"Don't eat so fast, you can't just swallow it in one bite." Wen Mo said helplessly, then got up and took a can of chilled milk from the refrigerator. "Here, hold this in your mouth, don't swallow it."

Xia Lian, whose eyes were watering from the burn, nodded gently, took the can of chilled milk with both hands, and sucked on it sip by sip through the straw until her cheeks bulged out like a hamster.

"Waaah..."

He held it in his mouth for a while, and probably felt a little better before swallowing the milk.

"Cough cough cough... Achoo...!"

Whether she drank it too fast or something else, she suddenly coughed while drinking the milk, sneezed slightly, and some milk even flowed out of her nostrils.

Seeing this, Wen Mo, who had been patting his back, couldn't help but stifle a laugh, "Pfft... Hahaha..."

He'd seen plenty of noodles get into his nose, but this was the first time he'd ever seen milk get into his nostrils.

Wen Mo gently patted Xia Lian's back a few more times, and then handed her a tissue, saying, "Wipe your nose."

Once her face was much cleaner, Xia Lian raised her head, her eyes, which had been watering from the burn, looking at her pitifully.

"Thank you... Winmer."

"No need to thank me, just be careful when you eat." He waved his hand, a smile in his eyes. "Is your tongue alright?"

Fortunately, Xia Lian spat out the dumpling in time, so her tongue was only slightly burned, and she was otherwise fine.

She was seen sticking out her tongue slightly, seemingly still feeling the pain.

"It's still a little tingly..."

"Then let the dumplings cool down for a while. I'm afraid your tongue won't be able to handle eating them now." As he spoke, Wen Mo had only a few dumplings left in his bowl. "I have some things to do later. You sit down and eat slowly. There's no rush."

After saying that, he ate another dumpling.

Wenmo is the kind of person who isn't afraid of getting burned. He can eat freshly cooked dumplings after blowing on them a little, and he enjoys eating them one after another.

Finally, he didn't even leave the soup behind, drinking it all in one go. Then he tied the plastic box and bag together and threw them into the trash can.

Eat slowly.

After saying that, Wen Mo twisted his still sore neck and went to the next room, which was filled with a lot of miscellaneous items.

Looking at the clutter that took up more than half the room, covered in layers of dust, he took a deep breath, feeling a pang of sadness. "How come there's so much stuff? Did I buy this much stuff...?"

Despite the complaints, the problems still need to be addressed.

Otherwise, he would feel guilty if Xia Lian slept on the floor every day, so he had to clean up the room as soon as possible and call a repairman to fix the air conditioner.

First, all the miscellaneous items were picked out one by one, with the useful ones in one pile and the useless ones in another. After they were all gathered together, a large open space suddenly appeared in the room.

"Wow, this room is actually quite big," Wen Mo exclaimed, scratching his head.

Just as he was about to continue working, he suddenly felt someone poke his arm. He turned around and saw that Xia Lian had been standing next to him at some point.

"Have you finished eating the dumplings?"

"I'm done eating."

Xia Lian nodded gently, seemingly worried that the other party wouldn't believe her, and gently stuck out her little pink tongue.

"ah--"

"You don't need to show me your tongue, as long as it's not injured."

"oh."

She withdrew her tongue and looked at Wen Mo, whose clothes were covered in dust, which stood out against his white T-shirt.

"Wenmo's here, tidy up...the room?"

The open space beneath our feet had expanded considerably; what was once littered with debris last night had now been piled up into two small hills in the corners.

Wen Mo wiped his sweat, but unexpectedly his hands were even dirtier, and instead of wiping away the sweat, his face was covered in dust.

"Yeah, I don't want you to sleep on the floor every day."

He took a tissue and wiped his face until it was much cleaner.

Upon hearing this, Xia Lian first lowered her eyes and bowed her head for a moment, then silently helped to move the things.

Seeing this, Wen Mo was stunned. "You want to help?"

After struggling to move the things to the corner, she caught her breath and then answered breathlessly, "I want to help Wenmo..."

Seeing this, Wen Mo shook his head, took the things from her hands with a smile, and said, "Help me mop the floor, I'll go downstairs and throw away all these unwanted things."

Xia Lian lowered her eyes in disappointment, but quickly cheered herself up and picked up the mop with a serious expression.

By the time he went out to throw away the trash, Xia Lian had already mopped most of it, and she had been mopping it carefully and repeatedly. The floor, which had been covered in dust, had now returned to its original color.

The air conditioner is broken, so I can only rely on the natural breeze from outside the window for ventilation. However, there is hardly any natural breeze at midday, only stuffy air and the noisy chirping of cicadas.

Wenmer was in a good mood when he returned.

I happened to run into an old man who collects recyclables at the entrance of the community. There were quite a few recyclable items in that pile of garbage, and I ended up getting 20 yuan.

"Xiao Lian, here you go." He smiled and handed Xia Lian an ice cream, while also holding a matching one in his hand.

These two cost almost 10 yuan, which is ridiculously expensive. Compared to the bunch of cheap stuff I bought online that's in the fridge, they're really not good value for money.

To be fair, though, the price has gone up a bit, but the taste has definitely improved a lot.

"Wow, it's so clean!" He licked his ice cream, looking at the now sparkling clean floor with a hint of surprise.

Upon hearing this, a hint of pride slowly appeared on Xia Lian's expressionless face.

“In the past… I did all the housework.”

She spoke slowly and deliberately, taking the ice cream as she did so.

"That's amazing?"

“Because at home, I’m often… alone.” Xia Lian said casually, as if this had become a daily occurrence.

...

Wen Mo's heart sank, but he quickly smiled again, though his worry for her had increased.

"Let's hurry up and tidy up so you can move into this room as soon as possible." Wen Mo shook his head, clearing his mind of all his chaotic thoughts, and then tried to take the mop from her hand. "You rest for a while, I'll mop it."

But Xia Lian shook her head vigorously, refusing to let go, "I want to... help Wen Mo."

The two were at an impasse, and in the end Wenmo could not persuade her otherwise and had to let her continue mopping the floor.

Wenmo then picked up a rag and wiped down all the remaining furnishings in the room.

After the two finished their work, the entire room was sparkling clean, and the golden sunlight shone brightly on the freshly mopped floor.

The two sat on the cleaned bed board, resting and admiring their masterpiece.

Xia Lian, in particular, seemed much more energetic after tidying up the room, unlike her previous dejected state.

"Wenmo".

"Um?"

"I do, can it help?"

The girl looked up and asked, her dark eyes shining with a new light, her two little legs gently swinging under the bed.