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

[Yan Xi: After you've dried the pork rib rice your mom made in the insulated bag, take a picture and send it to me.]

He glanced at the windowsill.

The insulated bag is still dripping water.

[Li Chen: It's still dripping. Wait until it dries before filming.]

[Yan Xi: Dry with the zipper facing down. Otherwise, the lining won't dry completely.]

Li Chen walked over and turned the insulated bag over so the zipper was facing down.

Wang Qiang witnessed the entire process.

"Brother Chen."

"Um."

"My sister-in-law even dictates how you dry insulated bags?"

"She's making sure things are well-maintained."

"Are you keeping your mom's insulated bag?"

"right."

Wang Qiang opened his mouth. Then he closed his mouth. Then he opened his mouth again.

"I understand now. You weren't just taken over. You were being completely entrusted with management."

Chen Mo wrote a line in his notebook. His pen didn't stop.

Li Chen glanced at what he had written.

"Yanxi's remote management radius: covers Li Chen's personal item maintenance process."

Li Chen put his phone back in his pocket.

6:30. Dinner time.

He changed his shoes, grabbed his wallet, and walked to the door.

I glanced back at the bedside table.

It was clean. Wang Qiang really wiped it four times.

The phone vibrated one last time.

[Yan Xi: Report back to me when you get back from eating. Three chicken wings at most. This is for you.]

"Second Brother's Barbecue" on the back street.

The four people sat at a round table in the corner.

Li Chen sat in the seat against the wall.

Wang Qiang was opposite him. Zhao Zixuan and Chen Mo sat on either side.

There were already twelve skewers of lamb, four servings of chicken wings, two servings of grilled eggplant, one serving of garlic vermicelli scallops, and four bottles of beer on the table.

Wang Qiang picked up a bottle of beer.

"Brother Chen, let's have a welcome dinner."

Li Chen pushed the beer back.

"I don't drink iced drinks."

"It's at room temperature."

"I just took it from behind the freezer. It's around 12 degrees Celsius. She said she doesn't want to drink anything cold."

Wang Qiang put down the beer.

"Did your sister-in-law say that?"

"Um."

"Even when you're not together, she can still control what you drink?"

Li Chen didn't answer. He called the owner over. "Do you have hot barley tea?"

"have."

"Four cups."

Wang Qiang's expression was complicated.

"Brother Chen, can we have some beer? Nobody's going to bother us."

"She told you to eat fewer chicken wings. Do you think she didn't know how many you ordered?"

Wang Qiang glanced back at the menu. Then he slowly crossed out the fourth order of chicken wings.

Zhao Zixuan picked up his chopsticks and took a skewer of mutton.

"Brother Chen, seriously. How many days have you been in Beijing?"

"Six days."

What was your parents' reaction?

Li Chen picked up a skewer of eggplant.

"My mom measured her wrist circumference and cut a red string beforehand, then put it in a red envelope."

The table fell silent.

Zhao Zixuan put down his chopsticks.

When did your mom take her measurements?

"I don't know. My mom was observing Yan Xi the whole time she was at home. She probably measured her wrist while she was cooking. Yan Xi's wrist would naturally extend when she was chopping vegetables."

Chen Mo didn't touch his chopsticks. His eyes were bright.

"Therefore, while Yan Xi was cooking, Aunt Shen used the natural posture of her outstretched wrist to complete the measurement without any sensory input. The accuracy should be within plus or minus two millimeters."

"Pretty much. The red string forms a knot that's impossible to untie, so the tightness is just right."

Wang Qiang rubbed his face.

"Brother Chen, your mom is amazing."

"She was a housewife for thirty years."

"And what about your dad?"

"My dad changed his shirt three times. He checked the traffic conditions all night. After I left, he sent three messages, each ten seconds apart."

Zhao Zixuan nodded.

"Your dad is more nervous than you think."

"He's more nervous than me," Li Chen said, taking a sip of barley tea. "But he won't say it."

"Just like you."

Li Chen didn't respond to that. He picked up a scallop and placed it in Zhao Zixuan's bowl.

"You discovered it?"

"You sent your mom a thank-you message at 5 a.m. while you were in the car," Zhao Zixuan said, chewing on a scallop. "You don't usually get up at 5 a.m. just to send a message. You didn't sleep well all night."

Li Chen lowered his head and took a bite of eggplant.

He didn't want to elaborate on this topic.

Wang Qiang's attention had already shifted. He stared at Li Chen's hand.

"Brother Chen, what happened to that red mark on your hand?"

"reef."

"What reef?"

"I got scratched while jumping over rocks at the beach."

"You didn't bandage it?"

"Yan Xi brought me iodine."

Wang Qiang fell silent again.

"Does your sister-in-law carry iodine with her?"

"I've been carrying this with me ever since I hit someone at the noodle shop last time."

All three people looked at him at the same time.

Zhao Zixuan was the first to react. "Hitting someone? What happened?"

"Shitang Town Noodle Shop. Three thugs were hitting on Yan Xi. I punched one of them."

Wang Qiang rubbed his chin. "You punched me?"

"Yeah. The noodle shop owner said it's more effective than the police station."

Wang Qiang slammed his hand on the table.

"Brother Chen is awesome!!"

The shop owner peeked out from behind the counter.

Li Chen pressed down on Wang Qiang's arm. "Keep your voice down."

"What was your sister-in-law's reaction?"

She said my punch was thrown at an angle that was three degrees off.

Zhao Zixuan's hand holding the teacup trembled slightly.

"Sister-in-law, are you correcting your punching angle?"

"She analyzed my punching speed on the spot. Then she told me not to hurt myself next time."

Chen Mo finally picked up his chopsticks. He ate and wrote at the same time.

"Can you please stop writing, okay?" Wang Qiang looked at his notebook. "You've been writing since last September, haven't you?"

"This is an irreplaceable field sample."

"My graduation thesis has shifted from cognitive bias to the governance of information asymmetry in intimate relationships."

"Are you treating Brother Chen and his wife like a research paper?"

"Their data saturation has surpassed that of any classic psychology experiment."

Li Chen picked up a skewer of mutton.

"Eat yours."

My phone vibrated.

It's not group 302.

[Yan Xi: Are you sitting in the seat against the wall?]

He looked up at the window. There was no one outside.

[Li Chen: How did you know?]

[Yan Xi: You habitually lean against a solid wall in unfamiliar environments. This is a side effect of Jeet Kune Do training, influenced by your grandfather.]

Li Chen paused for a moment.

She's right. He'd never even realized he had this habit.

[Yan Xi: How many skewers have you eaten?]

[Li Chen: Two strings.]

[Yan Xi: The eggplant is too salty. Your stomach isn't good. Let's switch to scallops.]

Li Chen put down his chopsticks and glanced at the roasted eggplant on the table.

It is indeed on the salty side.

He turned his chopsticks toward the scallops.

Wang Qiang watched his movements.

"Did your sister-in-law send you a message?"

"Um."

"What did you say?"

"They said the eggplant was too salty. They wanted me to eat scallops instead."

Wang Qiang pushed the chicken wing in front of him towards Li Chen, then pulled it back.

"Will she know I'm eating my third chicken wing right now?"

"Highly likely."

Wang Qiang silently put down the chicken wing in his hand.