Venerated Venomous Consort

He knew that Gu Xijiu fancied the food from the restaurant in the Tianhe Village. Although she no longer needed food to survive, her love for food prevailed. It seemed that her keen interest in food would not wither away, just like her inability to love. Not a bit had changed, even after decades.

…

Gu Xijiu spent another day indulging in various types of food in the Human World. She had tried everything – all the delicious food, the unpalatable, and even the weird and exotic food.

The amount of food she consumed had exceeded her stomach’s typical capacity, so she decided to take a stroll along the streets to ease the discomfort of her bulging belly.

As she went around observing the place, she realized that the Human World was thriving, and the streets were crowded with both locals and visitors.

The paper lamps on both sides of the street swayed gently in the wind, scattering their dazzle and wonder across the entire place. The well-lit place could certainly capture anyone’s attention to the point where it shadowed the brilliance of the full moon.

Gu Xijiu was unaware of the date until she noticed the number of couples passing by. It was already the middle of the month, indicating that the Lunar Festival was upon them.

On this occasion, everyone would generally be in pairs, and the men would pamper their female companions with gifts and laughter.

“Huan, I want that piece of candy shaped as a man!” The demand came from a lady with ragged clothes.

Her companion, dressed in equally tattered clothing, hesitantly agreed, “All right.” With gritted teeth, he paid three cents to buy the candy for her.

The lady took another look around the booth and decided to pick out another piece of candy. “Here, have one for yourself.”

The man was obviously reluctant. “I… I do not want one. I don’t have a sweet tooth.”

“These two sticks of sugar are supposed to come in a pair. We should take both of them so that we can be just as sweet. Here, let’s take it! Let’s take it!” The lady insisted.

The man finally gave in and bought another one so that both of them could leave with a piece of candy each.

“Huan, is it sweet?”

“Sweet indeed.”

“We shall be just as sweet as them!”

“Sure!”

Both of them walked away with big smiles, hand in hand.

“Miss, would you like one?” The owner of the booth kindly offered, thus bringing Gu Xijiu back from her preoccupation. She finally noticed that she had been standing in front of his booth the entire time.

She took a look at the amount of candy that the man had at his booth and pointed at a number of them. “Yes, I would like all of these.” There were about 30 sticks of candy that she picked out, so the man was in shock.

Right after the exchange happened, he happily closed his booth and headed home to reunite with his family.

Gu Xijiu continued her stroll with a bunch of candy in her hands, not sure which one to bite into first. After some contemplation, she decided to take the one she found most pleasing to look at and took a bite.

To a person with a discerning palate like her, the candy was not even considered tasty. There was even a slight hint of bitterness in the aftertaste. Perhaps, the couple from before only thought that it was sweet because they were already feeling the same way.

“Auntie, are you selling these sweets?” Someone asked while gently tugging on her robes.

She looked down and saw that a group of kids had surrounded her. They were simultaneously looking at the sweets in her hand. There was a mixture of boys and girls in the group, but all of them seemed equally lively and adorable. Being in a good mood, she decided to share the sweets with these lovely children. “Here! They are for all of you!”

The kids quickly accepted the offer and sunk their teeth into the sweets.

“Is it sweet?” She asked.

“Yes!”

“It is sweet! It tastes good!”

“Very sweet! Thank you, auntie.”

The children finished the sweets in just a few quick bites. Soon, they found something else that caught their attention and were quickly carried away in joy.

Even though they were gone, their sweet laughter still echoed in her ears.

Gu Xijiu smiled as she watched them skip away. In fact, she was glad that they liked the sweets. Perhaps, she was the only one who thought that they tasted bitter.

Even with a stomach full of food, she could not help but feel a little overwhelmed by the void in her chest. As she followed the crowd on the street, she noticed that everyone was filled with laughter, so her solitariness suddenly saddened her.

With her life ticking away, she was starting to feel a little scared.