Qin Yi’s apartment was on the 16th floor, Unit 2, Building B of the Splendid Rivers and Mountains complex—a 150-square-meter fully furnished unit.

Paid 4,000 yuan per square meter. Total 600,000 yuan upfront. His maternal grandparents covered 500,000; Qin Yi chipped in 100,000.

Four bedrooms, two living rooms, one kitchen, two bathrooms.

The living room held a U-shaped modular sofa and a 1.6m x 1.6m tatami mat.

The study featured full bamboo woodwork: bamboo flooring, desk, bed, bookshelf, plus an air conditioner.

The master bedroom had its own small bathroom with a shower and a large white bed.

Guest Room A contained a silver-gray 2m x 1.8m bed.

Guest Room B held a pink 2m x 1.8m bed radiating girlish charm.

The kitchen had natural gas and basic cookware. The dining area held a simple table-and-chair set.

The main bathroom featured a 2m x 1m white bathtub and a washroom.

The balcony was external with floor-to-ceiling windows and excellent lighting.

*Ahem.*

Lin Jin deliberately cleared her throat.

"Your grandma picked a great place, meow."

Kitten Girl Lin Jin sat on the tatami, swinging her pale little legs. Her petite cat tail swayed lazily.

Qin Yi averted his gaze slightly. "Your room’s next to the master bathroom. Mine’s across the hall."

"Huh?" The kitten girl tilted her head curiously. "So who sleeps in the master bedroom?"

"Wash your face first. I’ll take you shopping downstairs later." Qin Yi sidestepped the question.

"Okay." Lin Jin obediently replied, darting out her tiny tongue to moisten her parched lips.

After a long, dusty day, neither had drunk much beyond her earlier bowl of porridge. Qin Yi caught the gesture. He pulled his water bottle from his backpack and offered it. "Mind sharing?"

Lin Jin answered without words, snatching it and tilting her head back for a long gulp.

His bottle held only a faint tea scent, no off-notes.

*Hic!*

"You put tea leaves in it?" She set it down with a tiny hiccup, her pointed cat ears twitching.

"Mm."

"Delicious. Can I borrow some?"

"..." Qin Yi paused. "Tea’s in my bag. Help yourself."

"OK!" The kitten girl dashed off, yanking the backpack zipper open.

"Whoa! How many certificates do you have, meow?"

Watching her rummage through his things while hunting for tea, Qin Yi felt like he’d adopted a husky.

"Wow! Medals? Two of them! When’d you get these?" Lin Jin fished out certificates and medals from the pile, flipping through them curiously. "First Prize, National Physics Olympiad. First Prize, National Chemistry Olympiad... Holy crap, Qin Yi! When did you win these? I never knew!"

"Second semester, sophomore year." Qin Yi casually jingled the apartment keys.

*Should I give her one? ...Nah. Then she’d have to come back with me.*

"Hmph. Still such a tight-lipped clam. If I’d won these, I’d be grinning from ear to ear."

Lin Jin pouted, still digging through his bag while muttering under her breath, "Not that big a deal anyway. Just first prizes."

Qin Yi rubbed his temples. He saw right through her—she was using this as an excuse to snoop.

"Eh! What’s this?" Lin Jin stared at a sketch that had slipped from a black notebook.

The yellowed paper showed two stick figures holding hands. Beside them, crooked handwriting read: *"Big Shot Lin and Tight-Lipped Qin Yi—Best Friends Forever."*

"Whoa! You kept this babyish drawing?!" Mortified by her own childhood art, Lin Jin snatched it up and stuffed it into her pocket. "Trash it! So embarrassing!"