After Waking Up, I Inherited a Bookstore 18

Chapter 18: Ning Xia

By the time the group returned to the bookstore, it was already past 1 PM. On the way, they had bought some snacks and groceries. Liu Chu planned to show off her cooking skills.

Li Hanyan, on the other hand, walked quickly towards the hidden door. Liu Chuxia hadn’t sent her any messages all morning, and she was afraid something had happened to her inside. After entering, she hurriedly opened the room door and saw Liu Chuxia playing with a flame in her hand. The floor was covered in black ash from her burning.

“Hanyan? You’re back. Look, aren’t I amazing?” With that, she picked up a yellow paper strip, pinched it between two fingers, and it instantly burst into flames, turning into ash that floated to the ground.

Li Hanyan was too shocked to speak. Even the most talented disciples would take a whole day to learn this, and it was impossible for them to burn the talisman paper directly like Liu Chuxia. At most, they would start with a small flame that burned slowly, and whether it would burn completely was still a question.

“Hmm? Hanyan? What’s wrong with you? Did I impress you that much? Hehe.” Liu Chuxia poked her cheek.

Li Hanyan snapped back to her senses, took down the mischievous hand, and held it in hers. “Mhm, you’re indeed very impressive. Your talent is very high. It’s the first time I’ve seen someone with such high talent. Sigh… it even makes me a little jealous of you.”

“Really? Oh my, you’re making me a little embarrassed.”

“Let’s go out first. Xiao Xu will probably jump for joy when she finds out. Master will be happy for you too.”

“Mhm.”

The two of them came out of the hidden door. Li Hanyan led her by the hand to the kitchen on the fourth floor. It was Liu Chuxia’s first time here. On the fourth floor, she walked all the way to the left and saw a sensor-activated glass door.

The moment the two of them entered, an open-plan kitchen came into view. To its left was a pure white dining table and chairs, and to the right was a lounge area where they could relax after meals. A whole glass wall separated the kitchen from the lounge, so the smell of cooking oil couldn’t get in. The left side was also separated by a large glass wall.

The overall color scheme was black for the kitchen, white for the dining table, and gray for the entertainment area, which was quite harmonious overall.

The moment she entered, Liu Chuxia smelled the familiar aroma of food. “Mmm~ It smells so good. Is Mom cooking today? This smell is so familiar.”

“Mhm, Master said she wanted to show off her skills. Does she cook often at home? You knew just by smelling it.” Even after entering, Li Hanyan didn’t want to let go of the small hand she was holding.

“Mom does love to cook. When she has nothing to do, besides doing some strange and boring things, her favorite thing is cooking. But every time she finishes, she cries. When I ask her, she just says it’s nothing. Later, I learned my lesson and stopped asking.” Liu Chuxia suddenly felt a little sad. She had a feeling that her mother would cry later, and she wasn’t sure if there were enough tissues.

“Master… cries?” Li Hanyan said in surprise.

“Everyone cries, okay? My mom is not a god,” Liu Chuxia said, patting her lightly.

“It’s just that I’ve never seen it before. I’ve known Master for so long, and I always thought she didn’t have tear ducts. No matter how painful the injury, she can endure it. It hurts just looking at it,” Li Hanyan said, her body shivering at the memory of the wound.

“Aren’t you two master and disciple the same? Xiao Xu told me, and it’s pretty much the same as what you said. Do you have to be so stubborn? Hmm?” By the end of her sentence, Liu Chuxia flung her hand away and quickly walked towards the kitchen.

“Hey? A Xia! Why are you suddenly angry?” Li Hanyan hurriedly chased after her.

Liu Chu was just about to bring the soup to the dining table when Liu Chuxia took it from her. “Mom, let me. Where’s Xiao Xu?”

“Then hold it steady. She’s in there helping me cut the side dishes. There are only two more dishes to go.” Liu Chu smiled and ran back to the kitchen.

Li Hanyan took the initiative to get the bowls and chopsticks from the cabinet and then set them on the dining table one by one.

Liu Chuxia found all the tissues in the dining room. When Li Hanyan came in and saw this, she asked in confusion, “Does Master cry that much?”

“A lot! She uses up two large boxes of tissues every time. I don’t think this is enough. I’ll go look for more.”

Liu Chuxia was about to run out when Li Hanyan stopped her. “Maybe she’s very happy today because she heard about your high talent. Don’t go. It’s so tiring to run up and down.”

Liu Chuxia thought it made sense, but she still had a faint worry. “But…”

“It’s fine. Even if there’s not enough, I’ll go get more later,” Li Hanyan said, holding her hand reassuringly.

“Alright, alright, it’s time to eat,” Xiao Xu shouted, coming in with a plate of deep-fried shrimp.

Finally, Liu Chu brought out the last dish, steamed sea bass, and the meal officially began.

“Master, A Xia learned how to self-ignite a yellow talisman in half a day, and the flame is quite large. You really cooked the right meal today,” Li Hanyan said, chewing on a deep-fried shrimp.

“Wow! Big Sister Chuxia is so amazing? No, I have to jump a few times to show my happiness.” The moment she finished speaking, her ghostly figure disappeared. Looking up, she was happily bouncing on the ceiling.

“Hey! Come down quickly. You’re kicking up dust from up there,” Liu Chu hurriedly covered the dishes in front of her.

Liu Chuxia and Li Hanyan, on the other hand, watched with smiles.

“Big Sister Chuxia, you’re amazing!” Xiao Xu came down from the ceiling and gave Liu Chuxia a thumbs-up, her voice full of excitement.

“Alright, let’s all eat. If we don’t eat now, the food will get cold from the air conditioning. Xiaoxia is indeed outstanding, just like her…” Before she could finish, tears started to fall. She quickly wiped them away and continued, “Oh my, I should be happy. You guys eat. I’ll go calm down for a bit.” With that, she was about to get up and leave, but Liu Chuxia pulled her back down.

“Mom, you can tell us now, right? Was it Mom, or Dad?” The reason she asked this was mainly because she could feel that her mother didn’t seem to like interacting with men.

As for herself, she viewed same-sex love as something very normal, just the most ordinary thing.

“She was your mother, your mommy.” Liu Chu suddenly burst into uncontrollable tears. Liu Chuxia immediately handed her a tissue.

By the time Liu Chu had calmed down, she saw two humans and one ghost staring at her with wide eyes, filled with a thirst for knowledge.

She sighed and began to speak, “Her name was Ning Xia. She was the only god-tier genius in the spirit world for many years, a target coveted by all four great families. You should have heard some of her stories. Later, she chose the Liu family, and because of that, we fell in love. Of course, we were met with the family’s disapproval, but we would never give in. Later, during a mission, she was ambushed by a red-clothed fierce ghost and her foundation was injured. She didn’t have long to live. During that time, her entire state was off. Later… she even used a forbidden art to create a medicine that defied the laws of nature. It was… it was a forbidden drug that allowed same-sex couples to have children. After that, she was punished by the Heavenly Dao. She only told me all this a few days before she died. I said… I said, how could she cling to me for so long every day during those few days, even with her injuries… But how could I really blame her?”

After helping her wipe away countless tears, Liu Chuxia said, “And then you had me?”

Liu Chu nodded. “I was shocked too. At first, when I heard her say that, I didn’t believe it. But your arrival made me have to believe.”

“Later, when you were born, the family always thought I had you after fooling around with some man. They kept trying to get the truth out of me, but I always said her name. The people in the family all thought I was crazy, but what I said was the truth.”

“When you were just born, I thought you would be a frail and sickly child. But unexpectedly, apart from a few normal colds, you were exceptionally healthy.”

“The older you got, the more you looked like her. So I didn’t dare to let anyone in the circle find out about you. It would only bring you trouble. And just as I thought, you are as talented as she is. If I had let you enter this circle earlier, you would probably be famous by now.”

Liu Chu smiled and continued, “But I just wanted you to grow up safe and sound. So what if you’re a genius? You still can’t escape fate.”

“But you still entered this circle. Sigh… Mom is not as capable as your mommy. I can’t protect you. Instead, I have to let you…” Liu Chu hurriedly stopped herself.