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

The city of Beijing outside the window is clearly gray and white under the winter sun.

Yan Xi drove very steadily, signaling her turn three seconds in advance before changing lanes, and automatically slowing down to below 30 km/h when passing through school zones.

This was the first time he had ever felt so at ease in the passenger seat.

It's not because she drives well.

It was because of the tube of hand cream that was in the storage compartment in front of her seat—it was his tube.

She brought it down from the guest room.

Place it where she can reach it at any time.

The car turned right at the first intersection. Yan Xi turned up the air conditioning temperature by one degree.

Li Chen didn't ask why.

He knew this was an extra amount given to him.

Because the coat he's wearing today is thinner than the windbreaker he wore yesterday.

She remembered the thickness of each of his clothes.

First stop, Daoxiangzhai.

The alley was so narrow that it could only be walked through, so Yan Xi parked her car in a temporary parking space at the entrance of the alley.

She didn't leave immediately after getting off the car. Standing by the car door, she glanced down at Li Chen's hand.

"Where are the gloves?"

Li Chen rummaged through his pockets.

I forgot to bring it.

Yan Xi pulled a pair of gloves from her coat pocket. Men's size. Dark gray. Precise size.

"After your grandfather passed away yesterday, I measured your knuckles while you were washing dishes in the kitchen."

She handed me the gloves. "I bought two pairs. The other pair is in the second drawer of your bedroom."

Li Chen took it.

The leather is soft, and the lining is made of a thin fleece. The index finger and thumb areas are designed for touchscreen use.

"Thanks……"

"No need to thank me. I'm leaving now."

Yan Xi had already walked into the alley.

Li Chen put on the gloves. The fit between his fingers was just right.

The time she measured it—he was washing dishes, with his back to her.

He didn't notice anything.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. He pressed the power button to wake it through his new gloves.

[Yan Xi: Is this appropriate?]

She was walking ahead of him when she sent the message. She didn't turn around.

[Li Chen: Suitable.]

Yan Xi: Mm.

[Yan Xi: Hurry up, there's a line ahead of us.]

Li Chen put away his phone and quickened his pace.

Daoxiangzhai's storefront was very small. Yan Xi walked to the counter, didn't look at the menu, and directly ordered three items.

Osmanthus cake. Walnut shortbread. Jujube paste cake.

The osmanthus cake was for Wang Qiang. Walnut shortbread—Li Chen thought for a moment—Chen Mo once remarked while munching on walnuts in the dorm, "It would be great if there were ready-made walnut shortbread."

Jujube paste cake.

Lonely Song.

Yan Xi remembered the tastes of all his friends.

"Is there anything else?" the woman behind the counter asked.

Yan Xi tilted her head and looked at Li Chen.

wait for him.

Li Chen said, "Add another serving of pea flour cake."

Yan Xi didn't ask who it was given to.

Because she knew.

The pea flour cake is hers.

The last time she looked through old photos at his house, Shen Ruolan brought out a plate of pea flour cakes. She ate three pieces, one more than the osmanthus cake.

Yan Xi's lips twitched slightly.

I didn't laugh out loud. But my eyes showed it.

While the older sister was packing, Yan Xi leaned against the counter and reached out to tug at the end of Li Chen's scarf.

"It's not loose," she said.

Then let go.

Li Chen felt the scarf around his neck tighten a little more.

It is not in a physical sense.

Yan Xi came out of Daoxiangzhai carrying two bags of pastries.

Li Chen reached out to take it.

Yan Xi didn't give it to her.

"Here, take this." She handed him her phone; the screen was lit up, and the navigation had already started planning the route for the second location.

"Watch where I'm going."

Li Chen took the phone.

A message popped up in the WeChat message bar on the background of the navigation page on the screen.

From Leng Qingge.

I only saw the first three words: 【You two…】

Li Chen turned his gaze back to the navigation.

I didn't read any further.

It wasn't that he wasn't curious. It was that he knew Yan Xi must have already anticipated what kind of message was coming from the backend when she handed him the phone.

She handed it over.

This shows that she doesn't mind him seeing those messages.

But he chose not to watch.

Yan Xi walked half a step ahead without turning around.

"Not going to watch?"

"I won't look."

Why?

"You let me see the way."

Yan Xi's pace remained unchanged. But Li Chen noticed that she loosened her grip on the bag with her left hand a little.

This change in grip strength only occurs when she's in a good mood.

He had memorized this a long time ago.

The second location is three blocks away. It's an old stationery store.

After entering, Yan Xi went straight to the corner shelf.

She picked up a syringe pen.

0.3.

Li Chen stood three steps away, watching her raise the pen and twirl the tip in the light.

"The water flow is uneven." Yan Xi put it back and took another one.

Turn again.

"This one is good."

She picked out two more as spares, and then rummaged through the shelves next to her for a while.

Pick up a graph paper loose-leaf notebook.

He turned the page and scratched a line on the paper with his fingernail.

"Not enough grams. It's bleeding ink."

Put it back.

I got a different one. I marked it again.

"It's too thick. When you write, you apply too much pressure, which makes it harder to control."

Li Chen was stunned for a moment.

"Did you buy this for me?"

Yan Xi didn't look up. "You have seventeen pages left in your notebook. You paused when you got to the last page in last Wednesday's class."

She picked up the third book, finished marking it, and pushed it in front of Li Chen. "This one. It weighs 120 grams. Try it."

Li Chen took a pen out of his pocket.

I wrote two words on the paper.

Yan Xi.

There was slight resistance when the brush touched the paper, and the ink was cleanly contained without bleeding.

"What does it say?" Yan Xi peeked out.

Li Chen closed the notebook.

"Just a trial run."

Yan Xi looked at him for three seconds. She didn't ask any further questions.

But her eyes told him—she knew.

When it was time to pay, Yan Xi took another item.

A roll of 5mm green masking tape.

This tape has only one purpose—positioning architectural models.

She bought it for herself.

Li Chen noticed that she had chosen a matte finish. Last time in the student council office, she used a glossy finish to put up the display boards, and she frowned after finishing.

She changed.

Because the glossy surface reflects light under illumination, affecting positioning accuracy.

He knew the reason. She didn't know he knew.

But that's not important right now.

After leaving the stationery store, Yan Xi stuffed the bag containing pens and notebooks into Li Chen's hand.

"your."

"Thanks--"

"I said you're welcome."

Li Chen shut up.

The third stop was a clothing store. Yan Xi stood at the door for three seconds, glanced at the mannequin in the window, and then went inside.

She didn't head straight to any particular area.

Instead, they slowly walked around.

Li Chen stood beside him without saying a word.

He knew she wasn't looking at clothes.

She was watching to see which piece of clothing he would stop in front of.

This is her testing method.

Li Chen didn't linger. But as he passed a row of jackets, his gaze lingered on a gray-blue flight jacket for half a second longer.

It's not because I like it.

It's because that color is the same as the color of the lining inside the collar of Yan Xi's coat.

Yan Xi didn't say anything.

She walked to the women's clothing section and pulled out a cream-colored turtleneck sweater from the shelf.

I didn't try them on.

He held it up to his body and compared it to his own. He glanced in the mirror. Then he put it back.

Li Chen remembered the location of that piece of clothing.

The third row of shelves. The second one on the right.