"...Do you know my mother's name?"
The woman didn't answer the old woman's question.
Instead, she asked the old woman a question, her expression difficult to read.
The old woman froze.
How strange...
How could she know the woman's mother's name?
They were meeting for the first time today.
"I don't know..."
The old woman shook her head honestly.
Then she still couldn't help asking, sounding somewhat displeased, "What kind of question is that?"
"How would I know your mother's name?"
Honestly...
What a strange question... so strange that it made her feel quite uncomfortable.
The old woman knitted her brows.
The woman could tell the old woman was unhappy.
After all, the old woman was making it obvious.
She knew her question was strange, and understood why it had left the old woman confused and uncomfortable...
But...
The woman took a deep breath.
"...My mother's name is..."
"Ji Jinyu."
"How am I supposed to know your mother's name—"
Hearing only the first part of what she'd said, the old woman replied bluntly, still bothered by their earlier unpleasant exchange.
But a moment later, her voice abruptly cut off.
"...What?"
The old woman reached up and rubbed her ears.
"What's your mother's name?"
Had she heard wrong?
She must have misheard...
Or perhaps it was pronounced the same but written differently?
That sort of thing wasn't uncommon.
"Ji-Jin-yu."
The woman enunciated every syllable.
"Ji..."
"Ji, with the grass radical... the plant."
"Jinyu is the name of a kind of jade."
"They both mean beautiful jade."
The woman had repeated almost word for word the explanation the old woman had just given for Mushroom Head Girl's name.
The old woman froze.
The woman had spelled it out for her.
There was no need to ask...
She