The diary ended on the day my mother died.
From then on, the Beauty never wrote in her diary again, nor did she go to school. She moved into Grandpa Enkun's house. In Kuaziba, if there was anyone she could rely on, anyone she could miss, it was only Grandpa Enkun.
She turned to the last entry in the diary.
There was a large yellow stain on that page. It was a tear stain left by a tear, which later became moldy and turned into a yellow smudge.
The tear stains on the paper seemed to be spreading, gradually wetting the entire page.
The yellow tear stains began to turn clear, like a mountain spring. The words on the paper transformed into fish in the spring, swimming and playing. The fish tails swayed, creating ripples on the surface of the water.
The ripples spread outwards in concentric circles, spilling over the paper and onto the table. The wood grain of the tabletop came to life, like an old rosewood tablet soaked in water.
The spring water was still flowing, gurgling down from the tabletop, onto the ground, and then spreading out to form a pool of emerald green. The entire table had become a wooden plank floating in the pool.
Yu Meiren saw herself sitting on a long bench, barefoot, the pool water above her ankles, icy cold. Several fish swam around her feet, their mouths occasionally nibbling at her skin, a ticklish, warm sensation like a mother's kiss.
She heard that the tears a daughter sheds when she misses her mother can gather into the deepest spring in the world. Beneath the spring lies the path to another world, where her mother awaits her.
In the middle of the pool was a black whirlpool, slowly rotating and moving.
"Mom!" the Beauty called softly.
Will I be able to see my mom soon?
The vortex was approaching her, and she watched with a smile.
If she were just a little closer, she could jump.
The vortex suddenly started spinning faster, and a dark shadow floated up and down inside, seemingly struggling.
What is that? Is it the evil spirit that kidnapped my mother?
I'm not afraid of you!
Yu Meiren bravely stood up and stood on the bench.
After a while, there was a sudden splash on the water, and the dark shadow emerged from the water.
The Beauty saw it spread its wings and leap onto the floating wooden table.
It was a large, entirely black bird, somewhat resembling Crow.
"Oh no, I'm so suffocating!"
The large bird shook its body, its feathers bristling, and water droplets were flung everywhere.
"You know what? Men in love are incredibly stupid. All they see is women! Women! Women! If you were to give them an IQ test... 70?... 50? Yes, at most 50!"
"That damn Xiao Qi is always glued to women's bellies, he's even forgotten what Crow like to eat. Do you know what he fed me? Braised pork knuckle? No way! He actually fed me durian! Oh my god, durian! Who can stand that smell?... Ugh..."
The Crow chattered as it shook off the water droplets, glanced at the thin, small girl standing on the opposite stool, and shook its head, which was probably still dazed from eating too much durian.
"Who are you?... Where am I?... Oh, okay, whatever!... Little girl, do you know what a durian is? It's a fruit that tastes like... uh... jackfruit smeared with cream and poop!"
"What? You don't know jackfruit? Oh, you don't either! Okay, okay, let's not talk about jackfruit, how about passion fruit? Wow—just thinking about it makes my mouth water, it'll make your teeth ache! Oh, sorry, I'm not one of you, I don't have teeth, Guagua!..."
Yu Meiren had never seen a talking bird before, especially one even more talkative than the most talkative woman in the village. Intrigued, she temporarily forgot about hopping down to find her mother.
The Crow kept chattering about fruits and meat, as if it hadn't had a proper meal in ages. But many of the things it mentioned were things the Yu Meiren had never heard of before.
"What? You don't understand what I'm saying? Oh, it's okay. Everyone's confused the first time they hear a bird say so much. You'll get used to it eventually. Sigh! My owner entrusted me to a man in love. You have no idea how terrible that is!"
"Loneliness is a kind of blue—it burrows into my heart—" The Crow began to sing again in its uniquely bewitching and trembling voice. After a few lines, it continued, "Do you know? For a person... oh no... a bird, in the days after losing its owner, in the home of some lovelorn idiots, watching them cuddling and eating durian instant noodles every day, what a painful life it is... Guagua..."
"Okay, okay, let's not talk about these sad things. I said, have you ever seen... seen a man... um... a really handsome man, so handsome it's beyond words, so handsome that I have to mess up his hair to make him look better... oh, right, he has a bird's nest hairstyle... Guagua... He likes to wear flip-flops... Guagua... don't think he's trying to look cool, it's because he has athlete's foot... Guagua..."
When the Crow spoke of this man, it cawed excitedly, as if it had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
Yu Meiren saw that the guy with the messy hair was standing on the water behind the Crow, his hands in his pockets and a cigarette in his mouth.
"Hey, you've gone from a chatterbox to a stand-up comedian. I'm thinking of sending you to the Pot Lid Society for some training," said the man with the messy hair.
"Caw~" The Crow, which had been chattering incessantly, suddenly stopped, tilted its head as if thinking about something, then raised one foot and pecked twice with its beak. "Sorry, I misspoke earlier. I'm the one with athlete's foot. You know, I'm a bird, and birds usually have athlete's foot, Guagua!"
Yu Meiren finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.
A man with messy hair walked across the water, his shoes making a clattering sound, creating many ripples on the surface.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Qingmu, and this is my bird, named Boss Coal," he said.
Yu Meiren said, "My name is Yu Meiren."
"Wow, what a lovely name!" said the Crow.
Yu Meiren, remembering that her name was the same as that of a poppy flower, lowered her head.
The Crow, puzzled, looked at Qingmu and asked, "Uh, what's wrong with her?"
Qingmu said, "Do you know why your father named you this?"
Yu Meiren shook her head.
"Because she wants you to be a beautiful Yu Meiren, not a poisonous opium."
Yu Meiren lowered her head, biting her lip, and said, "But they all say he's a bad person, Poison Scorpion."
"He's not Poison Scorpion, nor is he a bad person; he's a good person," Qingmu said.
Yu Meiren raised her head, a strange light shining in her eyes. "Really?"
"Wow, of course it's true." The Crow flew up, hopped onto Qingmu's head, and scratched his hair with its claws, saying, "My master would never lie."