Tong Yuexin watched Tong Mingkai walk into his classroom before turning to leave.
She had already arranged with Zhou Qianshan to go help out at the restaurant today. Even though she had dropped Tong Mingkai off first, she still arrived with plenty of time to spare before the midday lunch rush.
When the young waitress hired by the restaurant caught sight of her, she didn’t recognize her right away and cheerfully greeted her. “Welcome, Comrade! What can I get you today?”
Before Tong Yuexin could even reply, Zhou Qianshan emerged from the kitchen with a smile. “She’s my daughter, here to give us a hand.”
The young waitress had never met Tong Yuexin before and looked a bit embarrassed. After the two exchanged greetings, Tong Yuexin headed straight back to the kitchen.
Zhou Qianshan had already prepped most of the vegetables needed for the day. Pointing to a batch of ingredients set aside on the counter, she instructed Tong Yuexin, “Xinxin, those are yours. Just use those whenever someone orders.”
While Tong Yuexin had been studying the recipe book intently over the past few days, her experience was still limited, and she couldn’t possibly master the entire menu all at once. So, for the time being, she had narrowed her focus down to just two dishes, practicing them relentlessly until her cooking matched her mother’s standards.
Even Tong Zhitian couldn’t tell the difference between the dishes cooked by Tong Yuexin and those cooked by Zhou Qianshan.
Zhou Qianshan’s restaurant had been running for a long time and boasted plenty of regular patrons who naturally ordered those same signature dishes whenever they came in.
At first, sharing the workload between the two of them felt manageable, but it wasn’t long before Tong Yuexin found herself practically snowed under. As she stood stirring and tossing her wok, she thought to herself how lucky it was that she had come to help. Otherwise, given this level of chaos, she shuddered to think what time Zhou Qianshan usually managed to eat.
The peak lunch rush only lasted for a short window. Once things slowed down and the crowd thinned out a bit, Tong Yuexin kept right on cooking while throwing a stern look at her mother. “Mom, take a quick break right now and go grab a bite to eat. What time do you think it is? I can handle the rest.”
Zhou Qianshan hesitated, feeling a bit guilty and protective of her daughter. “Let me finish…”
Before she could even finish her sentence, Tong Yuexin put on a deadpan expression and said firmly, “No arguments. Go eat!”
Scolded by her daughter, Zhou Qianshan meekly wandered off to have her meal.
Evening brought another round of non-stop commotion, keeping Tong Yuexin so busy that she completely lost track of time. Zhou Qianshan, however, was keeping an eye on the clock. Seeing that it was getting late, she nudged Tong Yuexin. “All right, Xinxin, I can handle things here. You hurry along and go pick up Kaikai.”
Looking out at the remaining customers, Tong Yuexin hesitated. “But out there…”
“Didn’t I manage just fine by myself before you started coming? Go on, off you go. It’s Kaikai’s first day of kindergarten; you don’t want to keep him waiting and worrying.”
Realizing her mother was right, Tong Yuexin unknotted her apron and hurried off toward the kindergarten.
What she hadn’t anticipated, however, was that in her rush to take a shortcut so she could get back and help out sooner, she drastically overestimated her sense of direction. After walking for a bit, she suddenly realized she had no idea where she was.
Looking around at the unfamiliar buildings, she groaned inwardly—she had actually managed to get lost.
Meanwhile, back at the kindergarten, only two children remained in the nursery class.
The teacher sat nearby keeping watch as they played with building blocks. Both kids were well-behaved, sitting quietly without making a fuss.
Lu Miaomiao held a block in her hand, her small face scrunched up in deep displeasure. Seeming quite used to this routine, she jutted out her lower lip and grumbled, “Our parents are totally unreliable! How can they be this late to pick us up? Every single day it’s just work, work, work—they actually managed to forget me! Don’t they know I’m much more important than their stupid jobs?!”
The teacher couldn’t help stifling a laugh at the sheer drama in Lu Miaomiao’s voice.
Tong Mingkai was just about to place a block on his tower when Lu Miaomiao’s words gave him pause. He hesitated for a moment before speaking up, somewhat timidly, “…I don’t think so.”
His voice was so quiet that Lu Miaomiao barely caught it. Leaning closer, she asked, “What did you say?”
“I said, I don’t think my mommy is like that,” Tong Mingkai said a bit louder, his expression earnest. “My mommy is just really busy, so she might be a little late. It’s not because she’s unreliable, and she definitely didn’t forget about me.”
He trusted his mom.
Besides… he only had his mom. That meant he couldn’t cause her any trouble, had to make things easy for her, and needed to grow up quickly so he could protect her properly.
“Oh—”
Lu Miaomiao dragged out the syllable, picturing Tong Mingkai’s mother in her mind before nodding solemnly. “I guess you’re right. Your mom is so pretty; she doesn’t look like the kind of person who would ditch you.”
“Your parents aren’t going to ditch you either,” the teacher chimed in gently, unable to let it slide. She reached out to smooth down Lu Miaomiao’s hair. “Mom and Dad are probably just caught up with something. We need to be good and understand them, okay?”
Looking thoroughly aggrieved, Lu Miaomiao nodded reluctantly. Just as a pout settled onto her face, she glanced up and spotted someone walking toward their classroom.
Her eyes instantly lit up. Dropping the block right where she stood on the table, she scrambled up and ran over with a joyful squeal.
Curious, Tong Mingkai followed the direction she had run off in and saw a very tall, strikingly handsome uncle walking into the room right behind another teacher.
Overjoyed at the sight of him, Lu Miaomiao flung herself straight into the man’s arms, her little face blossoming into an even prettier, more radiant smile. “Little Uncle! How come you’re here?”
The man scooped the little girl up into his arms with effortless ease. After offering a polite, slight nod to greet the teacher first, he turned his attention back to Lu Miaomiao. “Your parents were tied up with work today, and since I happened to be free, they sent me to pick you up.”
“I knew it! They were just busy with work and completely forgot about me! And the teacher tried to tell me otherwise, hmph!” Lu Miaomiao puffed out her cheeks in a theatrical pout, looking like she could hang a three-pound oil jug from them.
A faint frown touched Lu Tingfeng’s brow, lending his handsome features a cool, stern edge. “Your parents’ work is just demanding; they didn’t forget you.”
“Fine, fine! As long as someone came to get me and I wasn’t left stranded here, I’m happy.” Lu Miaomiao’s cheerful mood bounced right back; she was surprisingly easy to appease.
After chattering away for a bit longer, Lu Miaomiao suddenly remembered she had a new playmate in the room. Turning back to Tong Mingkai, she flashed a proud little grin. “My little uncle is here to pick me up, so I can’t play anymore. I’m going home now!”
Lu Tingfeng’s gaze followed hers to the little boy sitting across the room.
For a split second, a slight furrow appeared between his brows. He couldn’t shake the distinct feeling that this child looked vaguely familiar, though he couldn’t quite place where he might have seen him before.
He must just be imagining things.