They were all home - cooked dishes, but Meng Ruyi ate them with great concentration, taking each bite seriously and attentively. Song Huaizhi also sat beside her. Xu Fanglian and Meng Chengliang kept piling food onto their bowls. Before long, there was a small mountain of food in each bowl.
"Enough, Mom." Seeing Xu Fanglian about to put another heaping chopstick of food into her bowl, Meng Ruyi covered her bowl and looked up. "There's too much. I can't finish it!"
Then she thought of Song Huaizhi beside her and came up with a naughty idea. She smiled and said to her mother, "Give more to Brother Song. He's been so busy recently that he's lost weight."
Song Huaizhi had indeed been busy recently, but not to the point of losing weight. Moreover, he was already used to being busy. He was just a bit busier than usual, which was not something unbearable.
Hearing Meng Ruyi tell such a blatant lie, Song Huaizhi looked up at her. He saw Meng Ruyi give him a bright smile, her round almond - shaped eyes slightly squinted, showing a hint of slyness.
This little fox!
Song Huaizhi couldn't help laughing. He said to Xu Fanglian, who had just put another chopstick of food into his bowl, "Thank you, Auntie. The food today is delicious."
"Exactly! I specifically asked someone to get these vegetables from the village outside the city yesterday. When they were delivered this morning, there were still dewdrops on them! The meat is from a chicken slaughtered this morning, and we were lucky enough to come across some beef, so we bought quite a bit."
Xu Fanglian beamed with joy. She watched the two of them eat with pleasure and said, "Eat more, eat more. Ruyi used to have such a good appetite when she was a child. Why can't she eat as much now?"
After saying that, she shifted her gaze from Meng Ruyi to Song Huaizhi and sighed, "Huaizhi is really good. He has a good appetite and a good body. Ruyi should learn from you."
"You're going to the capital soon, Huaizhi. Remember to watch over Ruyi and make her eat more when you have time."
"No problem, Auntie."
Song Huaizhi answered one by one. As he was talking to Xu Fanglian, Meng Chengliang looked at his daughter with undisguised worry in his eyes. After thinking for a long time, he could only let out a heavy sigh in his heart.
This big and burly man now looked so worried that it made people feel silent. When Meng Ruyi accidentally caught a glimpse of his expression, she felt as if something had hit her heart hard. Tears almost welled up in her eyes.
She would definitely resolve the plot of the original book and come back home soon!
...
On the last night before leaving home, Meng Ruyi clung to Xu Fanglian, so she went to her mother's room to sleep with her.
The mother - daughter pair chatted for a while. Meng Ruyi had no sign of sleepiness, but Xu Fanglian thought that she had a long journey ahead the next day, so she coaxed her to go to sleep.
Meng Ruyi felt the long - lost feeling of being treated like a child.
Xu Fanglian was lying beside her. Meng Ruyi could feel her gentle and loving gaze lingering on her for a long time. Finally, her mother just gently pulled up the quilt for her, worried that she might catch a cold.
But Meng Ruyi couldn't fall asleep at all, so she turned to look at her mother.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing her daughter's still somewhat shiny eyes in the darkness, Xu Fanglian smiled and asked, "Still can't sleep?"
Meng Ruyi nodded.
"Then let's talk." Xu Fanglian smiled again, but there was a hint of teasing in her smile, which made Meng Ruyi feel a bit uneasy.
"Ruyi, do you like Brother Song?"
Meng Ruyi: "..."
She thought to herself that she should have just pretended to be asleep.
It was one thing to be honest in front of Song Huaizhi, but another thing in front of Xu Fanglian. Looking at the smile in her mother's eyes, Meng Ruyi felt her face burn suddenly. The heat spread all the way to her heart, making her palms hot.
"What? Are you shy, Ruyi?" Xu Fanglian chuckled a few times. Seeing her daughter's embarrassed look, she found it even more amusing.
[Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter. It feels like Ruyi has been caught having a puppy love!]
[Actually, Ruyi's parents have both noticed that she likes Song Huaizhi. They just don't want to point it out explicitly. Since they think Song Huaizhi is also an outstanding young man, they just let the two kids develop their relationship freely.]
[I think the above is right. That's probably what they're thinking.]
[Blushing Ruyi is so cute!!! I'll take her away first!]
Seeing the barrage of comments on the screen start to gloat, Meng Ruyi didn't have the energy to take a look. She just hesitated. Her mouth opened and closed, and finally she nodded slightly twice at Xu Fanglian.
"As I expected." There was no surprise in Xu Fanglian's tone. She seemed as calm as if she had known this all along. She smiled at Meng Ruyi and said, "You have good taste, Ruyi. Huaizhi is also a very good young man."
To be honest, Xu Fanglian's open - mindedness exceeded Meng Ruyi's expectations. She originally thought her mother would admonish her or say something, but instead, she just sighed after learning about this and finally looked at her with a beaming smile.
"Indeed." Thinking like this, Meng Ruyi couldn't help but agree with Xu Fanglian and said, "Brother Song is really good."
Xu Fanglian almost couldn't hold back her laughter. She pinched Meng Ruyi's cheek and said, "You haven't even gotten married yet, but you're already protecting him."
The heat that had just faded from Meng Ruyi's face suddenly flared up again. She hesitated for a moment, looking quite at a loss, and then said, "I'm just telling the truth."
Looking at her daughter's increasingly charming side face, Xu Fanglian said, "You're also great, Ruyi. In your mother's heart, you're no worse than Huaizhi."
Meng Ruyi was stunned.
No one had ever said this to her. Since they met, Meng Ruyi had known how capable Song Huaizhi was. Mr. Lin never regarded him as a disciple but discussed things with him like a friend, and everyone around them trusted him.
Moreover, Meng Ruyi was almost taught by Song Huaizhi. Her way of doing things had a bit of his style, but she was gentler.
Even Meng Ruyi herself thought that she was inferior to Song Huaizhi.
"Don't be afraid, Ruyi." Xu Fanglian said softly, "We can all see that Brother Song has feelings for you. Even if you don't want to marry him in the future, it's not a big deal."
"The Meng family is quite wealthy now, so if you come back home, you'll live no worse than outside." As Xu Fanglian said this, her expression was gentle. She gently reached out and tucked the stray hair that was covering Meng Ruyi's eyes when she was lying on her side. "You were in poor health when you were a child. Your father and I said at that time that we only hoped you would live a safe and happy life, with all things going as you wished."
Ruyi, all things go as wished!
Meng Ruyi had never heard Xu Fanglian mention these things before. She only thought that her name "Ruyi" was related to the jade ruyi, hoping that she would be as gentle as jade. Many girls nowadays had such names. If Xu Fanglian hadn't mentioned it, Meng Ruyi wouldn't have even thought of this meaning.
This simplest and most sincere blessing carried the expectations of a couple for their weak daughter.
Just be happy and safe in everything.
Suddenly, Meng Ruyi felt her nose turn sour. She couldn't hold back her tears any longer and sniffed.