The day passed in a flash.
The school dismissal bell rang on time.
"Sora, I'm heading to practice first. I'll message you when I'm done, we'll meet at the school gate."
Anna waved while jogging briskly out of the classroom.
The Sports Festival is held on Friday. Today is already Monday, leaving only the final three days.
As a core member of the cheerleading squad, Anna has to attend training camp every day after school, and today is no exception.
"Waiting for your message."
Sora nodded slightly, grabbed his schoolbag, and headed to the library to study with Mahiru, Elf, and Tiara, who came to study every day.
It's worth mentioning that Elf is no idiot; she's actually quite smart.
Under Angel-sama's tutoring, Elf's math skills improved by leaps and bounds. She can now proficiently solve mixed operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
Today, she officially began catching up on middle school coursework. It's just that she always likes to slack off while studying.
In contrast, Tiara's attitude towards studying is incredibly correct. It's a pity she's a bit dense...
In the blink of an eye, it was 4:30 PM.
Sora felt the phone in his pocket vibrate. Taking it out, he saw it was indeed a message from Anna.
"It's about time, let's stop here for today." Sora put away his phone and looked at Angel-sama sitting on the other side of Elf.
"Mahiru, I won't be going back for dinner tonight."
"Eh, does Sora-kun have plans?"
Angel-sama tilted her head curiously. A lock of hair slipped past her ear, revealing astonishing smoothness and silkiness.
"Anna's light novel passed the review..."
Sora told the truth, hiding nothing.
Lying in front of Angel-sama would be seen through at a glance.
"Nanyue cuisine?"
Yamada Elf's eyes quickly lit up, anticipation surfacing on her small face:
"I want to go too!"
"I've never had Nanyue cuisine before, it must be very delicious, right?"
"Although the food Mahiru makes is super delicious, I also want a change of pace occasionally."
"..."
Sora naturally had no objections. He looked at Angel-sama:
"Mahiru, come with us?"
"Cooking every day is hard work, take a day off today."
Mahiru's eyelashes trembled lightly, visibly tempted, but she shook her head:
"I'll go next time... The teacher asked me to prepare a speech for the opening ceremony of the Sports Festival. I have to go to the office to confirm the details with the teacher later."
Tiara's eyes were full of envy:
"Mahiru-san, you ranked first in the grade in this exam, and your P.E. scores are also perfect. Representing the students for a speech is definitely your responsibility."
"Honor students have it hard too." Sora complained from the side.
"They're always asked by teachers to do all sorts of things."
Mahiru glared affectionately and gently reminded him:
"Sora-kun, go on now. Remember to take good care of Elf, and come home early tonight."
"Received."
"And tonight..."
"I'll go running right on time tonight."
"..."
Sora stood up and packed his schoolbag. Out of politeness, he also said goodbye to Tiara:
"Does Tiara want to come along?"
"I-I'll pass!"
Basori Tiara hurriedly shook her head.
Although she was very curious about what Nanyue cuisine tasted like, they were just ordinary friends. Of course, she couldn't brazenly agree.
"See you tomorrow."
Sora waved his hand and left the library with Elf.
A moment later.
At the school gate.
Anna, with her ahoge standing tall and holding her schoolbag with both hands, was waiting expectantly at the gate.
"Sora..."
Seeing Sora appear, Anna's eyes lit up, the smile on her pretty face bright and radiant. Then, she noticed Elf beside him.
"Eh?"
Anna blinked, quickly understanding why Elf had tagged along. The smile on her pretty face didn't fade; it remained bright and radiant as she greeted them warmly:
"Elf, good afternoon. Going to eat Nanyue cuisine together?"
Although she really wanted to eat alone with Sora, since Elf came, she couldn't possibly chase her away. So, of course, she actively extended an invitation.
Anna was very popular at school and had many friends. It wasn't just because she was cute; her high emotional intelligence was her true advantage.
If someone only had a cute exterior but a toxic and terrible personality, they would 100% be isolated. For example, a certain flat-chested girl with long straight black hair… [Yukinoshita Yukino?]
"Since Anna invited me so sincerely, I guess I'll go with you."
Yamada Elf put her hands on her hips, proudly lifting her small chin.
"Hey, hey, I'm telling you, the Nanyue restaurant Sora and I went to last week has a crispy roast duck that is super delicious." Anna leaned in to gossip.
"Elf, you absolutely cannot miss it, or you'll definitely regret it for the rest of your life."
That crispy roast duck was only average. Wait until you try Cantonese roast goose, then you'll know what a truly exquisite flavor is!
Yamada Elf was skeptical: "Is it really that delicious?"
"Elf, you must trust my culinary appreciation skills!" Anna's expression turned serious, and she crossed her arms over her chest.
"My future goal is to become a food critic."
Hey, hey, didn't you say you wanted to be a beautiful girl light novel author?
How did it change to food critic again!
"We were just studying in the library with Elf and Mahiru..."
Sora started explaining the reason.
Anna didn't ask, but he definitely had to explain it clearly.
"Why didn't Mahiru come along?"
Anna tilted her head curiously.
"Mahiru went to prepare for the Sports Festival opening ceremony." Sora explained casually.
"Eh, that's a pity..." Anna blinked slyly.
"Then let's invite Mahiru next time. Ruri-chan already left school earlier, so let's go, let's go~"
A three-person date?
A mere Elf is nothing to worry about.
As long as Mahiru isn't here, this is of course still my home turf.
The three chatted as they headed to the train station.
Twenty minutes later.
The shopping street.
"It's that Nanyue restaurant up ahead." Anna walked with brisk steps, her skirt fluttering. "The timing is perfect. There shouldn't be many customers right now, let's hurry up."
More than a week had passed, and the colorful wreaths at the shop entrance were gone, making it look much more pleasing to the eye.
It wasn't even 5:30 yet. There really weren't many customers in the shop, so there was no need to queue.
Sora, Elf, and Anna walked into the shop and sat down at an empty round table.
"The Chinese sausage claypot rice was super delicious, I really want to eat it again..." Anna held the menu, her eyes sparkling, her pretty face full of internal conflict.
"But I also want to try other dishes I haven't had... It's so hard to choose..."
"Before you speak, wipe your drool. It's about to drip out."
Sora wordlessly handed over a tissue.
Compared to Anna, who agonized for half the day, ordering was very simple for Sora. He glanced at the menu and quickly ordered a portion of Cantonese rice noodle rolls and a three-treasure cured meat claypot rice.
Elf was even more simple and crude: pan-fried dumplings, roast duck, white boiled chicken... whatever the proprietress recommended, she ordered.
Price?
When a little rich lady goes out to eat, she never considers the price.
Before long, the easiest to make, the rice noodle rolls, were brought out first.
"It looks so pretty..." Anna wiped the glistening moisture from the corner of her mouth, her eyes sparkling.
"It's just the name is so weird, could it be made from animal intestines?"