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Yu Qing, who couldn't understand why her hearing was so good: "..."

After she finished speaking, Xiang Changge looked at Yu Qing.

There was still more than half the food left in the lunchbox, but compared to usual, she had eaten quite a lot.

Xiang Changge asked at just the right moment, "Are you full? Shall we head back, miss?" I really want to go back and eat banana splits right now.

Yu Qing was still holding her chopsticks and eating, seemingly unaware of what the other woman had said. "?"

What happened to the person who'd woken her up for breakfast this morning? What about the person who'd asked last night if she wanted to raise pigs or dogs because she left so much food? She still had this much left, and she hadn't said she wouldn't eat it. Why was she urging her to go back?

Xiang Changge's little table had looked much barer than before. All that remained was a packet of nuts and a palm-sized container of watermelon.

So, she'd finished eating and now wanted to go back, did she?

Yu Qing raised her black-and-white, dead-fish eyes and shot Xiang Changge a cold glance. "No."

Xiang Changge: "..."

If she wasn't full, then she wasn't full. Why glare at her?

Seeing that Yu Qing had no intention of leaving yet, Xiang Changge didn't press her. She simply took out her phone and called the kitchen. "Chef Wei, can you make a banana split?"

"Right, the kind where you cut a banana in half and put ice cream or cream in the middle."

"What? Anyone can do it? Then prepare five different flavors for me. I'll have them when I get back."

Yu Qing, who had heard every word: "..."

Wasn't she full yet?

Yu Qing was puzzled.

Still puzzled, Yu Qing glanced at Xiang Changge again, just in time to see the woman hanging up and getting to her feet. She stood beside her, watching her without blinking.

"?"

Yu Qing asked, "Why are you looking at me?"

Before Xiang Changge could answer, Yu Qing figured it out herself.

What else could it be? Someone wanted to go back and eat her banana splits.

Of course, the very tactful housekeeper Xiang merely gave her a faint smile. "I was checking to see if you needed anything, miss."

She didn't need anything. It was just that Yu Qing, who hadn't wanted to come out earlier, now didn't really want to go back.

So Yu Qing calmly endured the scorching gaze and pecked at her food like a little chick.

Half an hour later, the food had gone completely cold, and Yu Qing had eaten only half of what was in the lunchbox.

By then, night had fallen and the streetlights along the road had come on. Xiang Changge had sprayed mosquito repellent twice more, and the two of them were surrounded by the same fragrance.

Yu Qing finally said she was ready to go back.

She wasn't in her wheelchair. In a beige dress, her slender figure stepped across the half-dry asphalt one step at a time. The streetlights, surrounded by tiny flying insects, cast her shadow long across the road.

As she walked, Yu Qing lowered her head and looked.

Beside the solitary shadow that had belonged only to her, there was another shadow that wasn't hers.

She glanced back. The person pushing the wheelchair with one hand was following slowly behind her, matching her pace.

As if she'd noticed Yu Qing's gaze, Xiang Changge looked over at her with her light-colored eyes and asked, "Tired?"

Yu Qing quickly looked away and shook her head, continuing forward.

But perhaps she really was a little tired. Her heart seemed to be beating faster, too.

The villa was brightly lit. As soon as Yu Qing came back, Aunt Gong, the other woman who looked after her and had recently switched shifts with Aunt Yang, came over. She handed Yu Qing her slippers and asked if she was tired.

Yu Qing chatted with her for a couple of minutes, then turned around—but the slender figure was nowhere to be seen.

After resting in her room for a while and having Aunt Gong massage her calves, Yu Qing went to the bathroom to take a bath.

Amid the scent of rosewater, Yu Qing poked at the bubbles on the surface of the water, lost in thought.

What was she doing right now?

She must have gone straight to the kitchen to eat the banana splits she'd been thinking about.

Did banana splits taste good?

I don't think I've ever had one.

Bananas, ice cream, cream. It sounds so simple and ordinary. It probably doesn't taste good.

...Would she really eat five of something that unappetizing?

Had she not gotten to eat anything good while she was abroad, and was she making up for it now that she was back in the country? That can't be good for her health.

But I'm probably not one to talk.

After taking a bath while her thoughts wandered, Yu Qing stepped out of the bathroom and saw Aunt Gong standing by the low table near the floor-to-ceiling window, staring at the things on it with a deeply troubled look.

Yu Qing ran her fingers through her hair and walked over, puzzled. "What's wrong?"

As soon as she approached, she saw what was on the table.

A banana split sat on the low table.

Though she'd never had one before, the moment Yu Qing saw it, she knew this was the banana split Xiang Changge had mentioned.

It was in a long, boat-shaped glass dish. A banana cut in half formed the base, with three scoops of ice cream in different colors nestled between them. A few swirls of cream sat on top, decorated with a cherry and ladyfinger biscuits.

In the very center was a little smiling bear-shaped cookie.

It was cute and pretty, completely different from what Yu Qing had imagined.

Aunt Gong was plumper than Aunt Yang and had a darker complexion. With her thick earlobes, she looked like the straightforward sort who didn't have much of a scheming streak.

Frowning, she said disapprovingly to Yu Qing, "The housekeeper asked me to bring this little dessert to you, but it's made with ice cream and cream. It's cold and greasy. How could you possibly eat it, miss?"

Who knew what the housekeeper was thinking? She kept putting all kinds of random things in front of the young lady.

Even if the young lady didn't necessarily eat it, they should still pay attention to whether it was suitable for her.

Yu Qing didn't say anything. She simply moved closer and studied the banana split for a long while before saying, "It's fine. You can get back to work."

Once Aunt Gong had left with a hesitant look, Yu Qing sat down on the upholstered sofa.

She propped her chin on her hand and quietly stared at the banana split on the table.

The ice cream had already started to melt. From their colors, she could tell that the three scoops were vanilla, strawberry, and matcha.

When was the last time I ate ice cream?

Yu Qing couldn't remember.

But she remembered the first time she'd tasted ice cream, when she was five. The cold, creamy treat had won her over at once. She'd had no resistance to it at all.

So she'd eaten a few more bites.

Then came the stomach cramps and vomiting, and she was taken to the hospital.

After that came the tearful, heartbroken faces of her parents.

For a long time afterward, she hadn't tasted ice cream again, and she hadn't missed it.

Only now had she suddenly remembered that when she was little, when she was still a child, she'd liked ice cream, too.

Like.

What a strange word, for someone like her now.

She didn't like anything anymore.

"Can Yu Qing eat ice cream?"

Watching Xiang Changge finish her third banana split, the system asked worriedly.

Xiang Changge was quite calm. "She's not that fragile, is she? Besides, she already ate dinner. A couple of bites of ice cream shouldn't hurt."

"A couple of bites? What if she eats the whole banana split, like you do?"

"Do you think that's likely?"

"..."

Given Yu Qing's appetite and temperament, it really didn't seem likely.

There wasn't anything with enough appeal to make her finish the whole thing.

"But what if she doesn't finish it, but still eats too much?"

The system was still a little worried.

"Then you'll have to keep an eye on her."

Xiang Changge began working on her fourth banana split, which had been made with yogurt and other fruit.

The system, suddenly saddled with responsibility, asked, "Me?"

"How am I supposed to keep an eye on her?" it complained. "I'm just an ordinary system!"

Xiang Changge said, "You can monitor her. If she eats more than half a scoop of ice cream, let me know."

The system was confused. "What for?"

Xiang Changge said righteously, "Obviously, I'll rush over and snatch the ice cream right out of her mouth."

The system: "..."

So she'd sent Yu Qing a banana split just so she could look at it and taste a little, was that it?

As if she'd guessed what the system was muttering about her, Xiang Changge explained, "Isn't it better to let her experience more new things? There are so many delicious foods in the world. I refuse to believe she isn't interested in any of them."

Besides, wasn't life about having something a little different every day?

The system said, "She's not you!"

Even so, the system continued doing its job in earnest. Xiang Changge finished all five flavors of banana split without hearing a word from it, which meant she didn't have to "snatch the ice cream to save Qing."

At ten that night, Yu Qing was curled up on the window seat, drawing in her sketchbook, when someone suddenly knocked on her door.

By instinct, Yu Qing assumed one of the housekeepers was bringing her water or had something to tell her. Without looking up, she casually pressed a button on the wall, and the door unlocked.