The next morning,
the three children slept in late, but Jiang Mingyu woke them up to get ready.
After applying hand cream and Dabao cream, they smelled wonderful. Dressed in puffy white down jackets and three neat little hats, they looked even cuter—
like little Taobao models!
She changed into a white bear-patterned sweatshirt as a base layer, topped with a light gray down vest, and fitted light gray fleece jeans. She
and the children wore matching white casual shoes. Jiang Mingyu also put on a small black leather backpack with her ID card inside, and a matching crossbody bag for her daughter, Sanya. The mother and daughter tied their hair in ponytails with matching red ribbons, looking absolutely beautiful.
Even though they weren’t her biological children, they looked more like family!
In her previous life, Jiang Mingyu had no children, but she always wanted to experience the joy of being a doting father to her daughters;
now, her dream had finally come true!
The three children had already heard that she was going to the county town today, and they couldn’t wait to urge her at the door: “Mom, hurry up!”
The county town was so lively, and the earlier they went, the longer they could shop!
The children’s love of shopping was exactly what Jiang Mingyu wanted.
She went inside to call Huo Mingfeng, who was still sleeping, and said to them, “Wait a moment~ I’ll be right there~”
However, Huo Mingfeng, who had been woken up, seemed to be doing something wrong. His eyes were bloodshot, his breathing was heavy, and his breath was burning hot.
“Sorry, I overslept, I’ll get up right away…”
“Are you alright?”
Seeing that his voice was hoarse, Jiang Mingyu couldn’t help but touch his forehead. She
was immediately shocked: “You have a fever!”
His forehead was clearly burning hot!
Frowning, she pressed Huo Mingfeng down: “You can’t go anywhere today. I’ll take your temperature.”
She took out an electronic thermometer, skillfully opened his arm, and placed it under his armpit.
This made Huo Mingfeng feel embarrassed, and he coughed, “Cough cough, I can do it myself…”
But Jiang Mingyu pressed him back down, saying, “You’re a patient, lie down properly.”
“This thermometer only needs to be used for five minutes.”
She looked at her watch, patiently calculating the time.
When the thermometer was taken out, it showed a shocking 38.5!
No wonder he was coughing;
if the fever continued, he would definitely develop pneumonia!
Jiang Mingyu quickly found a box of Lianhua Qingwen granules and two amoxicillin tablets, boiled water in a kettle, and gave them to him.
She then placed the thermometer next to him and said, “You rest at home today. I’ll take the children to the county town and promise to be back before 7 p.m..”
“Okay, be careful on the road.”
Huo Mingfeng’s eyes flickered when he heard that she was taking the children out, but he didn’t say anything.
After watching Jiang Mingyu leave, he took out a pager and contacted the security guards,
“Mao Can, come over here, I have something to tell you.”
“Okay! Brother Feng!”
The other party responded, and a moment later, a tall, thin man wearing glasses came in.
He was wearing an old leather jacket to keep warm, rubbing his hands together, his breath coming out in the cold air.
“Brother Feng, it’s so cold outside, how come your room is so warm? No wonder you’re lying in bed and won’t get up. If I were you, I wouldn’t want to get out of bed either!”
Mao Can had regular features and thick eyebrows, and his voice had a frivolous tone.
He plopped down on the bed, took out a tattered pack of cigarettes and handed it to Huo Mingfeng, putting one in his own mouth: “Here, Brother Feng, Furongwang!”
While taking out a lighter, he asked him, “So, what do you want?”
Huo Mingfeng stubbed out his cigarette.
“Don’t smoke in the room, Mingyu just cleaned up yesterday.”
“Mingyu… Oh! You mean your sister-in-law? Jiang Mingyu is really our sister-in-law now?”
Immediately, he raised his eyebrows excitedly: “Brother Feng, that’s great! I’ve been disgusted with that pretty boy in the security department for a long time, I didn’t expect you to actually sleep with his woman, awesome!”
This pretty boy was Qian Youde, that’s what everyone in the security department called him.
Seeing Huo Mingfeng looking at him indifferently, seemingly not in the mood for jokes, Mao Can restrained himself a bit, coughing, “Well, this room smells strange, I guess I won’t smoke…”
He obediently put the cigarette back in the pack,
then heard Huo Mingfeng say, “Your sister-in-law just took the children to the county town. I need you to go with her. If there’s any danger, secretly handle it.”
“Ah? So you want me to keep watch!”
Mao Can pouted, then took out the cigarette and put it in his mouth again, “Fine, you saved my life back then, I have to repay that debt of gratitude~”
He got up and walked out, “Brother Feng, I’m off then!”
“Wait, I haven’t finished yet.”
Huo Mingfeng looked at him from behind, took out a well-preserved silver ring, “Take this to Zhimingxuan in the county town, find a man called ‘Master Yi,’ and tell him that Huo Mingfeng’s prediction was accurate. This is the thank-you gift I promised him.”
“Huh? Brother Feng, when did you start believing in fortune tellers?”
Finding it amusing, Mao Can grinned, took the ring, and put it away. “Okay, leave this to me, don’t worry.”
He then quickly left, quietly following Jiang Mingyu and the children.
Huo Mingfeng was burning with fever, and
Mao Can fell into a deep sleep shortly after leaving.
Outside,
two kilometers was nothing to Jiang Mingyu. Although the original owner’s body was slender, she had considerable strength from years of hard labor.
The three children, used to running around, knew the road very well and enthusiastically pointed out the tree, the flower, the large stone dam ahead, the pond, and the small bridge to Jiang Mingyu.
But whether it was her imagination or not, she had a feeling someone was following them.
As they approached the county town, Jiang Mingyu glanced at the peaceful road behind them, then pulled the three children into the crowd, weaving left and right. Although they weren’t familiar with the area, they quickly hid in a tricycle, shaking off their pursuers.
Jiang Mingyu thought to herself: Could it be that their brightly colored clothes attracted the attention of bad guys?
The old man pedaling the tricycle glanced back at the adults and children who had rushed in, looking them over with curiosity: “Hey, comrades, why are you wearing such strange clothes? They look surprisingly warm!”
Jiang Mingyu noticed that his hands were red from the cold, so she quickly said, “Please take us to Jufulou Hotel.”
“Sure thing!”
The old man’s attention was immediately diverted, and with his professional ethics, he pedaled the tricycle with ease, bringing them to a commercial street in the center of the county town in less than ten minutes.
“We’re here! Comrade, six cents!”
Six cents?
This price really surprised her;
it was incredibly cheap!
Jiang Mingyu took out the loose change she had in her pocket, gave him a five-cent coin and a one-cent coin: “Thank you, comrade.”
Then she led the three children into Jufulou Hotel.
The hotel was warmer than outside,
had ventilation ducts, and
the floor tiles were so clean you could see your reflection. The lobby was decorated in a lavish style, giving off an air of wealth, and there was a parking lot in the back with a vintage car from the 1980s parked there.
This car is quite expensive; it’s worth at least three thousand yuan these days.
The hostess at the entrance saw the four smartly dressed people enter and her eyes lit up. “What adorable children! Good morning, kids!”
She then greeted Jiang Mingyu with a professional smile: “Madam, would you like to book a banquet or a meal? Would you like a private room? We don’t have a minimum charge for our private rooms, and banquet bookings get a 10% discount per table, plus two complimentary bottles of Tsingtao beer.”
Jiang Mingyu smiled, “Thank you, but I’m not here for a meal; I’m here to sell things.”