With her three daily meals secured, Cen Jin's holiday anxiety eased, allowing her to settle down and diligently work from home as an advertising grunt.
Li Wu also lived each day to the fullest. Beyond his daily routines, cooking, and studies, he allocated two hours of free time to assemble the Lego set Cen Jin had gifted him.
Every afternoon from two to four, the moment the clock struck, the boy would put aside his schoolwork, sit on the study floor, and focus entirely on building according to the instructions.
By New Year's Eve, the intricate and exquisite castle had taken shape, lacking only minor, inconsequential details.
Waking up, Cen Jin passed by the study and immediately spotted the massive fairytale castle on the cabinet, as if Disneyland had been magically miniaturized and brought home.
Instantly alert, she approached to admire it from all angles and even took a photo to commemorate it.
But more than the finished product itself, she was astonished by Li Wu's terrifying efficiency and asked if he had secretly worked on it overnight.
The boy, sitting behind the desk, twirled his pen and denied it: "No, after looking at the instructions and the bricks, I had the structure in mind, so I worked faster."
Cen Jin leaned against the doorframe, unsure whether to praise or tease him: "I didn't realize you were such a prodigy."
Li Wu: "..."
He exceeded expectations in many ways, and Cen Jin felt an inexplicable sense of threat.
Not wanting to fall behind, she crossed her arms and immediately reclaimed her authority and confidence from her area of expertise: "How come you put so much effort into English, yet it's always just a bit off?"
Li Wu was silent for two seconds: "I don't know."
Cen Jin asked: "Did you bring back your final exam papers?"
Li Wu said: "Yes."
Cen Jin walked in, pulled out a chair, and sat diagonally across from him: "Let me see them."
Li Wu looked at her: "Aren't you going to eat breakfast first?"
"Later, I'm not hungry."
Li Wu rummaged through his backpack, pulled out the final exam papers, and placed them on the desk.
Cen Jin glanced at them; the stack of papers was still very "Li Wu-style"—neat and orderly as always, held together by a black binder clip.
Li Wu removed the clip and quickly found the English test paper and answer sheet.
Cen Jin propped her chin in her hand, watching his movements, and added a request: "Let me see your science answer sheet too."
Li Wu lifted his eyelids, somewhat surprised.
"Isn't it full marks? I want to pay homage," she said amusingly, not hiding her sudden whim.
"...Okay." Li Wu pulled it out and handed it to Cen Jin along with the English papers.
Cen Jin first examined his science answer sheet.
As an arts student who had long left her high school days behind, the problem-solving steps were like gibberish to her. However, she could confirm that the boy's handwriting was clean and fluid, without a single correction, showcasing his confidence.
Cen Jin asked curiously: "Did you check your answers after finishing?"
Li Wu replied: "I did."
Cen Jin asked: "Not a single doubt?"
Li Wu said: "Not a single miscalculation."
"Oh..." Knowing he was telling the truth and not showing off, it still sounded irritating and stinging. Cen Jin twisted the hair by her ear, returned the answer sheet to him, and dryly praised: "Pretty impressive."
She straightened up, returned to the main topic, and began analyzing his English paper.
"Only three points higher than last time," Cen Jin frowned slightly, flipping through the pages: "Cloze seems to be your weak spot, and the essay—it's too rigid. Just stacking fixed sentence patterns doesn't make a good essay."She skimmed through it briefly, then returned to the first page: "Your listening skills are quite good. It seems the MP3 I gave you earlier had some effect."
"Mm."
"If you want to improve further, rote memorization alone might not be very useful for you," Cen Jin suggested. "Starting tomorrow, try watching some American or British TV shows—raw versions without subtitles. The Big Bang Theory should be quite suitable for a science-oriented kid like you."
Li Wu seemed like someone from ancient times: "Raw versions?"
Cen Jin sighed inwardly and explained: "It means foreign-language films without Chinese subtitles. You'll have to try to understand the meaning of each line yourself."
As a veteran who had battled through the IELTS exam, Cen Jin’s English reinforcement training went beyond this—it had to permeate every aspect of daily life: "From now on, we can try speaking in English at home occasionally. I don’t expect you to be fluent, just try to form coherent sentences and express yourself clearly to me."
Li Wu was dumbfounded.
Cen Jin stared at him intently, her gaze conveying warm encouragement: "Try it now. Say something to me in English."
Li Wu felt his scalp tingle under her stare, his ears burning as if on fire.
"Don’t be afraid, look at me," thinking he was nervous, Cen Jin maintained her smile like a patient mentor: "Be more confident, just like when you solve physics problems."
Li Wu didn’t dare meet her eyes directly, feeling as if a powerful force was tugging and colliding in his chest, making it almost impossible to speak. But Cen Jin was still waiting, so he forced himself to calm down, curling his knuckles under the table until they faintly cracked, before managing to squeeze out a relatively coherent sentence: "Could you please go for breakfast?"
He was still hung up on this. Cen Jin was both impressed and exasperated, letting out a helpless laugh: "Ok, fi—ne, as u wish."
—
Due to a Spring Festival custom in Yi City where laundry is traditionally avoided until after the fifth day of the lunar new year, that afternoon, with nothing else to do, Cen Jin gathered several sweaters she had only worn once from the bedroom coat rack, tossed them into the laundry basket, and carried it to the washing machine on the balcony.
Li Wu’s two-hour Lego time was replaced with American TV shows.
The sitcom Cen Jin recommended was indeed interesting, but the main characters spoke extremely fast and occasionally threw in technical terms, forcing him to frequently pause, look up word meanings, and piece together the dialogue.
What made him most uncomfortable, however, were the repeatedly explicit conversations in the show.
After encountering the word "coitus" for the third time, Li Wu couldn’t take it anymore and paused the show.
He checked the time and decided to get some fresh air on the terrace.
The surroundings were clear, the sky bright and pale. Li Wu squinted slightly, leaning against the European-style iron railing, letting the wind brush through his palms and fingers.
Once he confirmed his distracting thoughts had dissipated, he headed back inside, his peripheral vision accidentally catching the fully loaded drum washing machine.
He paused. It had finished washing a while ago—why hadn’t she come to hang the laundry?
Walking back to the hallway, Li Wu noticed Cen Jin’s bedroom door was closed and guessed she might already be taking a nap, having completely forgotten about the laundry.
The compulsive housekeeping tendencies within him stirred restlessly. Unable to resist, he returned to the balcony, bent down to open the washing machine door, and carefully removed each sweater. He shook them out gently but firmly, slipped them onto hangers, meticulously arranged them, smoothed out the wrinkles, and finally hung them neatly on the retractable clothesline.The scent of laundry pods drifted on the wind, like some pleasant flower.
After finishing the hanging, the daylight was bright. Li Wu let out a sigh and stood in the breeze, admiring his orderly work.
His gaze slid from left to right, pausing abruptly at the end of the clothesline before swiftly looking away.
A matching set of women's underwear hung on the rack—pure black, simple in style, with only a lace trim.
This was the third time he’d seen it.
But every time was the same:
They were open and unashamed, while his thoughts ran wild.
An indescribable heat surged within him. Li Wu didn’t linger any longer and ran back to the study without a backward glance.
—
Cen Jin slept until five o’clock.
In her line of work, overtime was more routine than meals, making it hard to keep regular hours. Now, with the holiday, it had gotten even worse—her body clock was completely out of sync, unable to distinguish day from night.
Cen Jin washed her face and shuffled lazily back to the living room in her slippers.
The lights were on, and someone was already bustling around the kitchen, preparing the New Year’s Eve dinner.
Feeling a bit ashamed after sleeping all afternoon, Cen Jin hurried over, rolling up her sleeves to offer help: "Little brother, is there anything I can do?"
Her tone was slightly coquettish yet playful, the way she pronounced "little brother" in the second tone—it was the first time she’d spoken to him like this.
Li Wu’s shoulders stiffened, his hand on the knife handle freezing mid-air as he turned around, somewhat at a loss. "You’re awake."
"Yeah," Cen Jin returned to her normal tone. "What about you? Did you watch any dramas this afternoon?"
"I did."
"How was it?"
"Good," Li Wu didn’t want to hide his true feelings, "but it’s still a bit hard to understand."
"Take your time. Even at my level, I might not understand everything. The main point of having you watch is to train your sensitivity to sentences and vocabulary."
"Mm," Li Wu went back to mincing the garlic. After a moment, he thought he should still mention it to Cen Jin and looked over at the woman who was peering around, trying to join in the New Year’s Eve dinner preparations. "I hung up the clothes from the washing machine for you."
Cen Jin suddenly remembered. "Oh, right, I forgot." She rubbed her temples with two fingers, looking troubled. "My sleep schedule’s been all over the place lately, and my memory’s taken a nosedive. Thanks."
Li Wu said, "No problem."
"Are you making garlic shrimp?" Cen Jin poked at the cleaned and prepared shrimp in a nearby bowl, picking one up to examine it closely.
She noticed the back had been slit open, the dark vein thoroughly cleaned out. Just as she was about to compliment him, the shrimp suddenly twitched, slipping from her fingers and falling to the floor. Cen Jin let out a startled cry, backing away two steps and stumbling against Li Wu’s arm.
Li Wu reacted quickly, dropping the knife with a clatter and turning to steady her.
Her back collided directly with his chest. The impact wasn’t hard, but his heart felt like it was about to leap out of his ribcage. He froze on the spot.
Her soft hair brushed against his neck, and as she turned her head, it swept over his Adam’s apple, sending an unbearable itch through him. His throat went dry, and he felt short of breath.
The next moment, Li Wu’s hand jerked away from her shoulder as if scalded, dropping to his side and clenching into a tight fist.
Seeing his slightly strained expression, Cen Jin quickly put some distance between them, concerned. "Did I hurt you?"
"No." Li Wu bent down to pick up the shrimp, taking the opportunity to take a few deep breaths and calm his racing heart. God only knew how much he had wanted to wrap his arms around her in that moment. Thankfully, he had managed to control himself, not letting himself get carried away or lose his mind.
Li Wu stood up, running water over the shrimp, trying to wash away the lingering sensation on his fingertips.The woman smelled so fragrant, like the clothes he had hung out to dry that afternoon, while his hands reeked of garlic. The boy sniffed lightly, his face flushing crimson. Not daring to lift his head, he kept it lowered as he tossed the shrimp back into the bowl and absentmindedly chopped the scallions into sections. He deliberately minimized the range of his elbow movements, afraid of accidentally brushing against Cen Jin again. After a moment, he finally spoke in a subdued voice, "Sis."
Cen Jin showed no particular reaction, focused intently on picking through the fresh green pea sprouts beside her. "Hmm?"
"Does your shoulder smell like garlic?" he asked with great effort. "I think I touched it earlier."
Cen Jin shrugged and tilted her head to sniff. "It does."
"..."
"It's not a big deal. I don't mind garlic."
"Okay."
...
Though this year's New Year's Eve dinner couldn't compare to the lavish feasts of previous years when Cen Jin's whole family gathered—complete with exotic delicacies and rare treasures rivaling a full Manchu-Han banquet—it was still exquisite and varied: a assorted cured meats platter, garlic shrimp, charcoal-grilled lamb chops, shredded pork with yellow chives, steamed fish with black bean sauce, and stir-fried pea sprouts, all appealing in color, aroma, and taste.
Li Wu seemed naturally gifted in cooking. Several of these dishes were his first attempts, yet their flavors rivaled those from restaurants. Cen Jin ate heartily, even enjoying some red wine to enhance the mood. After the meal, she supported her full stomach while helping Li Wu clean up, washing the dishes. When they were nearly done, she returned to the living room, turned on the TV for the Spring Festival Gala as background noise, and video-called her dad.
The call connected quickly, her father's face crinkling into a smile on the screen. "Jinjin, I saw the photos of the New Year's Eve dinner you sent. Did you and Li Wu make it?"
Cen Jin chuckled. "Li Wu made it. I was just an assistant, a mere bystander."
"Your mom was stunned, saying how young that kid is to already cook such a full table of dishes, even better than her," Cen's father said, peering around curiously. "Hey? Why are you alone? Where's the boy?"
Cen Jin glanced toward the kitchen to confirm. "He's still wiping things down in the kitchen, being very diligent."
"How can you let him do all the work? Shouldn't you, as the older one, take care of him?" Her mother's face squeezed into the frame, accompanied by her usual scolding.
Cen Jin defended herself, "I just helped him wash the dishes, okay? He has high standards and insists on everything being spotless."
"Good, it's good to be clean," Cen's father smiled even wider. "Call him over. It's been months, and your mom and I haven't seen him yet."
"Okay," Cen Jin responded, raising her voice. "Li Wu—"
The boy, still focused on wiping the sink, turned to look.
"My parents want to see you. Do you want to see them?" Cen Jin turned the phone toward him briefly. "It's okay if you're shy—no pressure. Our family is very democratic."
Li Wu fell silent.
His eyes were like still lake water, quiet and innocent, making Cen Jin feel as if she were forcing a good girl into prostitution.
Just as she was about to decline on his behalf, the boy had already untied his apron and strode back into the living room.
"He's here," Cen Jin's mood lifted, and she announced cheerfully, waving her arm. "Get ready to see your handsome, grown-up grandson."
Li Wu: "?"
Cen's mother grumbled to her husband, "Look at your daughter and her nonsense talk."
Cen's father remained indulgent, chuckling. "She takes after you—children's words carry no harm."
Li Wu took the phone, feeling both awkward and an indescribable subtlety, a mix of emotions warring in his heart.
So, by the time he actually met the gaze of Cen Jin's parents, his face was already flushed bright red.The elderly couple seemed momentarily stunned, unsure whether it was due to his appearance or something else.
He sat back on the sofa, stammering slightly with his thick lashes half-lowered, then forced himself to meet their gaze politely: "Hello, Uncle. Hello, Auntie."
Cen's mother was the first to respond, her eyes curving into smiles: "Ah! Hello, Li Wu, nice to meet you."
Cen's father followed closely, praising: "Oh, this kid is different from what I imagined. So handsome!"
Their warmth and compliments made Li Wu feel even more uneasy, as if sitting on pins and needles, overwhelmed with shame.
"All thanks to my excellent parenting," Cen Jin seized the spotlight, waving in front of the camera to assert her presence. "And his grades are outstanding too—he ranked first in his class this semester. Can you believe it? And he hasn't been at Yi High School for long."
"First place? Look how hardworking he is," Cen's mother chided her own daughter. "Much better than you were back then."
"Mom, you're so annoying. It's the New Year—stop embarrassing me, okay? I wasn't that bad either."
"Alright, alright, let's not talk about that anymore. It's all in the past," Cen's father, ever the peacemaker, turned back to Li Wu and spoke earnestly: "Xiao Wu, if you ever face difficulties in life or studies, you mustn't hide them. Talk to your sister Jinjin. She's my daughter, and I know her temper. Sometimes she might not say things nicely, but she has not a single bad bone in her body. She'll definitely help if she can, and if not, there's always us. Your aunt and I aren't unreasonable or hard to get along with. Just focus on your studies, get into a good university. Next New Year, if there's no pandemic, come with your sister Jinjin to our place. We'll have a lively celebration, just like one family. How does that sound?"
Listening to this, Li Wu felt a slight sting in his nose and nodded heavily.
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