A girl's first stirrings of love

"Ah, of course, what your Auntie Liu says isn't necessarily right. When it comes to feelings, you can't rely on anyone else, only yourself."

"Mm, I understand. Thank you, Auntie Liu."

As they talked, the two arrived at the parcel station where Auntie Liu worked.

"This is my stop. Bye, dear."

Firefly waved and said with a smile, "Bye, Auntie Liu."

Firefly hurried home through the residential complex. She had spent a little too long chatting with Auntie Liu and lost some time.

Liking someone, loving someone... mm, it's still so hard to understand. Do I really like Lin Yu? My situation is indeed just like what Auntie Liu described, but she also said feelings depend on me, not anyone else.

Firefly was still thinking about it all the way home. After putting the ingredients away, she took out her phone and checked the guide she had found earlier.

With the guide, the cooking went quite smoothly, and she finished in no time. Only now did she consider that Lin Yu might not be able to finish everything, so she made just the congee and soup, leaving the remaining dish for dinner.

After tasting them to make sure they were all right, Firefly ladled a bowl of each and carried the two bowls of carefully prepared congee and soup into the bedroom.

Seeing that Lin Yu was still asleep, Firefly set the food on the desk and went to wake him.

She went to the head of the bed and bent down into a crouch. Just as she was about to wake him, she noticed the sweat covering his forehead, so she pulled a tissue from the box on the bedside table, folded it in half, brushed his hair off his forehead, and gently wiped away his sweat.

After she finished, for some reason, Firefly stared blankly at Lin Yu's profile, forgetting to wake him.

She even reached out a finger and secretly poked his cheek. She had to admit, it felt pretty nice.

Looking at Lin Yu's face, Firefly thought, Lin Yu, do I really like you? I don't know, but I feel like it would be pretty normal if I fell for you. You're so good to me that you even make me wonder if I'm hallucinating, lost in a beautiful dream.

You're so good to me... could it be that you like me?

Just as Firefly was thinking this, Lin Yu's eyelashes fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes, turning his head to look beside him.

"Firefly...? What are you doing?"

Their eyes met. Because he had turned his head, the finger poking his cheek was now poking his nose, and the atmosphere became exceedingly awkward.

Firefly stealthily withdrew her hand. Lin Yu had only just woken up, and his illness left him a little muddled, so he didn't notice her little movement.

"Um, the food's ready, so I came to tell you that you can eat now."

"Okay, cough, cough..."

Firefly sounded a little stiff, but Lin Yu's illness had lowered his IQ a little-or, in everyday terms, slowed his reactions-so he didn't pick up on it.

"I'll get it for you!" Firefly stood up and brought over the congee and soup from the desk.

"This is mung bean congee and lily bulb and snow pear soup. They clear heat and detoxify. Here, I'll feed you."

Firefly scooped up a spoonful of mung bean congee, blew on it to cool it, and held it to Lin Yu's mouth. "Ah~"

Lin Yu cooperatively opened his mouth and ate it. "Mm, it's delicious."

Hearing Lin Yu say it was delicious, Firefly smiled. "As long as you like it. That means my effort wasn't wasted."

After finishing the mung bean congee and lily bulb and snow pear soup and taking his medicine, Lin Yu went back to sleep.

"Hmm-hmm-hmm~" Firefly hummed a cheerful little tune as she washed the dishes in the kitchen.

"Okay, last one!"

Grrr~

Firefly's stomach protested. Only then did she remember that she had been so focused on making food for Lin Yu that she had forgotten to make any for herself. It was definitely too late to cook now, so...

Firefly took a tub of instant noodles from the cupboard. Lin Yu usually wouldn't let her eat too much of them, but surely she could have a little as a reward for looking after him today? Though she did sneak some on normal days, too.

She heated the water, soaked the noodles, and waited quietly for a while before opening them up to eat. After slurping a mouthful, Firefly let out a blissful sound. "Mm~! The same old flavor. So delicious!"

Lin Yu woke up toward evening. He got up and moved around a little, discovering that the discomfort from earlier was gone and his head was no longer foggy.

He picked up the thermometer and took his temperature: [37°C]. His fever had broken.

He threw back the covers, got up, and left the bedroom. The evening living room was dyed red by the sunset, and Lin Yu immediately spotted Firefly fast asleep on the sofa.

He walked over and gently shook her shoulder. "Firefly, time to get up."

"Mm... let me sleep a little longer~"

Firefly reluctantly rolled over and went back to sleep. Rather than keep trying to wake her, Lin Yu picked up the blanket beside her and covered her with it so she wouldn't catch a chill.

"Rest well."

He then got up to make dinner. As soon as he entered the kitchen, he saw two empty instant noodle tubs lying in the trash bag. He knew Firefly hadn't eaten a proper lunch, but he would let it slide this time.

"So noisy." The sound of Lin Yu cooking woke Firefly right up. Opening her eyes, she discovered that a blanket had appeared over her at some point. She sat up and looked toward the noise, only to see Lin Yu coming out of the kitchen carrying a plate.

"You're awake. Dinner's ready. Go wash your hands and come eat."

"Lin Yu, why are you up? Shouldn't you be resting in your room?" Clearly, finding Lin Yu in the kitchen rather than the bedroom confused Firefly.

"I'm much better now. Besides, it's getting late, and you looked so sound asleep, so I decided to cook myself."

"Then you should've woken me up and let me do it. Even if you're much better, you can't let your guard down. What if you relapse?"

"But I did try to wake you. You didn't seem very willing to get up, so I cooked myself."

"Uh..." That single sentence left Firefly speechless, and even her anger vanished on the spot.

"All right, let's stop talking about that and eat. It won't taste good once it gets cold."

"Okay..."

As soon as Firefly sat down, she noticed that the dishes Lin Yu had made actually included the steamed egg custard she hadn't made at noon. She had originally planned to make it for him at dinner, but she hadn't expected to oversleep.

"Lin Yu, why did you make steamed egg custard?"

"Oh, when I was cooking, I noticed a few eggs left in a bowl on the counter. Since I can only eat light food while I'm sick, I thought I'd make steamed egg custard. What's wrong? Don't you like it?"

Firefly shook her head, looking embarrassed. "No, it's just that I was going to make this for you, but I overslept, and you ended up making it instead."

Lin Yu said, "You didn't get the chance this time, so you can make it for me next time."

Firefly said, "Sure, but I hope there won't be a next time."

"Uh... I'll be more careful from now on and try to avoid it."

When bedtime came that night, Lin Yu wanted to go back to sleeping on his sofa, but Firefly flatly refused. She said he hadn't fully recovered yet and insisted that he keep sleeping in the bedroom. No matter what Lin Yu said, she wouldn't agree.

Left with no choice, Lin Yu went to sleep in the bedroom. "Good night, then."

"Mm, good night."

After the lights went out, Lin Yu lay in bed tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

I'm done for. I slept too much during the day, and now I'm full of energy. I can't sleep at all.

Just as unable to sleep was Firefly, who was on the sofa outside the bedroom with the quilt pulled over her head.

So that's how it works... wow~ th-this is incredible!

Because of what Auntie Liu had said, Firefly had begun searching extensively online for posts about liking someone and love. But almost all the answers she found were ambiguous, everyone had something different to say, and very few people could put it into concrete terms.

Along the way, she had also somehow stumbled upon webnovels. Now she was reading one recommended by an app, called "About the Girl I Picked Up Becoming My Wife."

It was her first time reading a novel. She had been fine before she started, but once she did, there was no stopping her. She couldn't get enough. As Firefly read, her little face would flush from time to time, and her feet kept pattering against the sofa, just like an innocent young girl experiencing her first stirrings of love.