Koukou hadn’t taken his afternoon nap yet, so Qiao Wanqing took him home to rest.

After playing for a while, Koukou got tired and fell asleep in the car.

Qiao Wanqing carried him to bed and also dozed off for a while.

When she woke up, Tang Yueyue had just returned.

“So soon?” Qiao Wanqing glanced at the time.

She had only been home for a little over half an hour.

“Did you forget? I have a flight this evening!” Tang Yueyue said. “It’s almost 4 o’clock. If I delay any longer, I won’t make it.”

“As soon as your husband arrives, you’re flying away. Why bother taking a flight?” Qiao Wanqing was almost driven to tears by Tang Yueyue’s logic.

Taking leave for love was the right thing to do.

“Ah, look at you, so envious. Have you experienced the agonizing feeling when I saw you and Gu Yanqing liking each other but not breaking through, torturing each other?”

Qiao Wanqing: “…”

“So, how are things between you two?”

“I don’t know either. We added each other on WeChat and will chat slowly,” Tang Yueyue said, sounding a little happy. “But he’s downstairs waiting for me, saying he’ll take me to the airport.”

Qiao Wanqing breathed a sigh of relief. “Looks like there’s hope then. Good luck!”

Tang Yueyue teasingly winked at her. “I’ll go pack up and leave first, can’t keep him waiting too long.”

Qiao Wanqing nodded with a smile.

After Tang Yueyue left, the house felt noticeably quieter.

With someone like Tang Yueyue around, life was never lacking in liveliness.

Qiao Wanqing felt like she was missing someone.

…

Regarding Gu Yanze’s matter, Gu Yanqing soon had news.

Qiao Wanqing experienced for the first time the strength of Gu Yanqing’s information gathering ability.

In just one day, he not only found out that Gu Yanze had come to city C, when he arrived, his whereabouts after arriving in city C, and who he met with, but also sent her information about that woman.

After reading through the information, Qiao Wanqing felt a chill all over.

Gu Yanze had indeed cheated.

The woman he cheated with was named Jiang Yi, a minor third-tier model.

Seeing Jiang Yi’s information, Qiao Wanqing recalled it.

In the novel, after the main male lead Gu Mingyuan’s parents divorced, they each started new families.

Gu Yanze’s remarried wife was named Jiang Yi, who was originally a minor third-tier model.

After being with Gu Yanze, she was promoted to a second-tier star and even gave birth to a daughter.

Every main male or female lead must have a heartbreaking past.

Gu Mingyuan(Yuanyuan) was no exception.

His father didn’t love him and his mother didn’t care.

He was also abused by a nanny.

When he had a stepmother, she was ruthless and treated him very badly.

Of course, all these developments were orchestrated by the original author to smoothly have Gu Yanqing acknowledge Gu Mingyuan as his son.

Qiao Wanqing had been living a blissful life with Gu Yanqing for some time, almost forgetting this was all a book and she was merely a cannon fodder character in it.

Now, this sudden twist caught her off guard.

It’s not that she was narrow-minded, but she couldn’t accept Gu Yanqing bringing Yuanyuan over as their adopted son or anything of the sort, even though Yuanyuan was adorable and she liked him very much.

But this storyline was a sore point for her.

The thought of her lovely son possibly becoming greedy and selfish over money and property in the future was something she couldn’t bear.

She couldn’t stand the slightest grievance.

Rather than risk this possibility, it would be better to let him have everything without any contention.

“Let’s pretend we don’t know about this,” Gu Yanqing said. “I’ll figure out what to do.”

“Okay,” Qiao Wanqing was curious again. “How do you plan to resolve this?”

“I don’t know yet. I’ve never encountered such a situation.”

If they divorced, Yuanyuan would suffer.

If they didn’t, Chu Shishi would suffer.

Moreover, there were too many cases of wealthy people having affairs outside.

It was beyond his control.

Before they reconciled, they would play separately and might not have much integrity.

So, Gu Yanqing really didn’t know what to do for a while.

“Don’t exhaust yourself too much,” Qiao Wanqing knew he was currently negotiating a big project abroad with a lot of pressure. “If we can’t think of anything, let’s just forget about it.”

Qiao Wanqing wasn’t selfish.

The best way to handle this was to let things be and let them take their course naturally.

No matter how well Gu Yanze concealed it, there would always be a time when his true colors would show.

If he could really hide it for a lifetime and create a world of a good husband and father for his wife and children, it would also be his skill.

“Alright,” Gu Yanqing wanted to say something, but he also knew they trusted each other and didn’t need those oaths of everlasting love. “Take care of yourself. I’ll be back.”

Qiao Wanqing put this matter aside for now.

Double 11 was approaching, which was a big carnival for them as e-commerce operators, so she started to get busy again, preparing for the Double 11 activities.

Their first phase of training lasted two cycles, mainly theoretical and basic operational training, totaling four weeks a month.

Now, their second phase, the practical stage, had also been going on for a month.

After the test of Double 11, they would summarize it around the 20th, and the training would be over.

Next, in the third phase, they would enter the stage of independent entrepreneurship, selling agricultural products on their own Taobao shop.

In the future, the government would provide certain entrepreneurship support and assistance based on their situation, as well as provide entrepreneurship consulting.

They would also regularly hold salons for entrepreneurs to exchange ideas.

The city would host large-scale e-commerce summits, inviting them to attend.

This training was like giving them a golden opportunity, linking their entrepreneurship with the government.

They wouldn’t just be making money on Taobao anymore; they would have a reputation as rural e-commerce entrepreneurs if they achieved results.

Qiao Wanqing was full of enthusiasm.

This training spared no effort in teaching them how to do it, so now she had learned a lot and would be very proficient when she opened her own store.

In the days leading up to Double Eleven, Qiao Wanqing hardly went home, often returning late at night and leaving early in the morning.

This left Koukou feeling neglected, especially with Gu Yanqing away.

Sometimes, she found Koukou waiting for her, struggling to stay awake, and he would fall asleep instantly in her arms.

It broke her heart, but she knew this was a critical time.

She reassured herself that once this busy period was over, and the training concluded, she would have more time to spend with him.

Finally, Double 11 arrived.

Their team of five people opened four stores and sold three products successfully.

Among them, Qiao Wanqing’s county specialty, Linhe dried sweet potatoes, sold out instantly.

On Double 11, they sold nearly 2000 units, securing the top sales position.

Everyone in their team was delighted.

When they chose products initially, they had picked Linhe dried sweet potatoes at first sight, believing it would sell well.

It had some reputation, albeit small, known mostly by people in City C.

They hadn’t expected such success.

Qiao Wanqing hadn’t held much hope for this training initially, but she graduated with flying colors and became a key recipient of government support.

As for their Taobao shops, the training institute also established the “Agricultural Taobao Entrepreneurship Incubation Center” right where they worked.

Those who wanted to continue operating could do so under this framework, benefiting from both the agricultural Taobao label and government support.

However, they would also take a portion of the revenue, transforming them from independent operators into a sort of subsidiary.

Chen Yu chose to stay.

She was still young and being a girl, it would be very difficult to start a business without help.

Staying was a good choice for her.

Their farewell dinner was on the evening of the 20th.

Although it had only been a short time, everyone had formed deep bonds.

Qiao Wanqing experienced for the first time the cohesive team atmosphere where everyone shared the same goals.

It was motivating, so it was hard for her to part ways.

Chen Yu, usually explosive like a firecracker, cried a lot at the farewell dinner and drank quite a bit.

They couldn’t stop her.

When Qiao Wanqing’s driver came to pick her up, she was planning to send her back, but Mr. Zheng unexpectedly came to pick her up…

Qiao Wanqing was stunned, having no idea when they had become close.

But it seemed like a good thing.

Although Mr. Zheng was a bit chubby, he wasn’t ugly, had a successful career, and a very good temperament.

He just loved to talk a lot and could reason well.

With Chen Yu by his side, she could avoid many detours.

Otherwise, Qiao Wanqing worried that this girl, who lacked emotional intelligence and had a bad temper, would suffer in the future.

On the way back, Qiao Wanqing felt particularly good, but unfortunately, Gu Yanqing wouldn’t be back for another two days, and she had no one to share her good mood with.

Next, she could start planning for her Taobao shop.

Her goal was simple: to sell dried fruits and vegetables from her shop, along with other agricultural products from their village.

For example, now that the persimmons in their village were ripe, they could make persimmon cakes and sell them.

Their persimmon cakes were delicious, quite famous in their county and even in City C, but unfortunately, they didn’t sell well.

Towards the end, merchants would come to buy them for just a few cents per kilogram, which pained Qiao Wanqing to see.

In short, she aimed to establish her own brand and sell the unique products of Dongyang Village.

When Qiao Wanqing got home, it was just past 10:30 PM.

Madam Gu was sitting on the couch watching a family drama, while Koukou dozed off beside her.

Despite his exhaustion, Koukou had stubbornly refused to go to bed with his grandmother and insisted on waiting up for Qiao Wanqing, nodding off repeatedly like a little cabbage lacking parental love.

Although Madam Gu didn’t particularly support Qiao Wanqing’s entrepreneurial endeavors, she never interfered or commented on their choices.

She watched over Koukou, ensuring he didn’t fall off the couch during his drowsy moments.

Qiao Wanqing, both amused and heartbroken, quietly approached them. “Thank you, Mom. I’ll take over now.”

“All done?” Madam Gu smiled, lowering the TV volume to allow Qiao Wanqing to put Koukou to bed.

“Yes, I just need to tidy up a few things tomorrow,” Qiao Wanqing said as she lifted Koukou into her arms.

“Alright, you go ahead and put Koukou to bed. I’ll finish watching this episode.”

Madam Gu, like many middle-aged women, had a penchant for long family dramas, watching them without missing an episode.

Qiao Wanqing, finding these dramas less captivating than her mother-in-law did, often preferred reading novels instead.

“Okay,” Qiao Wanqing kissed Koukou, whispering, “Mommy’s home, sweetheart.”

Koukou, nestled in her arms, rubbed his eyes and softly called out, “Mommy.”

“Yes, sleep now. Mommy’s here.”

Koukou, however, struggled to keep his eyes open. “Mommy, you won’t leave tomorrow, right?”

Qiao Wanqing had promised him that she wouldn’t be going to work starting tomorrow, and Koukou hadn’t forgotten.

“Alright, Mommy won’t leave tomorrow.” She planned to pick up her things while Koukou napped in the late morning or afternoon. “Sleep tight now, or you won’t grow tall.”

Reassured by her promise, Koukou started to drift off.

Just as Qiao Wanqing was about to put him to bed, he suddenly woke up, raising his little hand. “Pinky promise!”

Madam Gu had taught Koukou the pinky promise, so now he insisted on it for everything.

Qiao Wanqing chuckled, linking her pinky with his. “Pinky promise, no changing our minds for a hundred years. If we do…”

Qiao Wanqing deliberately drew out the last part, watching Koukou’s wide eyes anticipate the conclusion. “Mommy will turn into a big turtle, and Koukou can ride on her back every day.”

She exaggeratedly puffed up her cheeks and widened her nostrils to mimic a turtle, making Koukou burst into giggles.

Content with their promise, Koukou finally fell asleep.