First meeting
"I feel really nauseous right now, and I really can't eat anything." Yu Xi dodged her, pulled out a chair and stood up, not giving Sun Shuhan any chance to touch her.
Yu Xi knew very well that Sun Shuhan couldn't possibly be up to anything good by contacting her at this critical juncture.
Meng Chou floated up behind Sun Shuhan, exuding a ghostly aura, and stared at her every move. "What are you planning to do now?"
"She schemed to marry my father, and now she's trying to harm the person I love and my child!" Meng Chou bent down to carefully examine the steaming chicken soup on the table, even reaching out a finger to lightly touch the surface of the soup and take a sip.
"I forgot that we can't touch anything right now. If we could be like those ghosts in horror movies, we could scare Sun Shuhan away right now." He lowered his head and slowly exhaled, causing a corner of the tissue on the table to be blown up before quickly falling back down.
Neither Yu Xi nor Sun Shuhan noticed the very small gesture.
Meng Chou seemed to have found an inspiration, laughing and muttering to himself, "So it turns out that although things in the Yin and Yang realms don't interact, their energy flows between them. As long as I can create enough airflow, the little fish will know I'm there."
As he was still pondering his next move, he saw Sun Shuhan turn around, pick up the bowl of chicken soup, and walk over to him. "I just can't eat anything, so I need some soup."
"It's so cold, you can't eat anything, is that okay?" The smile on her face gradually froze, and she looked away from Yu Xi. The window was closed, but the curtains were fluttering violently, and the movement was getting bigger and bigger.
The curtains swayed, but all around was quiet, and there wasn't a breath of wind in the room.
Countless terrifying scenes flashed through Sun Shuhan's mind. In the blink of an eye, she vaguely saw a bloody face right in front of her. The face was blurry, but she could still make out that it was Meng Chou.
People who have done something wrong are sweating profusely and can't care about anything else.
With a 'clatter,' Sun Shuhan hurriedly put down the soup bowl, and the curtains, following her movement, slowed their swaying. She pointed to the bowl of soup and said, "I've put the soup over there for you. Remember to drink it."
However, just as she was about to turn and leave the room, she bumped into Meng Yun, who was carrying large bags and small packages. Considering that Yu Xi was there, he suddenly called out, "Mom!"
It was this shout that startled Sun Shuhan, who was hurriedly turning to leave. She took several steps back, clutching her chest with her right hand. After recognizing Meng Yun, she grabbed him and pulled him outside, whispering, "Go, go!"
"Mom, Dad asked me to come and see my sister-in-law." He deliberately pretended to put down what he was holding and broke free from Sun Shuhan's hand. "Dad asked me to bring these things. My sister-in-law is here alone now, so it's not convenient for her to go shopping."
"Mom, if you have something to do, you should go back first." Meng Yun pushed her to walk out, "Don't delay your business."
The moment the door closed, he turned to face Yu Xi, revealing a helpless yet completely relaxed smile. As he spoke eloquently, he took things out of the bag and put them into the refrigerator.
"These are fruits I bought early this morning. Sister-in-law, remember to eat some after your meal."
"These are supplements that Dad asked me to bring you."
"And this, some spare ribs I bought on the way here. Tonight, I'll ask Auntie to make your favorite sweet and sour spare ribs."
Yu Xi sat on the sofa, watching Meng Yun put the items from the bag into the refrigerator one by one, tidying them up. She then turned to look at the bowl of soup on the table, which was gradually cooling down, and the layer of oil floating on the surface had already solidified.
Suddenly it seemed ridiculous that Sun Shuhan and her son treated her in completely different ways.
In her memory, Meng Yun had always been so wonderful, always the quiet student sitting in the front row. She never imagined that such a seemingly quiet person, who never competed for anything, harbored such passionate emotions deep down.
Sun Shuhan, on the other hand, wore her heart on her sleeve and was the one who couldn't bear to see her doing well.
Shi Jian stayed here alone, and apart from Ji Huai'en occasionally coming to talk to her about some important projects and documents, no one else came to see her.
Yu Xi grew up in an orphanage. All her friends were adopted and she has never seen them since. She has no news of her living relatives.
Meng Yun's regular weekly visits gradually became a source of comfort for her.
"Stop busy, come and talk to me." Yu Xi moved the cushion next to her and tossed it aside, making room for her.
Meng Yun put the last bag of handmade dumplings in the bag into the freezer, straightened her clothes, and obediently did as she was told.
"Do you still want to hear me talk about my brother's childhood today?" Meng Yun sat down and didn't stop. She picked up an orange from the fruit basket and slowly peeled it. "Sister-in-law, it's the same as we agreed before. You can't cry when I mention my brother."
Yu Xi stroked her bulging belly, a smile playing on her lips. "Of course not, I just want to know more about him."
She knew that she was also slowly filling the emotional void in her heart by listening to what Meng Yun said.
Death is not the end of life; forgetting is.
She wanted to remember everything about Meng Chou, even the smallest details.
"Sister-in-law, do you know? When my brother was in junior high school, he used to skip classes." Meng Yun handed her a peeled orange, a clean orange in front of her.
Yu Xi took it, broke off a piece and put it in her mouth, continuing to listen to him talk. She asked with some surprise, "Even a model student like your brother would skip class?"
“Yes, I remember that incident very clearly,” Meng Yun recalled. “My dad didn’t beat him for it because he bravely saved a little boy who wanted to commit suicide.”
"What was your brother doing when he skipped class?" The sweet juice of the orange burst in her mouth, and she had the illusion that Meng Chou was sitting next to her.
Meng Chou, in ghost form, sat silently beside her, muttering to himself, "Will it be sad to hear my past stories like this?"
Meng Yun shook her head. "My brother wouldn't say what he was doing skipping class that day. After he got home, he still locked himself in his room as usual."
"He used to be someone who didn't like talking to people, always preferring to stay in his room alone, holding a book, and could read it all day long."
Yu Xi smiled and said, "Really?"
Meng Chou crossed his arms and said, "You don't talk about anything good, you just talk about embarrassing things I did in the past."
"I skipped class that day to go and sweep my mother's grave. What else could I have been doing?"
Memories, shrouded in a layer of dust, were blown away, just like him suffocating in the icy lake that day.
Meng Chou clearly remembered that it was his mother's birthday, but Meng Jinxian never allowed him to go to the cemetery to sweep his mother's grave or visit her again.
Every time, Meng Chou would quietly run out of the house, willing to walk more than ten kilometers just to see his mother.
After Meng Jinxian discovered his departure, she would deliberately arrange many classes for him on the birthday of Meng Chou's birth mother, with many teachers watching him, so he naturally had no chance to escape.
But he couldn't let these things hold him back. He still managed to escape through the window while the piano teacher was tuning the piano.
On this day every year, the weather always seems to be not good, gloomy, as if it's going to rain.
Outside the cemetery lies a lake, its clear surface as calm as a mirror. After visiting his mother's grave, he would sit alone by the lake, quietly staring at the water, occasionally reaching for a pebble and tossing it into the lake.
Few pedestrians passed by, and no one paid any attention to a child like him. Suddenly, he noticed a small figure emerging from the woods opposite.
Wearing a black coat, he looked to be about the same age as him. Meng Chou didn't think much of it, assuming he was just there to play by the lake. But in the blink of an eye, a huge wave surged up on the lake, turning the calm water into a turbulent sea.
The little boy who was just on the shore had disappeared. Meng Chou's mind went blank for a moment. He immediately took off his coat and, without thinking too much, threw himself into the lake.
It was already late autumn, and the lake water was getting colder in the afternoon, making it feel like thousands of needles were pricking him with every movement he made.
He swam with all his might toward where the little boy had fallen into the water. Seeing him sinking slowly, he made no resistance, showed no desire to survive, and had even closed his eyes.
Meng Chou gritted his teeth and dragged the unconscious man toward the shore. Several times his arms were so cold that he lost all strength. Just when he was about to lose his grip on the man beside him and sink with him, he gritted his teeth, his nails digging into the boy's jacket, gripping it tightly, refusing to let go no matter what.
After dragging and pulling the person to the shore, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and shouted with all his might, "Help! Is anyone there? Someone has fallen into the water!"
The shouts attracted a middle-aged couple who were also visiting relatives at the cemetery. The two rushed towards them anxiously.
Meng Chou struggled to sit up and grabbed the little boy's hand. The boy's body temperature was alarmingly low. Meng Chou realized that the boy was slowly losing his temperature. In his eagerness to save the boy, he didn't even get close enough to give him CPR.
The little boy woke up, opened his eyes wide and looked at him. After seeing the face that was gradually approaching him, he raised his hand and slapped him.
Meng Chou, with his eyes closed, couldn't dodge. He stared fixedly at the person lying on the ground, and before he could even ask a question, he heard her say, "You filthy scoundrel! What do you want to do?"
The sharp, delicate voice made him realize immediately that the person with short hair and dressed like a boy was actually a girl.
A girl who wanted to commit suicide, but he saved her.
After the couple ran over, Meng Chou pointed to the people beside him and calmly said, "She wants to commit suicide. It's so cold outside. You should take her away and send her to the hospital for a checkup."
"I don't know if she was injured by rocks or driftwood underwater."
The couple were surprised by his composure. The woman asked worriedly, "Child, do you want to come with us?"
Meng Chou waved his hand, got up, and walked back.
The woman was still worried about such a young child, so she chased after him, saying, "We drove here. Come on, at least change into some dry clothes first. It's too cold today; you'll definitely catch a cold if you walk home like this."
"Don't worry, we're not bad people, we just came to see our daughter today."
Meng Chou turned to look at the girl who was standing to the side with her head down in guilt, and then softened his attitude, "Okay, I'll go with you."
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