Wang Qiqi gracefully pulled herself up upon hearing the alarm, while Shi Man burrowed her head deeper into the cool quilt, muttering incessantly, "Ring, ring, ring, such a life-chaser." "Qiqi, what time is it?" Although Shi Man dreaded the sound of the alarm, she still asked. If it was time, she’d allow herself a little more lie-in; if there was still time, she could grab another snooze.

"Early, just five forty-five." Wang Qiqi yawned. Although she slept quite early yesterday, it was already half-past eleven. All told, she’d only managed six hours of sleep.

Shi Man merely grunted an 'oh,' rolled over, and promptly fell back asleep. Watching Shi Man, Wang Qiqi had only one thought in her mind: the saying that having children is a treasure is indeed true. If she hadn't lost her mother, couldn't she also sleep until six-thirty, then enjoy the breakfast her mother prepared, and ride on her father's motorcycle to school? Truly, there would be nothing for her to plan, let alone worry about how to deal with that utterly dreadful uncle, aunt, and their whole family.

Wang Qiqi first went to the kitchen to reheat the adzuki beans she had already stewed the day before; this stuff was notoriously hard to cook properly. Then, she went to the bathroom to retrieve the outerwear she had washed yesterday from the laundry area and hung it on the balcony to dry. She returned afterward to wash her face and brush her teeth. Once all that was done, she put the adzuki beans into the rice cooker with white rice and glutinous rice, preparing to simmer adzuki bean congee. Wang Qiqi paused, considering, and tossed in a few dried dates. Although some people claimed that red bean and date soup was best for nourishment in winter, Wang Qiqi felt that something so good and cheap was really suitable for eating every day. Oh, right, it was then that Wang Qiqi finally remembered the one thing she had been thinking about buying at the supermarket yesterday but forgot.

"Looks like I need to tell Aunt Gong today to help me pick up some mung beans and white fungus from the supermarket." That way, tomorrow she could pack some in her lunchbox to take to school as an afternoon snack. There was no other way; when she worked before, she would always prepare small snacks. After being reborn and facing her parents' passing, she had just stayed at home, with food available whenever she was hungry. When Wang Qiqi returned to school yesterday... her stomach habitually felt hungry. Unfortunately, there was nothing to eat, so she just had to endure it.

After Wang Qiqi finished these tasks, she heard a knock on the door. She quickly opened the main door and smiled at Han Tao waiting outside. "I'm punctual, aren't I?"

Han Tao had assumed Wang Qiqi was just saying that, but since they had agreed yesterday to exercise together, he planned to knock a few times. If she opened the door, they would exercise together; if there was no response, he would go alone. "Ready?" As the door opened, Han Tao caught a whiff of red bean aroma. "Adzuki bean soup?"

"Adzuki bean congee. Who eats that stuff so early in the morning?" Wang Qiqi pulled out the sneakers she had prepared yesterday and put them on. "Alright, let's get started."

Led by Han Tao, Wang Qiqi ran a few laps around the complex's small gardens. Wang Qiqi had originally intended to use the run as an opportunity to ask Han Tao some questions, but as the distance increased, she realized it was truly difficult to manage. How could someone struggling just to breathe ask questions? She could only focus on constantly regulating her breath.

Wang Qiqi knew Han Tao was clearly holding back for her sake, judging by how effortlessly his steps looked. "Han Tao, you, you can, don't, don't worry about, me, you, you just run by yourself." Wang Qiqi panted out the words. She decided that this was as far as she’d push herself today. If she insisted on running further, what good would it do? It would be better to go back upstairs, take a shower, do some restorative exercises, and, while she was at it, wake up that lazy girl.

Han Tao grunted an affirmative. In truth, he hadn't run that much today either; he wasn't even sweating yet. "Then I'll continue my workout. After you exercise for a few more days, you'll find your stamina slowly catching up."

Wang Qiqi didn't go up either. She stayed in place, jogging lightly, occasionally bouncing up toward the sky, hoping to grow a bit taller. Wang Qiqi refused to believe that with such diligent training, she wouldn't surpass the height of 1.6 meters like in her previous life. People might say she looked petite and cute, but to hell with petite and cute! She wanted to look strong and imposing, so that any bad person seeing her would instinctively take three steps back.

When Han Tao finished his required run for the day and returned downstairs, he found Wang Qiqi jogging in circles while muttering something under her breath. "You didn't go up?"

Wang Qiqi slowly stopped, catching her breath. "I was getting some light exercise down here; it counts as a workout, and I was reviewing my studies at the same time. The morning air is really nice, though." Although the city air wasn't as good as the countryside's, it was at least acceptable; there weren't incessant car horns blaring from early morning.

Han Tao nodded. "Eat a good lunch and rest a bit afterward; it keeps your energy up for the whole day." Han Tao shared the secret to his routine of sleeping late and waking early; otherwise, how could he sustain it?

Wang Qiqi nodded; that made sense. She had tried taking a short nap around noon before, and her afternoon energy levels had improved significantly. "Thank you."

After returning inside, Wang Qiqi ladled out the congee she had already cooked, then placed yesterday's steamed buns and cold milk into a cup. Next, she went to the bathroom to take a shower and tossed the clothes into the hamper; she could wash these with the rest of her things after her evening shower. As Wang Qiqi wiped her hair with a towel while walking toward the bedroom, she saw Shi Man still sound asleep, and she had just one thought: what a fortunate child.

Wang Qiqi plopped down on the edge of the bed and patted Shi Man's backside. "Time to get up, it's already six-thirty."

Shi Man had initially intended to argue that it was still early and begged for a few more minutes of sleep. At home, her nanny would call her to wake up starting at six, every ten minutes, so Shi Man was mentally prepared to get up after the third call. Thus, when she heard Wang Qiqi call her this time, she instinctively started to say, "Just ten more minutes," but then she heard the time—it was already six-thirty. Shi Man panicked and immediately scrambled out of bed. "It's already six-thirty, Qiqi! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

Wake you up earlier? Wang Qiqi saw the other girl already climbing out of the covers, so she casually turned off the air conditioner and headed to the wardrobe to change. "Like at your place, do I have to call you every ten minutes past six?" Give me a break; she certainly didn't have the confidence to act as a nanny, especially one who wasn't getting paid. "Did you forget I still have to exercise? Hurry up, eat breakfast, and then we have to catch the bus to school."

Shi Man mumbled, "The congee is ready?" Shi Man remembered saying a couple of things to Qiqi when she was getting up. How could everything be done in the blink of an eye? "You're already back from your workout?"

Wang Qiqi, who was in the middle of changing, froze at this silly question from the girl. Wang Qiqi was utterly speechless. This dense girl really couldn't tell what was going on when she first woke up. "Sister, I've already showered! Come on, hurry up. You have fifteen minutes to finish all your morning routine, and we need to leave by five minutes to the hour."

Fortunately, neither of them was completely dim-witted. Moreover, since they needed to discuss math problems most with their classmates, they had already sorted out their assignments yesterday, so there was no need to rush to school early to compare notes. As long as they weren't late, the teachers wouldn't object.

Shi Man watched Wang Qiqi gracefully changing clothes and suddenly felt that even though she had slept longer, their energy levels were incomparable. She looked like someone who had just woken up, completely lacking spirit, while Wang Qiqi looked like a child full of vigor. But then Shi Man thought about having to wake up early every day to exercise and run; such a life seemed agonizingly painful. She had to stay up so late studying every night. Forget it, forget it—sleep first, sleep first was the priority.

The two walked out of the room. Shi Man went to the bathroom for her personal hygiene, while Wang Qiqi went to fry two sunny-side-up eggs. Although Wang Qiqi didn't particularly like eggs, she was currently vegetarian and could only supplement her nutrition this way.

Shi Man emerged from the bathroom after finishing her grooming and immediately smelled a scent full of home. She took a deep breath. "Heavens, Qiqi, you are truly so virtuous. Whoever marries you will be incredibly blessed!"

Shi Man had expected that Wang Qiqi, besides boiling some congee, would at most buy some steamed buns, bread, or fried dough sticks. But now, the table held only two bowls of congee, several plump, white steamed buns, two glasses of milk, two fried eggs, and peanut butter. While this spread seemed a bit monotonous compared to her own family's breakfast, this was prepared by Qiqi herself. Her own breakfast was prepared by the nanny, and although the nanny's cooking was good, Shi Man always felt something was missing when she ate it. Now she understood—it was the feeling of home.

Wang Qiqi wasn't particularly happy hearing Shi Man say that. It wasn't that Shi Man was wrong, but rather that if her parents were still alive, they would surely be very happy to see how virtuous she had become. "If my mom were here, breakfast would be even better. She would make soy milk every day, and the breakfast menu would change with different variety..." Wang Qiqi recalled the happy life she had when her mother was around. Although many things had changed since her rebirth—for example, she had protected her family's assets—the critical issue remained: her parents were gone.

Hearing Wang Qiqi say that, Shi Man paused her eating. Although she had never eaten breakfast at Qiqi's house, she had eaten full meals there. Qiqi's mother would prepare a lot of food and even bring fruit and pastries to the study so Shi Man could eat while reviewing homework with Qiqi. "Qiqi..."

Wang Qiqi forced herself to rein in her emotions, not letting tears fall. "It's nothing. I was just thinking, if my parents knew their daughter could take care of herself so independently now, I wonder what they would think." She pushed away the unhappy thoughts; they had nothing to do with Shi Man anyway. "Xiao Man, what do you want to eat today? Write it on a note, and when Auntie comes, she can buy it."

Shi Man knew Wang Qiqi was changing the subject. She acknowledged it with a quiet 'oh' and picked up a pen and paper, listing a few dishes for the aunt to purchase when she arrived, then slipped fifty yuan along with the note.