Chapter 427: Coffee and Pastries (Combined)

"Hss… It's gotten a bit cold…"

When the sky was just beginning to lighten, the hardworking worker Li Ang got up and walked to work, yawning.

After being hit by the chilly autumn wind, his mind cleared slightly, and Li Ang instinctively hunched his shoulders, wrapping Anna's knitted scarf one more time tighter, then unconsciously recalled last night's events…

He never gave a direct answer to Melanie's question, instead mumbling something like "you'll understand when you're older," barely fending her off.

Even if he told Melanie, a child of just a few years old wouldn't understand—but as for news about the Cleanup Bureau and anomalies, the fewer ordinary people knew, the less likely they were to encounter them, so naturally, it was better to keep it hidden.

Though Melanie's question ended there, it wasn't entirely meaningless—it at least answered one small mystery for Li Ang: what exactly had the Director lost?

…

According to the information from the 【Materialist Soul】, anyone possessing the anomaly 【Love Without Memory】 must lose one of the three: parental love, filial love, or romantic love.

Judging by appearances now, she had likely lost the love of her children, and from her behavior yesterday, she clearly adored children.

After all, the veteran's alley where he lived wasn't a slum, but neither was it a good location—surrounded by noisy, filthy companies and a prison housing many hardened criminals, the population was already sparse, and children even more so, making candy shops nonexistent.

So the milk candies wrapped in colored paper she bought for Melanie and the others could only be found at a department store four or five streets away; that she was willing to walk so far to buy sweets for two children she'd just met meant she certainly wasn't someone who disliked children.

Hmm… for someone who adores children, not being able to have any of your own is one thing—but if you do have children, only to be constantly forgotten by them, that might truly be cruel.

Shaking his head with a touch of sympathy, Li Ang was about to quicken his pace toward the Cleanup Bureau to pick up the Black Goat and visit the nurse suspected of possessing an anomaly—when a sweet, caramelized aroma halted him in his tracks.

A cart with stools and tables, a massive tin boiler with a copper spout, a charcoal stove glowing red-hot, a few low tables and benches assembled from sawn wood planks…

Amid the scent filling his nostrils, a small, warmly glowing space, tightly wrapped in old canvas and shielded from the autumn chill, suddenly came into view.

A coffee stall…

Gazing at the cozy little stall, so inviting against the gray, frigid morning, Li Ang stopped, hesitated, then finally succumbed to the sweet aroma, hunching his shoulders as he stepped inside the tent and sat at a table near the back.

"Boss, one coffee, two thin slices of bread."

"Got it!"

He pulled out a chipped cup, swiftly scooped in coffee grounds, wrapped his hand in a cloth, twisted open the steaming copper spout to pour hot water, pinched the stirrer between three fingers, swirled it twice—then placed a steaming black liquid before Li Ang.

"Customer, would you like butter on your 'two thin' slices? I've also got ham slices here—fried fresh this morning, still hot."

"Uh… how much for the ham? Expensive?"

"Not expensive at all! Very cheap!"

Wiping his hands on his sooty apron, the boss—apparently in his early fifties—grinned amiably and held up one blackened finger.

"One copper wheel without ham, two copper wheels with it!"

Two copper wheels… one slice of ham costs an extra copper wheel? Are you kidding? I could buy a whole ham at the department store for less than one silver wheel!

Li Ang stared blankly at the coffee stall boss, who looked innocent but was clearly a sly trickster, and muttered:

"Skip the ham. Just butter the bread—thickly!"

"Got it!"

Failing to upsell, the boss didn't look disappointed—instead, he chuckled, pulled out a long loaf of bread, sliced off two paper-thin pieces with two swift cuts, dipped a brush too small for shoe polish into butter, and laid them on the stone slab above the charcoal.

Damn… this guy's business is so damn stingy.

Watching those two bread slices so thin they'd be considered too skimpy even for Lanx beef noodle soup, Li Ang inwardly groaned—he'd clearly met a master of exploitation.

But since he'd come this far, and couldn't bear to leave the stove's warmth, he said nothing, picked up the steaming coffee, and took a cautious sip.

Mmm… so good… feels like I've come back to life…

As his hands warmed from the cup and his empty stomach was soothed by the coffee, Li Ang sighed contentedly, eyes half-closed, and the shrewd boss promptly delivered the "Lanx bread slices."

"Your order's ready, one copper wheel, please."

Looking at the nearly translucent bread slices on the small plate, Li Ang paid reluctantly, but couldn't help sneering:

"Boss, with your knife skills like that, you must be making a fortune?"

"Heh, just enough to get by."

Probably used to customers like Li Ang complaining, the boss didn't take offense—instead, he grinned and pointed behind him:

"Look at my stove—burns only the finest charcoal, constantly replenished, so every cup of coffee that comes out is piping hot. That charcoal's a cost too!"

That was true… but with your face to charge a copper wheel for one slice of ham and your Lanx-master-level bread-slicing skill, the extra charcoal cost? You probably doubled it back in profit—no way you're losing money.

"Let me be honest with you—customers like you, heading to the municipal district early, care less about savings and more about real warmth."

Wanting to turn Li Ang into a regular, and sensing his indifference, the boss gestured toward the street opposite and patiently explained:

"My coffee might not be sweet or strong, but the temperature? Best in the city. My fire? The hottest. It even warms the outside of the tent.

To keep you from burning your hands while warming them, I use thick ceramic mugs—not those thin iron ones you can barely hold before dropping. No matter how you come, you leave warm from head to toe.

Otherwise, why are there so many stalls on this street, yet mine's the only one packed? Because I'm not just selling coffee—I'm selling warmth on a cold morning. Isn't that the truth?"

"Oh, by the way—don't tell anyone what I just said!"

Suddenly realizing he'd revealed too many "trade secrets," the boss, still wearing his innocent smile, waved his hands nervously:

"This little coffee stall? I plan to pass it on to my daughter. No matter how badly she fares outside, she'll always have a livelihood at home. If others learn these tricks, she'll be in trouble!"

"…"

I believe you, you liar! A man this shrewd wouldn't just blurt out all this?

For starters, your coffee isn't sweet at all—but I followed the sweet scent here, so your pot's got some secret ingredient. If I tried this, I'd go bankrupt in a week!

Hmph… but come to think of it, though he's stingy as hell, he's put in real effort—so yeah, he deserves every copper wheel.

Convinced by the coffee stall boss's value-added business philosophy, Li Ang gave him a thumbs-up, wolfed down the bread, drained the coffee, and hurried off toward the Cleanup Bureau.

Not long after he left, a girl with a doll-like face in a professional skirt followed the sweet scent straight to the stall.

Seeing the boss's innocent face, her big watery eyes lit up. She dashed over, grabbed his arm, and scolded: "Dad! You just got better—why are you sneaking out to sell again? Mom's furious!"

"Hmph! What's she got to be mad about? I'm just running a stall!"

Hearing his daughter's words, the previously gentle boss twisted his nose, transforming into a stubborn old man, snapping back:

"What? You look down on my little stall? I'll tell you—if not for this coffee cart, we'd all have starved to death long ago. Do you think we'd be where we are now?"

"Aww! Nobody looks down on your stall! But why today?"

Watching her father suddenly pout, the girl sighed:

"Our gas company's pipe cracked—we just paid out a huge sum, and now the water company's had an accident too. We're in trouble.

Mom's angry because you're wandering around now instead of fixing company problems—why are you out here selling coffee at dawn?"

"What's there to fix? Earn what you can, pay what you owe! Why overthink it? And you're telling me I can't even work two hours a day? If the company's gone, can't I just switch?"

The coffee stall boss grew even angrier, puffing out his cheeks:

"Besides, I always said—don't touch municipal projects!

Sure, they pay fast and steady, with big annual payouts—but the real power? Not in our hands. We can only suggest, never decide. Is that acceptable?

I knew from the start—those bastards' way of doing things? Something was bound to go wrong. Better to stick with our department store—risky, thin profits, but at least we control it. If something breaks, we fix it.

But your mom's stubborn! She thought our name would make them behave, so she pushed us right in—I couldn't stop her!

And look what happened? Those bastards saved a few filtration costs by dumping sewage from the waste river straight into the public water pipes! Now the whole capital's buying diarrhea medicine until it's sold out! They 'behave'? *** They've lost all dignity!"

After grumbling a few more curses, seeing the sun rise and customers dwindle, the coffee stall boss slammed the stove lid shut, smothered the coals, rolled up the tent, and pushed the cart away with his daughter, still grumbling:

"How's the gas pipe leak handled? Did you apologize and pay compensation properly?"

"We did! One family didn't want it—they said they weren't badly hurt, just cover the bandage costs."

"Whether they want it or not, our company caused the damage—we must pay. By the way, what's their surname?"

"I can't quite remember… Ah! Lyon! Yes! Li Ang Lyon—he's a poor guy, always smiles gently, and is especially kind to his sister!"

…

"You're asking about our new recruit? His name is Li Ang, Li Ang Lyon."

Besides the coffee stall father and daughter, two others were also discussing Li Ang's situation.

"Lyon?"

Hearing the familiar surname, the petite woman in the golden mirror blinked, bit into her sponge cake, and asked curiously:

"From the Lion Duke's family? You hate nobles—why did you take him into your Virgin Bureau?"

"Just the same surname. They're two different words."

After briefly explaining Li Ang's surname, the red-haired Director frowned at the woman in the mirror, who had put down her cake and was now chewing a puff pastry:

"Why are you asking about him? Trying to poach him?"

"I might be."

Without hesitation, the petite woman in the black-and-white cheongsam picked up a nut cake ring, licked the sweet almond powder off it, then grinned:

"I read your report—he's got a 【Forced Information Acquisition】 ability ranked higher than a great demon. Use him right, he's invaluable. Which director wouldn't want him?"

"…"

Watching her friend's eyes narrow sharply in the mirror, the petite woman gobbled the cake ring, then picked up a small fried tea cake, spreading strawberry jam on it as she explained:

"But don't worry—I'm not here to poach him. I want to make a small deal with him… Did you extract the anomaly from the hospital director yet?"

So that's it… you're after the anomaly that absorbs patients?

Glancing at the lion emblem on the golden mirror, already scraping at a dung ball, the red-haired Director paused, then her eyes flickered with sudden understanding.

In the Lion Bureau's jurisdiction lies a port occupied by an uncontrolled contaminant. Ten nearby villages, nearly ten thousand residents, have been forcibly infected with an incurable plague—if that contaminant dies, they all die.

Though the Lion Bureau reacted fast enough to seal the port and prevent greater disaster, they had no way to deal with the contaminant holding ten thousand people hostage. They couldn't deploy their trump cards for a mid-scale incident, so they left it alone—for now.

But now it's different. The hospital director Li Ang killed had the ability to absorb patients—perfectly counter to the uncontrolled contaminant. And by Cleanup Bureau rules, whoever completes a cleanup task has priority to claim the extracted anomaly.

So her sudden contact via the 【Celestial Sphere Mirror】 wasn't to reconnect with her friend—it was to warn him: don't let Li Ang take this anomaly.

After watching her friend happily dig into a custard pudding in the mirror, the red-haired Director blinked her fox-like eyes, looking troubled:

"This… I understand it's vital to you, but Li Ang witnessed the contaminant's power firsthand—he's very interested in this anomaly, so…"

"Tch. Cut the crap!"

She knew her best friend's personality all too well; on the other side of the Golden Mirror, Beverly rolled her eyes, munching on a coconut bread with a grumpy tone:

Just say it—how much money are you borrowing from me this time?

"Oh come on, this isn't about money."

The red-haired director waved her hand, smiling sweetly:

"Our new recruit, Li Ang, went through hell to complete his first mission and finally earned his first anomaly item.

Such a meaningful thing—you just take it away with a single sentence. Wouldn't you feel guilty if you didn't give him something better in return?"

"..."

Hearing this, Beverly stiffened slightly at the Golden Mirror's end, staring at her best friend's sly, fox-like eyes—suddenly, the orange cream pie in her mouth lost its flavor.

After wolfing down her snack in three quick bites, Beverly summoned the authority befitting the Director of the Lion Cleanup Bureau, slammed her hand hard on the table, and glared with lion-like fury:

"Spit it out! What do you want?"

"I want you to trade the Witch's Broom to him."

【112】 "Pfft! Dream on!"

"Just spit it out—how much money are you borrowing this time?"

(End of Chapter)