Chapter 155 (Part 2): The Culinary Tycoon

In the afternoon, after bidding farewell to the guests, the staff stayed behind to tidy up the restaurant. Yu Qingze took Chang Le home to rest.

Uncle Lin had returned home when the baby turned two months old. Initially, he had said that he would take care of Chang Le during his postpartum period and stay until Chang Le became familiar with taking care of the baby.

Because he was so dedicated, Yu Qingze paid him extra compensation as a token of gratitude.

As the baby gradually grew older, his little face began to unfold. The previously wrinkled and reddish skin was long gone, replaced by a tender and chubby face. His eyebrows were still light, his eyes were round and big, resembling his father greatly. His small nose and the shape of his mouth resembled his mother. Coupled with his peach-shaped hair, he looked extremely adorable.

Moreover, now he could make cooing sounds other than crying. He would say “ai,” “ah,” “oh,” and the like. If someone tried to amuse him, he would even smile, making it more fun.

Sometimes, he would stretch out his little hand and wave it in front of his own eyes. If someone extended a finger at that moment, he would tightly grasp it with surprisingly strong strength. It seemed that, like Chang Le, he also possessed a great amount of strength.

Now, Chang Hao and Jiabao would compete to hold the baby when they returned home. Chang Le and Yu Qingze no longer had a chance unless the baby was hungry, needed a diaper change, or felt sleepy. Only then would they have a turn to hold him.

Both of them felt helpless yet warm-hearted.

The house was filled with the sounds of playing with the baby every day, which made people smile from the heart and feel the flow of happiness sincerely.

In mid-September, a momentous and joyous event took place in the Dasheng Dynasty. On September 16th, the Emperor finally established the Crown Prince.

To celebrate this grand occasion and showcase the imperial grace, the Emperor issued a decree to grant amnesty throughout the realm.

Batch by batch, prisoners were pardoned of their crimes and released from the dungeons, given a chance to start anew.

Among those within the amnesty scope was a group of prisoners in the Tongshan County yamen’s jail.

County Magistrate Luo Mingda, accompanied by his county officials, personally arrived at the entrance of the prison cells. He addressed the group of people, saying, “Thanks to the Emperor’s benevolence and the amnesty granted, you have been forgiven for your crimes and given a fresh start. I hope you will learn from your past mistakes, cherish this opportunity, live an honest life, and refrain from any further violations of the laws of our Dasheng Dynasty. If you offend again, severe punishment will be imposed! Have you all understood?”

“Yes, Your Excellency,” the prisoners replied, their once lifeless eyes suddenly coming alive upon hearing Magistrate Luo’s words.

Magistrate Luo waved his hand and instructed the head jailer, “Verify their records, then release them.”

The jailer nodded and replied, “Yes, Your Excellency.”

The head jailer, accompanied by the prison guards, meticulously verified the registration of each prisoner. Then, they unlocked the prisoners’ shackles and had them sign and affix their marks. Each person was given a set of coarse cloth garments before being released.

At the end of the crowd, there was a prisoner who kept his head lowered, with his disheveled hair covering his face entirely. He didn’t lift his head throughout the process of signing and marking, nor when he received his clothes and changed out of the prison attire.

As October arrived, the weather turned cooler.

On this day, Chang Le fed the baby until he was full, dressed him in a little padded jacket, and put on a furry hat. He pulled down the hat’s small ears to cover the baby’s ears, then carried a bag filled with baby supplies and headed out.

Today, they had made plans with Brother Chang and Baby Muhua to visit the cloth market and buy some fabric to make clothes. They met at the entrance of House of Prosperity and proceeded to the cloth market together. Since the market wasn’t far away, they decided to walk there directly.

Upon their arrival, Brother Chang handed Baby Muhua to a young servant accompanying them and then began browsing the fabrics.

At this time, with the approaching Lunar New Year, the cloth market was bustling with many customers. The shopkeeper and the waiters were overwhelmed with work, so they just greeted Chang Le and the others and allowed them to browse freely before attending to other customers with inquiries.

The two of them looked around for quite a while and selected the fabrics for the baby. Afterwards, Brother Chang pointed to a piece of fabric and asked Chang Le, “Do you think this one looks good?”

Chang Le, with one hand holding the baby, reached out and touched the fabric. Then he nodded and gestured with his hand, indicating that it felt quite comfortable and was suitable.

“Yeah, I find it comfortable to touch as well. And the color should be suitable for Baizhu,” Brother Chang agreed.

Chang Le also nodded. The fresh and tender color would be more suitable for younger men, like Yu Qingze, who would prefer slightly darker shades.

“In that case, I’ll choose this one. I’ll go and ask the shopkeeper to cut some for me,” Brother Chang said, walking to the other side to find the shopkeeper for fabric cutting.

Chang Le continued to browse the fabrics and noticed another piece that had an appealing color but was pressed down.

“Huh? Madam Yu, you brought the baby to pick fabrics too?”

A familiar voice sounded behind Chang Le, and he turned around to see that it was Uncle Lin, who had taken care of him and the baby before. He smiled and nodded, then pointed at Uncle Lin.

Uncle Lin carried a basket with a few white radishes inside. He smiled and glanced at the baby in Chang Le’s arms before answering, “Well, I came out to buy some vegetables and thought of getting some new fabric to make Lunar New Year clothes for my grandson.”

Chang Le nodded with a smile upon hearing that.

“Oh, look at the baby. It’s been a month since I last saw him, and he’s grown even cuter,” Uncle Lin said with a smile. He reached out to playfully tease the baby and said, “Baby, do you remember me? I’m Uncle Lin, da-da-da. Do you remember Uncle Lin?”

Because Uncle Lin had been around for two months, the baby had some recollection of him. After being teased for a while, the baby waved his little hand a few times.

“Oh, you do remember! Such a good baby…” Uncle Lin teased the baby for a while, then put the basket down and said to Chang Le, “Madam Yu, let me hold the baby for you while you go choose the fabric.”

With that, Uncle Lin reached out to hold the baby.

Brother Le blocked it for a moment, shook his head, gestured a few times to indicate that he could handle it himself, not wanting to trouble him.

Uncle Lin said again, “It’s inconvenient for you to hold the baby and choose the fabric. I’ll watch over the baby for you. No need to be polite with me. I think the baby is cute, and it’s been a while since I last saw him. I also want to hold him for a while. You can carefully choose the suitable fabric, right?”

Brother Le continued to smile and shook his head, politely declining Uncle Lin’s kind offer.

Uncle Lin paused, lowered his gaze in thought, then looked up and smiled again, saying, “Which one did you like? Shall I take it out for you?”

Brother Le pointed to the one pressed in the middle.

Uncle Lin went to remove the several pieces of fabric placed on top and pulled out the one Brother Le had chosen.

Brother Le unfolded it slightly and carefully felt it.

Uncle Lin amused the baby in his arms, making the baby giggle uncontrollably.

Brother Le didn’t feel quite satisfied with the fabric that was pulled out. He felt that the texture was a bit rough, and it wouldn’t be comfortable to wear. He continued looking and saw another piece of fabric underneath. He carefully removed the fabrics on top one by one.

“You see, I told you it’s inconvenient. Come on, let me hold the baby for you. Take your time to choose. Look, the baby seems to enjoy playing with me,” Uncle Lin said to Brother Le, then turned to amuse the baby, making a playful sound and saying, “Isn’t that right, baby?”

The baby giggled and laughed in response.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

Seeing that the baby did recognize him and seemed to like him, Brother Le nodded slightly and handed the baby over to Uncle Lin for a while.

Uncle Lin held the baby and played with him by Brother Le’s side. Brother Le continued to pick the fabric while occasionally turning his head to look at them. Seeing that the two of them were having a good time, he resumed his fabric selection.

After a while of choosing, he finally selected two pieces of fabric. He turned around and intended to go to the fabric cutting area with the baby in his arms.

Uncle Lin said, “Look at the crowd back there, it’s so crowded and stuffy. You’ll have to wait for a while. You go ahead, and I’ll wait here with the baby.”

Brother Le looked at the crowded fabric cutting area and saw that even Brother Chang was still in line there. He nodded gently and then carried the selected fabric as he went to the back.

“Oh, Brother Le, have you made your selection? Where’s the baby?” Brother Chang saw that Brother Le came over with the fabric but didn’t see the baby, so he asked.

Brother Le pointed to the entrance and gestured, indicating that he ran into Uncle Lin and he offered to hold the baby for a while.

Brother Chang looked outside and indeed saw Uncle Lin holding the baby at the entrance, waiting. He nodded and said, “The baby seems to really like him.”

Brother Le nodded and gestured, saying, “He’s really good with children.”

After they finished cutting the fabric and went outside, they reached the entrance but only saw the servant boy and Baby Muhua brought by Brother Chang. Uncle Lin and the baby were nowhere to be seen, but the basket on the ground was still there.

Brother Le walked outside the fabric shop and looked around but couldn’t find Uncle Lin and the baby. He then asked the servant boy, “Where’s the baby?”

Brother Chang also asked, “Where are Uncle Lin and the baby?”

The servant replied, “Uncle Lin said it was too stuffy inside, so he took the baby outside to wait.”

“But the baby is not outside!” Brother Chang exclaimed.

The servant also went outside to look and indeed couldn’t find the baby. They were puzzled and said, “They were here just a moment ago. They haven’t been gone for even half a quarter of an hour. Could they have gone back to the restaurant?”

Brother Le immediately rushed out and started searching along the street.

“Oh, give the baby to me. Let’s quickly go and find them! I’ll search over there, Gui Pi, you go to House of Prosperity and find Boss Yu. Ask him to send some staff out to search together. The staff members all know Uncle Lin, so we’ll find them faster with more people!” Brother Chang took Baby Muhua and instructed the servant.

The servant nodded and swiftly ran towards House of Prosperity.

Brother Chang carried Baby Muhua and went in the opposite direction of Brother Le to search.

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Author’s note: Do I need to wear a saucepan on my head?

Serious contemplation.jpg

Thandar: You all knew who that prisoner was. Why is it always so hard to kill off the villains ughhh.