"A novel written about me and Boss Wolf and the others?" Old Meng blinked.
"That's right."
Hu Tao nodded. "You're Jinta "Jintan" Yadomi, and Boss Wolf is Hayama Meiko."
"Somehow that sounds really strange when you put it that way, Director." Old Meng scratched his head. "Knowing Miss Fang Qiu, she must have heard the story from you and worried that my friends and I were still stuck in the past, unable to move on. That's why she wrote it, isn't it?"
"So, Old Meng, have you moved on?" Hu Tao didn't answer him. Her eyes narrowed instead.
"Of course I have." Old Meng looked out the door, his gaze traveling somewhere far away.
"Good." Hu Tao waved a hand, then grinned with her eyes crinkled shut. "I was starting to think that if you kept pining away, I'd have to make good on my old warning and send you off to your reunion ahead of schedule."
"Ahem, Director, please stop teasing me." Old Meng rubbed his head, flustered.
"Still, that reminds me." Hu Tao looked at the book lying by her hand as though something had just occurred to her, picked up her teacup, and took a sip. "Come to think of it, a few days back I ran into a little girl's ghost up on Wuwang Hill, drowned just like Menma. Seems she's clinging to the world because of some unfinished attachment too. Little Nine, I think her name was."
"Then... how is she now?" Old Meng and the undertaker girl asked together.
"Ugh, don't even get me started." Feeling the startled looks from both of them, Hu Tao waved her hand and sighed. "I was just about to see her off to the boundary between life and death when that unlucky exorcist Chongyun turned up. Pure yang energy through and through, and when his yin and yang balance out he can't see ghosts at all. Worse, he spotted me and came jogging over to say hello. Little Nine's spirit form is weak as it is, and even at that distance it started destabilizing. It was urgent, so all I could do was lead Chongyun away first."
"And then?" the two of them asked, leaning in.
"And then I took him on a nice long stroll around the outskirts of Wuwang Hill," Hu Tao said.
"Not that part! We're asking what happened to Little Nine," Old Meng and the undertaker girl pressed.
"Her? I haven't seen her since." Hu Tao sighed. "She's probably scared I'll pack her off to the afterlife. As if I'd ever be that unreasonable. Still, one thing's certain: she's definitely still on Wuwang Hill. She hasn't faded away."
"That's a relief." Old Meng let out a breath.
"Here's hoping she can put down her attachment soon and move on." Hu Tao stretched. "All right, that's it for today's reading club. I'm off to go play at Fang Qiu's place. The shop's yours. If that person called Custodian of Clouds shows up to report in, be sure to treat them well. From what I can tell, they're all esteemed peach-tier clients."
With that, Hu Tao tucked away her copy of anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day and headed out the door toward Fang Qiu's house.
After she left, Old Meng looked down at the copy of anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day in his hands and sighed, a shadow settling over his eyes.
True, Boss Wolf's last wish had been fulfilled, and he no longer clung to what had happened to her.
But every time he thought of her, the regret came back all the same.
Just as Menma had wanted to marry Jinta "Jintan" Yadomi, the promise he and Boss Wolf had made could never be kept now.
He just wondered what that Little Nine the Director had mentioned was still holding on to.
He sighed.
All at once he badly wanted a drink.
Come to think of it, Mister Zhongli often went to a certain tavern. Maybe he should go take a look himself?
Mister Zhongli's recommendations were always reliable.
So, after exchanging a few words with the undertaker girl, he set off with that copy of anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day in hand, heading for the tavern below the Wanwen Bookhouse.
Business at the tavern was brisk. The Tavern Proprietress was a graceful, sharp-witted woman with fine features.
She wore a cheongsam and sat behind the counter, drinking.
Her face was flushed crimson, her eyes glassy and unfocused.
Seeing her in that state puzzled Old Meng at first. He couldn't quite work out why someone in the business of selling wine would drink herself into such a condition.
Then he noticed the copy of anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day lying beside her hand, and everything became clear.
So that was it...
Miss Fang Qiu really was something else...
And it wasn't just her. Nearly every drinker in the place had a copy of anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day sitting by their elbow.
The whole tavern was heavy and silent.
The patrons drank cup after cup with red-rimmed eyes, not saying a word.
Some of them wept as they drank, tears sliding down without warning.
As for the Proprietress, it was impossible to say whether she was miserable or delighted.
Call it misery, and yet she smiled the moment a customer stepped through the door.
Call it delight, and yet the instant she smiled, tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Welcome, sir. What can I get you to drink?" It was one of the tavern's servers who greeted him, asking as he led Old Meng toward a seat.
"A pot of Osmanthus Wine," Old Meng said after a moment's thought.
Mister Zhongli liked this one too.
"Understood." The server nodded and showed him to a spot by the window.
Old Meng sat down, and the wine arrived soon after.
He had barely lifted the pot and downed a cup, however, when he noticed someone sitting across from him.
The man wore a long deep-blue robe, with a moon-white vest patterned in curling clouds over it.
A copy of anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day lay on the table.
And beside that book stood seven or eight pots of wine, five of them already drained dry.
Old Meng was watching him, but the man showed no sign of noticing. He simply drank on his own, and as he drank he wept and muttered to himself.
"Girlie... I miss you so much. I don't even know what you look like now. You must have grown up so pretty."
"You know what? Yae Publishing House over in Inazuma sent me an invitation because of the novel I wrote for you... They want me to come to some Irodori Festival... I'm not going. What if you come back looking for me while I'm away and can't find me? Girlie, I miss you so much... If only you were here. I could take you traveling to Inazuma with me. I hear they've got a flower over there called the crimson sakura... You'd love it. I want to pick one and tuck it in your hair."
"Girlie, why haven't you come back? Have you forgotten about me? No. You'd never. It must be your parents, thinking I'm still not strong enough, keeping you from coming to find me. Don't worry. I read every single one of Fang Qiu's books. Once I'm as strong as he is, your parents won't have any reason to object to the marriage."
"Come to think of it, girlie, this Fang Qiu person really does write well. Every time I read one of her books I think of you... This one's called anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day. The people in it, Jinta "Jintan" Yadomi and Hayama Meiko, they're so much like us... When we were kids I didn't know how to treasure you either, and I left you there by the river. But thank goodness I'm not like Jintan. I still have a chance to make it right. Don't worry. I'll make my name ring out across all of Teyvat."
____
________________________________________
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉