Meng Po Gave Her A Bowl Of Soup - Chapter 10

Xu Ruying lost sleep.

Because of one sentence from Wanyue, she could not sleep all night. She tossed and turned for a long time, her heart filled with all kinds of torment.

These past few days, she had personally witnessed Wanyue’s grief and pain, and she had also seen how, after she left, Wanyue took care of Huang Lan.

She had originally thought that without her, Wanyue would have no one to rely on, would cry alone, and would be unable to do anything well.

But looking at things now, perhaps she had been wrong.

Although she was not very skilled.

Her Wanyue was gradually learning. Xu Ruying believed that with Wanyue’s intelligence, sooner or later, she would become independent.

Perhaps this was just how fate between people worked in this world.

No matter how reluctant one was to part, no matter how difficult it was to let go, in the end, everything would cool little by little, like white bones buried beneath yellow earth.

Perhaps that saying really was true—no one was unable to live without someone else.

Then what had she come back for?

Only around three in the morning did Xu Ruying feel herself drift into a hazy, uneasy sleep for a brief moment.

And in that brief moment, she even had a dream.

In the dream, there were vast stretches of blazing red flowers. Their petals were fine and threadlike, dragging their stamens with them, like human hearts, bright red and vividly alive.

At that moment, she was not Xu Ruying, but Mingyu.

She felt her body floating high above. Looking down from far away, she unexpectedly saw President Xu.

It was the real President Xu, not Xu Ruying with her body and Mingyu’s soul.

President Xu was actually standing beside Meng Po out of sheer boredom. She was even wearing a black robe, somewhat like the long robes of ancient swordsmen. Her body emitted a kind of aura, not the sort of murderous energy that would exist in the human world. With both hands clasped behind her back, she looked very impatiently at Meng Po, who was brewing soup. Meng Po, on the other hand, seemed used to her impatience and said unhurriedly, “Did you see how it’s brewed?”

President Xu raised a brow, her features sharp. “Old Ancestress, why do you teach me every time? I already know how.”

Meng Po smiled. She lifted her head slightly, her silver-haired presence overwhelming. “The Netherworld is different from the human world. Not a single mistake can be made.”

President Xu stretched out her slender fingers and took the ladle from Meng Po’s hand with a dispirited air, stirring perfunctorily. “How long do I have to stay this time?”

“One year.”

Meng Po’s tone was calm, her eyes fixed on her. “In the past, you also searched the human world for devoted lovers and fulfilled their unresolved wishes. I never saw you care this much then. What is it this time?”

“How can that be the same?” President Xu said faintly. “You didn’t see how deep their love was. We agreed, Old Ancestress. After I finish this task, I’m taking a long vacation. If anything changes after one year, find someone else to help you brew soup.”

Meng Po clasped her hands behind her back. “We’ll talk about that when the time comes.”

After saying that, her eyes lifted, and she looked toward the horizon with a faint smile.

Just that one glance.

Mingyu felt her floating body being yanked hard by something. In a flash of electric light and shadows, she was pulled back.

She sat up from the bed all at once, drenched in sweat.

She panted heavily. After taking a long time to calm herself, she slowly lifted one hand and touched her own features. That hope shattered like a fleeting dream.

It was still Xu Ruying’s body.

This really was not a dream.

She had truly died.

These past few days, Xu Ruying had not slept peacefully at all. Several times, when she woke up, she did not know whether she was still alive, or whether this was just a joke heaven had played on her. But when she reached out and touched the empty space beside the bed, her heart would be covered in desolation.

At this hour, Xu Ruying could no longer sleep. Wrapped in the blanket, she got up, opened her computer, and began searching.

Following the memories from the dream, she compared and searched for a long time before finally finding the dazzling vermilion flowers from her dream, the ones that looked like hearts.

They were red spider lilies.

Xu Ruying found a record in Buddhist scripture—red spider lilies bloom for a thousand years and wither for a thousand years. Flower and leaf never meet. Love is not bound by cause and effect, but fate determines life and death.

She mechanically clicked the mouse, looking at the blood-red flowers. For some reason, her chest felt tight and heavy.

Old people often said that things in dreams could not be taken seriously. Most of them were just the result of thinking about something by day and dreaming of it by night.

These days, she had wondered more than once where the former President Xu had gone.

Perhaps she had thought about it too much, which was why such a possessed scene appeared in her dream.

How could President Xu be standing beside Meng Po? How could they chat like old acquaintances? Why did she keep calling her Old Ancestress…

Unable to come up with an answer, Xu Ruying shook her head hard. She looked at her watch. It was already five in the morning.

At six o’clock, Huang Lan would get up and go to the vegetable market without fail.

And Wanyue would get up to clean the room, no longer lazing in her arms the way she used to, refusing to get out of bed. Perhaps she would also learn to make food on her own.

In the future, she would learn many more things.

Her girl was stronger than she had imagined.

That was good.

Wanyue broke through her confusion with lightning speed.

Xu Ruying had originally changed her clothes and was preparing to go out and “run into” Huang Lan at the vegetable market. Unexpectedly, as soon as she opened the door, she saw a tiny little bundle curled up outside.

It was Wanyue.

Xu Ruying’s heartbeat quickened.

Wanyue was crouched there, still holding her phone in her hand. Her dark hair slipped down along her snow-white, slender neck, and her luminous ears made one’s heart soften. Hearing the sound, she lifted her head to look at Xu Ruying like a dazed little rabbit, her eyes misted with watery fog.

“You…”

Xu Ruying looked at her hesitantly, but in her heart, she more or less understood. She had come out and forgotten to bring her house key.

Long ago, Wanyue would often muddleheadedly forget her house key, especially after waking up in the morning. Sometimes, Mingyu would go out to buy breakfast for her, and when she carried it back home, she would see her pitiful little thing crouching there. Seeing Mingyu return, Wanyue would pout and act spoiled. “I heard you go out and chased after you, but I forgot to bring my keys.”

Every time, Mingyu would be both heartbroken and amused. After it happened several times, she placed a spare key in a secret spot on the shoe rack by the door.

The third row, the second pair of pink shoes. It could be found inside there.

Only, the current Xu Ruying could not open her mouth and ask Wanyue why she did not take the spare key. If she asked that, she would definitely expose herself.

“I can’t go home.”

Song Wanyue’s voice was very, very soft. She lowered her head and bit her lip. “She didn’t come get me.”

Before, whenever her Mingyu saw her, she would always bend down to hug her, tap her nose, and indulgently call her “little fool,” then hold her as they went home. Occasionally, if there was no one in the corridor, Mingyu would even smile and give her a princess carry.

That was Wanyue’s little happiness. She loved resting her head on Mingyu’s shoulder and loved smelling the faint lemon scent on Mingyu’s body.

Mingyu liked drinking lemon tea and eating lemons. Even her shampoo and body wash had the scent of lemon.

And in Wanyue’s words, Mingyu seemed to have no taste nerves for sour flavors. No matter how sour something was, she felt nothing.

After a moment of silence, restraining the ache in her heart, Xu Ruying said faintly, “Come stay at my place for a while.”

Wanyue had been crouching for too long. When she stood up, her legs went numb and she almost fell. Xu Ruying reached out to support her, and Wanyue looked into her eyes.

Xu Ruying did not look at her and led her into her home.

After Wanyue had come that day, Xu Ruying had cleaned the place a little. Mingyu was good at housework. As long as she wanted to clean, she could definitely make a home spotless.

Only, she had not bought many things for the house. Most of them had been left behind by the landlord.

Though this place was called a home, it was more like a temporary place to stay, as if its owner had already made plans not to live there for long.

“Do you want tea?”

Xu Ruying looked at Wanyue. She knew Wanyue did not like tea. Wanyue liked sweet things that only children would drink, like Wangzai milk. Even when it came to tea, she wanted milk tea. She had even said to Mingyu with perfect confidence that life was hard, and sweet foods could make people feel happy.

Wanyue shook her head. “No, thank you.”

She lifted her hand a little. “Can I charge my phone?”

Her phone was out of battery.

Xu Ruying looked at her, feeling rather helpless. She had come out like this, and even her phone was about to die. If Huang Lan did not come back for a while, was she going to keep waiting here?

Actually, Xu Ruying had misunderstood Wanyue.

It was not that she had not charged her phone.

Rather, early in the morning, half asleep and dazed, she had heard the sound of the door opening. In that blur, she had an illusion that those ordinary, happy days had returned, and she had chased after the sound.

Huang Lan had gotten up early today. This was a pattern she had recently figured out. She discovered that if she could catch the first wave of trucks delivering vegetables when the sky was just beginning to brighten, the prices were the cheapest.

Frugality had already been imprinted into the souls of the older generation. Even though Wanyue repeatedly told her they were not short on money and even showed her the bankbook, Huang Lan was still used to saving.

Wanyue just crouched there by the door. She knew all of this was only a dream.

Her Mingyu had not come back.

But she simply could not control herself. Again and again, she called Mingyu’s phone.

Until the battery was completely drained.

In her heart, Xu Ruying was angry, but on the surface, nothing changed. She took the phone and nodded. “Okay.”

There was an outlet in the living room. Xu Ruying brought over a charger, bent down, and plugged in Wanyue’s phone.

The moment the phone was plugged in, the screen lit up briefly. On it was a photo of Xiao Mingyu and Song Wanyue together.

It was a photo from their student days.

Xiao Mingyu had her hair in a ponytail and smiled reservedly at the camera, while Wanyue was much livelier. She smiled brightly like sunshine, her scissor fingers mischievously held above Mingyu’s head.

More than ten years had passed.

Wanyue had changed phones many times.

But she had never changed her lock screen.

At that moment, Xu Ruying’s heart felt as though sulfuric acid had slid across it. Wanyue quietly observed Xu Ruying, then looked at the tea she had brewed on the table.

It was not lemon tea.

It was simple Pu’er.

That had once been Mingyu’s least favorite taste. Leaving aside the aftertaste, she had always felt that Pu’er was a little too sweet overall.

Turning around, Xu Ruying met Wanyue’s watching gaze. She asked softly, “Would you like something to eat?”

Wanyue shook her head. “No, I’m not hungry. Thank you.”

Because she had come out in a hurry, she was only wearing a white silk nightdress. Mingyu liked this nightdress the most. It felt especially good to the touch, like cool ice-silk satin. Most importantly, it set off Wanyue’s graceful figure very well, clinging closely to the rise and fall of her curves.

How could she skip breakfast?

Xu Ruying frowned almost imperceptibly. After thinking for a moment, she said, “I still have drinks at home. Coke, Sprite, zero-sugar Genki Forest, and Wangzai milk. What would you like to drink?”

The whole string of drinks before it was only to pave the way for the last one.

“I don’t like carbonated drinks.” Song Wanyue looked at her and answered. Although her ink-dark eyes were very calm, for some reason, Xu Ruying felt uncomfortable all over under that gaze. To cover it up, she went to open the fridge. She just knew Wanyue would want to drink Wangzai. Xu Ruying had only just picked it up when she heard Song Wanyue’s faint voice drift over.

“And I dislike Wangzai milk even more. It’s childish.”

Xu Ruying: …

She stumbled. Xu Ruying turned back and looked at Song Wanyue in surprise. Song Wanyue smoothed her hair, her upper body held very straight as she sat upright on the sofa, all calm and unruffled. “Don’t you think it’s childish for an adult to drink that kind of thing?”

Her eyes carried a question, as well as a tiny bit of playfulness. This was the first time in all these days that Xu Ruying had seen her like this.

Had Wanyue noticed something?

The sky had only just begun to brighten.

Song Wanyue’s eyes seemed to gather light as she gazed at Xu Ruying for a long time.

Looking at the flash of panic across Xu Ruying’s face, as well as the way she unconsciously rubbed her left hand because of her embarrassment, Wanyue was already sixty percent certain.

It was her Mingyu, wasn’t it… Something surged little by little through her veins and into the tip of her heart.

Her heart, which had died, seemed to come alive again in this instant because of this guess.

Xu Ruying looked into Song Wanyue’s eyes and said softly, “It is a little childish.”

Song Wanyue fixed her gaze on her. She just knew that no matter when it was, her Mingyu would definitely go along with her.

Xu Ruying paused, clasped both hands behind her back, and said faintly, “But it suits you.”

Song Wanyue: …

The heart that had just been warmed instantly withered and fell to the ground.

She took a deep breath and stared hard at Xu Ruying.

No, this was not her Mingyu.

“Are you hungry now?” Xu Ruying found Wanyue’s angry appearance somewhat amusing. Song Wanyue straightened even more and said faintly, “No.”

How could she casually eat at the home of someone she was not familiar with?

“Fine. Then I’ll eat by myself.” Xu Ruying smiled faintly and turned into the kitchen. Before leaving, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Wanyue’s stifled expression, and the corners of her lips unconsciously rose.

For many things, the hardest part was all the wild imagining before the beginning. Once there was truly progress, everything would simply follow naturally.

Xu Ruying skillfully chopped scallions, preparing to make a portion of scallion oil noodles that Wanyue used to love eating.

She opened the window a little, letting the flower-scented breeze from outside drift in.

That was true. Why should she think so much? Having come back once more, let alone a year, even one day in which she could look at Wanyue would be happiness. She should cherish every minute and every second, not waste them on entanglement and hesitation.

On the sofa, Song Wanyue listened to the sounds coming from the kitchen. She turned back and secretly glanced over. After confirming that Xu Ruying was busy and would not come out for a while, she slowly stood up and walked to the coat rack by the door. Wanyue picked up a sapphire-blue shirt hanging there and lightly brought it to her nose to sniff.

Xu Ruying used to have the habit of wearing perfume. On her dressing table, there had once been many, many bottles of perfume. Mingyu was the exact opposite. Her body always carried a clean, refreshing scent and a faint lemon fragrance.

Wanyue held the shirt and sniffed it seriously. She kept feeling that there was an extremely faint lemon scent on the clothes, but she did not dare be certain. She was afraid it was the inner demon of her own guess at work. She could only confirm it again and again, sniffing harder and harder, until finally she looked like a little rabbit using all its might to pull up a carrot, burying her entire head in it.

Just then, Xu Ruying calmly walked out carrying the scallion oil noodles. But when she saw the scene before her, all the composure on her face turned into helpless indulgence.

Song Wanyue was so focused that she did not even notice a pair of eyes in the distance watching her for a very long time. Xu Ruying patiently waited a little longer. Seeing that Wanyue was still intoxicated by her shirt, she very considerately opened her mouth and asked, “Does it smell good?”