Meng Po Gave Her A Bowl Of Soup - Chapter 1

The overcast, rainy weather seemed to carry thick black ink with it, spreading oppressively through the bottom of one’s heart.

The blazing yellow light in the living room fell across Xiao Mingyu’s face, making her brows and eyes look even gentler. She gazed indulgently at the person in front of her, who had wrapped herself in a blanket and curled into a ball, and smiled faintly. “It’s only one week. Don’t be angry anymore, okay?”

A dip had sunk into the middle of the sofa. Song Wanyue was wrapped in the blanket, curled up into a ball, sulking all by herself and refusing to pay her any attention.

As the years passed, she rarely lost her temper with Xiao Mingyu anymore, but today, she truly could not hold it in.

Over the years, as Mingyu’s career progressed, the amount of time she spent on business trips, as well as how often she went, had only increased. From once every six months at the beginning, to once every quarter, then once a month, and now it had already turned into several times every half month.

Before, Song Wanyue had always supported her wholeheartedly. But this time… this time… it was the tenth anniversary of the day they fell in love.

She had originally planned to personally cook Mingyu a romantic candlelit dinner. She had even secretly bought a ring and wanted to put it on Mingyu’s finger herself, then ask if she knew what it meant before quietly proposing to her.

But now…

Xiao Mingyu looked at her little conflicted expression and smiled faintly. She walked over and hugged her from behind, gently kissing her delicate, fair neck. The tenderness in her voice was like ocean waves, washing over Wanyue’s skin again and again. “Don’t be angry, Wanyue. I promise, on the last day, I’ll definitely come back to be with you.”

“Really?”

Song Wanyue immediately turned around to look at her. At last, she was willing to show her face. Xiao Mingyu fixed her gaze on those red-rimmed eyes that looked like a little white rabbit’s, and nodded gently. “Really.”

After a while of silence, Song Wanyue’s damp lashes trembled lightly. She stretched out both hands and gently wrapped them around Xiao Mingyu’s slender waist, buried her head against her, breathed in the faint, quiet fragrance on her body, and asked in a muffled voice, “Mingyu, am I being childish and unreasonable again?”

All these years, Mingyu had worked day and night. Wasn’t it all for her, for their home, and so they could finally receive their parents’ support?

“I… I know I should support you going, but… but why does it have to be at this time…” Song Wanyue’s lips lightly brushed against Xiao Mingyu’s collarbone, her voice carrying a small trace of awkward grievance. “I prepared a whole table of good dishes.”

Xiao Mingyu smiled and rubbed her hair, a hint of laughter in her warm, gentle voice. “Our Wanyue has grown up. You even know how to cook now.”

The dishes Wanyue made… Xiao Mingyu could not help thinking, surely she was not planning to murder her wife on their tenth anniversary, right?

“Xiao Mingyu!”

Song Wanyue saw right through what Xiao Mingyu was thinking. She lifted her head and glared at her resentfully. “I’m already twenty-five! Stop treating me like a child all the time.”

Her red-eyed, flustered, angry look was exactly like an irritated little white rabbit. Xiao Mingyu curved her lips, her hand slowly moving downward. Looking into Wanyue’s eyes, she nodded seriously. “Mm. You really have grown up.”

Compared to that tiny little appearance she had in their youth, she had indeed grown a lot.

Song Wanyue’s face flushed all at once. With a whoosh, she pulled the blanket over herself. “You… you…”

Xiao Mingyu hugged her from behind, breathing in the scent of her hair, the tip of her nose gently nuzzling against her neck. Feeling the person in her arms gradually soften, she breathed an ambiguous warmth by her ear. “Be good. Wait for me to come back.”

Song Wanyue curled up uneasily. She turned around and kissed her lips.

—I’ll wait for you.

A night of romance, accompanied by that lingering rain, left Song Wanyue thoroughly nourished and softened. Amid those scattered traces of hazy confusion, all her complaints grew hoarse between lips and teeth, turning into the dense, deep love that made Mingyu so entranced and reluctant to part.

Mingyu’s business trip this time was neither especially long nor especially short.

Originally, her direct superior, President Xu, was supposed to go, but because an elderly family member had suddenly passed away, she had no choice but to return home for a while.

President Xu had once done Xiao Mingyu a great kindness. Back then, when she and Wanyue had not been understood by their families and had left home to struggle in Beijing, during those thorny, difficult, painful times, it had been President Xu who helped her.

Xiao Mingyu was someone who repaid kindness. At such a critical moment, looking at President Xu’s tear-filled eyes, she could not refuse.

Outside the window, the rain gradually stopped. The air after the rain was fresh and damp, with waves of clear breeze carrying the fragrance of flowers and grass.

Song Wanyue hugged Xiao Mingyu, watching as she folded her clothes one by one, then placed them into her suitcase in obsessive-compulsive order from light colors to dark.

“When other people go out, it’s always their wives helping pack their luggage, bustling around for them.” Song Wanyue rested her chin against Xiao Mingyu’s back. She really liked the scent on Mingyu’s body, especially after pleasure. Mingyu had just taken a shower, and that blend of shampoo and body fragrance was even richer.

Hearing that, the corners of Xiao Mingyu’s lips unconsciously lifted. “You were already bustling up and down just now. Aren’t you tired?”

Song Wanyue’s body went stiff. She froze for a few seconds, and her jade-white cheeks instantly burned bright red. Unable to swallow her frustration, she grabbed Mingyu’s hand and bit it. “You only know how to bully me!”

Xiao Mingyu smiled as she felt that act of venting, which was said to be a bite but was more like a kiss. She turned around and touched Song Wanyue’s hair. “While I’m not home, you have to behave. Don’t keep ordering takeout, understand?”

Song Wanyue pursed her lips. The emotions she had just barely suppressed began to creep back up again.

Xiao Mingyu’s eyes looked at her tenderly. “Eat less pickles too. Especially that spicy hot pot thing—you’re absolutely not allowed to order it. The oil outside isn’t clean. You’ll feel uncomfortable after eating it. Don’t be greedy for cold things either. If you really want something cold, I bought a week’s worth of fruit and put it in the fridge. The juicer is in the second cabinet. Just take it out and make juice to drink.”

After thinking for a moment, she still felt a little worried. “Before juicing, you have to wash the fruit. Also, the pickles Auntie brought over a while ago in the fridge—you need to eat less of those. As for the other side dishes, I—”

“I know.” Song Wanyue suddenly hugged Xiao Mingyu, burying her face in her arms. “It’s only seven days, not like you’re never coming back. Why are you rambling on and on like an old granny? If your subordinates saw the cool, aloof Director Xiao acting like this, their jaws would fall right off.”

Xiao Mingyu knew she was sad again. She sighed softly and pinched Wanyue’s round earlobe. “After I come back this time, I’ll talk to President Xu and try to reduce how often I travel so I can spend more time with you.”

Song Wanyue sniffed. “Don’t. Your career is at its golden stage of growth right now. Didn’t we already agree? For this home, we’ll work hard together.”

She raised her head. Her eyes, shimmering with a misty glow, looked into Xiao Mingyu’s reluctant ones as she said softly, “I’ll be good and wait at home for you to come back.”

Xiao Mingyu stared at her for a while, then gently rubbed her hair. “When I come back this time, I’ll take you out somewhere to properly relax.”

Song Wanyue had long since gotten used to her fast-paced life and leaned against her softly. “That slave-driver President Xu definitely won’t give you a vacation. You only got two days off for your annual leave last year.”

Xiao Mingyu curved her lips. She pinched Song Wanyue’s ear. “She will.”

Annual leave was annual leave.

Docking a little of that could be understood.

But what she was planning to take was marriage leave. Who could dock that?

Xiao Mingyu tightened her arms, looking at Wanyue in her embrace, who knew nothing and only had her heart set on spending their anniversary together. The joy in her heart was like a wild horse on the verge of breaking free, impossible to hold back.

When she came back this time, it would be the tenth anniversary of the day they fell in love.

Then in another ten years, it would be their twentieth anniversary together, and their tenth wedding anniversary.

Mingyu could not help imagining it. Her baby, in the moment when she proposed, what kind of reaction would she have? Would she be wild with joy, or would she simply go dumb with shock?

Ten years had passed in the blink of an eye.

They were no longer children.

Yet Xiao Mingyu still loved and spoiled Song Wanyue just as she had back then.

Friends who knew about their relationship all found it unbelievable. Their good friend Zhang Hui had even once asked seriously, “Don’t you two ever get tired of it?”

At the time, Song Wanyue was eating crayfish that Xiao Mingyu had peeled for her, her head leaning against Mingyu’s shoulder as she hummed a little tune.

Xiao Mingyu lowered her head and looked at her delicate profile. She smiled faintly, the affection in her voice so deep it could nearly drown a person. “She’s my baby.”

The little tune Song Wanyue was humming paused briefly. She lowered her head a little, pressed her lips together in slight embarrassment, and gently patted Xiao Mingyu’s leg. “There are other people here.”

Xiao Mingyu smiled and wiped the corner of her lips with a tissue. “So what?”

Zhang Hui ground her teeth. So what? She suddenly straightened up and pointed toward the door. “Ah, Teacher Song, isn’t that a student from your class?”

With a whoosh, Song Wanyue sat up straight like a well-trained soldier. In one second, her baby face transformed into the dignified, awe-inspiring face of a teacher. Her eyes lifted, and she glanced outside indifferently. “Where?”

…

No one had expected it.

And very few people could see it.

Outside, Song Wanyue, Teacher Song, was “a respected teacher.” But at home, she was like a spoiled child.

She was happy, and she enjoyed Mingyu’s love for her.

She only wanted them to grow old together just like this.

On the morning of their parting.

Xiao Mingyu got up and mopped the floor again, then checked the fruits, vegetables, and other food in the fridge once more. She kissed Wanyue’s hair and repeatedly reminded her, “You must check the gas before going out,” “You must bring your keys before locking the door,” “If you catch a cold, you must take medicine”… rambling on and on about a whole pile of things.

Song Wanyue nestled against her, taking a lock of Mingyu’s hair and gently sniffing it at the tip of her nose as she answered perfunctorily, “I know, I know, Granny Xiao.”

Xiao Mingyu talked for a long time and still could not feel at ease. “Why don’t I call Auntie and ask her to come keep you company?”

“I don’t want that.”

Song Wanyue shook her head like a spinning top. “One granny in the house is already enough nagging. And you want to call Mom over too? Hurry up and let me have two days of peace.”

Fine…

Although she was still worried, Mingyu thought of how Auntie could nag as well, and did feel a little troubled. She touched Song Wanyue’s hair. “The company car will be here in a bit. Be good and wait at home.”

Song Wanyue looked at her. “I want to see you off.”

“No.”

Xiao Mingyu pinched her mouth. “If you see me off, I’ll be worried about you coming back by yourself.”

Song Wanyue’s beautiful brows furrowed gently. She shifted, half-kneeling on the bed, both hands clutching Xiao Mingyu’s lapels. She shook them lightly as she acted spoiled, looking up into her eyes and murmuring in that voice as soft as water, “Let me see you off, please? I’m begging you~”

I’m begging you…

This was simply a needle stabbing right into Xiao Mingyu’s weakest point.

She was least able to withstand Song Wanyue acting spoiled. For ten years, Song Wanyue had used this ultimate weapon again and again without fail, prying open Xiao Mingyu’s stubbornness each time.

The more she acted spoiled, the more Xiao Mingyu’s heart felt tight and painfully tender. This time, it was strange too. Last night, she had had a dream.

She dreamed that she and Wanyue had suddenly separated.

She could not see the reason clearly in the dream. She only saw, in a crowded airport with people coming and going, Wanyue crouched on the floor, crying in agony, her whole body trembling as she called out again and again, “Mingyu, Mingyu…”

She seemed to be watching from the side.

But for some reason, she, who could least bear to see Wanyue cry, had not stepped forward to hold her, to kiss away her tears. She had only watched in pain and helplessness.

Her chest ached dully. Even after she woke, that miserable feeling had lingered for a long time without fading. Xiao Mingyu did not know why she had suddenly had such a dream. Instinctively, she did not want Wanyue to go to the airport, to the place where, in her dream, she had cried.

Downstairs, the car horn urged her again and again.

With no other choice, Xiao Mingyu lowered her head and kissed Song Wanyue’s lips. Song Wanyue froze for a moment, then her face flushed red. In a small, incredulous voice, she asked, “What are you doing?”

Xiao Mingyu lowered her head and looked at her. Though she did not answer, her eyes had already said everything.

—What do you think?

In the end.

Xiao Mingyu still hurried downstairs in a rush.

Downstairs, her assistant, Xiao He, could not help snickering. “Boss, you finally came down. Where’s Sister Wanyue? Why didn’t she come see you off? Could she not get up?”

Xiao Mingyu’s cheeks heated. She did not answer. Her eyes looked quietly at Xiao He.

The pressure in that gaze made Xiao He unable to stop herself from turning her head away, though the corners of her lips still kept rising. “Boss, I’m really jealous of you and Sister Wanyue. Ten years, and you’re still like newlyweds every single day. I never see you two get sick of each other.”

“We’ll be newlyweds soon.”

Xiao Mingyu straightened her lapels. Thinking of the moment when she had closed the door and looked back at Wanyue, sprawled on the bed with that unwilling, furious little expression, her brows and eyes could not help lifting.

“What?”

Xiao He thought she had misheard. She looked at Xiao Mingyu. Xiao Mingyu’s ink-dark eyes fixed on her, and she said calmly, “When I come back from this business trip, be ready to give wedding money.”

Xiao He: …

T/N: This novel will not be locked. Enjoy reading—well, I hope you do. 🤐