Chen Xi only slept for three hours before waking up. She wanted to sleep a bit more, but the longer she lay there, the more awake she became, so she simply got up early.

She gently pushed open the door and walked out, seeing that the master bedroom door was still closed.

Chen Xi went to the bathroom to freshen up, and while Qin Lie was still asleep, she curiously wandered around the living room and the other two rooms.

Seeing the triple-monitor computer setup on Qin Lie’s desk, Chen Xi couldn’t help but click her tongue in amazement.

Moving to another room, she found it filled with exercise equipment.

Chen Xi muttered to herself, No wonder this guy has such good stamina.

At this thought, her cheeks suddenly felt slightly warm, and she turned and walked out.

With nothing to do, Chen Xi suddenly remembered she was here to take care of an injured person, and someone who had been hurt because of her.

She recalled how whenever she got sick, Grandma would always make her a kind of milk porridge.

It was rice cooked until it bloomed, boiled until you couldn’t distinguish individual grains, almost becoming a pot of paste.

Then milk and sugar were added and continued to be cooked until they became a thick milk porridge.

When Chen Xi was little and had a fever with poor appetite, Fan Mingsu somehow figured this out.

As long as she made this milk porridge, Chen Xi could eat a whole big bowl.

Later, this milk porridge became a family tradition.

Whenever Chen Xi wasn’t feeling well, Fan Mingsu would cook her a bowl.

This tradition continued to this day, no matter how grown-up Chen Xi had become.

Chen Xi thought about what the doctor had instructed last night—before removing the stitches, diet should be light and nutritious.

She planned to make a nutritious breakfast, which would help ease some of the guilt in her heart.

Chen Xi walked into the kitchen and, after searching around, smiled helplessly.

She only found one small stainless steel pot, probably used for boiling eggs.

The ingredients were only what was in the refrigerator—she couldn’t even find a single grain of rice.

Chen Xi went to the entryway to change her shoes, grabbed the keys from the shoe cabinet, and quietly left the apartment.

Fortunately, the supermarket at the community entrance opened at seven o’clock. Chen Xi bought rice and sugar.

Coming out of the supermarket, she saw a steamed bun shop across the street, so she went over and bought two baskets of xiaolongbao, some pickled vegetables, and two tea eggs.

Returning to Qin Lie’s place, she started cooking rice porridge, following Fan Mingsu’s method, staying by the stove.

First, she brought the water to a boil over high heat, then adjusted it to low heat, letting the rice gradually bloom in the boiling water.

The rice soup gradually became sticky, with a layer of white foam floating on top.

Fan Mingsu said this was the oil from the rice, the most nutritious part.

Recently, Chen Xi had seen Fan Mingsu making this rice porridge again, cooking it for Grandpa Guan.

Thinking of Grandpa Guan, Chen Xi’s previously relaxed brow unconsciously furrowed slightly.

“What are you making?”

Qin Lie’s voice suddenly came from behind her.

Chen Xi was startled and turned around.

Qin Lie had somehow entered the kitchen, hands tucked in his pajama pockets, leaning lazily against the wall.

Chen Xi: “Got up with nothing to do, so I made some porridge.”

The air was filled with the rich aroma of rice porridge. When Qin Lie came out of the bedroom, for the first time in his own home, he smelled the scent of everyday life.

It was a magical feeling—everything around seemed unchanged, yet everything seemed different.

Probably because the air now carried the warmth of human habitation.

Even the cold furniture and sterile gray walls seemed to soften a bit.

Qin Lie was unconsciously drawn to the kitchen by this aroma. He stood behind Chen Xi watching for a while before remembering to speak.

Chen Xi opened the refrigerator, took out two cartons of milk, and walked back to the stove, casually asking Qin Lie, “Is your head still dizzy?”

Qin Lie silently watched Chen Xi’s back. After a while, perhaps motivated by some psychology, he quietly hummed in agreement.

Chen Xi turned around and walked over, using the back of her hand to touch Qin Lie’s forehead.

This was a habitual action she learned from Fan Mingsu—whenever someone wasn’t feeling well, she first checked if they had a fever.

“At least you don’t have a fever.”

She murmured, “You should lie down a bit more. I’ll call you when the food is ready.”

Qin Lie looked down at Chen Xi without speaking or walking away.

Chen Xi glanced back at the pot—the porridge had almost cooked into a paste.

She picked up a carton of milk but found there were no scissors in the kitchen.

“Where are the scissors?”

She quickly asked.

Qin Lie went out and returned with scissors a moment later.

Chen Xi took the scissors Qin Lie handed her and cut open the corner of the milk carton.

She poured two cartons of milk into the small pot and added some sugar.

Qin Lie watched from the side and suddenly asked: “What is this?”

Chen Xi turned to smile at him, “Milk rice porridge, our family’s traditional invalid food.”

There were small shadows under her eyes, dark circles from lack of sleep.

But her smile was like morning sunlight, so bright it made people feel dazzled.

Qin Lie’s hands, tucked in his pockets, moved slightly. He suddenly wanted to touch her face, but restrained himself imperceptibly.

Chen Xi stopped talking and focused on watching the bubbling milk porridge in the pot, stirring it in circles with a spoon.

The milk and rice porridge was mixed, releasing an even richer sweet aroma.

Even the air seemed to become thick with the scent.

Qin Lie stood silently to the side, watching the porridge in the pot grow thicker and thicker until it finally became snow-white rice paste.

Chen Xi turned off the heat and casually asked Qin Lie, “Do you have bowls?”

Qin Lie opened a drawer and took out two bowls to hand to Chen Xi.

Chen Xi: “Alright, you take the chopsticks and spoons and wait outside.”

Qin Lie made a sound of agreement and slowly walked out two steps, then looked back at Chen Xi.

The kitchen seemed to have some strange magic that made him not want to leave even a single step.

Chen Xi brought out two bowls of milk rice porridge and placed them on the dining table.

Sitting down, she smiled at Qin Lie, “Try it. Isn’t it very healing?”

Qin Lie smiled faintly, “Thank you.”

Chen Xi: “I should be thanking you. Yesterday’s blow was supposed to land on my head.”

Qin Lie didn’t say anything, picked up a spoon, stirred the fragrant milk porridge, scooped up a spoonful, and tasted it.

Chen Xi watched him with bright eyes, asking: “How is it?”

Qin Lie nodded, “Not bad.”

He generally had no interest in sweet foods, but this was the first time he found something milky and sweet delicious.

After eating quietly for a few bites, Qin Lie suddenly asked: “About yesterday’s incident, have you remembered anything?”

Chen Xi shook her head without hesitation, “No.”

Qin Lie looked into her eyes for a long moment before finally looking away.

He could tell she didn’t want to talk about it, so he didn’t press further.

After breakfast, the two went to Chen Xi’s shop together.

When Qin Zhan and Liu Boyang saw the injury on Qin Lie’s head and learned what had happened after they left yesterday, they were both anxious and frightened.

Neither dared to think what might have happened last night if Qin Lie hadn’t been there.

Chen Xi continued working with a normal expression.

Qin Zhan and Liu Boyang were in no mood to do anything else and went with Qin Lie to the VR arcade to check the surveillance footage.

There was a camera at the entrance of Chen Xi’s repair shop. Qin Lie pulled up the surveillance footage from this camera after 10:30.

The three men stared at the dark video screen for a while.

Suddenly, the light in the video dimmed, and Qin Lie said in a low voice: “Chen Xi turned off the lights in the shop.”

After a short while, Chen Xi appeared in the video frame, walking toward her motorcycle.

A few seconds later, a tall figure appeared behind her, holding a stick.

Qin Zhan and Liu Boyang stared at the dark video screen, so tense that their spines went cold.

At the critical moment, Qin Lie’s figure suddenly rushed into the frame, helping Chen Xi block the stick that was swinging down heavily.

Qin Zhan cursed under his breath: “Damn it, if I find out who he is, I’ll kill him.”

Liu Boyang frowned, carefully trying to identify the person in the footage.

Unfortunately, the other person wore a black baseball cap, covered their face with a mask, and their upper body was completely wrapped up.

They wore shorts on their legs, but that didn’t provide any useful clues.

The three men watched all the surveillance footage captured by several cameras.

Chen Xi came over once during this time to look at the surveillance footage from when the incident occurred last night.

She found that based on this video alone, they couldn’t possibly identify the person.

Even if this person was sent by the guy who sold accident cars, Chen Xi had no evidence to make him legally responsible.

He might even continue to harass her in the future.

Chen Xi made up her mind that when the police came and asked her a second time whether she had conflicts with anyone recently, she would still absolutely not mention the used car incident.

She didn’t want to drag the people around her into this, especially Yang Shan—that girl was sensitive.

If she knew she had caused such trouble for Chen Xi, who knows how much she would blame herself.

After the police left, Qin Zhan said gloomily: “From what those two officers said, this case probably won’t be solved unless Sister Xi can provide some direction for the investigation.”

Liu Boyang said to Chen Xi with a grim expression: “Sister, this person tried to hit you with a crowbar—this isn’t a small conflict. Think carefully about whether you’ve offended anyone recently.”

Chen Xi pretended to think deeply. After a while, she shook her head hesitantly.

“No, I just repair cars every day. Who would I have conflicts with?”

Qin Lie stood to the side silently, coldly watching Chen Xi’s somewhat clumsy acting, wondering what she was hiding…

Chen Xi didn’t want to continue this topic, so she looked at Qin Lie and said, “The police have left. You should go back and rest, too. Weren’t you still dizzy this morning?”

As soon as these words came out, both Qin Zhan and Liu Boyang’s expressions changed.

Qin Zhan dramatically widened his eyes, pointing at Chen Xi and Qin Lie: “Did you two stay together last night?”

Liu Boyang didn’t speak but had a meaningful expression—he was quite happy about it.

He felt that Qin Lie was more suitable for his sister than Bai Yuning. If the two of them could get together, it would be a good thing.

Chen Xi realized she had let something slip, coughed lightly, and said flatly: “Taking care of an injured person—what’s so surprising about that?”

She looked at Qin Lie and asked casually, “Can you drive by yourself?”

She asked offhandedly, grabbing her gloves to continue working.

Who knew that the next second, an equally casual voice floated into her ears.

“Not yet.”

Chen Xi froze in place, staring blankly at Qin Lie.

Qin Zhan was equally stunned.

He thought he had heard wrong and asked like a fool with wide eyes: “Bro, what did you say?”

Qin Lie didn’t speak, threw the car keys to Chen Xi, turned around, and walked unhurriedly toward the door.

Chen Xi stared blankly at Qin Lie’s tall back and steady gait—no matter how she looked at it, he didn’t seem like someone who couldn’t drive.

She stood dazed for a while, then could only follow him speechlessly.

Qin Zhan stared blankly at the two figures disappearing from the shop entrance, turned his head, and said to Liu Boyang with a tragic expression.

“My brother is shameless…”

Liu Boyang smiled, “He’s going all out.”