Chapter Ninety-Six: A Chance Encounter with Cousin Zhao Jiaying

Though it sounded a little unbelievable, most of what Uncle Mao said was true. Otherwise, how could he have been entrusted with the important task of finding the destined one who would help revive the Southern Mao lineage?

Now that everything was over, I could finally rest in peace. The public cemetery had resumed construction, and everything had returned to the way it had been before the Calamity Star appeared, as if nothing had ever happened.

But something had changed in everyone’s hearts: they now believed that gods truly existed in this world. Even if one did not meet them easily, heaven saw all that man did. No matter what others knew or did not know, the gods above had already marked you down, and after death the account would be settled all at once.

Liu Chuanmin and Wang Fugui no longer tampered with public funds, and they no longer took bribes or embezzled money. After that strange encounter, they too believed in immortals and gods. Since heaven watched all beneath it, and with Rain Training’s guidance and intimidation, they worked desperately at doing good deeds so that they might accumulate virtue and enter paradise after death.

During this period, I could also study with peace of mind. In order to earn enough credits, I shut out all outside distractions and devoted myself to my books. In the blink of an eye, only a little over ten days remained until graduation from university.

At that time, everyone was studying furiously to earn credits and scrambling just as furiously for jobs, afraid that after graduating they would not find the work they liked simply because their credits were not enough.

As usual, I walked along the quiet paths of the academy with my books in hand, looking everywhere for an unclaimed bench in the park, hoping to study alone in peace.

At last, I found a seat beside a stretch of lawn. To be honest, within this university campus of thousands of acres, most of the good benches had already been occupied by couples, busy with their sweet nothings and tender affection. Those of us who wanted to study could only make do with whatever places others were not using. Thinking of it made me feel rather pathetic.

It was a double park bench made of white rubber, about a little over a meter long. I set the books in my arms down at the far end, then picked up one about the archaeology department and began to read, falling into a state of complete absorption.

"Senior, may I sit here?"

It was a voice like a small bell. Just from the sound, I could tell the speaker was a very innocent little girl.

I looked up at the pure-looking young woman standing before me and immediately became a bit flustered, not knowing what to say. I merely moved the books beside me a little closer and said, "Oh, it’s fine. Sit wherever you like." Then I smiled at her.

After that, I glanced around and realized that the benches nearby had indeed all been taken by couples. Looking again at the girl sitting beside me, a thought rose in my heart: these days, truly beautiful and yet still devoted to studying girls like her are really rare.

Her long hair was tied in a ponytail. The student outfit she wore set my blood surging. Beneath her white canvas shoes were a pair of pale, exposed legs, and I nearly had a nosebleed from looking at them, though my saliva had already started to run.

Only when I realized how rude I was being did I notice the girl across from me had covered her mouth lightly and was stifling a laugh.

Since that was the case, I no longer had any mind to study. So I simply said to her, "Hi, little sister. I’m Hu Xiaodong, a senior in my final year. May I ask your name?"

The girl was clearly startled by my sudden verbal attack, but soon she made a playful expression that I could not make out at all.

"Brother Xiaodong, don’t you recognize me? I’m your cousin, Zhao Jiaying!"

Damn, that nearly scared me to death. Could it really be such a coincidence? Zhao Jiaying had been my playmate when I was a child, and she had once lived at my house. Back then, though I was older than her, I was not as clever, and she had always kept me spinning in circles.

Now I had failed to recognize her. Time really does change a girl; she was no longer that yellow-haired little brat from before. She had grown into a beauty.

I gave a wry smile. When we were children, we always played together. At that time, my aunt’s family was temporarily staying at my house because they were starting a business.

We played together for two years, but after that, my uncle made it big and took them to another city. From then on, we never saw each other again.

I studied her carefully and then said, "Are you really Cousin Jiaying?" I could not be certain, but since she had recognized me, that gave her words at least an eighty percent chance of being true.

"You don’t believe me? Then do you still remember this place?" As she spoke, Jiaying lifted her long leg and pointed with her slender finger to a tiny red mole, no bigger than a sesame seed, on her calf.

This time I truly believed her. That mole had been discovered by my mother, who had jokingly told her that if Jiaying ever got lost in the future, this mole could be used to identify her. I never expected Jiaying to have remembered those words of my mother’s.

The moment Jiaying lifted her leg, I caught sight of a wolfish look nearby. I slapped her leg and said, "Put it down, now!"

Jiaying was obviously startled by the fact that I had hit her leg, but then she seemed to realize something was wrong and gave me an innocent, teasing little smile.

"Cousin, it’s been seven or eight years since we last saw each other. Come on, let me treat you to dinner!" With that, Jiaying was about to link her arm through mine.

But how could I, a grown man, let a long-lost cousin pay? So I said to her, "Jiaying, let your brother treat you this time. Eat whatever you like. We’ll put our books back first, then meet at the gate."

Jiaying did not object. She agreed at once, and we each went our separate ways to put things in order before meeting at the academy gate, almost like we were going on a date.

This girl had not changed one bit in her overbearing streak. She was exactly the same as when we were children, still thinking of herself as the one who could lord it over me.

We came to a fairly ordinary mid-sized restaurant. A server walked over with a menu and said to me in a very polite voice, "Sir, what would you like to order?" Then he handed the menu into my hands.

These days, even servers know that when a man and woman go out together, the man pays, so giving the menu to me first was perfectly clear. That server had quite a head on his shoulders.

I looked at the menu. It was all barbecue. Although I used to love barbecue, I no longer had any desire for mortal delicacies, because anything I ate now tasted like chewing wood.

I pushed the menu in Jiaying’s direction and said, "Jiaying, order whatever you like."

Jiaying was not polite at all. She held up the menu and said to the server, "Hot pot, grilled chicken cutlets, grilled vegetables, grilled quail... ten of each!" She rattled off a long string, and the poor server was almost too busy to keep up.

After waiting about ten minutes, the dishes were brought out one by one. I had never imagined this girl could eat so much. She had several skewers of steak in her left hand, mutton skewers in her right, and her mouth was stuffed full of food. I really had no idea how she managed to eat so much and still keep such a fine figure.

"Jiaying, eat slower. I’m not going to fight you for food like I did when we were kids."

Even saying that under my breath made me feel ashamed.

Jiaying’s appetite and manner of eating drew the eyes of everyone nearby who was eating barbecue, and I felt utterly humiliated, as though I were the one who had starved the goddess across from me for who knows how long.

When Jiaying heard me, she looked around at all the staring eyes, scratched her head, and said playfully, "Uh... s-sorry, bro, I just can’t resist good food!"

She still had not swallowed the food in her mouth before blurting out a whole string of words I could not understand.

The pure little-girl image Jiaying had had on the rubber bench vanished without a trace at this moment, and it gave me a real headache.

...

(After unexpectedly meeting the cousin he parted from eight years ago, what strange things will happen to our hero next? Stay tuned for the next chapter...)