Accompanied by Qiu Dayu, Gu Qian sat down in the corner by the window.
He glanced casually at Song Jiao, and when he saw Qiu Yan beside Song Jiao, he was surprised for a moment. Upon closer inspection, he realized that Qiu Yan had already walked towards him.
"Sir?" Qiu Dayu shook Gu Qian's eyes with one hand. Before he could speak, he saw Qiu Yan sit down opposite Gu Qian.
"Xiaoyan, you two know each other?"
"We've met a few times." Compared to before, the man in front of her was noticeably thinner. Qiu Yan thought it must be because of Gu Xiaoran.
Just as Qiu Yan had expected, Gu Qian only left once during this period, spending the rest of his time searching for Gu Xiaoran.
"You're here to dine too?" Gu Qian was a little surprised to see Qiu Yan.
He had been searching for Gu Xiaoran's whereabouts in Baiyang for many days, but he never expected to run into Qiu Yan today.
"What would you like to eat?" Qiu Yan asked.
Gu Qian pushed the menu in front of Qiu Yan, "You order, it's on me."
Zhou Zifang stood on the second floor, watching Qiu Yan and Gu Qian sitting opposite each other, talking and imagining their relationship.
“Xiao Ran…”
"Xiao Ran has been found."
Gu Qian and Qiu Yan spoke in unison, and Gu Qian's eyes lit up. "Found it?"
"Yes, we found her." Qiu Yan knew that this man must have gone through a lot of torment because of Gu Xiaoran's disappearance, so she immediately told him in detail what Gu Xiaoran had gone through.
“Gu Qian, you’re a terrible father. Xiao Ran is only three years old and has no ability to protect himself. How could you leave him alone at the inn?”
"I'm sorry to him. And thank you." Gu Qian said, his voice tinged with guilt and surprise.
He immediately got up to look for Gu Xiaoran, but Qiu Yan pressed him back down onto the dining chair.
"Eat first. Xiao Ran is eating and sleeping well, and she's even gained weight recently, so don't worry about her."
Knowing that Gu Xiaoran was safe and sound, Gu Qian was no longer as anxious as before, and he seemed much more energetic.
"Qiu Yan, is she your friend?" Zhou Zifang stood in front of the two of them.
"I guess so," Qiu Yan replied reluctantly, as she didn't know Gu Qian well.
"What do you mean 'considered'? Qiu Yan, we're more than just friends." After finding Gu Xiaoran, Gu Qian's smile returned.
Qiu Yan glanced at Gu Qian but didn't say anything.
This man must have been thinking of Gu Xiaoran.
Zhou Zifang cupped his hands in greeting to Gu Qian and began to introduce himself. "My name is Zhou Zifang, and I am the manager of Xingyue Tower."
"Manager Zhou," Gu Qian introduced himself, bowing in return. However, the young man in front of him didn't look like a manager at all.
Zhou Zifang offered only a brief greeting before leaving; he had only come to get acquainted with Qiu Yan's friend.
Qiu Yan didn't eat much during the meal, and neither did Gu Qian. In the end, quite a bit was left over.
After the meal, Gu Qian was about to pay, but Zhou Zifang pushed him away.
Gu Qian originally intended to treat Qiu Yan to a meal, but unexpectedly, he ended up getting a free meal because of Qiu Yan, which made him feel a little embarrassed.
"Qiu Yan, let's go back together."
"No, I'll go back with my second uncle later."
After parting ways with Gu Qian, Qiu Yan went to her aunt's house.
As for Qiu Dafu, ever since he gave Jiang Liu a gift, Jiang Liu had kept him at home for tea.
Jiang Liu sat opposite Qiu Dafu, carefully observing the man in front of her. She found his calm yet slightly tense expression quite interesting.
She was in a bad mood today, but because of Qiu Dafu, she angered Tang Yi, and her mood was actually better than before.
Qiu Dafu sat on a stone bench in the courtyard, downed the tea in his cup in one gulp, and then stood up abruptly. "Madam, I have something to attend to, so I'll be leaving now."
In this grand mansion, with Jiang Liu watching him like that, Qiu Dafu became somewhat reserved.
"Sit down." After saying that, Jiang Liu glanced at the tall figure in front of her courtyard, then poured Qiu Dafu a cup of hot tea. "Qiu Dafu, don't forget, you are now my bodyguard."
“Well… I’m not either.” Qiu Dafu didn’t want to stay here. Because of what happened today, he had a deep-seated prejudice against Tang Yi and didn’t want to see him again.
"From this moment forward, I hereby formally employ you as my bodyguard. Rest assured, I will certainly not mistreat you."
"Madam, this is inappropriate."
"What's wrong with that? If you leave, wouldn't that just confirm Tang Yi's suspicions?"
Qiu Dafu was about to leave, but stopped in his tracks because of Jiang Liu's words.
...
When Qiu Yan went to her aunt's house, Qiu Yumei thought her second brother had gone to Xingyue Tower.
They all had questions about not seeing Qiu Dafu.
It's just dropping someone off, why hasn't he come yet after so long?
Qiu Yan went to the Tang residence, and was very surprised when she learned that her second uncle had become a guard there.
She never expected that her second uncle, who had only asked her to do something for someone else, would find her a job and be even more eager to make money than she was.
Qiu Dafu didn't explain much to Qiu Yan, only saying that once their wonton stall opened, he would go there every morning.
As for when he will leave, he will do so once things have calmed down.
Qiu Yan told Qiu Yumei about this, and Qiu Yumei was quite happy. "It's good that Second Brother has a job. He can earn some money to build a house and then get himself a wife."
In the afternoon, Qiu Yan went with her aunt to the clerk in charge of renting stalls at the Flower Food Street and rented a stall.
Then, they went to buy meat, vegetables, flour, seasonings, and so on. They also went to the blacksmith's shop and bought two small iron stoves and two small iron pots.
After finishing these tasks, Qiu Yan began to learn how to wrap wontons from her aunt.
Qiu Yumei made about eighty wonton wrappers by mixing flour and water.
Qiu Yumei chopped the meat with two cleavers. After chopping it, she mixed more than a pound of meat filling according to the ingredients. That would be her dinner for the day.
Qiu Yan wasn't very good at wrapping wontons at first, and her hands were covered in flour, but she quickly learned how.
In the late afternoon, the house was filled with the aroma of wontons.
After cooking, Qiu Yan picked up a wonton with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth. The wonton was smooth and delicious, with meat juice overflowing. The fresh taste left a lingering fragrance on her lips and teeth. She then took a sip of the soup, and the taste was absolutely wonderful.
After she finished eating, she went home without lingering. "Auntie, I'll come over tomorrow morning and make wontons with you."
"You can leave after it's light tomorrow morning. Your uncle and I will make the wontons. We'll just test the waters on the first day; we can't make too many."
"To sell breakfast, you have to get up very early and leave when it's light. If you arrive late, it will be too late." Qiu Yan is not afraid of walking at night.
"Don't worry, the wontons will have been wrapped up by the time you arrive," Qiu Yumei insisted.
Qiu Yan left without saying anything more. When she got home, Wang was sitting alone in the courtyard.
The little puppy in the yard kept wagging its tail at Qiu Yan.
As soon as Wang saw Qiu Yan return, she said to her:
"Qiu Yan, you're back. A man came by earlier, saying he was Xiao Ran's father, his name was... oh, Gu Qian. He took Xiao Ran and Ling'er out to play."
Does Aunt Ye know that Gu Qian has returned?
"I know, they talked for quite a while."
As soon as Wang finished speaking, a silvery laugh rang out from outside the door. It was Gu Qian, with Gu Xiaoran and Qiu Ling'er on his left and right, leading them back to the courtyard.
As soon as Gu Qian arrived, the puppy in the yard barked at him, but when Gu Qian walked in, it hid back in its doghouse.
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