CHAPTER 145: CHAPTER 144: HE EXISTS IN EVERY ORDINARY MOMENT

He Chen left before dawn the next day.

Before leaving, he carefully kissed her forehead, sat silently by the bed watching her for a long time, and finally stepped into the night with heavy footsteps.

Last night was too wild, Ye Manman was exhausted and completely unaware of all this.

Moreover, worried that if she personally saw He Chen off she wouldn’t be able to resist pulling him back, not letting him go, and He Chen also feared he couldn’t bear to leave, the two had discussed it well at night, that in the morning he would leave without waking her.

By the time Ye Manman woke up, it was almost noon.

Her body was fatigued, her mind still groggy, as if He Chen’s touch still lingered on her body. She habitually turned her head to look at the bedside table, where there was still a thermos cup, but the room was empty.

He had already left.

Realizing this, Ye Manman’s nose tingled a bit, but she held back and didn’t cry.

Sitting up, she opened the thermos cup, intending to take a sip of warm water out of habit, but the water was already a bit cool, just a touch warm.

The weather was too cold, and she didn’t really like drinking this almost cool water. She drank a little and then screwed the lid back on and put the thermos down.

She usually woke up late too, but each time the water in the thermos was still warm, comfortable to drink, making her warm up instantly. Such water indicated that He Chen must have left very early.

This water was poured in before he left.

Ye Manman pursed her lips, intending to find a piece of clothing from the wardrobe, but then noticed a clean set of clothes still placed beside the bed, which He Chen must have left there before he departed. She had thought in his rush today he wouldn’t have time to lay out her clothes.

The weather was too cold. Every time Ye Manman got out of bed, the few steps to the wardrobe felt freezing, making her want to linger in bed a bit longer and not get up to fetch clothes.

Later on, He Chen would place the clothes he had paired for her by the bed every morning after getting up, so she could just grab them and get dressed, including the socks, which he would place together, so she wouldn’t feel cold.

Perhaps through experience, the outfits He Chen put together were always appropriate and pretty. Silently getting dressed, Ye Manman sat down by the table near the window to comb her hair in front of the mirror.

Her reflection showed a somewhat numb and indifferent expression, lacking spirit. Ye Manman thought it was because she hadn’t applied lip balm, so she applied a bit of greasy balm, but still looked uninspired.

However, she didn’t care too much, simply brushing her hair smoothly into a low bun, seeing no issue, and went downstairs to wash up.

The downstairs shop had already opened. He Chen had given Jiang Tianrui a key to the first floor so he could come every day to open the shop and sell fried chicken.

Jiang Tianrui and Jiang Yuan were busy. Their business had been very good lately, so Ye Manman didn’t disturb them, and directly went to the back to ladle a cup of water from the tank to brush her teeth.

This was cold water, and as soon as it entered her mouth, it chilled her, waking her up a lot.

Unhappy, Ye Manman poured out half of the water, then went to the front to get a hot water bottle to mix in some hot water, intending to make it lukewarm.

Once mixed, the water was too hot, not suitable for brushing teeth, so she poured out a bit and added some cold water to make it just right.

After brushing her teeth, Ye Manman realized she had wasted the lip balm she applied earlier, questioning why she applied it before brushing her teeth in the first place.

Feeling a bit silly, she smiled self-mockingly, mixed some warm water to wash her face, and carefully applied some snowflake cream, completing the washing routine which normally took just a few minutes.

The smell of fried chicken was quite appetizing. Although the oil pot was placed near the door, and the wind blew the aroma and smoke outside, a faint scent still lingered inside, making Ye Manman feel suddenly very hungry.

She habitually looked towards the Sweet and Spicy Duck’s counter, which was empty, and the tall figure she would look up and see each time was absent as well.

Suddenly it all felt very uninteresting.

Ye Manman opened a book, planning to wait for Jiang Tianrui and Jiang Yuan to finish up so they could go out for a meal together. Unexpectedly, they had already noticed her coming down. Jiang Tianrui asked Jiang Yuan to keep an eye on the pot, and hurriedly brought a breakfast to her.

"This was made by He Chen in the morning, kept warm in the pot. I saw you hadn’t woken up, so I just added some firewood; it’s still hot now. Eat it while it’s warm, to fill your stomach a bit. There aren’t many people now, so we can have lunch together soon."

She never went to the kitchen. He Chen usually prepared breakfast and kept it warm in the pot, never letting her fetch it herself for fear she’d burn her hands, thinking today’s breakfast was unlikely, so Ye Manman hadn’t checked the pot.

Unexpectedly, there was breakfast after all.

Looking at the familiar chicken mushroom porridge and boiled egg before her, Ye Manman felt her just-calmed emotions surge again.

Seeing her pick up the spoon, Jiang Tianrui stopped watching her eat and ran back to making fried chicken.

Ye Manman ate the porridge in small bites, cracked and rolled the boiled egg on the table, peeled it and took a bite, and out of nowhere a tear dropped onto the table.

Grief, longing, bitterness, and gratitude all mixed together. Ye Manman realized He Chen was already a part of her in every small thing, in every place she took for granted, there were traces of him.

She missed He Chen, missed him so much that it made her want to cry.

Originally, she thought she could hold it in; Ye Manman never imagined she would miss someone like this.

She had thought perhaps it was just yesterday’s emotions, being particularly sad at the moment of parting; maybe once He Chen left, she wouldn’t miss him so much.

But Ye Manman underestimated how important He Chen was to her, and overestimated her own ability to control her emotions.

The meal that couldn’t be defined as breakfast or lunch took a long time to finish, long enough for Jiang Tianrui to occasionally look back at her with curiosity.

Eventually, Jiang Tianrui, along with Jiang Yuan, waited until everyone returned for lunch at noon, with fewer people buying fried chicken, quickly packing up the stall. Jiang Tianrui seemed to notice she had cried but didn’t say anything, nudging his sister and then silently tidying up the dishes.

Jiang Yuan also noticed her extremely low mood, her red-rimmed eyes showing she had cried, feeling a bit at a loss. She took out a chocolate.

"Manman, don’t be sad, have some chocolate. I heard eating chocolate can make people happy. He Chen will certainly come back soon."

She was a bit dirty, though wearing an apron, flour and other stains were still on her clothes, so she didn’t dare hug Ye Manman to comfort her, knowing Ye Manman was very clean and disliked dirtiness.

Ye Manman silently took the chocolate and ate a piece. The sweet and sticky taste quickly melted and spread through her mouth, suddenly bringing back the memory of being held in He Chen’s arms, sharing chocolate on the day of the flood.

At that time, she felt so cold and hungry, but nestled in He Chen’s arms, she soon became warm.

Remembering this, she couldn’t help but smile, nostalgic for that feeling.

Jiang Yuan, who was originally worried, saw Ye Manman smile and her eyes widened instantly.

"Wow! Could it really work? Eating chocolate actually makes people happy?"