The first day of the Lunar New Year.

Although it was Chunming, the early morning was still a bit cold. A fluffy quilt of moderate thickness was standard all year round. Baozi's bedsheets and duvet cover weren't as flashy as those of typical girls, nor were they in girly shades of pink; she preferred plain and cool tones.

She was wrapped up tightly, sleeping peacefully.

Her cell phone was plugged in at the bedside, fully charged.

Faint voices from the living room could be heard, but they didn't enter her dreams or disturb her sleep.

Suddenly, there was a CLICK.

Her bedroom door opened. Her mother stood at the doorway with a joyous smile, accompanied by two aunts. The aunts peeked into her room, guided by her mother's explanations, their faces also donning enigmatic smiles.

Baozi groggily opened her eyes, glanced out, then quickly closed them again, numbly continuing to sleep.

"This girl is so lazy…"

"Always sleeps till noon…"

"Tsk tsk! How can this be acceptable…"

"Your kid is the same, huh?"

"Oh, these young people these days…"

"Xiao Ran, Ranran, aren't you getting up yet! Skipping breakfast, were you on your phone till midnight again last night?"

"..."

Baozi's sleepiness lessened, but she still kept her eyes shut, pretending to be asleep. Listening to the voices near the door, she remained inwardly unfazed.

This was her mother's signature holiday entertainment: bringing a troop of relatives to her room to observe her sleeping in, complete with a running commentary for the visitors.

She used to complain and even tried reasoning with her mother but, infuriatingly, it was to no avail.

Fortunately, she was very good at enduring.

A while later, her mother left. The door wasn't closed.

Baozi poked her head out to look around and listened carefully to the movements outside the door before quietly getting out of bed and closing it.

Barefoot, the floor was cold.

As she walked back to her bed, she turned back—

CLICK!

Lock engaged!

Baozi got back into bed, her feet, moments before chilled by the floor, now snuggled back into the warmth of the blankets. The comfort made her squint. Then she closed her eyes again, trying to fall back asleep, but unfortunately failed.

So, she decided not to sleep anymore and picked up her phone instead.

Clearly, not everyone stayed up late on New Year's Eve. Consequently, many of the red packets she'd sent out last night hadn't been claimed immediately. By now, however, those who had gone to bed early were mostly awake. Some had reciprocated with a red packet; others had merely sent a greeting.

She silently checked, her mind working fast to organize and analyze.

Baozi rarely sent red packets to girls, especially not to girls her age, because sending them was financially unrewarding. This year, among the girls, she had only sent red packets to Brother Nan, her two female cousins, and a female high school teacher.

Brother Nan and one cousin had sent one back.

The other two hadn't sent one back, offering an emoji and a blessing instead. When Baozi replied with a "thank you," she felt a pang in her chest.

Her main income was from boys.

Baozi didn't send red packets to every boy either; aside from requiring some acquaintance, she also relied on her own judgment. Yet, her calculations sometimes missed the mark. For instance, her class's study committee member, Zhong En, was tall, handsome, and usually very generous. Who would have guessed he wouldn't reciprocate with a red packet at all?

For this, Baozi had a secondary strategy.

While typical girls made their QQ contact nicknames and lists flashy, Baozi did too, but with a system. She would add a symbol at the end of the contact's nickname, like a period or a tilde.

These had specific meanings.

For example, this year Zhou Li's nickname became 'Zhou Li~', while Zhong En's became 'Zhong En.' This system was an important reference for choosing whom to greet next year.

Of course, she occasionally still sent red packets to those marked with a period; interpersonal relations aren't static, after all.

Correspondingly, a tilde might occasionally be changed to a period. This could be due to a shift in their relationship, or perhaps because someone marked with a tilde, who consistently received her small red packets and sent back substantial ones, had wised up to the deficit...

This is called big data analysis.

Besides, the cutesy tones and emoticons were trivial tricks everyone used; hardly worth mentioning.

In contrast, the monetary amount in the red packets she sent out warranted thorough analysis and calculation. Based on the individual, how much should she send to maximize her returns? Which amount would minimize unnecessary expenditure? Which figure might prompt a larger reply?

...

After some simple calculations, she had sent out about two hundred yuan in red packets and received over 1,500 yuan in return—a fairly decent outcome.

Baozi considered it a win-win: those who received her red packets were happy, and so was she.

CLICK!

CLICK, CLICK...

Her door lock sounded again.

Baozi silently turned off her phone screen and stared unblinkingly at the tightly locked door.

Soon, knocking sounded at the door.

She still stared at the door.

Then came her mom's voice, "Hey, you! Did you actually lock the door from the inside? I'm calling you for breakfast! Your Second Aunt and Third Aunt are here. Hurry up and come out to see them!"

Baozi remained silent until she heard her mom walk away from the door. Only then did she let out a long breath. That was close; I almost got put on display again.

But she decided against trying to sleep anymore. She opened JD.com and once again eyed the Zeiss portrait lens she had coveted for so long.

...

Can't afford it!

After a moment of silence, she put down her phone. She thought for a bit, tidied her messy hair, and changed into clothes she hoped would meet the elders' aesthetic approval before finally opening the door.

Yan City was much colder than Spring City.

The thick quilt was very warm. Zhou Li could feel something fluffy curled tightly against his chest, making that spot seem even warmer than the rest of him.

He lifted the quilt to peek inside. Tuanzi was sleeping soundly, eyes tightly closed, her delicate features peaceful. Her chest rose and fell gently with her breath.

He gently placed his hand on Tuanzi, feeling the soft, warm touch. When Tuanzi still hadn't awakened after a while, he idly picked up his phone, one finger absently tapping on her.

Sometime later, Tuanzi stirred under his palm.

Zhou Li quickly stopped tapping. He then felt Tuanzi stand up on his chest and crawl forward, slowly making her way towards his stomach with apparent intentions of going even further down.

Fortunately, Tuanzi stopped just in time. She paused, then slowly turned around and crawled in the other direction.

Finally, a fluffy head emerged from Zhou Li's chest.

"Are you awake?" Zhou Li asked first.

"Awake," Tuanzi mumbled, looking at him groggily. She paused, then grumbled, "Lord Dumpling was woken up by you."

"That wouldn't count as hitting..."

"It does! Lord Dumpling was hit by you all night!"

"That's not true..."

Zhou Li paused, then decided to change the subject. He craned his neck to get a better look at Tuanzi and asked with feigned concern, "Did Lord Dumpling get lost under the covers just now?"

MEOW...

Tuanzi fell silent for a moment before continuing her complaints, "And you pressed your hand on Lord Dumpling! It made Lord Dumpling so tired."

"You pressed on me all night though."

"What does that matter? Lord Dumpling is so small, it wouldn't tire you out," Tuanzi said seriously.

"It does."

MEOW...

Tuanzi meowed, then nodded. "Alright then. Just don't press on Lord Dumpling next time. Lord Dumpling is magnanimous and won't hold it against you."

Zhou Li was taken aback; he almost thought he'd just admitted fault.

POOF!

Huai Xu appeared beside his bed, wearing a mask, and immediately asked, "Going for a run across the river this morning?"

"You..." Zhou Li stared at him in surprise.

"You haven't been running in a long time," Huai Xu continued.

"What are you doing...?"

"Oh, this thing?" Huai Xu pulled down his mask. "The news said to wear masks in crowded places. I just found a noodle shop for breakfast. It was tough, so many were closed. And they didn't give as much meat as at Brother Nan's home."

"But you're a Demon..."

"What about it?"

"Nothing..."

Zhou Li looked at Huai Xu again. Good heavens, he's even wearing an N95.

Huai Xu, growing impatient, urged him again. Zhou Li had no choice but to gently place Lord Dumpling aside and climb out of bed.

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