Zong Jia had carefully inspected both stores he visited today, as he didn't want a repeat of what happened with the middle-aged woman the day before yesterday.
Jiang Xiaoli was satisfied with both storefronts, but the landlord of the second storefront insisted on a rent of 300 yuan per month.
The two of them huddled together and discussed it for a while, and decided to go for it.
For them now, the most important thing is time, not the extra or less rent each month.
Just like the one we just looked at, Zongjia and the landlord agreed to sign the contract tomorrow.
Although the landlord agreed, he kept muttering, "Why do I need to sign a contract to rent a place? It's such a hassle. Can't we sign it today?"
The two minors smiled and said goodbye to him before leaving.
They were chatting as they pushed their carts past a night market and saw a row of roadside stalls when their stomachs growled at the same time.
Jiang Xiaoli glanced at him, "Are you hungry too?"
“That’s right, it’s eight o’clock now. Shall we grab something to eat before I take you home?” Zong Jia suggested, rubbing his stomach.
She nodded vigorously. Since being reborn, she had never eaten at a roadside stall.
Zong Jia took her for a walk, and finally parked the car next to a stall selling wontons, steamed buns and rice noodles.
She ordered a bowl of rice noodles, Zong Jia ordered a bowl of wontons, and there was a pile of food they had bought on their way here.
Honey-glazed rice dumplings, plain yogurt, egg waffles, mung bean cakes...
When the owner brought them rice noodles and wontons, there was almost not enough room on the small square table.
Jiang Xiaoli looked at the table full of food and exclaimed, "This is so wonderful!"
"Is this happiness? Is Little Pear so easy to raise?" Zong Jiayu said with a smile.
She rolled her eyes at him. "You're obviously not someone to be trifled with. You need to lower your expectations in life to be happier and more easily feel content!"
Zong Jiayu stared at her intently, his voice gentle yet firm, "Little Pear, you will have everything you want, and I believe it won't be long."
He suddenly changed his demeanor, making Jiang Xiaoli feel a little uncomfortable. "Of course I know! Okay, let's eat!"
After she finished speaking, she pushed the food towards him.
Zong Jiayu looked at the egg waffles being pushed towards him, and shook his head with a wry smile.
That evening, after Jiang Xiaoli finished washing up and lay in bed, looking at the familiar rooftop, Zong Jia's handsome face appeared in her mind.
His expression was gentle, but his eyes were burning. "Little Pear, you will have everything you want."
"Aaaaaaah!" She blinked violently, turned to the side and curled up into a ball, patting her burning cheeks. "Jiang Xiaoli, what are you thinking about! Get the crap out of your head!"
Zong Jiayu was still awake; he was helping Nan Gu tidy up at the steamed bun shop.
Pumpkin noticed that he seemed a little distracted. "Brother Zong, aren't you tired? You've been running around looking at shops these past two days. Why don't you go to sleep first? I can take care of these things."
He then came to his senses and quickened his pace. "It's alright, let's get this done faster. You've been working really hard lately."
Pumpkin waved his hand with a smile, "I'm happy to be busy! But Brother Zong, you seem so absent-minded, just like Zhong Yuan when he was pursuing girls before?"
His words struck Zong Jia like a thunderbolt, leaving him dizzy and disoriented. He managed to utter a few words with difficulty, "Chasing girls?"
Pumpkin draped the clean cloth over the rack. "Yeah, don't you remember? Back then, Zhong Yuan was like he'd lost his soul. You had to repeat yourself a lot when you talked to him, and he'd occasionally let out a weird laugh to himself. It was pretty creepy."
Zong Jia forced a smile, "Yes, I remember."
After packing his things, it was already 11 o'clock when he got home. He returned to his room and heard a deliberately raised voice coming from the room across the hall.
"Old Zong, do you think Jia Yu, a student, is doing something bad by coming home so late every day?"
The closed door blocked out most of the sound, and Zong Jiayu couldn't hear what his father said.
But no matter what he says, he doesn't care.
He lay quietly on the bed, and a charming, graceful figure appeared before him, causing a beautiful smile to appear on his lips.
He murmured softly, "Little Pear... Little Pear..."
He then chuckled softly, "Hehe, thank you for showing up."
Early Sunday morning, Jiang Xiaoli returned from her run to find Zong Jia and Nan Gua sitting in the main room of her house having breakfast.
Thinking about the idea she had last night, she blushed with embarrassment and said, "You guys came so early."
Zong Jia pointed to the bowl of corn porridge and said, "My godmother specially invited us over for breakfast yesterday. Little Pear, why is your face so red?"
Jiang Xiaoli left the main room, saying, "I got warm from running!"
She rinsed her hands under the tap, then pressed them against her face, feeling the warmth.
She inwardly berated herself, "Jiang Xiaoli, how old are you? Why are you blushing when you see a young man? Honestly!"
Grandma Zhang gestured towards the main room from the kitchen, "Guizhi, I heard one of those two young men call you godmother?"
Li Guizhi replied with a smile, "Yes, I got along quite well with this child, so I became his godparent."
Yang Hui quickly mixed a large bowl of spicy strips. "Sister Guizhi, if you hadn't told me, I would have thought you were the one who found Xiaoli a boyfriend. This boy is really handsome!"
"My little pear is still young, and she'll be taking college entrance exams later, so there's no rush! Mom, you can't say things like that!"
Li Guizhi felt a little uncomfortable. Her daughter was so young, and this person was already trying to find someone to help Xiaoli.
Yang Hui realized she had made a slip of the tongue and quickly changed the subject.
When Jiang Xiaoli and Zong Jia were about to leave on their bicycles, Li Guizhi called her daughter aside.
"Xiao Li, when you all go out, just say you're siblings, okay? Don't let people misunderstand!"
Jiang Xiaoli blinked. Although she didn't know why her mother suddenly brought this up, she still nodded obediently, "Okay, I understand."
Once outside, Zong Jia asked curiously, "Did Godmother have something to say?"
She nodded. "Yes, she told me to call you brothers from outside."
Pumpkin was overjoyed, "Little Pear, you're like my own sister!"
Zong Jiayu suddenly felt a bit like he was having a heart attack. He swallowed twice and uttered a few words, "I'm fine."
The second batch of steamed bun shops plans to open four stores at once, and the locations of three stores have already been finalized.
The store they're looking at now is the last one.
The owner was a young woman. She opened the door and said, "This used to be my family's private property, where we ran a cold noodle shop. But my dad got old and fell ill, so he didn't have the energy to run it anymore. The stove and everything else are still in good condition, which saves you a lot of trouble."
Jiang Xiaoli went inside to take a look, and it was indeed as she had said.
The previous owner probably steamed the cold noodles himself; the stove was large and bright, and they could use it without much modification.
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