Bengtie: My death fueled their madness.

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……

restaurant.

Ruan Mei looked around at the dazzling array of dishes, her expression complex.

Some of them were familiar to her, while others were unfamiliar.

However, upon seeing one of the plates of pastries, her body suddenly stiffened.

The familiar fragrance of plum blossoms wafts through the air, and the familiar shape... it's plum-pickled soybean cake...

At the dinner table, Heita doesn't care about any of those unnecessary etiquette rules; he just sits down and starts eating.

She doesn't avoid eating anything Qi Zhimu makes.

However, Ruan Mei could still tell that Heita had a preference, preferring dishes that were unfamiliar to her.

Needless to say, what felt familiar was undoubtedly prepared by Qi Zhimu as a special treat for her.

One of the dishes was a simple, blanched vegetarian dish, which she personally taught Qi Zhimu.

Qi Zhimu's unintentional action almost made her lose control of her emotions.

Time flies, and thousands of years have passed in the blink of an eye...

Ruan Mei picked up a vegetarian dish with her chopsticks and tasted it. The taste was almost identical to that of years ago, which evoked many emotions and made her feel very complicated.

I miss it so much...

"Ruan Mei, I specially asked Zhi Mu to make his best pastry, plum-pickled soybean cake. I guarantee you'll be satisfied and happy eating it."

With a peculiar pride on his face, Heita introduced himself to Ruan Mei.

"As you may have already noticed, this is a rare consumable food item, with an exceptionally delicious taste, something even geniuses can only dream of."

"Even you should feel lucky, because you are the first outsider to taste pickled plum and soybean cake."

Ruan Mei: "..."

Why is this happening? Why...?

She's not an outsider, not an outsider, not an outsider—!!

Why do I feel like my heart is being stabbed multiple times when I come to visit?

Ruan Mei hoped she couldn't figure it out.

But she knew perfectly well that she understood.

What else could it be?

Ha... He brought this on himself.

She was clearly the first person to taste the plum-pickled soybean cake!

Black Tower is just a latecomer, so why is it so proud? It was clearly Amu who made it.

It's obvious that Amu is her student!

Mingming—

…What the Black Tower said should have belonged to him.

Ruan Mei's shoulders slumped slightly, filled with weakness, and she almost couldn't hold her chopsticks.

"What are you daydreaming about? Why aren't you eating?" Black Tower found it strange.

This person is really something; even if he usually likes to daydream, he's daydreamed way too much today.

If she hadn't been barely glancing at Qi Zhimu, she would have suspected that Ruan Mei was lusting after her man's good looks.

It doesn't matter if I don't give her face; I don't care at all.

But if they don't give Qi Zhimu face, that's another story.

My husband is busy serving you, not here to be treated badly.

As if a hint of hostility crept into Hei Ta's eyes, Ruan Mei silently picked up a piece of pastry and put it in her mouth.

…It's the same familiar taste…exactly the same as it was back then…

Before that incident happened, eating pickled plum and soybean cake brought me joy and comfort.

Six hundred years later, the taste remains unchanged, but the feeling after eating it is regret and heartbreak.

Thousands of years later—

The feeling of eating it was exactly the same as when Amu made it before he became a master chef...it was delightful...

Hehe...hehehahaha...

Ruan Mei laughed maniacally to herself.

Black Tower probably didn't know the effects of the pickled soybean cake, but she did.

This unique pastry, while retaining the same flavor, will evoke different emotions depending on the maker's current mood.

If you feel sad when you make it, it will make others feel sad.

Feeling genuinely happy brings joy to one's mood.

The preserved soybean cake that Amu made before his death and stored inside the doll for hundreds of years was his true feeling at the time.

They seemed to be working diligently with the black swan, each with a clear division of labor, and even had smiles on their faces.

The heart that has actually fallen into the shadow of nothingness is already riddled with holes and numb.

Until death, it carries irreparable regret and sorrow, so... those who eat it cannot help but shed tears.

For someone whose heart has already died, their smile is the one without any flaws.

The scene that left Qi Zhimu and Hei Ta both stunned appeared in the mind's eye.

Ruan Mei smiled, but two lines of tears welled up in her eyes. Her calm demeanor vanished, leaving only a bewildered expression of disarray.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's not that exaggerated, is it really necessary to be so happy that you're crying?" Black Tower blurted out.

Unconvinced, he picked up a piece, broke it in half, fed one half to Qi Zhimu, and kept the other half for himself.

That's strange...

No problem, it tastes just like the food I ate when I was young.

What about Qi Zhimu?

He's fine too.

Why is Ruan Mei crying?

Yeah, why are you crying...

Ruan Mei knew why the two were puzzled, but she couldn't bring herself to explain, preferring to make her smile look worse than she was crying.

How could Amu, who had forgotten everything, understand his teacher's feelings at this moment?

Black Tower, who knew nothing about Amu's past, would not understand either.

Ruan Mei felt that a certain statement Yu Qingtu made back then was inaccurate.

What truly breaks your heart isn't just abandonment or indifference, but the fact that he was right in front of you, and this was supposed to be a movie for three...

But... she couldn't have a name.

It wasn't until Qi Zhimu handed her the tissues and she saw his hand that Ruan Mei briefly snapped out of her reverie.

"Thanks……"

She took out a few tissues to soak up the tears on her face and wiped away the tear stains.

After taking a few breaths, Ruan Mei's expression returned to normal, except that her eyes were still a little red.

"Putting everything else aside, it tastes delicious and is incredibly effective, right?"

Black Tower was unaware that his unintentional words were the sharpest blade aimed at Ruan Mei.

"You laughed until you cried, so you must have remembered something very happy, or something that you still feel touched about no matter how many times you think about it."

"Yes...it's so delicious, so amazing..." Ruan Mei murmured.

It was so intense that it felt like my heart had been ripped out and thrown into a wood chipper to be ground repeatedly.

So intense, it can cause someone to faint from the pain...

For the first time, Ruan Mei discovered that Hei Ta's mouth was extremely venomous.

Can't you just eat in peace?

Please stop stabbing people, okay?

Until she took her leave, Ruan Mei had no idea what she had said, or what Qi Zhimu and Hei Ta had said.

As I walked out of Black Tower's house and heard the door close, a line of words popped into my mind.

What will they do next?

Indeed, what other answer could there be for a couple deeply in love?

With a dejected gait, Ruan Mei returned to her residence, ironically, even this residence had been arranged for her by the Black Tower.

Perhaps from another perspective, I should really thank Heita for not arranging for me to stay at her house.

Otherwise, even if the walls had the best soundproofing, she definitely wouldn't be able to sleep well.

But the problem is—

Is it possible to sleep well like this?

Open the door, walk in, close the door, and lean back.

His body slowly slid down, almost collapsing to the ground.

Ruan Mei's pupils gradually dimmed, her expression became blank, like a broken doll.

After an unknown amount of time, as if remembering something, she took out a jar of wine as if she had found a lifeline.

Forget-Me-Not Plum Blossom Wine... a rare delicacy that has been preserved for thousands of years.

Ruan Mei unsealed the bottle and tilted her head back to pour the contents into her mouth.

After taking several large gulps and feeling the effects of the wine dissolving, he carefully put the wine away and slowly smiled.

Forget it, quickly forget everything you saw, encountered, and heard today...

……

Thank you all for your concern. This isn't the first time Hagi Huan has been affected; he was caught in the same trap last year when his previous book was being serialized.

The fever keeps recurring, but it should subside in a few days. Luckily, this time it's not a sharp, stabbing pain.

Please, for updating while I'm sick, give me a like out of love X﹏X