On a Sunday afternoon. The bout of warm air was slowly being tainted by coldness and reminiscence of the Fall.
Klein, wearing his top hat and holding his cane closely, waited on the porch of Unit 2 Daffodil Street.
A scent of refreshing zephyr wafted in the air; there was also a tad bit of toasted bread, fried egg sunny side up, and bacon crust blending in his nostrils. Klein was oddly satisfied just being there, standing before their house.
Then after a while, he heard the door behind him creak open—a woman with gorgeous sapphire eyes, a pale face, thin and luscious lips, and silver hair braided into a bun walked out in her floral dress, sporting her signature sun hat.
Today, there were no signs of the "coincidences" occurring, nor were there any signs of the Rose School of Thought activities. The afternoon was left with an invitation from the gentleman himself, who could not help but feel glad.
"Mr. Moretti, quite thoughtful of you to invite me for brunch. Perhaps now you'll teach me Mandarin?" said Selina, pressing one finger behind her chuckle.
Klein smiled wearily but tipped his top hat and subsequently nodded in a pleasant way. "I do. I think Emperor Roselle wouldn't mind more company to discuss his antics."
Warm laughter erupted in the streets; none of the pedestrians batted an eye, but one could see green in their faces.
When Klein offered a hand and Selina took it, both of them unhurriedly went to the carriage station.
...
During the carriage ride, multiple buildings and trees on the sidewalk blurred out from their periphery. Selina held a notebook in her hand.
"You... wrote all the basic characters and their Pinyin phonetics all in one night?" She asked as her head turned to Klein with a rather displeased stare.
Klein rubbed his cheeks with a finger and smiled, gazing away from her. "Uh... I didn't sacrifice any sleep, plus it wasn't all in one night."
"Sigh... Thank you." Selina looked down at the notebook on her lap. "You know... for a while I thought I was alone in this world. I tried to remain positive because... I have 'Him', a clear goal of helping 'Him' recover."
"But then... I was informed by Ms. Angel. Oh, how happy I was to hear that. Even more so when I found out it was you. If it were anyone else, it would likely take a very long time for me to get to know them."
Klein paused, and he looked at Selina's side profile, instantly falling into a daze. After nearly five seconds, he opened his mouth,
"I share the same."
Selina chuckled lightly and curled a strand of her hair back with a slight turn of her raised right hand. She said softly, "Hehe, now, I don't think simply having this with me to read is enough. Well, I could just study it, but I have you, so...
"Mr. Moretti, how about you help me learn this?"
Klein's expression turned at ease as he smiled, "I'd be more than happy to help."
...
"Qiong zuan."
On the sidewalk, approaching who knows where, with Klein being the sole exception to what their direction would take them. Selina was engrossed in the contents of the book that she could hardly keep her thoughts to herself.
"Klein. What's that? Qiong zuan?"
Klein, who had his pocket watch, flipped its lid back and withdrew it. He thought for a moment before saying, "Well, 'qiong' means poor, 'suan' means sour or cynical. When together, they could either mean miserably poor, petty, or simply pathologically cheap."
"I see..." Selina retracted her attention from him and back to the notebook. "It says poor scholar, though?"
"T-That too..." Klein chuckled wearily, giving a handful of attention to his steps.
At that moment, as they reached an intersection and crossed it, Klein took Selina's wrist as he halted, indicating their stop.
"Here we are." He said, gazing at a small white-painted diner house at the side of the road.
The building had an interior design brimming with plant vases and dangling vines from the corners of the ceiling. The floor was polished oak wood, and behind the bay window on the side wall, overlooking the partitioned tables and upholstered bench banquettes, a man was keeping a checklist of orders behind the counter.
Klein walked forward and asked, "Let's go?"
What a charming diner... Selina remarked inwardly before nodding.
Inside, Klein offered her the chance to look for an available table they could occupy while he asked her what orders he would make.
"I'll have the... rooster cutlet, egg roll soup, and orange juice."
Seeing Klein nodded with a smile. Selina gleefully browsed the rows of tables sectioned into booths; eventually, she stumbled onto a vacant one near the pottery and the second bay window.
This should be perfect... She muttered to herself, taking a seat on the banquette and dropping her sun hat onto her side.
She also deliberately chose this to overlook Klein picking up in the queue from afar. Watching him pull out a sack from the compartment of his coat and count its contents while standing behind one more person away from the counter.
Is that? Selina was a bit dumbfounded; she lowered the notebook and decided to observe Klein from where she sat.
Klein was muttering to himself, looking up sporadically while subsequently looking down inside the sack; he seemed to be counting pennies and solis he had stocked for the week.
Suddenly, Selina grew more anxious and worried. Klein, don't tell me...
But then she saw him fish out an extremely worn-out wallet with George III's head fading from it. It appears to be very old and crooked, and some specks are peeling away.
This made Selina withdraw her gaze from him and onto the table. She contemplated to herself:
We earn eleven solis per week. That should've guaranteed him a brand new wallet, right? Ah! That reminds me as well! Earlier, Klein was already computing our whole trip in a circle... Selina realized something as she blinked many times after turning to Klein.
Several minutes later, Klein went to the table with a smile, holding an iron plate filled with their orders.
"Here you go." He said as he laid out all the food.
Afterwards, Klein didn't stop to allow the staff a chance to take the serving tray from them as he went out, grabbed a few forks and spoons on the way, before finally settling onto the banquette.
Seeing the meal, he paid for her. Selina could not help but refrain from reaching for the notebook and quickly learning all the Mandarin characters Klein wrote.
Qiong Suan... Out of the blue, she chuckled. "Hehe."
Klein was already delving into his food, and when he heard her laugh, he paused and looked up. "Is something the matter?"
"It's nothing..." answered Selina, smiling and lifting a strand of her hair before helping herself with the soup.
"King Sun."