Chapter 29: Letting Down Defenses

Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Letting Down Defenses

After listening carefully, Xu Xiaoka bobbed her head vigorously like a rattle-drum. "Don’t worry, Sister Momo. Even if someone held a knife to my neck, I wouldn’t breathe a single word of this to anyone!"

She then took a moment to observe the entire apartment.

It wasn’t large—only forty or fifty square meters—with two bedrooms, a living room, and a small storage room. Though compact, it was beautifully decorated and fully equipped. Weatherstripping had been applied to all the window and door frames, and cozy carpets covered the floor. A laptop sat on the table, while beautiful throw pillows and an iPad rested on the sofa. Next to the sofa stood a bookshelf filled mostly with children’s reading materials, evidently meant for Xiao Bao. In short, everything about this home showed that its owner was a meticulous and loving person.

Chen Xiaobao had gone to bed early today and was already fast asleep in his small room. Xu Xiaoka deliberately kept her movements light, afraid of waking him.

Chen Momo checked her phone. It was past nine o’clock, time to sleep. She offered to let Xu Xiaoka share her room, but the younger girl shyly and firmly refused.

"Sister Momo, I’ll just sleep in the living room. I’m used to it." Xu Xiaoka didn’t want to usurp her host’s space or cause any extra trouble for Chen Momo. She was already incredibly grateful to be able to wait out the snowstorm in such a comfortable apartment. If she monopolized Sister Momo’s bed, she would feel terribly guilty! Therefore, no matter how much Chen Momo insisted, Xu Xiaoka was determined to sleep in the living room.

Xu Xiaoka placed her suitcase on the floor, opened it, and pulled out a sleeping mat. She unrolled it in the living room, ready to lie down and sleep.

Seeing that the girl stubbornly refused to sleep in the bedroom, Chen Momo had a sudden idea. "Wait here for a moment," she said.

Chen Momo went into her room, closed the door, and took a folding cot out of her spatial storage. She had found this bed while scavenging for supplies in another apartment. That particular household must have been running a family inn before the snowstorm, as they had about a dozen one-meter-wide folding cots set up. Chen Momo had quietly stored all of them in her dimension when no one was looking.

Even though she hadn’t known what to do with them at the time, she figured beds would definitely be needed once the disaster passed. Having them was better than nothing, especially since her storage had plenty of space. She hadn’t expected them to come in handy so soon!

Chen Momo carried the folding cot into the living room and unfolded it for Xu Xiaoka. "Sleep on this. The floor is too cold, and I don’t want you catching a chill. Xiao Bao caught a cold just the other day from sleeping on the floor."

Xu Xiaoka was deeply moved. Even though it was just a folding cot, it far exceeded her expectations. She thanked Chen Momo profusely, laid her mat and cushion out on the bed, and pulled her own quilt from her suitcase.

Back in her own apartment, Xu Xiaoka had needed three or four blankets just to stay warm. But Sister Momo’s home was well-heated; a couple of blankets were more than enough. And so, with Xu Xiaoka sleeping in the living room and Chen Momo and Chen Xiaobao in their respective rooms, the night passed peacefully.

The next day.

Chen Momo woke up early in the morning and looked out the window. The world outside had been reduced to a vast expanse of blinding white snow. The first eight floors of their building had already been swallowed up, yet massive snowflakes continued to cascade gently from the sky, showing no signs of stopping.

Chen Momo mixed herself a glass of honey water, played some pre-downloaded music on her iPad, and began her morning aerobics.

"Sister Momo, are you working out?" Xu Xiaoka had just finished brushing her teeth and stepped out of the bathroom. Seeing Chen Momo doing aerobics, she put down her toothbrush and mug and joined her in the routine.

"Morning, Mommy!" Chen Xiaobao was up as well. His little face was as radiant as the spring sun, and the moment he saw Chen Momo in the living room, he greeted her with boundless energy.

"Morning!" Chen Momo smiled back at her son.

Chen Xiaobao then noticed their new housemate. "Sister, are you going to live with us?" he asked in his sweet, milky voice.

Xu Xiaoka crouched down to eye level with him and smiled. "That’s right! Sister will play with you from now on, okay?"

Chen Xiaobao clapped his little hands in delight. "Yay! Xiao Bao hasn’t had a playmate in so long!"

Chen Momo thought about this. Chen Xiaobao called Xu Xiaoka "Sister," Xu Xiaoka called her "Sister," and she called Chen Xiaobao "son"... This generational hierarchy was a bit of a mess. Ultimately, she decided not to care. They could just keep using these messy titles; she wasn’t one to fuss over such details anyway!

Since Xu Xiaoka had only been in the house for a day, Chen Momo still needed time to figure out the girl’s true character and determine if she was completely trustworthy. Therefore, for their first morning together, Chen Momo held back and didn’t take an extravagant breakfast out of her spatial storage. She only prepared three boiled eggs, three steamed buns, and a small dish of pickled vegetables.

Carrying the food out, Chen Momo placed it on the table and said to Xu Xiaoka, "We don’t have much food left, so we’ll have to make do with this for breakfast."

Chen Xiaobao knew his mother was being cautious around Sister Xiao Ka by not bringing out too much good food today. He played the part of a sweet, innocent child, taking huge bites of his plain boiled egg as if he were entirely used to eating them every single day—even though plain boiled eggs were honestly quite hard to choke down.

However, Xu Xiaoka waved her hands, looking overwhelmed by the gesture. "Sister Momo, I can’t eat your and Xiao Bao’s food! I have my own instant noodles!"

Saying so, she pulled a packet of pickled cabbage instant noodles from her suitcase and asked tentatively, "Sister Momo, could I use a little bit of hot water from your house? Just to steep my noodles."

Xu Xiaoka had survived on instant noodles ever since the snowstorm began. Sometimes she ate one packet every two days; other times, one every three days. If there was no hot water, she steeped them in cold water. In any case, she had managed to hold on until now.

Chen Momo frowned. "Eating instant noodles all the time isn’t good for your health. Come here and eat breakfast with us."

Yet Xu Xiaoka refused to consume Chen Momo’s supplies, insisting on eating her own noodles.

"Sister Momo, I know you’re being kind by offering me breakfast. But supplies are scarce right now. An egg today isn’t like an egg from before; it’s infinitely more precious. I can’t eat something so valuable. You should save it for yourself and little Xiao Bao. He’s growing and needs to eat more. You need to eat more too, so you have the strength to take care of him. As for me, I’ve been eating instant noodles since the snowstorm started, so my stomach is already used to it!"

Giving Chen Momo a cheeky smile, Xu Xiaoka tore open the noodle packet, ready to prepare her meal.

Seeing how genuine the girl was—without the slightest intention of taking advantage of them, truly acting like a sweet younger sister—Chen Momo gradually let her guard down. She walked over, snatched the noodles right out of Xu Xiaoka’s hands, and spoke in a soft but commanding tone.

"When I tell you to eat breakfast, you sit down and be a good girl and eat breakfast. Do you think I’m feeding you for free? I’ve got some heavy lifting for you to do later!"

With that, she confiscated all the instant noodles from Xu Xiaoka’s suitcase, pulled the girl over to the table, and made her eat breakfast with Xiao Bao.