That evening the four of them went to Haidilao for hotpot.

They ordered three broths: one mala, one mushroom, one tomato.

Watching Xu Ye and Chen Qingqing eat with real relish, Yang Lin kept a faint smile on her face the whole time. She knew that if Xu Ye hadn't brought Jiang Meilin to the house today, she'd probably have thrown something together at home tonight and called it dinner.

And the procedure at the hospital was nearly here. Alone in the house she couldn't stop thinking about it, and out of that came the worry and the nerves. But now there were suddenly three people around her, and that had lifted a great deal of the weight.

Yang Lin smiled. "You both get the three days off for New Year's, don't you?"

"We do."

"Qingqing's school is close by. Xiao Xu, yours is a long way out — where are you staying tonight?"

"When I come over on weekends I usually get a hotel near Qingqing's school for a couple of nights," Xu Ye said. "There seem to be plenty of hotels around here, so I'll find one nearby tonight."

"And you, Qingqing?"

"I… I…" Chen Qingqing stammered, too embarrassed to answer.

Jiang Meilin took a drink and answered for her. "She'll be at a hotel near here with Xiao Xu. The three days of the holiday they'll eat with us."

"Mm. That's easier for everyone."

Chen Qingqing dropped her head guiltily and kept eating the sliced lamb Xu Ye was putting in her bowl.

On the drive over, Jiang Meilin had already noticed a change of pajamas in her daughter's bag, which meant she had been planning from the start to stay at a hotel with Xu Ye for these few days. Jiang Meilin had figured out long ago that they had reached this point, though, so she hadn't said anything about it in the car.

They hadn't seen each other in the three months since National Day, and Jiang Meilin could clearly feel that her daughter had changed again. An outsider might not catch it. A mother…