Under the scorching sun, shadows from the trees scattered, and the sound of cicadas filled the air.

Xia Liyang’s hand, now free from the suitcase handle, slipped awkwardly into the pockets of her sun jacket.

“Have you eaten?” Xia Yanxu asked, glancing at her with a slightly stiff expression.

“No,” Xia Liyang softly pursed her lips.

“I’ll take your luggage home. You go to the cafeteria and eat something,” Xia Yanxu said.

Xia Liyang hesitated and, lowering her gaze, replied, “Forget it. It’s too hot. I’d rather go home, rest a bit, and order takeout.”

“…Oh.” Xia Yanxu nodded.

Silence spread between them, broken only by the endless chirping of cicadas on both sides of the road and the rumbling sound of the suitcase wheels rolling over the asphalt.

It seemed they had reached some sort of unspoken understanding, neither bringing up the previous arguments and cold stares.

Entering the shaded corridor of the family apartment, Xia Yanxu picked up her suitcase, stepping ahead and starting to climb up to the fifth floor.

Xia Liyang watched his hunched back. He no longer appeared as tall and strong as he had been two years ago.

She bit her lip lightly and quickened her pace, silently helping to carry the base of the suitcase.

Xia Yanxu paused for a moment, glanced back at her, and moved his lips as if wanting to say something.

But in the end, he looked down, lifted the suitcase higher to bear the weight himself, and continued silently up the stairs.

He then put the suitcase down, pulled out the key hanging from his waistband, and unlocked the door.

As soon as she entered, Xia Liyang noticed that the house was messier than before.

Unwashed clothes were scattered on the sofa, various medical research books lay open on the coffee table, and random items cluttered the windowsill.

It looked like it hadn’t been tidied up in a long time.

While picking up clothes from the sofa, Xia Yanxu said, “I forgot to replace the bottled water, so I’ll boil some for you later.”

“…” Xia Liyang was silent for a few seconds, unable to hold back, and asked, “Dad, have you been very busy lately? You hardly come home, do you?”

“Yeah, a bit. The project’s progress is tight, so there’s a lot to handle,” Xia Yanxu replied somewhat awkwardly as he stuffed the clothes into the washing machine.

“Even so, you should still get some rest. Staying up too much isn’t good for your health,” Xia Liyang said.

“…I know, no need to worry.” Xia Yanxu straightened up, turned on the nearby faucet to fill a kettle, and set it on the electric cooker.

He then glanced at Xia Liyang, who was sitting on the sofa, and asked, as if returning the favor, “Is your schoolwork busy?”

Touching on this sensitive topic, Xia Liyang’s heart tensed slightly, and she replied dryly, “It’s okay.”

“Aren’t you helping your professor with research this summer?” he asked again.

“No,” she clenched her hand slightly.

The air fell silent.

Xia Yanxu turned his head and said quietly, “Then stay here a little longer.”

“…” Xia Liyang was slightly taken aback. She slowly lifted her gaze, looking at Xia Yanxu, who was quietly waiting beside the electric kettle.

The hair at his temples had begun to turn gray, and the glasses on his nose couldn’t hide the deep lines at the corners of his eyes.

Xia Liyang felt a sudden ache in her nose and an urge to cry.

After a while, she replied in a choked voice, “Okay.”

The kettle started bubbling as it neared boiling.

Calming her emotions, Xia Liyang asked, “So, you don’t object to me studying the humanities anymore?”

“You’re graduating next year. What would I object to? Make you retake the exams?” Xia Yanxu laughed helplessly.

He picked up the boiling kettle, walked back to her, and said, “Besides, your stubbornness—you got that from me. What can I do?”

“Dad…” Xia Liyang pressed her lips together with mixed emotions.

“It’s good that you’re back. I was angry then and said things I shouldn’t have.” Xia Yanxu lowered his head, pouring her a cup of water, hiding the nervous look in his eyes.

“You never asked me to come back,” Xia Liyang muttered.

“I didn’t know how to say it. I was afraid you’d still be mad at me, maybe even stop seeing me as your dad,” Xia Yanxu replied, his voice tight.

“…” Xia Liyang was stunned.

She had always thought he refused to reach out because he wanted her to admit her mistake first.

She never realized he simply didn’t know how to comfort the daughter he’d driven away with his stubbornness.

“Alright, I’ve got some work to catch up on. Take care of yourself, and don’t just order pizza or other junk food. It’s not nutritious.”

Setting down the kettle, Xia Yanxu gave her a few more instructions before leaving in a hurry.

Relaxing on the sofa, Xia Liyang looked at the steaming cup of water on the coffee table, quietly thinking to herself.

It was a good thing she came back.

With everything resolved, she decided to stay home for a while. She called Xu Songnian to ask him to mail her laptop and keyboard back.

“So, you finally decided to go home?” Xu Songnian teased.

“Yes,” Xia Liyang nodded, casually adding, “Thanks to Lu Huaicheng.”

“… What does he have to do with it?” Xu Songnian’s voice faltered.

“Nothing,” she chuckled.

Seeing that she had no intention of explaining, Xu Songnian felt a little uneasy.

But since she’d already quit her job, she probably wouldn’t have any more entanglements with that man.

He decided not to overthink it.

“When are you planning to return to Jiangcheng?” he asked.

“At the start of the semester. I want to spend more time with my dad.”

“Alright, I’ll pick you up at the train station then.”

During the two days waiting for her computer, Xia Liyang did a thorough cleaning of the house.

She still retained habits from her time working for Lu Huaicheng, scrubbing the floor until it was spotless and sorting Xia Yanxu’s scattered books by alphabetical order before returning them to the study.

Xia Yanxu returned home in the evening, confused to find he couldn’t locate one of his books and eventually had to knock on Xia Liyang’s door.

“Dad, you’re back?” Xia Liyang, who had been typing on her computer, closed it and turned around.

“Yeah,” he replied after a pause. “Did you put away my book on Consciousness and the Brain that was on the coffee table?”

“I placed all your books on the book shelf in the study. You can find them organized alphabetically,” Xia Liyang replied.

“Oh… okay.” Xia Yanxu’s mouth twitched slightly.

While he knew she was more organized than him, this was taking things a bit far.

Thinking about it, he was about to close her door for her when Xia Liyang suddenly asked, “Dad, is the project you’re working on already in the clinical trial phase?”

“Yes, but how did you know?” he asked, taken aback.

“I saw your interview on TV!” she said with a smile. She then took the chance to mention Lu Huaicheng’s mother and asked if there was any way to have her participate in the project.

“The participants have already been selected, and with her condition, she isn’t a suitable candidate,” Xia Yanxu said, frowning slightly.

“Oh… there’s no other way?” Xia Liyang looked at him, feeling a little down.

After a moment of contemplation, he asked, “What’s your relationship with this person?”

“Well…” She hesitated before answering vaguely, “She’s my friend’s mother. I owe this friend a favor, so I wanted to return it if I could.”

“Okay.” Xia Yanxu nodded, saying, “In that case, have your friend’s mother transferred to my hospital, and I’ll treat her with the new method. Her data won’t be included in the project, though.”

“That’s great!” Xia Liyang’s eyes brightened with excitement, and she added, “Could you send an official invitation from your research institute? I don’t want him to know this has anything to do with me.”

“Aren’t you trying to return a favor?” he asked, puzzled.

“It’s complicated; just do as I ask,” she insisted. She then reminded him, “If you happen to meet him, don’t mention anything about this being my idea. Let him think it was the project team’s decision.”

After a pause, he nodded with a sigh. “Alright.”

She gave a cheerful smile. “You’re the best, Dad.”

When he closed the door and left, she instinctively picked up her phone and opened her chat with Lu Huaicheng on WeChat.

Their last conversation was from when he had returned from Beicheng, asking why she wasn’t at the apartment. Though it hadn’t been that long ago, it felt like ages.

Honestly, she wanted to share this happy news with him, to let him have hope sooner. But she couldn’t bring herself to reach out.

Staring at his profile picture for a while, she eventually swiped her finger and removed him from her contacts, blocking him.

If she was going to disappear, she’d make it complete—no lingering attachments.

….

As autumn settled in, Beicheng’s temperature hadn’t dropped much. Lu Huaicheng, with a temporary break from work, was planning to recuperate at the Wen family’s nearby summer resort and check if there were any updates about Zhou Yuling from the people Wen Yuchen had stationed in Beicheng before returning to Jiangcheng.

But the day before he left, he unexpectedly received a notice from Huake Institute, informing him that his mother had been selected for the clinical trial program he had applied to and asking him to arrange her transfer as soon as possible.

The news was nothing short of a delightful surprise. Without delay, he abandoned his plans and rushed back to Jiangcheng to handle his mother’s transfer procedures.

He accompanied her in an ambulance to the affiliated hospital under the Huake Institute. There, they were received by a director with the surname Xia. The director was a man in his fifties, wearing silver-rimmed glasses on a straight nose, with eyes that exuded wisdom and calmness. His serious demeanor matched the impression Lu Huaicheng had of a scientist.

Strangely, though, something about the shape and features of the man’s face felt oddly familiar.

During the discussion, the director even asked a few unrelated questions, such as what he did for a living, how old he was, and if he had a girlfriend.

Feeling a bit puzzled, Lu Huaicheng simply chalked it up to the director being the chatty type.

By the time everything was settled, August had already ended. Without the time to visit the Wen summer resort, Lu Huaicheng flew straight back to Jiangcheng.

When he finally returned to his villa by the river, he looked tired as he loosened his tie and slumped against the sofa, glancing at the coffee table.

Although he’d hired temporary help to clean before his arrival, the teapot’s placement on the table seemed off.

Frowning, he took out his phone and found Xia Liyang’s contact on WeChat.

For the entire month, she hadn’t sent him a single message.

He wondered if she was genuinely trying not to bother him or if she was playing hard to get again.

Besides, it was already September, the start of the school year—she couldn’t still be staying at home.

She wanted him to take the initiative, huh.

He stared at her profile picture for a moment, and, finally conceding, he typed a message: “Are you back yet?”

But the next second, a notification popped up on his screen:

“The user is not your friend. You need to send a friend request to communicate.”