Going home for Chinese New Year, I squeezed onto a bus with three energetic young women.

Since the distance wasn't far, none of them drove.

The evening breeze swept through the streets of Pingxian, carrying the strong aroma of cumin and mutton fat, which wafted straight into people's nostrils.

The newly opened street food stall/hot pot restaurant is just on the street corner.

A makeshift red shed was erected along the street, leaking air from all sides.

But the space under the shed was crammed with simple plastic tables and chairs, and every seat was occupied.

The boisterous sounds of drinking games and clinking glasses mingled together, creating a vibrant and lively atmosphere.

"Boss, we have a customer!"

With a flourish of her tattooed arms, Chen Tingting found an empty table and sat down.

The sweating owner, wearing an greasy apron, jogged over with menus in hand, greeting customers with a smile.

"Hey handsome guys and beautiful ladies, what would you like to eat?"

Bai Li's gaze swept over the menu pressed under the glass plate on the table.

A hot pot dish is clearly priced at eighteen yuan, which is a really down-to-earth and reasonable price.

"You can choose your own flavor." Bai Li took a few cheap napkins and casually wiped away the greasy soup stains in front of him.

Several girls huddled together, chattering excitedly as they began ordering food.

Zhang Qian decisively ordered the extra spicy duck blood hot pot.

Li Jiaxin prefers slightly spicy wide rice noodles.

Lin Xiaoshuang jumped up and down, shouting that she wanted two more servings of starch sausage and golden-fried fish balls.

Jiang Ruyue sat obediently to the side, blankly ordering a plain, original flavor.

After ordering, Zhang Qian picked up the plastic kettle on the table.

The young woman had completely lost her usual wildness and instead became quite virtuous.

She scalded Bai Li's bowl and chopsticks with hot water, wiped them with a tissue, and then placed them next to him.

Not to be outdone, Lin Xiaoshuang presented Bai Li with two freshly opened cans of pineapple beer, as if offering a treasure.

After a long day, a sip of sweet pineapple beer washes away all the fatigue with its carbonation.

Wang Wei rolled his eyes at the attentive manner of pouring water and handing out chopsticks:

"I can't stand it."

"Brother, you could live well, but I've never let you live this well!"

Chen Tingting crossed her legs and casually replied:

"Hey, Fatty's eyeing this?"

"How about I introduce you to a few of my girlfriends another day? I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

Lin Xiaoshuang nodded repeatedly, her baby face full of kindness:

"Yes, yes, we know a lot of people, and they all have great figures."

Upon hearing this, Wang Wei shook his head vigorously.

"No, no, no."

Wang Weiyi righteously extended his palm in refusal, exuding an aura of integrity:

"I'm all about pure love."

"I can't bring myself to have multiple partners. I have to stick to my bottom line."

Zhang Qian burst out laughing, her blue hair trembling wildly:

"Oh my, our relationship with our older brother is also purely platonic."

Bai Li couldn't stand it anymore and mercilessly exposed her best friend's pretense:

"You, who's always thinking about buying the 'Soft Cat Girl' character, what kind of pure love is that?!"

Wang Wei's face flushed red, and he retorted loudly, his neck stiff:

"That thing means nothing! A tool is a tool, but my heart is pure!"

Bai Li crossed his long legs, shifting to a more comfortable position, and slowly asked:

"Then let me ask you."

"When you watch movies at night, the male and female leads on the screen are so deeply in love."

Bai Li tapped his fingers on the table, each word piercing the heart:

"And yet you're off-screen, looking at them..."

"What is this? Isn't this blatantly ruining the pure love atmosphere?"

Wang Wei showed no fear when questioned.

His chubby face even seemed to radiate a sacred glow.

"Hey, Brother Li, that's so superficial!" Wang Wei patted his broad belly and said confidently.

"I... I wasn't trying to sabotage them at all."

"When I did *that*, it was like fireworks for their great love!"

"Go to hell!"

Bai Li was taken aback by this outrageous statement and laughed while cursing.

This fatso is really good at making excuses.

Amidst the laughter and chatter, the charcoal stove was brought out.

The glowing red charcoal made one's cheeks hot, dispelling the chill.

Chen Tingting stared at the leaping sparks, her elbows resting on the table, her tattooed arms supporting her chin, her tone unusually soft.

"It feels so lively here." Her voice was low, her longing evident in her words.

"The smell of this charcoal grilling instantly takes me back to my childhood."

"Back then, the adults in my family were fighting all the time."

"Only my grandparents would hold my hand and go to the street stall to buy me a bowl of spicy noodles for three yuan."

Chen Tingting's eyes reddened slightly, and her voice choked with emotion:

"We were poor back then, but we ate very well."

Zhang Qian interrupted from the side, breaking the somber atmosphere:

"Come on. You ate that spicy noodle takeout you ordered yesterday at noon with great relish, you even drank every last drop of the soup."

Chen Tingting didn't retort, but just gave a bitter smile.

Bai Li saw it all, and understood it perfectly.

These young women, struggling at the bottom of society, never lack a bowl of noodles that costs three yuan; what they lack is selfless care.

What they miss is the person who would hold their hand and go to buy noodles.

These girls followed him, asking for neither titles nor money, only a little emotional care.

Bai Li reached out and ruffled Zhang Qian's blue hair; it felt soft and smooth to the touch.

He turned his gaze to Lin Xiaoshuang and Li Jiaxin beside him, his tone calm and solemn.

"Okay. We'll wrap up the first phase of our short drama in a few days."

Bai Li's voice was gentle and warm.

"Since you absolutely refuse the money I give you and insist on saving it yourselves."

"The money you earn when those short dramas are released and generate revenue is the result of your hard work."

The maids all stopped eating and listened quietly.

Bai Li tapped the table with his index finger, making a promise:

"When the time comes, I'll accompany each of you back to your hometown. We'll bring the money you've earned yourself."

Upon hearing this, Chen Tingting and Lin Xiaoshuang's eyes lit up.

"Give the elderly in your family a definite answer."

Bai Li looked them straight in the eye and laid out his entire plan:

"Let them see with their own eyes that their granddaughter isn't fooling around outside, that she's on the right path, and that she's earning a decent income."

"Can we put the elderly person's mind at ease?"

Quiet.

After an extremely brief silence, several female voices spoke in unison.

"Really?!"

"You think I can make money by lying to you?" Bai Li spread his hands, looking quite nonchalant.

Lin Xiaoshuang was so excited that she rushed over and hugged Bai Li's arm, shaking it vigorously.

Li Jiaxin's eyes, hidden beneath her purple hair, sparkled, revealing a rare hint of shyness.

"Big brother, you've only met my grandma before, you haven't met Sister Tingting and Xiaoshuang's grandpa yet!"

Lin Xiaoshuang covered her flushed cheeks and took advantage of the situation:

"Moreover, all four of us have already met Uncle and Aunt."

Chen Tingting snapped her fingers crisply and continued her logical deduction:

"Then, after a while, my older brother will come back with us to meet our grandparents. That'll practically count as him meeting both sets of parents!"

"Hehehe........"

The four spirited young women became more and more beautiful the more they thought about it.

Each one of them rested their chin on one hand, their eyes filled with anticipation for the future, and kept smiling foolishly.

That sense of dependence on Bai Li, which she devoted herself to wholeheartedly, was extremely intense.

This is the ultimate charm of the "raising a child" genre.

Seeing these wild girls, who were once stuck in the mud, regain their light because of my guidance, I felt an immeasurable sense of accomplishment.

"Alright, alright, I'm practically drooling into my bowl."

Bai Li interrupted, amused:

"I will keep my promise to you."

"Now, let's eat!"

Steaming hot pots were served one after another.

The mutton is stewed until it's tender and falls off the bone, and the aroma fills the air as the red oil sizzles.

The girls, disregarding all decorum, ate heartily with gusto.

Lin Xiaoshuang scooped up a piece of starchy sausage, burning her tongue, but refused to let go.

In this lively and bustling atmosphere.

Two figures walked through the greenhouse passageway.

Because of the narrow space, one of them tripped over something under his feet as he passed by.

"Splash!"

The man's handbag, as he swayed, slammed straight onto the water bottle next to Bai Li.

The bottle of warm water was poured out, splashing all over the floor.

Chen Tingting was the first to react. She braced her tattooed arm on the table and opened her mouth to curse.

Bai Li pressed down her hand and glanced at the perpetrator.

This is quite something.

Standing next to this man was none other than Ai Tianbi, an old acquaintance with whom he had suffered a great loss at the bar just two days ago.

At that moment, Ai Tianbi was holding several skewers of grilled meat and talking to that person.

Wang Wei put down his chopsticks, recognized the other person with sharp eyes, and a mocking smile appeared on his chubby face:

"Hey, isn't this Brother Tianbi? What a coincidence!"

Hearing that familiar voice, Ai Tianbi shuddered and turned around.

Upon seeing Bai Li sitting on the bench, Ai Tianbi's legs began to sway visibly.

"Holy crap...Young Master Bai!"

Wang Wei looked at the trembling Ai Tianbi and felt a surge of satisfaction:

"What's wrong with you? Still as arrogant as ever after just a few days?"

"Look, you knocked over Bai Li's water glass, and you didn't even apologize?"

The man with the purse frowned, about to say something.

Ai Tianbi quickly turned her head, lowered her voice, and frantically winked at him.

"Since it's our problem, just say sorry, don't argue."

"We simply can't afford to offend this ancestor!"

Ai Tianbi's voice was full of panic. He couldn't help it; the shock Bai Li had given him that night was too great.

First, he revealed Zhao Min's secret in one sentence, and then he casually pointed at her and got her imprisoned.

This companion is also an eccentric with a rich imagination.

Seeing that even someone like Ai Tianbi, whose family owns illegal mines, was trembling with fear, his brain raced, conjuring up an extremely terrifying gangster drama in his mind.

The companion panicked immediately, fearing that if they apologized too late, the cosplay ginseng would be stuck in the ground.

He stammered and began to confess everything in one go:

"Brother, spare me! Don't kill me! Please don't kill me!"

"I have elderly parents to care for, young children to raise, a wife and daughter to look after! Please don't kill me!"

Bai Li remained seated, her eyes twitching uncontrollably.

This Ai Tianbi is a real bastard; he never holds back when he says anything.

I am a law-abiding citizen.

How did it come to be described by them as a ruthless bandit leader who kills without blinking an eye?

Besides, all I did was have my water bottle knocked over. Even if someone was vicious, they wouldn't go so far as to kill me!

"Alright, alright, I'm not the kind of person you think I am." Bai Li sighed, just about to apologize when she stopped herself.

Never thought.

Jiang Ruyue, who had been quietly eating her original-flavor hot pot, put down her chopsticks.

She turned her head, stared at the man kneeling on the ground, and parted her red lips slightly:

"Don't tempt him with the promise of motherhood and daughterhood."

"He won't be able to control himself."