9:00 PM.
At the entrance to Brocade District.
"See you tomorrow, Jiang Liu."
"Bye."
"See you tomorrow, Teacher Qingmeng~"
Tongtong waved enthusiastically.
The evening breeze stirred Jun Qingmengâs skirt.
The wind outlined her graceful and captivating figure.
Jun Qingmeng said a reluctant farewell.
She had a lot of fun today.
The thought of being with Jiang Liu again tomorrow made her heart leap with joy.
On the way back,
Jiang Liu filled up Xue Guangâs car with gas and also bought a carton of the Peony brand cigarettes he liked to smoke.
One had to keep up with social courtesies.
At the storefront.
"You kid, youâre being too polite with me."
Xue Guang happily took what Jiang Liu had brought and opened it for a look.
The crispy fish was still warm.
"Grilled fish?"
"Yeah, I just caught a fish over ten pounds and grilled it. I saved this part especially for you."
When Xue Guang heard it was saved especially for him, his smile widened.
Every time he helped Jiang Liu, he always received even more in return.
âXiao Jiang is such a thoughtful young man!â
"Great, great, great. I happen to love fish."
Jiang Liu waved. "Iâm heading back to sleep. You should get some rest too, Uncle Xue."
"Goodbye, Uncle Xue."
Xue Guang watched Jiang Liuâs departing figure, rubbed his bald head, and suddenly sighed.
He opened the car door and found the gas tank was full, and in the storage compartment, there was a carton of his favorite Peony cigarettes...
ăMeanwhile.ă
"Iâm not here~ Lost~ Longing is my only luggage~"
Jun Qingmeng hummed "You Never Left" as she opened her apartment door.
The moment she pushed the door open,
Guo Jia rushed out of the bedroom, her eyes bloodshot.
"Youâre finally back, my little highness! Have you even looked at the time?!"
"You didnât even answer your phone! Do you have any idea how worried I was?!"
"Did you bring back the buns? Iâm starving to death!"
She hadnât dared to eat anything since lunch, saving room in her stomach to eat more buns and drink more juice. Who would have thought sheâd have to wait and wait, all the way past nine oâclock.
Jun Qingmeng tossed the now-cold buns onto the table and said angrily, "I see how it is. You werenât worried about me, you were worried about your buns, werenât you?"
"All you can see are buns!"
"If thatâs what you want to think, thereâs nothing I can do."
Guo Jia said this as she eagerly tore open the paper bag that had been stapled shut.
She grabbed a shrimp bun, stuffed it into her mouth, and took a big gulp of watermelon juice.
"Ah, thatâs the stuff! So good!"
"Mengmeng, did you confess to Jiang Liu yet? Itâs been days. How come I donât see any movement in your belly yet? Hurry up and marry Jiang Liu so he can cook for us, you hear?"
"Why are you talking nonsense again!"
Jun Qingmeng chided, though she wasnât truly angry.
She actually loved it when her best friend talked about Jiang Liu with her.
She didnât even mind if the jokes were a little dirty. It didnât bother her, because it was about Jiang Liu.
"Well, the two of us went fishing today, and we grilled the fish together."
"Basically, I like him even more than I did yesterday."
As Jun Qingmeng spoke, she smiled gently, the corners of her lovely mouth turning up slightly.
Guo Jia picked at her feet, took a sip of juice, and said disdainfully, "Look at that blissful little expression on your face. Youâre completely love-struck!"
"Not like me. My heartâs locked in concrete. A little vibrator solves everything."
Jun Qingmeng was speechless.
Guo Jia wolfed down all ten buns and lay on the sofa, groaning.
After a moment, she asked, "Hey, love-struck, any idea what your âbig babyâ thinks of you right now?"
Jun Qingmeng shook her head. "Iâm not sure. At least he doesnât hate me, I think."
"âDoesnât hate youâ? Itâs been days and thatâs all youâve figured out? That he âdoesnât hate youâ?"
"Arenât you being a little too dense?"
Guo Jia was stunned.
"What else could it be? Oh, itâs just... um, itâs hard to explain. I guess weâre friends right now. Jiang Liu hasnât shown any clear intentions toward me."
Jun Qingmeng stomped her foot, embarrassed.
Guo Jia mused, "Do you think itâs possible... that Jiang Liu wants to get back together with his ex-wife?"
"I donât think so," Jun Qingmeng immediately denied, shaking her head.
"Why?"
"I think his ex-wife invited him to go shopping with her today, but Jiang Liu refused."
Jun Qingmeng felt very happy saying this.
"I donât get it. I donât get it at all," Guo Jia said, scratching her messy hair.
"Why donât you just make a move and steamroll him? Men are just waiting to be conquered!"
"Huh??" Jun Qingmeng froze for a second. When she realized what Guo Jia meant, she glanced down at her own chest and blushed. "Letâs just take it slow. I prefer things to be a bit more romantic."
The truth was, she was terrified of confessing.
âWhat if he rejects me?â
The more you care, the more you fear losing it.
"Tch." Guo Jia pouted contemptuously. "You foolish, love-struck girl!"
âThe Little Princess of a publicly traded company,â
âand now sheâs being all timid and hesitant about confessing.â
âIf all those rich young masters who chased you relentlessly with bouquets of flowers found out, wouldnât they do more than just cry themselves unconscious in a bathroom stall?â
"Hmph, Iâm not love-struck! This is romantic philosophy. Anyway, Iâm going to take a shower. You entertain yourself."
"Love-struck and in denial." Guo Jia pursed her lips, took a sip of the sweet juice, closed her eyes, and went back to playing dead on the sofa.
A lovely, cheerful voice drifted from the bathroom,
"Iâm not lost, longing is my only luggage, among the endless stars, there is one..."
Jun Qingmeng sang as she blissfully enjoyed her hot shower.
In the mirror, streams of water glided down her slender form.
âThose water droplets must have saved the world in their past lives.â
Her skin was fair and clear.
Even other women would be captivated by the sight.
"Mm, just perfect. I wonder if Jiang Liu will like it."
Jun Qingmeng admired herself for a moment while drying her body in front of the mirror.
After her shower, she lay down on her soft, fragrant bed.
Jun Qingmeng couldnât resist sending Jiang Liu another message: "Iâm home safe. I just took a shower, it was so nice. Getting ready for bed. You?"
Having finished preparing the fillings, Jiang Liu was lying on the sofa watching "Boonie Bears."
He casually replied, "Iâm going to bed soon."
He had just plugged his phone in to charge. It had died unexpectedly while he was live streaming during the fishing trip, and he hadnât even noticed.
Because of that, a bunch of customers were flaming him in the comments of his first video.
Jun Qingmeng: "Good night!"
"Good night, Tongtong."
Jiang Liu: "Good night."
He put down his phone.
Jiang Liu gave Tongtong a bath.
Then he threw their dirty clothes into the washing machine to be washed and dried.
The father and daughter lay on the bed in matching pajamas, enjoying the air conditioning.
Tongtongâs pajamas were a white nightgown covered in black moons.
Jiang Liuâs were a set of black shorts and a loose short-sleeved shirt covered in white moons.
"Daddy, do you love me?"
Tongtong poked Jiang Liuâs butt.
"I love you, of course."
"But Daddy, your butt is squishing my little foot, and you didnât even notice. Doesnât it break your heart?"
"Oh."
Jiang Liu shifted his butt and went back to looking at cars on an app on his phone.
Tongtong gritted her teeth in frustration.
âStupid Daddy!â
âCanât you see your little cutie needs to be coaxed to sleep?â
"Quick, kiss my foot and apologize to it," Tongtong said, pointing to her foot with a serious expression.
Jiang Liu turned his head and glanced at the little drama queen:
"There goes your ice cream allowance for this month."
"Daddy, I was wrong! Please, Iâm begging you, donât take away my ice cream!"
A few minutes later, Tongtong was fast asleep in Jiang Liuâs arms, drooling as usual.
Jiang Liu habitually checked the Gourmet Album in his mind.
The next moment,
He sat up in surprise.
The third page was actually reacting!
What surprised Jiang Liu most was that, unlike the first two pages, this one had a purple border.
It was like the color-coding used in video games to distinguish between common and rare items.
On the page was a fish leaping high out of the water.
It had a stout, rounded body, a narrow head and tail, a forked tail fin, and small, bluish finlets behind its dorsal and anal fins.
"Is this a bluefin tuna??"
Jiang Liu studied the image in his mind doubtfully.
It was blurry, so he couldnât be sure.
But if it was a bluefin tuna, he was about to strike it rich!
As far as he knew, this fish was basically the HermĂšs of the fish world.
The most expensive belly meat could sell for over two thousand yuan per half-kilogram!
There were also ordinary tunas, like farmed yellowfin, which typically cost a few hundred yuan per half-kilogram.
âExcuse me, what kind of fish is this, and how many praise points does it take to unlock?â
Jiang Liu asked tentatively in his mind.
The Gourmet Album seemed to hear his thoughts.
The book closed, and words appeared on its yellow leather cover.
[Wild Bluefin Tuna as an ingredient: Requires 100,000 praise points to unlock]
[Current Praise Points: 25,480]
âIt really is bluefin, and wild-caught, too... One hundred thousand points. That doesnât seem like too much. A day or two of hard work should be enough.â
Jiang Liu silently suppressed his excitement.
Once he unlocked the tuna, his income would absolutely skyrocket.
âSome kind of âcare packageâ? No, no, no. Totally unnecessary.â
Before he knew it,
Jiang Liu drifted off to sleep, lost in a beautiful dream.