Yao Family.
Small courtyard.
It was still light outside, and the clouds hung low.
Dong Xuebin's car was already parked outside the alley. After getting out, he took a pile of vegetables, meat, and eggs from the passenger seat and stood at the entrance to the Yao Family home.
The door was half open, not shut.
He knocked, but no one answered.
Dong Xuebin went inside. "Cui'er?"
The door to her parents' North Room was open too, but it seemed everyone had gone out.
Only Yao Cui's voice came from the West Room. "Xuebin? Why are you here so early?"
Dong Xuebin walked over. "After you left, Secretary Li urged me to head home early. I went to the Vegetable Market to buy some things, then drove over."
"Oh, I told you not to buy anything."
"It wouldn't be right for me to keep eating at your place."
"What was wrong with that? Why were you still drawing such clear lines with me?"
"I wasn't drawing lines, haha. You just got back too?"
"Yeah, I got back a few minutes ago, right before you came in. Wait a moment, I'll sort some things out."
By then, Dong Xuebin had reached the West Room. Without thinking much of it, since he didn't consider Yao Cui an outsider, he pushed open the door and went in. "If I'd known, I would've driven you back. But when I went out, I saw you'd already ridden off on your bike, so I... uh!"
Still talking, Dong Xuebin froze the moment he entered the West Room.
Yao Cui froze as well. Standing on tiptoe in her high heels, she was reaching behind her bare back to fasten her bra. Her light green bra was completely exposed, while below she wore a floral skirt that fell