Asou Haruka pointed to herself and said, "Being able to retain these basic life skills means my will hasn't completely corroded by capital."
Emerald Sparrow rolled her eyes, indicating she was at a loss for words.
"... But hey, if you want me to keep doing housework for you, I'm not against it."
Mid-sentence, Asou Haruka's tone took a flirtatious turn, and she smiled teasingly: "I could even stop my singing career, you know, right?"
Her laugh was mocking, and underneath the table, her slippers intentionally or unintentionally brushed against the tip of Emerald Sparrow's shoe, hinting at something.
For some reason, Lin Xiaolu, who was sitting nearby, looked up warily, her gaze sweeping between Emerald Sparrow and Asou Haruka, while Emerald Sparrow, understanding what she was implying, also lost any interest in continuing the conversation, merely grunting in acknowledgment and returning to her meal.
To tell the truth, although she usually showed little fondness for housework, Asou Haruka's cooking skills were quite decent.
As a Dongying State native who grew up in the Donghua Region, Asou Haruka inherited the proficiency in household chores common among Dongying women. She also possessed the open-mindedness and generosity characteristic of the Donghua Region, coupled with the presence she developed from over a decade as a singer, as well as her youthful appearance that showed no signs of aging thanks to joining the Magic Kingdom—she was undoubtedly an exceptional woman.
Emerald Sparrow had no doubts that such a person would have many admirers.
As a friend of twenty years, she too hoped that the other could find her happiness, even though Asou Haruka had made a somewhat vague "confession" to Lin Yun over a decade ago, she never felt that the other needed to stay single because of it.
However, from what it seemed, as a singer in the entertainment industry who encountered good-looking men and women every day, Asou Haruka had indeed remained unmarried.
Emerald Sparrow wasn't foolish; there had to be an internal reason for this abnormal phenomenon, and due to Asou Haruka's indirect indications, she had come to know a bit about it.
Part of the reason was certainly her lifestyle—Asou Haruka was quite a free-spirited person, not fond of restricting her steps for a relationship, and also because the only person she had considered taking things further with was no longer a possibility for her.
Just as with Hong Siyu, Emerald Sparrow could continue to regard Asou Haruka as a close, important friend, but friendship was already the best model for their relationship.
Asou Haruka understood this, which is why she would occasionally flirt through her words but never bring these topics to the table for a serious discussion.
This was also a tacit understanding between her and Emerald Sparrow.
Their mutual silence naturally moved them past the topic, and apart from Bai Jingxuan, who was still ecstatic over the "authentic Dongying cuisine," everyone else began to focus on their meal.
Lin Xiaolu, who had been alert during their conversation, gradually let go of her strange wariness due to its cessation, continuing to eat quietly, though she stealthily shifted her seat a little closer to Emerald Sparrow.
Emerald Sparrow noticed Lin Xiaolu's subtle movement, but pretended she didn't see it.
Having decided to let the identity of Emerald Sparrow shoulder more of Lin Xiaolu's reliance, she wouldn't back out now and would appropriately reciprocate Lin Xiaolu's simple acts of affection."
However, this scene uncontrollably brought her back to her previous conversation with Emerald.
Because she had chosen to accept Lin Xiaolu's request and grow closer, the conflict between Lin Yun's and Emerald Sparrow's identities in future activities was bound to become even more problematic.
Not only because she couldn't act as cold and firm as before in the identity of "Emerald Sparrow," often needing to offer more concrete answers to Lin Xiaolu's questions about her whereabouts, but also because her relationship with Lin Xiaolu in the traditions of the Donghua Region amounted to "adopting a god-daughter," and this wasn't something that could proceed with just their agreement.
Without a doubt, this required discussion between "Emerald Sparrow" and "Lin Yun."
Though Lin Xiaolu seemed oblivious for now, if they didn't formally go through with the process, it couldn't be guaranteed that she wouldn't become aware of the oddity once she grew more sensible.
And for "Emerald Sparrow" and "Lin Yun" to have this "discussion" under Lin Xiaolu's observation, the doubles currently producible by Emerald Sparrow's Magic Armor couldn't pull it off.
That's why she had previously approached Emerald to inquire about such a functional item.
And as for Emerald Sparrow's request at the time, Emerald's answer was simple—no.
While it was well-known that Emerald herself had unique experience in controlling doubles, the cost of custom-making a human-like double that showed no flaws was too immense. As Emerald herself put it, "Even if you killed me now, I couldn't produce that much private money."
As for the possibility of further enhancing Emerald Sparrow's Magic Armor to increase control precision, there was some potential, but ultimately the matter returned to the difficult problem Emerald Sparrow faced: her true form was still recovering from an injury, making it unwise to fiddle with the Magic Armor.
So, Emerald Sparrow had to return from this issue empty-handed.
Of course, "empty-handed" didn't mean the meeting with Emerald yielded nothing. In fact, just before they parted ways, Emerald did give Emerald Sparrow something.