The dish my old man made tonight was zhajiang mian—noodles with fried soybean paste. Out of the handful of dishes he can cook, this one is probably his best.It's just a shame I'm not in the mood. I barely have an appetite.
"Rough day at school?" my old man asks, lifting his eyes from the manga he's reading.
"No… I just didn't sleep much last night."
I might've run into that perverted girl and the creepy doll yesterday, but none of that bothers me as much as Ren Xiao Qin.
I've never told him what happened with her—it's way too embarrassing. But the moment there's a parent-teacher meeting in the future, everything is going to come out.
What will he think? He's never forced me to study or banned me from dating early.And since Xiao Qin used to be our neighbor, she's basically like a niece to him by now.
Sure, she used to be impossible to deal with, but now she's… well… definitely a beauty.
If he ever says something like, "It wouldn't be so bad if Xiao Qin became my daughter-in-law," I'll lose every shred of dignity I have left.
Yeah… I should probably keep all of this hidden from him for now.
"Oh, right—Haruya, can you help me with something tomorrow?" the old man asks.
"What is it? The way you're asking already tells me it won't be anything good."
"It's nothing big. Can you deliver this package of manga to a client's home tomorrow at noon?"
He points at a stack of manga wrapped in kraft paper, piled next to the fridge. Judging by the thickness, it's about five or six books—stuff I can easily throw into my backpack.
"Isn't that what express delivery is for? Why do I have to deliver it?"
"Well… this regular customer lives extremely close to your school. But if I send it by courier, they won't get it today. He's desperate to read the newest release, so he asked if I had any way to… you know… speed it up. So I thought maybe you could help."
"It's not a problem, but… don't tell me it's full of adult mangas?"
"…Son, aside from adult manga, do we even sell anything else?"
I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
"We barely have any normal stuff left. We have a few borderline ones, but they don't sell well… seems like everyone's tastes are getting more extreme."
I unconsciously start calculating the shop's profits. One day my old man will get drunk and disappear again, and I'll have to run the online shop myself.
Suddenly, a horrifying thought hits me: Will I end up inheriting his shop and spending my life selling adult merchandise? Testing vibrators and love dolls every day in a lonely little room?
I shudder at the thought.
To make sure I don't forget to deliver the manga tomorrow, I stuff the wrapped package into my backpack. The address really is close to school—right behind the food vendor street.
"I'll deliver it during lunch," I say. "We get a two-hour break, and your customer can read his stuff as soon as possible."
"Haha! I knew my son was the best!" My old man gives a shamelessly flattering grin.
Ugh. Please go back to being a respectable university lecturer.
Fortunately, I didn't dream of anything weird last night and slept well.
School starts at 7:50. I finish breakfast by 7:20 and leave the house at 7:40.
"Don't forget to deliver the manga!" my old man calls after me.
I definitely won't forget. With something that sinful sitting in my backpack, I won't feel at ease until I get rid of it.
As I walk, I hum Jackie Chan's "Drunken Fist." Breakfast vendors line both sides of the street.
"H-Haruya!" Ren Xiao Qin waves from under a telephone pole.
She really does look like a lively young girl.
Her backpack isn't stuffed full like yesterday—probably left all the unnecessary junk at home.And she's wearing her school uniform today.
The blue-and-white tracksuit.
Just like I imagined, it's slightly too big for her. When she wears it, her hands are swallowed by the sleeves and only her fingertips peek out.
It's exactly like when we first met.
Correction—like the first time I met her knowing she was actually a girl.
Maybe because I stepped on her shoes yesterday, today she's wearing white sneakers.
Didn't you say you don't want to participate in PE? Why are you mimicking me and wearing sneakers?Do you think it makes your teleporting ambushes easier?
It's cold in the mornings, and she must've been waiting for a while. She's shivering, shifting her feet over and over to keep warm.
Since she's not saying anything, I try to walk around her.
"Haruya! It's me! Let's walk to school together!" Xiao Qin hurries after me.
I snort. "What are you doing here? If you're taking the subway, this isn't even the right route."
"Well… I researched it. I found out you usually take this road to school. So I got up at 5 a.m. because I was excited to see you today. I took the subway here and waited in amb—uh… waited here."
Ambush. You were going to say ambush. Like I'm prey. I have to admit, this dedication is terrifying. Girls are dangerous creatures.
"Speaking of which… I still haven't settled things with you about Optimus Prime."
"Ara? I knew you'd bring it up~" Xiao Qin scratches her head, pretending to be clueless.
"I just wanted you to go home early yesterday and totally forgot! I'm so sorry!"
I glare at her.
"I was going to bring Optimus Prime today, but what if the school does a surprise bag check? If they confiscate him, that'd be awful."
…She has a point. They'd probably be too scared to check my bag, but still. And speaking of inspections… I've got adult manga in there. If anyone sees that, I'm done for. Especially if Xiao Qin sees them. Who knows what chaos that would cause?
These books can corrupt someone's morals just by being glanced at.
Xiao Qin speaks sincerely, "Next time you walk me home, I'll definitely give you Optimus Prime. Really! Don't look at me like that—if you don't believe me… then if I don't give it to you, you can lock me up at home and do whatever you want to me!"
I don't have time for this. If I ignore you, you'll get bored eventually… right?
But Xiao Qin is still brimming with energy.
"Haruya, let's go to school together from now on! I'll come early every day and wait for you!"
"…"
"Even if I have to rush in the morning, it's worth it if it means more time with you!"
"…"
"It's so romantic to walk to school together every morning. I've decided—I'll call this our 'morning relationship time!'"
…That's it. I can't hold it anymore.
"Why are you naming it?! What the hell is 'morning relationship time'!?"
"It's our time to communicate in the morning," she says innocently.
"And there'll be 'lunch relationship time' and 'evening relationship time,' too." She pumps her fists with enthusiasm."What do you think? Three times a day enough?"
"Get lost!"
"Does Haruya think it's not enough? I don't mind—even five times a day is okay—"
Ahead of us, a vendor is selling xiao long bao. The shop owner stands behind the bamboo steamer, staring blankly at passersby.
"Haruya, buy me a steamed bun!" Xiao Qin says, handing me some change.
"You have money, so buy it yourself. And why didn't you eat breakfast when you woke up at 5 a.m.?"
"I—I was thinking… if you hadn't eaten yet, maybe we could eat together. But it looks like you already had fried rice…"
"How do you know I ate fried rice? Were you spying on me with binoculars?!"
"You have a grain of rice stuck to your lip…"
I quickly lick the embarrassing evidence away.
She's still holding her hand out, still wanting me to buy her food.
"I'm not the shop owner. Just give him the money and you'll get your buns."
"But… I'm scared to talk to him…"
"Eh?"
"I told you before… when I'm wearing girls' clothes, I get scared talking to young men…"
"I'm not afraid of you, Haruya. If you're with me, I'm a lot braver. But that guy looks really intimidating. If you don't help me, I'll starve all morning…"
I glance at the vendor. He looks like the kindest, most mild-mannered guy on the entire street. What is she so afraid of?
Her hand is trembling from holding the money up so long.
I sigh, take the coins, and buy ten buns.
Hangzhou's xiao long bao are tiny—ten is barely an appetizer for me.
Xiao Qin happily takes them and eats as she walks. She pads her palm with napkins so no oil drips on her uniform.
If you're this worried about staying clean, you should've just eaten at home! Who knows if this vendor uses recycled gutter oil?
Still… Xiao Qin looks pretty cute when she eats.
She takes tiny bites, chews quietly, then swallows with this satisfied little expression.
Like feeding a small animal.
Because she's eating, we can't walk fast.And because watching her eat is strangely entertaining, I don't tell her to hurry.
Naturally… we both end up late.