Chapter 109 Xia Liang's Doubts
“It’s really still there…”
With emotions that she couldn't even identify, Delphinium couldn't help but stop in front of the sign.
"Is this the place?"
Xia Liang, who was beside her, raised his head and looked towards the second floor of the small building, but saw nothing. He could only lower his head again: "Why is the cafe opened on the second floor?"
“Maybe it’s the rent.”
Cuique briefly stated her guess, and took Xia Liang to the first floor for a distance, then took one step and stepped onto the stairs: "Anyway, let's go up and take a look first."
Xia Liang stopped talking and just looked around curiously while walking up the stairs with Cuiqiao.
Going up the stairs to the second floor, the two could already smell a faint aroma of coffee just by standing at the stairs. Looking up, they could see an open door.
But at this point, Delphinium actually began to feel a bit like homesickness.
If the information was correct, then the cafe in front of me should be the one that the old team in Fangting City often visited. However, how similar is it to the one in my memory? I didn't even know that it had changed its address and moved once. From this perspective, the cafe in my memory actually no longer exists.
"What's wrong?" On the other side, seeing Delphinium's somewhat stunned expression, Xia Liang asked curiously.
"...No, nothing." Coming back from her thoughts, Kuizi shook her head gently, "It's just that the scene reminded me of something."
Without thinking any more, she took Xia Liang into the cafe.
What caught her eye was a long bar with various coffee-making equipment placed behind it. When she walked to the bar, she saw an old man busy working behind the counter.
The old man looked to be around 60 years old, with slightly gray hair, but overall he looked energetic and did not appear too old.
And the most important thing is that although his face is very different from what Cuiqiao remembered, many features are enough to prove one thing - he is the boss from twenty years ago.
She can still recall the scenes of going to the cafe with her old team. At that time, the boss, who was still a middle-aged man in his forties, would stand behind the bar and personally entertain the customers coming and going.
When the magical girls who concealed their identities rushed in from outside, talking and laughing, he would scold them with a smile and ask them to be quiet, and then ask, "Is it still the same as before?"
Although he always said discouraging words like "middle school students, go home and study quickly", he still reserved the table where the girls often sat and left a special seat for these "little regular customers".
He and the magical girls have never been very familiar with each other, nor have they ever understood each other, but as the owner and customers of the cafe, they have an unspoken tacit understanding.
However, later on, Delphinium withdrew from the magical girl team and never came here with the team members again. The boss's appearance in memory has always been frozen in her forties.
Until now, when I saw the old man behind the bar, the face that had long become blurred in my memory became clear again, but things and people have changed.
Seeing someone coming, the old man raised his head from his busy work and saw that it was two very young girls. He raised his eyebrows in surprise at first, then quickly smoothed them down and said in a professional manner:
"Welcome, girls, what would you like to order?"
"Nothing, just came to take a look." Delphinium said truthfully.
"Take a look? Haha, little girl, we don't have any interesting toys here."
The old man smiled helplessly. He thought it was just a joke or a prank, but when he noticed Delphinium's blue hair, he was suddenly stunned.
Blue hair is not a very common hair color.
Although it is said that some outsiders have blue hair, Fangting City is a relatively remote city in Donghua Prefecture, and not many outsiders stay here for a long time.
In fact, with the old man's many years of life experience, he has only seen a few people with blue hair.
And the only customer with the same hair color that I had ever dealt with in this coffee shop that I run was this one person.
"You...are you..."
He first supported his eyes, squinted and looked carefully, and spoke in a tone that he himself was not sure of, but then gradually became certain: "Did your mother ask you to come here?"
His question made the originally somewhat sad look in Delphinium's eyes instantly become dead silent.
“…I guess so.”
But she also knew that such a misunderstanding would not do her any harm - she couldn't explain to an ordinary person that she was a magical girl and that her appearance after transformation would not change over time - it would be a more rational choice to go along with what the other person said.
Her affirmation made the old man look enlightened.
"That's what I said!"
As if he remembered something, he tapped the table lightly and pointed at Delphinium, saying, "I still remember that about a dozen years ago, there was a group of girls who often came to my shop. There was a short girl with blue hair just like you, and... well, I forgot what she looked like, but it seems that she is quite similar?"
After he said this, he couldn't help but look at Xia Liang again, and looked at Xia Liang's face carefully: "As for you...you are also the daughter of one of those girls? But you don't seem to be that similar to them?"
"My mother hasn't been here before, I guess."
Xia Liang smiled politely and waved his hand, saying, "I just came here to take a look with my friends."
"Haha, it seems that there is nothing wrong with my memory."
The old man smiled cheerfully: "So what do you want to see? There should be photos of your mother and her friends on the wall over there. Do you want me to take you to see them?"
"...Thank you. We'll be there in a minute." Delphinium bowed politely. "We can just walk around by ourselves. Don't worry about it."
"That's fine. Anyway, your mother and her friends were my old customers back then and took care of a lot of my business. I won't let you spend any money. Just go in."
The old man said cheerfully, "I have something else to do. If you change your mind and want some coffee, I'm right here. Just let me know anytime."
He gave some kind instructions and returned to his work at the bar.
Cuiqiao didn't say much and walked inside with Xia Liang.
As they walked around a corner, they saw a spacious and quaint coffee shop. The interior decoration style was very old-fashioned, and it even made people wonder if they had returned to many years ago.
The floor and walls of the cafe are all made of wood, and there are some old photos and posters hanging on the walls, many of which date back to 30 or 40 years ago, bringing a strong sense of nostalgia. Looking deeper, you can see that the floor of a certain area is covered with several old carpets, creating a quiet and comfortable atmosphere.
The small round coffee table, exquisite small ornaments, and high wooden chairs, although these furniture have gone through the years, they still have a unique charm.
The whole cafe is filled with a strong roasted aroma. If someone who knows coffee stands here, they will probably be able to quickly tell that the aroma comes from high-quality beans. This is enough to show that this cafe is not just for show, and the owner has really put a lot of effort into the quality of the coffee.
Unfortunately, probably because the second floor is too remote, the business inside is quite quiet. Only a few locals sit there, chatting quietly while enjoying coffee.
Delphinium said nothing, but walked slowly among the furnishings in the house.
This is no longer the cafe it used to be. Because it moved from its original location and underwent a new round of decoration, the interior scene is very different from what she remembers.
However, even though the appearance is completely different, she can still find a faint sense of nostalgia here.
It's not just the same decoration style, but also because many of the interior furnishings here make her feel familiar.
During this time, they passed by a photo wall with photos of various guests who had stayed in this cafe.
One of them showed four girls with different expressions.
Xia Liang noticed this photo. She didn’t recognize the three girls in the photo, but the blue-haired figure was undoubtedly the person standing next to her.
"Speaking of which...young senior."
She suddenly spoke, then quietly lowered her voice and whispered into Delphinium's ear, "What kind of people were you in your previous team?"
Her voice was low, but the question was still clearly heard by Delphinium.
Cuique was originally looking up at the old photos, but when she heard Xia Liang's words, she lowered her head, was silent for a while, and pointed to the seat next to her: "Sit down and talk."
Xia Liang understood and didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he followed Cuique to the booth in the corner. The two of them sat down on the sofa-style armchairs and were immersed in a quiet and peaceful atmosphere for a while.
"This is where our team used to be. Well, the place has changed though."
With a hint of nostalgia, Kuija gently rubbed the wooden table in front of her: "But the object has not changed. It looked like a newly purchased round table back then, but now it looks a bit old."
Xia Liang asked curiously, "Why did you want to come to the cafe in the first place?"
"It was probably because someone in the team strongly requested it. Or rather, it was the most troublesome person in the team who strongly requested it."
"Is she Xiaolu's mother?"
"No, it's another troublesome guy." Delphinium couldn't help but droop her eyelids, "He's several times more troublesome than you are now."
"I'm being a good boy, Senior, I'll do whatever you want me to do."
"Then I'll ask you to delete all the photos in your phone."
"don't want."
After these words were spoken, the two looked at each other in silence for a while. Cuiqiao looked indifferent, but Xialiang smiled sweetly.
"…Forget it, let's get back to the topic."
After a while, Cuiqiao sighed and said, "This is actually why I brought you here. Some stories would be difficult to explain to Baimei and the others, but you already know some of the truth about me, so I can naturally tell you."
"for example?"
"For example, you asked what kind of people are in the old Fangting City team."
Lifting her hand from the table, Cuiqiao slowly raised her head and looked at Xia Liang: "To be honest, there were only four people who gathered in this cafe at the beginning."
"The one with the most egoistic personality is named Su Shengzi. She arbitrarily chose this cafe as the meeting place based on her own preferences..."
She began to whisper to Xia Liang the stories about the old team members.
The magical girl named Anya, codenamed Sakura, is the center of the team and the most enthusiastic one. Although she is a little careless and lazy, or even a little stupid, she has the most determined heart and fighting faith, and can always infect everyone with positive emotions.
The magical girl named Aso Yuanxiang, codenamed Margaret, is a senior from the Eastern Province, and is one year older than the others in the team. Although she is very outspoken and confident, she does not treat others with a condescending attitude, and her fighting style is also the most daring and unrestrained in the team.
The magical girl named Su Shengzi, codenamed Lanxiang, is a young lady with a mysterious background and a genius who does her own thing. She has a very self-centered but also very clear set of standards for understanding things, so she always makes some remarks that are normal from her perspective, but nonsense to others.
In the cafe which no longer exists, at a table in the corner, four young girls sat there, with different personalities and expressions. From time to time, they chatted with each other, played around, or quarreled.
The four girls grew up step by step from their initial youth. They entered the best years of their youth, and in addition to the vitality of youth, their expressions also had many other things.
Later, four people became five.
Joining this team is a quiet girl named Hong Siyu.
She was a girl wearing glasses, looking a little quiet, even a little dull. She always spoke in a low voice and timidly. If someone showed a little impatience, she would start to stutter or even be unable to speak.
When Hong Siyu joined them, everyone in the Fangting City team was already high school students, and Hong Siyu was a freshman in the same school as three of them.
She was saved by Cornflower during the beast disaster, and was later discovered to have the talent of a magical girl, so she joined the magical girl team in Fontaine City.
Because of this, she always follows Cornflower's lead, acting like a little follower.
Here the girls chat about everything, imagine the future and describe their youth.
Until one day...the magical girl named Cornflower announced her withdrawal.
The story is like a piece of music that was forcibly interrupted. Even though it seemed like there would be a sequel, an abrupt pause was added.
——"Young senior?"
The call in her ear brought Delphinium back to reality.
She then realized that she had finished the story she wanted to tell, but she was still lost in her own thoughts and hadn't spoken again for a long time.
"Feel sorry."
After a light cough, Kuizi said calmly: "When you get older, you will always subconsciously immerse yourself in memories."
"Nothing, no need to be so polite."
Xia Liang shook his head, placed his elbows on the table, and propped up his chin with both hands: "It's just that after hearing what you said just now, there is still one question that has not been explained."
"What's the problem?"
Delphinium asked back, "Did I miss something?"
"How should I put it... this time I should be the first to say sorry."
Xia Liang smiled embarrassedly and continued to lower his voice: "I know this question may belong to personal privacy, but I have been curious for a long time. If you don't want to say it, just don't answer it."
"Because I haven't systematically studied the knowledge of the technique, I don't know if there is such a technique. Is there really magic that can change a person's gender?"
"That is to say, young senior, how did you manage to look like a man?"
(End of this chapter)
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