Was this what first love felt like?

Wen Ce looked at the message Zhou Chi had sent him. Kissing...

His fingers unconsciously rubbed lightly over his phone for a while, his thoughts wandering off at the same time.

"That smells so good~" Luo Lianqing's soft, gentle voice sounded behind him.

Wen Ce immediately switched off his phone's screen, set it aside, and turned to look at her. "What brought you in here?"

She probably hadn't seen his phone, right?

Luo Lianqing blinked. "I smelled something delicious, so I came in to look, and to ask if there's anything I can help with. It feels a little rude to just sit there waiting to eat."

Wen Ce washed his hands. "There's nothing you need to help with. It's almost ready. I just need to make the stir-fried tomatoes and eggs."

Luo Lianqing murmured an acknowledgment. "Isn't this too much for just the two of us? Four dishes and a soup."

Wen Ce reached out and lifted the lid, and the aroma of stewed beef wafted toward them.

Luo Lianqing's eyes lit up, and she forgot all about whether it would go to waste. "That smells so good~"

"Didn't you want to help? Get me a plate from the sterilizing cabinet," Wen Ce said with a smile. "Didn't you want to eat this? It won't go to waste. I can finish the leftovers tonight."

"Then I'll eat with you," Luo Lianqing said without thinking. "I can't let you eat leftovers alone."

As she spoke, she took a plate out of the sterilizing cabinet.

But when she turned around, she met Wen Ce's gaze, which was filled with helplessness. "If you're eating with me, we're not having leftovers."

I couldn't bear to make you eat leftovers.

Wen Ce did not say that last sentence, but Luo Lianqing felt as though she had understood it anyway.

Wen Ce reached out and took the plate from her, their fingers briefly touching.

Luo Lianqing lowered her hand, her fingers shifting. "It's fine. When I was abroad, sometimes my roommates would cook for once..."

"Mm, you don't have to do that here. Whenever you want something, I'll make it for you," Wen Ce said softly. Then he picked up a piece of tenderly stewed beef with his chopsticks and held it to her lips. "Want a taste?"

It was an intimate gesture. At least, it felt a little intimate to Luo Lianqing.

But she still opened her mouth and ate the beef without the slightest hesitation.

The beef had just come out of the pot and was a little hot. She let out a small cry and parted her lips, blowing air out, a thin sheen of reflexive tears welling in her eyes.

Wen Ce watched her soft pink lips part slightly, revealing the little pink tongue inside.

Those misty eyes stared at him in grievance, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

At that moment, he actually felt a little perverted for envying that piece of beef.

He opened his hand beneath her mouth. "I forgot to blow on it. Spit it out if it's too hot."

Luo Lianqing glanced at his beautiful palm, then closed her mouth and swallowed the beef. She stuck out her little tongue, which had been scalded a little red. "Is it red?"

Her voice was muffled.

Wen Ce's gaze darkened as he looked at that little tongue, and he turned away, a little embarrassed. "A little. Do you want something cold to drink?"

Luo Lianqing nodded and walked over to the fridge herself. "Once something's in my mouth, I'm not spitting it out. It tastes really good~"

Wen Ce turned his head and watched her open the fridge and, out of all the drinks, unhesitatingly choose the brand of mineral water he usually drank. His mood suddenly lifted.

"You swallowed it just like that, and you could still tell whether it tasted good?" He reached out. "Let me open it for you."

"No need. I can do it myself," Luo Lianqing said without thinking, then suddenly remembered that Miaomiao seemed to have said she should create more opportunities for contact.

She lowered the hand she had already placed on the cap and put the water into Wen Ce's hand. "Actually, you can open it for me."

Wen Ce took it, unscrewed the cap for her, and handed it back. "You like this one too?"

Luo Lianqing took a sip, waiting until her tongue felt less uncomfortable before saying, "No. I just saw that there was more of this than anything else in there, so I figured you liked it and wanted to try it. It's pretty good."

She blinked at Wen Ce.

Wen Ce's fingers twitched. He suddenly really wanted to pat her head. How good could a bottle of mineral water be? Had she wanted to try it because he liked it?

He could not help lowering his head with a smile. It was so obvious. Wouldn't he have to be an idiot not to see it?

"What are you smiling about?" Luo Lianqing asked curiously, a little puzzled. Did praising the mineral water make him that happy?

Just how much did Wen Ce like this brand of mineral water?

She should buy some to keep at home later, too, and give him this the next time he came over.

"Nothing. Go wait outside. It'll be ready soon." Wen Ce shook his head, put a hand on her shoulder, and applied a little pressure, steering her toward the living room. "Be good."

Those two words made Luo Lianqing blush a little, but she still remembered that she had come to help. "I'll help carry the dishes out..."

"No need. I'm worried you'll burn yourself. Just wait outside," Wen Ce said seriously.

Luo Lianqing obediently murmured an acknowledgment and went to sit on the sofa.

She stared at the chilled water in her hand, took out her phone, found the same one, and ordered a case.

In the kitchen, Wen Ce was in a very good mood. Having seen a few things clearly, he felt truly good.

Nothing made a person happier than having the person they liked like them back.

The remaining dish, stir-fried tomatoes and eggs, was quickly finished.

Wen Ce brought the dishes out, then served two bowls of rice before calling Luo Lianqing. "Time to eat."

Luo Lianqing answered him. Only after walking over did she remember something and casually ask, "You don't call me senior anymore."

"I don't want to." Wen Ce placed a piece of beef in her bowl. "It shouldn't be too hot now."

"Do you prefer calling me teacher instead? That makes it feel like there's a huge age gap between us," Luo Lianqing muttered.

"I don't want to call you teacher either." Wen Ce glanced at her. "What do your friends call you?"

"Luoluo," Luo Lianqing said without thinking.

"Are we friends?" Wen Ce asked.

"Yes." After answering, Luo Lianqing caught on. She glanced at Wen Ce. "Do you want to call me Luoluo too?"

"Can I?" Wen Ce asked, looking at her.

"Of course." Luo Lianqing did not know what had come over her. She felt a little nervous.

Actually, lots of people called her Luoluo. There was nothing to it if Wen Ce did too, right...?

They were friends, after all...

"Luoluo." Wen Ce called her name, his eyes full of smiles. They were clearly the same words, pronounced the same way.

Yet Luo Lianqing kept feeling as though she heard a lingering tenderness in them.

Her face flushed a little, her gaze flickering as she avoided looking at Wen Ce, and she gave a soft hum of acknowledgment.

"Luoluo," Wen Ce called again, watching her face grow redder. "The shimmering water is lovely in the sunshine; the mist-veiled mountains are wondrous in the rain. Luoluo is a lovely name."

Luo Lianqing now felt as though bubbles were swelling and bursting in her heart, swelling and bursting, pop-pop-pop. It was a wondrous feeling, something she could only feel but could hardly describe. If she really had to put it into words, it was probably that she was truly happy...

For the first time, Luo Lianqing felt how impoverished her words were. She could not even think of a fitting adjective.

Was this what first love felt like?

Like the first rain of spring, a breeze on a sweltering summer afternoon, the first autumn leaf drifting down before her eyes.

And this winter, I want to wait with you for the first snow.