The girl in the school uniform pushed herself up from the table with one hand. She took painstaking steps toward the front counter, phone in hand.
As she walked, many of the n in the shop turned to look.
"Excuse , check please."
"You got it. That’s four stears of soup dumplings, four stears of crab roe dumplings, one stear of soy-braised pork buns, plus two bowls of rice porridge and a plate of pickled vegetables, correct?"
"Ah... that should be it." The girl in the school uniform scratched her head. She knew they had eaten a lot, but hearing the server list it all out item by item was truly mortifying!
’Like a couple of gluttons...’
"Miss, are you a student from a nearby school? If you show your student ID, we have a special discount."
"A discount?"
"That’s right. The porridge is free with unlimited refills, and you get twenty percent off your total bill. No mbership card required."
"You’ve misunderstood," the girl in the school uniform said, waving her hands dismissively in the face of the server’s enthusiasm. "I’m not a student."
"Huh?"
"Anyway, I’d just like to pay the bill."
She took out her phone, opened the paynt option in Green Bubble, and tapped it against the paynt terminal.
Only three or four tables away, now unsupervised, the girl called Tsukimi glanced around warily before hopping down from her chair.
In just a few quick steps, she ran to the seat opposite Chen Yuan, scooted her little bottom onto the chair, and gave a little push with her short legs to get comfortable.
Then, in a completely baffling move, she clasped her hands, rested her chin on the table, and proceeded to just watch Chen Yuan eat.
’Whose kid is this?’
Chen Yuan glanced back at the girl in the school uniform, wondering if he should call out to her.
"What are you doing?"
Tsukimi didn’t answer his question, only blinking a couple of tis.
The two stared at each other for a few seconds.
Chen Yuan steeled himself and picked up a bun. As he was about to bring it to his mouth, the little girl mirrored his movent, tilting her head up to gaze longingly at his food, her eyes sparkling.
Until the bun was rcilessly devoured.
The light in her eyes instantly dimd. She went back to lying on the table, her sleeve hiding half of her fair little face.
When Chen Yuan picked up another bun, the light flooded back into her eyes.
It was like an ignorant mortal coveting the offerings of a divine being.
"You want so?" he asked, finally figuring it out.
"Eh?"
"You don’t understand...? I’m asking if you want to eat this bun."
"That," Tsukimi said, pointing first to the end of his chopsticks, then to the small dish of vinegar and chili flakes. "Add that."
"Got it. You want to eat it with dipping sauce."
Chen Yuan found the girl rather cute. She looked like a high schooler, albeit one who hadn’t quite gone through her growth spurt yet; she was very short, with slender arms and legs.
He pushed the soup dumpling, now slathered in chili oil, over to her. At that exact mont, a sharp cry ca from behind him.
"Tsukimi! What do you think you’re doing?!"
The girl in the school uniform ca rushing over. She’d only taken her eyes off Uesugi Tsukimi for a mont, and the girl had already run off to another diner’s table.
She grabbed the little girl by the scruff of her neck and pulled her aside, her brow furrowing as she clenched a fist and shook it threateningly.
"One more ti and I’m not taking you out with ever again."
"Why...? It’s fine." The little girl quickly stuffed the bun into her mouth, the corners of her lips now stained red. She chewed forcefully, CHOMP, CHOMP, CHOMP, showing no sign of remorse whatsoever. "So goo—"
She couldn’t finish the word. In an instant, her entire face puckered, her eyes squeezed shut so tight they disappeared, and she struggled to open her mouth.
"Water! Need water!"
"What did you eat?"
Uesugi Tsukimi felt like her mouth was on fire. She gaped, looking as if she were about to transform into a fire-breathing dragon, desperately searching for sothing to drink. Out of options, she spotted the beverages in a nearby cooler and began frantically yanking on the door.
"I’ll get it for you, calm down!"
The girl in the school uniform patted Tsukimi on the back, trying to get her to spit the food out, while simultaneously grabbing a drink and twisting off the cap.
anwhile, Chen Yuan sat calmly off to the side, quietly lowered his gaze, and continued to eat.
’If you can’t handle spicy food, you should’ve said so earlier...’
...
...
"How many tis have I told you not to pull this weird stuff when we’re out? How do the brains of you damn otaku even work? Don’t you think it’s rude to just go plop yourself down at a stranger’s table?"
"D-Don’t call a ’damn’ anything!"
On the way to Waxwood Park in Fengting District, the girl in the school uniform was scolding Uesugi Tsukimi with a stern expression.
A single glance revealed a clear height difference between the two, easily more than ten centiters.
And while the girl in the school uniform was wearing flats, there was more to them than t the eye. A closer look would reveal that the soles had been modified.
This made her legs look exceptionally long.
The two of them bickered the entire way, not letting up for a single mont.
"I’ll say it! Damn otaku! Damn, damn, damn!"
"Hmph!" Uesugi Tsukimi took a big gulp of her drink and puffed up her cheeks as if she were about to spit it out, forcing the other girl to back away.
They hadn’t been walking for long and were getting deeper into the park when a young man with perd, curly hair and black-frad glasses ca rushing toward them.
"Feng Yuxuan! How many tis do I have to tell you? Breakfast is with the group! You snuck out to eat on your own again! How many tis did I have to call before you finally answered?"
It was the sa lecture, just directed at a different person.
The girl, Feng Yuxuan, didn’t dare make a peep in the face of his tirade. She just gave a sheepish laugh, nervously poking her index fingers together as her eyes darted about evasively.
Uesugi Tsukimi snickered from the side, deliberately shuffling away to a corner and putting on an air of "this has nothing to do with ."
"You’re still laughing? You think this doesn’t involve you?! You’ve been nothing but trouble since you followed us from Tokyo! I should’ve sent you back ages ago."
"Huh!?"
Getting chewed out so unexpectedly, Uesugi Tsukimi’s lively eyes flew wide open. She hadn’t anticipated being criticized too, and she indignantly clenched her little fists. She didn’t dare lash out, however, and settled for biting her lip and stomping her foot in frustration.
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