MGASC -Chapter 216 A Warm Man in the Middle of the Night

Zhang Ling was only half convinced by what the delivery guy had just said.

Jin Quan was straightforward by nature. She felt it was more likely that he found the woman annoying and simply kicked her out.

They had already said that woman wasn’t decent. No matter what, Jin Quan wouldn’t lower himself to someone like that.

Actually, his conditions weren’t bad. Though he was a bit older, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to find a respectable young woman from a good family.

But it definitely wouldn’t be the kind who sneaked in and out of his office late at night.

Of course, it was also possible that the delivery guy had been instructed by Jin Quan to spread those rumors.

Was it to make her angry?

Zhang Ling didn’t think she was that important in his heart.

She always felt that once people got older, they became duller toward romantic feelings. Especially in second marriages—most were just partnerships for living together. There might be a little sincerity, but more often it was about relieving loneliness and finding someone to take care of each other.

Hearing no trace of jealousy in her sister’s voice, Zhang Qiao figured that Jin Quan and her sister hadn’t known each other long enough for it to truly hurt. If they separated now, it was probably cutting their losses in time.

“Sister, these red bean buns are really good. Can I take a steamer basket back for the kids later? And on the wedding day, make more—kids will definitely love them.”

Zhang Ling smiled sweetly. “Sure, sure. The boss lady has spoken—however many you want, I’ll make.”

“Get out of here! You’re their aunt!”

That evening, after returning home, Zhang Qiao told Lin Tianyue everything that had happened.

When he heard about Jin Quan meeting a half-dressed woman late at night and causing such a stir, Lin Tianyue looked exasperated.

But after thinking for a moment, he couldn’t help defending him. “They say there’s no smoke without fire, but I don’t think Jin Quan is the type to mess around. Could it be a misunderstanding?”

“A gentleman avoids standing under a crumbling wall. Even if it’s a misunderstanding, doesn’t he have a mouth? Why hasn’t he come to explain?”

“You’ve got a point…”

Lin Tianyue laughed openly. “It’s fine. I’ll ask him about it another day.”

“Mm.”

Zhang Qiao was still nursing Xia Xia. As she fed her, the little girl gradually fell asleep.

Worried she might be tired, Lin Tianyue tried to take the baby, but Zhang Qiao shook her head, afraid that any movement might wake her.

She carefully laid Xia Xia in the center of the bed. The moment she let go, the little girl whimpered and stirred, scaring her into quickly scooping her back up. Holding her close, she gently patted her for more than ten minutes until the child was sound asleep again. Only then did Zhang Qiao inch her hands and body away with extreme caution.

The entire process had them both so tense they barely dared to breathe—more cautious than handling explosives.

“She’s finally asleep.”

When the baby was fussy, it drove people to anxiety.

But looking at her daughter’s sleeping face now, Zhang Qiao felt she was explosively adorable and almost couldn’t resist covering her in kisses.

With just the two of them left in the room, Lin Tianyue stepped over, cupped her face, and kissed her forehead.

He was about to kiss lower when her stomach suddenly growled twice.

Zhang Qiao hurriedly covered her belly in embarrassment.

“You… hungry?” Lin Tianyue glanced downward.

“I get hungry really fast lately. Big brute, am I going to get fat?”

“Nonsense. You’re breastfeeding. Your body’s burning energy quickly.”

Lin Tianyue checked the time—it was already ten at night.

“What do you want to eat?”

Zhang Qiao wanted barbecue, skewers, hot pot, spicy soup, grilled squid…

But where would she find that?

She looked up at him with pitiful eyes, making his heart itch. “How about we go out for a late-night snack? I heard there’s a night market on South Street—they sell everything.”

“Do they have lamb skewers?” she asked.

Lin Tianyue thought seriously. “They should!”

Her eyes lit up. But South Street was quite far, and she didn’t feel at ease leaving Xia Xia alone at home.

“Forget it. It’s late. Let’s just sleep.”

But Lin Tianyue had already grabbed his coat. “Qiao Qiao, wait at home. I’ll go buy it for you.”

By the time Zhang Qiao rushed to the door, he was already downstairs.

“Big brute… remember to go easy on the chili!”

Back in the bedroom, she was still hungry, but her heart felt sweet.

In weather this cold, Lin Tianyue was going out to buy her lamb skewers. It had to be true love.

Hey… with business slow lately, should she consider offering delivery service?

Late at night, when people were starving, wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a hot, spicy, crispy serving of pickled fish delivered?

Zhang Qiao, almost possessed, actually took out a little notebook and began calculating delivery costs seriously.

Taking orders by phone—how would they collect payment? What if they delivered and couldn’t find the person? What if someone ordered ten or a hundred portions maliciously and gave a fake address?

Most importantly, telephones weren’t even common in households yet…

Forget it, forget it.

She felt she was overthinking again.

She tore off the scrap paper just as she heard movement at the door.

Slipping on her slippers, she ran over. “You’re back!”

Even from afar, she could smell cumin on him. Excited, she moved to hug him, but Lin Tianyue shooed her back. “Go inside. I’m cold.”

As he spoke, he stuffed a bundle of lamb skewers wrapped in a plastic bag into her hands. “Eat quickly. I kept them inside my coat—they’re still warm.”

Zhang Qiao took them—the skewers were still slightly hot to the touch.

Ohhh, so touching.

Her big, straightforward man had finally been trained into a warm-hearted one.

She was starving. Pulling out a skewer, she eagerly took a bite.

The lamb skewers were astonishingly large. There were also two chicken necks and a piece of Xinjiang naan bread.

“Was it a Xinjiang vendor?”

“Yeah. How’d you know? Even though it was midnight, business was booming. Workers from nearby factories were all there for late-night snacks. Just a small shed, but nonstop customers.”

Having learned from Zhang Qiao, Lin Tianyue now spotted business opportunities everywhere. He realized that in this era, as long as a person wasn’t lazy and used their brain a bit, making money wasn’t hard.

Zhang Qiao took another bite of the naan. “So good. I thought nobody sold lamb skewers yet.”

She glanced toward the kids’ room. “You bought so much—should we wake them up to eat too?”

“They’re asleep. You eat. I’ll bring them another day.”

Lin Tianyue felt for Zhang Qiao. Nursing their daughter while managing her career wasn’t easy. Naturally, he wanted to treat her even better.

Zhang Qiao smiled, sitting at the dining table, biting into a skewer and then tearing off a piece of bread.

This was her first time ordering barbecue since transmigrating into this book.

“In the summer, you should set up a grill. We can skewer the meat and roast it ourselves. The kids will love it. And there’s so much we can grill—beef, lamb, pork belly, tendons, kidneys, big chili peppers, chives, oysters…”

Lin Tianyue sat beside her, watching her eat intently. “Wife, how do you know so much?”

Zhang Qiao just smiled without answering and held a skewer to his lips. “You eat too.”

“I’m not eating. You eat.”

“You’re not hungry?”

“Hungry.” His gaze grew deeper and darker as he looked at her. “But Qiao Qiao… I want to eat you.”