No Stranger

Facing Xia Muzhu and her brother, Lin Yu's plan was to win over Xia Muzhu. By revealing clumsiness and difficulty in a seemingly unintentional way, he would make her feel pity, prompting her to discuss with Xia Yueshan. This way, he could avoid being laughed at by Xia Yueshan while still managing to stay.

After finalizing his plan, once the car came to a stop, Lin Yu began his acting performance in front of Xia Muzhu.

He opened the car door, braced his hands on the seat, and slowly inched his butt out. Just a slight movement of his leg made him grimace, grit his teeth, and hiss sharply, his difficult movements making it seem as if his foot was currently pinned under a massive rock.

Seeing Lin Yu like this, Xia Muzhu felt heartache, her brows tightly knit, her gentle, long eyebrows almost meeting in the middle.

Seeing this tactic was effective, Lin Yu was secretly rejoicing when Xia Yueshan suddenly came around from behind the car pushing a wheelchair.

Looking at Lin Yu's pained expression, his own thick, faint eyebrows also furrowed. He asked with a mix of worry and curiosity:

"What's wrong with you?"

"You seemed fine when you got in the car earlier?"

"You were even more agile than me."

"..."

...

The cold wind whistled past his ears, but Lin Yu didn't feel cold; instead, his face felt a bit hot.

Seeing that continuing like this would likely get him exposed, Lin Yu had to change his excuse, grimacing as he said:

"It's nothing, my butt's just asleep. I'll be fine in a moment."

"Oh."

Xia Yueshan gave a dry "oh" and stood by the door, using his stomach to hold the propped-open wheelchair in place. He zipped up his jacket, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and stood by the door, waiting for Lin Yu to recover.

Xia Yueshan stood there like a door god, just staring blankly at Lin Yu, making it impossible for Lin Yu to say anything to Xia Muzhu.

After pretending to recover for a while, Lin Yu, with Xia Yueshan's help, stood up, sat in the wheelchair, and was eagerly pushed by Xia Yueshan into the elevator. After reaching their floor, he was pushed all the way back to the apartment.

Sitting in the wheelchair, after entering Xia Muzhu's home, Lin Yu's little schemes became active again. He thought about how to get rid of Xia Yueshan to be alone with Xia Muzhu, so he could continue his plan and showcase his 'serious' injury.

While Lin Yu was still thinking about how to do this, he realized the Xia Yueshan behind him hadn't stopped at all, pushing him straight into a small room.

"Why did you push me in here?"

Lin Yu turned his head to look around. The room was small, only about ten square meters. There was no bed, but there were two computers, with the desks against the wall to the left of the door.

"I found a game, it's really fun! I've been waiting for you to come back and play it with me!"

Xia Yueshan said as he pushed Lin Yu to the computer desk. He kicked away the computer chair in front of the desk with his foot, then pushed Lin Yu to sit facing the computer.

Facing the booting screen, Lin Yu rolled his eyes. He had no interest in playing some stupid game with Xia Yueshan. What fun were games between little kids?

Games between adults were the interesting ones.

"You play by yourself, I don't want to."

Lin Yu said, operating the electric wheelchair to reverse, wanting to leave and go find Xia Muzhu to play the pity card.

But before the wheelchair could move much, Xia Yueshan grabbed it and pulled it back.

"Really, just play for a bit and you'll see, it's so fun!"

Xia Yueshan strongly recommended.

"I'm not playing!"

"Let me go!"

Lin Yu struggled to leave.

The two wrestled for a while, finally ending with Xia Yueshan using a stick to jam the wheelchair's wheels. Lin Yu yielded.

"I'll just try it, okay!"

"If it's not fun, you let me out right away!"

Lin Yu said indignantly.

"Don't worry, it's definitely fun!"

Xia Yueshan sat down at the other computer desk and turned on the computer...

...

Xia Muzhu picked up the steamer lid, used heatproof mitts to carefully take out the porcelain plate with the fish from the steamer, and placed it on the stovetop.

Turning around, she placed the shredded green onions and chili peppers she had cut on the chopping board onto the middle section of the fish. She walked a few steps, picked up the wok of hot oil from the other burner, and poured the hot oil over the fish on the plate.

A sizzling sound rose as the hot oil hit. The edges of the fish skin slowly curled up, followed by a burst of fragrant steam.

Xia Muzhu leaned in to smell it. She nodded, a satisfied smile appearing on her face.

"Perfect!"

Xia Muzhu clapped her two small, mittened hands together, very pleased.

With the last dish ready, she took off her mitts and apron and went to the gaming room Xia Yueshan had set up himself to call them for dinner.

Approaching the closed door, even before opening it, Xia Muzhu could hear the excited shouts of the two inside. They sounded like they were having a great time.

She pushed the door open. The two were intently focused on the computer screen, so absorbed they even forgot to wipe the smiles off their faces.

"Dinner's ready, you can play more after eating."

Xia Muzhu's voice was soft and playful, as if coaxing two little kids.

Xia Yueshan looked at his older sister standing at the door, then shifted his gaze to Lin Yu.

Lin Yu's eyes moved back and forth between the computer and Xia Muzhu. Finally, he looked at Xia Muzhu, a hint of pleading in his expression as he asked:

"Can we finish this level first?"

Xia Muzhu thought for a moment, then nodded gently and said:

"Okay, but be quick, or the food will get cold."

"Don't worry!"

"We'll be fast!"

Lin Yu promised loudly, then turned his attention back to the game with Xia Yueshan.

Having failed to get them to come eat, Xia Muzhu didn't leave. She walked behind Lin Yu and Xia Yueshan. She didn't understand the game, so she often shifted her gaze to Lin Yu. Seeing Lin Yu happy made her happy too.

When she was happy, she would casually pinch Xia Yueshan's little face on her left side, give him a doting look, and then return her gaze to the computer screen.

Although Xia Yueshan and Lin Yu were the ones playing, the joy in Xia Muzhu's eyes seemed greater than both of theirs combined.

The two most important people in her life were right here now.

She didn't ask for much.

In the days to come, as long as they were both here, that was enough...

...

Each level of the game was very long. Lin Yu and Xia Yueshan played for over another hour. By the time they finished the level and were ready to eat, the food on the table wasn't hot anymore.

Fortunately, it wasn't exactly cold either. Although it was nearly the coldest time of the year, the heating in Xia Muzhu's apartment was very effective. The food was still at a normal temperature, and the oil hadn't congealed. Xia Muzhu simply reheated a few dishes that wouldn't taste good cold in the microwave, and the three of them sat down to eat together.

At the dinner table, Lin Yu somewhat hated himself for being so easily distracted by fun. He hadn't managed to make any contact with Xia Muzhu at all and hadn't achieved his goal.

Great, now he'd probably have to go stay in a hotel alone.

Just as Lin Yu was thinking about this, Xia Muzhu glanced at the time—it was past ten at night. Concerned about Lin Yu's arrangements, she asked:

"Did you book a hotel?"

"...Ah."

"..."

"...Booked, yes, booked."

Lin Yu grinned, too embarrassed to say he hadn't, afraid of drawing a suspicious look from Xia Yueshan.

"Haven't booked a hotel yet, have you? Are you planning to stick around so you can hit on my sister?"

Even though that was precisely what Lin Yu was thinking...

What Lin Yu didn't anticipate was that his own words would also draw a suspicious look from Xia Yueshan.

"Book a hotel?"

"What for?"

Xia Yueshan asked, his words muffled by the mouthful of rice.

"The places I rented before have all reached the end of their leases. I was going to spend the night at a hotel and then find time to rent a new place."

Lin Yu explained to Xia Yueshan.

Hearing this, Xia Yueshan grew a bit flustered. He quickly chewed and swallowed the rice in his mouth before speaking up:

"Why would you rent another place?"

"Just come stay at my house!"

"We have several empty rooms!"

"Uh..."

"Is that really okay?"

Lin Yu glanced at Xia Muzhu, putting on a hesitant, somewhat uncertain act, though the corners of his mouth were practically twitching upward, impossible to suppress.

"What's not okay about it?"

Xia Yueshan declared with a wave of his hand:

"We're all family here! You'll stay at my place!"

"I say it's settled!"