บท 179: Chapter 179: Warmth After the Disaster
Chapter 179: Warmth After the Disaster
Alice's words seemed as credible to Klein as being exceptionally lucky in the eyes of fate—you couldn't say it was wrong, but her perspective was a bit peculiar.
After scrutinizing Alice for a long time and finding that she was genuinely looking at him with a sincere smile without any guilt, Klein gave up on further questioning her.
Worried about the next Tarot meeting, Klein brought up another topic: "I might have to go to the sea to look for mermaids."
"Mermaids!" Alice sat up straight. "Ariel!"
"...Who?" Klein was momentarily confused.
"Ariel, the little mermaid," Alice explained. "I also want to see a mermaid with my own eyes, and it would be great to take a photo with one..."
"...Do you think this is a vacation?" Klein looked at Alice, recalling the vampire Emlyn White, and suddenly had a bad premonition.
Alice blinked twice.
Klein pondered for a moment and asked, "Would you want to take a photo with a vampire?"
Alice's bright eyes answered the question. Watching this scene, Klein suddenly regretted letting Emlyn White join the Tarot meeting.
...It felt like Mr. Fool was increasingly unable to control the situation.
Klein sighed deeply.
...
When Klein boarded the train to Pritz Harbor, Alice was at Evelyn's house.
She ultimately didn't see Klein off because when Klein took out the sealed "Creeping Hunger" and described its effects, she asked a question that Klein couldn't answer:
"You said it has living characteristics and needs to eat regularly. If you don't feed it like now, will it starve to death?"
Klein stared at Alice in shock.
After thinking for a moment, Alice continued logically: "According to what you said, it can release extraordinary characteristics afterward. Isn't that equivalent to...
"Eating people, digesting their flesh and blood, and excreting the indigestible extraordinary characteristics..."
Klein painfully cut off Alice's internet connection to stop her from speaking.
After being driven away, Alice went to find Evelyn the next day.
When Alice gave the excuse of "catching a plague in the smog," Mrs. Greenland and Evelyn gladly accepted her absence, and Mrs. Greenland even brought out prepared dumplings.
Yes, dumplings.
Although Alice hadn't had time to teach Mrs. Greenland the dumpling recipe Klein had researched, Mrs. Greenland still managed to serve a plate of dumplings and—a pair of chopsticks.
When she picked up the chopsticks, Alice was puzzled.
She had indeed mentioned to Evelyn that chopsticks were much more convenient for eating dumplings than forks or spoons.
So...where did these chopsticks come from?
Seeing Alice's shocked and nostalgic expression, Mrs. Greenland laughed:
"When Eli told me these were the chopsticks you mentioned, I didn't believe it. It seems traveling more does have its benefits."
"Eli?" Alice repeated the name in confusion.
"He's my husband. You probably haven't met him," Mrs. Greenland smiled warmly. "Try the dumplings and see how they taste."
Despite her many questions, Alice knew it wasn't the time to ask. She smiled gratefully at Mrs. Greenland and said softly:
"I don't know how to thank you. I thought...I thought I'd never see food from my hometown again..."
Although her intention was just to disguise, Alice, who had just completed her promotion ceremony and recalled Shen Yinghuan's memories, couldn't help but choke up as she spoke.
She really couldn't go back anymore.
Tears fell into the bowl, and Alice wiped her eyes, looking solemnly at Mrs. Greenland:
"Thank you so much... Thank you for letting me see this again."
Without waiting for Mrs. Greenland's response, she picked up a dumpling with the chopsticks and put it in her mouth.
Having used a knife and fork for three years, Alice was a bit clumsy using chopsticks for the first time in this different world.
But it was very brief. After a few tries, Alice regained the feel of using chopsticks and focused on tasting the dumplings.
The dumplings made under Ruen's conditions tasted vastly different from the ones she remembered. To Alice, aside from the shape, they were nothing like the dumplings in her memory.
The less refined flour made for chewier dumpling skins, and the filling...she tolerated the fish taste, but who taught them to add mashed potatoes?!
Alice buried her head in the bowl to hide her expression.
Probably never having made dumplings before, Mrs. Greenland had put very little filling to prevent them from bursting—a common mistake for beginners, either adding too little or too much filling.
The dumpling skins weren't well-made either. Compared to real dumplings, these had many flaws, but Alice still found a bit of familiarity in them—a penny that hurt her tooth.
Alice spat out the penny in astonishment and looked at Mrs. Greenland—she never expected this detail to be replicated.
Mrs. Greenland feigned surprise and clapped her hands in celebration: "Oh my, I wondered why no one in our family got the lucky coin. It turns out you have it!"
Alice was silent for a moment, ultimately not exposing Mrs. Greenland. Instead, she picked up a second dumpling.
...How many coins are in this bowl of dumplings?
After spitting out another penny, Alice became more cautious with the third dumpling—sure enough, she spat out another coin.
By the time she finished the bowl, Alice realized one thing—Mrs. Greenland had put a coin in every dumpling!
After sincerely thanking her, Alice confirmed this with Evelyn.
...This was worse than marking children!
Alice opened her mouth to complain but, not being an ungrateful person, she simply thanked Mrs. Greenland repeatedly and gave Evelyn her New Year's gift.
It was an oil painting portrait of Evelyn.
—As a former art student, she could do more than just draw comics.
...
After leaving the Greenland house, Alice returned home and pondered.
After becoming a "Winner," she hadn't immediately digested the potion like she did with the "Calamity Priest" potion.
This meant that, just as Klein needed to find a mermaid in the sea to complete his promotion ceremony, she needed to find her own way of acting.
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