“Little Lei.” He was still ‘Xia Lei’ earlier but he’d become ‘Little Lei’ in an instant. Zhang Hui-Lan’s words were warmer than the term of address she’d used. “Winter is approaching. Let our Jing knit a pullover for you.” 

Knit a pullover? Xia Lei felt fairly awkward. “Thank you, thank you but there’s really no need; it’s too troublesome. I’ll just buy one when it’s winter.”

“No, no it’s no trouble at all. Our Jing is obedient and comes right home after work. She has nothing to do anyway so let her knit one for you. Handmade pullovers fit better,” said Zhang Hui-Lan. 

“Isn’t it too early to knit one?” Xia Lei felt awkward but it wasn’t easy to reject something like this face-to-face. 

“It’s not early at all.” Zhang Hui-Lan pushed the idea. “It’s autumn now so it will be winter when the pullover is finished. Just nice.”

Ning Jing was also very embarrassed. She rolled her eyes at Zhang Hui-Lan and mouthed the words, ‘I can’t knit!’

Zhang Hui-Lan winked back. This was a message: You can’t but your mother can!

Xia Lei did not notice the eye-conversation between...