Returning to Dunhuang, Chen Xi threw herself into the shop and was busy until the weekend in the blink of an eye.

She didn’t know which day Qin Lie had returned. She hadn’t seen him come to the shop these past few days.

On Saturday morning, after eating, Chen Xi pushed her motorcycle out as usual.

Sensen ran out with his backpack, skillfully hopping onto the back seat of the motorcycle.

Chen Xi turned to look at him and reminded, “Ruirui isn’t going to the shop until this afternoon. Why are you going so early?”

Sensen said disdainfully, “Who wants to play with her? I made plans with Big Brother Qin Lie.”

Caught off guard by hearing this name, Chen Xi’s ears inexplicably grew hot.

She was stunned for a moment before speaking, “When did you make plans with him?”

Sensen twisted his little head, “I’m not telling you. This is between me and Big Brother Qin Lie.”

It was from last time at Qin Lie’s shop when the two of them agreed that if Sensen had any math problems he couldn’t solve in the future, he would come to the shop on weekends to ask Qin Lie.

Sensen was delighted in his heart. This was an agreement between him and Big Brother Qin Lie that even Sister Chen Xi didn’t know about.

Chen Xi helplessly got on the motorcycle and took Sensen to the shop.

Qin Lie’s car was parked at the entrance of the VR arcade.

Chen Xi had never seen him come this early before.

Sensen got off the motorcycle and ran straight into the VR arcade.

Chen Xi stared blankly at Sensen running into Qin Lie’s shop. She withdrew her gaze, parked the bike, and, while removing her helmet, walked with big strides to her side.

Near noon, Sensen finally came back from the VR arcade, holding three sets of shadow puppets in his arms.

He placed the shadow puppets on the coffee table, opened the refrigerator door, and took out three ice creams.

Chen Xi was getting water to drink when she saw the shadow puppets Sensen had placed on the coffee table and froze directly.

She asked, “Where did the shadow puppets come from?”

Sensen turned his head and said, “Big Brother Qin Lie gave them to me, and there are also ones for Ruirui and Guoguo.”

After saying this, he took the ice cream and ran back to the neighboring VR arcade with a bounce in his step.

Chen Xi stared blankly at the shadow puppets on the coffee table, unable to describe what she felt inside.

The scene of Qin Lie picking out shadow puppets in the small shop suddenly flashed through her mind.

At that time, he was silent and looked as distant and cold as usual.

Chen Xi couldn’t imagine that at that time, Qin Lie was thinking about those three little followers.

Even Chen Xi herself hadn’t thought to bring some gifts back for the three children from their trip to Xi’an.

She absent-mindedly walked back to a car with a cracked windshield and silently continued working.

After a while, Qin Zhan came over to help, grinning sleazily at Chen Xi.

Chen Xi ignored him and carefully removed the last bit of glass.

Qin Zhan observed Chen Xi’s expression and tentatively said, “Sister Xi, my brother came.”

Chen Xi was busy with her work and gave a light hum.

Qin Zhan: “We haven’t gotten together for a while. How about we have some drinks at the shop tonight after work?”

Chen Xi glanced at the other three cars that hadn’t been touched yet and said quietly, “Where’s time? Let’s talk about it after we finish this busy period.”

Qin Zhan said “oh” and couldn’t suppress his inner gossip, asking, “Sister Xi, did my brother look for you in Xi’an?”

Chen Xi nodded.

Qin Zhan leaned against the car door and asked with a grin, “Are you two together now?”

Chen Xi lifted her eyelids to look at him, “You’re quite idle, aren’t you? Go change the battery in that blue car.”

Qin Zhan walked away with a smile, his heart itching with curiosity.

When he asked his brother, his brother wouldn’t say. When he asked Sister Xi, Sister Xi also wouldn’t say.

In the afternoon, Yang Shan brought her daughter to Chen Xi’s shop.

Chen Xi had been too busy these past two days and could only teach Ruirui to draw in the shop.

“Big Brother Sensen.”

As soon as Ruirui entered, she couldn’t wait to run toward Sensen, who was sitting on the sofa.

“Big Brother Sensen, have you finished your homework?”

Sensen nodded. He had finished his homework in the morning and was now reading a book of Olympic math problems.

Ruirui plopped down next to Sensen and pulled out a handful of colorful glass marbles from her small backpack.

“Let’s play with these. My mom said she played with these when she was little, and they’re much more fun than phones.”

Sensen moved aside with some disdain and continued reading with his head down.

“Eh, what’s this?”

Ruirui saw the shadow puppets on the coffee table.

Sensen casually said, “Shadow puppets that Uncle Qin brought back from Xi’an. Pick one.”

Ruirui didn’t know that with one sentence, Sensen had elevated his generation.

She smiled and pounced on the coffee table, picking up “Monkey King Fights White Bone Demon,” but then thought “Legend of the White Snake” looked good. She picked up “Legend of the White Snake” but then thought “Chang’e Flying to the Moon” looked good.

She kept picking and choosing but couldn’t decide.

She asked Sensen, “Which one do you want?”

Sensen: “Monkey King Fights White Bone Demon then.”

Ruirui said “oh” and reluctantly handed the set she was holding to Sensen.

Seeing this, Sensen casually said, “I’ll take Legend of the White Snake then.”

Ruirui said “oh” again, picked up “Legend of the White Snake,” and hesitated reluctantly.

Sensen looked at Ruirui speechlessly, “You pick two, then. Leave one for Guoguo.”

Ruirui smiled happily, showing her gap teeth, and continued to struggle with her choices. Finally, she selected “Monkey King Fights White Bone Demon” and “Chang’e Flying to the Moon.”

Chen Xi came over to assign Ruirui her copying homework, took a bottle of drink from the refrigerator, and handed it to Yang Shan, then returned to the car to continue working.

Yang Shan opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat, watching Chen Xi work. After a while, she suddenly said, “I’m pregnant again.”

Chen Xi suddenly stopped what she was doing and looked at Yang Shan in surprise, “Are you sure?”

Yang Shan nodded, her expression unclear whether it was joy or worry.

Chen Xi: “That’s good news. Didn’t you want a daughter?”

Yang Shan nodded and unconsciously touched her belly, “Yes, I hope it’s a girl.”

She lowered her head and suddenly felt a bit sad, tears rolling down.

Chen Xi was startled. “Why are you crying?”

Yang Shan wiped her tears and suddenly smiled again.

“I don’t know, hormonal imbalance, I guess. Happy one moment, wanting to cry the next.”

Chen Xi looked at Yang Shan helplessly. “Are you having severe morning sickness now?”

Yang Shan nodded.

“It’s terrible. I feel like I’m carsick all day long, throwing up everything I eat, always wanting to sleep, but still having to grit my teeth and go to work.”

She paused and suddenly said with tears and laughter, “But I still want to have another one.”

Chen Xi squeezed Yang Shan’s slightly plump shoulder and said softly, “As long as you’ve thought it through.”

Yang Shan’s gaze fell on Ruirui through the car window.

The little one was bent over the coffee table, head down, carefully copying the drawing Chen Xi had given her stroke by stroke.

Her chubby little cheeks made one want to reach out and pinch them.

If you sat beside her at this moment, you could hear her heavy breathing.

Whenever she focused on something, her breathing would become very loud, probably on the same principle as a kitten purring.

Yang Shan’s heart instantly softened into cotton candy.

She smiled and said quietly, “When I first found out I was pregnant, I was a bit hesitant. Han Chao didn’t want another one either. We finally raised Ruirui, and with another one, our life would go back to square one.”

She looked at Ruirui with a moved expression.

“But when Ruirui heard she could become a big sister, she was so happy she didn’t know what to do with herself.”

“After dinner, she moved a small stool into the kitchen and insisted on washing dishes.”

“Han Chao and I stood at the kitchen door, watching her stand on the small stool with her sleeves rolled up high, taking a long time to wash one bowl clean. I couldn’t hold back my tears right then.”

Chen Xi also looked toward Ruirui, her expression also somewhat moved.

Yang Shan: “Some children don’t like having another sibling to compete for attention at home, but Ruirui is practically wishing upon stars for a little brother or sister. After that night, Han Chao and I stopped hesitating.”

In the distance, Ruirui was drawing when she suddenly looked up at Sensen and said mysteriously, “Big Brother Sensen, my mom is going to give me a little sister.”

Seeing that Sensen was unmoved, Ruirui couldn’t help but add, “When I become a big sister, I’ll be as awesome as you.”

In the afternoon, after Ruirui finished her art lesson, Yang Shan gave Sensen a ride home when she left.

After Qin Zhan and Liu Boyang left, Chen Xi stayed in the shop to finish the work she had half-completed before calling it a day.

She was a bit hungry, so she found a cup of instant noodles from the cabinet, made it, and sat on the sofa eating it in big bites.

While eating, a shadow fell over her head.

Chen Xi looked up and saw Qin Lie standing in front of her.

She almost choked, coughed lightly twice, and said, “How do you walk without making any sound?”

Qin Lie was a bit speechless. “You’re eating noodles too loudly.”

Chen Xi glanced at the instant noodles that were nearly finished after just a few bites and smiled faintly.

“What’s the matter?”

She asked Qin Lie, her voice carrying no hint of intimacy or anything else.

Qin Lie looked down at Chen Xi, unable to read any expression on her face.

It was as if nothing had ever happened between them, or if it had, she had never taken it to heart.

Qin Lie originally wanted to ask back, “Can’t I come if there’s nothing wrong?”

The words came to his lips but became a bland, emotionless sentence.

“One of the characters you designed clashes with a recently released skin. The clothing colors need to be changed.”

Chen Xi nodded, “Okay, which character?”

Qin Lie: “I’ll send it to you later.”

Chen Xi nodded again, and then there was nothing more to say.

Qin Lie also didn’t speak, just looked at her expressionlessly with cold eyes.

A few seconds later, a faint awkwardness floated in the quiet air.

Chen Xi was about to ask if he had anything else when her phone suddenly rang. She saw it was Fan Mingsu calling.

“Hello Grandma, what’s wrong?”

Fan Mingsu’s anxious voice came from the other end.

“Chen Xi, Old Guan isn’t doing well. Come back and take him to the hospital.”

Fan Mingsu’s voice was loud, and Qin Lie heard it too.

Chen Xi hung up the phone, grabbed her backpack, and headed out. Qin Lie also strode after her.

While hurrying toward her motorcycle, Chen Xi said to Qin Lie, “I’ll change the character’s clothes when I have time.”

Qin Lie reached out and grabbed her arm. “Take my car.”

Chen Xi shook her head, “No need, I’ll ride the motorcycle.”

Qin Lie: “You’re going to take someone to the hospital on a motorcycle?”

Chen Xi was stunned, only then realizing that in her panic, she had only thought about getting home quickly and forgotten about this.

She said, “It’s okay, Boyang’s house is on the way. I’ll go get his car.”

Without another word, Qin Lie pulled Chen Xi into his car.

The two of them drove in silence to the small courtyard of Grandpa Guan at Yang Family Bridge.

Qin Lie stopped the car, and he and Chen Xi quickly walked into the courtyard. The main room was lit, with Fan Mingsu anxiously waiting at the door.

“What happened?”

Chen Xi’s voice was tight.

Fan Mingsu: “Fever, coughing blood.”

Chen Xi pushed open the screen door and walked into the room, seeing Grandpa Guan lying on the sofa.

Sensen’s eyes were red as he flipped over the wet towel on the old man’s forehead.

When he looked up and saw Qin Lie, he forced back the tears in his eyes.

Qin Lie picked up the old man horizontally, feeling almost no weight, like carrying a bundle of dry firewood.

He placed him in the back seat and said to Sensen, who had followed, “You stay home.”

Sensen fought back the fear in his heart and asked quietly, “My grandpa will be okay, right?”

Qin Lie looked at him and nodded, “He’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

Sensen fought back his tears and nodded heavily.

Fan Mingsu also wanted to come along. Chen Xi closed the car door and said to her, “Don’t go. Stay home and watch Sensen.”

Fan Mingsu hesitated for a moment, and Qin Lie spoke up, “I’ll go with her, don’t worry.”

Only then did Fan Mingsu feel at ease. She handed Qin Lie a bag of test results and CT scans.

She and Sensen stood at the courtyard gate, watching Qin Lie’s car pass through the alley, driving farther and farther away until the car lights gradually dimmed.

Sensen suddenly took off running after them, desperately chasing, running like mad.

As if there was a terrifying monster chasing him from behind.

Qin Lie glanced in the rearview mirror and suddenly saw a tiny shadow chasing the car.

His heart felt like it had been stabbed, and he slammed on the brakes.

Sensen ran over, his face wet but no tears visible.

He clung to the car window, and when he spoke, his voice was almost trembling.

“Big Brother Qin Lie, my grandpa will come back alive, right?”

In the dim light, Sensen’s pupils had turned pitch black with fear.

“He’ll come back alive, right?”

His voice carried a torn, sobbing tone.

“He won’t die, right?”

Qin Lie nodded at him, looking into his eyes with a firm tone, “He’ll come back alive.”

Sensen still clung to the car window, refusing to let go. He stared at Qin Lie intensely, then stared at Chen Xi intensely, his gaze stubborn yet almost pleading.

Grandpa had coughed up blood and was shaking with pain.

He was terrified. He had never been so clearly aware of death’s approach.

For the first time, he truly felt that Grandpa could leave him.

His only support in this world was about to abandon him.

Chen Xi grasped the ice-cold little hand, her throat choking up, unable to speak.

She saw behind Sensen a huge black shadow pressing down heavily, almost swallowing his small body.

She tightly held Sensen’s hand until Fan Mingsu caught up and embraced Sensen’s thin little body.

“Let’s go.”

Chen Xi said quietly to Qin Lie.