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This man was none other than Xiao Ma from the Ma Family Grocery.

Upon seeing Lin Yuan, Xiao Ma clearly appeared surprised, but he quickly recovered, greeting her with a smile, "Boss Lin, so the Yuanyuan that Lan Hua always talks about is actually you, Boss Lin!"

Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow. When she first started selling pastries, she bought the wax paper and twine from the Ma Family Grocery, but after opening her own shop, the stuff she used was either customized, or Liuzi and a few others would go buy it, thus she had fewer interactions with Xiao Ma.

She hadn’t expected that Xiao Ma would still remember her upon meeting again.

"Yes, Xiao Ma, what a coincidence!"

Lin Yuan greeted Xiao Ma with a smile. When she glanced back at Lan Hua, her little face had turned even redder, prompting Lin Yuan to playfully squint her eyes at her.

Lan Hua bit her lip and looked down shyly, nothing like her quarrelsome self when she first arrived at the Lin family homestead.

"You, you’re back?"

Lin Yuan couldn’t resist teasing her, "Yes, why? You don’t want me to come back? Afraid I’ll ruin your romance?"

"I never said that!" Lan Hua looked up at Xiao Ma briefly and then furtively glared at Lin Yuan as if to threaten her, but the intimidation was hardly more than a kitten’s scratch.

Despite Lan Hua’s vehement denials, Lin Yuan could spot the unique relationship between her and Xiao Ma at a glance and she cocked her head towards Xiao Ma, "Xiao Ma, what do you think, have I ruined your romantic plans?"

Xiao Ma was startled and scratched his head in embarrassment and shyness, "Uh, well, I, I came to give Lan Hua, ahem, to give Miss Lin a bowl. She particularly likes delicate and beautiful bowls, so I saved a set for her."

Lin Yuan smiled and pursed her lips, playfully squinting her eyes at Lan Hua, saying there was nothing going on, yet he’s already keeping things she likes in mind!

"I have things to take care of back at my shop, so I’ll be heading off now." Xiao Ma bowed his head politely to Lin Yuan, turned to Lan Hua with a smile that held a thousand words.

"Alright, you can go then. Be careful on the road!" As Xiao Ma drove off the cart, Lan Hua repeatedly told him to take care, clearly reluctant to see him leave, and Lin Yuan couldn’t help but watch her with amusement, unnoticed.

"Oh, leaving just like that? Why don’t you follow him?"

"Lin Yuan! Honestly!" Lan Hua pouted, her cheeks puffing up a rosy red, provoking Lin Yuan into a hearty laugh.

This laugh left Lan Hua with an even redder face as she yelled at Xia Zheng, who was sitting leisurely on the cart, "Won’t you come over and take care of your woman! She’ll laugh herself silly at this rate!"

Xia Zheng arched an eyebrow, looking heavenward, with a slight uplift at the corners of his mouth. If his woman really did become silly, it wouldn’t be so bad; no one else would be interested in her.

All joking aside, Lin Yuan was quite fond of Xiao Ma; not only was he well-conditioned, but the young man himself was quite decent.

Lin Yuan’s first impression of him was very favorable, and after a few interactions, she found him to be extremely reliable.

Moreover, his parents seemed very kind, so if Lan Hua were to marry into their family, she likely wouldn’t be mistreated.

Though the matter of marriage was still some way off, judging by Lan Hua and Xiao Ma’s behavior, they probably wouldn’t have to wait too long.

Lin Yuan stopped teasing Lan Hua, took a turn around the tofu workshop, and found everything to be in good order, except for the children, whose spirits did not seem as high, and they lacked their former enthusiasm while working.

"What’s wrong with these kids, do they not want to work here anymore?" Lin Yuan quietly inquired after dodging the children.

Lan Hua sighed and from her sleeve, handed Lin Yuan a letter, "I should have told you about this earlier, but you’ve been busy with business in Yecheng and couldn’t come back, so it’s been delayed until now. Xiao Linzi, he’s gone."

Xiao Linzi had left?

Lin Yuan opened the envelope with a puzzled look. This was the first time she had seen Xiao Linzi’s handwriting, which was neat and clean, strong and forceful, obviously practiced with great effort from a young age.

The letter didn’t explain why he left, just that he had gone home. Apart from expressing gratitude towards Lin Yuan, much of it was him hoping she would continue to take care of the children.

"You little rascal! Just leaving like that, without waiting for me to come back!" Although Xiao Linzi was very proud, hearing of his departure still made it hard to let go.

"Indeed, that kid is really odd. He was fine the day before, and then the next day, he left me a note saying he was going home." Lan Hua was also puzzled, "He didn’t even say where he was going, so nobody knows where his home is. What if some kidnapper tricks him? It’s really worrying."