Chapter 49: Chapter 48: I Don’t Want to Hold You Back
Jun Qingmeng sat off to the side, secretly laughing at the pair.
’This is so much fun. One’s a big schemer, the other’s a little imp. The two of them together are a whole show.’
After a little while.
"Jiang Liu, it’s getting late. I should head back now."
Jun Qingmeng glanced at the time.
"Okay. Oh, right, take these ten buns and this bottle of juice with you. Don’t you have a roommate?"
"I’ll transfer you the money."
"Don’t worry about it," Jiang Liu said, waving his hand dismissively. "You’re always looking out for Tongtong. How could I take your money?"
In the end, Jun Qingmeng insisted that her share could be free, but not her roommate’s—she had to pay for that.
Left with no choice, Jiang Liu accepted twenty yuan as a "friends’ price."
"Well, I’m off then?"
"Goodbye, Tongtong."
"Sniffle... Goodbye, Teacher Qingmeng."
Tongtong rubbed her eyes, waving a reluctant goodbye.
The little one stood by the glass door until Jun Qingmeng’s figure disappeared from sight.
Jiang Liu gently patted her on the head.
Then, he took the kitchen trash out to the neighborhood’s disposal station.
Businesses like his were charged a daily fee for trash disposal—twenty yuan a day.
It wasn’t much, and Jiang Liu was perfectly fine with it. Otherwise, dealing with that pile of garbage would have been a real headache.
At 7:40 PM.
Jiang Liu did another few laps around the shop, making sure everything was cleaned up, before shutting off the main breaker and locking the door.
"Uncle Xue, I’m heading home to rest!"
"Ah, okay! Oh, right, Jiang Liu, come here, come here. Here’s some fruit for you."
Jiang Liu didn’t refuse the kind offer and cheekily accepted.
This made Xue Guang grin so wide his smile wouldn’t fade.
Tongtong called out sweetly, "Uncle Xue, Daddy and I are going home to sleep! See you tomorrow!"
"Haha, Tongtong, you’re so polite! See you tomorrow, and don’t forget to miss your Uncle Xue, you hear?"
"Nope. I only miss Daddy," Tongtong said haughtily.
"You really are a sweet little padded jacket."
"That’s right. I’m a jacket for Daddy to wear in the summer, but not in the winter."
"Hahaha."
Xue Guang was thoroughly amused.
Jiang Liu was so exasperated it hurt.
He immediately gave her a flick on the forehead.
"Ouch! Waaah!"
Tongtong clutched her head, putting on a show.
"Did I flick you too hard?"
"Uh-huh!"
"There’s a convenience store up ahead. I wonder if they sell any ice cream..."
"Daddy, why doesn’t it hurt anymore? It doesn’t hurt one bit!"
...
On the way home, Tongtong was happily scooping up her chocolate ice cream with a small spoon.
Her rosy little mouth was ringed with brown, a surprisingly good match for the cartoon bear on her shirt.
"Daddy, open your mouth."
"Ahhh—"
"Huh? Is that all? Tongtong, you’re so stingy."
Tongtong mimicked Jiang Liu’s expression and frowned.
"That’s plenty. It’s not good for grown-ups to eat ice cream, so you should have less. From now on, you can only have one bite a week. If you eat any more, I’ll spank you and flick your forehead!"
Jiang Liu: ??? ’She’s a fast learner, isn’t she?’
After a moment.
Tongtong, while savoring her ice cream, asked, "Daddy, when are we going to buy a car?"
"Why? Do your little feet hurt again?"
"My feet don’t hurt, but I have an idea. Wanna hear it?"
"Nope." Jiang Liu knew his daughter was cooking up some scheme, so he shut it down immediately.
Tongtong’s eyes darted around, and she continued as if talking to herself, "If we had a little car, we could drive Teacher Qingmeng home every day."
Jiang Liu replied irritably, "You have no sympathy for your old man, do you? Teacher Qingmeng lives so far away. If I drove her home every single day, it’d kill me!"
"I have an idea."
"Just don’t."
Tongtong poked Jiang Liu urgently with her spoon. "No! You have to listen!"
"Fine, fine. Go ahead."
"Daddy, look, we have a spare room, right? We can just have Teacher Qingmeng move in with us! Then we can all go to school together and come home together."
Jiang Liu shook his head. "That won’t work. In a couple of years, you’ll need your own room. What happens to Teacher Qingmeng then? Are we supposed to move out, or is she?"
Tongtong laid out her plan eagerly, "Tongtong can have one room, and you two can share the other one. See?"
’She’s really worrying herself sick over this family.’
Jiang Liu gave her bottom a few quick pats.
"Waaah!"
"You can’t say things like that in front of Teacher Qingmeng, understand?"
"Waaaaah!"
"Stop crying!"
"Waaaaaaaaah!"
"You can have a Coke when we get home."
Tongtong immediately stopped crying. "Do I get some, Daddy?"
"Nope."
"Waaah, my booty’s numb! You broke it, waaah."
"I’m gonna tell Teacher Qingmeng that you abuse me!"
"What if I let you have some Coke?"
"Huh? Daddy, what just happened? I can’t seem to remember."
Jiang Liu let out a dry laugh.
「A few minutes later.」
Back home.
Tongtong kicked off her shoes, jumped onto the sofa, and turned on the TV.
"I want to watch Boonie Bears! The little bears! Daddy, hurry up and find it for me!"
"I know, I know, I’m on it."
He turned on the AC.
Without even washing their feet, the two of them lounged on the sofa, eating fruit and watching cartoons.
Tongtong rested her head on Jiang Liu’s lap, eating a banana he had peeled for her.
Jiang Liu felt completely at ease.
This was the most relaxing part of his day.
He checked his balance: [121,540 yuan].
’So satisfying.’
’Compared to his days with Yang Yixue, life now was practically divine.’
’Usually, around this time, he’d still have to be cooking for that woman and cleaning up the house.’
’It was beyond annoying.’
’And now?’
’He was free every day. It was tiring, sure, but he was his own boss, and he was raking in cash.’
’The future was his for the taking!’
「Meanwhile.」
Jun Qingmeng finally got home, exhausted. She pulled out her keys and opened the door.
Guo Jia, who had been eagerly waiting, heard the noise and immediately sat up on the sofa.
"I was starting to think you weren’t coming back! Where are the buns?"
"Why wouldn’t I come back?" Jun Qingmeng asked, huffing.
"You know good and well why. Off on dates with your ’little darling’ all day, you’ve completely forgotten about your old friend here."
"That’s not true," Jun Qingmeng retorted, but she was secretly pleased.
She slipped on her slippers, revealing her delicate, pretty feet.
"My buns?" Guo Jia prompted.
"Here. I also brought you a bottle of juice."
"As long as I have Jiang Liu’s buns, I’m good. You can have the juice."
Guo Jia snatched the bag of buns, flopped back onto the sofa, and started eating them like she was hugging a treasure.
She ate with her eyes closed, nodding in satisfaction.
Jun Qingmeng said, "The juice is from Jiang Liu’s place too. You sure you don’t want to try it?"
At that, Guo Jia opened her eyes and glanced at the bottle of juice.
"Is it good?"
"It’s terrible. Don’t drink it. I’ll drink it myself."
"Nope. I’ll taste it first, then you can have it."
Guo Jia snatched the juice and took a sip.
The ice-cold, sweet watermelon juice, perfect for cutting through any richness, made her eyes widen instantly.
The hair on her arms stood on end the moment the juice hit her tongue.
"Oh my god! This juice is absolutely incredible!"
"How does he do it? The buns are delicious, and the juice is amazing too!"
"Mengmeng, I have something I want to discuss with you."
Guo Jia licked her lips, her eyes fixed on Jun Qingmeng.
"What is it?"
"How about you let me have a shot at Jiang Liu? It’s not like you two are making any progress. Let me give it a try."
Jun Qingmeng’s face immediately became guarded.
"In your dreams. Jiang Liu would never like you. Just drink your juice."
"Ooh, everyone, come and look at this! A certain woman here isn’t even dating the guy yet, and she’s already calling the shots for him."
Guo Jia put on her best "innocent but wronged" act, making a scene in the living room.
Jun Qingmeng simply ignored her and flopped onto the sofa, completely unconcerned with her appearance.
Guo Jia watched from the side, practically drooling. Even as a woman, she felt an urge to pamper the beautiful Jun Qingmeng.
After a moment, Jun Qingmeng suddenly spoke up.
"By the way, I won’t be home tomorrow. I’m going to help out at Jiang Liu’s shop."
"No way! We made plans to go shopping tomorrow! You can’t go! If you go, I won’t let you sleep tonight!"
"I’ll bring you back more buns and juice tomorrow."
"Go, go! Don’t let me hold you back!"
