The folder contained hundreds of photos – Qing Ye with her schoolmates and teachers, travel photos, and family pictures. There weren’t many selfies though; it was rare to find someone so attractive yet not narcissistic.

Xing Wu flipped through them one by one – her on a cruise ship, skiing, paragliding by the sea…

There was a photo of Qing Ye with her classmates at school, with the magnificent building of her former international school in the background. They wore dark green uniforms with plaid pleated skirts and bow ties. Among the group were blonde, blue-eyed foreign children, giving it quite a cosmopolitan feel. Qing Ye stood in the middle, her shoulders embraced by classmates on either side, smiling radiantly. Since knowing her, he had never seen her smile like that. Xing Wu’s gaze lingered on this photo for a long while before moving to the next.

Qing Ye and two girlfriends were making peace signs at the camera in a room – presumably, Qing Ye’s, as when Xing Wu zoomed in, he could see a row of trophies with her name engraved on them behind her.

Her room was huge, with a white grand piano, European-style décor, a beautiful crystal chandelier, and soft pink carpeting. Even her bed was a cream-colored European-style king-size bed. In the photo, the girls weren’t wearing uniforms but were dressed stylishly and fashionably, all appearing to come from wealthy backgrounds.

Later, Xing Wu saw a photo of Qing Ye with her mother in their courtyard. Her mother held a watering can while Qing Ye hugged her arm, resting her head on her shoulder with a happy smile.

Behind them was a luxurious Nordic-style villa unlike anything ever seen in Anzi County. Xing Wu clenched his jaw and suddenly didn’t want to look anymore.

Just as he was about to close the folder, he saw a photo of a lone male student. No one else was in the frame – just this boy smiling warmly at the camera, his eyes unconsciously revealing hints of shyness and admiration.

Who was he looking at? Most likely at the photographer – Qing Ye.

Xing Wu glanced at the caption below, which read “Meng Ruihang” – the boy’s name.

He closed the computer with disdain, pulled down the roller door, got on his scooter, and rode home.

The whole way home, his heart felt heavy, though he couldn’t explain why. He knew Qing Ye had lived well before, but he had no concept of just how well.

After seeing her photos, Xing Wu suddenly had a visceral understanding of her life before and seemed to finally understand that contemptuous look in her eyes.

Just her room was bigger than his entire house, her yard had more flowers than the Anjiao Park in the back street, and her school building was more impressive than their county government building.

She had been to so many places, known so many noble-born classmates, and had seen so much of the world from a young age – how could she possibly be content being exiled here?

Thinking of how helplessly Qing Ye had cried in front of his store that first day, Xing Wu suddenly thought of a caged yellow oriole. When he was ten, his father had brought home a broken cage with a brightly colored yellow oriole. The bird would call constantly from the edge of its cage, and whenever he approached, it would stare at him with bright little eyes and call out, as if begging for help.

Finally, he released the oriole behind his father’s back and later got a severe beating for it.

Now, that oriole’s cry echoed in his mind again, filled with despair. Xing Wu suddenly braked and rode back to Shunyi.

…

Xing Wu hadn’t replied to Qing Ye’s message. She planned to ask him about the money in person when he returned that evening. He had been so urgent about collecting payment yesterday, but now hadn’t mentioned it – she wondered if he’d forgotten.

However, it wasn’t until dark that the buzzing sound of the scooter was heard at Xuandao’s entrance. Qing Ye peeked out and saw that while Xing Wu had returned, there was something large tied to the back of his scooter.

Xing Wu glanced at Qing Ye who was poking her head out at the door, reached out, and handed her the laptop. Qing Ye’s eyes lit up as she ran out to take it: “Is it fixed? Does it turn on?”

“See for yourself.”

After speaking, Xing Wu went to unload what was tied to the back seat, saying to her: “Make way.”

Qing Ye stepped aside and asked: “What is that?”

Looking closer, she saw it was an air conditioner, and immediately exclaimed: “You bought an air conditioner?”

Seeing her excited expression, Xing Wu found it somewhat amusing. With such an expensive piano at home, she could still get this excited over a second-hand air conditioner. How poor were his family’s conditions that they could lower a wealthy young lady’s living standards this much in less than half a month?

He said: “Took it from the store. I’ll install it after dinner, use it for now.”

Qing Ye became concerned instead: “Is that okay? Did you tell your boss?”

“No need. If I hadn’t fixed it, this thing was headed for the scrap yard anyway.”

Qing Ye’s mood suddenly improved, not just because the computer was fixed, but more excitingly because she’d have air conditioning at night and wouldn’t keep waking up from the heat – it was perfect!

Even dinner tasted better, although she still mainly ate white rice and a few vegetables.

Regarding this issue, Xing Wu had wanted to ask her about it for a while, and today he couldn’t help but comment: “Shouldn’t you eat more vegetables and less rice if you’re dieting? You seem to be doing it backward.”

Qing Ye replied puzzled: “Who said I was dieting? Is there something wrong with my figure?”

Xing Wu’s eyes unconsciously glanced over before quickly looking away. Whether something was wrong or not, he hadn’t seen enough to know, but what should be there was certainly there.

Qing Ye mumbled: “Don’t you think this oil… I don’t know, it just tastes weird somehow.”

Qing Ye couldn’t cook and couldn’t distinguish between lard, corn oil, or rapeseed oil – she just felt every dish had that taste.

Xing Wu paused. He knew very well that Li Lanfang had always used lard for cooking. Li Lanfang was somewhat extreme about money – she wouldn’t flinch at losing hundreds playing mahjong all day, but when it came to household expenses, she’d haggle over a single scallion.

For example, this lard was her long-standing habit. When buying pork, she’d ask for extra fat, render a big bowl of lard at home, and use a bit for cooking. The problem was that with the hot weather, sometimes she’d forget to put it in the refrigerator, and after one night it would go off. Xing Wu had eaten this way since childhood and couldn’t tell the difference anymore. He just knew to eat whatever was available at home. When he was young, before Li Lanfang opened Xuandao, she would often go out to play mahjong, and he couldn’t even get enough to eat.

But Qing Ye was different. In her previous life, her three meals a day were probably carefully prepared, and her stomach was particularly delicate. Yet she had endured for over a week without saying anything, just eating white rice every day. It was really hard on her. If he hadn’t casually asked today, who knows how long she would have kept it to herself. Xing Wu suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

After feeding his grandmother and helping her to her room, Xing Wu went upstairs to install the air conditioner. Qing Ye followed him up after finishing her meal and found that Xing Wu had quite a complete set of tools. When she went up, he was just drilling the hole for the outdoor unit, making a lot of noise.

After drilling, he removed the stainless steel security bars and climbed out to install the outdoor unit bracket. Qing Ye watched in shock as he climbed out the window without any safety equipment. Although the second floor wasn’t very high, falling from there would still break a leg if not worse.

Qing Ye quickly ran over and grabbed his arm: “What are you doing? You should at least tie a rope or something!”

Xing Wu turned and looked at her mockingly: “I was climbing windows while you were still drinking milk in your mother’s arms. Let go.”

Qing Ye released his arm incredulously but didn’t dare leave the window, anxiously watching his high-risk maneuver.

Xing Wu’s foot was on an exposed steel pipe, and troublingly, the pipe was moving. It looked completely unreliable. Qing Ye was genuinely afraid he would fall and kept craning her neck to look out.

As it got darker, the light worsened. Xing Wu glanced at her worried expression and said: “If you’re free, help me shine some light with your phone.”

Qing Ye didn’t dare take it lightly and took out her phone to turn on the flashlight. Xing Wu’s vision immediately became much clearer, and he started installing the bracket after measuring the position. His body was completely suspended in the air, making Qing Ye’s legs weak just watching, yet Xing Wu remained calm and composed without any sign of panic.

In the phone’s light, Qing Ye watched his profile as a drop of sweat ran down his smooth jaw to his prominent Adam’s apple, exuding a wild charm. She rarely saw him sweat, probably because this position was indeed uncomfortable, plus the stuffy heat outside.

Watching his skilled movements, Qing Ye casually asked: “Why do you especially come back every day to feed your grandmother?”

Xing Wu pointed to the screws on the windowsill: “Hand them to me.”

Qing Ye passed them to him, and he replied while taking them: “She’s not willing to eat every meal, and my mom has no patience. She’ll feed her a couple of bites, and if she doesn’t eat, she stops feeding her or forces her mouth open. Swollen lips are a minor issue, I’m just afraid she’ll choke her to death.”

Speaking of patience, Qing Ye thought Xing Wu wasn’t a very patient person either – he was quite fierce with people. But when it came to caring for his grandmother, he was particularly careful. When his grandmother didn’t want to eat, Xing Wu would even coax her like a child to open her mouth. This quite subverted Qing Ye’s impression of him.

“You’re good to your grandmother,” Qing Ye couldn’t help saying.

Xing Wu had quickly installed one side of the bracket, and as he asked Qing Ye to hand him the other bracket, he said: “When I was little, my parents were rarely home. My grandmother took care of everything inside and outside the house. Without her, there wouldn’t be me.”

The phrase “there wouldn’t be me” moved Qing Ye, and then she remembered something she’d been confused about for many days: “Where’s your father?”

Qing Ye noticed that when mentioning his father, his face showed traces of sarcasm: “Dead.”

Qing Ye was slightly startled: “Dead… but your mom told me to wait for your dad to come back to separate the rooms, how…”

Xing Wu had been maintaining that position for a while and it was truly tiring. Hot, he lifted his T-shirt, his voice rather cold: “He comes back maybe twice a year, what’s the difference from being dead?”

Qing Ye didn’t speak anymore. She had never met anyone who could curse their father like this. Even when her father had countless mistresses before, although she hated him enough to grind her teeth, she never wished him dead. So she couldn’t understand Xing Wu’s coldness.

Xing Wu worked very quickly and soon had the outdoor unit installed. He jumped back in, and Qing Ye was still standing by the window. The youthful sweat mixed with masculine scent wafted over, and Qing Ye’s gaze fell on his half-rolled-up shirt hem, revealing clearly defined abs with an alluring bronze color, making her face instantly red.

Xing Wu happened to look up while putting away the drill, caught Qing Ye’s embarrassed look, and raised an eyebrow: “If you’re so hot your face is red, why are you still standing here?”

Qing Ye looked up and clearly saw the playfulness in his eyes, strongly suspecting he said this deliberately, deliberately making her more embarrassed.

Qing Ye walked to her side to use the fan without lifting her head. Xing Wu continued installing the indoor unit. His movements were quick and efficient. Qing Ye discovered that although Xing Wu had a bad temper, he wasn’t without merits. At least he was very capable – he could do carpentry, install locks, understand computers, and could even install air conditioners. These things seemed scattered and complex to Qing Ye, but when it came to Xing Wu, there was almost nothing he couldn’t do.

Qing Ye used to be surrounded by many impressive male classmates. Some could speak several languages, some were accomplished in music and arts, and some even had extensive knowledge of ancient and modern history, domestic and foreign, able to compose elegant prose straight away despite just graduating from middle school.

But one thing was certain – none of those excellent male classmates knew how to do any of the things that Xing Wu could do. This suddenly made Qing Ye think he was quite cool.

Soon, the air conditioner was installed. Xing Wu turned on the remote and adjusted the temperature, then turned to Qing Ye and said: “Done.”

Qing Ye walked over and stood under the air conditioner to feel it. Cool air from the vent blew on her, feeling extremely comfortable, as if instantly dispersing the stuffiness in her heart. Qing Ye’s lips unconsciously curved upward, revealing slight dimples, and a soft light reflected in Xing Wu’s eyes.

Qing Ye quickly remembered something and turned to say: “Oh right, why didn’t you collect the money for fixing the computer?”

Xing Wu took out a clean set of clothes with a half-smile, turned to go downstairs, and dropped a line: “I was just messing with you, the motherboard wasn’t broken.”

Qing Ye put her hands on her hips and glared at his back. Fun, huh? Jerk!