The early spring snow lent a touch of quiet to this noisy, hollow city.
A dozen or so Credits, converted at the exchange rate here in Glamoth, amounted to just a few hundred credit points.
That was more than enough for a simple meal.
Even the heart of Glamoth's commercial district had its hole-in-the-wall eateries.
The place might have been small and the environment poor, but the food was decent enough.
Still, Bai Heng had no intention of going somewhere like that.
She only had a dozen or so Credits to her name. He couldn't possibly spend all of it on himself.
So he took the money and found a street stall.
Four multigrain pancakes with sausage and egg, two cups of local fruit juice, plus a roasted sweet potato he mooched off the proprietress by selling his looks.
It had red flesh and was very sweet.
All of it cost only 1.5 Credits.
Bai Heng split the food in half and handed one portion to Jingliu.
"Here."
"Why did you buy two?" Jingliu asked, holding a multigrain pancake in each hand.
"Good things come in pairs." Bai Heng sat down on the curb, stuffed all the remaining Credits into Jingliu's pouch, then began chewing on his multigrain pancake amid the falling snow.
The soft snow drifted down, landing on Bai Heng's steaming pancake.
The dinner was simple, but it had indeed been bought with Jingliu's money, so it counted as her treating him.
At that moment, sitting on the street as he blew snow off his pancake and drank fruit juice with complimentary snowflakes added in automatically, Bai Heng felt unusually relaxed.
After this meal, he could return to Pierpoint and then prepare to head for Jarilo-VI.
It was just that some things, even if he avoided them this