The two of them teased each other for a bit, keeping their voices low so they wouldn’t wake Tongtong.
Jun Qingmeng laughed until tears came to her eyes. She shifted into a more comfortable position, resting her head against Jiang Liu’s.
"Sleep now, honey?"
"Okay."
"Honey, you’ll never leave me, right?"
"Of course not. Why would I leave you? As long as you don’t cross a line."
"And what would that be?" Jun Qingmeng asked, feigning ignorance.
"What do you think? Cheating."
"I’d never do that." Jun Qingmeng was like a little kitten. "I’m perfectly happy with just you. And you can satisfy me, right?"
"Mmm..." Jiang Liu hummed in response.
"Honey, I really want to make you my husband right now. The kind that’s certified by the government."
Jun Qingmeng said shyly, "Do you hate it when I’m like this? I just like you so much!"
’She just wanted to claim Jiang Liu as hers as quickly as possible, so no one could steal her man away.’
"I don’t hate it, I actually quite like it. I feel like you’re very cute sometimes, and a little proud at other times. Also, you’re just like Tongtong—you both get shy easily."
"Is that so."
Jun Qingmeng looked at Jiang Liu with a probing gaze.
"Go to sleep." Jiang Liu gently patted Jun Qingmeng’s back.
He had only patted her a few times.
Jun Qingmeng already felt drowsy. She yawned sleepily, and in less than a minute, she was fast asleep.
Jiang Liu smiled. ’My daughter and my girlfriend are both pretty easy to lull to sleep.’
He picked up his phone and took a look.
After deducting operating costs, he now had a total of about 8.2 million saved up across his two bank cards.
It was a huge sum of money.
Jiang Liu did a quick calculation. After deducting all the miscellaneous costs, the two shops combined brought in a daily revenue of over 900,000.
Almost a million.
He planned to save up some more money and then find a way to expand the old shop.
The old shop was his foundation. A new shop would need to be renovated, and he’d have to prepare for its opening.
He also had a bunch of employees to support.
There would be no shortage of expenses in the future.
’I need to save more. Nothing makes you feel more secure than money!’
Jiang Liu thought to himself. He had experienced the hardship of being broke, so he cherished every penny he earned now.
「The next morning.」
Tongtong got out of bed obediently. Today, she wasn’t excited, but she wasn’t upset either.
The three of them washed up and got ready.
Today, Jun Qingmeng wore a beige knit cardigan over a short-sleeved shirt, paired with a white skirt that fell past her knees and white sneakers.
A very pure yet alluring look, but still conservative.
Jiang Liu drove them to the wet market for a quick trip.
It had rained yesterday, so the air was a little cool this morning, and the road was a patchwork of wet and dry spots.
When they got back to the shop’s entrance, Aunt Meng, Aunt Xu, and a group of other seniors were already chattering away in line, excitedly gossiping about the latest happenings on Yangzhai Street.
For example, how some big boss had fainted while waiting in line.
Or how some CEO had brought his mistress, thirty years his junior, to line up with him.
The stories got more and more exaggerated.
"Boss Jiang, you’re here!"
"Tongtong, you’re looking even prettier today, haha! Come give Auntie a hug?"
"No, thank you," Jiang Tongtong refused shyly.
’If it were a man, she would just ignore him. What if Daddy got jealous over his little cutie?’
’What could she do? She was a total daddy’s girl.’
Everyone greeted Jiang Liu enthusiastically, and the big bosses who had come early to line up gave him friendly nods.
Xia Changzhi was arm-wrestling with Uncle Liu and a few others.
"This is too boring. How about we play a different way?"
Uncle Liu said.
"Heh, you’re just soft. I bet you weren’t all that in your younger days either. Go on, what’s the new game?"
"Who are you calling soft, you little punk!?"
Uncle Liu’s face flushed red as he retorted angrily, "How about a game of Fried Golden Flower? Two cards, one flick to the forehead. Max of three flicks, doubles for a three-of-a-kind. Do you dare?"
"Tch, is that all? And here I was thinking it was something serious. Bring it on! Watch me flick your scalp off today!"
Jun Qingmeng and Tongtong had strange expressions on their faces.
’Two cards, one flick?’
’These old-timers sure play rough.’
’At this rate, wouldn’t their foreheads crack open by the end of the deck?’
Jiang Liu just smiled.
He didn’t think much of it.
He had great faith in the durability of the old men’s foreheads.
After all, they practiced every day. He wouldn’t be worried even if they were headbutting bricks.
「Back in the shop.」
Jiang Tongtong was crouched on the floor peeling potatoes. She did it very gently, trying not to waste any.
Jun Qingmeng tucked her skirt in and squatted to one side, filling juice bottles.
At 6:10 AM, Secretary Wang arrived to pick up the food.
He had dark circles under his eyes and his lips were dry.
"Good morning, Boss Jiang. Good morning, Miss. Good morning, Tongtong."
He greeted them politely.
Jiang Liu already had the order ready and handed it to him.
There were two bags in total.
One bag contained thirty-five buns, a serving of tuna stir-fried with garlic sprouts, a serving of twice-cooked pork, and a large round container of seafood nutrition porridge.
The other bag was for Secretary Wang himself: ten buns, a small portion of twice-cooked pork, and a small portion of seafood nutrition porridge.
"Secretary Wang, you didn’t sleep well last night? You don’t look so good."
Jiang Liu asked with concern, glancing at Secretary Wang.
"Sigh, I only got four hours of sleep."
Secretary Wang took the bags, feeling touched. "Well, President Jun had me work overtime last night. The branch factory here in South City is all set up, and the machinery has been delivered. I had to coordinate the employee transfers."
"I was busy with that until one in the morning. Sigh, life as a salaryman is tough."
Jiang Liu nodded.
For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.
He wanted to kindly advise the other man to get some rest, but then he thought that such words would sound hollow coming from him.
Besides, this was a matter for Uncle Jun’s company, so it wasn’t his place to interfere.
Jun Qingmeng frowned, glanced at her man who seemed to be holding his tongue, and suddenly said, "Secretary Wang, if you’re really that tired, how about I ask for a day off for you?"
It was rare for her to show concern for an outsider.
The main reason was that she had just seen the expression on her big baby’s face and decided to speak up for him.
"There’s no need, Miss."
Secretary Wang quickly waved his hands, smiling, looking a bit overwhelmed by the favor. "It’s not that bad. It’s normal to work overtime occasionally, and it’s not a regular thing. Besides, President Jun is usually very considerate of my personal life."
Jiang Liu said, "Eat a good meal when you get back. It looks like you’re not getting enough nutrition. Doesn’t your company have a cafeteria?"
"It does, but the food is terrible."
Secretary Wang felt a warmth spread through him at the concern. "It’s mainly because after eating your buns, Boss Jiang, my standards have gotten too high, haha."
"If you like them, I’ll prepare a portion for you too every time you come."
"Really? Thanks, Boss Jiang!"
Secretary Wang was endlessly grateful.
He really did love Jiang Liu’s cooking; his wife and kids at home clamored for it every day.
But Boss Jiang was, after all, President Jun’s future son-in-law, so he didn’t dare ask.
If he ended up tiring out Boss Jiang, the Young Miss would kick him to death before Jun Xinghe even had a chance to peel his skin off.
Not daring to impose any longer, Secretary Wang took the food and left in a hurry.
「After he left.」
Jiang Liu had a meal with the two ’babies’ of the house.
After they finished eating, it was time for the two of them to go to kindergarten.
As expected... the "mother-daughter" pair started ganging up again to resist school.
"Daddy."
"Honey."
The same pitiful expression appeared on both of their beautiful faces.
Their reluctant, wronged expressions almost made Jiang Liu’s heart melt.
...