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

Yan Xi's fingers pressed against the back of the phone, her thumbnail turning slightly white.

Li Chen didn't ask.

He recognized the gesture.

She wouldn't have acted this way when she received Leng Qingge's message in Nanxi Ancient Town, nor would she have acted this way when the student council was handling urgent documents.

This intensity only appears when she's facing someone she cares about.

"What did your dad say?"

Yan Xi flipped her phone over, glanced at it, and her expression remained unchanged.

"Red envelope."

She opened it and showed it to Li Chen.

Amount: 66,000.

The remarks column is blank. Nothing is written.

Li Chen glanced at it for two seconds. Sixty-six thousand, a lucky number. Yan Zhen's style—no nonsense, just numbers to express his opinion.

But Yan Xi's attention wasn't on the amount.

"He never sends WeChat red envelopes." Her voice was very soft. "He thinks WeChat is not formal enough. He always uses bank transfers or asks Lao Zhang to send physical red envelopes."

Li Chen understood. Yan Zhen switched to sending red envelopes via WeChat not because he had learned a new skill, but because he knew Yan Xi was currently at Li Chen's house, and he couldn't and wouldn't be able to use any other method.

This is a location confirmation.

Yan Xi's father was saying in his own way: I know where you are, I know who you are with.

"Are you going back or not?" Li Chen asked.

Yan Xi rubbed her fingers along the edge of the screen twice. Then she typed.

[Yan Xi: Received. Happy New Year.]

Six words. Sent.

Li Chen looked at her expression.

When she texted Leng Qingge, she typed quickly and her thumb movements were fluid.

When sending it to Shen Ruolan, the wording would be revised one or two times.

When sending it to Li Qingcang, she would pause for half a second to make sure she was being careful with her words.

When she sent it to Yan Zhen, her thumb hovered for four times before finally dropping it.

"You're nervous."

"no."

"You typed six words and paused four times."

Yan Xi placed her phone face down on her lap and glanced at him. "You even remember the frequency of my finger movements when I type."

"I'm used to it."

Yan Xi didn't reply. Her phone lit up again. It was Yan Zhen replying.

Yan Zhen: Hmm.

One word.

Yan Xi stared at the word for three seconds.

Li Chen noticed a very faint curve at the corner of her mouth; it wasn't a smile, but a relaxed expression.

"Your dad doesn't talk much."

"He's not quiet. He just doesn't know what to say." Yan Xi locked her screen. "Every New Year's Eve, he transfers 66,000 yuan to me, ever since I started college. The amount has never changed. But before, it was just a bank card notification, without any accompanying messages."

"This year there's an extra 'um'."

"right."

Li Chen didn't say anything more.

He reached out his hand, and Yan Xi's fingers touched his. He grasped hers and pressed his thumb against her knuckles.

Yan Xi's fingers curled slightly, then relaxed.

My phone vibrated again. This time it was Yan Xi's mother, Luo Yun.

[Luo Yun: Happy New Year, my darling! Did your dad send you a red envelope? He asked me to ask. He was too shy to ask you himself if you received one.]

Yan Xi glanced at it, and the corners of her mouth actually curved into a smile.

[Yan Xi: Okay. Thank you, Mom and Dad.]

[Luo Yun: Okay, okay! Are you settling in well at Li Chen's house? Are your aunt and uncle treating you well?]

[Yan Xi: Very good. Auntie's glutinous rice balls are delicious.]

[Luo Yun: That's good! Mom's relieved. By the way, your dad sat in the study for half an hour, staring at his phone. I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was waiting for your reply. After you replied, he pretended to go to the bathroom and stayed there for five minutes before coming out, his eyes red.]

Yan Xi's finger stopped on the screen.

Li Chen didn't look at her phone, but he saw her eyelashes tremble slightly.

"What's wrong?"

"fine."

Yan Xi put her phone into her pocket. In the inner pocket, where it was kept with the four red envelopes.

"Did your dad cry?"

Yan Xi looked at him. "What's wrong with you—"

"You blinked three times when you put your phone away, but you usually blink once at most when you're checking messages. Also, you put your phone in the inside pocket, not the outside pocket. You only use the inside pocket when you're storing important things."

Yan Xi remained silent for two seconds.

"My mom said he was in the bathroom for five minutes."

Li Chen recalled Li Mohan on the balcony last night, his back to everyone, watching the fireworks.

Different fathers. Same way of expressing themselves.

"Your dad and my dad have one thing in common," Li Chen said.

"What?"

"They won't say it to my face."

Yan Xi took her hand out of her pocket and drew a line on his palm.

It wasn't a circle, nor a line; Li Chen couldn't discern the shape, but the force was very light.

"Thank you," she said.

"What are you thanking me for?"

"Let me spend the New Year at your house."

Li Chen's fingers tightened slightly. "This is your home too."

Yan Xi stopped moving.

Li Chen realized what he had said. But he didn't take it back.

In the living room, Shen Ruolan's singing in the kitchen became even more off-key, while Li Mohan was watering the flowers on the balcony—that succulent had already been watered three times, and it would drown if watered any more.

Yan Xi pulled her hand back and stood up.

"Your mom's succulents."

"Um?"

"Your dad has watered it three times already."

Li Chen turned his head, and sure enough, Li Mohan was carrying a water glass and heading towards the balcony again.

"dad."

Li Mohan turned around.

"Succulents will die if you water them three times."

Li Mohan looked down at the cup, then glanced towards the balcony. He silently drank the water.

Yan Xi walked into the kitchen, and Shen Ruolan's voice came from outside. "Xiao Xi, look at this peanut brittle—"

Li Chen sat in the living room, the shape she had drawn still lingering on his palm.

My phone vibrated. It was from group 302.

[Wang Qiang: Li Chen!! What are you doing, Chu Yi?! Say something!!]

[Chen Mo: He is most likely in the final stage of "family role integration." According to general social psychology models, the sign that an outsider is accepted is that their presence no longer needs to be specifically explained.]

[Zhao Zixuan: Speak like a human being?]

[Chen Mo: In plain terms: She's already part of their family.]

Li Chen replied.

[Li Chen: My grandpa gave me a red envelope containing 1.2 yuan. He gave Yan Xi 9,999 yuan.]

The group was silent for five seconds.

[Wang Qiang: Your grandfather is telling you where you rank in his heart.]

[Zhao Zixuan: It wouldn't even rank that high.]

Chen Mo: I suggest accepting reality.

Li Chen locked the screen.

In the kitchen, Yan Xi and Shen Ruolan's voices mingled together.

He heard Yan Xi say, "Auntie, the oil temperature for peanut brittle should be ten degrees lower," and Shen Ruolan said, "Try this one."

He leaned back on the sofa, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the edge of his phone case.

My phone lit up. It was a message from Yan Xi. She was in the kitchen, separated by a wall.

[Yan Xi: Your dad went to water the flowers again.]

Li Chen turned his head.

Li Mohan was carrying a freshly poured glass of water and walking towards the balcony.