Initially, he thought that Heather had never been to the Aoki Book Bar. He didn’t expect that she had been there before, which meant that his surprise had failed.
Matthias was even more frustrated. Trying to surprise her was such a difficult task.
“Seems like my guess is right.” A small smile appeared on Heather’s face, as she enjoyed seeing the surprised look in Matthias’ eyes.
“Yeah,” Matthias mumbled bleakly, looking apathetic.
“Aren’t you curious about how I made the right guess?” Heather, on the other hand, was delighted and wanted to tease him.
“I’m curious.” Matthias didn’t want to lie to Heather, so he figured he might as well be frank.
“I haven’t been to the Aoki Book Bar, but it has quite a reputation, so it’s normal that I’ve heard of it. This road happens to be the only way to get there, which is why I figured there’s a high chance we’re going to the Aoki Book Bar,” Heather explained, feeling quite pleased with herself. When she was with Matthias, everything became more interesting.
Matthias was disgruntled, but seeing the triumphant grin on Heather’s face took away some of his frustration. It was worth everything to be able to make her smile.
“Then, can you guess what kind of books I like?” Heather suddenly liked playing guessing games like this, and the look on her face was one of mischief.
“I don’t know.” Matthias had pondered this question early on, but he truly couldn’t guess what kind of books Heather liked. After all, she was full of surprises.
The fact that Matthias answered so quickly put Heather in a bad mood. It felt as if answering her was a perfunctory act. She stopped talking, and the smile on her face disappeared.
Matthias didn’t expect Heather to change moods so quickly; he couldn’t figure out why she was being this way. This made him distressed, and he didn’t know what to do next.
Is guessing what kind of book she likes so important? Matthias couldn’t understand what Heather was thinking at all. Are women’s thoughts always such a mess?
He couldn’t keep up with the rhythm of Heather’s constantly changing thoughts. Her current behavior called for Matthias to reflect on himself.
After racking his brains, Matthias still couldn’t figure out what kind of book Heather liked. If he didn’t know her well, he would’ve said books on economics without hesitation.
However, now that he had started to know her better, he didn’t think that Heather liked such books. Not to mention, he saw the books that she had written before, and it seemed like she didn’t like to mention anything about economics.
Meanwhile, from Heather’s point of view, Matthias was currently being indifferent, which made her dissatisfied.
In fact, Matthias was contemplating this question, but had come up with nothing. He reckoned that Heather’s uniqueness was to blame.
“Your eyes have been continuously darting around. What on earth are you thinking up there?” Heather suddenly said as she stared at Matthias’ eyes. Because of this, he was nearly unable to focus on the pedestrians and cars on the road.
Fortunately, Heather quickly withdrew her gaze and turned to look out the window. She appeared nonchalant, as if nothing had just happened.
Matthias was beginning to wonder if he had imagined things. He had heard the sentence so clearly that it must not have been an illusion.
Before Matthias could figure out what type of books Heather liked, she had thrown another hard question at him.
“You like fairy tales.” This thought occurred to him countless times, and it kept on popping into his mind. Hence, Matthias decided to stop hesitating and just say it.
Heather thought that no one would get it right, yet Matthias had guessed correctly. She looked at him in surprise, probably wondering how he came to that conclusion.
“You really weren’t making a wild guess?” Heather had to make sure of that first.
Upon seeing her reaction, Matthias knew without a doubt that he was right. Smiling, he shook his head.
“You’re very special. You’re different from others. It’s very likely that no one would have guessed that you liked fairy tales. But it isn’t surprising for you to like such nonsensical things, because you’ve never been one to follow the rules.” Matthias gave Heather a brief explanation, directly skipping his process of reasoning. In a roundabout way, he pushed the subject to Heather.
“Since you guessed correctly, then I’ll give you a chance to read fairy tales with me.” Heather seemed like a queen who was set high above the masses, and she was currently awarding Matthias with a knight’s honor.
In just a moment, they would be reaching the Aoki Book Bar after taking a turn. The two of them talked and laughed in the car. Heather returned to looking lively, not continuing to make things hard for Matthias.
In fact, Matthias wasn’t exactly sure of his answer. Upon hearing Heather personally admitting it, he somehow found her to be really cute.
Some people would be called childish if they were to read fairy tales while in their thirties. But, in Heather’s case, the contrast was adorable, and it made Matthias’ heart stir.
The atmosphere of the Aoki Book Bar was extremely girly and literary. Before this, Matthias was still worried that Heather wouldn’t like how girly the place was. Now, it seemed like he had been worrying too much.
For a woman her age, she had to have a young maiden’s heart. Although she didn’t appear unusual on the surface, there was a faint trace of joy on her face.
Unlike other girls who would take photos with the book bar mascot outside the entrance, Heather just swept a vague glance over it, leaving others unable to guess what she was thinking.
Watching those girls’ boyfriends tirelessly taking pictures of them, a soft smile appeared on Heather’s face. She had never done this kind of thing before, nor would she do it in the future.
However, Heather was envious of this kind of ordinary happiness. If there were a next life, she wanted to be an ordinary girl living an ordinary life.
“Do you need me to take a photo for you?” When Matthias saw Heather looking in that direction, he thought that she wanted to take a photo with the book bar mascot too.
The Aoki Book Bar had a uniquely designed door, and the two mascots on each side were especially cute, so it immediately captured the hearts of girls.
“No. If you want to take a photo, I can help you.” Heather refused before teasing Matthias.
Looking at the people who were getting their photos taken, he hurriedly waved his hand. “I’m not interested in those things.” After all, Matthias was a dignified man.
The two of them walked into the bar. There weren’t many people there, which was a distinctive feature of the Aoki Book Bar.
Because this wasn’t a free book bar, they needed to pay a fee to borrow books. The fee was calculated by the hour, and it wasn’t cheap.
This kept many people out. After all, few people were willing to spend much money on reading books, although the Aoki Book Bar provided the best environment for reading.
Hence, many people would stop at the door, and at most, they would take a look at the place and take photos with their mascot.
Of course, the Aoki Book Bar didn’t care about their actions. Not many people went in and out of the bar anyway, so those people taking pictures at their entrance would only help increase their popularity.
“The founder of the Aoki Book Bar claimed that she was just trying to create the best reading environment. In my opinion, it’s just to disguise the high price.” This was Heather’s first time here, and she didn’t think that it was the best place for reading.
“Businessmen pursue profits. That’s normal.” Matthias didn’t think it was an issue.
“They placed mascots at the door to attract the public and increase their popularity, yet very few people actually walk in. The boss is greedy and wants to handle many things at once, but they’ve really overlooked the elites who just want to find a quiet place to read,” Heather said, hitting the nail on the head.
Matthias wasn’t at all surprised by Heather’s sudden change in demeanor. She was always tempted to make a few remarks when it came to business matters.
Matthias had this problem as well, so neither of them found it strange.
Heather’s statement wasn’t very clear as she had just made a simple point, but Matthias understood what she was trying to say.
He noticed the business model the bar used the first time he came here, so it went without saying that he knew what Heather was referring to.
“You don’t like it here?” Matthias thought for a while, then figured that Heather must not be satisfied with this place.
“No. I don’t hate it, but I won’t say I like it either.” Heather had some expectations for the Aoki Book Bar prior to this, but now it seemed like there was nothing fascinating about the bar.
The two of them walked to the front desk. Every part of the Aoki Book Bar was unique and different from other places. It was an unusual book bar, but being unusual was its only difference. In fact, it was essentially almost the same as any other book bar, and it was even more commercialized.
There was only one person at the front desk. She was wearing a college-style uniform with a red tie, paired with a white shirt and topped with a navy blue jacket.
When they got closer, they could see that the girl at the front desk was extremely beautiful. Heather took another look at the girl, who seemed to be in her early twenties.
“Hello.” The receptionist was also responsible for the cash register, so it was a wonder how she could manage both sides.
Then again, the Aoki Book Bar’s business was slow, so one shopkeeper was enough. Heather then did the rare thing of putting on a gentle smile.
Matthias rarely saw Heather being so kind to a stranger. “I need a copy of Leo Tolstoy’s ‘Fables and Fairy Tales’. Where can I find it?”
Standing to one side, Matthias was a little curious. He wondered why Heather would ask such a question, but the girl at the front desk answered in one breath.
“Please go to Area B, fifth row of the third column of the bookshelf. It’s the third one from the right.”
After getting a satisfactory answer, Heather went to borrow ‘Fables and Fairy Tales’. As an aftermath, Matthias had to pay the deposit for borrowing the book.
In no time, Matthias got the book-borrowing bracelet. He walked quickly to Heather’s side, then handed the pink bracelet to her, while he held onto the blue one.
“Why did you ask her that question just now?” Matthias asked curiously.
“Because she’s not just a simple receptionist.” Heather had asked that question just now because she wanted to confirm her suspicions, and it seemed that her guess was correct.
“Then, who is she?” Why didn’t I notice it? Could it be that the daughter of the boss of the Aoki Book Bar is on vacation and came to help out?
“We’ll meet soon, and her true identity will be revealed.” Heather had a feeling that they would meet this girl again really soon.
When Heather’s gaze met the girl’s, the look in the latter’s eyes was extremely special, and there was an indescribable emotion hidden behind them.
It wasn’t exactly hostility, nor was it curiosity. Whatever it was, Heather was looking forward to meeting her again.
