It was past five in the afternoon, the sun not yet down, and the heat outside was still intense.

Jiang Ruoqiao applied a very generous amount of sunscreen without complaint, opened her parasol, and headed out.

She found herself thinking the same thing she always thought on days like this: all for the sake of the child.

From A University to Lu Yicheng’s rental apartment, at her pace, was roughly ten minutes on foot.

While Jiang Ruoqiao was making her way over, Lu Yicheng was busy in the apartment. He had already made Lu Siyan’s dinner, and was now preparing the vegetable salad separately for Jiang Ruoqiao. He discovered there was no salad dressing in the house and made a sprint to the small shop outside the complex at maximum speed, carefully selecting a bottle. On the way back, it occurred to him that something was missing. It wasn’t until he lifted his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead that he suddenly realized — it was early September, still extremely hot, and regardless of whether she walked or rode a bicycle, she was going to be very warm when she arrived.

Lu Yicheng thought for a moment, went back to the living room, closed the balcony door, closed both bedroom doors, retrieved an air conditioning remote from the top shelf of a cabinet, and turned on the floor-standing air conditioner in the living room.

Lu Siyan was sitting on the sofa, having been sweating from head to toe only moments before. He saw his father do all of this, and just as he was about to feel pleased about it, grasped the key point — and pursed his lips. “When I’m hot, Dad doesn’t listen and doesn’t turn on the air conditioner. Mom’s about to arrive and Dad’s worried Mom will be hot, worried Mom will be unhappy — so now Dad turns on the air conditioner.”

Well…

Lu Yicheng had a very sound counter-argument. “Don’t make me sound so miserly. Don’t I turn on the air conditioner at night when you sleep?”

He went on to explain: “When you spend most of the day in the air-conditioned kindergarten, if you then spend the rest of the time in air conditioning at home too, it’s not actually good for you — you can get sick from too much air conditioning.”

Lu Siyan’s retort came from a very sharp angle: “But you turned it on now.”

Lu Yicheng said with perfect seriousness: “So would you prefer that your mom arrives and is very hot? She worked all day — she deserves to be comfortable.”

When it came to Mom being tired and deserving comfort, Lu Siyan naturally had no objections to that.

“Don’t make a fuss around her today,” Lu Yicheng added. “Let her rest.”

Lu Siyan huffed with great dignity: “Nobody loves my mom more than me.”

“Good.” Lu Yicheng went back to the kitchen, closing the kitchen door behind him as well — that way the living room would cool down faster.

…

When Jiang Ruoqiao arrived, she was indeed very warm.

But the moment she stepped through the door, a wave of cool air washed over her, and she couldn’t help but feel: air conditioning is what sustains life itself.

It was a relief that Lu Yicheng didn’t make cost-effectiveness calculations about things like this. He turned on the air conditioning without any fuss.

Lu Yicheng had finished making the vegetable salad for Jiang Ruoqiao.

Calling it a vegetable salad, you’d have a hard time spotting a single leafy green — which satisfied Jiang Ruoqiao. But… the dressing itself could have high calorie content too!

Apparently reading her dilemma, a faint smile appeared in Lu Yicheng’s eyes as he explained gently: “The shop in the complex is quite small and didn’t have many brands of salad dressing. I picked the one with the lowest calorie count.”

Jiang Ruoqiao looked at him in surprise. “How did you know that’s what I was worried about?”

Lu Yicheng considered. “I suppose because you’re always thinking about calorie counts and such, I’ve gotten into the habit of doing the same.”

Jiang Ruoqiao: “…”

She clarified: “I’m not like this all the time — it’s just because I have a shoot in the latter half of the month. My employer is offering very good compensation. Once the contract is done, I’ll go back to eating more healthily.”

Lu Yicheng nodded, wiped his hands, and glanced at the time. “I’m heading out now. I’ll try to get back as soon as I can — so I don’t keep you from getting back to the dormitory.”

Jiang Ruoqiao said: “Go take care of what you need to. Don’t rush on my account.”

After Lu Yicheng left, it was just Lu Siyan and Jiang Ruoqiao in the apartment.

Lu Siyan had already eaten dinner. He was sitting across from her now, his small pudgy hands propped under his chin, watching her. “Mom, is it good?”

Jiang Ruoqiao assessed it honestly. “These kinds of things are never really good.”

Compared to hotpot and barbecue, this vegetable salad was of course not going to taste particularly wonderful.

Lu Siyan kept staring at the bowl of vegetable salad.

Jiang Ruoqiao speared a shrimp on her fork and held it out to Lu Siyan. “Try one.”

Lu Siyan snapped it up in one bite, chewed it thoughtfully… and said: “Still not as good as Dad’s tomato prawn stir-fry.”

Jiang Ruoqiao put on a suffering face: “I know…”

When she finished, Lu Yicheng had already told her in advance to just leave the bowl in the kitchen sink — he’d wash it when he got back. But she clearly hadn’t yet built up enough shamelessness to go that far. After eating, she got up on her own and went to the kitchen, washing the bowl and the fork until they were spotless.

Lu Siyan was in the senior class now. Jiang Ruoqiao had just discovered that kindergarten gave homework too.

Though kindergarten homework was nothing like elementary school homework.

Kindergarten homework was simple. Today, for instance, Lu Siyan’s assignment was to draw a picture.

After finishing, parents had to take a photo and send it to the class parent group for the teacher to review.

Jiang Ruoqiao sat beside Lu Siyan at his small study desk. Under the lamplight, Lu Siyan’s lashes were long and curling as he bent over his drawing with great concentration, holding his colored pens and pencil. A child’s brushstrokes are unsteady, but endearing — Jiang Ruoqiao watched and pulled out her phone, angling this way and that to capture her little Siyan at his most handsome. She took several dozen photos, then agonized over choosing one. She normally only needed to send one photo to the parent group, but three of the shots had come out beautifully — which one should she post??

A terrible dilemma.

Jiang Ruoqiao had been about to send them to Lu Yicheng to decide.

But then thought — he was at work.

In the end she made the difficult choice herself, switched to a secondary WeChat account, and posted one photo of Lu Siyan drawing with focus and seriousness in the “Happy Breeze Kindergarten Senior Class (3)” group, tagging all three teachers.

The parent group was slowly filling up as other parents sent their own photos and tagged the teachers — that was the homework completed.

After finishing the assignment, Lu Siyan let out a deep breath of relief.

He also found it extremely annoying — why was there homework every single day?!

The time spent together between the two of them was comfortable and warm. Lu Siyan was very good — he went to the bathroom on his own, washed his hair, took his bath, drank his milk, and then dutifully brushed his teeth. Afterward he came back and specifically showed off to Jiang Ruoqiao: “Mom, are my teeth white?”

Lu Siyan had excellent habits. After eating snacks or candy, he would brush and rinse.

Jiang Ruoqiao: “The whitest in the world!”

Someone with good hygiene habits — whether a child or an adult — was always very impressive.

Lu Siyan liked to look at books before sleep, but tonight he had a special request: he wanted to play with his sticker book. That was something Jiang Ruoqiao had bought for him — Lu Yicheng had no idea where he’d put it, and naturally wasn’t going to let Lu Siyan know that. There was nothing to be done — Jiang Ruoqiao called Lu Yicheng, who picked up almost immediately: “Hello?”

Jiang Ruoqiao asked: “Where did you put the sticker book I bought for Siyan? He wants to play with it.”

Lu Yicheng thought for a moment. “In the second drawer of the study room.”

Lu Yicheng had converted the slightly smaller of the two rooms into a study. For him, this was essential — his part-time work at his senior’s company sometimes required him to be on the computer late in the evening, and not wanting to disturb Siyan’s sleep, he had specifically looked for an apartment with two bedrooms when he first rented the place.

Jiang Ruoqiao asked: “Can I go in?”

Bedrooms and studies felt like more private spaces to her.

The bedroom was unavoidable — Siyan had to sleep, and she needed to be in there with him.

The study, though — she thought she should ask.

Lu Yicheng: “Of course.”

He added: “There’s nothing in my study.”

Jiang Ruoqiao couldn’t hold back a laugh. “Alright then.”

The way he said that.

She turned the handle and opened the study door. She had been inside when the real estate agent had shown the apartment, and then again when she came for his birthday, but she hadn’t come back to the study since. Now, looking around, she was pleasantly surprised — Lu Yicheng had made it into quite a lovely space. It wasn’t only a study, but also a little reading nook for a child. A cheerful giraffe bookshelf held a whole collection of picture books, some in English, some in Chinese.

There was a small desk with a closed black laptop on it, and a little desk lamp. A few books were also on the desk — one look at the covers told her they were the kind of specialized textbooks she wouldn’t understand in the slightest.

The phone call was still connected.

Following his instructions, Jiang Ruoqiao opened the second drawer and found the sticker book right away. But as she picked it up, she noticed there was a small notebook underneath it.

She was a little curious. “There’s a notebook under the sticker book — is that also for Siyan?”

On the other end, Lu Yicheng paused briefly, then answered: “No, that’s my account book.”

“Oh?” That was somewhat unexpected. Jiang Ruoqiao — whether it was a stereotype or not — had never come across a man who kept a written expense log before. She remarked casually: “Can I look at it?”

She was curious to see how he managed to economize.

Lu Yicheng didn’t respond.

Jiang Ruoqiao then realized: she might have crossed a line.

Right — this sort of thing was personal. She said: “Oh, sorry — I was just saying it out loud. Don’t worry, I haven’t opened it.”

Lu Yicheng said quietly: “No, I’m not refusing. I just — my account book is very dull. If you want to look, feel free. It’s not a private thing.”

Jiang Ruoqiao suppressed a smile. “Alright.”

After hanging up, she thought she’d put the account book back.

She wasn’t particularly eager to read it — but then she hesitated… Maybe just a glance? He had said it was fine, after all.

She’d see how he spent and saved money in ordinary life — perhaps she could learn something valuable from it?

Jiang Ruoqiao took both the sticker book and the account book back to the bedroom.

Lu Siyan was already sitting up on the bed waiting.

Jiang Ruoqiao handed him the sticker book, which made him whoop with delight. The book was perfectly suited to Lu Siyan’s tastes — he was fascinated by all kinds of vehicles, and this sticker book was entirely vehicle-themed.

She settled into the chair nearby and, with great solemnity, opened the account book.

The second page recorded a starting date for a particular year.

Last year.

She had imagined it would be dull, but found herself reading with genuine fascination.

Things like: such-and-such date, toothpaste twelve yuan, laundry powder twenty-eight yuan.

Textbook fifty yuan…

Oh, there was even a meal out — forty-eight yuan? A large-portion spicy mixed hot pot?

And then certain months: tissues, cotton socks.

Until she reached a date that looked strangely familiar —

Today’s expenses: dumpling wrappers, two fifty; pork, twenty-eight; two bunches of green onions (given for free)…

She opened her phone calendar and cross-checked.

This date… this date was New Year’s Eve.

He had been alone, hadn’t he? Yes — he had been alone.

He had spent New Year’s Eve making dumplings for himself and eaten them as his New Year’s dinner? Jiang Ruoqiao’s gaze lingered, growing still. Something about it created a complicated feeling inside her that she couldn’t quite name.

If her own maternal grandparents were also gone… she would have spent New Year’s alone too.

She dug through her bag for the sticky notes and a pen she always kept on hand.

After a moment’s thought, she drew an outrageously exaggerated gold ingot on the sticky note, and wrote a row of small characters beside it: You’re going to be wealthy someday.

Done, she stuck it on the cover of the account book, then put the account book back exactly where it had been.

She truly meant it — she genuinely believed that Lu Yicheng would be wealthy someday.

Someone who lived with this much effort and dedication — if a person like that didn’t end up with something good in return, then the world would have truly gone to pieces.

Evening fell.

Lu Yicheng and Li Ge had finally resolved a tricky system problem. He glanced at the time — it was already eight o’clock. He had to get back.

He was just gathering his things when Li Ge walked over with a cup of water. “Sorry for putting you through all this today. Everyone else went on vacation, and when I thought about it, you were probably the only one who could help me with this.”

Lu Yicheng: “Of course.”

Li Ge took a sip, then seemed to remember something and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Listen, the Mid-Autumn Festival isn’t far off. Our company may be small, but we believe in providing all the proper benefits. Have a look — take whatever you’d like. Think of it as your Mid-Autumn gift.”

Lu Yicheng hesitated for a moment, then followed Li Ge to the break room.

There was indeed a sizable collection of things.

There were mooncakes — those he was not even going to consider. Bring them back and Siyan would eat them all. The kindergarten’s app had posted an article reminding parents that children should eat very little of high-fat, high-sugar foods like mooncakes.

There were also paper tissues, cooking oil, and bagged rice.

These practical household items were what Lu Yicheng had been about to consider — but then his gaze happened to drift to a beautifully packaged box, and he stopped. “Li Ge, what’s that?”

Li Ge glanced over. “A coffee cup, I think.”

Lu Yicheng walked over and picked it up to examine closely.

It was indeed a coffee cup — and a rather elegant-looking one. It was from a certain well-known brand, and quite beautiful.

“I want this one,” Lu Yicheng said. “Is that alright?”

Li Ge was genuinely surprised. “Of course — but what do you want it for? You don’t even drink coffee.”

He had fully expected Lu Yicheng to choose the tissues or the oil and rice.

Lu Yicheng said nothing.

“Alright, take it then.”

Ten minutes or so later, Lu Yicheng stepped into the subway carriage, holding the coffee cup box with careful, protective arms — keeping it safe the entire journey.