Lu Yuwen smiled and said, “Of course I won’t go tonight. I said I couldn’t keep disrupting your sleep schedule, and I have to keep my word.”

Su Man didn’t quite understand. She looked at him and blinked. “It’s fine. My sleep quality is really good — five or six hours a night is more than enough for me.”

——After finishing dinner and heading home, it was usually between eleven and midnight. By the time she tidied up, showered, and dried her hair, it would be around one in the morning, and then she’d get up at six-thirty the next day.

“Staying up too late is bad for your health.” Lu Yuwen looked at her gently. “Besides, don’t you girls need that… beauty sleep? Is that how you say it?”

Su Man burst out laughing, then declared boldly, “I don’t need anything like that~”

Even without Lu Yuwen taking her out for dinner, she sometimes worked late-night DUI checkpoints and wouldn’t get home until the early hours of the morning — so beauty sleep had absolutely nothing to do with her.

Lu Yuwen listened, then nodded with an air of great seriousness and said, “You’re already beautiful enough. You really don’t need any more beautifying.”

Su Man: “……”

Could that really be interpreted that way?

Perhaps because she’d heard so many sweet words lately and had built up a resistance, Su Man didn’t blush this time. Instead, she smiled at him openly and replied, “I look pretty average, honestly. Not nearly as pretty as you.”

Lu Yuwen: “……”

Seeing that she’d flustered him, Su Man quickly added, “I mean — you’re very handsome! Dashing! Good-looking!”

When she complimented people, she did so with complete confidence and dignity, her large eyes utterly clear and her face full of sincerity. Lu Yuwen couldn’t help feeling a little self-conscious.

Then he thought — his fondness for her seemed to have grown just a little more.

He felt pleased at this realization. The corners of his mouth curved upward, and he asked Su Man, “You’re off work now. Are you free tonight?”

Su Man assumed he was taking her out to eat again, so she nodded and answered, “Yes, but give me a moment — I need to go home and change.”

“We’re not eating out tonight.” Lu Yuwen said. “Eating out takes too much time away from your rest. Can we eat at your place?”

Su Man paused and looked at him. “……Sure, but what would you like to eat? I’ll call Auntie Zhang and have her make something——”

“No need.” Lu Yuwen hooked the corner of his mouth into a smile and replied warmly, “I’ll cook dinner. Do you remember that Western meal we had a few days ago? I’ve had some new ideas I’d like to try. Would you taste-test for me?”

“Of course!” Su Man nodded immediately, looking genuinely pleased. Lately, with Lu Yuwen taking her to eat all sorts of things, she’d started to develop an interest in cooking.

“I need to call Auntie Zhang and let her know not to cook dinner tonight.” She pulled out her phone and asked Lu Yuwen with a smile, “Should we head to the supermarket now? What ingredients do you need?”

“No need — we can order online, and they’ll deliver quickly.” Lu Yuwen said. “Give me your home address and I’ll place the order now. By the time we get back, the groceries should arrive more or less on time.”

Su Man nodded readily. “Alright, that saves time.”

She sent her address to Lu Yuwen, then drove home together with him.

The road home from work was badly congested, but with someone else in the car to talk and laugh with, the time slipped by without her even noticing.

When they arrived home, Su Ma had just received the delivered goods and was standing in a daze, staring at a pile of ingredients.

The recipient’s name on the package was Su Man.

But why had her daughter suddenly ordered a whole pile of vegetables?

It wasn’t until she saw Lu Yuwen get out of the car alongside Su Man that Su Ma understood — these weren’t her daughter’s groceries.

……And yet, they were also her daughter’s groceries.

—