Chapter 104: Chapter 104: Jun Qingmeng Feels Wronged

Jun Qingmeng kicked her legs a little.

"I’m okay, I guess," she mumbled. "I’m pretty easy to please. Just being with Jiang Liu makes me happy. Even though he rejected my confession, he didn’t kick me out. He still cooks for me, and he’s concerned about me sometimes. Basically, I feel everything with him—happiness, sadness, anger, heartache... all of it."

Guo Jia was dumbfounded.

Jun Qingmeng continued to pour her heart out:

"Sometimes I get so mad at Jiang Liu, wondering why he won’t accept me. But then I think about it, and I know he has his own troubles. I can’t put more pressure on him."

"If, one day, he wants me to leave, I’ll go quietly. I’ll just go hide in a corner and cry by myself."

As she spoke, her eyes, peeking over the couch, grew moist.

She always suffered in secret, always thinking of others.

In the end, she swallowed all her grievances alone.

Guo Jia sighed. "Ah, that wretched love-addled brain of yours... I don’t think this is just a crush. You’re deeply, utterly in love."

Jun Qingmeng shook her head. "I am not!"

"Right, right, you’re not. You’re the heartless Master Extinction."

"Tomorrow, you should just kidnap Jiang Liu, lock him in a dark room, and make him cook for you. And if you want to get intimate, just tie him to the bed and torture him until he screams, haha."

"Haha."

The two of them burst out laughing.

Guo Jia downloaded a rental app on her phone.

She made an appointment with the landlord.

They would meet at Huasheng District tomorrow morning to finalize the price.

"Let’s pack our things first. We don’t want to be scrambling to pack when it’s time to move. I’ll try not to take a day off work tomorrow if I can help it."

"Okay, but I have a lot of stuff. You have to help me, Qingmeng."

Guo Jia put on a long face.

She had a ton of stuff: her streaming equipment, cartoon plushies, costumes, and what not.

Jun Qingmeng tidied up her own small room meticulously.

She even checked under the bed.

A girl’s underwear couldn’t be left behind. What if some pervert found it and started holding it every day while doing... certain things? How disgusting.

Jun Qingmeng took out her phone and sent Jiang Liu a message:

"I’ve packed my bags. Guess what I’m doing?"

Jiang Liu was lying on the sofa, watching TV with Tongtong, who was munching on dried figs.

He replied in confusion: "You’re going on a trip?"

Jun Qingmeng: "Aiya, silly. I’m moving. And to your floor, no less!"

Jiang Liu was stunned. "You’re moving in here??"

Jun Qingmeng was in a great mood. "Surprised? You should consider being my boyfriend. If the price is right tomorrow, I’m moving in."

"And my bestie is coming too, hehe!"

For a moment, Jiang Liu didn’t know how to respond.

Jun Qingmeng didn’t get a reply and began to feel anxious.

She sent another message: "You don’t want me to come?"

Of course, Jiang Liu had no reason to stop her.

Although he didn’t like a lot of commotion, if Jun Qingmeng lived next door, she wouldn’t have to travel back and forth anymore.

As for how he felt about it, he couldn’t quite say. He supposed he wanted her to, but that felt strange. But he didn’t not want her to, either.

Jiang Liu replied: "No, I was just thinking that with you two as neighbors, I’ll probably have to make two extra bowls of rice from now on."

Jun Qingmeng immediately replied: "(Hugs)"

Jun Qingmeng: "Are you thinking about accepting me? If you are, can you just agree already? I really, really like you!"

One minute later...

Jun Qingmeng: "What are you doing, sweetie? Why are you ignoring me?"

’Are all women like this nowadays?’ Jiang Liu was speechless. ’Or am I just out of touch with the times?’

Jiang Liu: "Are you done packing? Do you need me to find someone to help?"

Money was the one thing he didn’t lack.

Hiring some help online would only cost a hundred yuan or so.

Jun Qingmeng was thrilled. "No need, I’m already done! Are you worried about me?"

Jiang Liu: "If you’re done, go to bed early. I have to give this little one a bath."

Jun Qingmeng: "Okay, I’ll be waiting for you."

Tongtong was munching away on her dried figs. CHOMP CHOMP.

Whenever she saw an exciting scene in her cartoon, her little feet would kick about happily.

Jiang Liu patted her little leg. "Bath time. You can watch the rest when you get back."

"Can I finish this episode first? Please, Dad?"

"Fine."

"Mwah! Love you, Dad."

「Half an hour later.」

Jiang Liu and Tongtong, fresh from a hot bath, lay on the sofa with the air conditioner blasting.

He took a moment to check his system’s backend.

Good Praise Points: [46758].

That was his earnings for less than a day.

What disappointed Jiang Liu was that the fourth page still wasn’t ready.

He figured the book either needed to be charged or would only appear when he was about to reach the required number of Good Praise Points.

’Or is it just broken?’

Just then, his phone chimed. DING.

Jiang Liu subconsciously assumed it was Jun Qingmeng.

He picked it up and saw it was a video call request from Yang Yixue.

’Is she crazy, calling this late at night?’

Jiang Liu inwardly grumbled.

He rejected the call without a second thought.

As expected,

a flood of messages followed.

Yang Yixue: "Why did you reject the call?"

Yang Yixue: "I miss my daughter. I want to video call and interact with Tongtong."

Yang Yixue: "??"

Jiang Liu turned to Tongtong, who was playing with building blocks on the side, and asked, "Your mother wants to video call you. Should I accept?"

Tongtong’s eyes lit up.

Mommy?

"Is it Qingmeng’s Mother?"

Jiang Liu flicked her on the forehead.

Tongtong rubbed the back of her head pitifully.

"It’s Yang Yixue!" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"She’s not my mommy. Tongtong doesn’t want to video call."

Tongtong turned her body, presenting her butt to Jiang Liu, and went back to playing with her blocks.

Jiang Liu replied: "Sorry, Tongtong refused."

Yang Yixue flipped and replied instantly: "On what grounds? You have no right to refuse me a video call with Tongtong!"

"I’m Tongtong’s mother. How could she not want to see me? Let me video call her, I want to ask her myself."

"Jiang Liu, we just had a little spat. Do you have to treat me like this? You won’t even let me see my own daughter?"

In her eyes, Jiang Liu was the one causing trouble.

Jiang Liu replied without expression. Yang Yixue could no longer cause the slightest ripple in his heart.

"Believe it or not, Tongtong really doesn’t want to see you. Have you forgotten how you used to treat her? Don’t you have any self-awareness?"

"And, I’m giving you a serious warning. If you bully Tongtong on the next visitation day, I’ll see you in court."

Yang Yixue: "?????"

She sounded aggrieved. "I just want to see my daughter, and you come at me with guns blazing!"

Jiang Liu couldn’t be bothered to reply.

His dad had also sent a message a few minutes ago.

Jiang Dahai: "Photo."

"Watermelons from the vegetable patch back home. Not bad, right? There are lots of cucumbers and other vegetables too."

"If your shop needs them, I’ll send them all over."

"What’s my precious granddaughter up to? Does she miss me?"

Jiang Liu replied: "They look good. Very green and healthy. My shop isn’t lacking anything right now, so you and Mom should eat them. Tongtong doesn’t miss you."

Jiang Dahai was glum. "Fine, if she doesn’t miss me, she doesn’t miss me. This stern old grandpa isn’t as close to her as you are anyway."

"Is money tight? I got a commendation the other day and received a bonus of a few thousand."

Jiang Liu: "No need. You spend it. I can make my own money."

Jiang Dahai pouted, assuming his son was just bragging.

On the sofa next to him, Lin Qiu asked with a gentle smile, "What’s wrong? Missing your son and granddaughter?"

Jiang Dahai was stubborn. "No. Why would I miss them? The children will make their own way in life."

Lin Qiu continued sewing an insole, seeing right through him but not calling him on it. "If our son has some free time, how about we go visit them? Are you free?"

Jiang Dahai was tempted. "Whatever," he said nonchalantly. "I don’t have much going on lately. We can go see that little rascal and his rascal of a daughter."

"They’re probably having a tough time. We should bring lots of food."

Lin Qiu chuckled. "As if you have it easy. Let’s not tell Jiang Liu about this. We’ll go secretly so we don’t bother them."

...

Jiang Liu played with the building block castle with Tongtong for a while.

He glanced at the time on the wall.

9:10 PM.

A sudden wave of sleepiness washed over him.

Beside him, Tongtong kicked her legs, stretched, and also started to feel sleepy.

Jiang Liu set his alarm.

Just as he was about to sleep, another message arrived from Jun Qingmeng.

Jun Qingmeng: "(Unhappy) Still not done washing up? Did you fall asleep in the bathroom?"

Jun Qingmeng: "I’m sleepy. Getting ready for bed."

Jun Qingmeng: "Can you say good night to me?"

Jiang Liu read the messages.

He replied "good night" and fell asleep.

The night passed quickly.

「Morning.」

Jiang Liu and Tongtong brushed their teeth, washed up, and packed her little backpack.

They drove their little car toward the wet market.

Tongtong dozed off again in the car, drooling on her backpack.

「Five o’clock sharp.」

Jiang Liu parked the car near the market.

He walked over to the stone lions, holding the clingy Tongtong.

As expected, Jun Qingmeng was waiting there prettily.

A smile played on her lips; she seemed to be in a great mood.

"Good morning, Jiang Liu. Did you dream of me last night?"

"No."

Jiang Liu answered honestly, then asked, "What time did you get here?"

He was curious. Was Jun Qingmeng not tired at all?

What Jiang Liu didn’t know was how powerful the desire to see someone you love could be.

Jun Qingmeng shook her head. "Just a little bit before you."

"Okay."

Tongtong was much more awake now.

Her little eyes darted between her father and Teacher Qingmeng.

"Teacher Qingmeng, I missed you! Give Tongtong a hug."

"Okay."

Jun Qingmeng skillfully took Tongtong from Jiang Liu’s arms.

Tongtong happily nuzzled against Jun Qingmeng’s chest, inhaling her scent with a look of pure contentment.

"Wow, Teacher Qingmeng smells even better than yesterday! It smells so good."

"Dad, do you want to come smell? It’s really, really nice."