Ji Shi escorted Zhou Mi to the lobby of Building Six and placed the packages by the elevator: “I’ll leave them here. Will you be alright going up alone?”

Zhou Mi quickly said: “No problem, no problem! I can handle even heavier things at the office.”

Ji Shi said, “Alright then, I’ll be going.”

Zhou Mi paused, remembering something: “Wait a moment.”

Zhou Mi took off her canvas bag from her shoulder, pulled out a Fujiya chocolate bar, and stuttered slightly: “Thank you… for helping…”

Ji Shi paused, smiling as he accepted it: “No problem.”

Zhou Mi blinked twice: “So, goodbye?”

Ji Shi nodded: “Goodbye.”

As he turned and left, his back view resembled those male students whom, after spotting them on campus avenues, one couldn’t help wanting to quickly overtake just to steal a glance at their face.

Zhou Mi watched him walk down the steps until he disappeared into the night.

Then she exhaled, bent down, and lifted the stack of packages once more.

Upon arriving home, Auntie Chen saw her with hands full again as if moving house, and quickly ran over to help with her slippers and share the burden of the heavy items.

Zhou Mi lowered her head to change shoes, unable to resist raising her eyes to quickly scan the entire visible area of the house.

Auntie Chen noticed her searching expression and quickly said, “Mr. Zhang hasn’t returned yet.”

“Oh, I wasn’t looking for him,” Zhou Mi muttered, putting her Mary Jane shoes back in the cabinet with a thud as she closed it.

Auntie Chen asked enthusiastically: “Mimi, what would you like to eat today?”

Zhou Mi crouched down to organize the packages: “I won’t eat, I had dinner late today, I’m not hungry.”

Auntie Chen nodded and returned to the open kitchen.

Zhou Mi moved the items from the entryway to an open space, then went to her room to get her utility knife and began unwrapping them one by one.

The two large boxes from her mother indeed contained her books and snacks, as well as some summer clothes, both old and new.

Zhou Mi then unwrapped her online purchases: a cosmetic bag with bear embroidery, a pink bunny storage pouch, a Melody organizer box, a milk-white mother-of-pearl wind chime, stickers and wall calendars, star string lights, and the recently popular sunset lamp perfect for photos—all small items intended to enrich and decorate her new bedroom.

While checking her phone to confirm if the seller had missed anything, she noticed Ji Shi had already accepted her friend request.

He must have arrived home already and, without any perfunctory greetings, had sent a photo of a dog. Judging by the dimensions, it seemed to be taken directly from the chat interface without any filters.

The dog had its tongue out, looking utterly silly.

It was sent one minute ago.

Zhou Mi, still crouching, replied promptly: What’s his name?

Ji Shi corrected: Her.

Zhou Mi hastily amended: Noted.

Changing the pronoun, she asked: Then what’s her name?

Ji Shi said: Nake.

Zhou Mi paused: Don’t tell me the other one is called Lulu.

Ji Shi replied: Mm.

Zhou Mi asked: Is she a girl too?

Ji Shi said: Yes, but she made a mistake and is reflecting on the balcony now. I’ll send you her photo another time.

Zhou Mi smiled: They’re both females, do they have conflicts living together?

Ji Shi said: They do, but sometimes they get along well.

Zhou Mi was curious: Do they listen to you? Beagles should be quite difficult to control, right?

There was no reply from the other end.

Zhou Mi’s scalp tightened with a numb feeling as she reviewed the previous exchanges.

Why did he suddenly go silent? Was it because I spoke ill of beagles?

Just as she was feeling dejected, Ji Shi unexpectedly sent a short video.

She opened it to see a beagle obediently sitting on the floor, panting. Its two large brown ears drooped, and its black eyes were watery.

“Naked, stand up.”

The dog immediately stood up.

“Lie down.”

It flattened to the ground like a rag.

“Roll over.”

It nimbly performed a 360-degree roll.

“Very good, come.”

In the video, his gentle commands could be heard. Finally, the dog sprinted over, raised to paw at him, its face almost filling the screen. The man’s slender, beautiful hand appeared at the bottom of the screen, feeding her some food and then rubbing her forehead.

The video ended abruptly there.

Zhou Mi watched it again, amazed: She’s so well-behaved! How did you manage that?

Ji Shi said: Patience for patience.

He added: And tears.

Zhou Mi’s lips curved upward as she replied with an Ultraman thumbs-up “Awesome” sticker.

The chat window went quiet again.

Zhou Mi waited a while longer, confirming that the client probably wouldn’t reply further, before putting her phone back in her pocket.

She stood up, looked at the miscellaneous boxes and items scattered on the floor, and suddenly felt a bit at a loss about where to start. After pondering for a moment, she decided to proceed methodically, first organizing her mother’s large boxes into her bedroom.

—

As soon as Zhang Lian entered the door, his eyes were caught by the floor display comparable to a night market stall. His brows furrowed slightly as he changed into slippers.

He walked around the items, his gaze sweeping past the open door of the second bedroom before heading straight to the kitchen after washing his hands.

When Zhou Mi came out after organizing some books, she discovered Zhang Lian had already returned. He stood behind the bar counter, holding a water glass in one hand and his phone in the other, focused intently.

She quickly averted her gaze and took two large strides to organize the boxes, gathering all her small items.

The objects were numerous and scattered, and her excessively hasty movements caused a small organizer box to fall to the floor with a distinct “plop” in the spacious, quiet house.

Her first instinct was to look at Zhang Lian.

He was indeed watching her, his expression and gaze faint, like diluted twilight.

Feeling exposed, Zhou Mi became flustered, hurriedly bending to pick it up. Her movement was a bit too large, causing all the items she held to inadvertently slip out, creating a loud, embarrassing clatter.

Zhou Mi blushed to her ears, crouching to gather everything again, completely flustered.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed Zhang Lian approaching.

He always carried an undeniable presence, and when he truly stopped beside her, this feeling escalated to an extremely strong sense of pressure and aggression.

Especially today, dressed all in black—black shirt, black pants.

Combined with his cold-toned pale skin, he resembled the Grim Reaper.

Zhou Mi’s movements accelerated as the man was already bending down to help her collect things.

Zhou Mi bit her teeth, pretending not to see him, focusing intently on his jointed left hand, watching which item on the ground he was about to touch, then grabbing it with maximum speed first and stuffing it back into her arms.

Packaging rustled as Zhang Lian grabbed at space twice.

His hand hovered for a moment before making the same movement a third time. Zhou Mi repeated her earlier behavior, quickly extending her hand.

Her hand was suddenly intercepted midway.

Zhang Lian gripped her fingers.

Zhou Mi hadn’t anticipated this at all. Her heart leaped violently, as if about to jump out of her throat.

As if foreseeing her struggle, the man applied some pressure in advance, preventing her from succeeding.

Where their skin touched, there was a significant temperature difference, each infiltrating the other.

Zhou Mi’s back tightened, arching slightly as if activating a defense mechanism. She swallowed, pulling harder toward herself, attempting to escape the restraint.

However, it was useless.

Her hand was like a finch, unable to move.

Only a narrow blue and white checked paper bag remained on the ground.

Zhang Lian picked it up with his right hand, unhurriedly placed it in the gap of her hand that he controlled, helped her grip it firmly, and then released her.

His cold voice melted and penetrated at the roots of her hair like snow particles: “If you had shown even the slightest genuine unwillingness, I would never force anything on you.”

He straightened up and turned away.

Zhou Mi’s nasal passages slightly blocked, her eyelids fluttering rapidly as she tightly hugged those items and quickly walked back to her room.