novelraw Chapter 139 : This... Where Is This?
Chapter 139 : This... Where Is This?
Volume 4: High School Arc - “I” Come to Find You~
My cold hadn't fully cleared up yet, but fortunately my body was still in decent shape.
At least sitting here for three hours hadn’t made it worse.
The three of us returned to the room.
It was already nine o'clock.
As we entered, I saw steaming hot ginger soup placed on the table.
It looked like Reina had prepared it before coming to get me.
“Thank you.”
I glanced at Reina, smiled, and thanked her.
Reina only nodded in response, returned my smile, and then walked over to the side, picked up the prepared dessert, and set it on the table.
I casually picked up a piece of half-baked cheesecake.
There were many delicious options among the desserts, but I especially liked this one.
Soft, smooth, sweet, and tender—the kind of taste and texture that lingered on the tongue.
But this thing was too sweet.
If you ate too much, it could become cloying.
After two bites of the cheesecake, I picked up the ginger soup and downed it in one go.
That fiery liquid hit my stomach like a burst of flames.
A wave of heat surged through my entire body, from my tailbone upward.
I could even feel my skin gradually warming.
“Whew...”
Exhaling a breath of cold air, the warmth made me shake my chilled neck a little and sigh with emotion:
“It really is late autumn now...”
Reina, standing nearby with a smile on her face, chimed in.
“Yes... Autumn in Japan isn't nearly this cold.”
The moment I heard Reina mention Japan, I had to admit that as someone who’d never left the country, Japan really did seem like some kind of heaven.
When would I ever get the chance to visit Akihabara?
The sacred land for otaku!
Even though I was now an otaku girl, the holy land hadn’t changed.
Maybe I should go next summer?
But when I recalled Shao He’s warning just now, I hesitated.
After all... Even if I wanted to go, I didn’t want to cause any trouble for Gong Lianyu.
After some thought, I still shook my head.
“What would the young lady like for a late-night snack tonight?”
Because I had a relatively large appetite, the household had gradually gotten used to having late-night snacks.
But most of the time, they were prepared just for me.
After all, Reina and Shao He were both ordinary people and they didn’t have an appetite like mine.
“Hmm... abalone maybe. Steamed and then braised in sauce, is that okay?”
“Got it, I’ll go prepare it now.”
Normally, I should be in bed by 9:30, but my energy level was far better than most people’s.
While ordinary folks needed seven to eight hours of sleep,
I only needed three to four hours to fully recharge.
Maybe this was one of the perks of having a strong soul?
“Sister Shao, you want some too?”
“...Abalone? No need.”
Shao He paused for a moment, then shook her head and declined.
I could tell she was hesitating, which made me a little curious.
“What is it, Sister Shao He? That stuff nourishes yin, improves complexion, and strengthens the kidneys. It’s good for you. I don’t think you had enough dinner either...”
Shao He hesitated slightly, pursed her lips, her gaze evasive, and said softly:
“That stuff... tastes...”
“Hmm?”
It was rare to see Shao He show a trace of shyness like a young girl.
That instantly triggered my curiosity, and I instinctively widened my eyes to look at her.
Sha He’s eyes darted evasively, her face tinged with a flush of red.
She lowered her head and murmured softly.
“!@￥……”
“What? Sister Shao He, speak up a bit?”
Even Reina couldn’t help but grow curious.
She stopped in her tracks and looked at Shao He with me.
Sha He, her face red, actually showed a rare girlish expression, drawing circles on the table with her finger.
“You guys... don’t you think that eating that stuff is kind of...”
“Kind of?”
“Kind of??”
Reina and I almost asked in unison.
Sha He kept her head down, staring at her legs, and whispered,
“Kind of... I don’t really know how to say it, the same...”
The same?
Reina and I exchanged a glance.
We both saw confusion written all over each other’s faces.
Then, together, we turned to look at Shao He.
“The same?”
Shao He hesitated, fidgeting shyly, and uttered three words:
“Cannibalism among kin?”
“Pfft!”
Hearing someone as serious as Shao He suddenly drop a dirty joke, I burst out laughing on the spot.
Next to me, Reina covered her mouth in shock, her face full of disbelief as she stared at Shao He.
“Why... why are you both looking at me like that... I, I wasn’t wrong... Don’t you think that thing looks kind of similar?”
Shao He was getting flustered and angry.
Looking at the indignant Shao He, for the first time, a thought popped into my head.
‘Ah~ so Shao He really is a woman too.’
After all, Shao He usually gave off a rigid, stiff vibe, even more macho than a man.
But now, saying something like that, all bashful and hesitant, it was honestly a refreshing change.
Still...
“Heh... hehehe~ hahahahaha~”
I couldn’t hold it in anymore as I looked at her.
I burst into laughter.
Reina also had a slight flush on her face, covering her mouth as she giggled softly.
Seeing the way Reina and I were laughing, Shao He panicked.
She stood up and shouted:
“You two... what are you laughing at!! I knew it, I knew it!”
“Knew what?”
Looking at Shao He all flustered and angry, I just couldn’t take it.
So Shao He actually had such a pure side to her?
Cannibalism among kin... kin...
“Pfft... hahahahaha~ I can’t, my stomach, my stomach hurts... hahahahaha~”
Lying on the table, I felt like my belly was cramping from laughing too hard.
Reina was laughing so hard she was rocking back and forth.
Shao He’s face turned red like a monkey’s butt, and she snapped angrily:
“Stop laughing!!!”
“Hahahahaha...”
In the villa, peals of silvery laughter rang out.
Yes, even though my laughter was a bit loud and bold, it was still silvery, absolutely!
After we laughed enough, I looked at Shao He’s flustered and angry expression and quickly tried to calm myself.
After all, it wasn’t nice to laugh at someone else’s expense.
Kin... kin...
“Rei... Reina, pfft~ make, make two... two portions of steamed oysters...”
“Yes, heehee... yes, young lady...”
I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe.
Reina wasn’t doing much better.
Her small hand couldn’t even cover her mouth.
“Yunyan!!! Reina!!!”
Suddenly hearing a girlish yell, I instinctively looked up, just in time to see Shao He lunging at us!
“Ah!!!”
Clang!
In my ear, I heard Reina’s joyful scream, and the next thing I knew, the three of us—Reina, Shao He, and I—were tangled together in a heap.
Sha Ha and Wangcai saw the chaos and immediately joined in, jumping into the group fight.
The roughhousing ended in Shao He’s victory.
After all, I was laughing so hard I couldn’t even breathe properly, let alone fight back.
And Reina, up against someone like Shao He, a close-quarters combat expert, was completely useless—basically a liability.
What made me even more annoyed was Sha Ha.
Instead of helping pull Shao He off, she grabbed my sleeve, making sure one of my hands was useless the whole time.
So angry I turned around and slapped Sha Ha right on the nose.
Our late-night snack ended in this cheerful chaos.
After dinner, we each returned to our rooms.
Maybe it was that bit of roughhousing, but it felt like our bonds had grown closer.
The previous sense of distance had softened considerably.
Back in my room, I glanced at the clock.
It was already eleven.
After some thought, I turned off my phone, locked it in the drawer, changed clothes, took a bath, and lay down in bed.
Somehow, the moment I lay down, I started to get drowsy.
I had originally planned to stay up until midnight, but somewhere in the fog of sleepiness... I drifted off.
---
I had no idea how much time had passed.
Suddenly, I opened my eyes.
This... where is this?