Chapter 392: Daily life 2.

Nobody needed to leave halfway through the meal

because of a noise outside.

Mother Yan asked about the road home. Bai Li answered only the simple

parts. She mentioned that the streets had been dangerous, that they had

met a few survivors, and that the motorcycle had held up. She did not

describe every detail of the mall. Lili was listening with wide eyes

anyway.

"Did you really ride very fast?" she asked.

Bai Li nodded. "Sometimes."

Lili looked at Yan Cijin. "Was she fast?"

Yan Cijin gave Bai Li a look. "Too fast."

Bai Li said, "Efficiently fast."

"That is not a phrase."

"It is now."

Mother Yan smiled into her bowl.

Lili asked, "Did you hold on?"

Yan Cijin blinked. "What?"

"On the motorcycle."

"Of course I held on."

Lili nodded as if that was the correct answer. Then she looked at Bai

Li. "Did Cijin hold you?"

Bai Li nearly choked on her tea.

Yan Cijin froze.

Mother Yan coughed into her hand to hide a laugh.

Lili waited for an answer.

Bai Li looked at Yan Cijin. Yan Cijin looked back.

"Sometimes," Bai Li said.

Yan Cijin’s ears turned slightly red. "Because of the road."

Bai Li nodded. "Very dangerous road."

"Yes."

"Very bumpy."

Yan Cijin narrowed her eyes. "The road was not that bumpy."

Bai Li smiled. "I was being careful."

Mother Yan finally laughed openly.

Yan Cijin looked at her mother. "Mom."

"I didn’t say anything."

"You’re laughing."

"I’m allowed to laugh."

Lili started laughing too, even though she clearly did not understand

exactly why the adults were embarrassed.

Bai Li drank her tea to hide her smile. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

That was how the first morning passed.

Not with a battle.

Not with a new mystery.

Not with somebody banging on their door demanding supplies.

With breakfast and teasing.

And after nearly two weeks of the apocalypse, Bai Li had learned that

those small things were becoming more valuable to her than she expected.

After breakfast, she stood up.

"Kitchen first."

Yan Cijin immediately stood too. "I knew it."

Bai Li looked at her. "What?"

"You have that expression."

"What expression?"

"The one you get before you start fixing everything."

"Something needs fixing."

"You don’t even know what yet."

"I saw the cabinet."

Yan Cijin looked toward the kitchen cabinet. The left door was hanging

lower than the right by barely a centimeter.

She stared at Bai Li. "You noticed that from the table?"

"Yes."

"You’re ridiculous."

"Thank you."

"That was not a compliment."

"I accepted it anyway."

Lili grabbed Bai Li’s hand. "Come fix it."

Bai Li looked down at the little hand around hers. "All right."

Yan Cijin followed them.

Mother Yan watched the three of them disappear into the kitchen and

smiled to herself.

The apartment was still small compared with the enormous world outside,

but on mornings like this it somehow felt big enough for everyone.

Bai Li opened the cabinet.

"Loose hinge."

Yan Cijin crossed her arms. "Can you fix it?"

Bai Li looked at her. "I am deeply offended."

"By what?"

"Your lack of faith."

"You once fixed a water valve using part of an old fan."

"And it works."

"Exactly."

Bai Li smiled. "Then you have already answered your own question."

She brought out a screwdriver. Yan Cijin crouched beside her and held

the cabinet door steady. Bai Li loosened the screws, shifted the hinge,

tightened everything, and closed the door.

Perfect.

Lili clapped.

"Fixed!"

Bai Li nodded. "Fixed."

Yan Cijin opened and closed it twice. "Actually, yes."

Bai Li looked at her. "Were you expecting me to fail?"

"No."

"Then why do you sound surprised?"

"Because you like taking apart things that aren’t broken."

"That is an exaggeration."

"Is it?"

Bai Li looked toward the counter. "The kitchen light is dim."

Yan Cijin groaned. "I knew it."

Lili laughed.

"Come on," Bai Li said. "Let’s see it."

The next hour disappeared into small repairs. The kitchen light had a

loose connection. One faucet had begun dripping. A storage shelf was

starting to lean. One of the window latches was harder to close than it

should have been. None of the problems were dangerous yet, but Bai Li

treated every small fault as something worth fixing before it became a

big one.

That had become one of her habits since the apocalypse began.

Fix it when it is small.

Do not wait until you need it.

Yan Cijin had started copying that habit too, though she would never

admit it.

She handed Bai Li tools. She held parts in place. She tested repaired

fixtures. Once, when Bai Li tried to reach the upper shelf, Yan Cijin

automatically stepped behind her and put one hand lightly against her

back so she would not lose her balance.

Bai Li looked down over her shoulder.

"You worried I’m going to fall?"

"No."

"Then why are you holding me?"

"Because you are standing on a chair."

"That’s not an answer."

Yan Cijin looked up at her. "Do you want me to let go?"

Bai Li paused.

"No."

Yan Cijin’s expression softened for half a second.

Then Bai Li added, "The chair might move."

Yan Cijin rolled her eyes. "Right. The chair."

Bai Li smiled.

Neither woman said anything else.

From the doorway, Lili watched them with an expression that suggested

she had noticed something even if she did not know what to call it.

Mother Yan walked past carrying folded towels. She saw the same scene

and also said nothing.

By late morning, the apartment looked slightly better than it had at

breakfast. The loose cabinet was aligned. The faucet no longer dripped.

The kitchen light was brighter. The shelf was straight. The window latch

clicked properly. The water barrels had been checked. The balcony plants

had been watered.

Bai Li stood in the middle of the living room with her hands on her

hips.

"Done."

Yan Cijin looked around. "You say that like you rebuilt the whole

building."

"Give me time."

"No."

"Why not?"

.

.

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TO BE CONTINUED.