Finally, they arrived at the subway station near Shannchyuan's house almost four hours later. Even though Shannchyuan wasn't starving yet, it was already lunchtime. He happily took Yinqyueh to the food stall at the station for lunch before continuing on to Shannchyuan's house. Shannchyuan was worried that there was no food at home because, most likely, everyone was away. As scheduled, everyone should be busy looking for a new home or moving things to the small warehouse at the station by now.
This time, they didn't eat as much as before because they weren't starving yet. Shannchyuan chose to eat his favorite food, namely lamb noodles, while the girl ate seafood fried rice. While enjoying their meal, they chatted again.
"The fried rice is delicious," said the girl. Her face brightened again. It seemed, like Shannchyuan, she was a foodie.
"Right. Next time you should try this lamb noodle too," said Shannchyuan.
The girl laughed. "It's a huge city. I think there's a lot of food I should try."
<
Shannchyuan and the girl laughed together. But their joy was interrupted by a loud, disturbing sound.
"Anyway, now you have to eat!" There was a deafening scream.
Shannchyuan and the girl turned their heads towards a few tables beside theirs. Not many people were there. The table to the right of their table was empty. But two people were sitting at a table to the left of that table. They were a mother, and a little girl whom Shannchyuan assumed was his daughter. The mother's voice was so loud it could be heard clearly from where Shannchyuan was sitting. From the conversation they later overheard right after, Shannchyuan knew that the mother was nagging her daughter because she was unwilling to eat. Apparently, the daughter ate too much candy every day, so she lost her appetite.
The girl who was with Shannchyuan watched them. The expression on her face was not easy for Shannchyuan to describe.
Suddenly, the girl said something completely random. "Last night, I had a very strange dream!"
Incidentally, last night, while trapped in the elevator, Shannchyuan also had a strange dream. He dreamed of meeting the girl who was currently sitting in front of him. Shannchyuan had no recollection of the dream until the girl's words brought him back to mind.
"I dreamed of selling candies in the middle of a field close to a meadow."
The girl's words shocked Shannchyuan. It was exactly what Shannchyuan was thinking. In Shannchyuan's dream, the girl also sold candies.
The girl continued her story. "Perhaps my subconscious remembers that I used to sell candy, so it got carried away in a dream."
Shannchyuan was curious. "Have you ever sold candy before? I mean, when you were little."
The girl nodded. "Once. Actually, it's just for fun. There used to be a candy shop near where I lived. I often play there. The candy shop owner really liked me because he thought I looked like his daughter when she was my age. He gave me a lot of candy. Sometimes he just put it in my school bag. Because I was too lazy to unpack my bag when I came home, the candies were usually still inside the bag when I went to school the next morning. When my friends saw me, they asked me for candy. I saw an opportunity to earn some extra money, so I sold the candies to those people. Of course, at half the normal price. That's why, after that, my friends called me Candy Shop."
<
Shannchyuan nodded at that.
"I realized it turned out that little children really like candy. So when I move to another place to follow the family who takes a turn to take care of me, sometimes I also sell candies. But it's been years since I stopped selling candy."
"What do you think if I call you 'Sheautyan'?
The girl looked at Shannchyuan. "Sheautyan? You mean 'Tyan,' which means sweet?"
"Yes! 'Tyan,' which means sweet," replied Shannchyuan.
The girl seemed to think for a moment. Then she smiled. "It's okay if you want to call me 'Sheautyan.'"
Shannchyuan was happy because it meant he had taken another step forward. After a moment of silence, Shannchyuan suddenly asked. "Have you ever eaten horse meat?" In his dream last night, the girl cooked horse meat. Then he served the horse meat dish to Shannchyuan, who immediately ate it voraciously.
The girl's expression changed after hearing Shannchyuan's question. Instantly Shannchyuan regretted asking such a ridiculous question.
"I ate once!"
The girl's short answer was completely beyond Shannchyuan's expectations.
"At that time, there was a relative of mine who liked to eat food that was not commonly eaten. One of them is horse meat. Actually, horse meat is not uncommon to eat because, as far as I know, people who live in some areas in the north usually eat horse meat. It's just not unusual for those of us who live around the equator."
The girl stopped talking when she saw the girl sitting at the next table acting up again. The little girl, who had been scolded by her mother, suddenly threw her bag on the floor. Indeed, this action made the mother even angrier. After picking up the bag, the mother immediately dragged the child and left the place where they were eating. The girl looked at the mother and daughter until they were out of sight. Shannchyuan got the impression that she was jealous of the child who still had the mother. But she said nothing about what they had just witnessed.
The girl looked back at Shannchyuan. She continued her words. "It's weird! Last night I also dreamed of cooking horse meat!"
Shannchyuan almost jumped from the chair he was sitting in. It seemed that their dreams were connected. If it turned out that Shannchyuan also appears in the girl's dream, it meant they were dreaming the same thing. It really was a magical thing. But Shannchyuan had to harbor his curiosity because the girl said nothing more about her dream after that. Shannchyuan didn't want to push her to tell the story, either. He only hoped that one day the girl would be willing to tell him more about it. That was if she still remembered the dream.
After they finished eating, they speedily rose to the surface. Shannchyuan noticed the girl kept looking left and right all the way home. The hot weather didn't seem to make her feel uncomfortable. Before they got home, Shannchyuan had already told her not to say anything when he got home. Let him explain to his friends first before the girl told them anything. After walking for a while, they finally arrived at Shannchyuan's house.