CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 49: THE MAN-EATER

Many people refuse to eat it because it stinks.

Its black exterior makes it seem somewhat unsanitary, plus there’s a stench. Many people lack the courage to try it.

Stinky tofu only smells bad; when you eat it, it tastes delicious.

Several people are standing around the stall. It looks like business is quite good.

The vendor is a middle-aged uncle. Even though it’s just a roadside stall, the uncle’s smile is genuine.

It’s clear that although life may be hard for him, he finds it fulfilling.

Because there are quite a few customers, his wife is also helping out beside him. The two chat and laugh together, making people envious.

People envy their simple and fulfilling way of life. As the saying goes, happiness eventually halts, and only in simplicity lies truth. That’s all there is to it.

Ye Xinluo is standing in line behind them.

Beichen Rui stands to the side, frowning. He’s not very interested in stinky tofu.

After about twenty minutes, Ye Xinluo comes back with two servings of stinky tofu.

"President, would you like to try some? It’s really good," she says, handing one portion to Beichen Rui.

He has no intention of reaching out to take it. Just looking at that blackened thing makes him lose his appetite.

Beichen Rui disdains to even glance at the things sold at roadside stalls. Moreover, this is served in a plastic container, obviously unsanitary.

"No thanks." He replies coldly.

It’ll make you sick...

He adds in his mind.

Hearing his response, Ye Xinluo isn’t surprised. She never expected Beichen Rui to eat such things.

After all, he’s the young master born into a wealthy family. It’s impossible to expect him to eat stinky tofu.

Since he’s unwilling, she decides she’ll eat it herself.

"President, can you help me hold this?" She asks Beichen Rui, as she has two servings in her hands and can’t eat like this.

He frowns initially, staying still for a while.

Ye Xinluo thought he was unwilling to help, just as she was about to pull back her hand, the portion is taken from her hand.

She is momentarily stunned, then realizes. "Thank you, President," she says.

"Let’s go." Beichen Rui begins walking towards the hotel, and Ye Xinluo quickly follows.

Like this, Ye Xinluo eats stinky tofu as she walks back.

Beichen Rui walks in front, the smell occasionally wafting from the stinky tofu in his hand, making him wrinkle his brow.

Even though he braced himself, the sharp odor still makes him uncomfortable.

Occasionally glancing toward Ye Xinluo from the corner of his eye, she’s walking a bit behind, thoroughly enjoying the stinky tofu.

He sneers, disliking it, not understanding why she likes this stuff so much.

It’s so stinky, and pitch black, too, possibly life-threatening.

It’s the same now as it was ten years ago...

She liked it so much back then too...

...

Realizing his thoughts were wandering, Beichen Rui quickly refocuses. By this time, Ye Xinluo has finished her portion and is walking towards him.

He instinctively stops and stands still, waiting for her to approach. He glances at her empty hands and is a bit amazed.

How did she finish it so quickly, as if she poured it down...

When she gets closer, he hands her the portion he’s holding.

"Thank you, President." Ye Xinluo doesn’t say much, reaching out to take the box. Without a word, she opens it, sticks a piece with the skewer, and eats it.

She hasn’t eaten this in four years. Not just two portions, even ten, she’d finish if she wanted to.

When you really like something, no matter how much you eat, you won’t grow tired of it.

"You like it?" Observing her enjoyment, his lips curl up into a faint, indistinct smile.

"Yes." Ye Xinluo nods.

She remembers the first time she ate stinky tofu was when the principal bought it for her. Back then, Ye Xinluo said that thing was so smelly, she’d rather die than eat it.

It was after much persuasion from the dean that she reluctantly tried a piece. After that, she got hooked.

Thinking of the dean mom, Ye Xinluo’s eating slows down, a trace of desolation flashing through her eyes.

She’s still unclear which relative took away the dean mom’s ashes back then, or in which sea they were scattered.

Ye Xinluo was the dean’s adopted child, but because she stayed in the orphanage with the dean for so long, she wasn’t very acquainted with the dean mom’s relatives.

The dean mom hardly interacted with people, with the only close connection being her younger sister.

That’s the only family Ye Xinluo knows. The dean mom had two sisters, and the younger one is Ye Huimin.

When the dean mom worked at the orphanage, she’d sometimes visit. She knew about Ye Xinluo’s adoption too.

Later, after hearing of the dean’s death, she moved abroad with her husband and family, but no one knows where they went.

...

"What are you thinking about?" Looking at the woman spacing out in front of him, he can’t help but ask.

This woman seems to love daydreaming. She was like this last night, and now again.

"Nothing, just thought of a relative." Ye Xinluo snaps back to reality, organizes her thoughts, and then speaks.

Miss home? Why not go back for a visit?

Thinking like this, he couldn’t help but ask, "If you’re thinking about it, just go have a look."

Beichen Rui doesn’t know Ye Xinluo is an orphan, nor is he aware her only relative has passed. He assumes she’s just too busy to go back.

At his words, Ye Xinluo feels even more lost. She too wishes, really wishes she could go back for a visit.

But, there’s no chance now.

The dean mom has passed, not even leaving her the opportunity to bid farewell.

The orphanage was demolished over a year ago and turned into a hospital. Now, Ye Xinluo doesn’t even have the chance to reminisce through old things.

"I can’t go back."

There’s no going back ever again. She lowers her head, hiding the lost emotions in her eyes.

"Why?"

Beichen Rui doesn’t understand, nor is he familiar with it.

"Passed away, the ashes scattered at sea." This is the first person she has told, besides Gong Shaoyu.

Even Lan Shan doesn’t know; there was never a chance to tell her.

The pain long buried gets unearthed, undoubtedly sprinkling salt on a wound—an excruciating, suffocating agony weighing down on Ye Xinluo.

"What?" Beichen Rui didn’t expect things to be like this.

"I’m sorry."

It’s the first time in his life he’s apologized to someone. He once thought he would never have to say these three words.

But unexpectedly...

"What did you say?"

Ye Xinluo obviously didn’t expect Beichen Rui to suddenly apologize, and she jumps in surprise, watching him in disbelief.

"Nothing."

If she didn’t hear it, so be it. That sentence, he’d never say it a second time...