Before, he was only in such a rush for his daughter to claim her spot because he thought Jiang Liu was recently divorced and single.

Well, now that Boss Jiang had a girlfriend, that was that.

Jun Xinghe thought for a moment before replying, "Fine, I’ll meet your boyfriend. But you’d better have him give me a compelling reason—a reason good enough for me to give up a business deal worth tens of millions for our company!"

’Hmph, that little punk. Just watch, I’ll humiliate that worthless boyfriend of hers until he’s utterly mortified.’

’He wants to meet me? Does he even have the right?’

Jun Qingmeng took a deep, angry breath. "My boyfriend and I are planning to get married. He wants to meet you first, and only after that will we get married. He’s doing it out of respect for you!"

The moment Jun Xinghe finished reading the text, he shot up in bed.

His composure was gone.

’What’s going on? My daughter is getting married?’

’Is my precious daughter really going to be married off?’

When he saw that it was his daughter’s boyfriend who had requested the meeting, Jun Xinghe’s expression softened slightly.

’It seems this boyfriend isn’t completely worthless after all.’

’At least he seems to handle things with some maturity.’

’He’s a lot like Jiang Liu in that respect.’

After a moment of thought, Jun Xinghe reconsidered. His original plan was to make the guy wait a month or two before meeting him.

But clearly, he couldn’t drag things out now. His daughter was planning to get married! Was he just supposed to let that happen?

Jun Xinghe opened his laptop, checked his schedule, and replied, "Next Monday. I’ll have time then."

Jun Qingmeng: "Okay. I’ll decide on the meeting place and let you know."

She hadn’t yet decided where they should meet.

Jun Xinghe: "Okay."

Putting down his phone, Jun Xinghe sighed and lit a cigarette, a feeling of loneliness washing over him.

The only son-in-law he’d ever approved of had slipped through his fingers, and now his daughter was suddenly telling him she was getting married.

’My only family...’

His secretary knocked on the door.

"Come in."

"President Jun, some of the market research reports from overseas are out. Would you like to look them over?"

"Yes, let me see."

After reading for a few minutes, Jun Xinghe said, "Cancel my trip to Shanghai for next Monday. Push it back. I have a personal matter to attend to—I’m meeting my daughter’s boyfriend."

"Of course, President Jun." Before leaving, the secretary asked, "President Jun, will you need me to accompany you on Monday?"

’He was hoping to go to Boss Jiang’s place and get a proper meal.’

Jun Xinghe raised an eyebrow. ’Trying to hog all the good food for yourself?’ "Of course you’re coming. It would be inconvenient for me without you."

The secretary looked devastated. "President Jun, you can’t do this to me! I’m dying from my cravings for Boss Jiang’s food. Please, just give me one day off."

"Boss Jiang has a girlfriend, but it’s not like I’m the one who introduced them. You can’t take all your anger out on me!"

His tone was pleading.

He was really, truly craving it.

’He was even dreaming of the taste of steamed buns.’

Jun Xinghe remained unmoved, his expression darkening.

He got angry every time he was reminded that Jiang Liu was now someone else’s son-in-law.

’So jealous and so angry!’

"Don’t even think about it. After I meet my daughter’s boyfriend, I’ll take you out to eat. Just the two of us."

The secretary opened his mouth, but said nothing. He left, his heart heavy with gloom.

「Meanwhile.」

Jun Qingmeng handed the phone to Jiang Liu, signaling for him to put it away.

"So? How did your chat go?"

"Honey, he said he’ll meet us next Monday."

Jiang Liu breathed a sigh of relief. "That’s good. I’ve already bought everything we need. It’s time to meet your dad. If we keep dragging this out, even my mom will get anxious."

"Mm..." Jun Qingmeng’s eyes filled with worry. "I haven’t figured out where we should meet him. Should we go to a high-end restaurant, or just meet at your shop?"

"My dad’s a bit of a snob. If we go to your shop, I’m worried he’ll complain that it’s too small. But I really don’t want to eat anywhere else. I want to meet at our shop. It feels so cozy, and I wouldn’t be as nervous."

If they met on Monday,

Jun Qingmeng would have to take the day off from the kindergarten, and what could be better than getting an extra meal cooked by her darling? She didn’t want to run all over town.

Jiang Liu stroked her head, thinking. "You said yourself that your dad likes fancy places, so let’s not meet at the shop. What if he thinks your boyfriend is cheap because of it?"

Jiang Liu could imagine it.

If the neighborhood customers knew he was meeting his father-in-law.

They would definitely all come to watch the show, and the doorway would be surrounded by a crowd of aunties and uncles, chattering and cracking melon seeds.

That would be so embarrassing.

He wouldn’t care, but a girl like Jun Qingmeng would definitely be embarrassed.

Jun Qingmeng shot Jiang Liu a look. "You’re not cheap. If my dad thinks you’re cheap, then *he’s* the cheap one."

"Then you can decide on the place, honey. I’ll pay."

Jiang Liu said, "You decide. I’ll pay."

"Okay then, honey... I want to kiss some more."

"We’ll kiss more tomorrow. Too many kisses and I won’t be able to sleep," Jiang Liu said with a smile.

’This girl starts squirming the moment we start kissing.’

’Doesn’t she know she’s wearing a nightdress? How is he supposed to sleep when she’s tempting him like this?!’

"Alright, then we’ll kiss tomorrow. I love kissing you. What does it feel like when I kiss you? Do I taste sweet?"

"Sweet. Very sweet. Sweeter than the food I cook."

"Hehe, honey, you’re so amusing."

Jun Qingmeng giggled at his words, covering her mouth as her shoulders shook.

Jiang Liu said, "When we meet him, you can eat a little less. I’ll make you something even better when we get back."

"Ah—honey... how do you know me so well!"

Jun Qingmeng covered her mouth in astonishment. Why could Jiang Liu always figure out her secret little thoughts?

’I have no secrets from him at all!’

Jiang Liu found this amusing. "It’s not that I know you so well. Like I told you, if you pay attention to the details, you’ll discover a lot more. Take you, for example. You had a look of pure craving on your face, like you were about to drool all over my arm, just like Tongtong when she’s hungry. You think I couldn’t guess what you were thinking?"

Jun Qingmeng secretly touched her lips to make sure there was no drool before retorting shyly, "No way! I wouldn’t drool like Tongtong. Compared to you, I’m just a little slow, that’s all."

Jiang Liu smiled and pinched her lips.

Her lips pinched into a pout, Jun Qingmeng let out a muffled "Mmm-mmph" in protest.

"Honey, if we’re going out to eat on Monday, does that mean you have to close the shop?"

At that calculation, Jiang Liu would lose a lot of money, and Jun Qingmeng’s heart ached for him.

Jiang Liu had finally managed to earn some money over the last few days, and now he had to close the shop because of her.

’She loved Jiang Liu even more for it.’

Jiang Liu hadn’t considered that. He thought for a moment and said, "I’ll just close for a day, then. It’s not a big deal. Our customers won’t starve just because they can’t get their buns for one day."

"WHIMPER, honey, I love you so, so much. What am I going to do, loving you more and more every day? You won’t abandon me, will you...? WHIMPER, especially after you just... you just kissed my tongue..."

’Good grief. Now she’s bringing up the kiss.’

’Women...’

Jiang Liu gave Jun Qingmeng a light flick on the forehead. "What are you talking about? As long as you don’t do anything that goes against my principles, I’ll never leave you."

"Okay! You know, whenever I go too long without seeing you, my heart starts to ache, and it feels like I can’t breathe. Do you understand that feeling?" Jun Qingmeng asked, looking pitiful.

She was terrified Jiang Liu would suddenly leave her.

A classic case of being love-struck.

Always insecure, terrified that the person you love will just disappear.

Jiang Liu idly twisted a strand of Jun Qingmeng’s hair. "How about this," he said, "why don’t you just quit your job at the kindergarten and come work with me?"

P.S. The previous Chapter is locked. It will be unlocked in a few hours.