Meng Po Gave Her A Bowl Of Soup - Chapter 6

—Hello, Miss Song. I’m Xu Ruying, Mingyu’s colleague.

Xu Ruying looked at Song Wanyue.

Her face kept its smile, but her hand could not help clenching into a fist, her nails digging deeply into her palm.

Meeting again…

Wanyue, Mom…

They were already separated by life and death. And now, the person standing before them could only be a stranger who had met them again but did not dare recognize them.

How badly she wanted to rush forward and hold Wanyue tightly, to embrace her hard, kiss her, feel her, tell her what she had been through these past few days, tell her she never wanted to leave her again…

Facing this unfamiliar woman before her, perhaps because Song Wanyue had waited an entire day and her nerves had grown somewhat dull, she stared blankly at Xu Ruying—or more precisely, at her eyes.

Xu Ruying and Xiao Mingyu were completely different styles of women. Her aura was powerful, her features sharp, carrying the domineering air of a strong career woman. Although Mingyu, when cold, could also make people feel as though they dared not approach her, her brows and eyes were still gentle. The more carefully one looked, the more tenderness one would see.

But the way they looked at her… was so much like Mingyu.

In that instant, Song Wanyue fell into a daze. She stared unblinkingly at Xu Ruying, and did not even hear what she was saying.

In the end, it was Huang Lan who came out. She spoke intermittently with Xu Ruying, and finally, Huang Lan’s cane moved slightly as she recognized her. “You’re the President Xu Mingyu always talked about.”

That President Xu who had recognized her talent, promoted her, and done her a great kindness.

Xu Ruying nodded. Her eyes stared at Huang Lan for a long while. Seeing her hand gripping the cane, she took a deep breath. “Yes, Auntie.”

The moment she finished saying this, Song Wanyue, who had been standing somewhat dazedly to the side, suddenly rose to her feet. She strode over abruptly, stretched out her hand, and shoved Xu Ruying hard without warning. “Leave. You’re not welcome here!”

Xu Ruying staggered from the push. She stumbled back several steps before she managed to steady herself.

Huang Lan stared at Song Wanyue in astonishment, completely stunned.

She had more or less watched Wanyue grow up. She knew that although Wanyue was a little mischievous by nature, deep down she was gentle, polite, and well-mannered. She treated everyone with courtesy. What was going on?

Xu Ruying, however, reacted very quickly. She understood Wanyue best.

This business trip had been one Mingyu took in President Xu’s place, and Wanyue had already been quite resentful about it.

It could be said that, in a certain sense, Xiao Mingyu’s death had some connection with President Xu. That was why she had been given this chance to “return.”

The feeling after death had been very clear. It turned out there really was such a thing as a soul.

Xiao Mingyu felt her soul being drawn out of her body by something, then followed the line in a muddled haze down a dark, oppressive road.

The people in the line were old and young. Some looked as though they had lived in luxury and been carefully maintained, while others wore ragged clothes that were barely enough to cover their bodies.

At a time like this, all the wealth, glory, honor, poverty, and lowliness of the mortal world no longer had anything to do with them.

Faintly, she heard someone ahead let out a slow, low sigh. That person turned back again and again, as if reluctant to leave.

—Once you walk down the Yellow Springs Road, all the past of your previous life is wiped clean.

No matter how close your kin, no matter how beloved your lover, in the end, they will have nothing to do with you anymore.

Life and death are separate.

That was probably what it meant.

Xiao Mingyu wanted to cry, but now that she had become a ghost, she could not even have a single tear to represent her grief.

She slowly raised her hand and looked at the bloodstained, mottled ring on her ring finger, thinking of the wish she and Wanyue had made beneath the stars when they privately pledged themselves to each other for life.

—I, Xiao Mingyu, will take good care of Song Wanyue for the rest of my life.

My wish was… I hope we can meet and fall in love with each other in every lifetime.

You are the pride of my life.

…

The thick stench of blood rushed toward her. Beneath the surging River of Forgetfulness was nothing but dark blood, and the surroundings were pitch-black.

When they reached the Terrace of Homesickness, the ghost officer leading them, dressed all in black, calmly pointed ahead for the people in line. “That is the Terrace of Homesickness. You have already left the human world for seven days. If you wish, you may turn back and take one last look at your parents or beloved. This is your final glance.”

—This is your final glance.

Xiao Mingyu bit her lip. Slowly, she turned her head and saw Wanyue holding her corpse, crying as though her heart were being torn apart. She watched Wanyue, so devastated and unwilling to part, stroke her face bit by bit, again and again…

On the bridge, Meng Po smiled with her head lowered as she brewed soup, serving it bowl after bowl to the souls crossing Naihe Bridge to be reincarnated.

When it was Xiao Mingyu’s turn, the ghost officer behind her urged her on roughly. Xiao Mingyu bit her lip and did not move. Meng Po raised her head and looked at her; her eyes did not have the slightest murkiness of an old person’s. She said nothing more and merely gave her a bowl of soup. “Child, I’ll give you one year to settle everything properly.”

Looking at that bowl of Meng Po’s soup, which could make one forget every bit of the past, Xiao Mingyu remained motionless. Meng Po’s eyes were clear and penetrating. “You have a promise with someone, and you also helped another escape a calamity. Your mortal attachments are not yet resolved. This soup will not make you forget everything. Instead, it will return your soul to the human world. Go back, child. But remember this well: the workings of heaven must not be revealed.”

“If anyone says that you are Xiao Mingyu, your soul will scatter into reincarnation, with no way to reverse it.”

…

When she woke again.

Xiao Mingyu looked at the stranger in the mirror for a long time without speaking.

She understood what Meng Po had meant by helping someone else escape a calamity.

The person before her eyes was already Xu Ruying. She had President Xu’s appearance now.

This business trip should originally have been President Xu’s, but because of matters at home, Xiao Mingyu had replaced her at the last minute.

President Xu must have known it would turn out like this as well. When Mingyu woke, she saw three words written in the notebook beside her hand.

—I’m sorry.

Mingyu had a human body again. Thinking of her Wanyue, she could not help crying once more. But when she looked in the mirror, deep sorrow rose from the bottom of her heart.

She had returned.

Yet when they met again, she was a stranger.

She could no longer have her Wanyue. She could not even hold her, coax her by her ear, and tell her not to be afraid.

One year later…

She did not know where she would go or what would happen to her. The road ahead was vast and uncertain, and only separation lay before Xiao Mingyu’s eyes.

But so what?

Wanyue relied on her so deeply.

She was afraid that when Wanyue cried, there would be no one to comfort her; afraid that she would foolishly forget her keys again and lock herself outside; afraid that when she got drunk and her stomach hurt, there would be no one to soothe her.

She could bear letting herself die and lose everything twice, but in the end, she still could not stop worrying about her Wanyue.

As for Wanyue’s reaction.

Xiao Mingyu could understand it.

She knew her Wanyue was not an unreasonable person. Immense grief had long since washed away her reason. If it had been her, she feared she would have hated even more.

After Xiao Mingyu returned in Xu Ruying’s body, the first thing she did was pay double the price to rent the empty apartment across the hall. When the landlady received her call, she had thought for a moment that it was a scam, but seeing Xu Ruying come over so quickly, sign the contract, and directly pay a full year of rent, she was completely stunned.

One year.

To Xu Ruying, it was too short.

So short that she had no time at all to worry about these things.

Fortunately, Xiao Mingyu had once been almost Xu Ruying’s personal confidante. She understood Xu Ruying’s food, clothing, housing, transportation, and even her network of connections very well, so she did not need to spend more time familiarizing herself with them.

She could not wait to return to the home that had once belonged to them.

But from far away, she saw a scene that broke her heart.

Her Wanyue.

The woman she had held at the very tip of her heart.

There she was, crouched at the doorway in utter despair, a tiny little bundle. Song Wanyue held herself tightly, her eyes anxiously glancing outward from time to time.

As time passed, tears gradually filled her eyes. In the end, they slid down bit by bit along with her disappointment.

Xu Ruying truly had to restrain the impulse to step forward and hold her. Although Wanyue’s resistant reaction had caught her slightly off guard, she had at least seen her, and had also seen the mother who worried her just as much.

It was Wanyue.

It must have been Wanyue who brought her here.

She knew Mingyu could not let go of her…

In the apartment separated by only one hallway, Xu Ruying leaned against the wall, covered her mouth, and slowly shed tears. She had no way to ease the emotions in her heart, so she could only curl her fingers and bite down hard on them between her lips.

Wanyue…

Mom…

I’m sorry…

There was not much time to grieve. Xu Ruying kept thinking about how she should approach Wanyue.

Right now, Wanyue was extremely hostile toward “President Xu.” Although time was urgent, recklessly getting close to her might very well backfire.

She could not rush.

Before going to sleep that night.

Xu Ruying mechanically tore off a few pieces of bread, put them in her mouth, and swallowed them. She slid her finger across her phone and opened Weibo.

She and Wanyue shared a Weibo account called Moon Rain. It recorded every little piece of their life together.

Xu Ruying did not dare log in to her old WeChat account, afraid that the sensitive Wanyue would notice. Now, this Weibo was the only way she had to understand Wanyue’s condition.

The latest update on Weibo was still from the night before the accident.

The content of the update was the table of food Wanyue had made, romantic candlelight, and bright red rose petals. It had been posted by Wanyue.

—Smiling face.jpg. I obediently waited for you to come home.

That smiling face felt like a knife cutting into Xu Ruying’s heart. She bit her lip before she was able to hold back her tears.

After that, the Weibo had not been updated again.

Xu Ruying set a special notification tone for the Weibo. She was silent for a long time. Before she knew it, it was already one in the morning. Slowly, she got up, walked to the door, and opened it.

Even if she could not see her.

Just looking at their former home would be good.

Even if it was only the front door… inside was her beloved.

But what Xu Ruying did not expect was that when she opened the door and the sensor light came on, she unexpectedly saw a thin, small figure crouched at the entrance of their home.

It was Wanyue…

Her long hair slipped down along her neck. Crouching there, she abruptly lifted her head when she heard the sound, her red-rimmed eyes filled with surprise. But when she saw that it was Xu Ruying, she quickly lowered her head again.

Xu Ruying froze. At that moment, at that instant, she felt her heart being torn apart alive.

After a very, very long time.

Only then did Xu Ruying hear her own hoarse voice. “Please accept my condolences… and take care of yourself.”

Meeting the person she loved most, yet unable to recognize each other.

She hurt so badly she could not breathe. Xu Ruying struggled to restrain herself, turned around, and stiffly opened her door to return to her apartment. Separated by only a wall, Xu Ruying also slowly crouched down. She hugged herself tightly and murmured softly, “Wanyue, don’t be like this…”

Her heart hurt so much.

Song Wanyue did not speak. She remained crouched there, her legs already so numb that she had lost all feeling.

Huang Lan had tried to persuade her, but it was useless.

She just kept waiting and waiting.

From daylight until darkness, then from darkness until dawn.

She kept feeling that she could wait until her Mingyu came back.

But in the end, Song Wanyue finally understood.

Her Mingyu would never come back again.