After a morning of shopping, Ye Zhao wanted to express her apologies, so she took Jiang Che to a specialty restaurant.

The restaurant has its own unique style. The wooden building is decorated with bamboo, and the interior is filled with all kinds of bamboo woven utensils and ornaments. Almost all the utensils in the restaurant are made of bamboo, and lush green bamboo can be seen everywhere. As soon as Jiang Che entered, he smelled the fragrance of bamboo leaves.

"Zhaozhao is here?"

As soon as Ye Zhao entered, the slightly short woman at the front desk came out to greet him. She glanced at Jiang Che for a moment, her eyes filled with undisguised amazement: "And who is this?"

Ye Zhao smiled and explained, "It's a friend. Do you have any private rooms left? I'll bring him to try your restaurant's specialties."

She quickly replied, "Yes, yes, please come in!"

After she finished speaking, she turned around and instructed the waiter to serve tea, and then personally led Ye Zhao and the others to the private room.

"I was going to the mountains tomorrow and was just about to send you a message when you came over."

Ye Zhao asked with some surprise, "Going in the next couple of days?"

"Yes, but since you're entertaining friends, you probably won't have time."

Jiang Che asked hesitantly, "Going into the mountains? Is there something wrong?"

Ye Zhao laughed and said, "Nothing much, just going to hunt in the wild to see if there's anything new or interesting to bring back."

The woman led them into a private room and opened the window for them: "Please sit down first, I'll go see what dishes the kitchen has."

"Okay, thank you, Sister Li!"

After Sister Li left, Ye Zhao sat down on the bamboo chair and began to tell Jiang Che about the origins of the shop.

"Sister Li is the owner of this restaurant. She's incredibly capable. Her husband injured his leg in a factory years ago and lost his ability to work. Sister Li used the meager compensation she received to open this shop and support her two children's schooling. She's smart and capable; all the bamboo woven items in the shop are made by her herself, cutting bamboo in the mountains and bringing it back..."

The bamboo woven utensils in the shop were very exquisite. Jiang Che thought that the owner had specially hired a craftsman to weave them, but she did not expect that she had made them herself.

Noticing Jiang Che's appraising gaze, Ye Zhao smiled and said, "Isn't it beautiful?"

Jiang Che nodded: "It's really good, very unique."

Just then, the waiter brought in a pot of tea. Ye Zhao picked it up, poured a cup, and handed it to Jiang Che: "Try it, it's bamboo leaf tea that Sister Li made herself."

Jiang Che picked it up, tasted it, and smiled, saying, "It has a pleasant aroma and tastes good. Shangyang is truly a wonderful place with outstanding people and beautiful scenery."

These words struck a chord with Ye Zhao, and she smiled, her eyes narrowing slightly: "Right? I also think it's a good place."

Bamboo Garden Restaurant doesn't have a menu for Ye Zhao. Every time she comes, she asks Sister Li to order two signature dishes for her, and this time is no exception.

Sister Li made them bamboo tube steamed rice, stir-fried bamboo shoots with pork, stewed chicken with dried bamboo shoots, and a cold spicy and crispy bamboo shoot salad.

"These autumn bamboo shoots are very fresh; they were just transported from the neighboring city this morning. Why don't you try them and see how they taste?"

Jiang Che looked at the dishes made with bamboo shoots and, unusually, became a little curious. Under Sister Li's expectant gaze, he tried each dish and praised, "The taste is very good, the proprietress's cooking skills are excellent!"

Seeing the sweat on Sister Li's forehead, Jiang Che knew that she had cooked the meal herself.

Ye Zhao tried without saying a word, but gave Sister Li a thumbs up.

Sister Li exchanged a few polite words with great pleasure before closing the door and leaving.

The green bamboo outside the window swayed in the wind, bringing a gentle breeze. Under the dappled light and shadow, the two chatted quietly as they ate. At this moment, time was quiet and peaceful, and Jiang Che found the fragrance of the green bamboo intoxicating.

...

After showing Jiang Che around all morning, Ye Zhao felt a little tired. Just then, Jiang Che said he had something to do back at the hotel, so Ye Zhao took him back.

This was the time she usually took her afternoon nap. After returning home, she went straight to the backyard and fell asleep in the rocking chair before even checking her WeChat messages.

It was already past 5 p.m. when I saw the message from Jiang Ze.

Ye Zhao quickly glanced at it, and a smile had already unconsciously appeared on her face.

When she left City A, she cleaned up her WeChat, deleting everyone she wanted except for one guy, Yuanzi. Ye Zhao thought it would be fun to banter with him occasionally, so she kept him. To this day, she still doesn't know who he is, but it doesn't matter. He's just an online friend, and it's fine to chat with him from time to time to relieve boredom.

It was Ye Zhao who came up with the idea of ​​introducing his brother to a girlfriend.

The guy who's been having a lot of trouble lately is terrified that his family will find out about his boyfriend and he'll lose his legs.

Just then, his brother was being pressured by his family to get married. He himself was gay and was afraid that his brother was also gay, so he tried every means to test whether his brother was interested in women. However, he had been busy running around and trying to get women to come to him, but his brother ignored it all. This made him even more panicked, fearing that he would anger his parents to death.

However, it wasn't just his worrying that was unfounded. Ye Zhao now also thought that his brother was gay. Otherwise, how could someone in his thirties, who was also said to be good-looking, have never been in a relationship? Ye Zhao thought that this was probably true.

But at least he's her biological child. Even if her parents find out about this, they wouldn't beat her to death, would they?

Ye Zhao quickly comforted her, "It's alright, how could your own child be beaten to death?"

"Besides, if your brother really is, they will think that the older brother has led the younger brother astray, and your brother will be the one to suffer. Don't be afraid."

"Besides, what's wrong with being homosexual? It's not like it's a heinous crime. If you appeal to their emotions and reason with them, your parents will definitely understand."

Over the past few years, Ye Zhao had chatted with Yuanzi Ge from time to time, and she felt that their relationship was still pretty good. After this incident, she still offered him some comfort.

To everyone's surprise, the man quickly replied, "Honey, why don't you pretend to be my girlfriend? Even though you have a bad reputation, at least you're a woman!"

What's this called? Ye Zhao's lips twitched, and she replied without any politeness, "Get lost, go die somewhere else!"

"Okay!"

After sending an eye-rolling emoji, Ye Zhao exited the chat and immediately made a video call to Yan Xi.

The phone rang for a few seconds, then the video call was connected, and Yuanbao's chubby little face appeared on the screen.

"Mom, have you missed me?"

A soft, sweet voice came through the phone, melting Ye Zhao's heart. She quickly replied in a low voice, "Yes, I miss Yuanbao so much! What did Yuanbao do today?"

Yuanbao leaned close to the screen and said in a sweet, childlike voice, "But I didn't miss Mommy! My aunt took me to the aquarium, and I saw so many things..."

Ye Zhao hadn't paid attention to what he said anymore; she only felt that his words were particularly hurtful. Yan Xi's gloating laughter came from the other end of the video. Ye Zhao pouted and said, "Don't corrupt my precious baby."