The boiling fell to Chen Wan and Qin Ke, each taking a pot. The scent of hot dough drifted through the RV almost immediately.
Yang Yang rubbed her hands together, watching the pots with focused anticipation. "Mom, when are the dumplings ready~."
Jiang Yanxin stroked her cheek. "Almost there. First batch goes to my little glutton, all right?"
"Yes~ I like the beef ones." Yang Yang had her small spoon already in hand.
"I think what you really like is eating beef," Jiang Wanning teased.
Yang Yang brandished her spoon. "Eating beef!"
"This lot's done — first serving for the little glutton." Chen Wan scooped two plates of dumplings from the pot and set them on the table. Qin Ke's pot finished at the same time, and she plated two more before dropping another batch in.
Qin Ke's expression had softened without her quite noticing. It wasn't only Jiang Yanxin's parents who felt like they'd lived another life and come back. Qin Ke felt it too — and more than that, the person she had been holding in her heart through all of it was nearly close enough to reach. Almost.
Jiang Yanxin and Jiang Wanning took over the pots once they'd eaten, so Chen Wan and Qin Ke could sit down properly.
Chen Wan bit into a beef and pickled mustard dumpling, and her eyes lit up. The combination really did work. Beside her, Yang Yang was eating with her small spoon, cheeks packed like a tiny hamster. Noticing Chen Wan looking, Yang Yang found a moment to look up and smile at her Mama between bites.
After dinner, Yang Yang's belly was round again. Chen Wan walked the little one up and down the RV to help her digest, and Yang Yang, remembering the two extra sweets she had received today, was particularly attached to Mama's leg.
Chen Wan carried her eventually, bouncing her gently. Her little troublemaker — what could you do?
When everyone began drifting toward sleep, Chen Wan gave Yang Yang a meaningful look. Yang Yang received it instantly and piped up, entirely unprompted: "I want to sleep with Grandma tonight."
Ye Lan's eyes crinkled with delight. "Sleep with Grandma! Does our Yang Yang love Grandma?"
Yang Yang nodded. She actually loved the strawberry sweets more, but Grandma was a close second.
Jiang Yanxin was mildly surprised. Yang Yang was a clingy sleeper at the best of times — she always wanted to be between her Mom and Mama. For her to voluntarily choose Grandma seemed unusual.
"Yang Yang, are you sure you don't want me to tell you a story first?" Jiang Yanxin dangled the offer.
Yang Yang's eyes slid to Jiang Wanning. "Little Auntie can tell me one."
Jiang Wanning laughed and patted her cheek. "Very efficiently arranged. All right, I'll tell you a story."
Jiang Wanning carried Yang Yang upstairs with Ye Lan and Jiang Zhao Yuan. Chen Wan gave Jiang Yanxin a look that did not attempt to conceal her intentions. "Honey, shall we turn in? We've had a long day."
Jiang Yanxin had a feeling something was happening. "You seem eager tonight."
"Just tired. Ready to sleep. Come on." Chen Wan had already taken Jiang Yanxin by the waist and was moving her toward the bedroom.
The moment the door was locked, Chen Wan pressed Jiang Yanxin against it and kissed her, soft and warm. "Missed you."
Jiang Yanxin let out a small laugh and tapped Chen Wan on the chest. "I see now why Yang Yang suddenly wanted to sleep with Grandma. You arranged that, didn't you?"
"No, absolutely not — she must have just missed Grandma. It had nothing to do with me. I couldn't bribe Yang Yang even if I tried." Chen Wan said this with complete conviction and almost believed it herself.
Jiang Yanxin gave her a look of calm, unhurried skepticism, waiting.
"Honey, you trained my mental energy earlier. Let me return the favor and work on your physical stamina. You don't want to be caught short in the field." Chen Wan kissed the corner of Jiang Yanxin's mouth and let her hands become less than entirely proper.
Jiang Yanxin looked at her alpha and made her decision. She had already had her fun in the mindscape — she was in a generous mood. "All right. Help me with my stamina, then."
She didn't retreat. She stepped forward instead, wrapping her arms around Chen Wan's waist and leaning into her. Chen Wan swept her off her feet entirely.
She had taken a loss in the mindscape. She intended to recover it.
Meanwhile, Jiang Wanning had told Yang Yang three stories before the little one's eyes finally gave up the fight. She closed the book, settled Yang Yang beside Ye Lan, and checked the time — barely past eight. She wasn't sleepy at all. She headed back downstairs, thinking she'd keep Yi Yi company.
Yi Yi was lying on the pulled-out sofa bed with her eyes closed, face faintly warm, clearly not asleep but not inviting conversation either.
Jiang Wanning smiled. "Going to sleep already? I thought you said you didn't need to."
[Chapter 105 continues — Yi Yi's research endeavors and what follows]
Yi Yi, in the aftermath of Qin Ke's advice, had watched one more video tutorial she wasn't sure was entirely appropriate, and was now lying on the sofa with her eyes closed and her face pink.
"You're sleeping early," Jiang Wanning said, with a tone that suggested she found this suspicious. "What happened to chatting?"
Yi Yi heard Jiang Wanning's voice and immediately felt the conflict between wanting to flee and wanting to stay sharpen into something acute. She was an android who neither ate nor slept — conversation was one of the very few pleasures available to her, and she had been craving it all day. For the sake of conversation, she would deal with the CPU temperature.
She sat up. "I wasn't sleeping. You came back."
"I did." Jiang Wanning sat down at a comfortable distance. "Have you been here this whole time?"
"More or less." Yi Yi decided to take action before she could overthink it. She reached over and took hold of Jiang Wanning's wrist. Jiang Wanning's ears went slightly pink. Yi Yi met her eyes and, with her best attempt at appearing natural, leaned in and kissed her.
Jiang Wanning went completely still.
Yi Yi's hand rested against the RV wall behind Jiang Wanning, the other arm at her waist. Jiang Wanning's mind had stopped working entirely. This was what Yi Yi considered an apology?
But Yi Yi was — it had to be said — rather good at this for someone who had theoretically never done it before, and Jiang Wanning found she couldn't hold a thought long enough to protest. Her hands found their way to Yi Yi's neck before she made any conscious decision.
Yi Yi waited until Jiang Wanning's breathing had gone unsteady before pulling back slightly, eyes bright. "Not still angry?"
"More angry than ever," Jiang Wanning said, ears red, lips curved despite herself.
Yi Yi saw the smile and knew. She leaned in again, more carefully this time, and kissed the corner of Jiang Wanning's mouth — a lighter touch, almost a question. Jiang Wanning's expression softened further. Yi Yi's electronic heart was going at a rate that was genuinely alarming her optical brain's temperature sensors. All four internal cooling fans had kicked in simultaneously.
She made a mental note: when they modified Yan Yan's body, she needed to install additional cooling for her own CPU. Possibly a dedicated unit. The current system was not rated for having a girlfriend this sweet.
Girlfriend. Yi Yi turned the word over. She had used it herself, internally, just now. Her optical brain flagged it as a natural classification. She didn't disagree.
"Still angry?" she asked.
"Angrier." Jiang Wanning pushed her back slightly, breathless, the tips of her ears burning. "You're terrible. You've been taking advantage of me."
"I haven't," Yi Yi said with complete sincerity. "You're my girlfriend. Girlfriends do this. I looked it up."
"Where exactly did you look it up?" Jiang Wanning stared at her, caught between exasperation and laughter.
"Reliable sources." Yi Yi maintained this position with impressive composure.
Jiang Wanning pressed her hand over Yi Yi's mouth. "Not another word. Not another question. If you keep this up, not a single kiss, ever."
Yi Yi kissed her palm. Jiang Wanning removed her hand with pink ears. Yi Yi smiled. "Understood. One more, then."
She kissed her again before Jiang Wanning could object, and Jiang Wanning — after a moment — kissed back, because apparently this was who she was now.
Yi Yi's four cooling fans ran at full capacity. She made peace with it.
When she finally released Jiang Wanning, she made her plans known, quietly and thoughtfully: "When the RV upgrades and there's a new room, we could share one. It would be much more convenient."
Jiang Wanning turned approximately the color of a sunset. "Absolutely not. I'm going to sleep. Stay here by yourself."
"You won't stay with me?" Yi Yi deployed her most effective look.
Jiang Wanning had learned from last time. She was not falling for it. She stood, still flushed to her collarbones, and went upstairs.
Ye Lan looked up from her pillow as Jiang Wanning came in. "Wanning? Your face is very red."
"Nothing, Mom. Feeling a bit feverish. Got annoyed about something." She pulled out her sofa bed and burrowed under the blanket, mumbling her response.
Ye Lan privately thought this seemed like more than annoyance, but couldn't work out what to say. Getting this red from being annoyed?
She assumed, charitably, that her daughter had had some kind of argument with Yi Yi, and offered a gentle suggestion: "I saw Yi Yi try to talk to you this morning, and you weren't responding — you two are living in the same vehicle, it's important to get along. I think Yi Yi is a good person."
Jiang Wanning, entirely submerged in her blanket, muttered: "You have no idea. She's awful. She was just taking advantage of me. She acts completely innocent in front of everyone else."
But even as she muttered, something sweet was unfolding in her chest that she was doing her absolute best to ignore.
Ye Lan sighed and decided the young had to manage their own affairs.