February 9th.

9:00 a.m. sharp.

Liu Zhiyue glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall. The moment he confirmed the time, he realized that his little sister was going to be late.

Back around 8:00, their father had already taken their mother to the hospital for a check-up.

So the task of taking his little sister to the dance studio had naturally fallen on his shoulders.

After she finished washing up and was just about to head out for a quick breakfast, she suddenly said her stomach hurt…

Then she ran into the bathroom.

And didn’t come out for over half an hour.

Liu Zhiyue had always found his sister impressive. Both he and their dad could finish their business in the bathroom in about ten minutes on average. But this girl—her bathroom stamina was on another level. He had no idea what exactly she did in there every time, but the amount of time she spent was consistently astonishing.

Now that she was obviously late, and after having already urged her several times, Liu Zhiyue finally gave up on rushing her.

He sat down on the couch, grabbed the remote, and turned on the TV.

And waited.

The sound of the toilet flushing rang out.

Then came the creak of the door opening. When Liu Xiazhi came out of the bathroom looking relaxed, she immediately spotted her brother watching TV on the couch.

Instantly, she got a little sassy.

“Stop watching already! I’ve gotta go to class!”

“What’s the rush? You’re already late anyway.”

Liu Zhiyue responded coolly.

Only then did Liu Xiazhi seem to realize the situation. She looked up at the clock—when she saw the hour hand on 9 and the minute hand pointing to 10…

She panicked.

She started stamping her little feet in place, anxiety bubbling over as she muttered nonstop.

“Take me to class quick! The teacher’s gonna scold me!”

“I told you we were running late when you were in the bathroom, like, more than once. You weren’t in a hurry at all.”

Even though he said that, seeing the anxious look on his sister’s face, Liu Zhiyue chose not to keep teasing her. He turned off the TV with the remote, walked over to the door, and started putting on his shoes.

Liu Xiazhi quickly ran to get her shoes too. Once ready, she grabbed her stuff and rushed out of the house.

Because they had moved recently and the school was farther away, Liu Changqing had bought his son a commuter vehicle:

The Big Bird Electric Scooter.

Its body was a sleek mix of red and black. Compact yet stylish—it had a nice look to it.

Arriving at the scooter’s parking spot, Liu Zhiyue calmly unlocked it and placed the lock in the front basket. Watching her brother take his sweet time, Liu Xiazhi was practically jumping with impatience.

Luckily, they were finally on the road.

Sitting on the back seat, Liu Xiazhi put on her hood, huddled close to her brother, wrapped her arms around his waist, and leaned against his back.

She kept mumbling,

“I wonder if Shuyan’s feeling any better… It’s so lonely going by myself today…”

If it weren’t for Feng Shuyan being sick, and Feng Qian needing to stay home to take care of the baby, the task of escorting Xiazhi wouldn’t have fallen to Liu Zhiyue.

Riding along, Liu Zhiyue heard her muttering. Because of the earmuffs he was wearing, he couldn’t quite catch what she said.

He reached up and yanked off one ear protector. Still focused on the road, he shouted back,

“What’d you say?”

“I said… I wonder how Shuyan’s doing.”

“Huh? You’re not feeling well?”

The wind was loud, and he didn’t catch what she said clearly.

Holding tight to her brother’s waist, Liu Xiazhi suddenly remembered how he’d teased her during the New Year holidays. And then—an amazing idea popped into her head.

A mischievous grin curled her lips.

“I said you’re a big dummy, brother…”

She whispered the insult softly. When her brother didn’t react, she felt like a little devil who got away with something naughty.

It was thrilling!

Her arms tightened around him.

“You bully me all the time, always calling me dumb, and threatening me with homework… you b*ttface, big ol’ jerk…”

“What’re you mumbling back there?”

“I’m complimenting you, big bro!”

“Is that so… stop talking. You’ll get a sore throat breathing in all this cold air.”

“Hehehe… what an idiot…”

She giggled. And just like that, Liu Xiazhi completely forgot she was running late, fully absorbed in whispering snarky comments about her brother.

About ten minutes later, Liu Zhiyue brought them to their destination.

The scooter gradually slowed down.

He hooked his earmuffs around his neck. As soon as he fully took them off, he heard his little sister on the back seat.

“Hehehe~ tomorrow I’m totally gonna use your face towel to wipe my feet. That’ll teach you for bullying me! Threaten me, will you…”

The scooter jolted to a stop.

Liu Xiazhi froze, then straightened up from where she’d been leaning on his back. She looked up to see her brother turning around to face her.

Her expression was blank with confusion.

“Are we there already? That was fast…”

“You used my face towel to wipe your feet?!”

“What—what are you talking about?”

She averted her gaze, too guilty to meet her brother’s eyes.

“I… I have no idea what you’re saying.”

“I heard everything.”

“Heard what? You’re so weird, geez! Did you not sleep well or something? You’re totally hallucinating!”

Saying that, Liu Xiazhi raised a small hand and touched her brother’s forehead.

“You must be sick. Go home and rest, okay?”

“You… never mind.”

Seeing her play dumb, Liu Zhiyue opened his mouth to scold her but stopped short.

He watched as she got off the back seat with her stuff in hand.

Liu Zhiyue reached into his coat pocket and dug around a bit, eventually pulling out a few bills.

Liu Xiazhi, just having straightened up, spotted the money and her eyes instantly lit up.

She was excited to see how much her brother would give her.

Fifty? Or maybe… a hundred?

She had high hopes.

Reality, however, was a cold slap.

Liu Zhiyue skipped right past the red 100 yuan note, then the green 50, and finally pulled out a single 10-yuan bill and handed it to her.

He warned,

“Grab some breakfast from the shop over there. Save the rest. No sneaking snacks.”

“You cheapskate!”

Grumbling, she still obediently took the money, folded it, and stuffed it into her pocket.

Once he saw her head to the breakfast stall, Liu Zhiyue put his earmuffs back on, twisted the throttle, and rode away.

At the intersection ahead…

Instead of turning right to go home, Liu Zhiyue rode straight through—heading somewhere else.

Nearly thirty minutes later, he came to a stop.

Staring across the street, he saw a familiar figure bustling around inside a breakfast shop.

He didn’t move. He just watched.

Zhou Shiyan was placing a plate of steamed dumplings on a customer’s table. Just as she turned to leave, it was as if she sensed something—her footsteps paused.

She slowly turned around.

Her gaze locked onto Liu Zhiyue, who sat on his scooter.

They hadn’t seen each other for a long time. Not since the final exams before winter break.

Gu Xiyu happened to walk past Zhou Shiyan. Noticing her frozen in place, she followed her line of sight—and saw Liu Zhiyue.

She looked at Zhou Shiyan.

Then looked at him.

And instantly understood.

Elbowing Zhou Shiyan playfully, Gu Xiyu teased,

“Go on, hang out with him. We’re not that busy right now.”

Zhou Shiyan just glanced at her without replying, then looked toward her mom inside the shop.

Their mother was watching too.

“It’s fine. We’re not swamped. The three of us can handle things.”

Lan Yixian spoke up.

After that, she even peeked outside—but because of the angle, she didn’t see Liu Zhiyue.

Just then, Chen Dafu—who had just finished tidying up—heard Lan Yixian and walked out too. When he spotted Liu Changqing’s son not far away, he panicked and immediately scurried back inside.

Zhou Shiyan, now with her mom’s approval, let out a soft “mm” and took off her apron, walking toward Liu Zhiyue.

She stopped in front of him.

Looking at his face, which had turned red from the cold wind, then down at his gloveless hands gripping the handlebar—

Her eyes filled with a hint of concern.

“You didn’t wear gloves?”

“Left in a rush. Forgot to bring them.”

He smiled, though his face was a little frozen. Realizing this, he rubbed his cheeks.

Friction makes heat, right?

Watching him do that, Zhou Shiyan said nothing. Suddenly, she turned and ran back into the shop.

Her actions puzzled Liu Zhiyue. It wasn’t until she came back that he understood why.

She returned with her scarf and gently wrapped it around his neck, adjusting it to cover his mouth.

Then she handed him a pair of gloves with floral patterns.

She said softly,

“Put them on. They’ll keep you warm.”

Liu Zhiyue blinked, stunned.

He hesitated briefly, but in the end, accepted them.

They were clearly much smaller than his hands—Zhou Shiyan’s gloves.

Even after putting them on, his fingers stuck out.

And they were… very tight.