CHAPTER 677: CHAPTER 417: THE JUNIOR IN THE COFFEE SHOP_3

"The two short-haired maids at the cafe?" Uesugi Sakura looked up and asked.

"Yes, them." Towa Rina leaned on the counter with both hands.

"Hmm," Uesugi Sakura murmured softly, "It seems like you maids have it tough, serving tea and meals to the customers, and even singing with them and whatnot."

Towa Rina chuckled, "If it weren’t for the high salary, I wouldn’t work here as a maid either."

"By the way, Uesugi, you’re married now, is it okay for you to work here? Most maid cafes have soft-core themes as their selling point, and many guys’ girlfriends don’t let them work here. Is your wife okay with this?"

The shop is quite decent.

Uesugi Sakura saw it firsthand during his shift yesterday.

The most the maids do is sing a song from the second dimension with the guests.

The otaku visitors are even shyer, hardly daring to exchange a word.

As for whether his wife is okay with it or not...

He hasn’t had the chance to tell her yet.

Maybe, he should take this opportunity to tell her and make Hanabi jealous, to make her come back?

Why did Hanabi want to be apart from him for ten days?

Hanabi...

Whenever he thinks of her standing so gracefully in front of him, Uesugi Sakura gets distracted.

"Uesugi-san?" Towa Rina tilted her head, staring at his somewhat dazed expression.

Crash.

Uesugi Sakura, not paying attention, dropped the glass dripper he was holding, and it shattered on the ground.

Towa Rina stepped back two steps to avoid the flying glass shards.

Hearing the commotion, Yanagi Shiiru immediately came out from the back kitchen. She looked at the floor covered in pieces, then at Uesugi Sakura, and calmly said:

"The cost will be deducted from your salary."

She then returned to the kitchen to continue baking pastries.

"Uesugi-san, are you...okay?" Towa Rina asked, looking at the glass shards on the floor, then at him.

"I’m fine."

"Earlier, Uesugi-san, it seemed like you... zoned out?"

"Could it be that you didn’t tell your wife about working at the maid cafe?" Towa Rina suddenly covered her mouth, surprised, "Could it be that Uesugi-san, you were kicked out of the house? Is your wife someone... older by several decades...?"

"Don’t overthink it." Uesugi Sakura knew she was joking; otherwise, how likely is such a train of thought?

"Where’s the broom?"

"Hey, hey," Towa Rina stopped Uesugi Sakura, "You don’t need to move, leave the cleaning to this maid, but... uh..."

"But?" Uesugi Sakura looked at her beaming face.

"Hehe, the condition is that Uesugi-san has to make me a cup of coffee, the one from yesterday."

"Ginger cat’s?"

Towa Rina nodded repeatedly: "Yes!"

"Alright then."

"Yay!"

"But, using the shop’s supplies, how does the cost work?"

"The usual payment."

"Who pays?"

...

After Ms. Ushijima Tatsuki left, a few more customers gradually arrived at the cafe.

Not many, just a few tables’ worth.

"Do most coffee drinkers come in the afternoon?"

"Yeah." Towa Rina replied to Uesugi Sakura from behind the counter as she cleared dishes from a table, "It’s not too busy around one or two in the afternoon; the most hectic is around five or six in the evening, and on rest days, even more so."

Knock, knock.

Uesugi Sakura heard the knocking and looked toward the back kitchen.

Yanagi Shiiru, the shop manager, removed her cartoon apron and said to Uesugi Sakura, "The stock of coffee beans is running low. I need to go out and buy some more. Soon, a trainee maid will come to learn about coffee prep. I’ll leave her to you."

"Okay."

Uesugi Sakura didn’t refuse. Orders from the manager can’t be turned down.

Yanagi Shiiru moved quickly, tidied her clothes, and went out.

The doorbell rang as she left, making a crisp, pleasant sound.

With nothing else to do and everything tidied up, Uesugi Sakura passed the time by browsing his phone behind the bar.

Seeing Towa Rina resting on the small round table, he asked her:

"Do you know who the trainee maid that the manager mentioned is?"

"Ah~ I don’t know either...I haven’t seen her." Towa Rina lazily turned her head to look at Uesugi Sakura, half of her face pressed against the table, "Anyway, she’s your junior, Uesugi-san."

Junior?

An hour passed with no customers.

Towa Rina seemingly vanished, so Uesugi Sakura put on one side of his earphones, listening to his favorite soothing music.

The light, scattered sunshine illuminated the cactus on the bar.

Uesugi Sakura watered it a bit.

Upon hearing the "ding" sound, Uesugi Sakura turned his head instinctively, seeing Towa Rina followed by a girl in a sea-blue sweater.

She looked down, her gaze on the ground, appearing a bit shy.

Led by Towa Rina, she arrived in front of Uesugi Sakura.

"Here’s the person," Towa Rina said.

The girl in the sweater promptly stepped forward, bowed her head, and introduced herself to Uesugi Sakura:

"Senior, my name is Kobashi Rikai, pleased to meet you."

"..."