"Honey?"

Li Peifeng softly called, and Zhao Qingge murmured a response, sounding like a whisper from a dream.

Li Peifeng felt a flutter in his heart and gently said, "I miss you. Can you show me your face? Just the face will do."

"..."

A few seconds passed, and the phone was picked up. The dark screen revealed Zhao Qingge’s face; she was leaning against the headboard, her hair still messy, but her face, originally as pale as freshly peeled lotus, now bore a flush as vibrant as evening glow. The graceful and elegant aura had subtly shifted, and her eyes, despite trying to appear calm, couldn’t conceal their gentle bewilderment.

"You..."

Zhao Qingge’s lips parted slightly as if to say something, then closed again, enticing imagination. Eventually, she playfully reproached, "Why haven’t you changed clothes?"

Li Peifeng chuckled, "I’m trying to minimize the distance between us."

"Nonsense!"

Li Peifeng ignored her, his tone firm, "Don’t move your hands, lift your head."

"Why?"

"Because I’m going to kiss you now."

Zhao Qingge’s eyes widened as she watched Li Peifeng’s face draw closer to the screen. Suddenly, her eyes misted and lost focus, and half a second later, she gradually closed her eyes, tilted her head, and whispered softly, "Baby... jerk."

This wasn’t just a video call; it was a love ritual.

The wind carried away worry, and the light illuminated the gloom.

In this timeless moment, the two held up their phones, gazing at each other as if sleeping in their own homes, but in reality, sleeping in each other’s arms.

...

...

"He hasn’t gotten up yet?"

"He usually wakes up very early."

At seven thirty the next morning, Wu Wenyue and Xu Manning entered Li Peifeng’s house, finding no one in the living room and kitchen. They headed straight for the master bedroom and saw Peifeng lying sideways in bed, blinking drowsily at them.

"Why are you here so early?"

Xu Manning, already with a beautiful makeup, stood by the bed, looking down at Li Peifeng, rolling her eyes dramatically, "You need to go home and write at one in the afternoon. Can we go shopping without going early? Plus, the entire morning might not be enough to finish shopping; we might have to keep going even after you leave."

Wu Wenyue sat by the bed, touched Li Peifeng’s face, and frowned, "Did you stay up late working again?"

Li Peifeng twisted his neck, his gaze quickly sharpening but still lazily wrapping his arm around Wu Wenyue’s waist, "Yeah, worked late for your dowry funds, kept the keyboard clicking all night!"

This was true; Li Peifeng continued writing until four in the morning after the video call with Zhao Qingge.

"Dowry?" Xu Manning snorted softly, "As long as you can support yourself."

"Stop touching."Wu Wenyue retorted in embarrassment, "Get up quickly, didn’t you have enough fun last night?"

"Getting up, right away. Pass me my clothes... By the way, which street are we shopping at today?"

"Let’s check some large malls first."

At eight in the morning, after a quick bite at a nearby breakfast shop, the trio embarked on a long shopping spree.

Starting at eight thirty, they went into Azure International Center, then moved on to Eight Mile Village, Golden Era, STP, four big malls, and several pedestrian streets.

This shopping marathon left the three quite exhausted, but by one in the afternoon, Wu Wenyue and Xu Manning had mostly reached their goal.

They finished purchasing most of the gifts for meeting Yu Huizhi and Li Qiyuan, including men’s watches and cigarettes, women’s cosmetics and jewelry, and so on.

Li Peifeng also took the opportunity to pick gifts for Wu Wenyue’s parents, and even bought two bouquets of flowers for the two girls along the way, secretly purchasing Christmas gifts for them, which he planned to give later that evening after dining with Zhao Qingge’s family, surprising them.

Except he hadn’t managed to buy gifts for Zhao Qingge’s parents yet, planning to return and buy them secretly after parting with the two girls to avoid raising suspicion.

At one twenty in the afternoon, the trio found a restaurant for lunch. Li Peifeng hurriedly finished eating and, before the girls completed their meals, was ready to leave with the excuse of going home to work, leaving the girls to continue their shopping.

"I’m heading off, see you tonight for Christmas."

"Don’t rush."

Wu Wenyue stopped him, "We’ll be done in another hour, why not leave together later?" 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Xu Manning agreed, "Yeah, we’re not short on time."

Li Peifeng took a glance at the clock; the scheduled time was six in the afternoon. It was now already one fifty; buying gifts and getting there would take at least one and a half hours, and then going to Zhao Qingge’s home would take at least half an hour. That would be four o’clock, leaving him two hours of buffer, but he feared unexpected delays!

First time meeting the parents and being late? Li Peifeng decided to try to avoid this, so he resolutely shook his head, "Forget it, I’ll go home and write. I said I’d go back at one, now it’s late already. You guys keep shopping. At eight, when I’m done writing, I’ll find you for dinner."

Xu Manning grabbed a bite and slowly swallowed before saying, "No need to find us; we’ll go directly to Jade District after shopping."

No need for this, and you won’t find me either...

Li Peifeng was deeply troubled by time management but showed no hesitation or worry on his face, even managing a smile, "Find me? Sure! Why don’t you stay over at my place today?"

"No toiletries, nevermind."