Ten years ago, the Central No. 3 greenhouse.

Outside a cottage on the corner, Angelica pushed open the door.

The wind chimes on the door frame swayed and made a crisp and pleasant sound.

The girl chuckled and walked into the door, her brownish-gray boots squeaking on the ground.

The structure of the house is duplex, divided into upper and lower floors, the area is not large, and it even looks a little crowded, but it has a different sense of warmth.

There is a chaise longue next to the bookcase in the corner, on which Yanagihara always lies and reads in his spare time.

Books weren't cheap in those days, but luckily Angelica's father, who had never met before, was a rare scholar of translation, so he bought a lot of books for the family.

Angelica doesn't like to read, but she likes to sit in Yanagihara's arms and let the other person read to herself.

It's a pity that as she grew up, she gradually lost this treatment.

There's no way, who let Angelica, who is only sixteen years old, already have a height of nearly 1.7 meters, let her lie in her arms, and Yanagihara doesn't have to read.

On the second floor, in addition to Angelica's room, there is a small balcony.

There is a round table on the balcony, which is Angelica's favorite place to stay, where she always sits and drinks tea and fiddles with her "toys".

Don't get me wrong, the "toy" she says isn't really a toy, it's a firearm part.

Ever since Angelica bought her her first pistol when she was thirteen, Yanagihara seems to have enjoyed the feeling of taking firearms apart and putting them back together.

As a result, it became a common practice for the Yanagihara family to purchase some firearm parts from time to time.

To this end, the balcony on the second floor almost became Angelica's studio, filled with a variety of barrels, firing pins, gears, sights, and dozens of different models of firearms.

It must be admitted that although Angelica is not very old, Yanagihara is no longer as good as her in terms of understanding of firearms.

This year, Angelica has grown from a cute little girl to a slim girl, her tall and curvy figure makes her have a "femininity" far beyond Yanagihara, and her delicate facial features also make her look extremely handsome. Unfortunately, she has overly sharp eyes.

This makes her body always surround her with a layer of cold aura that is not close to people, and even when she laughs, she seems to have a bit of aggressive ferocity.

In fact, it was only because she fiddled with the gun sights all day and night, so much so that after a cramp in the corner of her eye, she became like this.

Because of this, she still doesn't have any close friends of the same age, but she doesn't seem to care much about it, and she still has a good time every day.

With her tan hair dangling behind her, Angelica looked around the room, and finally saw Yanagihara busy in the kitchen.

"Hmph." She chuckled, and her piercing eyes seemed to soften a lot.

Tiptoeing behind Yanagihara, the girl stretched out her hands at lightning speed, trying to hug Yanagihara's waist.

The next moment, a fruit knife stopped in front of her forehead, causing her movements to stop vividly.

"Ha, ha." While sweating at the fruit knife in front of her forehead, the girl looked at Yanagihara, who was facing away from her, and said with a dry laugh.

"Yuan, just let me hug it, it's my birthday, isn't it?"

Yanagihara's hand paused for a moment, then finally sighed and put the knife down with a dark face.

"Hey, hey." Angelica's expression immediately brightened, and she wrapped her hand around Yanagihara's waist while burying her face in her hair.

"Yuan, didn't you wash your hair today?"

Behind him, the girl's voice came muffled.

"Just washed it yesterday." Yanagihara cut the jerky on the board and replied lightly.

"No, you have to wash your hair once a day, otherwise it will stink."

Angelica pouted and lifted her face and pressed her chin against Yanagihara's shoulder.

"Yanagihara, you're always so lazy, just like those stinky men."

"If it stinks, let it go."

"Don't."

The corners of Yanagihara's mouth twitched, but he still endured his anger and continued to process the ingredients "calmly".

To be honest, she doesn't like others to hold her, just like a wild wolf doesn't like to be touched on the belly, but who told her to take this girl and can't do anything.

"I'm your elder, you should respect me a little."

Perhaps reluctantly, Yanagihara casually poured all the cut jerky into a pot of soup.

"But I can't see it at all." Angelica turned her head sideways, looked at Yanagihara's close cheeks, and squinted her eyes like a cat.

"With Yanagihara's current appearance, even if it is my peers, I'm afraid some people will believe it."

Indeed, in Angelica's impression, Yanagihara's appearance never seemed to change.

She once saw a photo of her mother and the other party, and Yanagihara at that time was almost what she looks like now.

It can even be said that there is no change at all.

"My age, being your mother is enough." Yanagihara depressedly smashed a few Lu Ying eggs into a bowl and said with an even stirring.

She didn't tell the truth, and she didn't exaggerate it too much, because she was afraid of scaring Angelica.

After all, her age is completely beyond the scope of a normal human being.

"Mom."

But who knew that the next moment, Angelica suddenly laughed and shouted.

"Tsk." Yanagihara's face sank, and he silently raised one of his hands and said.

"Your butt is itching again?"

"Well, I suddenly remembered that I still had a gun that I hadn't finished, so I'll go upstairs first."

With that, Angelica let go of Yanagihara, covered her ass and ran upstairs.

"Hmph."

Looking at Angelica's back, Yanagihara's face showed a faint smile. Then he shook his head and went back to his own business.

······

In the evening, Yanagihara prepared dinner.

Placing the baked cake on the table, she called Angelica down as well.

Angelica, who had just come out of the studio, had a face covered in black oil, and when she saw the cake on the table, her eyes lit up immediately, and she reached out to grab it.

But he was photographed aside by Yanagihara for the first time.

"Wash your hands first."

Placing the dishes and chopsticks on the table, Yanagihara said flatly.

"Got it, got it." Angelica looked a little impatient, but went to the bathroom anyway and rinsed her hands full of gun oil.

Looking at the mirror in front of the sink, she was inexplicably in a trance.

Time flies really fast, and the sink that used to be too high for her to reach can now only be washed with her hands down.

She still remembers that at that time, Yanagihara would hold her every time she washed her hands, and then she would get water stains all over her body.

Thinking of Yanagihara's angry appearance that he wanted to hit himself, but had to hold back, Angelica subconsciously hooked the corners of her mouth.

"What are you standing there giggling at, come over and eat." Yanagihara's voice came from the living room.

"Oh, here we are." Angelica panicked and ran out of the bathroom.

The dinner was harmonious, and the cake was Angelica's favorite chocolate flavor, and Yanagihara put a lot of effort into making it a taste. Fortunately, a substitute for cocoa beans was finally found.

"It's delicious."

At the table, Angelica bit the spoon in her mouth, feeling the sweet and bitter taste, and said with a satisfied face.

Then, she dug up another piece of cake and brought it to Yanagihara's mouth.

"Yuan, you can eat a piece too."

"No, it's all your saliva on the spoon." Yanagihara sat across from the girl, holding a roll of newspaper in his hand and said.

She was already full of food and drink, so she didn't want to eat anything more.

But this statement obviously irritated Angelica, and she puffed out her mouth, and then, while Yanagihara was not paying attention, she suddenly shoved the spoon into the man's mouth.

"Hmm."

Feeling the spoon that was suddenly put into his mouth, Yanagihara glanced helplessly at Angelica, who was sitting opposite, but finally ate the cake.

"How's it going, it's delicious." Angelica said triumphantly.

"After today, you will be an adult, remember to be more stable in the future." Shaking the newspaper in his hand, Yanagihara said helplessly.

Obviously, I'm usually quite mature, but when it comes to my birthday, I become the same as when I was a child.

"I know, with Yanagihara here anyway, you'll take care of me." With a big wave of her hand, Angelica continued to eat the cake in front of her.

······

At night, the two took a shower and went back to their rooms.

But before Yanagihara could fall asleep, she heard the sound of the door being opened.

"Angelica, go back to your room." In the darkness, Yanagihara spoke weakly.

Just by listening to the footsteps, she knew who was coming.

"It's my birthday today, so let me be willful once, okay?" Once again, the girl used this tried-and-true excuse.

In the faint light, Yanagihara opened her eyes, and she looked at the girl standing in the room, as if she had thought of something.

In the end, he sighed and lifted the quilt.

"Alright, come in."

"yes, thank you Yanagihara, I like you the most."

With that, the girl lay down in the quilt together, kissed Yanagihara on the cheek and said.

"Good night."

"Well, good night······"

The two of them lay down next to each other and gradually fell asleep.

Under the quilt, Angelica grabbed Yanagihara's hand. That hand, cold and warm.

Until now, Angelica still believes that Yanagihara can live with her forever.

Until now, Angelica had believed that the cottage would always be as warm as it were.

Until now, Angelica was happy, as if she was able to forget all the worries in her life.

Tomorrow, she will be able to apply for an employment certificate.

Once she was officially employed, she no longer had to just stay in the greenhouse and wait for Yanagihara to return.

Everything will be better, and Angelica has never looked forward to the next day.

Unfortunately, she never thought that what she was waiting for would be the next day like that.

With the morning sun, Yanagihara is gone······

What she saw were two letters on the table.

One letter about her background.

One is Yanagihara's farewell.

In the farewell letter, Yanagihara said that he was going to complete a commission and might not be able to come back.

She deposited Angelica enough money to continue living in the greenhouse, and apologized.

However, this apology has no effect in the end.

That's not what Angelica wants.

She didn't know why Yanagihara was suddenly leaving, she thought Yanagihara would come back, just like every commission before.

But Yanagihara never returned.

The Employers' Association said she might be dead, but Angelica always felt that she was still alive.

So Angelica waited day after day, and her personality became more and more cold, withdrawn, and weird.

Until she couldn't wait any longer, she left the greenhouse and found the former "scavenger" according to the badge left by Yanagihara.

She has established the Central Mercenary Regiment, and she wants to find Yanagihara, dead or alive.

She wanted to ask for her own reason why Yanagihara left suddenly.

She had to ask for himself what she was in Yanagihara's eyes.

Sadly, Angelica never opened the scavenger badge that Yanagihara had left behind.

So she had never seen a sentence engraved in that badge.

"To my dear Angelica:

Happy birthday. ”

Yanagihara is good at parting.