My Gorgeous Neighbor Is Cooking Every Day - Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Xia Xingye went to get Ren Ruofang’s bottle again, changing her tone as she asked Jiang Yingyue: “Sister, how do we let her out?”

Jiang Yingyue didn’t turn her head and said: “She can come out on her own.”

Xia Xingye froze for a moment. She tapped the bottle with her finger and asked: “How long are you going to hide in there? She’s out. Is she waiting for you? Won’t you know if you ask? If you keep acting like a coward, this might be your life forever.”

Xia Xingye didn’t say anything more after that. It took a while for Ren Ruofang to come out of the bottle. She kept her distance from Dong Yiyu, cautiously looking at the black shadow whose appearance was completely obscured.

“You two go talk by yourselves,” Xia Xingye said as she walked towards Jiang Yingyue, adding, “Don’t hide from each other. Talk properly and don’t leave with regrets.”

The black mist enveloping Dong Yiyu gradually dispersed, revealing a pale, slightly terrifying face.

Ren Ruofang was hesitant. Although she hadn’t seen Dong Yiyu for many years, she recognized her immediately. However, because Dong Yiyu’s fate had been exploited, she looked extremely haggard, even horrifying.

How could that quiet girl turn into this terrifying appearance?

Ren Ruofang subconsciously wanted to retreat, but as soon as she took a step back, she saw Dong Yiyu lower her eyes.

Ren Ruofang’s eyes welled up. She quickly rushed forward and hugged Dong Yiyu, sobbing uncontrollably: “I’m sorry, I came too late.”

Dong Yiyu shook her head and gently patted Ren Ruofang’s back, just like when Ren Ruofang was little and would run to her after being bullied by other children, and she, unsure of what to do, would comfort her like this.

The two didn’t hide their conversation. Xia Xingye kept one ear perked, listening to them, while keeping her eyes on Jiang Yingyue. The moment she saw Jiang Yingyue bend over, she quickly went to help her.

After the preparations were complete, Jiang Yingyue turned her head to look at the two who were clinging together and unwilling to separate: “It’s time to go on your way.”

Xia Xingye cleared her throat: “Sister, don’t be so blunt.”

Jiang Yingyue looked at her in confusion. Xia Xingye patted her chest and said: “Let me say it.”

She walked up to the two and told them: “You have plenty of time to be together, but now… well, it’s time to go.”

Ren Ruofang’s eyes widened in surprise and asked: “Do you have the Meng Po soup (elixir of oblivion)?”

“Of course not,” Xia Xingye saw Ren Ruofang looking at her speechlessly, then said, “Alright, it’s just a crossing over, not forcing you to immediately reincarnate. After you leave, you can take your time.”

“We don’t have to separate?” Ren Ruofang was somewhat suspicious, tightening her grip on Dong Yiyu’s hand.

“No,” Jiang Yingyue replied, “Who said you had to separate?”

“Then why did you want to send me off first just now?” Ren Ruofang was still skeptical.

Xia Xingye was also curious and looked at Jiang Yingyue.

Jiang Yingyue showed no guilt and said seriously: “I suggested you go first because the ritual I need to perform for her later will be quite painful. If you can accept that, then it’s up to you.”

“Painful? How painful?” Ren Ruofang asked cautiously.

Feeling her hand being tugged, Ren Ruofang looked at Dong Yiyu, who was holding her hand. Ren Ruofang understood her meaning and said earnestly: “I’ll go with you.”

Dong Yiyu shook her head. Ren Ruofang smiled: “It’s fine. How painful can it be? It won’t be more painful than having your soul scattered.”

“Have you decided?” Jiang Yingyue didn’t give them much time to talk.

“Listen to me,” Ren Ruofang gently nudged Dong Yiyu with her shoulder. “You’re used to listening to me, aren’t you? Listen to me this time too.”

Dong Yiyu looked at her for a long time, then nodded silently.

The two then walked to the center of the formation under Jiang Yingyue’s direction. After they entered, Jiang Yingyue burned two talismans and lit the incense. As she moved, the previously windless park immediately became breezy. As the gusts of wind blew, Jiang Yingyue’s hair was scattered.

Xia Xingye watched her quietly from the side. The airflow around Jiang Yingyue made her seem like she was in the center of a whirlwind. Her robes fluttered as if she was about to ascend to immortality. In a trance, Xia Xingye saw the figure from her dream in Jiang Yingyue’s silhouette.

Xia Xingye stared for a moment, then blinked hard, and the two overlapping figures finally separated.

Xia Xingye pursed her lips. She looked at Little Jiang on the side, walked over, picked it up, and whispered: “Little Jiang, tell me honestly, was the reason I could hear you really just because I was next door at the time?”

Xia Xingye initially thought she could hear Little Jiang because she was naturally gifted, but then Jiang Yingyue told her it was because she was in the next room and was affected by the residual energy.

She had always believed what Jiang Yingyue said, but now she inexplicably recalled the dream she had last night and suspected that Little Jiang hadn’t told her something very important. The reason she could hear it wasn’t just because she was next door.

If it were just being next door, why would it be her by such a coincidence? Had there never been anyone next door to Jiang Yingyue? Xia Xingye felt strongly that Jiang Yingyue and Little Jiang were keeping a secret from her, a secret that Jiang Yingyue didn’t want Little Jiang to reveal.

Little Jiang said helplessly: “You know I won’t say anything. Asking me repeatedly is useless. You should ask her instead.”

Xia Xingye pinched it. Seeing that Jiang Yingyue hadn’t finished the ritual, she continued: “You know very well she won’t tell me, otherwise why would I ask you?”

“But you also have to know that I belong to her. If she tells me not to speak, I can’t. If I speak, wouldn’t I be a traitor?” Little Jiang pointed a finger and said, “You want to corrupt me, you want me to be a traitor.”

“I… what did I do?” Xia Xingye was speechless. “I just want to know the secret you’re keeping. If the secret wasn’t related to me, I wouldn’t ask you.”

It was precisely because she sensed the secret was related to her that she wanted to know. Although she also wanted to know Jiang Yingyue’s secrets, she wouldn’t be so rude as to pry into someone else’s privacy.

“You really want to know?” Little Jiang deliberately drew out its words.

“Tell me, and I’ll buy you anything you want. I’ll take you out if you want to leave,” Xia Xingye tried to bribe Little Jiang.

“In that case…” Little Jiang deliberately drew out its voice. Just when Xia Xingye thought it was about to speak, she heard it shout: “Help! She’s trying to abuse me! She’s trying to torture me into confession!”

Xia Xingye paused, looked up, and saw Jiang Yingyue had finished and was walking toward her, holding out her hand for Little Jiang.

Xia Xingye glared fiercely at Little Jiang but still returned it to Jiang Yingyue, unharmed.

On the way back, Xia Xingye couldn’t help but criticize Little Jiang in her mind. It looked like such an honest little thing, yet it had so many thoughts, and it even knew how to stall for time so Jiang Yingyue could save it.

The more Little Jiang concealed, the more Xia Xingye wanted to know what secret Jiang Yingyue was hiding.

Xia Xingye looked at Jiang Yingyue’s back and quickly walked up to her side: “Sister, can you tell me what happened after you found that person yesterday?”

Jiang Yingyue spoke a little awkwardly, stumbling over her words as she recounted what happened yesterday. With Little Jiang’s help, Jiang Yingyue successfully found the people who performed the ritual.

The ritual performers tried to recapture Dong Yiyu but were injured by her retaliation. During this process, Jiang Yingyue also accidentally sustained a minor injury.

Afterward, she had originally planned to go home, but she decided to go see the person who had exchanged fates with Dong Yiyu.

The person who exchanged fates with Dong Yiyu was a child from a wealthy family. He had been very weak since birth and had been close to death several times. Eventually, his family hardened their hearts and found someone to exchange his fate with Dong Yiyu’s.

Dong Yiyu didn’t say a word throughout the process, but Ren Ruofang kept cursing. However, even as she cursed, she never spoke to Dong Yiyu, truly treating her like a stranger.

Although Dong Yiyu didn’t speak, Jiang Yingyue could sense that her resentment wasn’t as strong after she injured the Taoist priest who exchanged their fates.

“Perhaps she also hated the child who exchanged fates, but she didn’t say anything in the end,” Jiang Yingyue said.

“Maybe it’s because Ren Ruofang was by her side,” Xia Xingye suggested.

“Maybe,” Jiang Yingyue couldn’t be sure either.

Xia Xingye asked: “Will they really walk the path of reincarnation together?”

“Although Dong Yiyu had become neither ghost nor human and scared many people at the school, she didn’t take any lives, so she won’t be punished in the afterlife,” Jiang Yingyue replied.

Xia Xingye breathed a sigh of relief. They had managed to find each other, even if the ending wasn’t exactly perfect.

As they walked, Xia Xingye suddenly stopped. She looked to the side. The person who had been walking right next to her a second ago had vanished.

She turned around but couldn’t see Jiang Yingyue anywhere. Xia Xingye pursed her lips and tried calling out: “Sister?”

No response.

Xia Xingye immediately ran to the intersection to wait, but she didn’t see anyone after a while.

It seemed that Jiang Yingyue hadn’t suddenly disappeared; rather, she had suddenly disappeared. This feeling was not good at all.

Xia Xingye didn’t know why this kept happening to her. She had never experienced it before. It only started after she met Jiang Yingyue.

Xia Xingye didn’t blame Jiang Yingyue. On the contrary, she felt that someone was jealous of her being with Jiang Yingyue, so they kept playing tricks, trying to scare her into staying away from Jiang Yingyue.

The more she thought about it, the more convinced she was. Xia Xingye snorted: “Don’t try to scare me. I still have my protective talisman.”

“Why are you here?” Xia Xingye immediately turned around when she heard a voice. Her vigilant expression instantly turned into confusion when she saw who it was.

“Why are you two here?” Xia Xingye looked at Liu Xuantong and Feng Tinglan and asked uncertainly, “Are you two real people? You’re not some demon or monster pretending to be people, are you?”

Liu Xuantong was initially delighted to see Xia Xingye and was walking toward her. Hearing Xia Xingye’s question, she suddenly stopped and looked at her warily: “Then are you a real person?”

Xia Xingye blinked, looked at herself, took out the talisman from her pocket, and said: “I think I must be a real person. If you’re real, want to test it out?”

“Wait a minute,” Feng Tinglan pulled back Liu Xuantong, who was about to go over. “How do you know the thing in her hand is actually a protective talisman?”

Liu Xuantong realized. Xia Xingye saw them stop and shrugged: “Anyway, there are only three of us here. If you don’t come over, just stay there and wait.”

After a moment of stalemate, Liu Xuantong was the first to compromise: “I don’t think she looks like a bad person. How about I go over and try?”

Feng Tinglan held her back: “You stay here. I’ll go.”

As the two were still arguing over who should go, Xia Xingye had already walked up to them, slapped the protective talisman in her hand onto Liu Xuantong’s hand. Seeing no reaction, she slapped it onto Feng Tinglan’s arm.

The two arguing people were suddenly slapped and both looked at Xia Xingye.

Xia Xingye nodded with relief: “Looks like neither of you is a filthy thing.”

Liu Xuantong: “…”

Feng Tinglan: “…”