Everyone spent the afternoon at the amusement park. When they returned to the restaurant in the evening, Ni An used the leftover ingredients from yesterday to make a hot pot.
The hot pot was a yin-yang pot, with one side having a tomato and mushroom soup base for the children, and the other side having a spicy broth with bubbling red oil. The hall was filled with steam.
Ni An brought the hot pot broth to the table, turned on the induction cooker, and cheerfully greeted the children.
"Kids, we're having a mushroom hot pot! These mushrooms were bought from the farmers' baskets; they're so fresh they'll make your eyebrows fall off!"
"Thank you, Uncle Ni An."
After the children politely thanked the staff, they picked up their small spoons, scooped up some mushroom soup, blew on it, and then sipped it.
Xiao Shu, who is usually very interested in food, frowned and looked at her older brother and sister who were drinking soup with a worried expression.
"Xiao Shu, why aren't you drinking?" Ni An pointed to the mushroom soup in front of Xiao Shu, which was no longer too hot, and asked with concern, "Are you afraid of getting burned? It's not hot anymore."
Xiao Shu still frowned, staring intently at the pot of mushroom soup that smelled really good. He licked his lips, swallowed, and looked like he really wanted to eat it, but still cautiously shook his head.
Upon seeing this, Mu Hua directly said to Ni An
"Don't worry about him. Boys don't need to be spoiled. He'll eat on his own when he's hungry."
The little boy rolled his round eyes at his father, then turned back to stare at the mushroom soup, sighing regretfully.
"Oh, I want to eat it too, but I'm afraid my eyebrows will fall out."
Everyone paused for a moment, then remembered Ni An's earlier comment about how delicious it was. "That silly boy," Mu Hua couldn't help but laugh.
In the live stream room,
Haha, the little book is so silly, so adorably silly!
[Little Book: A foodie who doesn't care about their image isn't a true foodie.]
Although Xiaoshu is young, he has clear logic and thinks far ahead.
[Xiao Shu's concerns are valid; he's already at the bottom of the list in terms of looks, and he really can't go without eyebrows.]
Just as everyone was laughing at the little book, Xia Qing's phone rang.
She suppressed her smile, took out her phone, unlocked it with her fingerprint, and opened a picture sent by her assistant.
After Xia Qing saw the letter that morning, she asked her assistant to check Qiao Qingchuan's hotel booking records at the Mi Dong Hotel. The results she received were sent over now.
The images show records of Qiao Qingchuan booking a hotel room under his own name that day, which is room 1206 mentioned in the anonymous letter. There is also a screenshot of a video showing Qiao Qingchuan embracing a petite woman in red.
As for the anonymous letter, checking the corridor's surveillance footage would actually reveal who placed it.
But Xia Qing also knew that the other party had left the letter under the door without making it public, which was to save her face, and she didn't need to tear off this veil of pretense.
Although she was mentally prepared, when the fact that her husband was cheating was presented to Xia Qingye, it still felt like something had stabbed her in the heart, causing a dull pain. Her fingers couldn't hold the chopsticks, and they fell to the ground with a "smack".
Hearing the noise, Lele bent down to pick up the chopsticks that Xia Qing had dropped. Her eyes inadvertently swept over the screen of Xia Qing's phone under the table. Her clear eyes widened, and she took another closer look at the photo of her uncle embracing another aunt.
Mu Hua got Xia Qing a clean pair of chopsticks. Lele picked up the pair that had fallen on the ground, put them aside, and turned around to continue eating.
Xia Qing calmly picked up a piece of tripe, blanched it in the hot oil, and then dipped it in sesame sauce in a saucepan.
She put the fragrant tripe into her mouth, chewed it a few times, but couldn't taste the freshness of the tripe; her mouth felt bitter.
Xia Qing's eyes reddened, tears welling up, but she tried her best to hold them back from falling.
"Mom, what's wrong?"
Xiangxiang noticed that Xia Qingye seemed to be crying. She put down her chopsticks, looked at Xia Qingye anxiously, and nervously grabbed her mother's arm.
"Is it spicy?" Mu Hua stood up immediately. "I'll get you a glass of water."
Du Xiaoru remembered that there was still some leftover ice cream in the refrigerator from yesterday, so she stood up, followed her into the kitchen, scooped out a few ice creams in an ice cream bowl, and took them out.
She placed the ice cream in front of Xia Qingye, and seeing her red eyes, guessed it was about Qiao Qingchuan.
But Du Xiaoruo was never good with words and didn't know what to say, so she quickly went back to her seat after putting down the ice cream.
Xia Qing was in a daze at that moment. When she saw someone bring over ice cream, she took a spoon and scooped up a mouthful. The icy touch brought her back to her senses a little.
"Mom's fine." She forced a smile and reached out to rub her daughter's head.
[What's wrong with Xia Qing? She doesn't seem to be hurt by the spiciness; she looks like she's actually crying.]
Why is she crying? Nothing happened, right?
[Did she suddenly remember losing the blanket this morning? But no one scolded her, so it's not worth being so dramatic, is it?]
Although Xia Qing seemed much more normal afterward, the atmosphere at the dinner table was still somewhat subdued. After everyone finished eating and cleaned up together, they went back to their rooms.
Xiao Shu hid an ice cream bowl in her arms and sneakily crouched down as she went upstairs.
"Xiao Shu." Mu Hua knew from his expression that he must have done something naughty again. "What are you hiding in your clothes? Take it out!"
Xiao Shu pouted and reluctantly took out a bowl of ice cream from her arms. There were two scoops of ice cream in it, one strawberry flavored and the other chocolate flavored. Moreover, the two ice cream scoops were larger than usual.
Mu Hua snatched the ice cream bowl from Xiao Shu and tapped his forehead lightly with her index finger.
"You yourself said what happens if you eat too much ice cream?"
Xiao Shu tilted her head and thought about it seriously for a moment, then said, "It will be very happy."
Mu Hua, “…”
In the live stream room,
[Haha, eating too much ice cream makes you happy, Xiaoshu is right.]
I was very unhappy, so I told my mom I wanted ice cream. My mom slapped me, and then I became even more unhappy.
[Hahaha, how can the person upstairs be so silly?]
Since the restaurant was closed today, and it was still early when we got back to the room, Lele conscientiously took out her summer homework, sat down at her small desk, and started doing it.
Du Xiaoruo sat on the small sofa behind him, scrolling through her phone. Her mind was in turmoil because of Xia Qingye's situation.
Her gaze was fixed on her phone, but she glanced at Lele out of the corner of her eye. She saw him scratching his head and fidgeting with his hands, just like a typical underachiever slacking off.
Lele is usually very well-behaved, so this is not her usual attitude towards learning.
Du Xiaoruo put down her phone, got up and walked to the desk. On the desk was a Chinese summer homework book. Lele scratched his head for a long time, and it turned out that he was writing an essay.
When Lele noticed that Du Xiaoruo was looking at her essay, she covered it with her hand, feeling a little embarrassed.
Du Xiaoruo knew the child was embarrassed and didn't want to say anything, but... she held back for a moment, but still couldn't help pointing to a spot in the composition book and whispering a reminder.
"Lele, it's a downpour, not a drizzle."
The live streaming equipment in the room is in a fixed position. When the guests go to sleep, they cover themselves with towels. Right now, the camera is not covered with a towel, so the live stream is still on.
There wasn't much content to watch initially, and the viewers who had been staying in the live stream were starting to doze off. Then, a torrential downpour suddenly woke them all up.
What the heck is this "pouring rain like a torrential downpour"? I can accept a downpour or a heavy drizzle, but how am I supposed to tolerate this "pouring rain like a torrential downpour"? Hahahaha.
[Lele, if our writing skills are really that bad, let's not use idioms. Just say it's raining heavily, hahaha.]
[Du Xiaoruo is so gentle when teaching Lele her homework. When my sister is teaching my nephew his homework, even the dog doesn't dare to wander around.]
As the saying goes online, "No homework, mother and child are loving and filial; homework time, chaos ensues."
Lele's fair ears flushed red as she hurriedly used correction tape to erase the two characters "瓢瓜" (piaogua) and rewrote "瓢泼" (piaopo) stroke by stroke.
"Knock knock, knock knock knock".
There were several knocks on the door.
Although she had become a little more familiar with everyone during the time she had been here, Du Xiaoruo's nerves would still tense up suddenly when she heard a knock on the door.
She pursed her lips awkwardly, paused for a moment, and then walked over and opened the door.
Seeing Xia Qingye standing outside the door, Du Xiaoruo's heart jumped again, and she traced her thumb along the pad of her index finger.
Xia Qing also looked much more haggard in a day, but she still maintained the dignity of a rich heiress, and she still had a proper smile on her face when facing Du Xiaoruo.
"I've come to apologize to you and Lele."
Xia Qing also said,
"About the blanket this morning, I really didn't mean to. I'm a mother too, and I would never do something so shameful."
Du Xiaoruo stepped aside and said, "Please come in."
Xia Qing also entered the room. Lele had already stood up from his chair. He closed his homework and bowed respectfully to Xia Qing.
Hello, Auntie.
"Lele, your aunt is here to apologize to you. I was wrong about the blanket this morning. Can you forgive me?"
“I know you didn’t mean it.” Lele nodded. “It’s okay, my mom has already washed the blanket for me.”
"Thank you, Lele."
Xia Qing also looked up, this time speaking to Du Xiaoruo, "Xiaoruo, could you look after Xiangxiang for me? I have something to do tonight and need to go out."
"Okay, sure."
After settling in and thinking things through, Xia Qing sent Qiao Qingchuan a text message asking where he was.
Qiao Qingchuan replied quite quickly.
Honey, I'm at the office, still working overtime, and I miss you.
Xia Qing calmly replied to the message in her usual tone.
Honey, you've worked so hard. Get some rest as soon as you're done. I love you.
Xia Qing threw her phone back into her bag, her heart growing cold and hard. She thought, "Since you miss me, of course I have to go see you."
She didn't call a driver, but instead hailed a taxi in front of the villa.
The car stopped in front of the small white building of Jinse Group. Xia Qing looked up and found the location of Qiao Qingchuan's office on the top floor. Surprisingly, the light was on.
The building's security guard recognized Xia Qingye and escorted her directly to the elevator, also helping her swipe her card to access the chairman's office on the top floor.
Xia Qing stared at the rising elevator numbers, mentally reviewing what she was going to say. Better to be a broken jade than a whole tile; the heiress of Xia's Jewelry could not back down.
It was well past closing time, and the entire rooftop was quiet.
Xia Qingye's high heels clicked on the marble floor, the echoing sound like it was hitting her heart. With each step she took closer, her heart trembled.
A six-year marriage, and it ended so tragically.
Xia Qing also pushed open the door to the chairman's office, and Qiao Qingchuan was indeed working overtime in his office, just as he had said.
The group's vice president was also there, and there were some fashion sketches piled on the table, presumably for finalizing the new products for the autumn/winter fashion show.
"Madam, you've arrived." Vice President Liu stopped his work and nodded to Xia Qing in greeting.
Xia Qing nodded respectfully, "You all go ahead with your work." Then she walked over and sat down on the guest sofa.
"this......."
Vice President Liu turned to look at Qiao Qingchuan, his eyes asking if he wanted to continue working, sensing that his wife's complexion wasn't very good today.
Qiao Qingchuan waved his hand, "You can go out first."
Vice President Liu tidied up the manuscript on the table, quickly walked out of Qiao Qingchuan's office, and thoughtfully closed the door before leaving.
After the person left, Qiao Qingchuan's cold and stern face softened into a tender expression. He quickly sent a message on his phone.
My wife is here, I can't leave right now.
Then he deleted the text message, and walked towards Xia Qing with a gentle smile in his eyes, "Wife, what brings you here?"
"Didn't you say you missed me?" Xia Qing sat upright on the sofa, a smile on her lips, but her eyes were icy cold.
Qiao Qingchuan walked over and sat down on the armrest next to him. He put his arm around Xia Qingye's waist and rubbed his chin against her shoulder.
Xia Qing subtly moved to the side, and Qiao Qingchuan nearly fell to the ground in mid-air.
At this moment, he finally realized that Xia Qing was also acting strangely.
"Honey, what's wrong? Are you too tired from work? I told you a long time ago not to participate in that variety show. You're like a maid, washing and cleaning every day. How can you handle all that?"
Qiao Qingchuan reached out, intending to gently stroke Xia Qingye's face as he usually did, but Xia Qingye coldly avoided it.
"Who did you just text?" Her beautiful phoenix eyes seemed to be frozen.
"Who? What? I didn't send a message." Qiao Qingchuan feigned ignorance.
"Just as Vice President Liu left."
Qiao Qingchuan continued to feign ignorance, "No, really no. Honey, what's wrong with you today?"
Xia Qing gritted her teeth and said, word by word, "Qiao Qingchuan, do you think I'm blind?"
"Really, there isn't." Qiao Qingchuan proactively handed his phone to Xia Qingye. "If you don't believe me, see for yourself."
Xia Qing knew that the fact that he dared to take out his phone meant that he had already deleted the messages, so there was no point in looking at them now.
She stood up abruptly, looking down at Qiao Qingchuan, and spoke in a mocking tone that Qiao Qingchuan had never heard before.
"Qiao Qingchuan, you turtle bastard, you stupid thing who is nothing. If it weren't for your mother's favoritism, you wouldn't even be worthy of carrying Qiao An's shoes. Qiao An's talent can easily crush you with a flick of her toes."
Having been married to Qiao Qingchuan for six years, Xia Qing naturally knew where Qiao Qingchuan's sore spot was. Qiao An was someone he both looked down on and feared, and even mentioning the name "Qiao An" felt like an insult to him.
As expected, Qiao Qingchuan's expression changed as soon as he said these words, and anger filled his dark eyes.
Xia Qing also turned around, took out a stack of printed photos from her bag, and threw them hard at Qiao Qingchuan's face.
Qiao Qingchuan picked up the photos and looked at them. These were records of his hotel stay at the Midong Hotel, as well as some surveillance screenshots.
I thought he would feel ashamed and scared when he saw these photos, but to my surprise, Qiao Qingchuan showed a relieved expression after seeing them.
He finally understood why his wife's temperament had changed so drastically today.
"Qingye, you're too sensitive. It's normal for men of our status to have affairs with two or three women. If you don't, people will think you're pathetic. These are all just casual flings. You're still the one I love the most."
Seeing Qiao Qingchuan's shamelessness, Xia Qing was so angry that she trembled all over.
Qiao Qingchuan moved forward slightly and wrapped his arms around Xia Qingye's waist. He looked up at her face.
"Qingye, don't be silly. Falling out with the enemy won't do anyone any good. Just look at your family's business. How much money have you made relying on the Qiao family? Now you're almost one of the four major families in Wencheng. Think about it, all of that is real money. Even if you don't think about yourself, think about your family."
Xia Qing closed her eyes, tears sliding down her exquisitely made-up face. The man she had always thought she could entrust her life to was actually so shameless.
Qiao Qingchuan gently wiped away Xia Qing's tears and softly comforted her.
“Go back and get some sleep. Tomorrow we’ll all pretend this never happened. You’ll still be Mrs. Qiao of the prestigious Jinse Group.”
“We are husband and wife. I won’t hold what you said about me today against you, but this is the last time. If it happens again, Qingye, I won’t be so considerate of our marital bond.”
Xia Qing was utterly stunned. He actually thought she was in the wrong? Xia Qing had always been a sheltered flower, never having witnessed the disgusting side of humanity. Today, she saw just how shameless people could be.
She didn't know how she got out of Qiao Qingchuan's office; it seemed like Qiao Qingchuan called security to "invite" her away.
When Xia Qing came out of Qiao Qingchuan's office, she felt like a lifeless corpse.
She felt that it should rain heavily at this moment, washing away her exquisite makeup and turning her into a distraught ghost, which would better suit her current state of mind.
But tonight the moonlight is bright, the streetlights downstairs at Jinse Group are very bright, and she is still the glamorous Mrs. Qiao.
Mrs. Qiao, who was just pardoned by President Qiao.
"How damn ironic," Xia Qing thought to herself, "this is the first swear word I've ever uttered in my life."
Just as Joan and the design team finalized the details of the Yaser Autumn/Winter fashion show venue, everyone came out of the building in a noisy commotion. Otto playfully begged Joan to treat him to a late-night snack.
Qiao An gave him a sharp look.
Otto rolled his eyes and followed Joanne's long legs, grumbling under his breath.
Once in the car, Qiao An asked, "Korean BBQ?"
"Yay!" Otto exclaimed sweetly. "I love Korean BBQ the most, Qiao baby, I love you."
Joan had a cold face. Damn it, shouldn't Otto send him out on more field missions to get some sun and absorb more yang energy?
The car drove about a hundred meters along the tree-lined road in front of the building. Through the window, Qiao An saw Xia Qing walking alone on the sidewalk, looking lost and dejected.
"parking."
Secretary Jin also saw Xia Qingye, and pulled the car over to the side of the road when Qiao An spoke.
"Sister-in-law..." Qiao An rolled down the car window, wanting to call out to Xia Qingye, but felt a creepy feeling behind her.
He turned his head and saw that Secretary Kim and Otto were staring at him with six eyes, as if they had the words "Who doesn't love gossip about the rich and powerful" written all over their faces.
"You guys take a taxi there." Qiao An glanced at them, nipping their gossipy hearts in the bud.
After the group of people left, grumbling and cursing, Qiao An got out of the car, stood beside it, and called out,
"Sister-in-law."
Xia Qing turned around blankly, the dappled shadows of the trees falling on her, as if they were cutting her soul apart.
Where are you going? I'll give you a ride.
Xia Qing got into the car as well, and Qiao An simply asked, "Are we going back to the place where we filmed the variety show?"
Seeing that Xia Qing nodded, he drove the car away.
Throughout the journey, Qiao An didn't ask any questions and dutifully played the role of a qualified driver, which saved Xia Qing, who didn't want to talk to any more, a lot of embarrassment.
Upon arriving at the entrance of the villa, Qiao An got out of the car and went around to the passenger side to open the car door for Xia Qing as well.
"Thank you." Xia Qing hurriedly thanked her and walked into the door with her head down.
"Sister-in-law," Qiao An called out to her.
Xia Qing also stopped in her tracks, thinking that Qiao An was finally going to ask her what had happened. Qiao An and Qiao Qingchuan were not on good terms to begin with, and seeing Xia Qing like this, and that she was near the company, she must be eager to find out some news that was bad for Qiao Qingchuan.
But Qiao An only said it to Xia Qing as well.
"Could you please check if Lele is asleep? If not, please call him. I'm already here, I'd like to see him."
Xia Qing also glanced at Qiao An with surprise. Because of Qiao Qingchuan, she had little contact with Qiao An before, but Qiao An's gentlemanly demeanor today made her quite fond of him.
Once upstairs, Xia Qing knocked on Du Xiaoruo's door.
"Think about it and go to sleep." Du Xiaoruo gestured for Xia Qing to also speak softly.
"Then I'll carry her over."
Du Xiaoru waved her hand, "I'll help you carry it over, I'm strong."
"Thank you, Xiaoruo."
After carrying Xiangxiang into the room and settling her in, Xia Qing whispered to Du Xiaoruo, "Qiao An is waiting for you downstairs. She said she wants to see you."
"Huh?" Du Xiaoruo was stunned for a moment.
Xia Qing looked up at her with some surprise. Why was she so shocked that her own husband wanted to meet her?
"I meant Joan, he's waiting for you downstairs."
Du Xiaoruo walked out of Xia Qingye's room and stood in the corridor for a while, thinking. Why did Qiao An come to find her at this time? Did he know about her writing a letter to Xia Qingye?
Is this a accusation?
Du Xiaoru unconsciously clenched her fist, her thumbnail tracing back and forth on the pad of her index finger, thinking about how she should answer if Qiao An questioned her.
She can't lie. Every time she lies, she blushes, her heart races, she sweats, and she becomes incoherent. This can't possibly fool Qiao An.
But if she said she was a transmigrated female supporting character in a book, and that she was there to save the world, Qiao An would definitely think she had chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) and might even send her straight to a mental hospital.
Du Xiaoruo stood blankly in the corridor, wondering if Qiao An would get impatient and leave if she didn't go down.
Or what if he gets impatient and just barges into the room to find her?
Forget it, let's just go down there, there's no way to avoid it anyway.
Du Xiaoruo stretched her toes toward the stairs, paused on the stairs, and then hesitated before pulling her toes back.
After Xia Qing entered the house, she didn't immediately close the door on the first floor. Qiao An waited outside for a while, then got a little impatient and simply pushed the door open and went inside, sitting in the dining room on the first floor.
He didn't turn on the lights; the first floor was pitch black.
Qiao An sat in the shadows, watching Du Xiaoruo drift around like she was mentally unstable. He found it somewhat amusing and watched silently without calling out to her.
Otto and his group arrived at the Korean BBQ restaurant first, and now they've called to urge them to hurry up.
The sudden ringing of the cell phone startled both Du Xiaoruo and Qiao An. After realizing what was happening, Qiao An immediately called out upstairs.
"I'm Qiao An, don't be afraid."
Before he could answer the phone, he stepped to the wall and switched on the light. Du Xiaoruo was standing on the edge of the stairs at that moment, and Qiao An was afraid she would be frightened and fall down the stairs.
When the lights came on, Du Xiaoruo's face turned pale with fright, and she clutched her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.
Qiao An raised her hand to signal her, "I'll take this call first."
After Du Xiaoruo left, Lele waited for her in the room. He opened the door and heard a noise outside. Lele quickly put on his slippers and ran out.
"dad?"
He exclaimed in surprise, "Why is Dad here at this hour?"
Qiao An hung up the phone and waved to Lele, "Want to go eat barbecue?"
“Okay, let’s go.” Lele nodded happily. He loved Korean BBQ the most, and Qiao An would take him there almost every time she went over.
"Then you should go change your clothes quickly, I'll wait for you in the car."
"You... people?" Du Xiaoruo wondered, "Am I involved in this too?"
Just as she was thinking this, Du Xiaoruo was dragged back to her room by Lele, who was eager to eat barbecue and kept urging Du Xiaoruo on.
"Mom, hurry up!"
After changing her clothes and leaving the room, Du Xiaoruo had only taken two steps when her leg was tripped by something.
Looking down, she saw the little book curled up on Du Xiaoruo's lap like an octopus.
"I want to eat barbecue too." Xiao Shu stared at Du Xiaoruo with her round little eyes, looking pitiful.
Du Xiaoruo, “…” What brand of food detector are you wearing?
When Joan saw a figure coming out of the small villa, she started the car and waited.
This area is an old neighborhood, and the streetlights are all the old-fashioned glass lamps that are very dim. Qiao An could vaguely make out the figures of Du Xiaoruo and Qiao Lele when he looked out of the car window.
But what's a little strange is that Du Xiaoruo is holding a small dog on a leash.
As they got closer, Joan realized that she was leading a chubby, curly-haired little boy who looked familiar. He had seen him on a live TV show before; he was a big eater. What was his name again? He couldn't remember.
Du Xiaoruo opened the car door, and Xiaoshu climbed into the back seat as if he knew it well, asking Du Xiaoruo to help him fasten his seatbelt.
"What's going on?"
Joan was confused. Could someone explain to him what this extra chubby little guy was all about?
Lele got into the car, fastened his seatbelt, and answered his father's question after settling in.
“He’s Xiaoshu. He heard us talking about having barbecue, so he wanted to come along.”
"Oh." Joanne nodded and drove off. "Then you should tell his father, so he won't worry if he doesn't see him."
"Mom has already said that."
Lele affectionately rubbed the little book's head; what a little glutton!
Xiao Shu was actually very sleepy and fell asleep as soon as he got in the car, but as if by some magical power, he woke up immediately as soon as the car stopped in the parking lot of the barbecue restaurant.
As they got off the bus, Lele frowned and, like a boss, gave Qiao An some instructions.
"Next time, I'll install a baby seat in the car. It's not safe for the little one to sit in it."
Judging from his dissatisfied expression, he seemed a little unhappy with Qiao An's work attitude.
Joan, “…”
Otto and his group had already ordered the barbecue, and without waiting for Joan, they started eating on their own.
Seeing that Du Xiaoruo had actually come, and that Xiaoshu had also come, the group felt like they were dreaming, as if the celebrities they usually watched on TV had suddenly come face to face with them and were eating barbecue.
Little Shu sat obediently in the baby chair. Otto and the others were all single men without children, and it was their first time encountering such a soft human baby, which they found extremely fascinating.
"Little Shu, have a vegetable bun with meat."
"Little Shu, how about a slice of grilled beef?"
"Little Shu, how about some grilled prawns?"
"That's enough, that's enough." Seeing that the massive feeding spree was getting out of hand, Joan quickly stopped the three men who had never taken care of a child before.
"Children will have indigestion if they eat too much, especially at night."
Joan found a small plate, put a few pieces of lean meat and some shrimp on the baking tray, and then took some fresh fruit and placed them in front of the small book.
"You're not allowed to eat any more after you finish these."
Xiao Shu wrinkled her nose and glared angrily at the meddlesome, smelly man in front of her. This driver uncle was really nosy.
Since Otto and the others couldn't feed the dumplings, they started chatting listlessly about topics that interested them, mostly fashion-related matters.
Qiao An would occasionally chime in with a word, casually stuffing a piece of pork belly wrapped in lettuce into Lele's mouth.
When Secretary Jin mentioned the final design drafts of Yajin's new autumn/winter collection that she had inquired about at the company that day, Qiao An became interested and listened attentively. She then wrapped up another piece of meat and stuffed it directly into Du Xiaoruo's mouth.
Du Xiaoruo chewed on the crispy roasted pork belly, her face turning as red as a monkey's bottom, her eyes fixed on the table, too embarrassed to look up.
But Joan seemed completely oblivious to the fact that she had fed the wrong thing, and continued talking to Secretary Jin about Ya Jin.
Du Xiaoru swallowed the pork belly and took a sip of barley tea to calm herself down. Luckily, no one noticed her embarrassing situation.
After finishing their late-night snack, Qiao An drove Du Xiaoruo and the other two back home. When they were almost at the small villa, Qiao An parked the car on the side of the road and ran to the pharmacy to buy a box of digestive tablets.
After getting on the bus, Qiao An handed the pills to Lele, saying, "Adults take three pills, and children take two pills."
Lele took the pills, carefully divided two into two for Xiaoshu, and then broke off three more for Du Xiaoruo.
Xiao Shu pursed her lips and shook her head seriously, staring at Qiao An warily as she whispered a plot.
"Dad said you shouldn't eat anything given to you by strangers, especially small pills, because they want to harm you."
After saying that, he looked at Lele with a hint of surprise, "Didn't your dad tell you?"
Lele was even more surprised than him, and pointed at Qiao An, "Xiao Shu, did I forget to tell you that this is my dad?"
Xiao Shu suddenly realized, "I thought he was the driver."
Joan shook her head and started the car. This little brat must have eaten his brain along with the barbecue.
The next morning, after everyone had performed their usual embarrassing hip-twisting dance in front of the restaurant, Mu Hua called a meeting.
After everyone was seated, Mu Hua said,
"Because we were delayed yesterday, our tasks are becoming increasingly urgent. I have a suggestion."
"Based on my observation yesterday, I found that Xiaoruo's small cakes and ice cream are very popular. Some customers even took a few of our small cakes without buying anything. So I decided that starting today, the small cakes and ice cream will also be sold with clear prices, which will increase our turnover."
Ni An, being a professional in the catering industry, raised his hand to object after hearing Mu Hua's words.
"Brother Hua, since the small cakes and ice cream were initially complimentary, if we suddenly start charging for them, customers will inevitably feel resentful, which will negatively impact our restaurant's reputation."
Mu Hua thought for a moment,
“What you said makes sense, but I don’t think it’s a big problem, because the customers who came the day before yesterday may not come today, and the new customers who come today don’t know that the cake was free before.”
Mu Hua's words were so poignant that even Xia Qing, whose mood had plummeted due to her husband's infidelity, couldn't help but offer a reminder.
"But we're doing a live broadcast, and the whole country knows that the cupcakes are free."
Mu Hua: "...Let's just pretend they don't know."
In the live stream room,
This is probably the most brazen consumer scam and livestream fraud in history.
I've never heard a louder conspiracy.
Even though I know I'm being exploited, I'm still willing to patronize Beibei's Restaurant because these people are my current source of happiness. Without this show, I would lose my joy forever.
With revenue pressure looming, everyone ultimately decided to start charging for small cakes and ice cream as well.
Mu Hua even made a formal phone call to the price bureau to check the prices of these two items, and then compared them with the prices of restaurants of the same level. The cupcakes were priced at 8 yuan each, and the ice cream scoops at 12 yuan each.
After finalizing the price, Mu Hua went to the kitchen to tell Du Xiaoruo the good news.
"How about it, Xiaoruo? You probably never thought you could make money from your own cakes, right? You must be overjoyed!"
Du Xiaoruo pursed her lips and returned Mu Hua a polite and courteous smile.
I never expected that the cakes made by the head chef would only cost 8 yuan each.
Because the feedback on the small cakes had been very good, and sales were expected to be good as well, Du Xiaoruo spent the whole morning in the kitchen making cakes.
At lunchtime, I thought of sneaking into the kitchen and showing off with a touch of demureness.
"Auntie, come out and see! My dad gave my mom a super, super, super big bouquet of red roses."
Du Xiaoruo put down the piping bag she was holding and, under Xiangxiang's expectant gaze, walked to the kitchen doorway. There, in the living room, was a large bouquet of bright red roses.
When she worked at the Earl Hotel, she often encountered marriage proposals. Based on Du Xiaoruo's experience, this bouquet of roses must have at least a thousand flowers.
Qiao Qingchuan, dressed in a suit and looking quite respectable, stood beside the roses. He took out a jewelry box from his pocket, opened it, and inside was a sapphire necklace.
"Honey, you must be tired from participating in the show."
Then he took two steps forward, embraced Xia Qingye, and whispered in her ear, "I love you."
The scene of such a high-profile declaration of love made the viewers in the live stream go wild.
Wow, what an amazing love story! They've been married for six years and are still this romantic.
[I'm just sitting at home being fed dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection), but beautiful love is always something to be happy about.]
Am I the only one who thinks this is all a show? What normal couple would publicly display their love like this? It feels so fake.
I also think it's so fake. Xia Qing is clearly...
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