"I’m afraid of pain, so I thought I might as well transform into the form of a child. That way, if I have to die, at least it would be quick. If it were a chaotic world, I’d hide in some remote mountain forest until it was peaceful outside, then go out and play pitiful to find a kind family that would adopt me, and safely pass the tribulation."
"As for the result... you’ve seen it all."
Qin Huai, for a moment, didn’t know what to say. After thinking for a bit, he could only sigh, "Having no common sense is great. Sister Hong dared to go out and be reckless even during the three-year severe drought."
Compared to the cautious Qu Jing, Chen Huihong really was the radical among radicals.
Qu Jing continued to eat her rice cake soup.
"I actually have another question." Qin Huai hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Qu Jing, do you still remember the spirit you met in the pastry shop in your first life?"
Qu Jing nodded, "Of course I remember, the snacks were very delicious."
"I found two recipes from your memory, one of which is his. Your memory is too long, 4 years, with many accelerated segments in between. I feel like quite a bit was skipped over. Did you ever see him again afterwards?"
"No, the second time my grandfather took me to the provincial hospital for treatment, I actually specifically looked for that pastry shop, but it was already closed."
"Did something happen to him?"
"Nothing, I’m just purely curious about how he could immediately see your true form. Luo Jun is a Bi fang, and even he couldn’t tell what your true form is."
Qu Jing swallowed the rice cake in her mouth, "It’s normal that Mr. Luo couldn’t see it. Although we’re both birds, the Bi fang is too powerful, so I wouldn’t presume to say I’m of the same race as Mr. Luo."
"There are many spirits of different races who don’t understand each other, but if it’s the same race and they recognized each other before. For example, Sister Hong, when she was still a Bai Gao, knew a Ghost Vine, and then when passing the tribulation happened to meet a Ghost Vine in its first life, Sister Hong certainly could also recognize the other’s true form at a glance."
Qin Huai understood, "So that young man’s true form is most likely a bird as well."
"Hmm." Qu Jing nodded, "He should be a spirit in his second life. I didn’t recognize him at the time. It was only after he identified me as a spirit and extended friendliness that I realized."
Qin Huai had asked everything he wanted, but couldn’t think of anything else to ask for a moment, so he could only sit in the private room and continue thinking.
Qu Jing saw that Qin Huai had stopped asking and, worried that her rice cake soup would get cold if she didn’t eat it soon, buried her head and ate rapidly, spoon after spoon without pause.
By the time Qin Huai snapped out of his thoughts and wanted to ask Qu Jing if they should video call Chen Huihong and Luo Jun for a spirit online meeting, Qu Jing had already finished the large bowl of rice cake soup.
Qu Jing was scraping the bottom of the bowl for the radish slices with her spoon.
"Did you finish it?!"
"It’s pretty tasty," Qu Jing said, "It’s almost identical to the rice cake soup my grandfather made, but even tastier than his."
"I haven’t tasted rice cake soup one for many years. Before I woke up, I couldn’t cook this taste at home either."
Qin Huai commented that this was normal. E-level rice cake soup wasn’t something an ordinary person could cook, you needed some talent to pull it off.
Qu Jing was an ordinary cook. She couldn’t help it; she grew up in an orphanage where she had to learn to work early, and later was sponsored by Chen Huihong to study abroad, where she cooked for herself, so her cooking wasn’t bad.
Dean Qu’s cooking wasn’t bad either; she could cook dumplings without them falling apart.
If Qu Jing had grown up in the Sanmalu Children’s Welfare Institute, called Qin Jing, eating the rice cake soup cooked by Director Qin from a young age, she might have awakened long ago.
Qin Huai wasn’t secretly slandering Director Qin, it was just that Director Qin’s cooking skills were really poor. Otherwise, back then, the orphanage wouldn’t have unanimously agreed to let little Qin Huai be in charge of the pastry for the orphanage.
Qin Huai suddenly remembered what he wanted to ask.
"What are you planning to do in the future?"
Qin Huai knew that after spirits successfully pass the tribulation, they could choose to immediately return to their original world.
Their last lifetime is a human body, and they can choose for the body to die and their true form to return, or they can continue living in the human world to finish out their last life.
However, very few spirits choose the latter because staying in the human world means there are unstable factors. There’s no guarantee they won’t encounter something that emotionally binds them, develop obsessions, and end up failing and having to start over again.
Someone like Chen Huihong choosing to stay in the human world to be with Chen Huixi is a rare case.
"Of course, it’s to live well," Qu Jing put down the bowl, "Grandfather hoped I would live well."
"He hoped I could attend middle school, high school, go to university, and live healthily and happily, just like every normal person."
"I have already overachieved by graduating with a PhD, and all that’s left is to live well like a normal person."
"I will continue living in the human world, live to the end of my natural life, and continue being a neurologist, even if I can’t cure my patients."
"In my first life, I didn’t follow grandfather’s words. In this life, I definitely will."
"I believe that if I do that, he would also be happy."
"Even though ordinary humans don’t have reincarnation, when they’re dead, they’re dead."
Qin Huai smiled and said, "Sister Hong would be very happy if she knew."
In fact, Chen Huihong knew half an hour later.
Qu Jing also thought it was necessary to video call Chen Huihong and Luo Jun to report this good news. Qin Huai created a group and started a group video call, and both Chen Huihong and Luo Jun answered almost instantly.
Upon learning that Qu Jing had awakened, Chen Huihong was overjoyed, not even giving Qin Huai and Luo Jun a chance to speak, as she chatted away, and Qu Jing answered her, word by word.