She did not ask about the call directly, but
she looked at Yan as if checking whether she had slept. Yan answered
that she was fine before Bai asked anything. Bai did not challenge her
answer. She simply moved the bowl of fruit closer and told her to eat
something before it became warm.
Breakfast passed with more ordinary conversation than anyone felt. Lili
wanted to know whether she could use her toy toolbox to help fix the
plant shelf. Mother Yan said they should check the plants first. Bai
explained that the shelf was already secure and that there was no reason
to repair something that did not need repairing. Yan looked at Bai
pointedly. Bai ignored her. Lili giggled because she had figured out
that this was another one of their jokes.
After breakfast, the household returned to work. Bai inspected the water
system and checked the stored supplies. Yan reviewed the training
schedule with Mother Yan, then helped Lili with her little plant chart.
