The Price of Romance on the Food Street

If not for her past savings, Shen Wei’an estimated she would have been out on the streets, begging for food. However, that dire situation wasn’t far off now.

Her dwindling savings had, in a moment of impulse, been entirely transferred to a certain white-haired streamer. Even years after its completion, a once-popular book brought in meager returns. Shen Wei’an gazed at her phone’s balance, sighed, and with trembling hands, unwrapped another lollipop, popping it into her mouth.

‘Why did I fall for a good-for-nothing who couldn’t even write half a word or sketch a single line?’

She couldn’t comprehend it. The novel’s immense popularity had already exceeded her wildest expectations.

To her, it had merely been a journal, a slightly exaggerated record of her life, a way to indulge her fantasies. Yet, even after so much time had passed, numerous people continued to leave comments in the review section.

During her years abroad, she had convinced herself that she had forgotten the past, that her heart would never stir again. But then she heard that a certain person had truly died.

Her heart felt as though it had been flayed a thousand times, consumed by regret, pain, unwillingness, loss, and despair.

Watching the surging tide, she had, for a moment, wished to plummet to the ocean floor.

The tangle of these emotions compelled her to fly back home alone, to witness the tombstone with her own eyes.

‘No one can listen to my unhappiness.’

–There will be someone.

‘The person I wanted to be, I can no longer find.’

–Let me help you.

‘Ultimately, I am a failure. No one remembers me.’

Fortunately, however, she met her again.

“What should I do if I can’t write anything?”

“Of course, you should try to recall what’s happened around you. Take everything from reality, all the futures you yearn for, and give them a magical twist. Won’t that make writing come easily?”

“Someone useless like me, even if I force myself to write, what’s the point?”

“Your existence is the point.” “Aren’t you going to become everyone’s pride?”

Scrolling through the messages, Shen Wei’an chuckled. Her cute little canine teeth gleamed under the light, and the lollipop stick, now marked with several bite indentations, twirled between her fingers.

Exchanging messages each night with this account, which she once considered her confidante, was one of her few sources of joy. Through their encouragement, Shen Wei’an tentatively began anew.

Her boundless grey world was tinged with a streak of white, and she started writing about her recent life once more.

Unexpectedly, it became a hit again.

And this person, undoubtedly, was…

****

“This shop has been open for twenty years, you know! Just try it, and you’ll see. I guarantee you’ve never tasted such a wonderful flavor!”

Qing Zixi looked at the small bucket of skewers being offered to her by the pink-haired loli, who spoke of “practice” with every other breath. The bucket obscured most of her tiny face.

“Mm.”

“Pouring cold sauce over hot food perfectly neutralizes the temperature~!”

Qing Zixi took a bite, her red eyes trembling slightly.

Indeed, the taste was excellent.

The contrast of cold exterior and hot interior made the food pleasantly warm rather than scalding, a rare treat on such a cold winter day.

“Not only is the sweet and spicy sauce the soul of it, but the ingredients are also handmade by them, which is why it’s so delicious.”

Xia Mengying also pulled a skewer from the bucket. Then, noticing a spot at Qing Zixi’s lip, she leaned in close.

“Little Sister Xi, be careful when you eat! You’ve got oil on the corner of your mouth. Let me help you…”

*Mmph!*

Only when she extended her small tongue, intending to lick it away, did Xia Mengying regret not having gone out in her adult form.

She couldn’t even reach by jumping!

Ah, ah, ahhhh…

Watching Qing Zixi extend her delicate tongue to lick away the red oil from her lip, Xia Mengying wished with all her heart that it had been her own tongue.

“What’s wrong?”

Qing Zixi asked, her eyes lowered. Having not focused on Xia Mengying moments before, Qing Zixi had no idea what thoughts were swirling in her mind.

“Nothing. Practice proves that there are pros and cons to being big or small, you know…”

Xia Mengying muttered words Qing Zixi couldn’t understand. Qing Zixi simply chose to ignore it, pulling another skewer from the bucket.

“Let’s go. Let’s see the other stalls.”

Although this street was called a food street, it wasn’t exclusively for food. Many stalls also sold handicrafts. In the dim surroundings, each stall was illuminated by sparkling lights, and these trinkets, under the glow, were even more likely to awaken a young girl’s heart.

‘How truly adorable—’

Though bells were ringing in Qing Zixi’s heart, her expression remained as frosty as ever as she looked at Xia Mengying.

“You definitely want this pink one, don’t you? And this one, you want this too, right…?”

“There’s no helping you. Big Sister will buy them for you.”

These successive remarks left Xia Mengying somewhat bewildered.

While these items were indeed pretty, to her, they were merely “classic fashionable trinkets.” If bought, she wouldn’t know where to put them, and they’d eventually become bothersome clutter to be discarded.

“Oh dear, look at your sister! She has good taste! Here, this one also sells quite well. I highly recommend it~!”

The shop owner immediately picked up one small item after another to recommend to Qing Zixi, her face beaming with smiles. Qing Zixi, flattered, offered a slight smile in return.

‘Big Sister!’

‘That’s right, hmph, it’s good you know your place. As an older sister, buying things for her younger sister is perfectly reasonable. It’s fine~ There’s no shame in liking trinkets only elementary schoolers would like. Little sister, just stand quietly on the side!’

Gazing at Qing Zixi’s profile, Xia Mengying seemed to understand her thoughts.

“Please recommend some silver hair accessories. They would perfectly match my little sister.”

Without a second thought, Xia Mengying pulled cash from her waist pouch.

In this era, cash was uncommon, but Xia Mengying was a pragmatist; she wasn’t accustomed to paying with strings of numbers online.

Naturally, upon seeing Xia Mengying produce cash, the fawning shop owner turned her attention to Xia Mengying instead.

“Oh my, well then, I must recommend *these*! Your little sister is truly a great beauty; wearing these hair accessories will make her even more stunning!”

*Hiss!*

Qing Zixi also patted her pockets, but alas, they were empty.

All her money was on her phone. Moreover, once she calmed down, she realized that a single one of these small items cost a full fifty or sixty.

‘Too expensive!’

Alarms blared in Qing Zixi’s mind. She wasn’t some wealthy scion oblivious to the value of money. On the contrary, because her eldest sister, Gu Qingyue, always brought her many books on finance, her financial sense was quite sound.

In fact, she was even somewhat frugal in her daily life.

“Hey, it’s too expensive. Let’s just go.”

“What’s the harm in buying one~?”

The two lowered their voices slightly, whispering amongst themselves, while the shop owner rubbed her hands together expectantly, staring at the two most beautiful girls she had encountered since setting up her stall.

“They’re made of very ordinary materials; the cost-effectiveness is too low.”

“Little Xi…”

Seeing a slightly serious expression appear on Xia Mengying’s face, Qing Zixi frowned slightly, tilting her head to show she was listening.

“Being too sensible isn’t romantic.”

‘Being too sensible isn’t romantic…?’