The next morning, Zhao Xinnian was awakened by his alarm.
He turned it off and glanced beside him. The blanket had been rolled into a bundle, with Zhao Leyan curled up like a little ball inside.
It seemed she was still asleep.
Zhao Xinnian decided to let his daughter sleep a little longer. He had just closed his eyes again when a faint sound suddenly came from inside the room.
Crunch, crunch…
Zhao Xinnian instantly became wide awake.
‘What was that sound?’
He cautiously looked around.
Crunch, crunch.
The sound continued.
Zhao Xinnian’s expression darkened. He quietly sat up and followed the source of the noise.
Then…
Once he confirmed that the sound was coming from right beside him, Zhao Xinnian gritted his teeth and abruptly yanked away the blanket.
“Zhao! Le! Yan!”
Zhao Leyan, who had been curled up beside him with her little bottom sticking into the air, trembled all over when she heard him.
Then she raised her little head and gave him an ingratiating smile. “Dad, hehe…”
Zhao Xinnian suddenly raised his hand.
Zhao Leyan immediately squeezed her eyes shut in fright.
However, the next second, she felt her father’s fingers brushing something off her face.
Zhao Xinnian wiped the crumbs of crispy instant noodles from the corner of her mouth and asked irritably, “When did you wake up?”
There was an opened packet of crispy instant noodles on the bed, with crumbs scattered everywhere.
The crunching sound just now had come from Zhao Leyan secretly eating them.
Realizing that she wasn’t going to get spanked, Zhao Leyan became delighted. She plopped herself onto her father and said sweetly, “I just woke up to pee. Then I saw a box nearby, so I grabbed a packet while I was there!”
The second floor of the convenience store had previously been used as a warehouse, so there were still plenty of goods stored there. Zhao Xinnian glanced around and snorted. “Still not telling me the truth?”
One look was enough for him to know that she had not simply grabbed something she happened to see. She had clearly sneaked around and rummaged through the boxes for quite a while.
Zhao Leyan’s dark eyes darted around. Then she leaned forward, kissed Zhao Xinnian on the forehead, and said ingratiatingly, “Dad, I know I was wrong!”
Zhao Xinnian stared at her.
After several seconds of staring at each other, the old father ultimately admitted defeat. “You’re going to be late for school. Hurry up and wash up.”
“Yay!”
Zhao Leyan jumped up excitedly and dashed into the bathroom, cheering all the way.
Zhao Xinnian helplessly shook his head and began cleaning the bed. However, he soon discovered that crispy instant noodles were not the only thing she had secretly eaten.
There was also a pouch of jelly.
He immediately found himself both annoyed and amused.
Ten minutes later, Zhao Leyan finished washing up and put on her schoolbag. “Dad, I’m ready!”
“Mm.”
Zhao Xinnian took her hand and led her downstairs.
No. 7 Convenience Store was 3 km away from Huaduo Elementary School even in a straight line. Zhao Xinnian hailed a taxi and took her to school.
Afterward, it was time to consider some practical problems.
He had to take his daughter to and from school every day, and not having a vehicle was extremely inconvenient.
Zhao Xinnian checked his phone. There was only a little over 9,000 yuan in his bank account. His savings had not even reached five figures.
With the money he currently had, he could only afford an electric scooter.
Zhao Xinnian shook his head, scanned the QR code on a Shared Bicycle, and rode back.
No matter what, the convenience store still needed to open. He still had to make a living.
Actually, Qin Chaolu had been wrong about one thing. The reason his convenience store had poor business was that Zhao Xinnian devoted most of his attention to taking care of Yanyan. He frequently closed the store, so how could business possibly be good?
Zhao Xinnian had calculated it before. If he kept the store open from 8:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. every day, his monthly net profit should easily reach several thousand yuan.
[My gentle and considerate Host, weren’t you going to complete the mission?]
The system’s faintly resentful voice sounded in his mind.
Without changing his expression, Zhao Xinnian replied, “What’s the rush? I’ll go tonight.”
The system huffed several times in annoyance, but Zhao Xinnian simply pretended not to hear it.
By noon, Zhao Xinnian was preparing to cook when his phone suddenly rang.
[One Peach has added you as a friend. Accept request?]
(Are you the convenience store at the entrance of the residential complex?)
Zhao Xinnian’s eyes lit up.
Business had arrived!
He immediately accepted the request and replied, “Hello. What do you need?”
[Please deliver two cases of bottled water, two bags of rice, and five cartons of XX cigarettes… to Building 16, Apartment 701. Thank you.]
It really was a large order.
The other items were nothing special, but the cigarettes were top-of-the-line. They cost 100 yuan per pack, or 900 yuan per carton.
The total sales from this single order alone amounted to several thousand yuan.
Zhao Xinnian immediately asked, “Is this Nancheng Jiangshan?”
Nancheng Jiangshan was the residential complex directly behind the convenience store.
“Yes.”
One Peach replied almost immediately.
Zhao Xinnian sent an OK gesture and began preparing the order.
There was no way he could carry everything with both hands, so he pulled out a handcart from the back. Once all the goods were loaded, he headed toward the residential complex behind the store.
Before long, he arrived at Building 16.
Just as he entered the elevator, hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside.
“Please hold the elevator!”
Zhao Xinnian had just raised his head when a pleasant fragrance swept toward him.
The newcomer was a woman around twenty-five years old. She wore a white striped short-sleeved shirt, tight jeans, and a pair of flat canvas shoes.
Her clothes were quite ordinary, but her figure was anything but ordinary.
The tight jeans accentuated her full, round, peach-like curves. Meanwhile, her prominent chest strained against her shirt. Her figure could easily rival Qin Chaolu’s.
Her face was also exceptionally beautiful, though a faint trace of melancholy seemed hidden within her eyes.
[Wow! A 9! A 9! A 9! Host, hurry up and complete Qin Chaolu’s mission! There’s such a beauty right in front of you, but you can only look and can’t make a move. I’m getting impatient just watching!]
The system immediately began making a commotion inside his head.
The corner of Zhao Xinnian’s mouth twitched. He glanced at the woman once before calmly looking away.
The elevator began ascending.
The woman lowered her eyes and glanced at the handcart. She suddenly paused before asking, “Excuse me, are you the owner of the convenience store?”
Hearing her question, Zhao Xinnian already had a guess. He nodded. “Yes.”
“What a coincidence. I’m the one who messaged you just now. How much is everything? I’ll transfer the money to you now,” the woman said with a polite smile.
“That really is a coincidence.”
Zhao Xinnian took out the order slip and said, “The total is 5,025 yuan. Just give me 5,000.”
“I can’t do that. You’re running a small business too… There, I’ve transferred it.”
One Peach tapped a few times on her phone and completed the payment.
Zhao Xinnian checked and saw that she had transferred exactly 5,025 yuan without deducting a single yuan. He was quite satisfied.
At that moment, the elevator stopped on the seventh floor.
Zhao Xinnian asked, “Is anyone else at home? Do you need me to help carry everything inside?”
He simply thought there were too many items for a woman to move by herself if he left everything outside the door.
However, One Peach’s expression changed slightly, and a trace of vigilance appeared in her eyes. “No, thank you. My husband is at home. I’ll have him come out and carry everything inside later.”
One look at her expression told Zhao Xinnian that she had misunderstood his intentions, but he did not bother explaining.
After unloading all the goods outside her door, he said, “If you need anything else, just message me anytime.”
One Peach visibly relaxed and hurriedly replied, “Okay, thank you.”
After watching Zhao Xinnian take the elevator downstairs, Su Tao’s expression immediately collapsed.
‘There’s no one at home!’
Looking at the mountain of goods outside her door, she felt miserable.
‘Having me carry all of this inside by myself is going to kill me…’
…
Zhao Xinnian pushed the handcart back to the convenience store, but the moment he arrived, he frowned.
The store door had already been pushed open, and at some point, a woman had entered.
Zheng Zhenzhen looked at him and laughed mockingly. “Heh. So the gold-digging son-in-law has finally been knocked back to reality, and now all you can do is sit around guarding this lousy little store?”