Ch'en arrived with a collection notice and left empty-handed, not even taking the notice with her.
Wei Yenwu, who had kept a close eye on the shrine, naturally received the news at once. He was exhausted from fighting and was enjoying an afternoon tea meticulously prepared by Madam Fumizuki at home. Amid the rising steam, he actually looked somewhat forlorn.
"What's there to be sad about?"
Madam Fumizuki consoled him instead. "I'm the one who should be sad. I worked so hard on these dishes, yet never got the chance to send them to the front lines. I could only wait for you to come back and eat them."
"Isn't that the same?"
"It's not. If you didn't go to the battlefield, you wouldn't get to eat something this good."
Hearing that, Wei Yenwu strangely glanced around at the dishes before him. Today's afternoon tea was indeed more lavish than usual. He had not expected that to be the reason.
Thinking of it, he felt a little regretful.
"A miscalculation. I should've included this meal in the special war-loss fund!"
"Save it. Even if you added it in, your niece would just tear it up. Besides, you've already cobbled plenty of things into it, haven't you?"
"The more you write down, the more you lose. It's not like you can get any of it back anyway."
"Yes, yes, yes."
Wei Yenwu was rendered speechless. He repeatedly agreed and lowered his head to shovel down his food.
He felt rather wistful today.
For a long time, he had regarded this niece as his daughter. Wei Yenwu was not her father, yet he was more than a father. Over afternoon tea today, he voiced the melancholy realization every father had.
"So, I love her more than she loves me."
"Wasn't that obvious