What If...I Remember?

Chapter 45

"Could you pass me the spatula, Mi Gu? I need to wash it too." Feng Jiu didn't look up from the sink as her hands scrubbed the pots clean, and Di Jun blinked once, before he turned around silently, picking up the spatula. "I never knew one might need a spatula to make cakes." Di Jun mused as he placed the spatula beside the sink, and Feng Jiu jumped a foot high from the ground, "D-di Jun? Why are you here?" "I thought I'd come in to observe your cooking and learn some for when I am bored. You cook well, Bai Feng Jiu." Di Jun leaned against the counter, and Feng Jiu turned a slight shade of red as his words entered her ears: Was that a compliment for me?

"W-well..." Feng Jiu mentally slapped herself for stuttering, "I did need to mix the sugar and the green bean paste together for A-Li's cakes..." "The green bean cakes," Di Jun suddenly interjected, and Feng Jiu was rather startled by his rude interruption, and even more so when he continued on to say: "I have never eaten green bean cakes. But I think you make them very well, Xiao Bai, and if I may ask, why didn't you make them for sharing?"

Xiao Bai? Feng Jiu felt herself getting a little giddy; since when had Di Jun gotten to calling her so intimately? "A-Li likes them that way...but Gugu doesn't like it with the rue¹ in it, and Uncle Ye Hua generally doesn't eat much cakes. So I only made them for A-Li." Feng Jiu explained slowly, the tap still flowing behind her, and Di Jun looked her in the eye, "Well, they were nice. Could you make more?" "More?" Feng Jiu blinked, "Di Jun, why do you need me to make more?"

"To store them at Tai Chen Palace. The cakes are awfully bland in the Nine Heavens, Xiao Bai, and I most certainly could do with more flavour." Di Jun glanced at the flowing water behind her, before he added, "And I don't suppose letting water flow freely is also part of cleaning up?" "Water?" Feng Jiu, quite caught up in her conversation, turned around in confusion, until she realised that she had yet to turn the tap off. "No, it's not part of cleaning up." Feng Jiu hastily flicked the tap back, "It slipped my mind to turn the tap off."

"Di Jun, when do you want the green bean cakes?" Feng Jiu returned to their conversation, her spatula still in hand as she fiddled with it, not noticing the remaining chunks of green bean paste and sugar that were previously slowly sliding down the handle were now threatening to fall, and Di Jun shrugged as he turned around, ready to leave the kitchen, "Any time that is convenient for you, Xiao Bai."

And just as he stepped out, there was a yelp of surprise, and Di Jun shook his head, a small smile of laughter on his face as he left the kitchen, knowing very well that the mixture must have finally landed on Feng Jiu.

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"Qian Qian, I have some news for you." Ye Hua brushed her hair behind her ear gently, his face set in a solemn expression, a slight frown creasing his forehead, and Bai Qian tilted her head towards him as she planted a light kiss on his jaw, "Me too, Ye Hua. I, too, have some news for you. Though I think we should hear yours first, since they seem like quite some bad news to me."

"Bad news indeed." Ye Hua sighed, his frown only deepening as Bai Qian sat up a little more attentively, "I do wish I wouldn't have to spoil this evening, although with the news, that would be an impossible feat." "Go ahead, Ye Hua. No point beating around the bush." Bai Qian urged him on, and Ye Hua cleared his throat, swallowing his doubts as he spoke.

"It's about Su Jin." Ye Hua started, and a frown instantly formed on Bai Qian's forehead as her lips drew into a straight line. But despite her dislike for the topic, Bai Qian remained silent, her eyes fixed on him as she waited for him to continue, and Ye Hua took another breath. Since he had started it, it was too late to turn back. "Although she has already jumped off the Zhu Xian Terrace, the East Emperor Bell has yet to reactivate, and thus her punishment cannot be completed. So for now, she still has to reside in the Nine Heavens." Ye Hua spoke seriously, wrapping his arms around her waist in fear that she might stand upon hearing the news, and indeed, Bai Qian's face lit up, ignited by her furnace of hatred towards Su Jin.