Mother
On the day when the dragon raised its head, Song Tiaotiao had just prepared the "dragon food" in the kitchen when she received a letter from Chao Yue from Su Lin.
Except for the greetings at the beginning and end, the rest of the content of the letter is related to food.
"Miss Song, below is the food list I've been craving for a long time: sweet and savory grilled chicken wings, sweet and spicy roasted whole chicken, crispy potato chips, and meat buns sandwiched between two layers of pancakes. I wonder if Miss Song can understand? ＾u＾"
Looking at the calligraphy at the end of the sentence, which could be described as a stroke of genius, Song Tiaotiao was stunned.
Is this, emoticon?
The handwriting on the entire letter was neat and clear, so the strokes at the end did not look like an unintentional splash of ink.
Looking at the emoticons that were completely different from his own style, Song Tiaotiao's mind immediately reflected Chao Yue's gentle and smiling eyes as he wrote.
But thinking that this was Chao Yue's intentional act, Song Tiaotiao not only did not feel relaxed at all, but her heartbeat kept accelerating because of the sense of urgency brought about by the information gap.
As she read the next paragraph, Song Tiaotiao's fingertips unconsciously clenched the letter paper.
"Perhaps, Miss Song knows what cola chicken wings, Orleans roasted whole chicken, French fries, and hamburgers are?"
Song Tiaotiao's heart sank and she fixed her eyes on the meeting date.
The evening five days after the Dragon Raises its Head.
When that day came, Song Tiaotiao thought about it over and over again, and finally, as Chao Yue expected, she prepared all the food he wanted to eat according to the list.
During this period, Song Tiaotiao's thoughts were in turmoil.
She also thought about just brushing things off and pretending to be ignorant, in order to preserve her identity as a book traveler to the greatest extent possible.
But Chao Yue was obviously more powerful than she had imagined.
She checked the system about the relationship between Chao Yue and Jin Shulan, and as expected, it was a master-servant relationship like Su Lin's.
The uneasiness of the unknown made Song Tiaotiao want to continue digging deeper, and she even couldn't sleep for several nights thinking about it.
Seeing this, the system sighed softly and assured her, "I can't say anything about the rest, but he won't harm you. It's destined..."
The setting sun melts gold, and the evening clouds merge into one.
After Song Tiao Tiao sent away the last wave of diners of the day, she hung a closing sign in front of Tiao Tiao Food Store in advance and turned back to the counter to record the bill.
From time to time, there were bursts of horse hooves in front of the door, and the door of the food shop was knocked three times.
Song Tiaotiao's eyes moved slightly. After a moment, she breathed a sigh of relief and repeatedly told herself to calm down. Then she walked to the door and opened it for the visitor.
Looking at Chao Yue in his familiar attire with a veil on his head, Song Tiaotiao smiled lightly: "Mr. Chao, long time no see."
Song Tiaotiao couldn't see Chao Yue's expression clearly under his veil, but his tone was very gentle, as if he was smiling: "Miss Song, long time no see."
After he finished speaking, he took off his veil, and the smile lingering on the corners of his eyes and eyebrows was like the peaceful and warm flower breeze in spring, with a soothing gentleness.
And when Song Tiaotiao looked into those smiling eyes, the indescribable sense of familiarity seemed to soothe her heart more than any gentle consolation, and it eased Song Tiaotiao's heartbeat, which had been uneasy for many days, a lot.
After leading Chao Yue to his seat and settling him down, Song Tiaotiao turned and walked towards the kitchen.
After frying the French fries and chicken wings and shaping the hamburgers, she looked at the tender and juicy Orleans roast chicken on the chopping board. She hesitated for a moment, took a deep breath, and calmed herself down. She put all the food on the plate and got ready.
The smell that has been sealed deep in memory for a long time lingers on your nose again.
Chao Yue's eyes flickered, and the corners of his taut lips lifted slightly.
Song Tiaotiao put the plate down gently and saw Chao Yue's eyes lingering on the side of the French fries, as if he was looking for something nearby.
She suddenly understood, but she was deliberately testing him.
After a while, Chao Yue raised his eyes, a hint of disappointment in them: "I seem to have forgotten to write down the sauce... Miss Song, do you have ketchup? If not, do you have sweet and sour sauce?"
She clasped her sleeves tightly with her hands and nodded, "Mr. Chao, I prepared ketchup."
Hearing this, Chao Yue smiled and said, "Thank you very much."
Song Tiaotiao smiled and nodded, then returned to the kitchen and squeezed all the ketchup she had bought from the mall into a bowl. She then picked up other bowls of ingredients and added some honey mustard sauce and sweet and spicy sauce to each.
When she came back, the food on the plate was still as tempting as when it was served, untouched.
Seeing Song Tiaotiao's doubtful eyes, Chao Yue smiled faintly and said, "I'm waiting for you to come together."
The whole dining process was unexpectedly quiet and relaxing for Song Tiaotiao.
During this time, apart from the sound of chopsticks picking up food, Chao Yue's sigh and smile of satisfaction were heard.
At other times, any words that might make Song Tiaotiao uneasy did not come out of Chao Yue's lips as she expected.
It was not until after dinner, when Chao Yue came back from washing his hands, that he uttered his first words after the meal: "Miss Song, have you seen this jade pendant?"
Song Tiaotiao raised her eyes slightly and saw that in Chao Yue's bony hand was a fish-shaped jade pendant carved from mutton-fat white jade.
She stared at it for a long time and saw a horizontal character for "sheep" engraved on the fish's belly. She shook her head and said hesitantly, "No. But when I was young, I saw one that looked similar. It was black in color and seemed to have a character for "woman" engraved on it."
Hearing this, Chao Yue's eyes were filled with ripples: "What about this?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Chao Yue took out a square brocade bag from his arms. When he opened it, Song Tiaotiao found that it contained a product similar to a photo frame.
She was confused, but when Chao Yue turned her around to face Song Tiaotiao.
Song Tiaotiao's pupils trembled. She looked at the yellowed figure in the photo in disbelief. Her eyes warmed and she blurted out, "Mom...?"
The trembling murmur was almost inaudible, but Chao Yue deliberately captured it.
Seeing Song Tiaotiao's expression as expected, Chao Yue could hardly control the emotions in his eyes: "Tiaotiao, what did you call her?"
Hearing the sound, Song Tiaotiao came back to her senses. She frowned slightly, stood up with the help of the table, and shook her head repeatedly: "Nothing..."
Seeing this, Chao Yue suppressed the sharpness in his eyes. Looking into her averted gaze, he whispered, "Tiao Tiao, it's your mother, right? But as far as I know, you were raised by Madam An since you were born in the Southern Dynasty. When you were six years old, you were taken to the Zhenguogong Mansion. You have never seen your so-called mother."
After hearing the content of the Chaoyue language, Song Tiaotiao felt colder than in the bitter winter.
Her eyes were slightly red, and she raised her eyes to look at Chao Yue: "Mr. Chao, I believe you already know me very well... Now, what else do you want to know from me?"
A trace of guilt flashed across Chao Yue's turbulent eyes. He slowed his tone and asked softly, "Tiao Tiao, you are the so-called book traveler, right?"
Song Tiaotiao frowned and avoided answering.
Seeing this, Chao Yue's eyes dimmed. He stroked the photo frame and whispered, "Tiao Tiao, I'm sorry... I think I'm scaring you again. But your answer is very important to me." At the end, Chao Yue's tone was earnest, almost pleading, "Tiao Tiao, please tell me, is this the book 'Storm of Wind and Rain' that you have traveled into?"
Hearing the voice, Song Tiaotiao felt cold all over, and surprise and astonishment flashed in her eyes under her trembling eyelashes.
After a while, she clenched her fists and looked at Chao Yue's red eyes: "Mr. Chao, what do you know?"
Seeing the emotions exposed in Song Tiaotiao's eyes, Chao Yue, like a strategist who was certain of the answer, slowly and deliberately deduced the process that he was not aware of: "Tiaotiao, after you answer my questions truthfully, I will answer all your confusions for you one by one."
Song Tiaotiao saw the sincerity in Chao Yue's eyes and closed his eyes tightly.
After a moment, she gently raised her head and said, "I only know that 'Storm of Wind and Rain' is a story that happened in the royal family of the Northern Dynasty."
The setting of "The Story of Wind and Rain" is that it is the prequel to the book she traveled through, "The Story of Fenghua Anding".
However, because the author once said that "The Record of Wind and Rain" is mostly about the grievances and hatreds of the previous generation, and the two are not closely related in the main text, and do not affect the reading, Song Tiao Tiao did not read the prequel when she was following the update, and directly read "The Story of Fenghua Anding" without knowing about "The Record of Wind and Rain".
Now it seems that there was a book traveler from "The Record of Wind and Rain" who influenced the formation of Chao Yue's worldview.
After a long silence, Chao Yue looked down at the photo again: "Tiaotiao, do you know Jiang Liu?"
Song Tiaotiao's eyes trembled.
That's her mother's name...
Seeing Song Tiaotiao frowned and didn't answer, Chao Yue gently stroked the photo with his fingertips and continued, "She is a female character in "Storm and Wind."
Song Tiaotiao thought about the experience of traveling through a book with the same name and surname, and clasped her hands tightly.
Chao Yue lowered her brows and spoke to herself, "Thirty-six years ago, Jiang Liu was born in Suzhou, Northern Dynasty. At sixteen or seventeen, she rose from a fishing village girl to a renowned shopkeeper thanks to her planting skills and excellent cooking abilities. Later, she brought a variety of unprecedented fruits and vegetables to the Northern Dynasty, boosting the local economy. She also gained a great reputation for her effective disaster relief, earning her a title of court lady by the emperor, who was on a secret visit, and she entered the palace."
"After entering the palace, she gave birth to a son, who was named Yue. But the Queen Mother looked down on his background, and she was forced to raise her son under the Queen Mother's lap." Having said this, Chao Yue finally raised her eyes.
But his eyes were so deep that Song Tiaotiao couldn't see the emotions hidden in them at all. What he said also made Song Tiaotiao's mixed thoughts even more confused.
Song Tiaotiao was sorting out her thoughts like peeling off silk threads from an onion, but her heart felt like it was being cut by a knife.
She couldn't bear to see a beautiful girl with the same name as her mother's favorite enter the palace and suffer such injustice.
And Nagoshi...
"Later, because the emperor's heart turned cold, she fled the palace and settled in Yingzhou, the Southern Dynasty. She accepted An Rong as her first disciple and opened a food shop again under her identity."
"What...?" Song Tiaotiao couldn't hold back the surprise in her heart and blurted out.
Song Tiaotiao felt that the plot was becoming more and more bizarre, but what was even more strange was that she had a premonition that the plot seemed to be related to her.
"The food shop's business was booming, but she was taken back to the palace by the Northern Dynasty Emperor. She fell seriously ill and lived like a zombie every day. Her thoughts were sometimes clear and sometimes fuzzy. Sometimes, she couldn't even recognize her own children..."
Song Tiaotiao bit her lip lightly and said in a trembling voice, "That child is you, right?"
Chao Yue suppressed the bitterness in his eyes and nodded slightly.
Song Tiaotiao's fingers sank into her palms. "So what happened next? How did she become?"
Chao Yue lowered his brows, staring at the woman with a bright smile in the photo, and said, "Later, my mother became pregnant again, but was rescued and never heard from again. But that same year, An Rong had a baby girl."
The fragments of chaos in Song Tiaotiao's mind seemed to come together at this moment. Tears welled in her almond-shaped eyes, and her nose felt dry. "So, I am...? The person in the photo in your arms..."
Chao Yue lowered his eyes and handed her a handkerchief. "She was my mother. Or, you could say, your mother." He chuckled bitterly. "The night before she left, her last words were that she was returning to the modern world... So, how was she doing in the modern world?"
Hearing this, Song Tiaotiao burst into tears: "Mom... she passed away due to illness a year before I came here."
Chao Yue clenched the photo frame tightly in his hand, squeezing it with such force that it seemed as if he wanted to break it.
After a moment, he covered his eyes with his hands and laughed softly.
But tears fell from his eyes like beads on a thread: "After all, she has not escaped the cage of life... So, where else can I find her?"
Song Tiaotiao looked at Chao Yue, her eyes filled with tears, and she looked reluctant: "Before leaving, my mother told me that she would not disappear, but would go to a place and wait for me there..."
Although she thought her mother was referring to heaven, now she thought that these words could serve as a source of comfort for her in this world, and could also comfort her brother who missed his mother so much... and help her get out of her confusion.
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