Gao Shen wasn't a big fan of coffee. It was too bitter for his taste.

  He preferred tea.

  But whenever he waited for someone, he somehow always ended up in a coffee shop.

  He liked sitting by the window, watg the crowd bustling outside.

  The pace of life in the capital was remarkably fast.

  He would sit there, sipping a cup of coffee, watg people hurry by, driven forward by the traffic lights at the busy crossroads. Hardly aopped, even for a phone call.

  People were all the same.

  Even Gao Shen himself, wasn't he stantly pushed forward by the relentless league schedule, uo afford the slightest sck?

  Sometimes he thought that if everyone in the world could suddenly stop being so busy, life might bee tragi another way.

  It was like Zidaer his retirement: idle and adrift.

  ...

  A set of hurried footsteps broke through his thoughts.

  Looking up, Gao Shen saw Su Qing approag.

  She had started her new job.

  At the end of st year, she passed the entrance exams to work for a tral ministry in the capital. Not just any ministry, but one of the core departments managing the national ey, a position of real authority.

  She had always been like this, excelling at everything she did.

  Her tailored bd-white business outfit perfectly highlighted her elegant figure and carried a sense of sophistication, paired with a natural warmth that made her approachable.

  "You're really starting to look like a strong, indepe woman," Gao Shen teased as she walked in.

  He had to admit, her outfit surprised him. It suited her so well, plementiemperament and demeanor.

  Over the past two years, he had grown aced to seeing all kinds of beautiful women in Europe, but Su Qing remained uniquely special. Perhaps it was because seeing her agai like reuniting with a long-lost friend.

  "You always show up without telling me in advance," Su Qing said as she sat down across from him.

  The waiter approached with the menu, but Su Qing raised a hand politely. "No hank you."

  Ohe waiter left, she turned back to Gao Shen and pulled out a pair of keys and an access card from her handbag.

  "Here's the key and access card to the apartment. You go back first. I've got two meetings this afternoon and a dot to finish, so I'll be a little te," she said, sliding the keys and card across the table to him.

  "When I'm done, I'll pick up some food on the way bad cook. If you get hungry, there's food and drinks in the fridge and snacks in the et. Help yourself, but don't make a mess."

  With that, she stood up, ready to leave. But just as she turned, she seemed to remember something.

  "By the way, your taste hasn't ged, has it?"

  Gao Shen smiled. "I'll eat whatever you cook."

  "Good."

  She took a step, theated again. "Do you even know how to get home?"

  As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized how silly they sounded.

  After Su Qing began w in the capital st year, Gao Shen had bought a 200-square-meter apartment in a high-end residential plex not far from her workpce. It was a surprise for her, something to make her ute easier.

  As for the old apartment near her uy, that had finally beeed out, to a few of her juniors at school.

  This would be Gao Shen's first time at the new pce.

  Still, Su Qing patiently expined how to get there: cross a few traffic lights, tur, then head north for about two kilometers.

  On most days, she biked to work, which was very ve.

  Despite her expnation, she still worried he might get lost and offered to take him there first, but Gao Shen waved her off.

  "Don't worry, I'm not an idiot. I'll find it. You go to work."

  "Call me if there's any problem," she added as she left.

  ...

  After leaving the café, Su Qing paused by the window and reminded him once more to be careful on his way back.

  Gao Shen couldn't help but ugh, feeling like he had somehow bee her little brother under her care.

  Before Su Qing decided to apply for the ministry exams, she had called him, seeking his opinion. Gao Shen could tell she was flicted, but it was clear she wao pursue the opportunity. So, he enced her to go for it, just as she had enced him to chase his dreams abroad years ago.

  He knew she had already made up her mind before calling him. She just wanted his support, and he gdly gave it.

  That call had left him feeling inexplicably happy.

  Even now, watg her busy and fulfilled, he felt a sense of joy from the bottom of his heart.

  He had never believed that women should stay home and focus solely on domestic duties.

  This wasn't a feudal society anymore.

  After paying the bill, he grabbed his suitcase and walked out of the café, headi.

  As he strolled along, he admired the streetscape of the capital, enjoying the brisk autumn air.

  Eventually, he spotted the bank Su Qing had mentioned and turned left, heading north for another half-kilometer until he reached the entrance of a high-end residential unity.

  Although he didn't know the exact building, he at least remembered the name of the plex.

  That was when he realized a problem.

  He khe name of the unity, but had pletely fotten the building number and unit.

  "If I posted this online in a few years, people would roast me alive," Gao Shen muttered to himself. "What kind of person buys an apartment in the capital and doesn't even know what floor it's on? Total 'Versailles moment.'"

  The plex, developed by a well-known state-owerprise, had excellent facilities and professional ma.

  When Gao Sheioned Su Qing's o the security guard at the gate, the man's eyes lit up in reition.

  "Are you her boyfriend?" the guard asked, scrutinizing Gao Shen like a teacher grading a student.

  "No, just a cssmate," Gao Shen replied, chug awkwardly.

  But his answer only seemed to firm the guard's suspis. "You're her cssmate from kindergarten, elementary siddle school, and high school, huh?"

  "Excuse me?" Gao Shen was baffled.

  Do I have a girlfriend?

  Wait—how e I don't know about this?

  "That girl is something else," the guard said. "Last time, a young man in a luxury car came by with a huge bouquet of roses for her. She turned him down, saying she already had a boyfriend. Childhood sweethearts, apparently been cssmates since kindergarten, always going to school and ing home together."

  Hearing this, Gao Shen scratched his head.

  It seems… she might have been talking about me?

  Whatever the case, he decided it was best to roll with it.

  The guard, satisfied with Gao Shen's polite demeanor, checked the access card, registered his ID, a him in.

  "She's a good girl," the guard called after him. "Be good to her."

  Gao Shen could only smile and nod.

  ...

  Around seven o'clock, the doorbell rang.

  Gao Shen opehe door to find Su Qing carrying several rge bags. She had clearly stopped to buy groceries on her way home.

  He helped her carry everything into the kit. She excused herself to her room, returning a few mier in fortable loungeulling out packets of dried meat and potato chips, she hahem to Gao Shen.

  "Have some snacks if you're hungry. Dinner will be ready soon," she said before heading into the kit.

  Gao Shen leaned against the doorway, watg her with a bemused expression.

  "I don't remember you cooking much before," he remarked.

  "Our office has a great cafeteria," Su Qing replied as she busily unpacked ingredients. "If you ever get a ce, I'll take you there to try it."

  "Looking forward to it," Gao Shen said with a grin.

  She had bought beef and shrimp, two of Gao Shen's favorite foods.

  "How did you know I love stir-fried beef with green peppers and boiled shrimp?" Gao Shen asked, surprised.

  "Auold me," Su Qing replied without looking up, referring to Gao Shen's mother.

  Gao Shen chuckled and didn't press further, though he noticed how focused and a little flustered she seemed.

  "Let me help," he offered.

  "No need. Just go watch TV. It'll be ready soon," Su Qing insisted.

  "Do you seriously think of me as a guest?" Gao Shen asked with a ugh.

  Uue further, Su Qied. "Fihe house is yours anyway. If you're a guest, wouldn't that make me a squatter?"

  "Smart answer," Gao Shen joked.

  He took over ing the shrimp his favorite food but his skills were rusty from ck of practice.

  As Su Qing marihe beef nearby, she g him out of the er of her eye and smiled softly, a smile Gao Shen didn't notice.

  ...

  Gao Shen hadn't experiehis kind of homey atmosphere in a long time.

  In Europe, he lived alone in a rge house. Though he had housekeeping services, it always felt empty. Cooking for himself never seemed worth it, so he ofteled for simple meals meant for one person.

  But tonight, it was different. Sitting at the dining table with Su Qing, sharing a meal, peeling shrimp for each other, and reminisg about their childhood or their hometown, it all felt warm and f. They even talked about her work, and Gao Shen found himself genuinely ied iories.

  Unknowingly, a feeling of belonging a feeling of home started to form in Gao Shen's heart.

  "Am I getting old?" Gao Shen woo himself, amused by the thought.

  Diretched on until after nine o'clock.

  When it was time to up, Su Qing wouldn't let Gao Shen help no matter how much he insisted. She forced him to sit bad rex while she tidied up the kit.

  "Let me do something, at least," Gao Shen protested.

  "If you want to help, e downstairs with me to take out the trash," Su Qing replied with a smirk.

  So Gao Shen apanied her downstairs, taking in the greenery and well-maintained surroundings of the residential plex.

  When they returned, Su Qing immediately set about preparing the guest room for him.

  "ime, give me a heads-up before you e back," she pined lightly. "I would've ed up the room earlier. Otherwise, you'll have to sleep in the living room."

  "The living room's fih me," Gao Shen replied nontly.

  Su Qing shot him a mock gre before heading off to finish ing.

  Sitting alone in the living room, Gao Shen g the open door of the guest room and smiled to himself.

  He had never imagined Su Qing could have this domestic, g side to her. She felt so different from the professional, indepe woman she appeared to be in front of others.

  In the quiet of the moment, he found himself p which version of her he liked better.

  Just as he was lost in thought, his phone buzzed with a call from Italy.