Thirty Days to Hoard: Reborn into the Frost

Chapter 103 -102: How Could Anyone Have the Heart to Refuse a Child?

“I will have the cookies and ramen tested. If what you say is true, then Zhang Wanwan has threatened the lives and safety of the base residents, and she will undoubtedly face severe punishment,” Gu Rongjin said.

It was the day before the ultimate showdown.

Surprisingly, the sauerkraut fish stall did not open today. Several customers paced back and forth in front of the stall, reluctant to leave.

“How strange, why didn’t Boss Chen come today?”

“Could they have run out of fish?”

“What a shame. I originally wanted to have sauerkraut fish today, but now I can’t.”

As the customers murmured among themselves, they frequently cast disappointed glances toward the closed window. Unable to wait for their sauerkraut fish, they had no choice but to line up elsewhere. Soon, several of them headed over to queue up at the Japanese ramen stall, and once again, the crowd in front of it began to swell.

Zhang Wanwan stared at the closed sauerkraut fish stall, a cold sneer appearing on her lips.

“Chen Momo is definitely too busy taking care of her son, which is why she didn’t open for business today,” Zhang Wanwan sneered.

Liu Xiuxiu said smugly, “Boss Zhang, I’m absolutely certain I gave your cookies to Chen Momo’s son. That kid is a little glutton; he snatched the cookies and ran off.”

Zhang Wanwan chuckled coldly. “Just look at who baked them. If I can make millions of people fall in love with my Japanese ramen, I can certainly make a little kid fall for my cookies.”

Cookies laced with arsenic.

The lights at the sauerkraut fish stall were off. Zhang Wanwan’s competitor was gone. For tomorrow’s ultimate showdown, victory was entirely within her grasp!

At a dining table elsewhere, four handsome young men were chatting.

Jiang Yunhai frequently glanced toward the sauerkraut fish stall. Unable to hold back, he frowned and said, “This is too strange. The Sauerkraut Fish Beauty actually didn’t open her stall today! Tomorrow is her ultimate showdown against the Ramen Beauty. Don’t tell me she won’t be able to make it tomorrow either?”

Ouyang Feng said half-jokingly, “If she can’t make it, then we’ve won for sure. Yun Hai, you’d better get your hundred thousand wager ready.”

Jiang Yunhai clenched his fists. “No, I believe the Sauerkraut Fish Beauty will definitely show up tomorrow!”

Yi Ronghao’s gaze also drifted toward the sauerkraut fish window several times. Her stall had never once been closed.

“Why didn’t she come today? Could something have happened at her home?” he wondered, a faint sense of worry welling up in his heart.

He realized he had never worried so much about anyone before. It was incredibly strange. He and Chen Momo were merely acquaintances who had crossed paths a few times, yet he felt an inexplicable sense of closeness to her. The bonds of fate between people were truly an unexplainable mystery.

“HAHAHA!”

A burst of smug laughter echoed from another table. Huang Yuqing clutched her fork, laughing so hard she was rocking back and forth.

“Yang Shunsheng, your ex-wife is acting like a coward! Tomorrow is the official showdown. She doesn’t have the confidence to beat Zhang Wanwan, so she simply didn’t open her stall! It’s absolutely hilarious!” After she finished speaking, she let out another burst of mocking laughter.

Yang Shunsheng frowned and glanced at Chen Momo’s stall. Sure enough, it was closed.

“How could this happen? Did Momo run into some trouble?” he thought to himself. An inexplicable irritation rose in his heart.

He shot Huang Yuqing an annoyed glare and said coldly, “She must have run into some issue. Momo is a very responsible person; she wouldn’t desert on the eve of battle.” Weighed down by his thoughts, he was now very worried about Chen Momo.

Huang Yuqing sneered, “Then just wait and see! She didn’t dare to show up today, and I bet she’ll be even more terrified to show up tomorrow!”

Meanwhile.

At home, Chen Momo, Chen Xiaobao, and Xu Xiaoka were blasting music and energetically doing aerobics. It wasn’t long before all three of them were sweating profusely.

Chen Momo said, “In a bit, we’ll head over to the recreation area for a sauna session to properly relax.”

Everyone had been working hard recently. The closer it got to the competition, the more important it was to maintain a relaxed state of mind. As soon as Xu Xiaoka and Chen Xiaobao heard they were going to the sauna, they were overjoyed, both cheering, “Yay!”

Hand in hand, the trio made their way to the sauna center in the recreation area. The sauna cost five hundred base credits per adult and three hundred base credits per child, bringing their total expenditure to thirteen hundred base credits. The package also included free orange juice. Although the oranges were frostbitten and the taste wasn’t quite authentic, it was more than enough to quench their thirst.

The sauna was incredibly comfortable, and today, they had the massive facility entirely to themselves. Chen Momo sat with her eyes closed, meditating to rest her mind.

An arm gently nudged her, and she heard Xu Xiaoka whisper in her ear, “Sister Momo, it looks like the Base Chief is here for a sauna, too.”

Hmm?

Chen Momo opened her eyes to see Gu Rongjin, clad in a white bathrobe, walking toward them through the misty steam. Even through the hazy vapor of the sauna room, the firm pectoral muscles beneath his white robe were faintly visible.

Xu Xiaoka whispered in Chen Momo’s ear, “Tsk tsk, the Base Chief’s body is seriously amazing.”

Chen Momo was left utterly speechless.

Gu Rongjin evidently hadn’t noticed them; he walked straight over and sat cross-legged directly opposite Chen Momo. The social butterfly, Chen Xiaobao, recognized Gu Rongjin at a glance and immediately shouted, “Uncle Gu!”

Before Chen Momo could stop him, the little socializer had already run over to mingle.

“Xiao Bao?” Pleasantly surprised, Gu Rongjin looked across the room and finally realized that the two meditating figures sitting across from him were actually Chen Momo and Xu Xiaoka. Both of them had white towels wrapped around their heads and were swaddled in bathrobes, looking somewhat comical.

He hadn’t expected to bump into Chen Momo in a place like this.

“Uncle Gu, are you here for a sauna too?” Chen Xiaobao asked enthusiastically, grabbing Gu Rongjin’s hand with his own chubby little fingers.

Gu Rongjin smiled dotingly. “That’s right. Did Xiao Bao come to enjoy the sauna today too?”

Xiao Bao smiled sweetly. “I came with Mommy and Sister Xiao Ka!” Then, rolling his big, bright eyes, Xiao Bao asked, “Uncle Gu, can I sit on your lap?”

Chen Momo was struck speechless once again. Was this seriously the son she had given birth to?

Gu Rongjin, however, was willing to fulfill Xiao Bao’s every request. “Of course.”

Without any hesitation, Chen Xiaobao plopped down right onto Gu Rongjin’s thigh. Staring with wide eyes at the chest muscles peeking out from under Gu Rongjin’s bathrobe, he exclaimed, “Wow, Uncle Gu, your muscles here are so big. Can Xiao Bao touch them?”

A look of awkwardness crossed Gu Rongjin’s face. He was a serious man; no one had ever made such a request of him before. However, looking at Xiao Bao’s naive face, Gu Rongjin reasoned, “He’s just a child, after all.”

How could he bear to reject such an innocent kid?

So, he nodded and said, “Of course.”