Qiao Haisheng's smile faded, and he began to miss his youngest son. This was the longest they had ever been apart. Given the current situation, it would be difficult for them to go back for the Spring Festival this year. The elderly couple had already discussed it and decided not to trouble their children.

Li Meihua looked at the phone on the table: "Why don't we call him now and see how things are going on his end? If business isn't good, we can close up shop early and reopen after the New Year."

Seeing how much her parents missed her brother, Qiao Xiaoni put down her chopsticks: "I'll go make a call. You can listen in and ask him anything you want to know."

Su Chenhao put down his chopsticks and followed.

Tao Chunfang rubbed her stomach: "By the way, you guys should ask him how things are going with Yulan. It's been a month already, there should be some news by now."

Qiao Xiaoni dialed the store's phone number, and the owner answered quickly. After waiting for about five minutes, she dialed the number again.

"Sister?" Qiao Xiaoshan asked uncertainly.

"Yes, it's me! Everyone's around me. How's it going on your end? Is business a bit slow lately?"

"Yes, business is much worse than before. Very few people come to buy things on their own initiative, but I came up with a solution: place an order and pay a deposit, and I'll have my third uncle deliver it."

In this way, the shop can manage to stay afloat, earning more than ten yuan a day.

Isn't this the core concept of food delivery? Interesting, how come she didn't think of that?

"Second brother, you've become more intelligent than before; you even managed to come up with this method."

"Haha! I felt it would be a pity to close the shop, and Grandpa didn't agree to it either. After thinking about it, I came up with this idea, discussed it with my third uncle, and started to implement it."

"Luckily, you have your third uncle, otherwise how could you manage all this on your own?" Qiao Xiaoni said with emotion.

The phone was on speakerphone, so everyone could hear what was happening, which made me happy that the snack bar business could continue.

Qiao Xiaoshan thought about what he had been keeping hidden and realized it was time to speak up. He carefully said into the phone, "There's something I haven't told you yet. Something has happened to my second uncle's family again."

"Huh? What weird thing happened to his family again?" Qiao Xiaoni felt that Qiao Haixing's family was plagued by misfortunes, as if they had offended God.

"Shortly after you left, Qiao Lingling used a katana to slash Qiao Dongdong, who was hospitalized again."

Given their current situation, how could they possibly afford hospitalization? They've come to me again to borrow money; they haven't even paid back the last loan, and now they're asking again.

Does she think we're running a bank? Plus, my second aunt's attitude was terrible; she was even scolding my third uncle. I couldn't take it anymore, so I told her that if she wanted to borrow money, it would have to be using her house as collateral.

If he doesn't repay the money on time, I'll sell his house to pay it off. Am I doing the wrong thing?

Qiao Xiaoni didn't know what to say, so she looked at her parents sitting in the distance and asked, "Brother, how's the situation now? Have you paid back the money you owed?"

"He hasn't paid back the money yet, and a week has already passed. Should I go to his house to urge him to pay?" Qiao Xiaoshan had been hesitant lately, which was why he hadn't gone to see his second uncle. Now that his family had called, it was a good opportunity to ask for their opinion.

“This…” Qiao Xiaoni looked to her father for his opinion.

Qiao Haisheng hesitated for a minute before speaking: "Let's stick to the original agreement. I won't get involved in this matter, as long as it doesn't become too ugly."