Chapter 715: NO．84：When You

NO. 84: The pot will never be empty when you're ready.

At the end of summer in the southern district of the Realm Gate, it is often shrouded in a pale yellow silhouette.

Though the weather has begun to cool and is no longer scorching, the stuffiness remains, and one must rely on the air conditioner's effort to maintain vitality.

The climate control system at Lin Dun's office is functioning normally, yet a certain 'guest' who just stepped in from outside remains dissatisfied, even fetching an ice pop from the freezer to eat.

"What do you mean by guest? Am I not a resident here? Guinea Pig-kun."

The little girl fully embodies the hostess, not even glancing at the red tea Aomo placed and pushed closer on the table, her stubborn gaze seeming to truly demand justice for some loss.

That gaze is so genuine and delicate, tinged with a hint of grievance, yet it can make one perceive a hint of apology.

But unfortunately, the Aomo who just lifted the tray and stood beside like a waiter merely said expressionlessly: "You should now be a resident of Chestnut East Dormitory."

Hearing this, the brown-haired little girl instead curled her lips: "Though you say that, the office's security system didn't react either, did it? I'm still registered as a resident, aren't I?"

"Indeed a timely reminder—I really should update the resident list once over."

"Guinea—pig—kun!"

The drawn-out tone reveals utter resentment, inevitably making Aomo recall why he invited her here, yet he actually believed those words...

Aomo subtly looks down at this puffed-cheek girl, his tone unchanged: "Just joking—the office's doors will always remain open for prospective staff."

"Just prospective?"

"Of course, otherwise being accused of exploiting child labor would truly be impossible to defend against."

"Isn't Suzi also not yet of age?"

"The legal working age in Celestial Gate City is sixteen."

"..."

It is clear that although Suzi appears to be a local from every angle, she is actually a transmigrator—Ailisuzhi falls silent, beginning to ponder her household registration in the Mars Development Zone... or whether, like the Realm Gate Zone, it is uniformly eighteen, in which case it's fine.

"Miss Ailisuzhi."

"Huh?" The distracted Suzi snaps back to attention, seeing the trainer focusing on her fingers.

"Please pay attention to where the melting ice pop drips."

Having merely reminded her thus, he politely averts his gaze, not watching as she hurriedly stuffs the ice pop back into her mouth; Aomo turns and walks toward the kitchen.

"Bourbon and Chazuo are expected in a few minutes—I still need to prepare the corresponding drinks. You can watch some TV, or go urge the lazy Suzi to wake up; if you choose the latter, I truly couldn't be more grateful."

After all, waking a lazybones is inherently troublesome, easily turning into a struggle over the blankets.

If it's someone of the same sex, it's fine; but if it's the opposite sex... it poses a challenge to Aomo's heart.

The former Suzi was likewise.

During summer vacation, she and Suzi were practically synonymous with lazybones, both belonging to the early-rising low-blood-pressure type, often overlooking many details in their daze, including vigilance toward others.

Admittedly, though their usual performance seems lacking, that is clearly an act.

But if one wakes early, it's purely due to physiological reasons.

That said, these two consume sugar without restraint; if one claims menstrual anemia is also somewhat inappropriate, or if it's due to weight loss... that would be sheer nonsense.

Suzi once had a period where Aomo supervised her exercise, but during that time, her three meals were also managed by him—when she held that copy of *Nutrition Science*, its value was still evident; she would never commit the lowly error of harming herself through weight loss.

In contrast, Ailisuzhi usually has no concerns about weight loss.

Neither injury nor malnutrition is possible.

Yet when these two should be dazed, their morning state is the same: as if 1+1 could equal 3, walking might bump into a door, they might shout "Zhouri Ningjing" at the Manhattan Teahouse, wear clothes inside out without noticing, or even walk around in just underwear without realizing it...

Frankly, given Aomo's self-imposed demand to remain perpetually rational and clear-headed, it's hard to comprehend this state of sleeping once being like having a blackout.

He once suspected this was some kind of act, but whether true or false, it's unavoidable.

One can only regard it as part of the other's traits, akin to how a tokusatsu audience accepts tokusatsu settings.

Learn to accept.

Kamen Rider's affairs don't require you to figure them out so clearly. jpg

"She hasn't woken yet?"

"The more excited she was yesterday, the more fatigued she is today." Aomo focuses on his movements in the kitchen, merely glancing with the corner of his eye at Suzi, who followed him into the kitchen, and does not urge her to immediately go find Suzi.

"How was your Qixi Festival?"

"Ah, it was noisy—Yamato-kun and that vodka being together was already loud enough, not to mention having to add the surprise and alarm from Yemo Juji and the milk bath."

"Sounds nice, very lively."

"Where did you hear that it was nice?" Suzi says, somewhat speechless, "Want to crack open Guinea Pig-kun's skull to see the logic circuits?"

"If you're eager to deny it, first you must lower the curve of your lips."

"? Does Guinea Pig-kun have eyes growing on his back?"

"There are always some special techniques." Glancing at the dragon girl unnoticed by Suzi, Aomo follows the timer on the coffee machine, bringing out two cups of steaming hot coffee.

Then he places them into the dish specially prepared for heat retention and freshness.

Next, he proceeds to pour another side's hot cocoa, which is in a state of heat retention.

Setting aside the acceptable tea and coffee, Bourbon clearly favors this kind of drink—higher in caloric content, yet still far below that of the special honey beverage.

But if you merely ask what to drink, without asking what one likes, you won't understand this point.

Then you just fall into life's inertia, taking her mentioned drink as her preference; if no accident occurs, you will forever remain unaware of your misunderstanding.

The girl is not usually silent like a machine, yet inwardly she is as reserved as one—but a machine can be disassembled for inspection, whereas the human heart is hard to dissect.

If it were the usual East Asian model trainer whose selling point is Asaxi, he would largely be at a loss.

Such people, who always blend gentleness with sluggishness, can nurture flowers, yet may not understand steel.

What Bourbon truly needs is a relatively firm and sharp trainer to achieve complementarity, akin to a cyborg and a silent, tenacious maintenance worker.

Not only can one comprehend the cyborg's language, but also detect her functional anomalies from subtle details.

Of course, not only maintenance workers, but researchers as well.

Ailisuzhi merely glanced at the hot cocoa just poured from the small pot, not surprised by its appearance, and still said: "Quite the skill……Guinea Pig-kun even asked me if I'd like to chat about last night's experience? I heard someone mention you and five women celebrating Qixi together."

"If I were to think about it, such an obviously biased statement is merely trying to set the rhythm."

"Ha, even if you say that, I and Chazuo and the others last night still encountered that tiger policewoman you rejected and Narita Bai Ren and her group, they also know about this, and they don't look too pleased."

"Misunderstandings will always be resolved, and besides, Bai Ren is ultimately your senior, and Bixiket is even a high-ranking elder."

"Ah……You're really boring at times like this."

"Why not go find interesting Miss Xi?"

"Alright, alright, alright, anyway you just want to beat around the bush to get me to call Xi-kun."

"It's surprising that you'd be this obedient, don't take advantage of her drowsiness to feed her things."

"Why worry about this and still have me call her?"

"I'll just say one thing, she still has to be responsible for your three's monster compatibility test."

"Tsk."

"……"

After glancing at Suzi and smacking her lips, she left the kitchen, Aomo somewhat silent and embarrassed.

But even so, there was still a sound in the air:

"You here are really quite interesting, getting along with you turns out to be just like with elder brother and those two melon sisters."

"If it's truly that similar, I'd want to go seek scriptures from that person."

"Still, forget it, he's not as good as you, entirely relying on elders' nagging to suppress Xiao Xi and Xiao Nian."

"Being able to exchange experiences is always good," Aomo buried his head in chopping vegetables, "but why did Miss Ling suddenly appear?"

"Can't one come look just for no reason?"

"Of course not, I think with your ability, wanting to go anywhere, no one could stop you."

"Not quite," Ling smiled, lowered her head and leaned forward, sniffing the ingredients still simmering in the pot, "Actually, I'm here to notify about the game mentioned yesterday, I've told your matter to those few from Rhein Life, unexpectedly unanimous agreement, maybe they'll contact you soon on their own."

"That's really good news, then is there anything else?"

"Come get a contact method, elder brother indeed wants to communicate with you." Ling turned her head back, continuing to scrutinize the kitchen's various utensils as before.

Thinking about whether the younger brother coming here would mean more topics.

And Aomo paid no attention to her scrutiny, continuing to bow his head and toss the salad.

"Although I'm happy, but this is rather sudden……because is it Miss Nian or Miss Xi?"

"You, no matter what, always need to find a reason, but that will make you very tired, Mr. Aomo."

"But I've already lived like this for many years, I suppose it'll be the same in the future."

"Ha."

"Why sigh, Miss Ling?"

"I thought of second brother, then thought of Xiao Nian still unknown, but Xiao Xi especially dislikes this kind of nature."

"?"

But what does this have to do with me? I don't need to interact with those two. Aomo was momentarily puzzled, so even the chopsticks stirring the salad paused, then after thinking, he still said calmly: "If I were to say, the elders' mindset is always unacceptable."

"A family can never achieve complete seamless harmony, irreconcilable contradictions should not be forcibly interfered with, no one can represent the parties involved."

"That's also true," Ling nodded, picked up the wine gourd and took a heavy sip, "but I and elder brother actually have a decent original relationship with second brother, it's just that some things are indeed irreconcilable."

"Family matters are always hard to say, all I can suggest is whether to grab a meal along the way."

Aomo lifted his eyes to look at her, wondering if this person had eaten breakfast, drinking on an empty stomach is a bit……never mind, she's not human anyway.

"Oh? I just wanted to ask, what is this?"

Ling, obviously not expecting Aomo to say that, was first stunned, then smiled and watched Aomo pull out that large covered bowl from the fridge.

"Overnight-soaked oatmeal, used to make morning Müsli."

"Müsli?"

"Yes, some regions call it Müesli, more people call it Muesil, it's a common nutritional food from my hometown, made of oat flakes, fruits and nuts." Aomo briefly introduced.

Even now there are plenty of globally sold dried instant versions, but if he has time he still chooses to make it himself.

Not troublesome either, soak the oatmeal the night before, next morning add milk or soy milk or honey, then add appropriate amounts of nuts, fruits, eggs and such to cook.

What exactly to add depends entirely on preference, but ultimately it all emphasizes health and nutrition.

After all, it originated as a nutritional meal for patients, later developed for infants, children, teenagers, adults alike.

Aomo naturally prepared it according to the standards for horse girls, whether it would make Miss Xi gain weight……emmm, let her run more.

After finalizing this proposal with a refreshing smile, Aomo turned back again, only then realizing she was staring at him.

"What are you thinking to smile so happily?"

"Naturally happy things are happy," Aomo responded using the Dongyan concept mentioned by you yesterday, poured it into the pot, then asked: "Anyway, Miss Ling, have you had breakfast?"

"Was just about to eat, but I can also try yours here."

"Wouldn't that be inconvenient?"

Aomo couldn't even say what state this person's half-virtual form is, like a projection, but Suzi can't see it, rather like my own daydream.

Thinking about this, he again felt a bit amused.

How would immortals in dreams eat? Offer her incense and offerings?

"Convenient, where couldn't it be, just don't blame me for eating too much."

"That's fine, I'm already used to making extra."

"? Good habit."

"... Thank you for the praise."

I don't know if it's an illusion, but Ling felt this youth's smile was somewhat insincere, indeed very much like second brother.