"Huh?" Bianka's confused look as she turned back left Aizahár at a loss for words. She lowered her head and looked at the paper flowers in her basket.
"Aren't there still a lot of people who want to pet... want to buy paper flowers? I still have... a few here."
A few? Aizahár looked at her basket, which was still full of paper flowers, and almost gritted her teeth as she said those two words.
Bianka did stop walking, but she only glanced at the basket of flowers before continuing to look at Aizahár's expression.
"Are you sure you're okay? But just now..."
"...Don't worry," Aizahár forced a laugh, looked up, and wiped the dust on her face with her sleeve, making it even smudgier. "You must have been mistaken. The dust on my face hasn't come off yet."
With her face covered in dust, Bianka really couldn't tell what Aizahár's expression was.
But she had a smile on her face... although it was a very fake smile... so fake that Bianka could feel the anxiety and unease in Aizahár's heart without even looking.
"No, we're going to eat first," Bianka's voice was low as she grabbed Aizahár and started walking out without another word.
This was beyond Aizahár's imagination. Before she could react, Bianka had already pulled her into the crowd, picked up Stan, and, while apologizing to the people, led Aizahár out of the encirclement.
A group of people looked on reluctantly as Bianka left with the limp Stan in her arms. Then, they started to look at each other. Bianka didn't know if they had dispersed or not, but she just pulled Aizahár onto the street.
"What a shame!" Aizahár finally reacted at this moment. "I still have a lot here! If I sold them all, it would be a lot of..."
"But I can't let you go hungry!" Bianka turned back and said to Aizahár.
"It's just one meal!" Aizahár retorted loudly. "One meal won't kill anyone! And it won't take long to sell those flowers. Can't we just sell them first and then go eat?"
Bianka was stunned for a moment. "Well... it's not... impossible?"
Aizahár's eyes widened. "So you didn't even think about that and just pulled me out of there?!"
Bianka scratched her head guiltily. "I was just... worried you were hungry?"
"Who asked you to care!"
Aizahár's sudden outburst startled Bianka, and Aizahár also fell silent for a moment.
After looking at Bianka for a moment, she immediately lowered her head. "I... I'm sorry..."
What am I doing! Suddenly shouting at someone like that... I'm definitely going to be hated now... the friend I finally made...
"You really are too hungry, aren't you?" A hand suddenly rested on her shoulder. Bianka looked at Aizahár's dazed eyes with a serious expression and said with certainty.
"Huh?"
Bianka gave Aizahár a sunny smile. She held up the canteen she had used to collect the money, and the half-full canteen of water that she had exchanged for a basket of flowers sloshed inside. "I know a really delicious cake shop!"
"And sweet potatoes, corn... lots of delicious food!"
"No, I'll just go back and eat the nutrient paste..." Aizahár quickly waved her hand in refusal. "And you earned all this money..."
"But didn't you make the paper flowers?" Bianka said as if it were a matter of course, then patted Aizahár. "Come on, eating nutrient paste every day gets boring. You have to change things up once in a while."
"Let's go, I'll treat you," Bianka said with a smile, but then she stuttered. "No... I didn't earn this either. The flowers are yours, so the water should be yours too..."
Looking at Bianka, who had gotten herself into a predicament, Aizahár really felt what it was like to be speechless.
What is all this... My words just now didn't work at all, but this kind of non-issue has stumped her? Is this person really normal?
Well... jumping up to the sky is not really in the normal range, is it?
It's not a matter of 'well.' She's not.
"I've got it!" In the struggle with herself, Bianka was victorious. Although she didn't know who she had won against, she had finally come up with an answer.
"Lend me some money, and I'll pay you back tomorrow. How about that?" Bianka coughed and said to Aizahár with some embarrassment.
So... you want to borrow my money and treat me to a meal?
The corner of Aizahár's mouth twitched. She now felt even more that Bianka was not a normal person.
But...
"Alright..." Aizahár waved her hand, averted her gaze as if she didn't care, and snorted with her arms crossed. "But you have to pay me back tomorrow."
"Mm!" Bianka nodded vigorously. "I'll definitely pay you back every last drop!"
Seeing that Aizahár didn't turn her head to look at her, Bianka thought she didn't believe her and immediately raised her hand. "I swear! I'll definitely pay you back!"
"Pfft!" Aizahár couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "Alright, alright, I believe you will!"
Because... you are also a good person that God likes...
No...
Perhaps, it is her liking God that I should pray for?
"Then let's... eat roasted corn first!" The serious expression on Bianka's face finally disappeared. She smiled and pulled Aizahár along, leading her to the shops that Cecilia had taken her to yesterday.
Because she had left early yesterday, she didn't actually know which shop on this street was particularly delicious, but the few she had eaten at yesterday were all very good, so she might as well take Aizahár to eat at all of them!
The two of them barged into the shops and started shopping.
Roasted corn, roasted sweet potatoes, cream cupcakes...
At Aizahár's suggestion, the two of them ordered two different flavors of cupcakes and made the important decision: "We can switch, so we can both eat two flavors of cupcakes!"
"You're a genius!" Bianka gave Aizahár a thumbs-up in amazement.
The two of them held their cupcakes and ate with happy faces. Halfway through, Aizahár suddenly remembered that they had to switch cakes. When she looked up, she saw that Bianka was already holding the remaining half of her cake and looking at her eagerly.
After laughing again, Aizahá handed over her cake. "Alright, you can have it all. I'm full."
"No, we agreed to switch. If I eat both, won't that be a lie?"
She won't even tell such a small lie?
"Alright..." Aizahár helplessly took the half-eaten cake.
For some reason, she felt that this cake was sweeter than the one she had just eaten.