"Oh, dear... don’t cry, don’t cry."
Li Xiaoping went to wipe Shen Qingqiu’s tears, her heart aching for the girl.
"Don’t cry, don’t cry. Go pack your things and come celebrate the New Year with him. Auntie will make you something delicious."
"Auntie."
This only made it worse. Shen Qingqiu started crying even harder, unable to stop.
Lin Jiang stood in the kitchen, watching Shen Qingqiu.
’She’s usually so aloof. Why is she crying buckets like this?’
Shen Qingqiu was crying, and Li Xiaoping was wiping her tears.
"Child, don’t cry anymore. If you keep crying, you’ll make Auntie cry too."
Li Xiaoping’s heart ached for Shen Qingqiu. This complex emotion was something she felt only for her.
Because everyone else had parents to love them, but she didn’t.
Shen Qingqiu kept wiping away her tears, her emotions a whirlwind.
At that moment, she felt that she was no longer all alone in the world.
[You have gained the favor of NPC Shen Qingqiu. Affinity +20]
[Affinity: 80]
[Reward: 2,000,000 NPC Special Development Fund. Has been deposited into your account.]
With her Affinity at 80 points, Lin Jiang could see a red main quest marker above Shen Qingqiu’s head.
"I’m not crying anymore," Shen Qingqiu said, her voice still choked with sobs.
"That’s right, there’s nothing to cry about. Hurry and come with us."
Wiping her tears, Shen Qingqiu said:
"Auntie, why don’t you celebrate the New Year here? He usually lives alone and doesn’t have all the right cooking supplies. I have everything here."
Shen Qingqiu wanted Li Xiaoping to stay not because she was shy about going to Lin Jiang’s place.
But because she wanted to make something for Li Xiaoping to eat in her own home.
"If we stay here, wouldn’t we just be troubling you?"
"No trouble, no trouble at all! I couldn’t be happier."
"Alright then, Auntie won’t stand on ceremony with you. I’ll go make you something delicious."
As she spoke, Li Xiaoping walked into the kitchen. Seeing the instant noodles in the pot, her heart sank.
’If I hadn’t come today, he would have been eating instant noodles on New Year’s Day.’
"Son, go ahead and eat these noodles."
"Dinner will be ready soon, with proper dishes and drinks. Why would I eat instant noodles?"
"The noodles are already cooked. It’d be a waste to throw them out."
"Comrade Li, I see you really don’t expect me to support you in your old age if you can say something like that."
"I just don’t want to waste it."
Shen Qingqiu came to the kitchen. "Auntie, don’t make him eat it. It’s just a packet of instant noodles. I’ll clean it up."
This was Shen Qingqiu’s home, so Li Xiaoping didn’t know where the kitchen supplies were kept. The two of them started bustling about in the kitchen together.
Lin Jiang was happy to have some free time. He lay on the sofa and opened Shen Qingqiu’s main quest.
[Main Quest: Culinary Tycoon]
[Quest Description: Open 10 noodle shops, 10 barbecue restaurants, and 10 hot pot restaurants in Zhonghai.]
[Quest Reward: "Xihong City’s Richest Man" screenplay, 5,000,000 in cash.]
Seeing this quest, Lin Jiang’s spirits were instantly lifted.
The company currently had 3 noodle shops, 2 barbecue restaurants, and 1 hot pot restaurant.
The cost of one noodle shop was about 2 million.
Opening another 7 would be 14 million.
The costs for barbecue and hot pot restaurants were similar, about 5 million per location. To complete the quest, he would need to open a total of 17 more restaurants, costing around 85 million.
To finish this quest, he would need to spend close to a hundred million.
With the company’s current cash flow, completing this task would likely take some time.
But the city had given him a hundred-million, interest-free loan that he could use.
Once the movie profits came in, he would immediately have over a billion in cash flow.
So, the quest wasn’t difficult; it would just take a bit of time.
He opened his phone and looked it up. The box office for "Xihong City’s Richest Man" was 2.547 billion, and it was a film from 2018.
If released today, it could easily break 3 billion.
The profits from both movies combined would easily exceed 2 billion. The company’s entire cash flow would become much more comfortable, laying the foundation for further expansion.
Putting the quest aside, Lin Jiang didn’t dwell on it.
For a long time, he had been busy with one thing after another. Today, he didn’t want to think about all that miscellaneous stuff and just wanted to rest properly.
But even without thinking about the quest, Lin Jiang wasn’t left idle.
After lying down for just a moment, he was sent out by Li Xiaoping to buy groceries. She didn’t treat him like a tycoon at all.
"Auntie, I’ll go. Let him rest for a bit."
Shen Qingqiu wiped her hands, wanting to go in Lin Jiang’s place to buy the needed items.
"Just let him go. Think of it as exercise."
Li Xiaoping stopped Shen Qingqiu and mercilessly shooed Lin Jiang out the door.
Left with no choice, Lin Jiang went downstairs to the small supermarket across the street and bought everything they needed.
CLANG CLANG CLATTER. About an hour or so passed.
Ten dishes and two plates of dumplings were served on the table.
"Here, try these dumplings. I don’t know if they’re to your taste."
Customs differ between the north and south. In places like Zhonghai and Hang City, it wasn’t customary to eat dumplings.
But in the north, they were a must-have for holidays and festivals.
Shen Qingqiu knew the dumplings were made specially for her.
"They’re delicious," Shen Qingqiu said after trying one, nodding as she ate and giving them high praise.
"We’re all family here, no need for formalities. If you don’t like them, just say so. Otherwise, my mom will have no room for improvement."
Any other time, Lin Jiang would have definitely gotten a good scolding for that.
But with Shen Qingqiu here, and this being the first time they’d all eaten together, Li Xiaoping decided to give him some face.
"They really are delicious. Try one if you don’t believe me."
Lin Jiang knew how good Li Xiaoping’s cooking was; he only said that so Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t feel so reserved.
Lin Jiang picked one up with his chopsticks and tried it.
"It’s a barely passing 60 out of 100. Lots of room for improvement."
Shen Qingqiu couldn’t help but laugh. ’He must get beaten up a lot normally,’ she thought.
During the meal, Lin Jiang opened a bottle of beer. Persuaded by Li Xiaoping, Shen Qingqiu opened one too.
In Li Xiaoping’s view, you should be happy during the New Year. Having a drink to celebrate and everyone being cheerful was a good thing.
Shen Qingqiu was a lightweight; one bottle was about her limit.
Plus, she didn’t eat much, so the meal was over in less than an hour. Next up was the traditional pastime for all Huaxia People: watching the Spring Festival Gala.
However, the New Year’s Day gala was a bit different from the one on New Year’s Eve.
It was mostly broadcast by local TV stations, and the guests were almost all trending celebrities, catering more to the tastes of the younger generation.
This meant Li Xiaoping had little interest in such a program because she didn’t recognize anyone and thus couldn’t get into it.
But for Shen Qingqiu’s sake, she kept watching.
Shen Qingqiu, on the other hand, was the same. She sat on the sofa, not very interested.
She’d never had a habit of following celebrities, and as a highly educated person, she wasn’t very interested in these kinds of shows either.
But today was the Lunar New Year, and watching the gala was a traditional activity. The older generation loved to watch it, so even if she didn’t like it, she had to accompany them.
"Why don’t you two change the channel? Watching this gala, I feel like you both look more tired than the performers on stage."
"When was I tired? I think it’s quite interesting," Li Xiaoping said, trying to cover.
"I suggest you watch something like *Empresses in the Palace*."
Li Xiaoping glanced at Shen Qingqiu, and Shen Qingqiu glanced back at Li Xiaoping.
"Shall we watch *Empresses in the Palace* then?"
"I think that’s a great idea."
And so, the two of them began watching *Empresses in the Palace* with great interest.
When certain plot points came up, they would even discuss them for a while.
A little after nine, Li Xiaoping stood up.
"Child, it’s getting late. We’re going to head back. You should get some rest."
"I’ve already made the bed. Just stay here tonight."
Shen Qingqiu stood up as well. "I have the day off tomorrow. We can go out for a walk."
If it had been anyone else, Li Xiaoping would have certainly refused, as she disliked troubling others.
But Shen Qingqiu was different. Li Xiaoping saw her as a future daughter-in-law.
Now that her ’daughter-in-law’ was inviting her, she couldn’t refuse too bluntly.
"I don’t need you to accompany me. You young people should go out more."
"It’s mainly because you don’t visit often. Please don’t leave today. Just stay here."
Shen Qingqiu took Li Xiaoping’s arm, showing no intention of letting go, and led her toward the bedroom.
"The bed is all made for you."
Seeing that Shen Qingqiu was truly set on having her stay, Li Xiaoping couldn’t refuse any longer.
Lin Jiang sat on the sofa without a word. Seeing Comrade Li’s posture, it looked like she was planning to stay the night.
’Shen Qingqiu’s place is a small two-bedroom apartment. If they each take a room, where will I sleep?’
’Could it be that Comrade Li is creating an opportunity for me?’
’This way, I can sleep with Shen Qingqiu tonight!’
’Isn’t she the perfect gold-tier support?’
"Son, Mom’s staying here tonight. I won’t be going back with you."
Lin Jiang: ???
’So I’m the one who has to leave?’

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