Chapter 405: Daily life 15.

Yan Cijin laughed.

Bai Li flipped the pancake cleanly.

Lili clapped.

"Again!"

Bai Li looked pleased. "See?"

Yan Cijin smiled. "I’m impressed."

Bai Li glanced sideways at her. "Say it again."

"No."

"You said you were impressed."

"Once is enough."

"I’ll remember it."

Yan Cijin shook her head. "You keep collecting compliments."

"They’re useful."

"For what?"

Bai Li smiled. "Morale."

Lili nodded. "Morale is important."

Yan Cijin looked at Mother Yan. "They’re teaming up again."

Mother Yan smiled. "Let them."

Breakfast was messy, but everyone enjoyed it. Lili ate two pancakes.

Mother Yan ate one and a half. Yan Cijin finished one and gave the rest

of hers to Lili. Bai Li quietly ate three because she had spent so much

time cooking them.

Yan Cijin noticed.

"You said you weren’t hungry."

Bai Li looked at her. "I changed my mind."

"You always change your mind when food appears."

"That’s called adaptability."

Yan Cijin laughed. "You really can turn anything into a serious word."

After breakfast, the four of them cleaned the kitchen together. Lili

wiped the table. Mother Yan stored the remaining flour. Yan Cijin washed

dishes. Bai Li dried them and put them away.

Their movements had become surprisingly coordinated. Nobody bumped into

anyone. Nobody asked where anything belonged. Everyone simply knew.

That was perhaps the clearest sign of how much the apartment had changed

in less than two weeks.

They had started as people sharing space because the world was

dangerous. They had slowly become people sharing a life because they

wanted to.

No one announced when that change happened.

It simply happened one ordinary day at a time.

The morning passed.

Bai Li checked the windows.

Yan Cijin checked the food.

Mother Yan prepared vegetables for drying.

Lili watered the plants.

At noon, they harvested the first three tomatoes from the balcony. Lili

looked so proud that Bai Li let her decide how they should be divided.

"One for Grandma. One for Cijin. One for Bai Li."

Yan Cijin smiled. "What about you?"

Lili looked surprised. "I forgot me."

Bai Li laughed. "Take mine."

Lili shook her head. "No. Yours."

"We can split it."

Lili thought about that. "Okay."

They cut the tomatoes into small pieces and shared them at lunch. It was

not much food. But it tasted better because everyone had grown it

together.

That evening, Bai Li went downstairs one more time. She wanted to check

the lower entrance and the stairwell before sleeping. Yan Cijin followed

as usual.

They walked quietly through the building. The corridors were calm. A few

residents nodded when they passed. Someone was sweeping the second-floor

hall. A child was playing quietly near a window. On the tenth floor, an

older man was repairing a chair.

The building no longer felt abandoned.

It felt lived in.

Bai Li looked around as they descended.

"Better," she said.

Yan Cijin smiled. "You sound proud."

"A little."

"You built part of this."

"Everyone did."

Yan Cijin looked at her. "You know that’s true, right?"

Bai Li nodded.

They reached the first floor. The metal service gate was still solid.

The drainage system was clear. The main entrance remained reinforced.

The guards were awake.

One of them raised a hand.

"Quiet tonight."

Bai Li nodded. "Good."

The guard smiled. "People are sleeping better since you cleared the

stairs."

Bai Li looked away. "That’s useful."

Yan Cijin smiled. "You can’t just accept that you helped people, can

you?"

"I helped the building."

"Same thing."

Bai Li looked at her.

"Maybe."

They walked back upstairs.

On the way, Yan Cijin said, "You know, you really are different here."

Bai Li glanced at her. "Different how?"

"You relax."

"I relax outside too."

"Not like this."

Bai Li was quiet.

"Maybe I have a reason," she said.

Yan Cijin looked at her. "What reason?"

Bai Li glanced up the stairs. "A good reason."

Yan Cijin smiled but did not ask again.

When they reached the twentieth floor, Lili was waiting at the door.

"You’re back."

Bai Li nodded. "Again."

Lili took her hand. "Dinner soon."

"I thought we already ate."

"Dinner is different."

Bai Li looked at Yan Cijin. "Your daughter has strong opinions."

Yan Cijin smiled. "So do you."

"Maybe that’s why we get along."

Yan Cijin looked at her. "Maybe."

They entered together.

Mother Yan had already prepared the evening meal. The room was warm from

cooking. The windows were open slightly to let the cool air in.

Somewhere in the distance, a dog barked. Another answered. The river was

almost invisible in the dark except for a few scattered reflections.

Dinner was quiet.

Not because anyone was tired.

Because everyone was comfortable.

Lili leaned against Mother Yan. Yan Cijin sat opposite Bai Li. Bai Li

watched the small plants move in the evening breeze.

After dinner, they sat together in the living room.

Lili brought her drawing book. Mother Yan brought her knitting. Yan

Cijin brought the supply notebook. Bai Li brought the toolbox because

she had somehow found a loose screw in the arm of the sofa.

Yan Cijin looked at the toolbox.

"Seriously?"

Bai Li looked at the sofa. "It’s loose."

"It is barely loose."

"Loose is loose."

"You’re hopeless."

"You knew that."

Yan Cijin smiled. "Unfortunately."

Bai Li sat beside her. "You keep using that word too."

"Maybe it suits you."

Bai Li fixed the sofa screw. Then she put the toolbox on the floor.

Their shoulders touched.

Neither moved.

Lili sat on the other side of Bai Li and leaned against her arm. Mother

Yan watched quietly.

The four of them stayed there while the evening slowly became night.

No monster attacked.

No alarm sounded.

No emergency came through the door.

Nothing happened.

And that nothing was exactly what Bai Li wanted.

She looked around the room.

The apartment was not perfect. The furniture was mismatched. The walls

had scratches. The electricity was unreliable. The water system still

needed maintenance. The balcony was crowded with plants. The food supply

would eventually run low. The city outside would not stop being

dangerous.

But tonight, everything worked.

The people were safe.

Lili was laughing quietly at one of her drawings.

Mother Yan was smiling.

Yan Cijin was sitting close enough that their shoulders remained

touching.

Bai Li did not move away.

Neither did Yan Cijin.

That was enough.

Later, when Lili became sleepy, Mother Yan helped her to bed. Yan Cijin

went with them for a few minutes. Bai Li stayed in the living room and

checked the locks one last time.

When Yan Cijin returned, she found Bai Li standing by the window.

"Still checking things?"

Bai Li nodded. "Last check."

Yan Cijin came beside her.

They looked out at the river.

"The city is quieter tonight," Yan Cijin said.

"Yes."

"Do you think it will stay that way?"

Bai Li thought about it. "Probably not."

Yan Cijin smiled. "Honest."

"You asked."

"I did."

Bai Li turned toward her. "But it doesn’t matter."

Yan Cijin looked back. "Why?"

Bai Li smiled softly.

"Because when things get bad again, we’ll handle them."

Yan Cijin was quiet for a moment.

Then she smiled. "Together?"

Bai Li nodded. "Together."

The word stayed between them.

Not a confession.

Not a promise of romance.

Just the truth of the life they were living.

They had become partners before either of them had decided what else

they might become.

They were not a couple.

Neither had said those words.

But they were two women who looked for each other first when something

went wrong, who noticed each other’s tiredness, who saved each other

from falling, who shared food, who repaired each other’s clothes, who

teased each other, and who had begun to think of the same apartment as

home.

Outside, the apocalypse waited.

Inside, life continued.

Bai Li finally turned away from the window.

"Sleep."

Yan Cijin smiled. "You’re ordering me again."

"Yes."

"Old mother."

Bai Li laughed. "Good night."

"Good night."

Neither moved for another second.

Then Yan Cijin walked toward her room.

Bai Li watched her go.

She smiled to herself.

Then she checked the lock one last time.

Because of course she did.

The apartment became quiet.

The river kept moving.

The plants slept under the dark balcony.

The food was stored.

The water was ready.

The building was clear.

Lili was safe.

Mother Yan was safe.

Yan Cijin was safe.

Bai Li finally went to bed.

Almost two weeks after the world had changed, that was what a normal day

looked like.

.

.

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TO BE CONTINUED.