The next day, early in the morning.
The light streaming through the floor-to-ceiling window was perfectly bright.
Lin Cheng walked over to the window, drew back the curtains, and stretched lazily.
He turned his head, and the sunlight spilled onto Lu Xiaoxiao’s shoulder. Her porcelain-white skin seemed dusted with gold powder. Lin Cheng yawned—he hadn’t slept well the night before.
Lu Xiaoxiao sat up slowly. She no longer cared if her strap slipped off as she stretched. Then, as if remembering something, she scrambled out of bed and headed to the bathroom. She’d fallen asleep in a daze last night and forgotten to shower. Normally, she would never be this sloppy.
Everything felt sticky and weird.
Half an hour later, she emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a towel. Lin Cheng yawned again. Lu Xiaoxiao glanced at him. “You. Go take a shower.”
“Alright, alright.”
Luckily, Lin Cheng had a spare set of clothes in his ear clip. It had been four days since he’d gone home. These past few days, he’d been giving Lu Xiaoxiao special training, and his own head felt a bit fuzzy. It had been ages since he’d trained this intensely. Back then, he hadn’t thought training was tough, but once you got lazy, it was hard to stop slacking off endlessly.
For breakfast, Lin Cheng boiled some noodles in the kitchen. As they ate, Lu Xiaoxiao slipped on her alchemy contact lenses and checked her status. Her energy had reached 240 now—more than double what it had been before. Once it hit 500, she’d be at the threshold of S-Rank. She looked at Lin Cheng. “What’s on the training schedule today?”
“I told you. We’re going out to soak up some sun today. Take a break.”
“No.” Lu Xiaoxiao turned her face away.
“Constant training leads to mental fatigue. Keeping your mind wound tight like that is a recipe for accidents. So today, it’s just sunbathing. If you don’t want to go out, you can lounge at home and rest.”
Lin Cheng slurped up the last noodle from his bowl, cleared the dishes, and loaded them into the dishwasher. Lu Xiaoxiao went back to her room. When she came out again, she was wearing a Lolita dress interwoven with grass green and white.
“You’re still rocking plus-size kids’ clothes?” Lin Cheng scratched his head. He eyed the white calf socks with patterns peeking from under her skirt hem, paired with chunky-heeled white mary janes. Oh man, what a weird contrast.
Lu Xiaoxiao’s eyes usually had this cool, distant vibe, but the dress was surprisingly sweet and cute.
“I bought it a while back. Haven’t worn it in ages.” Lu Xiaoxiao stood in front of the mirror, turning slightly to the side. Her chest felt a bit snug there—though it hadn’t two years ago. Lin Cheng stepped behind her, wrapped his arms gently around her waist, and rested his head on her shoulder, letting most of his weight lean into her. He leaned close to her cheek. “So, where do you wanna go play today?”
Maybe because he was so close, a hint of deliberate disgust flickered in Lu Xiaoxiao’s eyes.
“Don’t hug me.”
“Why can’t I even give you a hug?” Lin Cheng’s voice sounded lazy and drained.
“I don’t want you hugging me. Let go.”
Lin Cheng released her and retreated to perch on the edge of the table. “So, wanna go somewhere fun?”
“Don’t know.”
“Alright then. How about I take you for a drive along the Coiling Mountain Highway?”
Lu Xiaoxiao’s eyes still held a trace of disdain, but Lin Cheng didn’t seem fazed. She let out an “oh.” Lin Cheng extended his hand toward her. Before she could react, he grabbed it and bolted out the door.
“Let’s go!”
“So childish.”
Lu Xiaoxiao’s skirt fluttered lightly with her quickening steps.
Lin Cheng’s car was parked at Lu Xiaoxiao’s place—the same one he’d ridden to the hospital to see her. Now, she sat in the back seat, forced to hold onto him lightly. He wasn’t driving fast. The sun was a bit intense today, but for someone who could control temperature like Lu Xiaoxiao, it was no big deal. Lin Cheng took her out to the suburbs and sped up, looping around the Coiling Mountain Highway again and again.
Suddenly, Lu Xiaoxiao recalled that rainy night a few days ago. She’d clung tightly to Lin Cheng as they tore down the highway, the roaring wind nearly drowning out the world.
The wind whistled past their ears, sunlight poured down from above, and the noisy world felt utterly silent.
At noon, Lin Cheng pulled into the Mountaintop Pavilion with Lu Xiaoxiao. He dragged out the hidden box from under the pavilion, fished out the beer he’d stashed earlier, and tossed her a can. They sat on the wooden bench, gazing at the lush green mountains in the distance.
Lu Xiaoxiao snapped her fingers, and their beers turned ice-cold. She took a small sip from hers, the wind tousling her hair. She tucked a strand behind her ear and murmured softly, “What does ‘meaning’ mean to you?”
Lin Cheng scratched his head. “Why bring that up out of nowhere?”
“Curious. Wanna know.”
Lu Xiaoxiao had pieced together parts of Lin Cheng’s story. His parents had died in a Catastrophe when he was seven. After his Ability Awakening, he’d joined the Alliance and served as a frontline Adjudicator. He’d even crossed paths with Si Ming and been part of the legendary squad back in the day. After the war, he’d retired alongside Si Ming, becoming a jobless twenty-year-old who occasionally sang or sold flowers. So she was suddenly curious—what was “meaning” to him?
“If you stopped some random auntie buying groceries on the street and asked her the meaning of life, she’d probably roll her eyes and think you’re nuts.”
“I’m asking you.”
“My answer’s the same. Chasing meaning too hard is no different from wallowing in nihilism. I can’t really answer it, ’cause I’m just a little kitty.”
As he finished speaking, a pair of white cat ears suddenly sprouted from his forehead, and a silver tail swished across Lu Xiaoxiao’s face.
Lu Xiaoxiao stared blankly for three or four seconds before reaching out to grab his tail. Lin Cheng immediately yelped, “Ow, ow, ow! That hurts!”
“How’d you… make that happen?”
“My ability’s all about shape-shifting. Heh heh, piece of cake.”
Lu Xiaoxiao burst out laughing at Lin Cheng with his new cat ears. “Bet you could grow a dog tail too, huh?”
“I’ll bite you!” Lin Cheng glared at her fiercely.
But Lu Xiaoxiao was like a kid with a new toy, stroking his cat tail over and over. Lin Cheng quickly made the ears and tail vanish again. He sprawled lazily on the grass at the mountaintop, somehow pulling out a foxtail grass stalk to chew on. Lu Xiaoxiao came over and sat on his lap.
“You’re heavy.”
“I’m under 120 pounds.”
“No way! Heh heh.”
“It’s true. What’ll we bet on?” Lu Xiaoxiao glanced back at him. Lin Cheng eyed her from above—with her barefoot height around 5’9″, and her generous bust and hips, he didn’t buy that she was under 120. But he couldn’t think of a good bet. “You pick.”
“If you lose, you be my errand boy fifty more times. If I lose… within ten times, whatever you want. Wanna see black stockings? I’ll wear ’em. White silk stockings? Done. Anything you want me to do… I’ll do it.”
“Deal.”
Lin Cheng lounged a bit longer, then had an idea. He pulled out his camera. “Wanna take some photos?”
Lu Xiaoxiao nodded.
He found a spot with perfect lighting and led her to a little stream in the mountains, complete with a small waterfall. Too bad no one else was around. Lu Xiaoxiao kicked off her shoes and socks, stepping barefoot into the stream bed of smooth pebbles. Lin Cheng snapped away seriously from the side. Half an hour later, she hugged her phone, scrolling through the raw shots. Lin Cheng nagged, “Discounted to eight hundred for you.”
“Money-grubbing jerk.”
“Haven’t had money for food lately. Lost everything I had on me to you guys that day.” Lin Cheng answered pitifully. Luckily, Lu Xiaoxiao paid without fuss. She sat on a bluestone, sunlight falling on her porcelain calves below the skirt hem. She waited for her feet to dry before putting her shoes back on. Lin Cheng sneaked another candid shot.
In the afternoon, they didn’t head down until hunger struck. Lin Cheng drove them to grab some ramen. They found a place with a scale, and Lu Xiaoxiao kicked off her shoes to step on. Lin Cheng watched eagerly. Heh heh—123!
“This scale’s busted!” Lu Xiaoxiao gritted her teeth slightly, then muttered, “I was 117 half a month ago.”
“Come on, at your height, 117 is skinny as hell.”
“Whatever. Next scale.”
Lu Xiaoxiao dragged Lin Cheng by the hand to the next pharmacy. They tried several, all hovering between 122 and 123. Lin Cheng laughed his head off. Lu Xiaoxiao crossed her arms, her eyes dark as she sulked at herself. Then Lin Cheng hauled her into the arcade. He had a bunch of prizes he’d failed to grab before—who better than an expert like Lu Xiaoxiao?
After she won them for him, they plopped down at the game machines and played all afternoon. The arcade was a bit stuffy and hot. Lin Cheng scooted closer to her—she was nice and cool.
They didn’t leave until evening, hitting the supermarket on the way. Lu Xiaoxiao wanted braised pork ribs, so he bought a pound of small ribs, plus some sides. Back home, he tied on an apron and started cooking.
Lu Xiaoxiao had wanted to diet, but the ribs were too damn good. After dinner, they sat on the sofa. Lin Cheng reached out to rub her belly, pinching lightly. “No baby pouch here—what’re you dieting for?”
But Lu Xiaoxiao’s eyes stayed moody. After a while, Lin Cheng poked her waist. “A bet’s a bet.”
“What do you want?” Lu Xiaoxiao gritted her teeth.
“Hmm… no undressing, then.”
“The dress’ll get dirty.” She gnashed her teeth.
“Just be careful.”
Begrudgingly, Lu Xiaoxiao lifted her skirt hem, inching down the pumpkin shorts beneath. The lacy panties followed to her thighs. Lin Cheng sat on the sofa, blinking at her. “Aren’t you trying to lose weight? Better work hard at it.”
Her face full of reluctance, Lu Xiaoxiao turned her back to him and settled onto his lap. She fidgeted for a good while, brows furrowing. She was so worried about staining her dress, but something even more pressing was Lin Cheng’s hands on her waist, guiding her down bit by bit.
“Stop… you jerk!”
Her voice was thick with embarrassment and panic, but in the end, there was no escape. She didn’t dare move a muscle, as if the slightest twitch would sap all her strength. Her legs felt like jelly.
