Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  Just like that, Elvis chopped until the seventh one before he finally handed over a perfectly cut, flawless bamboo cup to Gu Mengmeng with satisfaction on his face, “Mengmeng’s.”


  Gu Mengmeng smiled happily as she took her own cup.

  Elvis then chopped another one, “Mine.”


  Gu Mengmeng took the cup that Elvis was holding, closely observing them as she held one in each hand. On the other hand, Elvis chopped a few times without much thought, making the final two cups.

  Whipping out the snake scale that Ellie had given her, Gu Mengmeng used its sharp end to carefully carve the three words Gu Mengmeng, then carved Elvis’ name on his own cup too before delivering it to him, “There, now we won’t get it mixed up.”


  Elvis took the cup over and stared at the symbol that he could not recognise.

  He would never tell Gu Mengmeng that despite not having any markings, orcs would never misidentify their own items. However, the cup had seemed especially different with her marking.

  After Elvis was done, Lea had already collected a pile of bamboo shoots that seemed almost like a tiny hill. Gu Mengmeng quickly stopped him, “Alright alright, harvest any longer and there will be nothing left of this bamboo forest. Leave some for others, we’ll just eat what we can.”


  Lea looked at the tiny pile and frowned, “So little? Is that even enough to eat?”


  Gu Mengmeng replied, “It is the monsoon season, hot and humid. Too many and they might go bad, then it would be a waste.”


  Lea, “Can’t they be preserved?”


  Gu Mengmeng twitched the corners of her lips, “Preserving bamboo shoots? Nevermind…… let’s eat some fresh food, we can’t always eat preserved vegetables.”


  Lea nodded, “True, we’ll listen to you. Let me know when you want to eat it again, and I will come to harvest it for you.”


  Smiling, Gu Mengmeng nodded, then took a cup from her lap and handed to Lea, “Here, yours.”


  Lea had been listening to Elvis and Gu Mengmeng’s conversation all along, so he clearly knew one of the cups were going to be given to him. However, when Gu Mengmeng really presented it to him, Lea was still rather excited. After all, it was Gu Mengmeng’s first present for him.

  Lea carried the cup in his hands as if he was holding a precious jewel, doing it with caution.

  Every gift giver would want their presents to be liked, and Gu Mengmeng was no exception. Seeing how much Lea treasured it, she followed with, “How about…… I carve a name for you as well?”


  Excited, Lea asked, “Could you? Could you also…… carve my name for me?”


  Gu Mengmeng fetched the cup from Lea’s hands, “Aiya, isn’t it just a matter of a few strokes?”


  Using a snake scale certainly did not look as good as using a pen to write words, but since everyone was illiterate, Gu Mengmeng did not feel embarrassed since they would not know what she was writing, anyway.

  After carving the word “Lea”, Gu Mengmeng delivered the cup back to him. However, instead of grabbing the cup, Lea held Gu Mengmeng’s wrist and pulled her into his embrace, “Mengmeng, thank you. I was very blissful…… today. When we were eating…… and now too…… thank you…… thanks……”


  Gu Mengmeng had left her guard down, not expecting Lea to suddenly hug her. She felt rather uncomfortable at the moment and wanted to push him away…… but she hesitated.

  After staying silent for a moment, Gu Mengmeng responded, “Elvis made the cups, and you were the one who took care of me…… during meals. If one were to say thank you, then that would be me. You have done so much more for me than I have for you, too much more.”


  Lea chuckled and slowly released Gu Mengmeng, then used her finger to gently lift up her chin, “Then do you want to devote yourself to me?”