"Didn’t you already have an ice cream bar this morning?"

"I did, but Lin Li gave me this one! It’s an exception..."

Xia Qing thought it wasn’t good for a child to eat too much ice cream. She and her daughter had an agreement: only one ice cream bar a day.

"Alright, we’ll make this an exception. You can have it," Xia Qing said with a smile, looking at her daughter’s pleading, watery eyes.

"Thank you, Mommy." After getting her mother’s permission, Zhou Tongtong was so happy she nearly jumped for joy.

As her daughter was about to unwrap the chocolate ice cream bar from Lin Li, Xia Qing said, "Eat the chicken tenders Mommy fried first. Put the ice cream in the fridge and have it later."

Hearing this, Zhou Tongtong looked down at the chocolate ice cream bar in her hand, then over at the freshly fried chicken tenders steaming on the kitchen counter.

A conflicted look appeared on her small, round face. After a few seconds of silence, she finally walked over to the refrigerator, squatted down, opened the freezer, and placed the chocolate ice cream bar inside.

Xia Qing carried the fried chicken tenders to the dining room table. Zhou Tongtong followed close behind her mom, clutching a small can of juice.

"Go ahead and eat! Be careful, it’s hot," Xia Qing said to Zhou Tongtong, who was now seated. She then took the small can of juice, opened it for her, and stuck a straw in it. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Zhou Tongtong picked up her little chopsticks, grabbed a hot chicken tender, and pursed her lips to blow on it a few times before taking a bite.

She had been a bit too eager, and it was still hot. But that was no problem for Zhou Tongtong; she quickly grabbed her juice and took a big sip through the straw.

"Slow down, no one’s going to steal it from you," Xia Qing said with a laugh, watching her daughter’s frantic eating.

......

CRUNCH, CRUNCH...

Lin Li held a large bowl filled with fried chicken tenders, using his chopsticks to rapidly devour one crispy tender after another.

’Xia Qing’s chicken tenders taste just like the ones from the street vendors outside my school back in junior high. They’re so good!’

As Lin Li savored the chicken tenders, having already eaten nearly half the bowl, his mind drifted back to his junior high days...

Back then, whenever school let out in the afternoon, Lin Li would go to the street vendors near the school gate and line up to buy fried chicken tenders.

After finishing Xia Qing’s fried chicken tenders, Lin Li switched to the leftover half of a chilled watermelon and kept eating.

Eating a large bowl of chicken tenders and still having room for half a watermelon would have been unimaginable for him before. The side effects of the Magical Little Fruit hadn’t worn off yet; his vastly increased appetite would last for a few more days.

After breaking through to Second Order High Rank, Lin Li decided to take it easy for a while and spent the entire afternoon cooped up at home.

At home, he could enjoy the air conditioning, watch TV, eat chilled watermelon, play on his phone, and even go to the study to use the computer. It was incredibly comfortable.

Time flew by, and in what felt like the blink of an eye, the afternoon was over.

The scorching sun, having baked the earth all day, slowly sank toward the horizon.

The brilliant red sunset was about to vanish. Even before the sun had fully set, streetlights along the roads flickered on one by one.

As dusk prepared to settle into night, people who had been hiding from the heat began to emerge from their homes, and the streets gradually grew more lively.

In the Central District, Su Yue and her mother were shopping on a bustling commercial street, arms linked. Both of them were already carrying quite a few bags.

Su Yue’s father, Su Chen, had already left Rongcheng ahead of schedule for business.

He had originally planned to stay with his daughter for two days, but things came up. Su Chen only stayed for a day before rushing back to Yuwan Town.

Zheng Qiuyi wanted to stay with her daughter for a few more days, so she didn’t return to Yuwan Town with her husband.

"Mom, let’s go check out that shopping plaza across the street. I think I remember a men’s clothing store over there. We could buy Dad a few things..." Su Yue said, pointing.

Zheng Qiuyi followed her daughter’s finger and saw a shopping plaza with a musical fountain across the street. She smiled and nodded.

Although Zheng Qiuyi and Su Yue were mother and daughter, time seemed to have left no trace on Zheng Qiuyi’s face, making her look like a young woman in her early thirties.

As she and Su Yue walked arm-in-arm, chatting and laughing, they drew the attention of many passersby, all of whom mistook the pair for sisters.

A few of the more confident ones were even tempted to go over, strike up a conversation, and ask for their contact info.

......

After dinner, Lin Li didn’t stay cooped up at home. He drove his van toward the Central District of Rongcheng.

That afternoon, Lin Li had seen a TV commercial for an arcade that had opened in the Central District.

The new arcade was having a grand opening celebration. For the next few days, Game Coins were 70% off. That was a pretty big discount!

From the commercial, he could see the arcade had a pretty wide variety of game machines.

He hadn’t been to an arcade in a while, so after seeing the ad, Lin Li decided he would head over to the new place after dinner, once the sun had set and it wasn’t so hot outside.

After parking the van, Lin Li left the lot, crossed the road, and walked briskly toward the musical fountain plaza on the other side.

The new arcade was located diagonally across from the musical fountain.

"Hey, beautiful. How about you give me your number? We could be friends!"