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

Off-white turtleneck sweater.

Medium thickness.

The cuffs are ribbed.

The collar is about one centimeter shorter than a regular turtleneck.

She put it back.

This indicates that she felt something was wrong, but she didn't immediately deny it.

Li Chen didn't move.

Yan Xi looked at a few more items, but didn't take any.

When she got to the men's clothing section, she picked up a navy blue turtleneck sweater from the shelf.

"Your black one is pilling."

She didn't check the size label. She simply folded it and put it in the shopping basket.

Li Chen glanced down at his collar.

He was wearing that black undershirt today. There were indeed two small pom-poms inside the neckline.

But that spot was covered by the coat collar and couldn't be seen from the outside at all.

When did you see it?

"When you bent down to change your shoes today," Yan Xi said, walking towards the cashier, "you turned up your collar."

It takes less than two seconds to go from bending over to straightening up.

In those two seconds, she saw the pilling inside the neckline, assessed the extent of the pilling, made the decision that it "needs to be replaced," and accurately found a replacement after entering the clothing store.

He wasn't reminded at all.

I bought it directly.

At the cashier, Yan Xi took out her phone to scan the QR code.

Li Chen didn't stop him.

He had learned that any obstruction when Yan Xi decided to pay the bill would displease her. Not because of money, but because of the need to take control.

She buys things, and she pays for them.

That's her rule.

After leaving the house, Li Chen had an extra bag.

Along with notebooks and pens from the stationery store, he was already carrying three items in his left hand.

Yan Xi was carrying two bags of pastries in her right hand.

Li Chen reached out his hand again.

"Give me."

"Not heavy."

"You've been carrying it with your left hand for eight minutes. It's time to switch hands."

Yan Xi paused for a moment.

"Did you calculate the time?"

"No need to calculate. Your habit is to switch hands after the weight exceeds 1.5 kilograms for ten minutes. The two bags of pastries together weigh a little over one kilogram. You can carry them for longer, but there's no need."

Yan Xi handed the bag to him.

But it wasn't handed to him. It was put into his coat pocket.

Then she inserted her hand as well.

His fingers were inside his pocket, holding his hand.

Her fingertips were still cold.

Li Chen gripped it tightly.

There's one more location left on the navigation. The fourth one.

That address he didn't recognize.

"Where to next?"

"What's the rush?" Yan Xi drew a half-circle in his palm with her thumb. "Warm your hands up first."

Li Chen's heart beat a quarter beat faster.

He knew she sensed it.

Because her hand was pressing right on his carpal artery.

My phone vibrated three times in another pocket. (Group 302)

He didn't look at it.

Yan Xi didn't urge him to look at it.

Two people walked through a hutong in Beijing during winter. Their shadows overlapped in the midday sun.

There's a road sign at the intersection ahead with a place name written on it.

Li Chen didn't recognize him.

But Yan Xi quickened her pace by half a beat.

She knew the direction.

"Have you been here before?" Li Chen asked.

Yan Xi did not answer.

But she gripped her hand even tighter in her pocket.

Yan Xi led him into an alley that was even narrower than the one leading to Daoxiangzhai.

Yellowed, withered branches of ivy grew on the walls on both sides. The ground was made of old blue bricks, with thin ice accumulating in the cracks between the bricks.

She walked ahead, her steps steady.

Li Chen noticed that she deliberately avoided the third brick on the left when she walked—the edge of that brick was raised by a millimeter, making it slippery when stepped on.

She couldn't have been here.

Therefore, she made judgments in real time while walking.

At the end of the alley stood a wooden door. The paint was peeling, and the door knocker, made of brass, had oxidized to a dark brown.

Yan Xi stopped in front of the door.

"arrive."

There was no sign on the door.

Li Chen looked around. The alley was lined with houses on both sides, with no trace of shops.

Yan Xi knocked on the door three times.

The intervals are even. The force is not great.

The door opened from the inside. A middle-aged man in a gray apron stood in the doorway. He had a round face and his hands were covered in white powder.

"You booked for the afternoon of the 3rd?"

"Yes. Yan Xi."

The middle-aged man stepped aside to make way.

Li Chen followed Yan Xi inside.

The courtyard wasn't large. It was surrounded by walls on all four sides, with blue bricks paving the ground. Directly opposite was a workshop with an open door, inside which several wooden tables were set with various tools and semi-finished products.

silverware.

It's not the mass-produced kind found in jewelry stores. It's hand-forged, with hammer marks on the surface.

Completely different from the silver jewelry style of Master Liu in Nanxi Ancient Town—it's more rugged, more irregular, and has the robust feel of northern metalwork.

Yan Xi turned around.

"This is what I found. The only craftsman in Beijing who still uses the traditional lost-wax casting method to make silverware."

Li Chen looked at the tools and stove in the workshop.

The lost-wax casting method. He'd heard about it from his grandfather. It's more precise and complex than regular silver jewelry making. There are hardly any artisans left who still do it by hand.

When did you check?

"The half hour you spent teaching your grandpa how to send red envelopes," Yan Xi walked past him, tapping the back of his hand with her fingertip. "You thought I only provided navigation directions?"

Li Chen thought about that time period.

Thirty minutes.

In those thirty minutes, she planned four routes and locations, found and contacted the private silver workshop, and booked a time slot for this afternoon.

"Come on, look over here." The craftsman led them to a worktable by the window, where a black velvet cloth was laid out and several finished products were displayed.

A silver tea scoop. A small silver cup holder. A half-finished silver ring.

Yan Xi's gaze swept over everything, finally settling on a corner where nothing was on display. There lay two pieces of silver awaiting processing and a wax model.

"Can you customize it?"

"Yes. What do you want to do?"

Yan Xi did not answer immediately.

She looked at Li Chen.

"What do you want to do?"

Li Chen looked at the things on the worktable.

His gaze lingered on the unfinished ring for a moment.

Then it was moved.

Not now.

"Let's make a pair of cup holders," Li Chen said.

"A cup holder?" The craftsman was a little surprised. Customers who came to order custom-made items usually wanted rings or pendants, not cup holders.

"A pair." Li Chen nodded. "They're different sizes. One has a seven-centimeter diameter, to match the straight-mouthed cup she usually drinks from. The other has a seven-and-a-half-centimeter diameter, to match mine."

Yan Xi glanced at him.

"You even measured the rim of my cup?"

"Based on visual estimation."

"I didn't let you estimate by sight."

"You didn't tell me not to look at it."

Yan Xi's lips twitched slightly.

The master watched the two talking from the side, unable to get a word in edgewise.

Are there any requirements regarding the pattern?

"Her," Li Chen pointed at Yan Xi, "You decide."

Yan Xi thought for three seconds.

"The inner wall is smooth. The outer wall is covered with hammer marks. It is not polished, preserving the traces of handcrafting."

The master looked up.

This is a very professional requirement. The hammered finish produced by the lost-wax casting method is completely different from that produced by machine stamping; the depth of each hammer blow is unique. Not polishing means preserving the metal's original matte texture.

"Alright." The craftsman took out a silver coin and began measuring. "Would you like some words engraved on the bottom?"

Yan Xi didn't speak.

Li Chen didn't say anything either.

The two of them glanced at each other at the same time.