After Manager Gao and his team returned to the department store, Huang Qinqin immediately spotted Xu Junhui waiting in front of the department store.

Huang Qinqin, with one hand supporting her waist and the other clutching her stomach, took small, quick steps toward Xu Junhui.

Xu Junhui also saw her. Seeing that she was walking faster, he quickly pushed his bicycle over and said anxiously, "Wife, slow down."

Huang Qinqin looked up at him with bright, sparkling eyes: "Why did you come? I told you not to come pick me up~"

"Of course I'll pick you up. You've already worked so hard on the field. I'm off today anyway, and I'm just lazing around at home, so I came over."

Xu Junhui knew, of course, that Huang Qinqin had told him not to come, but he couldn't rest easy, so he simply came early to wait.

Hearing Xu Junhui's words, Huang Qinqin felt a sweet warmth in her heart.

Seeing that Xu Junhui's head was covered in sweat, she took out a handkerchief and gently wiped his sweat.

When Huang Qinqin wiped his sweat, she noticed that Xu Junhui's face was burning hot. She said with concern, "Have you been waiting for a long time?"

"Why didn't you go inside the department store to wait? The sun is so strong, your face is all red from the sun."

"It's okay, I have thick skin and I'm not afraid of the sun."

Actually, Xu Junhui was afraid that if he went into the department store, Huang Qinqin wouldn't see him when she came back and would walk home by herself, so he squatted at the door.

In addition, he didn't know when Huang Qinqin would come back, so he came much earlier to wait, which is why his face was sunburned.

Xu Junhui knew how smart his wife was, so to avoid her figuring things out on her own, he quickly changed the subject: "Honey, can you go home now?"

"Or do I have to wait until it's time to leave work?"

Huang Qinqin shook her head: "I don't know either, you'll have to ask Manager Gao."

Hmm? Manager Gao?

Huang Qinqin then remembered that she had returned with Manager Gao and Fang Chuchu.

When she turned her head, she saw Manager Gao and Fang Chuchu looking at her with mocking expressions.

However, Huang Qinqin wasn't shy at all. She and Xu Junhui were legally married, so what was wrong with that? She took Xu Junhui's arm and let them see her openly.

"Manager Gao, when can we leave work?"

"You can go home now. You've worked hard these past two days. I'll give you half a day off this afternoon, so you don't need to come back to work."

Huang Qinqin was overjoyed to have gotten half a day off for free: "Thank you, Manager Gao! We'll head back now."

When Fang Chuchu heard that Huang Qinqin could have the afternoon off, she quickly asked, "Uncle Gao, what about me?"

"Does this mean I don't need to come to work this afternoon?"

Manager Gao gave her a disapproving look: "Huang Qinqin has been busy these past few days, that's why I gave her a day off."

"You're just someone who gets experience by following along, how dare you say you want a holiday? I still have to go to work."

If Huang Qinqin hadn't made the most significant contributions these past two days, Manager Gao wouldn't have been willing to give her an extra half-day off.

With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, department stores are extremely busy these days.

......

Because Huang Qinqin said yesterday that she was going to Xujia Village, and then Xu Junhui went to the department store so early to wait for her.

Considering how hot it is now, Zhang Yumei and Xu Fang went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some white fungus when they went grocery shopping today, planning to make some white fungus and red date sweet soup.

After returning home, Xu Fang looked at the two palm-sized silver ear fungus and sighed, "They really do say things are valued for their rarity. This little bit is worth seventy cents."

Zhang Yumei nodded: "Who says otherwise? But this brews quite a lot, enough for the whole family to drink."

“I had it once at a state-run restaurant, and a bowl there cost two cents. So, cooking it myself isn’t that expensive.”

Xu Fang silently calculated that a bowl would cost two cents.

If a family of nine were to drink at a state-run restaurant, wouldn't that cost nearly two yuan?

"In that case, these two flowers aren't so expensive after all, haha."

Although the two were chatting, they were not idle. Zhang Yumei was responsible for washing the white fungus, tearing it into small pieces, and then soaking it in water.

Xu Fang was responsible for using scissors to remove the pits from the red dates and then setting them aside for later use.

Bored, Xu Hongxia wandered into the kitchen, saw some chopped red dates in a bowl, and casually took two pieces to eat.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Yumei said irritably, "These are for making sweet soup later. Afang worked so hard to remove the pits, and you're enjoying them so much."

"Go away, go away, grab a handful of food from the side if you want to eat, get out of here, just looking at you gives me a headache."

Xu Hongxia stuck out her tongue. Of course, she wanted to eat the pitted ones.

Xu Hongxia didn't care about being scolded. She had been scolded countless times since she was a child. As long as her allowance wasn't deducted, she didn't feel any pain or discomfort.

After the sweet soup was cooked, Zhang Yumei asked Xu Weiguo to fetch a large basin of well water and put the sweet soup on it to cool it down quickly.

He instructed, "Keep an eye on it. Every ten minutes or so, reach out and touch the water to see if it's hot. If it is, change the water until the sugar water cools down."

Xu Weiguo found it troublesome: "Can't we just let it cool naturally? Changing it back and forth seems like a lot of trouble."

"You find chores troublesome, but why don't you find eating troublesome?! Why is it so difficult to get your help?!"

Seeing Zhang Yumei standing with her hands on her hips and her tone not very friendly, Xu Weiguo quickly backed down: "I know, I'll change the water every ten minutes!"

Hearing that Xu Weiguo had backed down, Zhang Yumei finally let it go, but before leaving, she glared at him and said, "Hmph!"

Chen Ming was originally washing bicycles with Chen Mai and the others in the yard, but after Zhang Yumei returned to the kitchen, he walked over to Xu Weiguo's side.

He said in a low voice, "Brother, let me change the water for you. I'm just in the yard anyway."

Hearing this, Xu Weiguo was tempted, but considering Zhang Yumei's appearance just now, based on his experience, he felt it was safer for him to do it himself.

So he could only reluctantly refuse: "No need, I'm free anyway, I'll change it."

So when Huang Qinqin and the others returned, Zhang Yumei served each of them a bowl of sweet soup.

"Qinqin, you must be exhausted. Come and have a bowl of sweet soup. See if it's sweet enough? If not, I'll add some more sugar."

Huang Qinqin took a spoonful and praised, "It's delicious! The sweetness is just right. Mom, you're amazing!"

Xu Junhui found it too troublesome to drink with a spoon, so he gulped down the whole bowl of sugar water. After finishing, he smacked his lips and said, "Mom, it seems a bit bland, not very sweet."

Zhang Yumei was just being praised by Huang Qinqin when she suddenly heard Xu Junhui's words and loudly refuted him.

"You don't know anything! Sweet soup is best when it's not too sweet!"