Shrine - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

With a creak, the door opened. Shi Ran withdrew her gaze from Ruan Ruan's knee, which was propped against the door.

The residential complex was considered high-end for the area, but the furniture and appliances looked a bit old. The apartment was very clean, clearly well-maintained. Ruan Ruan straightened a vacuum cleaner in the entryway and squatted down to offer Shi Ran a pair of slippers.

She saw Shi Ran lean down slightly. Her hand instinctively reached out, though not intending to make contact, her fingers tracing the air twice.

Ruan Ruan looked up. Shi Ran's fingers were just below her eyelid, so close it felt as if they could accidentally brush against the small mole under her eye.

Pressing her lips together lightly, Ruan Ruan lowered her head and slowly tucked her hair behind her ear.

Then, keeping close to the wall, she stood up and watched Shi Ran pull back her hand and change her shoes.

Wu Mei wasn't home, and Xiao Lin hadn't come up either. The license plate of Shi Ran's commercial van was well-known to the paparazzi, so parking it in this complex would be inconvenient. Xiao Lin had gone for a drive with the chauffeur, planning to buy some fruit along the way.

Shi Ran walked in. Holding her right hand upright, she gently rubbed the base of her right palm with her left. She politely refrained from scrutinizing someone else's home, waiting coolly for Ruan Ruan to put her things away and lead her to the bedroom.

Her hair was still styled from earlier—a half-braided look. The loose side was slightly curled, making her features seem even more distant, while the braided lines were clean and sharp. A gray shirt hung loosely on her, and even the play of light and shadow seemed to act as a contour light.

The bedroom was cooler than the living room, and the air conditioner was a bit loud. Ruan Ruan checked the remote, confirmed the temperature was around 26 degrees, and then invited Shi Ran in. She pointed to a cardboard box in the corner where Xiao Ju and her three babies were sleeping. Ruan Ruan moved quietly, leaving the curtains closed and turning on only the floor lamp, gazing warmly at the box.

Shi Ran squatted down beside her. The three baby cats were piled on top of each other, and it was unclear whether their eyes hadn't opened yet or if they were just sleeping.

"Did you deliver them?" Shi Ran asked softly.

"I had the pet doctor from the complex come over. I didn't dare to watch," Ruan Ruan answered honestly.

Wu Mei had watched and said they looked like mice when they were born, with damp fur—the ugly kind.

Shi Ran sniffed and tilted her head. "How did she have a black one?"

"Its father was probably black."

"But there's a white one, too."

Ruan Ruan nodded. "Its father might have been white."

A slightly uneven breath, and she heard Shi Ran laugh again before quickly suppressing it. Shi Ran looked at her coolly. "Listen to yourself."

Ruan Ruan's eyes widened in surprise. If her senses weren't mistaken, was Shi Ran joking with her?

Her heart thumped, like she was licking a piece of rock candy. Ruan Ruan moved her lips, hiding a smile, and rested her hand on the edge of the box. "Then its father must be the Black Cat Detective."

Black and white—that's reasonable, right?

"From the same police force as you?" Shi Ran asked, looking at the kittens.

Her voice was low, more fragmented than the shadows cast by the floor lamp.

The stolen taste of rock candy was swallowed unexpectedly, lodging in her throat. It felt stuck in her heart, causing a dull ache, yet it was so sweet that it made her want to let it stay stuck a little longer.

"Hmm?" When she didn't get an answer, Shi Ran propped her chin on her hand and turned her profile to Ruan Ruan, humming the sound through her nose.

Her curled fingers were casual, and the initial glance she cast at Ruan Ruan's chin was just as casual, but Ruan Ruan had only one thought at that moment.

Like this, isn't Shi Ran afraid someone might kiss her?

How many people could resist Shi Ran's questioning, especially under the lamplight?

Ruan Ruan fluttered her eyelashes twice and, just like Shi Ran, propped her chin on her hand. "Are you teasing me?"

She asked softly, her gaze fixed on the kittens.

Shi Ran smiled and stood up. "Let's go out."

So as not to disturb the kittens.

Back in the living room, they both relaxed. Shi Ran sat on the sofa, replying to Xiao Lin's WeChat messages.

Ruan Ruan poured her some water. "Is red bean and coix seed water okay? It's good for reducing dampness, and it tastes great."

"Thank you." Shi Ran nodded. Xiao Lin called, and she answered it. After listening for a few seconds, she said flatly, "I don't feel like eating light food anymore."

"Don't want that either."

"Don't want to eat it."

"It's not good."

"It's too rich."

"I have no appetite."

She spoke these fragmented sentences, her right hand touching her makeup-free skin as her eyelashes lowered.

"Just buy whatever." She finally compromised and hung up, waiting for Xiao Lin to come pick her up.

Ruan Ruan sat beside her, sipping her red bean and coix seed water. She blinked and asked in a soft voice, "You... don't know what to eat?"

"Mmm." Shi Ran rested her forearm on the armrest, still thinking.

Ruan Ruan suddenly found her very cute. She had already hung up the phone, and a normal person would have moved on, but Shi Ran was like a prim and proper student who insisted on solving a problem even after the bell had rung.

She was using her pure yet world-weary face to solve the problem of "what to eat tonight."

Ruan Ruan suddenly wondered, Does Shi Ran love to eat? She had craved her sour plum soup and was always eating the props.

But she looked at Shi Ran and couldn't connect that face with the words "loves to eat"—not even if the words were separated.

Ruan Ruan handed her a banana. Shi Ran took it, peeled it, and ate it slowly and methodically.

Ruan Ruan's almond-shaped eyes blinked, and she smiled as she looked at the coffee table.

Shi Ran looked at her. With a lingering smile, Ruan Ruan said, "Let me make you some tangfan. Would you have an appetite for that?"

"Tangfan?" The end of Shi Ran's eyebrow twitched.

"Mmm, have you had it before?" Ruan Ruan tempted her with an innocent look. "It's a favorite back in my hometown. You use tomato soup or some other kind of soup, cook leftover rice in it, and add some minced meat. It's really fragrant."

"Oh, but if you mind eating leftover rice, then never mind."

Shi Ran said softly, "I don't mind."

So she wants to eat it? Ruan Ruan smiled to herself and went to the fridge. She took out yesterday's leftover tomato and egg soup, leftover rice, and some braised beef brisket. Then she washed a small handful of green vegetables and began working skillfully at the cutting board.

Shi Ran sent a WeChat message to Xiao Lin, then lowered her hand and watched Ruan Ruan from the living room. She wasn't tall, probably around 165 cm, and she moved with a relaxed air in the kitchen—the kind of ease that comes from knowing how to feed and treat oneself well year-round.

Shi Ran could cook too, and very well at that. She had specifically learned for a variety show where she played a chef. But every time she finished cooking, she had no appetite and would just sit to the side, drinking water.

This was the difference between a chef and a regular home cook. When Ruan Ruan cooked, she did so with anticipation of enjoying the meal. As the aroma of the tomatoes simmered out, the elegant muscle in her neck twitched slightly as she swallowed with a tiny gulp.

Shi Ran habitually began rubbing her left wrist with the heel of her right palm again, pressing and rotating it half a circle, then back again. Then she gripped her wrist and pushed her thumb upwards, from the veins of her wrist to the center of her palm.

"It's ready. Come and eat."

A little over ten minutes later, Ruan Ruan came out holding a steaming bowl of tangfan. She served it in a medium-sized enamel bowl, the style reminiscent of the eighties or nineties, and handed Shi Ran a spoon.

The plump grains of rice had soaked up the savory and appetizing broth. Minced meat was mixed in, appearing and disappearing, which for a greedy child was no different from hidden treasure.

The children of Beicheng loved to eat this way; even the pickiest eaters would ask for a second bowl.

This kind of home-style dish was certainly not something you could find in a restaurant. And with the growing emphasis on healthy eating, most families didn't make it much anymore. Therefore, the taste of some dishes carried the weight of years. Seeing it was like feeling the breeze from a cattail fan waved by one's grandparents.

Shi Ran picked up her spoon and took a bite. It was flavorful and delicious.

Ruan Ruan's eyes curved into a smile as she sat down opposite her to eat as well. They each had a bowl, and they chatted while they ate, finishing their dinner quickly.

Shi Ran offered to help with the dishes, but Ruan Ruan, her hands wet, used her wrist to block her and push her out of the kitchen. With nothing to do, Shi Ran walked over to the side of the dining area to look at the shrine that Ruan Ruan and Wu Mei maintained.

They didn't burn incense daily, and none was lit today. In front of the Buddha statue, there was only a yellowed incense burner filled with slightly damp ash.

Shi Ran clasped her hands behind her back and glanced at it casually. Then Xiao Lin arrived to pick her up. She said goodbye to Ruan Ruan, who was drying her hands with a paper towel as she saw her to the door.

"See you tomorrow," Shi Ran said with a faint smile.

"See you tomorrow," Ruan Ruan replied with a gentle smile.

The commercial van drove smoothly along the not-so-wide road. The streetlights receded at a steady pace, blurring together with the shadows of the trees. Xiao Lin held up a plastic bag, telling Shi Ran about the fruit she'd bought, adding that she wasn't very good at picking them and couldn't find any as sweet as Ruan Ruan's.

The sentence should have included a noun—"couldn't find any oranges as sweet as Ruan Ruan's." But with those two words omitted, it sounded like she was saying Ruan Ruan herself was the sweet one.

Fragrant, soft, like a freshly baked little bread—anyone would like her.

She had assumed Shi Ran wouldn't respond, but she suddenly heard a voice from behind her, a voice like a drift of snow.

"Where is Ruan Ruan's hometown?" Shi Ran asked, her head turned to look out the window, the lines of her face exquisite.

"I think... Taizhou."

"Help me check," Shi Ran paused, "if they have a custom of eating tangfan in Taizhou."

She didn't explain, and Xiao Lin didn't ask. She just picked up her phone and started searching.

Outside, the neon lights flickered, decorating even the car windows with a myriad of colors.

Five minutes, ten minutes, twelve minutes passed. Xiao Lin looked up and shook her head. "No."

Taizhou doesn't have a dish like tangfan. Eating tangfan happens to be a custom in Beicheng—and the one who grew up in Beicheng was Shi Ran.

The Shi Ran whose preferences had been accurately figured out by Ruan Ruan time and time again.

Shi Ran blinked coolly. Back on the final episode of the variety show, she had once asked Ruan Ruan, who was a police officer, a meaningful question—

"Tell me, is it possible for there to be a dirty cop?"

So, who was it that loved eating tangfan since childhood? Little Cat Officer.

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