Crying! You're Still Crying

"Beanie!" Grace shouted, rushing forward to dig the three pills out of the soil.

But they were no longer Spirit Elixirs.

They were just the dried-up corpses of Spirit Elixirs, drained of their power.

Grace’s temper flared instantly. She pointed at Beanie and yelled, "You rotten little sprout! Not only did you steal my spiritual power, you even swiped my pills! Why would a bean sprout need pills anyway? Give them back!"

Beanie’s leaves drooped, curling up into a ball, with tiny droplets of water starting to form on them.

"Crying! You’re crying now?" Grace was so mad she plopped down next to it. "I need to reach Spirit Master soon to unlock the other floors of the ancient tower. Now that you’ve eaten my pills, what am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do!"

Beanie hung its head in shame, silently shedding tears without moving.

Grace kept scolding, "My mother’s life is hanging by a thread, there’s less than eight months left. My only hope is this tower. Do you know how hard I work just to keep you alive? I can’t let my mom die because of you—wait, what are you doing?"

Suddenly, Grace noticed Beanie was bracing itself, trying to push out of the soil.

A root poked out.

"Beanie!" Grace suddenly stood up. "What are you doing?"

Beanie used two leaves to mimic walking.

"Are you trying to leave?"

Beanie nodded its leaves.

"But where would you go?"

Beanie shook its leaves again.

It probably meant it didn’t know either.

Grace’s heart softened. She said, "Pull your root back in."

Beanie instantly retracted its root.

"I’m not trying to kick you out," Grace said. "I just... Hey! Next time you need pills, ask me first, okay?"

Beanie nodded its leaves, which slowly unfurled. Then it wrapped its tendrils around Grace’s arm, acting like a child seeking forgiveness from its mother.

Grace’s heart melted even more. She stroked its leaves and asked, "Did I scare you just now?"

Beanie nodded its leaves.

"I won’t be mean to you anymore," Grace promised. "But you have to tell me what you’re up to, okay?"

Beanie behaved obediently, using its tendril to point at the Spirit Elixirs on the ground, as if asking her what to do next.

"Let me think of something... Oh! I’ve got an idea!" Grace said, and she really did think of a solution.

……

Since Evan Xiao already knew what Grace had said to Leon Zane, Leon probably knew too.

Grace didn’t dare meet Leon alone, so she asked Evan Xiao to invite him to the General’s Manor.

Sure enough, as soon as Leon saw Grace, he exploded: "Chloe Zhu!"

"Hey! Imperial Advisor, long time no see! You look even more dashing and charming than before!" Grace flashed him a big smile.

"Cut the crap! Tell me, what did you call me at the Imperial Advisor’s Manor last time?" Leon Zane looked ready to bite her head off.

"It was all a misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding," Grace hurried to explain. "I invited you here today to apologize! Look, I made all these dishes myself—just for you!"

Leon glanced at the food on the table. It looked colorful, fragrant, and delicious.

Instantly, his anger melted away by more than half. He sat down at the table, surprised. "I didn’t expect a pampered heiress like you to be so good at cooking!"

"Hehe, my master taught me everything!" Grace replied.