The next day, Ling Dapeng went to work, and Zhou Xiaoyun even saw him off at the door.
"Dapeng, you promised you wouldn't betray me," Zhou Xiaoyun said softly, holding her son's hand.
Looking at Zhou Xiaoyun's distressed appearance, Ling Dapeng felt a pang of anxiety, realizing that his wife was acting like a resentful woman.
"Honey, I really won't do anything to betray you, so please don't overthink it!"
Zhou Xiaoyun held her son's hand and watched Ling Dapeng gradually disappear into the distance, like a statue waiting for its husband. Her heart was still heavy, and her face showed no sign of relief.
When Ling Dapeng entered Fuleyuan, everyone greeted him warmly. This contrast made Ling Dapeng sigh. Why couldn't his wife have an easier life?
"Ling Dapeng, you've arrived. Senior Sister is waiting for you," Zhou Yu said upon seeing Ling Dapeng.
Ling Dapeng's heart skipped a beat, but he still pretended to be nonchalant and replied, "Why did you wake me up so early in the morning? Is there something wrong?"
"I don't know, why don't you go and take a look?" Zhou Yu said casually, and then walked away.
Ling Dapeng went to Shishi's room with mixed feelings.
Inside the room, Shishi was dressed brightly, but her face was plain. When she saw Ling Dapeng come in, she smiled sweetly.
"Brother Dapeng, thank you for yesterday. I don't remember very clearly, but Zhou Yu said that thanks to you, I didn't fall."
"It's nothing, I just helped her up. If there's nothing else, I'll go back to the warehouse." Ling Dapeng looked at Shishi's clean and smiling face and couldn't help but compare her to Zhou Xiaoyun.
"Brother Dapeng, um... when you went back yesterday, was your wife unhappy?" Shishi asked tentatively. "If she's overthinking things, you'll have to explain yourself properly."
Thinking of Zhou Xiaoyun's crying and cursing last night, Ling Dapeng chuckled and said, "It's nothing, she's just a little temperamental, she'll be fine after she's vented her anger."
“Brother Dapeng, please take this hairpin back and give it to your wife. When a woman is angry, she always hopes that someone can coax her.” Shishi took out a silver hairpin and handed it to Ling Dapeng. “This hairpin is simple. I bought it for two taels of silver. I hope Brother Dapeng will not find it offensive.”
"Two ounces, just for a hairpin!" Ling Dapeng's eyes widened slightly, and he immediately refused, "Miss Shishi, that won't do. How can I use your things to coax my wife?"
"Brother Dapeng, do you have any money?" Shishi asked softly. "I know you give all your money to your wife to manage, so you don't have money to buy her a gift, right? I don't usually use this hairpin. If you take it to your wife, it will save you money and make her happy, wouldn't that be better?"
“But…this is yours!” Ling Dapeng felt this was inappropriate.
“If you don’t tell, no one will know,” Shishi said. “Besides, you helped me yesterday, so I should thank you!”
“But…” Ling Dapeng still wanted to refuse.
"Do you expect me to deliver it to your door myself?" Shishi asked hesitantly. "I don't want Brother Dapeng to affect his family because he helped me. Brother Dapeng, I'll feel uneasy if you do this."
"Well... alright!" Ling Dapeng took the silver hairpin and carefully put it away. "Shishi, thank you!" If only Xiaoyun were this considerate.
Shishi glanced at Ling Dapeng's expression and a slight smile appeared on her lips.
“Brother Dapeng, I’ll ask the manager another day to let you not go out with us tonight. After all, you have a wife and children waiting for you at home.” Shishi then added, “You’re different from us. We have no choice.”
"No need, Shishi, that's not right. Since I'm here to work, how can I be treated specially?" Ling Dapeng quickly advised. "Actually, back in the restaurant, we always waited until it closed before going home. Xiaoyun is good in every way, but she tends to overthink things."
"Your wife must be like this because she's having a hard time while pregnant!" Shishi said with emotion. "But, Brother Dapeng, it's not that I'm being mean, but your wife knows how hard you work to earn money. Taking good care of herself is the greatest support she can give you."
"Yes, she cried and fussed last night. I was exhausted when I got back, and she complained that I smelled bad and told me to wash myself clean," Ling Dapeng couldn't help but complain, but then he smiled sheepishly. "Shishi, let's not talk about this. Thank you for the hairpin. Xiaoyun should like it."
After Ling Dapeng finished speaking, he said goodbye to Shishi, citing that Leku had something to do.
As soon as Ling Dapeng left, Ye Fei, who lived in the next room, leaned against the door and said sarcastically, "When did your alcohol tolerance become so low? You can even fall into someone's arms when you get off a carriage?"
"It's not the wine that intoxicates, it's the person who gets drunk. Don't you understand, Sister Ye?" Shishi's smile faded, feeling that Ye Fei was being a bit nosy.
"I think his real intention is not what he seems," Ye Fei replied. "Shishi, our lives have been hard enough, you can't hurt others!"
“We shouldn’t be like this,” Shishi said with a stern face. “Besides, is it wrong for me not to want to stay in the Jiaosifang for the rest of my life?”
"But you can't just break up someone else's home!" Ye Fei retorted. "I heard what you were saying. Ling Dapeng has a wife and child, and his wife is pregnant. How can you be so shameless?"
“I’m going to be someone’s concubine, what’s there to be ashamed of?” Shishi said bluntly. “Who would marry a woman from the entertainment industry like us? I’m not forcing a position that isn’t mine, but I want to find a respectable man, so that at least my children won’t be from the entertainment industry anymore, is that not enough?”
Shishi's words left Ye Fei speechless for a moment. If they hadn't been forced into the entertainment industry, who among them would have been willing to become someone's concubine?
"You...you'd better watch yourself!" Unable to persuade him, Ye Fei turned and walked away.
Ling Dapeng was completely unaware that he had been set up; he genuinely found working here to be very easy.
Tao Wan's mother had no time to deal with her second son's affairs. She couldn't find a cook for the restaurant, but a cook did come instead.
"You really want to come to my Star-Picking Pavilion as a chef?" Previously, even the most skilled chefs refused to come, saying it was bad luck to share a kitchen with a woman. But after testing Zhao Yongsheng's culinary skills, Tao Wanniang looked at the short, stout middle-aged man in front of her with great confusion.
"You're already here, and you've passed the exam, so what's wrong with me?" Zhao Yongsheng said with a hint of arrogance.
"Then tell me, why do you want to come to my Star-Picking Tower?" Tao Wanniang asked.
"Isn't it your Star-Picking Pavilion that's hiring cooks? You need people, and I'm capable, so what's the problem?"
That's true, but Zhaixing Tower is currently very popular. Doesn't Tao Wan Niang have to be wary of someone trying to sabotage her?
"Didn't you all come to me yourselves? Why so many questions? You're so picky, woman. I want to see what you're capable of." Zhao Yongsheng sized up Tao Wanniang and said provocatively, "You name a problem, and we'll have a contest. Whoever wins gets to call the shots in the kitchen from now on. Do you dare?"
"Sure!" Tao Wan's mother readily agreed. After cooking every day, it was finally nice to have someone to add some fun to her life! "Then let's have a competition!"
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