Chapter 99: Chapter 99: Tongtong’s Pitiful Ploy

Her phone rang again.

Li Xiaoyan sent a message: "Don’t you worry, sweetie. After being on his own for a while, he’ll definitely realize how hard it is without a wife."

"I’ve seen it all. Men are all the same. He might even come crawling back to you to remarry after some time."

"If you two get back together, you have to let me put his family in their place. They either block me or cuss me out. So rude. If I don’t show them what I’m made of, they’ll think I, Li Xiaoyan, am afraid of them."

Yang Yixue’s mood had improved reading the first few messages, but the last one made her sick with anger. "Mom, if Jiang Liu and I get back together, can you please watch your mouth?"

"Haven’t you learned your lesson? He only got that angry because you were cursing out his parents!"

Li Xiaoyan replied with a virtual pout: "Fine, fine, I get it, alright?"

"As long as Jiang Liu is willing to hand the shop over to me, I’ll definitely be nicer to his family. Are you happy now, daughter?"

Yang Yixue: "Just don’t go too far. We can hold the financial reins of the food stall, but don’t you get any funny ideas about kicking Jiang Liu out. The shop belongs to him, after all, and we still need him to make the buns. We can make him an honorary deputy manager or something. And don’t order him around all the time."

"Once we have the recipe, we can slowly chip away at his authority. But until then, you can’t bully Jiang Liu and his family too much."

Even now, Yang Yixue still believed Jiang Liu had feelings for her.

’He’s just a little angry at my mom, that’s all.’

’When the time comes, I’ll just have to coax him a bit, get Li Xiaoyan to admit she was wrong, and we can get remarried.’

’With how he feels about me, there’s no way he won’t let me manage the shop.’

’And then I can hand the shop over to Mom to run.’

But Yang Yixue frowned, a worry creeping into her mind.

She asked Li Xiaoyan: "There’s something I haven’t told you. I’ve discovered that Jiang Liu is very popular with women. Whether they’re twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty, they all seem to be drawn to him. Last time, some forty-year-old woman wanted to ask him out to dinner."

"Do you think it’s possible he’ll be snatched away by some old hag?"

Li Xiaoyan scoffed. "Sweetie, you can put your mind at ease."

"What’s Jiang Liu’s situation? He’s got that annoying daughter of his in tow. Who would want to marry him?"

"Even if some forty-year-old did take a liking to him, Jiang Liu would never agree. His parents are still counting on him to carry on the family line."

Yang Yixue breathed a sigh of relief.

’Mom’s right. With baggage like that, it won’t be easy for him to find someone.’

’She’s not their own flesh and blood. Wouldn’t that be off-putting?’

’Only I, her real mother, would be different. Tongtong wouldn’t be a stranger to me, and I would never dislike her. After all, she’s my own flesh and blood.’

...

4:10 PM.

The afternoon was much hotter than the morning.

Jiang Liu called to place a custom order for a thousand high-end take-out boxes.

After preparing the ingredients at home, he drove to the wet market with the AC blasting to buy some fennel.

He also picked up some common vegetables for home.

The white concrete sidewalk was hot enough to scorch your feet. The streets were sparsely populated, and the plants drooped in the heat. Only the pine trees at the entrance to Phoenix District still stood tall and straight.

4:45 PM.

Wang Han, Xu Zhiwen, and Shi Ruining came bouncing over again.

They brought Wang Guozhong with them this time.

Besides the four of them,

the line was nearly two hundred people long.

If not for the limited quantity of Jiang Liu’s food, the line could have easily stretched to a thousand.

5:40 PM.

A song drifted out from the kindergarten.

School was out.

Eager to see Jiang Liu, Jun Qingmeng had specially requested to be excused from escorting students after school.

The school administration didn’t dare object and agreed immediately.

From now on, another teacher would be responsible for seeing the children out.

The entrance was bustling with parents and their little ones.

A few teachers looked at Jun Qingmeng with envy.

"Qingmeng, off to get food from Jiang Liu?"

"Mhm!"

"You smell so nice. Are you wearing perfume?"

"Nope."

Teacher Li encouraged her, "Qingmeng, you have to work hard and snatch up our kindergarten’s most handsome parent. If Jiang Liu becomes our kindergarten’s son-in-law, all the mothers will be much more motivated to pick up their kids."

Teacher Huang, who was standing nearby, couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

"That honey trap idea isn’t bad. I’ve also noticed that ever since Jiang Liu started picking up Tongtong, the mothers have been arriving very early."

Hearing others praise Jiang Liu,

a playful smile touched Jun Qingmeng’s lips. "When Jiang Liu and I get together, don’t you dare get any ideas about having him use his good looks."

"Because he’s for my eyes only."

She was usually poised and generous,

but she became petty whenever Jiang Liu was the topic of conversation.

Even if another woman so much as mentioned his name a few times, Jun Qingmeng would feel a pang of jealousy.

This unexpected public display of affection hit everyone right in the face.

A parent joked,

"Teacher Qingmeng, wake up! Jiang Liu hasn’t even said yes yet."

"Not even together yet, tsk tsk, and you’re already so possessive?"

Jun Qingmeng retorted, "Me and Jiang Liu? It’s only a matter of time."

"Oho?!"

"Didn’t think you were one to brag, Qingmeng. Did you learn that from Jiang Liu?"

The kindergarten teachers didn’t believe her for a second.

They waved their hands, unable to watch.

"Go on, go on, hurry and take your precious Tongtong home. Stop making us jealous."

"All day long it’s ’your Tongtong’ this and ’your Jiang Liu’ that."

"Bye-bye."

Jun Qingmeng walked home with Tongtong.

As they passed a convenience store on the corner, the freezer by the entrance caught the attention of a certain little glutton.

Tongtong gulped, her little eyes darting around. "Teacher Qingmeng, it’s so hot. Tongtong’s tummy is hot, too. It would be so nice to eat something cold."

Jun Qingmeng shot her a sidelong glance. "You’re scheming again, aren’t you? Do you want to eat ice cream?"

As she spoke, Jun Qingmeng looked toward the nearby freezer, a half-smile on her face.

Her little scheme exposed, Tongtong resorted to pestering, tugging and shaking Jun Qingmeng’s arm. "Then buy one for Tongtong, please? Teacher Qingmeng is the best! Tongtong likes you the most!"

"Alright, alright."

Jun Qingmeng hesitated, but finally gave in to Tongtong’s sweet talk and nodded.

"Okay, I’ll buy it for you. But we’re splitting it. You can’t eat too much."

"Yay! I agree! Mama Qingmeng is the best in the world!"

Her father was usually very strict about how much ice cream she ate, so she was overjoyed to get an extra half today.

"You little rascal."

Qingmeng poked Tongtong’s head.

"Sir, a grape cream popsicle, please."

The convenience store owner watched with a fond, doting smile.

’What a cute, sweet little girl.’

"Little girl, you want a popsicle? How about I give you one for free?"

Tongtong shook her head. "No!"

The rejected store owner gave an awkward laugh.

After buying the popsicle,

Tongtong led Jun Qingmeng to a small park, and the two of them sat side-by-side, licking the popsicle.

"Teacher Qingmeng, remember not to let this slip when we get back."

"Okay~ I know."

Tongtong finished her share quickly and stared pitifully at the small piece of the popsicle still in Jun Qingmeng’s hand.

But Jun Qingmeng wouldn’t give her any more.

Seeing that she had no chance, Tongtong could only lick her lips and wipe them clean.

Jun Qingmeng raised an eyebrow. "Tongtong, I bet this isn’t the first time you’ve snuck snacks behind your father’s back, is it?"

Tongtong looked away guiltily, her little eyes feigning nonchalance.

"What? No way! This is Tongtong’s first time."

The corner of Jun Qingmeng’s mouth twitched. She didn’t believe a word of it.

’She’s obviously done this a lot. Look at how carefully she cleaned up the evidence. She’s definitely been caught by Jiang Liu more than a few times.’

Walking down Yangzhai Street,

customers who recognized the two greeted them warmly.

"Tongtong, you’re out of school! What did you learn today?"