TPW – Chapter 98

After those words, the three of them subconsciously looked toward Yu Fan.

That guy had no idea what they were talking about—he was lying back on a bench, happily counting money.

Everyone had assumed this girl was just a rookie, but it turned out… she had strong backing.

Li Hongjun shrugged. “No idea. I’ll ask when we get a bit closer. I actually did ask her once, but she just dodged the question and wouldn’t say. So, whatever.”

“Exactly. If she doesn’t want to talk about it, we can’t force her,” Qiao Lu nodded. “If she wants to tell us, she’ll say it on her own.”

Li Hongjun chuckled, pulled out a thick stack of bills, and started counting them as he teased Xu Haizhou, “Hey, Haizhou—just imagine, if you had agreed to that reporter’s interview back then, you’d have been in the paper. Our shop might be famous all over Lian City by now. Who knows, maybe in a few months, we’d be buying our second house.”

“Uncle, Daddy in the newspaper? What does that mean?” Little Qiao An knew what a newspaper was—Daddy read one every day.

But how could Daddy be in the newspaper?

Li Hongjun bent down and picked him up, sounding quite proud as he blew on the boy’s bangs.

“Little sweetheart, don’t you know? Your dad’s a big hero! He saved over a dozen kids just like you who were kidnapped, and got recognized for it. The police thanked him, and even a reporter wanted to interview him and write about his heroic deeds in the paper!”

“Waaah—” Qiao An didn’t quite understand it all, but he was thoroughly amazed!

“Heroic deeds… written in the newspaper?” Qiao An looked at Li Hongjun in disbelief. “So that means I could see Daddy in the newspaper?”

Li Hongjun thought for a moment, then nodded with a smile. “Exactly. If they took a picture, everyone in Lian City would know your dad. Cool, huh?”

With how proud he sounded, anyone would think Xu Haizhou was his dad.

“Daddy’s amazing! Uncle, my dad is so awesome!” Then he stretched out his arms for his hero-dad to carry him.

Xu Haizhou happily took him and gave his son’s chubby little cheek a loud kiss.

Being admired as a hero by your own child—what a feeling. As a father, could there be any greater pride than becoming your kid’s idol?

That’s seriously just too cool!

“I’m going to go tell Brother Tao Tao!”

At noon, they took An An home for lunch and picked up some new stock.

According to Qiao Lu, there was a promotion in the morning and the Baiyun Street shop had completely sold out. They urgently needed new inventory.

Wu Guifang didn’t even have time to eat—she rushed out to collect clothes from house to house. Most people made five or six pieces at once before coming to trade them in for cash. The last batch had just been handed over to Xu Haizhou three days ago, and now it was all sold. No one expected it to go so fast.

Since one person couldn’t manage it all, Qiao Lu and Xu Haizhou went along to help her collect the clothes—and in return, they received a wave of compliments.

People were saying how kind-hearted the Xu couple was, that Xu Boss was like the living Lei Feng, and that they were bound to get rich one day.

Qiao Lu felt both happy and a little embarrassed. She’d never been showered with so much praise before. Everyone was so enthusiastic…

Back home, they packed the clothes into a sack, had lunch, and brought the goods over to Baiyun Street.

Qiao Lu remarked, “Feels like everyone’s getting faster, and the quality is holding up too.”

Wu Guifang laughed at a sudden memory. “Yeah, Qiao Lu, let me tell you something funny. You won’t believe it—people from North City are coming over to pick up work. Your little workshop’s name is getting around! People used to just sit around the yard chatting or knitting when they had nothing to do… Now, everyone’s here grabbing materials to earn some extra cash. You two really made a difference.”

Qiao Lu playfully winked. “Looks like I’ll have to work harder and aim to open a small factory.”

Having a factory meant stable staffing, easier management, the ability to buy advanced equipment, and better inventory control.

And of course, if you want to build a real brand, you can’t stay in a small workshop forever. A proper factory is a must.

“Well, it’d be a bit different. Right now, people can take the work home. But if you open a factory, you’ll have to hire full-time staff. And how many of your current workers are full-time? Most of them do this part-time after their regular jobs. They won’t want to give up their iron rice bowls.”

A private factory like Qiao Lu’s could only attract full-time workers like Xiao Gao or Xiao Zhou—people who didn’t have stable jobs and urgently needed an income.

“True. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Besides, we don’t have the money to open a factory yet.”

Wu Guifang shook her head firmly and looked at her with conviction. “You will. I believe you will. With all the good things you two have done, Heaven will bless you.”

Qiao Lu smiled. “Let’s hope so.”

“Mama! Brother Tao Tao gave me a pastry! Mama, I’m giving you half!” While they were chatting, Qiao An suddenly burst out of the little Chen house across the way, holding up a flaky pastry like it was treasure.

“Went to mooch snacks off Brother Tao Tao again?” This kid—he was closer to Chen Baitao than to Chen Jingkang now.

Jingkang was nine, after all, quite a bit older.

But Baitao was only two years older and still in kindergarten—more common ground between them.

These two boys who had both been kidnapped bonded quickly and became best friends overnight.

“Yup! Auntie Song called me over for pastries, so I went. This one was picked by Brother Tao Tao. He said it’s the biggest one!” Brother Tao Tao was the best—he gave him the biggest and yummiest one.

“We’ve got some date rolls at home. Take them to share with Tao Tao.”

“Okay~ I’ll give Brother Tao Tao the best one too! And tonight, I want him to sit in the front with me to watch TV!” He spun around and bounced back into the house, his little behind wagging as he went.

Watching his cheerful, bouncing figure, Wu Guifang covered her mouth and laughed, sighing, “This child… If he hadn’t been found, not just you—even I think I’d have fallen into depression.”

Such a sweet child. Thank goodness Heaven was kind.

“You better go home and reward your man,” Wu Guifang teased.

Qiao Lu’s lips curved, and her cheeks flushed slightly.

Oh, she’d rewarded him all right—how could she not? These days, she couldn’t say no to anything Xu Haizhou wanted.

Which led to…

“Blegh—”

Qiao Lu: “???”

“Haizhou… do you think I might be pregnant?”

It was six in the evening when she said this.

They had just finished dinner. Xu Haizhou was doing laundry while Qiao Lu went to wash the dishes.

But the moment she smelled the dish soap, she suddenly retched.

And since they’d just eaten, she threw up quite a bit. Xu Haizhou panicked and was about to drag her to the community clinic, but Qiao Lu quickly stopped him.

“Wait, wait—” she frowned slightly. “Haizhou, do you think… am I pregnant?”

Pregnant? Morning sickness?

Thinking back on how often they’d gotten frisky lately—basically, every time Qiao An wasn’t around—they never missed a chance. With that kind of frequency, even a stone would get pregnant!

“Let’s go! Get checked!” No more talk—only a doctor’s word would make it official.

These days, people didn’t really use ultrasounds. When the doctor at the clinic heard Xu Haizhou say his wife might be pregnant, he calmly pulled out a stethoscope. One end went to Qiao Lu’s lower abdomen, the other into the doctor’s ears.

He pressed gently on her soft tummy. It almost felt like a makeshift ultrasound.

The room went completely silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

He pressed here, tapped there, and finally paused in one spot, giving it a gentle poke.

Qiao Lu couldn’t hold it in—she laughed.

And immediately met the confused eyes of her man and the doctor. She flushed a bit.

“It… it tickled…”