The Ghost Insists on Giving Me a Beautiful and Powerful Wife! - Chapter 59.1

Yu Ruoyin thought she would meet a middle-aged woman, or perhaps a middle-aged man. To her surprise, the person they were waiting for was an old grandmother.

She had snowy white hair and a face covered in wrinkles.

Her eyes had grown cloudy with age, and her outstretched hands looked like the bark of a withered branch—shriveled and puckered.

Unlike Zhuang Huaishu, who deliberately dressed up to look old, this woman was truly aged. Her frail body looked like a dry twig that might snap at the slightest touch. Though her kind and gentle face was weathered, one could still catch a glimpse of her youthful grace; she must have been very beautiful when she was young. There was a unique floral fragrance clinging to her.

Yu Ruoyin couldn’t quite identify what flower it was; she only found it incredibly pleasant and somewhat familiar.

Jiang Huaining was the first to step forward: “Yinmeng.”

From the moment she entered the shop, Shen Yinmeng’s gaze fell upon Qiu Luo. Seeing Qiu Luo’s bewildered expression, she nervously tugged at the hem of her clothes.

She was certainly not young anymore.

Yet, such a small gesture made her seem like a young girl.

Shen Yinmeng was ill at ease. Hearing Jiang Huaining call her, she finally withdrew her gaze from Qiu Luo.

She was a very gentle person. She smiled at Jiang Huaining: “Boss Jiang, we meet again.”

Jiang Huaining showed none of her usual cold detachment toward Shen Yinmeng. She naturally placed a hand on Shen Yinmeng’s shoulder: “Yinmeng, you’ve arrived a bit late. I thought you would come while waiting for autumn.”

Shen Yinmeng smiled, glanced at Qiu Luo, and then said, “Boss Jiang, I am eighty years old. My steps are slow; you should be understanding.”

“She won’t mind you being old.”

“I would mind.”

“…”

Shen Yinmeng appeared to be an ordinary human—neither a demon nor a spirit, untouched by the world of Yin and Yang.

Yet she was familiar with the Four Spirits Shop and Jiang Huaining; her natural conversation was even more relaxed than that of Lu Qingzhen and the others when facing Jiang Huaining.

Yu Ruoyin couldn’t quite follow the conversation between Jiang Huaining and Shen Yinmeng. She could only see their eyes constantly drifting toward Qiu Luo, and Qiu Luo herself, who had been staring blankly at Shen Yinmeng since she entered the shop. In Qiu Luo’s eyes, one could even see a hint of wonder. Something was very off with all of them.

It wasn’t that Yu Ruoyin was superficial; she admitted that Shen Yinmeng must have been beautiful in her youth, but the Shen Yinmeng before them had long passed the age that would make a beautiful young woman’s heart flutter. Lian Zhen was the best proof of this—she didn’t even want to spare Shen Yinmeng a second glance. Yet, with just a bit of thought, one would realize that this person who suddenly appeared in the Four Spirits Shop and spoke with Jiang Huaining could only be the benefactor and dream lover she was so desperate to find, as well as Yu Ruoyin’s “parents.”

Yu Ruoyin did not rush forward. She kept her distance and observed Shen Yinmeng cautiously. Lacking her memories, she couldn’t determine whether Shen Yinmeng was her father or her mother. Given Shen Yinmeng’s age, she looked more like Yu Ruoyin’s grandmother, though Jiang Huaining had ruled that option out early on.

As she stared expectantly at Shen Yinmeng, the older woman felt her gaze and finally turned her attention from Qiu Luo to Yu Ruoyin. The moment she saw Yu Ruoyin’s face, a light flickered in her cloudy eyes. She instinctively took two steps toward Yu Ruoyin, then remembered something and stopped.

Shen Yinmeng turned back to look at Jiang Huaining. Jiang Huaining nodded slightly: “Yinmeng, you can recognize her.”

“Xiao Yu.” With Jiang Huaining’s permission, Shen Yinmeng no longer hesitated. She quickly reached Yu Ruoyin’s side, her eyes reddening slightly. “Xiao Yu, you’ve grown up. Mama and Papa hardly recognize you.”

The words “Mama” and “Papa” that came from Shen Yinmeng’s mouth were in two completely different voices.

One was gentle; the other was deep.

She had two vocal registers: a female voice and a male voice.

Yu Ruoyin froze. Jiang Huaining explained: “Before Yinmeng retired, she performed male roles in opera. She can mimic a man’s voice, so I asked her to play the roles of your parents back then.”

While Jiang Huaining explained, her eyes remained fixed on Yu Ruoyin, monitoring her physical condition.

Seeing that Yu Ruoyin was merely dazed and suffering no ill effects, she signaled Shen Yinmeng to place her hand on the center of Yu Ruoyin’s forehead.

Shen Yinmeng followed the instructions. Jiang Huaining tapped lightly on the back of Shen Yinmeng’s hand, and a tiny cut opened in her palm. A bead of blood emerged, and the scent of fresh blood spread through the air. Qiu Luo’s eyelashes trembled violently; she instinctively reached out her hand but pulled it back sharply before touching Shen Yinmeng.

The bead of blood spread across the center of Yu Ruoyin’s forehead, covering it like a piece of red paper.

Suddenly, the skin on Yu Ruoyin’s forehead began to twitch. An insect actually surfaced, pushing against her flesh and crawling beneath the skin.

Zhuang Ciyue watched as the little bug poked up Yu Ruoyin’s skin, squirming inside. She swallowed nervously: “Xiao Yu, doesn’t it hurt?”

Yu Ruoyin couldn’t see what was happening on her forehead. She reached up to touch it and only felt a slight protrusion: “It doesn’t hurt.”

This didn’t last long. Jiang Huaining directed Shen Yinmeng to hook the center of Yu Ruoyin’s forehead with the tip of her pinky finger. The skin split open instantly; not a single drop of blood fell, only a pitch-black insect dropped into Shen Yinmeng’s palm. As Shen Yinmeng closed her hand, it vanished.

Once the insect was gone, the opening on Yu Ruoyin’s forehead quickly healed. The blurred memories in her mind began to sharpen.

Yu Ruoyin remembered many warm scenes, though she still couldn’t see her parents’ faces.

Growing up, Yu Ruoyin always felt her home was very warm because her parents never fought—they were never even in the same room at the same time. As a child, she hadn’t thought much of it, but now she realized how many things were wrong. For instance, although she couldn’t see their faces, both “Papa” and “Mama” had long hair. “Papa” always wore that black suit, and “Mama” always wore the same dress, regardless of the season or temperature. Whenever they appeared before her, they were always in those two outfits.

It wasn’t because of the Soul-Losing Gu that she had forgotten her parents’ faces; Yu Ruoyin had never truly known them to begin with.

Shen Yinmeng was an ordinary person. To play the young parents of a little girl while in an elderly body, the father’s suit and the mother’s dress were the keys to avoiding exposure.

Yu Ruoyin was no longer a novice in the world of the supernatural. She quickly realized this was a form of illusion.

Shen Yinmeng couldn’t perform illusions, but Jiang Huaining could. With Jiang Huaining’s power, making it impossible for the neighbors or Yu Ruoyin to see through the ruse was a simple task. Thus, her “parents” were actually the same person; they were both the Shen Yinmeng standing before her.

“Xiao Yu, be good. Mama is here.”

“Xiao Yu, if anyone bullies you at school, you must tell Papa.”

“What does Xiao Yu want to eat tonight? Mama will cook it for you, okay?”

“…”

Clear dialogue, gentle tones.

Those were the voices that had vanished from her life eight years ago. Yu Ruoyin’s nose felt a bit prickly.

She leaned toward Shen Yinmeng, who reflexively pulled her into an embrace. “Xiao Yu, I’ve gone back to see you over the years. It’s just… fate is sometimes unreasonable. If I hadn’t left your life, you might… you might have died.”

Shen Yinmeng explained the helplessness of a parent abandoning a child. Her nervous and uneasy tone made Yu Ruoyin realize that Shen Yinmeng might be afraid of her resentment.

As Yu Ruoyin’s “parent,” she felt guilty—guilty for missing so much of Yu Ruoyin’s upbringing.

But Shen Yinmeng didn’t need to feel that way. She was originally just a “fake” parent arranged by Jiang Huaining. Even if she had no feelings for Yu Ruoyin, Yu Ruoyin would have understood. Yet, she wrapped Yu Ruoyin in a soft embrace, her voice thick with guilt and pity: “Xiao Yu, you’ve had a hard time these years. It’s been… very exhausting, hasn’t it?”

Only now did Yu Ruoyin feel certain that Shen Yinmeng was her parent.

Truth or fiction didn’t matter.

What mattered was that Shen Yinmeng was willing to love her.

She hugged Shen Yinmeng back, burying her head in her chest: “Mama, Papa.”

Zhuang Ciyue watched, dumbfounded. She rubbed her face hard but still couldn’t digest the information. She couldn’t help but tug on Zhuang Huaishu’s sleeve: “Great-aunt, why don’t you slap me? Did I hear that right? This old lady is actually Xiao Yu’s mom and dad?”

Zhuang Huaishu was equally surprised, but then she thought that nothing the owner of the Four Spirits Shop did was truly strange.

Those who lived long lives always had behaviors that normal people couldn’t understand—like Yingzhu.

At this moment, Yingzhu didn’t notice the resentment and irony in Zhuang Huaishu’s gaze. Unable to speak, she pressed close to Qiu Luo, watching the reunion of Yu Ruoyin and Shen Yinmeng. Two lines of ghostly tears fell; she had apparently taken on the role of a professional mourner. Beside her, Lu Qingzhen saw her superior crying and pinched herself twice. Her eyes held unconcealed confusion—some for Yingzhu, and some for Shen Yinmeng. She felt that Shen Yinmeng looked very familiar.

On the other side, Qiu Luo was watching Shen Yinmeng with a look of utter bewilderment, her gaze struggling but holding a faint, visible attachment.

Nan He had strong empathy, and her pure soul could glimpse certain emotions. Standing very close to Qiu Luo, she easily sensed the emotions Qiu Luo wasn’t doing much to hide. She said in a very soft voice: “If you love someone, you should say it in time.”

Nan He had suffered in this regard and didn’t want others to leave with regrets.

Qiu Luo gave her a strange look but still said nothing.

Qiu Luo turned her gaze back to Shen Yinmeng, staring intently. The more she stared, the stranger it felt.

It wasn’t just Qiu Luo who looked strange; everyone in the Four Spirits Shop except Lian Zhen was watching this bizarre reunion between mother and daughter, each with a different expression. Only Lian Zhen kept looking around the shop. Irritated by the sound of the two crying, she urged Jiang Huaining: “Boss Jiang, where is the person you were helping me find?”

Jiang Huaining glanced at her, her gaze turning colder.

She lightly patted Shen Yinmeng’s shoulder: “Yinmeng, she’s looking for you.”

Jiang Huaining waited for Shen Yinmeng to release Yu Ruoyin and turn her gaze toward Lian Zhen. Only then did she say to Lian Zhen: “She is the person you are looking for.”

“Her! How could she be the person I’m looking for!” Lian Zhen stood up in disbelief, pointing at Shen Yinmeng and shaking her head frantically. “No, no, no! How is this possible? Isn’t she a demon? How could she age? How could she grow this old? She shouldn’t be like this! She shouldn’t!”

Jiang Huaining’s gaze grew even colder: “Whether she is or not, you know better than I do.”

In fact, if one looked closely, they would see that after Shen Yinmeng arrived at the shop, Lian Zhen’s body underwent a noticeable change. The fur on her fox tail was falling out, and the tail was becoming shorter. The shedding fur and the broken tail transformed into faint red light, floating toward Shen Yinmeng.

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