Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 19: 19. "Coffee, Children's Taste, and Bravery"

My body felt like it had been run over by a bicycle.

This was Masumi's first thought when he woke up the next day.

My legs are so sore. This must be the result of people who have not exercised enough for years and suddenly want to exercise on a whim.

Are you still going to run today?
Masumi felt like backing off, but when she saw her newly bought sportswear hanging on the wall of the room, she felt that it should at least be worth the 13176 yen she spent on clothes yesterday.

He forced himself to cheer up and decided to continue his morning run.

This morning was foggy. Masumi ran to the shore and looked down at the sea. The mist carried away with the tide. Because it was the weekend, there were not many people on the streets.

The new sportswear I bought is really comfortable, and the material helps to wick away sweat and maintain body temperature.

Overcoming laziness and completing today's plan despite his uncomfortable body, Masumi felt a slight sense of accomplishment. If he had this kind of perseverance, he should be able to do anything.

I went back to Fanxing to have breakfast, and waited until the morning when the decorators arrived, and then started the day's decoration work.

——The wind chimes are swaying.

"excuse me."

Masumi was curious about who came to her house at this time...The girl with a cute skirt fluttering in the wind came into view, Masumi's childhood sweetheart, Chiai Asahina.

"Mamaru-kun, I'm here to play with you guys."

Qian Ai's outfit today is a combination of cuteness and purity. As a student majoring in fashion, she has her own unique understanding of dressing and can make the most of clothes to beautify herself.

Those emerald eyes were impressive as they scanned the store.

"Does Fanxing need to be renovated?"

"Ah."

Masumi responded casually, "Please sit down," and then closed the comic he was reading. He read very fast and had almost finished the third volume.

Then he stood up and asked naturally, "Would you like coffee or tea?"

"I want an Americano! Thank you, Masumi-san."

"American style is very bitter," Masumi warned in advance.

"Just say it's okay."

Since she said so, Masumi responded, "Okay."

Walking to the bar, Masumi grinded lightly roasted coffee beans with an electric grinder, and expertly brewed a cup of black coffee with a drip coffee pot. He then brought it to Chiai, and a faint steam wafted from the white porcelain cup and plate set, with mist rising slowly.

"Thank you, Masumi-san."

"Can you accept the bitter taste of coffee now?"

He remembered that Qian Ai had only drunk black tea in the coffee shop since she was a child and stayed away from any bitter drinks.

"Of course—"

Qian Ai proudly picked up the coffee and raised it to her lips. The next moment, her smiling expression changed. After forcing herself to drink it, her face wrinkled into a ball.

"Ahem...it's so bitter."

She coughed lightly a few times, then stared fiercely at the coffee in front of her.

"Is this the devil's drink?"

He calmly spoke lines that a 16th-century Catholic priest would say.

"If you can't drink American coffee, why not just drink latte?" Masumi sighed.

"You still have a child's palate, after all. No need to force yourself."

"That's not called a child's palate, it's called a rich palate. And I graduated from the child's palate a long time ago."

Qian Ai tried to defend herself, but Masumi saw through her stubborn nature at a glance.

"Add some sugar." Masumi handed the sugar bag to Chiai. "That will be better."

"……Thanks."

Qian Ai pouted her pink lips, saying something disrespectful but acting righteously.

I took the sugar strips and poured them all into the coffee, one, two, three...

Masumi stared at her in amazement, not being able to stop her for a moment.

Sugar melted like silk in a dark brown vortex. Qian Ai picked it up, sniffed it as if testing for poison, closed her eyes, and took a sip.

The smile blooms like a wild chrysanthemum.

Masumi felt that his eyebrows were moving slightly closer together. He put so much sugar in that it might not have time to melt and would just settle at the bottom of the cup.

Just imagining the taste makes me feel overwhelmed with sweetness.

However, the girl seemed to think the sweetness was just right, and her emerald eyes narrowed into two crescent moons.

Forget it, as long as she likes it.

"Why do you suddenly want to drink coffee?"

"Well...it's because of some...this and that reason..."

When asked this question, Qian Ai spoke incoherently, as if there was a fishbone stuck in her throat, floating up and down, choking her and making her unable to speak.

Her slender fingers curled the ends of her amber hair, and her eyelashes lowered quietly.

Seeing her embarrassment, Masumi said, "I'm sorry, I just asked casually. If you don't want to say it..."

"Ah! No!"

Qian Ai raised her face, revealing a shy look, "It's nothing serious, I'm just a little embarrassed."

"Actually, when I was buying a drink from the vending machine yesterday..."

◇

"Class is about to start, where are you going?"

In the classroom, a friend asked Asahina Chiai as she stood up.

"I'm a little thirsty. I'll go get a bottle of water. What would you like to drink?"

"Hmm...then I'll have canned black coffee, the 150 yen one."

"Wow, that stuff is super bitter. If you like bitter drinks, you might as well drink Chinese herbal medicine, which also has health benefits." Qian Ai complained.

She has disliked coffee since she was a child, simply because it tastes bitter.

Her hometown, Peru, is said to be famous for producing delicious coffee beans. After coming to the island country with her father, she found out that her childhood sweetheart's family also ran a coffee shop. Every time she went to his house, she often saw the adults tasting the incomprehensible bitter liquid with a satisfied look on their faces.

She had always dreamed of enjoying coffee as an adult, but now she was 19, and that seemed a distant prospect.

My friend was both angry and amused, "You are the one. If you want to drink water, why don't you turn on the tap?"

"I'm not in high school."

"Coffee is also very popular among high school students nowadays. You are just making excuses for your childish palate."

The friend poked her shoulder with a finger, and the words inadvertently touched her heart.

Seeing Qian Ai's amber-colored fluffy hair puffing up like a cat, her friend quickly said, "Okay, okay, it's my fault. I shouldn't have said that to you, a child. Go buy some drinks, or class will start soon."

Being treated like a child by her friend, Qian Ai sighed and walked dejectedly to the vending machine between the floors.

Although I am already a college student, I always feel that I am not mature enough, and my mentality is still in high school, in the year when Masumi left home to go to Kyoto.

Compared with everyone in Fanxing, it seems that the high school student's behavior is more mature than his own.

Staring at the can of coffee in the vending machine, Qian Ai wondered, if she got used to drinking this kind of beverage, would it make her look mature?
She pressed the button and took out the warm black coffee from the access port. After a slight hesitation, she decided to buy juice as usual.

"Asahina-san."

Suddenly, someone spoke to her from behind, and Qian Ai's fingertips trembled.

I turned around and saw that it was Mr. Iino who was in charge of the next class.

Unlike her, Teacher Iino is a beautiful woman with mature temperament. Her professional suit is simple and capable. Her legs are well-proportioned and slender under the black stockings. The thin high heels make her calves look smooth and tight. Her posture, which should have been shaky, is strong and powerful.

At first glance, the charm of a mature woman comes to you.

Qian Ai hurriedly bowed and saluted: "Hello, teacher! You have worked hard."

Hearing this, Mr. Iino narrowed his eyes and smiled slightly. "Hello to you too."

Perhaps because she is relatively young, there is no sense of severity from this female teacher.

"What a polite kid, but don't be so reserved. The way you greet me feels like a high school student."

Hearing the keyword "high school student", Qian Ai's eyes dimmed slightly, and she sighed softly, so quietly that the teacher in front of her would not notice it and the sigh disappeared in her mouth.

"Asahina-san, do you like black coffee?"

Iino-sensei said as she looked at the can of black coffee in her hand.

"Eh? I'm not..."

She was about to open her mouth to explain when she heard Iino-sensei continue, "Asahina-san is surprisingly mature to like this kind of drink."

There was only light makeup on that delicate and stern face, with narrow and light eyeliner drawn from the corners of the eyes, and the thick and long eyelashes trembled slightly, revealing a touching smile.

"Eh? Really?"

Hearing this, Qian Ai's cheeks flushed and she showed a look of joy, an expression that was a mixture of shyness and complacency.

"It's true."

Teacher Iino smiled sweetly, put in a 100-yen coin, pressed a button, bent down, and picked up a can of coffee from the access port.

Qian Ai's eyes followed the packaging of the canned coffee closely.

The yellow shell has the word MAX written on it in English.

"This is the only sweet coffee I can handle."

"I was on a business trip and had to get up early for a meeting. To fight off my tiredness, I bought a can of black coffee, but I only took one sip and threw it away."

At this point, Mr. Iino revealed a somewhat shy and wry smile.

"I'm going to go now. It's almost time for class, so hurry up Asahina-san."

"Ah! Okay!"

Teacher Iino walked towards the classroom, her high heels making a clicking sound on the waxed floor.

Qian Ai stood there, savoring what Teacher Iino had just said. It turned out that drinking coffee really makes people look mature.

As if she had made up her mind, she put in a 100-yen coin and bought a can of MAX coffee.

Open the can and take a sip.

Qian Ai squinted her eyes, the sweet taste spread in her mouth, and she tasted the mellow taste of coffee for the first time.

Have I graduated from the child's palate?
Those emerald eyes sparkled with genuine joy.

◇

"...That's just the way it is."

Qian Ai scratched her head embarrassedly.

The result is that I can only drink the sweet MAX coffee. It seems that I will never become an adult.

Masumi remained silent, thinking about his words for a moment before saying, "Don't force yourself to do something you're not suited to. In my opinion, it's fine for you to stay the way you are now."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Masumi nodded.

Qian Ai blinked her emerald eyes, and her gaze was so straightforward.

"I always feel that Masumi-san's words are very convincing."

"Have it?"

"Yeah, it sounds like someone with a lot of experience speaking."

This was said without making any sense. "What kind of experience is that?"

"Adult experience." Qian Ai said, turning her head away to avoid the main point, a faint smile on her lips.

For some reason, Qian Ai seemed to be in a good mood.

"I feel relieved. It's nice to chat with Masumi-san."

Her straight and beautiful profile was relaxed, the ends of her hair were dyed amber in the light, and her bangs were swaying gently.

"Then I'll maintain the status quo for now."

Masumi nodded slightly, "I'm glad you think so."

"Yeah, yeah, just stay yourself."

Qianai's face was filled with smiles. Mami came up from behind her, looking lazy, and put her arm around her shoulders.

"Well, I think Sister Qian Ai has been working hard for her dream and is much more mature than me." Jiuyuan Mirai said.

"Thank you everyone, I'm so touched."

Several girls hugged each other with smiles on their faces.

Wait, when did they get here? Masumi was the only one on the first floor just now.

Qian Ai: "I just passed the message to everyone."

She showed Masumi her phone, which was the LINE group chat interface, the "Star Employees Group."

"I see... Wait, if this is an employee group, why are you in it too?"

"That's right, let's get Masumi-san in too."

Chiai is Masumi's LINE friend.

"Aijiang" invites you to join the "Fanxing Employee Group".

There are four people in the group besides him. The group owner is called "Neko" and his avatar is a yawning orange cat. It should be the account of Kamishiro Rinone.

"Future" adds you as a friend.

This is an account from the distant future.

A few girls gathered together and chatted, when suddenly a voice came from above their heads.

"Qian Ai is here. I made a parfait. Do you want to try it?"

I looked up and saw Kamiyo Rinne walking out of the kitchen carrying a strawberry parfait.

After returning to the restaurant last night, Rin finally decided on a menu after careful consideration - fruit parfait.

Parfait is a transliteration of the French word Parfait, which means perfection. It is a dessert served in a long glass.

The production process is quite simple. It is actually just adding a series of raw materials such as fruits, cream, ice cream, dessert sauce, etc. into the cup in order. It does not require long-term practice and the taste will not fluctuate too much.

It is the season when strawberries are ripe. The fresh strawberries cut in half are round and plump, soaked in cream, and stacked layer by layer in a long glass. The surface of the ice cream ball on the top is slightly cool.

"Wow, it looks delicious."

Qian Ai stared at the parfait with a blissful expression, then pulled out her phone and started snapping photos. She took pictures of not only the parfait but also the black coffee she had just had.

It is said that girls usually let the camera eat first before eating food and snacks.

It seems that this is also the reason why Rinyin chose to make parfait. As a "perfect" dessert, parfait uses a variety of ingredients and has a layered taste, which not only makes diners feel satisfied.

If the food looks good enough and delicious, uploading it to social media can attract more likes from strangers, which is what is known as "online promotion."

"I'm gonna start now."

As if she was opening a gift box, Qianai scooped up a spoonful of parfait and put it into her mouth.

"Hmm...it's really delicious."

The whole parfait has a strong milky flavor, with rich yogurt underneath.

"What an exaggerated expression."

“That’s how delicious it is.”

She smiled sincerely, like a sunflower in summer, full of vitality.

　4000 words two-in-one, thank you book friends 20230113211351279, Ranranyeri for the monthly ticket, thank you for everyone's comments

　　
　
(End of this chapter)