The tycoon's wicked wife from the era of literature has been reborn.

Xiang Nanfei led the two to a small ice cream shop next to the department store. He greeted the owner familiarly and ordered three servings of shaved ice.

"I want yogurt flavor, and also strawberry and orange. Which ones do you want?" Xiang Nanfei asked.

Seeing Huang Yanqiu's belly, she asked worriedly, "Can you eat cold food?"

Huang Yanqiu nodded, "It's okay to eat a little less, I want strawberries."

As she spoke, she looked at Gao Qinghe with her big, expectant eyes, hoping she would order a different flavor so she could try two different tastes.

Gao Qinghe pinched the little bit of flesh that had finally grown on her face and said with a helpless smile, "I want oranges."

The shop was short-staffed, so Xiang Nanfei asked the two of them to go and reserve seats.

He waited for the owner to make the shaved ice, then came over to them carrying three wine glasses in both hands.

This shop looks small, but it has a lot of different items.

Serving shaved ice in a stemmed glass makes it look much more upscale.

"Let me try yours first." Huang Yanqiu held a spoon, waiting expectantly for Gao Qinghe to nod, and immediately scooped a spoonful of orange-flavored juice into her own cup.

The orange was a bit sour, and the jam hadn't melted into the shaved ice yet, which made Huang Yanqiu shudder.

"Eat less, half a cup at most." Gao Qinghe's tone was gentle, seemingly a reminder, but in reality, it brooked no argument.

Huang Yanqiu nodded obediently: "Oh."

Xiang Nanfei took a wooden stick and stirred the shaved ice, telling the two of them to make sure it was well mixed first, and then take a sip with a straw when it was half-melted. He guaranteed that they would feel so good that their scalps would tingle.

"How old are you?" Gao Qinghe asked curiously.

Xiang Nanfei's behavior doesn't seem very mature.

"Ahem!" He straightened his expression, lowered his voice and leaned closer, "I'll tell you a secret quietly, I filled in two years older on my ID card."

Many families do this in order to find jobs for their children.

Anyway, the checks aren't strict now, so you can't tell if someone is only two or three years old.

Gao Qinghe: "So you're actually 22 years old?"

Xiang Nanfei chuckled and made a peace sign. "22 is the Chinese age reckoning, I'm actually 20."

"I was born in August, what about you?" Xiang Nanfei secretly hoped she would say she was born after August, so that he would be older than her.

Unfortunately, Gao Qinghe held up three fingers, "I was born in March."

I found it amusing; it turned out to be a younger brother.

"Your family is really bold, they actually added four years to your age!"

Huang Yanqiu clicked her tongue twice, whether out of envy for his family who cared so much for him, or out of contempt for this cheating behavior.

Xiang Nanfei smiled and changed the subject without offering any further explanation.

He asked Gao Qinghe very seriously, "Do you and your husband have a good relationship?"

Gao Qinghe asked suspiciously, "Why are you asking this?"

Xiang Nanfei: "I'm serious, if you get divorced, please tell me first, okay?"

Huang Yanqiu raised her hand and slapped him on the head. "If you keep talking nonsense, I'll beat you until you cry, believe it or not."

Xiang Nanfei had seen her raise her hand beforehand and thought to himself, how much strength can a little girl have?
He even proactively extended his neck forward.

To his utter surprise, the slap felt like it was made of iron. With a single blow, it made his ears ring and his mind go blank, instantly rendering him unable to think.

Seeing Xiang Nanfei's utterly bewildered expression, Gao Qinghe lowered her head, almost bursting out laughing.

"You, you!" Too shocked to speak, Xiang Nanfei could only point at Huang Yanqiu with his index finger, his eyes wide open.

Gao Qinghe finished her cup of shaved ice, but Huang Yanqiu only had half left in her cup of sweet drink.

Huang Yanqiu borrowed a cup from the shop owner, packed the remaining half to take home, preferring to give it to Zheng Laowu rather than waste it.

After paying, the three of them left the shop to say goodbye.

Xiang Nanfei still refused to leave, asking Gao Qinghe where she wanted to go later, saying he could accompany her if he was free.

The two women said in unison, "No need."

"Okay, see you tomorrow then." He gave a reluctant smile, turned around, and walked away, looking back every few steps.

The two sisters stepped into the department store next door.

The store closes promptly at 6 p.m., though occasionally it may be a little late due to inventory checks.

It was nearly five o'clock, and the shop assistant was already looking at the wall clock, hoping to get off work, unable to concentrate on her job.

Things are different now than they were a few years ago. Many small shops have opened in the city, and department stores are no longer overcrowded.

In the afternoon, only one or two customers occasionally walk into the store. They usually just look around without buying anything, or quickly buy some daily necessities.

There's nothing we can do about it. Department stores now mainly sell large items, while small commodities like pots and pans, clothing, shoes and socks, biscuits and candies are concentrated on the pedestrian street.

Large items represent high prices, so naturally fewer people will buy them.

Gao Qinghe came here not to buy anything big.

She came looking for something new.

The first place where the latest gadgets in the county town still leaks out is the department store.

Do you sell portable tissues?

After circling the only shelf of daily chemical products without finding what she wanted, Gao Qinghe went to the counter to ask.

The listless teller's eyes lit up when she saw her.

"You're here again!"

The sales clerks all recognized her; she was the one who bought the only Simmons mattress in the store last time, and he remembered it vividly.

"By the way, your washing machine will be delivered to you tomorrow afternoon. I'm sorry the installation technician didn't come back for a few days," the sales clerk said apologetically.

Gao Qinghe smiled and nodded, indicating that she didn't mind.

The clerk breathed a sigh of relief and asked her what kind of tissues she wanted, while showing her several individually packaged toilet paper brands.

They only sell toilet paper rolls; there are no small packs of tissues that can be carried separately.

Gao Qinghe had seen small packets of napkins in Shanghai and Guangdong before; they were available, so Qingxian County hadn't yet stocked them.

Toilet paper will do, I guess. I can just pull out a handful, fold it up, and put it in my bag.

"Get me a roll of toilet paper."

Gao Qinghe handed over the money and suggested, "I saw some small handkerchiefs, about the size of a palm, wrapped in plastic, outside. If you go to restock next time, could you help me get some?"

The teller agreed verbally, but Gao Qinghe could tell at a glance that it was just polite perfunctory.

Huang Yanqiu saw baby and toddler supplies: strollers, cradles, and toys. They were so cute that her maternal instincts kicked in, and she couldn't bear to leave.

Gao Qinghe shouted, and only then did she reluctantly put down the plastic rattle ball that she had been looking at again and again.

After leaving the department store, the two headed towards the bookstore.

Huang Yanqiu suddenly had a whimsical idea: to buy books related to parenting.

If she hadn't brought it up, Gao Qinghe would have forgotten about it. Luckily, as a mother, she remembered it herself.

"Look for books about pregnancy and childbirth, so you can learn about it beforehand and be prepared," Gao Qinghe advised.

Huang Yanqiu raised her hand expectantly, about to push open the glass door of the bookstore.

The door was pushed open from the inside.

System notification: [The male and female leads have appeared!]

As Gao Qinghe looked up, two people walked out of the bookstore.

A man and a woman; the man was handsome and upright, and the woman had an intellectual and refined air.

If you didn't know the situation, you would think the two were a couple.

Zhou Zhenghua exclaimed in surprise, "Qinghe!"

Gao Qinghe sighed, rubbing her forehead: What bad luck! (End of Chapter)