Tuesday, August 13th, 4:30 p.m.
All-Things Trade Street, No. A19, the "Drunken Dead Mother Elephant" tea-and-wine lounge.
In the daily lives of witches, tea and alcohol had always been among the most important components, second only to the cultures of tofu and mushroom cultivation.
Against that backdrop, tea-and-wine lounges had emerged, offering bottomless tea, cheap draught beer, ultra-high-definition televisions that not everyone could afford, and free international sports channels.
With so many conveniences, tea-and-wine lounges had taken over the role internet cafés and coffee shops played in another world.
Jiang Han, dressed in a lovely navy-and-white casual dress, pushed open the door and entered the tea-and-wine lounge. Familiar with the place, she walked up to the counter and found its manager.
She was a very young witch, with the face of a girl and soft hair, beautiful as a dream.
She was reading a book titled Jokes About Witch Political Systems, occasionally cracking jokes with the employee witch working nearby.
"Xuexin, my reserved seat," Jiang Han said to the owner.
The owner, named Xuexin but never mentioning her surname, lowered the book in her hands slightly, glanced up, and smiled shyly.
"Miss Jiang Han, you haven't been coming around much in the afternoons lately. You haven't come to see me much either. Sometimes I email you, and you don't reply..."
Her words were full of resentment, her smile carrying a faint note of reproach.
Needless to say, she was another resentful witch who had failed to invite Jiang Han out during social season. The only difference was that she sent letters at a rate of one every two days, which was simply unbearable.
"I've been studying lately, and I have homework, and the Third Law of Curie-Style Dolls..." Jiang Han softly rattled off one technical term after another.
"Ah, ah!"