Zheng Xiao Mistake: The Mistake of Rebirth Provoked the Cold Master

Zhu Zheng was surprised and asked, "Why are you up too?"

Rong Yan looked at her face, rubbed the charcoal black that was accidentally smeared on her face, and looked into the pot again.

Zhu Zheng felt guilty and used the lid to cover the mess in the pot.

Rong Yan's gaze returned to her face.

Zhu Zheng sighed and confessed, "Uh... I just wanted to make a bowl of noodles."

"Why did you think of eating noodles?" Rong Yan asked.

Zhu Zheng hesitated for a while, "According to custom... you have to eat it..."

Rong Yan did not ask where the custom was to eat this on New Year's Day. He took the bowl and spoon from her and said, "Go back to your room and wait."

Zhu Zheng grabbed the spoon tightly, "No."

Rong Yan: "What's wrong?"

Zhu Zheng: "I want to do it myself, can you teach me?"

Rong Yan nodded.

Although it was a teaching method, cooking noodles was a task that couldn't be simpler, so simple that there was not much room for creativity. When Zhu Zheng was distracted, she saw Rong Yan had already served a bowl of noodles and placed it on the table.

A bowl of snow-white dragon beard noodles is topped with a round poached egg and garnished with green onions, which looks and smells great.

"Okay." Rong Yan handed over a pair of bamboo chopsticks, "Go and eat."

"I don't want to eat it." Zhu Zheng pushed the chopsticks, "I cooked it for you."

Rong Yan paused, with a look of doubt on his face, and motioned for Zhu Zheng to continue.

"It snowed for three days in a row a few days ago, but today is a sunny day, and it happens to be the first day of the new year..." Zhu Zheng looked up and said sincerely, "How about celebrating your birthday together?"

A tall figure stood in front of Zhu Zheng against the light, neither moving nor responding.

Zhu Zheng thought she hadn't explained herself clearly, so she continued, "According to custom, people have to eat longevity noodles on their birthdays. If you don't want to eat it, you can just try a bite."

Rong Yan stared at the bowl for a while with his eyelashes drooping, and suddenly said, "This bowl doesn't count."

Zhu Zheng: “Ah?”

Rong Yan raised his eyes and paused on her face, "Make another bowl."

Zhu Zheng has always been self-aware and knew that she lacked some talent in the kitchen. Once in Pingshui Lane, she cooked a few bowls of meat soup on a whim and fed them to Huhu and Tutu, who ate it until they fainted for a whole day. Since then, they were greatly shocked and no longer harmed any living beings.

Although she had been regretting that her plan had ended up with the birthday boy doing it himself, she knew that food was not a joke and it would be better to regret it if she did it herself and ended up hurting Rong Yan.

Seeing Rong Yan insisting, she could only say without confidence, "Let me make it clear first, my cooking may not be as delicious as yours..."

Rong Yan said calmly, "It's not important."

He is truly a hero who takes life and death lightly. Zhu Zheng admires his courage and is grateful for his trust, so she decides to bite the bullet and show off her skills.

For the second bowl of noodles, Rong Yan stood by and watched the whole process. Even when Zhu Zheng asked for help on how much salt to put in, he just said "whatever you want", as if he had completely forgotten who was going to eat this bowl of noodles later.

The last two bowls of noodles were placed on the table, one bowl was clearly green and white, and the other bowl was cooked into a mushy mess.

In fact, it has improved significantly compared to the first bowl I cooked, but I was not careful and the fire was a little too high, so it was overcooked.

Zhu Zheng doesn’t like celebrating her birthday, but she feels that she must eat the longevity noodles on her birthday.

The day she was born was really bad, it was exactly the anniversary of her parents' death. Her grandmother wanted to skin her alive twice every time this day came, but her sister would secretly cook her a bowl of longevity noodles, and they would hide in the ancestral tower to eat it together.

When she couldn't sleep at night, Zhu Zheng would often think about a question: her grandmother was looking forward to her death day and night. Was it a sin for her to live so well like this?

But my sister’s longevity noodles are really delicious. One bowl is never enough for her. But even if she wants to eat more, she never asks for a second bowl.

Zhu Zheng told herself that if she wanted to eat another bowl, she would have to live until the next year.

So in her heart, this bowl of noodles has always been very important, and she doesn't want to be perfunctory about it.

Zhu Zheng looked at the two bowls, each with its own merits, and embarrassedly touched her own masterpiece.

"Why don't you just eat that bowl..."

The most important thing when eating this on birthdays is auspiciousness. If the noodles are broken or mushy, I don’t know if it can still be considered longevity noodles.

Rong Yan held the edge of her bowl and said, "This bowl is mine."

Zhu Zheng frowned and advised sympathetically, "It doesn't matter which bowl you eat, it's just for good luck."

Rong Yan shook his head, "It's different."

After saying that, he picked up the chopsticks without waiting for Zhu Zheng to persuade him any further.

Zhu Zheng watched him enter with a tense mood, and only felt relieved when she saw no sign of pain on his face.

Seeing that Rong Yan was eating with great relish, she also felt hungry and picked up the bowl of scallion and egg noodles made by Rong Yan and started eating.

The room was very quiet. The two of them ate very politely and made almost no noise.

Today is indeed a very nice sunny day. There is a slight north wind, which slowly blows away the dark clouds that have been lingering for days. The daylight that has been hidden for a long time shines on the half-melted snow on the distant mountains, making them shine brightly, as if there are fireflies flickering.

Rong Yan's half-lowered gaze rested on the wall beside him.

The sunlight was swaying, and against the backdrop of the faint and sparse plum shadows, Zhu Zheng and his shadows were more solid, and they fell on it and intertwined with each other, making them look like an ordinary couple.

He sat there quietly listening to the wind for a while, then Rong Yan suddenly raised his hand, stretched out two fingers and pinched his face.

"What are you doing?" Zhu Zheng was attracted by his silly actions. She was confused at first, but soon realized, "Do you think you are dreaming?"

Rong Yan didn't expect Zhu Zheng to see it. He looked up at her, then quickly looked away.

"Ah."

Zhu Zheng burst out laughing.

She didn't expect that he would be so stupid. He had seen all kinds of splendor in Shengjing, but how could he be so foolish as to think he was dreaming just because of a bowl of longevity noodles?

Zhu Zheng laughed and laughed, and the smile on her lips slowly faded. She remembered that she had also been like this. When things were good, she always felt that something was missing, as if life should be like a stagnant pool of water to make people feel at ease.

She and Rong Yan actually share the same fate, being without a father or mother, but fortunately she has a sister and he has a master. Unfortunately, later on… the young man had to go to a foreign land alone, without anyone to rely on.

He felt like he was dreaming today because of a bowl of noodles, but in fact it was because compared to her situation, she didn't have a sister to take care of her...

When Zhu Zheng realized this, she felt her love overflowing. She imitated her sister's usual coaxing tone and said softly, "I forgot to wish you a happy new year last night. I'll make it up to you now."

"May the new year be auspicious and everything go as planned." After a pause, he called out softly, "Cheng Yi."

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the clouds, pouring warm light into the room through the window lattices, and the two people's shadows gradually overlapped.

Rong Yan raised his eyes to look at her, stared at her for a long time, and suddenly reached out and pinched his face.

Zhu Zheng was now filled with pity for his every move and even pinched his face across the table.

"Chengyi's pinch was too light. If he was really dreaming, this pinch wouldn't wake him up at all."

Rong Yan stretched out his hand and covered hers, his big hand completely covering her hand, his eyes still fixed on her face.

"I didn't want to wake up."

Zhu Zheng laughed and said, "Then why are you pinching yourself?"

Rong Yan's eyes moved slightly, his calm eyes were as clear as amber, and he said slowly, "It's good to confirm that it's a dream. If it is a dream, I will be more careful."

He gives people a very special feeling when he looks at people. His gaze is obviously very light, and it falls on the body like a flower or a leaf, but it is also long-lasting, like a long, tough, soft feather passing through the heart.

Zhu Zheng's face always turned red unconsciously when she met such a gaze. She pulled back her hand, cleared her throat and changed the subject, "Don't be silly, you are not dreaming. It just so happens that I have prepared a New Year gift for you to get rid of the evil spirit."

The book said that one should pray for a good omen at the beginning of the new year, so she wrapped three talisman coins, strung them with a red string, and deliberately chose words that could drive away disasters and eliminate evil.

Although she knew Rong Yan definitely didn't need these two coins, he probably never received money from others when he was a child. In the past, during the New Year, she saw children running on the street with a full string of coins hanging around their necks, and she was really envious.

In the blink of an eye, she had grown into an adult who gave money to others for warding off evil. Zhu Zheng suddenly felt very remarkable.

Rong Yan took the three coins and stared at them for a while. "What about you? What do you want as a New Year's gift?"

It is not very popular to ask for New Year gifts, and the things given are for the joy of the season and are not for urgent use.

Judging from Rong Yan's appearance, he probably knew nothing about these folk customs and certainly had not made any preparations in advance.

Besides, she wasn't trying to be attentive.

But yesterday she found out that he hadn't celebrated the New Year, and probably hadn't celebrated his birthday properly either. Last night, she saw that the snow had stopped, so she made a mental note. This morning, the sky was clear, and it was a coincidence that this happened today. It was a combination of the right time, the right place, and the right people.

Zhu Zheng didn't want to force her, so she shook her head and said, "I don't want anything."

She was not very keen on receiving gifts. She always felt that she owed something to others and was always thinking about returning them.

The same principle applies even when it comes to returning a favor, it just keeps going back and forth endlessly.

After he finished speaking, Rong Yan frowned, and the flickering light in his eyes dimmed.

Zhu Zheng did not miss this subtle change, and thought that maybe Rong Yan was in the same mood and did not like to owe others anything.

She'd better figure out a way to get out of this situation quickly so that she can complete the whole return of favors on this auspicious day.

"I remember..." Zhu Zheng searched his mind and said tentatively, "I suddenly remembered that I have a New Year's gift that I want."

Rong Yan tilted his head, "What is it?"

Zhu Zheng pursed her lips and said, "Can you teach me archery?"