"Don't move, I'll take care of it."

Xi Qingxu grabbed her wrist and moved her hand away. When she was in front of her, she let go. "There's oil and soup on it. It's very dirty."

Lu Chuqing paused for a moment, watching the boy skillfully and efficiently tidy up the table, when an idea suddenly popped into her mind.

Does he often do this kind of work when he takes on part-time jobs?

Previously, Lu Ying had said that Xi Qingxu had suffered a lot, but at the time she just listened without delving too deeply into what kind of suffering he had endured.

Now she suddenly remembered her past life. Although her past life was not very good, she had never done any part-time jobs.

For some reason, I started to feel genuinely sorry for this boy.

The boy threw the trash into the trash can and quickly returned. Just as he was about to take a napkin from the table to wipe his hands, Lu Chuqing remembered that she hadn't finished using the single-pack wet wipes she brought. She took them out of her school pants pocket and handed them to him.

"Use this to wipe it, and then dry it with a tissue."

Xi Qingxu paused for a moment as she pulled out the tissue, then took it. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. We live under the same roof, so we're family. There's no need for formalities between family members."

Lu Chuqing grabbed a stool and sat down, then took a tissue to wipe the remaining soup off the table.

Seeing this, Xi Qingxu quickly moved a stool over and sat down next to her, then took out some tissues to wipe the table for her.

With someone else doing the work, Lu Chuqing was quite relaxed, watching as the area in front of her was gradually wiped clean.

Without realizing it, her gaze, which had been fixed on the table, fell on the boy's hands.

She remembered that time in front of the refrigerator, when the arm stretched out from behind to wipe her face.

Undeniably, Xi Qingxu's hands are also very beautiful.

Perhaps because he was too thin, the knuckles on his hands were particularly prominent. When he didn't exert any force, it was fine, but when he did, the knuckles and blood vessels would bulge out.

Lu Chuqing silently looked at her hands; her fingers weren't long, but they were passable.

Fortunately, she did little physical labor in this life, so her finger joints are not large, her hands are not rough, and her hands are white and tender. Even her nail beds are well-maintained and beautiful.

But compared to Xi Qingxu's hands, which are of divine quality, hers can only be considered passable.

After wiping the table, Xi Qingxu tore open a wet wipe to clean the oil off his hands.

Lu Chuqing's gaze secretly followed his hand, watching his fingers wrapped in a pure white wet wipe being rubbed back and forth. She was mesmerized.

There were no useless thoughts in my mind; I was simply stunned by the divine beauty of those hands.

Just a moment later, the owner brought over two portions of sliced ​​meat. "Students, here are your two small portions of sliced ​​meat!"

"Thank you, boss!"

"Thanks."

The owner was quite busy; he put down the sliced ​​meat and hurriedly returned to his stall.

Lu Chuqing took disposable chopsticks and a disposable spoon, first scooped up a spoonful of soup, blew on it, and drank it, exclaiming, "Wow! This soup is so delicious!"

She has a peculiar habit: she loves drinking the soup from restaurants serving these kinds of food; it's not greasy but very fragrant.

Xi Qingxu also took a sip of the soup and said, "It's quite delicious."

Lu Chuqing ate a meatball and started chatting with the boy, "You always do part-time jobs, are you short of money?"

"But Uncle Xi's salary isn't low. Mom said he doesn't have to pay off his debts anymore, so why do you keep doing part-time jobs?"

Xi Qingxu paused, his lowered eyebrows and dark eyes revealing no emotion.

He said, "I'm not his biological child, so I can't let him support me for the rest of my life."

Although she had suspected it beforehand, hearing it from the person in question still startled Lu Chuqing, and her already large eyes widened even more.

The mother, with her wildly imaginative mind, also conjured up a lot of tragic stories about the boy's miserable upbringing in that instant.

Thinking about it this way, she understood why Lu Ying always told her to talk to Xi Qingxu more often, and not to get angry if he didn't show any expression.

The sympathy in her heart evolved into heartache, and Lu Chuqing couldn't help but look at Xi Qingxu again.

The boy was tall, and sitting at the low stool and small table, he felt a little aggrieved, having to bend over to reach his lunchbox.

He held a disposable spoon with his bony hand and scooped up the soup from the box to drink.

Her profile is sharply defined, with a particularly prominent jawline that gives her a bony chin.

Her Adam's apple was slightly visible, sliding up and down with each swallow. The collarbone, with one button undone, was quite prominent, revealing a hint of her slender collarbone.

He is undeniably a handsome young man.

She's too thin; she'd be perfect if she had a little more weight.

Xi Qingxu noticed she hadn't eaten for a while, and seeing her staring at him, he asked, "What are you looking at?"

Lu Chuqing noticed the scrapes on his hand, which had already scabbed over, and asked without thinking, "Do you often get injured while doing part-time work?"

She actually wanted to ask what kind of part-time jobs he had done, and how he managed to find work when he started looking for jobs around 11 or 12.

She had never done part-time work in her previous life, mainly because the place was too small and the cost of living was low. Also, she was a small girl and couldn't do heavy work, so she wasn't given the chance to do light work.

Xi Qingxu is tall, but young, so he'll probably be doing manual labor.

“Occasionally,” the boy said, looking at her. “It’s usually from a scratch or bump, just a minor injury to the skin.”

Lu Chuqing paused for a moment, then said, "Uncle Xi won't abandon you. At the very least, he and Mom will take care of you until you enter society."

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. If you're going to take on part-time jobs, just be careful and don't hurt yourself."

The scab on the back of the boy's left middle finger looked thick, clearly not the superficial injury in his mouth.

Moreover, the area is not small, about the size of a coin, and it is very conspicuous next to the joint.

She felt like she had been burned by something.

The early autumn nights are less hot and more refreshing with cool breezes.

The girl was wearing the same school uniform as him, her jet-black hair tied in a ponytail, with baby hairs hanging down her forehead. When the wind blew, the strands of hair playfully brushed against her fair cheeks.

She reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear, her dark eyes reflecting the dappled light around her, like stars adorning the night sky.

Xi Qingxu was stunned for a moment.

In that instant, he felt as if the soup he had just drunk was surging back up, piling up in his chest and gathering into a lump.

The heat made his chest feel warm and swollen.

As autumn finally arrived, Lu Chuqing felt the wind blowing by was chilling to the bone. After saying that, she hurriedly drank a sip of soup.

"Eat quickly, the temperature has dropped. I need to go back and study, and I have an exam tomorrow."

That moment passed, but the soup was still hot. Xi Qingxu nodded, "Okay, I'll be more careful in the future."

Lu Chuqing had already eaten two meatballs, and she paused for a moment after hearing his words.

But she didn't say anything in the end, only thinking to herself that the boy's reaction was really slow.