He woke from the nap to find a curved moon and a scattering of stars already hanging outside the window.

Xu Ye opened his eyes groggily. Nobody had turned a light on in the living room and it was pitch dark, but he could still just make out the pale, fine lines of Chen Qingqing's face.

"Why isn't the light on?" Xu Ye sat up and stretched.

Chen Qingqing shot back. "You've got some nerve. You were lying on my lap. How was I supposed to go turn a light on?"

Xu Ye laughed awkwardly, got up and did it himself.

When he turned around Chen Qingqing was getting up to go to the bathroom.

Xu Ye went into the kitchen, thinking about what to make for dinner.

There was a bowl of leftover rice in the refrigerator from last night, there were noodles in the house, and they had bought a couple of frozen things at the supermarket that morning.

He decided to hand the choice to Chen Qingqing anyway. When she came out of the bathroom he asked, "What do you want for dinner?"

"Anything."

An idea came to Xu Ye. "How about you make dinner?"

Chen Qingqing knew her own limits. "I don't know how."

"I'll teach you."

Put that way, Chen Qingqing actually did want to try. She came over. "So what do I make?"

"We'll start with the easiest thing there is. Egg fried rice."

Xu Ye took the apron off its hook on the wall, put the loop over her head and tied a bow at the back. "I won't touch a thing the whole way through. I tell you, you do it. How's that?"

"Fine."

Chen Qingqing agreed, full of confidence.

"Egg fried rice. Egg fried rice. What you need is eggs and rice." Xu Ye started giving orders. "Get last night's leftover rice out of the refrigerator, and two eggs while you're in there."

Chen Qingqing did as she was told, and volunteered a question. "Do I beat the eggs?"

"Right."

"That part I can do."

Chen Qingqing found a small bowl…