Yan Cijin seemed to feel the same kind of awkwardness too, because she quickly looked away and pretended to sort the things on the table. The two of them were both acting calm, but the room had already turned a little strange in that soft, fluttery way that could not really be explained. Bai Li did not speak about it. Yan Cijin did not either. They just stood there, both a little too aware of each other.

LiLi, meanwhile, was probably at home waiting with that energetic little patience only children had when they were excited about something. Bai Li could already picture the little girl sitting somewhere with her legs swinging, maybe asking her grandmother when Bai Li would come over, maybe hugging her kitten doll and peeking at the door every few minutes. That mental image made Bai Li’s mouth curve a little more. The child was honest in a way adults often were not. If she liked someone, she would say so with bright eyes and a hug. If she missed someone, she would say it outright too. There was something very easy about that, something that made Bai Li feel a bit softer inside.

Yan Cijin finally reached out and took one of the bags from the counter, testing its weight. She then glanced at Bai Li again and said in a lower voice, "You really packed a lot. My mom will definitely say too much if she sees this." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Bai Li replied, "Then let her say it. If she thinks it’s too much, we can just eat it little by little."

The answer was simple, but that was exactly why Yan Cijin could not stop the tiny smile that appeared on her face. Bai Li always had a way of saying things so lightly, as if these were not the sort of supplies people had to worry about every single day. Yet because Bai Li said it with such a practical expression, it did not sound careless. It sounded reliable. That reliability made Yan Cijin feel a little safer, and a little more steady too.

She picked up the bags again and moved toward the entrance, but before opening the door she paused for a moment and turned back. Her gaze landed on Bai Li’s hands, then on Bai Li’s face, and she looked like she wanted to say something else, but in the end she just pressed her lips together. Bai Li noticed that pause. It was not dramatic, but it was enough to make her wonder what Yan Cijin had been thinking. Bai Li almost asked, but the words stopped at the tip of her tongue. Sometimes a small silence had its own shape, and that silence between them felt like it was holding something that had not been named yet.

Even now, with the meal waiting and the hallway outside still dangerous, Bai Li could not completely shake the feeling that this morning had already become more memorable than an ordinary visit should have been. Maybe it was the red ears, maybe it was the way Yan Cijin had carefully bandaged her hands, maybe it was LiLi’s name being mentioned with such gentle affection. Bai Li did not know which part had made her heart jump the most. She only knew that when she stood near Yan Cijin, her breathing always felt a little more aware, like she had to be careful not to let that strange feeling show too clearly.

At last, Yan Cijin took the door key in her hand and prepared to go out. Bai Li followed with the remaining bag still in her hand, and the two of them moved in sync without really discussing it. The apartment door opened, and the cooler air from outside the living room drifted in, reminding them that the rest of the world was still the same dangerous mess waiting beyond the threshold. That small reminder made both of them become a little more serious again. The quiet warmth inside the apartment could not last forever, and they both knew that.

But even so, for that short stretch of time, the room had felt normal. Normal enough to hold a lunch invitation, normal enough to carry vegetables, normal enough for a child to wait for her favorite auntie figure and for two adults to exchange looks that lasted half a beat too long. In the middle of the apocalypse, that almost counted as a luxury.

Bai Li went to the security door, opened it, and then quickly closed it.

Yan Cijin switched the things in her hands to her left, then quickly took out her keys to open the door. The two hurriedly went home and quickly closed the security door.

The little dumpling saw Bai Li at a glance and rushed towards her. Bai Li was wearing a white pajamas set today, a T shirt on top and shorts on the bottom. The soft fabric made her look a little more relaxed than usual, like she had finally taken off the outside world for a moment and stepped into something safer. Her hair was still slightly loose from waking up not long ago, and her whole person looked clean and fresh in a way that made the little girl stare for a second before sprinting even faster. The apartment was warm, the curtains were half open, and the sunlight that came in was not harsh at all. It just landed gently on the floor, on the sofa, on the corner of the table, and made the whole room feel like a normal home again, at least for a little while.

The little girl rushed up and hugged Bai Li’s leg, "Auntie, you’re here!"

Her voice was bright and happy, the kind that made people feel soft right away. Bai Li looked down and saw the tiny arms wrapped around her leg, and her heart, which had been very calm a second ago, suddenly felt a little strange. It was not a big feeling, just a tiny jump, like something warm had touched the inside of her chest.

.

.

.

To be continued.