Fu Yao

Night.

"Hehe, Ye, stop it. Why do we have to shower together? I really can't do anything about you." In the dim room, the fast-asleep Chen Qin giggled foolishly, then rolled over, her arm landing squarely on Ye Shuang's face.

Ye Shuang let out a groan of pain and helplessly pushed her arm away. Beside him, Chen Qin was sleeping soundly, curled up slightly like a little squirrel. Ye Shuang looked away and continued staring at the familiar ceiling from his memories.

His gaze slowly shifted to the white clock icon. It still wasn't ticking; time seemed to have suddenly stopped at this very moment.

Ye Shuang originally thought it would start ticking normally after midnight, but it still hadn't.

And the system hadn't given any prompts either, leaving Ye Shuang feeling a bit helpless.

Whatever, better get some sleep first.

The night passed silently.

After waking up, Ye Shuang realized that this wasn't a dream. Seeing the white clock that was no longer ticking, he realized he seemed to be trapped in this timeline.

Considering that no matter how long he stayed here, returning would just take him back to his original time, Ye Shuang wasn't in a hurry. Instead, he got out of bed to prepare breakfast.

Opening the fridge, he found pork, rice noodles, and some eggs.

I'll just make some rice noodle soup.

Thinking this, Ye Shuang took out all the ingredients.

He sliced the pork, skillfully fried an egg, and then brought water to a boil. As the broth gradually turned a milky white, Ye Shuang began to season it—though it seemed the house only had salt, sugar, and soy sauce, and MSG was still a banned item here.

But this should be enough, right?

Ye Shuang let the soup simmer. Later, whoever wanted to eat could just toss the rice noodles in to blanch them briefly, and they'd be ready to serve.

Perhaps the noise in the kitchen attracted Mother Ye's attention. She walked out wearing a pink peony pajama set. Seeing Ye Shuang bustling about in the kitchen, she was visibly stunned. "Huh?"

Her son, who always loved sleeping in, was up early making breakfast?

This... could it be she hadn't slept enough and was dreaming?

"Yeah, I must be too tired lately to actually start hallucinating," Mother Ye muttered. She went back into her room and closed the door. A moment later, she opened it again, only to find that the person standing in the kitchen was indeed her son!

"Mom, go brush your teeth and come eat breakfast." Ye Shuang smiled slightly. He wasn't surprised by his mother's expression at all. After all, when he was young, he was indeed used to taking his parents' kindness for granted.

The child wishes to support them, but the parents are no longer there. After his parents passed away, Ye Shuang wanted to regret it, but it was already too late.

"I'm not increasing your allowance," Mother Ye said bluntly, seeing Ye Shuang's attentive behavior and assuming he wanted more pocket money.

"It's fine, I'm not doing this for pocket money," Ye Shuang shook his head.

Mother Ye cast a suspicious glance at Ye Shuang, as if trying to confirm whether he was possessed by a ghost or had some other ulterior motive.

"You didn't put any weird seasonings in this, did you?"

"No."

Hearing this, Mother Ye went to wash up first. When she finally started eating the rice noodles, she found the taste surprisingly decent. It was worth noting that Ye Shuang never used to cook.

"Is it good?" Ye Shuang asked with a smile.

Mother Ye felt a bit creeped out being stared at by Ye Shuang's gentle eyes. She patted her pants. "I surrender. Spit it out, how much money do you want?"

Ye Shuang knew his reaction made his mother a bit uncomfortable, so he just played along.

"Fifty bucks."

"I knew it. Here, a hundred... spend it carefully. Buy some drinks for Qin and Fatty Hai, share with everyone." Mother Ye took a red banknote from her wallet and placed it in front of Ye Shuang.

"Thanks, Mom." Taking the bill, he casually slipped it into his pocket without paying it much mind.

"Hmph, you're only this enthusiastic when asking for money." Although Mother Ye said this, she seemed quite happy seeing her son cook.

A while later, Father Ye also woke up. He was very surprised that Ye Shuang actually made breakfast. You have to know, this kid wouldn't even necessarily get up when the sun was shining on his butt. But when he learned it was just for pocket money, he wasn't surprised at all.

At this time, Chen Qin also woke up.

She yawned in her pajamas and plopped down on a chair.

Mother Ye treated Chen Qin like half a daughter. Seeing her looking half-asleep, she asked Ye Shuang, "What time did you two go to bed last night? Sneaking around playing video games again?"

"Ah? I didn't," Ye Shuang immediately stated. Furthermore, Chen Qin fell asleep very quickly last night, and even gave him a few slaps while sleep-talking.

"Auntie, I'll go wash up first."

"Okay, go ahead."

After Chen Qin finished washing up, she looked much more energetic. Seeing the rice noodles on the table, she smiled brightly. "Auntie, you made rice noodles today. They look so delicious."

"I didn't make them, Shuangzai did."

"Huh? Ye?" Chen Qin looked shocked. She hesitated for a few seconds before asking, "Are they edible?"

"Of course they're edible," Ye Shuang said from the side. Chen Qin then sat down and gave it a try.

She found it surprisingly decent, not at all like someone's first time cooking.

But she spent all day with Ye Shuang and had never seen him cook before, right?

"Ye, are you interested in applying to New Oriental Culinary School?"

"I have no interest in being a chef. I'll just go to your dad's company and be a boss in the future," Ye Shuang said with a smile.

"Heh, keep dreaming," Mother Ye scoffed from the side, intending to shatter Ye Shuang's fantasy.

On the contrary, Father Ye, who was reading the newspaper, spoke up, "Although our Shuangzai's grades aren't great, he's still a stock with potential. If he works hard in the future, he might even have a chance to get into First High School."

"If he gets in, I'll burn high incense to thank the gods."

"Ye's grades are actually okay," Chen Qin chimed in.

The family chatted and laughed. Ye Shuang quietly watched this scene, inexplicably enjoying and even clinging to the feeling of this moment. Because the people here right now were real; this wasn't an illusion, nor was it a dream.

Maybe staying a little longer wouldn't be so bad?

Breakfast time ended. Ye Shuang originally intended to talk more with his father, but found out they were going to a friend's house to play mahjong.

After all, the two of them didn't really like staying at home.

Left with no choice, Ye Shuang had to start planning what to do today. Otherwise, he could just clean the house, and tidy up his own pigsty of a room while he was at it.

He found that he couldn't quite stand the room he used to live in; it was a total mess.

"Sweeping the floor? Ye, we made plans with Fuyao today, aren't we going to the sports center to play badminton together?" Chen Qin asked from the side.

Fuyao?

Fuyao...

"She's still alive..." Li Fuyao, Fugui's older sister... It was precisely because of her death that Fugui turned into the way he was today.

Ye Shuang muttered, while Chen Qin blinked her eyes, "What are you talking about? She's perfectly fine, of course she's alive."