Chapter 35

"Kazuko, good afternoon!" Aoba greeted as he returned to the apartment and saw Kazuko sitting under the eaves, sipping her afternoon tea.

"Aoba-kun, good afternoon! Would you like some tea?" Kazuko invited.

"Sure, since I have nothing else to do, a cup of tea sounds good. Thanks for the trouble," Aoba said after a moment's thought, then sat down next to Kazuko.

"What's with Aoba-kun today? Suddenly you're drinking tea?" Kazuko asked curiously as she poured tea from the teapot into a spare cup.

"Nothing much! I just had some good black tea a few days ago, which brought back some memories. Speaking of which, apart from alcohol, what I used to enjoy the most was the tea she made!" Aoba said with a nostalgic smile, as if recalling something from the past.

"That's strange! Even though Aoba-kun is not that old, you always give me a sense of having experienced a lot!" Kazuko said, handing Aoba a cup of green tea.

"Having experienced a lot, maybe that's true!" Aoba said ambiguously, then took a sip of tea. "It's a very memorable taste. Kazuko, your tea-making skills are really good!"

"Thank you for the compliment!" Kazuko smiled, accepting the praise. It was clear she was very happy when others praised her tea-making skills.

"By the way, I'll go get some tea snacks!" Kazuko got up and went to her room.

The two were sitting under the eaves in front of Kazuko's room in the apartment. So, Kazuko could see her room's window just by turning around. Moreover, the window of her room was a traditional Japanese sliding door, so she could easily enter the room by just pushing it open.

Just as Kazuko entered her room to get the tea snacks, Bai Gui, sensing Aoba's presence, floated out of Aoba's room, passing through the wall in an invisible form, and bowed slightly beside Aoba, saying, "Welcome back, Master."

"I'm back," Aoba smiled and nodded at Bai Gui.

"Is there anything you want to eat, Master? I'll prepare dinner," Bai Gui asked.

"Dinner? Can you make Sanxian?" Aoba mentioned a Chinese dish.

"Sorry, Master, I can't make it," Bai Gui said, sounding a bit disappointed.

"It's okay, let's have a stew instead. Your stew is very delicious!" Aoba smiled and comforted her.

"Yes, Master, I'll prepare it right away," Bai Gui immediately perked up and floated back to the room.

At the same time, Kazuko came out of her room with two small plates of tea snacks. Without the ability to see spirits, Kazuko naturally didn't see the invisible Bai Gui, and the two passed each other without incident.

Kazuko placed the tea snacks between them and sat down again.

"Thank you," Aoba said, picking up a small skewer of dango and eating one.

"How does it taste?" Kazuko asked with a smile.

"The red bean paste is sweet but not cloying, very delicious," Aoba nodded.

"I made it myself," Kazuko said, smiling even more and with a hint of pride.

"Really? You made it by hand?" Aoba didn't hide his surprise.

Aoba was indeed surprised that the dango was made by Kazuko, but if he wanted to, he could have hidden this surprise completely. However, Aoba still showed his surprise to please her.

Clearly, Kazuko was very satisfied with Aoba's surprise. Seeing her like a little girl showing off, Aoba's goal was achieved.

After eating two skewers of dango and finishing the green tea in his cup, Aoba looked at the sun setting in the west but still far from the horizon, feeling the warm spring sunlight on his skin. Suddenly, he felt that this quiet afternoon tea time was indeed a pleasant experience.

In his previous life, there was no such custom of afternoon tea, and before regaining his memories in this life, Aoba didn't know how to enjoy such tranquility. It was only now that Aoba realized that drinking afternoon tea and enjoying a peaceful time was a good choice for the afternoon.

Thus, Aoba and Kazuko sat in silence, waiting for time to pass until the sun was lower in the sky, and Kinako Takeuchi appeared at the entrance of the apartment.

"That's strange, before it was Kazuko drinking with us, now even Aoba-kun is drinking tea?" Kinako Takeuchi couldn't help but comment when she saw Aoba and Kazuko quietly drinking tea together.

"Even I, who invited Aoba-kun to drink tea, was surprised when he agreed!" Kazuko said with a smile.

"I just suddenly remembered how wonderful it is to drink tea, so I wanted to experience it again!" Aoba smiled and asked curiously, "Kinako, are you not working today?"

"Yes, I don't have the luxury of being as relaxed as you! We both rely on ourselves, so why can you avoid hard work?" Kinako Takeuchi complained.

"Maybe it's because I don't buy expensive cosmetics or designer bags!" Aoba glanced at the bag Kinako was carrying and laughed.

Of course, the real reason was that Aoba had earned enough money from gambling to cover his daily expenses, which he couldn't explain. However, it was true that Kinako spent a lot of money on various designer items with her hard-earned wages.

"Alright, I'll go back to my room to rest for a bit. I have to go to work soon. See you later," Kinako Takeuchi waved to Aoba and Kazuko and walked into the apartment.

"Alright, Kazuko, let's end it here for today. I'll take my leave," Aoba decided to end the afternoon tea after seeing Kinako return to her room.

"Aoba-kun, won't you have one more cup?" Kazuko invited.

"No, I'm good. Let's have tea together next time!" Aoba stretched and said.

"Alright, let's have tea together next time!" Kazuko smiled gently.

Aoba got up and walked into the apartment, opened the door to his room, and saw Bai Gui cooking stew on the stove.

"Welcome back, Master," Bai Gui bowed.

"I'm back," Aoba smiled.

******

This chapter is an additional update for the reader (Aizhang Xiaqu'er) who donated 5888 starting coins. Thank you for your support.

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