Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 56:23 "Cultural Festival - Continued"

"Hey, hey-"

As if the microphone was being adjusted, a rustling electrical noise could be heard from the classroom broadcast.

"Good morning, everyone! I'm the student council president, Miya Kujuku."

On the morning of the cultural festival, Masumi had just changed into the boys' waiter uniform when he heard a cocky female voice coming from the radio.

"Let's skip the pleasantries. Today, please forget your worries and enjoy the festival to your heart's content."

"At the same time, facing the foreign tourists present, I hope everyone can show the style of East Middle School students."

"Then I declare the 70th East Central Cultural Festival officially open!"

As the student council president finished speaking, the temperature of the campus festival instantly heated up the cold air in late October.

Masumi's class created a "coffee shop". The usually plain classroom was decorated quite gorgeously. Display boards were posted on the door and inner walls, with pictures and text introductions about Kobe's coffee, tea and dessert culture.

Rather than simply copying content from Wikipedia, students in the literature and arts department went to the UCC Coffee Museum to gather information for their manuscripts, in order to learn more about Kobe, the earliest westernized city with the highest density of coffee shops in the country.

Whether it’s from these or the meticulously tailored waiter uniforms, one can see the thought and seriousness that the students put into preparing for this cultural festival.

Masumi didn't want to let this enthusiasm down, so all he could do was to do his job to the best of his ability.

A battle to attract customers was taking place in the crowded corridor. The cute girls in the class, wearing beautiful uniform skirts with ruffles, were handing out flyers to tourists at the door.

"Mocha and muffins, please—"

"I want black tea—"

Thanks to the lovely JCs, the coffee shop has attracted many vulgar male customers, and there are special people at the door to help control the flow of customers.

Masumi brewed coffee with ease, and the receptionist handed it to the customer.

"Mamaru, I want barley tea—"

Amidst the noisy crowd, a young female voice sounded familiar.

Masumi lowered his head, and sure enough, his eyes met those emerald ones.

"Why are you here?"

"Of course I want to play with you, Masumi-san." She said in an innocent tone.

"Ah! What a cute girl!"

The girls in the class immediately surrounded the little girl.

"Who is this girl? She's so cute!"

"She seems to be Miyazawa-san's sister."

"Eh? Miyazawa-san has a younger sister?"

Masumi's tone was a little helpless: "You came alone? Qianai."

The girl named Chiai Asahina is 11 years old and in the sixth grade of elementary school. She was Masumi's childhood neighbor.

"I brought her here, Masumi."

The woman who answered Masumi spoke slightly broken Japanese. She had long, light-colored hair that was slightly curly, three-dimensional facial features, and wheat-colored skin that contrasted beautifully with the long black trench coat she wore. She was a tall, plump foreign beauty.

Masumi greeted the newcomer with formal greetings: "Hello, Aunt Stephanie."

Qianai's mother, Stephanie, is from Peru and is a passionate Latin American beauty.

Stephanie nodded in return, and said with a smile in her voice, "This uniform suits you very well. It's very handsome."

"Thank you."

"——Mamaru-nii, give me some barley tea!"

Chiai waved her hands towards Masumi.

"Okay, Qianai, don't disturb Macheng from working." Stephanie said as she gently stroked Qianai's head. "Let's sit over there and wait."

"Oh!" Qian Ai nodded obediently.

After serving tea and drinks to the mother and daughter, the coffee shop ushered in a period of relatively quiet time.

Probably because the atrium started to concentrate on performances such as dramas, the customer flow eased.

The girls gathered around Qian Ai as if they were watching some cute little animal, and they cheered sharply from time to time.

Masumi was scrolling through his phone boredly.

"Excuse me, please give me a latte."

What suddenly reached my ears was a very pleasant and clear voice.

Masumi looked away from the phone screen and saw a young girl in a sky blue dress walk into the classroom. She looked around the display board on the wall leisurely, her long eyelashes moving up and down as if she was sleepy.

"Okay, please sit here and wait for a moment." Masumi pulled out the steel chair for her.

"Thank you." The girl reached up to smooth her skirt, sat down demurely, and smiled at him. Her shallow dimples gave him a very gentle impression.

A set of white porcelain cups and plates, emitting a faint steam, was placed on the table.

The girl first gripped the handle of the cup, carefully looking at the coffee in front of her. Her snow-white throat trembled slightly, and she put her lips to the rim of the cup.

Masumi was very familiar with this expression; it was the expression of someone trying to be tough when they couldn't drink coffee.

He thought the coffee he had just brewed would be a cup that went down easily. He had added a larger than normal amount of sugar to neutralize the bitterness, and the remaining aftertaste should be softened by the milk.

However, it seems that he still cannot get past the girl in front of him.

"I thought the coffee shops at the junior high school cultural festival probably used instant sweetened coffee powder from the supermarket, so it wouldn't be that potent." The girl smiled bitterly. "Now it seems I was wrong."

"I used dark roasted coffee beans I brought from home."

"Eh? Does your family run a baking workshop?"

"No."

"That's from the coffee shop?"

Masumi nodded slightly, feeling a little annoyed at being questioned about his identity by a stranger.

It was just that the girl's gentle tone seemed to have some kind of soothing magic, which was why he remained patient and showed no obvious displeasure.

"Would you like to order a new drink? The latte just now was 500 yen."

"No, I'll just drink this one." She took another sip.

"It's bitter, but it's not unpleasant."

The girl blinked and said, "Young barista, you're quite good at it."

"Thank you for the compliment." Masumi said lightly.

"Then please enjoy your meal."

Leaving behind a standard reception smile, Masumi turned and left.

The time on the quartz clock has gone full circle.

"Thank you for your hard work, Miyazawa. Leave the rest to me and Xiaokui."

The girl who came forward to say hello and take over his shift was a girl named "Hao Mei" with big breasts. In her arms was a cute girl named "Aoi" with fluffy and soft hair like a cat.

Masumi's shift only lasts until the morning.

"Well... as for the coffee grinder... don't forget..." he reminded carefully.

"It's okay, it's okay. I remember everything."

Hao Mei used her free hand to lift her long hair that fell on her shoulders, puffed out her chest proudly, and showed off her curves, which were too plump for a girl in the third grade of junior high school.

"Don't worry about it, Miyazawa. Go and rest up and enjoy the lively atmosphere of the cultural festival."

"Oh, thanks."

Having said that, Masumi didn't have much interest in visiting the cultural festival.

The corridor was packed with students and tourists, and the breathing of several people overlapped on his, which was unpleasant.

After finally pushing our way out of the corridor and down the stairs to the open campus, the atrium was also crowded with people watching the drama performance.

Walking around the courtyard, various vendor tents are lined up on the playground.

Originally, the school stipulated that food stalls opened by students were not allowed to cook with fire and could only sell pre-prepared food.

However, with the efforts of the student union and many students, as well as the repeated preparation of fire prevention measures, fire hazard inspections and food safety guarantees, the school finally reluctantly allowed the opening of food stalls in the open air.

Perhaps it is precisely because of breaking taboos that several food stalls are particularly popular.

In order to kill time, Masumi waited in a long line alone, bought a plate of takoyaki, and then sat down on an empty bench away from the crowd.

The freshly made takoyaki is steaming hot, the evenly heated batter forms beautiful round balls, and the surface is sprinkled with white mayonnaise.

The bonito flakes sprinkled on top look like sawdust shaved with a planer at first glance, floating in the heat.

Masumi skewered a piece of takoyaki and put it into her mouth. Immediately, she felt the power of the flames in her mouth and exhaled hurriedly. She only chewed it slowly after releasing the heat in her mouth and letting the temperature cool down.

The flavor of the well-seasoned batter and filling spreads warmly on the tip of the tongue, and the sawdust-like bonito flakes release the umami flavor of the bonito.

Hmm, the taste is actually really good. It seems that everyone is queuing up not just to follow the trend.

He was sitting alone on a bench eating takoyaki when he suddenly heard a familiar female voice.

"Oh yeah? What a coincidence, Barista-kun, we meet again."

　Thanks to Hai Yichen for the reward to [羽川海月], thanks to Hai Yichen for the reward [114][514], thanks to EOEARTH, on the top of the mountain, Nalanqi for the reward, thanks to everyone for the monthly ticket, recommendation ticket and comment
　　Today is the Little New Year in the north, happy Little New Year everyone.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)