As the city lights began to glow, Cen Jin returned to the office with that box of milk.

A graphic designer was sitting at her workstation sharing a bowl of grilled cold noodles with Lu Qiqi. Seeing her approach, the designer immediately moved away, leaving only a fragrant aroma behind.

Cen Jin put down her bag, sat in her chair, and placed the milk on the desk.

Her workstation was neat, with just an all-black desktop computer and a white bookshelf displaying files, besides which there were only eye drops and a tissue box.

She pulled out a tissue to dab her nose tip that had been moistened by the wind, then picked up the coffee milk again.

Just as she was about to remove the straw, her hand paused, and she put the milk back, took out her phone, adjusted the angle, focused, and took a photo.

Only then did she turn off her phone, pierce the foil seal, and begin to taste it.

Lu Qiqi peeked at her series of actions, her curiosity piqued: “Aren’t you being a bit too ceremonial about this?”

“What kind of milk is that, is it really good?” The greedy worm in her stomach started crying out.

Cen Jin took another sip; the coffee flavor was weak and overly sweet. She looked at Lu Qiqi and spoke honestly: “The taste isn’t that great.”

Lu Qiqi blinked, confused: “Then why are you making such a big deal about it?”

Cen Jin didn’t answer, only giving her a knowing, self-satisfied look before placing the milk down and turning to her display screen with a smile.

After typing two characters, she suddenly remembered Li Wu’s dinner issue wasn’t resolved, so she opened the app and ordered a Japanese set meal to be delivered to her home address.

After paying, she took a screenshot and sent it to Li Wu: Ordered dinner for you, remember to eat.

The boy replied quickly: Okay.

He then asked: Have you eaten?

Cen Jin replied from her computer: Not yet, but I’ve had something to drink.

The other side wasn’t instantly responding anymore, and after a while, there was new activity: Was it good?

Cen Jin raised her eyebrows slightly, asking: Haven’t you tried it?

Li Wu: No.

Cen Jin: It was pretty good.

He was as sparing with words as ever: Mm.

Afraid of disturbing his studies, Cen Jin didn’t say more, closed the chat window, and looked back at the text-dense screen, beginning to revise the content according to the annotations in the document.

…

After finishing the revisions and organization, Cen Jin sent the new version to Li Fei, only then thinking to check the time – the numbers in the monitor’s bottom right corner already showed nine o’clock.

She covered the back of her neck with one hand, massaging the stiff area while looking over to check Lu Qiqi’s work progress.

Unexpectedly, the girl was already napping at her desk, her arms hanging down inside the desk drawer, her cheek flesh squished against the surface, her mouth half-open, her eyelashes completely still – clearly in deep sleep.

This girl had only graduated two years ago, still maintaining a carefree innocence and spirit.

Cen Jin watched her for a while, suddenly feeling somewhat envious; nowadays, she would never allow herself to sleep with such an appearance in public.

However…

She withdrew her gaze, grabbed the now-cold milk from beside her keyboard, and drank it all in one go as if to console herself.

Thanks to Li Wu, she could at least get a taste of that youthful campus atmosphere.

—

It was nearly ten when Cen Jin returned home.

She froze as soon as she entered – miraculously, the entrance light was on, as if covered by a gentle veil of cicada wings.

Her heart warmed a degree as she bent to change her shoes and walked in, looking around.

Something caught her attention in her field of vision.

It was an unopened takeout bag, placed in the center of the coffee table, still tightly knotted, clearly untouched.

Cen Jin furrowed her brow, calling out: “Li Wu.”

The study door was closed tight; the person inside definitely couldn’t hear.

Cen Jin had to walk down the long corridor to knock, but before her knuckles could tap the door panel more than once, rapid footsteps came from inside, as if afraid of being too slow.

Cen Jin listened carefully, her lips curving up secretly.

She composed her expression at the moment the barrier disappeared, calmly meeting the youth’s eyes inside the door.

Li Wu stood inside, his pupils carrying a dawn-like brightness: “You’re back?”

“Mm,” Cen Jin tilted her head back slightly: “Why haven’t you eaten dinner?”

“Forgot,” he answered without thinking: “Got lost in doing homework.”

Cen Jin pressed out a polite smile, her words carrying hidden meaning: “How come you didn’t forget to pick it up though?”

Li Wu went silent for a second.

Cen Jin knew what he was up to: “I ate at the office.”

Li Wu: “Mm.”

“Go eat it,” Cen Jin sighed lightly: “You must be starving.”

“Not hungry.”

“That means you’re past hungry,” she turned to go to her bedroom, leaving instructions: “Heat it before eating.”

When she came out after removing her makeup and changing into home clothes, Li Wu was already eating in the kitchen.

Cen Jin sat back on the sofa and glanced over. Cen Jin made an eating gesture to indicate he should continue, and the youth immediately lowered his head to focus on his meal.

Cen Jin didn’t move her eyes; whether it was the lighting or not, his skin seemed to have gotten whiter, his hair had grown longer, the jet-black bangs falling to cover part of his forehead.

He already looked like a city kid.

Seeing that he had adapted well, Cen Jin felt more at ease and withdrew her gaze, starting to browse Weibo.

All was quiet, with only Li Wu’s unhurried eating sounds remaining in the house.

Listening made Cen Jin drowsy, and she lazily buried her back into the cushions, somehow enjoying this moment of peace.

After a while, hearing him rustling with plastic bags, Cen Jin looked back to see Li Wu had already stood up and was methodically cleaning up the takeout boxes.

He must have grown taller again; the slightly cramped kitchen made him look tall and broad.

Cen Jin couldn’t remember the measurements from when they last ordered his school uniform, so she asked: “Li Wu, how tall were you last time you measured?”

The youth lifted his eyelids, his long fingers blindly tying the plastic bag handles into a neat knot: “One meter eighty-four.”

“Oh…” Cen Jin pondered thoughtfully.

Li Wu crouched down to clean the trash bin, and the dining room light suddenly brightened a bit.

Watching him take the gray bag outside the door and gently close it, Cen Jin finally spoke: “Let me buy you some more clothes.”

After all, the kid had just given her a very comforting box of hot milk.

Li Wu paused for a moment, stopping by the shoe cabinet: “You’ve bought quite a few already, and I wear uniforms at school anyway.”

“Aren’t you cold? You’ll need to add cotton-padded jackets and down coats soon, right?” Cen Jin remembered how she had shivered even in her coat when getting to her car.

He walked back: “It’s fine.”

Cen Jin had him sit in the chair while she shook out a blanket and sat cross-legged: “Is it as cold here as in the mountains?”

Li Wu said: “Different.”

Cen Jin became somewhat interested: “Which is colder?”

Li Wu didn’t say which was colder, only replied: “Yi City is a bit warmer.”

Cen Jin smiled quite contentedly, just about to speak when she heard the youth seriously explaining the principle: “This area has the urban heat island effect, while the mountains have higher elevation and more vegetation, so the temperature is lower.”

Cen Jin’s expression froze, swallowing back all her self-satisfaction, only responding coolly: “Oh.”

“Mm.” Li Wu noticed her suddenly lowered mood, and though not know why, he stopped speaking.

“Finished your homework?” Cen Jin planned to end the conversation with this question.

Unexpectedly, he said: “Yes.”

Cen Jin asked: “Then what were you doing in the study just now?”

Li Wu said: “Memorizing history and politics.”

Cen Jin scrolled her phone screen, suddenly thinking: “Don’t you have the academic qualification exam soon?”

Li Wu nodded once.

Cen Jin said: “Next month?”

Li Wu nodded again.

“Should be manageable,” Cen Jin thought for a moment, looking up: “Your learning ability is so strong.”

Suddenly praised, Li Wu touched his neck uncomfortably: “Not everything’s good.”

“Hm?” Cen Jin turned her phone face down, no longer looking: “Which subject is problematic?”

Li Wu said: “English.”

Cen Jin frowned slightly: “That’s not even an exam subject though.”

“Just…” the boy returned to his stammering state: “Bad at English.”

His hand slightly clenched as he asked: “Are you good at English?”

Cen Jin casually touched behind her ear, speaking lightly: “I studied in England for two years.”

Li Wu froze.

Cen Jin’s showing-off mood arose, and after gazing at Li Wu for a moment, she casually recited a medium-length English passage.

Extremely standard British English flowed from her light red lips, casual yet elegant, connected and smooth, like a musical score, like poetry recitation.

Completely different from their classroom morning readings, those dead memorizations just to cope with academics. Li Wu was stunned.

“Did you understand?” Cen Jin asked with a smile.

Li Wu came back to his senses: “Could you say it again?”

Cen Jin gladly agreed, repeating the same passage at a slower speed.

Li Wu roughly understood but wasn’t entirely certain: “Is it ‘The Ugly Duckling,’ Andersen’s fairy tale?”

Cen Jin smiled: “Yes, it’s my favorite story.”

She didn’t linger on this topic, turning instead to concern about his studies, “If needed, I can help you hire a professional English tutor.”

“No need,” Li Wu instantly deflated and disappointed, almost instinctively refusing, then softened his tone: “Don’t spend money, I’ll work hard myself.”

Cen Jin made an “mm” sound and didn’t speak further, continuing to play with her phone.

The living room fell into silence for a moment.

That seemingly righteous little scheme having failed, Li Wu worried Cen Jin might grow suspicious, sat awkwardly for a while, then said: “Teacher Zhang changed my seat, now I sit with the English class representative.”

Cen Jin glanced at him: “Which row are you in now?”

“Fourth row.”

Cen Jin teased: “Then the people behind you must be suffering.”

Li Wu was puzzled: “Why?”

Cen Jin suddenly straightened her back, crossed her arms, and put on a serious air.

The woman had a unique and rarely seen spirit; Li Wu understood and also lowered his eyes with a smile.

They stopped talking again, Cen Jin returning to her phone, casually tucking stray hair behind her ear.

Li Wu watched her for a moment, then stood up: “I’m going to study.”

“Okay.” Cen Jin glanced at him, nodding slightly.

—

Monday noon, Li Wu didn’t rest.

He went to the school library. Yi High’s library was open all day and quite sizeable, but its utilization rate was inversely proportional. Unless specifically organized by classes, very few students came to borrow books voluntarily, especially at this time – looking around, barely anyone was visible, just mountains of books and sunlit dust.

The white-haired elderly administrator sitting at the front desk seemed somewhat surprised to see a student come in.

“Which grade?” he reached for the card.

Li Wu handed over his student card from his pocket: “Second year.”

The old man swiped it and tilted his head to indicate he could enter.

Li Wu had no extra time to search slowly, so he simply asked directly: “Teacher, I’d like to ask, is there an English reading section here? I want to find a book.”

The old man gave him a surprised glance, looking at his computer: “Which one?”

“‘Andersen’s Fairy Tales.'”

The old man snorted a laugh, clicking his mouse several times, finding what he wanted: “Yes, on shelf B5.”

Li Wu said thanks and walked in.

Li Wu had a good sense of direction, standing in place and analyzing the shelf number arrangement for a moment before quickly finding his target location.

There were two identical copies of “Complete Andersen’s Fairy Tales” on the shelf. He reached out to take one, finding “The Ugly Duckling” in the contents.

The boy’s finger slid to the page number, then quickly turned to the corresponding page. The airflow from the pages ruffled his hair.

The story had illustrations.

Soon, he found the passage Cen Jin had recited.

…

After leaving the library, Li Wu was momentarily dazzled by the bright sunlight, squinting his eyes. After adjusting for a moment, he ran down the steps with a smile.

In the walkway, the youth’s shadow stretched long, mixing with the shade of camphor leaves until it was hard to distinguish which was a person and which was a branch.

Returning to the dormitory, there was an unexpected package on his desk. Just as he was about to ask, Lin Honglang, who was sitting there reading manga, looked over: “I saw it when I went to get my package from the guard, so I brought it back for you.”

Li Wu said thanks and looked at the shipping label; the next moment, his heart leaped – it was Cen Jin’s address.

Li Wu quickly opened it to find a Sony logo on the box, containing a small black MP3 player, along with only instructions, earphones, and a charger, nothing more.

He sat down and adjusted the device according to the instructions.

The playlist had been pre-loaded with multiple English literary works, the first being “The Ugly Duckling.”

Li Wu was stunned for a moment, put on the earphones, and pressed play. Immediately, a male voice began reciting, with professional and skilled pronunciation.

He heard the sentence he had just confirmed in the library:

“To be born in a duck’s nest, in a farmyard, is of no consequence to a bird if it is hatched from a swan’s egg.”

“If it’s hatched from a swan’s egg, then what does it matter being born in a farmyard duck’s nest?”

Li Wu’s lips curled up.

She was encouraging him, he was certain.