Liu Mingyan squeezes back, and it's good—but not quite adequate. With the kind of impulse she tends to think she has long outgrown, she tugs Luo Binghe forward and wraps her other arm around his back, awkwardly; it lasts only a second, a few taps of her palm against his strange shirt before she steps away again.

She is not embarrassed of this display, but she takes a moment to settle herself again, giving her husband—her friend—a small nod.