After Being Laid Off, I Returned to My Hometown to Retire—But My Parents Are Secretly Running a Viral Dessert Shop

After Being Laid Off, I Returned to My Hometown to Retire—But My Parents Are Secretly Running a Viral Dessert Shop Plot:

28-year-old Su Xiao just got laid off from a big tech company. She returned to her small hometown with the idea of “lying flat and retiring,” only to find her retired parents leaving early and returning late, acting suspiciously. Following them, she’s shocked to discover they’ve secretly opened a viral dessert shop, bickering daily with Old Zhou from the neighboring hardware store over “signage placement.” To her surprise, the shop’s recipes come from her late grandma—her parents had hidden their “entrepreneurship” to spare her from big-city pressure, waiting for her to fulfill grandma’s wish together. Su Xiao, who wanted to be a “hands-off bystander,” is forced into the business: helping shoot traffic-driving short videos, mediating the feud with Old Zhou, and even making grandma’s “osmanthus lotus root cake” herself. Along the way, she realizes small-town life isn’t about “lying flat”—it’s full of warm connections, unspoken care, and the “passion” she thought she’d lost. Turns out, the best retirement is joining her parents to turn old regrets into the sweet taste of new days.