Chapter 33

Let me wash dishes for the rest of my life?
When Jin heard that Shen Hua was also cheering for him, he only nodded faintly. Of course she is, he thought. Who else would she support? Another class?
She wasn’t like Su Xiaoxiao, always “helping the outsiders.”
Su Xiaoxiao noticed his cool reaction and asked curiously, “Aren’t you happy Hua’s supporting you?”
“I am,” he replied.
“Really? You don’t look it. You seemed happier a minute ago,” Su Xiaoxiao muttered.
After that, they rode in silence.
The night was quiet, the wind gentle.
For Jin Qishan, the ride home after school was always his favorite part of the day. Even when neither of them spoke, just pedaling side by side, it was enough.
He was easy to please: having Su Xiaoxiao nearby was enough.
And yet, he was hard to please, because only Su Xiaoxiao would ever be enough.
When Su Xiaoxiao got home, only the soft glow of the nightlight lit the entryway.
She quietly closed the door and tiptoed into the living room. But even her catlike steps didn’t escape Grandma Su’s ears.
Her grandmother came out yawning, wrapped in a cardigan. “Back from school?”
Su Xiaoxiao set down her backpack. “Mm-hm.”
Grandma switched on the kitchen light. “Want something to eat?”
Ever since Su Xiaoxiao started having evening classes, no matter how late she got home, her grandmother would always get up to make her food.
Su Xiaoxiao smiled guiltily. “It’s okay, Grandma. I can just make some noodles myself.”
“Nonsense!” Grandma’s tone turned firm. “You’re still growing. You can’t live on plain noodles. And don’t even think about dieting like those TV girls, look at you, all skin and bones. Lose any more and you’ll disappear.”
As she scolded, Grandma pulled out the ribs she’d cooked earlier that day. Soon, the sounds of sizzling oil, onions, and garlic filled the kitchen.
Then Su Xiaoxiao’s phone buzzed.
Jin Qishan: What’s Grandma making? Smells amazing.
Su Xiaoxiao: Ribs and noodles. Hungry? Come over if you want some.
Jin Qishan smiled when he read it, set down his glass of water, and got up.
He’d been in his kitchen filling a cup when the smell of frying meat drifted through the window. He didn’t need to guess whose house it came from.
Su Xiaoxiao waited for a reply, assuming he was busy with homework and wouldn’t come.
Two minutes later, knock, knock.
When she opened the door, Jin Qishan was standing there in loose gray cotton pajamas, looking lazily comfortable.
“I thought you weren’t coming,” she said, letting him in. “That loungewear look actually suits you.”
“Why wouldn’t I come when there’s food?” he said, ears reddening at the compliment.
She pouted. “When we were kids, you never came when I invited you. Now, even if I don’t invite you, you show up.”
Ignoring her jab, Jin Qishan headed straight for the kitchen and slipped an arm around Grandma Su’s shoulders. “Grandma, what smells so good?”
“Ah, Qishan’s here!” Grandma said warmly, opening the fridge again to toss in a few extra ribs. “I made some hand-pulled noodles earlier. I’ll cook two bowls, one for each of you.”
He bent down slightly, leaning against her. “I love your noodles the most, Grandma.”
Su Xiaoxiao, leaning on the doorframe, couldn’t resist exposing him. “What don’t you love that my grandma makes?”
Jin Qishan smiled, slow and easy. “You’re right. I love everything she makes.”
She sighed. He really has gotten shameless with age.
Grandma chuckled. “Then you should come over every day! It’s nice having another kid around, it livens up the place.”
When the noodles were ready, she divided the ribs evenly between two bowls, but one bowl clearly had twice as many noodles as the other.
Su Xiaoxiao picked up the smaller bowl. “Since someone eats like a horse, they can wash the dishes after.”
Grandma swatted her lightly. “Don’t bully Qishan! I’ll wash them.”
“Grandma, how am I bullying him?” Su Xiaoxiao pouted.
Jin Qishan chuckled, lifting his bowl. “It’s fine, Grandma. I’ll wash the dishes later.”
Grandma Su brushed out the pot, then sat at the dining table, watching the two of them eat with a contented smile.
Before long, she yawned again.
Su noticed immediately. “Grandma, go to bed already. We can handle this.”
“I’m fine, dear. Old people don’t sleep much. I’ll wash the dishes after you two finish,” Grandma said, pulling her cardigan tighter. “Do you have enough food?”
“Go rest, Grandma,” Jin said gently. “We’ve got plenty.”
Eventually, he managed to coax her into going back to her room.
He ate fast and with enthusiasm, by the time Su Xiaoxiao was halfway through, his bowl was completely empty.
After finishing, he wiped his mouth and pushed the bowl toward her. “I’m done. I’ll head out first.”
Su Xiaoxiao grabbed his arm before he could stand, still chewing her noodles, and mumbled, “No.”
Feeling the warmth of her touch, Jin Qishan raised an eyebrow. “Why not? I’ve already eaten.”
She swallowed quickly. “Because you’re on dish duty. You can leave after I finish.”
Jin Qishan sighed dramatically, slumping back into the chair, eyes fixed on her. “Then hurry up and eat.”
When she finally finished, he wordlessly gathered the bowls and chopsticks and carried them to the sink.
Su Xiaoxiao warmed herself a cup of milk and leaned against the counter, sipping it as she watched him wash.
“Why are you so lazy?” he asked over his shoulder. “You never wash dishes. Planning to make me do it for the rest of my life?”
Su Xiaoxiao shot back, “You don’t have to. That’s what dishwashers are for.”
He laughed. “Dishwasher? You really live in a fantasy. You want a machine to do everything? You think a dishwasher cleans better than me?”
“Of course!” Su Xiaoxiao said seriously. “When I have my own house, I’m getting a dishwasher, an automatic washing machine, and a robot vacuum.”
He smirked, amused by her wild imagination. “At this rate, no one will ever need to work again. Robots are just a gimmick, tech will never get that advanced.”
Su Xiaoxiao’s eyes lit up, thinking of how fast technology would evolve in just a few years. “Qishan, you should learn more about coding and artificial intelligence. You’d see how wrong you are. Automation replacing labor isn’t just a slogan.”
Jin Qishan paused mid-wash. Truth was, he’d been curious about that stuff lately.
When he looked up, he caught sight of a ring of white milk foam around Su’s lips, and suddenly, his throat went dry.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he rasped, voice low, “Where’s my milk?”
“...Huh?”
His milk?
Su Xiaoxiao blinked, confused, then raised her cup toward him. “I only warmed one. You can have mine if you want.”
“Mm.” Jin Qishan lowered his head and took a sip, straight from her hand.
Then Su Xiaoxiao brought the cup back to her lips and drank, too.
Halfway through, she froze. Wait, we just shared a cup.
Her face flamed, heart racing.
He set the clean dishes on the rack, took the empty cup from her, rinsed it, and turned it upside down to dry.
As he left, he said meaningfully, “You know, I think I’m better than a dishwasher.”
“What?”
Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but laugh. Who compares themselves to a dishwasher?
…
By mid-October, the weather had turned chilly.
In the classroom, some students were shivering, others complaining it was still too hot.
Su Xiaoxiao, normally warm-natured, usually preferred the cold. Luckily, her seat was right under the fan, or she’d be roasting.
But this week, her period had come, and with it, cold hands and feet.
Between the autumn chill and the fan still spinning, she was freezing.
Meanwhile, Jin Qishan had just come back from playing basketball, his jacket draped over one arm, wearing only a T-shirt.
Su Xiaoxiao didn’t want to get up and walk across the room, so she scribbled a note asking to borrow his jacket.
The jacket passed from desk to desk until Zhang Dongshan handed it to her, muttering, “Why’d you ask him? I’ve got a jacket too, you know.”
Duan Hao snorted from behind, his voice dripping with jealousy. “Guess Jin Qishan’s clothes smell better, huh?”
Su Xiaoxiao huffed. “I don’t know if his clothes smell good, but I do know your feet stink. Can you please keep them on your side? You’re trying to gas me out here. How many times do I have to tell you, one hundred eighty a day? Be a decent human being for once.”
Duan Hao grinned shamelessly. “Stinky feet, stinky man. That’s what makes a real man.”
“Thick-skinned more like it,” Su Xiaoxiao muttered, kicking his foot back under his desk. “Move them before I make you.”
He pulled them back, only to stretch them out again a few minutes later.
Su Xiaoxiao, already moody from her cramps, felt her patience snap.
She slipped on Jin’s jacket. The familiar scent calmed her almost instantly.
She lifted the sleeve to her nose, soft detergent, faint and clean.
When she returned from the restroom between classes, her hands were even colder from washing them with cold water.
She pressed her palms to Shen Hua’s cheeks.
Shen Hua yelped softly, “Ah! They’re freezing!”
Su Xiaoxiao rubbed her hands together. “Yeah.”
Shen Hua glanced up at the spinning fan. “Want me to turn it off?”
Su Xiaoxiao pulled the jacket tighter, sniffled lightly, and said, “No, some people are still hot. It’s fine, I’ll just wear more.”
Shen Hua frowned, clearly worried. “But you’re freezing. What if you catch a cold?”
Su Xiaoxiao rubbed her nose. “It’s fine.”
“Achoo!”
“Achoo!”
“Achoo!”
“Achoo”
She barely finished her sentence before sneezing four times in a row.
It was right after lunch, when everyone was already half-asleep, so the classroom had been unusually quiet.
Then Su Xiaoxiao’s loud, echoing sneezes blasted through the silence like thunderclaps, jolting several classmates awake.
A few seconds of stunned silence, then the room erupted into laughter.
Su Xiaoxiao flushed and ducked her head.
Even Shen Hua couldn’t stop laughing, bent over her desk, shoulders shaking.
Only Jin Qishan quietly stood up, walked to the back door, and switched off the fan above Su Xiaoxiao’s head.
She noticed the breeze had stopped, looked back, and saw him returning to his seat as if nothing had happened.