Man, I am absolutely exhausted.
No wonder Zhang Youning was so eager to drag me to her shop today…she basically used me as free labor the entire day.
But it wasn’t all for nothing. In the end, she handed over a massive bag of candies and a gorgeous little mango cake.
I hadn’t seen Ningyu and Rongcai all day, and as their “mother,” I was missing them terribly.
“Meow—”
The moment I unlocked the door, the two little rascals came sprinting over, tails held high, and began frantically rubbing against my legs.
My babies missed me just as much. See? A mother-child bond is real; they must be my own flesh and blood.
Of course, I didn’t play favorites. Dropping my bags, I scooped both of my big boys into my arms, planting kisses on their furry faces left and right until my heart was full.
“Lingling, you’re back! Did you have fun these past couple of days?” My aunt called out warmly, walking down the stairs with a gentle smile.
“Yup!” I nodded eagerly. “I had a blast! And look, I even brought you some candy!”
She glanced at the bag in my hand. “Aw, look at our Lingling, always so thoughtful, remembering to bring something back for her aunt. Alright, it’s getting late. We can look through your goodies tomorrow. Go wash up and get some rest.”
I nodded, set my things down under her watchful, affectionate gaze, and dashed up to my room, my two furry shadows trailing close behind.
The days that followed passed quietly, like a gentle stream.
Time slipped away alongside the falling maple leaves outside the window…so quietly that it went unnoticed. It wasn’t until people looked up and realized the once-lush branches were now completely bare that it finally clicked: autumn had arrived.
My little cats were lazily basking in the patches of sunlight, while I slumped over my desk in sheer boredom, staring out at the barren banyan tree outside the window, mindlessly twirling a pencil in my hand.
“Misfortune and fortune rely on each other; karma always comes around…”
I scoffed and looked up, glaring playfully at Sheng Yitang. “Can you stop reading your cultivation novels for five minutes? All this talk about yin-yang and karmic cycles… what, are you actually planning to ascend to immortality or something?”
Sheng Yitang closed her book. Instead of firing back immediately, she paused for a second, then stared at me with her wide, crystal-clear eyes. “Ascend? Honestly, that is exactly my plan.”
I smacked my forehead, completely defeated, and went back to slouching over the desk, staring out at my version of withered vines, old trees, and evening crows.
Lately, Sheng Yitang had been utterly consumed by web novels. Political intrigue, cultivation, slice-of-life romance, fantasy…she read absolutely everything. And the worst part? She insisted on sharing snippets with me. I honestly couldn’t comprehend what made her gasp so much, nor could I understand why her smile would practically shoot up to the heavens every time the main characters shared a simple kiss.
Suddenly, my view of the barren banyan tree was blocked.
“Hey Wen Ling, let’s grab lunch,” Shen Leqing said, leaning against the window frame with a wave.
I stretched my arms and stood up. Glancing back at Sheng Yitang, who was already sucked back into her fictional world, I sighed and gave Shen Leqing a look.
“Sui Yue isn’t out of class yet. Her teacher loves running overtime, so let’s head out first.”
I nodded and walked out with her.
As we passed the science classrooms, we could hear their homeroom teacher roaring from a mile away.
The two of us curiously peeked through the window and immediately locked eyes with Sui Yue. Seeing us freedom-bound and headed for food, she looked absolutely miserable, mouthing a flurry of silent complaints that perfectly conveyed her immense frustration.
Shen Leqing didn’t say a word. She just offered a faint, elegant smile, gave a polite little wave of farewell, and kept walking.
“Sui Yue! I’m up here talking, what are you fidgeting down there for?!”
A burst of laughter escaped me. Chuckling, I grabbed Shen Leqing’s hand and quickened our pace to get out of there.
A new malatang spot had just opened in the alley right outside the school, and I had been dying to try it, but the timing never lined up. Since we got dismissed early today and had time to kill, I dragged Shen Leqing right along with me.
Shen Leqing still seemed a bit baffled by my enthusiasm. “Why are you suddenly so craving malatang? What’s so great about it anyway?”
“Malatang is amazing!” I said, raising my voice in defense of my favorite comfort food. “You get noodles, veggies, and meat all in one bowl, plus that rich, savory hot soup. How can anyone not love it?”
Shen Leqing opened her mouth to argue, but ultimately just sighed. “Fine, as long as you like it.”
Since it was still early, the shop wasn’t crowded yet. The inside was wonderfully cozy, as if the heater was blasting, and the air was thick with the mouth-watering aroma of spicy broth.
Grabbing a massive plastic bowl, I couldn’t wait to pile in my ingredients. Quail eggs, spinach, bacon, shrimp paste, instant noodles…I threw it all in. Never mind how much it would cost; just holding that heavy, loaded bowl made me incredibly happy.
On the other hand, things weren’t going quite as smoothly for Shen Leqing.
It seemed like her very first time eating at a place like this. She looked completely lost in front of the display fridge, meticulously deliberating over the options for ages, only to end up picking out a few sad pieces of lettuce.
Noticing my gaze, she flushed with embarrassment and scratched her head awkwardly. “Um… I’m actually on a diet recently, so I don’t eat much.”
I knew exactly what she meant and didn’t see a need to beat around the bush. I offered generously, “If you don’t like it, I can accompany you to grab something else after this. Lunch break is long today anyway, I’ll go wherever you want to go!”
She looked genuinely surprised, and a real smile finally broke across her face. “Really? Okay… thanks.”
The malatang was served incredibly fast, and within minutes, I was happily digging in.
Chewing on a piece of savory shrimp paste, I struck up a conversation, my words a bit muffled. “Hey, have you noticed that ever since the new semester started, you’ve been acting like a totally different person? You barely talk, you keep your thoughts to yourself… What’s up? Are you depressed?”
She fell silent for a moment, then forced a laugh. “No way. What do I have to be depressed about? Haven’t I always been like this?”
“No way,” I countered. “Sure, you used to be introverted, but at least when you were with us, you were a total chatterbox and a joy generator. You weren’t like this…so quiet, keeping your head down and boxing yourself in.”
This time, she didn’t laugh, nor did she answer.
Since she clearly didn’t want to talk about it, I didn’t push. I lowered my head and focused on quietly eating my noodles.
In reality, I could guess the general reason behind it, but it just wasn’t my place to bring it up or dig into it.
After finishing the malatang, we were supposed to go find something else for Shen Leqing to eat, but for some reason, she suddenly changed her mind. Even though I was worried she’d stay hungry, I didn’t press the matter and quietly accompanied her back to school.
After saying goodbye in the hallway, I casually strolled back to my own classroom.
Ever since the classes were reshuffled, our room felt like it was miles away. Walking from one end of the building to the other made me feel like I’d already digested half of my lunch.
Sheng Yitang and Sui Yue weren’t back yet. Finding myself with nothing to do, I slumped over my desk again and pulled out my phone, which I hadn’t checked all morning.
Zhang Youning had been blowing up my phone since dawn. That glaring “99+” unread message badge nearly blinded me.
Zhang Youning: “Good morning, A-Ling! Make sure to study hard today~” “I’m at the shop now. Today’s shipment just arrived, I gotta go unpack it.” “Look! I made a little bear cake, and it’s your favorite mango flavor!” “Jinhu is sunbathing. He says he misses you.” “Wuxue wants to eat your cat canned food again. He says you have to bring one next time, or you’re not allowed to pet him.” ……
Why is she even more childish than me? She’s acting like we’re dating or something.
Me: “Just finished lunch and finally saw your messages. Busy today?”
She replied almost instantly: “Not too busy! Plus, all the orders are done, so I can officially slack off now.”
A sudden idea popped into my head. Me: “Since you’re free, why don’t you come over and take a couple of my afternoon classes for me? Then you can cook me a three-course meal with soup tonight.”
Zhang Youning: “Sure, what do you want to eat? Is braised pork belly okay? Let’s add some stir-fried water spinach. What kind of soup do you want?”
I was suddenly at a loss for words. They say sincerity is the ultimate weapon, and they really aren’t lying.
As we were texting, another notification popped up.
Mom: “Sweetheart, Mom is coming home to spend time with you tonight and cook you some delicious food. Tell me what you want to eat.”
Oh shoot. This time, it was the real deal.
Without a second thought, I immediately sent over my dream menu. Me: “I want braised pork belly, a napa cabbage and tofu claypot, cola chicken wings, lemon boneless chicken feet, and minced pork with eggplant!”
Mom: “Alright, I’ll head out to buy the ingredients in a bit. Anything else?”
I thought about it for a moment but couldn’t think of anything else, so I decided to stick with that for now.
The next second, I switched back to my chat with Zhang Youning. Me: “Alright, no need for you to cook for me today. I’ll take a rain check.”
Zhang Youning: “? Are you rejecting my cooking??”
Me: “No, I’m serious lol.”
To my surprise, when school let out, it was actually Mom who came to pick me up.
I was walking out of the school gates chatting with Shen Leqing, but the moment I spotted Mom, I bolted straight toward her.
Once I calmed down from my excitement, Shen Leqing walked up from behind and politely greeted my mother.
“Hello, Auntie. I’m Wen Ling’s friend, Shen Leqing.”
Mom looked at her, offering a warm smile. “Oh, so you’re Leqing! It’s getting late, you should head home quickly so your family doesn’t worry.”
Shen Leqing nodded, waved goodbye to me, and walked toward a sleek black sedan parked not far away.
I grabbed Mom’s hand, ready to leave, but noticed she was completely frozen in place, her eyes locked onto the car Shen Leqing had just stepped into.
I blinked, confused. What was so interesting about a plain black car?
“Mom, I’m starving. Let’s go home and eat!”
Only then did Mom snap out of it. She gave me a slightly uneasy smile and muttered to herself, “Right, my baby is hungry. Let’s head home first. We can talk when we get home.”
Back at the house, Mom had cooked up a massive feast exactly according to my request…not a single dish was missing.
With a chicken wing in one hand and a piece of tofu in my chopsticks, I was living the absolute dream. Mom sat across from me, smiling warmly as she continuously piled food onto my plate.
“Huh? Mom, why aren’t you eating? Eat with me!” Noticing she hadn’t even picked up her chopsticks, I quickly popped a piece of braised pork belly into her bowl.
She nodded, picking up the piece of meat to eat with me, though she still spent most of the time refilling my plate.
“Sweetheart, how have things been at school lately? How are you getting along with your friends?”
I grinned. “It’s been great! Today, Shen Leqing and I went to grab malatang, and it was so delicious.”
At the mention of Shen Leqing, the expression on Mom’s face shifted subtly. She looked up at me, seemingly holding back a question.
Catching her gaze, I sensed that something was up.
Suddenly, she gave a gentle smile, took my empty bowl, and ladled some hot soup for me. “When I saw Leqing earlier, she struck me as a rather introverted child.”
“She… she didn’t use to be like that,” I explained. “She used to be really cheerful. It’s only recently that she’s changed.”
“Is that so?” Mom’s eyes sharpened slightly. “Did something happen?”