After eating, the two returned to Grandma’s house.

As for Jing Ran’s suggestion to go home and kiss, Jing Li immediately refused him, and he didn’t dare to mention it again.

It was still early, and Grandma was probably just starting the banquet. After taking a shower, Jing Li changed into her home clothes and walked out of the bathroom with a basin of clothes that had been washed and wrung dry. She walked through the living room and went to the balcony. Jing Ran sat on the sofa in the living room, wearing Bluetooth earphones and looking at his phone with a serious expression, probably listening to English audio.

Jing Li hung the clothes to dry and went back to her room from the balcony. Seeing Jing Ran studying, she inexplicably remembered that they had never been alone together in the same space like this before, and suddenly felt a bit awkward.

Jing Li put the basin back in the bathroom and walked out to the living room, coming to the chair next to Jing Ran, putting on a natural appearance and sitting down. She asked, “Ranran, do you want to take a shower?”

“I’ll shower when I go home later.” Jing Ran didn’t even look up, still focused on the information on his phone.

Last week, Jing Li complained that the bed in Grandma’s room was very hard and she couldn’t sleep well all night. Jing Ran decided to let her have his own soft bed, and he would go back to his nearby home to spend the night.

“Oh.” Jing Li glanced at the clock in the living room. It was exactly 8 o’clock, her favorite variety show was starting. She picked up the remote control, pretending to be ready to turn on the TV, and asked, “Can I watch TV?”

“You can.” Jing Ran replied.

Jing Li turned on the TV and watched the hilarious variety show on Friday. While she was laughing out loud, she noticed that Jing Ran was sitting next to her, completely undisturbed, and focused on the learning materials on his phone.

Sometimes being a top student can be really boring. Besides studying, it seems like there’s nothing else to do.

Jing Li watched TV for a long time and unknowingly fell asleep.

When she woke up again, Jing Li found herself being held horizontally by Jing Ran.

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Jing Li recognized Jing Ran and nervously asked, “What are you doing?”

“You’re awake? Then you can go by yourself.” Jing Ran carried her from the living room to his own room and gently placed her in front of the door. “It’s already 11 o’clock, go to sleep, I’m going home.”

Jing Li had just slept for a while and didn’t know if Grandma had come back yet. “Where is Grandma?”

Jing Ran replied, “She called me just now and said she’s playing mahjong with her old friends. She’ll come back later.”

“And when will she come back?” Jing Li wasn’t usually afraid of being alone, but after hearing the ghost story that Jing Ran made up last time, she didn’t feel comfortable being alone. She had agreed to come to Grandma’s house, thinking that at least Grandma would be there to accompany her.

Jing Ran shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. “I don’t know.”

“Ranran, your foot is injured and it’s inconvenient to walk. Stay here overnight, and I’ll go to Grandma’s room.” Jing Li didn’t want to be alone in this house. What’s the difference between this and being alone in her dormitory? Besides, this wasn’t her home. Why was Jing Ran so generous, letting a stranger like her stay at Grandma’s house?

“It’s not inconvenient. I’ll just call a taxi to come downstairs.” Jing Ran tried to reassure Jing Li and added, “There’s an elevator in my building, so I won’t have to climb stairs.”

Jing Li: “…”

Who cares if he lives in an apartment with an elevator? Can’t he hear that she’s asking him to accompany her?

“Go to sleep, I’m leaving,” Jing Ran said as he turned around to leave.

Jing Li reached out and grabbed the corner of his clothes. Jing Ran turned back and looked down at her, asking, “Hmm?”
“Can you wait with me for Grandma to come back?” Jing Li asked softly, with her head down.

“I don’t know when Grandma will be back…” Jing Ran replied.

Jing Li said again, somewhat annoyed, “So, you go back to your bed, and I’ll sleep on Grandma’s bed.”
“Grandma’s bed is very hard, didn’t you say you can’t sleep on it?” Jing Ran thought for a moment and said, “Then you go ahead and sleep, I’ll wait for Grandma in the living room before leaving.”

“Okay,” Jing Li nodded in response to Jing Ran staying in the room. She pointed to Jing Ran’s room, pursed her lips, and said, “Well… I’m going to sleep.”

“Okay.”

Before going to bed, Jing Li left the bedroom door open so that the light from the living room could shine in. She knew that Jing Ran was outside, and it gave her peace of mind to fall asleep.

In the middle of the night, Jing Li woke up feeling thirsty. She groggily opened her eyes and noticed that the light in the living room was still on. She picked up her phone from the bedside and checked the time. It was 2 a.m., probably Grandma forgot to turn off the light after coming back.

Jing Li got out of bed, wearing Jing Ran’s oversized slippers, and went to the kitchen to get some water. As soon as she stepped out of the room, she entered the living room, where Jing Ran was curled up sleeping on the couch. It was spring now, with pleasant daytime temperatures and a slight breeze at night. The balcony door and windows in the living room were open, and a gust of wind made Jing Ran’s body tremble.

Why hadn’t he left?

Why hasn’t Grandma come back yet?

“Ranran, Ranran,” Jing Li reached out and pushed his arm, calling him. He was only wearing thin clothes and sweatpants, having just recovered from an illness. If he wasn’t careful, he might get sick again.

“Hmm?” Jing Ran squinted his eyes. He didn’t take off his glasses to sleep and used his hand to push up the glasses that had fallen down to the bridge of his nose. He recognized Jing Li and asked, “Lili? Why are you out here?”

“Grandma hasn’t come back yet. Could something have happened to her?” Jing Li asked with a hint of worry.

“Later, she called me and said she was staying overnight at the hotel over there.”

Jing Li: “…”

Jing Li felt like Grandma deliberately stayed outside overnight just to create an opportunity for the two of them to be alone.
Unfortunately, Jing Ran didn’t catch on.

“Ranran, you go back to your room and sleep. I’ll sleep in Grandma’s room,” Jing Li said and turned to the kitchen.

“But, you…” Jing Ran didn’t finish his sentence. Jing Li knew what he wanted to say with a slight movement of her toes. He would probably mention that she complained about the hard bed and insist on letting her sleep on it.

Jing Li threatened him, “If you don’t go back to bed and sleep, you’ll catch a cold again tomorrow, and then you’ll have to go to the hospital for an injection.”
“Thud, thud, thud…” Jing Ran quickly ran back to his room with his long legs, closed the door, and went to bed.

Jing Li felt that Jing Ran could be quite easy to deceive sometimes. She smiled, walked to the kitchen, and poured a glass of water to drink. The balcony of the porch did not have a security net, so Jing Li came out of the kitchen, walked to the balcony, closed the doors and windows, turned off the lights in the living room, and went to the grandma’s room to sleep.

*
In the early morning, Jing Li woke up. She hadn’t slept much in the second half of the night and had just started to feel a bit sleepy when she was awakened by the sound of Jing Ran flushing the toilet.

Anyway, she couldn’t sleep anymore, so she got up and walked out of the room. Jing Ran had already washed up, changed his clothes, and was getting ready to leave.

“Ranran, where are you going?” Jing Li yawned and asked Jing Ran, who was at the entrance.

“To the bakery to make pastries,” Jing Ran replied, putting on his shoes.

“So early!” It was getting light outside, but the sun hadn’t risen yet.

“Yeah, I finish early, it will be breakfast time for others,” Jing Ran said after opening the door. He added, “You can go back to sleep and come to the bakery for breakfast later.”

“Oh…”

Jing Ran left and closed the door.

Jing Li couldn’t get used to grandma’s bed, so she went straight to Jing Ran’s room. He didn’t fold the blanket today. When Jing Li covered herself with the blanket, it was still warm, and it had the scent of his laundry detergent.

Faint and warm, as if being held by him.

“Bang.”

Jing Li knocked her own head and muttered to herself, “What am I thinking about? I should go to sleep quickly.”

Around eight or nine o’clock, Jing Li finally woke up fully rested. She folded the blanket, got out of bed, washed up, and changed into a pink dress before going downstairs.

Jing Ran’s grandma was still not back from staying out overnight. Sitting at the cash register was a store employee named Xiaohong.

“Xiaohong,” Jing Li greeted.

Xiaohong stood up and said, “You finally came down? You can sit here and handle the cash while I restock the pastries.”

There were three employees in the store responsible for weighing and packaging the pastries for customers. Grandma Li, who usually worked at the cash register, didn’t come today, so Xiaohong took over. Last week, Grandma Li introduced Jing Li as her daughter-in-law to the people in the store. When Xiaohong saw Grandma Li’s daughter-in-law, she quickly asked Jing Li to sit at the cash register. The kitchen had already prepared several trays of pastries, but everyone was too busy to arrange them neatly on the display shelves.

Lately, with the approaching Qingming Festival^[1]Qingming Festival is a traditional Chinese festival observed by ethnic Chinese in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and … Continue reading and the weekend, many people came here to buy pastries for ancestral worship. Many customers bought in bulk, purchasing ten boxes of pastries at once, so it was a busy time.

Around eleven o’clock, the number of customers gradually decreased. The bakery closed at twelve, and the employees started to organize the remaining stock and clean up. Jing Ran also finished his work in the kitchen and changed out of his pastry chef uniform. He saw Jing Li sitting at the cash register and brought a stool to sit next to her, looking innocent, “Lili, did you have a chance to try the Wife Cake today? I made them.”

Only then did Jing Li remember that she came down for breakfast, but she hadn’t eaten anything since she started handling the cash.

“I haven’t eaten yet…” Jing Li started to feel a bit hungry.

Jing Ran glanced at the remaining pastries in the store. There weren’t many left, and the Wife Cakes were already sold out, only a few varieties that he didn’t make remained.

“Right now, there are no cakes made by me. I’ll go back to the kitchen and make some for you.”

Jing Ran was about to stand up, but was pulled by Jing Li, who said, “I’m starving while waiting for you. Can’t you just give me some randomly?”

“No, I can’t!”