Xia Jiao never expected Wen Chongyue to go back on his word like that. She widened her eyes in surprise, opening her mouth as if to say something.

Before she could speak, Wen Chongyue picked up a perfectly coated fish ball with his chopsticks and placed it in her mouth. Her attention was immediately drawn to the delicious taste of the fish ball. After chewing a few times, she exclaimed, “This is so good!”

“I’ve had fish balls before,” she said, “but they never tasted this good. What brand is this?”

“I made them myself,” Wen Chongyue replied. “It’s simple. You take fresh grass carp fillets, remove the bones, then blend them with minced ginger in a food processor. Add some fresh spring onions and salt, knead the mixture until it becomes elastic, and then shape it into fish balls.”

Xia Jiao sighed, “That sounds so complicated. It must have taken a lot of effort.”

Wen Chongyue smiled, “Not at all. It’s just something I did casually.”

Xia Jiao shook her head vigorously. “When I was little, I choked on a fish bone once. We had to go to the hospital to get it out, and my throat was swollen for days. After that, I stopped eating fish with too many bones, even though I actually really enjoy it… Oh, what were we talking about just now?”

Wen Chongyue remained calm and replied, “We were talking about why you don’t like going out.”

Xia Jiao suddenly remembered and happily continued the conversation, “Right! It’s because when you go out, you often run into people you barely know. I feel like a lot of those polite exchanges are unnecessary and a waste of time. Besides, the other person might not even want to talk to you either…”

With good food and good company, Xia Jiao had completely forgotten what she initially wanted to say.

She vaguely recalled that her memory had started to decline after graduating from school.

Xia Jiao was from Jiangsu, a province known for its intense college entrance exam competition. Unlike many other provinces where the high number of students creates stiff competition, the challenge in Jiangsu came from the difficulty of the exam questions and the academic streaming that began as early as the middle school entrance exam.

Waking up at six in the morning for reading and running, then studying until 9:30 p.m. was her daily routine. Back then, Xia Jiao’s memory was at its peak. She could memorize a seven-character quatrain after reading it twice and recite an entire English text after one morning session. She could quickly identify the eastern and western hemispheres, and the latitudes, discuss political and economic theories with clarity, and recall historical events with ease.

During her college years, Xia Jiao’s memory weakened a bit, but her peak memory power always came during the finals week. The closer it got to the exams, the stronger her memory became, especially in those few minutes before stepping into the exam hall. Standing in the corridor, memorizing things, it felt like she had the sharpest brain in the world.

After graduating, however, things changed. She could no longer handle the late nights and exhausting overtime. It became harder to find time to rest, and last year, she accumulated so many unused days off that they eventually expired without her having the chance to apply for them.

After lunch, Xia Jiao wanted to check flights and times from Beijing to Wuxi. Instinctively, she opened Taobao to check the status of her recent purchases first. Then, she scrolled through her WeChat Moments to see her friends’ latest posts—Jiang Wanju had posted a restaurant review, and Xia Jiao noticed there were two sets of utensils in the picture, indicating she was on a date with someone. Lastly, she opened Weibo, browsed the trending topics, and checked if any fan artists had posted new content that she needed to share.

Feeling satisfied after her round of checking, Xia Jiao closed her phone and froze.

Wait… what was I trying to do just now?

She thought hard but couldn’t recall. With a shake of her head, she let it go.

Oh well, if I can’t remember, it’ll come to me later.

The short weekend flew by, like a paper airplane, sharply folded and quickly soaring away.

The next day, Xia Jiao resumed her unfortunate life as a working adult, with the only consolation being the breakfast and packed lunch that Wen Chongyue had prepared for her.

“Just heat the lunch in the microwave for five minutes. There’s a fruit salad inside, but don’t heat that, okay?” Wen Chongyue reminded her. “Drink plenty of water. Staring at a computer screen for too long strains your eyes, so make sure to stand up and move around from time to time.”

Xia Jiao replied, “You sound just like a parent sending their kid off to school for the first time.”

Wen Chongyue playfully flicked her forehead. “If you could break your habit of relying on takeout, I might worry a little less.”

Their work schedules were similar, but their routes were not. One headed south, the other north.

Initially, Wen Chongyue planned to drive Xia Jiao to work, but unfortunately, Xia Jiao just couldn’t manage to wake up earlier. She felt it was already a big achievement that she managed to get out of bed after her morning workout.

After all, she was just an ordinary homebody who disliked exercising and loved cola. She wasn’t built to endure Teacher Wen’s rigorous training.

Valentine’s Day was fast approaching, and everything was proceeding as scheduled. The PR and marketing teams worked together to draft plans, find celebrities, shoot commercials and videos, and organize Valentine’s Day events. Planning for this holiday was never easy, especially for luxury brands’ beauty campaigns, which required collaboration with numerous external agencies. With less than a week to go, all the offline materials were ready for release, and the online videos were being steadily rolled out.

Then, disaster struck.

The celebrity they had chosen for the campaign caused a major scandal. Though married, he had solicited illegal services in his apartment and was reported by local residents. When the police arrived and conducted a drug test, they discovered he was also using prohibited substances.

He was now a textbook example of legal trouble.

When the news broke, Xia Jiao was happily waiting by the microwave for her lunch to heat up.

While waiting, she decided to eat the fruit salad that Wen Chongyue had specifically reminded her not to heat. The salad was made with boiled chicken breast strips, mixed with pear cubes, cherry tomatoes, walnuts, lemongrass, and myoga, topped with freshly picked mint leaves. The dressing of black truffle and black pepper added a light and refreshing flavor. Xia Jiao finished it in one go, just as her colleague exclaimed, “Oh my God!”

Xia Jiao wandered over. “What happened?”

Her colleague handed over the phone. The celebrity’s name was trending at number one, with a “BREAKING” label next to it.

Xia Jiao clicked the link and read the news. She felt an overwhelming urge to curse the celebrity and his entire family.

There was no time to dwell on it, though. The company executives were already in an emergency meeting, skipping lunch in the process.

Xia Jiao’s situation was a little better, since she was just a small fry in the company. Before the higher-ups started assigning tasks, she could at least finish her meal.

When the microwave beeped, signaling her food was ready, she retrieved her lunch.

Most of her colleagues ate takeout or dined out, but Xia Jiao always brought a packed lunch. On any other day, people would ask where she bought it or be surprised that she made her own food, but today, the entertainment scandal had taken over all conversation. The celebrity, now embroiled in legal troubles, would definitely be dropped as a spokesperson, which meant all the marketing materials had to be redone and the advertisements needed to be reshot.

Even though Xia Jiao was just a minor cog in the company machine, she could feel the headache looming.

Thankfully, the delicious meal helped soothe the pain of the upcoming overtime.

Wen Chongyue knew she was conscious about her weight, so he always packed balanced meals. Her lunch included pan-seared salmon with dill and sour cream, still fragrant with lemon even after reheating. Three broccoli and tuna rice balls made with whole grains, which had a low glycemic index and pork rolls coated in pepper and pan-fried to perfection, stuffed with boiled asparagus and thinly sliced sweet peppers.

Annoyingly, Song Zhaocong kept calling her throughout lunch, asking what she was doing.

Xia Jiao ignored him.

But he was relentless, bombarding her with texts.

“Stop avoiding me, I know what you mean.”

“Playing hard to get?”

“Are you testing my patience?”

…

Xia Jiao was fed up. If it weren’t for the fact that they were still business partners, she would have reported him to the police again by now.

Her lunch break was ruined, and by 2:10 p.m., the company’s PR team had already begun contacting various platforms to remove all promotional materials and ads featuring the scandalized celebrity. The brand’s official social media account released a statement saying they were in the process of terminating the contract and would not work with artists involved in such behavior.

Posting the statement was the easiest part. The aftermath was where things became difficult and tedious. The company was in chaos as the team scrambled to negotiate with their previous brand ambassador and Asia-Pacific spokesperson, asking if they could use an old photo set for this year’s Valentine’s Day campaign.

At 3 p.m., Wen Chongyue called Xia Jiao. Her voice was hoarse from all the talking, and after briefly explaining the situation, she told him, “I won’t be coming home for dinner tonight.”

Wen Chongyue didn’t say much, only reminded her to take care of herself.

About half an hour after the call, as if Wen Chongyue had some lucky charm, news came down from the top—the negotiation with the celebrity’s studio went smoothly. The documents, high-resolution photos, and videos were transmitted, and they could now begin remaking the materials and print advertisements.

The scandal about the disgraced celebrity had been trending for eight hours, and Xia Jiao had also been working nonstop for nearly eight hours. It wasn’t until 9:30 p.m. that she finally got off work.

She didn’t call Wen Chongyue. Dinner was a bread roll from the convenience store, spread with some blueberry jam, hard and cold. The early spring chill lingered in the air as Xia Jiao wrapped herself tightly in her scarf and coat. There weren’t many people left on the subway, but finding a seat was still impossible. Standing in the carriage, holding onto the strap, she saw her reflection in the window. Despite her stylish clothes, designer handbag, and expensive cosmetics,

She still felt utterly exhausted.

Xia Jiao closed her eyes.

Never before had she felt such a strong urge to escape her current job.

She dreamed of changing careers, perhaps moving to the mountains to farm, living a self-sufficient life, or working in a flower shop, becoming someone who just tended to the flowers…

The train arrived at her stop.

Dragging her weary body along with the crowd, Xia Jiao felt grateful that Wen Chongyue had bought an apartment so close to the subway, sparing her from a long walk. She tightened her scarf, swiped her entry card, and smoothly entered the complex, walking through the central fountain.

The spring evening was calm, and the forsythia buds were quietly emerging. Xia Jiao walked through the peaceful courtyard, swiped her card again, entered the building, and took the elevator.

Ding.

The elevator doors opened.

Stepping out, Xia Jiao saw Wen Chongyue standing in front of their door. He stepped forward, took her bag, and asked naturally, “Hungry? Go wash up and come eat.”

Xia Jiao felt her nose tingle with emotion.

She nodded, not wanting to speak and expose her feelings.

Wen Chongyue held her hand as they walked inside, carefully studying her face. He bent down and asked softly, “What’s wrong? Did something upset you?”

Xia Jiao choked up, “What you just said reminded me of someone.”

Wen Chongyue understood immediately. “Your father?”

“No,” Xia Jiao shook her head, “It reminded me of my grandmother.”

Wen Chongyue paused thoughtfully before saying, “Sometimes, you don’t have to be this honest.”

Even though she had worked late into the night, dinner was still waiting for her.

There was a salad with mixed nuts and vegetables, papaya stewed with bird’s nest, shrimp in Dragon Well tea, and vegetable porridge. As Xia Jiao ate, she noticed Wen Chongyue place a gift box tied with a dark green satin ribbon on the empty spot on the table.

Smiling, he said, “I saw this downstairs at the office today and thought you’d like it, so I brought it home.”

Xia Jiao put down her chopsticks, cautiously touching the surface of the gift box. “What’s inside?”

Wen Chongyue replied, “Take a guess… but don’t shake it!”

It was too late. Xia Jiao stood up, holding the box, shaking it up and down to try and figure out what was inside. Unfortunately, none of her life experiences helped, because all she heard was an annoyed little “meow.”

Startled, Xia Jiao quickly put the box down on the table and swiftly untied the ribbon. Her eyes lit up when she saw a small, palm-sized tabby kitten.

A tiny, furry head poked out, so small that it looked like it could be swallowed in one bite.

She squealed in excitement, and the little tabby, full of energy, wobbled a bit. Its eyes had a slight blue-gray tint, possibly from its young age or from being shaken too much. It was clearly bathed, as it shook its little head and gave a determined “meow” toward Xia Jiao.

The kitten tried its best to look fierce, but it was still too small, with a soft, high-pitched kitten voice.

Xia Jiao looked up, full of surprise and delight. “Did you name her? Is it a boy or a girl?”

“She’s a little princess,” Wen Chongyue said with a smile. “I haven’t named her yet. Want to give it a try?”

“Hmm…” Xia Jiao thought for a moment. “My friends all give their cats English names, like Chanel or Loewe…”

Wen Chongyue nodded. “That’s not bad, but English names are common. Do you have something unique in mind?”

Xia Jiao stroked the little tabby’s head. “How about something in Japanese-style English? It’s more special.”

Wen Chongyue raised an eyebrow, “Oh? What kind of Japanese-English name?”

Xia Jiao replied, “Yoxi.”

Wen Chongyue: “…”

Xia Jiao added, “Or maybe Baga.”

Wen Chongyue: “…”

After three seconds of silence, Wen Chongyue corrected her, “The spelling is more like ‘Baka,’ but Jiao Jiao, even kittens have their dignity.”

“Why don’t you pick a name I can live with?”

**

T/N: All pictures used are either AI-generated or from the search engine.