Zhang Xiaoyan had come back to work after the New Year feeling thoroughly unsettled.

Mostly it was that Xu Ye was not back in Shanghai yet. She was his assistant, and having nothing to do all day while a salary still came in made her deeply uncomfortable.

That is what decent people are like. Even when they are the ones coming out ahead, it sits badly with them.

People like that mostly end up worse off once they are out in the world.

At noon everyone ordered delivery. The university did not have classes until after the New Year either, but a few cafeteria windows were open, so Li Tongwen left the company ten minutes early, rode his e-bike over, bought three meals and brought them back.

"Food's here."

Li Tongwen went to the front desk and took two boxes out of the bag for Yuan Yuqi and Zhang Xiaoyan.

"Thanks."

The two of them took the boxes and started eating right there at the desk. Li Tongwen was about to go back to his own workstation when Zhang Xiaoyan suddenly called out. "Li Tongwen~"

Li Tongwen turned his head in surprise and looked at her curiously.

A little embarrassed, Zhang Xiaoyan got out two jars of pickled vegetables her family had made at home — one sour-and-spicy radish, one shredded mustard greens. She got the question out haltingly. "I brought these back from home. Do you… want to try some?"

Li Tongwen smiled and nodded.

Yuan Yuqi pulled a chair over in a hurry. "Sit and eat with us. I'll clean it all up afterward."

It was too warm an offer to refuse, so Li Tongwen sat down beside them, awkward about it. Zhang Xiaoyan twisted the lids off and set the jars on the desk, and Yuan Yuqi was the first to reach in with her chopsticks, taking a piece of the sour-and-spicy radish. She chewed a few times, sucking in air against the heat. "That's got a kick to it. Goes great with rice, though."

Jiangxi food is heavy to begin with, and if it really comes…