Xu Han saw it eating raw chicken on the road and worried it might steal their chickens.

Though their chickens were still young, they were plump and probably quite appealing to this little creature.

So, Xu Han tried to shoo it away.

But this thing was stubborn as a mule—threatening it didn’t work, and pretending to hit it didn’t scare it off.

After observing for a while, it casually walked into their yard as if it owned the place.

Feeling ignored, Xu Han sighed: “……”

Unable to do much, Xu Han decided to let it stay for now and planned to ask Grandma Qiao later what it was and how to handle it.

After a busy day, Xu Han was tired.

She washed some small tomatoes grown in their garden, sat on a low stool by the door, and decided to rest for a while.

She tossed a couple of tomatoes to the creature.

Grandma Qiao settled Kou Kou down and came out, visibly puzzled when she saw the little creature: “How did we end up with a yellow weasel here?”

A yellow weasel?!

So this thing was a yellow weasel all along.

Xu Han glanced at it again— the little creature was happily munching on the cherry tomatoes she had thrown, seemingly enjoying them more than the chicken it had just eaten.

Their home-grown vegetables and fruits were loved by both humans and animals alike, so Xu Han wasn’t too surprised.

“I encountered it on the road, and for some reason, it followed me home. I can’t seem to chase it away. Do I look like its owner or something?”

“This thing should be wild,” Grandma Qiao said, “but I haven’t seen one of these in years. There used to be many of these around the village, sneaking in to steal chickens. Now they’re hardly seen.”

Xu Han panicked upon hearing it actually stole chickens: “What should we do now?”

“Old folks at home used to say it’s a good omen when a ‘Yellow Great Sage’ visits. If it doesn’t steal our chickens, let’s leave it be for now.”

“……” So, this is like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted?

Well…

But since Grandma Qiao said so, there wasn’t much Xu Han could do.

She couldn’t chase it away, and she couldn’t bring herself to harm it.

She decided to feed it occasionally, hoping it wouldn’t target their chickens.

The next day, the electric scooter shop delivered her vehicle.

Xu Han learned to ride it easily with help from a village woman who knew how to ride a bicycle.

Last time, Xu Han had asked Aunt Li to help her order and chop three bundles of bamboo, which were delivered.

The young man delivering them was called Ah Lai, and he looked quite simple-minded.

“Total is 128.5 yuan, you can skip the fifty cents,” the young man scratched his neck, avoiding eye contact with Xu Han.

“Thank you,” Xu Han handed the money to Ah Lai, saying, “Thanks a lot, handsome.”

Xu Han’s use of “handsome” was merely a friendly term, but it made Ah Lai’s sun-darkened face turn red instantly.

“N-No need to thank me,” Ah Lai took the money, clutching it tightly, and mumbled, “I-I’ll be off then.”

“Alright.”

As Ah Lai shuffled awkwardly towards the exit…

He happened to meet Grandma Qiao pushing Kou Kou out for a walk in the sun, with the yellow weasel that had been mooching off Xu Han’s family these past few days.

Seeing the weasel, Ah Lai jumped in surprise.

Seeing it unafraid of humans, he asked with a mix of surprise and delight, “Is this the Yellow Weasel?”

Grandma Qiao smiled and said, “Yes.”

“It’s not afraid of people,” Ah Lai looked at it in amazement, then suddenly bowed three times devoutly, “Yellow Deity, bless me to marry a wife this year, and I will surely repay generously.”

Xu Han walked over to feed Kou Kou, who was about to be nursed, and muttered, “…”

Is this also possible?

Moreover, according to the Gregorian calendar, there’s only a little over a month left, young man.

Ah Lai saw Xu Han coming over and became uneasy again.

He smiled awkwardly at them, then quickly ran off.

Xu Han knew that many people in the village were somewhat superstitious and didn’t pay it much mind.

She reached out to pick up Kou Kou, but noticed his eyes were red, as if he had been crying.

Kou Kou rarely cried.

Even when he did, it was usually fake tears to get Xu Han to hold him; he was quite cunning for his young age.

But if he really shed tears, it meant he was genuinely upset or scared.

“What’s wrong with Kou Kou? Has he been crying?”

“It’s my fault. I took him for a stroll and we ended up near the school. They were setting off firecrackers for some unknown reason, and I wasn’t prepared. Kou Kou got scared by the firecrackers.”

So that’s what happened.

Xu Han knew firecrackers were common in the village, and there wasn’t much she could do.

She quickly hugged Kou Kou to her chest and reassured him, “Kou Kou, don’t be afraid. Mommy’s here.”

Kou Kou was too young to remember this incident by now.

Seeing Xu Han hold him, he happily raised his little hands for her to pick him up.

Seeing that Kou Kou was fine, Xu Han didn’t dwell on it.

She carried him inside to nurse him.

Kou Kou had a good appetite; he was already growing out of just milk and needed some supplementary food, especially loving the vegetable puree Xu Han made for him.

… After all, it was the vegetables watered with his own pee that tasted so good, and not even he could escape that fact.

At noon, Xu Han was peeling taro skins by the pond when someone knocked on their courtyard door.

“Who’s there?” Xu Han paused from her work and asked.

“It’s me, Aunt Zhu.” Aunt Zhu’s voice came from outside.

Xu Han washed her hands and went to open the door.

Opening the door, Xu Han saw Aunt Zhu standing there, out of breath.

Xu Han was surprised, “What’s wrong? Is something urgent?”

Aunt Zhu leaned against the door frame, catching her breath before she said, “Here’s the thing, the principal asked you to pick some fresh vegetables like cauliflower, tomatoes, and radishes from your garden right now. They need to look good and fresh, price isn’t an issue.”

“Oh, alright. Let me get a basket,” Xu Han replied and went inside to fetch a basket Grandma Qiao had woven herself.

She joined Aunt Zhu in the vegetable garden and asked, “Why suddenly the vegetables? Is it for someone?”

“Well,” Aunt Zhu chuckled, “A wealthy person from the city donated a new school building to Dongyang Elementary. Today, they had some donation ceremony, and this rich gentleman even came in person. After it all, he had a meal in our school canteen, but instead of rich dishes, he chose to eat the vegetables you sent over. He kept praising how delicious they were, all natural and tasty.”

“I see,” Xu Han smiled.

Their vegetables seemed to appeal to everyone.

Normally, “what deviates from the norm is a demon.” Planting out-of-season vegetables that were still so delicious would make people in the village suspicious of any tricks.

However, since Xu Han had always insisted on her scientific farming methods, it seemed that the villagers were strangely superstitious about science and didn’t suspect anything unusual.

Even if some people did have doubts, seeing that they didn’t buy fertilizers or pesticides and used ordinary planting methods, finding nothing amiss, they would eat the vegetables themselves without thinking too much about it.

“Yeah, the principal felt he had to give something back after being gifted the building. Seeing how much he liked them, I thought I’d just send him a basket of vegetables.”

“…” This ‘gift’ was really more heartfelt than grand.

The two worked together in the vegetable garden, picking a lot of fresh vegetables.

They washed the cherry radishes and white radishes covered in mud with water from the nearby artificial canal and put them in.

A full basket, red, white, and green, looked good and fresh. Aunt Zhu carried it away with her.

…

Although Kou Kou was young and forgetful, the scare from the firecrackers was long forgotten.

It didn’t mean he hadn’t been harmed.

At noon, when it was time for a nap, he suddenly started crying.

Xu Han hurried to comfort him, and Kou Kou quieted down in his mother’s arms.

But in the afternoon, he began to cry uncontrollably, despite all efforts to soothe him.

Later, he even developed a high fever, reaching up to 40 degrees Celsius.

This frightened both Xu Han and Grandma Qiao.

Xu Han quickly rode her electric bike with Grandma Qiao holding Kou Kou in the back, rushing to the town hospital.

The doctor remained calm, giving him a fever-reducing injection upon seeing his flushed face.

They also used physical methods to cool him down.

After a lot of effort, the fever finally subsided.

When Xu Han walked out of the hospital, she looked at the sleeping Kou Kou with lingering fear, noticing her hands were still shaking.

It had really scared her when this suddenly happened.

Although Kou Kou was just a child she had taken in halfway, they had been together day and night for five months now.

Even a doll picked up from the roadside would develop feelings, let alone Kou Kou, whom Xu Han had worked hard to bring into the world.

She had long since let go of any resentment about whose son he was.

“Grandma, hold Kou Kou here for a moment. I’ll go fetch the stroller.”

“There’s a nice snack shop up ahead. Let’s grab something to eat before we go further,” Grandma Qiao suggested, seeing Xu Han’s pale face and feeling concerned, wanting her to relax.

Xu Han didn’t object.

She rode over with them on the bike.

Just as she parked the bike at the snack shop’s entrance, she heard a car horn behind her.

Thinking her bike might be blocking someone, she turned to move it aside when she heard a cold male voice behind her say, “Qiao Wanqing.”

Xu Han: “…”

Great, here comes the villain’s father again.

This plot twist is totally unrealistic! Wasn’t he supposed to be out of the picture?

Not to mention if her cold attitude toward him really did catch the attention of this CEO, she wanted nothing to do with such a melodramatic development!

“Why are you here again, can’t you give up?” Xu Han’s tone was unfriendly as she locked her bike and looked up to see him getting out of the car, accidentally catching sight of the emblem on the car, which surprisingly featured a pair of blindingly bright wings.

Unfortunately, being from the countryside, they didn’t recognize the significance of this impressive emblem with a ‘b’ in the middle, and most were discreetly admiring this striking couple.

Gu Yanqing said, “I came to see Kou Kou.”

He had a sudden dream last night that Kou Kou was in trouble.

Although he didn’t have any emotional attachment to the child, he was, after all, his biological son.

All morning, Gu Yanqing couldn’t get Kou Kou’s adorable face out of his mind, and he didn’t have Xu Han’s new number.

Coincidentally, Gu Yanqing’s new workplace wasn’t far from Xu Han’s place, so he finally compromised with his inner feelings and drove over.

“So, how did you end up finding me?”

Xu Han was truly puzzled.

She could bump into Gu Yanqing even just walking down the street.

Her luck was really something else.

In stories, the supporting female character often schemes tirelessly to meet Gu Yanqing, carrying her child, but fate mocks her, denying her the chance until her death.

Yet here Xu Han was, meeting Gu Yanqing for the third time already?

Gu Yanqing: “I saw you when I drove over.”

“Not this time,” Xu Han said, “I mean the first time. How did you find me? How did you know I had a child?”

“When you went for your prenatal check-up at the hospital, you ran into an employee from my company who knew a bit about our situation. He told me.”

“…”

Suddenly, Xu Han remembered.

Back then, she was still disguised as Qiao Wanqing, feeling extremely uncomfortable and reluctant deep down, so she had delayed her prenatal check-up for two days before finally going.

It just so happened that on that exact day, an employee from Gu Yanqing’s company had also gone to the hospital.

Was it all because of this coincidence that everything had unfolded as it did?

Xu Han couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of fate’s wheel spinning so mysteriously.

However, after the recent scare, Xu Han wasn’t in the mood to argue with Gu Yanqing today.

She simply replied with an “oh” and walked into the shop.

Gu Yanqing paused for a moment, then followed her into the shop.

The shopkeeper’s eyes lit up at the sight of such a beautiful woman entering their shop.

Just as they were about to warmly seat her, they noticed a handsome man following closely behind her.

His calm demeanor and strong presence instantly intimidated the shopkeeper, who cautiously welcomed the seemingly family of four to their seats.