A Benefactor Should Be Repaid with One's Body

"Boss, dinner's ready."

Toyokawa Shoko poked her little head out from the shop and called to Gu Xin.

"Coming."

Gu Xin rose from the lounge chair, yawned, and walked into the shop. The moment he entered, he caught the fragrant scent of food.

"Smells great. Thanks for all your hard work, Shoko."

"Not at all. Cooking is actually pretty quick. Boss, you should wash your hands before eating. It's more hygienic."

Toyokawa Shoko untied her apron and smiled as she gestured toward the sink.

Gu Xin chuckled. Toyokawa Shoko was unexpectedly particular about the little details of daily life.

Still, those were all good habits. Nothing wrong with that.

After washing their hands, the two sat down. Toyokawa Shoko had prepared simple home-style dishes: mapo tofu, fish-fragrant shredded pork, stir-fried beef with potatoes, and a savory soup.

"I didn't expect you to be such a good cook, Shoko."

Gu Xin took a bite of tofu. It was wonderfully spicy and numbing, while the tofu itself was tender and smooth—perfect with rice.

"I taught myself for a while after coming to Yin City with my father. Since you said you preferred stronger flavors, Boss, I made these."

Toyokawa Shoko smiled modestly and took a small bite of rice.

"I think if you studied a little longer, you could become a head chef." Gu Xin gave the girl a thumbs-up.

"You're exaggerating, Boss."

"Not at all. Come to think of it, Shoko, you're a professional, aren't you?"

As he ate, Gu Xin asked Toyokawa Shoko.

Toyokawa Shoko froze at that.

"I can sense magic power on you."

"Yes... I used to be a card master." Toyokawa Shoko pressed her lips together, her voice full of apology. "Sorry, Boss. I didn't mean to hide it from you."

"It's just that I've already given it up."

"Why?" Gu Xin tilted his head. She had given up on becoming a professional?

"My father wanted to help me obtain a magic card back then, so someone set him up. Our family business suffered enormous losses as a result."

"And then your father was driven out of the family?"

"Yes. It was all because of me. It was all my fault. If it hadn't been for me, Father wouldn't have ended up like this, and he wouldn't have died."

The blue-haired girl gradually lowered her head, her voice filled with guilt and sorrow. Even the hand holding her chopsticks trembled faintly, her knuckles white.

Gu Xin frowned slightly, and the atmosphere fell heavy for a moment.

"Sorry, Boss. I said something so depressing. Did I affect your mood? Let's keep eating. Try this beef—I picked it out especially. It's very tender."

Toyokawa Shoko quickly pulled herself together a little and apologized to Gu Xin, naturally changing the subject in the process.

She really was...

The girl was forcing a smile. Gu Xin could tell, because her eyes had already turned red.

She had probably almost cried just now.

Gu Xin thought for a moment. "Shoko."

"Yes, Boss? What is it?"

"That wasn't your fault," Gu Xin said seriously.

Toyokawa Shoko froze.

"You can't take an already determined bad outcome and blame every cause behind it on yourself. You can't do that."

"Your father loved you. You were his precious daughter, so he wanted to help you get a powerful card. That was a father's love for his daughter."

"The ones at fault were the people who plotted against your father. They were a pack of sinister, cunning scum. It had nothing to do with you."

The girl stared blankly at Gu Xin's solemn expression.

"The higher-ups in that family, who drove both you and your father out after the family business suffered losses because competitors set him up—they had no empathy whatsoever. They ignored the bonds of blood, their hearts and minds filled only with profit. They were utterly selfish, and they left you two wandering without a home."

"That so-called family of yours was cold-blooded and vicious. They were the ones at fault, not you."

The girl's eyes stung, and her vision blurred.

"And the people who killed your father were even less you. It was those twisted, evil cultists. They were the ones truly in the wrong—the human aberrations who deserved death most. Your father's death had nothing to do with you."

"So in the end, it was all their fault."

"Shoko, don't blame yourself for other people's mistakes. You did nothing wrong, and you shouldn't bind yourself to the past."

"You're only sixteen. You still have a future—a wonderful future."

Gu Xin spoke clearly and sincerely, every word reaching the girl's ears.

The girl's heart shook violently. Overwhelmed by an intense emotion she could no longer suppress, clear tears fell from the corners of her eyes.

Moved, deeply moved.

Sob...

The girl covered her cheeks with both hands and choked back tears. She did not want to cry in front of her boss, but she could not hold it in. She simply could not stop.

The tears came out on their own, and her throat completely refused to obey, letting out soft sobs.

Gu Xin silently set down his chopsticks and looked at the girl across from him, crying her eyes out. His feelings were, in truth, somewhat complicated.

Though they had only known each other for two days, Toyokawa Shoko had carried herself with elegance, maturity, and thoughtfulness. She was meticulous in every regard.

Yet she had endured a family upheaval, her father's death, and being imprisoned by cultists as a sacrifice.

After all that, perhaps her heart had truly been stretched to its breaking point.

It was good for her to cry. She could vent the emotions she had buried deep inside. Otherwise, when she hit rock bottom and rebounded in the future, who knew what this originally gentle and elegant girl might turn into.

She might even go completely insane.

There was a saying that put it well: "All it takes is one bad day to drive anyone mad."

There was another saying that was just as good: "I believe that whatever doesn't kill you only makes you... stranger!"

Humans were simply too complicated and too changeable.

So, in Gu Xin's view, Toyokawa Shoko, who had experienced such tragedy, needed affirmation and comfort. She also needed a good cry to release the repression and pain in her heart.

That was why Gu Xin had said those things. As he had said before, Gu Xin really was kindhearted.

Gu Xin did not speak. He merely waited until Toyokawa Shoko's sobs had quieted before handing her a tissue.

"Th... thank you..."

Toyokawa Shoko accepted the tissue and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and her face.

"Feeling better now?" Gu Xin picked up his chopsticks again.

"Yes, thank you, Boss. I truly don't know how I could ever repay you." The girl's voice was especially fragile at that moment.

"Being my employee is already repayment enough. I can't think of anyone who could be a better employee than you, Shoko."

Gu Xin took a bite of beef. Mm, it really was very tender.

"How can that count? You're the one who took me in, Boss. Otherwise, I wouldn't even know where to go," Toyokawa Shoko said hurriedly.

"Shoko, has anyone ever told you that you're actually pretty stubborn sometimes?"

The girl: "..."

Seeing that Toyokawa Shoko said nothing, Gu Xin thought for a moment, then looked at her with interest.

"If you really feel that bad about it, have you ever heard this saying? When it comes to a lifesaver, if the benefactor is rather handsome, then it's, 'This humble girl has no way to repay you, so she can only offer herself in marriage.'"

"I think I'm pretty handsome, so how are you going to repay me, Shoko?"

Gu Xin was not bragging. From childhood to adulthood, he had never seen another man more handsome than himself.

Toyokawa Shoko's face instantly turned bright red.

"N-no, that won't do. You... I..."

The girl was so flustered that she started stammering.

"See? You won't even agree when I ask you to offer yourself in marriage." Gu Xin rolled his eyes.

"That's... that's not it. If it were you, Boss, I... I just think..."

Toyokawa Shoko bit her soft pink lip, anxious and hesitant, not daring to look at the boy across from her.

I just think that someone like me isn't worthy of you...