The Restaurant and the Junior

Hong Siyu was a familiar stranger to Lin Yun.

Familiar, because they had known each other for a long time. In fact, they could be called old friends. They had met back in middle school, when they could even be considered partners.

Strangers, because they had drifted apart years ago. Now, he had no idea what she was thinking.

Although she had been contacting him frequently lately, seemingly intending to rekindle their old relationship, he had not seen through her true intentions.

Or rather, he did not particularly want to know what they were.

"Over in the Kingdom, they announced the new magical girl Flower Card rankings last month. Two new rising stars appeared all at once."

For example, right now.

Amid clinking glasses, the woman holding a wineglass spoke to him with a teasing expression.

Honestly, although she was already over thirty, whether because she took good care of herself or for some other reason, the woman before him had lost none of her charm. She still looked young and radiant.

Lin Yun paused mid-motion, but kept his face expressionless as he replied, "What was the point of bringing that up now?"

The woman laughed. "Is paying attention to the younger generation really pointless?"

He took a sip of lemonade and answered vaguely, "It has nothing to do with me anymore. Why should I care?"

"You can't fool yourself with a lie like that. You can't really make it have nothing to do with you, can you?"

The woman took a sip of red wine alongside him, her meaning clear. "After all, you were..."

"Stop."

Before she could finish, a finger tapped the center of the table.

Lin Yun held out his index finger without looking at her.

"I believe I said I didn't want to talk about it."

The two fell silent for a moment.

Hong Siyu stared at him. After a while, she revealed an unreadable smile.

"Fine, then we won't talk about it. How about we discuss the house I bought before?"

The topic thus returned to everyday domestic matters.

Lin Yun absentmindedly picked at his food while the woman drank with a smile on her face.

The atmosphere in the upscale restaurant was quite elegant, and dinner progressed as the servers repeatedly changed their plates.

But just as Lin Yun felt that the meal was already more than halfway over, the woman across from him suddenly raised another topic that forced him to take notice.

"Oh, there's one more thing."

She was clearly a little tipsy when she said it, and her tone had become far more carefree. "The new magical girls in Fangting City got in touch with us today."

Across the table, the woman's dazzling smile tugged at his heartstrings. "So, does this have anything to do with you?"

They sat at opposite ends of the table, forming a stark visual contrast. The woman looked young and beautiful, while Lin Yun appeared dispirited and weathered by life.

Anyone unaware of the truth would probably think they were at least a generation apart, never imagining that they were actually the same age.

"I've heard a little. What are you trying to say?"

Holding his glass in one hand, Lin Yun took another sip of lemonade and continued to act as though he did not care much.

"Oh, you'd already heard? Your sources are even better than I imagined. Even though I'm the official here, I feel like such a failure..."

At that, the drunken woman exaggeratedly began wiping at her eyes.

"If you have any awareness of being an official, then don't loudly discuss confidential information in public."

Lin Yun tapped the table to stop her. "Also, stop making weird noises in the restaurant. Can't you see the other diners are looking at our table strangely?"

"I heard you say thirty-five? Are you mocking an older, unmarried, lonely, accomplished woman?" Hong Siyu widened her eyes.

"No one said thirty-five, and no one mentioned your age. Stop making trouble for no reason and get to the point."

After a busy day, Lin Yun was already exhausted beyond measure. Listening to her racket, he only felt a faint ache in his head.

If not for her phone call, he could have been lying on the sofa at home enjoying some peace and quiet, instead of sitting in an outrageously expensive high-end restaurant listening to a drunken woman throw a fit.

"The point?"

The woman across the table tilted her head, looking adorably childish for her age. "I wanted to chat with you?"

"...I meant the magical girl matter you just brought up."

"Hm? Didn't you already know?"

"If I know, you won't tell me?"

"Not tell you?"

"Tell me."

"You're actually being mean to me? I'm the one treating you tonight!"

Lin Yun felt his blood pressure spike violently.

He knew reasoning with someone drunk and out of control was impossible, but the nonsense this woman spouted after getting drunk was still thoroughly headache-inducing.

She was not some ordinary business partner he could casually brush off at a dinner party, but someone he genuinely needed to communicate with. That made conversation at the table extraordinarily difficult.

"Set aside your inappropriate sulking for now. Can you tell me what exactly is going on with the new magical girls? Did they only appear recently? How long have they been active? How far has your coordination work with them progressed?"

So Lin Yun pulled himself out of her conversational rhythm, took the initiative, and directly sought the information he wanted.

The "coordination" mentioned in his words was precisely the city government's attitude toward magical girls.

This world contained supernatural powers.

Aberrant Beasts and magical girls were both beings clearly different from ordinary people.

Aberrant Beasts could appear in every corner of the world, while every city in the world had magical girls.

Therefore, in every city, whether openly or secretly, specialized agencies had been established to gather capable individuals and handle matters related to Aberrant Beasts. At the same time, they contacted and coordinated with the city's magical girls, assisting them in swiftly, efficiently, and safely eliminating any Aberrant Beasts that appeared, thereby protecting ordinary people.

Over time, this became a tradition.

The government agency responsible for coordinating with magical girls and dealing with Aberrant Beast incidents was called the "Anomalous Attack Countermeasures Bureau," or the "Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau" for short.

It was already standard procedure for the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau to contact magical girls in the city, show goodwill, provide assistance, and establish cooperation.

And Hong Siyu, sitting before him, was actually a member of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau.

That was why she called herself an official and revealed information related to magical girls.

"Ah ha... what did you ask again? Magical girls?"

Hong Siyu, whose speech had gradually become slurred, narrowed her eyes as if searching her mind for what little reason remained. She stammered, "Ah, right, I remember now. Magical girls! In that case, it should be starting soon, right?"

"...What should be starting soon?" Lin Yun froze slightly.

"I mean, the interview report on the newly appointed magical girls. On the city channel. It's tonight!"

Hong Siyu seemed to regain a brief moment of clarity and slapped her forehead. "Remember to watch it! All your questions will be answered then!"

After saying that, she seemed to lose all her strength and collapsed onto the table.

Before long, steady breathing came from across the table. Lin Yun examined her carefully and confirmed that this woman had genuinely fallen asleep at the dinner table.

"All the answers? Why?"

He asked again, but unfortunately, the question was destined to receive no response.

He called over a server, paid the bill at the front desk, then returned to the table and looked at Hong Siyu, who was sprawled there fast asleep. Lin Yun sighed helplessly.

After repeatedly calling to her without result, he could only support Hong Siyu and leave the restaurant under the strange stares of everyone around them.

He found the car keys in her wallet, opened her car door, tossed her into the passenger seat, fastened her seat belt, then got into the driver's seat and started the engine.

The car headed toward Hong Siyu's home through the nighttime streets.

The evening rush hour had already passed, and traffic had become smoother. Looking at the night scenery along the streets, Lin Yun felt his mood improve slightly.

A hand reached over and landed on his knee.

"Senior..."

Hong Siyu's muddled voice sounded beside him.

"What is it?" Lin Yun glanced at her and replied.

"Tell me... Aya's been gone for over two years now. Why can't you consider me?"

A somewhat dejected voice came from the passenger seat.

"I'm still not married, you know. Do you have any idea how hard it's been for me to wait?"

Lin Yun fell silent.

He did not really want to answer that question, nor did he know how to answer it.

The car continued down the road for a while before he figured out how to express his feelings and finally spoke.

"I... still haven't been able to convince myself."

He paused, then added.

"I haven't been able to convince myself to let her go."

But the conclusion he had reached after such long consideration was not heard by her. Soft breathing rose again, and during that brief silence, Hong Siyu seemed to have fallen asleep once more.

In a daze, Lin Yun thought he heard an extremely faint sob.

"I'm sorry."

The sound was so vague and hazy that it took him a long while to realize the words were actually "I'm sorry."

And whether that voice had been Hong Siyu talking in her sleep or merely his own illusion was no longer something that could be determined.