Special cookies (2)

The next morning, Guang Liang arrived early in the morning.

He arrived even before Maria woke up and she normally woke up quite early to prepare the cafe for breakfast.

When she came down to open the store, she was surprised to find him standing outside the store waiting in the cold.

It had been quite cold outside in the morning even though it was summer right now since Hunter Island was in the middle of the ocean. The sea breeze was blown right into the city in the morning and made it much colder than other places.

She knew that a S Ranker like Guang Liang wouldn't really be affected by the cold, but she couldn't help saying in a concerned voice, "What are you doing out here? Why are you here so early?"

Guang Liang said with a bright smile, "I was too excited to sleep, so I came early." Then seeing her concerned look, he added, "It's fine, you should know that the cold doesn't affect me at all."

When she saw him like this, Maria couldn't help raising her hand to hit him on the head as she said, "You fool, you only know how to make me worry, don't you?"

Guang Liang was caught off guard since it had been a long time since she had talked to him like this. At the same time though, there was a stream of warmth that filled his heart when he felt her concern.

It had been a long time since they had time together like this.

Normally there would be all those other S Rankers that would get in their way, but now…they weren't here!

So he would be able to have her all to himself.

Still, he lowered his head and said in an apologetic voice, "I'm sorry, I'll know better for next time."

Hearing this, Maria couldn't help letting out a sigh with a bitter smile on her face since she had heard these words from him many times before.

Guang Liang had been a very mischievous child…no, he was still a very mischievous child even now.

When they were younger and she had been taking care of him, there wasn't a lack of times when she had to scold him for his behaviour. So now that they were this old and she was still scolding him, she couldn't help feeling nostalgic while also feeling a bit like she hadn't taught him well.

Still, since he was already here, there was no reason to keep him outside.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help asking, "Why were you waiting outside in the first place?"

Guang Liang revealed a smile and said, "I didn't want to wake you up too early, so I stayed outside to keep quiet."

Maria's expression turned stiff again as she looked at him with a sort of disbelief on her face.

Seeing the serious look that he had, she couldn't help shaking her head and putting it in her hands.

Seeing her like this, Guang Liang couldn't help revealing a confused look as he asked, "Big sister, what's wrong?"

Maria looked up at him again and shook her head once more before waving her hand while saying, "Come in and have some soup to warm up."

Guang Liang gave a happy nod in response to this.

The morning went back and the S Rankers came as usual since today wasn't Maria's day off.

She served them all and they all had to suffer Guang Liang's bragging about being able to taste test her food later.

Of course they were all jealous even if they didn't show it.

Anything that Maria cooked would be something that would help increase their power, so they would naturally want to taste test it themselves.

But of course, there were those that were jealous for different reasons…

Such as Alex and Alexei.

If they could happily taste-test Maria's dishes, then they felt that it would be worth it even if they had to fight a thousand dragons.

So they tried to get themselves invited to the taste testing session after the store closed in the morning, but this was vehemently rejected by Maria.

Being rejected like this was a big blow to them, so they both left the cafe with depressed looks on their faces.

The other awkward thing that happened during the breakfast service was…Seul Ah showing up in the store.

Neither of them had expected it after what had happened yesterday, but she came like she didn't remember all those things at all.

After coming into the store, she sat in a corner booth and ordered her food before staring at the two of them. The way that she was staring at them, it was almost like she was an abandoned lover who was now watching her ex lover with his new girlfriend…

If someone were to watch this from the perspective of a spectator, they definitely would have misunderstood.

But of course that would be impossible since Maria and Guang Liang were brother and sister.

Finally, Maria couldn't take her guilt anymore and when she went to bring her dish over, she was going to talk to her.

But before she could say anything, Seul Ah suddenly looked up at her with tears in her eyes and said, "I hope that you and Guang Liang will be happy!"

Then without even looking back, she ran out of the restaurant.

Once again, Maria had a strange look on her face when she heard this.

She looked around at the S Rankers sitting around the cafe who all had strange looks on their faces as well.

Of course, they understood that it was a misunderstanding between Seul Ah and Maria, but this scene really made them want to…laugh.

Still, they knew that Maria would get angry at them if they were to break out in laughter, so they did all that they could to hold it in.

When breakfast time was over in the store, the only ones that were left were Maria and Guang Liang.

Guang Liang was happily sitting at one of the booths where he waited for Maria to bring out the dish that she wanted him to taste test, but Maria was walking around the cafe as if she was searching for something.

Guang Liang's high spirits could only last him so long before he asked her, "Big sister, what are you doing?"

Maria just put a finger to her lip and said, "Shh." Then she went back to searching the cafe.

After searching for a while, she suddenly came to the corner and narrowed her eyes as if she was looking at something. Then she suddenly said, "You can come out now."

There was nothing that happened for a few seconds and Guang Liang started to say, "Big sister, what are you…"

Before he could finish, there was a cloaked figure that appeared in that corner that Maria was looking at.

Guang Liang was completely surprised, but his first thought was to run forward and stand in front of Maria. He released his energy in front of him as a barrier, but the other side didn't do anything.

When he looked more closely, he found that he recognized this cloak.

It was the one that the Assassin King, Wu Qing had worn yesterday…

So the person in front of them should be…Wu Qing.

Maria moved past him and grabbed at her cloak. Wu Qing felt the same pressure as before and she wasn't able to move at all as the cloak was pulled away from her, revealing her cute appearance.

Seeing this appearance, Maria revealed a satisfied look before taking her in her arms and walking back to the booth that Guang Liang had been sitting in.

After putting the little girl down, she looked back at Guang Liang and waved her hand at him as she said, "Come over and sit down."

Guang Liang's mouth opened as if he was about to say something, but seeing the look in her eyes, he knew better than to do that. He quickly shut his mouth and sat down in front of the little girl.

Seeing him sit down obediently, Maria gave a nod and said, "I'll go and get the dish I want you to taste test now. You can talk amongst yourselves while waiting."

With a smile, she headed into the kitchen.

When Guang Liang was sitting there, he had an awkward look on his face.

He wasn't a fool and he could tell that he had been used to draw this little girl here by Maria. But as for why she would come if he came, he didn't understand.

There wasn't even a single second where he considered that it was because she was in love with him.

After all, there was her appearance that was there that gave him the misconception that she was just a child. He didn't believe that a child like her would know what love is.

So the only thing that he could think of was…that she must have been touched because he stood up for her yesterday and she felt relieved being with him. Kind of like how little girls would be with their big brothers.

Wu Qing felt that it was awkward just sitting in silence like that.

Normally, she wouldn't care at all if she sat in silence since she was already used to it from her job. But when she was in front of Guang Liang, she couldn't just sit there in silence.

So after working up the courage, she asked, "How do you know Maria?"

Guang Liang was surprised by the fact that she would suddenly speak, but he still said in a proud voice, "She's my big sister, I've known her since I was born."

At the same time, the tone that he had…was like the tone that one would take when they talked to children.

But Wu Qing didn't mind since she was just happy that he was talking to her.

She gave a nod since she remembered him calling her big sister earlier.

She had actually been in the store during the breakfast service, but she had hidden herself the entire time, so she had heard and seen everything that had happened.

There was one thing that had bothered her…

"How close are you to the red haired girl from yesterday?" Wu Qing couldn't help asking this.

Guang Liang's eyes lost focus when he heard this and he was silent for a long time before saying, "Un, we're quite close.''

This wasn't exactly an answer, but Wu Qing could tell that there was something different about him when he talked about her.

There was a pain that filled her heart, but she quickly squeezed the tears from her eyes and said with a determined look, "I won't give up."

Guang Liang had been caught off guard since he had still been in his thoughts. He also didn't understand why she would suddenly say this, so he just said, "Alright, do your best."

A bright smile appeared on Wu Qing's face when she heard this as she took this as him giving her his approval.

Maria came out at this time and seeing the bright smile on Wu Qing's face, she also revealed a bright smile as she said, "It's good to see you getting along."

She then put the plate of cookies that she had in her hands on the table and said, "Go ahead and have a taste. I'm quite confident in them this time."

If Guang Liang was alone, he would have stuffed the cookies in his mouth, but since Wu Qing was also here and he could tell how his big sister felt about her, he held back and offered her the first bite.

Wu Qing didn't really care about the cookies since she was just here to see Guang Liang, but since he was even offering her the first bite, she had no choice but to take a bite.

She picked up one of the cookies and took a sniff before biting into it.

The moment that she bit into it, she felt a strange feeling in her body that made her knit her brows.

"Is something wrong?" Maria asked right away after seeing this.

Wu Qing shook her head and said, "No, it's nothing."

But she knew that it was a very big deal for her…

That was because she could feel the flow of time in her body again…

She could feel that her body was growing again…