Jin Annuo curled up on the sofa, hugging a pillow, looking out the window at the gray sky, and couldn't help yawning. A warm fire was burning in the fireplace in the living room, and the crackling firewood made her cheeks red.
"Are you sleepy again?" Jin Suyun came out of the study, holding a document in his hand, "Didn't you just take a nap this morning?"
"It's time to sleep on rainy days." She muttered and kicked the puzzle box at her feet - the star map with a corner missing.
It has been on the coffee table since we finished it last time. "Brother, can we try it again?"
"Are you sure you won't drop the puzzle into the fireplace this time?" Jin Chanyun raised his eyebrows, put the documents on the coffee table, and sat down next to her.
Last time, she was lying on the carpet doing a puzzle and accidentally let a "shooting star" shaped puzzle piece roll into the fireplace, almost burning a corner.
"I'll be careful!" An Nuo immediately sat up straight and held the puzzle box on his lap. "This time I'll find the pieces on the edge, and you put the pieces in the middle!"
Jin Suyun smiled helplessly and reached out to help her open the box. Thousands of pieces clattered onto the puzzle mat. Small pieces of blue, purple, and silver shimmered in the firelight, like a real starry sky crumpled onto a carpet.
The sound of raindrops hitting the windows was so loud that sparks occasionally flew up in the fireplace and then quickly died out.
Jin Annuo lay on the carpet, searching among the fragments with his fingertips, and suddenly touched a dark blue fragment with smooth edges - it was the corner that was missing last time.
"Brother! Look!" She held up the broken pieces, her eyes sparkling, "It turned out to have fallen into the crack of the sofa!"
Jin Sunyun leaned over to take a look, his fingertips accidentally brushing against the back of her hand: "Well, it seems the starry sky is reluctant to lose a corner."
Jin Annuo's heart moved slightly, and he quickly lowered his head to continue looking for the fragments.
The two of them worked on the puzzle in silence, with only the sounds of rain and the crackling of burning wood. Anno would occasionally glance up at the clock on the mantelpiece and steal a glance at his brother.
"This isn't right." Jin Suyun suddenly picked up a piece of purple debris and compared it with the map for a long time. "Look, the position of this star should be a little further to the left."
"No way!" An Nuo leaned over to take a look, and her hair accidentally brushed his chin.
"It's clearly here...ah, I'm really wrong!" She cried in frustration, her nose almost touching Jin Chanyun's fingers.
He reached out and rubbed her slightly hot cheek with his knuckles very naturally. The touch was dry and warm, with a few thin calluses left by years of holding a pen.
"It seems the rain has been falling for too long, and even Annuo's brain has become swollen."
"No!" Annuo retorted immediately. In order to hide his inexplicable panic, he deliberately moved a few pieces of the puzzle, making them clatter.
"This picture is too difficult! And...and it's all your fault, brother, because you sat too close and blocked the light!" She pouted unreasonably.
Jin Chanyun didn't expose her, but just moved aside with a smile to make more space for her.
Time passes quietly amid the sound of tiny puzzle pieces colliding and the sound of rain falling outside the window.
The deep blue cosmic background gradually took shape, and brilliant nebulae and distant galaxies began to reveal magnificent outlines on the puzzle mat.
The edge part that Jin Annuo was responsible for was also beginning to take shape. She straightened her aching waist with a sense of accomplishment.
Just as she stretched out her hand to grab a piece of silver fragment in the distance, her stomach suddenly growled.
Jin Annuo immediately retracted his hand and continued to search for the fragments as if nothing had happened, wishing he could bury his head in the puzzle pile.
"Hungry?" He asked with a smile evident in his voice, putting down the puzzle piece in his hand.
"No...no!" Jin Annuo denied it flatly, burying his head even lower, and his muffled voice came from the pile of puzzles.
"It's... it's the logs in the fireplace making the noise!"
Jin Chanyun couldn't help laughing, his shoulders shrugged slightly. He stopped teasing her, but supported himself on his knees and stood up neatly.
"Yes, the wood does make noises," he nodded seriously, "but it sounds like the wood saying, 'Time to cook the noodles.'"
Jin Annuo finally raised his head, his eyes lit up: "Cooking noodles?"
"Yeah." Jin Sunyun walked towards the kitchen at a leisurely pace. "The rain has been falling non-stop, so let's eat something hot to warm our stomachs. I'll make you clear soup noodles with a soft-boiled egg today."
"I want two eggs!" An Nuo immediately became energetic, and the embarrassment just now was swept away. Like a kitten that finally waited for feeding, he made the request with shining eyes.
“Add more chopped green onions!”
"Okay, two eggs, with more chopped green onions." Jin Suyun's voice came from the open kitchen with an indulgent smile.
Jin Annuo immediately dropped the puzzle pieces in his hand, not caring about his sore waist, and trotted to the kitchen island. He found a high stool to sit on, put his hands on his chin, and looked like he was waiting to see the chef's performance.
Jin Suyun took out thin noodles, eggs, a few green onions, a piece of tender tofu, and a small piece of lard wrapped in plastic wrap from the refrigerator.
He washed the onions and picked up the knife. The blade flashed a cold light under the light, and then fell with a rhythmic "thump thump" sound.
The scallion whites are cut into even thin rings, while the scallion leaves are chopped into even finer chopped green onions.
"Brother, you are really good at knife skills." An Nuo praised sincerely.
"Practice makes perfect." Without even raising his head, Jin Suyun picked up the piece of white tender tofu, carefully sliced it into thin slices with a knife, and then cut it into thin strips.
"When I was studying abroad, it wasn't easy to have decent noodle soup, so I had to figure it out on my own."
"Then...was it very hard for you to be alone at that time?" Jin Annuo asked in a low voice, feeling a slight pain in his heart.
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