Luǎn Xī, thinking about her own stomach, quickly intercepted the menu and said, "Wait, don't place the order yet. Let me have a look." She quickly scanned through the dishes selected by Shěn Lì and picked up a pencil nearby to make some marks.

"You can't remove the matcha hotpot base!" Shen Li saw him bow down to modify the menu and stood up to stop him.

Luan Xi simply replaced the single base of the pot with a split pot, choosing the other half to be a seemingly normal spicy mushroom soup base. After he finished making the change, he asked someone to take the menu away, no longer giving the child a chance to touch it.

"Why are you pouting? I haven't even changed the one you picked. Can you consider that as an adult, I can't handle something so sweet?" Lu Xi couldn't help but want to pinch him when she saw his expression. Shen Li seemed to know that she was going to pinch his face and promptly turned his head to dodge.

Luǎn Xī's outstretched hand fell empty, but he didn't feel embarrassed at all. He propped his chin up with both hands and looked at the child beside him. He changed the subject to a question that any parent would ask, "How do you feel about this test? Can you still maintain your top ranking in the grade?"

Shen Li shrugged and replied, "It's more or less the same as before, anyway."

During the time they were waiting, Luǎn Xī was afraid the child would get bored, so she gave him her cellphone to play with. Recently, there seemed to be a game called "Jump Jump" that Shěn Lí liked to play, and he kept breaking records on Luan Xi's account. Yán Jié Xù was worried that playing with cellphones would negatively impact the child's academic performance due to his poor independent ability, so he never bought one for Shěn Lí. Therefore, if he wanted to play, he could only go find Luan Xi.

Shen Li was engrossed in playing with his phone. The controlled character on the screen was jumping without any pause, perfect and precise with every jump. Luan Xi, having nothing else to do, leaned in beside the child to watch him play. Just as Shen Li was about to break his previous record on the next level, a message suddenly slid down from the top of the screen. The notification caught Shen Li's attention instantly, causing him to loosen his grip on the phone. The character stumbled and fell directly, abruptly ending the game.

Shen Li's mood suddenly became low. He wanted to complain a few words, but when he saw the name of the sender listed as just one letter - "Mom", his low mood instantly disappeared. Without thinking too much, he instinctively wanted to return the phone to Luan Xi, after all, Aunt Yan might have something important to discuss with Luan Xi.

Shen Li had been deeply engrossed in playing "Jump Jump" in front of him, intending to break his record again. He didn't even notice that Luan Xi's face was so close to him. Just as he turned his head to tell her that Aunt Yan had sent a message, he found himself looking into Luan Xi's magnified handsome face.

……

Luǎn Xī xiǎnrán yě shì méi xiǎngdào Shěn Lí huì túrán de zhuǎntóu, bùyóude zhèngle yīxià. Rúcǐ jìn de jùlí, xiǎohái liǎnshàng xìxì de róngmáo, yǎn jì xī dòng shí dài qǐ de húdù dōu néng ràng tā kànde yīqīng èrchǔ, gèng biétí duìfāng de hūxī qīngqīng sǎ zài zìjǐ liǎnshàng shí de gǎnjuéle. Cǐshí Luǎn Xī zhǐ juédé nèixīn shēnchù xiàngshì bèi yīgē gēngywǎng de yǔfěi wēiwēi sǎoguò, jiào tā xīn yǎng.

Why does the other party faintly smell like milk?

The thought flashed through Luan Xi's mind. Then, Luan Xi shook his head to interrupt his deep thoughts, even considering that there might be something wrong with himself. Without waiting for Shen Li to speak, he took the initiative to create some distance between them and casually took the phone from Shen Li's hand as if nothing had happened.

"Um... It's a message from my mom, right?"

Shen Li blinked his eyes. Children's thoughts tend to be more lively, and he didn't feel as awkward as Luan Xi. On the contrary, he thought that up close, his brother looked particularly good no matter where. No wonder Aunt Yan would say those things. Shen Li didn't perceive any subtle change in the atmosphere between them just now. He tugged at Luan Xi's sleeve and asked, "What did Aunt Yan say?"

Luan Xi opened the chat window with Mrs. Yan, and after reading the message, her mood unexpectedly calmed down.

"My mom will be going out later for something, so she asked the two of us to figure out dinner ourselves in the evening," Luan Xi switched screens and reopened the Jump Jump mini program, asking, "Are you still playing?"

After waiting for the two of them to finish eating hotpot, it was already almost 3:30 in the afternoon. Shen Li ate too much and still had a lingering taste of matcha sweetness in his mouth. Following Luanshi as they walked to the parking lot, Shen Li couldn't hold it anymore and finally said, "I feel... a little uncomfortable in my stomach."

"You regret it now, don't you? Instead of eating a normal hot pot, you had to order something weird and experimental." Luan Xi sighed, unable to help but scold him, but still reached out to massage his stomach to relieve his discomfort. "Why are you still so greedy, just like when you were a child? If you can't eat anymore, you should take some digestive medicine when we get home later."

Shen Li nodded and leaned against the back of the seat. Under Lu Xi's gentle rub, a slight drowsiness welled up in him, and he slowly closed his eyes.

"Are you a little piglet? Eat your fill and go to sleep." Luan Xi stared at him for a while and thought to herself, "Indeed, he's still a child who hasn't grown up yet." Afterward, she resignedly leaned over to help fasten Shen Li's seatbelt in the passenger seat, saying, "If you really want to sleep, you have to hold on for a bit. Rest after taking your medicine at home later."

Shen Li made a discontented sound to show his agreement upon hearing the words. Although his eyes were closed, he did not fall asleep. When they arrived downstairs at home, he opened his eyes. He still looked sleepy and disoriented. Lu Xi found it amusing and asked him, "Shen Li, do you need me to carry you upstairs?"