novelraw Chapter 186 : Continuation of the Story
Chapter 186 : Continuation of the Story
"Is Little Elsa also a student at Jiangcheng High School?"
"...Yes."
"I see... Are you two classmates then?"
"No, ...I'm in the next class. Once I forgot to bring my book, and Evie lent me hers. That's how we became good friends."
"I see—"
Seeing the relieved smile appear on Mother Yin's face, Elsa finally let out a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, they had agreed on their story beforehand, and with her perfect improvisation, there were no slip-ups. The half-true, half-false answers also slightly alleviated some of her guilt.
"Yi Yi has a difficult personality, and before going to university, she didn't have many friends... Seeing you get along so well with our Yi Yi, I feel relieved—"
...How cute!
This name is just too cute.
Just as Elsa was excitedly repeating this name in her heart, the sound of chopping vegetables in the kitchen suddenly stopped,
"—Mom! I'm all grown up now, stop calling me by my childhood name!"
A raised voice came from the kitchen, and one could almost imagine Yvonne's helpless expression as she spoke.
Hearing her daughter's voice expressing dissatisfaction with her birth mother's teasing, Mother Yin laughed even harder.
"This child really... I'll go help. Little Elsa, you watch some TV."
"...Alright."
Mother Yin stuffed the TV remote into Elsa's hand, then got up and walked towards the kitchen.
Soon, the conversation between mother and daughter could be heard from the kitchen,
"Hmm... How many dishes have you made? Is it enough?"
"The stewed ribs are already in the pressure cooker... I've cleaned the bream, but the tofu hasn't been fried yet... It should be enough."
"Alright, leave the rest to me. You go rest for a bit."
"Also—the fish has already been marinated! Don't add more salt when cooking, it'll be too salty!"
"I know, I know. You go keep Little Elsa company, go on, go."
Seeing Yvonne being pushed out, Elsa covered her mouth, shaking with laughter.
"Is it really that funny..."
Yvonne was somewhat embarrassed,
"Just now... my mom, she didn't say anything that made you uncomfortable, did she?"
"No, no—Evie's mom seems like a very cheerful person—and she's also quite energetic, isn't that good?"
"Ha... my mom is just like that, she doesn't really seem like an adult, right?"
After wiping her hands, Yvonne sat down next to Elsa on the sofa, then gazed at the bottles of medicine on the TV cabinet, lost in thought.
"It's rare for you to come back. Do you want to take a look around your room?"
Elsa also wanted to see what Yvonne's room was like.
"...No, no need."
Sitting here, she could just see her mother's figure busy in the kitchen, wearing an apron.
It was rare to see her, and she didn't want to be far from her mother.
"Mm, then let's watch TV together!"
Elsa didn't ask further, deciding to give her some space.
But...
Is this really okay?
......
Soon, enticing aromas wafted from the kitchen.
"—Come and serve the dishes!"
"Coming, coming."
"Isn't this too much..."
Stewed ribs with lotus root, home-style tofu, salt and pepper fish chunks... Seeing the large table of dishes prepared by the mother and daughter for her, Elsa was overwhelmed.
"...Can we really finish all this?"
Besides feeling overwhelmed, she also felt uneasy.
"It's fine, if we can't finish it, we'll save it for tomorrow."
"But constantly reheating leftovers isn't very healthy. From next time, let's try to make just enough for one meal."
The atmosphere at the dinner table was very harmonious,
Elsa told Mother Yin a few stories about her and Yvonne's time at the academy, making her laugh non-stop.
"Come to think of it... it's been so long since the house has been this lively."
Mother Yin couldn't help but sigh,
"...It's just three people," Yvonne said with a bitter smile, "Is this really considered lively?"
But then, upon reflection, she felt very guilty.
Usually, only her mother was at home, so it must have been quite lonely.
"Come, come, eat more. These ribs are stewed until they're very tender, and the lotus root is very soft."
"It looks delicious, thank you, Auntie~!"
"Hehehe... this child has such a sweet mouth."
After serving Elsa, her mother also put a large piece of crispy salt and pepper fish into Yvonne's bowl.
"Here, Yi Yi, your favorite."
In the past, she probably would have taken her bowl away with a look of disdain, firmly refusing her mother's serving. Because once it started, there would be countless times, with her overly doting mother serving from beginning to end.
But... this time Yvonne didn't refuse, and didn't want to refuse.
She took a small bite, it was numbing and crispy, so delicious that she wanted to chew even the fish bones and swallow them whole.
Delicious...
It was the taste from her memories.
The city where Yvonne and her mother lived had been a land of fish and rice since ancient times. Because it was adjacent to a large river, various aquatic products were very abundant, and her mother, who had been cooking fish for over twenty years, was quite skilled at preparing it.
No matter how much she tried to imitate, she could never recreate such a delicious taste.
When she wanted to learn how to make this dish, she no longer had the opportunity.
Thinking of this, waves of sadness welled up.
Her throat felt as if it was blocked by a large ball of cotton, very uncomfortable. Although she had been chewing for a long time, she just couldn't swallow smoothly.
"...What's wrong?"
Hot liquid slid down her face,
Seeing her child suddenly start crying for no apparent reason, Mother Yin was quite startled,
Sniffling, Yvonne tried to find a reasonable excuse:
"This, this is because I accidentally rubbed my eyes with hands that had touched chili peppers—"
Although the excuse was somewhat forced, she didn't want to worry her mother,
"Really... how can you be so careless? What kind of behavior is this while eating..."
Although complaining, her mother still handed her a napkin to wipe her tears.
·
As they were almost finished eating, she hurriedly ate a few more bites of rice,
"Ah, the trash hasn't been taken out, right? I'll go downstairs to throw it away—Oh right, leave the dishes for me to wash later. Mom, don't forget to take your medicine after eating!"
"...Are you teaching your mother what to do?"
Seeing this, Elsa couldn't sit still either,
"Um... let me help with something too!"
"How can we do that, you're a guest..."
She shook her head and said with a smile:
"I've eaten so much, I should move around a bit, otherwise I'll get fat! Look—I can exercise and help you clean at the same time, isn't that killing two birds with one stone?"
"...Are all high school girls nowadays so particular? Cough cough, cough cough—"
As she spoke, Mother Yin suddenly started coughing.
"You're not feeling well, you should rest,"
Mother Yin had no choice but to sit on the sofa, watching Elsa pick up their broom and start sweeping skillfully.
"Huh? What's this..."
As she was sweeping, Elsa swept out a folded white paper from under the coffee table,
She unfolded the paper that had been folded several times, and was surprised to find that she could now understand the text on it.
This was probably because Yvonne realized she was controlling this world, so just like how she gradually could understand the local language, the text on the paper also became understandable.
However, seeing the description on it, her heart seemed to suddenly be weighed down by a heavy lead weight, plummeting rapidly.
Without a doubt, this was a medical diagnosis.
Even she, with little knowledge of this world's various terminologies, could tell,
It was a quite serious illness.
And... since it appeared here, that means...
Everything here is a product of Yvonne's memory.
Which means, she must have seen this diagnosis too...
Thinking of this, Elsa suddenly didn't know which side she should be more worried about.
The recommendation on the diagnosis was hospitalization, but for some reason, Mother Yin had never gone.
"...Little Elsa."
"Ah, yes!!"
Elsa hurriedly stuffed the diagnosis into her pocket.
"There are some things I'd like to talk to you about privately."
They were standing far enough from the kitchen that Yvonne wouldn't be able to hear them.
"I can see you're a good child. I hope you can continue to be friends with our Yi Yi."
"......"
Although her heart was filled with a myriad of emotions, she couldn't express them.
"She's not good with words, and sometimes she's quite stubborn, tends to overthink... If there's a cheerful child like you by her side, I'd feel at ease."
"...I'm sorry!!"
Elsa bowed deeply to Mother Yin,
"What's wrong, so suddenly..."
Mother Yin was very surprised by Elsa's sudden apology,
"...I'm not Evie's friend!"
On this point alone, she didn't want to lie to Yvonne's mother.
Even if it was a dream, she didn't want to lie about her feelings.
"Actually, I—"
However, just as Elsa was about to speak, Mother Yin interrupted her with a bitter smile,
"It's just as I thought."
"...Eh??"
This was completely unexpected for Elsa.
"It seemed like Yi Yi didn't want to tell me, so I didn't plan to expose it, but now it seems my guess was pretty close..."
The gaze looking at her subtly changed,
Elsa was shocked, what keen observation!!
"Hehe... Do you think parents can't see this kind of thing? After all, it's the child I carried for ten months... I've never seen her look at someone with such cherishing eyes before."
As she spoke, she let out a soft sigh.
"I'm so sorry... I..."
"You don't need to apologize to me for anything, child."
A somewhat rough hand stroked the ends of her hair.
"This kind of thing has never been accepted by mainstream society from ancient times to now, but as the only family of that child... if even I were to oppose it, wouldn't that child be too pitiful?"
"So... whether it's a man or a woman who stays by her side in the future... as long as I know she won't be alone, I'll be at ease."
"But... it's not just that..."
Tears wouldn't stop flowing, Elsa sobbed and choked as she looked up at this mother:
"I might... take her to a... very, very far place... No... I already..."
"I know, I know everything, child..."
As she spoke, Mother Yin opened a black-covered photo on the cabinet.
"Being able to see that child again must be a dream... but such a dream is not bad."
Stroking the face of the girl in the photo, two clear tears fell from this mother's face.
"I've heard that after death, people might be reborn in another world... Are you happy there?"
"...We're happy!"
"We're very happy every day... we're very satisfied! We eat well and rest well! Evie is very healthy, she'll probably live to 100 without any problem!!"
"That's wonderful."
Even if it was a dream, she didn't want to believe that this sincere emotion was false.
Was this just a fleeting dream within the book... or a real scene?
Elsa began to have some doubts.
......
The conversation between mother and daughter could be heard from the kitchen again.
"Today, let's make salt and pepper fish chunks! If everyone likes it, please give it a thumbs up!"
"Wait, don't record short videos when others are busy!! Aren't all the fish fried already?? I've already washed the plates!"
"I specially saved half, it's in the refrigerator."
"This..."
Ignoring her daughter's surprised expression, noticing my gaze, Mother Yin winked at me.
"Would Little Elsa like to join too?"
"I'd be delighted!!"
·
Sizzle—
The kitchen at home wasn't large,
If three people stood in front of the stove at the same time, there really wouldn't even be room to turn around.
But, although it was cramped, it was very happy.
Soon, the pleasant sound of frying oil came,
The special fresh flavor of fish also wafted out.
"Flip it when it's fried to this degree... be careful when flipping, if the coating comes off it won't look good—"
The long chopsticks in Mother Yin's hands were as nimble as an extension of her hand. In no time, she had flipped all the fish chunks in the pan,
"Mom, why did you suddenly want to teach me and Elsa?"
Yvonne seemed to have sensed something.
But she didn't dare ask too directly, she could only ask cautiously like this.
"There will always be opportunities to cook in the future, cooking for yourself, for your partner... even for children... this dish is quite suitable for all of those."
Satisfied.
Yvonne suddenly felt satisfied.
Her long-held wish... was to spend precious time with her mother like this.
This had always been her regret, but... now, it was finally fulfilled.
·
"Mama—Mama—~~~~!"
The familiar childish voice exploded in both their ears.
It instantly pulled them out of the dream.
"...Ah."
"It's already time to eat, how can mamas sleep even longer than Bebe?"
Bebe had somehow climbed onto a stool and was shaking them,
"I heard the maid sisters say that people who sleep during the day are lazy dogs!"
"........."
Yvonne and Elsa looked at each other,
Who on earth taught Bebe to say such things?!
"Alright, alright, thank you for waking us up... We'll go prepare dinner right away."
"Hehehe~~"
Being praised and patted on the head, Bebe smiled happily.
How wonderful,
Recalling the dream just now, the two shared a knowing smile,
Still feeling a gentle current in their hearts,
The aroma seemed to still linger in their noses.
"How about fish chunks for dinner?"
Stretching lazily, Yvonne rubbed her slightly damp eyes and proposed.
"Yay!"