---
Lin Xin tilted his head slightly as he repeated his question. "The firewood. You keep poking it like it did something to you."
Han Yan froze, caught off guard. "I… uh… just wanted to make sure it's… burning properly."
Lin Xin blinked, a faint crease forming between his brows. "Burning… properly?" he echoed softly, as if unsure he'd heard right. His brows knit for a moment before a quiet, helpless laugh escaped him.
"You…" He shook his head, still looking faintly baffled, a small smile tugging at his lips. "You're impossible. Forget it."
The faint laughter lingered in the air as Lin Xin walked toward the window again. The night breeze slipped in through the wide opening, cool and gentle, stirring the edge of the curtain.
Resting on a woven bamboo tray set near the window were a few strips of fish and a good handful of shrimp he had cleaned and laid out to dry earlier in the evening, their pale surfaces glinting softly in the lamplight.
