Elder brother's garrison

Page 1842

"Washington? You're a customer at this cafe too? What's going on today... Waaah!" Just as Xiaobai was about to speak, she suddenly realized that Washington, who was walking towards her, didn't seem to be stopping. She quickly turned around and spread her arms to Washington. Then, Washington stumbled and fell into Xiaobai's arms.

Two rather substantial things pressed down on Xiaobai's face. Xiaobai's cheeks first felt like they had hit some incredibly bouncy spring bed, and then Washington's body pressed him directly onto the bar.

"Ugh... such a strong smell of alcohol..."

Xiao Bai only had time to say those words before she was completely overwhelmed by Washington's tall and voluptuous figure.

"Admiral! Hey hey hey! Admiral!" Aoba, who was standing nearby, was startled. She jumped off her chair and hurriedly helped Shropshire, who was standing next to her, to help Washington up. Then she called out to Shiro, who was slumped on the bar, "Admiral! Admiral, are you alright?"

"N-nothing...it's nothing..." Xiaobai looked up with a wry smile, rubbed her cheeks, and smiled at Qingye and Shropshire. "Thank you..."

"Glug...glug..." Washington, who had been helped up by Aoba and Shropshire, snored incoherently with his head down. Half drunk and half awake, Washington waved in the direction of Shiro, "Admiral...come on, come on...have a drink...the loser has to run laps around the track naked...hiccup."

Xiao Bai smiled wryly.

"Is Washington... also a regular at the coffee shop?" Shiro asked Aoba.

“Uh… um…” Aoba thought for a moment, looked at Washington’s face, and shook her head. “It doesn’t seem like it… Quincy and I don’t think we’ve ever seen Washington here.”

"But she seemed very familiar with this place just now."

"Hmm..." Aoba was also a little confused, her gaze strange.

Just then, the store manager, who had gone to the kitchen to get the cake, returned to the store. As soon as she entered, she saw Xiaobai and his group supporting Washington, and couldn't help but show a surprised expression.

"Huh? Isn't this...?"

"Manager, do you know her?" Xiaobai looked at the manager curiously.

"Ah...yes." The shop manager nodded, put down the cake in her hand, came out from behind the bar, came to Washington, squatted down and gently waved her hand in her face, "This is the customer who came for the night."

"At night...?" Xiaobai asked curiously.

"Yes, our café is a café in the morning, but it's also a bar at night," the manager said to Xiaobai. "Around 8 p.m., we start selling drinks and welcoming another group of customers. This customer who smells strongly of alcohol should be one of our nighttime customers."

"They even operate in different time slots..."

"Alcoholic beverages are more profitable," the store manager said with an innocent smile. "We have all the proper operating licenses, you know."

"..." Xiaobai was speechless for a moment.

"So, Washington got the time wrong and thought this place was still a bar, so she came here to drink?" Aoba asked curiously upon hearing this.

"It seems this is the only explanation..." Xiaobai sighed, looking at Washington with a helpless expression. "Never mind, let's put her on a seat over there and let her sober up..."

"understand!"

Aoba nodded, and then together with Shropshire, helped Washington to a seat at the bar.

The moment Washington's butt touched the chair, he seemed to find his rhythm and sprawled on the bar counter. His entire body moved as if by muscle memory, his upper body casually supporting himself on the table. His white hair, in a single ponytail, was loosely draped behind his head, vaguely highlighting his fair cheeks, which glowed with a wine-red hue.

"I'm very sorry for the trouble caused to you customers." The store manager checked Washington's condition for a while, then bowed to Xiaobai and his group.

"It's alright... Rather, this is actually a ship girl from our naval base. We're the ones who have caused you trouble..." Xiaobai smiled apologetically. "Could she stay in the cafe for a while? We'll take her back after she's sobered up a bit."

"Please take your time," the manager smiled. "If you need any hangover drinks, I can provide them free of charge."

"If it's convenient..."

"Understood." The manager smiled, bowed to everyone, and went into the kitchen.

Xiaobai and Qingye wiped the sweat from their brows, looked at Washington lying to the side, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Huh? Speaking of which, Admiral, I hadn't noticed this person next to you before... but now that I see her..." Aoba finally had a chance to look at Shrop County. She stared at Shrop County's appearance curiously and couldn't help but blink. "Could it be the... Miss Shikamei who is so famous in the human world that you just brought back to the naval base, Admiral?"

"Yes," Xiaobai nodded with a smile.

"Eh! It really is Miss Shikamei!" Aoba looked at Shropshire with surprise.

Shropshire bowed slightly to Aoba.

"Blue Leaf? What's Deer Cry?" Quincy peeked out from behind Blue Leaf, looking curious. "Is it a delicious cake?"

"Idiot, idiot, idiot! Why is your mind filled with nothing but cake?!" Aoba quickly covered Quincy's mouth and pressed her down, all the while apologizing profusely to Shropshire, "I'm so sorry, so sorry, Miss Shikamei! This silly ship girl only watches children's channels on TV, she hasn't seen your movies or TV shows, so just now..."

As Aoba spoke, he bowed to Shropshire.

Shropshire quickly waved her hand, stepped forward, took Aoba's hand, and gave her a shy smile.

"Very happy to meet all of you."

"Ah...ah..." Aoba looked at Shrop County, which was so close to her, and her whole body was flushed and trembling. "To be able to hold Miss Shikamei's hand is so...so wonderful...I, Aoba...I am just so happy right now..."

“ovo?”

Quincy, who was squatting on the ground, looked at Aoba, then at Shropshire, as if he understood something.

After calming Washington down, Shiro and Aoba sat back down at the bar.

The manager quickly brought a bowl of sweet soup from the kitchen.

"This is a soup that can quickly sober you up, please enjoy it slowly." The manager placed the soup in front of Washington, then gently scooped up a little with a spoon and brought it to Washington's mouth. "This customer, please open your mouth..."

"Ugh... Ugh... Bad guys, begone!" Washington frowned in her sleep, let out a yelp, and took a big bite out of the spoon. With a crunch, the steel spoon was snapped in half by Washington, and the part containing the soup fell onto the bar, spilling a small patch.

"Oh dear...they're more wary than I expected..." The shop manager paused for a moment, looking at the small piece of the spoon handle that was left.

"Let me do it." Xiaobai took the soup bowl, picked up a brand new spoon, scooped up a spoonful of soup, and handed it to Washington.

Washington, who was fast asleep, first frowned, but then her nose twitched slightly, as if she had caught a whiff of Little White's scent. Then her furrowed brows relaxed, and she let Little White bring the sweet soup to her lips.

"Suck it..."

Washington, like a baby, obediently drank the soup that Little White fed him spoonful by spoonful.

Soon, after being fed half a bowl of sweet soup, Washington groggily opened his eyes.

"Mmm...good soup...sweet soup...ah? Isn't this the Admiral?" Washington, looking at Xiaobai in a daze, propped himself up from the bar and sat up. "...Uh...Admiral? What are you doing in my house?"

"This isn't your home," Xiaobai said with a smile.

"Huh?" Washington was taken aback, looking around. "Eh? This place... ah?? Why is this a bar??"

"Looks like Washington was out of North Carolina and secretly drank at home, got a little tipsy, and ended up here." Xiao Bai sighed, then gave Washington a helpless smile. "Don't drink so much in broad daylight next time, okay?"

“Uh…” Washington held his head.

"Manager, your hangover soup is really effective!" Xiaobai said to the manager. "It works way too fast... What's it made of?"

"It's a secret recipe," the shopkeeper said with a mysterious smile to Xiaobai.

Chapter 2545 Chino

"Washington, how are you feeling now? Would you like a few more sips of the hangover soup?" The crowd crowded around Washington and asked.

"Uh... well, it's alright... I probably don't need to drink anymore, let me lie down for a bit longer..." Washington grabbed his full head of white hair, revealing a haggard expression as if he had just woken up from a hangover, then leaned over the table and gagged twice. "Ugh... I'm just a little... a little nauseous..."

"Wow... how much did Washington drink...?" Aoba, standing to the side, couldn't help but worry as she looked at Washington's disheveled appearance.

"Judging from this condition, there are probably two or three cases of beer left," the store manager said to the group after studying Washington's face for a moment.

"Huh? So many?"

"That's probably not much for an old drunkard."

"Drinking like this is bad for your health..." Aoba worried.

“It must be really bad for a human's body... But Washington is a ship girl, so it shouldn't be a big problem.” Shiro reached out and touched Washington's messy hair, then gave Aoba a wry smile. “Actually, as long as she releases her ship equipment and uses a little bit of its power, she can quickly get rid of the alcohol and won't have a hangover.”

"Why doesn't Sister Washington use it?" Aoba asked curiously.

“I guess that’s life.” Xiaobai withdrew her hand and said to Qingye, “If you use the power of your ship equipment to seek convenience for yourself in every aspect of life, it will become very boring after a while.”

"Oh—no, as expected of the Admiral, your perspective on things is truly insightful..." Aoba clasped her hands tightly to her chest, looking at Shiro with admiration. "Even though the Admiral is still human, he seems to have more experience in living in a naval base than many ship girls!"

"Haha..." Xiaobai scratched his cheek sheepishly, "These are just my thoughts after suffering from insomnia..."

"Insomnia?"

"Ah, it's nothing, it's nothing." Xiaobai waved his hand and turned to look at Washington. "Washington, it's still coffee shop hours here. If a drunk person is lying here, it will affect the other customers. Come back to the naval base with us when you've sobered up a bit."

"Oh... okay, okay..." Washington answered, his head throbbing with dizziness, but halfway through his reply, a surge of acid rushed to his cheeks, turning his fair face an purplish-red. He couldn't help but lower his head and continue dry heaving against the floor, "Ugh ugh ugh ugh—"

This was the first time Xiaobai had ever seen Washington in such a sorry state.

Ok……

Or is it that Washington has always looked like this at the naval base, but I just haven't had the chance to see it before?

Xiao Bai looked away and gave the store manager a wry smile.

"You two have such a good relationship." The shop manager smiled sweetly at Xiaobai.

"Have it?"

"Yes, I can tell she trusts you a lot." The shop manager nodded to Xiaobai and said, "Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so resistant when I fed her the soup, and even threatened to bite off the spoon, but she was so obedient when you fed her."

“Kun wants to be the Admiral too!” Quincy popped his head out with wide eyes.

"Quincy, don't make things worse! You can't drink alcohol, you can never drink alcohol in your life!" Upon hearing Quincy's words, Qingye quickly grabbed Quincy's shoulders and earnestly warned him, "If it were someone as mature, steady, and wary as Sister Washington, it would be fine, but if you got drunk, I don't know what terrible things might happen!"

“ovo?” Quincy tilted his head.

"Never mind why, just listen to me!"

“Ovo!” Quincy nodded.

Aoba only breathed a sigh of relief after Quincy nodded, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her heart.

The shop manager and Xiaobai, who were standing nearby, looked at the two of them and couldn't help but smile at each other.

"It seems these two have a good relationship," Xiaobai said to the shop manager with a smile.

"Seeing these customers patronize my shop makes me, as the shop manager, feel very happy," the shop manager said to Xiaobai.

"Oh, right, speaking of which, I don't think I've asked the shopkeeper your name yet," Xiaobai said with a smile. "We'll be neighbors from now on, shouldn't we get to know each other better?"

"My name is Chino," the shopkeeper said with a smile.

"What a cute name," Xiaobai said, patting her chest. "Then my name is..."

“I know the guest’s name is Lu Lin,” the store manager said with a smile. “You gave me your business card when we said goodbye last time.”

"Yes."

"Speaking of which, did the customer come here just to have a simple cup of coffee?" the manager asked.

"Oh...actually, I'm here to buy tea," Xiaobai said. "It's the kind of tea with a special sweetness; the sweet tea made from it tastes really good."

"So that batch of tea was for you, customer?" The shop manager was somewhat surprised. "I remember the person in charge of purchasing this batch of tea was a very beautiful, mature, and kind older sister..."

“We ran out of tea leaves today, so I told her to rest in the office for a while.” Xiao Bai couldn’t help but laugh as she said this. “I thought it was just a quick errand, but I didn’t expect to run into someone I knew.”

"Thank you for your patronage during this time." The shop manager bowed to Xiaobai, then walked under the counter, took out a carefully packaged box of tea, and handed it to Xiaobai. "This is the bottle you wanted, right? I calculated the time beforehand and thought you would run out soon, so I prepared it in advance."

"Oh! This is it!" Xiaobai opened the package, smelled it, and then nodded happily. "Manager, your tea is amazing, it's so sweet."

"I just lightly toasted it with some brown sugar halfway through the tea-making process," the shopkeeper smiled. "These teas were originally made for my own family, but I didn't expect you to like them too. I feel very honored."

"How much are these tea leaves? Including the five cups of coffee from before."

"Since this is your first time here, I'll leave it for free," the manager said with a smile to Xiaobai, shaking his head. "But next time, I'll have to charge you."

"Thank you!" Xiaobai, holding the gift box, couldn't help but hug the shop manager, overwhelmed with gratitude. "Ms. Chino!"

"Huh?" The shop manager was suddenly hugged by Xiaobai, and she was slightly stunned. The white pet on her head also trembled.

"Ah? Sorry... I've gotten a little used to being around ship girls..." Xiaobai realized she might have been a bit too enthusiastic. She quickly let go of her arm and looked at the shopkeeper apologetically, "Um... shouldn't we keep a little distance when interacting with each other, right..."

"..." The shop manager snapped out of her daze. She looked at the somewhat apprehensive Xiaobai in front of her, her surprised expression subsided slightly, and then she just smiled shyly, "It's nothing, I was just a little surprised to be called by my name suddenly."

"Is it really better to call him store manager after all?"

"Hmm...it felt a little unexpected...but it felt good. If possible, please call me by my name from now on." The shop manager carefully raised the plate in her hand, covering the lower half of her face, revealing only a pair of bright, shy eyes looking at Xiaobai. "Also...hugs and stuff...I don't actually dislike them, it's just...I still hope it's best not to do them in front of other people..."

"Chino!"

"Lu Lin?"

"We're good friends!" Xiaobai grasped the shopkeeper's hand and shook it happily.

Today, Xiaobai has gained 1 more good friends, congratulations!

Ten minutes later, Xiaobai and his friends said goodbye to the coffee shop manager and left the coffee shop.

After ten minutes of sobering up, Washington was finally able to walk independently with difficulty, staggering behind the group. However, probably due to his sinful daytime drinking, he would still occasionally show an uncomfortable expression as if he was about to vomit.

"Sigh... Eugen and I have been regulars at that café for so long, and we still don't know the manager's name. But you, Admiral, only met him for the first time, and not only did you know the manager's name, you even instantly became best friends with him, able to hug and cuddle with each other. Admiral, you're really amazing." Aoba said to Shiro as they walked.