After finishing his conversation with Jiang Ruoqiao, Jiang Yan returned to his room.

He had wanted to spend a little more time alone with her, but she looked very tired.

The rooms at the rural homestay were all decorated to the standard of hotel twin rooms — about twenty to thirty square meters, with two single beds measuring 1.35 meters wide, and an en suite bathroom. Lu Siyan had originally wanted to find Jiang Ruoqiao, but since Jiang Ruoqiao had been called away by Jiang Yan, Lu Yicheng had no choice but to take him back to their room.

A 1.35-meter bed was already a little cramped for Lu Yicheng to sleep in alone, let alone with a small child added to the mix.

The owner knew this was an issue and brought them a mat to lay out on the floor as a makeshift bed.

By the time Jiang Yan returned to the room, Lu Yicheng had just come out of the bathroom with Lu Siyan.

Having been upgraded to the role of father, Lu Yicheng was now well-practiced in caring for Lu Siyan. He had washed his hands and wiped his face and back, and was now sitting on the bed holding him. Lu Yicheng then pulled out the baby powder he had bought at the supermarket earlier, carefully dusting it onto Lu Siyan’s neck, armpits, and the backs of his knees. Lu Siyan was prone to overheating, and if you weren’t careful, he would break out in heat rash.

Lu Siyan sat obediently on the bed. He had changed into his sleeping clothes and was now wearing only a little tank top and shorts — perfectly cool and comfortable.

He half-closed his eyes with an expression of pure contentment, letting his dad dust him with the powder.

Jiang Yan stood in the doorway watching for a moment, then laughed and said, “What are kids these days being fed to grow up so well-nourished?”

From where Jiang Yan stood, this little kid Lu Siyan really was something to look at.

His skin was very fair. He wasn’t particularly tall, but not short either. His build was on the slightly chubby side, and when he smiled he had dimples. His naturally curly hair made him even more adorable.

Beyond all that, this child didn’t fuss at all. His eyes were like black grapes — bright and clever-looking.

Among people their age, there were honestly very few who had the patience to deal with small children.

But Lu Siyan was an exception. Everyone who had come on this trip enjoyed teasing him, and he responded to each of them with a grinning smile.

He completely fulfilled their highest expectations of what a “little kid” should be — cute, chubby-cheeked, someone else’s child (meaning he wouldn’t bring them any trouble), lively yet well-mannered…

After Lu Yicheng finished applying the powder, he patted Lu Siyan’s hand. “Go on and lie down.”

Lu Siyan moved quickly, crawling to one side, propping himself against the pillow, pulling the blanket over himself, and assuming the posture of someone about to sleep.

The air conditioning in the room was doing its job well.

Lu Yicheng picked up the clothes Lu Siyan had changed out of and went to the bathroom. Children like to run around and tend to sweat a lot from the heat, so during the midday nap, Lu Yicheng would always have him change into a fresh set of clothes. In this kind of weather, the clothes he changed out of only needed a quick hand wash and an hour or two hanging outside in the sun to dry.

Lu Yicheng went to the bathroom to wash the clothes.

Jiang Yan sat down on the edge of the bed and studied Lu Siyan with great interest.

Lu Siyan wasn’t sleepy yet. Noticing Jiang Yan staring at him, he gave a soft huff, but said nothing.

Most of the time, as long as no one provoked him, Lu Siyan was a very well-mannered child.

The more Jiang Yan looked at him, the more he felt this child looked familiar.

Where had he seen him before?

He couldn’t place it.

Could it be that all good-looking children looked alike?

Lu Yicheng made quick work of washing the clothes, found a clothes hanger in the room, hung them on the retractable drying rack outside the window, and then closed the window.

Turning around, he noticed Jiang Yan staring fixedly at Lu Siyan. He lowered his gaze, walked over, and stepped in front of Jiang Yan’s line of sight. “What are you looking at?”

Jiang Yan rubbed his chin, and mimicking Lu Siyan, lay back on the bed against the pillow. He said offhandedly, “Nothing much. I just think your kid looks pretty familiar, like I’ve seen him somewhere before.”

Lu Yicheng: “……”

“He really does look like he’s yours,” Jiang Yan added casually. “Kind of looks like you.”

Lu Yicheng still said nothing. In silence, he turned and tucked the blanket more securely around Lu Siyan, then went to adjust the air conditioning vent so it wasn’t blowing directly at the head of the bed.

Jiang Yan was really just making small talk.

It was such a minor thing, and since Lu Yicheng gave no response, there was no reason to keep pressing it. He changed the subject. “You applied to live off campus — does that mean you’ll be staying at your own place from now on?”

Lu Yicheng shook his head. “No, I’ll find a place to rent near the school.”

“Huh.” Jiang Yan was a little curious. “Why did you suddenly decide to move out and rent a place? At first I thought you’d be living at home.”

Moving out to live at home was one thing, but moving out to rent near campus — that seemed unnecessary.

It all felt rather pointless.

Lu Yicheng found it genuinely exasperating.

The matter itself was simple enough, but the problem was that he couldn’t explain it just yet.

One lie always required another lie to cover it up. He disliked that, and after much deliberation, he decided to tell the truth. He pointed at Lu Siyan, who was lying in bed watching him with bright, rolling eyes. “I’ll be taking care of him going forward. Living at the dorms isn’t very convenient, and living at home would be too far.”

Jiang Yan was surprised. “You’re taking care of this kid?”

He almost blurted out “why.”

Why? Did this child have no parents? He swallowed the question back, because he didn’t know the full story, and bringing up parents in front of a child didn’t seem appropriate.

What if something had happened to this child’s parents that prevented them from being there for him?

Or what if this child’s parents were no longer around?

Bringing it up out of nowhere — if it upset the child, that would be bad.

Lu Yicheng answered, “Yes.”

Jiang Yan guessed the child must be a relative of Lu Yicheng’s. They shared the same surname, and Lu Yicheng had decided to look after him, so the relationship was clearly no ordinary one.

There wasn’t really any need to dig deeper. Presumably the child’s parents or other family members were unable to care for him, which was why it had fallen to Lu Yicheng.

Having been classmates for two years, Jiang Yan knew Lu Yicheng well — he was an exceptionally responsible person.

Jiang Yan sighed. He hadn’t expected so much to have happened over the course of one summer break. With that in mind, he said, “The three thousand I borrowed from you — I’ll transfer it back to you later. Things got so busy before that I forgot.”

Raising a child had to be expensive.

Lu Yicheng glanced at him. “Okay.”

Jiang Yan spoke almost to himself: “I was going to buy a bag for Ruoqiao as a birthday gift, but she wouldn’t accept it. After thinking it over, there’s really no point in overextending myself anyway. Better to save it and buy her something even nicer and more expensive later.”

Lu Yicheng said nothing.

Lu Siyan pursed his lips.

As the conversation drifted on, Jiang Yan put his hands behind his head. “Speaking of you renting a place — it reminded me of something. This semester, a colleague at my company finally scraped together enough for a down payment. From what I saw on his social media, he’s already signed the contract. I looked at the floor plan he posted — it’s not a big place, but it has three bedrooms: a master bedroom, a study, and a children’s room. Old Lu, I won’t lie, I was envious. When am I ever going to be able to buy a place and marry Ruoqiao?”

Lu Siyan was so annoyed he covered both ears. *Won’t listen, won’t listen, stop talking nonsense!!*

But Jiang Yan was on a roll and showed no signs of stopping. He continued, “My ideal is to hold my graduation certificate in one hand and my marriage certificate in the other. But these days, if I don’t buy a place first, asking her to rent with me after the wedding — I don’t feel right about that.”

In truth, Lu Yicheng was not a particularly good listener.

When it came to matters of the heart, no matter who asked him or confided in him, he was never able to offer anything useful.

Because he was single himself, had never been in a relationship, and had never liked anyone.

He had neither the theoretical knowledge nor any practical experience — what guidance could he possibly offer anyone?

Yet this time, anyone paying close attention would have noticed that Lu Yicheng was different.

Usually he would listen in silence, his expression perfectly calm.

Right now, however, a flash of impatience and suppressed emotion crossed his brow.

These feelings flickered past in an instant, impossible to catch. Even Lu Yicheng himself didn’t notice them.

Jiang Yan continued to fantasize about marrying Jiang Ruoqiao, but Lu Siyan had none of Lu Yicheng’s patience. He truly couldn’t take it anymore! Why did this person keep going on and on about marrying his mother!! It was so infuriating!!

Lu Siyan’s face flushed red with the effort of holding back, and finally he couldn’t contain himself. He said indignantly, “She won’t marry you!”

She won’t marry you!!

Jiang Yan was still caught somewhere between sweet agony — sweet because imagining Ruoqiao as his wife filled him with motivation, agony because the thought of housing prices in Jing Shi left him speechless…

The words came out of nowhere and caught him off guard. He sat up and looked over at Lu Siyan on the bed.

Lu Yicheng had already moved with swift reflexes to cover Lu Siyan’s mouth, warning him with a look.

Jiang Yan wasn’t offended — he actually found Lu Siyan adorable. He was bored enough at this point to feel like teasing a small child, so he said, “How would you know? She’s my girlfriend. We get along really well, we almost never argue, and she’s already said she’ll stay in Jing Shi after graduation. We’re definitely going to get married…”

Lu Siyan was fuming.

He desperately wanted to say, “You can say all that, but in the future you still didn’t marry my mom, and my mom still didn’t marry you, so there!” — but Lu Yicheng’s hand was over his mouth and he had no room to say anything.

Jiang Yan went on: “Little one, in all seriousness, I think you’re pretty cute. How about this — when I marry Ruoqiao, I’ll invite you to be the ring bearer, and I’ll give you a big red envelope…”

Lu Siyan felt agitated, furious, and on the verge of tears all at once.

*My mom would never marry you!!*

Hearing the part about being a ring bearer, Lu Siyan puffed up like an angry puffer fish. Perhaps because his mouth was covered and he had no outlet for his feelings, the emotion transformed into tears and spilled down his cheeks.

Lu Siyan’s tears dropped onto Lu Yicheng’s hand. He pulled back as if scalded, quickly releasing his hold.

Lu Yicheng looked at Lu Siyan’s red-rimmed eyes.

Jiang Yan’s words were still reverberating in his ears. He clenched his fist. The line of his jaw tightened. His gaze turned distant and cold. “Stop.”

Lu Yicheng’s tone carried something icy in it. “I’m telling you. Stop.”

Jiang Yan froze.

Two years as classmates and roommates, and this was the first time — the very first time — Jiang Yan had seen Lu Yicheng lose his temper. His voice was steady, yet laced with a thread of detachment and cold.

—