Su Yiran didn’t notice Gu Yuanting’s small gesture as he went to get bowls for the congee. “The porridge is ready. Let’s eat.”

Gu Yuanting took the bowl from his hands. “Go sit down.”

Su Yiran obediently went to sit at the dining table. A moment later, Gu Yuanting came out with just one bowl of porridge. Su Yiran was surprised. “Why only one bowl?”

Gu Yuanting stirred the porridge slowly with a spoon. “It’s still too hot.”

He sat beside Su Yiran, scooped up a spoonful, blew on it gently, tested the temperature with his lips, and once it wasn’t too hot, fed it to Su Yiran.

Su Yiran blushed after swallowing the mouthful and reached for the bowl. “You don’t have to feed me—I can eat on my own.” Ting-ge, this is too much.

Gu Yuanting avoided his hand and looked at him seriously. “Don’t fuss, Ranran.”

Su Yiran: “…” How am I fussing? You’re the one being dramatic, treating me like I’ve come down with some kind of serious, debilitating illness…

Ting-ge was really treating him like a porcelain doll now.

But when he saw how serious Gu Yuanting looked, Su Yiran blushed even harder and finally let him feed him obediently.

Fine, whatever. Let him feed me. We’re already an old married couple anyway. Being fed isn’t that big of a deal.

Gu Yuanting continued to blow and feed him spoon by spoon, finishing one and a half bowls before Su Yiran was full and he finally set down the spoon and bowl.

After feeding Su Yiran, Gu Yuanting ate some porridge himself. When he saw Su Yiran head to the bedroom to change clothes—clearly intending to go to the shop—he said, “I’ll come with you to the store today.”

Su Yiran nodded and asked, “Is your company not working this weekend?” Just last weekend, Ting-ge’s company had him working overtime.

Gu Yuanting cleaned up the dishes and went to the kitchen. “No overtime.” Su Yiran needed to be observed for three days before returning for a follow-up, and Gu Yuanting planned to watch over him carefully these next few days.

He ladled out the other pot of congee—preserved egg and lean pork—into a large insulated food container. When he came out carrying it, Su Yiran looked surprised. “What’s that?”

“Preserved egg and pork congee—for your lunch.”

Usually, Su Yiran would order takeout with the staff at lunchtime. But now that he could only eat porridge, Gu Yuanting didn’t trust outside options, so he cooked it in advance at home so Su Yiran could just microwave it at work.

By the time they arrived at the shop, it was nearly 11 a.m. Seeing how many customers were already there, Su Yiran was a bit confused. It was Saturday, yes—but it was still raining, and the desserts he had to make fresh were temporarily unavailable. So why were there so many people?

As he walked toward the counter, he overheard their employee Zhang Xiaohong talking to a girl in front of the register: “Sorry, the store manager isn’t here at the moment.”

Looking for me? Su Yiran glanced at the girl—he didn’t recognize her.

Just as he was wondering, Zhang Xiaohong spotted them and said with surprise, “Oh! The store manager’s here!”

Hearing that, the girl turned around excitedly—and spotted Su Yiran and Gu Yuanting walking in hand-in-hand.

‼‼‼‼‼

Gu Yuanting noticed the girl’s expression and frowned slightly, still holding Su Yiran’s hand as they walked behind the counter.

—

Tongtong worked in a nearby city (C City) and had come to A City this weekend for her best friend’s wedding. Coincidentally, her favorite streamer, “Yiyi,” had a dessert shop in A City. She made a point of arriving the day before the wedding, hoping to taste some desserts made by Yiyi himself.

Su Yiran smiled slightly and asked, “Hello, were you looking for me?”

Tongtong was already flustered beyond belief, screaming inwardly at herself to hold it together! She barely managed to maintain the appearance of a demure young woman.

She nervously said, “Hi, Yiyi—I’m a fan. Um, could I get your autograph?” As she spoke, she took out a postcard and a pen that she had prepared long in advance.

Su Yiran hadn’t expected this level of “celebrity treatment.” It was surprising to already have viewers from his livestream coming to visit the shop. Smiling, he nodded. “Of course.” He found the whole experience pretty novel.

Tongtong handed him the pen and card, beaming. “Could you write ‘Happy Birthday, Tongtong’? My birthday’s coming up.”

“You’re Tongtong?” Su Yiran looked at her in surprise. So this was that Tongtong. She looked quiet and elegant—completely unlike the way she acted online, which was… well…

Tongtong was delighted. “You remember me?” She hadn’t expected Yiyi to remember her. But then she recalled all the wild things she’d said in the livestream chat and immediately turned red. Meeting your idol in real life… and revealing your online identity at the same time—it’s so embarrassing…

Su Yiran cleared his throat awkwardly and wrote a birthday message, signed his name, and handed it back.

Gu Yuanting, who had been watching with a furrowed brow, reached out and tightly held the hand Su Yiran had just used to sign the card—interlocking their fingers right in front of Tongtong.

Tongtong snuck a glance at Gu Yuanting and then looked down at their intertwined fingers, internally screaming with multiple rows of exclamation marks. She stammered slightly while placing her order and chose several of the shop’s signature desserts.

Before heading to a booth to wait, she finally summoned the courage to say to them, “You two must be really happy together! I’m a fan of your CP!”

Yes—last night, after getting home from work, she had watched the replay of Yiyi’s latest livestream and unfortunately learned that her newly beloved streamer was already married. She had only just fallen in love—and already suffered heartbreak. But she quickly bounced back and became a hardcore shipper of these two beautiful hands.

Just from that short clip of hand-holding and feeding porridge, she had replayed it countless times—each rewatch more sugary than the last.

Gu Yuanting had a general idea of what “CP” meant. He paused for a second, then his expression softened. Looking at Su Yiran, he finally said, “We will.”

“Thank you, we will.” Su Yiran’s voice overlapped his. He was stunned for a moment, then looked at Ting-ge and smiled.

Waaahhh! Tongtong was emotionally overloaded from all the sugar and left hiccupping from excitement, her mind filled with drama and fanfiction as she went to her seat.

—

Business stayed strong throughout lunch, and Su Yiran and Gu Yuanting worked side by side until past 1 p.m. before they could take a break. During lunch rotation, Gu Yuanting reheated the preserved egg and pork porridge in the microwave and fed it to Su Yiran backstage—spoonful by spoonful, blowing each bite first.

The three employees passing by repeatedly: “…” Is this job still safe for normal people?

The entire day, Gu Yuanting kept a close watch on Su Yiran—no sneaking desserts, only warm water, constant care.

From chatting with customers, Su Yiran found out the reason for the sudden business boom—his shop had recently gone semi-viral on the local food section of the city’s main online forum. Many new customers had come after reading about it there.

That night, Su Yiran checked the forum. A seasoned local user had posted a recommendation, which quickly gathered traction with others chiming in. Several who had visited backed the claim, while a few skeptics accused it of being astroturfed marketing. But others defended it, and more users confirmed its authenticity.

Eventually, the thread blew up from all the discussion and curiosity.

The latest comments even included feedback from customers who had visited that very day:

【Little Piggy Wants to Sleep】Went there today—really good! Count me in as a fan.
【I Love Claypot Rice】Ate there and had to eat my words. Definitely not fake hype…
【Can’t Think of a Name】Super tasty! I loved their taro balls with grass jelly. Feels like a whole different level compared to other shops I’ve tried.

Su Yiran was thrilled to see so much positive feedback. It looked like the store’s reputation was finally taking root locally.

—

Despite the rainy weather, business over the weekend remained strong. On Sunday afternoon, a group of over a dozen students showed up together. Turns out, they were members of the M University Dessert Club. Their vice president had seen Su Yiran’s livestream and had brought the whole group along.

The livestream was clearly starting to pay off. Su Yiran thought to himself that once he used this momentum and stabilized the store’s local reputation with some marketing, he could move on to the next phase of his plan.

—

Three days later, Gu Yuanting accompanied Su Yiran to the hospital for a follow-up.

The doctor checked Su Yiran’s tooth and asked a few questions before nodding. “You’ve recovered well. The inflammation is gone. But if you’re not careful in the future, it could come back anytime. You really need to take better care of your teeth.”

Su Yiran let out a breath of relief and quickly agreed.

After some post-treatment care from the doctor and a few more questions from Gu Yuanting, the two of them left the hospital together.

While walking through the corridor and descending the stairs, they suddenly heard a voice from behind: “Su… Su Yiran?”

They turned around, and Su Yiran was surprised. “Qian Xiaoming?”

Qian Xiaoming had been a classmate back in middle school. The two of them had shared many common interests and used to talk all the time. But after high school, Qian Xiaoming went to university in another province, changed phone numbers, and they lost contact. It had been several years since then.

Qian Xiaoming gave an awkward smile and glanced at Gu Yuanting beside him. “Are you two here for something? Sick?”

Su Yiran nodded. “Yeah, follow-up for a tooth infection. It’s all fine now. When did you come to A City? Working here?” He noticed Qian was wearing a doctor’s coat with the hospital’s logo—it was clear he worked there.

Qian Xiaoming said, “Just got transferred this year. Still in my internship period.” Then, as if trying to explain something, he added, “Spent two years out of province. Had no family or connections there. Figured it’d be better to come back to my home province.”

They chatted a bit, but soon ran out of things to say. A slightly awkward silence fell between them.

Then Qian Xiaoming glanced again at Gu Yuanting and suddenly said, “I heard… you two got married. Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” Su Yiran said.

Qian Xiaoming gave a faint smile. His expression looked a bit complicated. “I always knew you two would end up married.”

Su Yiran was caught off guard by the comment. He paused, not thinking much of it, and laughed. “You could tell that well, huh?”

Gu Yuanting tugged gently at Su Yiran’s hand, signaling that they should go. Before leaving, Su Yiran exchanged WeChat info with Qian. “By the way, I opened a dessert shop on Tongfu Road. The address is on my WeChat profile. Come try it sometime.”

Qian Xiaoming nodded. “Sure. I will.”

He looked at the smile on Su Yiran’s face, then at the domestic, comfortable vibe between him and Gu Yuanting. Unconsciously, he let out a small sigh and visibly relaxed.

“Oh, right,” he added, “there’s a middle school reunion in a few days. A lot of people are coming. Would you two be interested?”

Su Yiran hadn’t heard about this—truthfully, he had lost touch with most of his old classmates. But the idea of reconnecting sounded nice. He agreed quickly, “Sure! What day is it?” He was worried he and Ting-ge might be busy.

“Not set yet. I’ll message you once it’s confirmed.”

“Great, thanks.” Su Yiran said goodbye, and he and Gu Yuanting left together.

As they walked toward the hospital exit, Su Yiran thought back. Before Qian Xiaoming left for university, maybe around their second year of high school, their friendship had suddenly started to fade.

He couldn’t remember exactly why—it was just one of those things that slipped away with time.

But in any case, reconnecting with an old friend now felt like a good thing.

Su Yiran was in a cheerful mood.

Whatever the reason had been… it probably wasn’t that important after all.