Stay Home Daddy: I Was Reborn After My Daughter Passed Away
Chapter 373 New Store Outlook_1

Chapter 373: 373 New Store Outlook_1

Gu Chen bought a Polaroid camera made in the USA, which was considered the best instant camera available on the market at that time.

Although the ones made in Japan were not bad, they were still technologically inferior to the former.

When Ji Pianran opened the wrapping of the second gift box, she found that her daughter had actually given her another wind-up music box.

This indeed surprised her, and then she gently turned the crank.

From the music box, a melodious and ethereal tune began to play; Ji Pianran quickly recognized it.

It was Joe Hisaishi’s classic piece "With You."

However, in a few years, more people would call this piece "Castle in the Sky."

Ji Pianran slightly narrowed her eyes, unconsciously immersing herself in the beautiful music.

It made her involuntarily recall her own childhood.

But just at that moment, she suddenly saw something on top of the music box.

It appeared to be a delicately made small card that slowly stood up, dancing gracefully along with the music.

Upon closer inspection, it was... a Donald Duck.

Seeing such a mismatched scene, Ji Pianran couldn’t help but be amused, yet her daughter Tangtang was very delighted.

She had wanted to buy this because she saw that the Donald Duck on it could actually dance.

So, Tangtang thought that such a fun toy would surely be loved by her mom too.

"Mommy, mommy, do you like the gift I gave you?" Tangtang asked with an adorably innocent face.

"I love it, as long as it’s from Tangtang, mom loves it to bits," Pian Ran replied.

Although what Ji Pianran really wanted to say was,

"It’s a great gift, but next time please don’t give me any."

However, seeing as it was her daughter’s first time deciding on a gift for her, she couldn’t bear to dent her daughter’s confidence.

So Ji Pianran still said with a smile on her face,

"Wow, really? Then I’ll put it by mommy’s bedside later.

Even though you won’t have dad’s bedtime story,

now with Tangtang’s gift, I can listen to it every night before sleeping."

The daughter said joyfully, feeling like a little genius.

Ji Pianran’s expression stiffened a bit, although she liked the song very much.

The problem was, she didn’t want to see a Donald Duck dancing on her bedside every night.

But seeing her daughter’s excited and hopeful look,

she could only continue to smile and agree.

"I must not crush my daughter’s confidence, I must encourage her... she is still young,

Oh? There are some photos here."

Ji Pianran picked up the thick stack of photos from the coffee table.

Upon closer inspection, she realized they were all taken at the amusement park.

But as she flipped through them, she suddenly felt something was off because all the pictures were of Gu Chen and her daughter.

Who then was taking pictures of the two of them? This made her brow furrow with suspicion.

"Could it be Dong Yuwei? After all, I heard from my husband that

she seemed to work at the same kindergarten, could they have gone on a date today?"

The more Ji Pianran thought about it, the more she felt something was amiss, to the point where she even started to ignore her daughter beside her.

Meanwhile, Tangtang was happily introducing the origin of each photo,

Her memory was excellent, especially for memorable places like amusement parks.

However, as Tangtang spoke, Ji Pianran’s face gradually darkened.

By the time Gu Chen brought the dinner he had prepared from the kitchen,

Ji Pianran’s face had turned as black as charcoal.

Then seeing Gu Chen carry out a plate of pasta from the kitchen, she became even more irate.

With her hands on her hips, she was like a jar of vinegar that had spilled out, unleashing a vast ocean of waves.

"Honey, what’s going on with you and that Dong Yuwei?"

Ji Pianran’s imagination got wilder by the minute, and she even convinced herself that the person who was with Gu Chen today must be none other than Dong Yuwei—the cause of all trouble wherever she went.

Gu Chen glanced at her, somewhat at a loss for words, and continued setting the table.

He spoke indifferently,

"Dong Yuwei’s mother has a terminal illness and doesn’t have many years left to live.

Chun Lei told me before they have already gone to Europe with Professor Dong.

They’ll probably never return, and also, the amusement park tickets I used with Sugar this afternoon were given by Li Chunlei.

He and Da Chun were my close friends from high school."

"Oh~ Then she’s really unfortunate, truly pitiable."

Upon hearing this, Ji Pianran’s face became somewhat embarrassed, and the animosity she had mustered instantly vanished.

She hadn’t expected that this rival, who popped up out of nowhere, would be out of the picture before she even had the chance to exert any effort.

And learning that her husband and daughter were actually spending the afternoon with old school friends made Ji Pianran instantly relax, and she comfortably settled back onto the sofa.

Although she spoke words of pity, a smug smile crept onto her face.

Afterward, the three of them sat down to dinner. Ji Pianran seemed to remember something and asked,

"By the way, honey, Uncle Guang told me you’ve been buying a lot of stuff recently.

Do you still have any money on you?"

Gu Chen was eating pasta and contemplating how to improve his culinary skills.

When he heard her question, he answered straight away,

"I still have a little over a thousand yuan left; the rest is all spent."

Ji Pianran sighed with relief upon hearing this.

Then, she took out another thousand yuan from her wallet and laid it in front of Gu Chen,

with an earnest expression,

"Honey, take this money for now, use it for groceries, filling up the car,

or for some of Sugar’s tuition fees and utility bills or whatever. If you need anything else,

just tell me, and don’t ever shortchange yourself, okay?"

However, after saying this, Ji Pianran thought to herself,

"They say men tend to misbehave when they have money, and the old saying isn’t wrong at all.

I’ll have to start controlling Gu Chen’s spending from now on,

lest he starts flirting around whenever there’s nothing else to do. Lucky for me, Dong Yuwei had a family emergency this time.

Otherwise, if there were a few more indecent women involved, it would be such a hassle."

As for Gu Chen, he looked at the thousand yuan on the table in front of him and couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

But he silently accepted it, as having some money was better than none.

At least now, he could finally afford a sign for his new store, couldn’t he?

Gu Chen thought thus, feeling a hint of anticipation for his new establishment in Chuan City.

He believed that with his marketing skills, which were over a decade ahead of the current era, coupled with the "God-Level Culinary Skills" granted by the system,

his new store ought to be successful.

After all, it couldn’t be that he would face a catastrophic fire just as he was starting his business.

Once they finished dinner, Gu Chen returned to the kitchen to start washing up, while thinking about what new kitchen equipment he should get for his store the next day.

Meanwhile, Ji Pianran and Sugar watched cartoons in the living room.

The night passed without incident.

Early the next morning, after the three had breakfast together,

Gu Chen excitedly drove his brand-new car straight to the kindergarten with his daughter.