Yang Mu looked at Qiao Man in shock, then at Qiao Le, realizing they did bear some resemblance.
But Qiao Le looked so young-how could he have such a big son?!
With a mix of disbelief and a glimmer of hope, Yang Mu asked Qiao Man, “Little one, who are you calling ‘Dad’?”
Yang Mu had only started working at “Sip and Relax” last month.
At that time, Qiao Man was still staying at his aunt’s place in the countryside, so Yang Mu had never met him and had no idea Qiao Man was Qiao Le’s younger brother.
Qiao Le, of course, wouldn’t miss such a golden opportunity.
He mercilessly crushed Yang Mu’s hope: “He’s calling me. I’m his dad.”
Then he turned to Qiao Man and said, “Sweetie, say hello.”
Qiao Man played along perfectly: “Hello, Uncle! I’m Xiao Man, and I’m five years old!”
“F-five years old?” Yang Mu stared at Qiao Le, still in disbelief.
“But you look so young. How can you have such a big son?”
“Me?” Qiao Le replied, “I just look young. I’m almost thirty.”
Yang Mu: “…”
Fang Jiaxu, who had been watching the scene unfold from behind the bar, chimed in at the perfect moment:
“I can vouch for that. This is a bar, after all. We wouldn’t hire a minor.”
Yang Mu’s last shred of hope was shattered.
Holding the bouquet of roses, his expression shifted several times before he finally managed to maintain his composure.
He said to Qiao Le, “My apologies for the disturbance,” and then left dejectedly.
As soon as he was gone, Qiao Le let out a huge sigh of relief and high-fived Qiao Man.
“You’re so clever, sweetie.”
Qiao Man giggled, cupping his face with his hands.
“Brother Jiaxu taught me.”
Earlier, while reading a storybook in the break room, Fang Jiaxu had suddenly come in and told him that his brother was in a bit of trouble -someone was harassing him, and Qiao Man needed to go out and help protect him.
The moment Qiao Man heard his brother was in trouble, he immediately put down his book and went out.
As for why he had to call his brother “Dad,” he didn’t fully understand, but Brother Jiaxu had said it would help scare off the person bothering his brother.
And it actually worked!
Qiao Le turned to Fang Jiaxu.
“Thanks, bro.”
Fang Jiaxu waved it off.
“Get back to work.”
“No problem.” Qiao Le praised Qiao Man again.
“You did great, Xiao Man. Go back to reading now.”
“Okay!” Qiao Man nodded, climbed down from the chair, and skipped back to the break room.
Despite the little interruption, the rest of the shift went smoothly.
As closing time approached, Qiao Le’s colleagues let him leave early to take Qiao Man home and rest.
When Qiao Le returned to the break room, Qiao Man was already asleep on the folding bed.
The bed was only eighty centimeters wide, but it was just the right size for Qiao Man, who was still small.
He was hugging his Psyduck plushie, sleeping soundly, and didn’t even wake up when Qiao Le entered.
Qiao Le gently shook him awake.
“Time to go home, sweetie.”
Qiao Man rubbed his eyes, got up, and neatly folded his little blanket.
After Qiao Le packed up the folding bed, the two of them headed home together.
On the way back, Qiao Le explained that he’d be busy over the next few days and asked Qiao Man to stay with Fang Jiaxu for a while.
Whenever Qiao Le helped out at other bars, it wasn’t uncommon for him to work until three or four in the morning.
Qiao Man had stayed with Fang Jiaxu before and didn’t mind the arrangement.
He nodded obediently. “Okay.”
By the time they got home and finished washing up, the little one was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open.
Qiao Le tucked him into bed and then climbed in himself.
Meanwhile, Shen Hechuan had been receiving yet another round of marriage-pressure calls from his mother, Wu Huilan.
A few days ago, while playing mahjong with Mrs. Lin, she learned that the other party had a niece of marriageable age who was still single.
After carefully inquiring, she found that this girl, both in appearance and personality, perfectly matched her standards for a daughter-in- law.
The key point was that the girl was only five years younger than Shen Hechuan.
Last time, Shen Hechuan had said that the Cheng family’s daughter was too young and not suitable.
But this one was only five years younger -wasn’t that just right?
So she started bombarding Shen Hechuan with phone calls, urging him to make time to meet the girl and get to know each other.
Shen Hechuan was utterly annoyed, but the person pestering him was his mother, and both his grandfather and father were on her side, ganging up to scold him.
Helpless, Shen Hechuan simply stopped returning to the old family residence.
After multiple failed attempts to get him to comply, Wu Huilan stormed straight to Linjiang Villa.
Shen Hechuan knew she was coming and even boiled water to make tea for her.
“I’m not drinking!” Wu Huilan set her bag down with a stern face and sat on the sofa.
“Why aren’t you answering my calls? I’ve already arranged the meeting for tonight. Where do you expect me to save face?”
Shen Hechuan placed the tea on the coffee table in front of her.
“Snow Mountain.”
Wu Huilan’s nose twitched as she caught the scent of her favorite tea.
She glared at her son but picked up the cup and took a sip.
Hmm, it was indeed her favorite tea.
At least he still had some conscience.
She decided to ease up on the scolding.
Setting the cup down, her tone softened slightly as she continued, “Don’t think a cup of tea will make me let this go. I’m still furious about you standing her up.”
Shen Hechuan reminded her, “I never agreed to the meeting. I told you that yesterday.”
“You didn’t meet yesterday, you’re not meeting today, and you won’t meet tomorrow. When exactly are you going to meet? Give me a clear answer,” Wu Huilan demanded.
Shen Hechuan thought to himself that he had already given her an answer, but she had been ignoring it all along.
So he repeated, “I have no plans to get married at the moment.”
Wu Huilan had been tirelessly worrying about her son’s marriage.
When he was younger, she understood his focus on his studies.
After graduation, she accepted his busy work schedule and never interfered.
But now, after all these ars, the family business had grown larger, and they had amassed even more wealth.
Yet, there was still no sign of a daughter-in-law.
Hearing Shen Hechuan reject her again, she couldn’t help but get angry.
“This isn’t good, that isn’t good-what exactly are you dissatisfied with? Last time you said Jiarong was too young. Now I’ve found someone of a suitable age. Are you going to say her personality doesn’t suit you?”
Shen Hechuan hadn’t even met the girl, so he had no idea whether her personality was suitable or not-and he didn’t care to find out.
Seeing him remain silent, Wu Huilan’s anger only intensified.
She clutched her chest with one hand and pointed at him with the other.
“What kind of karma is this? I’m only doing this for your own good! Look at how old you are now-still a bachelor. I refuse to believe you don’t feel cold sleeping alone in the winter.”
Shen Hechuan calmly reminded her, “The house has heating. It’s not cold.”
Wu Huilan: “…”
“What does heating have to do with it? You don’t even have someone to talk to!” Wu Huilan snapped.
“You don’t like this, you’re not satisfied with that. If you’re so capable, go find someone yourself! Even if you bring a man home, I won’t give you a hard time!”
Shen Hechuan looked at her in surprise.
“Are you saying…”
After finishing her tirade, Wu Huilan realized she had been so angry that she spoke without thinking.
But the words were already out, and backtracking would make her lose face.
She stubbornly added, “I bet you can’t even find a man! How pathetic!”
Having said that, she didn’t want to stay any longer and endure more frustration.
She grabbed her bag and was about to leave.
Shen Hechuan went to see her off.
When she suddenly stopped at the entrance, he asked with concern, “What’s wrong?”
Wu Huilan looked up at him, her expression strange.
“You’ve been refusing to go on blind dates… is it because you’ve been secretly dating someone?”
Shen Hechuan: “What?”
Wu Huilan pointed under the shoe cabinet.
Shen Hechuan followed her gaze and saw a pair of small yellow bear slippers placed neatly against the wall in the empty space beneath the cabinet.
Shen Hechuan remembered these were the slippers Qiao Le had worn when he came over a couple of days ago.
The housekeeper had been on leave recently, and the slippers had been placed so far to the side that he hadn’t noticed them.
He hadn’t expected Wu Huilan’s sharp eyes to spot them.
These slippers had been bought by Wu Huilan, and they weren’t Shen Hechuan’s style.
She had bought them over half a year ago, and they had been sitting untouched in the shoe cabinet ever since.
Now, however, they were neatly placed outside.
This meant someone had worn them and arranged them carefully.
Whoever had come to Shen Hechuan’s house must have a close relationship with him.
Out of all the slippers in the house, they had chosen to wear these cute little bear slippers.
This suggested that the person was young and liked adorable things.
Following these clues, Wu Huilan suddenly recalled the phone call from a couple of days ago, and her expression changed abruptly.
“It’s not what you think “Shen Hechuan tried to explain, but Wu Huilan cut him off.
“Don’t try to lie! Tell me the truth-are you really dating a young boy? Is he the one who called you ‘hubby’ on the phone the other day?”
Shen Hechuan: “No, I already told you, that was just the neighborā”
“Who are you trying to fool?” Wu Huilan snapped.
“You live in a one-household-per-floor building! What neighbor?”
Shen Hechuan: “…”
Well, he was caught.