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

The car was parked in the underground parking garage of the residential complex.

Yan Xi turned off the engine but did not immediately remove the key.

Li Chen glanced at her. Her right hand was still on the steering wheel, her index finger tapping lightly twice at the twelve o'clock position.

This is her habit when she's thinking.

"What's wrong?"

What does your mom want to eat tonight?

Li Chen didn't expect her to ask this.

"Ask her."

"I'm asking you."

Yan Xi turned to look at him. Her expression was very serious. They weren't discussing the dinner menu; they were confirming one thing—she was going to cook.

Li Chen thought for a moment. "Her stomach hasn't been feeling well lately. She took stomach medicine twice the day before yesterday. The medicine box is in the second drawer by the window in the kitchen; it was opened last week."

Yan Xi nodded. "So it's light."

"Um."

Where's your dad?

"He eats everything. But this afternoon he secretly ate two pieces of Sachima (a type of Chinese pastry). His blood sugar is probably a bit high. We should make less sweet food tonight."

Yan Xi took the key out. "How did you know he ate it?"

"The packaging bag for the Sachima was in the trash can in his study. I saw it this morning when I went to get the tea. The bag was rolled up into a ball and stuffed at the bottom."

Yan Xi's lips twitched slightly. "Same as you."

"What?"

"When you do something wrong, you hide the evidence at the bottom. That's how you dealt with it last time you secretly drank the yogurt I put in the fridge."

Li Chen didn't reply.

Because she's right.

The two got out of the car. Li Chen went around to the trunk to get the things he had bought that day. There were four bags: pastries, stationery, clothes, and the new gloves he had in his own pocket.

Yan Xi walked ahead.

When she got into the elevator, she pressed the floor button and then put her hands behind her back.

Li Chen glanced down. Her hand was suspended in mid-air. Not behind her back. She was waiting for him.

He reached out his hand. Yan Xi's fingers interlocked with his.

When the elevator doors opened, the two people let go at the same time.

This rhythm no longer requires eye contact for confirmation.

At the entrance. Shen Ruolan was changing her shoes. She looked like she had just come back from the supermarket. There were two more plastic bags at the entrance.

"You're back?"

"Um."

Shen Ruolan noticed the bag in Li Chen's hand, then glanced at Yan Xi. "What did you go shopping for?"

Yan Xi handed over the bag of pastries. "Osmanthus cake, walnut shortbread, and jujube paste cake. From Daoxiangzhai. It's for his friend."

Shen Ruolan took it and squeezed it. "This walnut shortbread is really good. How did you know about this place?"

"You mentioned the alleyways last time."

Shen Ruolan glanced at Li Chen. The implication was clear: Look at him, he remembered it after just one explanation.

Li Chen pretended not to receive that look.

He changed his shoes. He entered the house. Li Mohan sat on the living room sofa, reading financial news. A half-cold cup of tea sat on the coffee table.

Yan Xi glanced at the teacup as she passed by.

Li Chen knew what she was looking at—the color of the tea. It was too strong. It meant it had been steeping for a long time without being changed. Li Mohan was home alone that afternoon, probably distracted.

Yan Xi didn't speak. She walked to the kitchen door and glanced back at Li Chen.

"Where are the ingredients?"

"In the refrigerator."

"Let me see."

She went into the kitchen. Li Chen put the bag on the dining table and followed her in.

Yan Xi opened the refrigerator. The top shelf of the freezer. Her gaze swept over it from left to right.

"Broccoli, winter melon, tofu, chicken breast, and half a sea bass—leftovers from yesterday?"

"Um."

"Where are the shrimp?"

"Freezer compartment. Second compartment."

Yan Xi opened the freezer drawer. The shrimp was at the very back. She took it out and weighed it in her hand.

"How long will it take to thaw?"

Thaw naturally for 40 minutes. Thaw under running water for 15 minutes.

"Running water." Yan Xi put the shrimp into the basin and turned on the tap. The water flow wasn't strong, just enough to cover the shrimp's backs. "Your mother has a sensitive stomach, so the shrimp can't be fried. Boil them."

Li Chen stood beside her. "Where's the dipping sauce?"

"Steamed fish soy sauce with half a spoonful of oyster sauce and shredded ginger." Yan Xi paused for a moment, "Does your dad eat ginger?"

"eat."

Where's your mom?

Li Chen thought for two seconds. "She'll eat it, but not much. Cut it into smaller pieces."

Yan Xi hummed in agreement and drew a knife from the knife rack. Li Chen noticed her grip – her thumb and forefinger were clenched, and her middle finger pressed against the back of the blade. It was the ginger-cutting method taught by Shen Ruolan.

She wrote it down.

Moreover, it has become internalized as muscle memory.

"Go and keep your dad company," Yan Xi said.

"I'll help you—"

"Need not."

She didn't look at him, but her tone didn't imply rejection. She wanted him to do something more important.

In the living room, Li Mohan turned the TV volume down.

"What did you buy?"

Li Chen sat opposite him. "These are pastries I brought for a friend. And some clothes too."

Li Mohan hummed in agreement. His phone screen was lit up, displaying a news page, but his eyes weren't on the screen.

"Where is she?"

"Cooking."

Li Mohan tapped his finger on his phone case. "Your mom didn't buy groceries today."

"There's some in the refrigerator."

"I know there's some in the fridge." Li Mohan's voice was very low. "Your mom deliberately didn't buy any, just to see if she would go into the kitchen on her own."

Li Chen paused for a moment.

He glanced back towards the kitchen. The sounds of water running and chopping vegetables came alternately, a steady rhythm.

"She's in."

Li Mohan put down his phone and leaned back on the sofa. A small smile played on his lips.

"Your mother said you're not good enough."

"..."

"Her exact words."

My phone vibrated. It was from group 302.

[Wang Qiang: Brother Chen, are you home yet?! Where's my osmanthus cake?!]

[Chen Mo: Note—his priority is: Osmanthus cake > Li Chen > sister-in-law.]

[Zhao Zixuan: I care about my jujube paste cake.]

Li Chen typed a few words.

[Li Chen: We've arrived. She's cooking.]

[Wang Qiang: My sister-in-law is cooking??? Cooking for your parents???]

[Chen Mo: Record—The four words "She's cooking" are extremely information-dense. Location: Li family kitchen; Behavior: Cooking for her in-laws; Timing: The first time she took the lead in the kitchen within her husband's family home after they started dating. This isn't just cooking; it's marking territory.]

[Wang Qiang: Stop analyzing, I just want to know when my osmanthus cake will arrive.]

Li Chen locked the screen.

Yan Xi's voice came from the kitchen. She wasn't calling him; she was talking to herself.

"Should the tofu be cut one centimeter thick or half a centimeter thick...?"

Half a centimeter. Shen Ruolan is used to eating thin slices.

But Li Chen remained silent.

The next second, Yan Xi said, "Half a centimeter. The soup bowl in your mother's cupboard is fourteen centimeters in diameter, a little shallower than normal. Thin tofu won't pile up too high when soaked in soup."

She was using the size of the bowl to deduce the thickness of the ingredients.

Li Chen leaned back on the sofa. His phone screen was still lit. He left group 302 and opened his chat window with Yan Xi.

The last message was still the four she sent in the car earlier.

The receipt for the cup holder is in my bag.

You are not allowed to lose any of the cup holders.