Xie Tao woke up and stared at the familiar ceiling for a long time before looking around her surroundings. Everything was still so familiar, clearly her rented house.
How did she come back again???
Xie Tao suddenly sat up, completely dumbfounded.
Without having time to think more, she quickly took out her mobile phone from beside her pillow, went into WeChat, and started a video call.
Wei Yun had just been sitting at his desk, rubbing his brows, when he heard the delicate ringing sound. He looked up and saw on the copper pendant’s light screen on his desk, a girl’s face appeared.
Just as Xie Tao was about to speak, she saw her own reflection in the top right corner of the phone screen, with her hair in disarray. She widened her eyes, quickly threw the phone onto the bed with a “Wait a minute, Wei Yun” and then ran into the bathroom wearing her slippers.
When she came out, she had washed up, changed clothes, and even tied a ponytail.
“Why am I back again, Wei Yun?” she picked up the phone from the bed and hurriedly asked him.
Wei Yun, who was drinking tea, saw her face on the screen again, put down his tea cup, and said, “The effect of the incense must have a time limit.”
He hadn’t asked Sheng Yueqi about this yet.
It was just his guess.
“Ah?”
This is only his guess.
“Ah?”
Xie Tao tilted her head to think for a moment, then, with her bright, sparkling eyes, she urged him, “Then try again, try again!”
Wei Yun looked at her eagerness and couldn’t help but find it amusing, “Aren’t you going to school today?”
That question made Xie Tao freeze.
Right!
She had school today!
“Then, wait for me, okay? Wait for me to come back after school!” Xie Tao instructed.
The steam from the tea cup curled up, momentarily blurring Wei Yun’s brows and eyes. He wore a faint smile on his lips and did not refuse.
Reluctantly hanging up the video call, Xie Tao looked at the clothes she was wearing, sighed, and then dug out Tiancheng High School’s winter uniform from the wardrobe to change into.
With a lot of homework overdue, Xie Tao spent almost the entire day either listening in class or doing her homework, extremely serious about it.
In the afternoon, Xie Tao suddenly received a WeChat message from Zhou Xinyue.
It was probably about some recent updates of her abroad, and she also asked how Xie Tao had been lately. The two chatted for a long time.
For a moment, Xie Tao seemed to find the image of her old good friend in the lines of Zhou Xinyue’s messages.
That should have been her image.
Knowing that Zhou Xinyue’s situation was gradually improving, Xie Tao felt particularly happy.
She felt once again that her decision to return to Nan City was never wrong because it not only helped Zhou Xinyue get justice but also gave herself the courage to face those nightmares of the past again.
More than a year ago, when she left the Zheng family, all she wanted was to escape.
But now, she had learned to face it.
After school in the afternoon, Xie Tao met Xie Lan at the school gate.
In such cold weather, he was still dressed very lightly, as if he couldn’t feel the cold at all, like someone who had walked step by step from the intense sunlight of summer.
“Tao Tao, here, take this.” Xie Lan handed her a bank card, “Take it and pay back the money.”
Holding the strap of her backpack, Xie Tao stood there, looking at the bank card in his hand, motionless for a long while.
“Take it, didn’t we agree? I’ll pay it back for you first,”
Xie Lan stuffed the bank card into her hand, “Consider it a loan from me, it’s better than borrowing from them, right?”
That seemed to make sense…
Holding the bank card, Xie Tao pursed her lips, then said, “Thank you, I will definitely pay you back as soon as possible.”
Xie Lan waved his hand, looking nonchalant, “When are you going to start working at the tavern?”
Xie Tao was momentarily stunned, her speech slightly stuttering, “You, you guys are serious?”
She still couldn’t quite believe it.
“Tsk, you think me and old Xi are lying to you?” Xie Lan made a gesture as if to flick her forehead.
Xie Tao quickly dodged backwards, covering her forehead, “I understand now…”
“Alright, go do what you need to do, next time let’s go eat hotpot together.”
After saying this, Xie Lan, with one hand in his pocket, turned and walked towards the opposite street.
At times of frequent traffic, his figure had disappeared without a trace, at that moment, all the cameras on the street flashed simultaneously, losing a segment of footage that should have been captured.
When he appeared at the entrance of the small tavern, old Xi, who was polishing glasses, glanced up, saw him, and smiled, “Back again.”
“Mm.” Xie Lan walked in, sat down opposite old Xi, and took a sip of water.
“Did you take care of Tao Tao?” Old Xi asked.
Xie Lan nodded, “Took care of it. It’s better she owes me than her stepfather.”
Old Xi smiled faintly, his tone suddenly carrying a deep meaning, “You seem to care a lot about Tao Tao.”
“It’s because she’s worth it,” Xie Lan casually remarked.
“She’s quite cute, kind-hearted, and most importantly, her skill in cooking braised pork is something I really admire. Just for that, who else would I lend money to if not her?”
Hearing this, old Xi seemed to pause for a moment, then his expression became a bit strange. He stared at Xie Lan, asking, “Just because of these reasons?”
“What else?” Xie Lan and he looked at each other, then casually started to crack open some sunflower seeds, “Over these years, besides you, hardly anyone talks to me. And there’s nothing much to say to you, an old man, we have too big of a generation gap. Sister Tao is pretty nice, it’s nice having a sister. Of course, the most important thing is, she’s good at cooking…”
“…”
Old Xi had never expected that Xie Lan’s kindness towards Xie Tao was for these reasons.
At that moment, Xie Lan completely missed the look old Xi gave him, which was akin to seeing a fool.
“But I am curious, old Xi, you’re not someone who easily softens. How did you agree to let Sister Tao work in the tavern?” Xie Lan, cracking sunflower seeds, suddenly thought of this question.
Old Xi smiled, not denying it.
After a while, he looked out at the empty space outside the tavern’s main door, then said, “She and I, indeed, have some connections.”
Old Xi had been trapped in a bottle for hundreds of years until Xie Lan found him, opened the bottle, and thus allowed him to see the light of day again.
But actually, before meeting Xie Lan, that bottle had originally settled in a place.
And the first one to pick up that bottle was actually Xie Tao.
At that time, Xie Tao was just a naive child of a few years old.
Even though old Xi was trapped in the bottle, he could still see everything outside and even hear all sounds.
Thus, he also witnessed firsthand this little girl’s journey from a happy family to a broken home.
Young Xie Tao liked to carry the bottle wherever she went, and at night, when she heard her parents arguing and the sound of objects being smashed during fights, she would hide under the covers, holding the bottle tightly in her hand.
Old Xi had heard her cries.
She was a little girl who could cry a lot, but always hid under the covers to cry secretly.
Except for him, no one could hear the helpless cries of the little girl, and perhaps, no one cared.
This was just one of the most common flavors among the myriad tastes of human life.
Having been a deity for many years, Old Xi had seen much of the world’s joy and sorrow, enduring the flavors of life.
But still, he couldn’t help feeling compassion for the little girl’s cries.
From a young age, she was a kind child.
Even her favorite snacks, she was willing to give to the stray cats and dogs on the street, even squatting by the roadside happily watching them, for an entire afternoon.
She would also often give her favorite candies to the lonely old lady next door, and even retell the stories her mother had told her in her tender voice, seeing the old lady laugh showing her toothless gums, she would laugh along.
A pure and kind heart is always the rarest thing in this world.
Old Xi witnessed her past.
But regretfully, when her family completely fell apart, all that peace was shattered.
That night, her father left never to return, and the little girl cried all night, eventually taking the train to Nan City with her mother.
On the day they arrived in Nan City, she lost her favorite bottle.
Old Xi, trapped inside the lost bottle, was unable to remind her, and then the bottle was picked up and thrown directly into a trash can by the roadside.
After much turmoil, he was finally picked up by Xie Lan.
“Wait a minute… Old Xi, do you mean, Tao Tao picked you up first?”
After listening to Old Xi, Xie Lan touched his chin and asked.
Seeing Old Xi nod, he suddenly burst into laughter, pounding the table.
“Hahahaha… So, Tao Tao picked you up, but from beginning to end had no intention of opening the bottle?”
“…”
Old Xi’s face went wooden, and after a while, he managed to say, “If she had opened it, you would have had nothing to do with it.”
Xie Lan laughed uncontrollably for a while before calming down and then said, “So, I should thank Tao Tao? If not for her, who knows where I’d be picking through trash right now?”
Old Xi glanced at him and remained silent.
At this moment, Xie Tao was unaware of all this; she just packed the bank card and filled out the address at the courier company to send to the Zheng family.
When she came out, Xie Tao stood at the door, suddenly letting out a sigh of relief.
It was as if a cloud that had accumulated in her heart for many years had finally dissipated into mist and vanished, her eyes and brows slightly raised, finally showing a relaxed expression.
She went to the supermarket to buy some snacks, then Xie Tao hurried back home.
At that time, Wei Yun had just returned from the forbidden palace, with Wei Bo following behind him, hesitating to speak.
Until Wei Yun entered the study, he stopped in the courtyard, still hesitating to speak.
“What’s the matter with you, Wei Bo?” Seeing his unusual expression, Wei Jing asked.
Wei Bo coughed lightly, took a quick look around, and then moved closer to Wei Jing, lowering his voice, “This morning, after the master left the mansion, I went to tidy up his bedroom. And guess what?”
“What happened?” Wei Jing asked.
Wei Bo covered his mouth with his hand, whispering, “The master’s quilt… it’s gone.”
The master’s quilt is gone?
Wei Jing was confused.
The next moment, he frowned, “Could there have been an assassin?”
Wei Bo uttered a sound of disbelief, shaking his head, “Which assassin would steal the master’s quilt?”
“Then, a thief?” Wei Jing suggested again.
“Which thief would only steal a quilt?” Wei Bo posed a soul-piercing question.
“…”
“…”
The two looked at each other, both utterly baffled.
Wei Yun entered the study, and had just sat down for a moment, his hands on a cipher that he had yet to read, when he felt the copper pendant inside his robe getting hot.
When he took it out, the star disk on the copper pendant started spinning, and a light screen appeared.
The face of a girl appeared clearly before him.
Then, he heard her urgently saying, “Wei Yun, Wei Yun, hurry up and light the incense! Quick, quick!”
“…”
Wei Yun had no choice but to pour some of the gold powder from the brocade bag into the incense burner, and then light it with a fire striker.
Thick smoke suddenly filled the room.
When it gathered again, it slowly formed a figure that became clearer and clearer.
The next moment, the figure of the girl emerged from the thick smoke, completely appearing, and unexpectedly, she fell into his arms.
She was holding a bag of snacks, sitting on his lap, obviously still a bit stunned.
For a moment, their eyes met.
The atmosphere was stagnant.
