Eternal Love of Dream: The Aftermath

What If? Part 8

Fengjiu tasted the salted fish fried rice and wrinkled her nose. She had already added the usual amount of salt but it still tasted so bland. She added an additional generous sprinkle of salt to the fish. Picking up a bite, she tasted it again and this time sighed loudly, "Mmmmm, now this is good!"

"Can I try some?" Donghua asked behind her.

She turned around startled. "Dijun...? What are you doing in my kitchen?" It was more the kitchen of Gugu's fox den, but she was staying here until she could design a house for Migu to build. It had been two weeks since she had left the Nine Heavens for Qingqiu. She had mostly just gone to her classes, cried a lot and slept even more. The only time in her day that she wasn't completely overcome with sadness was when she was in the kitchen, making food. Normally she liked to make sweets, but maybe because it reminded her too much of Donghua, she hadn't had an appetite for cakes, except for salty cakes. But here he was, in her kitchen. "What are you doing in Qingqiu?"

"Zhe Yan is a bit weakened from a recent mission and wanted to recover in your uncle's care. I escorted him to make sure he made it fine and your uncle mentioned you had taken temporary residence in your aunt's fox den. Jingwei led me here."

Fengjiu's mouth opened. She had so many questions. "What happened to High God Zhe Yan? Will he be ok? Why would you ask Fourth Uncle where I am? What mission?"

Donghua put some fingers up to his forehead and said weakly, "To be honest, Xiaobai, I am also feeling a bit weak from the mission and haven't eaten for days...can we eat first?" He sneaked a look at her between his fingers.

As expected, Fengjiu rush to him with concern when she saw how faint he was, and he immediately leaned on her as she led him to a table. Fengjiu did not see the little smile on his face.

"Dijun, why are you weak too? Why didn't you have time to eat? You have to take better care of yourself!" She grumbled, as she sat him down. She turned to go get the salted fish fried rice but he held on to her hand.

"Dijun...I need to go get you food, remember?"

He pouted but finally let her go the mere couple of feet to get the bowl of salted fish fried rice and two little serving bowls, chopsticks and spoons. He pouted again when she made another trip to get the tea. Really, the Qingqiu royals needed more servants.

When she finally sat down across from him, Donghua touched his forehead again. "Xiaobai, I'm feeling a little faint. Can you feed me?"

Fengjiu sighed heavily and moved to sit next to him. "Dijun, everyone says you're so wise and powerful but I don't see how that's possible when you let yourself become this weak!"

"That's why you need to marry me and help me become a stronger person," he said simply. She ignored him and spooned some salted fish fried rice, blowing on it a little before putting in front of his face. He smiled and looked lovingly at her, taking a bite. The loving look immediately disappeared as he started coughing at how salty the salted fish fried rice really was.

"Dijun! Are you ok??!" Fengjiu asked, patting his back. He poured himself a cup of tea and drank it, coughing a little more.

"Xiaobai, I love your cooking but that is...a little salty." He drank another 4 cups of tea.

Fengjiu took a bite of the fried rice. It tasted heavenly to her. "Dijun, this is salted fish fried rice. It's supposed to taste salty." She ate another bite.

He looked at her in concern. "Maybe we should have Zhe Yan take a look at you when he's recovered."

"You're being silly. But if you didn't like the salted fish fried rice, the cakes are almost ready."

Donghua's face brightened. "I'll wait for the sweets then."

Fengjiu blushed a little. "They're salty cakes...but they're not that salty. Just a little."

Donghua didn't trust her definition of a little salty and poured himself another cup of tea. "Buddha has said that fasting is good for the soul."

Fengjiu nibbled her lip, then smiled.  "I know!" She got up and came back with a big bowl filled with mostly plain rice, then added only a little of the salted fish fried rice, mixed it, and then spooned some for him to try.

He gingerly tasted it and smiled. He caressed her chin. "It tastes great.  Xiaobai, you're so smart."

She blushed and then continued to feed him some more bites. She tasted one spoon while he was chewing and wrinkled her nose. Maybe she should ask High God Zhe Yan to come take a look at Dijun when he was recovered since this mixed rice was completely lacking in flavor. But she didn't feel it was needed to be said when Donghua needed fuel, so they sat there as she fed him more spoons while he smiled happily and placed a hand on her thigh in familiarity and comfort.

When he couldn't eat anymore, he drank a cup of tea and then leaned his head against her. "Thank you for feeding me, Xiaobai."

"Are you feeling better?" Fengjiu knew she shouldn't be sitting so close to him, but it didn't seem wise to move when he was so weak. For someone so strong to be this weak must mean he had lost a lot of cultivation. And also, she missed his touch and his sandalwood scent so much.

"Much better." He pulled her waist to him so she could be closer. "But still a little weak. Just let me lean on you a little more?"

"It's ok. You can rest on me." She supported herself against the table so she could bear the weight of him, and then patted his head. "So what happened, Dijun?"

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A big naughty of me to leave you on a cliffhanger but hoped you enjoyed this sweet chapter.  Pouting and shameless Donghua is my favorite! Thanks for the lovely comments and votes as always. ❤️