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Perhaps it was because this body had formed the habit of waking early over three years of high school.
At 5:30 a.m., Xu Ye woke from his sleep.
Outside the window, it was still dimly lit.
Xu Ye yawned and slowly closed his eyes again, but the next second, he suddenly opened them wide. Looking around the entire room, he realized he was still in his 2014 room, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
At this time, his Father and Mother were still asleep. After washing up with nothing else to do, Xu Ye simply went into the kitchen to make breakfast.
After marrying Gu Mengyao, she basically did no housework at home. If Xu Ye cooked, she would eat a little along with him; if he didn’t cook, she would order takeout.
At first, Xu Ye had naively thought Gu Mengyao just didn’t know how to cook, and he even planned to teach her. But unexpectedly, Gu Mengyao had no intention of learning at all. She shamelessly said, “I didn’t cook before I married you. Why should I start now just because I married you?”
Xu Ye’s cooking skills weren’t excellent, but he could handle most common dishes.
Seeing that the refrigerator had preserved eggs and pre-cut lean pork, he made a pot of preserved egg and lean pork congee.
When Xu Xiangdong and Zhang Hong came out of their rooms, the couple both froze on the spot.
What’s going on here?
Is the sun rising from the west?
“Son, what are you doing?” Xu Xiangdong asked in surprise.
Xu Ye glanced at his Father and Mother while ladling himself some congee and replied, “I was hungry, so I cooked a pot of congee to eat.”
Zhang Hong hurried forward, looked at Xu Ye’s bowl, then glanced at the pot, her face full of astonishment. “Old Xu, is this really our son?”
“There’s something suspicious here!”
Xu Ye rolled his eyes. “If you two don’t eat soon, you’ll be late for work.”
Of course, their son was their son.
It was just that Zhang Hong hadn’t expected Xu Ye, fresh out of the college entrance exam, to get up early the next morning and cook breakfast for the whole family.
Thinking back to what Xu Ye said the evening before, Zhang Hong felt touched again.
“Tastes pretty good. Xiao Ye, when did you learn how to do this?”
“I just searched on my phone. There are tutorials for everything.”
“My son really is amazing.”
Just a simple pot of congee could make Father and Mother so happy. Xu Ye suddenly felt a bit guilty. Before, he had taken out all his bad moods on his family, while giving his good moods only to Gu Mengyao. From now on, he decided he needed to change completely.
After finishing breakfast, Xu Xiangdong and Zhang Hong went off to work together.
Old Xu worked in the system and was still just a clerk. Generally speaking, if you don’t get promoted before thirty-five, you basically lose the chance for advancement.
However, Old Xu was quite content with his current job and life—a stable, leisurely position, a Wife who kept the household in perfect order, and a son who seemed reasonably sensible so far. For a man approaching forty, this was already quite good.
As for Zhang Hong, she was currently working in the finance department of a private company. Although her salary wasn’t high, she didn’t have to work overtime, sticking to a nine-to-five schedule. The family’s life was fairly stable.
With everyone else out, Xu Ye was left alone at home with nothing to do, so he sent a message to Qin Zhiwei on QQ.
Xu: “What are you up to?”
Autistic patient: “Enjoying life.”
Xu: “Nothing to do at home. Want to go out for a walk?”
Autistic patient: “Didn’t you say yesterday you wanted to sleep all day at home?”
Xu: “I can’t sleep.”
Autistic patient: “Where to?”
Xu: “Just wandering around. I want to find a summer job.”
Autistic patient: “Huh???”
…
Gu Mengyao also woke up early.
The first thing she did after getting up was not brushing her teeth or washing her face, but digging out her phone from under the pillow and opening QQ right away.
Her chat screen was flooded with messages.
There were messages from her close friend Liu Qian, classmates from her class, and many group messages.
But through the entire night, Xu Ye still hadn’t taken the initiative to message her.
Gu Mengyao instantly lost all her sleepiness. She didn’t understand how Xu Ye had suddenly changed. On the very first night of the college entrance exam, he had clung to her and chatted for a long time, but yesterday he seemed like a completely different person.
Even if she didn’t like him, he couldn’t stop liking her.
Gu Mengyao threw her phone onto the bed, feeling furious in her heart: If you don’t message me today, I’ll never talk to you again.
The morning passed by quickly.
Gu Mengyao spent the entire morning watching Palace Lock: Liancheng. After lunch, she glanced at her phone again and saw that Xu Ye still hadn’t reached out to her. Feeling restless, she turned to her close friend Liu Qian to vent.
Rose Girl: “Are you there?”
Sickly Lolita: “Here. QAQ”
Rose Girl: “I want to ask you something.”
Sickly Lolita: “Go ahead.”
Rose Girl: “Has something happened to Xu Ye these past couple of days?”
Sickly Lolita: “Not that I know of.”
Sickly Lolita: “Why do you ask?”
Rose Girl: “He used to send me good morning and good night messages, but last night and this morning, he didn’t send any.”
Sickly Lolita: “Have you been a bit cold to him lately?”
Rose Girl: “Maybe a little.”
Sickly Lolita: “Then maybe that’s why he’s acting like this on purpose.”
Rose Girl: “So what should I do now?”
Sickly Lolita: “Just see who can hold out longer. When he can’t keep it up anymore, he’ll realize this move doesn’t work on you. Maybe he’ll even double down on treating you well.”
Gu Mengyao thought Liu Qian’s words made some sense.
After all, boys always have a bit of pride.
But chasing after a girl isn’t that easy—I’m not just any ordinary girl.
Gu Mengyao accepted Liu Qian’s advice and decided to give Xu Ye the cold shoulder a little longer.
…
Outside the milk tea shop.
The moment they met, Qin Zhiwei looked at Xu Ye in surprise and asked, “Hey big brother, we just finished the college entrance exam yesterday, and today you already want to get a summer job? What’s wrong with you?”
“You don’t know a thing. Let me ask you—why do you study?”
“To get into a good University.”
“And why go to University?”
“To find a good job.”
“And what’s a job for?”
“To make money.”
Xu Ye hurriedly said, “Exactly, making money is the key. You’ve got three months of summer vacation—are you still going to spend every day in the internet café playing games?”
Qin Zhiwei scratched his head. “You do have a point, but you’re rushing too much.”
“Miss, two kumquat lemon teas, please.” Xu Ye ordered two drinks at the milk tea shop, then turned to Qin Zhiwei and said, “Are you stupid? When all those college students get their vacation, won’t it be too late to find a summer job?”
“Uh…”
“How much?”
The milk tea shop clerk smiled happily. “Sixteen in total.”
She was pleased because of Xu Ye’s use of “Miss”—this term hadn’t yet become popular at that time.
“Brother Wei.”
“What?”
“Pay for it.”
“Why should I pay?”
Xu Ye stated confidently, “You’re treating me to two eight-yuan kumquat lemon teas today. Once I start earning money, I’ll treat you to thirty-one Starbucks drinks.”
Though doubtful, Qin Zhiwei still pulled out his phone and foolishly paid the bill.