On Why Children Shouldn’t Drink Milk Tea

“Hey, Mo, I have two things to tell you.”

Sitting by the window and looking at the menu, Kim Erise was on the phone using her earpiece:

“Xiaoyu and I won’t be coming back for dinner today.

I plan to take her to the food center in Pacha City and try out some of the local delicacies.”

There was no response from the other end of the earpiece.

“Hey, can you hear me? Weird, it shows it’s connected.”

“It’s almost past the usual dinner time,” Mo’s familiar, detached voice came from the earpiece.

“You only thought to tell me you weren’t coming for dinner now?”

“Ah, I’m really sorry,” the red-haired girl gave a laugh, admiring the blood-red sunset sinking into the sea of clouds outside the window.

“Today I helped Xiaoyu pick out a bunch of toys, clothes, furniture, cosmetics, and all sorts of things, and by the time I realized it, it was already evening.

God knows that shopping takes up more time than playing games and makes you not feel it—well, considering it’s a bit too late to rush back, I decided to eat out with her. Next time, I’ll definitely tell you in advance.”

The other end of the earpiece fell silent again.

“Hello? Hello? Why no sound again—damn it, is the signal really this bad here?”

“Understood,” Mo’s tone was devoid of any emotion, no different from usual. “How is her health?”

“She’s basically fine,” Erise, turning the page of the menu, used her hand to lazily support her cheek.

“The magical girl doctor said that it cost her two Obsidian Seeds of energy to barely use healing magic to remove dozens of wounds, both obvious and hidden, inside and out.

She also had to get a bunch of medicine from a human doctor to remove parasites and lesions.

Good lord, the medication schedule she listed is even longer than the shopping list for a trip to the supermarket—so, this meal can also be seen as a celebration of Xiaoyu’s transformation or something.

I bet, this little girl hasn’t properly eaten a delicious meal in a restaurant in the past few years, or else she definitely wouldn’t be so thin that you could see her ribs.”

“Oh, tell me the second thing.”

“Oh right, I almost forgot,” the red-haired girl hurriedly pressed a few buttons on her earpiece and pulled up a holographic window.

“I just bought a batch of Community Party survivors from Jingqing today, about a hundred people or so.

After you finish your meal, inform the district chief of our area, and tell her to clear out a place for those people to temporarily live—preferably with Doctor Zeng, after all, she is also a member of the Community Party.”

“Understood, anything else?”

“Nope, thank you for your hard work, Mo, bye.”

Terminating the communication, Erise turned off the holographic screen, and rested her cheek on her other hand, looking at the person across the table.

“How about it, Xiaoyu? Have you chosen what you want to eat?”

“Eh?” The pink-haired girl, who was staring intently at the menu, was startled, then blushed and buried her face in the thick menu.

“That, the options are really too many, and, I haven’t chosen what I want to eat yet, I’m really sorry.”

“Then take your time, we’re not in a hurry, no need to apologize.” The red-haired girl shrugged and took two pink drinks handed to her by the waiter.

“Here, it’s said to be this shop’s specialty pomegranate pearl milk tea, give it a try.”

“Ah, okay, tha-thank you.”

Xiaoyu, putting the menu neatly aside, held the milk tea with both hands and took a cautious sip.

Her eyes lit up, sparkling under the sunset.

And then she began to slurp it down, and the sound of swallowing could be heard clearly even two tables away.

“Hehe, I knew it, no girl can resist the deliciousness of milk tea.”

Erise, holding the milk tea, also drank a big gulp, and let out a satisfied sigh.

“Speaking of which, if milk tea wasn’t so inconvenient to store, I would definitely abandon lollipops, and drink a hundred cups a day until it’s dark and the sun and moon are gone—oh yeah, waiter, do you have any recommended specialty dishes?”

“Of course,” as this shop was very popular, the front desk and waiters were all ordinary humans, and they were all super handsome guys over 1.8 meters tall, and they were all dressed in very revealing and sexy butler outfits.

“Speaking of our shop’s specialty dishes, it must be our owner’s handmade Goose Family: the twelve different flavors of dishes made with different cooking methods from every part of a whole goose, paired with various side dishes and snacks, is definitely a must-try delicacy.”

“Sounds good, let’s have a set of Goose Family, and also six cups of pomegranate pearl milk tea—ah, forget it, just bring a bucket, so we don’t have to call you back and forth.”

“Okay, please wait a moment.”

“I have to say, choosing dishes isn’t like choosing clothes and plushies, you can’t tell which ones you like and which ones you don’t just by looking at the appearance,” after handing the two menus, which were not much thinner than a dictionary, to the waiter, the red-haired girl started playing with the straw on the milk tea.

“In my opinion, the inner meaning of food, which is the taste, is much more important than the appearance, so instead of worrying about what to eat, it’s better to start with the specialty dishes and slowly try—hey, what’s wrong, Xiaoyu?”

The pink-haired girl across the table suddenly began to squeeze the pearl milk tea in her hands with all her might, so hard that the plastic cup made a cracking sound, spilling the pink liquid everywhere, and at the same time, her whole body trembled, and her complexion began to get worse and worse, presenting a sickly deep red color.

Oh no, it must be the pearls that are stuck!

Erise, who stood up abruptly, turned behind Xiaoyu and gave her a hand chop, but not only did she not cough up anything, but she also made her grab her throat, bending her body in pain like a lobster being grilled.

Damn, what was the correct way to deal with choking with a foreign object in the throat?

The red-haired girl, whose efforts had backfired, hurriedly called up the holographic screen, her fingers flying across the keyboard to search for the correct method on the spot.

But before she could finish typing, the waiter who had left earlier had already run over, picked up the pink-haired girl, pinched the sides of her cheekbones with one hand, her arm against her chest, and the other hand supporting her neck, letting her face down on his lap, and then patted her back a few times, performing a very standard and skilled Heimlich maneuver.

“Cough, cough, cough…”

Xiaoyu, finally successfully spitting out a sticky black pearl, coughed violently, and then slumped weakly in the waiter’s arms, gasping for air.

“Ah, the situation just now, I’m really very grateful to you.”

Putting the holographic screen away again, Erise shook the waiter’s hand solemnly, and then, after thinking for a moment, took out a stack of banknotes from her waist pouch.

“If Xiaoyu were to die because of this, I would never forgive myself—please accept these money as a reward.”

“You’re welcome, this is what I should do,” the waiter smiled gently, declining the other party’s kindness with a slight bow.

“Next time, please remember not to do the hand chop like you did just now—although it looks very cool, it will often only make things worse.”

“Understood, thank you.”

Putting away the money, Erise took Xiaoyu from the waiter’s arms and gently held her, whispering comfortingly.

“Wuwuwu, Sister Erise,” the pink-haired girl, curled up in her arms, began to sob.

“Just, just now the whole world was turning dark, Xiaoyu wanted, wanted to call for help but, but just like my mouth was stuffed up with a gag, I couldn’t make any sound, it’s really, really scary…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay, nothing’s wrong now.

Next time, remember to chew the pearls before swallowing them so there won’t be any problems,” patting Xiaoyu’s back, Erise rested her chin on the top of the other party’s head, and suddenly realized that something was wrong.

“Wait, how did you know the word ‘gag’?”

“Ah, that, the teacher often puts these on some children who make mistakes, saying that it’s a punishment for being disobedient—but Xiaoyu was only put on them three times, the fewest and the most well-behaved children~”

“…Okay, I understand. In short, you really don’t have to be a good girl, your teacher… never mind, it’s okay, let’s eat.”

Some things are better to tell her when she grows up, but judging from the pride hidden in her tone, it may take a lot of effort to correct it…