Understood.

“Are you stupid?” Winter Wen widened her eyes. “You can just scan the code and pay directly at the window—”

“I don’t have medical insurance,” Xingxu Zhang interrupted her.

Winter Wen thought she had misheard. “What?”

But he didn’t repeat himself. Instead, he turned and opened the sterilizer cabinet.

Suddenly, Winter Wen felt a strong sense of unease. She stepped closer, staring intently at him. “What do you mean you don’t have any?”

“No employee insurance, no resident insurance, nothing at all?”

Xingxu Zhang dried the bowl and put it away. “Exactly.”

“You’ve never worked before?”

He remained silent.

Winter Wen took his silence as confirmation and immediately raised an alarm in her mind, her voice growing heavier. “You’re an unemployed drifter!”

Xingxu Zhang still showed no emotion. “Something like that.”

Goosebumps rose on Winter Wen’s arms. Her mind even began to spiral into dark imaginings—a murder and dismemberment case in the neighborhood three months from now, the killer carrying body parts up the mountain in a backpack to dispose of them, and the victim...

No! She couldn’t keep thinking about that!

Winter Wen forced herself to stop the chaotic thoughts, picked up the water on the table, and drank it down in one gulp, trying hard to suppress her anxiety.

Although he was a bit strange, she thought, he hadn’t done anything illegal in the few days they’d known each other.

Despite his cold appearance, he didn’t seem like a person on the fringes of society.

After washing his hands, Xingxu Zhang was about to grab a cup when he noticed Winter Wen clutching his cup tightly.

Biting her lip, she looked nervous, her brows furrowed slightly as if deep in thought.

Their eyes met; she took a cautious step back. “What are you doing?”

Xingxu Zhang wiped his hands with a tissue, pointing at the cup. “That’s mine.”

“Oh, I didn’t notice just now!” She felt awkward and quickly put the cup back.

Xingxu Zhang glanced at her and then rinsed the cup under the faucet.

The sound of running water filled the kitchen again, and Winter Wen felt it was necessary to ask about his background. After all, so far, all she knew about him was his name.

“Where did you go to college? Are you from Guanhua?”

The topic came up abruptly, and the air fell silent for a moment.

“The Netherlands.”

“Henan?” Winter Wen thought for a moment. “What was your major?”

She had a slight southern accent, often mixing up the sounds of ‘n’ and ‘l’ when speaking quickly, but Xingxu Zhang didn’t find it strange and continued: “Plant Protection.”

“You went to Henan Agricultural University?” Winter Wen clapped her hands. “What a coincidence! My former roommate’s boyfriend also went there—maybe you were in the same year. How old are you?”

Xingxu Zhang turned off the water. “Twenty-six.”

Winter Wen was even more surprised. “You’re a Tiger in the zodiac?”

He responded with a hum and walked out of the kitchen to get a cup of steaming hot water.

Winter Wen followed behind him. “I had my fortune told before the New Year, and the old man said I’d have good luck this year and meet a ‘Tiger who scatters wealth.’ Is that you?”

“...?” Xingxu Zhang looked back at her.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” Winter Wen knelt down on the sofa, hugging a husky plush toy. “The fortune teller said it.”

The cup burned his hand; Xingxu Zhang held the rim and slowly swirled the water inside, his tone light: “Do I look like someone who hands out money?”

Winter Wen looked up and answered naturally: “Yeah, you do.”

“It’s the first time I’ve received a transfer of twenty-four thousand on WeChat.”

Xingxu Zhang said nothing.

Winter Wen changed her position. “So, you’ve graduated for a while and don’t have any plans?”

Xingxu Zhang poured out the hot water, lowered his gaze, and remained silent for a moment. “No.”

“Your parents don’t pressure you at all and even let you travel around? That’s nice.” Winter Wen raised the husky and flipped its ears outward.

She sighed and wagged the toy’s tail. “I’m not the same. I get interrogated every festival.”

“They started pushing me to take the civil service exam in my junior year. After graduation, they wanted me to find a job quickly. When I finally did, they said this job had no future and told me to study while working, hoping I’d get a stable government position. But I’m just not cut out for civil service exams.”

“They say the end of the universe is a government job.” Winter Wen put down the husky and tilted her head to look at Xingxu Zhang, who had his back to her. “What do you think?”

“No difference,” he said.

Winter Wen sat up straight with a snap. “See! I thought so too!”

“There are masters in every trade. I’m no good at civil service exams, but I’m excellent at roasting sweet potatoes.”

Xingxu Zhang turned and walked away. “Is there any more red flower oil?”

Winter Wen’s thoughts snapped back. She remembered he had fallen earlier and stood up. “There is, in the room. Wait for me.”

Xingxu Zhang took the red flower oil and went to his room to dress his injury. Winter Wen followed, leaning against the doorframe while hugging the husky.

“By the way, I have to say something—even though we’re just roommates, in the shared spaces—” Winter Wen began, but before she finished, Xingxu Zhang reached out, grabbed the back of her collar, and pulled her abruptly.

“Hey! What are you doing?!” she exclaimed, stopping him immediately.

Xingxu Zhang had already taken off his jacket, his arms wrapped in the sleeves, revealing the smooth muscles of his back.

He turned back. “Do you still have something to say?”

Then, with both hands, he pulled the jacket off from underneath and tossed it onto the bed.

Winter Wen’s face flushed red. She turned away stiffly, holding back her words and continued: “Even though we’re roommates, you can’t just take off your clothes in the shared areas!”

Wait—that sounded weird.

“You can’t just undress however you want!” she hurriedly added.

Before Xingxu Zhang could answer, she quickly retreated to her bedroom, closed the door, and locked it in one swift motion.

She lay on the bed and pounded twice in frustration.

What kind of situation was this?

Did he really consider her one of his own people?

Not even bothering to cover up—was this some kind of borderline benefit?

Half an hour later, Winter Wen slowly packed her clothes to shower. After finishing, she returned to her room and faintly heard Xingxu Zhang talking on the phone.

“No problem.”

The voice was muffled. Winter Wen shook her head and went into her room.

The person on the other end spoke at length, and Xingxu Zhang listened quietly.

In the distance, Mount Lezhi was swallowed by darkness, almost merging with the thick night. The dim streetlights below cast a faint glow on the jasmine plant.

Yesterday, she had repotted it and pruned the branches, leaving only a bare white stem.

Normally, spring wasn’t jasmine’s flowering season, yet it had miraculously sprouted a new branch climbing the windowsill.

“I know, Brother Yueming,” Xingxu Zhang said, fiddling with the jasmine, his tone unreadable. “But I might need your help with my father’s side.”

“Okay, thanks.”

He hung up after three minutes and eight seconds.

Xingxu Zhang switched to a map, took out a notebook from his bag, jotted down several locations, and circled a date.

The next morning, after breakfast, he returned to his room and poured himself a glass of water just as Winter Wen rushed into the bathroom.

Soon after, she came out with a toothbrush in her mouth, grabbed some yogurt from the fridge, then swiftly put the charger from the sofa into her bag. Her movements were so fast it seemed like she’d hit the fast-forward button.

It took her only eight minutes to finish washing up and head out.

Before leaving, she grabbed two hair ties and put them on her wrist, not forgetting Xingxu Zhang’s warning that he only knew how to handle the basics. She kindly reminded him: “There’s cereal in the cupboard. You can soak it in the milk in the fridge.”

“But after you finish, you’ve got to replace it. I’m off to work now.”

Xingxu Zhang said, “Key.”

“Oh, right. The key.” Winter Wen felt the hard object in her pocket, then hurried out, stepping on her heels.

A new week began. Winter Wen managed to arrive at the company before nine and then worked tirelessly.

She resigned herself to opening the email requesting the first draft design and hastily sent the files.

“Make the font bigger and slanted more, emphasize our brand logo, change the color to gold.”

Winter Wen was speechless.

After a morning of back-and-forth revisions, the time was gone.

She had woken late and hadn’t prepared lunch, so she ordered delivery.

After wandering around nearby, she reluctantly ordered spicy hot pot skewers. By the time it arrived, the soup was almost dry.

She took two bites—it was awful.

So bad that even a variety show couldn't make it appetizing.

But since she’d paid, she couldn’t waste it.

She found a food blogger she followed recently, whose latest video was about visiting a spicy hot pot place.

She told herself it was the same one as the blogger’s.

Same, same, all spicy hot pot.

In the video, the blogger was happily devouring the food, while Winter Wen sadly poked at half-raw potatoes, wishing she could die.

She shared the video with Li Manyue. “Can your family’s cook make such a big bowl of spicy hot pot?”

About ten minutes later, she threw away the delivery box and found Xingxu Zhang had replied with a question mark.

+V Looking at the Secret Recipe of Crab Roe Burger: [“?”]

1874: [“Yes.”]

Had she sent it to the wrong person?

She opened Li Manyue’s chat; their conversation stopped two days ago.

+V Looking at the Secret Recipe of Crab Roe Burger: [“What did you eat for lunch?”]

1874: [“Noodles.”]

+V Looking at the Secret Recipe of Crab Roe Burger: [“What about dinner?”]

No reply.

+V Looking at the Secret Recipe of Crab Roe Burger: [“I’m giving you one chance to come out and treat me to dinner.”]

1874: [“No time.”]

After work, Winter Wen finally understood what he meant by “no time.”

Xingxu Zhang was assembling a new computer in his room, the foam padding still lying in the hallway.

In the following days, whenever Winter Wen left, he stayed home; when she returned, he was still there.

It was as if he hadn’t moved at all.

Finally, on Friday evening, this routine changed.

Winter Wen met Xingxu Zhang on the rooftop.

He was watering the vegetables with a spray bottle, and nearby stood the jasmine, bare but sprouting new shoots.

Winter Wen cleared her throat twice. “You seem pretty bored all day. How about getting a job?”

Xingxu Zhang paused but didn’t reply.

“You know, you never go out, and you haven’t made many friends here in Lecheng—”

He cut her off. “You seem very concerned about me.”

“I’m just worried you might have problems from being cooped up too long,” she said.

Too long detached from society could lead to psychological issues.

After a moment of silence, Xingxu Zhang said, “I’m not short on money right now.”

Winter Wen was at a loss for words.

Well, that was indeed an unassailable argument.

After a while, when Xingxu Zhang finished watering the plants and was about to leave, Winter Wen stopped him and said, “Don’t you want to shine in a field you’re good at?”

He finally looked at her, his voice flat. “I’m not good at anything.”

Then he added, “I helped you water the plants, you owe me one. You cook dinner.”

Winter Wen shot back, “I was just trying to help you, and now you’re blackmailing me!”

That night, Winter Wen cooked the Korean hot pot she’d been craving, with Xingxu Zhang supervising and occasionally lending a hand.

Halfway through the show they were watching, Winter Wen saw a message from her friend Tian Cheng sharing a video.

She opened it, a program identifying popular plants on the internet.

The video was unremarkable, but Tian Cheng told her to check the comments.

Just as Winter Wen clicked open the comments, Xingxu Zhang said, “Wrong.”

“What’s wrong?”

“This person is mistaken.”

“Cowhorn gourd belongs to the Apocynaceae family. Its stems and leaves contain toxic latex but can be used medicinally.”

Winter Wen was startled. The rice cake she had just picked up slipped back into the pot.

She put down her chopsticks and looked at Xingxu Zhang seriously. “Honestly, why don’t you start a social media account for science popularization?”