Day-Fuji Bakery, that's the name of the shop currently in front of Zan. The name of this shop may sound strange, but it's Zan and Glen's favorite bakery, although Glen is the one who frequents it the most.
"I can't wait to enjoy that delicious sweet bread."
Glen murmured, looking very hungry, and even now, his stomach growled loudly, making it very audible to Zan.
"Oh, come on, Glen!"
Zan glanced briefly at his friend, inwardly complaining about the noise his stomach was making.
"Well, in any case, I'm treating you. But Glen, don't eat too much! I don't have a lot of money."
Zan replied with a hint of complaint, it seemed he was reluctantly buying bread for Glen.
"Alright, alright! I'll only eat 20 pieces, hahaha!"
Glen replied, laughing softly.
Hearing this, Zan complained silently in his heart. "Hahh! I'm definitely going broke today."
Creak...
The sound of the door opening. Someone opened the shop door from inside.
"Oh, there's a customer."
A sweet girl came out of the shop and greeted them both. "Please come in!" These two words were spoken by the girl in a gentle tone.
Seeing a girl welcoming them, both of them fell silent for a moment before Glen made a sibilant sound.
"Shh, Zan, who's that girl? I've never seen her here before. Does she work here?"
Glen whispered, glancing suspiciously at the girl. No, it was a curious gaze.
"I don't know either. Maybe she works here."
It seemed Zan intended to ask the girl, but he was a bit shy; Zan was not very good at dealing with women.
"Ahem! Excuse me, miss," Zan said, pretending to cough a few times and speaking very formally.
The girl just stared at him and said, "Oh, yes, please."
"Ehem! I'm sorry, do you work at this bakery?"
Zan asked nervously, pretending to cough a few times and behaving very jittery.
"Yes, um, this shop belongs to my father," the girl replied, still wearing her sour smile.
What? So she's Uncle Fuji's daughter?
Zan and Glen thought in unison, their faces showing disbelief that this girl was the daughter of Uncle Fuji.
Uncle Fuji owned Day-Fuji Bakery, and he was an experienced baker. He was a good man but very forgetful. In a matter of moments, he could forget his customers' orders, although he was very familiar with Zan.
"Oh, so you're Zan," Uncle Fuji said, just emerging from the shop.
Glen and Zan remained silent, seemingly not hearing Uncle Fuji's words.
"Hey, both of you, did you hear me? Come in quickly and tell me what you need," Uncle Fuji said, sounding somewhat annoyed.
Startled...
"Oh, sorry, Uncle! I didn't hear you earlier," Zan replied, entering the shop.
They all entered the shop—Zan, Glen, and Uncle Fuji sat down, while the girl went into the kitchen with a small smile.
"It seems you've already met my daughter."
"Oh, yes, honestly, we didn't believe she was your daughter, Uncle."
"What's that? She's my own daughter. Her name is Ruby, a beautiful girl, isn't she?"
"So her name is Ruby."
Zan briefly averted his gaze toward the kitchen.
"Oh, by the way, who's the big kid next to you, Zan?" Uncle Fuji asked, looking at Glen, seeming confused, as if there were big question marks above his head.
"Hey, Uncle! This is me, Glen. How could you not remember?"
Glen exclaimed in an annoyed tone, as he felt like a stranger in Uncle Fuji's eyes.
"Haha! So it's you, but why has your body grown so big?"
Glen was very annoyed that Uncle Fuji didn't remember him, even though he came here more often than Zan.
Uncle Fuji adjusted his seating position and said, "Alright, then what brings you here?"
"We want to buy some sweet bread, Uncle."
Uncle Fuji looked in the direction of the kitchen, where Ruby was.
"Ruby, please check our stock of sweet bread!"
"Okay."
Shortly after, Ruby came back, and it seemed she had something to say.
"I'm sorry, but it looks like we've run out of sweet bread today," Ruby said in a soft tone, standing next to Uncle Fuji while holding a piece of cloth.
"Well, what can we do? You can order some other bread," Uncle Fuji said, looking at his customers.
Glen looked disappointed to hear that the sweet bread was already gone.
"In that case, how about you make some more, Uncle?"
Glen said this with a hint of insistence, his eyebrows furrowing and some wrinkles appearing on his forehead.
"Hmm, well, I'm actually running low on flour, but if you really want it, you can help me get some flour."
Zan and Glen considered Uncle Fuji's words for a moment. Then suddenly, Glen glanced at Zan with hopeful eyes.
"Alright, we'll get the flour for you, Uncle."
Actually, Zan didn't want to do this either, but he felt sorry for his friend, who had been craving the bread since earlier.
"Great! The flour is in the warehouse in the north side of the village. I'll wait until 5 o'clock. If you're late, I'll close the shop, got it!"
Uncle Fuji glanced at the wall clock, which showed that they had one hour left. The warehouse was about 1 kilometer from their current location.
"Come on, Glen, we need to head to the warehouse!"
"Okay, let's go!"
Zan and Glen set off for the village warehouse with enthusiasm.
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