It was Christmas time.

Gu Yanqing had bought a lot of dried fruits and vegetables from Qiao Wanqing last time.

Because he was busy with work when they arrived, he forgot about them.

Today, one of his assistants, Jiao Jiao, came to find something and noticed the box of dried fruits and vegetables.

She reminded him about it.

Gu Yanqing had eaten too many vegetables from Qiao Wanqing’s place and wasn’t very interested in the dried vegetables anymore.

He bought them mainly to give Qiao Wanqing a good start.

He asked Jiao Jiao to take them to the assistant’s office and share them with everyone.

There were six assistants in total: two regular assistants, two senior assistants, and two special assistants.

The office was lively, and when they heard the boss was treating them, they eagerly divided up the dried fruits and vegetables.

“Hey? This is delicious!”

“Is this really dried vegetables? It tastes too good.”

“I’ve never had dried fruits and vegetables before. It looks plain, but it’s so tasty!”

“Wow, where did the boss buy this? Can we get the address or the contact of the seller?”

Everyone was amazed by how delicious the dried fruits and vegetables were.

They were crispy and fragrant, with the natural sweetness of the vegetables and fruits, without any artificial taste.

“Don’t eat them all! Save a bag for Dandan!” Jiao Jiao noticed that everyone was enjoying them and quickly grabbed the last bag before it was gone.

She had only brought six bags, and the rest were distributed to other executives’ assistants.

Dandan, also an assistant of Gu Yanqing, was out on errands, and she was the one who actually bought them.

The people who had finished eating reluctantly pulled back their hands and tried to grab from those who hadn’t finished yet.

“What’s all this excitement about? What are you eating?”

Just then, someone walked in—a colleague named Xiao Zhao, who was in charge of event planning.

“Xiao Zhao, come try the dried vegetables,” Jiao Jiao called out, handing over the remaining half of the bag.

“Thank you.” Xiao Zhao took a piece, and her eyes lit up. “This is really good. Where did you get it?”

“It was a gift from the boss. We’re trying to figure out who will ask the boss for the purchasing details.”

“Oh, so it was bought by the boss,” Xiao Zhao realized.

She knew that Gu Yanqing occasionally received fruits and snacks from friends and would share them with his assistants. “By the way, I was going to ask—our company is hosting a Christmas and New Year celebration, and we need to buy some snacks. Do you have any recommendations?”

The company had two major celebrations each year, and for other holidays, they organized smaller internal parties with games and activities, and bought lots of food for everyone.

For Dragon Boat Festival, they had bought 200 servings of crayfish for everyone to enjoy.

The Double Holiday (Christmas and New Year) celebration was also coming up.

Jiao Jiao suggested, “I think these dried fruits and vegetables are great. If you’re worried they might be too plain, you can buy some other snacks too.”

“I agree,” another assistant added. “If it’s from the boss’s friend, it’s like giving them a little promotion.

Maybe the boss will like it and they’ll end up being the next CEO or something.”

“Or become the next Xiao Ge,” someone else joked.

Wang Xiao, who had been punished by the boss for asking about herbal medicine, had been sent on a tough business trip and was teased by the entire assistant office for a month.

Wang Xiao, eating the dried fruits and vegetables silently, felt quite frustrated inside.

Xiao Zhao, seizing the moment while eating more of the delicious dried snacks, thought that they would likely be popular, especially among the female colleagues.

She decided to ask Gu Yanqing for the contact details of the store.

When Gu Yanqing heard Xiao Zhao’s request, he was a bit surprised.

Nobody in the company knew what Qiao Wanqing did or connected the dried fruits and vegetables with her.

They only thought they were gifts from a friend.

“Are you sure you want to buy this?” Gu Yanqing asked, a bit surprised.

Xiao Zhao felt a bit uneasy from the question and replied, “Everyone in your assistant office thought it was really good and liked it. I’m sure others will enjoy it too.”

Gu Yanqing thought to himself that they had good taste.

“If it doesn’t work, I’ll take another look!” Since Gu Yanqing hadn’t said anything, Xiao Zhao immediately felt nervous, thinking she might have made a mistake.

Although she really wasn’t trying to flatter him!

“Of course,” Gu Yanqing smiled slightly at Xiao Zhao, “I’ll give you the Taobao store address.”

Xiao Zhao: “……”

Why does that smile look so scary and weird?

At home, Qiao Wanqing was using the oven to roast honey-glazed chestnuts.

Yesterday, Qiao’s grandmother had taken him out, and a familiar neighbor had given them two pieces of sugar-roasted chestnuts.

He couldn’t get enough, so when he came home, he kept asking for more.

…

Qiao Wanqing bought two pounds of raw chestnuts to make them.

Qiao Wanqing was roasting them in the oven.

While they were still in the oven, the child, Kuo Kuo, was salivating and eagerly took a stool to sit by the oven, staring at it intently.

After roasting for 10 minutes, when Qiao Wanqing took them out to brush on another layer of honey, Kuo Kuo looked at the fragrant chestnuts and happily said, “They’re done!”

“They’re not done yet, baby. Just wait a little longer.”

Qiao Wanqing patted his head.

The chestnuts had cracked open and were releasing their sweet aroma.

Hearing that they weren’t ready to eat, Kuo Kuo pouted, wanting to eat them.

Seeing his expression, Qiao Wanqing shook her head helplessly.

Kuo Kuo was really just greedy and didn’t eat much of anything.

Plus, he was picky; if he looked like he wanted something but didn’t like the taste, he wouldn’t eat it.

After brushing the chestnuts with honey, Qiao Wanqing put them back in the oven for another 10 minutes before they’d be ready to eat.

She had just placed the baking tray back when she heard a message from Qianniu.

She took out her phone to reply.

Maybe because Qiao Wanqing had studied operations for three months and occasionally received guidance from Gu Yanqing, her store’s sales quickly picked up.

Starting with just one or two sales, it slowly grew, and now she sells twenty or more items a day, which is quite good.

Qiao Wanqing was overwhelmed with all the tasks she had to handle, so she decided to outsource customer service.

[Can I get a discount if I buy in bulk?]

[Dear customer, discounts are available for orders of 20 packs or more.]

[Okay, I’ll buy 100 packs. What’s the best discount you can give me?]

Qiao Wanqing: “……”

This must be what they call a big order.

100 packs!

Qiao Wanqing felt she should be bowing to her big client.

She negotiated a satisfactory discount with the customer, feeling a mix of excitement and relief.

Although the total was only a few thousand yuan, landing such a big order was very satisfying!

She stayed tense until the payment was confirmed, but when she saw the shipping address, she felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over her.

It was Gu Yanqing again!

So frustrating—she couldn’t even muster a smile.

Feeling defeated, she sent Gu Yanqing a message: “Boss, you don’t need to place fake orders anymore. I really don’t need this.”

Placing such a large order could attract unwanted attention, and it was pointless anyway.

Gu Yanqing, who had anticipated that Qiao Wanqing would come to him, decided to play innocent and replied with a question mark.

Qiao Wanqing sent him a screenshot of the order: “Don’t pretend you don’t know!”

Gu Yanqing: “Wife, I’m wronged. I really didn’t know. I’ll ask about it.”

Gu Yanqing did ask, and Qiao Wanqing took out some roasted chestnuts.

The chestnuts were split open, revealing the plump, yellow nut inside, looking very delicious.

Koukou saw the chestnuts and eagerly clapped his hands, wanting to eat.

“Go call Grandma,” Qiao Wanqing said, as the chestnuts were still hot and hard to peel.

She wanted them to cool down a bit and sent Koukou to call Grandma.

“Grandma, eat, eat chestnuts!” Koukou, staring at the chestnuts, shouted half-heartedly from where he stood.

Qiao Wanqing couldn’t help but laugh and said, “Grandma won’t hear you like that. Go outside and call louder.”

Koukou took one last look at the chestnuts, went to the door, and shouted at the top of his lungs: “Grandma, eat, eat chestnuts!”

Grandma didn’t respond.

Kuo Kuo was almost in tears, so he ran outside again and saw Grandma Qiao drying things.

He shouted loudly, and this time Grandma Qiao heard him.

Kuo Kuo immediately ran back, afraid that someone might eat the chestnuts before him.

Qiao Wanqing had already peeled and prepared a chestnut, breaking it into pieces and giving a small bit to Kuo Kuo.

After craving them all morning, Kuo Kuo finally got to eat the chestnuts he had been longing for.

He closed his eyes in satisfaction and said, “Delicious, so delicious!”

Qiao Wanqing tried one herself.

The chestnuts with a layer of sugar were very sweet, soft, and chewy, with a rich, sweet flavor.

No wonder Kuo Kuo wanted them so badly.

But Kuo Kuo shouldn’t eat too many because they are hard to digest.

After giving him three, she gave him another one with just a small crack for him to peel himself.

Kuo Kuo liked to do things on his own and happily sat on a small stool, working on peeling the chestnut.

Gu Yanqing, who had been slow to respond, finally explained that his company bought the chestnuts for the Festival.

They chose her shop’s chestnuts because he had shared some dried vegetables he bought last time with his assistant.

The event planner tasted them and thought they were good, so they decided to buy from her.

Qiao Wanqing: “……”

That makes sense.

“You’ve wronged me and hurt me. Mrs. Gu, how are you going to compensate me?” Gu Yanqing said on the phone.

Without thinking, Qiao Wanqing replied, “No money, but I have a life.”

“……” Gu Yanqing was momentarily speechless and then chuckled, “Can’t you be a bit more romantic?”

“If I were romantic, we might already have three kids by now.”

Gu Yanqing, although seeming serious as the company president, was actually full of tricks.

So, Qiao Wanqing had to stand her ground and not become like her “enemy” with no principles.

“Mrs. Gu, you’ve severely hurt your husband’s feelings and may be held legally responsible.”

“……” Qiao Wanqing laughed and said, “What should I do to take responsibility?”

“Just punish you by keeping you in my heart forever, with no parole. How about that?”

Qiao Wanqing: “……”

This darn cheesy pickup line.

While comforting the “hurt” Gu Yanqing, Qiao Wanqing noticed that more orders were coming in.

Every delivery address was, without exception, Gu Yanqing’s company.

Hmm… It felt like being forced through a backdoor, even though they didn’t know the store belonged to their boss’s wife.

Also, this shouldn’t get flagged, right? So many orders from the same IP and address.

Qiao Wanqing was a bit worried, but there was nothing she could do.

She couldn’t refuse their business.

And selling so much at once wasn’t something Gu Yanqing had forced them to do.

It showed that her products were genuinely good.

So she was still a bit pleased.

She could foresee that with the market expanding and people sharing her products, it would have an even better effect.

Feeling confident all of a sudden.

After handling customer service issues, Qiao Wanqing went to check on Koukou eating chestnuts.

She found Koukou holding a chestnut covered in his saliva.

The chestnut had a piece of its skin missing, and he was digging out the flesh with his fingers.

Seeing Qiao Wanqing, he proudly held up the chestnut and said, “I bit it open.”

Qiao Wanqing took the chestnut from him.

From the tooth marks, it looked like he had forcibly bitten off a piece of the skin, rather than using any peeling or opening technique.

She was a bit incredulous and asked Koukou, “Did you really bite it open?”

Koukou nodded, “Koukou bit it.”

Qiao Wanqing: “……”

Although the chestnut shell wasn’t very hard, it wasn’t very soft either.

Koukou, whose teeth usually struggle with meat, managed to bite open the chestnut shell.

This amazed Qiao Wanqing.

His teeth must be extraordinarily strong.