After pushing aside the unhealthy thoughts in her mind, Su Yao got up to prepare dinner for tonight.
Ordinary dishes were definitely out of the question. Seeing Mu Nanqiu’s current state, she probably could only manage some plain congee.
Plain congee, plain congee… If it was just plain congee, that wouldn’t do either. It needed to be more nutritious, with some added ingredients.
So Su Yao went to wash the rice and started cooking plain congee. Why plain congee? Because making anything else was too much trouble, so she just used whatever ingredients she had at home for a simple meal.
Cooking congee always took quite some time. In the meantime, she’d just have to endure her hunger.
“Yao Yao, I want some water.”
“I’m coming, I’m coming.”
Su Yao heard the call, and hurried to fill half a paper cup with boiled water, mixed in some room-temperature water, and tasted it herself. Once she felt the temperature was right, she carried it to Mu Nanqiu’s window.
She helped Mu Nanqiu sit up. Nanqiu wasn’t so weak that she needed someone to feed her water, unlike Su Yao—back then, Su Yao had been in double negative status, so muddle-headed that she was lucky to have survived at all.
After a small sip, Mu Nanqiu noticed Su Yao staring at her and asked curiously, “Why are you staring at me like that?”
“It’s nothing…”
Su Yao blinked, then looked away. Her eyes landed on a pile of clothes tossed in the basket.
She walked over to check and found it was the clothes Mu Nanqiu had been wearing these past days.
Only then did she remember—she had washed her own clothes, but forgotten about Mu Nanqiu’s.
“You could’ve just tossed them in with mine, I’m used to living alone, so I didn’t notice yours.”
Mu Nanqiu glanced away, mumbling a soft “mm.”
Su Yao picked up the basket and took it into the bathroom. Since there was still time, she decided to hand-wash them herself. There weren’t many clothes; she dumped the whole basket into a large basin and separated out the private garments.
When she picked up a “Rabbit Den” piece, she couldn’t help but hold it to her own chest and compare—sure enough, it was smaller than hers, which filled her with a strange sense of pride.
She quickly caught on to this odd feeling and muttered to herself in exasperation, “Su Yao, are you actually comparing sizes with someone else now?”
“So you’ve fallen this far, huh.”
After this bout of sentimentality, she still had to face reality. And reality was, hers were indeed a bit bigger and heavier, though they didn’t bring Su Yao any particular benefit—in fact, they were often a nuisance in daily life—but she didn’t blame them.
Rabbits are so cute, why insult the rabbits?
Alright, time to wash them!
Su Yao turned on the tap, watching the close-fitting clothes soak in the water. The room-temperature water was chilling to the bone—a feeling that only subsided in the height of summer.
She used the showerhead to add some hot water, raising the temperature before she dared to start washing.
Washing her own things felt different from washing someone else’s.
But it wasn’t too strange; Su Yao just thought to herself, So this is the life I’m living now.
After a careful half hour of washing, the congee was finally done. After hanging the clothes out to dry, the rice cooker could finally be opened. She scooped out a small bowl and carried it to Mu Nanqiu’s room.
The door wasn’t closed, so she just pushed it open and went in.
She saw Mu Nanqiu playing on her phone. Su Yao pouted, but remembering how Mu Nanqiu had taken care of her not long ago, she sat down at the bedside with a sigh.
“Yao Yao, feed me and make sure to blow on it a bit. I’m afraid of getting burned.”
“Oh, sure.”
Su Yao smiled and agreed, sitting down as requested.
Aside from her pale face and messy hair, Mu Nanqiu didn’t look much like a patient. She could even enjoy being fed with a smile, all while still playing on her phone.
After sensing a resentful gaze, she finally restrained herself, pretending to be seriously ill. Even so, the plain congee was bland and flavorless, not very tasty at all.
Su Yao had added a little salt and sugar, so it should have some taste, but she was worried Mu Nanqiu wouldn’t tolerate anything too strong, so she’d been cautious with the seasoning. In the end, she hadn’t gotten the ratio right; the congee just tasted like plain rice in water. But since it was already made, they’d have to make do.
Of course, when Su Yao ate her own portion, she purposely added a bit more sugar—she liked her food sweet.
Seeing that Mu Nanqiu’s room was a bit messy, Su Yao helped tidy up. As Su Yao worked, Mu Nanqiu lay on the bed the whole time, watching her. If she’d been sitting in a chair, Su Yao would’ve whacked her feet with a broom and made her move them.
Mu Nanqiu watched silently. When Su Yao finished cleaning and wiped the sweat from her forehead, Mu Nanqiu finally spoke.
“So life is made up of all these little things…”
“Huh?”
Su Yao had just sat down to rest. She turned to look at Mu Nanqiu, unsure what she meant.
“I always thought life would be fiery and passionate.”
“Like the other night?”
Su Yao understood where Mu Nanqiu was coming from. She herself was just a regular civilian, neither rich nor powerful, living a life full of mundane chores. Mu Nanqiu, on the other hand, had been born a young lady—others’ unreachable dream—where a single indulgence might cost a family’s savings of ten or twenty years.
For example, if Miss Mu bought a new car, and hadn’t gotten sick today, she’d have taken Su Yao out to try her new toy.
“That day was really exciting. If I could, I’d want every day to be like that.”
Su Yao’s mouth twitched a little. Even between girls, there needed to be some restraint.
“Do you… hate this kind of life?”
“No, I just want to…” For once, Mu Nanqiu fell into a rare silence, unsure of what to say. In her mind, living together meant many things they couldn’t do before were now possible, but new limits had appeared as well. She understood that getting along meant compromise, but when it came to daily habits, she and Su Yao were worlds apart. Mu Nanqiu wondered how she could bridge this gap between them.
Maybe… they could try working together on a business?
Mu Nanqiu looked at Su Yao, examining her carefully. After a long, thoughtful moment, she came to a conclusion.
Her little Yao Yao was really only suited for being kept at home.
Su Yao seemed to sense from Mu Nanqiu’s gaze the headache those stockings were giving her.
She couldn’t help but wonder, What’s wrong with me?
“Yao Yao, there are Sweet Desserts in the fridge. Go have some.”
“Ah? Okay!”
Sweet Dessert?! Su Yao jumped up in delight, her sudden movement making her chest bounce so much she had to quickly hug her nearly-escaped Rabbit Den and dashed out of the room.
Sure enough, the fridge held several clear plastic containers, each one filled with sweet treats that made Su Yao’s mouth water. The scent of cake seemed to waft through the boxes and right to her nose—she could almost taste it.
“Waa~”
She hadn’t eaten her fill with just congee, so Su Yao didn’t care whether it’d be bad for her teeth. She’d just eat first and worry later!
(The house is thundering, and the computer won’t charge. Yesterday’s headache was terrible, so I’ll owe that one for now, and catch up with the next update. orz)