WHIT

36 - LITTLE QUARRELS

As the dog came closer, Edgar smashed the dog with the can.

The entire hall fell silent instantly, and nobody laughed anymore.

The dog squealed and ran outside, and the rooster followed its trail.

“Stupid things,” Edgar said, but the people couldn’t tell whether he was scolding the animals or them.

“How dare you hurt my dog!” the innkeeper barked from his table.

“That’s your dog?” Edgar was startled. “Then what about the fowl?”

“That’s mine, too!” he barked.

“Oh, then teach them some manners, alright?” Edgar said. “If I had hit the dog harder, this water can would have broken, and then you’d have asked me to pay money for something your dog and fowl started.” Saying that he casually walked toward the easter corner.

Some people began to laugh. The innkeeper frowned, and though he wanted to scold him, he felt like it wasn’t the right time.

Edgar paid a bronze coin and exchanged the empty can with a new one, fully filled with water.

As he was going back to his room, the innkeeper was still watching Edgar. “Hmph! Not using room service. What stingy bread buddies.”

His voice was loud enough to reach Edgar’s ears. He glanced at the innkeeper and smiled. “My stinginess is nothing before some people’s greediness.”

“You…” the innkeeper could barely control his anger. If not for Edgar booking the room till the end of June, he would have long kicked the siblings out, but now, he could only wait. Though he didn’t have any enmity toward them, they still weren’t spending much and mainly bought bread, the cheapest item available, so the more days they stayed in his inn, the less profits he’d earn. So, it was only natural that he wished for their early departure, to the extent that he even tried irking and bothering them whenever possible. For one thing, he called them bread buddies.

Edgar waved him a goodbye as he left and further aggravated him.

When Edgar entered his room, Fabby was awake and was rubbing the crust around her eyes. He poured a glass of water and gave it to her. Afterward, he showed her the card and told her what had happened.

Her sleepy eyes lit up. “Finally! My wait has paid off!”

“Indeed. I was starting to get worried if they are going to call us or not, despite me visiting their place so many times, but, I guess, your one-time help was worth more than everything I’ve been doing these days.”

“Don’t talk like you’ve wasted your time. It’s because you frequented their place and earned some coins, we’ve managed to live rather smoothly till now. And who knows, someone might have noticed your actions and told the Zha family a word or two. So… don’t think lowly of yourself!”

Edgar started to walk away, sensing something stirring in his stomach. Moreover, he was afraid that if Fabby entered the bathroom, she wouldn’t come for at least an hour as she would brush and bathe for a ridiculously long time.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“Bathroom,” he increased his pace.

“Wait,” when she said that word, his heart pounded. “Go and bring something good to eat. I’m hungry.”

“Whew,” he breathed a sigh of relief. “You bought the sandals, right? From now on, you should go!” he quickly went into the bathroom and shut the door.

There was no bathtub inside, unlike what Edgar had believed. There was only a large can of water with no tap facility. However, VIP rooms had a bathtub and a tap facility. The first time Edgar bathed in this inn was in a VIP room. And back then, he thought his room also had a bathtub, given his sister hadn’t come out for a long time. However, he was quite wrong.

A few minutes later.

Edgar walked out of the bathroom, but she was still on the bed, wearing a sad face and rubbing her belly. 

“Please, Eddie…”

“Eh?” he couldn’t believe she was still sitting on the bed. “How can you be so lazy?”

“You made me like this!” Fabby let her tongue roll. “Since we’ve escaped Shushui, you kept bringing the food for us both and didn’t let me face many beasts. Even after leaving those woods, nothing changed. You didn’t let me buy sandals because I wasted a lot of money on our clothes. And because I was wearing socks, I couldn’t go out and spoil them.”

“So many excuses!” Edgar’s eyes enlarged. “Didn’t you walk from the cloth shop to this inn while wearing those same socks?”

Fabby’s shoulders jerked. “T-That’s only a one-time thing.” She made a sad face again. “I’m hungry.”

“But I’m angry,” he turned around and ran into the washroom again.

“Eddie!” Fabby yelled. “I won’t eat anything until you bring me the food!”

A few seconds of silence passed.

Edgar opened the door and stepped out, looking like someone had rubbed salt in his face. “This is the last time, remember. From now on, you’ll bring food one day, and I’ll bring the next day. Otherwise, let’s bring each other’s food.” Saying that, he was leaving the room without even looking at her.

“Are you giving me ultimatums, now? And what do you mean by the last time?” she threw the pillow at him, but he dodged. “Maybe I should have said the same during all those times I cooked for you.” She looked for another pillow, but there were none. She jumped out of the bed.

Edgar’s heart skipped a couple of times, and he blitzed out of the room.

“Wait, you chicken!” she ran after him. “Let me hear those demands again!”