Chapter 1281: A Place Of Refuge
(MC POV)
Ahem... Right, calm down... This World isn't real... Yeah... I'll just erase this World after we're done so there wouldn't be any problems!
Cai Hong would not remember any of this anyway so it's fine... That's why I don't need to delete that boy's existence...
...
...
Fuck it, I'll just do it anyway.
There, done. Now I don't need to worry about some stupid boy disturbing Cai Hong anymore.
What? Were you expecting me to go and kill him with my own hands? Please, I'm not a savage. Why do that when I can just erase him from existence like this?
Just as I did that, the entrance bell chimed again, prompting us to turn towards the door.
Oh, it's Eris.
"Good afternoon... Umm... The shop is still open right?"
"Of course, come in, Eris," I beckoned to her.
She slowly shuffled in and let the door swing shut behind her before making her way towards the front counter, all the while looking like she was stepping on eggshells.
Unlike the original Eris who had four personalities, the Eris of this World only had one and it was a less confident version of herself.
I guess the fact that she was wearing tattered clothes and her body was smeared with dirt and grime probably contributed to that.
In our original World, I saved Eris from a bunch of bandits but I was not there to save her in this one. Thus, she ended up in a rather sorry state where she was reduced to begging on the streets while doing some petty crimes on the side.
That was how she got involved with us in this World when I caught her trying to pickpocket us one day.
We ended up feeding her and hiring her for some odd jobs here and there, though she never accepted a proper position in the shop for reasons she was unwilling to explain.
I figured that she most likely was still involved with some bandit group and thought it would bring us trouble if the bandits were to find out about us.
She also refused our handouts so we ended up compromising by either giving her discounts every time she would purchase from us or giving her 'staff meals' on days that she would work with us.
Eris came up to the counter and placed a bunch of coins on the counter, most of them being copper pieces.
"Umm... I'll... I'll just have whatever this can buy me..." She muttered, right before her stomach growled audibly which caused her to blush in embarrassment.
Lian Li smiled at her, "Of course, Eris. Why don't you go take a seat at the counter?"
"Ah... Umm... I'm ok... I'll just have it to go please... I don't want to dirty your shop..."
I came up behind Lian Li, "Oh, but that's a problem... We ran out of boxes for any take-aways. I guess you'll just need to sit in."
"I... I'll be a bother..."
I gestured to the empty shop, "Oh I'm sure if anyone over there is bothered by you being here, they'll say something about it."
Cai Hong even helped out by waving at her, "Big sister Eris!! Big sister Eris!! Over here!!"
Lian Li giggled and nodded at her, "Come now, Eris. Our cute daughter is calling you over, surely you wouldn't ignore her?"
Eris pursed her lips but gave in eventually, slowly trudging towards Cai Hong who was patting the seat beside her enthusiastically.
Lian Li then swiped the coins off the counter, the amount just enough to purchase a cup of coffee.
In the meantime, I went to prepare a slice of blueberry pie, a pot of herbal tea and some pudding for the clearly famished woman.
While I was pulling out the tea leaves I would be using to make the herbal tea, I overheard Cai Hong's conversation with Eris.
"Big sister Eris! Lookie! Lookie! Papa made cookie for Cai Hong!"
"Mnn... That's lovely, Cai Hong."
"Ehehehe~ Big sister Eris can take a piece!"
She then broke off a piece of the cookie and pushed her hand towards Eris.
"I... I shouldn't... Your Papa made it for you..."
Cai Hong pretended not to hear and brought the piece closer to her mouth, "Ahhhhhh~"
"... Ahhh..."
Cai Hong then tossed the cookie into her mouth, giggling as she did so.
As expected of my loli dragon~ She's definitely the cutest in the universe~
I poured out the tea into a mug before bringing it to the counter alongside the pie and pudding balanced on my arm.
"Here you go, Eris. The pie and pudding are new recipes I'm working on so tell me what you think."
She looked at the plates in front of her in surprise, "That... That can't be what is worth the money I gave you, Master Lin..."
"Well, it's enough for the herbal tea," I lied while shrugging my shoulders. "And these two are not actually being sold yet so they don't have a price. I just thought that I might try and get some opinions on them first. Now try it and tell me what you think? My wife says that it's enough but I think that she always says that to anything I make."
"Ehehehe~ Wife..." Lian Li giggled softly behind me.
Eris looked at the plate of food in front of her, then at me, then back at the food again.
Her stomach growled again as soon as the smell of the pie wafted to her nose, making her salivate as well.
She looked at me again, "Can... Can I really have this?"
"Only if you tell me what you honestly think about the pie and pudding."
She slowly picked up the fork, gulping down the saliva in her mouth before cutting a piece of it to bring to her mouth.
The piece of pie disappeared inside her mouth and she froze.
At first I thought I might have screwed up and brought out a bad piece of pie for her when tears started to stream down her cheeks.
She swallowed, her fork already reaching down to bring up another piece of pie while tears flowed nonstop from her eyes.
"It's... It'shhh shhooo goood..." She cried, shovelling the pie into her mouth like she hadn't eaten in days.
"Well, that's good to hear. You can have seconds if you want to, otherwise it'll go to waste~" I chuckled.
"Thank you... Thank you..." She sobbed, continuing to eat the pie in front of her as we watched over her.
Even if this was another version of Eris, I would still take care of her like my own.
To be honest though... I'm really holding myself back from going over the counter to hug and cuddle her.
Guess I'll do it when we go back.