Huaimin had not yet gone to bed, so they walked together in the courtyard.
——Quoted from Su Shi - "A Night Out at Chengtian Temple"
-1-
"Xiao P, I suddenly realized that this is the first time."
Sitting at the dining table, the puppy slippers on his feet kicked the table legs from time to time.
Kicking her feet happily and waiting for the fish head tofu soup, Miss M's two round black eyes curved into happy crescents.
"This is the first time I happened to be awake after you came back from working overtime very late, and I ran into you who happened to be awake."
“…”
"And we happened to be awake and hungry. We both happened to want to eat fish head with rice. And Xiao P happened to be willing to cook it."
“…”
"What a coincidence~"
“…”
"What a coincidence, Xiao P, why don't we have a heart-to-heart talk? About life? Reminiscing about the past?"
“…”
"You know, Little P, a long time ago, in a certain world, a famous poet once wrote that he and his friend happened to be awake, so they got up late at night to talk..."
“…”
"The boss loves you very much, Xiao P. As the boss's favorite subordinate, and as an adult who just happened to be awake, why don't you talk to me too..."
“…”
"Ah, so we don't have to talk? After all, a heart-to-heart talk between adults is just a formality. How about we just skip it? I'll go take a shower, and you go to the bedroom and put on your school uniform?"
“…”
-2-
No one answered her.
At 2:30 in the morning, in the kitchen, the subordinate's back was firm and numb, and the sound of cutting vegetables was also firm and numb.
Numb. Very numb.
...There's also a kind of silent resistance, perhaps.
-3-
The back of the person making soup in the kitchen subtly overlapped with her previous dream.
But it was completely different from the beautiful figure in my dream, standing in front of the stove and cutting vegetables.
Ms. M tilted her head to an angle, pretending that she was looking past a SLR camera, and tried to look at her subordinate's back again through another lens.
...After changing the angle, she doesn't seem that gentle.
There is no fog, no sunshine, no gentle and worried chatter.
The subordinate is used to keeping silent in the kitchen. After all, his cooking skills are so bad that he has no time to talk while cooking.
So the figure behind him was just cutting vegetables numbly.
-4-
Not long black hair.
Instead, it was her shiny blonde hair, short and curled, revealing traces of her humble movement deeper into the quilt just now.
Not round ears.
Earrings, studs, and ear bone studs were scattered all over the place, like the mementos left on the body by a heavy metal rock singer after getting high. Although Xiao P had very beautiful ears, the excessive number of earrings did not appear out of place, and it only made his profile look better.
But his earrings always seemed cheap, especially his left earlobe, where he always wore a steel earring.
Steel earrings that look cheaper than screws.
The material is very poor and the needle tip is easy to rust. This is also one of the reasons why Xiao P always cleans her earrings and ear holes.
-5-
Miss M once asked him why he didn't change the earring. After all, just like Xiao P likes to try new flavors of snacks frequently, Xiao P also frequently changes his strange earrings.
But I never replaced that one. Especially not the cheapest steel nail.
Little P just shook his head.
"I wore it when I became a ghost. It must be a relic... something I treasured in life."
-6-
Miss M didn't understand. Little P clearly said that "I don't really want to get back my memories of my previous life", but he still kept wearing that earring.
What are you missing?
Since you miss me, why don’t you want to think about me?
He is really weird.
…is also very different, completely different.
Whether it was with all the humans she had ever met, or with the beautiful figure in her dreams.
The sound of cutting vegetables was still numb, but Miss M's mind had drifted to the Milky Way.
...Well, Xiao P is wearing an apron tied around her waist.
She had deliberately bought a pink apron online, which was decorated with lace and cat patterns.
It was just a casual provocation, trying to make Little P look disgusted.
But after asking, "Is this for me?" he put it on without changing his expression.
Not even an eyebrow twitched.
-7-
Even wearing such an apron, she can exude such a silent aura. She is worthy of being called Xiao P.
He is obviously a man without any effeminate features, but he is so suitable for pink. He is worthy of being called Little P.
-8-
...Strange little P.
In fact, before she saw Xiao P's photo, she was willing to arrange an interview for the new guy who submitted his resume to the scary maintenance department...
A small part of the reason was that I heard rumors among the employees.
"This year there is an angelic newcomer whose smile can heal the soul."
[A gentle and quiet woman, whose smile is like the soft light at the center of the universe]
——I’m really curious about what kind of person can receive almost the same evaluation as my sister did in the past.
But when he walked into the office, when he met her eyes, when she officially opened his file—
This guy is different from my sister.
Completely different.
-9-
It's not a poor imitation.
This guy...
Looking into my eyes, even though I've been through so many years and have lost my gaze, I can still...smile like that?
But I am [M].
I'm not some bright hope.
-10-
My sister used to be able to smile at me because she was gentle and beautiful.
Also because she knew nothing, I never held a knife in front of her.
...This guy is completely different from my sister, from his smile to his eyes, everything is completely different from my sister.
And he should know what [M] stands for.
He must understand this because he is a being that can transform into undead, and he is the one who dares to enter the terrifying maintenance department.
but……
-11-
He was still smiling at her.
It is very real. Even if there is some falsehood, it is a lie that even M, who has experienced a long time, cannot see.
-12-
"First question. Employee, can I take your smile off of yours?"
"I'm sorry, but I refuse. Smiling at your future boss is good social etiquette."
-13-
...That was their first meeting and their first conversation.
During the long period of time that passed by indifferently, Miss M noticed P.
From then on, she looked at P and played with it every day with great interest.
Front, side, back, pace, language, expression.
She looked at every detail so carefully.
Unprecedented, take a closer look at this strange individual.
-14-
M originally would not pay attention to anyone other than her sister - even though her sister had left for a long, long time, she still didn't want to - sister, other humans, this was the division in her mind.
But, Little P...
Different from her sister, different from other humans, different from any life she had encountered.
He appeared before her so vividly and uniquely—and unlike his sister, who was an ordinary human and had long since passed away—
When the undead pushed open the office door and stood in front of her for the first time, Miss M vaguely realized it at first sight.
He would not be a "passerby" that she could simply brush aside.
-15-
"Xiao P, you are really special. What makes you special?"
“…”
"Xiao P~Xiao P~It's already late, come on, let's talk."
“…”
"Little P doesn't like wasting time with lies, right? Then, just tell me the answer directly. What's the reason why you're so special?"
“…”
"It just so happens that we didn't sleep tonight~"
“…”
-16-
The backs of the subordinates in the kitchen remained numb and determined.
Cut open the fish head.
Extract teeth to remove fishy smell.
Cut tofu into cubes.
Slice the green onion, ginger, and garlic.
Fried fish head.
Put the water on.
Add two pre-fried eggs.
Then……
-17-
Mr. P pulled out a crimson data blip from mid-air with an expressionless face.
【Input command, speed up.】
-18-
Five minutes later, Miss M got a pot of freshly baked fish head tofu soup.
The self-compiled heating overtime program is burned out at just the right temperature, full of the beauty of the system world.
Ms. M, who had been brewing emotions and expressing her deep feelings, said: "..."
Miss M couldn't help but reveal her disdain at the dinner table that day: "Fish head tofu soup should be simmered slowly..."
Mr. P placed the bowl of rice in front of her.
There was a very loud "bang".
It was the first sound made by the silent chef after leaving the kitchen.
-19-
"Eat your food. No need to talk."
“…”
-20-
"But, Xiao P, fish head tofu soup should be simmered slowly..."
"It's 2:45 AM. Urban legend has it that slow-cooking tofu soup at 2:54 AM will directly damage the brains of bosses who stay up late and disturb their subordinates' sleep."
"…Which world's urban legend?"
"I don't know. I've been working too much overtime and haven't gotten enough sleep, so I can't find the world number."
“…”
Miss M finally woke up from her late night mood.
She recognized the resistance expressed in her subordinates' silence.
-twenty one-
"Are you unhappy, Little P? Angry? Because I disturbed your sleep after working overtime?"
"No, Miss M. You're hungry, so I prepared a midnight snack. I've done that many times in the past."
Otherwise you wouldn't have rolled onto my quilt so naturally and pulled me up.
...If I had known earlier, I should have firmly refused the first time I was pulled up.
"This time is different. Didn't I just carefully calculate it? In the past, you've never worked overtime as late as today... Uh, I actually fell asleep at midnight. I wanted to be the first to admire your expression when you saw the 'Peanut Tragedy'."
"Really? Next time you can just go to bed and not ruin my peanut butter."
"Ah—why—"
Mr. P pulled out a chair opposite her and sat down with a bowl of rice. "No reason. It's okay to make a little midnight snack. I just want to eat something. I didn't eat anything during the overtime work."
Ms. M: “…”
Ms. M: "Xiao P, that's my fish head tofu soup. It's what I ordered."
According to international practice, this dish is mine.
Mr. P: "This is the tofu soup I made myself. I made it myself."
There is no such overbearing international practice. It's just your bad habit of protecting your food.
Ms. M: "I would never have allowed you to do this before. Forget it. You should be grateful for your boss's rare kindness."
Considering that Xiao P worked overtime today, I can only give him one spoonful.
Mr. P: "Okay, thank you for your rare kindness."
It's such a rare kindness, just one spoonful.
-twenty two-
The two undead with very strange thought processes completed a conversation in their minds and then stopped talking.
Miss M watched eagerly as her subordinate naturally picked up the spoon.
Mr. P felt her eager gaze poking at the back of his hand.
The affected spoon: "..."
The soup spoon shook silently, shaking off the fish meat that had just been scooped up from the spoon, leaving only tofu.
Then the soup spoon silently poured the shredded tofu mixed with soup onto the rice.
The soup spoon silently returned to the soup pot and stopped moving.
Ms. M: "Great! Hahaha, Little P is so stupid! A normal person would scoop a spoonful full of meat, right? But he only scooped tofu. Hahaha, Little P is so stupid!"
Mr. P: “…Oh.”
-twenty three-
So both of them started eating rice soaked in fish soup.
Although the same type of rice bowls were inexplicably distinguished between superiors and subordinates, there were only those with tofu foam and those with meat that was almost squashed into foam.
Because both parties were indeed hungry in a sense, for a long time, they were all focused on eating and there was no sound at the table.
At exactly three o'clock in the morning, Miss M was the first to put down her bowl.
"Xiao P, add another bowl."
Mr. P was still eating. In fact, his eating pace was surprisingly slow. He chewed his food carefully, neither hurried nor slow.
——She is at the opposite extreme from Miss M. She eats like a wolf.
"Hurry up, Xiao P! Give me another bowl of rice~"
Hearing this, he just raised his eyes and said, "Don't eat two bowls of rice for supper, Miss M. You won't be able to sleep if you eat too much."
"You can't sleep if you don't have enough to eat! Little P, do you know what it feels like to be hungry? Hunger can kill you!"
"As a long-dead spirit, what nonsense are you talking about?"
"... Then, Xiao P, do you know what will happen if I don't enjoy my meal?"
"I understand, Miss M. I've seen it. But I also know what happens when you eat too much and can't sleep."
Dragging someone out in the early morning to accompany you to pick clothes and go to a nightclub to dance, really, Mr. P would rather die than accompany her to dance late at night.
"...That was in the past, back then, Little P. Look how long it's been since I took you to a nightclub..."
"Well, now you should throw yourself on my blanket and roll around repeatedly."
"I'm so cute, why not jump onto Little P's quilt and roll around? Little P, you have to work hard, maybe I'll even roll right into your bed!"
"Not good. You won't turn into an adult when you roll into my bed, you'll just unleash a kindergarten attack."
The last time, you even ran outside and froze for half an hour while it was hailing, just to suddenly stuff your hail-cold hands into my pajamas.
-twenty four-
It is troublesome enough to have a mentally ill boss, but what is even more troublesome is that the mental age of this mentally ill person is fluctuating.
To be honest, he went outside to freeze for half an hour in the early morning just to sneak his frozen hands into my pajamas while I was sleeping, and watched me bounce out of bed and laughed out loud.
You must be frozen silly, what's wrong with you?
-25-
After that day, Mr. P would always close all doors and windows leading to the outside before going to bed to prevent his boss from running out and having an attack of illness.
...But there's always a crack on the door of his own bedroom, so who knows.
-26-
Miss M didn't get to eat the second bowl of rice in the end, but Mr. P served her a second bowl of soup, carefully filling the soup with a very tiny ball of rice.
Actually, Miss M is not very interested in late-night snacks. She will eat at her regular meal times and is not very keen on late-night snacks, except for snacks, of course.
But Miss M is greedy and protective of her food. She always likes to scoop all the good things into her bowl. If someone sits opposite her and eats with her, like Mr. P, she will feel a sense of crisis and start eating more, and even grab food when she gets too excited.
In fact, she had no idea how much she could eat, and every time she scrambled for food, she ended up overeating.
-27-
Therefore, Mr. P did not harbor ill intentions in intentionally reaching the principle of "peaceful coexistence and no violence" with his boss at the dinner table. Rather, if he did not find a way to control her, Miss M might get so carried away fighting over food that she would pull out a sickle and destroy the entire restaurant.
After he is resurrected, I have to go buy some digestive tablets for my boss who is holding his stomach and complaining about pain.
……Um.
Don't ask why he knows so well.
-28-
I've been through so much during these years of living together...
"Little P~ At the very bottom of the soup pot! At the very bottom! There are two poached eggs! My favorite poached eggs—help me get them out!"
...This is not a surprise Easter egg, it was put in from the beginning, a fried egg.
Mr. P quietly scooped up the two poached eggs and poured them into her bowl with a little rice along with the hot soup.
A fine white mist rose, and Miss M, who was looking from the opposite side, seemed to be a blurred black shadow for a moment.
Mr. P's hand paused.
-29-
"Little P?"
"…Sorry, it's nothing."
The second bowl was placed in front of Miss M, but she was not in a hurry to take it.
The expression that Little P showed just now...ah.
ah.
What are you doing?
...He dares?
She put down her chopsticks.
There was a crisp "pop".
Her tone was particularly cheerful, and her dimples were exposed: "Xiao P, when you looked at me just now, did you think of someone else?"
"...There is no one else, Miss M."
"Hmm—really—"
"Yes. I won't mistake you for anyone else, please rest assured. You are my only superior."
“Is that so—”
"Ms. M, you are the one."
Mr. P picked up his chopsticks, his expression calm. "Just now, while I was cooking, you were staring at my back, trying to match me with someone. Someone very important in your long past?"
-30-
Miss M was stunned.
"No," she blurted out, "Little P is Little P, the most special one. What does your past have to do with me?"
Mr. P chuckled softly, "Really? That's okay."
"Of course it's okay~" Miss M picked up the chopsticks again and picked up a poached egg in the bowl.
She naturally put the fried egg into Mr. P's bowl.
"Little P is very special. Compared to the past, Little P is my—"
Mr. P picked up the unexpected fried egg with chopsticks in a daze.
-31-
The next second, Miss M quickly took away his chopsticks, picked up the fried egg again, and put it into her mouth in one bite.
"...Well, well, right now! Hehe, successfully snatched it away, Xiao P has been fooled again..."
oh.
-32-
The present is different from the past.
-33-
Mr. P looked at his bowl.
"Not enough... not enough yet."
"What's the matter? It's just a joke, don't be so upset~ Here, I'll give you the other egg. Seriously, it's a reward from your boss - Xiao P, you have to work hard tomorrow, I'll leave the troublesome official business to you~"
"Yeah. I'll try harder."
-34-
"Can you still fall asleep after dinner? If you can't, you can come to my room and roll around."
"...Wow, is Little P so nice tonight? Yeah, yeah, I'll go after I finish this bite!"
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