Escorted by the Soul Ferryman, Yu Miaomiao smoothly returned to the town, then transferred through various vehicles, finally arriving at the airport after a long, tiring journey.
After several hours of flying, she returned to her own city late at night.
It was past midnight by the time she reached home.
Standing at the door before even opening it, she could hear Maodou whimpering and scratching at the door.
As soon as she opened it, he went wild, spinning around, wagging his tail, and jumping up on her.
Although they had only been apart for two days and one night, for Maodou, it felt like an eternity.
Ever since he came to Yu Miaomiao’s side at two months old, they had never been separated for a single day.
“Alright, alright, big sister is back now, isn’t she?” Yu Miaomiao hugged him, gave him a kiss, and set him back down on the floor.
The Soul Ferryman also emerged from the inner room.
“You worked hard. Were you injured?” It seemed he knew what had happened.
“Just scraped my leg a bit, nothing serious!”
Yu Miaomiao yawned, feeling utterly exhausted, sleepy, and hungry.
She shouldn’t have booked the cheapest flight to save money—there wasn’t even an in-flight meal.
Fortunately, there was still a can of eight-treasure porridge at home, so she quickly opened it and ate.
“Aren’t you going to feed Maodou?” Seeing her eat so heartily, Brother Gui suddenly asked.
Yu Miaomiao was about to get angry again.
“Didn’t we agree you’d help take care of Maodou? Don’t tell me you haven’t fed him these past two days!”
“I did feed him. He wouldn’t eat.”
Maodou thought his owner had abandoned him and went on a hunger strike to express his sadness.
This silly dog…
Yu Miaomiao felt both heartbroken and touched. She quickly poured him some dog food and specially added a sausage.
Watching Maodou wolf it down, she felt deeply worried.
Although she had extended her Life Span by a few more days, she would still have to leave eventually.
When she was gone, would Maodou starve himself to death? That would be even sadder than the story of Hachikō.
“Everyone must die eventually. Big sister’s life is short, but your dog life is long. Please don’t do anything foolish…” she pleaded again and again.
The two of them and the dog finally turned off the lights and went to sleep around two in the morning.
Closing her eyes, Yu Miaomiao thought of Zhang Xiaolan and her grandmother again.
“Life is unpredictable. You must seize the moment to do what you want to do,” she sighed.
“What do you want to do?” Brother Gui asked, gazing at the ceiling.
“I…” Yu Miaomiao was actually stumped by the question.
Apart from worrying about Maodou, she didn’t seem to have anything she particularly wanted to do or anyone she particularly wanted to see.
She was even more detached than a ghost, living a lifeless existence.
“I want to sell the ginseng and live a few days as a rich person,” she hastily made up a goal for herself.
“Alright,” Brother Gui responded faintly before turning over and falling asleep.
The next day, Yu Miaomiao continued strolling down the street with Maodou.
Living with death in mind, she felt carefree instead. Holding twelve days of Life Span in her hands was like being on a long vacation.
On weekdays, everyone was busy, and there were hardly any idle people on the streets. Even the subway station was empty, with only one person entering or exiting every now and then.
It was nothing like the rush hour she used to endure every day, where you couldn’t even bend down to pick up a shoe if it fell off.
At the subway station entrance, a young woman was selling flowers. They weren’t expensive or rare blooms, but the bouquets were beautifully arranged.
Each bouquet cost 15 yuan.
When Yu Miaomiao was still a poor ghost, she would never have spent 15 yuan on a bouquet of flowers, no matter how much she liked them.
But she wasn’t a poor ghost anymore.
“Are these daisies?” she crouched down and pointed at a bouquet.
The young woman nodded. “Daisies paired with eucalyptus leaves. They symbolize protection and peaceful years.”
Peaceful years… that was impossible now, but the bouquet was beautiful.
“I’ll take one bouquet.” She scanned the code to pay.
A notification chimed from the other side—”Alipay payment received, fifteen yuan”—and the young woman handed her the flowers. “Thank you.”
Yu Miaomiao held the bouquet, her mood as lovely as the blossoms themselves.
It was the first time she had ever allowed herself to spend money on something “useless” just to please herself.
But flowers alone weren’t enough—she also bought a beautiful glass vase.
Once home, she quickly filled it with water, arranged the bouquet inside, and placed it on the table.
The plain wooden dining table looked entirely different with a bouquet of flowers on it.
If only a soft beam of sunlight could fall across it—that would feel even more wonderful. Unfortunately, the rental apartment had poor lighting; the living room faced west, and only a faint sliver of sunlight made its way in during the afternoon.
Oh well, she’d have to make do with lamplight.
Just as Yu Miaomiao was about to shop online for a tablecloth to match the flowers, Brother Gui returned.
“I’ll tell you where you can sell ginseng.”