"Sorry to bother you."
Ye Zhenzhen carried a basin and led Zhu Zhe and He Minhong into Wang Yan's home.
"You don't feel embarrassed at all, do you?"
"We're all friends. Don't you understand social etiquette?" Without even turning around, Ye Zhenzhen headed straight for the kitchen.
"Sorry to trouble you, Wang Yan." Zhu Zhe kept smiling, neither servile nor overbearing.
"Haven't I gotten to eat hot home-cooked meals too? We're troubling each other. Come on in." Wang Yan leaned against the doorframe and tilted his head toward the interior, gesturing for them to enter.
Zhu Zhe did not stand on ceremony. After entering, she turned into the kitchen with Ye Zhenzhen.
He Minhong called out, "Brother Yan," and followed closely behind them.
The moment she entered, she exclaimed, "Brother Yan, you have so many books at home—it's like a library. Wow, are all these calligraphy and paintings your work?"
"Just something I do for my own amusement. No need to make such a fuss."
Ye Zhenzhen walked over. "Could you put the vegetables you're holding in the kitchen first?"
"Huh? Oh." He Minhong came back to her senses. "I just really like books. Zhenzhen, I dream of having a study like this. Surrounded by books, sleeping in the scent of ink—it must be so blissful."
"Like a mouse getting into a granary, right?" Ye Zhenzhen teased.
"If there were a granary like this, I'd be willing to be a mouse." He Minhong was getting sentimental again.
Zhu Zhe actually shuddered. "Honghong, hurry up and go be your mouse. I don't need you here."
Even without Zhu Zhe saying so, He Minhong had no intention of helping with the work. She happily ran over to the bookshelves and started browsing. Ye Zhenzhen, meanwhile, examined the calligraphy and paintings on the