TPW – Chapter 97

Gotta say, the distraction method really does work.

After going on a trip and climbing Mount Tai, the nightmares that had been troubling Qiao Lu for days no longer invaded her sleep. Her mind also felt suddenly more at ease.

After returning home, she made a point to inquire and learned that the three children still hadn’t been found. She instantly felt a bit depressed—but thankfully, little cutie Qiao An came along to heal her spirits.

“Mama, I’m going to cook now~ I’m really good at cooking these days. Mama, would you say I’m a little cooking expert?”

The little guy had his sleeves rolled high. One hand was digging into the rice container, and the other held the rice cooker’s inner pot balanced between his belly and the container. He moved with such gusto and agility, looking like a tiny grown-up.

Qiao Lu couldn’t help but laugh and took two playful sniffs of his soft, fair skin. “Yes, An’an is a little cooking expert—better than Mama even! You’re amazing! Now you even know how to help me with chores. That’s incredible.”

How lucky she was that the rice cooker at home could now be “favored” by its little master. For a while, just seeing that rice cooker would make Qiao Lu feel heartbroken.

Life felt like it had gone back to how it used to be—yet at the same time, not quite.

There was still a thread tugging at Qiao Lu’s heart.

But no matter what, her own child had been found. From now on, she had to stay strong and look ahead!

It was early morning, and late autumn had turned into early winter. A thin mist had risen, and a few scattered drops of rain fell in the north wind.

“Qiao Lu, this is something a friend of Jiang He’s from the toy factory gave him. He brought two back. My Zhiwei is too young to understand how to play with it—it’d be wasted on him. Here, better for An’an to play with.”

Qiao Yan suddenly dropped by with her adorable little one, Zhiwei—a chubby, soft baby that melted your heart just by being held.

“Wow—what is it? What are you giving me to play with, Auntie? Let me see!” The little guy rushed over at the sound of the commotion, standing on tiptoe. The two women stepped aside to make way for him.

“It’s a car! Such a tiny little car.”

Even though Qiao Lu and her husband had money, they rarely bought toys for their child.

The toy Qiao An played with most often was a tricolored rubber ball. He did, however, read a lot, so most of his “toys” were storybooks. His favorites were Chinese folk myths.

“Do you like it?” Qiao Yan shook the little toy car temptingly.

“Is it for me?” Qiao An widened his eyes, seeking confirmation.

“Yep.”

“Doesn’t little brother Zhiwei want it?” Qiao An pointed at the baby in his mom’s arms.

Qiao Yan glanced at her son, who was busy pulling at his aunt’s hair, and laughed. “He’s too little. He wouldn’t know how to play with it.”

“Then I can teach him,” Qiao An said seriously.

“Great, go ahead and teach him.” Qiao Yan handed her son over, placing the chubby baby into Qiao An’s arms.

“Be careful, An’an,” Qiao Lu reminded him, her hands hovering under the baby, ready to catch him just in case.

“Mama, I am being careful.” Hugging his little brother, he sat down on the bed. This spot was always safe, right?

“Second Sister, you two chat. I’ll go cook. Stay for lunch today,” said Xu Haizhou suddenly, having been completely ignored until now.

Qiao Yan thought for a second. “Sure, I’ll stay and eat. I’d love to spend more time with my good little nephew.”

Xu Haizhou smiled and headed into the kitchen, expertly tying on an apron.

“Haizhou’s not going to the shop today?” Qiao Yan asked as she looked back.

“We’re both on a break lately. Making money can wait. We just got back from climbing Mount Tai the day before yesterday.”

Qiao Yan nodded approvingly. “That’s good. You both deserve a proper break.”

Over on the bed, baby Zhiwei couldn’t keep still. He wriggled and climbed all over his brother, babbling incoherently. If you weren’t careful, he’d even start drooling.

Qiao An was getting tickled on the neck by Zhiwei’s antics, laughing uncontrollably. “Mama, I think little brother got bigger again.”

He didn’t remember him being this strong before. It was hard to push him off now!

“Yeah, but he’s still not as big as you,” Qiao Lu chuckled.

“Little brother won’t ever be bigger than me. He’s four years younger.”

Qiao Lu replied, “He will be someday. When you’re both in your twenties, you’ll look the same age.”

“That’s still a long, long, long way off,” Qiao An said.

“Yes, a long, long time,” Qiao Yan smiled, stroking her nephew’s little head. “I hope you both stay safe and sound all the way to then.”

“Auntie, can little brother walk now?” Qiao An asked again.

Qiao Yan smiled. “If you hold his hand, he can probably take a few steps.”

Qiao An tried to help his little brother walk on the bed. But the baby’s bones were too soft—after a few wobbly steps, he collapsed and couldn’t get up, making all three burst into laughter.

“Little brother smells so nice.” After helping him up, Qiao An went wild kissing and nuzzling him, pressing their faces together.

The atmosphere was so rare—so warm and relaxed—that Qiao Lu found herself wishing time could freeze in this perfect moment.

“Oh right, Sister, I made some new autumn clothes. I was wondering when I’d bring them over to you—what perfect timing,” Qiao Lu said, handing over the clothes she’d already prepared.

“With you around, I don’t even need to shop for clothes,” Qiao Yan said happily as she admired the garments. Then she remembered something. “So, when are you and Haizhou going to have another baby?”

Qiao Lu was caught completely off guard and froze. “Why are you asking that again?”

She’d been asked this several times already. Hadn’t she always said it would happen when fate allowed? Fate just hadn’t come around yet. It’s not like they were deliberately avoiding pregnancy.

Qiao Yan sighed. “Never mind whether you’re anxious or not—even I’m getting anxious as an outsider.”

“Come on, if you were truly an outsider, you wouldn’t be anxious,” Qiao Lu replied with a smile.

Qiao Yan flicked her forehead. “Still got the energy to joke around, huh?”

“You know how Haizhou’s been lately—everyone’s seen it. Just look at him, how much weight has he lost? In just over twenty days, he’s been under immense pressure while still taking care of you, searching for the kids, helping other parents… He used to be a sturdy young man, and now? I’d say he’s lost at least ten pounds, if not more!”

Glancing toward the kitchen where he was still busy, Qiao Lu felt a pang in her heart.

She bit her lip. “I know, I really do. That’s why I’ve been buying meat to help him regain his strength lately.”

“What I mean is, after all this, shouldn’t you ‘reward’ him with a child?” Qiao Yan said with a teasing smile.

“Listen to you—‘reward’—like having a baby is that easy. You think you can just decide to have one and pop! there it is?” Qiao Lu said helplessly. “Let’s just go with the flow. Worst comes to worst, we’ll just…”

She cut herself off mid-sentence, then stammered under Qiao Yan’s pressing gaze:

“Worst comes to worst, we’ll just work a little harder recently… ahem—” Qiao Lu’s face flushed red. “Anyway, I get it, I get it. Let’s drop it and change the subject.”

Qiao Yan: “The point isn’t to reward him. The real issue is, if An’an were to go missing again… I just don’t want you to end up like Li Fanfan—you know, that mom who hanged herself. Having another child would at least give you something to hold on to, a reason to stay strong…”

Qiao Lu interrupted her: “Sister, you know about that?”

“Something that serious? Of course it spread fast.” Qiao Yan glanced at her. “I only live one street away from you—not across the whole city.”

“Alright, alright. But don’t worry, Sister. I would never do something like suicide.” Killing yourself doesn’t just end your own life—it hurts everyone who loves you.

She would never do that. Never. That would be far too selfish.

Not only would she not do it, she was determined to live well. Only by staying alive would she have a chance to see An’an again.

And with someone like Haizhou who loved her so much, how could she bear to leave him behind?

“Don’t worry, Sister. The good days between me and Haizhou are still ahead.”

That evening after dinner, they sent Qiao An out to play in the yard with some new toys.

Qiao Lu had made a new outfit for Xu Haizhou and was helping him try it on herself.

“How is it? Does it fit?”

Being served by his wife like this for the first time felt oddly strange.

Xu Haizhou was unused to it, quickly buttoning up his jacket and taking the trousers. “I’ll do it myself.”

“What are you being shy for?” Qiao Lu laughed but didn’t insist on dressing him herself.

“It’s tailored to my size. I don’t need to try it on to know it fits perfectly.”

Xu Haizhou praised her while adjusting the sleeves, collar, and pulling on the pants… He was admiring himself in the mirror, completely absorbed, when a hand suddenly wrapped around his waist from behind.

“Haizhou… it’s been a while since we, you know… how about now?” Her cool fingers slowly slid toward his belly button—his most sensitive spot.

Ever since the child went missing, the couple had stopped having intimacy.

At first, they were too heartbroken. And even after finding the child, Qiao Lu’s emotions hadn’t fully recovered. She spent all day glued to their son, too preoccupied for anything else.

Even at night, when they finally had some time together, Qiao An insisted on squeezing between them in bed. They really had no choice.

“Now?” Xu Haizhou pulled down her hand, glancing nervously toward the window. Thank goodness the curtains were drawn.

Then he quickly moved her hands up to his neck, bent slightly, leaned close to her face, and asked hesitantly, “Are you… okay now?”

He vaguely remembered her period should be around these days. Plus, she never took the initiative during the day—daytime action was rare.

“I’m in the mood. So, coming or not?” Qiao Lu misunderstood, thinking he was asking if she had emotionally recovered.

Even though she still occasionally had nightmares about An’an’s disappearance, her overall mood had stabilized.

She hadn’t had the heart to think about these things before. But now she did. Maybe Qiao Yan’s reminder had hit home—Qiao Lu genuinely wanted a child that belonged to her and Xu Haizhou.

She looked at him with sparkling anticipation, his handsome face reflected in her pupils.

Xu Haizhou couldn’t possibly resist that. He stroked her cheek gently with his fingertips and kissed her lips.

“Let’s do it!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, both of their hearts started racing wildly. He scooped her up in his arms.

It had been so long since they last “ate”—the foreplay took a while. Kissing, then… just as things were heating up, Qiao Lu suddenly jerked away, panting:

“The door—the door, is it locked?”

Xu Haizhou had forgotten too. He groaned and crawled out from under the covers to check. Sure enough, it wasn’t locked.

Click. With the door now locked, they could finally let loose…

Hiss—yeah, it had really been too long.

This feeling—

As things intensified, Qiao Lu couldn’t help but moan softly.

“Haizhou…”

Her trembling voice was practically soul-stealing.

“I want to give you a child…”

As her raspy voice faded out, the sound of waves crashing on the rocks grew louder and more passionate…

He didn’t reply—he just kept calling her name over and over.

“Qiao Lu… Qiao Lu… sweetheart…”

On their first day back at work, the couple launched a special sale: buy one get one free on selected items, limited-time only!

The sale lasted four days. Why the celebration? Because the boss’s kid was found!

Many regulars had been wondering why they hadn’t seen the shop owners for a while. After asking around, they learned that their child had gone missing and they’d been busy searching.

And then, they found out—holy moly—Xu Haizhou was the guy who had helped the police bust the biggest, most notorious child trafficking ring in Lian!

Instantly, admiration for Xu Haizhou skyrocketed.

He had saved twelve families! Wait, no—two more kids were found afterward, so fourteen families in total!

And he even split 1,000 yuan equally among the parents who hadn’t yet found their kids. That kind of generosity—not everyone’s capable of it.

Thanks to the buzz and the sale, business at “Purple Dragonfly” exploded!

The products were split into two batches: one was stock from the special zone—cheap and for the masses—used for the buy-one-get-one deal.

The other batch was Qiao Lu’s own designs—more expensive and not part of the deal, but still got a small discount: 3 yuan off per item during the four-day window.

Xu Haizhou and three others, including two newly hired sales clerks—five people in total—still couldn’t keep up with the customer flow.

Next door, Yu Fan joined the fun by hanging a sign that read: “To celebrate Mr. Xu of Purple Dragonfly finding his son, our shop is doing a one-day only buy-one-get-one deal! Buy gift sets, get retail packs free! Limited quantity—first come, first served!”

By riding on Xu Haizhou’s fame, her store’s foot traffic wasn’t any less than theirs.

Meanwhile, over at Xu Haizhou’s, the buy-one-get-one items sold out fast—but even faster was Li Hongjun’s restocking speed!

“You guys hold down the fort, I’m going to get more stock.”

He said that, then hopped on his bike and dashed off. Less than 20 minutes later, he returned—with a tricycle in tow.

The couple had no time to ask questions. They just kept stocking and selling until half the new inventory was gone. The rest could be sold gradually—still enough for a tidy profit.

“Where’d you get all this?” They finally had time to ask.

After missing out for a whole month, Xu Haizhou and Qiao Lu were clearly behind on some news. Li Hongjun smiled and explained:

“You can thank Yu Fan. A friend of hers had connections and introduced me to a garment factory—and it’s a state-owned one, too.” He glanced toward the woman fervently selling next door and added cheerfully, “Her friend’s got some serious pull—apparently from Hong City. I haven’t met them, but I’d bet they’re either some big shot or at least a pretty influential figure.”

Hong City?

Those two words reminded Qiao Lu of that set of luxury skincare products at home—also sourced through Yu Fan’s contacts in Hong City. Could it be the same person?

Whether it was or not, it didn’t matter. The important thing was, they could now restock goods locally—no more hauling from the special zone. That was great news.

“You should’ve seen it—the factory director personally greeted me when I went to pick up the stock!” Li Hongjun grinned. “A couple of years ago when we first opened, we went knocking on so many factory doors. Not only did the bosses ignore us, even the security guards couldn’t be bothered to talk. And now? The director personally welcomes me. Tell me that’s not a big shot!”

Xu Haizhou: “That impressive?”

Qiao Lu: “What kind of background do they have?”