After My Death, the Richest Heiress Committed Suicide to Be With Me - Chapter 12

Xiao Lou nodded. “I see, I understand. It is like my love for traditional Chinese painting; I have always wanted to follow in the footsteps of the Painting Saint, Gu Kaizhi.”

Wu Yi watched her intently. Seeing the spark in Xiao Lou’s eyes when she mentioned Gu Kaizhi made Wu Yi’s own heart swell with joy.

Xiao Lou looked back at her and smiled. “But you still have to eat. You only have the energy to chase your dreams once you are full.”

Lou-lou is so pure-minded, Wu Yi thought to herself. She only assumes the person I want to follow must be some historical giant or a renowned scholar; she has not made any other connection at all. She felt a secret pang of shame, yet simultaneously a surge of pride. She felt that the person she loved was truly beautiful and pure.

She nodded obediently in agreement. “Yes, I will remember that.”

Xiao Lou asked again, “Since you are working so hard, which university do you want to apply to?”

Wu Yi looked at her and broke into a bright smile. “Huainan University.”

Xiao Lou had not expected her to aim for her own alma mater. For a moment, she felt a sense of shared pride and a new layer of closeness. She immediately laughed and said, “That is wonderful! I will be waiting at Huai-U for Junior Wu to pluck the laurel from the toad palace.”

Wu Yi’s smile deepened. “Alright. When the time comes, I will have to trouble Senior Xiao to look out for me.”

Xiao Lou smiled slightly and closed her book. “I have covered about enough for today. Practice for a month according to what I told you, and we will see the results later.”

She checked her phone. “The cafeteria is out of food by now. Come on, I will take you to the West Gate to forage for some food.”

Wu Yi found her choice of words amusing and covered her mouth as she giggled. “Senior Xiao, the way you put it is so funny. Are we going to forage around like little animals?”

Xiao Lou did not even notice that Wu Yi had changed how she addressed her. Speedily packing the books on the table, she looked up and teased, “Exactly. There are so many street vendors at the West Gate; we must search high and low to find what we crave most.”

Wu Yi reached out. “Let me carry my own things.”

Seeing that Wu Yi’s hands were empty and she was not carrying a backpack, Xiao Lou pulled a canvas bag out from her drawer, tucked the books inside, and carried it herself. “Forget it. You are about to eat, so I will carry them for now.”

Wu Yi was so happy she wanted to roll around on the floor. Her eyes landed on the canvas bag. Seeing the vivid ink wash painting on it, she asked, “Was this issued by your department, Senior Xiao?”

Xiao Lou explained, “No, I bought a plain canvas bag and painted it myself when I was bored.”

Wu Yi’s beautiful eyes lit up instantly. Her gaze lingered on Xiao Lou’s face for a few seconds before she reluctantly looked away, saying, “So this is Senior Xiao’s own work? Then I must take very good care of it.” She secretly made up her mind never to return it.

Xiao Lou did not think much of it, her tone a bit bashful. “It is just a casual doodle. Do not laugh at me, Junior Wu.”

“How could I? This is the first time I have met someone as talented as you, Senior Xiao,” Wu Yi praised sincerely. Her heart was hidden between the lines of her words; though she exercised extreme restraint, her feelings still leaked out. She stopped herself after just one sentence, fearing that the raging fire in her chest would burst forth and scare away this pure-hearted person.

Xiao Lou only gave a shy smile and did not respond further.

The two of them left the classroom side-by-side and headed downstairs. Since it was the lunch break, the teaching building was exceptionally quiet. Their footsteps echoed together, sounding very light and rhythmic.

“Senior Xiao, do you usually take a nap at noon?” Wu Yi turned her head to look at her.

“It depends. Sometimes if the morning classes are heavy or if I did not sleep well at night, I will take a short nap.” She gave a gentle smile and glanced at Wu Yi, reassuring her, “Do not worry, I am not sleepy today.”

Wu Yi could not quite describe the feeling, but she felt that every word Xiao Lou said was incredibly soothing to the soul. Her heart felt warm; her usual eloquence seemed to have suddenly failed her. She simply looked at her once more and nodded firmly. “Yes.”

Arriving at the West Gate, Xiao Lou asked, “What do you like to eat? There are only street food options around here.”

Wu Yi looked out over a massive plaza crowded with all sorts of small vendors. The colorful signs were dizzying: rice noodle rolls, jianbing guozi, malatang, hot and sour rice noodles, rice vermicelli, cold noodles, stir-fried noodles, steamed dishes, cured meat burgers, skewers, roasted chestnuts, rock sugar pear soup, eight-treasure porridge, and more. The huge square was so packed that only a narrow L-shaped lane remained for vehicles.

Xiao Lou led her into the bustling market, explaining, “It is already 1:30 PM. It is even more crowded during peak meal times; it gets so jammed that even this lane is filled with food carts.”

Wu Yi scanned the area and her eyes settled on one spot. Curling her lips into a smile, she said, “Senior Xiao, I want to eat that.”

Xiao Lou followed her finger and saw a sign with yellow characters on a red background: Chicken Soup Rice Noodles. She smiled as well. “I did not expect you to love this too.” She led Wu Yi to the cart.

“One order of chicken soup rice noodles, please.” “Adding quail eggs?” “Add two.”

After Xiao Lou finished, she looked at Wu Yi. Wu Yi hurriedly added, “Yes, add two. I love them.”

The lady running the stall asked again, “Any green onions?” Wu Yi thought for a moment then shook her head. “No green onions.” The lady waved her hand cheerfully. “Got it. Go ahead and sit down, I will bring it over in a bit.”

Xiao Lou turned and led Wu Yi toward the low tables next to the food cart. Noticing that Wu Yi was wearing a long skirt and that the tables and stools were quite low, Xiao Lou said, “It is inconvenient for you to sit here. How about we get it to go and eat back at the teaching building?”

Thank goodness I wore flat shoes, Wu Yi thought. If I were in heels, I would really be making a fool of myself. In this second chance at life, every moment with Xiao Lou was precious. She could not bear to miss a single second. She shook her head. “It is fine.” She added with a smile, “I am not some pampered princess. If you can sit here, so can I.”

Xiao Lou scanned the surroundings and saw that the neighboring stall selling hot and sour noodles had normal-height tables and chairs. Her eyes lit up, and she lightly tugged at Wu Yi’s wrist. “Come on, let us sit at that table.”

Like an older sister looking after a younger one, she used two fingers to pinch the corner of Wu Yi’s sleeve and guided her over. They walked very slowly. Xiao Lou kept looking back, worried that the long skirt would make things difficult.

She said amusedly, “I am really sorry. I only just noticed you were wearing a long skirt. If I had realized, I would have just ordered delivery for you.”

Wu Yi’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Senior Xiao, you mean you have not been looking at me at all until now?”

Xiao Lou shook her head with a smile. “Of course not. It is just that sometimes I only see what I am focused on, and I automatically ignore everything else around it.” She felt a bit embarrassed and added, “I find it strange too. My mother often teases me that my big eyes are just for show.”

Wu Yi looked at her with an aching heart. In her past life, she knew Xiao Lou was a true gentleman, but she had not realized she was this dense. She whispered, “That is not true. Senior Xiao is pure-minded, possessing great wisdom while appearing slow.”

Xiao Lou smiled and did not say anything. After leading Wu Yi to the table, she immediately pulled two tissues from her jeans pocket and wiped the plastic stool clean before inviting her to sit.

Wu Yi gathered her pale purple skirt and sat down slowly, tucking the fabric over her knees to ensure she was decently covered. Xiao Lou watched her movements quite intently. Wu Yi felt a bit shy and glanced up at her quickly.

Xiao Lou said, “Junior Wu, you have a very classical grace when you wear a dress.”

The tips of Wu Yi’s ears turned slightly hot. Keeping her eyes down, she asked, “Then do you think it looks good?”

Xiao Lou nodded. “It does. Because I study traditional painting and have to do lady portraits, I sometimes instinctively observe girls in classical attire.” Her tone became serious as she said sincerely to Wu Yi, “I was being a bit rude staring at you just now. Please do not mind, Junior Wu.”

What an honest blockhead, Wu Yi thought, her heart sweet. She could not help saying, “So that is why. I have many classical-style dresses. If you do not mind, Senior Xiao, I can be your model.”

Xiao Lou’s eyes lit up, but a moment later, she shook her head. “No.” Wu Yi asked quickly, “Why?” Xiao Lou said, “You need to prioritize your studies right now. You cannot be distracted.”

So that is it. Wu Yi smiled. “Alright, then wait for me at Huai-U.” She did not bring up the modeling again, fearing that appearing too eager would scare her off.

At that moment, the stall owner called out and served the steaming bowl of chicken soup rice noodles. Xiao Lou took the initiative to break apart the disposable chopsticks for her and pushed over the vinegar dish. “Do you want chili or vinegar?”

Wu Yi took a breath of the steam, accepted the chopsticks, and said contentedly, “I want to try the original flavor of the chicken soup.”

Xiao Lou pushed the vinegar and chili dishes aside. “I like the original flavor too. That way, the chicken soup is not overpowered.” She looked around and asked, “Do you want to add anything else? Or something to drink?”

Wu Yi was just bringing a mouthful of noodles to her lips. Hearing this, she quickly bit off the noodles and swallowed before saying, “Sure. What do you usually have with your noodles? I will have whatever you have.”

Xiao Lou smiled again. “Wait here, I will go buy it.”

A moment later, she returned with a bowl of rock sugar pear soup and placed it next to the noodles. “It is autumn now; rock sugar pear soup is perfect.”

Wu Yi mumbled through a mouthful of noodles, “Yes, okay.” After eating about half of the noodles, she put down her chopsticks and stirred the pear soup. Suddenly, she took a clean bowl from a nearby table and poured out half of the soup. “Senior Xiao, have some with me.”

“Oh, no need. I am full from lunch.”

Wu Yi placed the half-bowl in front of her, her eyes bright. “Then just have a little to keep me company. I would feel awkward eating alone.”

Xiao Lou could only agree and slowly sipped the soup with her. Wu Yi remembered something and asked, “The National Day holiday is the day after tomorrow. How are you spending it, Senior Xiao?”

Xiao Lou said, “I am going back to my hometown for National Day.”

Wu Yi’s eyes flickered. “Where is your hometown?”

“A small village in Huainan.”

“National Day is right during the autumn harvest. Are you going back to help?”

A soft smile appeared in Xiao Lou’s eyes, as if she were thinking of her family. “Yes. It is the peak of the harvest, so I have to go back and lend a hand. Plus, I have to hand in the assignments my master gave me.”

Wu Yi’s gaze fell on Xiao Lou’s pale, slender hands. Her fingers were like white jade, well-proportioned, long, clean, and beautiful. It was easy to imagine these hands playing a zither, painting, or tenderly drawing someone’s eyebrows. To think these hands had to go back to do farm work made Wu Yi’s heart ache uncontrollably. She looked down and drank her soup in silence for a while before saying, “What a pity. I have makeup classes during National Day, otherwise I would have followed you to your home to play.”

Xiao Lou quickly shook her head. “That will not do. You must prioritize your studies; you cannot be running around everywhere.”

Wu Yi pursed her lips and put down her spoon. “Then, if I have questions about my schoolwork during this time, can I contact you?”

She secretly decided she had to find a logical way to help the Xiao family gain wealth quickly, and to make Sun Xuezhong realize Xiao Lou’s poverty so he would support her more lavishly. If all else failed, she would step in herself. In short, she would make sure her beloved never had to worry about money or chores again.

“Yes, just message me on WeChat.”

Wu Yi was overjoyed. Just as she was about to speak, Xiao Lou added, “Actually, I am only going back for three days before returning to campus. A classmate asked for my help.”

Wu Yi’s heart skipped a beat. She asked hurriedly, “Is it Senior Yu or Senior Mo?”

Xiao Lou smiled slightly. “You certainly have a good memory. It is your Senior Mo.”

Wu Yi’s heart sank, and the light in her eyes dimmed. Xiao Lou was helping Mo Qinghan tonight, and helping her again during National Day. Would all this helping not just bring them closer? The more she thought about it, the more miserable she felt, but she had no idea what to do. She could only sit there, feeling a scratchy restlessness in her heart as she drank her soup in a gloomy silence.

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