The white rose I picked up cried and said she liked me.

The front-facing camera was turned on, reflecting the girl's pitiful face.

The ringtone rang crisply, and while waiting for the call to connect, Xu Xi fumbled to put on her earphones.

The video call was connected.

The screen displayed the face of the boy the girl longed for.

"What's wrong, Xiaoxi?"

At this moment, Xu Nian was wearing loose home pajamas, lying on her side on a small bed on the second floor of the restaurant, her eyelids drooping.

He looked sleepy, as if he were half asleep.

"Brother...I can't sleep..."

Xu Xi bit her thin lips, wrinkled her nose, leaned closer to the microphone, and spoke softly.

After a long silence, the boy's slightly hoarse voice came from the other end.

"Me too..."

Xu Nian turned over, and the camera switched its angle according to his movement, showing the bed sheet marks he had made from tossing and turning all night.

He usually sleeps well, but tonight he's unusually sleepless.

Even Xu Nian herself felt very strange.

Logically speaking, after a long day, freshly changed sheets and a warm blanket should provide all the elements for a peaceful sleep.

But I always feel empty inside, like a key piece of the puzzle is missing.

I've been lying in bed for three or four hours now. My body is very sleepy, but my mind is very clear.

"Brother, is your lip feeling better?"

The girl gently waved, gesturing for the boy to bring his lips in front of the camera.

"It's much better, but it still hurts a little when I touch it."

Xu Nian's chapped lips were magnified on the screen, with a few strands of congealed blood still visible on them.

Xu Xi pursed her thin lips slightly, and off-camera, her small hands subtly clenched the hem of her clothes.

The boy's injured lips, caused by her, broke her heart.

But... I really want to kiss him...

"Brother, have you eaten dinner?"

"have eaten."

As she spoke, Xu Nian turned the camera slightly, revealing an empty plastic bowl in a plastic bag on the bedside table. Inside the bowl was a straw and a few grains of damp, sticky rice.

"Brother, why don't you ever clean up the trash?"

Xu Xi frowned as she looked at the open lunchbox, and said with a hint of reproach.

"Uh... I'll pack it up when I get up tomorrow."

Xu Nian scratched his head and chuckled.

After learning that his sister wouldn't be coming home that night, he seemed to lose all his motivation.

I'm too lazy to clean, too lazy to bring in the dried clothes, too lazy to wash my face, and too lazy to throw away the empty lunchboxes.

In Xu Xi's eyes, who is somewhat obsessive about cleanliness, none of these things were tolerable.

She pouted and hummed softly.

However, Xu Xi herself wasn't much better off.

Her long hair was messy, with some strands sticking to her forehead, some to her ears, and some obscuring her pretty face. Her ahoge (cowlick) was slightly curled and bent at the top of her head.

This was all disrupted when I was just taking care of two drunkards.

Normally, she never combs her own hair, and has even forgotten how to do it.

Because her beloved boy would take out his horn comb whenever her hair was slightly disheveled and comb it for her.

After leaving him, Xu Xi lost her former neat and beautiful appearance.

Two people with terrible appearances just stared at each other quietly across the screen.

No one spoke, and no one made any move.

The air seemed to freeze at that moment, leaving only the faint sound of each other's breathing.

Before she knew it, Xu Nian felt a little tired.

Xu Xi also yawned softly, her eyelids drooping slightly.

"Little Creek, you're sleepy, go to sleep."

Xu Nian rubbed her eyes, reached out, and prepared to hang up the video call.

"Brother, wait..."

Xu Xi interrupted.

"What's wrong?"

A blush crept onto the girl's cheeks.

"Don't hang up, just sleep with me like this... okay..."

Looking at her younger sister's shy expression, Xu Nian hesitated for a moment before finally nodding slightly.

"good..."

......

Both of them slept quite well that night.

Xu Xi was exceptionally busy on the second day, as it was a full weekday with classes every other week.

From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., excluding lunch and dinner, my time is completely filled with classes.

During the first class in the morning, Xu Xi rested her sleepy head on one hand and circled the end-of-term review material marked by the teacher in her book with the other.

"Xi Bao, did you sleep well last night?"

Wen Yao yawned and shook her head, trying to shake off some of the drunkenness from last night.

In order to get Xu Xi to stay overnight in the dormitory, she and Zhao Lin not only tried to get themselves drunk, but also put on a show that they felt embarrassed even when they were drunk.

The price she paid was that she was extremely sleepy and had a splitting headache at 8 a.m.

Zhao Lin wasn't much better off. Last night, while playing the zombie dance king, she accidentally fell and twisted her elbow. Now she even has some difficulty writing.

"So sleepy... I feel like if you gave me a pillow, I could sleep right now until sunset."

Xu Xi rubbed her sleepy eyes.

"Next time, if we have class the next morning, let's not have dinner together the night before. I've been feeling a bit low lately, and I need to sleep at least 10 hours a night to have any energy..."

Before she could finish speaking, Wen Yao had already slumped onto the table, unconscious.

......

At lunchtime, Xu Nianzhao prepared lunch for her sister and friends as usual.

Take out the braised beef from last night, put it in a pressure cooker, add various seasonings and spices, close the lid and simmer.

Then, he rolled up his sleeves, poured out the flour, and began kneading the dough.

The dough is larger than usual today because it's not being prepared for dumplings.

If you eat the same food every day, no matter how delicious it is, you'll get tired of it eventually.

Therefore, Xu Nian makes all sorts of different dishes every day.

I stir-fried a few dishes the day before yesterday, boiled dumplings yesterday, and today it's time to make hand-pulled noodles.

As an important part of noodles, hand-pulled noodles are also one of Xu Nian's specialties.

After kneading the dough until it is white and smooth, let it rest for a while, then cut it into thin pieces.

Next, stretch each piece of noodle by hand until it is long and even, and pour it into a pot of boiling water.

Noodles cook faster than dumplings. Once they've set and are cooked for a while, they're ready to be taken out of the pot when they can be easily broken with chopsticks.

Use a slotted spoon to scoop out the noodles, drain the water, and put them into individual plastic bags.

For noodle deliveries like this, the soup and noodles need to be packaged separately.

Open the pressure cooker, and the beef soup, simmering for two hours, exudes a rich, fragrant aroma.

Xu Nian sniffed it and nodded in satisfaction.

Ladle the beef broth into disposable plastic bowls lined with bags, and add stir-fried bok choy.

My sister and Wen Yao like spicy food, so I need to put a few extra chili peppers in their two portions.

Zhao Lin likes to add more chopped green onions and cilantro, while Qi Yu's bowl needs a clove of garlic.

Finally, Xu Nian didn't forget to add a few more pieces of beef to her sister's bowl of noodles.

With everything ready, Xu Nian affixed dormitory number and name labels to each bowl and put them into the electric scooter's insulated box.

After picking up a few other orders from merchants on campus, I drove towards the school gate.