"Thank you for your kindness, Cousin," Xia Qianqian replied, unmoved by the lengthy message. "But since I've chosen this path, I have no intention of giving up. Your friend, however good they might be, likely has no destiny with me. On a personal note, please don't worry about me."
"Look at your age, why aren't you more anxious? So many girls your age already have children," Du Ziheng said, still hoping for a connection. "I have an idea. Since you're in Haicheng, I'd like to arrange a meeting for you. Perhaps seeing my friend will change your mind."
Xia Qianqian knew deeply that if she insisted on this path, she couldn't be in a relationship. Especially not in these coming years. Unless it was a company-arranged fake relationship, any discovery of her secretly dating would be treated as a breach of contract. Since she never intended to date from the start, she felt that even if she were to meet and like someone, they could never be together. It was better not to meet at all than to face heartbreak later.
Thus, she replied that she was very busy and had no time for blind dates, then exited WeChat. Seeing that Xia Qianqian hadn't responded to his several messages, Du Ziheng reluctantly gave up. He wondered where she would find someone better than Yifeng after missing out on such a good prospect.
Speaking of Liu Yifeng, he suddenly realized it had been a while since they'd last met and wondered what he was up to. Thinking of having lunch together the next day, he sent him a WeChat message.
Liu Yifeng had just finished reading a bedtime story to Tongtong and put him to sleep, preparing to rest himself. As soon as he closed his eyes, he received a message from his elder brother, Du.
"Brother Liu, what have you been busy with lately? Are you free to grab a drink tomorrow?"
"I'm afraid I can't tomorrow. My son will be participating in a program in a few days. For the past two days, the program staff has been here with special guests recording videos at my home. Tomorrow is the last day," Liu Yifeng replied.
Du Ziheng was surprised. "Your son is participating in a program? What program, I've never heard you mention it?"
"It's not too late to say now, the official recording hasn't started yet. Once the program airs, I'll invite Brother Du to watch!"
"Alright, I'll definitely be glued to the TV to support Tongtong then. By the way, you still haven't told me what program it is. Why the sudden idea for Tongtong to record a program? I'm telling you, this industry is quite tricky, don't get involved lightly," Du Ziheng reminded him kindly.
Liu Yifeng understood his meaning and immediately responded, "It's a newly launched program. All the participants are exceptionally talented children from all corners of the world, and I heard there are even international contestants. The old gentleman who teaches Tongtong calligraphy is a commentator for this competition program. He saw Tongtong's sharp intellect and asked me to register him. Later, I met an executive from an entertainment company. Their company is also involved in this program, so they've waived the registration and audition process for us, directly giving Tongtong a spot."
After reading Liu Yifeng's explanation, Du Ziheng recalled Tongtong's incredible mental arithmetic abilities and felt that his participation in such a program was well-deserved. He replied, "I have high hopes for Tongtong. I believe he will achieve great results. Since you're busy tomorrow, let's reschedule. It's getting late, shall we rest early?"
"Okay, you rest early too," Liu Yifeng replied, then put down his phone and went to sleep. To prevent being woken up, he had specifically set his phone to silent mode.
Du Ziheng, having ended the conversation, suddenly remembered that Qianqian was also recording a program here, and tomorrow was also her last day. Could they be recording the same program? But would such a coincidence happen in the world?
He was about to ask Liu Yifeng what the program was called, and then ask his cousin. If the names matched, it would mean they were recording the same program. But just as he was about to ask, he stopped himself. He felt he might be overthinking things. How could such a coincidence happen in the world? This wasn't an idol drama. With that thought, he put down his phone and got into bed. He decided not to think about it anymore and to sleep early, as he had to go to the market to do business the next morning.
The next morning, Tongtong, surprisingly, woke up earlier than Liu Yifeng. He looked at his sleeping father and quietly got out of bed. Today, he wanted to make breakfast for his father and grandfather. He had been here with his father for so long, and it seemed he had never cooked a meal for them. Although he hadn't cooked before, he had watched his father and grandfather cook in the kitchen, and he knew how to make fried rice.
He went to the kitchen, scooped out the leftover rice from the rice cooker from the night before, and then took out three eggs from the refrigerator. Following their example, he poured the eggs into a bowl and whisked them with chopsticks. Then, he lit a fire at the stove and added wooden sticks until it could burn without supervision. Only then did he get up and pour some oil into the pot.
While Tongtong was busily preparing breakfast, Liu Yifeng woke up and couldn't find him. He thought Tongtong might be playing in the living room or yard, so he got up to ask Tongtong what he wanted for breakfast so he could make it. However, Tongtong was nowhere to be found in the living room or yard. Da Hei and Da Bai were chasing chickens and having a great time.
"Huh, where's Tongtong?" Liu Yifeng wondered. He heard the sound of a spatula from the kitchen and guessed that his father might be making breakfast, with Tongtong accompanying him. Thinking this, he was about to head to the kitchen when he saw his father coming out of his room, yawning, clearly having just woken up.
"Dad, you're not up yet?" Liu Yifeng was completely stunned.
Liu Chunsheng looked confused. "Don't I usually wake up around this time?"
"I thought you were already up and making breakfast in the kitchen!" Liu Yifeng explained.
Hearing this, Liu Chunsheng thought he was hungry. "Are you hungry? Dad will make breakfast for you, what do you want to eat..." However, as he finished speaking, he suddenly noticed something was amiss. "Wait, why do I hear cooking in the kitchen? You and I are both here, so who could be in the kitchen?"
Without waiting to think, Liu Yifeng hurried towards the kitchen. If he wasn't mistaken, it must be Tongtong in the kitchen. Liu Chunsheng, still unaware of what was happening, quickly followed Liu Yifeng.
The father and son walked into the kitchen and were dumbfounded by the scene. Tongtong, because he wasn't tall enough, was standing on a small stool, holding a spatula, vigorously stirring the rice. The rice had a burnt smell, perhaps due to the heat being too high. Tongtong then put down the spatula, found the soy sauce bottle, and was about to pour soy sauce into it. However, because the opening of the soy sauce bottle was too wide and he lacked experience, he poured in too much. Tongtong let out an "Oh no" in regret. But since it was already poured, there was nothing he could do. He picked up the spatula again, trying to evenly coat the soy sauce onto every grain of rice.
"Tongtong, why are you cooking!" Liu Chunsheng, seeing Tongtong, rushed over without thinking much.
Tongtong looked at his father and grandfather who had appeared in the kitchen, and guiltily lowered his head. "I'm sorry Grandpa, Dad, I think I messed up."
"Tongtong, you're so young, how can you be cooking! There are many safety hazards here, what if something happened?" Liu Chunsheng said, still shaken.