Du Liya was a classic case of "once bitten, twice shy." She nagged her son endlessly, unable to stop herself. It was only when Shen Yi said he needed to sleep because he had class early the next morning that Du Liya finally let him go.

However, when Shen Yi returned to his room to get some rest, a sudden smile touched his lips.

His mom’s nagging could be annoying, but for some reason, this kind of mother-son interaction felt incredibly warm to him.

’This was the warmth I missed out on in my last life!’

**

The days flowed by, each one following a predictable routine. Aside from Du Liya and Shen Zhengfeng officially beginning their contentious divorce, nothing else had changed.

But some things, it seemed, were slowly starting to change.

Qin Jiao noticed that Chen Feng was growing more and more silent at school, while Lin Nian was becoming increasingly irritable. And as for Shen Yi... ever since she gave him that cactus, he hadn’t said or done anything strange. They would occasionally squeeze into the same small motorized tricycle on their way to or from school, their bodies bumping into each other awkwardly. Other than that, they were like perfectly ordinary classmates, never crossing any lines.

Qin Jiao breathed a sigh of relief.

’This is good.’

Qin Jiao’s parents’ breakfast stall stuck to their "hunger marketing" strategy. They were earning even more than before, and it was a lot less work too.

After all, it was freezing cold, and Qin Jiao didn’t want her parents to work too hard. Once they saved up enough money next year, they could open a proper shop in the provincial capital!

After Qin Jiao’s ’space’ expanded, the fish grew plump and she could start selling fresh mushrooms. On weekends, she would secretly move the goods out of her space and set up a stall at the wet market to sell them.

She didn’t make much money, and it was quite time-consuming.

As a result, Qin Jiao set her sights on a woman who often came to the market to buy produce. Her name was Jin Lan Hua, and she was the proprietress of the restaurant near the city hall building.

"Girlie, you’re here selling produce again? What have you got today?"

"Auntie, come have a look! Aren’t these mushrooms fresh?"

It wasn’t just about the mushrooms. In those days, vegetables were scarce in the north during the dead of winter. Most families ate little more than potatoes, radishes, and napa cabbage. Fresh mushrooms were a real novelty.

But for Jin Lan Hua to run such a successful business, she had to be a shrewd operator. In the dead of winter, you could hardly find fresh mushrooms like these in the entire market. ’This young girl looks like she’s still in school,’ she thought. ’Where did she get them?’

"Girlie, where did you get these mushrooms?"

"Oh, my parents grow them. They run a breakfast stall, also near the city hall building. They grew more mushrooms than they could use, so I said I’d bring them out to sell. It’s the same with our other vegetables. That’s why, you see, I can only come out here once a week."

Jin Lan Hua actually had a vague impression of Qin Zhonghui and his wife. Mainly because everyone knew their spot had high foot traffic, and many had tried to snatch it, only to fail in the end. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Everyone said it was uncanny. They were all selling the same steamed buns, but Old Qin and his wife’s were somehow the most delicious!

Jin Lan Hua’s family ran a restaurant, so she had bought from them before and found that they were indeed more delicious.

’It’s probably because they grow good vegetables!’

Later, Jin Lan Hua happened to run into Qin Jiao at the market. She bought a few fish and some vegetables, and business was excellent for the next few days. The customers who came to eat all said the food was delicious.

Jin Lan Hua immediately waved her hand magnanimously. "I’ll take all these mushrooms. But you have to give me a bit of a discount."

Qin Jiao started bagging the mushrooms with delight. As she worked, she said, "Auntie, don’t even try to bargain with me. There aren’t many, and their real value is in their freshness. Whether you use them for stir-fried pork with mushrooms or any other dish, I guarantee they’ll be more delicious than anyone else’s!"