MGASC -Chapter 223 The Wedding (Part 1)

Good heavens, this man sure had a big mouth.

“President Gu wants to buy our pickled cabbage recipe and production line?”

“Name your price,” Gu Junye said, looking completely confident he would get what he wanted.

How much money could two country bumpkins have ever seen? He couldn’t be bothered negotiating with them—he just wanted to settle it in one go. Since the old lady liked this dish so much, he’d simply buy it and present it to her. Surely that would satisfy her.

Zhang Qiao glanced at Lin Tianyue. He was coaxing Xia Xia to sleep. The little girl was getting cranky, whining and fussing.

He had no choice but to pick her up and pace back and forth in front of Gu Junye and Zhang Qiao.

With the child fussing and Zhang Qiao remaining silent, irritation began to rise in Gu Junye’s chest.

At that moment, Zhang Qiao smiled sweetly. “President Gu, this is the first time I’ve heard of someone wanting to snatch away another person’s entire livelihood. Sorry, we’re not selling.”

Gu Junye frowned. “Zhang Qiao, think it over carefully. There’s no need to reject me so quickly. Selling it by the pound like this—how long will it take you to get rich? And pickled cabbage fish isn’t exactly some difficult craft to replicate, is it? How long can a single restaurant survive relying on just this one dish? I’ve heard your hairdressing equipment business is doing well too. Why not sell me the recipe and look for an even better way to make money?”

Beside them, Lin Tianyue gently patted his endlessly fussy daughter. “Xia Xia, be good. Go to sleep. Xia Xia doesn’t like strange uncles, does she? It’s okay—strange uncle will leave soon.”

Gu Junye: “…”

Zhang Qiao fought back a laugh. “Sorry. Not selling means not selling.”

“One hundred thousand!” Gu Junye blurted.

Zhang Qiao rolled her eyes, thinking, Do you think I’ve never seen money before?

Seeing she wasn’t tempted, Gu Junye gritted his teeth. “Fine. Five hundred thousand!”

“President Gu, do you not understand what ‘not selling’ means?”

Gu Junye looked offended. He suddenly stood up, knocking over his teacup. Tea spilled all over the table. Veins bulged on his hands as he braced himself against the table edge. “Zhang Qiao, I advise you not to refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit! You think Gu Yu can be your backer? Him? One day, he’ll be begging me for scraps!”

Lin Tianyue’s patience had also reached its limit. If he hadn’t been holding his daughter, he would have taught this guy a lesson.

“Qiao Qiao, tell him to get lost! He’s disturbing my daughter’s sleep!”

Zhang Qiao gestured politely toward the door, meaning: You may leave.

When had Gu Junye ever suffered such humiliation? His face turned pale. “One million! Are you selling or not?”

Zhang Qiao stood up. “Forget one million—even ten million, I wouldn’t sell! Gu Junye, I only offered you tea out of respect for Gu Yu. Since you don’t want to drink it, then don’t!”

She flung the hot tea straight at his face.

She had already given him enough face, hadn’t she?

For the first time in his life, Gu Junye had tea splashed across his face. A chill seeped from the corners of his eyes deep into his bones. He wiped his face. “Fine. Just you wait!”

…

The next day, Zhang Qiao and Lin Tianyue got up early.

The whole family changed into new clothes. Lin Tianyue wore a crisp suit, bought overseas by Gu Yu, who had said it was an international luxury brand.

Lin Tianyue didn’t know much about brands, but Zhang Qiao did.

She had checked the label. Gu Yu hadn’t lied—it really was a famous brand.

After washing up and shaving, Lin Tianyue looked clean and refreshed, full of vigor.

He was already built like a model and naturally handsome. With just a little attention to his appearance, he stood out from the crowd—devastatingly handsome.

When he came out of the bedroom in his suit, Lin Xun and Lin Jin, also dressed in new clothes, stared at him in amazement.

“Dad, you look so handsome!”

“You look just like a groom!”

“Congratulations, Dad, on being a groom again!”

Lin Tianyue laughed happily. Walking over, he adjusted Lin Jin’s collar and pinched his cheek. “What do you mean ‘again’? Your dad only plans to be a groom once in this lifetime!”

Lin Ran chimed in, “Right. If you ever wanted a second time, we definitely wouldn’t agree.”

Just then, Zhang Qiao and Xia Xia finished getting ready.

She had styled her hair up, weaving in several small red velvet flowers along the braids. She wore light makeup and a fitted bright red qipao embroidered with a phoenix in gold and silver thread, entirely hand-stitched. It made her look both radiant and elegant.

Originally, Zhang Qiao had wanted to order a traditional xiuhe dress, but after searching all over Jiangcheng, she couldn’t find a skilled tailor. There were, however, several places that specialized in qipaos. Since Lin Tianyue was wearing a suit, she thought a qipao would match him better. So she had this phoenix-embroidered qipao custom-made.

Because it was cold, she added a fluffy shawl over it so she wouldn’t freeze while seeing off guests outside.

She had also dressed up their just-over-three-month-old daughter. Xia Xia wore a red little hanfu with fluffy trim. Zhang Qiao had drawn the design herself and asked Aunt Liu to make it. It looked especially festive. She tied two tiny pigtails on Xia Xia’s head with red ribbons, each adorned with a dangling red tassel.

The little girl had big eyes and a round face. When she smiled, she looked just like a New Year painting doll.

Looking at his wife and daughter, Lin Tianyue felt his heart completely full.

The good-looking family left the house happily. By the time they arrived at the restaurant, guests were already trickling in.

Zhang Ling was busy greeting and seeing off guests. Following Zhang Qiao’s advice, she wore the custom-made purple qipao again, paired with black heels.

The qipao fit her figure perfectly, and the heels elongated her proportions. Now that she smiled more often than before, she swayed gracefully through the crowd, full of charm. Her slender calves were straight and shapely, drawing Jin Quan’s gaze again and again.

The last time he saw her in that outfit was at the restaurant’s grand opening. He had thought it looked beautiful on her then. Seeing her again today, perhaps because she seemed more confident, she shone even more with every gesture.

Jin Quan kept sneaking glances at her. Occasionally, when Zhang Ling noticed and looked back, he would grin shamelessly at her.

Zhang Ling ignored him, throwing him a big eye roll instead.

Annoying!

The moment she saw Jin Quan, the memory of him forcibly kissing her that day flooded her mind.

She found it strange. It had been several days already, yet his scent, his heavy breathing, and the strength with which he had held her were still so vivid.

As if she would never forget it for the rest of her life.

Because she couldn’t forget, she didn’t want to pay him any attention.

As the guests took their seats, Zhang Qiao and Lin Tianyue came downstairs with the children.

Everyone hurried to congratulate the couple. Zhang Ling directed the servers to bring out pastries and tea to each table.

She had prepared six kinds of pastries: wedding cakes stamped with the character for happiness, mother-in-law cakes, red bean cakes, mung bean cakes, egg custard crisps, and pineapple cakes. Each one was delicate and tempting.

Recently, her skills had improved considerably. Many customers had become regulars, coming specifically for her pastries.

The praise from customers had become Zhang Ling’s greatest source of confidence.

Even she hadn’t expected that just a few months after her divorce, she would gain so much recognition based on her own craftsmanship.

Zhang Qiao had said that with a bit more learning, she could even open her own shop.

But Zhang Ling wasn’t in a hurry. Rather than going solo, she preferred helping her younger sister grow the business bigger and stronger.

Hopefully one day, her pastries could become the restaurant’s signature attraction—just like Zhang Qiao’s pickled cabbage fish.