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

[Li Chen: How did you know?]

[Yan Xi: It takes you three minutes to walk to the East Gate. It's been four and a half minutes since you left your dorm. The extra minute and a half is the walking time from the East Gate to the nearest shop suitable for late-night snacks. There are three shops outside the East Gate that offer hot food at this time, but only the second porridge shop on the left uses baby pumpkin. You would choose this one.]

Li Chen looked at the screen.

[Yan Xi: Don't add sugar to the pumpkin porridge. Don't add scallions to the steamed egg.]

[Li Chen: Do you believe me or not? I've already ordered it, just like you said.]

[Yan Xi: Faith.]

[Yan Xi: What else did you order?]

[Li Chen: Fresh Pork Wontons.]

[Yan Xi: How many?]

[Li Chen: One bowl. Eight.]

[Yan Xi: The quantity is appropriate.]

The wontons are ready. The porridge has also been packed up. The steamed egg is in a separate small bowl, covered with plastic wrap.

Li Chen carried the bag and walked back.

My phone vibrated. It was from group 302.

[Wang Qiang: Brother Chen, you really went out???]

[Zhao Zixuan: He went to buy food for his sister-in-law.]

[Wang Qiang: My sister-in-law doesn't live in our building! How is he supposed to deliver it to her?? The girls' dormitory has a 10 PM curfew!]

[Chen Mo: He doesn't need to deliver it inside. He just needs to deliver it downstairs. Yan Xi will come down and pick it up herself. He did the same thing when he delivered lobsters to her before.]

[Wang Qiang: Is he outside now? It's 9:30, isn't it too cold?]

[Chen Mo: He was wearing a coat, but not gloves. His fingers are expected to be below the comfortable temperature threshold when he reaches the girls' dormitory. Yan Xi will notice this.]

Li Chen locked the screen.

I walked quickly across the main road.

The branches of the sycamore trees cast gray-black shadows under the streetlights.

Most of the snow has melted, and the ground is slippery.

He walked on the curb. Faster than usual.

Girls' dormitory building.

When he arrived, Yan Xi was already standing downstairs.

Black down jacket. Sweatpants. Hair down. Slippers on her feet.

slippers.

"You came downstairs wearing slippers?"

Yan Xi took the bag.

"close."

It's -2 degrees Celsius outside.

"I was waiting in the lobby. I only came out when I saw your location was almost there."

She glanced at the contents of the bag. She opened the lid of the porridge bowl. She took a sniff.

"Baby squash. No sugar added."

"Um."

"Steamed egg?"

"No scallions were added."

Yan Xi took out the wontons. She glanced at the quantity.

"Eight."

"Your appetite."

She looked up at him. The streetlight shone from the side, casting a subtle line of light and shadow on the bridge of her nose.

Your hands are red.

"It's not cold."

Yan Xi extended her left hand and grasped his right hand's fingers.

His hands were indeed cold. Her hands, which had just been taken out of her down jacket pocket, were dry and warm.

"Wear gloves next time you go out."

"I left in a hurry. I forgot."

"You won't forget anything. You just didn't have time to grab it."

She pressed her thumb against his knuckle. Then she released it.

"Going back. Tomorrow at seven o'clock."

"Um."

Yan Xi carried the bag and walked into the building.

He took two steps. Then he stopped. He didn't look back.

"The porridge is very good."

She hasn't drunk it yet.

How do you know it's good?

"You bought it."

Her slippers made a clattering sound on the tiled floor. The doorbell beeped, and she went inside.

Li Chen stood downstairs.

The warmth of her palm still lingered on my fingers. The knuckle of my right index finger. That's where she had just pressed.

My phone vibrated.

[Yan Xi: I'm in the dorm.]

The interval is forty-three seconds. That's exactly the time it would take to run from the access control to the fourth floor.

She ran up there.

[Yan Xi: The porridge is good. So is the steamed egg. The wonton wrappers are a bit thin. No points deducted.]

He exhaled a puff of white breath. Then he smiled.

[Li Chen: I'll make them myself tomorrow.]

[Yan Xi: If you dare get up at 5 AM tomorrow to make wontons, I'll break your legs. Go to sleep. 7 AM on the playground.]

[Li Chen: Okay.]

He turned and walked back. The wind was coming from the east. The scarf was tied in the same way Yan Xi had done: twice, with the ends tucked inside the collar. The wind couldn't get in.

The phone vibrated one last time.

[Yan Xi: I'll bring you the gloves tomorrow. The pair in your closet is the second one from the left. But you'll forget tomorrow, so I'll bring them myself.]

He looked down at the message.

She had the solution ready.

He put his phone back in his pocket.

The light in room 302 was still on. Wang Qiang leaned out the window and looked down.

"You're back?? Did your sister-in-law get it??"

Li Chen entered the building. He went up the stairs. He pushed open the door.

Wang Qiang came forward to greet him.

"What did your sister-in-law say?"

"They said the porridge was very good."

"this one?"

Li Chen took off his coat, hung it up, and arranged his shoes neatly.

"She said she'd bring me gloves when she comes tomorrow."

Wang Qiang stood there, stunned.

"She's coming tomorrow—the 'tomorrow' kind of coming to check my bedside table?"

"right."

Wang Qiang turned and walked towards his cabinet.

"I still have a cardboard box under my bed that I haven't thrown away."

Zhao Zixuan sighed.

"Bro, your behavior is now completely controlled by your wife. Do you realize that?"

"I realize that," Wang Qiang said, squatting down and dragging cardboard boxes. "But look at Brother Chen—he ran out in minus two degrees Celsius without gloves to deliver porridge to his wife. Do you think he's any different from me?"

Zhao Zixuan thought for a moment.

"No. You two have both been taken over. It's just that Brother Chen did it willingly."

Li Chen sat on the edge of the bed. His phone was next to the pillow. Yan Xi's last message was still displayed on the screen.

"The pair in your closet is the second one from the left."

He pulled open the cabinet. The second drawer from the left.

The gloves are there.

She was absolutely right about the location.

He closed the cabinet door. He lay down.

The scarf was still on.

The way she tied it. Two loops. The end was tucked inside her collar.

The phone screen went dark.

He closed his eyes.

Tomorrow at seven o'clock. On the playground. She will bring gloves.

The phone lit up again.

[Yan Xi: Are you asleep?]

[Li Chen: Not yet.]

[Yan Xi: I ate six wontons. I put the remaining two in the fridge. I'll heat them up for a snack tomorrow morning.]

[Li Chen: Okay. Good night.]

[Yan Xi: Goodnight.]

[Yan Xi: The fifteen minutes you reached out from the passenger seat to help me drive today.]

There was no follow-up.

[Li Chen: What's wrong?]

The typing prompts on the other end appeared for a long time.

disappear.

It appeared again.

In the end, only three words were sent.

[Yan Xi: I've got it.]

Li Chen looked at these three words.

These three words carry more weight than "thank you".

Gloves. Scarf. Iodine solution. Hand cream. How to dry an insulated bag. The red string on my wrist.

He remembered it too.

The screen went dark.

The light in room 302 went out.

Wang Qiang's snoring came from the bed opposite.

Chen Mo's notebook was closed and placed on the table.

Zhao Zixuan's phone screen was still lit, but it quickly went out.

Li Chen closed his eyes.

The scarf smelled of laundry detergent.

His family's laundry detergent.

It was left on the clothes she wore at his house.

Tomorrow at 7:00 AM.

She will wear gloves.

She never fails to deliver on her promises.