Jiang Ruoqiao also felt that in front of a child, wasting food was not a good example to set.

But she genuinely couldn’t eat any more.

She rarely ate dumplings to begin with and didn’t especially like flour-based foods. Having six dumplings today was already a stretch — it had happened only because this particular owner’s filling happened to suit her palate perfectly.

Lu Yicheng too was worried Lu Siyan would push the question further.

He himself genuinely disliked waste. He had gone hungry as a child and understood that being able to eat three meals a day in this world was already a kind of fortune. And he didn’t want to set his son a bad example. Lu Yicheng and Jiang Ruoqiao exchanged a glance, and it was he who took the initiative: “Let’s just take it away. I’ll pan-fry the dumplings for Siyan tomorrow morning.”

Jiang Ruoqiao thought this was a fine solution.

Besides, Lu Yicheng had specifically said it was for Siyan. That made the awkwardness much easier to bear.

She exhaled and nodded. “Alright.”

Lu Siyan pressed his lips together but didn’t object to the suggestion — he was actually rather fond of pan-fried dumplings.

Jiang Ruoqiao got up proactively and went to settle the bill with the owner, and while she was at it, asked for a takeaway box.

During this time, the phone in Lu Yicheng’s pocket had been ringing continuously. He took it out to check. He lit up the screen — it was messages in their dormitory group chat.

Jiang Yan: [Du Yu, you’re close with Yun Jia. Could you ask her to pass a message for me? I just want to see Ruoqiao once. Just once.]

Jiang Yan: [Lao Wang, I know you and Ruoqiao are both in the student union. Please, put in a word for me. Really.]

Jiang Yan: [Even if I’m going to die, I deserve to know why. I just want to explain to her.]

It was clear Jiang Yan was truly desperate by now.

Lu Yicheng simply looked at the messages.

Jiang Yan hadn’t reached out to him — because everyone knew that he and Jiang Ruoqiao were barely acquainted. No contact details exchanged, no mutual friend circles or overlapping social worlds.

Du Yu had also surfaced in the group chat: [Boss Jiang, it’s not that I don’t want to help, but I’m barely keeping my own head above water right now. Yun Jia won’t even look at me these days — who am I supposed to appeal to?]

Wang Jiangfeng followed closely: [Jiang Yan, even though Jiang Ruoqiao and I are both in the student union, we each handle our own responsibilities and barely cross paths. What exactly do you want me to do? Besides — making too big a scene might just make Jiang Ruoqiao more upset.]

Lu Yicheng lowered his gaze.

From the corner of his eye he caught Jiang Ruoqiao walking back. He locked his phone screen without expression and accepted the takeaway box she brought over, using clean chopsticks to transfer the remaining vegetarian three-fresh dumplings from her plate into it.

Jiang Ruoqiao seemed as she always did — if anything, looking better than usual. Not a shadow of unhappiness on her face.

But he didn’t dare assume her mood was truly as it appeared from the outside. He wanted to say something, yet couldn’t think of anything appropriate. After all, he really was in no position to offer comfort or counsel.

Jiang Ruoqiao was still marveling: “Lu Yicheng, you really did find somewhere economical for me — this whole meal of dumplings came to just sixty-something yuan.”

She could hardly believe it.

It was the first time she had ever treated someone to a meal for under a hundred yuan.

Lu Yicheng smiled faintly. “That’s a perfectly normal price.”

He still thought paying several hundred yuan for a single meal out was poor value.

Jiang Ruoqiao smiled and teased him: “You really do know how to make every cent count.”

No wonder his reputation among others was so good. By lifestyle standards, he was frugal. No entertainment spending to speak of — either in class or out earning money. He genuinely gave people the impression of being dependable and steady.

Jiang Ruoqiao looked him over once more, taking in his clothes.

He was wearing a white T-shirt — it seemed all his short-sleeved tops came in black, white, or grey. And he had very few — no more than three or four in total.

Nothing designer, but clean and neat without exception.

Below, a pair of black trousers cut at the ankle.

On his feet, a pair of canvas shoes she still couldn’t name a brand for.

By her experienced eye, this entire outfit likely didn’t exceed three hundred yuan in total.

Less than the decorative hair clip on her head.

He seemed to always have his black backpack with him — it was the most expensive piece of his ensemble, bearing a sportswear brand, though it likely didn’t exceed three hundred yuan either. The quality, however, was visibly good.

Still, as she’d always held: a man being clean and tidy was enormously in his favor. Some men dressed head to toe in luxury labels yet looked neither clean nor put-together, which rendered the whole thing pointless.

Lu Yicheng knew Jiang Ruoqiao was watching him.

He felt a trace of self-consciousness, yet allowed her to look without trying to deflect it.

Jiang Ruoqiao shifted her gaze. “Let’s go.”

Wherever Jiang Ruoqiao was, Lu Siyan seemed to have no eyes for anyone else — entirely devoted to her, holding her hand, walking beside her with a little bounce in every step. It was only in moments like this that he seemed like any other child his age.

Lu Yicheng fell a few steps behind and followed in their wake.

He could hear their conversation clearly.

Lu Siyan asked curiously, “Mom, you’re not staying at that pretty apartment anymore?”

Jiang Ruoqiao laughed. “It was never my place to begin with. My employer — the shop owner I work part-time for — lent it to me. School is almost back in session, so I’ll be moving back to the dormitory.”

“Then where are you living now?”

“At a hotel,” Jiang Ruoqiao said.

Lu Siyan’s thoughts began to turn. His bright eyes rolled with calculation. “Then doesn’t it get a bit scary, staying alone at a hotel?”

Before Jiang Ruoqiao could even say “not at all,” he had already volunteered himself: “How about I keep you company tonight, Mom! With me there, you won’t be scared~”

Jiang Ruoqiao: “…”

She was about to politely decline, but when her eyes met Lu Siyan’s — those eyes so full of longing and anticipation — she paused.

Looking into eyes like those, it was genuinely very hard to say no. She could only say, “That could work. But you’ll need to ask your father.”

Lu Siyan didn’t even think about it: “Dad’s opinion doesn’t count~”

Lu Yicheng: “?”

Even knowing that in that future version of things his standing in the family hierarchy wasn’t exactly high — this was still a bit much.

Jiang Ruoqiao glanced back at Lu Yicheng regardless.

Lu Yicheng sighed inwardly, but nodded. “If it’s not too much trouble for you, I have no objection.”

Jiang Ruoqiao made an OK gesture and turned back to Lu Siyan. Something softened unexpectedly in her chest. “Then I officially appoint you as my protector for tonight. I’m counting on you, little charmer.”

Lu Siyan was overjoyed.

Well of course — in the past, when Dad used to work late, it was always Mom who kept him company and told him bedtime stories.

Mom’s bedtime stories were so much more interesting than Dad’s.

So… could he look forward to a goodnight kiss tonight?

Lu Siyan’s excitement reached all the way to the tips of his ears.

At the subway station, even though it wasn’t the evening rush hour, there were still plenty of people. The three of them squeezed their way into the carriage with difficulty. Lu Yicheng glanced around and, seeing Jiang Ruoqiao’s expression tighten with discomfort from the crowding, moved decisively. Using his height to his advantage, he quickly marked out a small area, drew Jiang Ruoqiao into it, and made sure Lu Siyan stayed close beside her. He then pressed one arm against the side door to create a small sheltered space, keeping both of them enclosed within it so the surrounding crowd couldn’t jostle or press against them.

Other passengers: “…”

A few murmured quiet complaints. Lu Yicheng paid them no mind.

Jiang Ruoqiao came up to about his chin.

Lu Yicheng was aware that their proximity was fairly close, and worried that his breath might reach her and make her uncomfortable, so he turned his face to the side and breathed away from her.

Jiang Ruoqiao looked up and found herself level with his taut jawline.

His face was expressionless, because as people pressed against him from behind, he didn’t want to compress the space where Jiang Ruoqiao and Lu Siyan stood, and so he braced harder against the pressure, his arm tense, the tendons on the back of his hand rising visibly.

Jiang Ruoqiao lowered her eyes.

Standing this close, close enough that she could catch the faint scent of laundry detergent drifting from him.

A clean scent. Carrying the warmth of sunlight.

If she could smell him, he could certainly smell the sweet, soft floral fragrance that lingered around her, impossible to shake. He couldn’t identify what it was. His twenty years of life could be called sparse, almost bare — no indulgences, no entitlement to any. Beyond books, there had been only the ordinary business of daily living. The smells he had known most were those of that daily life.

Lu Yicheng happened to be standing near the door. When he turned his head, he could see his own reflection in the carriage window.

The subway rushed through the tunnel with a sound that pressed against the eardrums.

He looked at his own face, and for a brief moment, found it unfamiliar.

Jiang Ruoqiao said nothing either.

Lu Siyan reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing close with quiet longing.

It was strange — in the middle of this moment so full of the texture of everyday life, a thought surfaced in Jiang Ruoqiao’s mind: Lu Siyan had said that in that other future, she and Lu Yicheng took the subway everywhere with him. Was it like this?

Jiang Ruoqiao lowered her head and gave a small, slight shake.

What was she thinking?

At one stop, the crowd began to thin as more people got off than on.

They arrived at the station nearest Jiang Ruoqiao’s hotel.

Jiang Ruoqiao led Lu Siyan out of the carriage, and Lu Yicheng stepped out as well — this was a transfer station, and he needed to change lines.

Jiang Ruoqiao said, “I’ll take him back to the hotel first.”

Lu Yicheng nodded. “I’ll go back and get his change of clothes, towel, and toothbrush and toothpaste.”

He glanced down at Lu Siyan. “Should I bring the Lego too?”

Lu Siyan gave him a long-suffering look. “I’m with Mom. I’m not going to be distracted by anything else.”

Lu Yicheng laughed quietly. “Yet when it’s just you and me, all you think about is the Lego.”

Lu Siyan stuck out his tongue. “Dad, don’t be so childish about competing with Mom, alright?”

“…” Lu Yicheng had nothing to say to that.

He stood there amid the steady flow of people, still and tall as a white poplar, watching them swipe their cards and pass through the barrier. Only once they were through did he turn and head to change lines.

Lu Yicheng stepped onto the next train. At this hour, the carriage was far less crowded — there were even empty seats. He gave his up to a pregnant woman and stood holding the overhead bar instead. The space around him had opened up considerably; there was no longer the press of bodies or the constant jostling. By all accounts he should have felt more at ease — yet somehow, oddly, he felt a little… unsettled.

After a few stops, he stepped off the train and walked briskly in the direction of home.

He climbed six floors without tiring, but somewhere between the fifth and sixth floors, he came to a sudden stop.

Because there was someone sitting in front of his door.

Jiang Yan, a shopping bag at his side, was slumped there. The corridor’s motion-sensor lights had broken, and moonlight filtered in from outside, casting a dim pallor over his expression. When he heard Lu Yicheng coming up the stairs, he straightened and said, “Lu Yicheng, I’m here to drink with you.”

Lu Yicheng tightened his grip on the keys in his hand. His tone was level. “I have to go out shortly.”

Jiang Yan gave a soft sound of acknowledgment. “Somewhere to be? Oh — where’s your kid?”

He even leaned to look past Lu Yicheng’s shoulder. No child in sight. He’d knocked for a long while without an answer and had been on the verge of leaving when Lu Yicheng arrived.

Lu Yicheng said, “He went to his mother’s. I need to bring him a change of clothes.”

“Easy enough then,” Jiang Yan said offhandedly. “I’ll just wait for you to come back. I wasn’t planning to go home tonight anyway — I’ll sleep here.”

Lu Yicheng: “…”

There was no helping it. His roommates had all stayed over at his place one night or another before.

He had no choice but to take out his keys and open the door. As he changed his shoes in the entryway, his eyes landed on a pair of rosy-pink slippers sitting on the shoe rack, and his temples went rigid.

Jiang Yan, evidently, had not noticed such a small detail. He kicked off his shoes and went straight to the couch in the living room, already pulling open a can.

Lu Yicheng sighed inwardly.

Mixed into that sigh was a guilt-ridden unease that irritated him.

He knew perfectly well she hadn’t left anything here — he’d packed everything just yesterday. Yet still he felt unwilling to leave Jiang Yan alone in the apartment.

—