After Jiang Yanli and Lan Wangji talked in the kitchen for a while, the daughter of the Yunmeng Jiang clan decided she would accompany the Second Jade back to Wei Wuxian's room. She heated the very rest of the soup she had made previously and also took some other food fit for a breakfast. Her brother needed to start gaining back his strength and that could only be done with a plentiful and wholesome diet, just a Wen Qing ordered. They needed to be careful thought since Wei Wuxian was just recovering, they had to take it one step at a time.
She was happy to find her brother awake when they made it into his room. But something was different this time. Wei Wuxian was up and about, he had even dressed himself properly and was standing close to the door when they entered. For some reason, this image made her feel on the edge.
She knew she should be glad that Wei Wuxian was feeling up to standing and walking but was not sure if it was not too soon. She would have liked to have him resting for a while longer. Things were not the same anymore, he really could take it easy at last and her parents, especially her mother, would not say anything about it. There were no duties for him to take care of either, he was free to take his time recovering and figuring everything out.
Her uneasiness was however soothed when Wei Wuxian shot them a blinding smiling upon their entrance and she heard his stomach rumbling. Just as she had expected, he started immediately pouting loudly while joining them and looking at each of them in turn: "Shijie, can I smell your soup? I am so hungry! Please, please, can I have some?"
He was eager enough and Jiang Yanli could not help herself to smile as well. She patted her brother's head gently with her free hand and pointed towards the table: "A-Xian, I am happy to see you are feeling better. I brought you breakfast, now that you are up, we can eat together."
Wei Wuxian obeyed her instructions and quickly sat himself at the table, waiting impatiently for her to serve him the soup. He seemed like an eager child who knew he was getting his favourite candy and had to wait for the grow-up to get it out of their sleeve. He looked adorable and young like this. If she did not know any better, she could have even thought that he was alright now.
However, she was very familiar with her brother's pretending to be fine and she was not fooled. At least not fully. Although his complexion looked better now and he was smiling and joking, she could see a hidden sadness deep inside his eyes. It was as if he was trying really hard to act as he had used to but could not quite remember how to actually be happy about it. It was just a front he put up for them to see while he was hiding his true feelings.
She worried if he would even be able to fully relax again. Too much had happened to him and she knew it must not be easy for him to start getting used to everything. He would need time. That was something which she could and would gladly give.
She finished pouring his bowl of soup and served all the dishes on the table. There was not enough soup for the three of them but that was fine, she would make more later. Wei Wuxian however did not start eating right away, he was instead looking at Lan Wangji with a strange expression of wonder and awe in his eyes. His face melted into something very sweet and gentle and she knew that the Second Jade's confession had done wonders for him.
He pushed the bowl of soup towards the Gusu Lan sect disciple. "Lan Zhan, here. Have you ever tried Shijie's soup? It is the best, I promise."
Lan Wangji gave him a small indulgent smile, an expression that made Jiang Yanli speechless, she had not known the Second Jade could look like that. She had to admit that if she had not had Jin Zixuan already, she would have perhaps felt something seeing Lan Wangji smile. Now she was only glad to see her brother melt even more and smile even brighter.
Lan Wangji stopped Wei Wuxian from pushing the bowl of soup towards him: "Wei Ying should eat. I have already had an opportunity to taste Jiang Yanli's cooking. She is an excellent cook."
"Is she not?" laughed Wei Wuxian in delight as he picked up his spoon and started hungrily shovelling the soup into his mouth, barely chewing at all.
"A-Xian, slow down. I will make more later, there is no need to rush," she reprimanded her brother gently.
"But Shijie!" he immediately pouted in mock hurt again. "Your soup is so good I cannot eat it slowly."
That made both of them smile as she also took her chopsticks and started eating. Lan Wangji followed suit. The meal was a relaxed and jovial affair. After Wei Wuxian finished gobbling down the soup, he started eating more slowly and then he was only picking a few bites here and there, apparently his stomach was still shrunk from his previous experience and he was already sated. What he could not do with busying his mouth with eating, he made up for it by talking.
He spoke about everything and anything, telling stories of the past and more about Lotus Pier for Lan Wangji to hear. Jiang Yanli also joined the conversation from time to time but basically, she was happy to see her brother's old self back, even when she knew he was probably pushing himself right then.
Lan Wangji did not say anything, he was obeying the rule of not talking while eating, but he had a soft expression on his face and his eyes were smiling when he was nodding or shaking his head when a response from him was required. Wei Wuxian did not seem to mind his silence as he continued to fill the room with idle chatter.
When they finished eating, Jiang Yanli put away the empty dishes and prepared herself to leave. She still had her duties to take care of. The new servants had yet to get used to the place and she often accompanied them and trained them.
When Wei Wuxian saw that she was about to leave, he stood up and was clearly ready to go somewhere as well. That made Jiang Yanli frown a bit in concern. He was not yet well enough to be walking around too much. She could already see that he was having trouble standing up himself and his eyes and features had become tired during their meal. He needed to stay and rest some more.
Lan Wangji must have been of the same opinion because he looked at Wei Wuxian in concern as well and reminded her brother of his own duties: "Wei Ying needs to rest and recover. I will play for you."
When the Yunmeng Jiang sect head disciple seemed like he would argue with that statement, Jiang Yanli stepped in: "A-Xian, Lan Wangji is right. You should stay in your room for a while longer and rest. You look tired. After you sleep, perhaps you can take Lan Wangji on a small tour around Lotus Pier, but you need to recuperate a bit more before that. You seem ready to kneel over at any second."
Wei Wuxian looked hurt at her words and she felt bad for asking him to do something he did not want. But there was no going around this one, it was important he rested for him to recover properly. He would still have plenty of time to enjoy his life and run around with Lan Wangji later.
She could tell that while her brother was not happy about her words, he looked relieved at the same time. He must have really been tired because he sat down at the table again with less grace than normally, more like fell back to his seat really. Jiang Yanli was alarmed. It was clear from just this that Wei Wuxian was truly not recovered yet if only a simple meal made him this exhausted.
Lan Wangji sat down as well and busied himself with preparing tea, earning himself a smile from her brother. Still, Wei Wuxian looked at her again the next moment, his expression serious for once, he was ready to make another attempt at convincing her apparently.
She was right she realized when her brother said with all seriousness and no joking nor mischief: "Shijie, I know I should recover more, but I have duties to take care of."
Jiang Yanli's heart was overcome with sadness at his words. She shook her head vehemently and felt tears stinking in her eyes. It was heart-breaking to see her brother still so ready to throw himself away and go on pretending that he was not hurting. For it was more than clear to her that he was doing this just for her family and the Yunmeng Jiang sect's image again.
"A-Xian," she spoke gently, not letting her real emotions to be heard, "we will talk about this later. Now your only duty is to heal and rest. You can take it easy and no one will say anything about it, I promise. Alright? Can you promise me that you will not push yourself? At least for the next few days."
Wei Wuxian seemed concerned about her voice and expression. He considered her plea only for a second before he quickly agreed: "Alright, Shijie, I promise."