"No, if I become ice cream, I’ll be eaten."

Tongtong shook her head in fear, her little legs swinging back and forth as she lay on her stomach on the bed.

Jiang Liu held Tongtong in his arms, scrolling through Douyin on his phone.

He was already about to break nine thousand followers.

Over three thousand of them were fans from who-knows-where.

Jiang Liu had already created three fan groups on Douyin.

The groups were very lively now.

People would occasionally tag @JiangLiusGourmetShop.

Just then, a WeChat message popped up.

Yang Yixue: "I had a few drinks, and now my head hurts. If only I had some of your hangover soup. I still really miss my daughter. What’s she up to?"

"Does Tongtong want a tablet? I’ll buy it for her. What about tomorrow? I’m free tomorrow. Can you find an excuse to close the shop so we can go to the mall?"

Jiang Liu casually swiped the message away. It was blocking his view of Aude Biao.

He scrolled to the next video: someone building a car out of scrap metal.

Jiang Liu stroked his chin, watching with great interest.

’Interesting. This guy has more integrity than some corporations.’

WeChat chimed with a DING.

Jun Qingmeng sent a message: "Picture."

"I finished cleaning up!! Look, my little room. I even sprayed some nice orange-scented floral water. If you want to come over, I’ll sneak you in. (smirk)"

"Boyfriend, when are you going to sleep?"

Jiang Liu opened WeChat.

A warmer smile touched his lips as he replied, "I can’t. I’m about to put Tongtong to bed. She’s already yawning."

Jun Qingmeng: "Mmhm, get some sleep. Good night to my future little treasure."

Jun Qingmeng: "When I was massaging your legs today... they’re so firm. I like that a lot. (giggles behind her hand)"

Jiang Liu’s expression was a little strange as he typed back, "Good night."

’Was she... flirting with me with that last message?’

He looked down and found that Tongtong had fallen asleep at some point.

Jiang Liu patted her little bottom, tucked Tongtong in, and turned off the bedside lamp.

He went out to prep ingredients for an hour, then came back.

The room was pitch-black. Tongtong burrowed into Jiang Liu’s embrace, her expression softening into a peaceful, contented sleep...

’It’s so nice that Daddy has me.’

The next day, the alarm went off.

Tongtong sat up, eyes still closed, and fumbled for her pants.

"Daddy... pants."

"You’re awake? Let’s go wash our faces."

Jiang Liu helped Tongtong put on her pants.

The two of them, one big and one small, went to the bathroom to wash up and brush their teeth together.

By 5:05 AM, they were ready.

All cleaned up, Jiang Liu even found a little yellow duck shoulder bag for Tongtong to carry her tablet in.

Opening the fridge, Jiang Liu filled two bottles of juice for Tongtong.

Tongtong followed at his heels and said:

"Daddy, Tongtong wants a piggy bank."

"What do you need a piggy bank for?" Jiang Liu crouched down, curious.

"I want to save money for Daddy. So when it’s your birthday, Tongtong can buy you a present, okay?"

Jiang Liu pinched Tongtong’s cheek and smiled. "Alright, Daddy will buy you one."

"Come on, let’s go make some money."

"Make money, make money."

Tongtong was still half-asleep, swaying with every step.

Jiang Liu easily pulled the small cart with his right hand.

He opened the door. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Jun Qingmeng stood right outside the door, a lovely sight.

She was wearing jeans today, a Hong Kong-style black plaid shirt over a small tank top. The ’produce section’ wasn’t massive—more of a medium.

She had a heart-shaped hair clip in her hair, and there were dark, greyish circles under her eyes.

She had been too excited last night, and Jun Qingmeng hadn’t fallen asleep until two in the morning.

But she still got up early.

Jiang Liu was a little surprised and exasperated. "You’ve got dark circles. Go back and get some more sleep. We can go together tomorrow."

Jun Qingmeng stubbornly shook her head. "No! I don’t want to miss a single moment with you."

Jiang Liu rolled his eyes, speechless.

"Fine."

It took a moment for Jiang Tongtong to react, finally realizing her mother was standing in front of her.

Groggy, she greeted, "Good evening, Teacher Qingmeng."

Jun Qingmeng bent down and pinched Tongtong’s little nose. "It’s good *morning*, Tongtong. Do you want me to carry you?"

Tongtong shook her head sensibly. "No, Teacher Qingmeng, you’re sleepy too. Let’s just hold hands!"

As she spoke,

Tongtong grabbed Jiang Liu with her right hand and took Jun Qingmeng’s right hand with her left.

"Let’s go! Tongtong will lead you to Uncle Che."

The elevator doors opened.

Inside were four neatly dressed corporate drones.

’What a beautiful girl.’

’What a happy-looking family.’

They all shared the same envious look.

’Who wouldn’t want a wonderful family like that?’

They got off at the first basement level.

Jiang Liu told the two of them to wait.

He went back up and brought down the two barrels of drinks.

Everything was ready.

He started the car.

Jun Qingmeng thoughtfully buckled Tongtong’s seatbelt for her.

Tongtong kicked her feet happily. "Thank you, Teacher Qingmeng. You’re so nice."

"Tongtong, you’re so cute," Jun Qingmeng said, patting her head again.

Tongtong closed her eyes in comfort.

’I’m the little hero of this family.’

Jiang Liu smiled as he drove and said, "You two can take a nap in the car."

Seeing their drooping heads made him feel a bit sorry for them.

’They just had to come along.’

Jun Qingmeng shook her head gently. "No, I’ll keep you company."

"Tongtong can’t sleep! I have to keep Daddy company!"

Jiang Liu glanced at the rearview mirror. "Okay."

The car had just left the underground garage.

The two of them, heads touching, were already asleep.

The expressions on their sleeping faces were identical.

"Heh." Jiang Liu couldn’t help but chuckle.

’They said no, but their bodies were honest.’

The morning air was fresh and cool. Instead of using the AC, Jiang Liu opened the driver’s side window.

The wind blew through Jun Qingmeng’s hair.

There weren’t many cars on the road, and only a few people were out and about.

It was just after five o’clock; traffic usually didn’t pick up until six-thirty.

It might be different in a big metropolis, but in an ordinary city like South City, the pace of life wasn’t as frantic.

Take Jiang Liu’s neighbor, Xue Guang, for example. He opened his shop at eight or nine every day, sometimes even ten, and no one rushed him.

But Jiang Liu was different. He could open late, but his customers would starve.

About ten minutes later, Jiang Liu pulled into the produce market.

Besides buying fennel today, he also planned to get some dried shrimp to make shrimp noodles.

The meat from a Little Cyan Dragon, paired with high-quality flour and powder ground from dried river shrimp, would taste absolutely divine.

Jiang Liu had just parked the car.

The pair in the back seat opened their eyes in perfect sync.

"Are you sleepy, Teacher Qingmeng?"

"I’m not sleepy. What about you?"

"Huh, Tongtong’s suddenly not sleepy anymore."

Jiang Liu gave the big one and the little one an exasperated look. "If you want to follow, then follow. But I suggest you two wait in the car and get some more sleep."

"No, Tongtong wants to cherish Daddy."

"I want to go grocery shopping with you."