Chapter 100
It was a sweltering summer day, and with the midday sun beating down, the crowd bustling around the street food stall only made the scene feel even hotter.
But in the corner, facing Lady Huo, Ye Qingquan had turned pale, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
“I’ll give you five million—leave my son.”
That moment had been a defining one in Ye Qingquan’s life, a stroke of dark ink across his history.
Before hearing the truth from Lady Huo, Ye Qingquan had always believed that he and Huo Ye were just an ordinary couple in love.
Sure, Huo Ye would sometimes gaze into his eyes with a wistful look and occasionally mutter things like, “Your smile isn’t like his at all,” but Ye Qingquan wasn’t the type to overthink things. He had never bothered to press for answers.
After all, everyone has parts of their past they’d rather not talk about.
But Lady Huo hadn’t just brought five million—she had brought the truth:
Ye Qingquan had been nothing more than a substitute all along.
Huo Ye’s true love, Mu Mingqiu, had returned to the country, which meant it was time for Ye Qingquan to step aside. Neither he nor his child had any place in the Huo family’s world.
Ye Qingquan had accepted this truth and acted accordingly. He went overseas, erased his past, and lived quietly while raising Lanlan alone.
Until this year.
Certain family matters had forced him to return home for a while, and so he had no choice but to bring Lanlan back to the country with him.
Still, even after returning, he had no intention of ever getting entangled with the Huo family again…
At least, that had been his plan.
Lanlan had a passion for running a food stall, and as his father, Ye Qingquan had supported him wholeheartedly.
He had never seen Lanlan so happy before. Ever since he started selling roast duck, he had become more cheerful, as if he had found a lifelong calling. Lanlan truly loved this little street food business.
But now, staring at Lady Huo, Ye Qingquan realized just how grave a mistake he had made.
Running a street food stall in such a public place—where anyone who had met Huo Ye could instantly notice how much Lanlan resembled him—was the dumbest thing he could have done!
And to make matters worse, Ye Qingquan had even been livestreaming the whole thing, broadcasting Lanlan’s roast duck stand to viewers across the country.
Huo Ye probably wouldn’t care.
But what if he did?
Just as Ye Qingquan was reeling from shock, Lady Huo was also caught in a whirlwind of emotions.
But unlike him, she was an old fox. After her initial burst of excitement, she quickly masked her emotions with a light cough, forcing herself to stay composed.
“Young man,” she said, her gaze deep and meaningful as she looked at Ye Qingquan. “Thank you. I feel like we have a strange sense of fate between us… Have we met somewhere before?”
If Ye Qingquan was willing to come clean and admit the truth—if he would just bring the child back to the Huo family—
Then it would be a perfect outcome for everyone.
Lady Huo’s grip tightened around her jade bracelet.
She had never been overly attached to any of her children or grandchildren, but just imagining little boss Lan holding a roast duck and calling her “Grandma” in a sweet voice made her lips twitch upward involuntarily.
“Ahem.” Lady Huo continued, subtly extending an olive branch. “After all, a child needs a complete family to grow up happy, don’t you think?”
But Ye Qingquan’s reaction was the complete opposite of what she had hoped for.
He abruptly stood up, his voice trembling.
“You—you’ve got the wrong person. Sorry, I’m not who you think I am!”
At the same time, he hurriedly shut down his livestream, even as the viewer count continued to skyrocket.
After doing that, Ye Qingquan didn’t spare Lady Huo another glance. He bolted forward, rushing toward the roast duck stand.
“Lanlan, something urgent has come up—we need to go home now!” he said, panicked.
Jian Yunlan, who had just handed out his twentieth roast duck: “???”
Bro.
Sure, the first batch of roast ducks was sold out, but there were still dozens of customers waiting in line.
Not to mention—
He still had over fifty roast ducks left in his spatial farm! Fifty whole roast ducks!!!
Let Him Set Up a Stall!
No matter how loud Jian Yunlan’s internal breakdown was, in this world, he was just a tiny little kid with a three-head-tall body.
The small boy, wearing an apron, a mask, and gloves, had slightly upturned hair tips and a dumbfounded expression. His chubby baby face was filled with protest and defiance, but before he could say anything, Ye Qingquan had already tucked him under his arm and placed him on the back seat of a tricycle.
Then, Ye Qingquan took the kid, hopped on the tricycle, and took off—
As if some terrifying ghost was chasing him.
Taotie, who was working: “???”
The customers waiting in line: “??????”
Taotie was fine.
Even though he was working, he was still an ancient fierce beast and could come and go as he pleased.
The little boy shouted, “Maomao, we’re closing up—!”
The next second, a small dog leaped up, streaking through the crowd like a silver flash of lightning, and landed gracefully beside the little boy.
The golden-eyed puppy lazily yawned.
—What a joke. Lord Taotie’s working hours were expensive. Since Boss Little Lan had closed up shop, there was no way Lord Taotie was going to work for free.
But… the customers still waiting in line weren’t as lucky.
Ye Qingquan pedaled away on the tricycle like the wind, cutting through the dazed crowd. Behind him, Boss Little Lan’s voice rang out:
“The twenty limited-edition roast ducks for today have all been sold out! Please come back next time, thank you for your patron—”
Before the word “patronage” had fully left his mouth, Boss Little Lan and the tricycle had already disappeared around the corner.
The tricycle hummed off into the distance.
The customers who didn’t manage to buy a roast duck stood frozen in place, inhaling the lingering aroma of the roast duck.
Three seconds.
Two seconds.
One second.
And then—
A towering wave of resentment exploded from the crowd!
Their grievance was so intense that it nearly took physical form. That dark, murky aura billowed above their heads as they staggered forward like zombies, wailing in despair:
“Twenty??? What do you mean twenty??? How is twenty enough? I could eat two hundred all by myself!!!”
“Boss Little Lan, come back! I’ll do anything, just come back! Wuwuwuwu…”
“I was next in line… I was so close… just a little bit closer…”
“I don’t believe this. This has to be a hallucination caused by food poisoning. Haha, when I wake up, I’ll still be standing in line at Boss Little Lan’s roast duck stall, waiting for my turn. Haha…”
The lucky customers who had managed to get their roast ducks patted their chests in relief.
Xu Shishi and Mu Mingqiu had already finished an entire roast duck each and were still digesting their meal. Seeing the despair on the faces of the others, Xu Shishi couldn’t help but sigh, “Good thing I chose the right place and didn’t get distracted by Zhu Yuan’s roast duck stall…”
Auntie Wang, who had also managed to buy a roast duck, gleefully patted her takeout bag.
Not only did she get roast duck, but she also got the marinade and duck fat—enough for several meals!
Madam Huo remained at the scene as well.
She still had half a roast duck left in her takeout bag, but she was no longer in a rush to eat it.
Instead, she wore a mysterious smile as she gazed in the direction Ye Qingquan had disappeared, as if plotting something.
…With this connection, would she ever have to worry about getting roast duck again?
But what she didn’t notice was that her timid, unremarkable youngest son, Huo Ran, was also staring at the departing figures of Ye Qingquan and Boss Little Lan with a similar expression in his eyes.
Aside from the lucky few who got to eat roast duck, the rest of the desperate customers—like zombies storming a city—began sprinting in the direction Boss Little Lan had fled, forming a black tornado of furious hunger.
Their overwhelming resentment startled a fortune-teller sitting on the street.
Holding his client’s hand, the fortune-teller made some calculations with his fingers, his expression growing grim. “Evil Sword Immortals… so many Evil Sword Immortals… Such heavy resentment! Even I cannot withstand this level of grievance!”
“This… this is…” The fortune-teller collapsed onto the ground. “I have done good deeds all my life… King of Hell, have the gates of the underworld opened without informing me?”
The client: “…”
He had paid for a love reading, okay?!
Across the street, at the entrance of Zhu Yuan Private Kitchen.
Chef Song, his apprentices, and Manager Hu all stood pale-faced, looking as if they had lost a loved one.
No matter how much they wanted to deny it, the truth was clear—
This time, they had completely screwed up.
Not only had they failed to sell a single one of their fifty roast ducks, losing hundreds of thousands in revenue, but they had also caused the Huo family to withdraw their membership and investment. They had once considered themselves the esteemed head chef and manager of an upscale restaurant, but now they would likely be fired the moment they stepped back into the company.
“Master, what should we do with these fifty roast ducks?” one apprentice asked weakly.
Chef Song clutched his head and muttered to himself, repeating the same words over and over:
“I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it. I’m a descendant of imperial chefs. The customers will definitely come back…”
His apprentice was nearly in tears as he tugged on his sleeve. “Master, wake up! The customers aren’t coming back!”
But just as he finished speaking—
The next second—
A dark tornado swept in from across the street!
Upon closer look, the tornado was actually a massive crowd of people, drooling and brimming with resentment, murmuring, “Roast duck… our roast duck…”
Chef Song and his team froze.
Half a second later—
Their faces lit up with wild joy!
“See! I told you the customers would come back!”
“Hurry, hurry! Stop standing around and start calling them over! Every sale counts!”
“Roast duck! Zhu Yuan’s roast duck! Limited-time offer, 4,000 yuan per duck!”
Buzz—
In an instant, their smiles stiffened.
Because the massive crowd, chanting “Boss Little Lan” and “Please come back,” completely ignored them and rushed right past—
They didn’t even glance at the roast ducks in their hands.
*
Meanwhile, the livestream “My Baby is Three and a Half” abruptly ended.
Right at its peak viewership, the stream cut off, leaving the viewers in a daze.
[What? What happened? Why did it end?]
[Did Zhu Yuan report them? No way, right??]
[Please, I’m begging you, don’t stop streaming! Let me watch the roast ducks a little longer! I’ll do anything! (crying)]
At the top floor of Huo Corporation.
Staring at the suddenly blacked-out screen, Huo Ye paused.
He rarely watched livestreams, so he thought something was wrong with his phone. He tapped the screen a few times, restarted his phone, and then saw the message:
[This broadcaster has gone offline~ Check out other live streams!]
Huo Ye: “…..”
But…
Looking at the ten-plus minutes of recorded footage saved on his phone, Huo Ye fell into deep thought.
So Huo Ye going arrive at Jian Yunlan’s roasted duck afternoon stall personally incognito or with his bodyguards?