Early morning. The first rays of sunlight penetrated the thin curtains, casting dappled light and shadow across the bedroom floor.
Ye Qingfeng, still deep in sleep, had slightly furrowed brows and disheveled hair, a few strands falling casually across his forehead. Below his straight nose, his lips were slightly parted, his breathing even and calm. The blanket had slipped to his waist, leaving his chest bare, the lines of muscle faintly visible in the dim light.
After some unknown stretch of time, his fingers twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was clear and sharp, carrying the brief confusion of someone just waking up.
"What time is it... ah."
Ye Qingfeng wiped away the tears that had welled up from yawning, picked up his phone from the bedside table, and checked.
New Eridu time, 7:32 AM.
Among the Cunning Hares, he might not be the last to sleep, but he was definitely the first to rise. Billy excluded, of course.
Anby usually woke up not long after he did. As for Sister Nicole, if no one came to get her, sleeping until noon was entirely within the realm of possibility.
Ye Qingfeng groggily threw back the covers, got up, walked to the window, and pulled the curtains open in one motion, letting warm sunlight flood the room.
An ordinary day had begun.
He got dressed, shuffled into the bathroom, took care of the necessary human functions, and started his morning routine. He took out his phone and sent Zhu Yuan a good morning message. She replied quickly, and he found himself chatting with her while brushing his teeth.
"Gurgle, gurgle."
He set down his phone, cupped his hands under the faucet to rinse, then grabbed the towel from the rack, wet it, and wiped his face.
Come to think of it, this pink towel had originally been Nicole's. She had happened to want a new one right around the time Ye Qingfeng arrived, so she had taken the opportunity to replace it, and this one had been passed along to him.
He had made a genuine attempt to claim the new towel for himself, but failed. Her exact words had been: "You're lucky to have one at all. It's been washed clean. I haven't said a word about you using my old one, and you have the nerve to complain?"
The result was, just as she had said, he got used to it. He was too lazy to bother with another one. And honestly, despite having previously been Nicole's, it felt practically new. He couldn't tell any difference.
After finishing his morning routine, Ye Qingfeng fired off one last message.
**Ye Qingfeng:** Starting breakfast, talk later!
**Zhu Yuan:** Okay!
He walked out of the bathroom and headed straight to the kitchen, tying on a nearly pristine pink apron. No need to wonder whose it had originally been.
Anby had no interest in cooking. Nicole was marginally better, but her standard breakfast was a fried egg between two slices of bread, assembled with the minimum possible effort. It was all about simplicity. Ye Qingfeng had always found it puzzling that someone eating so poorly every day had still somehow managed to develop the way Nicole had.
It simply was not scientific.
While contemplating this mystery, he heated oil in the pan, retrieved the leftover fish patties from the fridge, grabbed the last four, and laid them in to fry until golden.
He also pulled out lettuce, endive, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and regular tomatoes.
Satisfied he had everything, he closed the fridge.
Looking at the well-stocked shelves inside, a small swell of pride rose in his chest. The first time he had opened that fridge, there had been nothing in it but a few bottles of drinks. After weeks of grocery runs, it now held a reasonable supply of vegetables, meat, and fruit.
Not that Anby ate any of it. Beyond the single leaf of lettuce inside a hamburger, he had never once seen her eat anything green. Nicole was no better. She would sooner ask someone to bring her a burger than make one herself. And if she did make something, it was bread and a fried egg.
Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
The grocery money, to be fair, all came from Nicole. She had been a little resistant at first, skeptical that vegetables and meat could add up to so many Dennies. But after a few consecutive decent meals, she had stopped being stingy about it. As long as the receipts looked reasonable, she was quite willing to hand over the funds.
While keeping an eye on the heat, Ye Qingfeng sliced the tomatoes on the cutting board, cutting four pieces for the burgers, tearing off four lettuce leaves, and shredding the remaining vegetables into three portions of salad.
By the time the salad was nearly done, the patties were golden brown on both sides. He seasoned them with salt and pepper, lifted them one by one onto the buns, added the lettuce and tomato, and it was done.
Since the patties were already seasoned, he left the burgers plain and finished the salads with a light drizzle of dressing.
Right on cue, footsteps approached from behind. He didn't need to turn around.
"Qingfeng, Qingfeng!" Anby appeared in her lightweight pajamas. "What's for breakfast? I'm hungry."
"There were four fish patties left from last night, so I made burgers."
Anby sidled up beside him, looked at the finished burgers, swallowed, and reached for one.
"Go brush your teeth first. And we wait for Sister Nicole before eating."
Ye Qingfeng brought the side of his hand down lightly on top of Anby's head.
Anby retreated from the kitchen, glancing back every few steps, and called out as she went, "Don't you dare eat any secretly, Qingfeng."
"I won't."
He arranged all four burgers on a large plate, carried it to the living room, and set it on the coffee table. Then he hung the apron back in its place. All that was left was waking Sister Nicole, and the morning tasks would be done.
He remembered the first time he had knocked on her door. They had barely known each other then, and she had still been guarded enough that the interruption had actually caused her affection level to drop by five percent.
Things were completely different now. Ye Qingfeng walked to Nicole's door and opened it without ceremony.
Ever since he had taken over breakfast duty, waking Nicole had become part of the routine. And once her affection level had climbed past forty percent, she had stopped locking her door in the mornings. Partly out of convenience. Mostly because if she didn't get up in time, Anby would finish her share without a second thought.
The room was dim and carried a faint fragrance that was distinctly Nicole's. The figure on the bed was barely visible, and in the corner, Amillion sat charging quietly.
The Cunning Hares' Bangboo. Nicole's Bangboo, if one was being precise, since she had been the one to find it, and it followed her more closely than anyone else.
Its color scheme matched Anby's usual outfit. It was missing one eye and one ear, and even its speech system had glitches.
Ye Qingfeng still remembered the first time he had seen it suddenly produce a miniature machine gun. That had not been a pleasant surprise.
And then there was the name. Amillion. As in, a million Dennies.
It was perfectly clear what Sister Nicole's priorities were.
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