Mid-Autumn Festival

The National Day holiday was immediately followed by the Mid-Autumn Festival. Although the construction site was not closed for the holiday, the project department still arranged for everyone to finish work early on Mid-Autumn Festival, allowing workers far away from home to have a meal together, call their families, and chat to ease their homesickness.

At around four o'clock in the afternoon, Lan Tongtong was preparing to go to the cafeteria with her colleagues from the information room to eat the reunion dinner organized by the project department. Her cell phone rang. It was Mo Zhichi calling.

"Tongtong, the project department is having a dinner party tonight and it's going to be noisy and crowded. If you don't mind, why not come to my house for a simple meal? Xiaochi is at home too." Mo Zhichi's voice sounded very calm, with a subtle invitation.

Lan Tongtong's heart skipped a beat, and she agreed without hesitation: "Sure, Brother Mo! I...I'm just worried about having nowhere to go." After hanging up the phone, her heart was pounding like a rabbit. She immediately said goodbye to her colleagues and said she had something else to do and would not be attending the dinner.

She first went back to the dormitory and quickly changed out of her work clothes, putting on a simple and comfortable sweater and long skirt. She then went to a fruit shop near the project department to buy an exquisite fruit gift box. Then, with excitement and nervousness, she took a taxi to Mo Zhichi's house.

After knocking on the door, Mo Zhichi, wearing an apron, opened it. His face had a rare sense of homeliness, but there was a hint of embarrassment in his eyes. Mo Xiaochi was huddled on the sofa playing with her phone. When she saw Lan Tongtong, she immediately jumped up to greet her: "Sister Tongtong! You're here! Come and save our stomachs!"

Lan Tongtong smiled as she handed the fruit to Mo Xiaochi. She walked into the living room, glanced at the dining table, and immediately understood what Mo Xiaochi meant. On the table lay several open plastic lunch boxes, filled with brightly colored, but obviously supermarket-prepared dishes: sweet and sour pork tenderloin, steamed fish, braised pork with preserved vegetables... While plentiful, it lacked the warmth of home.

Mo Zhichi rubbed his hands a little embarrassedly: "My cooking skills are not good, and I am afraid that I will not be able to entertain you well, so I bought some ready-made food, which can be eaten after heating."

Lan Tongtong looked at the pre-prepared dishes, and suddenly an impulse surged in her heart. With a familiar and disdainful tone that even surprised herself, she said, "Brother Mo, how can you eat these on Mid-Autumn Festival? Put them in the refrigerator and save them for you to eat tomorrow." As she spoke, she naturally tied on the apron that Mo Zhichi had taken off, rolled up her sleeves, and walked towards the kitchen. "I see there are vegetables in the kitchen. I'll make a few quick ones!"

Mo Zhichi and Mo Xiaochi were both stunned. Mo Xiaochi was the first to react, cheering, "Great! We're in for a treat!" Mo Zhichi looked at Lan Tongtong's back as she skillfully checked the ingredients in the kitchen, his eyes filled with a complex mixture of surprise, gratitude, and perhaps even a hint of...warmth.

Lan Tongtong opened the refrigerator and saw the spare ribs, shrimp, vegetables, and eggs that Mo Zhichi had bought. She had a plan in mind and quickly set to work, blanching, chopping, and stir-frying... Soon, an enticing aroma filled the kitchen.

Mo Xiaochi stood at the kitchen door like a follower, drooling at Lan Tongtong's practiced movements while complaining about her father: "Dad, did you see that? This is called cooking! What you did is called heating!"

Mo Zhichi stood at the kitchen door, watching Lan Tongtong's busy figure. The light outlined her focused profile and neat movements, and his eyes did not move away for a long time. This girl, who was usually serious and rigorous on the construction site, now exuded such a warm and powerful light in the kitchen, illuminating this somewhat deserted home.

In less than an hour, several delicious home-cooked dishes were on the table: braised prawns, sweet and sour pork ribs, garlic greens, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and a quick seaweed egg drop soup. Simple ingredients, in Lan Tongtong's hands, were transformed into delicious dishes full of the flavor of home.

"It's time for dinner!" Lan Tongtong took off her apron, her face flushed from work and with a satisfied smile.

Mo Xiaochi couldn't wait to pick up a piece of pork ribs and put it in her mouth. It was so hot that she gasped but she couldn't bear to spit it out. She praised incoherently: "Wow! It's delicious! Sister Tongtong, you are so amazing! It's even better than what my mom cooks!" As soon as she said this, the atmosphere at the table subtly froze for a moment.

Mo Zhichi paused with his chopsticks, a barely perceptible sadness flashing across his eyes, but he quickly returned to normal. He also picked up a piece of food with chopsticks, savored it carefully, and praised sincerely, "Tongtong, your cooking skills are indeed excellent. Thank you for your hard work."

Lan Tongtong felt sweet in her heart and quickly said, "It's not hard, as long as you like it."

This Mid-Autumn family dinner unfolded in a warm atmosphere. Outside the window, a full moon gradually rose, casting its light across the earth. Inside, the steam from the food wafted in the air. The three of them sat around the table, chatting about family matters. Mo Xiaochi chattered non-stop, and Mo Zhichi also spoke more than usual, occasionally breaking into a relaxed smile.

A heartwarming Mid-Autumn family dinner ended in a satisfying atmosphere. Mo Zhichi, taking a rare initiative, stood up and rushed to clear the dishes, his tone unyielding and insistent: "You all sit down and rest, I'll wash." With that, he carried the dishes into the kitchen, where the sound of running water soon reached him.

Lan Tongtong and Mo Xiaochi smiled at each other and tacitly settled into the living room sofa. Mo Xiaochi picked up the remote control and expertly tuned to a channel playing a popular anime. Then, as if opening a box of chatterboxes, he began to chatter away, giving Lan Tongtong a "popular science" lecture.

"Sister Tongtong, look! This white-haired man is my new husband! He's strong, handsome, and incredibly loyal!"

"Don't look at this villain lady as a bad guy now, she will be miserable later. Alas, it's all the world's fault!"

"Wow! This fight scene is a huge budget burn! Look at the special effects! And the storyboards!"

Mo Xiaochi's eyes lit up, and she danced with joy, spouting off words like "tsundere," "sinister," "destroying power," and "CP stew" that Lan Tongtong barely understood. She had previously known almost nothing about ACG culture, believing it to be something far removed from her own life.

But at this moment, looking at Mo Xiaochi's enthusiastic and excited face, listening to her describing fantastic stories and vivid characters in very infectious language, Lan Tongtong, who had originally just been listening politely, was unconsciously aroused by a hint of curiosity.

When Mo Xiaochi talked about a character who paid a huge price for sticking to his beliefs, Lan Tongtong couldn't help but interrupt and ask, "Did he regret it later?"

When Mo Xiaochi complained about a plot bug, Lan Tongtong would also question it based on logic: "Why is it arranged like this? It doesn't make sense."

Although her conversation was immature, it made Mo Xiaochi even more excited. She explained more diligently and even started to take out screenshots and fan art from her phone to show Lan Tongtong, trying to make her understand more intuitively.

One is a technician working with steel and concrete on a construction site, the other is a designer immersed in the fantasy world of the second dimension. These two seemingly unconnected worlds unexpectedly collide on the sofa on this Mid-Autumn Festival evening, sparked by the warmth they create together. Lan Tongtong discovers that, beyond the unfamiliar terminology, the core of these stories about friendship, faith, growth, and choice actually resonates with real-world emotions.

After Mo Zhichi finished washing the dishes and came out of the kitchen wiping his hands, he saw this scene: his daughter was like an excited little sparrow, dancing and talking to Lan Tongtong; while Lan Tongtong leaned sideways and listened attentively, with a gentle smile on her face, nodding or asking questions from time to time, her eyes full of novelty and exploration.

He did not disturb them, but walked silently to the single sofa beside them and sat down, picked up a newspaper, but his eyes did not fall on the newspaper, but gently looked at the two young figures who were talking happily under the light.

Lan Tongtong didn't know when she fell asleep. She only remembered curling up on the sofa with Mo Xiaochi last night, listening to her chattering about stories from anime, the light and shadow of the TV screen flickering before her eyes, her clear voice and the faint sound of Mo Zhichi washing dishes in the kitchen... All of this intertwined into an unprecedented sense of peace and warmth, allowing her to relax and fall asleep without realizing it.

She slept soundly, without even dreaming. That was until she felt someone gently nudging her shoulder, and heard Mo Xiaochi's soft voice: "Sister Tongtong, wake up! Don't sleep on the sofa, you'll catch a cold. Come sleep in my bed."

Lan Tongtong drowsily opened her eyes. Only a dim wall lamp remained in the living room, and the TV was off. Mo Xiaochi, in his pajamas, was leaning over her. She rubbed her eyes, her consciousness still hazy, and let Mo Xiaochi pull her arm, lift her up from the sofa, and half-carry, half-carry her into the bedroom.

"You sleep here, I'll sleep here." Mo Xiaochi placed her on one side of the bed, climbed up to the other side nimbly, and yawned loudly, "Good night, Sister Tongtong..." Before he finished speaking, he fell asleep first.

Lan Tongtong lay in an unfamiliar bed, the bedding scented with a pleasant blend of sunlight and laundry detergent, mingled with the fresh, youthful air of Mo Xiaochi. She tilted her head, and in the moonlight filtering through the window, she could see Mo Xiaochi's peaceful, sleeping face. This realization sent a strange warmth through her heart—she had actually stayed overnight at Mo's house, sharing a bed with his daughter. The thought made her feel a little shy, yet filled with an indescribable sense of security. She soon fell into a deep sleep again.

I slept until dawn the next day.

Lan Tongtong was awakened by the faint roar of machinery and the chirping of birds from the construction site outside her window. She opened her eyes, momentarily disoriented, unsure of where she was. A strange ceiling, a strange room... Seconds later, memories of last night flooded back. She sat up abruptly, only to find that Mo Xiaochi, who had been sitting beside her, was gone, and the bed was empty.

She quickly got out of bed, straightened her wrinkled clothes and hair, took a deep breath, gently opened the bedroom door and walked out.

The living room was bright with morning light streaming in through the windows. Mo Zhichi, already dressed, was sitting at the dining table, reading a newspaper with a steaming cup of tea at his side. Hearing the noise, he looked up and his gaze fell on Lan Tongtong.

"Awake?" His voice was gentle and hoarse, a characteristic of the early morning. "Did you sleep well?"

"Hmm...very good, thank you, Brother Mo." Lan Tongtong's face flushed slightly, and she lowered her head a little embarrassedly. She noticed that a simple breakfast was already set on the table: porridge, steamed buns, and a few side dishes.

"Xiao Chi ran out to play with her classmates early in the morning." Mo Zhichi put down the newspaper and stood up. "Go wash up, eat something, and then we'll go to the project department together." He pointed in the direction of the bathroom, his tone natural, as if this was the most ordinary arrangement.

Lan Tongtong followed her instructions and washed up. Looking in the mirror, her eyes still bleary and flushed, she felt her heart racing. Having breakfast with Brother Mo, and then going to work together... This feeling was too intimate, like an unreal dream.

She returned to the dining table and sat across from Mo Zhichi, quietly eating breakfast. Neither of them spoke much, the only sounds were the gentle clinking of dishes and the faint sounds of construction outside the window. The sun shone warmly on the table, and the atmosphere was quiet and peaceful.

After breakfast, Mo Zhichi picked up his briefcase and said to Lan Tongtong, "Let's go."

"Okay." Lan Tongtong followed him and walked out of the house together.

The morning air was cool yet exceptionally fresh. The two walked side by side along the path from the living quarters to the project office. An early-rising worker saw them and respectfully greeted Mo Zhichi, "Good morning, Mr. Mo!" His gaze flickered to Lan Tongtong, who was walking beside him, with a hint of curiosity and inquiry.