Afternoon, outskirts of town. The sky was a murky gray, shrouded in haze, with dark clouds gathering and dispersing, varying in depth. The cold wind was biting, and at some point, tiny snowflakes started to flutter in the wind. The winding country path in the outskirts meandered. The weather had been quite good a few days before, making the ground solid, but when pant legs brushed against the roadside weeds, they became soaked with accumulated water droplets, making it inevitable for mud to cling to one’s feet over time. After walking for half an hour and climbing over a hill, the narrow view suddenly broadened, and the fresh forest air mixed with snow particles covered his face. A familiar, lazy voice drifted over casually from through the branches slanting ahead. Pedro Langley stopped, his gaze slanting over to catch a glimpse of the slender side profile seated. She was sitting on a portable stool, dressed in a gray down jacket, wrapped tightly, her hair loose, tangled in a bundled red scarf, looking rather disheveled. Below, she wore jeans paired with sneakers, one long leg stretched out, slender and toned, drawing a graceful arc. In front of her was a portable outdoor gas stove, flames on, with a small pot on top, steaming hot with unknown contents boiling inside. Nora Scott stretched out her hands, warming them by the fire, her fingers pale from the cold. Next to her was a trekking pack, as tall as her sitting height, bulging and seemingly stuffed with items. Pedro Langley looked down, seeing his own empty hands, feeling conflicted, then stepped forward. Pedro’s voice was slightly deep as he pushed aside the branches obstructing his view. "Just a little cooking while we’re out here. It’s rare to take a walk." The water in the pot was already boiling, Nora pulled out two packs of instant noodles from her backpack, asking, "Want some?" Pedro’s expression was hard to describe. The last time he ate this stuff was probably five or six years ago.—Naturally, he ate it with Nora. The words of complaint twisted at the tip of his tongue to become: "Sure." Once is eating, twice is eating too. Eating again makes no difference. Nora opened the two packs of instant noodles, tossed the noodle cakes inside. Once softened by the heat, she stirred them with chopsticks and added two eggs. Then she found two bowls, gave one to Pedro, waited a moment, and briskly prepared the whole pot of instant noodles with seasoning packs. "Your birthday gift is ready." While holding her chopsticks with half a bowl of noodle soup, Nora blew on it before sending it into her mouth. Holding his bowl and noodles, Pedro looked down uninterestedly, asking calmly, "This bowl of noodles?" Nora was choked by his words, "Am I that perfunctory?" After eating a mouthful of noodles, Pedro felt his taste sensation was off: the flavor was surprisingly good. Swallowing, he glanced sideways and said, "After all, I’ve never received your birthday gift, never experienced your quirky ideas." Then added, "It’s not something you’re incapable of doing." The weather was too cold, the noodles cooled quickly, Nora couldn’t be bothered to argue with him. Discuss it after eating. Two packs of noodles, just a few bites, the two of them quickly finished them up, taking turns. After finishing, Nora found two plain steamed buns from the bulging trekking pack, shared one with Pedro, and both poured a bowl of soup to finish the buns. Throwing a plastic bag to Pedro, Nora hinted him to tidy up while asking, "Are you full?" Resignedly pinching the bag, Pedro asked deliberately, "Not full, can you whip up anything else?" Having come after lunch, he wasn’t truly hungry, only ate because it was made and given by Nora. "Two packs of compressed biscuits, one self-heating hot pot, one self-heating rice meal. And several pieces of chocolate." You really are a treasure. Seeing her spout all that in one breath, Pedro couldn’t help but laugh. "Give me a piece of chocolate." Nora, being quite generous, fearing he might truly still be hungry, grabbed a handful of chocolates and gave him a compressed biscuit as well. "Alright, tidy up and I’ll show you a trick." Nora clapped her hands, stood up and packed away the stool. Pedro busied himself, wrapping the gas stove and pot in separate plastic bags, keeping them apart from trash and utensils, then stuffed everything in Nora’s trekking pack. After tidying up, Pedro stood to the side, unwrapped a piece of chocolate, half shared with Nora, and leisurely watched her. His mind wandered haphazardly— If Nora dared to show him a set of punches, he dared to record it and play it on loop. "Just leave things here and come with me."