With their business taken care of, Qin Jiao and Shen Yi bought some local specialties and put them into the space.
Ahem.
They had agreed not to rely on the space, but it had since become their secret little hideout.
Shen Yi could paint there in peace, though Qin Jiao was always the focus of his art.
And Qin Jiao would practice the piano, read, and study there as well.
They also kept some small animals and grew many flowers inside the space.
They had a lot of local specialties to bring back now. It was inconvenient to carry them all, and mailing them would take too long, so they just put them in the space.
Guang City had an especially wide and beautiful variety of flowers. Qin Jiao remembered that Mr. Du loved to tend to his plants, and since North City was warming up, they could buy some azaleas and other flowers to bring back for him.
So before leaving, they visited the flower market, bought lots of flowers, and put them into the space as well.
They could also plant some in the courtyard within the space.
After buying the flowers, the two of them headed to the airport. By the time their plane landed, it was already getting dark.
Shen Yi suggested they grab some dinner first, but Qin Jiao said, "Let’s just go straight home. We’ve been away for so many days, I want to make sure everything is okay."
With the elders and the kids at home, they must be worried about us.
Shen Yi knew how much Qin Jiao cared for her family. And now that he was part of that family himself, he certainly didn’t see anything wrong with her concern.
Before it got completely dark, the two of them got on the subway. They hadn’t driven to the airport since they knew they’d be gone for several days.
After a long trip, they finally made it back to the courtyard home.
When they got home, Su Yun and the family had already finished dinner. "You two go take a shower and rest up," she said. "I’ll cook you some noodles."
There’s a saying: "dumplings for departure, noodles for return." Even though they had taken a plane, the principle of returning from a journey was the same.
Qin Jiao showered first, then went to the kitchen to help her mother. "Mom," she said, "we’ve been gone for a few days. Is everything alright with the factory and the shop?"
"The factory is fine, just swamped with orders. Everyone’s working overtime, and your uncle is run off his feet. The noodle shop renovation is done, but didn’t you say you wanted to let it air out before opening? So your dad, seeing as he had some free time, has been helping out at the clothing factory."
Qin Jiao said, "We really have our uncle to thank for all his hard work. He’s a natural at business; we couldn’t have managed the factory without him. At the end of the year, I’ll talk to Shen Yi about giving him a bigger bonus."
"Oh, that reminds me, speaking of your uncle... Apparently, a woman has been hanging around the kindergarten recently. She even pulled Xiao Cheng aside to talk to him once. I had Xiao Shi ask about it later, and it turns out that woman is Xiao Cheng’s biological mother."
Qin Jiao looked up. "Didn’t Xiao Cheng’s biological mother marry someone else?"
"Who knows? Back then, when she saw your uncle was going through a hard time, she divorced him in a hurry, took what little money they had left, and abandoned Xiao Cheng when he was just a little boy. Now she’s suddenly reappeared, and I have no idea why. If it’s just because she’s a mother who misses her son, that would be understandable. But I’m afraid she has other plans."
They were Qin Na’s family, after all, so of course, Qin Na’s well-being had to be their top priority.
’If the woman just missed her child and wanted to get close to him, that would be understandable.’
’But what if that wasn’t the case?’
Qin Jiao said, "It’s alright. Whatever she’s planning, we’ll find out eventually. But Aunt Qin Na is pregnant, so we should give her a heads-up to mentally prepare her."
If that woman really is up to something and decides to make a scene, we can’t let it upset Qin Na.