"Spring has arrived, all things are reviving, and once again it's time to—" Before the person on the documentary channel could finish, there was a click, and the TV was switched to another station.

Xia Chuan set down the remote, picked up the fork resting beside his plate, and said irritably, "You're already revived enough as it is. Why are you always watching this kind of channel anyway?"

Shen Lan swallowed a mouthful of seafood pasta and said seriously, "Oh—no, I just don't get it. They say when spring comes people get restless and lonely, right? But now it's clearly about to be winter, so why are people running off to matchmaking events one after another? Someone like Dennis, who can't sit still and flirts everywhere, fine—but how come even Professor Linton couldn't hold out?"

Xia Chuan found it utterly baffling that someone who had eaten his fill and had nothing to worry about would still disapprove of others finding partners. He lowered his head, took a bite of pasta, then glanced at him and said, "What's so hard to understand? Aren't you a living example? For you, it's spring all year round."

It was a noon at the end of autumn, just as winter was beginning. Shen Lan had gone a little too wild the night before, so Xia Chuan woke up late that morning. By the time he finished washing up and went downstairs, it was already close to lunchtime. Only Shen Lan was at home; Xia Liang was nowhere to be seen.

He had assumed Xia Liang had gone to Gerald's place again to visit An Yao and would be back by lunch. Instead, he saw Shen Lan go into the kitchen, and before long, come out with two plates of seafood pasta. Only then did he learn that when Xia Liang left earlier, he had told Shen Lan he had something to do and might not be back at noon, so the two of them should just fix something to eat themselves.

In terms of cooking, Shen Lan and Xia Chuan were complete opposites—the food they made was almost entirely different:

Xia Chuan would usually spend several hours, and what he produced looked nearly identical to what you'd see in restaurants or in recipe photos—bright in color, well arranged, extremely appetizing... but the actual taste?

Xia Liang's comment: "No need for more—one bite and you're gone."

Clearly, it had already reached a level where even his own father couldn't bring himself to praise it.

As for Shen Lan, when he cooked, a rich aroma could be smelled from far away. His seasoning was spot-on, and both texture and flavor were excellent... but the biggest problem was that it looked ugly—extremely ugly. The first time Xia Chuan tried it, he sat at the table for a long time building up mental courage and couldn't bring himself to take a bite. In the end, Shen Lan simply scooped up a spoonful and fed it straight into his mouth without discussion.

Xia Liang's comment: "If you look at it while hungry, you can hold out an entire afternoon."

Clearly, this obsession with appearance was a family trait.

Later, when Xia Liang wasn't home, they simply split the work when cooking—Xia Chuan handled the prep and plating, while Shen Lan did the seasoning. The resulting dishes might not compare to Xia Liang's, but at least they were both presentable and edible.

Once, Dennis happened to drop by and saw this exact scene. He immediately ran off covering his eyes, whining, and insisted on finding a girlfriend.

From that day on, Dennis became particularly enthusiastic about matchmaking events. Whether it was company gatherings or friends' parties, he dressed himself up like a peacock in full display. As Xia Liang put it, "This kid might be a goof, but if he tidies up his hair and puts on decent clothes, he won't lack girls chasing after him."

When Dennis first met Xia Chuan years ago, he thought Xia Chuan didn't look like someone who could fight at all. Xia Chuan had a similar first impression—Dennis leaning there looked more like a playboy than any serious researcher.

Recently, with his "spring fever" hitting, he had pushed that image to the extreme—afraid that girls wouldn't notice him, he practically wanted to shake off a few peacock feathers with every step.

"Recently, even regular gatherings aren't enough for him anymore. He says he hasn't met anyone he likes. I heard he was going to wander around a bar last night—I wonder how that went." Shen Lan finished a plate of pasta in a few quick bites and was about to get another.

Xia Chuan, tapping on his phone without even looking up, suggested, "Why bother plating it one dish at a time? Just bring the whole pot over and eat from it. It's not like we're outside—why pretend you have no appetite?"

Shen Lan: "..." Looks like his reputation as a bottomless pit was never going away.

In reality, over the past two years, since he rarely transformed back into his mosasaurus form, his energy consumption had dropped significantly, and his appetite had shrunk accordingly. Still, compared to Xia Chuan and the others, he was very much a glutton.

After speaking, Xia Chuan put the phone to his ear.

"Who are you calling?" Shen Lan asked curiously.

"Dennis," Xia Chuan replied. "I'll ask how things went. And if he's not going out clubbing tonight, we can invite him over for a family dinner."

Over the past two years, Xia Chuan's personality had warmed up a little compared to before. At the very least, he would occasionally take the initiative to call Dennis and the others over for a meal on weekends.

The phone rang for quite a while before it was picked up. On the other end, Dennis sounded weak and listless—none of his usual flirtatious energy could be heard. Xia Chuan raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's wrong with you? Drug withdrawal?"

Dennis: "...Reality doesn't give me the chance to get high."

Xia Chuan said, "Then what—did you spend the whole night at the bar and not sleep?"

"A bar, my ass! Just thinking about it pisses me off!" Dennis's half-dead voice instantly rose a notch as he complained, "I had just stepped into the bar, hadn't even sat down yet, didn't even get to order a drink, and that German poker-face somehow showed up and dragged me away without a word!"

Xia Chuan still had an eyebrow raised, sounding both surprised and unsurprised: "...And that's it?"

"What else could there be?! You know me—I'm not afraid of anyone in this life except doctors, especially his type. The moment I see him, I cave," Dennis said, sounding completely dejected.

Xia Chuan thought to himself: there are plenty of people you cave to—you're just especially spineless in front of Gerald.

"A doctor's job is supposed to be feeding and taking care of patients—how come he's even interfering with me finding a girlfriend..." Dennis muttered a couple of complaints, then suddenly jolted, his voice trembling as he exclaimed, "Oh shit! Don't tell me he has some special feelings for me?!"

Xia Chuan: "..."

He shouted that without the slightest restraint, and someone like Shen Lan, whose hearing was already exceptionally sharp, naturally caught every single word clearly. Shen Lan slammed the pot full of seafood pasta onto the table with a clang, raised his fork boldly, and sneered, "Do you think Gerald got shot in the head or something?"

Xia Chuan: "..."

Shen Lan kept eating while pondering. After a few seconds, he suddenly clicked his tongue and said, "Then again... maybe he really did get shot."

Xia Chuan: "..."

Between Shen Lan and Dennis playing off each other like that, Xia Chuan felt a bit speechless. Just as he was about to ask Dennis a few more questions, he suddenly heard another male voice on the other end of the phone, right beside Dennis, cutting in:

"What kind of special thoughts do you think I have? Why don't you tell me?"

Before Xia Chuan could even react, Dennis let out a howl like his butt was on fire and shouted rapidly, "Holy shit, the ghost is here—I'm hanging up first!"

Xia Chuan: "..."

Shen Lan, noodles hanging from his mouth, looked up, slurped them in with a loud slurp, and pointed at Xia Chuan's phone. "You can put it down now."

"...Was that Gerald just now?" Xia Chuan glanced at the already disconnected call screen and tossed the phone back onto the table.

"Yep." Shen Lan looked thoroughly entertained. "Dennis is probably not escaping a beating."

At the weekend gathering that night, only Professor Linton showed up, bringing along a huge pile of ingredients. As for Dennis and Gerald, neither of them appeared.

There was only a single text message from Gerald sent to Xia Chuan's phone. It read:

"I'll be having a discussion with Dennis about my 'thoughts,' so we won't be coming tonight. Have a pleasant evening."

After reading the message, Xia Chuan turned to look at Shen Lan. Shen Lan shrugged. "Looks like he really did get 'shot' after all. Should we buy some candles tomorrow and bring them to Dennis?"

Xia Chuan: "..."

This autumn really was as lively as spring.

Dennis silently raised both middle fingers. "Bullshit."