s.h.i.+ Enxi was staring at the message that Lu Mello said. He was asking if how she was doing and if she was already asleep.

"You know, at first, I found it sweet that he's been worrying about you but this is too much! He's disrupting the peacefulness of my phone. I'm so glad that we didn't end up together if he's going to be this annoying."

s.h.i.+ Enxi ignored her and instead, she grabbed her phone and replied.

Carrotkiller: [I'm still awake.]

A few seconds after she replied, Fan Xiao Yao's phone began ringing. Lu Mello was calling.

In an instant, s.h.i.+ Enxi ended the call.

"You're right, he's annoying." s.h.i.+ Enxi smiled, giving back the phone to Fan Xiao Yao. "You should block him."

"Since I have your permission, I will do-"

*Ding doing!*

"Oh s.h.i.+t! Don't tell me he's outside?!" Fan Xiao Yao started panicking. "This is too much! Too much!"

s.h.i.+ Enxi got up and walked to open the door. Instead of seeing the person she was expecting, it was just Zi Xuan.

"Uh... What's with that disappointed look?"

"Why are you here?" She crossed her arms.

"I heard you're pregnant so I came here to visit you." He grinned happily at her. "I'm going to be an uncle!"

Uh... This scene is so familiar...

"Gege, you're here! Come in, come in!" Fan Xiao Yao's lively voice was heard behind.

Gege?

Since when did they become close?

s.h.i.+ Enxi sighed heavily. She turned and went back to sit on the sofa. She took Fan Xiao Yao's phone and saw that Fan Xiao Yao did block Lu Mello on WeChat.

"Why did you block him?"

"Because you said so," replied Fan Xiao Yao after placing the plastic bags that Zi Xuan was carrying earlier on the table.

"Are you an idiot? Why did you do it?"

"Gege, look, Xiao Xi is bullying me since earlier!"

Zi Xuan patted her head, "There, there, Xixi is always like that. Get used to it."

"Shouldn't you be siding with me? Why are you siding with her?"

"I brought ingredients for hotpot! Let's have one tonight!" Zi Xuan grinned, ignoring Fan Xiao Yao.

"Did you brought melons with you?" s.h.i.+ Enxi turned to Zi Xuan.

"Yup, I heard from Yaoyao that you've been craving melon lately."

"Slice me one."

"What's this? I'm a guest here, shouldn't you be treating me better than that?"

With a blank look on her face, s.h.i.+ Enxi replied, "If you want to feel special, then you should go home instead."

"Why are you so mean to me?" Zi Xuan wiped an invisible tear from the side of his eyes. He went and hugged Fan Xiao Yao from the side. "Yaoyao, Xixi's being cold to me too."

"See? See? Look at how mean she is!"

"I'm back." Huang Li entered and the moment he did, his eyes landed on Zi Xuan and Fan Xiao Yao.

Fan Xiao Yao's face brightened upon seeing him, she happily greeted, "Senior Huang, you're back!" 

Huang Li was looking at Zi Xuan's arms that we're wrapped around Fan Xiao Yao's waist.

For some reason, there was this unexplainable feeling welling inside his chest.

This man... Why is he hugging Fan Xiao Yao?

"Both of you have met each other already, right? Senior Huang, this is Zi Xuan."

"It's nice to see you again, Mr. Huang." Zi Xuan smiled, he realized the

Huang Li nodded and smiled, "Likewise."

s.h.i.+ Enxi looked back and forth from Zi Xuan and Huang Li and smirked inwardly.

"Zi Xuan, you brought ingredients for hotpot, right? Huang Li is a great cook. He can help you in preparing." s.h.i.+ Enxi suggested.

"I don't know how to cook." Zi Xuan smiled. "I just bought the ingredients so that I can have the opportunity to taste Yaoyao's cooking."

Yaoyao?

Huang Li's brow twitched at how intimate Zi Xuan was calling Fan Xiao Yao.

"My cooking will send you to heaven." Fan Xiao Yao turned her head to look at him. Their faces were close enough but Fan Xiao Yao who was already used with Zi Xuan's gestures didn't mind.

"Really?! Then I can't wait to taste your cooking! It must be so delicious!"

"It's always burnt." s.h.i.+ Enxi said with a smile. "So you'll literally go to heaven."

As if something snapped inside Huang Li, he went in between them, separating the two.

"Xiao Yao, why don't you help me in preparing instead?"

"I can also help." Zi Xuan offered.

Huang Li plainly smiled at him, "Didn't you say that you don't know how to cook?"

"I was just kidding. I'm know how to cook and I'm pretty confident with my skills." He grinned proudly at him.

"Come, Yaoyao, let's wash the veggies~" 

"Sure!"

Huang Li's lips twitched in annoyance. In the end, the three of them prepared the ingredients for the hotpot.

Zi Xuan was about to sit beside Fan Xiao Yao but the s.p.a.ce beside her ended up being taken by Huang Li.

s.h.i.+ Enxi wanted to laugh since she never saw Huang Li become so jealous.

She moved from Fan Xiao Yao's side and decided to sit on their opposite side.

Zi Xuan gave s.h.i.+ Enxi a knowing look before he smiled and sat on Fan Xiao Yao's other side.

Huang Li glared in annoyance at s.h.i.+ Enxi. Why did she change seats?

The four started eating and it was rather quiet. The atmosphere between Huang Li and Zi Xuan was heavy.

Zi Xuan took his phone out and checked on something. 

"Ah! That phone case!" Fan Xiao Yao was the first one to break the silence between them when she saw the cartoon wolf with a red bowtie on his phone case. "It's Mr. Weiwei!"

"Oh! I didn't expect to know his character."

"Look." Fan Xiao Yao showed her phone case. Instead of a wolf, it was a rabbit in a dress with the same design.

"What's that?" s.h.i.+ Enxi asked curiously.

"These characters came from a children afternoon cartoon show. It's actually cute. This is Ms. Carrots, she is the main character in the show. Mr. Weiwei loved Ms. Carrots but sadly, he has been put into exile by Mr. Black. He is the male lead in the story and he also likes Ms. Carrots. It's a children's show because every episode is so funny." Fan Xiao Yao explained.

"I didn't know that you are actually watching the same show. Our phone cases are so cute!"

No matter how it looked like, from another's view, it was like a couple case.

Huang Li grabbed Fan Xiao Yao's wrist and pulled her to him since she was leaning close to Zi Xuan.

"What... What's wrong, Senior Huang?" Fan Xiao Yao blushed hard because of their closeness. She felt her heart was like about to explode because of his sudden gesture.

"I thought that you smell good, Xiao Yao." He calmly said while her wrist was close to his nose.

"R-Really? Does it smell too much? I actually bought a new perfume..."

s.h.i.+ Enxi who was quietly enjoying her food and watching the show chuckled. 

Huang Li obviously changed the topic and s.n.a.t.c.hed her away. He was trying to mount.

Zi Xuan placed some meat on Fan Xiao Yao's plate. "Yaoyao, you should eat more. Have more meat."

Fan Xiao Yao turned and pouted, "I don't want to get fat."

"If you eat these, I will give you the carrot m.u.f.fins I brought."

"Really? That's a promise, okay? You have to give them to me after this-"

"Wait.a.moment." Huang Li's face was dark, the smile was gone from his lips.

Huang Li stood up and erupted like a volcano. "Can you stop coming in between us? Moreover, can you stop calling her too intimately?!"

"Ah... He snapped out." Zi Xuan and s.h.i.+ Enxi said at the same time.