In Divine Capital's Food Ward stood the same secluded alley far from the bustle of the main street where Annie had once brought Lin Daiyu and Tanchun. It was home to the small restaurant called "Guests Always Come," whose storefront was modest and even somewhat shabby. Its black signboard with gold lettering had weathered the years, and the edges had begun to peel.
And today, Annie had wandered here again.
"Ha!"
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She ignored the two lanterns swaying gently beneath the eaves, and she paid even less attention to the faded couplet on the doorframe: "Guests come from north and south, and always savor the flavors of spring, summer, autumn, and winter." She simply cheered and charged straight into the restaurant.
Then, without waiting for the sleepy young waiter in the main hall, who was yawning and rubbing his bleary eyes, to come greet her, she clomped directly up the somewhat steep wooden staircase. Before long, she reached the third floor, pushed open the wooden door of the innermost room without the slightest courtesy, and barged inside.
The room was softly lit, its window half-open as a breeze unique to the Food Ward drifted in, carrying the fragrance of cooked dishes.
The furnishings inside were as simple as the somewhat dilapidated exterior of the restaurant: a table, a couch, two chairs, a display shelf, and several unremarkable porcelain jars and earthenware pots on its shelves. There was nothing else.
The only conspicuous thing was naturally the small table on the bed by the window, which resembled a heated brick bed, and the old woman sitting beside it, fussing with the tea.
The old woman was none other than the elderly proprietress of the restaurant whom Annie had met the last time she brought Lin Daiyu and the others