Mrs. Mei's Survival Diary - Chapter 30

Chapter 30 -The barrier was shaken

When Yue Niang woke up, she realised she was lying on the stone table in the yard and had dozed off. The entire yard felt chilly, and the warm reunion from her dream was gone.

The night breeze blew, making her cheeks feel cold. She reached up to touch them and found tear stains. What had happened in her dream felt so vivid.

“I just took you to see the old house, so why did you fall asleep?” Rong Yinshuang sat across from Yue Niang, with a smile on her face.

Startled, Yue Niang turned around abruptly and spotted Rong Yinshuang. After a brief moment of confusion, she finally accepted that she had indeed had a dream which seemed so real. She wiped her tears with her sleeve and said to Rong Yinshuang in an apologetic tone, “Madam, I hope you can forgive me. I guess I’ve just been too tired these past couple of days.”

Yue Niang had no idea about the real reason behind her fatigue. She thought she had fallen asleep while visiting the old place again. Rong Yinshuang had no intention of revealing the truth. She just called her soul out of her body to help her husband let go of his last attachment and move on peacefully.

“If you’re tired, take a rest. If you’d like, you’re welcome to stay here. Your husband passed away here, and there are some stories about this yard being haunted, but I believe you won’t mind.”

After Rong Yinshuang finished speaking, she noticed Yue Niang looking at her with overwhelming gratitude. “This… Madam, how can this be, I…” the poor woman muttered with trembling hands. 

Rong Yinshuang cut her off, saying, “Don’t say anything more. First, tell me, do you have anywhere else to go?” 

After pondering for a while, Yue Niang shook her head silently, and said, “No.”

Rong Yinshuang handed the lantern in her hand to her and said, “Since you don’t have anywhere to go, then you can live here with peace of mind. It’s just that it hasn’t been cleaned for two years. I’m afraid you will have to clean up before you can move in.”

Yue Niang was incredibly thankful and almost knelt to Rong Yinshuang. 

Rong Yinshuang quickly stepped in to support her, gently patting the back of her hand a couple of times to reassure her. “Alright, it’s settled. It’s getting late, and my two kids are probably getting sleepy. I’ll go back now. If you need anything, just go to the front and let Manager Li know. I’ve instructed him to follow your requests.”

Yue Niang hurriedly trailed behind Rong Yinshuang, holding the lantern to light her path. “Madam, I’m not sure how to show my gratitude, but I promise to repay you in this life.”

Rong Yinshuang didn’t reply to the woman, and she just waved at her. 

When she entered the teahouse through the backdoor, it was around six in the evening, and the teahouse was still bustling with customers.

Rong Yinshuang looked for Uncle Bao in the lobby but only spotted Manager Li entertaining two children. 

When Manager Li noticed Rong Yinshuang, he quickly set down the sketchbook he was holding and approached her. 

Rong Yinshuang smiled and asked, “Have you seen the gentleman who dined with me earlier?”

Manager Li scanned the area and pointed towards the counter, saying, “Oh, that gentleman mentioned he was your friend. It was quite busy earlier, so he offered to help me behind the counter. Look, he’s still back there.” After Manager Li mentioned this, he suddenly seemed to recall something and asked Rong Yinshuang with concern, “That gentleman is indeed your friend. Is he a shopkeeper? He must be a fraud…”

“…” Rong Yinshuang was at a loss for words. ‘If he were a fraud, you would have caught on much sooner. How much money has he swindled from you?’With a comforting smile, she replied, “He is my friend, and he will likely visit the teahouse often. I’ll fill you in on the details after I talk to him.”

Manager Li nodded and didn’t ask more. Instead, the two kids kept pestering him 

to continue the story from the picture book. Manager Li was totally fine with it; he patiently let the kids make noise. His voice was always calm and relaxed, as he told the story from the picture book.

Rong Yinshuang watched all of this and seemed to be lost in thought.

She stepped out from behind the counter and waited for Uncle Bao to finish what he was doing before she spoke to him. “So, what do you think, Uncle Bao? Have you made a decision? Is this shop still worth your effort? Are you ready to take on the shopkeeper role?”

Uncle Bao adjusted the abacus in his hands, making a sharp sound, and replied to Rong Yinshuang, “The official shopkeeper… I wouldn’t even think about being the deputy shopkeeper, but I’d be okay with just being the assistant.”

Rong Yinshuang laughed at his pretentiousness, nodded, and said, “Uncle Bao, stop joking with me; you really need to be serious about this.”

Uncle Bao rubbed his chin as his eyes shone with excitement. After looking around the teahouse a couple of times, he turned to Rong Yinshuang and said, “But honestly, if this teahouse doesn’t make some changes, we won’t make much money, even if we work ourselves to the bone.”

Rong Yinshuang raised her eyebrows and replied, “If Uncle Bao is in, just let me know if you want to change anything. I also have two unfinished plans. We can discuss them together when the time is right.”

Uncle Bao was already pretty interested in what the teahouse could become. He was all set to make a move. Rubbing his hands together, he nodded with excitement. “Okay, okay. Honestly, madam, I’ve been here with the young master before. He had some plans back then, but he never went through with buying it. Now it’s in your hands by chance. Maybe this is the young master’s spirit making an appearance from beyond.”

When Rong Yinshuang heard Uncle Bao mention her husband, she let out a sigh of disappointment and said, “Now that he’s gone, let’s turn this teahouse into a success. I don’t ask for much, just that I can give the two kids more security, and Uncle Bao, you can also earn some cash to cover the restaurant’s losses.”

This time, Uncle Bao didn’t say no. 

Seizing the quieter moment, Rong Yinshuang asked Manager Li to gather all the staff and formally introduce Uncle Bao to them, promoting him to deputy manager. 

Uncle Bao with just a few words, charmed everyone in the teahouse.

Rong Yinshuang noticed it was getting late, so she said her goodbyes to everyone and headed home with the two sleepy kids.

She met Gu Yean at the gate of the temple, as he was waiting for them. 

When he noticed her carrying one child in her arms and another on her back, he didn’t rush to speak but quietly followed her, standing outside the house until she got the kids settled. 

Then he leaned in and asked, “Are the kids getting heavier again?”

Rong Yinshuang shot him a look and replied, “What do you mean by heavier? Sounds like you’ve held them before.”

Gu Yean looked a bit embarrassed and said, “Hey, I’m just trying to be nice here, why are you getting mad?”

It was a long day, and Rong Yinshuang was already worn out. While she boiled some water, she leaned against the stove to take a breather. Seeing Gu Yean’s curious look she replied, “It’s fine. It should get better in a couple of days. I found a skilled deputy manager for the teahouse. With him around, I’m sure I won’t have to deal with the teahouse much anymore.”

Curious, Gu Yean asked, “Deputy manager? Who is it?”

Rong Yinshuang replied, “Uncle Bao. He was the housekeeper at the Mei Mansion when my husband was alive. He’s really capable. I asked him to take the deputy manager role and split the profits 50-50. I finally convinced him.”

Gu Yean seemed to ponder this for a moment. After she finished speaking, he nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it’s definitely better to have an experienced one helping you out than to just wing it on your own. Even if you earn a bit less, the risks are lower, and you won’t be as exhausted.”

Rong Yinshuang felt a chill run down her spine when she heard Gu Yean speak so kindly.

Although Gu Yean intended to show her how to manage account books and use an abacus that night, seeing the woman was exhausted, he didn’t insist on it. 

After Rong Yinshuang finished boiling the water, Gu Yean quietly slipped out of the kitchen and disappeared into the night.

At three in the morning, the night was still and deep. Suddenly Rong Yinshuang woke up as she sensed the barrier of the Taoist temple was shifting.

Sensing something was off, Rong Yinshuang sat up in bed, and the barrier shook again.

She got out of bed, grabbed her peach wood sword, stepped outside, and stood in the yard to inspect. She saw the golden ripples above the Taoist temple shimmering like the surface of a lake. This barrier wouldn’t wash away in the rain, wouldn’t fall apart in the wind, and couldn’t be destroyed by fire. It only created ripples when ghosts, deities, or strange beings intruded. After watching for a while, just as the previous ripples faded, an orange light that looked like a bird but wasn’t quite a bird shot straight towards her, causing only a slight tremor in the barrier.

Rong Yinshuang was confused about what she was facing. At first, she thought it might be a monster, but when it hit her, the whole thing vanished like fog. This being looked like the “primordial fetus” mentioned in Wu Daozi’s texts. Only those who had practised Taoism have it, and they rarely attack unless their masters force them or if they unconsciously want to investigate something.

Looking up, she saw the entity strike her two more times. Rong Yinshuang understood she couldn’t let it keep hitting her. She pinched her right hand, quietly gathering her energy, and created a resistance golden circle of eight trigrams. She held it tightly and got ready to act. As she noticed the smoke forming in the air and rushing down again, she quickly struck the golden circle of eight trigrams in her hand, hitting the entity directly, which caused it to be pushed back by the golden circle before it could reach the barrier and sent into the night sky. 

This was the first time Rong Yinshuang had used such a resistance spell. She was unsure about how well it would work. She stood in the yard for a bit, looking up, and when she saw the entity didn’t come back, she felt relieved.

She planned to go inside with the sword, but then she heard some movement outside the door again.

This time, the sound was much softer than before. Rong Yinshuang lowered her gaze and thought, seemingly trying to guess who had shown up.

Sure enough, when she opened the door, she was greeted by the ghostly face of Brother Qiang, with a bloody hole…

End of chapter 30

have a nice day!