Shu’s dad rambled on for a good five or six minutes before finally coming to a pause, and Shu Yuxin at last found an opening to speak.

“Got it, got it, I know already. You don’t need to keep saying it. Making friends isn’t something you can rush anyway. Even if I want to make more friends, it takes time.”

“As long as you understand, that’s fine. I’m just reminding you,” Shu Dad let out a breath and continued, “You’re going out with Jiang Zixuan, right? That’s good—at least you’ll have someone to look out for you. Things aren’t like before anymore. You’re a girl now, so you need to pay attention to safety. You’re not familiar with the area around your school. When you go out, don’t wander off alone—stay with your friends, don’t get tricked by strangers. The ones who just scam money are one thing, but if you run into those… those people who specifically target girls…”

“Ah, ah, I know, I know! I’m not that stupid!” Seeing her dad about to start again, Shu Yuxin hurriedly cut him off. “I definitely know all of that. I’m not a kid anymore. When we go out, I’ll definitely stick with Jiang Zixuan. With the two of us together, there won’t be any problems, right?”

“Alright, alright. Just be careful when you’re out,” Shu Dad didn’t insist on finishing his whole lecture. “Then… do you still have enough money on hand? Do you want me to transfer you some?”

“I’ve got enough, enough. No need.”

“That’s good, that’s good. Anything else?”

“Nope. I’ll hang up then.”

“Alright. Take good care of yourself over there.”

…

With the family talk finally over, Shu Yuxin looked at the call log on her phone and let out a breath.

Ever since she entered middle school, her phone calls with her family had pretty much been like this. She went home less and less, and since she herself wasn’t used to calling home often, she had fewer chances to talk with them. Because of that, her family treasured these rare conversations even more. Even though every time they talked they liked to repeat things they had already told her countless times, what they really wanted was simply to talk to her a little longer.

Shu Yuxin understood all of this very clearly. She understood many things—she just didn’t know how to respond.

After putting her phone away, she climbed down from the windowsill and returned to the living room. There, Jiang Zixuan was still studying the new games together with Peng Xiaoxiao. Some of the games were unfamiliar even to him, so he was playing quite seriously.

Peng Xiaoxiao sat cross-legged on the sofa watching Jiang Zixuan play. When she noticed Shu Yuxin come out, she waved at her. “Why did changing your pants take so long? Come play! This game’s pretty interesting.”

“I made a call to my family,” Shu Yuxin said as she walked over and sat beside Peng Xiaoxiao. Tilting her head to look at her, she smiled. “By the way, why didn’t you go play games in the activity room? There’s only one PS here—taking turns is fun?”

Peng Xiaoxiao leaned back slightly against the sofa and stretched lazily without any concern for her image. “There weren’t many people in the activity room today. Wei Zhanpeng had classes all afternoon too. Playing games alone isn’t fun, and I happened to hear Yan Zhikai say he was coming here to play, so I followed along.”

She added at the end, “It’s livelier here.”

Shu Yuxin leaned over and nudged Peng Xiaoxiao’s shoulder teasingly. “You’ve been getting pretty close with Wei Zhanpeng lately, huh?”

“That’s because it’s really fun to crush him,” Peng Xiaoxiao perked up at the mention of the activity room. “Hey, let me tell you—he’s played over two hundred hours of Horizon, and after just a few days, he can’t even outrun me anymore.”

Shu Yuxin shot her a sideways glance. “Haven’t you played tons of racing games yourself?”

“That’s different. I mainly played NFS before. Horizon feels completely different from NFS. It took me a couple of days to adapt before I really got the hang of it.” Hugging her feet, Peng Xiaoxiao swayed on the sofa and chuckled. “But Horizon is seriously fun. You should try it sometime too. We can race together.”

“I’ll pass. I’m not used to simulation-style games… they make me dizzy.” Shu Yuxin shook her head.

Peng Xiaoxiao didn’t press her and just kept grinning. “Heh, Wei Zhanpeng was always bragging in front of us about how fast he was on circuit tracks. Then yesterday I raced him, and the entire time he never once passed me. It felt amazing.”

“Don’t you think… he might have deliberately let you win?” Jiang Zixuan chimed in casually during a break.

Peng Xiaoxiao froze for a moment, then muttered quietly, “I don’t believe he has that much emotional intelligence.”

Jiang Zixuan just smiled faintly and didn’t continue.

After that, the three of them stopped talking and fully immersed themselves in the game. Time always passed quickly when they were having fun, and before they knew it, it was already half past five in the afternoon.

The rain outside still hadn’t eased up, and the sky was so dark that if you didn’t check the time, you’d think it was already eight or nine at night. Peng Xiaoxiao looked out toward the balcony for a while and sighed helplessly. “Ah… this rain just won’t stop…”

“You didn’t bring an umbrella?” Shu Yuxin asked with concern.

Peng Xiaoxiao shook her head. “I did, I just don’t want to brave rain this heavy to go back to the dorm.” As she spoke, she wailed again, “Ah—! I really want to rent a place outside too! Big and comfortable! I don’t want to run back in the rain anymore!”

“If you pick up some part-time work and find a few friends to share a place with, you could rent somewhere in Wiaers,” Jiang Zixuan said with a smile as he put down the controller. “That’s what Yan Zhikai and the others do.”

“Yan Zhikai?” Peng Xiaoxiao paused. “He rents a place outside too?”

“Yeah. He’s two floors below us, sharing with Zhang Houlin. You didn’t know?”

Peng Xiaoxiao shook her head. “He never told me.”

Jiang Zixuan shrugged. “Some of the places around here are actually pretty cheap. Two people splitting rent can manage with part-time jobs, though the living conditions aren’t great.”

“Sounds easy when you say it… but part-time jobs aren’t easy to find.” Peng Xiaoxiao muttered.

“That, I can’t help with.”

Shu Yuxin was still staring blankly at the game screen on the TV.

Peng Xiaoxiao’s topic made her think of herself again. If it weren’t for Jiang Zixuan’s generosity, she wouldn’t have been able to move out either. If Peng Xiaoxiao knew she was living here rent-free, she’d probably be insanely jealous.

On the other hand, she had now become Jiang Zixuan’s personal cook.

Hmm… speaking of that, it seemed like it was about time to prepare dinner.

Shu Yuxin took out her phone and checked the time.

Just then, Peng Xiaoxiao suddenly asked, “Hey, what are you guys doing for dinner? Ordering takeout?” She paused, then added, “If you’re ordering takeout, I’ll get a portion too. I can head back later—no rush.”

Jiang Zixuan glanced at Shu Yuxin with a half-smile.

Shu Yuxin was still holding her phone, her expression somewhat serious.

To be honest, for now she didn’t want others to know about her “cook” role. If people didn’t know about her relationship with Jiang Zixuan or their agreement, it wouldn’t be strange for her to cook—she understood that. It just felt awkward, and she found it a little embarrassing for others to know.

But if they ordered takeout, she felt like her role as a cook would become completely unnecessary. Even if Jiang Zixuan didn’t mind, she herself would feel uncomfortable.

So conflicted.

Seeing the two of them fall into a strange silence, the clueless Peng Xiaoxiao looked confused. “What’s wrong with you two?”

“Ah… nothing. What do you want to eat?” Shu Yuxin snapped back to her senses and asked.

Peng Xiaoxiao took out her phone. “Anything’s fine with me. If we’re ordering takeout, we can combine orders and eat something good together.”

Shu Yuxin looked at Jiang Zixuan. “What about you?”

Jiang Zixuan seemed to think for a moment, then broke into a mischievous grin. “Sliced potatoes.”

Shu Yuxin: “…”

This guy was making it very obvious.

“Sliced potatoes? You like that kind of side dish?” Completely unaware, Peng Xiaoxiao commented. “I like sliced potatoes too, but the ones around here aren’t very good. They’re too thick—more like potato chunks.”

Jiang Zixuan smiled meaningfully. “That’s because you haven’t had truly good sliced potatoes.”

“Oh? There are good ones?” Peng Xiaoxiao asked instinctively.

Jiang Zixuan stared at Shu Yuxin.

Shu Yuxin thought for a moment, then rolled her eyes. “Fine. There are still some ingredients in the fridge. Let’s not order takeout. I’ll make a few simple dishes to get by.”

With that, she slid off the sofa, stood up, and walked toward the kitchen. She skillfully took the apron hanging on the wall, put it on, and opened the fridge.

From the moment she said that, Peng Xiaoxiao’s face froze in shock. She stared as Shu Yuxin smoothly took out the ingredients and disappeared into the kitchen. Only then did she react, exclaiming, “Holy crap! Yuxin, you can cook?!”

“Uh… a little. It’s barely edible. Do you want to stay and eat dinner?” Shu Yuxin’s slightly helpless voice came from the kitchen.

Peng Xiaoxiao didn’t notice the helplessness at all. She was so excited it was like discovering a new continent and jumped off the sofa, rushing into the kitchen. “Of course, of course! If you’re cooking, how could I not show up? Hahaha! I always thought you were the refined-lady type! I never expected you could cook too! Amazing, my Yuxin!”

“As long as you don’t dislike it when you eat.”

Shu Yuxin really couldn’t bring herself to say that she had only started cooking not long ago.

Peng Xiaoxiao didn’t care about that at all. To her, the fact that Shu Yuxin could cook was interesting enough. Watching Shu Yuxin bustle around the kitchen, Peng Xiaoxiao squeezed in to join the fun. “Hehe, is there anything I can help with? Are we making sliced potatoes? I can help slice them!”

Although Peng Xiaoxiao wasn’t an only child, she was the youngest in her family and the only girl, spoiled and doted on since childhood. People like her rarely had chances to enter the kitchen.

But that didn’t stop her interest.

At least in her heart, she genuinely wanted to help her friend.

Unfortunately, before she could help much, Shu Yuxin pushed her out of the kitchen. “Please, just go play games. I’m begging you.”

The way she sliced potatoes was truly terrifying. Watching from the side, Shu Yuxin was scared stiff, afraid that the next second, Peng Xiaoxiao would lose a finger.

…Though, to be fair, Shu Yuxin herself wasn’t very good at slicing potatoes either.