When the “Singles’ Vegetarian Restaurant” opened, Qiao Wanqing didn’t plan any grand ceremony.

She just had six flower baskets delivered from the florist, bought some firecrackers, and unveiled the sign to open the business.

For the first three days of the restaurant’s opening, there was a 25% discount for customers.

Originally, Qiao Wanqing wanted to offer a 40% discount, but Gu Yanqing said it wasn’t necessary.

It was the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, the weather wasn’t too hot, and there were plenty of visitors. A 25% discount was sufficient to show appreciation.

Not to boast, but their vegetarian dishes were genuinely delicious.

The chefs were skilled, and Qiao Wanqing had been inspired by the Luo couple’s vegetarian restaurant.

Over time, she had refined her cooking techniques, gaining a new understanding of heat control and seasonings, making her dishes even tastier.

Good food will attract customers, even if it’s pricey, while poorly made dishes won’t be appealing, no matter how cheap they are.

Therefore, they were confident they would have customers.

Offering too steep a discount would result in too many patrons, which could overwhelm their staff.

Currently, they only had two chefs—one hired externally and Qiao Wanqing herself.

As for assistants, they temporarily had only Sister Song and another part-time worker hired specifically for washing dishes.

Sister Song eventually decided to work with Qiao Wanqing.

She knew the value of her labor. Just because a job pays more doesn’t mean it earns more.

When she worked for Boss Cai, he was stingy with raises and used them as an excuse to make his employees work harder.

Sister Song had evidently seen through these business tactics.

As for Mr. Gu, since his fingers were too delicate to handle any household chores, Qiao Wanqing couldn’t bear to have him out front trying to attract customers with his looks.

So, he was tasked with taking care of the kids.

Everything at home was left to her recovered second uncle and aunt.

Grandma Qiao, who was shy around strangers, stayed home to look after the house and help with the fields.

The Temple of the Matchmaker had long been famous for its “efficacy” in matchmaking.

Whether it was truly effective or not didn’t matter, as long as people believed in it.

After more than two years of renovations and heavy advertising by the government, the Dragon Boat Festival saw a significant number of single men and women coming to pray to the Matchmaker.

However…

By 11 a.m., Qiao Wanqing watched as tourists glanced at their restaurant but hesitated and ultimately chose to leave.

She was frustrated, “Why don’t we have a single customer?”

It didn’t make sense.

People did come to look, but consumer herd mentality meant that seeing an empty restaurant made them assume the food wasn’t good.

Additionally, many visitors wanted to try local specialties, so they weren’t inclined to eat at an empty vegetarian restaurant.

For a moment, Qiao Wanqing felt very defeated.

“Don’t worry, people will come,” Sister Song, experienced and knowledgeable, comforted her. “It’s not lunchtime yet.”

If it were only 10 a.m., Qiao Wanqing could reassure herself that it wasn’t mealtime, but it was already 11 a.m.

Many who climbed up the steps were already exhausted and hungry.

Two young women saw the empty restaurant, sat down to look at the menu, and then left, making Qiao Wanqing feel even more frustrated.

The stark difference between the thriving business she imagined and the current situation was overwhelming.

“Should I hire a few people to act as customers?” Qiao Wanqing asked Sister Song, thinking that if people saw others dining inside, they might come in.

Sister Song nodded, “That could work. Cai Wenxiu used to do that too.”

Cai Wenxiu was the owner of the local agritainment business.

Qiao Wanqing initially said it as a joke, but seeing Sister Song agree, she called Gu Yanqing, who was watching the construction work at the villa with Kou Kou, and asked him and his assistant Chen Feng to come and pretend to be customers.

Two customers still seemed too sparse.

Unfortunately, Tang Yueyue, who was supposed to visit today, decided not to come, thinking she would be a burden on Qiao Wanqing’s busy opening day. Otherwise, she could have helped act as a customer too.

After understanding her intention, Gu Yanqing said, “I’ll bring some people over.”

“You have people?”

“Don’t forget,” Gu Yanqing said, pulling out his phone, “I own a hotel here.”

Half an hour later, hotel staff who weren’t busy changed into casual clothes and came over to act as customers, sitting by the windows.

The small restaurant suddenly became lively.

Sure enough, due to herd mentality, real customers soon followed, one after another.

Maybe it was also because it was lunchtime, but by noon, the kitchen couldn’t keep up with the orders.

It wasn’t until nearly 3 p.m. that Qiao Wanqing, exhausted, came out of the kitchen, holding her back.

She was incredibly tired.

In the past, when Qiao Wanqing cooked at home, even preparing a large feast never felt tiring.

She actually enjoyed it, finding cooking to be a pleasure.

However, working as a chef meant constantly stir-frying and cooking dishes.

Sometimes, she would cook more than ten portions of the same dish in an hour, which became monotonous, repetitive, and dull.

Moreover, the heavy smell of cooking oil was overwhelming.

After several hours of cooking, mostly stir-frying, she was so overpowered by the fumes that she didn’t feel like eating at all.

In contrast, the other helpers enjoyed their meal quite a lot, especially the chef who cooked alongside her.

Their meal wasn’t entirely vegetarian; it included some meat, and they ate heartily without their appetite being affected by nearly four hours of cooking.

Professional chefs really are different.

Qiao Wanqing hastily ate a bowl of rice soaked in tea to cut the grease and then went to rest.

They only had one rest room, which Qiao Wanqing had set up in case Kou Kou needed to nap during the day or if she had to stay late sometimes.

The other helpers had to rest by lying on the dining tables after their lunch break.

However, this was all discussed beforehand.

Since there were no accommodations at the restaurant and fewer customers at night, they could leave early, and everyone agreed to this arrangement.

Kou Kou had already been coaxed to sleep by Gu Yanqing.

When she went in, she accidentally knocked over a cup on the table.

Although she caught it in time before it broke, the sudden noise startled Kou Kou awake.

Kou Kou stirred, half-opening his eyes.

He was not happy about being woken up and looked like he was about to cry.

Qiao Wanqing quickly went over and patted his back. “Good baby, go back to sleep.”

“Kou Kou,” his little voice, slightly nasal from sleep, called out for his mommy as he turned over and nestled into her arms.

Qiao Wanqing hugged him and kissed his rosy cheek, saying, “Mommy’s here, go back to sleep, baby.”

Feeling his mother’s familiar presence, Kou Kou quieted down and drifted back into a deep sleep.

Once he was sound asleep, Qiao Wanqing got up to clean the water she had spilled earlier.

Just as she was about to lie down and rest, there was a knock on the door.

She walked over and opened it to find Gu Yanqing standing outside with a small bamboo basket.

He gently shook the basket and whispered, “Bayberries.”

Even though she had lost her appetite, hearing the word “bayberries” made her mouth water.

She reached out and took the basket, opening the lid.

Gu Yanqing had thoughtfully washed them, and each deep red bayberry still glistened with water droplets, looking incredibly tempting.

Qiao Wanqing took a dark red bayberry from the basket and popped it into her mouth.

The bayberries were fully ripe and large, juicy, and succulent.

As she bit into one, the sweet yet slightly tart flavor burst in her mouth, refreshing and cutting through any lingering grease from earlier.

“Mmm, these are so good. Where did you get them?”

“Someone was selling them near the Matchmaker Temple, so I bought two baskets. One for the people outside,” Gu Yanqing replied.

Since Qiao Wanqing didn’t want him to use his charm to attract customers and he couldn’t help much in the kitchen, Gu Yanqing took Kou Kou to play at the Matchmaker Temple.

Kou Kou, always excited when out and about, loved running around, making it easy to keep him entertained.

With the bayberry season in full swing, it was no surprise that someone was selling them near the temple.

These bayberries were a lifesaver for Qiao Wanqing, revitalizing her with every bite.

She ate several in a row and felt rejuvenated.

Seeing how much she enjoyed them, Gu Yanqing knew he had made the right purchase.

He said, “Let’s go inside and eat these.”

They sat on chairs a bit away from the bed to avoid disturbing Kou Kou. Gu Yanqing suggested, “Cooking by yourself is too tiring. How about hiring another chef?”

Qiao Wanqing had considered this.

She was overwhelmed, and as the owner, she had more responsibilities than she had anticipated.

However, she knew that the current rush was due to the holiday.

Once it was over, the customer flow would decrease, and having an extra chef might be unnecessary.

If only chefs could be hired on an hourly basis.

Also, as the weather got hotter, the number of customers would likely drop, and she might be able to handle things on her own again.

“No worries, it’s just busy for these couple of days. After that, it’ll calm down,” she said.

Gu Yanqing, understanding her concerns, suggested, “Why not hire a chef who works only during holidays? You don’t need to find a full-time one.”

“…Is that possible?”

“As long as the pay is attractive, you’ll find someone.”

She looked at Gu Yanqing skeptically, “You’re not going to hire a stand-in, are you?”

Lacking experience in hiring, Qiao Wanqing was suspicious.

She worried he might hire someone and secretly subsidize part of the salary himself.

Gu Yanqing, with his wealth, wouldn’t mind the extra cost, but it would feel disingenuous to her.

If that were the case, it would defeat the purpose.

“How could that be? You have to understand, there might be people who specialize in such jobs,” Gu Yanqing reached out and covered her hand holding the bayberry. “Trust me.”

Gu Yanqing’s sudden movement caught Qiao Wanqing off guard, as if she had been shocked and wanted to pull her hand away.

But Gu Yanqing seemed prepared, holding her hand firmly and looking at her with a faint smile. “As long as the boss is in charge of beauty.”

Although Qiao Wanqing tacitly accepted Gu Yanqing’s pursuit, their relationship had been progressing at a snail’s pace for such a short time, so pure that they hadn’t even held hands yet.

Now suddenly holding hands, her heart raced like thunder.

So this is what it feels like to hold hands with someone you like.

“Okay, I’ll give it a try.”

“Hmm, you can make a recruitment notice, post one at the vegetarian restaurant entrance, I’ll have someone post one at the hotel entrance, and also put one on the job site.”

However, given their remote location, the job site might not be very effective.

Typically, locals who come here to work as chefs aren’t as advanced in job searching on the internet as others.

“Alright.”

While Gu Yanqing held her hand and she still held a bayberry, he took her hand and put it in his mouth, accidentally brushing her fingertips with his lips when he took a bite.

“… ” At the moment of contact, Qiao Wanqing felt a surge of electricity spreading from her fingertips throughout her body, making her whole body tingle.

This feeling was really strange.

And the person who took advantage gently rubbed her fingertips and said, “It’s really sweet.”