NOVEL NEXT 147: A Morning Of Preparation
With the mayor’s proclamation coming to an end after just a couple of minutes, he moved on to talk about other... mayor-ly things. Updates with the city, plans for infrastructure. Those types of things.
Yet, they had to watch, just in case—it never came, of course, but a little more caution never hurt anyone.
Coming to an end after a long hour, the talk closed with a few boring closing remarks. Empty words meant to inspire confidence in the mayor’s message. Closing out of the livestream and storing the recording, the five cultivators—Lin Songmei, Yan Mingqing, Han Youhong, Wang Taigang, and Zhao Liying—with a little more free time in the night, spent it all hanging out.
Gaming, snacking, cultivating, it didn’t really matter. As they hung out though, they made a plan, discussing, brainstorming, and just spitballing ideas for how to move forward.
The annoying thing was, with Liu Xueli’s idea of independent work, all the other masters of all the direct disciples in Westriver had agreed. With their own ideas as to how to make it harder as well!
Xiao Feng, Youhong’s master, had even called them, just to reinforce the fact they’d have to work through it themselves! Songmei's only solace was how mad Youhong had gotten. Never before had Songmei seen Youhong use so many expletives. Xueli, on the other hand, like the life-saver she was though, staved off all the masters, and rejected their suggestions to make it harder.
Worn, bored, and stressed, Songmei and the others decided to not hang out too late into the night. Retiring for the night well before midnight, the five of them made a promise to work and be productive the next day.
----
With the morning sun creeping its way through the window, Songmei’s eyes fluttered open as the alarm she and Mingqing set began blaring its lungs out without any regard to their well-being.
Sighing, Songmei laid there for a few more minutes, staring up at the ceiling and out the window as Mingqing pushed herself up and began doing some morning stretches.
It wasn’t until a couple of deep breaths, hugs with Plum—her lovable, amazing, divine stuffed animal—and some more annoyance from her still blaring alarm, did Songmei worm her way out of bed. Waving towards Mingqing, Songmei greeted her with a yawn. “Morning, Mingqing~”
“Morning~” Mingqing sang back, coming over and hugging Songmei. “Ready to do some work?”
“...Yes...” Songmei sighed, shaking her head. “I still don’t understand how you function so much better than me on the same amount of sleep.”
“I don’t know... I just... am awake. Energetic~” Mingqing laughed, pulling Songmei to her feet. “But really only with you.”
“Yeah, that’s an established fact,” Songmei agreed, resting her chin on Mingqing’s shoulder. “Should we go check up on the others?”
Content to just stand in the morning sun with Songmei in her arms, Mingqing stood there for a moment, silent before nodding. “We should... though before that, washing our faces and doing our morning routine would be good. We’re both disheveled messes right now.”
“Okayy...” Songmei murmured, squeezing Mingqing as they stood there, motionless even after their declaration.
Standing in the morning sun for another five minutes—and sharing a few soft kisses—Songmei and Mingqing decided to move to the bathroom after they both began feeling the chill, having been standing in their room dressed only in their sleepwear.
Hurrying through their washing routine, the two got dressed in some semi-presentable outfits before wandering out towards the living room and kitchen area.
“The other bedroom’s door is already open...” Songmei murmured as they walked down the stairs. “Youhong and Taigang slept in that room, yeah?”
“No, they gave it to Liying at the last minute,” Mingqing shook her head, dipping her head over the stair’s railing to peek into the kitchen, “They’re all sitting around in the kitchen...”
Nodding and murmuring an “I see...” Songmei did the classic half-jog, momentum carrying stair descent. Channeling some Qi into her legs, she hopped over a couch and walked into the kitchen with Mingqing right behind her. “Morning~ How are you all doing?”
“Fine...” Youhong groaned, an air of gloom weighing down on his shoulders. “Had a bad dream...”
“I’m doing fine,” Liying shrugged, taking a sip from a cup of coffee, “I slept quite well, thank you for having me over!”
“Of course, it was no issue,” Songmei nodded, patting Youhong on the shoulder as she looked into the kitchen. Taigang, for a change of pace, was chilling in the kitchen. Wearing a light-pink apron—one that really didn’t fit his image, but still was pulled off well—Taigang concentrated on cooking some eggs, hands by his sides.
With Mingqing walking past her into the kitchen to make some conversation with Taigang, Songmei looked back towards Youhong. “Liying, do you know what he dreamt about? Or well... I should say, is it alright for me to know? Did he share it with you?”
Snorting, Liying set down her coffee, putting a hand on Songmei’s shoulder. “It’s not a big deal, don’t worry about it.”
“It’s a big deal to me!” Youhong complained, interjecting Liying’s words as the air of gloom intensified as he buried his face into his arms.
“Anyway, Songmei,” Liying continued, unfettered as Youhong continued his unintelligible stream of words. “He just dreamt that his favorite brand of lychee jelly... like... their main, biggest manufacturing plant got hit by a meteor.”
“Ohhhhh... yeah... huh.” Songmei trailed off, patting Youhong on the shoulder. “You know, I mean, I guess... Well, yeah, that’s bad... yeah... Sorry to hear Youhong...”
With Taigang and Mingqing plating the breakfast, Youhong pulled himself up. Making space on the table, he pat Songmei on the shoulder while suppressing some laughs. “I know you have the heart of an angel Songmei, and can’t bring yourself to be harsh, but that was about the fakest comforting ever. You tried your best, but really, don’t worry, it’s okay to make fun of me like Liying does heartlessly every single day. It’s not that big of a deal.”
“Heartlessly?” Liying retorted, raising an eyebrow as she helped clear some space. “I do it out of love, Youhong. Love!”
Unsure what to say, Songmei just stayed silent, letting another bantering war start between Liying and Youhong. Helping Taigang put down the plates, Songmei smiled and gave him a small wave. “Morning, Taigang!”
“Morning, Songmei,” Taigang nodded, taking some utensils from Mingqing after putting down the final few plates of food. “You’re bubbly this morning.”
“Woke up... energetic, I guess,” Songmei chuckled, extracting herself from the bantering warzone and sitting next to Mingqing. “Thanks for making the food!”
“Of course, I didn’t even add any protein powder,” Taigang joked with his signature sun-like, beaming smile while taking a seat next to Liying.
“Good job,” Mingqing murmured, piling some food onto her plate. Pausing for a moment as Songmei’s earlier words registered in her brain, Mingqing leaned over, whispering in her ear. “Woke up ‘energetic,’ now? I don’t remember that from earlier...”
“Oh shut up,” Songmei whispered back, a pout flashing across her face before Liying and Youhong stopped their ‘friendly banter.’ Giving a thumbs-up to Taigang, Songmei grinned, grabbing Mingqing’s hand under the table. “Let’s eat!”
