Murong Yanran took a deep breath and walked in bravely, "Hao Chen, I..."
"Get out quickly, the oil smoke is heavy here, it's bad for the baby!"
"I'm sorry..." Murong Yanran pursed her lips and said dejectedly, "I... Auntie is here."
Li Hao Chen was stunned for a moment, then put down the spatula, turned around, pinched Murong Yanran's cheek, and chuckled, "It seems I wasn't good enough. Today, I've stewed an old hen. Let's split it in half, and in a couple of days we'll... hehe!"
"A couple of days haven't passed yet."
"That's right. Then I'll just have to endure... Uh, what's that smell?" Suddenly, a burnt smell permeated the air. Li Hao Chen suddenly remembered something, ran over, quickly lifted the pot lid, and exclaimed, "My dish..."
Seeing Li Hao Chen's startled and amusing appearance, Murong Yanran also laughed, and her mood improved significantly, though a hint of regret lingered.
That night, Li Hao Chen held Murong Yanran and shared a passionate kiss. There was no need for words; they understood each other's hearts, and that was enough.
Soon, a month passed. During this time, Li Hao Chen had been working very hard. Not to mention the development of his spatial abilities, his efforts in the evenings were sufficient. He never missed a session, but Murong Yanran's belly showed no signs of change. They had also gone to the hospital for check-ups, and both were very healthy. The doctor's diagnosis was to relax.
From then on, the couple decided to let nature take its course and not force anything. What was meant to be would come.
In this past month, the bamboo processing plant had been filled with pleasant surprises. The product improvements and the significant increase in sales meant that it had truly turned a deficit into a profit. Li Hao Chen was now making money.
In addition, his uncle's food processing plant had also smoothly commenced production and was shining brightly at Murong Yanran's hotel. Gift packages sold twenty to thirty boxes daily, and the hotel had attracted many fans with these local products. In particular, the slow-cooked dried vegetable soup now required reservations. Speaking of which, this recipe was an exclusive secret obtained from Liu Zijun.
The demand for cured meats, sausages, and dried vegetables at Murong Yanran's hotel was increasing dramatically. They consumed at least forty to fifty catties a day, and coupled with the consumption from Liu Zijun's chain stores, the future looked very promising.
For this reason, Li Hao Chen had specifically asked Li Dejun to encourage every household in the village to raise chickens. These free-range eggs were in high demand in big cities; people were scrambling to buy them for two yuan each.
This not only provided an additional source of income for the village but also significantly boosted his uncle's profits.
One day, just as he returned from his busy schedule in the space, Li Hao Chen found Murong Yanran and Xie Baolian packing their luggage. He was bewildered and asked, "Mom, what are you doing? Going on a trip?"
"If only it were a trip. Your dad has to go to another province to inspect work for a while, and I have to go with him to take care of him."
"Oh, I see. How long will you be back?"
"About two weeks!"
"So long? Take care of yourself."
Li Hao Chen also lent a hand with packing. There were quite a few things. The three of them spent a full hour packing, filling three large suitcases – it was truly exaggerated.
After dinner, Li Hao Chen helped load the luggage. Xie Baolian gave a few instructions and then drove back to the municipal compound.
The next morning, while searching for something in her bag, Murong Yanran looked at the uncashed check in the inner pocket with an embarrassed expression and said, "I forgot to go to the bank!"
"Uh... I forgot too when you mentioned it. I hope it hasn't expired yet?"
"It won't have."
"That's good. Over a hundred million yuan. If it expires and we can't cash it, then we're screwed."
"How about this, I have to run some errands nearby this afternoon, so I'll go cash it."
"Okay, with the huge sum secured, we'll go out to celebrate tonight!"
In the afternoon, after finishing some matters in the hotel lobby, Murong Yanran drove to the Binhai branch of Swiss Bank.
She was familiar with the process of cashing checks. She walked in and headed directly for the VIP counter.
"Oh my!"
A beautiful woman slipped on her foot and collided head-on with Murong Yanran, who had just walked past. Both fell to the ground. If Li Hao Chen were there, he would have recognized who it was. Indeed, it was the bank's general manager, Li Qianqian.
"I'm so sorry, so sorry, are you alright!"
Li Qianqian, who had just stood up, disregarded the pain in her backside and quickly apologized to Murong Yanran.
However, upon clearly seeing Murong Yanran's face, Li Qianqian was greatly surprised and stood frozen, murmuring to herself, "So... so alike."
"I'm fine, I wasn't paying attention either. It's not your fault."
Murong Yanran looked at Li Qianqian and inwardly admired her elegance. Looking at Li Qianqian, she felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, and...
Memories surged, and a figure deeply buried in her memory quickly surfaced. Murong Yanran took another serious look at Li Qianqian and thought, "She looks just like my mother!"