Five years later.
In City B, in a two-bedroom apartment.
Ye Fei took out a piece of chicken breast, tenderized it, added salt, black pepper, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and a bit of honey, then marinated and pan-fried the chicken breast.
Afterwards, she covered it with a lid to let it simmer for a while, ensuring the chicken stayed juicy and tender.
Then she sliced carrots and cucumbers, sprinkled them with salt and black pepper, and grilled them on both sides in the pan.
After that, she took out pre-made pancakes and cooked purple rice, shredded the chicken breast, placed it over the purple rice with the vegetables, spread a layer of avocado puree, rolled it up in the pancake, and wrapped it in tin foil to hold it together.
The customer's weight-loss meal was ready.
Ye Fei hurriedly took today's lunch, riding her electric bike to Changping Group.
Ye Fei now runs a private restaurant, but she doesn't have a physical store; she does everything from home, which saves a lot on costs.
She operates only at noon, offering two dishes each day—one healthy weight-loss meal and one balanced lunch with meat and vegetables—chosen by the customers.
However, most customers, especially female office workers, choose the healthy weight-loss meal.
"Thank you." An office worker took the lunch for five people, an order made by their office group, "Ever since I started eating your weight-loss meals, I don't dread them anymore. Recently, the diet of the girls in our office has become much healthier."
"I really don't know how you do it, the chicken is so tender and juicy, and the carrots have no weird taste at all," the office worker praised.
"I'm so glad you like it. Please continue to support us in the future," Ye Fei smiled, "If there's anything that doesn't suit your taste, let me know, I can adjust it."
"Sure," the office worker paid and took the lunch back.
Ye Fei was about to head back when she received a call from the kindergarten.
"Xiao Mo's mom, um... Xiao Mo is missing, please come to the kindergarten as soon as possible." The teacher on the phone was almost crying.
"What?" Ye Fei rushed to her bike and headed to the kindergarten, "How could he just disappear for no reason?"
The class teacher finally found an excuse, "Because he was criticized for fighting with kids from another class, he might have felt upset and then..."
"Xiao Mo is not a child who fights for no reason. Also, your kindergarten is supposed to be secure; how could a child just leave on his own? I have serious concerns about the safety of your kindergarten now."
Moreover, as a class teacher, how could you not know if a child in your class goes missing!
There are not many kids in the class, only 15 in total, and you still couldn't notice Xiao Mo was gone!
"I'll talk after I get there and find him," Ye Fei hung up the call and hastily dialed Ye Xiaomo's number.
She was afraid there might be something urgent and they wouldn't be able to reach each other, so she specifically bought a mobile phone for Ye Xiaomo.
If anything urgent came up, they could contact each other immediately.
But no matter how long she called, she couldn't get through.
Ye Fei sat on her electric scooter, trembling all over.
Five years ago, she left her home, fearing that Xu Huizhen and Ye Ning would find her school, so she went on temporary leave.
Then she hastily bought a ticket north and came to City B.
Ye City isn't big, she couldn't continue staying there, otherwise, they would find her eventually.
Using the savings she had, she rented an apartment and found a job as a kitchen helper in a restaurant.
She was so busy every day, she didn't even realize her period was delayed.
It wasn't until she started having pregnancy symptoms like nausea and her belly began to swell more noticeably.
Ye Fei hurried to check, only to find she was already almost four months pregnant.
By then, the baby had already formed. To terminate the pregnancy would not only greatly harm her but also be cruel to the baby.
Struggling alone in City B, she didn't know where she got the courage, but she decided to give birth to the child.
As her belly grew, it was unsuitable for her to work in the kitchen, so she had to resign.
During that time, she began recording cooking videos, giving herself a screen name, Fei Xiaomo.
Fei is her name.
And Mo refers to the stranger, the unfamiliar child within her belly.
Besides recording videos, she made use of her time in other ways too.
She registered as a merchant on a food delivery app to offer private dining.
Since she was alone and pregnant, with limited energy, she could only sell a limited amount each day.
Unexpectedly, her food blogger account's fanbase kept growing, and her private dining customers became stable with many returning friends.
Her income became more stable, not only from selling private dining but also from the advertisements on her food blogger account.
Initially, she only received ads for products like mineral water, cooking oil, and spices. Now, she received ads from well-known brands for knives and kitchen appliances like refrigerators, ovens, and dishwashers.
Not only did she earn advertisement fees, but brand sponsors also gifted her these appliances.
Now, her home kitchen is almost entirely filled with sponsored products, saving her money and allowing her to continually update to the latest models.
With this, she and Ye Xiaomo's life stabilized. They no longer worried about making a living, and she could provide a stable and comfortable life for Ye Xiaomo.
She continually reminded herself of seeing Xiao Mo for the first time right after his birth.
She didn't expect the little guy to be so good-looking.
His features were not like hers; she thought they must resemble the stranger she'd never seen.
Just looking at Ye Xiaomo's face, one could tell how outstandingly handsome that person must be.
Because her food blogger account was called Fei Xiaomo, due in part to that stranger.
So, she named the little guy Ye Xiaomo.
In these four years, Ye Fei felt grateful every moment she decided to have the little guy.
To her, Ye Xiaomo had nothing to do with that stranger; he was the angel sent to her by the heavens.
He was the best gift sent to her during her toughest times.
***
Parked by the side of the road was a Rolls-Royce Cullinan, with Zhao Gushen sitting in the rear seat.
His long, jointed fingers held an old-fashioned, outdated phone.
He was browsing through a photo gallery, something he'd looked through countless times over the years, as well as WeChat and other social media.
But he still found no useful clues within.
The phone's contact list was empty, with no call records at all.
The photo gallery contained no selfies, mostly food photos; the notes were filled with recipes, complete with various edits and modifications.
There were no friends on WeChat, which seemed excessive; then why did she download WeChat?
Just to follow various food WeChat accounts?
"Mr. Shen, you're looking at it again?" Xiao Ruofeng in the front seat turned around and said.