After falling asleep and waking up together with Yang Mo, Qian Ling realized that today was her first Saturday in this world.
Just like before, Yang Mo was still sleeping soundly, but this time, Qian Ling didn’t need to wake her up.
Even if there were other plans later, a whole day felt plenty enough.
She tucked the quilt around Yang Mo, quietly got changed, and then, with her phone in hand, jumped up onto the roof of Yang Mo’s house.
Feeling the morning breeze and the warmth of the sunrise, she pressed the power button on her phone.
As Yang Mo had said, the phone didn’t seem to have any damage. After a moment, the screen lit up smoothly, and there was no lag when swiping on the main interface. It seemed the system was running flawlessly as well.
As expected, all records like messages had been wiped clean, almost all the apps uninstalled, with only some photos left on the phone.
Qian Ling flipped through them idly, finding that they were all photos related to family.
A plate of delicious-looking mapo tofu.
A pair of chopsticks flying in from the upper right, just a blur in the shot. Judging by the size of the hand, it was most likely Yang Mo.
Playing ring toss at the night market.
Surrounded by a crowd of pedestrians, Yang Mo stood confidently in the center of the shot, showing off her prize to the camera—a goldfish in a cup.
Celebrating the birthday of an elderly lady with a kind face together with Yang Mo.
The only photo where Yang Xia herself appeared. That old lady was probably their grandmother. Yang Xia and Yang Mo squeezed in on either side of her, smiling and making peace signs with their fingers on the left side of the frame. On the right, you could just see the edge of a cake.
Grandma wore a birthday hat, and her smile was even more spirited than her granddaughters’, giving the impression that she loved joining in on the young people’s fun.
It felt as if Yang Xia had intentionally kept these photos.
Was it because she couldn’t bear to delete them? Or did she leave them on purpose for Yang Mo?
Qian Ling had no way of knowing.
But most likely, Yang Xia had backed up the photos along with the rest.
Otherwise, this phone probably wouldn’t have been wiped so clean.
Looking at these photos, Qian Ling felt a wave of emotion.
So, this was how they used to live.
Moments she, as just an anime viewer, would never have known—real fragments of their lives.
The original story did mention that Yang Xia used to live here with Yang Mo and their grandmother. Later, when she went to high school, she moved to the neighboring town, and not long after, even their grandmother passed away, leaving Yang Mo to guard the house alone.
Yang Xia must have used this phone during that time; the photos were likely taken then, or so Qian Ling guessed.
Though Yang Mo said she was handing over her “privacy” on the phone to her, Qian Ling was actually unsure if she should let her see these photos.
At this point, everything in the photos was a distant past, and looking at them would probably only stir up sad memories.
Qian Ling was secretly relieved that she was checking the phone alone.
Just then, Yang Mo’s faint voice floated up from downstairs.
“Qian Ling…? Are you there?”
It seemed she was awake now. Qian Ling also felt she’d had enough of the breeze, so she climbed in through the window to the second floor and arrived at the door of Yang Mo’s room.
As soon as she opened the door, she realized she had come in at a rather awkward moment.
Yang Mo, having called for Qian Ling and received no response, had already started changing her clothes, and was now caught halfway by Qian Ling.
Their eyes met, but Yang Mo didn’t really react; it was Qian Ling who panicked.
“Sorry for intruding.”
With that, she shut the door with a bang, face flushing red as she backed out of the room.
Usually, to avoid awkwardness, she and Yang Mo would take turns leaving the room to change, but in the end, she still managed to walk in on a scene like this.
After a while, Yang Mo bounced out of the room and caught up with Qian Ling.
“Sorry for the wait.”
Qian Ling immediately noticed that Yang Mo was dressed differently today, not in her usual school uniform.
A light-colored shirt jacket, a T-shirt with a cute print, a pleated skirt, and bubble socks.
The sleeves of the shirt were a bit long, just revealing two fingertips, and the T-shirt was tucked into the skirt.
It was a simple outfit, but it matched her lively personality perfectly.
If Qian Ling had to sum up her impression in one word, it would still be “cute”—just as cute as usual, but with an added sense of energy and friendliness.
Of course, the plush Sakabanya toy dangling from her shoulder bag helped with that, too.
Those black and white concentric eyes and the upside-down triangle mouth—it was hard not to feel close to someone with that around.
Yang Mo noticed Qian Ling sizing her up and waved her sleeve.
“So? This is my going-out mode today.”
This was also the first time Qian Ling had seen Yang Mo in her usual clothes, so she told her honestly, “I think it suits you really well.”
“Hehe~”
Hearing this, Yang Mo scratched the back of her head, looking a little embarrassed, but her smile was so bright it looked like flowers would burst out of her cheeks.
After that, the two washed up and officially began their day.
As mentioned before, they had two goals for going out this time. First, to buy some new clothes for Qian Ling; second, to get a SIM card.
But before that, there was one thing they absolutely had to do—have breakfast. You couldn’t get things done on an empty stomach.
Yang Mo led Qian Ling to a noodle shop by the street. The owner, seeing Yang Mo, greeted her warmly, then pointed at Qian Ling and asked, “Who’s this kid beside you, dressed all formal with her buttons done up?”
“She’s my little sister!”
Yang Mo answered with a bright smile.
“…”
Honestly, Qian Ling was almost numb to the words “little sister” and “kid” by now, but having them thrown at her one after the other was still a bit much.
Calm down, stay calm.
She kept telling herself over and over to keep her composure.
It took a lot of effort to draw back her death-glare and return her face and heart to a peaceful state.
At this moment, she couldn’t help but marvel at how Yang Mo dared to say such things to outsiders.
Sure enough, after hearing Yang Mo’s words, the owner mumbled, “Oh, I see… I see,” while squeezing out a barely convincing smile in front of Yang Mo.
He must have made some odd assumptions about Yang Mo’s family situation.
Would this cause rumors about Yang Mo’s parents?
Qian Ling began to recall the original setting.
In the original story, there was never any description of what kind of people her parents actually were.
But to leave your daughter behind and travel far away with barely any contact—she could hardly imagine such parents being any good.
Maybe that’s exactly why Yang Mo dared to say things so casually?
As Qian Ling pondered all this, Yang Mo noticed her gaze and turned, looking at her with slight confusion.
Was she overthinking after all?
Seeing that, Qian Ling finally brushed away her doubts.
Yang Mo took the opportunity to ask, “Qian Ling, what do you want to eat?”
“I’ll have whatever you’re having.”
“Then…” Yang Mo turned to the owner and said, “Two bowls of wontons, one liang each, in spicy soup.”
“Alright, same as always, huh.”
With that, the owner didn’t immediately put the wontons in the pot, but kept working on something else.
Apparently, there were still quite a few people ahead of Qian Ling and Yang Mo.
So they headed inside to find seats while they waited.
The walls inside were mottled and yellowed, with a few pull-string fans embedded above. Most of the chairs were wooden, giving off the vibe of a classic old-fashioned shop.
Qian Ling followed Yang Mo to seats beside a folding table.
She glanced around and noticed there were barely any empty seats anywhere else. The folding table they were sitting at seemed like a temporary addition to accommodate the crowd.
Judging by this, the food here must be pretty good.
Qian Ling found herself looking forward to the meal.