"What 'ah' what? I spent an entire afternoon making these dishes. When simmering the soup, I was afraid your little clay pot wouldn't be able to hold it all and would overflow, so I stood there watching it for an hour, not even daring to move, you know?"

"Why didn't you get a stool..."

"Is that the key issue?!"

Xia Xinyu's face turned red with anger at Chen Yuan, and for a moment, she didn't know how to continue.

No, I mean, I'm a ruthless killer.

And you're asking if my eyes are dry?

"It's delicious, I love it, I'm very grateful... Is there a problem with that?"

Looking at Xia Xinyu like this, Chen Yuan became inexplicably nervous. Even if she jumped up, she wouldn't necessarily be able to hit his head, but he had a strange fear that this girl would smash his skull.

Moreover, the original [0.07] above her head suddenly changed to [0.11]. That is, her lifespan went from one and a half hours to one *kun* hour.

This extra hour... isn't she planning to take me with her?

No, is this some kind of burial custom?

"Sit properly."

Xia Xinyu commanded Chen Yuan seriously, like a kindergarten teacher.

"Yes, ma'am."

Chen Yuan didn't dare to move and sat upright on the stool.

Then, Xia Xinyu reached out her hand and began to knead her face like a child playing with clay.

But she wasn't kneading randomly; there was a method to her madness.

The business smile squeezed out from the corner of her mouth was suppressed.

The eyes that were deliberately widened out of politeness were also arranged into their usual lazy state.

Finally, her proper sitting posture was adjusted so that her shoulders were uneven, and one elbow was resting on the table, in an unrestrained state like an old man drinking early morning wine.

"I still feel like it's not natural enough... the expression isn't perfunctory enough, the world-weariness isn't strong enough," Xia Xinyu mused.

"Let me think."

Resting his chin on his crossed hands, Chen Yuan sighed after a moment of contemplation, and looked at her with a bland expression.

"That's right."

Although they hadn't known each other for very long, Xia Xinyu's brow gradually relaxed as the familiar Chen Yuan returned.

The time above her head also returned to [0.07].

No, so you were just worried about me before you died?

You feel comfortable with me wearing this deadpan face?

"Is it tasty?"

At this moment, Xia Xinyu asked again.

"Not bad, it's good enough to go out and make money," Chen Yuan nodded, commenting.

That's right, it was this kind of deliberately misleading statement, and this time Chen Yuan was being sincere.

"It would have been nice if you had said so earlier. I thought you didn't have an appetite for this meal and couldn't eat it. You scared me." Seeing Chen Yuan's true reaction, Xia Xinyu was no longer worried that her efforts would be in vain.

Originally, it was to express her gratitude to Chen Yuan, who had taken her into the world of high-end cuisine before her death. If even this last meal was uninteresting, she wouldn't be able to rest easy about Chen Yuan even in death.

Even if she became a vengeful ghost, she would secretly cook Chen Yuan three meals and a soup a day, just to see his genuinely approving expression.

That way, her life would be complete.

She wouldn't owe anyone who had been kind to her.

No, there was also her aunt...

But that side was beyond her control.

Some people had to be hurt, and if that person was closer, it would be easier to forgive herself psychologically.

"You probably noticed, I'm in a bit of a bad mood," Chen Yuan explained about his previous behavior.

"Yeah." Xia Xinyu nodded in understanding and said quite directly, "Becoming so polite, liking to say thank you to people, and even smiling gently. Your way of expressing a bad mood is too extreme."

"But I don't want to talk to you about it."

Chen Yuan made a foreign kid's pursed-lips jpg, feeling offended.

"Tell me, tell me, I'm sorry." Xia Xinyu quickly apologized and put a rib on Chen Yuan's plate.

After being coaxed like this, Chen Yuan opened his mouth and said, "Actually, I feel like I haven't been doing anything right lately."

"School-related?"

"That's one manifestation of my bad luck. I was indeed inexplicably caught by the English teacher in the office today to recite vocabulary, but that's not the main reason I'm troubled."

"Then what are you worried about?"

"My interpersonal relationships aren't going well, but... that's not really a big deal."

The new transfer student in the back row of him was eyeing him when she first came, but in the last two days, she had become a complete stranger. Although Chen Yuan wasn't the kind of person who tried to please everyone, and if he had given someone face yesterday, he wouldn't give it to them again today if he didn't like them, she was still doing it for him, and it was as if he had done something that made her completely lose her good impression of him.

Inexplicable.

"Isn't that the most important thing?"

"Yeah."

Chen Yuan nodded, raised his Rio, and Xia Xinyu on the opposite side also held her Rio with both hands and clinked glasses with him.

After the two took a small sip, Chen Yuan said slowly, "It's like this, didn't I tell Teacher Mo that Gouzi might be sick that day? Actually, I know in my heart that it must be sick. But I don't know if Teacher Mo took Gouzi to the hospital, and I'm too embarrassed to ask that tsundere Teacher Mo, or I'll get scolded again. So now, Gouzi is like Schrödinger's dog, in a superposition state of being both dead and alive..."

"You're worried about this kind of thing?" Xia Xinyu knew that Chen Yuan had a kind heart, but she didn't expect him to be this kind.

You can't judge a book by its cover.

"What, are you discriminating against Gouzi?"

Dog lives matter warning.

"I don't mean that. I'm just saying, you've already done your best. Even if the form teacher's daughter's little dog dies, it can't be blamed on you." Xia Xinyu enlightened him.

"Of course, I won't be blamed, but if it really dies..." Speaking of this, Chen Yuan sighed, "I could have saved it."

"As long as you try your best, you can rest easy..."

Halfway through, Xia Xinyu paused.

No, is he hinting at me?

It's just a dog, and Chen Yuan is so distressed because he couldn't save it that he's showing that extreme and unusual gentleness.

And he saved her from the poisonous gas that day, and tonight she was going to die next door to him...

Her life might not be more precious than that little dog, because the little dog still has its beloved little owner, and she has already lost the person she loved most, but in Chen Yuan's heart, Xia Xinyu was confident that she was at least more important than Xiao Mo's dog...

Could it be that he guessed that she was going to die, and this was a last meal?

That's impossible, right.

If he could even guess that, then he's too godly...

"Then, think about it this way." Xia Xinyu suddenly showed a bright smile.

"Think about it how?"

"Since there's no bad news, then just assume it's good news."

"The spirit of Ah Q?"

"No, didn't you say the form teacher is very *aojiao*? That means he might have really let Teacher Mo take the dog to the pet hospital, and he might have saved the dog too. It's just because of the teacher's dignity... that he doesn't want to say thank you to you?"

"Optimism, is that right?"

"Yeah."

Half a glass of water empty, half a glass of water full.

It's just a matter of how you look at things.

Xia Xinyu made a decision.

She couldn't be so selfish and die next door to Chen Yuan.

She was going to find another place to leave this world.

Then, Chen Yuan would still be able to have two imaginations about her sudden disappearance.

One, pessimistic, she died.

Two, optimistic, she moved away. The reason she didn't contact him again might be because her parents found out about her early love affair with a boy next door and forbade her from continuing to contact him.

Or, based on the second one, even more optimistic, even more foolish.

Xia Xinyu was moved by him, but she had set a plan for herself not to be in a relationship until college, so she planned to wait until she got into college before contacting this boy who had lived under the same roof with her for a few days.

When that time really came...

Chen Yuan would also forget about Xia Xinyu as a person.

Guilt, unease, regret, would also gradually fade away.

She would disappear completely like a ghost.

"Chen Yuan, I'm going home tomorrow and transferring to a school in my hometown." Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and squeezing out an embarrassed smile, she said abruptly, "The car leaves at six o'clock tomorrow morning, it's a bit rushed, so there won't be time to say goodbye."

[0.2]

The time has changed again, this time it's five hours.

That is, in the middle of the night, she would quietly leave and then quietly die.

And she, who had just gaslighted him, hoped that he would understand it this way—to think about it in a good way, your last rescue wasn't meaningless.

Xia Xinyu was in an unknown superposition state.

Not only did she not die, but she also optimistically started to make things right.

As long as he didn't think about it too much.

"That is indeed a bit rushed."

Chen Yuan raised his head and looked at the girl whose face could no longer hide more worries or make more pretenses, and took the initiative to suggest, "Tonight, do you have any plans to do something with me?"