Lu Yunfei and the others came over to visit.

Besides coming to see them, their main goal was to visit the Yue Lao Temple and eat at Qiao Wanqing’s “Single Vegan Restaurant.”

They were planning to visit the Yue Lao Temple and have dinner at the vegan restaurant.

Naturally, Qiao Wanqing and her family had to join them.

It wouldn’t be polite to let Gu Yanqing’s uncle’s family eat at their restaurant without them.

Although the Yue Lao Temple was only two hundred meters away, Qiao Wanqing had never been there before.

She decided to go with Lu Yunfei and the others to check out the popular spot for single people.

Since she was going, Gu Yanqing naturally had to go too.

What started as a trip for two turned into a group of five.

When Kouko heard they were going out to play, he immediately ran into the house.

After a while, he came out with three bucket hats—two black and one white—clearly a matching set for the family.

“Mommy, here you go,” Kouko said, knowing the white one was for his mom.

“Thank you, Kouko,” Qiao Wanqing said as she put the hat on.

Lu Yunfei was absolutely charmed by the cute little boy.

He knew to bring hats just from hearing they were going out to play.

His actions were so endearing.

She asked, “What about Daddy’s? Which one is his?”

Poor Kouko didn’t know how to tell the hats apart by size.

But he had a way to figure it out.

He put one hat on the ground and placed the other on his head.

The one he put on his head was actually Gu Yanqing’s, almost covering his entire face.

Kouko smiled happily and handed the hat to Gu Yanqing. “Daddy’s.”

Then he looked at Lu Yunfei, as if seeking praise.

Lu Yunfei was amazed by the little boy’s cleverness.

She couldn’t resist walking over to pat his head. “You’re so smart, sweetheart.”

Kouko smiled happily and held his dad’s hand. “Daddy, let’s go!”

Gu Yanqing picked him up and then turned to Qiao Wanqing. “Shall we go now?”

“Sure, let’s go before it gets too late. Where’s Mr. Lort?” Qiao Wanqing asked.

Lu Yunfei sighed. “He’s probably still trying to make friends with Ah Huang.”

Lort was quite fond of Chinese culture and even had a fascination with creatures like the yellow weasel.

The first time he saw Ah Huang, he greeted it respectfully and said, “You look human.”

Qiao Wanqing had looked up the reference on Baidu and found out it was a tale about a yellow weasel asking for a blessing by being recognized as human.

She remembered her own encounter with a yellow weasel where she didn’t say it looked human, which, according to folklore, caused it to fail in its quest and revert to its original form.

Consequently, this weasel had stuck around her house, living a carefree life.

Ahem.

They found a sweaty Lort in the courtyard, still trying to play with Ah Huang.

After lunch, the yellow weasel was drowsy, its chubby body resting in the shadows behind the water tank in the yard.

No matter how much Lort tried to tease it, Ah Huang just lay there lazily, barely acknowledging him.

When it was time to leave, Lort reluctantly asked Qiao Wanqing to let him know if the weasel ever had babies.

He wanted to adopt one.

The five of them fit perfectly in Gu Yanqing’s car.

Gu Yanqing drove, while Qiao Wanqing, Lu Yunfei, and Kouko sat in the backseat, with Lort in the front passenger seat.

“Is it true that this Yue Lao Temple is very effective?” Lu Yunfei asked on the way there.

As a single person, she had a special interest in places like the Yue Lao Temple.

Qiao Wanqing replied, “I’m not sure if it’s really effective, but I think the government has done a good job advertising it. Even though it’s so hot right now, many people still come here.”

Gu Yanqing mentioned that business at their hotel had improved significantly, with rooms almost always fully booked.

Many people would stay overnight, climb the stairs early the next morning to watch the sunrise from the observation deck, then visit the Yue Lao Temple, and have a meal at the famous “Single Vegan Restaurant.”

Those who liked the food would buy fresh green vegetables from the farmhouse markets at the foot of the mountain to take home.

It wasn’t just single people coming here.

The Yue Lao Temple had been improved to not only help people find partners but also to bless marriages and ensure lifelong happiness, so it attracted a lot of visitors and had a thriving incense offering.

“Your tourism industry must be doing very well,” Lort said. “But the infrastructure hasn’t caught up yet. I just tried to book a place to stay online and found out there aren’t even any homestays here.”

“Yes, a lot of people have mentioned that. They come here wanting to stay in a homestay and eat farm-style meals, but the government is planning a second phase of construction, which should be implemented by the end of this year.”

If the new construction plan went ahead, her small restaurant could have even more business opportunities.

Every time she thought about it, Qiao Wanqing felt lucky to have had the foresight to rent that piece of land.

“That sounds great. This place will develop even faster and might even turn into a tourist town,” Lort said, then added with a bit of regret, “It’s a pity I came too early and didn’t get a chance to stay in one of your homestays.”

“Actually, homestays are just villagers’ houses. We do have room at my place, but if I let Lort and the others stay, Mr. Gu might get upset.”

So she said, “You can come back once it’s built. It’s only a year or two away; it’ll be quick.”

Lort smiled and said, “I’ll be looking forward to it.”

They left around three in the afternoon and arrived just before four.

Since it was midsummer and the afternoon, there were hardly any tourists.

Most people preferred to visit in the morning or late afternoon when it was cooler.

The ground was still radiating heat from the day, making everyone sweat just a few steps in.

Kouko held Qiao Wanqing’s hand with his left hand and Gu Yanqing’s with his right, looking up and saying, “It’s so hot.”

“We’ll be there soon, sweetheart. Just hold on a little longer,” Qiao Wanqing said, wiping sweat off Kouko’s forehead with a tissue, then wiping her own.

The walk from the parking area to the temple was over 60 meters, which felt like a lot in the heat.

Lort walked over to Qiao Wanqing, took a folding fan out of his bag, and handed it to her. “Miss Qiao, here, use this fan.”

Qiao Wanqing took the fan. “Thank you.”

The folding fan looked like a souvenir, finely made.

Qiao Wanqing opened it and started fanning Kouko while they walked.

Lu Yunfei, also feeling very hot, asked, “Do you have another one? Can I have a fan too?”

Lort spread his hands. “I bought it as a souvenir when I visited the Forbidden City. It’s the only one I have.”

“…” Qiao Wanqing handed the fan to Lu Yunfei. “You can have it. I’m not that hot.”

“No, no,” Lu Yunfei quickly waved her hands. “You should fan Kouko. I thought he had many fans.”

Seeing that even Lort didn’t have a fan, and there was only one, Qiao Wanqing felt a bit embarrassed.

Kouko, however, really liked the fan and insisted on fanning himself.

He let go of their hands and clumsily waved the fan.

Gu Yanqing, who had been silently observing, let out a small, amused sound.

They went to pray at the Yue Lao Temple, and afterward, they went to throw red wish ribbons onto the branches of the “Love Tree” at the entrance.

Although Qiao Wanqing didn’t need these rituals, she found the process of praying and throwing the wish ribbons quite interesting.

When they were throwing the wish ribbons, Lort, being tall and strong, easily threw his ribbon high up onto a branch.

Lu Yunfei managed to get hers up as well, though not as high.

But Qiao Wanqing’s ribbon seemed to be against her.

No matter how many times she tried, it wouldn’t stay on a branch.

Gu Yanqing was on a work call, and Qiao Wanqing, hot and flustered, felt like giving up.

“Let me help you, Miss Qiao,” Lort said, picking up her ribbon after another failed attempt.

“No, I’ll wait for Yanqing…” Before she could finish, Lort had already thrown her ribbon up.

“Wow, so high!” Lort exclaimed as the ribbon flew to the highest spot, swaying gently.

He made a victory gesture. “Yeah! Done!”

Kouko, not fully understanding, clapped his hands and exclaimed, “High, high, so high!”

Qiao Wanqing: “…”

Gu Yanqing, who had just finished his call: “…”

Mr. Gu’s mental list of grudges was getting long.

After finishing with the wish ribbons, it was almost 5 PM.

The sun wasn’t shining on this area anymore, so it was cooler.

They decided to visit the Lovers’ Bridge next.

“Hey, there’s ice cream here!”

On the way to the Lovers’ Bridge, Lu Yunfei noticed a small dessert and tea shop at the edge of the Yue Lao Temple.

Getting an ice cream cone sounded like pure happiness.

“I don’t need one; I don’t eat sweets,” Gu Yanqing said when they went to buy some, opting for a bottle of cold water instead.

Everyone else got an ice cream cone.

Kouko, being a child, loved sweets.

He held his cone with both hands, licking it and getting it all over his face and clothes.

Qiao Wanqing knew his clothes would definitely get dirty, so she let him enjoy it, planning to change him into clean clothes at the vegan restaurant later.

The ice cream tasted surprisingly good, better than they had expected.

Gu Yanqing walked beside Qiao Wanqing and asked, “Is it good?”

“It’s pretty good, quite tasty,” she replied.

Gu Yanqing reached out, took her hand holding the ice cream cone, and brought it to his mouth for a bite. “Very sweet,” he said.

“I thought you didn’t like sweets?”

“I do when I’m with you.”

“…”

Gu Yanqing, who didn’t like sweet food, and Qiao Wanqing finished the entire ice cream cone together, bite by bite.

At the end, Gu Yanqing even licked a drop that had dripped onto Qiao Wanqing’s fingertip and said, “This one is the sweetest.”

Qiao Wanqing had long been accustomed to Gu Yanqing’s sudden affection, but she still felt embarrassed when it happened in front of acquaintances.

She reached out and patted Gu Yanqing’s shoulder, saying, “Behave yourself!”

Single Lu Yunfei had already silently walked away from this public display of affection.

Lort smiled and commented on how loving they were.

Koukou, walking along while munching on a small ice cream cone, was left unattended by his parents, who were too busy showing their affection.

When he finally lifted his head from the cone, his face was covered in ice cream, looking like a little kitten.

It wasn’t just his face; his chin, clothes, and hands were all smeared with ice cream.

He stubbornly stuck out his tongue to lick the ice cream off his hands, but apparently found that unsatisfying, so he reached out to grab more.

But the ice cream was cold, and the little guy couldn’t handle holding it, so he quickly shoved it into his mouth.

Yet his mouth also felt the cold, so what was left was smeared all over his face.

Probably feeling cool, he even rubbed it around with his hands.

In the end, Koukou’s hands were covered in melted ice cream, which he nonchalantly wiped on his clothes, making his dirty hands clean again.

Everyone else: “…”

The once tall ice cream cone had significantly shrunk, with more than half of it contributed to his face and clothes.

He had probably eaten less than a third of it.

Seeing his parents watching him, Koukou was very happy.

He reached into the cone again and then held up his small hand, saying, “Mommy, eat~”

“… Mommy is full, baby eat.”

Even though she knew all kids were like this, and that Koukou’s messy eating habits were a common sight, Qiao Wanqing, as a mom, still felt a bit disgusted and didn’t want to eat the ice cream from his hand.

Sweetheart, your saliva is about to drip into the ice cream, you know that?

“No~ Mommy, eat.”

Koukou insisted on giving it to her.

He was holding the ice cream and, seeing that Qiao Wanqing wasn’t bending down to eat it, he stomped his feet in displeasure, pouting as if he would cry if she didn’t eat it.

Qiao Wanqing had no choice but to lower her head and take a bite from his hand.

After Mommy ate, Koukou was finally happy.

The melted ice cream dripped from his hand onto the ground.

His was mango-flavored, with a yellow color that made the scene even more difficult to describe.

But Koukou wasn’t aware of this.

After his mother ate, there was still some ice cream on his hand, and he extended it toward his dad, saying, “Daddy, Daddy, eat~”

“…” Daddy Gu Yanqing wasn’t as straightforward as Qiao Wanqing.

He said, “Your Auntie likes this the most. Koukou, go give it to Auntie.”

Koukou was an obedient child.

Hearing this, he immediately turned to the escaping Lu Yunfei.

His pronunciation wasn’t accurate, but he grinned happily and said, “Auntie, Auntie, eat~”

Lu Yunfei: “…”