At 7 a.m., the alarm clock in the staff dormitory living room rang out like a death knell.
Amidst the deafening ringing of the alarm clock, Mu Hua, his hair a mess from sleep, slipped on his slippers and yawned as he walked out. He turned off the alarm, yanked off the towel covering the webcam, and knocked on each door to wake everyone up.
About ten minutes later, the doors to the rooms opened one after another, and the family members of Beibei Restaurant, who had stayed up all night watching anime and were forced to get up early this morning, came out. They all looked exhausted and had a sense of being on the verge of death.
Fortunately, based on the business performance over the past few days, we should be able to reach the 200,000 yuan revenue target ahead of schedule after today. If we continue like this, a few of us will die of exhaustion sooner or later.
Mu Hua was washing Xiao Shu's face in the bathroom when she accidentally touched Xiao Shu's stitches. The little rascal stood on a small stool in front of the sink, hands on his hips, pouting and pointing at the wound on his forehead in protest.
"If you can't do it, go and call my mom, Xiaoruo, to wash me."
"I understand." Mu Hua sighed helplessly, walked out of the room, and knocked on the door of the room next door.
Du Xiaoruo opened the door, revealing her face, where she had just finished applying makeup to half of her eyebrows.
It's still early, but there are already a few people in the live stream.
[Hahaha, Xiaoruo looks so funny, her eyebrows are uneven.]
Although, I still think she is beautiful.
Xiaoruo has a really strong presence. Although she's not the kind of stunning beauty that catches your eye at first glance, she grows more beautiful the longer you look at her. Plus, she has a great personality, making her practically my dream wife.
[Wake up, upstairs. Wipe the drool from your mouth. The woman you're dreaming of is Mr. Ha's wife. Think about the difference between you and Mr. Ha.]
[Thanks to the person upstairs, I'm instantly sober now. Time to get back to my dead-or-death job.]
"May I ask? Which direction should I kowtow in to find a husband like Mr. Ha?"
[No direction is working. Wake up, you're a graduate school applicant, it's time to go to the library.]
"Shall I wash my face?" Du Xiaoruo asked softly.
"Yes." Mu Hua handed the towel in his hand to Du Xiaoruo, "You're the only one who needs to wash this brat. Thank you for your trouble."
"It's okay." Xiaoruo pushed open the door to her bedroom and came out.
She was wearing a onesie Elizabethan duck pajama. Because her makeup wasn't finished, Du Xiaoruo pulled the duck's head up to cover her face. She floated across the living room like a clumsy big white duck flapping its wings.
What just floated by?
[She's my wife, hahaha.]
[These pajamas are so cute! Xiaoruo is truly a breath of fresh air in the livestreaming world. At least other wealthy ladies wear silk pajamas, but she's just an adorable, silly white duck, hahaha.]
Xiao Ruo walked into the bathroom of Mu Hua's bedroom. Xiao Shu saw the familiar big white duck and immediately opened her arms for a warm hug.
"Time to wash your face." Xiaoruo's voice came from behind the duck's head, a little muffled, but it made her sound even cuter.
Xiao Shu obediently raised her little face, and Du Xiaoruo treated it as if she were putting cream on a cake, making very gentle movements and trying not to touch the wound with a wet towel.
After washing her face, she applied medicine to Xiaoshu with cotton swabs, gently blowing on it while rubbing the cool liquid onto the wound.
Three days have passed since the injury, and Xiao Shu's wound doesn't look too scary anymore. But after applying the red medicine, it looks particularly gruesome. Her originally soft and cute appearance suddenly has such a terrifying scar, which looks heartbreaking.
I'm so heartbroken. The little book is so cute, what kind of monster is that kid who pushed people?
I don't know if it will leave a scar. It's so heartbreaking. Some kids are just born bad. Xiao Shu clearly didn't do anything to him.
[Mu Hua stated on her social media account that the child pushed the book because he was upset after being reprimanded for making noise.]
Is there really no law that can deal with this kind of scoundrel?
[Forget it, don't even mention a five or six-year-old child. Qiao Qingchuan is in his thirties. He committed rape and attempted murder, and he's still getting away with it, isn't he?]
[I really don't understand Qiao Qingchuan's situation. Why didn't he go in?]
[This is probably another one of Kim Hee-jin's tricks. This mother and son are truly wicked.]
Mu Hua pushed the door open and came in. "Xiao Ruo, our car is blocked. I'll go down and move it first. After you're all ready, wait for me at the main gate."
"Okay." Xiaoru put down the cotton swab and took the little book off the stool.
Because it took some time to help Xiaoshu change her clothes, after Xiaoruo finished getting ready, only Lele and Xiaoshu were left waiting for her in the dormitory.
At the end of the corridor, just as the elevator doors were about to close, Qiao An, who was also about to leave for work, saw them come out and reached out to hold the elevator door shut.
After the three of them walked in, Qiao An pressed the close button again, and the elevator smoothly descended.
"Good morning, Dad." Lele bowed slightly to greet Qiao An.
Finding it amusing, Xiao Shu imitated Lele's manner, awkwardly bowing to Qiao An, "Good morning, Mr. Ha, Dad."
Joanne ruffled their two curly hairs and said, "Good morning."
Qiao An pretended to be casual but actually deliberately glanced at Du Xiaoruo. Seeing that Du Xiaoruo was staring at the elevator buttons as if she was looking at them very seriously, Qiao An hesitated whether to take the initiative to greet her.
As he hesitated, Joan felt something hug his leg.
With a lowered head, Xiao Shu wrapped herself around Qiao An's leg like a little dumpling, then raised her face and looked at Qiao An with pleading eyes, as if she were begging for something.
To be honest, although Xiao Shu is very cute, the wound on her face makes her look rather scary.
"What are you doing?" Qiao An was confused and afraid of touching his wound, so she stiffened up.
Du Xiaoruo finally turned around and smiled when she saw Xiaoshu like this. "He's being affectionate. You should give him some comforting."
"Huff, huff, how do you huff?"
Du Xiaoruo half-squatted down, gently blew two breaths on Xiaoshu's forehead, then raised her eyelids to look at Qiao An, indicating that he should do the same.
In that instant, the air froze again.
The child might not realize it, but the adults understood. Du Xiaoruo's head was in a very awkward position, and she was pouting.
Oh my god, in that instant, Joan felt as if something had exploded in his mind, and the dazzling colors of fireworks made it hard for him to breathe.
Du Xiaoruo immediately stood up, staring awkwardly at the elevator button screen, her heart pounding, and all the blood rushing to her cheeks.
The elevator was so slow today.
Joanne blew on the little book a couple of times, then carefully took it off her lap and put it aside.
When the elevator reached the first floor, Qiao An rushed out like a gust of wind, so fast that he was almost invisible. He ran around like a headless fly for two big laps, attracting the attention of the elderly people who were doing their morning exercise. Only then did they realize that their car was parked on the second basement level.
Back in the elevator, Du Xiaoruo and the others had long since left, but the small elevator space seemed to still retain the fresh grapefruit scent emanating from her, causing another jolt in her heart.
After a night of revelry, Du Tiancheng awoke from his blissful reverie to find himself in a dimly lit bar. Gone was the nighttime revelry; the bar was desolate and bleak during the day, filled with the stench of rotten food and drink.
Du Tiancheng was in a VIP room. Several other people, like him, were lying haphazardly on the floor, half-asleep and half-awake, each with a dazed and blank expression on their faces.
On the coffee table were some loose pieces of tin foil, a few messy cigarettes, and some syringe needles and other similar items.
After a brief mental blank, Du Tiancheng recalled Qiao An's threat a few days ago. Du Xiaoruo's money plus the compensation for the pearl button would amount to nearly 25 million. Where was he going to find such a large sum of money?
But if he didn't pay, he remembered Joan's gesture of putting her fingers to her lips as if she were smoking. She must know about his affairs. If Joan reported him, he would fall from heaven to hell.
The owner of the small bar came to urge them to leave. Du Tiancheng got up from the sofa, washed his face in the bathroom in the corridor, and walked out of the small bar with unsteady steps.
Du Tiancheng was incapable of making money, but he never hesitated to spend it. He was also never stingy with his food, and he took a taxi to the best Cantonese teahouse in Wencheng for breakfast.
The teahouse lobby was noisy; usually, expensive places are quiet, and the value of the ambiance is included in the price. But this teahouse served excellent food. Although a breakfast costing over 100 yuan per person wasn't cheap, it was always packed with people because of its delicious food.
Du Tiancheng ordered Golden Shakespeare, shrimp dumplings, and a plate of steamed chicken feet with lily bulbs. After taking his food, he found an empty seat in a corner and sat down.
He had just sat down when a tall man came in and, without asking if anyone was there, took the empty seat opposite him.
After the person sat down, various snacks were continuously served, quickly filling the round table.
Du Tiancheng was feeling weak and had little interest in other things, but seeing this person eating such a large meal all by himself still made him look up.
Upon seeing this, Du Tiancheng immediately exclaimed, "President Qiao?"
Sitting at the round table opposite was Qiao Qingchuan. About a year ago, Du Tiancheng went to a clothing accessories trade fair, and Qiao Qingchuan, as a giant in the clothing industry, also attended the trade fair as a key guest.
At the trade fair, Qiao Qingchuan and Du Tiancheng met. At the dinner afterwards, the two drank a bit more and started chatting. Qiao Qingchuan learned that Du Tiancheng had a younger sister in her early twenties who was very beautiful but simple-minded, lacking both ability and cunning.
At that time, Qiao Qingchuan was worried that Qiao An would get ahead through a business marriage, so with Qiao Qingchuan's help, Du Xiaoruo was married to Qiao An.
This completely severed Qiao An's path to a business marriage, and Qiao Qingchuan had no further contact with Du Tiancheng afterward. Unexpectedly, they ran into each other here.
Du Tiancheng's face was ashen and pale, and Qiao Qingchuan was in no better shape. The recent events had been too devastating, and he had lost his former high spirits, looking like a stray dog.
After having breakfast, the two of them had nowhere to go, so they arranged to have tea at an elegant teahouse.
The tea master in the tea room knew Qiao Qingchuan. After entering the private room, Qiao Qingchuan reached out and pinched the woman's buttocks, then asked her to brew some good tea.
The tea master gave him a coquettish glare, then swayed her slender waist and left.
Through the rising steam of the tea, Du Tiancheng asked with a forced smile,
"Mr. Qiao, it's really your ability that you can still drink tea and eat snacks as if nothing happened after committing so many crimes. In an ordinary family, you would have been in jail eight hundred times over by now."
Qiao Qingchuan waved his hand dismissively.
"Who am I? Don't even mention my attempted murder; even if I did kill someone, they can't do anything to me. And as for that bitch Han Nianwei, damn it, it's been ten years, and there's no evidence at all."
Du Tiancheng picked up his teacup, took a sip, and echoed,
"That's right, that's right."
After uttering those harsh words, the dejection on Qiao Qingchuan's face quietly returned. He sighed.
"I've been having a lot of troubles lately. The company is being heavily affected by public opinion and there are loopholes everywhere. My mom is ignoring me, so I'm really worried."
Du Tiancheng's eyes darted around erratically.
"Mr. Qiao, there are so many interesting things in this world. You're upset because you keep dwelling on these unhappy things."
"What's so exciting? Have you been seeing any women lately?"
Du Tiancheng smiled obsequiously, "Much more fun than women, are you interested?"
"Really?" Qiao Qingchuan's light brown eyes lit up. "Come on, it's on me no matter how much it costs."
Du Tiancheng swallowed his tea, and the gloom that had been building up in his heart for so long vanished. Using the Qiao family's money to fill the Qiao family's hole, that's damn brilliant. If Qiao Qingchuan hadn't been sitting opposite him, he would have loved to stand up and wiggle around, praising himself as a little genius.
After finishing their day's business, Beibei Restaurant was at the table. Muhua and Lele were calculating the accounts, filling in all the revenue in a spreadsheet and summing it up.
Mu Hua pointed to the number that appeared on the screen: 199950. He was just 50 yuan short of completing the task.
The restaurant was filled with groans. They thought they could finally relax tomorrow, but a mere 50 yuan short, just one gelato away from their goal, meant they had to get up early and stay open for another day for that tiny 50 yuan. It was a bolt from the blue, a devastating blow.
Ni An lay flat on the chair, her eyes vacant. Let it be, she thought, she couldn't do anything anyway. Now even her nightmares were about making hot pot broth.
Xia Qing glanced at the camera and whispered a secret plot.
"How about this, we ask nearby netizens to come and buy another gelato for us, and that will solve the problem."
Helpful netizens,
"Sure, I'll take a taxi now. My house isn't far from Luofeng Street; it should only take about 20 minutes if there's no traffic."
[Don't move, upstairs. I'll do it. I'll ride an electric scooter; there's no traffic.]
Director Kang, who had been outside the monitor the whole time, appeared in the camera with a smile.
"Everyone, please respect the rules of the game. Guests cannot use their fame to explicitly or implicitly encourage fans to make purchases at the store. Since you have already incited netizens, from now on, anyone who enters the store will be considered an invalid customer."
As soon as Director Kang finished speaking, he saw Qiao An walk past him carrying a large bag.
He walked straight to Lele and handed her the bag. "Isn't your school uniform too short? Secretary Jin went to pick up a new one for you today, and I brought it over on my way."
After saying that, Qiao An felt that the atmosphere on set was a bit off. Why were they all looking at him with such hungry eyes? Director Kang even felt like stabbing someone.
The viewers in the live stream almost laughed themselves silly.
[Hahaha, it's all thanks to you, Mr. Ha! You're a lifesaver for Beibei Restaurant.]
[Beibei Restaurant's cheat codes are a bit too much, they're practically cheating all the time.]
[No, Director Kang just said that from now on, everyone who comes into the store is considered an invalid customer. Mr. Ha was also just here.]
[Besides, Mr. Ha isn't really a guest; he's here to deliver school uniforms to Lele, not to make a purchase.]
Director Kang sighed, his tone utterly helpless. "No, Mr. Ha, why do you keep coming to our restaurant all the time?"
"Who said I'm fine?" Joan waved a high-end-looking white paper bag in her hand. "I'm just delivering clothes to my son."
"That......"
Director Kang was speechless. It was normal for people to give gifts to their sons, and Qiao An's appearances always brought a lot of viewership to the show, so Director Kang couldn't say anything.
Ni An reacted quickly, rushing to the monitor to replay the recording.
"Mr. Ha came in before Director Kang spoke, and he had already walked to the restaurant area when Director Kang spoke."
"Yes!"
Lele clenched her fist and waved it in front of her. When it really matters, Dad is the one who comes through.
Director Kang quickly calmed their already boiling emotions.
"Everyone, please note that Mr. Ha said he came to deliver clothes, so he is not a customer. Unless he intends to make a purchase, it will be considered a violation."
As soon as the director spoke, everyone fell silent, afraid that they might say something wrong and ruin this only hope. How could they get him to spend money on his own initiative?
Lele's big eyes lit up, and she came up with a solution.
He hopped up to Qiao An and asked, "Dad, what did you steal from me the day before the parent-teacher conference at the end of the semester?"
Ice cream.
Lele then asked, "What if we want to eat this again in the future?"
Joan, unaware of the whole story, looked like an idiot with his usually handsome face now staring wide-eyed and uncertainly asking, "Want to eat? Buy it yourself?"
"Yes!" Lele gave her father a thumbs up, praising him, "It makes a complete sentence."
Joan, "I want to buy ice cream?"
"Yes!" Lele cheered, raised her hand, jogged around the field, and high-fived everyone who was cheering.
Mu Hua immediately took out the restaurant's QR code and rushed to Qiao An, "Mr. Ha, an ice cream costs 50, thank you."
Qiao An was puzzled, but she still took out her phone and scanned the 50.
The moment they received the voice message "50 yuan received via WeChat," everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Wow, that's amazing! Lele and her dad's teamwork is incredible; it was a flawless performance!
[The ultimate cheat code, the best of the best.]
[However, this cheat is really weak; it even steals ice cream from kids.]
[I wonder what kind of psychological trauma Director Kang must have suffered, hahaha.]
Joan had only come to deliver a piece of clothing, but inexplicably ended up buying an ice cream, which she was now eating while sitting on a high stool next to the bar.
The taste was really good. Mr. Ha, who had no concept of small amounts of money, even felt that he had gotten a great deal by selling the ice cream for only 50 yuan. Everything was perfect, except for the little pufferfish book in front of him who was puffing up with anger.
The restaurant's ice cream had long been sold out. This ice cream was specially reserved by Du Xiaoruo for the three little ones as a reward for their hard work after a long day, but he ate it all.
"Give me a lick." Little Shu stared with her round little eyes. "Just a tiny lick."
"No." Mr. Ha refused decisively; the ice cream was so small that it wasn't even enough for him.
Xiao Shu pointed to the wound on her forehead and played her trump card, "But I'm already injured."
"It wasn't me who did it."
"...Hmph!" Little Book was so angry that snot bubbles came out of his nose.
[Hahaha, Qiao is half a year old, that's the most I can say.]
Seeing that the matter was already settled, Director Kang, after some internal struggle, finally announced...
"Congratulations everyone, the second phase of the mission is complete. The reward for the second phase is a day trip to the Fairy Tale Kingdom Amusement Park, which is for families. Parents, please spend a wonderful day with your children."
"Is it going to be another case of being broke and having to fend for ourselves?" Xia Qing asked, making it quite reasonable for the show to be so responsive to the program's tone.
Director Kang was surprisingly sincere this time.
"All expenses incurred by guests at the Fairy Tale Kingdom on the day will be covered by the program team. In addition, children can invite their parents to come and have fun as a family."
All eyes turned to Joan.
Of those present, only Du Xiaoruo's family of three is present and together; the remaining two are single-parent families, and one is a bachelor.
[The guests on this season's show are really unlucky, each one more unfortunate than the last. Xiaoruo, your family must hang in there!]
I have a lot of confidence in Mr. Ha; he shouldn't cause any major setbacks.
Qiao An instinctively rejects places like amusement parks, after all, he's a towering man of 1.87 meters, and he's long since given up on such childish places.
Before Qiao An could even refuse, the photography assistant came over with the outfits the guests would be wearing the next day.
The clothing consisted of T-shirts printed by the production team, all with the same design, but each family received a different color. Du Xiaoruo and Lele were given a blush pink T-shirt.
Ni An received a green T-shirt, which he held up to his body and seemed a little small. He then noticed the pink T-shirt was a bit bigger than his, so he asked Du Xiaoruo for her opinion.
"If Mr. Ha isn't going, can I wear this pink one?"
Du Xiaoruo didn't know whether Qiao An should go or not, so she turned to look at him and asked for his opinion with her eyes.
Qiao Anjin nodded reluctantly, "Since you want me to go, then I'll go."
Du Xiaoruo, “...Okay.”
[Mr. Ha, to be honest, we really don't see why Xiaoruo wants you to go. She's just normally asking for your opinion.]
[Ha is always the epitome of a person who says one thing but does another.]
[You're only reluctantly agreeing on the surface, but you're probably secretly overjoyed. Mr. Ha, I advise you to be sincere.]
The three little ones are going to the amusement park tomorrow, and they're so excited they're dancing with joy.
Mu Hua was also very pleased, after all, it was the team he led that had completed the task ahead of schedule for two consecutive phases.
"Everyone stay at the restaurant for dinner tonight and have a good celebration. Mr. Ha, don't leave either. Let's celebrate together tonight. After all, without you, there would be no Beibei Restaurant today."
Joanne nodded readily. "Okay, do you need any help?"
"I don't need your help. Would you like something to drink?" Mu Hua asked. "Our restaurant has very good draft beer."
“He can’t drink.” Du Xiaoruo, who had been sitting silently to the side, suddenly spoke up and said softly, “He has a bad stomach, so he shouldn’t drink.”
"Yes, yes, health is important." Mu Hua recalled that time in Guishan when Qiao An also had a stomachache after drinking ice-cold beer.
Joan leaned lazily against the bar, casually picked up her phone, and sent a message in the design department's chat group.
Being controlled by my wife is so annoying.
Secretary Kim quickly replied with a message: "The boss's wife is just concerned about you."
Otto, [So happy, starry-eyed.]
Yu Pan: [Envy and jealousy! The boss's wife is beautiful and kind-hearted; CEO Qiao must be so lucky.]
Joan put down her phone with a satisfied look on her face. She felt that the sunset was particularly beautiful today, and the birds outside were chirping especially sweetly.
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