21 Tomato Scrambled Eggs, Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs, Potstickers, Mapo Tofu, Pork Bone Soup…
Inside the kitchen, the atmosphere was lively and warm.
Delicious standard Chinese dishes were brought out one by one by Fūju and served onto the dining table.
If Shoko Nishimiya hadn’t realized that the amount of food was getting out of hand and stopped him in time, Fūju might have ended up serving an absolute feast.
Looking at the mountain of mouthwatering dishes covering the dining table, Shoko Nishimiya couldn’t hold back her hunger any longer.
Her stomach rumbled loudly a few times, and a tiny bit of drool even escaped from the corner of her lips.
“Uu…” Perhaps realizing those two embarrassing moments back-to-back, Shoko Nishimiya instinctively let out a cute sound, like a small animal.
Immediately afterward, she lowered her head to hide the bright blush spreading across her face.
“Alright, alright, don’t keep your head down like that.
Your neck’s gonna hurt if you stay like that.” After placing the final dish onto the table, Fūju, who had caught the entire scene, gently lifted Shoko Nishimiya’s small head and spoke to her, using her lip-reading ability to communicate.
At the end of his sentence, he pursed his lips slightly, giving her a teasing look.
Seeing Fūju tease her like that made Shoko Nishimiya even more embarrassed.
She balled her tiny hands into fists and lightly tapped Fūju on the shoulder.
This kind of playful intimacy was something Shoko Nishimiya had only ever shown to her mother, Yaeko Nishimiya, and her younger sister, Yuzuru Nishimiya.
Aside from the two of them, Fūju was the only other person.
It showed just how special Fūju’s place in Shoko Nishimiya’s heart truly was.
After setting up a pair of bowls and chopsticks for Shoko Nishimiya and himself, Fūju and Shoko Nishimiya sat down together to enjoy the feast before them.
Before eating, following standard etiquette, they offered their thanks.
Fūju and Shoko Nishimiya shared a quiet understanding.
They both pressed their palms together at the same time and prayed silently in their hearts: Itadakimasu.
And with that, the delicious banquet officially began.
“Here, try this one, this one, and this one too…” Fūju kept piling various dishes into Shoko Nishimiya’s bowl.
Before Shoko Nishimiya could even reach out with her own chopsticks to grab food, she found her bowl already stacked high.
Gazing at her overflowing bowl of rice, Shoko Nishimiya couldn’t hold back a lovely smile.
She felt like her heart was filled to the brim as well—immensely happy and satisfied.
“Mmm…” “Oishii…” “Umai…” …
With every single dish she tasted, Shoko Nishimiya’s eyes would widen in pure delight.
She couldn’t even stop herself from making small sounds of happiness.
Even though Shoko Nishimiya had been hard of hearing since birth, she wasn’t completely deaf.
With the help of her hearing aid, she could still catch a slight amount of sound.
However, it was still somewhat muffled and required full concentration to slowly figure out what was being said.
Because of that, Shoko Nishimiya could still pronounce a few words—especially the simplest ones used in daily life.
Like those words just now, even if her pronunciation wasn’t entirely spot-on.
“Mmm…” Whether because she was too excited or simply enjoying the meal a bit too much, Shoko Nishimiya suddenly choked near the end of their dinner.
She kept patting her chest to catch her breath.
Without taking the time to ask how she was doing through sign language or lip-reading, Fūju immediately stood up.
He jogged over behind Shoko Nishimiya and gently patted her back to help her breathe easier and swallow down the food stuck in her throat.
“Phew…” After a bit of effort, Shoko Nishimiya finally managed to swallow the food caught in her throat.
“Here, drink a glass of fruit juice to settle down…” Fūju presented a fresh glass of juice in front of Shoko Nishimiya while signing to her.
“Mm, mm!” Shoko Nishimiya nodded repeatedly, her face completely bright red.
She was clearly thoroughly embarrassed over choking on her food like that.
If the situation allowed for it and it wouldn’t be considered rude, she probably would have hidden her head under the table right then and there.
Gulp, gulp…
Shoko Nishimiya took the glass of juice in front of her and drank it down bit by bit.
Drinking the juice was meant to calm her down, but mostly it was just to cover up her embarrassment.
‘I’m sorry, I ended up causing trouble for Fūju again!’ After finishing the juice, Shoko Nishimiya set the glass down on the table.
With a face full of remorse, she signed to Fūju.
“Don’t worry about it!” “If anything, this just proves that the food I made was so delicious that Shoko choked on it, right?” “So, this isn’t Shoko’s fault at all!” Fūju shook his head while offering words of comfort to Shoko Nishimiya.
“Mm, mm!” “Fūju’s cooking really is super delicious.
I’ve never eaten anything this good before.” Shoko Nishimiya nodded vigorously and kept signing, giving Fūju’s cooking the absolute highest praise.
“This juice is really good too, way better than the ones sold outside.
I really want Mom and Yuzuru to try it too.” After signing that, Shoko Nishimiya suddenly felt a bit embarrassed for having “abandoned” her mother and sister to “eat good food in secret” with Fūju here.
“Of course you can!” “I’ll make a big batch.
Later, I’ll bottle it up for you so your mom and Yuzuru can taste it.” “I’ll write down the juice recipe for you too, so you guys can drink this delicious juice whenever you want.” Fūju smiled and responded casually.
“I shouldn’t!” “If we do that, I’ll be troubling you way too much.” “Besides, a recipe for juice this delicious must be really valuable.
Fūju should keep it safe for himself!” Shoko Nishimiya shook her head and turned down Fūju’s kindness through sign language.
She already felt like she was troubling Fūju too much and receiving far too much help from him.
She didn’t want to add to Fūju’s burdens just because he cared about her.
Even if Fūju considered it a minor detail, she still didn’t want to do it.
“Come on, it’s really no trouble at all!” “I just got this juice recipe off the internet, so you don’t need to feel bad about taking it.” “Besides, don’t you want your mom and Yuzuru to taste such a delicious juice?” Fūju gently patted Shoko Nishimiya’s head, then signed back to her.
Was there actually a juice recipe this delicious on the internet?
Of course not!
That line was just something Fūju said to put Shoko Nishimiya at ease.
The juice recipe was the product of his own research after countless trials.
On top of that, he was confident that the juice recipe he developed was worth at least tens of millions of yen.
The reason was simple: this juice really was that good!
“In that case, thank you so much, Fūju!” “Thank you!” Seeing how firm Fūju was and how hard he was to refuse, Shoko Nishimiya let out a quiet sigh in her heart.
In the end, she nodded and signed back to him.
Just as I thought, I really am terrible at turning down Fūju’s kindness!
Thank you, Fūju!
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