It was 10:30 p.m.
After taking a shower, Xue Yuantong ran to Jiang Ning's room to play games.
Curled up on Jiang Ning's bed, she stared at her phone screen, her fingers tapping away. Her crisp laughter occasionally rang out in the room.
The moonlight was faint tonight, with only a few lonely stars in the night sky. The world beyond the window was hazy and indistinct.
Halfway through her game, Xue Yuantong kept feeling as though something was missing.
Her little mouth moved as she realized she was short on snacks.
Ever since her mother found a good job and her salary had increased substantially, her family's living conditions had improved as well.
Xue Yuantong had grown spoiled, and her home was always stocked with plenty of snacks.
Playing on my phone without snacks always feels so boring.
Xue Yuantong tilted her little head and asked Jiang Ning, who was on the sofa, "Want to play a game?"
There were two-player games on the computer, and Xue Yuantong often played them with him.
Jiang Ning put down his book. "No. You always cheat. It's no fun."
Xue Yuantong didn't care about Jiang Ning's slander.
She said smugly, "Since you aren't playing games, go to my house and bring over the watermelon from the fridge."
Jiang Ning: ...You really are clever.
He didn't go get it. Instead, he continued reading while casting an illusion that blocked Xue Yuantong's perception.
Two minutes later, he beckoned. The refrigerator door at Xue Yuantong's house opened on its own without a breeze, and half a watermelon wrapped in plastic flew out.
Halfway through its flight, the watermelon seemed to be swept by a blade of light and was instantly cut into tiny pieces.
All the watermelon chunks dropped into a plate, which then floated