This chapter is dedicated to Joy_Selena for being a birthday celebrant of the month of July—on July 11! This is also for her mother who celebrated her birthday on the same day as mine. ^^ May both of you continue to be blessed~! Thank you so much for the support you have for my story!

***

Shu Xian woke up having a slight headache. With her seeing that the time is 5:30 in the morning, she slowly sat up, complaining to herself as she ran her hand through her hair.

"Nngh… so much for cramming on homework and for being distracted with hot kisses from a hot professor.

"

With her smiling at herself foolishly afterwards, she realized that her sudden change in her ways was because of her living with another person who saved her, making her bite her bottom lip.

Remembering that she has to make breakfast and lunch for this day, she stood up from the bed, doing a stretch. As she relaxed her muscles, she looked at Wan Wan who is now awake and yawning, Shu Xian wanting to start the day with less negativities.

To be honest, with her rushing her homework during the midnight, it had made her uncomfortable since it's as if she didn't do the homework. She only did copy and pasting, making it annoying for her to do so.

She promised to herself that this will be the last time that she will do it so she will not be able to risk her grades by doing plagiarism even though she has provided the link at the end of the homework.

"Let's go, Wan Wan,

" Shu Xian said to her cute Samoyed dog, the dog obediently waking up and following her.

"I'll give you a short walk and then I'll start cooking.

"

However, what was happening in the kitchen was something rare to see. The moment Shu Xian opened the door, she saw Pan An already cooking, an apron worn in his front.

Obviously, he was sautéing onions and garlic, noticing that Shu Xian is already awake.

"You're up?

"

Shu Xian blinked her eyes a few times. With her not answering Pan An's question, she went inside the kitchen and watched him with surprised eyes.

"Why are you awake so early when you could have woken up later? And why are you cooking?

"

"Oh, Shu Xian,

" Pan An said her name, shaking his head as he continued sautéing.

"It's your birthday, right? You really see your day as an ordinary day,

" he added, making Shu Xian cock her head to the side.

"So… because of this, you wanted to cook for our breakfast and lunch instead?

"

"Well, yes,

" Pan An answered, a smile coming to his face as he briefly looked at Shu Xian before focusing on him cooking their food.

"I told you… at least on your special day, we should make you feel special! If no one did it for you for how many years, this year and the next, it will be different.

"

Shu Xian didn't know how to answer. However, she felt warmth in her heart, an appreciative smile appearing on her face as she leaned on the doorframe, thanking Professor Pan An instead.

"Thank you so much for doing the effort,

" she said,

"No one has ever cooked for me. You're actually the first guy to. Even on the time when you rescued me and I ate the following day. I'm a stranger, but you already helped me in a heartbeat and took care of me.

"

"Shu Xian…

"

Pan An put down the spatula for a while. With him turning his body to look at her, he was quite surprised to see Shu Xian have teary eyes, making him immediately lower the heat of the stove so he could approach her.

"Hey, hey…

"

The professor cupped her face with both of his hands. With him wiping her tears away with his thumbs, he comforted her, not wanting to make her cry on her birthday.

"Please, don't cry… this is not my intention—I really want you to feel special.

"

"I know…

"

Shu Xian shyly chuckled, playfully rolling her eyes at him as the professor continued to cheer her up.

"It's just that… I really never had such people treating me kindly like this. I'm sorry.

"

"Then from now on, you'll get used to it,

" Pan An said, giving Shu Xian a soft kiss on the top of her head.

"Now go on a short walk with Wan Wan, and by the time you get back, I probably have breakfast prepared, yes?

"

"Mm… thank you.

"

Shu Xian didn't expect Pan An to kiss the top of her head. They said that they should take things slow to assess what they're feeling towards each other but with him acting this sweet… how can it be easy when the man's capable of making her heart race all the time?

Shu Xian pushed that thought aside for now. With her getting the leash on the living room counter, she tied it on Wan Wan's collar, both of them already preparing for their morning walk—also Wan Wan's potty session.

The moment Pan An heard the door closing, he let out a sigh, a small smile appearing on his face once more as he now put the carrots in the pan, then preparing the left over rice from last night.

"It seems that we will be having another fried rice with egg and hotdogs and carrots this time, Shu Xian. And maybe for lunch, we will have tonkatsu chicken?

"

With the professor talking to himself, he opened his phone to look at the process on how to make tonkatsu chicken.

As he watched and listened to the instructions of how to cook it so later after he cooks the fried rice, he won't be using his phone much, he wished that Shu Xian will like his cooking.

Besides… it had been long since Pan An had cooked for someone—it took him years for him to be able to cook for someone.

Now that Shu Xian is here and is having her special day, Pan An at least wants her to feel happy.

Not only on her birthday, but also on her following days to come.