My Gorgeous Neighbor Is Cooking Every Day - Chapter 27

Chapter 27

“I don’t need to go out. It can be done at home.”

Xia Xingye sighed: “I’ll help you later.”

Jiang Yingyue: “Okay.”

After bringing Jiang Yingyue back to her home and gently placing her on the sofa, Xia Xingye quickly rummaged for the medical kit. Crouching in front of Jiang Yingyue, she was about to cut the pant leg with scissors, but Jiang Yingyue dodged and asked: “What are you doing with the scissors?”

“Cutting it will be easier than rolling the pants up.”

Jiang Yingyue nodded, saying no more.

Xia Xingye took the scissors and carefully cut the pant leg. When she reached the knee, the fabric there was completely soaked with blood.

As Xia Xingye removed the fabric, she looked up at Jiang Yingyue, who frowned slightly but remained silent.

“Bear with it, Sister. It will be over soon,” Xia Xingye said. She gently peeled back the blood-soaked cloth, quickly took antiseptic to disinfect the wound, and then skillfully applied medication and bandaged it.

After bandaging, Xia Xingye still felt uneasy and asked: “Can we do the rest here at home? Just sit here, and I’ll help you, okay?”

“It’s better to leave professional matters to professionals.”

Hearing her say that, Xia Xingye looked distraught, gazing up at her with self-reproach practically spilling from her eyes.

Jiang Yingyue couldn’t bear it and said: “You can help a little, but not too much.”

“Okay!” Xia Xingye immediately nodded, willing to help even a little bit.

“Oh, right, where is Little Jiang?” Since Jiang Yingyue returned, Xia Xingye hadn’t seen her take out Little Jiang. Usually, when at home, Jiang Yingyue liked to place Little Jiang on the table.

Hearing the question, Jiang Yingyue took out Little Jiang. Little Jiang also had some blood on it. Xia Xingye’s face darkened, and she frowned at Jiang Yingyue.

“That’s not my blood,” Jiang Yingyue quickly explained.

Xia Xingye just looked at her without speaking, the words I don’t believe you almost written on her forehead.

Jiang Yingyue sighed helplessly and said to Little Jiang: “You explain to her.”

Little Jiang grumbled: “You got blood all over me, and now you won’t hurry up and get treated.”

Jiang Yingyue, who clearly wasn’t injured, looked at Little Jiang in confusion, not understanding why it was talking nonsense.

Hearing Little Jiang say Jiang Yingyue was injured, Xia Xingye couldn’t sit still. She picked up the scissors placed nearby and stared intently at Jiang Yingyue’s abdomen.

Jiang Yingyue said weakly: “I really didn’t get hurt.”

“If you’re not hurt, can I take a look?” Xia Xingye pleaded, “If I take a look, I’ll be relieved. If I don’t, I won’t be able to sleep.”

At this point, Jiang Yingyue should have agreed, but she was still inherently resistant to such closeness with others.

“Really no?” Xia Xingye saw Jiang Yingyue pressing her hands tightly on her hemline and questioned, “Sister, are you shy?”

She hadn’t realized why before, but hearing Xia Xingye say that, Jiang Yingyue immediately understood that she was shy. However, she looked at Xia Xingye with confusion. Why should she be shy in front of Xia Xingye?

“There’s nothing to be shy about. How about this, I’ll cut my clothes too, okay?” Xia Xingye had made up her mind. She reached for her own hemline and, with the other hand holding the scissors, was about to cut.

“Wait!” Jiang Yingyue didn’t have time to ponder the question in her mind. She quickly stopped her and compromised, “You don’t need to cut yours. I’ll show you.”

Regardless, Xia Xingye was determined to see if she was hurt. Since that was the case, it was better to save one item of clothing from Xia Xingye’s clutches.

Xia Xingye’s face lit up. She quickly pulled up Jiang Yingyue’s hemline, made a small cut, and carefully pulled it open to examine Jiang Yingyue’s abdomen.

Delicate, pale skin came into view, bearing slight traces of blood, which added a touch of allure, but there was no wound whatsoever.

Xia Xingye breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, her eyes were momentarily dazzled by the sight of the firm skin. She remained motionless for a long while.

“Looks good, right?” Little Jiang’s voice suddenly rang out.

Xia Xingye cleared her throat, stood up, and let her eyes dart left and right, occasionally lingering on Jiang Yingyue’s abdomen.

Xia Xingye’s gaze was too intense. Jiang Yingyue felt as if her exposed skin was being scalded. She stood up and said: “I’ll change my clothes.”

Xia Xingye didn’t stop her from changing, despite her limited mobility. She only said a little awkwardly: “Be careful, Sister. No need to rush. I’ll wait outside for you.”

After Jiang Yingyue entered the room and closed the door, Xia Xingye muttered softly: “It was good-looking.”

Then she looked at Little Jiang, which was placed on the table. She paused, took a wet towel, sat on the sofa, picked up Little Jiang, and while wiping off the bloodstains, asked: “Were you doing that on purpose?”

Little Jiang didn’t answer her. Instead, it asked: “Then do you like it?”

“What kind of question is that?” Xia Xingye was amused by its words. “Sister isn’t hurt. Of course I’m happy.”

Little Jiang continued to ask: “I’m asking if you like it, not if you’re happy.”

Xia Xingye blinked and said curiously: “If I’m happy, doesn’t that mean I like it?”

Little Jiang was silent for a while, then said with disdain: “Blockhead.”

Xia Xingye was stunned: “Wait, who are you calling a blockhead? Did you forget you’re the one who is wood?”

Little Jiang didn’t get angry at Xia Xingye’s words. Instead, it sneered: “Even if I’m a plant, I’m still more enlightened than your blockhead brain.”

Xia Xingye never expected that one day she would be called a blockhead by something resembling a plant. More than anger, she felt surprise and confusion.

She intentionally asked Little Jiang: “You say I’m a blockhead. Why am I a blockhead? Go on, tell me.”

“I’m not telling you,” Little Jiang said dismissively, “Stop touching me. If you touch me for too long, I’ll become a blockhead too.”

Xia Xingye’s hand, which was wiping the blood off Little Jiang, paused. She put Little Jiang down and threw the towel onto it. Little Jiang fell onto the table with a thud.

“Murder! You are committing murder! You can’t argue with me, so you resort to murder!” Little Jiang shouted.

Xia Xingye covered her ears and turned her back: “I’m not listening, I’m not listening, I’m not listening.”

As long as she pretended not to hear what Little Jiang was saying, what she did just now hadn’t happened.

Xia Xingye waited in the living room for a long time but Jiang Yingyue didn’t come out. She was a little nervous and knocked on the door: “Sister, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” a voice came from inside.

Hearing the reply, Xia Xingye asked again: “Then can I come in?”

She waited for a while but received no answer. She couldn’t help but ask again. Only then did Jiang Yingyue respond: “Mhm, come in.”

When she entered, she saw Jiang Yingyue sitting on the bed, already dressed in clean clothes. Seeing Xia Xingye enter, she said: “I need to perform a ritual to send Ren Ruofang off.”

“I don’t want to go!” Ren Ruofang, who had been silent, suddenly shouted, “I don’t want to leave now.”

Jiang Yingyue took the bottle out and placed it aside. Xia Xingye stared at the bottle and asked: “Why don’t you want to go? We’ve already found the person you were looking for.”

“But…”

“If you don’t go, I won’t perform the ritual for her,” Jiang Yingyue interrupted Ren Ruofang.

Ren Ruofang said unwillingly: “You did help me find someone, but I haven’t even spoken to her. The person I met clearly wasn’t her. That thing is neither human nor ghost! That ghost couldn’t possibly be Dong Yiyu!”

She was so nervous that her words were slightly incoherent. She admitted the ghost was Dong Yiyu in the first half of her sentence but denied it in the second half.

Xia Xingye said casually: “Since she’s not Dong Yiyu, then let’s send her off.”

Ren Ruofang didn’t speak. Xia Xingye continued to talk to Jiang Yingyue: “Sister, ask someone else to help her cross over. Don’t keep her here with us.”

“Alright, I’ll find someone else.” Jiang Yingyue didn’t ask Xia Xingye why she wanted someone else to help Dong Yiyu cross over, even though she could do it herself. But she trusted that Xia Xingye wouldn’t say this for no reason.

“Wait a minute!” Ren Ruofang asked anxiously, “Are you really going to find someone else? Won’t you lose credit if you don’t do the crossing over yourself?”

Before Jiang Yingyue could answer, Xia Xingye scoffed: “Why do you care so much? She’s not the person you were looking for anyway, so just let someone else send her off.”

Ren Ruofang was genuinely anxious now: “Don’t do that!”

Xia Xingye pressured her: “What do you mean ‘don’t do that’? Do you acknowledge her or not? If you don’t, we’ll send her off.”

“How can you be like this?”

“How am I being?”

Ren Ruofang’s voice choked with tears as Xia Xingye pressured her: “You clearly know she’s Dong Yiyu, yet you’re asking us why we want to send her off? I’m giving you one last chance. Do you acknowledge her?”

“What’s the point of me acknowledging her? She won’t change back just because I acknowledge her.” Ren Ruofang broke down crying. She didn’t want to acknowledge her and didn’t dare to.

If she didn’t acknowledge her, Dong Yiyu would remain the way she was in her memory, not this ghastly state. She didn’t understand why Xia Xingye was forcing her to admit it.

Xia Xingye asked: “What if we send her off first?”

Ren Ruofang said pitifully: “I want to go with her.” She had made up her mind. Even if Dong Yiyu wasn’t the way she was in her memory, she accepted it. She didn’t want her daughter to be alone on her journey.

Ren Ruofang agreed. Next was preparing for the ritual.

Xia Xingye let Jiang Yingyue watch and personally prepared all the necessary items according to her instructions.

As requested by Ren Ruofang, they went to the park from before to perform the ritual for them.

Although strange things often happened at the park and people were injured, it was still frequented by people with children during the day. To avoid scaring others, Xia Xingye and Jiang Yingyue waited until late at night when the park was quiet and deserted before taking their things there.

At the park, Xia Xingye suddenly remembered that the last time they came to the park, it was to find the culprit. She asked Jiang Yingyue: “Is this related to the same people as Dong Yiyu’s case?”

“They are already dead,” Jiang Yingyue said directly.

Xia Xingye was stunned. It seemed like she hadn’t asked that question, but Jiang Yingyue continued: “When we went to find them, they tried to capture Dong Yiyu’s soul to continue using her, but they accidentally released Dong Yiyu.”

“They deserve it!” Ren Ruofang shouted, saying with resentment, “If it weren’t for them, she wouldn’t have become like this. It’s a bargain for them that they died!”

Ren Ruofang no longer concealed that the tragic ghost at the school was her childhood friend. Everything she said was in defense of Dong Yiyu: “She clearly didn’t do anything wrong, so why should she be used even after being killed?”

“They are already dead. Don’t talk about it anymore.” Xia Xingye frowned. Although Ren Ruofang was still in the bottle, Xia Xingye could vaguely feel black mist spreading from the bottle. The resentment was almost materializing.

Xia Xingye had no doubt that if this continued, Ren Ruofang would also become a malevolent ghost.

“Why can’t I talk about it?” Ren Ruofang clearly disagreed with Xia Xingye.

Xia Xingye finished the simple setup for Jiang Yingyue. For the parts she didn’t understand, Jiang Yingyue had to do them herself. Xia Xingye directly picked up the bottle and the box, putting the two together. Xia Xingye asked her: “Do you want her to die with a grudge?”

Ren Ruofang asked, puzzled: “Isn’t she already?”

Xia Xingye looked at the quiet box and sighed helplessly: “Why do you think she stayed in the dormitory and refused to leave?”

“Because those bad people took advantage of her,” Ren Ruofang replied.

“That’s one part,” Xia Xingye gently tapped the bottle and said, “Don’t you know she was waiting for you too?”

“Stop trying to trick me,” Ren Ruofang said angrily, “She’s lost her mind. How could she be waiting for me?”

Xia Xingye suddenly picked up the box. Before Ren Ruofang could react, she opened the box. The moment the box opened, a black shadow darted out. The black shadow stood aside, silent.