As Xiaoyun held Ziling in his arms, she stared back at his face in silence. It almost felt oddly creepy for a second until a smile appeared.

"Da-da!"

"Hey, Ziling. You want to do something?"

The baby only stared back at him, watching him eat with his chopsticks as Tianci walked away from the kitchen.

"Okay, maybe not right now. But after I finish eating, we can go do something fun together."

"Let me hold her. You can finish eating first."

Leyan finally came back from the backyard as she took Ziling into her arms, freeing Xiaoyun’s hand to eat with his bowls up.

"Thanks."

"Where’s Tianci?"

"She went back to her room to work on something," Xiaoyun answered as he picked up a piece of fish meat.

"I shouldn’t have let her bring work home..."

"Too late now."

As Xiaoyun ate more and more of the rice, he suddenly heard a weird sound coming from behind him.

It was very quiet. Much quieter than earlier. A steady splash sound in the backyard that never seems to end.

"What’s that noise?"

"What noise?"

"The noise in the backyard. Am I tripping or something?" Xiaoyun questioned as he put his chopstick down.

"It’s probably just the wind. I already closed the backyard door... You want me to go check on it again?"

"No need."

After ten minutes at the dinner table, Xiaoyun finally finished eating lunch. Just as he got up, a loud voice came from the living room.

"Xiaoyun, Xiaoyun! Come watch a movie with us. We got an unreleased film that you’re going to love."

"Really? Leyan, can you—"

"Just go, I’ll clean these up later."

With permission granted, Xiaoyun quickly headed over to the living room, taking a seat right next to Nami.

---

As the afternoon approached, the movie reached its end.

Both Lily’s and Nami’s faces had tear marks all over, with the trash can next to the coffee table full of tissues.

"Xiaoyun, you okay?" Nami quietly asked as she noticed him sitting extremely stiff on the sofa.

"I’m fine."

Seeing him sitting still with a blank face, they both could tell he was holding in his urge to show any emotion.

"Ahem, I’m going to go check on Leyan."

Neither of them stopped him, letting him head over to the kitchen by himself. Once walking past the half-wall, he was immediately stopped.

"Da-da!"

"Come play with us, Da-da!"

Looking over to Leyan, she was sitting there with Ziling in her arms, smiling back as if she was expecting him to do something with their kids.

"Okay, okay. I’ll play with you guys...."

---

The afternoon quickly flew by as the sun soon set on the horizon.

All of the noisy baby chatter ended as they got too tired from playing. After putting them back in their crib, Xiaoyun was finally free.

"So, Leyan, do you mind telling me what’s going on in the backyard? What’s up with all the noises today?"

"Is it really that obvious?"

"Do I look dumb to you? You can say it now, or I’m going to the backyard to check for myself."

"Check it for yourself, then."

The answer left him more intrigued and irritated at the same time. He immediately walked past Leyan and headed towards the backyard.

Once at the glass door, he finds the blinds have been pulled down. Pulling it up soon made his jaw drop.

Xiaoyun’s eyes were seeing something that he hadn’t seen since the beginning of the outbreak at this point.

What had been an empty hole in the backyard that had algae growing inside it had turned into clean tiles with crystal clear water.

Looking over to the right, Kate and Anna were both standing next to a grill, with a hint of smoke coming out of it.

"Hey, Leyan! Why is Xiaoyun out so early?" Kate questioned out loud.

"You guys did all this just for me?" Xiaoyun questioned, the anger disappearing from his face as he turned around.

"Mhm. Go take a seat in the beach chair for now. I’m going to go call the rest to come out."

With Leyan heading back inside the house, Xiaoyun took a seat at one of the seats as he looked over to the two of them.

"What are you guys cooking in there?"

"You’ll see.. Are you surprised by this sudden BBQ?" Kate curiously asked.

"Yeah. Is this the surprise that you guys were planning for me?" Xiaoyun questioned back as he watched them lift the grill cover.

"Only one of the surprises. You’ll have to wait until next week for the other surprise." Anna answered as she picked up a spatula.

"I can’t wait to see it."

As Xiaoyun leaned back in the chair, he could smell the hint of charcoal and beef coming straight from the grill.

"How long did this take you guys?"

"We had been planning it for over a month. Leyan and Yueyue are the ones who spent most of the time revamping the backyard." Kate answered.

Looking back over to the pool, Xiaoyun could see his own reflection in the water as the porch light illuminated from behind.

"Where are those two right now?"

"They went to take a shower. They were sweating when they finished cleaning the pool and started filling it up." Anna answered.

"You guys could have just hired somebody to do this..."

"It wouldn’t be as nice as it looks right now, though, would it?" Kate questioned back as she began pulling out a meat patty from the grill.

"You aren’t wrong... When and how did those two know how to clean a pool?"

"I don’t know about that."

"Me either."

As Xiaoyun watched the two take out the grilled meat from the hangers, his eyes just couldn’t move away from it.

"You want to try it out?" Kate asked.

"If I can."

"Not yet. Wait until everyone else is out first—"

"Kate! Are you guys done cooking yet? I’m hungry already!"

Nami’s loud voice traveled along from the kitchen as she and Lily came out through the glass door.

"Almost done... Xiaoyun, you should try out the pool. They spent a lot of work on it."

Anna’s suggestion made him think for a second before he got up from the beach chair and threw all of his clothes aside.

With a loud splash, he cannonballed into the pool. Some of the water landed on Nami’s and Lily’s feet as they sat down on the beach chairs.

"Brother Xiaoyun, don’t you feel a little cold swimming in this pool?" Lily curiously asked as she watched him swim across to the other side.

"It’s not that cold. Felt like a pretty hot day today... You guys should jump in and try it out."

Xiaoyun’s answer didn’t sway either of them, as the cold breeze blowing by instantly caused them to shiver a little.

"I’m good."

"Honey, it’s November for god sake. No one is going to be swimming with you unless they want to get a cold."

As Leyan came out of the glass door, both Shuli and Yueyue were right behind with wet hair and a towel over their head.

"The water is actually warmer than the outside."

"Bait used to be believable," Nami murmured as she moved her feet up to let the three of them walk past her seat.

"Where’s Yuqi and Tianci?" Kate curiously asked.

"They said they’ll be out in a few... Have you guys finished cooking yet? I’m hungry already—"

Anna instantly shut down Yueyue’s attempt to grab one of the plates as she slapped her hands away.

"Be patient. We still haven’t finished grilling the lettuce yet. A hamburger is not finished without lettuce."

"Fine..."

"Xiaoyun, what do you think of the pool?" Shuli asked as she took a seat at one of the beach chairs.

"I think it’s great. I haven’t had such a good swim in years... It almost feels oddly relaxing to swim like this."

As they watched Xiaoyun swim freestyle from the start to the back, one of them started to get a little intrigued by it.

"Hey Nami... Is swimming really that fun?"

"It could be fun. But not in this weather. Maybe in the summer you’ll feel nice swimming in the pool."

Seeing Lily staring at the pool nonstop, Nami immediately spoke up again.

"Don’t even think about it. You’re going to freeze your legs off. And you don’t even know how to swim."

"But brother Xiaoyun is perfectly fine in the pool..."

"He’s built differently. Don’t be stupid now, he’s clearly baiting you to—"

"Lily, you haven’t swum before, right? I can teach you how to swim right now if you jump into the pool."

"Okay!"

Right before everyone’s eyes, Lily took off her jacket and pants, jumping in with only a blouse and shorts on.

"Ah! I-It’s s-so c-c-cold!"

Lily complained out loud, her hands and legs swinging like crazy as she started to sink into the water.

"I told you," Nami murmured.

"Relax, your body is going to get used to it... Don’t worry, I’m holding you, you aren’t going to drown."