Train Conductor Café

"This is it."

Chisaki stopped in front of the roller shutter door, and after saying those three words, she stood rooted to the spot.

The signboard was peeling, leaving only half of the lettering visible. The roller shutter was pulled all the way down, and a thin layer of dust had accumulated under the door. She stood in the doorway, raising her hand twice and then lowering it twice.

No one urged her.

Sigelica was about to speak when Chisa gently stopped her with her scabbard. Zhou Yu took out a schedule, pretended to turn to a blank page, and left his pen on it for a long time without putting it down.

"We're not in a hurry," he said. "The tour itself counts as part of the itinerary, and it's charged by the hour."

Dania moved closer to the roller shutter and peered through the crack in the door.

"It's dark inside," she whispered, "But it smells like beans."

No sooner had he finished speaking than two loud clanging sounds came from inside the roller shutter.

All four of them took a half step back.

A brown head peeked out from under the door, its wet nose twitching, followed by the entire capybara. Bozai braced the back of his head against the bottom edge of the roller shutter, pushed off with his hind legs, and the door clattered as it rose half a meter.

It popped out, shook its fur, sat down at Chisaki's feet, and patted the ground with its tail.

"It can open the door by itself?" Sigelica asked.

"Only when the shop is always open do people come," Chisaki said, squatting down and ruffling Bozai's head. "It's more diligent than me."

Dania and Bozai were now standing face to face. The pink-haired girl and the brown-haired capybara were sizing each other up, about a foot apart.

For a full ten seconds, they both yawned simultaneously.

"Confirmation complete." Zhou Yu made a note in his notebook, "Same type. Refer to existing regulations for feeding standards."

"Hey, don't write things down randomly." Sigelica leaned closer to look. "What clauses? I've never heard of any feeding standards."

"New store, new rules." Zhou Yu closed the notebook. "We'll post the results later."

The shop looked more spacious inside than outside. Half of the tables and chairs were stacked up, and the bar was covered with a cloth, which was covered in dust. Zhou Yu pulled the light cord, and the old ceiling fan turned on first, followed by the light. It swayed a couple of times before settling down, and dust drifted slowly in the beam of light.

The photo wall is at the very back, a whole wall, arranged from left to right over the past ten years. The oldest one is yellowed, showing seven-year-old Chisaki with a missing front tooth, riding on the back of a smaller Bozai, laughing carefree.

Dania stood in front of the photo for a long time.

"Is this child Chisaki?"

"Um."

Where is this Bozai?

"It's that one too," Chisaki said. "Capybaras grow fast."

"Then why didn't you grow into a child?"

Chisaki couldn't answer, so she turned around and lifted the cloth on the bar counter with extra force.

Underneath the cloth was a dusty abacus and a half-open box of filter paper.

"Even the abacus is a family heirloom?" Sigelica asked.

"It's my dad's. He does the accounting, and my mom watches." Chisaki wiped the abacus clean and put it back in its place. "I've seen it since I was little."

The price list still hangs on the wall, its edges curled and the paper yellowed. Americano is fifteen, latte is eighteen, red bean bread is eight. The date on the list is ten years ago.

Zhou Yu leaned over and looked at it once, then looked at it again.

"This price will result in a huge loss."

"No price increase allowed." Chisaki said without turning her head. "The neighbors grew up eating this. Raising the price by one dollar is no different than tearing down a signboard."

"Okay." Zhou Yu took out a pen. "I've written it down. The reason for the loss is that the landlady is kind-hearted. This trip will have the tour fee reimbursed."

Sigelica was tidying up in the back room when she brought out a brand new bean jar with a note on the bottom. She handed it to Chisaki.

The note was written in a hurry; the last stroke even went outside the lines.

"The bean harvest is good this year. The shop is in your and Bozai's hands now."

There was no signature. Chisaki read the note twice, folded it, put it in her apron pocket, and pressed it down.

"They're usually harvesting beans in the interior at this time of year," she said. "They left a little earlier this year."

No one answered. Zhou Yu wrote this sentence on the back of the schedule, "The handwriting is urgent, I'll ask you later."

A box of blind boxes sat on a corner shelf, all capybara-shaped, with six regular designs and rumors of a hidden design. Chisa paused in front of the shelf and opened three boxes.

The first box is the regular one. The second box is the regular one. The third box is a hidden edition, featuring Bozai wearing a straw hat.

She stared at her palm for two seconds, then drew another box.

"You've got the whole set, why are you still drawing?" Sigelica asked.

"Give away the duplicates." Chisa stacked the boxes into her sleeve pocket one by one, her tone mirroring her report on the knife's condition. "The hidden models, keep them for those who need them."

Dania immediately raised her hand. "Do I need it?"

"You already have one alive." Zhou Yu pointed to the spot at her feet.

After cleaning the last window, it was getting dark. Zhou Yu called the person to the largest table in the shop, where a stack of printed papers was laid out.

"In accordance with the Ashihara Labor Law," he tapped the paper, "All employees of this store will sign formal employment contracts. Starting today, no more verbal contributions."

"Work... wages?" Sigelica's voice rang out, "Weren't we just paying lip service to our jobs before?!"

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Zhou Yu pushed the first contract over. "I checked, the labor laws here are stricter than Changli contracts, and overtime pay starts at three times the normal rate. Very civilized, I suggest we adopt this."

The contract header reads: Temporary Employee Agreement for Train Conductor Café.

The second item, Sigelica, field and accounting, hourly wage plus night shift allowance. She stared at the string of numbers after her name, reading it from beginning to end, then from end to beginning, before holding the paper away as if afraid of damaging it.

Can this paper be photocopied?

Three copies are required.

"Then I'll keep two copies."

"One yuan per photocopy, that's cost price," Zhou Yu added. "Paper costs money too."

You're even accepting this?

"The tour price is unavailable elsewhere."

The third item, Chisa, is for cashier and security. She signed quickly and decisively, then casually pushed the hidden blind box in front of Dania.

"For you."

Dania was about to cheer when Zhou Yu stopped her.

"Let's look at the first one, the main point."

The first item reads: Dania, Tasting Officer. Duties: To taste all new products. Authority: The only position in the entire store that cannot be dismissed.

"Cannot be dismissed." Dania finished reading each word carefully, then looked up. "Xiao Yu, what does this mean?"

"It means, if this store collapses, your job is gone too." Zhou Yu added the words "supervisor" to the end of the clause and signed it, "It's the same thing as my page on your schedule."

Dania stared at that page for a long time, then suddenly leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Stamp it," she said.

Zhou Yu blushed instantly. Sigelica silently raised her terminal and snapped a picture.

Chisa didn't even look up, adding, "Print it up big and post it in the kitchen."

Sigelica carefully tucked the contract into her document holder, placing it in the same compartment as the Sunspeakers's admission ticket. She even pressed it down to make sure the two items wouldn't crowd each other.

As night fell, only one bar lamp remained lit in the shop as they closed up.

Dania was sleepy at eight o'clock. She leaned on Zhou Yu's shoulder and dozed off. Bozai wandered over, climbed onto her lap, and fell asleep with her.

Zhou Yu sat there motionless. Dania was asleep to his left, his right hand couldn't reach the teacup, and his shoulder went from numb to stiff, and from stiff to completely numb.

Sigelica came in holding a terminal and took a picture of the two useless shoulders of the man and the pig.

"Delete it," Zhou Yu said in a whisper. "If these photos of me sleeping with someone get out, my public image will collapse."

"Do you have a persona? A stingy persona?"

"Delete it, and I'll give you Dou Dafu."

Two pieces.

"Make a deal."

The photos were deleted on the spot. What she didn't know was that Chisaki had copied a backup two hours earlier, with the filename: IOU.

Chisaki brought in two pieces of daifuku, and swallowed the thought of making a backup.

Dania was sleeping soundly, her head nodding slightly, and Bozai's snoring kept time with her.

As night fell, the lights on the pedestrian street went out one by one.

The light was still on in Chisaki's room on the second floor.

She sat on the edge of the bed, her terminal screen frozen on the screenshot of the gray text from that afternoon, text that was locked due to access restrictions. The first half was her name, the second half a black lock.

She looked at it for a while, zoomed in on the screenshot, then zoomed out, then zoomed in again.

Outside the window, the Rainbow Sound Tower stood shrouded in mist, without a single light.