“Yan Yan!” Xiaoyi greets me brightly, standing up and shuffling over in her slippers. “I hear you’re a criminal now!”

Both Baba and Mama make a series of deeply disapproving noises.

“Please don’t encourage her,” Mama mutters in Chinese.

But Xiaoyi’s already turned her attention to Henry beside me. I’m not exaggerating when I say that her eyes literally light up, her jaw dropping all the way to her feet. You’d think she’s never seen me with a tall, good-looking, well-dressed boy my age before.

Okay, fine. She hasn’t.

Still, she doesn’t have to look that surprised.

“Oh!” she exclaims, looking Henry up and down at least five times. “Oh! Who’s this?”

“It’s lovely to meet you,” Henry says before I can reply, slipping smoothly into Mandarin to address both Baba and Xiaoyi. His smile is bright and earnest, his head bent at a respectful angle. “I’m Henry Li—I go to the same school as Alice. I just wanted to see how she was doing.”

Xiaoyi positively melts.

Baba looks less enthusiastic about Henry’s presence. His brows furrow. “You came all the way from school just to see our Alice?”

Henry nods. “Yes, shushu.”

It’s the polite, appropriate term to use, but Baba’s frown only deepens. He gets up and walks closer so that he and Henry are standing face-to-face and asks, very slowly, “Are you...dating my daughter?”

Oh. God. I definitely should’ve made Henry hide under the bed.

“No, no, of course not,” I hurry to tell Baba, the same time Henry says, “Yes.”

I whip my head around so fast I hear my neck crack, my heart flying into a frenzy. No way. Henry meets my disbelieving gaze with a grin, and I don’t know if I want to strangle him or throw my arms around him.

This is all very confusing.

“Not officially though,” Henry adds, turning back to Baba. “Since we’re still high school students, we obviously need to focus on our studies first. But I’m happy to wait, and I hope that in the future—”

“Alice’s future is very uncertain right now,” Baba cuts him off, his expression stern. “It’s not something to joke about.”

Henry doesn’t falter. Doesn’t even blink. “I know, and I’m being one hundred percent serious. Whatever happens, she’s more than smart enough to get through it, and I’ll be there to support her.”

There’s a long pause as Baba stares Henry down.

My heart keeps skipping beats.

“Hmph,” Baba says at last, which is actually a much better response than I expected. Coming from him, that’s almost an invitation to join the family.

I let out a small, silent breath. Henry winks at me.

“Wait!” Xiaoyi suddenly slaps her thigh like she’s just had a major epiphany, making everyone except Henry jump. “Is this the Henry Li? The boy you’ve been talking about since Year Eight? Your”—she makes large air quotes with both hands—“biggest academic rival? The one you keep having to share the award with?”

I flush. “Uh...”

Henry leans in with great interest. “Oh? So she talks about me a lot?”