Oh no! I've only been a freshman and I've already been targeted by a mean upperclassman.

Three seconds later, Yan Xi sent a photo.

Red envelope.

The above is Shen Ruolan's handwriting.

"Xiaoxi, this is your New Year's money. It's from your aunt. Don't tell Chenchen."

Li Chen stared at the last five words.

"Don't tell Chenchen."

She sent it to him.

He replied.

[Li Chen: My mom told you not to tell me. But you sent it to me right away.]

[Yan Xi: She told me not to tell you. She didn't tell me not to send it to you.]

Li Chen covered his face.

[Li Chen: Between you and my mother, I suspect I'm the outsider.]

[Yan Xi: You only just realized that?]

The sound of a guest room door closing came from the other end of the corridor.

It was very light. Then there was a slight creaking of the bed springs.

She lay down.

Li Chen rolled over, facing the wall.

The phone lit up again.

[Yan Xi: Goodnight.]

He typed two words and sent them.

[Li Chen: Goodnight.]

Then he stared at the ceiling.

There was a wall separating them.

She's over there.

He's over here.

The phone lit up one last time.

Group 302.

[Chen Mo: Li Chen has read my message but hasn't replied for over an hour. He's home. She's home too. She predicts he'll go to sleep earlier than usual tonight—because he finally doesn't have to count down the seconds until they meet.]

Li Chen locked the screen. He tucked it under his pillow.

Close your eyes.

The sounds of traffic from Beijing outside the window are distant. There is no sound coming from the direction of the guest room.

She should be asleep.

He closed his eyes as well.

……

Li Chen was awakened by the smell.

It's not an alarm clock. It's not a cell phone. It's the taste of porridge.

He turned over and glanced at the time. 6:17.

There was noise coming from the kitchen.

He got up. He wasn't wearing slippers. His bare feet were on the wooden floor. He walked to the kitchen doorway.

Yan Xi stood in front of the stove.

She was wearing the same long-sleeved pajamas as yesterday. Her hair was casually tucked behind her ears. She wasn't wearing her phoenix hairpin.

She was cooking porridge.

Diced millet and pumpkin were cut on the cutting board next to it.

The pieces are uniform in size. The knife work isn't the best, but the size difference between each piece is kept within a reasonable range.

"What time did you get up?"

Yan Xi didn't turn around. "5:50."

"What happened to my mom's kitchen—"

"The rice is on the second shelf of the left-hand wall cabinet. The pumpkin is on the right side of the refrigerator's crisper drawer. The salt is on the third shelf of the spice rack behind the stove."

"You flipped through it once?"

"Your mom put labels on every cabinet."

Li Chen walked to the stove and glanced into the pot. Pumpkin and millet porridge. The heat was just right.

"You don't need to—"

"Your mom cooked all night yesterday. I'll make breakfast today."

Her tone was flat. It wasn't a suggestion.

Li Chen stood next to her. The kitchen was about the same size as the one on the island. It was full just for the two of them standing there.

"Where's the bowl?"

"Up there. You can reach it."

Li Chen reached into the cabinet and took a bowl.

As I passed over her head, I smelled the scent of her hair.

It was the shampoo his mother prepared.

It wasn't her usual brand. But she didn't change it; she kept using it.

I boiled four eggs. Two for your parents, one for you, and one for me.

How did you know my dad ate boiled eggs?

"Yesterday at dinner, your dad drank two bowls of egg drop soup. He barely touched the scrambled eggs. He likes whole eggs, not scrambled ones."

Li Chen paused for a moment while holding the bowl.

"Observe my dad."

"He observes me. I observe him too. It's fair."

She turned the heat down and stirred it a couple of times with a spatula.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor.

Shen Ruolan appeared at the kitchen doorway. Her apron wasn't tied yet. Her hair was a little messy. She had clearly just woken up.

She stared at Yan Xi standing in front of the stove, stunned for a second.

"Xiao Xi—"

"Good morning, Auntie. Pumpkin and millet porridge. Almost ready."

Shen Ruolan's gaze shifted from the porridge to the pumpkin peel on the cutting board, and then to the washed dishes in the sink.

What time did you get up?

5:50.

Shen Ruolan was silent for three seconds. Then she walked over and stood next to Yan Xi.

"Cook this porridge for another three minutes. The pumpkin pieces will be even softer."

"it is good."

Shen Ruolan reached out and adjusted the heat. She turned it down a notch compared to Yan Xi's setting.

"The pumpkin you cut is very uniform in size."

"Not very skilled."

"It's better than Chenchen's first time cutting pumpkin. The first time he cut a pumpkin, the big ones were the size of a fist and the small ones were the size of a fingernail."

Li Chen stood behind the two people. His presence quickly became zero.

"Where's the bowl?" Shen Ruolan turned around.

Li Chen handed the bowl over.

Shen Ruolan glanced at him as she took the bowl. Her look seemed to say: What are you still standing there for?

"Holy crap—"

Go wake your dad up.

Li Chen turned and left the kitchen. Behind him, he could hear Shen Ruolan and Yan Xi talking.

"Xiaoxi, do you usually cook?"

"Not much. He did a better job than me."

"But you did it today."

"He cooked two meals on the island yesterday. It's my turn now."

Shen Ruolan chuckled softly.

Li Chen walked to the door of the master bedroom. He knocked.

"Dad, get up."

There was no movement inside.

"Mom wants you to get up."

Five seconds. The door opened. Li Mohan was wearing pajamas. His hair was styled unevenly, one side higher than the other.

"What time is it?"

"6:30."

Who will cook?

"Yan Xi".

Li Mohan narrowed his eyes slightly. His drowsiness had clearly subsided by a third.

"She did it?"

"Pumpkin and millet porridge. Four eggs were boiled. Yours was a whole egg."

Li Mohan stood at the door. He remained silent for two seconds.

How did she know I ate the whole thing?

"What I observed yesterday."

Li Mohan remained silent for three seconds. Then he turned and went back to his bedroom to change his clothes.

Li Chen heard the sound of clothes hangers clattering inside.

His dad is picking out shirts again.

Four people sat at the dining table. The porridge was already served. Four bowls. A boiled egg was placed next to each bowl.

Yan Xi sat next to Li Chen. Shen Ruolan sat opposite them. Li Mohan sat next to Shen Ruolan.

"It's delicious," Shen Ruolan said first.

Li Mohan took a sip. He didn't say anything, but he held the bowl steadily and drank it very seriously.

Yan Xi's gaze shifted from Li Mohan's bowl to Li Chen's bowl.

"You haven't drunk it yet."

"It's blowing."

"Sixty-two degrees. Not hot."

Li Chen lowered his head and took a sip.

The pumpkin was cooked until very soft. It was slightly sweeter than his mother's. Because Yan Xi didn't know that their pumpkin variety had a higher sugar content than usual, she cooked it for half a minute longer. But it tasted good.

"It's a little too sweet," Yan Xi said to herself.

"Perfect," Li Chen said.

"You said it was just right, which is sweet. When you drink porridge, if you think the sweetness is just right, you'll take the second sip right after the first. You paused just now."

Li Chen looked at her.

Shen Ruolan mouthed something to Li Mohan from across the table. Li Chen didn't see it clearly. But Li Mohan rubbed the rim of his bowl with his thumb again.

After breakfast.

Yan Xi stood up to collect the bowls. Shen Ruolan pressed her hand down.

"You cooked. I'll take the dishes."

"Aunt……"

"In this house, the person who cooks doesn't wash the dishes. That's the rule."

Yan Xi glanced at Li Chen.

Li Chen nodded. "It's true. My mom has always washed the dishes after I've cooked since I was a child."

"So, after you cook for me at school, you wash up yourself...?"

"Special circumstances".

"What special circumstances?"

"You can't let someone else wash your dishes."