It was already close to nine o’clock. Usually at this time, Grandma would already be asleep. Chen An arrived at Grandma’s room, knocked on the open door, and said, “Are you two beauties tired from chatting? Let’s continue tomorrow.”

Cheng Lele’s little mouth that had been chattering nonstop finally stopped. “Oh right, it’s very late. Goodnight, Grandma.”

Grandma also said goodnight. Cheng Lele left the room. Chen An pointed at the yogurt on the table. “My mom made yogurt. Go try it.”

Cheng Lele said, “Thank you. Godmother is so thoughtful—making whatever I want to eat.”

As she spoke, she sat at the dining table with her legs crossed and started eating.

Chen An sat down in the adjacent seat. The dining room light consisted of three circular shapes with raised and recessed ripples, emitting a warm yellow glow. Cheng Lele’s voice was sweet and coquettish, and the air was full of the fragrance of cane sugar.

Chen An asked, “Is it good?”

Cheng Lele said, “Very good.”

“Let me taste it.”

Cheng Lele scooped a spoonful, but Chen An unexpectedly leaned close, lifted her chin, and pressed against her lips.

Cheng Lele retreated a bit and said softly, “We’re outside.”

“Oh, then we’ll kiss inside later.”

“Which inside?”

“Tonight you’re sleeping in my room.” Chen An pretended to calmly announce this news.

Cheng Lele was shocked and dismayed, crossing her hands over her chest. “Little brother, what are you planning to do?”

Chen An was exasperated and tugged her hair. “Just purely covering ourselves with a quilt and chatting. What could I do?”

Cheng Lele really wanted to say this was no different from “I’ll just rub it, I won’t go in,” but she didn’t dare say it, afraid little brother would criticize her for vulgar language.

Seeing Cheng Lele’s disbelieving attitude, Chen An laughed in frustration. “How about I sleep on the floor? There’s underfloor heating anyway.”

Cheng Lele readily agreed. “Okay.”

Chen An spat blood. “You’re really making me sleep on the floor?”

Cheng Lele said, “Then should I sleep there instead?”

“Fine, fine, fine. I’ll sleep. I’ll sleep.” Chen An said.

Seeing Chen An’s gloomy face, Cheng Lele said aggrievedly, “Didn’t you say you’d let me adapt gradually? It’s only been a few days. People should have integrity.”

Chen An didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “I have a bad back and especially enjoy sleeping on the floor. Is that acceptable now?”

“Ah, you have a bad back too? Then you definitely shouldn’t think about so many messy things.” Cheng Lele took the opportunity and ran with it.

Chen An fiercely pinched her cheeks. “Go take a bath first. My mom put out the pajamas on the sofa.”

“Oh.” Cheng Lele stood up, went to the sofa to get the pajamas, and shook them out to look. My goodness, these pajamas were so cool and breezy—what part of the body would they actually cover?

This, this was godmother’s pajamas? She couldn’t tell that godmother went for this wild style…

“What’s wrong?” Seeing that Cheng Lele hadn’t moved, Chen An was about to walk over when Cheng Lele immediately held the pajamas and said, “I’m going to thank godmother.”

Chen An pointed her in a direction. Cheng Lele ran to knock on the door, her voice very soft. “Godmother, are you asleep?”

Wang Liting was sitting on a single sofa in the corner flipping through a magazine. Hearing the voice, she hurriedly removed her face mask. “No, come in, Lele.”

Cheng Lele walked over. “Godmother, the yogurt you made was so delicious. Can I have another serving tomorrow morning?”

Wang Liting nodded. “I was worried I wouldn’t do it well the first time.”

Cheng Lele said, “Amazing! To be at this level the first time—you could open a shop tomorrow.” Seeing the wetness on her godmother’s face, she asked, “Godmother, did you do a face mask?”

Wang Liting said “Mm.” “Do you want to do one?”

Cheng Lele nodded like a pecking chicken. “My skin has been a bit poor lately. As soon as winter comes, my face gets dry. Do you have anything hydrating?”

“Then use this brand. My friend is its China regional general agent.”

“Wow. Is this very expensive?”

Wang Liting paused. “It’s okay to use it occasionally.”

Cheng Lele’s eyes curved. “No way, I’m going to mooch off you every time I come.”

Wang Liting had her go into the master bedroom bathroom to remove makeup and wash her face. The two exchanged thoughts about makeup removal troubles, mostly with Cheng Lele chattering away.

After washing, Wang Liting opened a face mask packet. Cheng Lele closed her eyes and offered her face. “Godmother, help me apply it.”

As Wang Liting unfolded a sheet and applied it to her face, she said, “I’m not very good at this.”

Cheng Lele said shamelessly, “My face is small. However you apply it, there’ll be excess. Just do it casually.”

Wang Liting smiled. “It is quite small. It’s not even as big as when you were little. When you were small, both sides of your face were chubby and plump. I always pinched you—I must have pinched you thin.”

Cheng Lele said, “Yes, I still remember every time godmother bought me a new dress, she forced me to bring my face to your hands to pinch. There was one dress that was pink with three layers of tulle and sequins sewn on. When you spun around, the skirt would poof out for a long time. I loved that dress so much. I wore it every day and wouldn’t let my mom wash it. After you heard about it, you bought me another identical one so I could alternate between them. I was so thrilled… My mom said if this continued, I’d be spoiled rotten by godmother.”

Wang Liting listened with a smile. As she listened, tears suddenly kept flowing out.

Cheng Lele had originally had her eyes closed. Only when she heard sniffling did she open them, getting a fright. “Godmother—”

She quickly pulled out a tissue. Wang Liting took it and said, “It’s fine. I’ve just been constantly thinking of your mother these past few days. People always wait until there’s no room for redemption before feeling deep regret. Lele, has your mother always been blaming me?”

Cheng Lele lowered her head, squatted down, and looked up at her godmother, comforting her in a very calm tone. “Godmother, my mother treated you that way because my dad died and she couldn’t bear the blow. Later she developed depression and got stuck in a dead end—she wouldn’t even let me see little brother. But before going to Beijing, she had recovered quite a bit. She didn’t see you or contact you, not because she still harbored resentment toward you, but because she had a new family in Beijing and was living a new life. She didn’t want the past related to Dad to disturb her anymore. Godmother, let’s all make peace with the past.”

Wang Liting wiped away her tears, bent down, and hugged Cheng Lele’s shoulders. “Lele, you’re a good child.”

Cheng Lele tried not to let the face mask touch Wang Liting’s clothes and said with her chin tucked, “No, I hurt little brother very deeply.”

Wang Liting said, “It’s all in the past.”

Cheng Lele said, “Mm, we shouldn’t mention past sufferings anymore. Looking forward is the right thing to do.”

Wang Liting released her hands. “Good, we’ll all look forward.”

Then Cheng Lele picked up the pajamas with sparse fabric. “Godmother, let’s not look too far forward either.”

Wang Liting said almost shyly, “This was a Valentine’s Day gift from my best friend many years ago. I’ve never worn it, never worn it.”

Cheng Lele giggled. “It’s fine even if you have worn it. It’s just that I definitely don’t want to wear it like this today.”

Wang Liting laughed along. “Oh, then let An’an keep waiting. I tried my best.” As she spoke, she opened the closet door and said, “You can pick for yourself. There’s cotton, and there’s also silk. There are nightgowns and pajama sets.”

“That light blue pajama set then.”

Wang Liting took it out and deliberately sighed. “An’an still has a long way to go. How about you sleep with me instead?”

Cheng Lele thought about it. “Forget it, if little brother gets angry, I’ll have to coax him again. He’s so petty.”

Wang Liting expressed agreement. “He is a bit. You should manage him.”

Cheng Lele quickly took the opportunity to complain. “How can I manage him? It’s good enough if he doesn’t manage me to death. Not allowed to see this person, not allowed to see that person. Today he even made me kneel as punishment.”

“Really?” Wang Liting was frightened. “Is he that ill-mannered? That won’t do. I’ll talk to him.”

Cheng Lele quickly held her back. “No, no. It was mainly because my legs went weak.”

The two whispered and gossiped about Chen An’s faults for quite a while. The victim came to knock on the door. “Cheng Lele, are you going to sleep or not?”

Cheng Lele stuck out her tongue. “See, there he goes managing again.”

Wang Liting said sympathetically, “Just bear with it.”

“Goodnight, godmother.”

“Goodnight.”

After Cheng Lele left, Wang Liting turned off the lights. She felt that her guess had indeed been correct. Maternal kindness and daughterly devotion was indeed much easier. A friend had said that giving birth to a son is not as good as making char siu pork, while giving birth to a daughter gives you one more little padded jacket. It made a lot of sense.