Qiao Wanqing just wanted to tease Gu Yanqing a bit, knowing he wouldn’t let go of his romantic debts easily.

So she prepared a full cup of carrot juice, seeing Gu Yanqing frown, she smiled and said, “Go ahead, Mr. Gu, I made it myself.”

Seeing the mischievous glint in Qiao Wanqing’s eyes, even Kouko nestled in her arms, watching him as if waiting for his performance, Gu Yanqing shook his head helplessly.

He picked up the cup and calmly drank a whole cup of carrot juice without changing his expression.

Finally, he commented, “There’s a bit too much honey.”

Qiao Wanqing: “…You really drank it all?”

She actually just wanted to tease him, not expecting him to actually drink it all.

Thus, a woman’s mind is so hard to grasp — to drink or not to drink, either way.

“Why,” Gu Yanqing raised an eyebrow at her, “feeling sorry for me?”

“I just didn’t want you to feel sick later.”

Gu Yanqing chuckled lightly, “As you grow older, your taste buds become less picky. I can accept these flavors now, and your carrots taste good.”

Qiao Wanqing, seeing he wasn’t uncomfortable at all, relaxed a bit and said, “Oh, so carrot juice is now your reserved breakfast drink.”

Gu Yanqing: “…”

He lifted the cup and finished the remaining carrot juice at the bottom.

Suddenly, he leaned over, caught her off guard, and transferred the carrot juice from his mouth to Qiao Wanqing’s, forcing her to swallow it.

In the process, he even received a couple of slaps from their son, who thought he was bullying his mom.

Only then did he reluctantly let go of those lips, which tasted unexpectedly sweet from the first touch.

“If you drink with me, I don’t mind,” Gu Yanqing said.

“…Are you disgusting me?” Qiao Wanqing blushed.

Gu Yanqing was becoming shameless, doing such embarrassing things without a hint of embarrassment.

Moreover, when he fed her a mouthful of carrot juice with his mouth, she didn’t find it disgusting at all.

Instead, she found it… sweet.

So, when it comes to dignity, it really means nothing in front of love.

“Daddy, bad, bad!” Kouko pouted.

Daddy bullied mommy again!

Gu Yanqing picked him up. “You little rascal, I haven’t found you stinky yet. Come, let daddy change your diaper.”

After such a fuss, Kouko’s diaper probably got dirty again.

Qiao Wanqing saw her son reaching out to be carried and quickly stepped back, shamelessly saying, “Mommy’s going to cook, let daddy change you.”

With that, she grabbed the cup of carrot juice and ran off.

Kouko looked at his mommy’s fast disappearing figure with a sense of grievance, resigned to having his “bad daddy” change his diaper.

Qiao Wanqing walked out of the room and happened to see Tan Yue and his group leaving.

Seeing her come out, Mrs. Song walked over, looking very embarrassed. “I said they didn’t need to pay, but they insisted. I didn’t ask for much, but they scanned and paid 400 yuan themselves. What should I do?”

“How much did they eat?”

“If we include the hotpot, it’s 258 yuan.” They ordered a lot of dishes and returned five or six, so it ended up being a bit expensive.

“No problem, keep it.”

Qiao Wanqing knew Miss Tan Yue wouldn’t accept a free meal after what Gu Yanqing had just said.

Their relationship was now irreparably strained.

She didn’t go out to see them off. Miss Tan Yue probably didn’t want to see her either.

However, she received a message from Tan Yue on her phone.

Tan Yue: Miss Qiao, we’ve headed back. Thanks for your hospitality.

Tan Yue: Xiaoxin was a bit stubborn today and caused you trouble. I apologize sincerely.

Qiao Wanqing transferred 400 yuan to him and replied:

Today was supposed to be my treat, so no need to pay.

Tan Yue refused the money transfer and messaged back:

Please keep it.

We caused quite a disturbance today and delayed your business. Let’s consider it a discount for next time we come.

Qiao Wanqing thought for a moment and transferred 300 yuan to him, saying: Your lunch was only 258 yuan; I covered the hotpot, so it’s not necessary to pay that much. We don’t know when the next time will be, so consider it a discount for today.

This time, Tan Yue didn’t refuse and accepted the money.

Tan Yue: Miss Qiao, you’ve grown so quickly.

Just a year ago, when they first met, she was still a naive girl, innocent and inexperienced.

Now, in less than a year, she had matured a lot.

Cough, cough.

Just as Qiao Wanqing sent a thank-you message, she heard Gu Yanqing cough behind her.

Although she had nothing going on with Tan Yue, she inexplicably felt a bit guilty and exited WeChat, asking, “What’s wrong?”

Gu Yanqing hadn’t seen who she was messaging and said, “I’ve delivered the toy I bought for Kouko. Please go out and pick it up.”

Qiao Wanqing was curious why he had his own car but still needed to deliver the toy.

When she went outside and saw a small truck parked at the gate, she suddenly had a bad feeling.

“What did you buy for him?”

“I checked out that kids love things like slides and swings, so I thought of setting one up here by the entrance.”

Qiao Wanqing: “…”

Is it because he has too much money and not enough sense?

Qiao Wanqing could imagine what Gu Yanqing meant by slides and swings—it was probably something like a baby playground.

She couldn’t help but laugh and cry, “There are places in town like that. It’s enough to occasionally take him there to play. Why set one up at the entrance? Kouko can’t play with it all by himself.”

Kids find it more fun to play with others. Playing alone gets boring quickly.

“I noticed that the staff at the matchmaking temple often bring their kids. We can invite them over to play. Plus, when we have our second child, they can still use it, right?”

“… ” Planning for a second child already?

Why not aim for the sky?

Qiao Wanqing made a last-ditch effort, “The area by the entrance isn’t ours. Will there be issues if we set this up?”

“No problem, I already had Chen Feng rent it a couple of days ago.”

“…”

Alright.

Seeing Gu Yanqing was all set, Qiao Wanqing had no choice but to let him handle it.

He had ordered a baby play castle for the community, where Koko could slide, swing, crawl through tunnels, and ride a mini carousel, all with rain protection built-in, no need for a tent.

Setting up the small castle wasn’t as easy as Gu Yanqing thought.

The space in front of their door wasn’t paved with concrete flooring, so they needed to redo the flooring and apply plastic before installing those facilities.

Anyway, Qiao Wanqing let Gu Yanqing handle his own affairs at his own pace and didn’t bother to intervene.

Besides buying a huge gift for Kouko, Gu Yanqing had also bought many things for Qiao Wanqing.

He didn’t know what she liked, so he bought whatever caught his eye, resulting in a pile of items stacked like a small mountain on the table.

“Don’t buy so much for me in the future. I don’t need all this,” Qiao Wanqing said.

“Never mind, keep them and open them slowly. Every day can be a surprise,” Gu Yanqing said nonchalantly.

Qiao Wanqing: “…”

It actually makes sense.

Although she said she didn’t want them, Qiao Wanqing couldn’t help but take photos of those gifts and post them on her social circle with a few words: “Gifts from someone,” and took the opportunity to advertise her single vegetarian restaurant.

Then she was bombarded by her single friends in the social circle.

Gu Yanqing saw her boasting post and chuckled, shaking his head.

Women’s minds are really hard to guess.

…

In the evening, as usual, they closed at eight o’clock.

Because Dad had come back, Kouko had been excited all afternoon, didn’t sleep, and fell asleep with when they’re going back.

When they returned home, Qiao Wanqing wrapped him in a coat and lifted him from the bed.

Kouko was awakened and grunted unhappily.

This little one was quite temperamental at a young age.

Qiao Wanqing quickly held him and patted his back, comforting him until he smelled her familiar scent and settled down, drifting back into deep sleep.

“I think you should gather your things and just sleep here directly at the shop. It’s inconvenient to keep traveling back and forth,” Gu Yanqing helped her with the things, turned off the lights, and they walked out together.

It was a quick ride from here to town, just over ten minutes by bike.

But from town to her home was nearly half an hour.

Since she didn’t have much to do at home, staying here was indeed more convenient.

“No, I—I prefer to sleep alone,” Qiao Wanqing hesitated, rejecting the offer.

“Sleep alone…” Gu Yanqing repeated these words meaningfully, bluntly exposing her fear. “Actually, you’re scared, aren’t you?”

“…” Qiao Wanqing’s thoughts were laid bare.

She glared fiercely at Gu Yanqing and couldn’t help but defend herself, “It’s normal not to dare to stay alone here, with no neighbors nearby.”

After all, this place was up in the mountains, with no other households nearby.

Although there was the matchmaking temple not too far, about 200 meters away, their staff also went home at night. Leaving someone here alone to guard overnight was a bit daunting.

“Yeah, it’s normal,” Gu Yanqing nodded. “But as your quasi-boyfriend, I can sleep on the floor with you.”

“No, I… I think it’s fine to come back and forth. It’s good for character development,” Qiao Wanqing replied.

Having read countless novels, she liked these clichés of big shots saying they’ll just drop something off at the door without entering, and if they do enter, they’ll guarantee to just have a cup of tea and not linger—those were all clichés.

Today he slept obediently on the floor, but tomorrow he might find an excuse like bugs on the ground or dampness to insist on sleeping in the bed.

And once they’re in bed, if they sleep under the same quilt, it would be strange if they just sleep!

Huh, men!

Your tricks have been seen through by me.

Seeing her unwillingness, Gu Yanqing didn’t insist, just felt a bit regretful.

He thought he could start cohabiting earlier.

As business in the restaurant wasn’t too busy, one chef plus Mrs. Song and some part-timers could handle it completely.

Qiao Wanqing didn’t go to the restaurant the next day, asking Mrs. Song to call her if there was anything urgent.

A few days after the Dragon Boat Festival, there were two days of rain.

Now, the earliest batch of mushrooms had grown on the mountain.

Aunt Zhu didn’t work last Saturday, so she went to pick mushrooms on the mountain and brought back a huge chicken mushroom, which they cooked.

It had a smooth texture, and Kouko loved it. Qiao Wanqing planned to go to the mountain to pick some.

Early in the morning, Gu Yanqing, who had stayed overnight, was sent by Qiao Wanqing to bring back cauliflower specifically requested to be in full bloom for a flavorful stir-fry.

Gu Yanqing assured her it would be done well and took Kouko with him.

After spending the night, Kouko had completely forgotten about his father bullying his mother and returned to being the silly son of the landlord, trotting behind Gu Yanqing everywhere.

As they neared the vegetable garden, there was a small canal about one meter wide with a wooden board bridge about 50 centimeters high.

Kouko, who was usually clumsy on his feet, stopped in front of the bridge.

“Daddy, carry me,” Kouko hesitated to cross the bridge himself, looking at Gu Yanqing pleadingly.

Gu Yanqing teased, “Sweetie, walk by yourself.”

“No, no, no~” Koko, still not very fluent in speaking, easily stuttered.

“It’s okay, Kouko is a little man.”

“No, carry~ Koko carry~” Koko stomped his little feet.

Gu Yanqing squatted down on the bridge and encouraged him, “Come on, be brave and walk over. Daddy is here to catch you.”

Kouko tentatively stretched his foot forward but seeing the flowing water beneath, he retreated a small step back, starting to plead in his soft, childish voice, “Scared~ Daddy, carry~”

Gu Yanqing sighed and lifted him up, gently rubbing his small nose, “Why are you so timid, hmm?”

Kouko giggled, wrapping his short arms around Gu Yanqing’s neck.

Father and son laughed and played as they went to pick the cauliflower Qiao Wanqing wanted.

When Qiao Wanqing saw Gu Yanqing holding only the heart of the cauliflower, she asked, “What about the cauliflower?”

Gu Yanqing handed her the heart, saying, “Here it is. I picked for a while and only managed to find one that had more flowers blooming.”

Qiao Wanqing: “…”

——Gu Yanqing, who wasn’t familiar with different types of vegetables, misunderstood her request for cauliflower that was more in bloom.

Author’s note: Ahem, actually, it’s not that Gu Yanqing doesn’t know cauliflower, he just misunderstood.