She raised her arm to look at her terminal – it was past four in the afternoon, and there wasn’t even a single message.
She walked out of the room and saw Yu Wan about to leave, so she called out, “Wan’er.”
Yu Wan turned back and said, “Sister Yi, you’re awake? You were sleeping so soundly that Mother said not to wake you for lunch. Are you hungry? I’ll go to the kitchen and see what we can eat.”
Yu Yi shook her head and smiled, “No need, I’ll find something myself.”
As they walked a few steps together, Yu Yi asked, “Did Young Master Meng come for lunch?”
Yu Wan replied, “No.” Then she suddenly giggled, “Sister Yi, what did you two do last night that you didn’t sleep and are now so tired that you can’t even eat?”
Yu Yi blushed slightly and said, “What nonsense are you talking about? Is Young Master Meng also just sleeping?”
Yu Wan said, “He was sleeping during lunch, but who knows now. Sister Yi, why don’t you go to the annex and check?”
Yu Yi caught the teasing tone and lightly hit her, saying, “Where do you get all these mischievous thoughts? Always teasing your sister.”
They had just reached the central courtyard.
Yu Wan giggled and dodged her sister’s hit, turning towards the west wing while looking back and saying, “I’m not teasing you at all. Maybe you’re the one with too many wild thoughts, reading into everything people say. I’m going to take something to Sister Xin. Sister Yi, you should go take care of Young Master Meng’s business.”
Yu Yi gave her a reproachful look, laughed, and shook her head, turning to walk outside.
Yu Song stopped for a moment and said: “But Yi’er, if you truly feel that you cannot compromise, or if Master Meng is actually treating you poorly, do not feel wronged for my sake or for your sisters. Even if we leave this manor, I can still negotiate with the Song family to teach those young ladies, and do some needlework to supplement our income. Even if life is a bit difficult, it would still be much better than before when our family was scattered and we did not know each other’s safety.”
Hearing Yu Song’s words, Yu Yi was touched and raised her head, calling out, “Mother.” She knew her mother had always believed she was Meng Qing’s mistress and had expected her mother to advise her to be obedient. She never expected her mother would say such words.
Yu Yi could not violate the time-space management law, so she could not tell her mother the truth about her ability to travel through time and space to complete missions. All she could do now was to make her mother stop worrying about her.
She smiled and said, “Mother, you’re overthinking it. Master Meng felt that Xiye Manor is too far from Longdu, making it inconvenient to visit friends and handle affairs. He wanted to buy a manor closer to Longdu for his daughter, but I felt that our current manor is good and did not want Master Meng to spend more money, so I refused.”
Yu Song said half-believingly, “Is Master Meng unhappy because his good intention was rejected?”
Yu Yi replied, “Yes, I heard from Wan’mei that he did not eat lunch, so I will send him some food.”
Yu Song nodded, “Go ahead. Earlier, when you and Master Meng were not up, I had already set aside two portions of lunch. Ask Aunt Liu to reheat them and send them quickly, or the sun will be setting soon.”
—
Aunt Liu started the fire to steam the meals and then went out to do other tasks. While waiting for the food to heat up, Yu Yi opened her terminal and found no messages. She sent a message to Meng Qing without vibration: Are you awake?
At the same time she clicked send, she received a message from Meng Qing, which also asked: Are you awake? If you keep sleeping, you’ll sleep through dinner too.
Yu Yi curved her lips and replied: I just woke up. Are you hungry?
While she was typing, a new message notification popped up in the bottom right corner. After sending her reply, she opened the new message, which was his response to her first question: Just woke up, starving. Is there anything to eat in the kitchen?
Yu Yi: It’s being heated, will be ready soon.
Meng Qing: Looks like there’s food? I’ll endure a few more minutes.
Yu Yi: A few minutes is not enough. It’s winter, the food needs to be thoroughly heated, and it will take me time to come over.
Meng Qing: If you’re coming, I won’t get out of bed. Saving energy. But you must hurry, or you won’t see me when you arrive.
Yu Yi was slightly surprised: Where are you going?
Meng Qing: Nowhere, just becoming a starved ghost.
Yu Yi: If you’re really that hungry, just order takeout from the terminal.
Meng Qing: No takeout, I’m waiting for my wife’s meal.
Yu Yi couldn’t help but smile, typing: Smooth-talking, then starve to death, you won’t get anything.
Meng Qing: My wife, you can’t be so heartless. If I become a ghost, I’ll haunt you every day.
Yu Yi chuckled softly. She estimated the food was now heated, lifted the steamer lid, and placed two bowls of rice and two bowls of meat dishes into a bamboo box, carrying it towards the side courtyard.
A light vibration came on her arm.
She thought he wouldn’t have any serious issues and was probably just joking, so she ignored it. Unexpectedly, her arm vibrated twice more. She looked around, saw no one, put down the bamboo box, and checked his messages.
There were three consecutive messages:
Meng Qing: My wife, are you this heartless? I’m starving, and you don’t care at all? Meng Qing: Are you really angry? Meng Qing: Ah… it seems I’m truly annoying. I’m leaving.
Yu Yi replied: Can’t you wait just a moment?
After sending, she picked up the bamboo box and quickened her pace. Arriving at the side courtyard, she saw Meng Qing’s door was slightly ajar. She knocked on the doorframe and said, “Food is here.”
There was no response from inside. Yu Yi found it strange and said, “I’m coming in,” while gently pushing the door.
The outer room was empty. Yu Yi thought, is he really lying on the bed waiting? She put down the bamboo box on the table and peeked inside, “Meng Qing?”
The bed was also empty. His sleeping traces remained, with the blanket lifted at one corner and a shallow imprint on the mattress, but the person who was originally there was gone.
Yu Yi looked around. He had indeed left.
She opened her terminal and discovered her last message had not been sent in her hurry. Did he think she was ignoring him and therefore left?
Yu Yi quickly deleted the last message and typed a new one: Sorry, I didn’t mean to ignore you. My previous message didn’t send.
I’ve already brought the food to the side courtyard.
Yu Yi waited a while, but he did not reply. She became anxious and sent another message with vibration: Where did you go?
Still no reply.
Yu Yi returned to the table and sat, staring at the bamboo box for a while.
Since knowing him, he had never not replied to her messages like this. Just moments ago, he said he left because he was “annoying”, but she had already explained that the messages couldn’t be sent, so why was he still angry?
Yu Yi was anxious and uncertain, sitting at the table and thinking for a while before deciding to return to the main courtyard. She lowered her head, picked up the bamboo box, and walked out slowly. After crossing the threshold and turning a corner, she was startled to see someone standing in the corridor – it was Meng Qing, smiling and standing right in front of her.
She immediately understood and became furious, coldly dropping the bamboo box on the ground and trying to walk past him.
Meng Qing grabbed her hand, saying with a smile: “Aren’t you going to eat?”
“Master Meng is almost ‘starving to death’, so just eat both portions.”
“I’m really hungry, but eating alone is no fun. Keep me company.”
“I’m not hungry now.”
