Two young girls playing together in the garden, then getting scolded for dirtying their new dresses by accident and flinging their ball into the fountain…
The same two girls held hands as they entered a school with tall iron gates, wearing identical uniforms as they gazed up at the impressive brick building that would be their home for the next few years…
Bi Yu crying as she screwed up the recipe for the umpteenth time, and getting scolded by their teacher for being such a terrible student…
Yue Niang helping her with her cooking, eventually teaching her well-enough that she managed to make her own bowl of noodles…
Bi Yu making noodles with various ingredients throughout the years to feed Yue Niang when she didn't feel like cooking…
The final bowl of noodles Bi Yu made her, before she and Tai Cheng fled to another end of the country, saltier with their tears, as they knew deep down they would never see each other again.
Yue Niang never thought she would taste Bi Yu's cooking again, but then now… she took another big spoonful of soup as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Mom? Why are you crying?" Xue Ning asked in surprise. "Jingwei's cooking can't be that bad!"
"Oh my god! Sun Jingwei, your cooking sucked so much my mom cried while eating it! You bastard!" Tai Xuan yelled, rolling his sleeves. "Mom don't eat anymore - I'll toss this garbage man outside right now!"
"Auntie! Is it that bad?" Jingwei asked, wringing his hands in panic. No one has ever cried while eating his food before! "I'm so sorry! I'll make you a new bowl!"
"Stop it, all of you," Yue Niang said, her voice sounding strangely choked up. Her eyes were now firmly back on the bowl of noodles, as though she could see Bi Yu's reflection if she looked long enough. "His noodles are fine. I'm full now. You guys can eat."
And then she hurriedly left for the washroom, hastily rubbing away the tears that were in her eyes. Her family could only watch in silence, gobsmacked with surprise, before everyone started speaking at once.
"Yah, you bastard, what did you put in the noodles to make my mother cry?" Tai Xuan stalked dangerously towards Jingwei, his hands on his collar as he dragged him closer. The soup in the noodle bowls began sloshing dangerously as they brushed past the bowls.
"I don't know!" Jingwei protested. "Unless your mother is allergic to garlic or soy sauce, this shouldn't be possible!"
"Ge, let Jingwei go!" Xue Ning tugged at his hands, but her brother had an iron vice grip on Jingwei's collar, his knuckles white with anger.
"Meimei, you're still siding with this man? He just made our mother cry with his food!" Tai Xuan roared in outrage. "Break up with him now!"
"Let him go, it's not his fault," a quiet voice said. They turned, only to see her father help himself to a bowl of soup. He took several large gulps and then mowed down the noodles with nary an expression on his face.
"Dad?" Tai Xuan asked, confused. "Why are you eating his cooking? Didn't you see Mom cry?"
"Like I said earlier, it's not his fault," Tai Cheng repeated. He was shocked at his wife's tears, but then he took the first sip of soup, and he understood. "Unhand him now, he is a cherished guest in our house."
"Huh? Cherished guest? This guy?!" Tai Xuan asked his father incredulously, not believing his ears - and he wasn't the only one!
Jingwei was also blinking in confusion. Didn't Xue Ning's father just try to skewer him with chopsticks a while ago? How could he change his mind so suddenly? Was this a trick to get him to let his guard down?
He gave Xue Ning a questioning look, hoping she could explain. Xue Ning could only shrug in surprise; this sudden attitude change was certainly uncharacteristic of her father and she had no explanations for it.
"Sun Jingwei, thank you for the meal," her father said, which wasn't too surprising. But then he bowed lowly from his waist and clasped his hands in gratefulness, and there was a certain sheen in his eyes that could have only been caused by tears.
Everyone froze in shock.
"It was nice meeting you," Tai Cheng continued with a soft real smile as he gazed at Jingwei, taking him in. It was as though he was finally seeing Jingwei for the first time as himself and not as Xue Ning's boyfriend.
Now that he looked carefully, he could see traces of Bi Yu in his face and demeanor.
Some part of Bi Yu lived on in him.
He let out a melancholic sigh; to think that he could still have a taste of Bi Yu's cooking even after her death…would wonders ever cease?
Perhaps this was just the heavens' way of letting them reunite one more time.
"This old man is tired after such a long day. Your Mom and I will be going home soon. All of you remember to clean up the kitchen first before coming home!"
"Yes Dad," the siblings replied, watching their father leave the kitchen. Once they heard their parents leaving, they began to argue.
"What did you put in the soup?" Tai Xuan demanded. "How is it that it kept making them cry?"
"Like I said, I don't know! Can you let go of my collar now?" Jingwei repeated with an exasperated sigh. "Xue Ning, what do you think?"
Xue Ning took a sip of her soup. It tasted fine to her! In fact, she decided to pull out a chair to eat right there and then, since no one was stopping her.
"It tastes fine to me," Xue Ning said through a mouthful of noodles. "I don't suddenly feel the urge to cry. Ge, let go of Jingwei and try a bowl too."
Tai Xuan scoffed. "Maybe it's just because you have shit taste, since you are dating a shithead," he said as he helped himself to his portion, narrowly avoiding the kick Xue Ning delivered to his shins with the power of experience.
He frowned as the taste hit his tongue.
"How is it? Do you feel like crying?" Xue Ning asked. "It's not bad right?"
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