Shen Cishu watched the video where Mother had prepared a sumptuous meal for her daughter, sadness and envy flickering in her eyes.
She thought of the meals Mother used to make for her back then, but the taste had already blurred in her memory.
She could never taste them again.
Even after the video ended, Shen Cishu remained dazed, staring blankly at the screen.
The desire to eat food that carried Mother’s flavor reached its peak.
She took out her phone and searched endlessly for takeout, but eventually slowly put the phone down.
If there really was takeout nearby that tasted like Mother’s cooking, how could she not have known about it?
Shen Cishu picked up her phone again and opened her friends list.
Her gaze lingered on Su Li’s avatar for a very long time, until even her hand holding the phone began trembling uncontrollably.
Inside, she was torn and hesitant, her heart beating nervously.
She longed to establish contact with the person in front of her but feared falling into a bottomless abyss.
As a teacher, she felt anxious and uneasy.
She also knew well that the Gift of Fate was already being sold openly in the shadows.
And contacting Su Li would come at a great cost.
The first time cost twenty thousand yuan. What about the next time?
Shen Cishu clearly felt that she hadn’t cared much about the expense the last time.
There was even a thought that the twenty thousand yuan spent was worth every penny.
She knew very well that once her bottom line was gradually broken, it would mark the beginning of her fall into the abyss.
If last time was twenty thousand, what if this time was thirty thousand?
She would only think, since she had already spent twenty thousand, what’s an extra ten thousand more?
And the time after that?
She dared not imagine what would happen if she kept sinking further.
She was unwilling to, in the end, be forced to ask that sister she despised so much for help.
Although her sister had told her not to worry if she was short on money, and to come straight to her.
But Shen Cishu would never give up her dignity by asking someone she hated for help.
Moreover, she didn’t want her sister to know what she was doing now.
Frustrated, Shen Cishu closed the chat window, but her heart felt itchy and restless as if ants were crawling all over it.
In the end, she took out her phone again, hoping to distract herself by scrolling through short videos.
But the algorithm only recommended videos of Mother cooking meals for her daughter.
She clearly didn’t want to watch, tried to swipe away the videos, but ended up swiping back to them.
She missed Mother…
Finally, Shen Cishu reopened the WeChat friends list and looked again at Su Li’s avatar.
She felt she might have to surrender to her desire.
Quietly, Shen Cishu made a voice call and waited for Su Li to answer.
As the ringing sounded, she felt her heart pounding wildly.
She both thought the call wouldn’t be picked up and hoped desperately that it would be.
She wanted Su Li to be a fraud, someone who had done all this just to take her money and then disappear.
That way, she could let go of her desire with a clear conscience.
But the call was answered.
Su Li was not a fraud.
She was a demon.
“Hello.”
Hearing the gentle voice on the other end, Shen Cishu’s body trembled instinctively.
For a moment, she seemed to forget that she was calling Su Li and thought she had reached Mother’s phone instead.
As if somewhere in this world, in a place she didn’t know, Mother was watching over her.
“Mother.”
After a long silence, Shen Cishu’s body shook as she spoke in a hoarse voice with a slight tremor.
She didn’t know why she said those words, but she felt she didn’t want to wake up from this dream.
“I’m here.”
“Mother, can you cook?”
“Of course, I’ve always been able to.”
Su Li didn’t know why Shen Cishu had called her, but she knew business was coming.
“Can you make anything, Mother?”
“As long as there’s money, as long as it’s something Xiao Cishu wants to eat, Mother can learn how to make it.”
Su Li softened her tone and spoke gently.
Even though Shen Cishu called her Mother and she was playing a role, she had to emphasize that this was a paid service.
So that Shen Cishu wouldn’t suddenly get emotional and start expecting more.
Remembering what Shen Cishu had said when she left before, Su Li thought Shen Cishu was a rather rational client.
She liked clients who clearly separated business from life.
Clients who wouldn’t entangle her in emotional messes were exactly what she wanted.
As long as it didn’t end up like Xiao Yuyu later on, who suddenly started developing feelings between the two of them.
Su Li actually thought Shen Cishu was probably much more rational than Xiao Yuyu.
“Mom, I’m hungry. I want to eat the food you make. When will you come home to cook?”
Shen Cishu’s aggrieved voice came through the phone.
For a moment, Su Li was a little doubtful whether the other side was playing a role or really immersing herself in it.
But none of that mattered; as long as the money was paid, she didn’t care about anything else.
And Su Li was willing to show some patience with new customers.
“All right, then, Xiao Cishu, you be a good girl and wait for Mother to come home, okay?”
Su Li said softly.
Not long after, the call was disconnected.
She fed the cats playing at home and got ready to go out.
Landlord Bai Huizi seemed to have forgotten Big Thunder in her house.
But Big Thunder seemed to have gotten used to his new home, eating and sleeping as usual, rubbing against her when she came back, competing for attention with the other cats.
When choosing clothes, Su Li hesitated for a moment, then finally wore the clothes she had taken from Shen Cishu’s house—Mother’s clothes.
Su Li reported her conversation with Shen Cishu to Bai Huizi.
Suddenly, she had a thought: what would Shen Cishu’s expression be if she knew this was arranged by her sister?
But the thought vanished quickly; what happened between the two sisters was none of her business.
How they handled it was their own matter.
As long as they didn’t owe her money, that was all that mattered.
Knowing the two personalities involved, neither would want the other to find out they were a deadbeat.
Su Li even thought that if Shen Cishu ever skipped payment, she would secretly tell Bai Huizi—and Bai Huizi might reward her with some money.
But Bai Huizi skipping payment…
Su Li didn’t think the landlord was that kind of person.
Bai Huizi was much less likely to skip rent than Chi Qingya was to refuse to pay.
[Well done, Little Su Li.]
[Looks like you’ve already left an indelible impression on my sister’s heart. I guess now she just wants to eat the meals Mother cooks.]
Su Li looked at the transferred thirty thousand yuan and the messages Bai Huizi sent her about Shen Cishu’s favorite dishes and important notes, feeling even more certain of her thoughts.
Landlord Bai Huizi would never skip payment.