Within two bites, he can recognize that if he had tried to keep eating his congee (largely) plain, he would have caved within days and dumped five pots of chili oil on it. It tastes so much better now!

Perhaps you should simply ask Lan Zhan next time instead of assuming, murmurs a wryly amused voice in the back corner of his mind.

The meal fades into a comfortable, companionable quiet. Wei Wuxian tries to eat slower, as if he could stretch the deadline of Lan Zhan's departure a little longer.