As the sun sets in the west, the afterglow is gradually obscured by the mountains. In the small bamboo house on Bodhi Mountain, the transparent glass lamps emit a warm yellow light that is not dazzling. Several plates of home-cooked dishes are placed on the wooden table, emitting steam.
Yu Jiao suddenly woke up, her forehead covered with cold sweat, and she sat up abruptly: "Senior Brother!"
Cheng Ying was walking in with dishes in his hands. When he heard Yu Jiao's exclamation, he quickened his pace and said soothingly, "I'm here."
When Yu Jiao saw Cheng Ying coming from outside the door, she didn't even bother to put on her shoes. She got out of bed, ran towards him, and threw herself into his arms.
Cheng Ying reacted quickly, raising the dishes high up to avoid Yu Jiao, and with her other hand, she hugged her the moment Yu Jiao ran over.
"Are you having a nightmare?" He noticed the cold sweat on Yu Jiao's forehead, hugged her, and asked gently.
Yu Jiao hugged him tightly and refused to say a word.
She dreamed again of her senior brother from her previous life falling in front of her covered in blood. The warm blood splashed on her face, and the touch felt real. The scene changed, and her senior brother turned into Cheng Ying, and fell in front of her again covered in blood. She didn't even have time to catch him.
Cheng Ying understood her and knew that she must have dreamed of something bad, which was why she didn't want to talk.
He touched her head, and in a low and gentle voice, he coaxed her: "Dreams are all fake. If you are worried about me, why don't you stay by my side all the time?"
Yu Jiao nodded vigorously in his arms.
Cheng Ying was very happy to see her agree so obediently. She held her waist with one hand and picked her up from the ground.
Her feet suddenly left the ground, and Yu Jiao subconsciously stretched out her hands and wrapped them around his neck.
Cheng Ying chuckled softly, and he carried her to the wooden table with one hand, put the dish in his hand on the table, held her and sat down on the stool, lowered his head to Yu Jiao's forehead, smiled from the bottom of his heart and whispered: "Jiao Jiao, I'm so happy."
Yu Jiao realized later that they were too close, so she tilted her head back slightly and moved away.
Perhaps when people are too happy, they will automatically ignore these details. Cheng Ying did not care about Yu Jiao's avoidance. Her face was still full of a gentle smile, and the happiness lingering all over her body was almost overflowing.
Yu Jiao broke free from his arms, her cheeks slightly red: "I am also very happy to see Senior Brother again."
Both happy and a little sad.
Cheng Ying went to the bed, picked up her shoes and socks, and squatted down to put them on for her.
He had done this many times in his previous life, so until Cheng Ying helped her put on her shoes, Yu Jiao suddenly remembered that she should not ask her senior brother to take care of every detail in the future.
She took a look at the food on the table and was a little surprised: "Did my senior brother make this?"
After Cheng Ying cleaned her hands and wiped them with a towel, she handed her a pair of chopsticks and said with a smile, "Try it and see if the taste has changed."
Yu Jiao took the chopsticks and sat down at the table. She picked up her favorite lotus shrimp balls and pork ribs steamed glutinous rice, tasted them, and before swallowing them, she couldn't wait to say, "Senior brother's cooking skills are still as good as before."
Cheng Ying smiled and served her the food while saying, "From now on, I will cook for you every day just like before."
She hadn't eaten the food cooked by her senior brother for a long time. Yu Jiao ate a little too fast and almost choked.
Cheng Ying poured her a glass of fruit wine, looked at her with tender eyes and said, "Eat slowly, no one is going to snatch it from you."
Yu Jiao took a sip of fruit wine, and suddenly a picture appeared in her mind. She put down the wine cup, looked at Cheng Ying, and asked him for confirmation: "Brother, did you sell these two foods on Chang'an Street during the Lantern Festival?"
Cheng Ying smiled but said nothing.
"I remember the stall owner was dressed in black and had a Lantern Festival animal mask on his face. He was selling lotus shrimp balls and steamed glutinous rice with pork ribs. But you couldn't buy them with silver. You had to recite medical books in exchange." The more Yu Jiao talked, the more she felt that the man must be her senior brother.
She was attracted by the familiar scent.
But later, because Wei Min came to visit, the two foods were already cold when she took them out of the food box. She also asked Jianjia to get a pot of wine from the kitchen. She got drunk and fell while taking a bath.
Seeing Cheng Ying was still laughing, Yu Jiao glared at him fiercely and said, "That person must be my senior brother. You still want me to recite the first and second volumes of the Golden Chamber and Jade Box."
Cheng Ying said in a doting tone, "Brother was wrong. I didn't recognize you at that time." He served another dish to Yu Jiao and continued, "But our Jiaojiao is still as diligent and intelligent as before. She can recite the medical skills fluently and smoothly, without making any mistakes."
Yu Jiao raised her chin with some pride: "That's right, my grandfather taught me, how could I forget it!"
Cheng Ying loved to see her pride, she laughed softly, with the corners of her narrow eyes raised high.
Yu Jiao picked up a piece of food for him with chopsticks: "Senior brother, you should eat too, don't just watch me eat."
Cheng Ying smiled and said yes, and put the food that Yu Jiao put into his bowl into his mouth. Over the years, no matter whether it was the delicacies from the imperial kitchen or the wild vegetables from the countryside, he always found them tasteless and had no appetite. He only ate to maintain his body's needs.
But today, he enjoyed this home-cooked meal with gusto.
It is called eating when you have your loved ones around you and your family sitting at the same dining table.
Because there were no servants in the bamboo house on Bodhi Mountain except the two of them, after dinner, Yu Jiao accompanied Cheng Ying to the kitchen to wash the dishes.
Yu Jiao sat under the stove, holding her chin with her hand and watching Cheng Ying wash the dishes quietly, her eyes fell on his cold white and slender fingers. Her senior brother was still the same as before, not letting her touch the dishes at all.
She remembered that her grandfather always said that she was lazy and that her senior brother spoiled her too much and even did all the housework that a girl should do for her.
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