"There's too much food for the two of us," Shelly exclaimed."You can pack the leftovers and take them with you if you don't want the food to go to waste." Hayden knew that Shelly was an easygoing woman and tended to relax around her."That's hardly appropriate!" Shelly smiled sheepishly. "Let's try our best to finish it all! I'm starving.""Eat more and take the fruit with you if you can't finish it. I don't like fruits."Hayden was not in the habit of eating fruits as they were all either too sweet or too sour, so he preferred water if he needed something after a meal."I love fruits, but I rarely buy them," she said. "Fruits are so expensive these days.""Why did you buy a fruit basket when you came to visit my family, then?" Hayden asked and reached for another piece of pickle.Shelly's mother indeed made great kimchi, and it went perfectly with the food they were having."I couldn't go empty-handed, could I? It would have been rude to do so." Shelly's nervousness slowly di
"He invited you to have a meal in his office. Isn't that considered a date?" Courtney felt that their relationship, even if not romantic, was definitely not ordinary."It's just a meal, it can't be considered a date. Besides, it wasn't his idea to invite me for a meal. It was because I brought him my mom's homemade kimchi, and out of politeness, he invited me to eat. You don't know how awkward it was. There was only one serving of food on the table, and after I arrived, he asked his assistant to buy some food for me," Shelly recalled sheepishly."Hahaha! He accepted your kimchi, which means he still has some positive feelings toward you. Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken it. He must have had all kinds of delicacies, so he can't possibly be interested in tasting kimchi," Courtney said.Shelly had a different opinion. "Is it possible that he has had too many delicacies and wants to try something different, like kimchi?""I understand now!" Courtney exclaimed.Shelly was startled by
Shelly accepted the gift with a smile. "Ivy, there's no need for formality. I appreciate whatever you give me. Next time you come, you don't have to buy me a gift.""Shelly, it's just a small gift, not very valuable." Ivy chuckled. "I don't have classes this afternoon, so I came here to see you. I hope I'm not disturbing your work.""Of course not. I've hired a few more employees in my shop now, so I'm not as busy as before," Shelly replied. "Your older brother's company is near our dessert shop. Would you like to go and see him later?""I see him every evening, so I won't go out of my way to see him," Ivy said, not wanting to disturb her brother at work. "Shelly, you met my brother last Saturday, right? What did you think of him?"Ivy was acting as her family's representative, and she was here to talk to Shelly. Their hopes were riding on Shelly's response, as they needed to understand how Shelly saw Hayden. "He's very nice!" Shelly replied without hesitation. "Your whole family
"I like Shelly and wanted to check out her cafe." Ivy did not intend on sharing the conversation she had with Shelly, as she felt that she should leave it to fate to see if Hayden and Shelly would end up together."Her cafe is quite ordinary and small. There's nothing much to see," Hayden said."You are being too blunt, Hayden." Ivy chuckled. "I'm sure Shelly's cafe will grow bigger.""I'm only saying this to you. I won't criticize her to her face.""Alright. You should get back to work, Hayden! I'm going home for a nap.""Sure. Next time you come by my office, at least come inside and see me," he said."Alright. I will do that next time."After the call, Hayden stared at the screen on his phone hesitantly, before sending Shelly a message. [Did my younger sister go to see you?]Shelly happened to be free and replied right away. [Yeah! How do you know?][She told me. What did you two talk about?][She told you that she came to see me, but didn't mention what we talked about?]
Eliam was an intelligent person.After hearing what Hayden said, he immediately understood that Hayden saw Shelly differently. However, from his perspective, Shelly was undoubtedly not a match for Hayden.Hayden likely felt the same and intended to test Shelly; it remained to be seen whether Shelly could withstand the test.It was half-past six in the evening, and Shelly was getting ready to leave work.With the addition of a few more employees in the shop, she no longer had to stay late at night.As she stepped out of the shop, a man immediately intercepted her path. Despite his somewhat brusque demeanor, his face carried a gentle and friendly smile."Shelly, do you remember me? I came to your shop last time to buy cakes, and we chatted for a bit," the man who spoke was Fergus Bailey, an employee from the Administration Department of the Dream Maker.Shelly immediately smiled and replied, "Of course, I remember you! We're from the same town! It's my first time meeting someone f
On the other end of the phone, Shelly's mother burst into laughter. "I've played poker with your mother before! I didn't expect you to run into Shelly here! That's wonderful!"Upon hearing her mother's words, Shelly suddenly felt a closer connection to Fergus.They went to the restaurant he had mentioned.Fergus took the initiative to grab the menu and ordered a few signature dishes before passing it to Shelly. "Order whatever you like. I earn a decent salary, so you don't need to worry about saving money for me."Shelly noticed that the dishes he ordered were enough for two people, so she did not order anything else. "Even if you earn a good salary, it's still important to spend wisely, unless you plan on going back to our hometown." Shelly hoped that he would continue to improve his life. "As for me, I don't plan on going back. My goal now is to earn money and settle down here.""That's impressive! You are so young and already a boss running your own shop. You even turned my bos
Shelly had not expected Fergus to be so accepting. She was surprised, but she was not going to immediately decide to be with him because of this.Although they were from the same hometown, this was only their second time meeting so rushing to date seemed like too hasty a move."Fergus, thank you for saying that. We've only just met, and we still don't know each other very well," Shelly said. "Besides, you don't look that old to me!""I'm twenty-seven this year, can't you tell?" Fergus could sense that Shelly was a cautious woman. He did not know what had happened with her previous child, but he felt she could be a lifelong partner."I really can't tell. I thought you were, at most, twenty-five!" Shelly exclaimed. "And twenty-seven is still quite young in a big city.""Yeah! Actually, I'm not in a hurry to get married. It's mainly my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents who are. You know how it is in our hometown; many people get married in their twenties, and people my ag
"Is it really that bad?" Hayden asked."Your son's weight has shot up, and your dad loves carrying him around. How could his arms not feel sore?" Avery said."Let him rest for a while, and don't let him carry the baby for now.""He can't help it. It's all his fault that your son likes being held by people and being carried around. He cries as soon as you put him down, and, sometimes, he cries even when he's being held without movement. I've had so many children, and none of them were like this. It's all your dad's fault," Avery complained.Elliot sat there sipping his tea, not daring to say a word, as he had never expected Aiden to grow so spoiled.He had helped take care of Robert before, and Robert had not been at all like this."Wah!" Aiden started crying because Hayden was sitting on the couch without moving as he held him.Hayden immediately put his phone down and stood up with the little rascal in his arms.As soon as he stood up, Aiden stopped crying."He already enjoys