"So salty…" Wu Yi, being greedy, couldn't control herself and dug another large spoon of fried sauce directly into her mouth. This time, it really choked her, and she frantically looked for water.
"Why were you in such a hurry? Fried sauce isn't meant to be eaten directly," Wu Shen quickly unwrapped a cucumber, washed it with clean water, and with a snap, broke it in half.
"Here you go," Wu Shen held one half in his left hand and handed the other to Wu Yi. Wu Yi took the cucumber and immediately took a big bite, finally letting out a sigh of relief.
"Hand-pulled noodles really do go with cucumber," Wu Yi chewed with her small mouth. The refreshing sweetness and crispness of the cucumber easily neutralized the greasy and salty flavor of the fried sauce, creating a unique taste.
This was their family's traditional way of eating it: cucumbers were never cut into fine shreds as a topping but were instead held directly in hand and eaten with the noodles.
The noodles were now cooked. Wu Shen skillfully scooped them out with a slotted spoon into a plate, then used a small spoon to add several spoonfuls of fried sauce and mixed it evenly.
"Dinner's ready! Dinner's ready!" Wu Yi, sitting at the dining table, was already impatient. As soon as the steaming hot noodles were served, she immediately began to gobble them down.
"Eat slowly, be careful not to choke. And the sauce on the corner of your mouth, too, can't you eat a little more like a lady?" Wu Shen said with a wry smile, taking out a tissue to gently wipe the corner of her mouth.
Although he would have to make two portions of food starting today, it wasn't bad to have a companion during his lonely study abroad life. Wu Shen looked at the gradually darkening sky outside the window and couldn't help but think.
Meanwhile, in a densely packed, well-decorated apartment building, Kasumigaoka Utaha, wearing small glasses and home clothes, sat at her desk in her room, typing the last few characters on her laptop.
"The first volume is complete. After rushing and rushing, I can finally participate in the Fantasia Bunko Newcomer Award at Fujikawa Bookstore, right?" Utaha stretched a little, revealing her perfect body curves.
Scrolling the mouse wheel and looking at the dazzling electronic manuscript, Utaha now felt a sense of accomplishment as an author.
Since a long time ago, she had the idea of conceiving her own light novel, but for various reasons, she had not started writing. A little over a month ago, she accidentally saw the new Fantasia Bunko Newcomer Award hosted by Fujikawa Bookstore on their official website.
This finally made her unable to suppress the excitement and ideas in her heart. Her first time creating was still a bit unskillful. To conceive the plot and write the novel, she sacrificed ample sleep time, even using class time to catch up on sleep. After more than a month, she finally completed the first volume of the light novel.
When Utaha clicked save, in the document name setting, she entered the title she had thought about for a long time—Love Metronome.
Opening the official website of Fantasia Bunko, clicking on the competition page, and filling out her personal information, Utaha hesitated when she was about to upload the document. Her finger hovered above the left mouse button, not pressing it down for a long time.
Her crossed black-stockinged legs straightened, and she began to subtly tap her feet.
This was a characteristic small movement of Kasumigaoka Utaha; she would only continuously tap her toes when she felt anxious.
Is what I wrote really good enough? Can I really win the award smoothly? She didn't know the answer.
Before completing this work, Utaha's only writing experience was the play script for the cultural festival in her first year of high school. The final performance was very successful, and the script received great praise, but Utaha believed the story stood out because of the diligent and stunning performances of the actors.
Although Kasumigaoka Utaha was seen as cold and aloof by others, she actually had a delicate and soft side to her. As a beginner, she still felt very unconfident.
She wanted to get advice from others, she wanted to get recognition from others.
Reviewing her own novel, no matter how much she did it, she couldn't achieve complete objectivity. However, she had no friends with similar hobbies in reality, so she couldn't ask others to read it and offer suggestions.
"However, being alone can be a bit lonely. If Kasumigaoka has any topics she wants to talk about with someone, she can always find me. I've also read many novels, comics, and animations."
In her dilemma, for some reason, Utaha recalled the male classmate she met this afternoon. Usually, she didn't pay much attention to her classmates, but because the other party accidentally discovered her hidden hobby today, Utaha had a particularly deep impression of him.
"Maybe I can ask him?" Looking at the manuscript on her laptop, Utaha suddenly seemed to think of something interesting and showed a faint smile.
A night passed in the blink of an eye. The sun had not yet risen, and it was a dimly lit morning. Wu Shen was holding Wu Yi, both still immersed in their dreams. Kasumigaoka Utaha, having completed the first volume of her novel, also rarely stayed up late, lying in bed and getting a good night's sleep, relieving the fatigue of the past month.
Outside a garden villa in the suburbs, a small loli with a detached expression and delicate features, with long black hair, poked her head out, secretly peeking and observing the building in front of her.
"The newspaper I found in the trash can just now said it's only 2017, which means that light sphere wasn't joking. Did I really go back to the past?" the loli thought calmly and logically, muttering something to herself.
"To prevent myself from disappearing, if I want to return to a normal family life, I must ensure my mother and father get together successfully. If I remember correctly, this should be where my mother lived before my parents eloped."
The loli stared at the nearby Villa, looking at the patrolling security guards. She didn't envy such a magnificent environment at all; instead, she bit her small finger and couldn't help but show a hint of indignation.
"Is this where the family that left my mother with countless sad memories is located?"
"As the saying goes, 'it's like crossing a mountain for a man to pursue a woman, but like crossing a thin veil for a woman to pursue a man.' According to my analysis, if I want to successfully complete the mission and restore the normal historical process, I really need to start with my mother. Hmph! With my mother's charm, wouldn't pursuing my father be a piece of cake?"
The small loli made up her mind and tiptoed like a kitten, taking advantage of the gaps in the security guards' patrols. She agilely snuck into the large garden and headed towards the villa inside the courtyard.
Next to the iron gate at the entrance she hurried past, on an ancient wooden plaque, several vigorous and simple characters were carved, seemingly the surname of the owner's family of the entire garden.