"It's right here."
Ran Qiuye patted her cloth bag.
It looked bulging.
"Alright, let's read for a bit, and then we'll exchange them when we eat lunch?"
Chen Jianye respected her opinion.
"Okay."
Ran Qiuye nodded.
The two stopped talking, their attention fully on the books in their hands.
Occasionally, when Ran Qiuye's eyes got tired, she would look up and rub them, then glance at Chen Jianye beside her.
She found it hard to understand why Chen Jianye's eyes didn't get tired from reading.
However, Ran Qiuye also knew that it was best not to disturb someone while they were reading.
Time quickly passed to noon.
Inside the Library, some people had already opened their lunchboxes or dry rations and were quietly eating.
Chen Jianye placed his pen in the middle of the book and then closed it.
Soon, Qiuye Comrade next to him also looked up and gently rubbed her eyes.
"Comrade Ran Qiuye, let's eat something."
Chen Jianye suggested.
"Mhm."
Ran Qiuye nodded, pulling out three large white flour steamed buns from her cloth bag.
Chen Jianye also took out three large sweet potatoes.
They were all steamed sweet potatoes, and their sweet aroma wafted out.
"Try some of mine."
Chen Jianye handed Ran Qiuye a sweet potato.
"Thank you, you try some of mine too."
Ran Qiuye took the sweet potato and offered her white flour steamed bun.
"After eating so many sweet potatoes, white flour steamed buns taste really good. Did you make them yourself?"
Chen Jianye asked after finishing the bun and taking a sip of water.
"I didn't make them, my Ran Mother did."
Ran Qiuye told the truth, adding, "I can make them too, and they're just as good as my Ran Mother's."
"Then you're quite impressive. Teach me sometime; I'm completely clueless about Cooking."
Chen Jianye said with a smile.
Cooking experience increased very slowly, now basically stabilizing at more than ten points per day.
To level up to LV3 and gain five hundred experience points,
Chen Jianye calculated that it would take a year.
That was too long.
The fastest way was to practice different Cooking skills.
For example, steaming, boiling, slow Cooking, or pastry making, and so on.
So Chen Jianye wasn't actually flattering her; he genuinely wanted to learn.
"Ah? You, a grown man, can also cook?"
Ran Qiuye was very surprised.
"I'm the only one in my family; if I didn't cook, I would have starved to death long ago."
"Actually, I'm quite good at Cooking."
Chen Jianye said casually.
"Ah? You're the only one in your family? You..."
Ran Qiuye had intended to ask about Chen Jianye's Ran Father and Ran Mother, but halfway through, she felt that asking such a question seemed to be poking at Chen Jianye's sore spot.
"My Ran Father was working at the Rolling Mill and had an accident. My Ran Mother missed my Ran Father so much that she followed him a few days later."
"Originally, I had an older brother and sister before me, but they both died young, so now I'm the only one left in the family."
Chen Jianye said very calmly.
"Well... alright, actually being alone is quite good, free and unconstrained."
"I'm the only child in my family, and my Ran Father and Ran Mother are always watching me, but I don't have to cook or do housework at home."
"There are good and bad points to each."
Ran Qiuye wanted to comfort Chen Jianye, but she had too little experience in this area.
"I've accepted it; being alone now is quite good."
"The Ran Mother in my Courtyard is even trying to set me up on blind dates, but I want to take it slow and wait until my job level goes up a bit more."
"Ah? How old are you, and you're already going on blind dates?"
The two chatted about various topics while eating lunch.
It was more relatable to daily life.
For example, Ran Qiuye learned that Chen Jianye had already reached the level of a Third-Level Carpentry and was just waiting to make a splash in the second half of the year's assessment.
Chen Jianye also knew that Ran Qiuye was hesitating whether to study abroad in the second half of the year.
She didn't have too many obsessions; studying abroad was naturally an option, but she also worried about not being able to accompany her Ran Father and Ran Mother.
An only daughter is more dependent on her parents.
In fact, the original Chen Jianye was also like this; after his parents passed away, the original owner directly chose to go to extremes.
After finishing lunch, the two continued to read.
Ran Qiuye read until three o'clock in the afternoon, her eyes simply couldn't take it anymore.
Chen Jianye suggested borrowing books and leaving.
After borrowing the books, the two walked together to the bus stop.
"Comrade Chen Jianye, see you next week."
Ran Qiuye's bus arrived first.
After boarding the bus, she turned and greeted Chen Jianye with a bright smile.
"See you next week."
Chen Jianye waved his hand.
"I'll bring you white flour steamed buns again."
After Ran Qiuye finished her last sentence, the bus door closed.
A slight smile appeared on Chen Jianye's lips.
It was still early to go home and cook, so Chen Jianye didn't take the bus but walked home instead.
Along the way, looking at the grey bricks and black tiles of the Four Nine City houses, the passing pedestrians, and the large characters on the walls, Chen Jianye's lips curled slightly, and he was in a good mood.
......
After Ran Qiuye returned home, she took the sweet potatoes out of her bag and placed them on the dining table: "Ran Father, Ran Mother, I brought sweet potatoes back for you to eat."
"Oh, look at my silly girl, exchanging white flour steamed buns for someone else's sweet potatoes."
A middle-aged man with glasses and a refined demeanor rose from the sofa, walked to the dining table, and said with a chuckle.
"I spent two hours making them for you, and you exchanged them for sweet potatoes."
"It's truly like a son selling his Ran Father's land without a second thought."
A middle-aged woman, also wearing glasses and with crow's feet at the corners of her eyes, walked out of the room.
Although she was quite old and dressed in an old-fashioned way, she had an intellectual and elegant temperament.
She was the kind of person who, at first glance, you'd instinctively think was a university Ran Mother.
"Ran Father, Ran Mother, what are you talking about?"
"These sweet potatoes are so delicious; I tried them before bringing them back for you to eat."
"And I only gave him three pounds of white flour steamed buns, but he gave me five pounds of sweet potatoes!"
Ran Qiuye pouted unhappily.
"Alright, alright, I definitely believe you. Wait until your Ran Mother steams them, and our family will try them tonight."
Ran Father chuckled.
"Who did you exchange them with?"
Ran Mother asked somewhat nervously.
"I exchanged them with my Comrade."
Ran Qiuye spoke evasively.
"What Comrade? Male or female? How old is he? What does he do?"
Ran Mother rattled off a string of questions.
"Ran Mother, why are you asking so many questions? I didn't do anything bad."
Ran Qiuye became unhappy.
"That's right, why are you asking your daughter so many questions? Which one would be a good answer for her?"
"The girl has grown up; why are you keeping such a close eye on her?"
Ran Father stood on Ran Qiuye's side.
"I'm just asking; it's not going to hurt her."
"If it's a legitimate Comrade, what's there to hide? It wouldn't be some bad influence, would it?"
Ran Mother used a taunting tactic.
She knew Ran Qiuye's temper too well.
Being nice or asking directly wouldn't work; this was the only way.
Sure enough, Ran Qiuye became even angrier: "Ran Mother, my Comrade is named Chen Jianye. He's a First-Level Fitter at Hongxing Steel Factory. He studies very diligently, and we met at the Library."
"He's a proper worker, and he's already at the Third-Level Carpentry level at such a young age."
"Once he transfers positions in the second half of the year, he'll definitely be able to pass the exam for Senior Carpentry. Don't you think he's a decent person?"