Work Text:
“Nice to see you again, Song-Daozhang.” Wen Ning bowed down to Song Zichen who was sitting in the middle of a busy restaurant. It has been a hundred years since he went out on his quest and almost 2 decades since he succeeded in restoring his bosom friend’s soul. He picked up a pen and started writing on the paper in front of him. “Nice to see you too. How are the descendants of your family?”
“Sizhui already has great grandchildren. They also started using our name too.” Wen Ning comments as he sits down. He called the shopkeeper and ordered some more dishes.
“That’s great.” he added on the paper. “I wonder if it is tiring to talk to me like this?” he scribbled once more.
“Not really! We are not in a hurry. We can slowly talk and take our time. Senior Wei already passed too. You are the only one I can talk to from our time.”
“That’s true. Cultivation is getting more and more unnecessary now. I wonder how we can pass on too.” a faint smile formed on his mouth.
“As much as we want to, we can’t unless maybe we can go to Baoshan Sanren and ask because maybe she knows.”
“I wonder how many more springs do I need to spend in this body rather than being reincarnated already.”
---
“Zichen, look! There are some oranges there!” He got pulled by his cultivation partner with a lot of force. He fell down on the ground when Xingchen let his hand go too abruptly because he grabbed a fruit from the tree. Slowly he tried to stand up and wiped his black robes which became almost gray from all the dust. “Here Zichen, open your mouth.” There was no time to answer as the peeled orange went straight inside his mouth.
“This season is really the best. We can collect a lot of fruits and everything and we can preserve some of them in our qiankun pouches. Let’s get around 2 dozen and then make candied ones!”
“I agree. We shouldn’t get everything because some other traveler might need some too. Let’s hope to see some other fruits later on.”
It was one of his favorite memories. Xingchen is fond of food and is always on the lookout for nice restaurants but that doesn’t mean his best friend isn’t that good as a cook. Even if he is very down to earth, Xingchen once boasted that he is the best cook in their sect. A simple thing yet he missed it.
---
“Here’s your food, Sir.” A sweet voice rang in his ear, his companion looked at him with pure astonishment. He knows this person who brought them their food isn’t just anyone. Their eyes met when he turned his head to the young man’s direction. Two sets of silver eyes met, one with a bright smile and one with a calm expression.”
“ Xiao Cheng! You forgot this dish for that table!”
“HUHHHH? Wait for a while sirs.” The waiter scrambled back to the counter to get the other dish and when he came back Song Lan was writing on his paper again. “Apologies sir.” He put the smoking dish down on the table and then Song Lan handed him a folded piece of paper.
“Xiao Cheng, bring this next dish to the table outside!” “Yes sir! Hope you have a good meal!” He bowed down and hurryingly inserted the paper in his sleeve pocket.
Working in a restaurant isn’t easy because the workday ends at midnight, the young man remembered the paper he got from the customer earlier that day so rather than sleeping right after he went back to his room he opened it. The paper was wet just seconds after he took a peek inside. “The content is just this… Why am I crying?” Tears have continuously fallen down his cheeks as he stares down on the letter.
“It is not your fault.”