Chapter 324 - 163: Healing the Soul

Chapter 324: Chapter 163: Healing the Soul

"Hiss..." Liu Piaopiao clutched her chest, squatting on the grass with a look of utter despair. "The pain in my heart is so bad I can’t breathe. If I die, it’ll be because you and your Uncle Shan drove me to it! You ungrateful brat! And here I was, calling you my ’Little Rannan’ all the time. But you’re just a fence-sitter, taking both sides. I’m so disappointed in you. You’re not my Little Rannan anymore."

Yikes... Su Ran could feel goosebumps popping up all over.

She wasn’t intentionally trying to be cute; she was just a simple-minded, naive woman. Even when she was cussing someone out like this, it felt like a little girl throwing a tantrum.

’Actually, living in her own world as a sweet, naive little woman isn’t such a bad life.’

’But she still needs to be coaxed. After all, she’s my mother-in-law, right?’

Su Ran took a step forward from the cliff’s edge. "What are you doing?! Get back!" The heartbroken Liu Piaopiao glared at him from her squatting position. Su Ran had no choice but to pull his foot back and continue leaning against a tree. He watched as Liu Piaopiao remained squatting on the ground, muttering, "I’ll never like Little Rannan again," "Shan Zhentian doesn’t like him either," and "How dare they team up to bully me?" all while drawing circles in the dirt with a stick, cursing them.

’She’s ridiculously cute,’ Su Ran thought. ’I wish Shan Weizi was this adorable sometimes. How did she not inherit any of her mom’s genes? She’s all her dad—all that "thee" and "thou" stuff and "the great spirit of dedication to national culture."’

In reality, Su Ran and Liu Piaopiao were cut from the same cloth. They were both optimists, the type of people who loved to have fun and couldn’t care less about careers or anything like that.

"Uh... Sister Piaopiao, I..."

"Don’t talk. I don’t want to hear you talk."

"No, it’s not that. I just wanted to point out that the thing you’re holding... it doesn’t look like a stick. I think it’s a stick insect, which looks exactly like a twig. You’re using a stick insect to draw circles on the ground."

’A stick insect?’

Liu Piaopiao held up the "stick" to take a look. It really wasn’t a stick, but a long stick insect. She had been grinding its head into the dirt to draw circles.

Su Ran braced himself, ready to cover his ears. Sure enough, a scream ripped through the air, the stick insect went flying, and Liu Piaopiao shot off at triple speed, THUD THUD THUD, sprinting through the woods. Then there was a yelp, and it sounded like she had fallen into a patch of tall grass.

’Sigh... Women are so much trouble.’

Su Ran tossed the stick insect aside and went to find Sister Piaopiao. He didn’t really need to search for her; he just had to follow the white Red Dust Line. Not far off, in a patch of grass, Liu Piaopiao had face-planted in the mud.

’Keep acting up. When women get dramatic, things are bound to go wrong.’

Su Ran went over and helped her up. Seeing her face covered in mud, he didn’t laugh. He used his clothes to wipe her face and asked, "Are you okay?"

CROAK.

Liu Piaopiao spat, and a small green frog leaped out of her mouth, landed on Su Ran’s shoulder, and then hopped into the grass. This time, Su Ran truly couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing—the kind of laugh where you slap your thigh.

Liu Piaopiao froze for three seconds. On the fourth, her composure completely shattered. With a loud "AHHHH!" she grabbed a handful of mud and started smearing it on Su Ran’s face. "This is all your fault for scaring me!"

"Stop, stop, stop! Don’t smear it! Stop it, seriously!!!" Su Ran’s furious roar stunned Liu Piaopiao into silence. "You’re yelling at me? You actually dare to yell at me?"

’If the soft approach doesn’t work, it’s time to get tough.’

"I just don’t get you. Are you just too bored every day, or what? Don’t talk! Let me finish!" Su Ran scowled, letting her have it. "Uncle Shan works his butt off out there day and night for this family, all to give you a comfortable life! If Uncle Shan wasn’t out there busting his hump, would you have this carefree life you have now? Would you be able to buy whatever you want and go wherever you please? The man comes home exhausted from work and still has to give you piggyback rides! You don’t cherish a good man like that. I think you’re just too idle. Go pedal a tricycle for a few days and see if you still feel bored!"

Su Ran put on a look of profound disappointment.

’Hmm... chewing out my mother-in-law actually feels pretty great.’

"Uncle Shan loves you so much, how could he possibly cheat? And even if you think he did, Uncle Shan said he didn’t. He left his phone in a private room at the restaurant, and a waiter found it the next day and gave it to the female manager. Why don’t you just go to the restaurant and ask to see the security footage? That would clear everything up, wouldn’t it? Instead, you’re here jumping to conclusions without getting any of the facts straight, and you’re making the whole family miserable, you know that? Here, this is the security footage from when they were cleaning the restaurant in the morning. Uncle Shan just sent it to me. He said you blocked him, so he couldn’t send you the video. See for yourself if that’s what happened."

"Fine, I’ll watch it."

"Wait, let me play it for you. Your hands are covered in mud. This is my new phone; I don’t want to get it dirty."

This remark really pissed Liu Piaopiao off. She forcibly snatched the phone, stirred it in the mud a couple of times, and held it up. "Are you satisfied now?"

"Childish."

"You’re the childish one! I’ll have you know I’m incredibly mature."

"Right, right, you’re mature. You’re overripe."

SMACK.

She lifted her leg and kicked him, getting his pants dirty. Only then did she satisfyingly swipe the screen open to watch the video. It was just as he’d said. "So... so what if that’s true? What if he went back to the hotel drunk and had a one-night stand? What if he hired an escort at the hotel?"

"Impossible!"

"Why is it impossible?!"

"Because Uncle Shan, like me, is a man who is physically faithful."

Tch.

Liu Piaopiao was unimpressed by his posturing.

"Get up. The ground is all muddy. It wouldn’t be good if there were eels around."

At these words, Liu Piaopiao shot up and stood there gracefully, mud still dripping down her body.

"Here, Sister Piaopiao, take off your jacket and wear mine." Su Ran took off his jacket and handed it to her. He knew that women really hated it when men cheated, especially their own husbands, which was why they were so sensitive. ’Then again, if she weren’t sensitive,’ he mused, ’if she called and another woman answered and she didn’t even make a fuss, the husband would probably get angry and think, "My wife must not love me anymore." Sigh... people are complicated, full of double standards.’

Liu Piaopiao put on Su Ran’s jacket and took off her shoes, which were also full of mud. Her delicate feet stepped onto the grass, littered with sharp, dead branches and leaves. So Su Ran squatted down and patted his shoulder. "I’ll carry you down the mountain."

"Oh." Sister Piaopiao climbed onto Su Ran’s back. Su Ran hitched her up with a shrug of his shoulders. She felt about the same as Shan Weizi. He kept his hands balled into fists, the so-called "gentleman’s hands." Joking around while playing was one thing, but at a time like this, Su Ran truly had no improper thoughts about taking advantage of her. And so, he carried Liu Piaopiao all the way down the mountain.

"Su Ran, do you think your Sister Piaopiao is annoying? A lunatic who loves to be dramatic and pick fights, someone nobody likes?"

"Not at all. You’re great. Actually, this just shows how much you love Uncle Shan. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have run back to your parents’ house. After all, any wife would react this way in this situation. If there was no reaction at all, that would probably mean the love is gone. Hmm... really, you two just lack communication. Uncle Shan is out all day while you’re at home. When he gets back, you eat, you sleep, you have a quickie, and then it’s off to work the next day. There’s not much communication. When people don’t talk, they naturally lose trust. Once you go back, just communicate more with Uncle Shan, and the problem will be solved..."

He continued to say comforting things to her all the way back. Soon, they reached the courtyard. Liu Buqun saw Su Ran carrying a mud-covered person on his back. He came closer for a look and only then recognized his own daughter. "Piaopiao, is that you? What happened to you?"

"Him! It’s all his fault! He pushed me into a mud pit, then said I was annoying, a lunatic, that I love being dramatic and picking fights, and that nobody likes me! Hmph!"

Liu Piaopiao spun around and went back to her room to take a bath, leaving Su Ran’s frantic voice echoing behind her, "So heartless!"

...

The spring breeze caressed the willows.

Liu Piaopiao soaked in the bathtub, washing off the mud while thinking about what Su Ran had said. Listening to his long speech was, well, like listening to a long speech. Still, he had a point.

Meanwhile, after hearing Su Ran’s explanation, Liu Buqun breathed a sigh of relief and chuckled. "You’re the one with a silver tongue and a knack for solving problems. If you hadn’t come, this would have been difficult to handle. I hope those two don’t cause any more drama in the future. It gives me a headache. Come on, let’s go see that Victorious Fighting Buddha you wanted."

They arrived at a hall where Su Ran’s eyes widened in amazement. A huge root carving stood before him. As the door opened, a gust of wind blew away the wood shavings on its surface, revealing its true form. The Victorious Fighting Buddha stood with his eyes closed, palms pressed together, the Golden Cudgel resting on the backs of his hands. The aura it gave off was magnificent and utterly domineering. Below it, a single line was carved: [Once he became the Victorious Fighting Buddha, Sun Wukong was no longer the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.]

"Hmm..." Su Ran mulled over the sentence’s meaning. It could be interpreted in different ways, like how once a man is bound by marriage, he can no longer be a rover.

"It’s incredible. Thank you, Sect Leader Liu."

"Are there any changes you’d like me to make?"

"No, I think it’s perfect just the way it is."

"Su Ran..." Just then, Liu Piaopiao returned, freshly showered and changed, completely revived. "Let’s bounce! Time to go home!"

"Alright!"

They called a large truck to "pick up a person." The driver was shocked. ’Do you really need a truck this big to transport one person?’ he wondered. But thinking he’d make a killing on this trip, he arrived with a grin. When he saw the enormous Great Sage Equal to Heaven, he was dumbfounded. He cursed inwardly, ’Fooled for the second time.’ There had been another time when a boss had called him to transport "a man," and he had gone cheerfully, only to find out he was hauling a statue of Guan Gong.

But with the money right, the driver was easy to deal with. He carefully drove the truck down the mountain.

Liu Piaopiao was also heading home. She had been on the mountain for several days, and now that she was "cured," she naturally wanted to go back and surprise Shan Zhentian. After she packed her luggage, Liu Buqun saw the two of them off in his disciple’s car, offering a few words of advice as he watched them leave. The old man only had one daughter and was actually very lonely. She had been the apple of his eye when she was little; the more he loved her, the more his heart ached. She had married far from home, and for the sake of his daughter’s happiness, he could only endure the longing, meeting up with her every now and then. Sigh...

The only flight was the next day, and Liu Piaopiao insisted on going back immediately, so they opted for the high-speed train—a five-hour journey.

「High-Speed Rail Station.」

Liu Piaopiao stored her luggage, let out a breath, and sat down in her seat. "Xiaoran... where is he?" Liu Piaopiao saw that the person in the seat next to her wasn’t Su Ran. She turned to look out the window and saw Su Ran standing on the platform. Liu Piaopiao waved, signaling for him to get on. Su Ran shook his head. Liu Piaopiao glared and pulled out her phone to call him. Outside, Su Ran answered.

"Is Little Rannan being naughty again? Get on the train, it’s about to leave."

"You’re going home, and I need to go home, too."

"Didn’t you buy two tickets to Hangzhou?"

"No. I bought you a ticket to Hangzhou. Mine is to Jiangning. They’re in two different directions."

A smile played on Su Ran’s lips as Liu Piaopiao’s angry shouts came through the phone, "Get on the train! Get on the train right now! I command you to get on the train this instant! Su Ran!"

"Have a safe trip."

She saw Su Ran wave at her with a smile. "Su Ran!" she yelled a few times in a panic, but of course, Su Ran couldn’t hear her from outside the window.

Her gaze followed the young figure outside the window. "Su..." She stood up, ready to rush out at all costs just as the doors were closing. But after taking only two steps, she stopped, as if held back by some invisible force. She paused, then a sense of peace washed over her. She returned to her seat, a smile breaking through her tears, and waved at the figure that was growing smaller and smaller in the distance...