Slamming his hand on the table, Takahashi raised his voice: "Don’t ever let me see you here again!"
In the deathly silence, Shenjin Qing’s figure slowly slumped down.
The light and hope in his eyes gradually faded away.
His face was ashen.
"I-I’m sorry, I, I disturbed you..."
He turned away in embarrassment, staggered off without looking back into the dark night, and disappeared out of sight.
Only the sound of lament came from afar.
A Tao quietly gazed in the direction he left, said nothing more, and after a long, long time, she wiped the corner of her eye, turned around, and forced a smile toward her guests.
"I’m sorry, I made you both laugh... and caused trouble for Mr. Takahashi as well."
"No, no, it’s completely fine with me! I, I..."
Takahashi patted his chest, eyes widened, his face flushed as if wanting to say something, but seeing her calm demeanor, couldn’t utter a word.
He slowly lowered his head in defeat.
"Please bring me another glass of beer."
Huai Shi sighed, passed the beer glass in his hand over, glanced back at the door, and lamented with a hint of helplessness, "I’d say that guy must be a good person."
A Tao shook her head, saying nothing.
Takahashi glared over, motioning him to say less, if it wasn’t for Huai Shi reminding him just now, he might have cursed someone out.
"Just drinking beer isn’t good, there’s some octopus and tofu left, treat it as an apology for the trouble caused to you both."
Behind the cooking counter, the proprietress deftly prepared, quickly serving two plates of snacks.
While she was busy, Huai Shi looked up toward the wall behind the cooking counter, at the photo beside the business license—Kyoto Middle School Painting Contest Silver Award, Kinai Rina.
The little girl in the photo held the trophy, smiling brilliantly.
But her face was slightly pale, and the deliberately lowered sleeve still didn’t cover the bruise on the back of her hand, a mark left from too many intravenous drips, causing the veins to swell.
"Did something happen to that child?"
Huai Shi curiously asked, immediately seeing Takahashi next to him glaring over, hinting not to mention the pot that doesn’t boil.
The proprietress paused for a moment, sighed, shaking her head, "There’s nothing really, that child, like you, is a guest."
Huai Shi instinctively touched the horn on his forehead, having forgotten to cover it while drinking in the private room just now, only now realizing.
"Actually, there’s no need to mind, it’s just something from the past."
The proprietress had already calmed down, taking a cigarette box out of her pocket, asking the two if they minded, then nodded and apologized for the rudeness before lighting up, leaning her head.
"When I was younger and under a lot of pressure, I picked up bad habits. Once you age, it’s hard to quit," she smiled wryly, "anyway, it’s all in the past, isn’t it?"
Huai Shi hesitated for a long time and asked curiously, "Single mothers aren’t that rare, wouldn’t it be good to start again?"
In the silence, he noticed the way both of them looked at him, as if looking at a child clueless about anything.
As if asking—are you really a Yingzhou Person?
Huai Shi was speechless, lifting his hand, slapping his forehead.
He had forgotten about the customs of this damned place...
It was difficult for single mothers to live anywhere, not to mention with a hybrid child.
Lady Kinai, or Miss A Tao, didn’t shy away from past events.
After the age of a little girl, everything became clear.
In her words, it was just something foolish done in youth.
Being deceived by sweet words during her ignorant youth, only to find herself pregnant, and by then, the other person had disappeared overnight with everything they had together.
"When the hospital found out the child was a hybrid, my father was furious, as it was disgraceful and insisted I have an abortion, but it was foolish of me, what guilt does the child bear?"
She smoked, sighing softly, "In truth, everyone knew Shen-kun liked me, he wouldn’t care. My father was his Master, and if ordered, he wouldn’t refuse, but that wouldn’t be fair to Shen-kun, would it? As a result, because of wrongful stubbornness, I was thrown out of the house."
After cutting ties with her family, she worked everywhere, embarrassingly disheveled, but Shen-kun frequently helped, never looking down on her... it really made her feel ashamed.
Here she paused, silent for a long time, and then shrugged with self-mockery, "At a certain age, once things pass, they pass. He is now the head chef of San Tu, with a bright future, someone like me would only weigh him down."
Shenjin, who had long been successful, marrying a woman with a hybrid child would only make them a laughingstock in the eyes of others.
Huai Shi shook his head, trying to console, "As long as you’re willing, he wouldn’t care."
"I care."
Through the candlelight, her eyes were serene and silent, like a Stone.
The last bit of dignity quietly whispered.
I care.
Huai Shi said nothing more, putting away his presumptuous kindness, fulfilling the role of a guest, he finished his drink and turned to go upstairs.
Takahashi was already thoroughly drunk, crying and rambling nonsense, stumbling away alone, by the time Huai Shi and the others came back down, he was nowhere to be seen.
Only the calm proprietress politely saw everyone to the door.
After walking quite far, Huai Shi turned back, seeing the proprietress standing behind the door, taking up a bamboo pole, taking down the lantern at the entrance, and lowered her head to blow it out, turning back inside the shop, and closing the door.
The lights inside gradually went out.
The shop was closed for the day.