Her childish imitation of his voice had no intimidating effect whatsoever. Instead, it just sounded incredibly cute and soft.

The next moment.

Three crisp sounds went "SMACK SMACK SMACK."

???

Tongtong clutched her bottom, stomping her feet at Jiang Liu in a huff.

"Tongtong is really angry this time! You used to be so gentle when you spanked Tongtong, but today it actually hurt!"

"Oh, really?" Jiang Liu calmly blew on his hand. "My bad. I didn’t hold back. Guess it was a critical hit."

Tongtong was shocked and felt wronged.

"Then can you not use critical hits on Tongtong anymore, Dad?"

"We’ll see. There might be more critical hits in the future."

"Waaah, does this mean you don’t care about your cute little Tongtong anymore?!"

Tongtong stopped in her tracks, refusing to move and clenching her little fists.

’I protest!’

Jiang Liu turned back to her.

"What are you talking about? Of course I care. Let’s get home. We’re just feeding the mosquitoes out here."

"Okay, fine. Tongtong isn’t mad at you anymore. But Dad, can you be a little gentler next time?"

"Sure."

"Hehe, you’re the best, Dad."

Jiang Tongtong took Jiang Liu’s hand, then took Jun Qingmeng’s hand.

Her left hand held her dad’s, and her right hand held her mom’s.

Dad loves Tongtong, and Mom loves Tongtong too!

’Hehe, this is so nice~’

They got in the elevator. It was late, so there weren’t many people.

It was just the three of them in the elevator car.

Everything grew quiet.

Jun Qingmeng suddenly spoke. "Jiang Liu, when you go out tomorrow, remember to bring your household registration book, your ID, and your photos."

Jiang Liu gave her a puzzled look.

"What for?"

"For us to get married, of course. How are we supposed to get married without our registration books?"

’So dating is off the table, and now you’re jumping straight to marriage?’

After a moment of silence, Jiang Liu said, "Tomorrow is Saturday."

Jun Qingmeng’s eyes lit up. "So you agree? Can we go register on Monday, then? Tuesday works too!"

"How about I stay over at your place tonight?"

"I’ll make sure I smell really nice!"

Jiang Liu shook his head. "That’s not what I meant. Don’t get the wrong idea. Let’s not bring this up again. I don’t want to get married."

"If you don’t want to get married, then just be my boyfriend first. And if you ever do want to get married, we can do it right away."

Jiang Liu was speechless.

Jun Qingmeng wasn’t angry that Jiang Liu was ignoring her.

She stretched lazily, her wonderful curves enough to bewitch any soul.

During their conversation today, she’d heard about Jiang Liu’s difficult past.

It had made her feel awful, but it also strengthened her resolve to cherish and pamper Jiang Liu from now on.

’You can do it!’

Jun Qingmeng glanced at her phone. There was no signal in the elevator, but she could see she had over a hundred unread WeChat messages, all from her best friend, Guo Jia.

She knew this couldn’t be good.

After a moment’s hesitation, she tapped on the notification.

Guo Jia: "Ahhhh, I can’t take it anymore, I’m dying for one of Jiang Liu’s big steamed buns!!"

Guo Jia: "It’s seven o’clock, you must be on your way back, right? I ate five buns for lunch and now they’re all gone. I’m so, so hungry."

Guo Jia: "So hungry#@dizzy... It’s eight o’clock."

Guo Jia: "My feeder, save me!#"

Jun Qingmeng didn’t reply.

The three of them stepped out of the elevator.

Jun Qingmeng lifted the bag in her hand. "I’m going to drop this off at my place first. Can I come over and hang out for a bit afterward?"

Jiang Liu had no objection and nodded.

Tongtong giggled. "Teacher Qingmeng, I’ll secretly leave the door unlocked for you."

"You’re such a good girl, Tongtong."

Jun Qingmeng crouched down and patted Tongtong’s head, and Tongtong squinted her eyes in pleasure.

She didn’t linger.

Jun Qingmeng quickly punched in her keycode and opened the door.

The next moment.

Guo Jia, who had been lying limply on the sofa, shot up like she’d been struck by lightning.

"Oh my god! You’re back! You’re finally back!"

"Where are the steamed buns?"

"And the juice? Quick, where’s the tuna I asked for?!"

Barefoot, Guo Jia dashed in front of Jun Qingmeng in an instant.

"Hand it over!"

She snatched at the bag in Jun Qingmeng’s hands like a bandit.

Jun Qingmeng let go, allowing her to take it.

"It’s all in there. No steamed buns, and no juice. But I brought you some shrimp ball soup and golden coin eggs."

"Shrimp balls? Did Jiang Liu make them?" Guo Jia opened the container and took a whiff.

The aroma was rich and natural, not overpowering. That was it!

"Of course," Jun Qingmeng said with a smile.

’Her Jiang Liu really is the best.’

"Quick, quick, go work on your love life with Jiang Liu. I’m going to eat."

Guo Jia opened the round, head-sized container and used a spoon to scoop up a shrimp ball, dripping with broth, and popped it into her mouth.

The meatball was incredibly springy, like a little sprite dancing on her tongue. With one bite, it burst, flooding her senses with an intense, savory shrimp flavor that overwhelmed her taste buds.

Guo Jia was floored.

’This is incredible!’

She felt like she could die happy.

"Mengmeng, why is everything Jiang Liu makes so delicious? These shrimp balls might not be one of the three classic types they sell at restaurants, but they’re better than anything from a five-star hotel!"

"If you ask me, he could sell a bowl of this for 8,888 a bowl and it would still be a bargain. He’d make a fortune."

"Just eat your food and don’t bother me." Jun Qingmeng tied up her hair and walked into the bedroom.

She needed to change her lingerie. It was hot out, and she was a bit sweaty.

Jun Qingmeng wanted every moment she spent with Jiang Liu to be sweet and fragrant.

Two minutes later, she was done.

"Bye! I’m off to find Jiang Liu."

Guo Jia was wolfing down her food. "Go on, go on! I’m telling you, you should just devour your little lover boy already. Forcing yourself on him works too, it’s all the same. Oh, right! I have handcuffs in my room. If you need them, I can have them to you in three seconds flat!"

She had completely fallen in love with Jiang Liu’s cooking.

If she went a day without it, she’d break out in a cold sweat.

Now, her only hope was that her best friend would conquer Jiang Liu soon so she could get daily food deliveries.

Jun Qingmeng froze for a second as an image popped into her head.

Jiang Liu, handcuffed to the bed by her.

And then... 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Jun Qingmeng blushed.

’This is so embarrassing! So, so embarrassing!’

Jun Qingmeng laughed and said:

"You can keep them for yourself. A pig-trotter knot would be more suitable for Jiang Liu. I’m afraid he might escape from handcuffs."

Guo Jia froze, so startled that her spoon dropped into the soup.

"You... I thought *I* was the pervert, but I never imagined you were even worse!"

She shivered.

Jun Qingmeng headed out the door.

When she got to Jiang Liu’s apartment, she found that Tongtong had indeed left the door unlocked for her.

She quietly pushed the door open and peeked inside.

"Is my boyfriend and his little cutie home?"

"The little cutie is home!~"

Tongtong jumped off the sofa and ran to the door to hug Jun Qingmeng’s leg.

"Teacher Qingmeng’s legs are so nice and smell so good. I wish I could hug them while I sleep."

"You little rascal. You’re just thinking about fried chicken legs, aren’t you?"

Tongtong was shocked. "How do you guys always guess what I’m thinking?"

Jun Qingmeng lovingly pinched Tongtong’s cheek.

"Mmph! Teecher Kwingmweng."

Jiang Liu came out of the bedroom, having changed into a black tank top and a pair of baggy shorts.

"You two go sit down and watch some cartoons. I’ll get you both some snacks."

"Okay!~"

"Thank you, darling."

Jiang Liu didn’t object.

He’d been called that so many times that he was used to it and couldn’t be bothered to argue anymore.

He just pretended he didn’t hear it.

He went to Tongtong’s little snack stash, rummaged around for a bit, and pulled out a bag of salted peanuts and a box of pistachios.

These were from Tongtong’s treasured collection, the ones she couldn’t bear to eat herself.

When he asked, she said she was saving them for when her dad grew up.

Jiang Liu had almost died laughing when he heard her say that.

’He had no idea where she picked up these things.’

On the soft, gray sofa in the living room...

...the big one and the little one were cuddled up together watching an episode of *Boonie Bears* called "Bald Qiang’s Vacation." On screen, Bald Qiang was sniffing and kissing a pair of red swim trunks, making Tongtong burst into clear, sweet laughter every so often.

Jiang Liu set a platter down on the table.

"Here you are, our two honored guests. Please enjoy some nuts while you watch."

"Wow! Thanks, Dad!"

Tongtong sat up and grabbed a few with her little hand.

"Huh? Dad, where did you get Kaikai Fruit?"

"I found them in the little box under your bed. I saw no one was eating them, so I brought them out."