Chapter 5: The Hamper

Anqi grabbed a robe off the chair and tied it on with shaking hands.

"Hide," she whispered. "Bathroom."

"I'm not hiding in a bathroom," Mengyao whispered back. "I live in a small flat. I have no pride left to hide."

"Then at least stay behind the door."

Anqi smoothed her hair with one palm, took a breath, and opened the front door.

Gao Chenyu stood on the landing in a fresh navy shirt, holding a hamper wrapped in gold cellophane.

It held a pineapple, two boxes of mooncakes, a bottle of rice wine and a silk ribbon.

"Miss Zhou," he said pleasantly. "Good morning. I hope I'm not too early."

"You are."

"Then forgive me. Auntie Fang said Mengyao was staying with a friend. I thought I'd bring her breakfast."

Across the hall, an elderly neighbor in a quilted vest had cracked her door and was watching with great interest.

Anqi did not look at her.

"That's thoughtful," she said, "but she's still asleep."

"I'll wait."

"I'd rather you didn't wait in my home."

His smile did not move, but a muscle near his eye did.

"I'm about to be family, Miss Zhou. It's only a doorway."

"It's my doorway."

Behind her, a floorboard creaked.

Mengyao stepped out of the bedroom in Anqi's pajamas, with her hair flat on one side and her cheeks flushed pink.

She came to stand beside Anqi, close enough that their sleeves touched.

Gao Chenyu's eyes went down to the borrowed pajamas, then up, and stopped on Mengyao's mouth.

Anqi saw him see it.

A long second went by in the hallway.

"Mengyao," he said, in the voice of a man humoring a child. "You look tired. You should have stayed at your mother's."

"I'm not tired."

"Your mother worries."

"My mother can call me."

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