One hour passed in the blink of an eye.
“Mengmeng, play on your own for a while. Uncle Jiang will go make you a snack,” Jiang Ning said with a warm smile and gentle eyes.
“Yay! Uncle Jiang, can you make me a cake?” Mengmeng blinked her big round eyes, full of anticipation.
“Of course! Leave it to Uncle Jiang.” Jiang Ning agreed without hesitation and headed to the kitchen on the first floor.
“Ring ring ring—”
The sudden ringing of his phone broke the quiet. Jiang Ning pulled out his phone and saw it was a call from his mother back home.
“Hey, Mom.” He answered with a hint of affection in his voice.
“Ning’er, I heard you lost your job. Is that true?” His mother, Ye Shulan, sounded deeply concerned and anxious on the other end.
Jiang Ning frowned slightly, puzzled. “Mom, who told you that?”
“Ning’er, just tell me. Did you really lose your job or not?” Ye Shulan pressed, her tone tight with worry.
“Yeah, I did, Mom. But don’t worry, I already found a new job. I’m working right now.” Jiang Ning quickly explained, afraid she’d worry too much.
Ye Shulan still sounded unsure. “Really? Ning’er, you’re not lying to your mom, right?”
“I swear, Mom. I started yesterday, and today’s my second day already.” His voice was firm and serious.
Hearing her son’s certainty, Ye Shulan finally breathed a sigh of relief. “As long as you’ve found something new, that’s good. I only heard about it from Aunt Lin. She said her son Erdan called and told her.”
“Don’t worry, Mom. I’m really happy with this new job,” Jiang Ning reassured her again.
Erdan was Jiang Ning’s neighbor and worked as a warehouse clerk at a subsidiary of Jiang Ning’s previous company. Erdan only had a junior high school education, while Jiang Ning worked at headquarters in the office.
Since they were from the same village and company, Aunt Lin often pestered Jiang Ning’s parents, hoping he could pull strings and get Erdan a better, higher-paying position. But Jiang Ning was just a junior employee two years out of college—he had no power to make transfers or promotions.
That probably made Aunt Lin resentful. So when Jiang Ning lost his job, she likely mocked him behind his mother’s back.
Jiang Ning guessed as much. He had been let go because of a distant relative of the vice president—a recent graduate who convinced the boss to let him take Jiang Ning’s position. Jiang Ning, having no status or backing, was laid off with only 10,000 yuan in compensation—far below the legal amount.
He didn’t bother to fight over such a small sum and just moved on.
That made Jiang Ning hesitate. He paused before replying with a teasing tone, “Mom, I’m not doing that anymore. My current job… I’m keeping it a secret for now. I want to surprise you later.”
He didn’t want to reveal the nature of his current job, but he still had to make it sound good so his mother wouldn’t worry.
Sure enough, hearing his playful tone, Ye Shulan cheered up. She thought her capable son must have found an amazing job and was just keeping it under wraps for a surprise.
Little did she know that Jiang Ning’s current job was basically being a full-time babysitter. He really couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud.
“Alright then, Ning’er. Work hard. I won’t bother you anymore.”
“Okay, I’m hanging up now, Mom. Bye.”
Beep—beep—beep…
After hanging up, Jiang Ning was suddenly struck by a strong thought: he had to find a stable source of income—and one that sounded respectable when spoken about.
Taking care of Mengmeng was just a favor for a classmate and couldn’t be a long-term plan.
Jiang Ning knew he had acquired many skills now, but finding a job that wouldn’t interfere with caring for Mengmeng, paid well, and sounded decent was easier said than done.
He had top-tier cooking skills—should he go be a private chef? But then he wouldn’t have time for Mengmeng. He had master-level math skills—but teaching full-time wasn’t feasible due to time conflicts.
What kind of job could be done at the villa, earn money, and still allow him to take care of Mengmeng?
“The internet!”
A lightbulb went off in his head. “It’s the internet era—why not start from there?”
The hottest platform right now was HuaYin. Why not register an account?
He thought about recording short videos of parenting tips and uploading them daily… but that might expose Mengmeng or his employer.
Then what about live-streaming? Maybe he could film the cooking process?
“Hmm, I’ll name the account ‘Young Stay-at-Home Dad.’ I’ll film a cooking showcase video every time I make food, and wear a mask during live streams. That way, it won’t interfere with taking care of Mengmeng. I can also record fun moments from daily life—just make sure Mengmeng and the background don’t appear. That might actually work.”
Once the idea formed, he acted immediately.
Jiang Ning registered a HuaYin account on the spot.
He set up his phone for filming. Since he hadn’t bought a mask yet, he didn’t show his face—just recorded the cooking process and focused on his hands.
Before long, an adorable little cream cake was completed in his hands.
It was shaped like a chubby little bear. The bear’s details were carefully decorated with cocoa powder. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Under Jiang Ning’s skilled hands, the bear looked lifelike. The cake resembled a delicate work of art.
During the video, Jiang Ning deliberately altered his voice while explaining the process.
After filming, he edited the footage meticulously, making sure nothing sensitive got captured, and finally uploaded it.
Then he warmed a cup of milk.
“Mengmeng, come down for your snack!” he called loudly.
“Okay! Mengmeng’s coming!” Her cheerful voice echoed from upstairs, and moments later, she came bouncing down.
“Wow! Uncle Jiang, this bear cake is soooo cute! I almost don’t want to eat it!” Mengmeng’s eyes were wide with wonder and joy. She stared at the cake, unwilling to look away.
“Mengmeng, cream cake is super yummy! Uncle Jiang will make more cute animal-shaped dishes like this in the future. Are you really not going to eat any?”
Jiang Ning coaxed her with a smile.
“But… Uncle Jiang, it’s just too cute…” Mengmeng looked conflicted. She wanted to eat it but couldn’t bear to ruin the perfect creation.
“Mengmeng, if you don’t eat it, the pretty little cake will go bad in two days. Then you won’t get to enjoy the yummy flavor—and worse, the bear will start to smell bad.”
Jiang Ning explained patiently.
“Really? Then… then I’ll eat it!” Mengmeng made up her mind at once.
“Good girl. Uncle Jiang made this to make you happy. If you just stare at it and don’t take a bite, next time I might not bother making it look so nice.”
“Nooo! I’ll eat it! I’ll eat it every time! Uncle Jiang, can you make all your dishes look like cute animals from now on?” Mengmeng grabbed his hand and pleaded sweetly.
“Alright, sweet girl.”
With Jiang Ning’s encouragement, Mengmeng finally picked up the spoon and gently took a bite out of the bear’s head, revealing the smooth white cream inside.
As the cream melted in her mouth, her eyes opened wide with surprise and joy. “Uncle Jiang, this is the yummiest cream cake I’ve ever had in my whole life!”
“Mm, if Mengmeng likes it, then finish it all. From now on, Uncle Jiang will make something delicious for you every morning at this time.”
“Okay! Thank you, Uncle Jiang!” Mengmeng nodded happily, her face glowing with pure joy as she devoured the cake with big, satisfied bites.