NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 13: Stop Overthinking!
"These pastries are so delicious!"
"And the cookies from this shop are amazing!"
"The cake from this place is the best I've ever had, only a little worse than what Lihua makes!"
Walking down the street, Lihua followed behind an excited Kallen. Kallen was like an energetic Alaskan Malamute, running from one end of the street to the other without stopping.
Though Kallen said she wanted Lihua to show her around, Kallen ended up excitedly telling Lihua about her favorite pastry shops and wanting to buy everything in sight for her.
In the past three months, even though Lihua had left Schicksal HQ, she had been busy at the hospital and didn't know the cool places in the city as well as Kallen did.
After taking Lihua on a whirlwind tour of Kolosten, Kallen finally sat down with satisfaction at a restaurant.
"You bought way too much. I can't eat all this," Lihua said, looking at the stack of pastry boxes next to her.
She used to make sweets for Kallen as a way to farm favorability, but she didn't actually enjoy eating sweets, especially since arriving in the Honkai world.
Lihua's tastebuds had been spoiled by the taste of modern processed foods. What was delicious to Kallen might as well be torture for her.
But there were a lot of kids at the hospital who would probably like them, so she should probably ask Kallen first, since it was her gift.
"Kallen, can I give these to the children at the hospital?"
"Huh?" Kallen was clearly stunned. "But don't you love sweets?"
Lihua made amazing sweets. No one in the whole Schicksal HQ could compete with her, only someone who truly loved sweets could delve so deeply into the techniques.
But now, Lihua wanted to give them away?
"I understand what you're trying to do, but this is way too much. I can't finish it, and..."
Lihua scratched her face awkwardly. She just didn't want to eat things that she found unappetizing, she was throwing the kids under the bus.
"There are many children at the hospital. I wanted to give it to them... many of them have lost their parents or are infected with the Black Death, on the verge of death. Many of them have never had such a thing... I thought, if they could taste something sweet, it would give them the courage to face the future."
Lihua almost convinced herself with her speech. Yes, I don't dislike sweets, I just wanted to help the kids. What's wrong with that?
I'm a great humanitarian!
[Energy +2000]
"It's okay, Lihua. Just keep these. I'll buy more for the kids later." Kallen's voice was stiff.
Her energy went up again. It seemed that she wasn't happy after all. She must be upset that Lihua was planning on giving away a gift to other people.
Ugh, am I really going to have to eat these horrible sweets? Lihua sighed in despair. She was worried that she would die from the sweetness.
Kallen didn't know Lihua's thoughts. She was just sad.
She was sad, not because Lihua was giving away her gifts, but because of Lihua herself.
She can't eat them?
How could a Kaslana not be able to eat 20-30 boxes of sweets?
Kallen knew she herself could have finished twice that amount.
Lihua was just saying that she didn't want to eat them.
She was trying to save them for the kids at the hospital.
Lihua had told Kallen her experiences for the past three months. Kallen had thought Lihua's experiences were as exciting as a hero from a book. But now, thinking about them, she just felt sorry for her.
As a Kaslana, Kallen could imagine the humiliation of being kicked out of Schicksal because of her weak strength.
Yes, Lihua never expressed those emotions, but Kallen had seen the hidden sadness in her eyes on the day they separated. (Actually, it was because she didn't farm any energy from Otto.)
Of course, even if Lihua was kind, she still had Kaslana pride in her blood, so that kind of event would definitely be a heavy blow! (Not at all.)
Kallen asked herself. If she were in that situation, she'd probably be depressed for a long time before picking herself back up. But Lihua didn't have a chance to take a break. On the day she was kicked out of Schicksal, she immediately threw herself into a mission to save the common people. (Well, might as well do something productive.)
With the small severance pay that Schicksal gave her, she couldn't even afford one month's worth of food for a normal Kaslana. Kallen couldn't imagine how Lihua had pulled through. (The money was actually quite a lot.)
How did she build a hospital in that remote area? How did she haggle with greedy merchants over every penny? How did she lower herself to ask the nobles for donations and medicine? (Money solves everything.)
These were things a Kaslana shouldn't be doing, yet Lihua did it all and did it so well that Kallen didn't even dare to imagine how much blood and sweat she had shed. (She didn't shed a lot of blood or sweat, just drained Otto's bank account.)
Kallen was not yet an adult and couldn't freely enter and leave Schicksal HQ. She could only write letters to Lihua and ask about her situation, and the answer in every letter was that everything was fine.
Everything was fine... Perhaps in Lihua's eyes, everything would be fine as long as she could help the people in need.
Even though she can't even bear to eat a pastry...
"Kallen, are you okay? I, I won't give them away. Don't be mad."
Lihua looked at Kallen with worry as her expression changed.
She didn't want to make her upset and lose her sponsorship. She'd rather not spend her energy on converting money, it was so tiring to think about all those things.
"I'm not mad, Lihua." Kallen slowly shook her head.
She just felt her heart ache.
She still had to stay at Schicksal HQ and wait for missions. She couldn't do much for Lihua. But as long as she was by her side, she couldn't let Lihua feel wronged.
It would start with making sure Lihua was full today!
"Waiter, please bring me everything on the menu!"