Heartbreak Rice

Chen Ying sat down at the dining table, where Wu Jie was busy.

He had been awake for a little over ten minutes, and the pain and discomfort in his body were fading.

His joints were still a little stiff, and when he walked, he felt a slight urge to hop along.

Three dishes and a soup had been laid out on the table: lotus root and pork rib soup, roast chicken, shiitake mushrooms with greens, and stuffed tofu. A blue-and-white porcelain bowl was filled with rice, and there was also a small bowl full of incense ash.

Looking at the food, Chen Ying suddenly felt that it resembled the plastic props at a funeral home, brought out and used over and over every day. Not only did it look fake, but getting close to it made his stomach feel worse.

That little bowl of powdery ash, on the other hand, had a faintly sweet aroma.

This must have been the meal they had prepared for him.

The old woman was already seated at the table, a smile on her lips.

"Don't go to school for the next few days. Stay home and rest first."

Chen Ying nodded.

Actually, A-Jie had already explained things to him earlier, so he had a rough idea of what had happened.

His predecessor's "death" had not been an accident, but the result of someone's scheming. In this chaotic world, supernatural powers did not seem to be some distant subject, carefully hidden behind layers of mist.

Instead, they were openly displayed before everyone.

Villain-hitting rituals really worked.

You really could encounter ghosts and monsters walking down the road.

When a severe drought struck, catching the zombie responsible really could bring welcome rain from the heavens.

Even the foreigners had crossed the ocean and reached this land using mysterious technology.

At this thought, Chen Ying looked out the window.

The moon was dim, dark clouds obscured the sky, and only vague silhouettes of trees could be made out beyond the small building.

Layers of darkness overlapped like pairs of thirsting eyes.

Granny Chen scooped a little incense ash from the small bowl, put it into her mouth, chewed slowly, and swallowed.

"Granny, how does it taste today?"

Wu Jie smiled. She had already dished out the rice.

Granny Chen nodded in satisfaction.

"Fresh and fragrant, nurtured with sincerity. It doesn't have so much of that foul taste."

"A-Jie, you've put your heart into this."

"You've worked hard these past few days, Granny."

"Once Ying is a little better, we'll choose an auspicious day and hold your wedding. Consummate the marriage soon, so I can hold a great-grandchild."

"Granny..."

Watching everything before him, Chen Ying found it utterly absurd.

Granny Chen smiled and stood up.

"I'm old. I don't eat much. I'll be going. You two get some rest early, too. I'll come see you again tomorrow morning."

Wu Jie stood up, and Chen Ying followed suit in bewilderment.

"Take care, Granny."

Granny Chen gave a slight nod. Her legs remained still, yet her whole body gradually floated up, and she glided away with her toes touching the ground.

A-Jie bowed deferentially, taking it all in stride.

I may already be a ghost, but this old woman is definitely not human.

"Husband, is the food not to your taste?"

"Mm, it's fine. Maybe I just don't have much of an appetite because I've only just woken up."

Chen Ying lowered his head. For some reason, compared with the dishes on the table, the neck of the woman beside him seemed more appetizing, giving off an enticingly sweet scent.

So fragrant, so fair and soft. I wonder what it tastes like.

"If you have no appetite, husband, I'll clear the table."

A-Jie smiled.

"Let's get some rest early, too."

"Mm."

Chen Ying watched her clear the table, taking away even the bowl of incense ash.

To be honest, he really did want to taste that incense ash.

Wu Jie was an efficient woman, and she cleared the table in no time. Chen Ying also took a general look at the furnishings.

The furniture was all in a sixties-and-seventies style. An electric fan hung above the dining room, and the wall clock was probably mechanically wound. This place had likely already entered the electrical age.

There were newspapers, which meant the printing industry was already well developed. The public also had a demand for news, so commerce must have developed to a certain degree as well.

Compared with my previous life, perhaps it's at the developmental level of the fifties or sixties?

He saw no television or radio and did not know whether they were in other rooms.

"Husband, you've only just started feeling better. Let's get some rest early."

With A-Jie urging him from the side, Chen Ying stopped looking around and followed her toward the bedroom.

This small building was similar to the corridor-style apartment blocks of his previous life. The staircase was right in the middle, and a corridor connected all the rooms, with the bedrooms, kitchen, and dining room all opening onto it.

"How strange. I haven't seen any neighbors here. Is this whole floor ours?"

"Husband, never mind this floor. This entire building belongs to us. There aren't any other neighbors."

A-Jie paused before continuing.

"We live on this floor ourselves. There are some tenants on the floors below, but they probably wouldn't dare disturb you."

So I'm a landlord.

They soon reached the bedroom. Chen Ying was already in his pajamas, while A-Jie changed back into a gauzy nightdress. She carefully helped Chen Ying lie down, then began massaging his head again.

"There are so many things I can't remember."

"It's all right. You'll remember soon, husband."

"What if I don't?"

"It doesn't matter if you don't. I'll slowly tell you about the past."

With his head resting on Wu Jie's thighs, her faint natural scent drifted over to him. Looking at her full breasts and the lovely curve of her hips, Chen Ying realized that he suddenly had no thoughts of that other kind.

As the sage Confucius said, appetite and lust were human nature.

Those thoughts had subsided, but his appetite was strong. He did not want to "devour" this woman so much as he wanted to actually eat her.

"Am I still going to school?"

"Yes, young master. You attend Tongwen Academy. Your schoolwork is only average, and you're thoroughly mischievous."

A-Jie smiled.

"What about you? Are you studying too?"

"Me? I was raised at home. I help Granny with things."

"Like cooking?"

"More or less. Granny has taught me many of her skills."

"Have I learned Granny's skills?"

"No. Granny swore an oath that she couldn't teach her skills to family members."

"But you're family too."

"I'm an outsider."

"Won't you become family once you marry me?"

"So after we consummate the marriage, Granny won't teach me any more skills. That doesn't count as breaking her oath."

What a flexible oath.

Chen Ying wanted to ask a few more questions, but A-Jie, his other half, said, "Let's sleep early. Perhaps you'll have an appetite tomorrow after a good sleep."

She switched off the light and curled up beside Chen Ying like a cat, nestling close. With her lips against his ear, she whispered.

"This is wonderful."

"Wonderful?"

"You never used to let A-Jie touch you, young master."

"Then I really was quite foolish."

"Young master isn't foolish at all."

Time passed little by little, and Chen Ying had no idea how long it had been.

In any case, he could not sleep at all, lying on the soft bed.

It was not because of anything else. He simply was not the least bit sleepy.

The breathing of the woman beside him gradually became slow and even. A-Jie had fallen asleep, but Chen Ying was growing more and more alert.

Suddenly, he caught the aroma of food outside.

Refreshing greens, richly flavored char siu, and the simple grain fragrance of rice.

Gulp.

Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Chen Ying climbed out of bed.

He followed the aroma outside.

He pushed open the bedroom door. The corridor was silent, without a soul in sight.

The aroma was drifting up the stairs from below.

Chen Ying frowned curiously.

Is one of the tenants cooking a late-night meal?

It smells so delicious. Perhaps I can ask for some. He had never imagined he could feel so hungry.

He headed downstairs. The third and second floors were both silent, frighteningly so.

The aroma of food lingered on the first floor.

Chen Ying discovered that the rooms in this small building were all on one side. There were nine rooms on either side of the staircase. Outside one of the rooms on the left side of the first floor sat a large porcelain bowl painted with a rooster, filled with fragrant char siu rice.

The bowl of rice sat right on the floor, with several sheets of white paper tucked underneath it.

"Cough... cough..."

A hoarse voice came from inside the room.

Just from the voice, Chen Ying could sense that a gaunt, shriveled old man was inside.

"Eat, child. Since you've only just died, you must be starving."

"Once you've eaten the heartbreak rice, you'll feel better."