“I’ll take care of the rest. Why don’t you go back to sleep for a bit?” Jiang Xiao stepped forward.
The door!
“No need. Don’t I have to go with you all to the Theme Park later? I have to at least pretend to be busy and hurry out.”
Song Qiuyu shook her head and said, “Then I’ll change identities and come back again.”
Jiang Xiao fell silent, only helping out now and then, but didn’t interrupt her anymore.
He respected her resolve—at least on the surface—to play the part of his girlfriend.
Even so, whichever way he looked at her, she seemed more like a wife ready to spend a lifetime with him.
They stayed busy until five-thirty.
Song Qiuyu kept her head down, took off her apron, folded it neatly, and stretched lazily before going to wash her hands.
“Should we wake up your brother and sister too, and have breakfast together?” Song Qiuyu glanced at the room where Jiang Li and Jiang Yu were sleeping as she spoke.
Although it was still early, breakfast was ready.
Eating together would save on water, gas, and electricity.
“It’s a rare holiday—let them sleep a bit more.” Jiang Xiao reached out to help bring the dishes to the table.
“Don’t touch, let me do it!”
But Song Qiuyu was one step ahead, carrying off the plate of stir-fried greens.
“Your left hand is still recovering. Try to carry less, especially when it’s freshly cooked food.” “Alright.”
Jiang Xiao was briefly taken aback.
“Just help wash the bowls and chopsticks.”
With that, Song Qiuyu hurried to the dining table with the vegetables.
Seeing the happiness glowing in her cheeks, Jiang Xiao’s lips curved into a small smile.
He didn’t need to ask; he already knew why she was in such a good mood.
All the dishes were brought to the table, and the clean bowls and chopsticks were arranged neatly.
Jiang Xiao pulled out a chair and sat down opposite his girlfriend.
“Jiang Xiao, you could’ve gotten some more sleep while I was cooking.” Song Qiuyu took Jiang Xiao’s bowl and helped him fill it with rice.
She frowned delicately, raising her eyes to look at him.
“By the way, you don’t look so well. Did you not sleep well, or did you have a nightmare?”
“Yeah, I had a nightmare.”
Jiang Xiao didn’t hide it from her.
She’d already glanced at him several times while cooking, and now he understood what she’d been wondering about.
He couldn’t help but laugh inwardly.
“So, what did you dream about?”
After putting the bowl of rice in front of Jiang Xiao, Song Qiuyu picked up her own bowl and started serving herself.
“I dreamed…”
Jiang Xiao lowered his gaze, looking at the rice she had scooped for him, lost in thought.
It wasn’t the first time Xi’er had done this, but today, it felt different.
“Forget it, let’s just eat!”
Noticing Jiang Xiao drawing out his words, Song Qiuyu narrowed her eyes, warning bells going off in her head, and quickly changed the subject.
“I dreamed you kept climbing into my bed.”
Jiang Xiao glanced at her calmly, picked up his chopsticks, and took a few pieces of green vegetables.
Hearing that, Song Qiuyu pressed her lips together, forgetting all about the food, and just buried her face in her bowl of plain rice.
She knew it wouldn’t be anything decent.
That Jiang Xiao, did he actually fantasize about her climbing into his bed?
She’d do anything for him, but she’d never do that!
“Do you want me…”
“Jiang Xiao, I! Want! To! Eat! Vegetables!”
“Hm?”
“Feed me!”
“Qia’er, that’s not a good idea. What if someone sees?”
“I want it, come on～” “Open up.”
She’d managed to change the topic, but now faced a bigger challenge.
Song Qiuyu hesitated only a moment before craning her neck, shamefully opening her mouth for Jiang Xiao to feed her the greens.
Still chewing, Song Qiuyu saw Jiang Xiao’s lips move slightly.
She immediately grabbed some greens with her chopsticks and held them up to his mouth. “You eat too!”
Jiang Xiao could keep his dreams to himself.
She didn’t want to hear them.
“Xi’er, we really were just talking under the covers, honestly, I’m not lying.”
“The only way to shut your mouth is with my own?”
“Hmph…” Wanna try.
“Hurry up and eat～”
Song Qiuyu simply stood up, braced one small hand on the table, leaned forward, and popped the vegetables straight into his mouth.
“Let me wash the dishes after. You go lie down on the sofa and rest your eyes. When I’ve finished making food for your brother and sister, we’ll head out.”
Jiang Xiao chewed his food, glanced at his bedroom, then changed the subject.
“It’s really cold outside this morning.”
“I’m wide awake now, not sleepy at all!” Song Qiuyu said with a beaming smile.
Jiang Xiao chuckled helplessly.
He really hadn’t planned to tease her anymore, but Song Qiuyu, like someone who’d once been bitten by a snake and is now wary of every rope, kept feeding him and opening her mouth to be fed as well.
She clearly didn’t want to hear about his dream again.
Yet, in his heart, where there is bodhi, all people are bodhi.
Seeing Xi’er so alert was, in its own way, proof of something else.
After eating, he watched as Song Qiuyu refused his help, busily cleared the table, and carried the bowls and chopsticks to wash them.
Jiang Xiao opened his mouth but didn’t say anything in the end.
Some things should be asked at a more suitable time.
For example, right before the holiday preparations.
“I’ll wait for you outside, then!”
After putting away the clean bowls and chopsticks, Song Qiuyu wiped her hands with a clean towel and walked into the bedroom.
She took a deep breath, preparing to change her outfit completely, and opened her suitcase.
Staring at the two sets of women’s underwear at the bottom—a black set and a white set—she hesitated for a moment.
The white one was probably better, more versatile.
Thinking she could lighten Jiang Xiao’s burden of matching her clothes, she took the white set and packed it in her backpack.
Then she put on an extra-warm, puffy white down coat and a fuzzy hat.
“Oh right, the scarf!” She remembered Jiang Xiao’s scarf, hurriedly closed the suitcase, and opened the closet.
If she wore the scarf Jiang Xiao had given her, he’d be happy to see it. Besides, in a way,
If they both wore theirs, it’d be like having matching couple scarves.
She decisively took the blue scarf hanging on the rack and stuffed it in her backpack.
She was still full of anticipation for today.
On the main road on the first day of the New Year’s Day Holiday, it was quite empty—probably because it was so early, only six o’clock.
According to the Weather Forecast, today would be cloudy all day.
Song Qiuyu suddenly wondered about the weather where her mom was.
She looked up at the morning sky, held her phone, and tried typing a message to her mom.
After sending it, she waited anxiously for a reply.
To her surprise, her mom replied very quickly today.
[Mom]: It’s raining here, not very hard though, don’t worry. It’s a rare holiday—remember to enjoy yourself.
Seeing this, Song Qiuyu’s eyes immediately lit up, and she couldn’t wait to ask if her mom would be coming home for winter break this year.
But just as she was about to type, she suddenly realized and hesitated, her finger hovering over the screen.
In her current state…
If Mom came back and saw…
But her mom seemed to know what she was thinking, bringing up the winter break first.
[Mom]: I probably can’t come home this winter break. Remember to take care of yourself.
….
Song Qiuyu parted her lips.
There was so much she wanted to say at that moment, but after hesitating for two seconds, she swallowed it all down and, as a dutiful child, replied with something that would put her mom at ease and didn’t disturb her further.
Can’t come home…
Looks like she’d spend this New Year alone.
Clutching her phone, she lowered her head, feeling a bit down.
Thinking about her own situation, she couldn’t help but feel a little relieved, too.
From another perspective, being alone and free wasn’t so bad.
Alone.
Just then, a new QQ message popped up on her phone.