SES Chapter 195 Part 2

It was the first time she realized that from Mu Dai’s window, you could see Luo Ren’s room.

She heard Mu Dai murmur, “Once I woke up in the middle of the night and saw a light on in Luo Xiaodao’s window. I was so happy. Then I realized Uncle Zheng had just turned on the light to look for something.”

She sighed, resting her chin lightly on her knees.

Auntie Hong draped a blanket over her, then quietly closed the door behind her.

Only when the door closed did she realize the tears wouldn’t come—perhaps they had already dried up in her eyes.

There was no way to comfort Mu Dai. Just as you can’t wake someone who pretends to sleep, you can’t comfort a girl who understands reason even more clearly than you do.

The next day, Auntie Hong deliberately went to see Luo Ren at a different time. Before leaving, she pulled Yan Hongsha aside.

“Talk to Mu Dai more. Try to comfort her.”

Yan Hongsha replied, “Okay.”

She understood the logic—but how exactly were you supposed to “talk” or “comfort” someone?

After Auntie Hong left, Yan Hongsha thought for a long time. Hesitant and uneasy, she went up to the second floor, paced back and forth outside Mu Dai’s door, then finally knocked.

Mu Dai opened the door just a crack. When she saw it was Yan Hongsha, she smiled and opened it wider.

No wonder she’d been cautious—she had just finished showering, her hair still wet, a towel wrapped around her body.

After letting Yan Hongsha in, Mu Dai went to the mirror to blow-dry her hair. The hair dryer hummed loudly.

Over the noise, Yan Hongsha talked about this and that.

“Mu Dai, everyone’s been tired lately. When we have time, how about going out for a walk? The shaman said his friend runs an inn in a nearby ancient city—it’s really fun. He invited us.”

“Mu Dai, yesterday I heard Cao Yanhua telling Wan Sanshi that Cao Jiefang made a great contribution. They’re going to give it an award—and even roll out a red carpet for it.”

The noise stopped suddenly.

Mu Dai called out, “Hongsha.”

“Huh?” Yan Hongsha looked up and met Mu Dai’s gaze in the mirror.

Mu Dai stood facing the mirror and reached down, pulling the towel lower to reveal the scar near her collarbone.

“Doesn’t it look ugly?”

It had been over half a month. The wound had been stitched and treated with good medicine, scabbed over—but perhaps the water was too hot, or she scrubbed without noticing. The scab had fallen off, exposing tender, newly grown pink flesh beneath.

Mu Dai said, “I won’t be able to wear camisoles anymore.”

Yan Hongsha frowned, thinking hard. Suddenly, she blurted out, “Get a tattoo.”

She gestured excitedly. “Have you read Tang Tales? There’s that woman, Shangguan Wan’er. When Empress Wu punished her, she was branded on the face and left with a scar. She was smart—she tattooed a plum blossom over it. It looked beautiful. People in the palace copied her, and it became the famous ‘plum blossom makeup.’”

“What should I tattoo, then?” Mu Dai asked.

Yan Hongsha’s eyes spun. “A phoenix, Mu Dai.”

“This time you escaped death—doesn’t that feel like a phoenix reborn from the ashes? And we’re the Phoenix Squad…”

She grew more and more excited, ran over, tilted her head, and examined Mu Dai’s collarbone.

“A phoenix would look amazing there. Your collarbone is beautiful—tattooing a phoenix would be really sexy.”

Mu Dai smiled. After a brief pause, she said softly, “All right.”

At the same time, in the hospital room, Auntie Hong—talking to Luo Ren—suddenly erupted in anger.

She shook his body and demanded, “Did you hear what I said? Luo Xiaodao, either wake up or leave cleanly. Mu Dai used to cry. Now she doesn’t cry—she just worries. I’d rather she cried…”

Her vision blurred with tears. In a daze, medical staff rushed in, coaxing and pulling her out. Aoki stood before her with a dark expression, speaking stiffly—as if telling her not to disturb Luo Ren so rudely again.

…

Mu Dai remembered clearly—it was the twenty-fourth day after Luo Ren fell unconscious.

That night, the bar was especially lively. Loud, exaggerated music blasted. Mu Dai and Yan Hongsha were both helping take orders, the atmosphere electric. Cao Jiefang flapped its tiny wings and ran back and forth in the limited space behind the bar. Many customers took photos of it. Cao Jiefang was already a pro. Once a camera appeared, it froze in a perfect pose.

Mu Dai thought, Why is everyone so happy?

While taking an order, she turned her head absentmindedly and saw Cao Yanhua answer a phone call. After hanging up, he looked wildly excited and shouted something in her direction.

What? The music was too loud—she couldn’t hear. She gestured questioningly at him. Cao Yanhua jumped anxiously, shouted again, then suddenly yelled at Wan Sanshi.

Later, Mu Dai learned that what he’d shouted was, “Turn it off! Turn it off!”

The music cut abruptly. In the sudden silence, the bar erupted in confusion. Mu Dai saw Cao Yanhua climb onto the bar and shout at her:

“Little Master—Brother Luo woke up!”

Did he?

For a moment, Mu Dai didn’t react. The customer she’d been taking an order from said something; seeing she wasn’t paying attention, he tugged at the edge of her apron.

“One Blue Mountain coffee, please.”

“Okay,” Mu Dai said.

After finishing the order, she just stood there, not moving. Tears fell onto the glass counter—one drop, then another.

The customer looked up at her in confusion.

Mu Dai looked back at him through her tears and smiled.

“Thank you.”