Me! Cleaner!.

Chapter 1274 Extra Chapter 2 - Dinner at the Ryan Family (Part 1)

As dusk settled like a piece of red-hot cast iron, it slowly sank into the slightly murky canal of the capital city, scalding out a thin mist woven from steam and soot.

The damp air, mixed with the cheerful evening breeze, wafted from the river surface, which was glowing red in the afterglow. It swept across the bustling dock, passed through the crowded streets, and surged into the fruit and vegetable market behind Jianqiao Street, playfully dampening the hem of the women's plain white skirts.

"Anna?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a familiar white dress at the corner of the intersection. The fish stall owner, wearing a rubber apron, brightened up, abandoned the customer who was still haggling fiercely, and leaned forward to call out loudly:
"Here! Here it is!"

Upon hearing the fishmonger's call, Anna, who was carrying a shopping basket at the intersection, paused slightly. She then gathered the hem of her skirt, which was damp from the evening breeze, and followed the fishmonger's enthusiastic greeting.

"Silver cod caught from the outer river, fresh trout transported by ocean-going ships, and sturgeon that's in season... Look at this meat! How thick and meaty! I specially saved it for you!"

With a deft slice open the fish's belly, the fishmonger, his hair styled in curly perm, pressed his fingers against the still slightly contracting, tender flesh and grinned.

"What do you suggest this time? A silver cod soup? Steamed trout? Or..."

"No, no!"

Anna smiled shyly at the enthusiastic fishmonger and waved her hand a little embarrassedly:
"We're not making cod or anything like that at home today. We'll just have a smoked regular herring and a few salted baby mackerel."

"That's it..."

The fish stall owner's smile faded by 8% when his biggest customer didn't make a big purchase today. The remaining 92% of his smile was still warm, but he was somewhat disappointed.

Although the price of common herring is not low, much more expensive than "miscellaneous fish" such as barracuda and snapper, it is much cheaper than the salmon and cod that this regular customer usually buys.

As for those few small oil mackerel... although they are rich in oil and cheap, their taste and texture are quite average. Apart from the dockworkers who are willing to buy them to go with their drinks, not many people want them. They are usually given away as a bonus and can't fetch a good price at all.

"Alright, let me flip them over for you. The ones on top that were put on later aren't as fresh as the ones at the bottom... By the way, don't you really want a rainbow trout?"

As the fishmonger slowly helped sort through the smoked fish, he eagerly tried to sell it again:
"Let me tell you, this batch of trout that just arrived is especially fatty. The fat in the belly is half a finger thick, and you can squeeze oil out of it if you pinch it with your fingernail! You just need to steam it a little, and then add some cream sauce and lemon juice, and it will be delicious... How about I give you a discount?"

"It's really not necessary."

Faced with the fishmonger's repeated recommendations, the girl in the white dress shook her head and declined, somewhat helplessly:

"Maybe next time, this is enough for today."

Sigh... it seems this deal really won't go through.

Seeing Anna's insistence, the fishmonger sighed regretfully, quickly packed the smoked fish Anna had chosen, and handed it over. Then, with some curiosity, he asked:
"What's going on today? Did your brother, who's always traveling for work, come home?"

"Ah."

After taking the bag from the fishmonger, rolling it up, and putting it in her shopping basket, the girl in the white dress, who seemed to be in a good mood, smiled and nodded.
"He just got back at noon. Compared to silver cod and red herring, he still prefers these more common fish."

I’ll just say it!

After hearing Anna's words, a look of understanding immediately appeared in the fish stall owner's eyes.

The other party's older brother, who shares the same name as the Prince of Lyon, seems to have worked as a porter at the docks before, so like the workers there, he enjoys eating salted fish. Therefore, once Miss Anna starts buying salted fish, it's probably because her older brother has come home.

This is really... Watching Anna walk away with her basket of vegetables, the fish stall owner, who hadn't gotten any big business, clicked his tongue and couldn't help but have a rather impolite thought pop into his head.

If her older brother could go on more business trips and come back less often, I could sell more fish... um?

"I was just thinking, and a silver cod soup would be quite nice." Anna smiled at the somewhat stunned shopkeeper, then, dressed in a crisp white dress, she gracefully bent down to select a dish.
"Besides the freshly caught silver cod, I'd also like a sturgeon... By the way, sturgeon is in season now, do you have any fresh caviar? I want the best kind!"

……

"Why so early?"

Seeing Anna standing outside the door with a shopping basket on her shoulder and a beaming smile on her face, Leon couldn't help but ask in confusion:

"It's not dark yet, is it? Didn't you say you wouldn't come back until the streetlights were on?"

"That's how it should have been."

Anna brushed away the hand that was reaching for the shopping basket, and quite ladylike, changed her shoes. Wearing slippers a size too big, she carried the basket into the kitchen, casually replying as she grabbed her apron:
"But the fish at the fish stall were particularly good today, so I couldn't resist buying a few more. I didn't have enough money with me, and the vegetables in the vegetable section weren't very good either, so I didn't continue picking and just came back."

"Oh."

"Brother, let's talk about you instead~"

Anna, while tying her apron around her waist with her hands behind her back, glanced at Leon's expression and asked casually:

"Where did you go on this business trip? And Aunt Mary said you arranged an apartment for a pretty lady?"

"This one……"

Remembering that because she didn't know which timeline she came from, she could only return to the present world with him first, and was now renting a place in the Happiness Apartment, Leon couldn't help but fall silent for a moment, then mumbled with a somewhat strained expression:

"This is a long story, and it's hard for me to explain it to you in a short time... Well... Although I have a clear conscience, please keep it a secret and don't tell your sister-in-law."

Well, it's not that I'm guilty, after all, I'm truly innocent. But since before... um... I was mainly worried your sister-in-law would overthink things, and also to avoid interfering with her work... Anyway, I've done nothing wrong, so there's definitely nothing wrong with me.”

"Okay, I'll keep it a secret for you for now."

Anna glanced at Leon sideways, then smiled and nodded in agreement. She then simply tucked her blonde hair behind her ear, revealing her fair neck, before turning her back to Leon and speaking softly:
"The straps on this apron are a bit short, brother, could you...?"

"It's fastened."

"..."

As Anna watched the collar, seemingly drawn by a primal force, automatically wrap around her neck like a living thing, she blinked and was about to say something when she suddenly heard the door open.

"Leon! You're home, aren't you?"

After knocking politely on the door, the woman in the white dress, her body radiating wisps of colorful light, passed directly through the middle of the doorway and then cheerfully addressed Leon, who was sitting in the living room:

"I've found a way home! All I need to do is call... um... who are you?"

Looking at Anna in the kitchen wearing an apron, Frederica in the white dress was slightly taken aback, then spoke with a puzzled look in her eyes:

Who are you? Have we met before?

……

Fish has been dealing with a lot of miscellaneous things since the National Day holiday, which has kept her busy for more than ten days. She finally has some free time, so she'll post half of it first... the rest tomorrow or the day after... Or 2...

(End of this chapter)