"Xiao Nuan, don't mind your dad. That's just how he is. He never likes to say nice things." Ye Mei gently patted her daughter's hand. "Mom thinks these guests came because your cooking is so delicious."

Just then, Xiao Cui brought in a woman who looked to be around thirty years old.

"Boss, she's here to apply for a waitress job."

When Su Xiaonuan and her family of three looked over, the woman exclaimed happily, "It's you! We've met before, outside Yale Garden."

"Heh, we really are destined to meet." Su Xiaonuan immediately stood up, stepped out from behind the counter, and looked the woman in front of her up and down. "Do you live in Yaleju?"

"Hello, boss!" The woman bowed politely. "My home is in Yaleju, and my child is in kindergarten at Yaleju. I'm thinking that my child will be starting elementary school soon, so I thought I'd come out and find a job that I can manage. Well, I didn't even finish junior high school, so I'm afraid I can't find any other kind of work. I thought I'd come to the food street to find a job. I've done this kind of work before, and I just happened to see that your place is hiring, so I thought I'd give it a try."

The Su family greatly appreciated the woman's actions in smashing eggs at Lan Yin, and without saying a word, they let her stay and work.

The woman's name was Peng Wan. She grew up under the abuse of her stepmother and ran away before graduating from junior high school. Before she became an adult, she wandered around. After she came of age, she secretly went back to get an ID card and worked in some small restaurants. Later, she married a man with a formal job in the provincial capital, and her life finally became stable.

Peng Wan was indeed an expert; without being told, she immediately got to work.

People who are focused on their work never stop once they start.

Seeing that she was working non-stop, Ye Mei called her to take a break several times, but she was still busy until there were fewer customers, at which point Peng Jia finally stopped.

During her break, Peng Wan said to Su Xiaonuan, "I drop my child off at kindergarten in the morning and come to the shop, but I have to leave as soon as my child gets out of school in the afternoon. Could you pay me a little less?"

“Okay. But you won’t lose a penny of your salary.” Su Xiaonuan is a mother herself, so she can understand the difficulties of a stay-at-home mom. “After tomorrow, I’ll schedule you for shifts, with morning and evening shifts. I’ll only schedule you for the morning shift, so it won’t interfere with your picking up and dropping off your child.”

"Thank you, boss!" Peng Wan's spirits lifted, her fatigue vanished, and she threw herself back into her work like a whirlwind.

She can see things that others can't.

She can do her job in the store perfectly without needing anyone to remind her.

"She's really a hard worker," Ye Mei said to her daughter, watching Peng Wan busily working. "She's clearly someone who's experienced hardship."

"Mom, you and Peng Wan can go pick up the children together this afternoon. I'll feel more at ease knowing you have company on the way."

So, at 4:30 pm, Su Xiaonuan asked Peng Wan and Ye Mei to go to the school to pick up the children.

School ends at five o'clock, and it takes another twenty minutes to get there by bus.

Just as she reached the door, Ye Mei exclaimed in surprise, "Jiang Yi, what brings you here?"

What's even more surprising is that Jiang Yi was accompanied by four classmates, two boys and two girls.

A group of handsome men and beautiful women.

“Aunt Ye, I brought my classmates to support Xiao Nuan.” Jiang Yi pointed to his classmates behind him, his tone tinged with complaint. “Aunt Ye promised me that she would tell me as soon as Xiao Nuan came back. Look, she’s back and opened a restaurant, and I had no idea. If I hadn’t seen the news in the newspaper, I would have thought Xiao Nuan was still in the countryside.”

"This..." Ye Mei awkwardly pointed inside. "Go ask Xiao Nuan, I have something to do, I'm leaving now, okay?"

After saying that, he grabbed Peng Wan and ran away.

She was afraid that Jiang Yi would say something even more outrageous. Before, Jiang Yi had approached her and said that as long as Xiao Nuan was willing to get a divorce, he would still marry her and could even raise Xiao Nuan's child.

At that moment, Ye Mei was deeply moved and, in a moment of impulse, said she wanted to lend Jiang Yi a hand.

After meeting Xiao Moran, she felt that this man was more suitable for her daughter than Jiang Yi, so she stopped supporting Jiang Yi.

Having finally escaped, Ye Mei was startled again by Xiang Qiuyun's sudden appearance. Clutching her chest, she glared at her displeased. "You little brat, why did you run out here without a sound and scare people?"

"Aunt Ye, I'm so sorry." Xiang Qiuyun waved her hand. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to give you a surprise. Xiao Nuan opened a restaurant, and I had to come and support her. I just didn't expect the surprise to turn into a shock."

As Xiang Qiuyun spoke, her eyes were fixed inside. Ye Mei brushed her hand away in disgust and said coldly, "I have things to do and don't have time to talk to you."

After saying that, he pulled Peng Wan away.

Xiang Qiuyun stared at Ye Mei's departing figure and muttered to herself, "This isn't right. Aunt Ye doesn't usually treat me like this."

In the past, Ye Mei would be as happy as if she were seeing her own daughter whenever she saw Xiang Qiuyun. She would hold her hand affectionately, have endless things to say, and would even cook some delicious food for Xiang Qiuyun.

Ye Mei used to miss her daughter so much that she couldn't bring herself to visit her. But when her daughter's best friend came to visit, she treated Xiang Qiuyun like her own daughter.

After walking a distance, Ye Mei secretly looked back and saw that Xiang Qiuyun had already entered the store. She snorted inwardly, thinking, "Just as Xiao Nuan said, she chased Jiang Yi all the way to the store. I really need to be more careful with this woman in the future."

"Auntie, what's wrong?" Peng Wan asked Ye Mei cautiously.

“Wanwan, if you see this woman come to the store in the future, you must keep an eye on her.” Ye Mei didn’t treat Peng Wan as an outsider and felt that she got along well with Peng Wan. “She’s not a good person. I’m afraid she will harm our Xiaonuan.”

"Okay, I've got it."

...

Jiang Yi and his four classmates had just sat down.

Su Xiaonuan personally brewed tea for them and served it to the table, saying, "See what dishes you would like to eat. The names of the dishes are on the blackboard; you can look at them and order."

"Xiao Nuan, you're so unfair! You came back to open a restaurant and didn't even ask me for help." Jiang Yi looked at her resentfully. "At least, I know the provincial capital better than you do. You haven't been back for years. Some people might take advantage of newcomers. With me guiding you, many things will be much easier. Look at you, still treating me like a stranger."

"Hey beautiful boss, why don't you sit down and have some dinner with us?" the handsome guy next to him egged on, pointing to the beautiful woman beside him and then to the couple across the table, saying flirtatiously, "We're all in couples. Since you're Jiang Yi's ex-girlfriend, wouldn't you mind having dinner with us?"

Before Su Xiaonuan could speak, a slightly hoarse male voice rang out. "Sorry, my wife has to have dinner with me."

Su Xiaonuan turned around in surprise. "Why are you back?"

Xiao Moran walked towards her with deep affection, placed his hand on her shoulder, and looked at the woman in front of him without seeing anyone else. "You're so busy at home, of course I have to come back as soon as possible to help you. My wife, thank you for your hard work!"

"Hey Xiao, stop pretending in front of me." Jiang Yi slammed his teacup on the ground, stood up, and pointed angrily at Xiao Moran. "Others may not know about your relationship, but do you think I don't? Stop acting all sentimental here. You don't find it disgusting, but I do."