In the following days, Li Younan stayed at home peacefully, utilizing his skills and talents to check every water pipe and circuit in the house thoroughly.

Overall, although the plumbing and electricity had quite a few years on them, there were basically no major quality issues.

After a careful inspection, Li Younan only found two minor problems and replaced two pipes with better ones.

Besides, his mom mentioned that there’s occasional noise coming from the ceiling at night, suspecting that a mouse had gotten in.

Li Younan spent an afternoon opening the ceiling to take a look; he didn’t find any mice, but he discovered a small gap that a small-sized mouse could possibly squeeze through.

So, Li Younan bought some materials and completely sealed that little gap.

His mom watched attentively from below.

Once Li Younan finished his work, his mom clapped excitedly, like a child.

It wasn’t a complex task, and while working on it, Li Younan didn’t find anything particularly special about it.

But when his mom looked at Li Younan, she couldn’t help but think of how he looked as a child.

She was a woman who could empathize with others easily, and small or big events would often trigger a lot of associations in her mind.

Lil’ Younan had suddenly grown up so much, even capable of fixing the ceiling at home — truly grown into a real man...

Just as Li Younan was fixing the ceiling, Chen Rui arrived.

She brought along a cake she made herself that day.

These days, Chen Rui had been coming almost every day.

Her mom would come along the first couple of days, but for the past two days, she came by herself.

Each time she visited, she would bring two little gifts, usually showing up around noon and staying at Li Younan’s house for an entire afternoon.

During her stay, she would help with cooking and the like, without finding anything inappropriate about it.

After returning to the country, especially back to the county town, she didn’t have many friends, and since her mom was busy with work, she couldn’t accompany her all the time, so she had to find someone to chat with and pass the time.

It was apparent that Li Younan didn’t dislike her, and since their mothers got along so well, what problem was there being around?

Whenever she came, it seemed Li Younan was never idle.

This guy knew so many things; Chen Rui had seen him check circuits and water pipes, repaint a wall at the entrance, and today, atop a tall ladder, fixing the ceiling.

Truly, an engineering geek.

Apart from these practical skills, over the past few days, she found out even more interesting talents of Li Younan.

For instance, just yesterday they were in his room, where Li Younan used a carving knife to sculpt a piece of agate — said to be picked up from Inner Mongolia — into a cute little rabbit.

Besides this, Li Younan also seemed to be quite proficient in photography.

Chen Rui knew nothing about art or lighting, but it didn’t stop her from recognizing a quality photo when she saw one.

Li Younan had sorted out the photos he had taken earlier, and since Chen Rui was there, he got her to help with it.

The little girl, not having seen much of the world, would express surprise with constant exclamations upon seeing some photos.

Chen Rui could feel her own changes.

The people she usually encountered were either interesting but not to her taste, or classmates and professors with whom she could have hearty discussions about academic topics, but outside those topics, nothing really captured her interest.

The experience of being with Li Younan was different.

Holding a photo taken of some passerby, Li Younan could babble on with a whole bunch of stories, entirely from his personal experiences. They were very engaging, and Chen Rui found them fascinating.

Her mood had calmed a lot, and the barriers in communication with people seemed to be diminishing.

At this point, Li Younan jumped off the ladder, and Chen Rui raised the cake in her hand and said: "I tried baking this several times this morning before I got it right. Have a taste."

Li Younan casually said, "Just put it on the table," showing no sign of politeness.

Chen Rui had somewhat gotten used to this unceremonious manner of Li Younan.

Taking advantage of the moment when Li Younan was washing his hands, Chen Rui opened the box and took out the cake, offering a piece to Li Younan’s mom.

When Li Younan came out, Chen Rui asked him, "By the way, you mentioned last time, the cruise on the Three Gorges had a swimming pool. Is the water in that pool drawn directly from the river?"

Li Younan shook his head and said, "I don’t know."

Chen Rui seemed very interested in the insights Li Younan gathered during his travels, often asking questions from angles he didn’t expect.

In response to these, if he knew, he’d talk about them; if he didn’t, he’d brush them off with just a few words.

Then, the three of them sat around the dining table to enjoy the small cake Chen Rui made. It was homemade, with no cream, and had some red dates added, giving it a rich date flavor.

Chen Rui said, "Red dates can boost blood, Auntie, have a taste."

Li Younan took a few bites and objectively commented on it, noting that the ratio of eggs to sugar could be further optimized and the baking time was a bit too long.

As a gift, Li Younan wouldn’t criticize it, but whenever Chen Rui brought over something she made, she would seriously and earnestly ask how it turned out, and overly praising it would instead make her feel placated.