You are all bad women! Don't come over!

Days went by, one after another. The next few days were a rare respite because Xia Qingrou was on her menstrual period, so she did not pester Shen Mochen too much.

After the Moon Conjunction, there were five days of minor separation month, then came the major separation month, which meant that for the next fifteen days, the team only needed to maintain three standard combat strengths.

"Honey, have a pear…"

Shen Mochen was playing chess with Liu Chaoyan in the living room when Xia Qingrou, smiling brightly, wrapped her arms around his neck from behind and handed him a peeled pear.

Shen Mochen gently bit into it, leaving some juice at the corner of his mouth.

Xia Qingrou, smilingly, wiped the pear juice from the corner of Shen Mochen's mouth and then licked her fingertips, "Is it sweet?"

"Sweet," Shen Mochen replied, eyes on the chessboard.

"Yanyan, this one is for you." Xia Qingrou let go of Shen Mochen and brought over a small plate, which also had a peeled pear on it.

"Thanks, Xia sister." Liu Chaoyan smiled slightly and was just about to take it, but Xia Qingrou picked it up and held it to Liu Chaoyan's mouth.

"Yanyan, ah—"

Liu Chaoyan gently bit into it.

Xia Qingrou then handed the rest of the pear to Liu Chaoyan, tilting her head and humming, "How about that, I'm fair, right? I'm not the type to favor love over friends. I also peeled a pear for Shuangshuang, and I'll take it to her now!"

Shen Mochen and Liu Chaoyan exchanged smiles as Xia Qingrou went to find Xiao Xingshuang carrying the pear. She knocked for a while before the other opened the door.

Xia Qingrou handed her the pear and she thanked her and took it.

Shen Mochen continued playing chess with Liu Chaoyan. After several days of instructional games, Shen Mochen's chess skills had greatly improved. He figured that the next time he met Catherine, he should be able to easily outmatch her… Why was he thinking about Catherine again?

Shen Mochen shook his head lightly; he had already decided to stop worrying about Catherine's affairs.

And to be fair, it wasn't something he could manage anyway.

"How's it going, how's it going?" Xia Qingrou returned, leaning her arm on Shen Mochen's shoulder, looking at the chessboard.

"Not so good, I'm about to lose again," Shen Mochen said.

"Ah, you're really useless…" Xia Qingrou poked Shen Mochen's head, still smiling, "Then lose quickly, and we'll play Monopoly later! Yanyan, hurry up and crush him thoroughly!"

"Xia sister, I can't play Monopoly with you today, I'm starting my vacation today and will be leaving in a while. You should ask Xingshuang to play with you," Liu Chaoyan said apologetically.

Xia Qingrou realized, "Oh right, you're going to that young lady's coming-of-age ceremony these couple of days?"

"Yes, it will probably take two or three days, but don't worry, I'll be back soon."

Liu Chaoyan moved the queen and captured Shen Mochen's king, ending the game.

Xia Qingrou quickly said, "No worries, no worries, you can stay and enjoy a few more days, Yanyan. You haven't had a holiday in a long time!"

"Alright, I know," Liu Chaoyan just smiled and glanced at the message on her phone, "Then I'll be going now, my family is already waiting outside. I'll leave the team matters in your hands."

"Sure, Yanyan, you can leave with peace of mind. With me here, everything will surely be fine!" Xia Qingrou stood tall.

"Alright, Xia sister, I trust you," Liu Chaoyan turned to leave and then suddenly remembered something, "By the way, how have you been feeling lately, any better?"

"Don't worry, don't worry, I'm completely fine now!" Xia Qingrou patted her chest.

Liu Chaoyan smiled, "Then I'm relieved. It's all thanks to Shen Mochen taking such good care of you."

Hugging Shen Mochen's arm proudly, Xia Qingrou boasted, "That's right, my husband is super good at pampering people…"

But as she spoke the last word, her tone unconsciously fell, as if she suddenly remembered something.

Liu Chaoyan smiled, seemingly not noticing and said goodbye to the two before she walked to Xiao Xingshuang's door to say a word and then left.

"It suddenly feels a lot quieter, doesn't it?" Shen Mochen stretched languidly, "Do you want to play chess?"

"I'm not playing; I'm going to cook," Xia Qingrou said in a muffled voice, turning her head toward the back kitchen.

Shen Mochen thought she might still be on her period and didn't say much, just followed her, "Let me help you."

After helping Xia Qingrou with the cooking, Shen Mochen went to call Xiao Xingshuang over for lunch.

Perhaps it was because she saw the sweetness between Shen Mochen and Xia Qingrou or maybe it was just Xiao Xingshuang's nature.

During this period, she had been very quiet, usually cooped up in her room, only coming out to eat, drink, bathe, use the restroom, or when she had a task.

But now that two strong controllers had left the team, if they encountered a beast disaster in the next few days, they would inevitably rely on Xiao Xingshuang.

Without exposing Shen Mochen's trump card, relying solely on Xia Qingrou was useless, as it took her a long time to gather energy, and a beast could take her out with one charge.

"Shuangshuang, have you spent another day studying Roman in your room?" Xia Qingrou asked at the dining table.

Xiao Xingshuang nodded quietly; her studying of Roman was no secret, and sometimes she even asked Liu Chaoyan for advice.

Liu Chaoyan was a perfect young lady; her Roman and Huaqi languages were as natural as her mother tongue.

Eagerly poking her head forward, Xia Qingrou asked, "How's your progress recently, do you need my help?"

"No need," Xiao Xingshuang calmly continued eating.

"Speaking of which, it seems we won't be eating together much longer..." Xia Qingrou suddenly felt sad, put down her chopsticks, and sighed, "You're retiring soon, right, in less than two months?"

"Mm."

Xiao Xingshuang hummed in response.

Xia Qingrou sighed deeply, "Ah, first it was Yuncui, and now it's you. It feels like many are leaving recently. I really don't want to part with you all…"

Xiao Xingshuang was silent for a moment, then unusually responded to Xia Qingrou's words, "You'll have to leave eventually too."

Xia Qingrou paused, then patted her head and laughed, "Right, I'll have to leave eventually too... Oh, you'll be celebrating your 18th birthday in the team before you retire, right? Let's celebrate it!"

"No need," Xiao Xingshuang said.

"Yes, we need to, we must celebrate!" Xia Qingrou nodded vigorously.

Shen Mochen bowed his head to ladle soup, quietly listening to their conversation. Initially, he had been worried Xiao Xingshuang might say something rash, but from her behavior in the past few days, it seemed she had no such worldly desires.

At first, she had even tried to continue bribing Shen Mochen with her own underwear, but after being refused several times, she never did it again.

In a few days when there's less time off, come back and tell her that you've looked for Catherine, but it was useless, right?