Date

The next morning, the two of them stayed home, each taking the day off to relax. Qin Ran didn't call the housekeeper; instead, she ordered fresh groceries, planning to cook a love-filled meal for Yu Shuman.

The groceries arrived quickly—Qin Ran placed the order at 9:00 AM, and by 9:45, everything was delivered. Yu Shuman was still snuggled in bed, drowsy. Qin Ran carefully got out of bed, trying not to wake her, then went to Yu Shuman's room next door to wash up and change. Once she was ready, she brought in the groceries that had been left at the door.

Luckily, it was November, and the cold weather meant the groceries wouldn't spoil sitting outside.

Qin Ran had ordered a king crab, but since she didn't know how to kill it, she had the store prepare it for her so she could start cooking right away. She had recently watched a video on three ways to cook crab and, though she wasn't a skilled cook, managed to prepare a simple dish. She steamed it directly and made crab roe steamed eggs in the shell.

These two dishes alone were already the result of Qin Ran's best efforts.

In addition, she bought some easy-to-make side dishes: two vegetable dishes, one stir-fried water spinach and one cold tomato salad, a beer-braised duck as the main meat dish, and seaweed tofu soup. All simple dishes that didn't take too much time. Even so, by the time she finished cooking, it was already 11:30 AM.

Qin Ran figured Yu Shuman should be waking up soon and called Assistant Wu to deal with the jerk from the previous day, emphasizing that she should make him suffer slowly and not let him off easily.

After hanging up, Qin Ran went to the bedroom, softly calling Yu Shuman's name to wake her up.

Yu Shuman, still wanting to sleep, murmured, "Mmm…" as she turned over, pulling the blanket over her head, clearly trying to ignore Qin Ran's wake-up call. Seeing her like this made Qin Ran's heart swell with affection. She knelt on the bed, gently pushing Yu Shuman, "Manman, it's time to get up and have lunch."

Hearing this, Yu Shuman slowly began to wake up. Her eyes were still a bit dazed as she let out a big yawn, then nodded, "Okay… I know…" Her voice was soft and sleepy, clearly not fully awake yet. After a few more moments, Yu Shuman finally felt more alert, releasing the blanket and lying on her back to gather her thoughts.

Out of habit, Yu Shuman reached for her phone. Qin Ran quickly handed it to her, and Yu Shuman checked the time, realizing it was already late.

"It's almost noon."

"Yes."

Knowing she couldn't sleep any longer, Yu Shuman reluctantly got out of bed. Qin Ran followed her like a shadow. Wherever Yu Shuman went, Qin Ran was right behind her—even when Yu Shuman was brushing her teeth and washing her face, Qin Ran was there, watching. Yu Shuman noticed Qin Ran's actions, and with her toothbrush in her mouth, gave her a questioning look.

Qin Ran waved her hand, indicating that Yu Shuman shouldn't mind. After Yu Shuman finished brushing her teeth and washing her face, they both went to the dining room and sat down.

"Xiaoran, did you make all of this?"

"Yep."

Qin Ran was very proud. Although the meal didn't involve any advanced cooking skills, the king crab alone made it feel special and made her seem impressive. Seeing how pleased Qin Ran was with herself, Yu Shuman didn't dampen her spirits. Instead, she praised her. Qin Ran, smiling from ear to ear, went to the fridge, took out some orange juice, and poured two glasses, giving one to Yu Shuman.

As they ate, Qin Ran said, "Let's treat today as our celebration. I didn't have a good time at yesterday's party, and neither did you. Today, it's just the two of us, so we can celebrate properly."

Yu Shuman agreed, "Okay."

Qin Ran's cooking had really improved a lot. From barely being able to make decent stir-fried greens to now being able to prepare an entire home-cooked meal, Yu Shuman noticed the difference when she took a bite of the water spinach. Stir-frying greens can be tricky—they easily turn soft and mushy if not done right.

But this time, Qin Ran's dish was especially crisp, prompting Yu Shuman to praise her again.

After lunch, Qin Ran instinctively moved to clean up, but Yu Shuman stopped her, "You've already cooked so much, I'll do the dishes." With that, Qin Ran didn't insist on helping, though she did worry about whether Yu Shuman, who had been exhausted last night, could handle it.

So, Qin Ran transformed into a shadow again, following Yu Shuman closely. While Yu Shuman washed dishes, Qin Ran fetched gloves for her; when Yu Shuman took out the trash, Qin Ran replaced the trash bag. With both of them working together, they quickly had the kitchen spotless.

In the afternoon, they relaxed at home for a bit, even taking a nap. After waking up, they decided to go out for a bit, to shop and catch a movie, then have dinner out as part of their celebration. There was a blockbuster action movie recently released from overseas, so Qin Ran immediately bought two VIP tickets for the IMAX showing and took Yu Shuman out for a fun day.

Because it was a weekday, the mall wasn't too crowded, but even so, Yu Shuman wore a hat and sunglasses. She opted for black-framed glasses with tinted lenses, which didn't look out of place indoors but still offered some concealment, and a khaki eight-panel cap with a bit of a fuzzy texture.

You couldn't blame Yu Shuman for dressing like this—she had a lot of fans now. And with her relationship with Qin Ran, paparazzi were constantly trying to dig up some big news, so she had to be cautious.

When they arrived at the mall's underground parking, Qin Ran arranged a time with the driver to pick them up later. Qin Ran was an easygoing boss—as long as it didn't interfere with her plans, she didn't mind what her driver did in the meantime. Since they planned to eat dinner and watch a movie before heading back, they didn't want the driver to wait around without even having time to eat.

Neither Yu Shuman nor Qin Ran wanted that to happen, so they just arranged a pickup time.

After waving goodbye to the driver, they began their date. Their movie was scheduled for after dinner, so they had plenty of time to shop. Yu Shuman was at an age where she loved shopping, but previously, she was either too busy working or had no money, so she hardly ever got the chance.

Now that she finally had an opportunity, she naturally wanted to drag Qin Ran along for a full shopping spree.

Yu Shuman didn't head straight for the high-end luxury stores; instead, she chose a small novelty shop. These shops in malls sell a wide variety of things—everything from erasers to huge 1.2-meter plush toys, basically anything a young girl might like.

Yu Shuman particularly enjoyed browsing the section with notebooks. When she saw them, her voice took on a nostalgic tone, "When I was in high school, I loved these kinds of notebooks. I used to buy them all the time in my first and second years, regardless of whether I'd use them or not—I just liked buying the pretty ones."

Qin Ran never went through that phase. In her previous life, her parents followed a strict academic regimen, providing her with all the standard-issue supplies she needed, and in this life, she didn't have the means to buy any pretty notebooks. The cheapest five-cent notebooks were what she bought most often.

Even though she couldn't fully share Yu Shuman's experience, just seeing her smile made Qin Ran happy. She immediately declared, "Manman, do you want any of these notebooks? Let's buy them all!" Qin Ran practically exuded the aura of a wealthy, carefree spender, but Yu Shuman shot her a look, "I told you not to waste money."

After glancing at the price, Yu Shuman quietly put the notebook back, sighing, "Back then, a notebook cost three or four yuan, and the nicest ones were only eight or nine. But this notebook is over twenty, for just a few sheets of paper—why is it so expensive?"

Hearing this, Qin Ran agreed it was pricey. It wasn't just the notebooks; pens and erasers were expensive too. Even the pencil sharpener was something Qin Ran couldn't afford back then. Although they had money now, Yu Shuman remained as frugal as ever, refusing to buy anything she deemed overpriced.

She even pulled out a shopping app, showing Qin Ran that the same items were half the price online, "See, this price is more reasonable."

They moved on from the stationery section and headed to the accessories area, filled with all sorts of trinkets that dazzled the eyes. Nowadays, jewelry often featured little rhinestones and gems, making everything look enticing. While Qin Ran was browsing the accessories, Yu Shuman walked ahead, spotting something and calling out to her.

"Xiaoran, come over here."

Qin Ran immediately walked over and asked, "Manman, what is it?"

"Look at this." Yu Shuman took out a bracelet from its box, and when Qin Ran saw it, she laughed.

It was a green plastic bracelet, adorned with little flowers and leaves, and most notably, interspersed with cute little frog faces, setting it apart from the others.

Most of the jewelry went for a refined, elegant style, but this one was purely whimsical.

The bracelet looked like something a four- or five-year-old girl would love, with matching hair ties likely in her hair. Yet Yu Shuman had her eye on this one, "Xiaoran, let's buy these." She called over a sales assistant to see if they had any more just like it.

The assistant searched for a while, but it was Qin Ran who finally found an identical one tucked away in a corner.

At the checkout counter, Yu Shuman placed both bracelets on the counter to pay. Before she paid, Qin Ran noticed a promotional rack nearby with stress-relief squishy buns labeled "Ten yuan each, two for fifteen yuan." Qin Ran stared at them for a moment, and Yu Shuman added two squishy buns to the purchase.

Qin Ran instinctively reached for her phone to pay, but Yu Shuman gently pushed her hand aside and paid herself.

"It's just a little money. No need to fight over it."

Carrying the shopping bag, she led Qin Ran out of the store. Once they were outside, Yu Shuman took out the two bracelets from the bag. Qin Ran, sensing what was coming, held out her hand so Yu Shuman could help her put it on.

Once the bracelet was on, Qin Ran turned her wrist, making the little frog faces spin around.

When she looked back up, she saw that Yu Shuman had also put on her bracelet.

They looked at the little frogs on their wrists and then shared a smile.