always be a story.

After the soy milk was ground, the residue was filtered out and left to settle.

The settled starch was then mixed with water.

Water was boiled in a pot, and the starch mixture was added and quickly stirred with a wooden spoon.

After reducing the heat and continuing to stir, it gradually became a transparent starch paste.

When it could form continuous strips, it was taken off the heat, placed in a basin, and left to cool.

Since it was not yet midsummer and Yuanyuan had a sensitive stomach, he couldn’t eat very cold foods to avoid stomach issues.

Therefore, it was not refrigerated but allowed to cool and solidify naturally.

Now that Kou Kou no longer drank milk, Qiao Wanqing could eat spicy food.

So, she prepared a dressing with homemade chili oil, chopped lettuce, minced garlic, cooked crushed peanuts, sesame seeds, soy sauce, and aromatic vinegar, all mixed together and topped with a spoonful of hot oil.

The fragrant dressing was ready.

After the dressing was prepared, the starch paste that had been sitting for a while had solidified.

It was taken out and cut into long thin strips, arranged on a plate, and the dressing was poured over them.

This method made the liangfen not only delicious but also chewy and refreshing, perfect for summer.

Since Kou Kou still wasn’t good at chewing, his portion was cooked in meat broth with chopped vegetable leaves and a bit of tea seed oil that Grandma Qiao had pressed from tea seeds she collected in the mountains.

Kou Kou could eat about half a bowl.

Additionally, Qiao Wanqing made a cucumber salad and garlic pork slices, which were not greasy and balanced with meat and vegetables.

Yuanyuan enjoyed the meal the most.

He thought everything at Auntie Qiao’s house was delicious and always ate to his heart’s content whenever he visited.

Even the picky Gu Yanqing ate nearly two bowls before putting down his chopsticks. Qiao Wanqing asked him, “Is it good, Mr. Gu?”

Gu Yanqing nodded, “If it wasn’t troublesome, this could be a signature summer dish for the vegetarian restaurant.”

Qiao Wanqing, seeing his high praise, said, “Actually, it’s not troublesome at all. I can make the pea starch in advance and dry it to prevent spoilage. When we want to eat it, just mix it with water, and it won’t taste much different.”

Thus, the vegetarian restaurant gained another signature dish.

Days passed, and Gu Yanqing had someone redesign the signboard and send it over.

Before they knew it, the Dragon Boat Festival arrived.

The Temple of the Matchmaker officially opened to tourists, and Qiao Wanqing’s vegetarian restaurant opened on the same day.