Ruan Mei's pupils trembled slightly.
Could it be... because of that single sentence, that after graduating, he returned to this place and never left again until his death?
This past, she was only remembering it now...
No... recovering it would be more accurate. These memories had been buried, not lost.
What made her feelings even more complicated was;
Until the day he died of old age, Rrakavasha never forgot that promise she herself had long since forgotten.
After graduation, he returned to the world where her home was and stayed there for one hundred and eleven years, never leaving even once.
Even in death, he left behind a puppet creation to keep that promise in his place, fulfilling it when he no longer could.
For a moment, Ruan Mei felt her chest tighten as an unfamiliar emotion surged up, one she had never experienced before.
This wasn't right... It shouldn't be like this...
A student's love for a teacher shouldn't be like this, so absolute, so consuming.
Then why was he like this, of all people?
Half a year after relocating.
"Teacher, plum blossoms can be used as ingredients for pastries, so can they also be used to brew wine? I noticed that you occasionally like to have a drink..."
"Brewing plum wine requires higher-quality ingredients. I don't have the time."
"Anything you don't have time to do can be left to me. If I don't know how, but I'll work hard to learn."
"...Mm."
She nodded casually, not paying much attention to it
But the boy learned many things, and quickly.
Gradually, aside from research, she no longer needed to worry about daily trifles. Her daily needs were all handled by Rrakavasha with quiet efficiency.
The pastries he made tasted better and better, and the knowledge she taught him was absorbed just as swiftly.
During that period, he also learned quite a few instruments, especially the ruan, which he practiced with great diligence.
Whenever there was free time, she could see him holding her instrument in his arms, fingers moving across the strings.
Little by little, he began to keep up with her thinking, able to perform together with her in harmony.
She gave him a zhongruan, allowing him to formally own an instrument of his own.
Life felt extremely fulfilling. In just three years, Rrakavasha completed what ordinary people would take from elementary school through university to finish.
Of course, he didn't yet have a formal diploma. If he wanted one, he would have to enroll and go through the whole process.
But he didn't care, saying that staying by his teacher's side didn't require an official certificate; her acknowledgment was enough.
Rrakavasha never brought up graduation, and she, too, temporarily cast the topic aside.
When Vash was fifteen, he met the Genius Society member #55, Yu Qingtu.
When she first visited, she was rather cold toward him, hardly friendly at all.
Later, at some point, Yu Qingtu's attitude changed drastically.
Ruan Mei carefully reviewed the past and uncovered many truths behind small, long-forgotten details she had never paid attention to back then.
So that was it...
Yu Qingtu had once proposed a wager to Vash.
Make pastries she would like?
Frankly speaking, even pastries made by Ruan Mei herself would always earn criticism from Yu Qingtu.
That woman's taste was overly picky, even bordering on harsh, deliberately so.
The outcome of the wager remained unknown for the time being. Presumably, it didn't end in Rrakavasha's favor that year.
A year later, Rrakavasha was sixteen.
More than five years had passed since the day he became her student.
On the night of her birthday, the boy, now nearly as tall as she was, appeared in front of her holding a jar of wine with both hands.
"Happy birthday, Teacher. Would you like some plum blossomwine? Five-year vintage. According to the data, this is when the flavor is at its best."
She was a little surprised then, hearing the boy's once-childish voice echo in her ears with new depth.
So the words he had spoken at such a young age had never been jokes. He truly meant to abide by them, every single one.
"Teacher?" Seeing her dazed expression, he tilted his head slightly in concern.
"...Mm. I thought you were just saying it casually."
"How could I? You've taught me that when you say something, you must do it, otherwise you shouldn't say it at all." The boy smiled brightly, taking her words as gospel.
"...You're very well-behaved, and you did very well. What reward do you want?"
"I want to develop a universal flavor enhancer. Two of the ingredients... are very pricy..."
"If you want something, just log into this account and purchase it. The Price doesn't matter."
To her, credits were nothing more than strings of numbers. Whenever she ran short, she could simply sell a few research patents to replenish them.
"Thank you, Teacher! I will pour the plum blossom wine for you~~"
Having obtained what he wanted, he couldn't hide his joy. He stepped forward respectfully and filled her cup with careful precision.
Seeing this memory, Ruan Mei's gaze shifted slightly.
She remembered that night, or thought she did.
The plum blossom wine made by him had left an exceptionally deep impression on her.
And it was from that night on that whenever her research hit a bottleneck and left her irritated, she would have a small drink of plum blossom wine.
Once she drank it, all the vexation and displeasure in her heart would vanish into thin air.
On rare occasions, it even caused her to unexpectedly feel inspired.
Ruan Mei continued watching the memory unfold.
She took a small sip, momentarily losing focus.
"How is it, Teacher? Does it suit your taste?" Rrakavasha stood to the side, looking somewhat nervous.
"Not bad." She tilted her head back slightly and drank it all in one go. "Pour me another cup."
One cup.
Two cups.
Three cups...
Gradually, by the end of the birthday banquet, more than half a jar of plum blossom wine was gone.
Rrakavasha was still underage and couldn't drink, so it all went into Ruan Mei instead.
At this moment, her fair face carried a tempting flush. Feeling a bit warm, she took off her outer coat.
"Vash, I want more..."
"...Teacher, you look a little drunk. Shall we stop here for tonight?"
"I'm not drunk."
Rrakavasha immediately wilted, his face helpless
"Drunk people always say they aren't drunk."
"..." Ruan Mei frowned slightly, confusion flickering across her face.
Why didn't she remember this scene?
Thinking carefully, she really didn't. There was a gap in her memory, a void where something should be.
She only remembered that after the birthday banquet ended, she slept until the next day, waking up refreshed and returning to her research.
A few more cups went down.
"Teacher, you really can't drink anymore!"
"Drunk people can't speak clearly. Keep pouring." Her words were still perfectly enunciated.
"...Sigh."
Seeing the boy's helpless sigh, Ruan Mei's eyes filled with deeper confusion.
It wasn't that she hadn't tried finishing a jar quickly before, but she had never gotten drunk; her constitution didn't allow it.
From childhood to adulthood, she had never experienced drunkenness.
What had happened back then?
In the end, the entire jar of plum blossom wine was completely emptied, not a single drop left.
At this moment, even Ruan Mei's snow-white neck was tinged with red. Anyone could see she was thoroughly drunk, intoxicated beyond question.
"Vash, help me to the bath."
"Teacher... in your condition, bathing isn't advisable... all right..."
Caught by her half-lidded gaze, he could only give in and help her into the bathroom with careful support.
He thoughtfully prepared the bathwater, adjusting the temperature precisely, then turned to leave.
But just as he lifted his right foot, his arm was suddenly grabbed.
"Why are you leaving so fast? Later, when I'm soaking, knead my shoulders."
"Ah?"
Rrakavasha instinctively shook his head in a panic, eyes widening.
"That's not okay, Teacher. There should be boundaries between men and women, between student and teacher. How could I-"
"Be good, listen. If you do well, there'll be a reward."