Shu Nian didn’t hear his words clearly and thought he was assuming she wouldn’t agree. She felt his wish was a small thing, easy to fulfill, and nothing to refuse: “Is that all?”

“Mm.”

“Where do you usually do rehabilitation? At the hospital?”

Xie Ruhe said with a straight face: “At home.”

Shu Nian nodded, thought for a moment, and told him: “I usually have to go to the recording studio, so I can’t come often to accompany you. But I’ll come when I have time.”

“Okay.”

“If you want company, you can ask Assistant Fang.” Shu Nian thought he might not want to do everything alone, and earnestly suggested, “He’s a very good person.”

“…” Xie Ruhe remained silent.

Shu Nian was used to his silence and casually chatted with him: “It’s your birthday today, aren’t you celebrating with your grandfather?”

“I had lunch with him at noon, and we went to see my mother together.” Xie Ruhe recounted what he did today, “I need to do rehabilitation in the evening, so I didn’t stay at his place.”

Hearing Xie Ruhe mention his mother, Shu Nian paused briefly, then changed the subject: “Where is Assistant Fang? Should we go find him?”

Xie Ruhe said lazily: “I’ll ask him to come.”

The two stopped at a spot by the roadside.

Shu Nian stood beside him, watching as he lowered his head to look at his phone and contact Fang Wencheng. She idly scraped the ground with the toe of her shoe, making a rustling sound.

“Xie Ruhe, are you twenty…” Shu Nian calculated, “Twenty-three now?”

“Mm.”

“That’s so fast.” Shu Nian was a bit excited, “Then we’ve known each other for almost ten years.”

Hearing this, Xie Ruhe looked up: “It’s already been ten years.”

“It’s been that long.” Once the topic was brought up, Shu Nian continued talking about past events, “I still remember when my father came back during a holiday and brought me a small guitar from the city.”

“It was a ukulele.”

“Right. And I didn’t know how to play it, you were the one who played with it. That’s when I first realized how good your musical sense was.” Shu Nian recalled, “I think you already knew how to compose at that time, and I thought you would be amazing in the future.”

Because of her tone, Xie Ruhe’s expression seemed somewhat unnatural: “Not really.”

Shu Nian’s mood brightened: “Also, back then I liked to imitate the dialogues from animations. I told you that I thought the people working behind the scenes were incredible, able to bring a character from paper to life with just their voices.”

“…”

“And now I’m working in that industry.” Shu Nian thought for a moment, “It seems like we’re both doing what we love, so life isn’t so bad after all.”

Listening to her words, Xie Ruhe responded with a soft sound. Since he had known her, she had always been positive, bringing positive energy to people.

Shu Nian became serious again, like a little old man: “You need to work hard on your rehabilitation, everything will get better.”

Xie Ruhe complied: “I know.”

After a brief series of encouraging dialogue, they fell silent again.

Not far away, Fang Wencheng drove over.

Just as Xie Ruhe was about to remind her to get ready to get in the car, Shu Nian lowered her head, her mood inexplicably dropping, and suddenly blurted out: “Actually, I’m sick too, and I’m trying hard to get better.”

Xie Ruhe was taken aback and turned to look at her: “What illness?”

Shu Nian curved her lips, revealing a small dimple, and the previous emotion seemed to be just Xie Ruhe’s imagination. Then, she sniffed hard: “I have a cold.”

“…”

After Fang Wencheng dropped them off at Rhine Riverside Garden, he didn’t get out with them but started the car again, apparently going somewhere else.

Shu Nian pushed Xie Ruhe upstairs.

Upon entering, only a small light was on in the entryway.

Shu Nian changed into slippers in the dim light and turned on the living room lights. She took the cake box from Xie Ruhe’s hands, watched him change his shoes, and asked: “When do you start your rehabilitation tonight?”

Xie Ruhe’s movements paused as he looked up: “After eating the cake.”

Shu Nian thought for a moment: “Then we should eat something to fill our stomachs first.”

As she said this, she carried the large cake box into the living room: “What are we eating tonight?”

Xie Ruhe followed behind her and calmly asked: “Isn’t there anything on the table?”

Hearing this, Shu Nian looked toward the dining table, which was empty except for a transparent water pitcher: “No, there isn’t.”

Xie Ruhe licked his lips and said with a straight face: “I’ll make a call and ask.”

Shu Nian had noticed before that Xie Ruhe’s dinner was always prepared by the housekeeper. She would first clean the house and then start cooking.

She looked around.

Probably because Xie Ruhe didn’t often stay in the living room, it was generally clean and tidy. But there was a half-empty cup of coffee on the tea table, scissors casually placed on the TV cabinet, and pillows strewn haphazardly on the sofa, clearly showing that the housekeeper hadn’t come today.

Shu Nian hesitated, thinking that if they called the housekeeper to come now, it would probably be very late before they could eat. She quietly suggested: “Why don’t I make something for you?”

Xie Ruhe immediately looked up at her: “Do you know how to cook?”

“I live alone, of course, I know how.” Shu Nian scratched her head, “I’m not very good at stir-frying dishes, but I can make you some noodles… though they definitely won’t taste as good as what the housekeeper makes.”

Xie Ruhe seemed to be in a good mood: “Then let’s have noodles.”

Shu Nian took off her coat and placed it on the sofa: “Wait a moment then.”

After walking a few steps, Shu Nian heard the sound of wheels rolling behind her. She turned back, looked at Xie Ruhe who had followed her, and blinked: “Are you going to the kitchen too?”

Xie Ruhe made an affirmative sound and said seriously: “You don’t know where things are kept.”

Shu Nian nodded and didn’t say anything more.

The kitchen was spacious with a modern, minimalist style. The counter formed a right angle, with space left on the side for a refrigerator. Items were arranged neatly and in order, and the countertop was clean enough to reflect light.

Shu Nian was unfamiliar with this place and didn’t know where to start. She looked at the cabinets and asked him.

“Where’s the soup pot?”

Xie Ruhe was silent for a moment, then casually pointed to one of the cabinets: “It should be in here.”

Shu Nian opened the cabinet, saw a row of plates inside, and hesitantly said: “It doesn’t seem to be here.”

“Then it might have been put in another cabinet by the housekeeper, you should look around.”

Shu Nian made an “oh” sound, didn’t question further, and obediently searched the other cabinets, quickly finding the soup pot.

She put some water in it and placed the pot on the induction cooker. After doing this series of tasks, Shu Nian opened the refrigerator, took out some noodles from the side, and asked him: “Is it okay to cook these?”

Xie Ruhe looked at her, his facial features softened by the light.

“Yes.”

Shu Nian was unsure about how much to use: “Does Assistant Fang eat?”

Xie Ruhe frowned: “He’s not eating.”

“Oh, he’s not coming back?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Shu Nian didn’t ask further and pondered for a moment before putting in enough for two people. She looked at the seasonings placed nearby and fell into a dilemma: “I usually just put in flavor packets directly, I’ve never made the broth myself.”

“…”

“Like the ones in instant noodles.” Shu Nian gestured to him, “You can buy them separately.”

Xie Ruhe thought for a moment: “I think there are instant noodles.”

“We can’t use those from the instant noodles.” Shu Nian was stunned and found it a bit amusing, “Then there would be no flavor packet the next time, how would you eat them?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Xie Ruhe didn’t seem to care, “I don’t eat instant noodles, they’re all Fang Wencheng’s.”

“…”

In the end, Shu Nian still didn’t accept his suggestion. She looked it up online and carefully prepared the broth according to others’ instructions.

Shu Nian used the ingredients from the refrigerator to make mushroom and shredded pork noodles, and even added an egg to Xie Ruhe’s bowl. She wasn’t sure if it would taste good and felt a bit nervous.

When the two sat down at the dining table, Fang Wencheng happened to return.

He was carrying a white bag, and upon smelling the aroma, he looked over: “You’re eating noodles?”

Fang Wencheng swallowed and rubbed his growling stomach, just about to ask if there was any for him. The next moment, Xie Ruhe spoke up, calmly telling him: “You’ve already eaten.”

“…” Fang Wencheng didn’t react immediately, “I’ve eaten what…”

Quickly, Fang Wencheng stopped, resisting the urge to cover his face and cry, and went along with Xie Ruhe’s words: “…Yes, I’ve already eaten.”

Shu Nian didn’t notice the interaction between them, took a bite of the noodles, and found the taste better than she had imagined. She felt relieved and ate the noodles in small bites. Before she was halfway through, she suddenly noticed that Xie Ruhe’s bowl beside her was already empty.

Shu Nian looked up and said in surprise: “Are you still hungry?”

Xie Ruhe licked his lips: “Mm.”

“Oh.” Shu Nian said, “Then wait a bit, we’ll have cake soon.”

“…”

After Shu Nian finished eating, Fang Wencheng helped take the cake out of the refrigerator and put candles on it. He still found this scene somewhat unfamiliar, as in previous years Xie Ruhe had shown no interest in cakes, let alone blowing out candles.

His birthday had been no different from any other day, just quietly waiting for midnight to come into the house.

Shu Nian said to Xie Ruhe: “Make a wish.”

“A wish?”

“Yes, make a wish before blowing out the candles.”

Xie Ruhe lowered his head to look at the flickering flame on the cake, his voice deep and clear: “I hope next year will be the same as this.”

Shu Nian made a surprised sound: “If you say it out loud, it won’t come true.”

Hearing this, Xie Ruhe looked up, his eyes reflecting the light, flickering on and off.

“Will it come true if I don’t say it?”

Fang Wencheng chimed in: “At least it’s more likely than if you say it out loud.”

Xie Ruhe lowered his head thoughtfully, paused for more than ten seconds, and then suddenly blew out the candles.

After eating the cake, the two sat for a while.

When the rehabilitation therapist arrived, Xie Ruhe had more or less digested his food.

Shu Nian accompanied Xie Ruhe to his rehabilitation.

Xie Ruhe lived on the sixteenth floor, with one household per floor. But Shu Nian only now discovered that the seventeenth floor also belonged to Xie Ruhe, and he usually did his rehabilitation upstairs.

The rehabilitation therapist trained him according to the plan and Xie Ruhe’s recovery progress.

Shu Nian didn’t know what she was supposed to do, so she just watched from the side.

There was something like a bed, and the therapist had Xie Ruhe lie on it. Blue straps secured his lower limbs, and through control, the bed could change angles in the vertical direction.

The therapist said: “Today we can do the 90-degree standing practice.”

This standing practice was progressive, starting from 30 degrees, increasing by 10 degrees every few weeks, until reaching a completely vertical position. Today, Xie Ruhe was doing the vertical standing practice.

Once Xie Ruhe was secured and stood upright.

It was the first time since their reunion that Shu Nian had seen him completely standing up. She walked over, finding it somewhat miraculous: “When I saw you sitting before, I thought you were quite tall. Are you—” she thought for a moment and guessed, “one meter eighty?”

The design of this bed included wheels at the bottom, about ten centimeters off the ground.

Shu Nian saw that she had to tilt her head back to look at Xie Ruhe.

Xie Ruhe said with steady breath: “One eighty-five.”

“When I first knew you, you were probably only one meter fifty, and you were a head taller than me at the time.” Shu Nian recalled, “So you should have been about one meter seventy then.”

Xie Ruhe said: “Mm, about that.”

“You grew fifteen centimeters.” As she spoke, Shu Nian gestured toward her head, saying seriously, “I grew ten centimeters, and now I’m one meter fifty-nine…”

At this point, Shu Nian paused and vaguely corrected herself: “One meter sixty now.”

Hearing this, Xie Ruhe looked her up and down without saying anything.

Shu Nian didn’t understand what his look meant and felt a little guilty, afraid he would expose her lie. But she thought, surely he couldn’t tell just by looking that she wasn’t one meter sixty.

Shu Nian forcibly put her mind at ease.

After thinking it over, Xie Ruhe shook his head, his voice cool and indifferent.

“Probably not.”

Shu Nian paused: “What?”

Xie Ruhe said: “Not one meter sixty.”

“…”