Jiang Ruoqiao didn’t actually have any reason to be angry at Lu Yicheng.

Jiang Yan had borrowed his phone — what reason would he have had to refuse? But as for viewing the apartment, she still wanted to be involved. Lu Yicheng had told her earlier that the rental income from his own place wouldn’t be enough to cover an apartment near A University, and the difference would have to be split between the two of them. Since she was contributing financially, she couldn’t simply leave the apartment-hunting to someone else — after all, the people who would be living there included not just Lu Yicheng, but her son.

Besides, from yesterday noon until now, she hadn’t stepped outside the hotel room.

She was feeling a bit restless. After deliberating for a moment, she replied: [I’ll come along.]

Lu Yicheng was at home packing.

School was about to start, and the schedules of his two other students had temporarily freed up — as happened with both middle and high school students in the days just before term began. He also needed to confirm times with parents and reschedule tutoring sessions. That summer holiday had pushed his savings up another notch, yet he could already envision it — within days, every yuan he’d earned would be spent.

Lu Yicheng wouldn’t exactly say he was afraid of Jiang Ruoqiao, but “carefully cautious” was certainly accurate.

First, he wasn’t sure whether she was sad or hurt about the breakup with Jiang Yan.

Second, he wasn’t sure whether seeing the closeness between Jiang Yan and Lin Kexing had left a lingering unpleasantness in her.

Finally — least of all — he wasn’t sure whether, at this particular time, she even had the bandwidth to go apartment-hunting with him.

Still, he felt he ought to let her know. Though they hadn’t known each other long, he could already sense that she was a person who took things seriously and paid close attention to detail. If he were to go look at the apartment and make decisions without consulting her first, she would very likely be displeased.

Receiving Jiang Ruoqiao’s reply, he let out a deep, heartfelt sigh of relief — a full-body release of tension.

Even he was unaware that his expression at that moment had softened.

His slender, fair fingers moved quickly over his phone screen. Without his even noticing it, whenever he saw a message from Jiang Ruoqiao, he would reply to it the instant he saw it: [Alright, let’s meet at the subway station exit. Would forty minutes from now work for you?]

Afraid she might think he was rushing her, he added a second message: [I’m in no hurry at all.]

Jiang Ruoqiao: [Send me the address and I’ll come directly. I’m no longer staying at Jingsheng Apartments. Let’s meet in an hour and a half.]

Lu Yicheng was somewhat surprised.

Why had she left there? Thinking it over, the answer became clear — she was probably avoiding Jiang Yan.

He sent his reply with the address included.

After twenty-four hours of being cooped up indoors, Jiang Ruoqiao still dressed herself with care before heading out. She put on a white bubble-sleeve dress dotted with pearls and sequins at the chest. The weather was too warm to leave her gently wavy long hair down, so she gathered it into a high ponytail. Standing before the full-length mirror, Jiang Ruoqiao was pleased with what she saw. Perhaps it was the good sleep she’d gotten the day before — her complexion was radiant. Her outfit and hairstyle for the day were youthful and full of energy. As for makeup, anything too elaborate would be out of place, so she kept it light and natural.

She spritzed on the sweet, girlish floral perfume she’d bought not long ago, slung her small crossbody bag over one shoulder, and headed out.

Perhaps it was the influence of her mother, a dance performer by profession — from as far back as she could remember, Jiang Ruoqiao had always presented a polished, beautiful face to the world, no matter the occasion.

When Jiang Ruoqiao arrived at the meeting spot, Lu Yicheng and Lu Siyan were already waiting.

She was satisfied, the corners of her lips curling upward.

As for Lu Yicheng — under Lu Siyan’s persistent coaching and quiet but steady influence, he had, without even realizing it, developed a policy of never being late when meeting Jiang Ruoqiao. He would sooner arrive half an hour early than be a single minute behind.

The moment Lu Siyan saw Jiang Ruoqiao, he shot forward like a little cannonball.

Jiang Ruoqiao caught him smoothly, though she only held the hug for a few seconds before letting go.

She still wasn’t entirely accustomed to the kind of clingy, tactile parent-child bond — she’d never experienced it growing up, and was far more comfortable with a slight emotional distance. So when Lu Siyan drew close, she felt a flicker of warmth, but also a touch of uncertainty about what to do with it.

Lu Siyan tilted his head back to look up at Jiang Ruoqiao and launched into his customary sweet talk: “You look so beautiful today! And…” He leaned his little head closer and sniffed enthusiastically. “You smell so nice!”

Jiang Ruoqiao burst out laughing.

She hesitated for just a moment, then reached out and patted his cheek. “Thank you, little one. Though I did switch to a new perfume.”

Lu Yicheng stood two meters away, watching the two of them.

It was a bit unexpected, yet on reflection, it felt inevitable. She looked well — not a shadow of gloom on her face. She was just as she always had been: not a trace of worry, no sign that Jiang Yan’s situation was weighing on her at all.

Just as Lu Yicheng was watching Jiang Ruoqiao, she glanced over at him.

Their eyes met, and before Lu Yicheng could hastily look away, Jiang Ruoqiao gave him a generous, easy smile, then took Lu Siyan’s hand and came to stand beside him, asking naturally, “Have you been waiting long?”

“Not very,” Lu Yicheng replied.

Not very long — only twenty minutes.

Jiang Ruoqiao smiled. “I’ve been here before — there’s a shop up ahead that sells handmade ice cream. It’s quite good. I’ll treat you both after.”

Lu Yicheng was about to say there was no need, but Lu Siyan got there first: “Yes! I want ice cream~”

Lu Yicheng: “…”

Sure enough, there was a delicately decorated pink shop front ahead.

The sign read: Italian Handmade Gelato.

Anything associated with foreign origins was never going to be cheap.

Jiang Ruoqiao had already swept Lu Siyan inside to place their orders. Lu Yicheng glanced at the price board and found himself at a bit of a loss — the cheapest option was thirty yuan. Jiang Ruoqiao ordered a vanilla gelato for herself, and Lu Siyan chose chocolate. Jiang Ruoqiao turned and asked Lu Yicheng offhandedly, “Lu Yicheng, what flavor do you want?”

Lu Yicheng ran the numbers. Just the two orders they’d already placed came to seventy or eighty yuan.

He shook his head. “I’m fine, I won’t have any.”

Even so, he stepped forward and pulled out his phone to present his payment code to the server.

Jiang Ruoqiao reached out and blocked his payment code, her elegant brows knitting together. “I said I’m treating.”

Lu Yicheng looked at her for a moment and then, with no other choice, put his phone away — and actually said, “Right, sorry.”

Jiang Ruoqiao studied him with slight suspicion.

What was strange about this person?

Jiang Ruoqiao paid with her phone, and a short while later, mother and son each had a cone in hand. The ice cream was worth its price — the milk flavor was rich and deep, and the server had shaped it into a rose. Held in the hand, it made the perfect prop.

Lu Yicheng’s appointment with the agent was already set.

He led the mother and son into the neighborhood. Jiang Ruoqiao ate her ice cream and looked around, observing, “This is a nice area. Walking to A University from here can’t be more than ten minutes, can it…”

True to his precise nature, Lu Yicheng replied, “At my pace, eight minutes.”

Jiang Ruoqiao nodded thoughtfully. “That’s quite close.”

Only two streets away.

“And how far to the kindergarten?”

Lu Yicheng considered. “Fifteen minutes on foot. The kindergarten has a school bus — I’ve already asked the teacher. It can drop off at the neighborhood entrance.”

Jiang Ruoqiao: “That works.”

The agent was a young woman in a professional blazer. It was plain she hadn’t been in the business long — unlike the typical agent who rattled along with ease and confidence, she spoke with a certain tentative quality.

The apartment was something of a rare find in the neighborhood.

Two bedrooms and one living area — though it had originally been a one-bedroom-one-living-room layout that the landlord had converted into two rooms. Neither room was large, and the total usable floor area didn’t exceed forty square meters. The agent assumed it was a couple with a child and hesitated before saying, “For a family of three, it might be a little cramped… If you’re planning to rent for three years or more, I can speak to the landlord about whether the wall between the two rooms could be removed.”

Jiang Ruoqiao’s eyes went wide. What on earth — a family of three?!

She blurted out: “No!”

Even the agent was startled.

Jiang Ruoqiao explained: “We’re not a family of three. Please don’t misunderstand. It’s just the two of them who will be living here.”

Oh goodness, she was only twenty!!

Did people genuinely look at Lu Siyan without wondering for even a moment what their relationship was?! No — actually, regardless of what their relationship was, there was no reason for anyone to assume they were a family of three! Did she really look like the mother of a five-year-old?!

She was twenty years old. Twenty!!

The agent’s lips moved awkwardly. “Ah, I’m sorry…”

She had genuinely been a bit puzzled herself.

But the three of them really did seem so much like a family… just that the mother and father looked incredibly, startlingly young — like students…

Though that hadn’t prevented all three of them together from giving off the unmistakable impression of a family unit.

Lu Yicheng also calmly explained, “Miss Huang, you have indeed misunderstood. We are not a family of three.”

The agent looked at Lu Yicheng, then at Jiang Ruoqiao.

As for Lu Siyan, he was quietly delighted to hear this exchange — though he only allowed himself to be pleased in secret, because his mother appeared to be on the verge of losing her composure.

Jiang Ruoqiao caught herself and realized her reaction had been a bit over the top. She composed herself and returned to her usual composed, graceful manner, offering the agent a gentle smile.

The apartment was actually quite decent.

The rooms were a bit small, as was the living area, but the orientation was good, the location was excellent, and most importantly, this was the only unit left in the neighborhood with this layout — every other one had already been taken. The rent also fell exactly within the range they could manage. Jiang Ruoqiao was already thinking they could sign the contract on the spot — when, to her surprise, Lu Yicheng unzipped his black backpack and withdrew a small device that looked something like a card reader.

The agent: “?”

Jiang Ruoqiao couldn’t conceal her curiosity either.

Lu Yicheng gave a small cough. “I borrowed a formaldehyde detector from one of my students’ parents.”

Jiang Ruoqiao: “Oh?”

She immediately understood. “Right, I almost forgot about that. Since a child will be living here, we absolutely have to consider it.”

The agent: “…”

She forced a rather dry compliment. “Mr. Lu, you are so thorough.”

Though she’d only been in the industry a few months, she truly had never encountered a man as meticulous as this one.

Jiang Ruoqiao leaned in to look at the device in Lu Yicheng’s hand, asking with mild skepticism, “Does this thing actually work?”

It felt like a waste of money for something dubious.

Lu Yicheng nodded. “It should be effective, though closing off the entire apartment for twenty-four hours before testing would give more accurate results. One of my tutoring student’s parents works in this field, so his instrument should be fairly reliable.”

Seeing that Jiang Ruoqiao was interested, he patiently walked her through how to use it.

The two of them drew closer together.

Lu Yicheng was the type who had grown so accustomed to tutoring that whenever he explained something to someone, he gave it his full, undivided attention — utterly focused.

Until he happened to glance downward, and caught sight of Jiang Ruoqiao’s long, curling lashes and her clear, pale face — and for a rare, unguarded moment, he stopped.

—