Chapter 80: Mama.

「Meanwhile, at the shop’s entrance.」

It was already jam-packed with customers who had rushed over for buns.

"Damn, what the hell? Is this shop cursed or something?"

A passing driver turned his car around, muttering curses.

Jun Qingmeng had just left.

The nearly one hundred customers at the door grew excited and started to tease him:

"Boss Jiang, when are we getting wedding buns??"

"Yeah, she already confessed to you! Does this mean you’re getting married in a few days?"

"Can you make extra fruit juice to celebrate when you get married?"

Jiang Liu’s head was pounding. He decided to just ignore them and pretend he couldn’t hear.

An older woman shouted toward the kitchen, "I’ve got a suggestion! On the big day, you should really go for it and make a hundred thousand buns! We’ll all come to show our support. Xiao Jiang, no matter how many buns you make, we’ll buy every single one!"

"Consider it our way of giving you newlyweds some financial support!"

At these words, the customers’ eyes lit up.

"That’s right, that’s right! Great idea! We’ll skip the wedding gifts. Just make more buns, and we’ll buy them all from you."

Yang Tuoyang asked expectantly, "Boss Jiang, if you’re having a wedding banquet, will there be buns and fruit juice? If so, can I reserve a whole table?"

Jiang Liu: ...

’Are they insane? A hundred thousand buns? In their dreams.’

’My arms and legs would snap, and I still wouldn’t be able to make that many!’

’And reserving a table? Nothing’s even been decided yet! All they ever think about are my buns.’

Without looking up, Jiang Liu focused on making buns.

He simply tuned them out.

...

「At the kindergarten.」

Tongtong looked left and right, her chin lifted as she watched the parents come and go.

’Daddy isn’t here yet.’

’He hasn’t forgotten his little cutie, has he?!’

She wasn’t in a good mood today.

Because Teacher Qingmeng wasn’t at the kindergarten.

She’d been feeling down all day.

’Does Daddy not want me anymore either?’

"I’m leaving now, Tongtong. See you tomorrow!" Jingjing said, turning to wave goodbye as her mother led her away by the hand.

"Okay."

Tongtong grew even more anxious, her eyes starting to well up with tears.

’Daddy, please hurry! Come and get Tongtong! Tongtong misses you!’

SOB SOB...

"Did you miss me, Tongtong?" Jun Qingmeng appeared behind Tongtong.

"Oh! Teacher Qingmeng, what are you doing here?"

Overjoyed, Tongtong leaped into Jun Qingmeng’s embrace.

Jun Qingmeng smiled.

Teacher Li, who was seeing the children off, asked in surprise, "Qingmeng, didn’t you take the day off? What are you doing here?"

She glanced at Jun Qingmeng, then at Jiang Tongtong, who was happily wiggling her bottom.

"I’m here to pick Tongtong up from school."

"Huh?? You’re picking up Tongtong? What about her dad? Isn’t Jiang Liu supposed to get her?"

Teacher Li knew Jiang Liu; she had a very strong impression of the exceptionally handsome man.

If she wasn’t already married, she would have gone after him long ago.

A blissful smile touched Jun Qingmeng’s lips. "Her dad is busy at the shop, so I’m picking her up for him."

At this, all the female teachers at the entrance turned to look at Jun Qingmeng in unison.

Their gazes were filled with envy.

Teacher Liu, who was wearing high heels and was about a five out of ten in looks, asked, "Qingmeng, are you and Tongtong’s dad together now?"

"It’d be great if you were. Even though Tongtong’s dad is divorced, he’s handsome and a good person. You two would definitely be happy together."

The other teachers chimed in.

"Tongtong is so pretty and smart. We all adore her."

"I’m so jealous. I wanted to go after him myself. Oh, well."

Jun Qingmeng chatted with the other teachers for a bit.

Then she left with Tongtong.

Tongtong happily held Jun Qingmeng’s hand.

A small hand holding a large one.

"Teacher Qingmeng, we’re together again! Tongtong missed you so much today that she didn’t even eat much for lunch."

She finished speaking and patted her tummy with a woeful expression.

’Sorry, tummy.’

Jun Qingmeng ruffled her hair and said fondly, "You can’t do that again, you have to eat your meals properly, okay?"

"If Teacher Qingmeng is with me, I’ll be good!"

"Oh, right, did Daddy go visit you?" Tongtong asked, her eyes full of anticipation.

"Yes! He came." Jun Qingmeng nodded and praised her with a smile:

"Tongtong was a great hero today. Without your message, your dad wouldn’t have come to visit me."

"I was, wasn’t I? Hehehehe."

Tongtong let out a goofy laugh.

"Daddy said he was buying a car. Did he?"

"I went with him to buy it. Want to see it?"

"I wanna see!"

"Come on, I’ll take you."

"Yay!"

After crossing at the traffic light, Jun Qingmeng led Tongtong by the hand to a parking spot on a slope diagonally across from the shop.

"Which one is it?"

Tongtong’s eyes went wide.

"The license plate has three eights. You find it," Jun Qingmeng said, deliberately quizzing her.

"Oh, I found it!"

"Is it this one?"

Tongtong pointed to an elegant yet commanding SUV.

Jun Qingmeng nodded. "That’s the one. What do you think?"

"It’s beautiful! A really, really beautiful car! Tongtong loves it!"

Tongtong pressed her cheek against the car door affectionately.

"Hello, Uncle Che. I’m Tongtong. From now on, you have to protect me from the wind and rain, okay?"

She was very pleased with her family’s new Uncle Che.

"Come on, let’s go help your dad. Look at that long line. He must be exhausted."

"Okay! Helping Daddy is Tongtong’s favorite thing to do."

Jun Qingmeng looked down at Tongtong and said, "There’s something I need to tell you."

"Go ahead."

"Well... about half an hour ago, I confessed my feelings to your dad."

"For real?"

Tongtong stopped in her tracks, her big eyes shining with anticipation.

Jun Qingmeng shook her head. "I’m not kidding."

Tongtong asked urgently,

"So, are you together now?"

"No."

"Argh! I’m so mad!"

"What is Daddy thinking? Teacher Qingmeng is so pretty! Why didn’t he say yes?!"

Tongtong said in a huff, "When I get home, I’m going to spank his butt and make him agree."

Jun Qingmeng had to hold back a laugh, but she played along with Jiang Tongtong. "Okay, I agree. We’ll spank him as soon as we get back. I’ll cheer you on from the sidelines."

Tongtong immediately lost her nerve.

"I’m just telling you, okay? This is our secret. Teacher Qingmeng, you absolutely can’t tell Daddy."

"He’ll spank little Tongtong’s bottom black and blue!"

"Hahaha."

Jun Qingmeng laughed, revealing a set of pearly white teeth.

She crouched down to straighten Tongtong’s hair. "Tongtong, tell me... if I were to become your mommy, would you like that?"

"Mommy," Tongtong called out instantly.

"Pfft," Jun Qingmeng laughed. "You’d better just call me Teacher Qingmeng for now. Your dad hasn’t said yes yet. If he finds out you’re calling me Mommy, what if he starts to dislike me?"

Tongtong frowned. "Then I’ll flick him on the forehead. If he doesn’t let me call you that, I’ll just keep flicking him."

Amused by Jiang Tongtong’s bravado, Jun Qingmeng just smiled and changed the subject.

"Tongtong, your dad has his own concerns and reasons. He did turn me down, but I understand what he meant. He just doesn’t have any plans to date or get married for now. That doesn’t mean I don’t have a chance, though! I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to keep pursuing your dad.

Do you have any objections to that? Or... any thoughts?"

Jun Qingmeng cared deeply about what Tongtong thought.

If Tongtong really liked her, winning over Jiang Liu would be much easier.

Tongtong shook her head, her expression innocent.

"I don’t know... But, Teacher Qingmeng, you have to be good to Daddy. You can’t be like Daddy’s ex-wife. She was very, very mean to him."

"Actually, Tongtong is very happy with Teacher Qingmeng. If you two get together, Tongtong has no objections."