Nadia went home and gathered chives, spring onions, and celery, then soaked some black fungus and mushrooms, planning to make three fillings—pork and chive, pork with mushroom and celery, and black fungus with spring onion and egg. Ten pounds of flour was a lot, and it felt like they'd be at it all day. While Harrison washed the vegetables nearby, Nadia worked the filling through a hand-cranked meat grinder she'd pulled from her domain. Once the dough was kneaded, she'd show him how to roll out dumpling wrappers. Harrison was excellent at this kind of work, though he was a bit of a perfectionist, never quite satisfied with the roundness of his wrappers. Somewhere along the way, he'd gotten hold of a round brass disc to cut each piece into a perfect circle. She just stared at him. Meticulous, huh? With the fillings prepped, they started folding the dumplings. Lily came running over, excited. "Miss, I wanna make dumplings too!" Not wanting to squash her enthusiasm, Nadia guided Lily step-by-step. At first, Lily's attempts were clumsy—thin wrappers tearing or getting little holes poked in them. But Nadia didn't discourage her. "You're doing great, Lily. They're getting better and better. We'll cook these up and serve them to your brother first." He glanced over, at a loss for words. Colby watched with obvious frustration, letting out an anxious bark. Those dumplings looked so rough; surely, he could wrap them better if he had hands. Practice made perfect, and Lily was no slacker. Her brother had told her that only those who worked got to eat, so she was determined to help. Gradually, she picked up a few tricks and finally managed to make a decent dumpling. "This one's for you, miss." Harrison quirked a brow. "Why not give it to me?""Miss taught me how to make it. The next one will be for you, then Colby, and finally for me." Even with two people working, it was still slow-going. By the time they'd wrapped enough for a meal, they were well past lunchtime. Nadia tossed Lily's misshapen dumplings into a steamer, then boiled two big platters of dumplings. "Let's eat these now and finish the rest later this afternoon." It didn't take long for the boiled dumplings to be ready. They mixed vinegar and soy sauce as a dipping sauce, and soon, the three humans and one dog dug in. The dough had a perfect bite to it, and the filling tasted unbelievably fresh. With every bite, hot, savory juices burst forth. Lily quickly stuck out her tongue after a hot bite. "Harry, Miss, these dumplings are so good!" Watching her delight, Harrison gave a warm smile. "I'll make them for you whenever you like." "Thank you, Harry. Thank you, Miss." Meanwhile, Colby devoured his portion in no time and pushed his empty bowl toward them as if to say, More, please! Nadia noticed that Colby's appetite seemed to be growing by the day. If it weren't for her stash of supplies, she figured he'd eat them out of house and home. Harrison seemed to be enjoying the meal just as much. He cleaned out a full bowl with plenty of vinegar and soy sauce. He even went for the steamed dumplings, mixing in some hot sauce—clearly savoring every bite. Men really can eat, Nadia thought, starting to wonder if the two of them had actually been eating from the same pot of dumplings. Once they were full, they got back to work. The wrappers were soon ready, and Harrison pitched in with the wrapping. Alas, somehow, his skill was actually worse than Lily's. However, remembering the nail gun gift, Nadia put on her most patient face. "No, you've got to make your fingers a bit more flexible, like this," she instructed. Harrison, whose fingers didn't quite bend right, asked, "Like this?"Sighing, Nadia showed him step-by-step, but it was still a disaster. Each dumpling he wrapped was more misshapen than the last. She felt like ripping out her brain and transplanting it into his head. He could hit targets dead-on with a gun but couldn't wrap a single decent dumpling. And he didn't look the slightest bit embarrassed by his failures. Eventually, even Lily couldn't stand it. "Harry, your dumplings look so ugly," she said bluntly. Worried she'd hurt his feelings, she quickly added, "Miss, let me teach Harry instead!" He knelt down, letting Lily instruct him. "Am I really that clumsy?" She gave him a quick kiss, her face sweet and sincere. "Of course not. Harry, you're the best!" Surprisingly, with her childlike instructions, Harrison actually started to improve. Nadia's confidence took a hit. Maybe I'm not cut out to be his teacher after all. Once he got the rhythm, Harrison's pace picked up fast, and the dumpling wrappers dwindled before their eyes. Just then, the hallway echoed with sounds as Jasmine and her group returned. Not finding Nadia in Unit 1802, they knocked on the door of Unit 1801. When they saw her and Harrison making dumplings, their interest was piqued immediately, and they washed their hands to join in. Lilly happily relinquished her spot and headed to the living room to play with Colby. With one pound of flour yielding one and a half pounds of dough and each pound of dough making about seventy dumplings, the combined efforts of everyone—including the help from Unit 1803—finally brought them to a total of one thousand dumplings. Nadia took three hundred of them, trading back an equal amount of flour and meat for Harrison. When Unit 1803 expressed an interest in making more, Nadia, too exhausted to help, lent Jasmine her hand-cranked meat grinder and handed over a large frozen slab of pork that they'd stored in her place. After a quick nap, her walkie-talkie crackled to life. "Nadia, still up for sparring today?" "Oh, definitely." "If you want to practice with the crossbow, you can come by earlier." An opportunity like this didn't come often, so Nadia was on her feet, putting on her shoes. "I'll be right over." While Harrison's cooking skills were lacking, there was nothing to criticize when it came to his other talents—especially his archery, which was practically legendary. To keep Colby from causing a ruckus, she dropped him off at Unit 1803. Lily chased after him, calling out, "Colby, wait for me!" Returning to Unit 1801, Nadia noticed a new wooden archery target mounted on the living room wall as Harrison brought out a crossbow. The design looked a bit unconventional, but there was no doubting its power. Curiously, she asked, "Did you make this yourself?" It was the kind of weapon regular folks couldn't just go out and buy."Modified it," he replied, keeping his explanation short. With Harrison not eager to elaborate, she figured pressing him for details would only annoy him. He fetched some wooden arrows, explaining the crossbow's structure, aiming technique, and firing mechanics. Nadia had joined her school's archery club, so she had a basic foundation and picked things up quickly. The living room didn't allow for much range, so Harrison led her to the hallway outside his room. Once the arrow was in place, he stood behind her, guiding her posture. "Right hand on the bow, aim…" There was a noticeable height difference between them, so he leaned in to bring his line of sight parallel with hers, closing the space between them. His breath, warm against her neck, sent a prickling sensation up her spine. Her heart skipped, catching a faint whiff of his soap-scented skin. Isn't this a little too close? Feeling self-conscious, Nadia instinctively wanted to shift away.Sensing her tension, Harrison murmured, "Focus." Snapping out of her scattered thoughts, Nadia refocused, concentrating on her aim. With a firm but gentle touch, he adjusted her arm holding the crossbow. "Raise it slightly." She aimed and pulled the trigger. With a swift thunk, the arrow embedded itself in the target, though it was off-center, hitting the seventh ring. "Not bad for a first try, hitting the seventh ring," Harrison encouraged her, "Much better than Lily." Uh, thanks, she thought. After guiding her through a few more close-range pointers, he observed her progress from the seventh ring to nearly hitting the eighth. She had a handle on the basics, so he let her continue practicing on her own. Sitting on the couch, Harrison browsed his phone, his expression sharp and unreadable. There was something about his profile—almost flawless in the way the light caught it. Nadia quickly refocused on her training, staying steady and composed. After firing around twenty arrows, she managed to hit the bullseye with one. She knew better than to get overconfident, though; with the short range, it wasn't much of an accomplishment. If the range was extended, her accuracy would drop. She needed to reach his skill level—the way he'd hit a heart shot from a moving boat that day. After about half an hour, Harrison advised, "Don't overdo it. Just an hour each day. Come by at the same time." Taking his advice, Nadia put down the crossbow. Her place didn't have the spacious layout of Unit 1801, so she was fine with keeping practice here. Next up was sparring, close-quarters combat practice. Nadia helped lay out the mats, and as she turned, she accidentally bumped into him. "Sorry." "No worries," Harrison replied, continuing with setting up. Without Colby around to interfere, Nadia found herself going head-to-head with a relentless sparring partner. She was completely outmatched, repeatedly pinned under his weight. Her competitive spirit flared up with each takedown, and she decided to fake him out.