Reincarnation of Love: Being the Guardian Angel of My Stuttering Husband

Episode 6

The night is so dark.

Raymond finally finds a light-like Emily in his endless nightmares.

He had a dream about the scene of his first conversation with the girl.

At night in late autumn, they just entered the first year of High School.

It was past 8pm, and there were only a few people in the noodle shop.

Rion, who is at the cashier, gets a call and hastily says that there is important business at home and may have to go home early.

According to the usual routine, there should be two people in the store. Rion takes care of orders and payments, and Raymond cooks noodles in the kitchen.

Raymond had trouble finding this job.

After his parents died, they left no legacy. His uncle who took care of him, was not a rich man and now had to be responsible for raising a child.

So, every day after school, Raymond worked part-time for three hours to raise money for his life.

However, finding a part-time job is not easy. He has tried several places in a row. Most of them rejected Raymond out of fear of getting a legal case for hiring a school student, or they just didn't want to hire him because of stuttering speech and difficulty communicating.

He had to pay a small salary to get a job. Because the noodle shop owner felt sorry for him, he reluctantly agreed to accept Raymond to work.

This job wasn't easy to get, and now his co-workers are asking for his help, so he can't resist.

Seeing his doubts, Rion said anxiously, "There aren't many customers at the moment. Just sit here and nod your head when someone orders, don't have to say anything."

Raymond thought for a moment and nodded hesitantly.

In fact, he was only afraid of stuttering while talking, which might upset customers and inconvenience other workers.

"Thank you very much" Rion said with a big smile, touching his shoulder. "Later I'll give you a reward."

There were not many people in the store. After Rion left, a few customers finished their noodles and immediately paid before leaving.

Raymond breathed a sigh of relief.

The golden leaves on the tree, which was next to the shop, moved with a gust of twilight wind, and some of the leaves danced and fell at the front entrance of the shop.

Raymond lowered his head and tidied up the money at the checkout when he heard a thin rumble at the door.

He lifted his head and saw a girl enter the store with a cream-colored school bag on her back, walking slowly.

The dark blue school uniform contrasted with her bright skin color, and the bright light in the shop made her beautiful eyes sparkle.

At this moment, the girl raised her head slightly and focused on the menu attached to the wall. After a while, he looked at her and asked, "What does 'three favors' mean in 'three favors' noodles'?"

His voice was sharp and pleasant, like a stream of water flowing through a dry field in the spring mountains.

Raymond's heart trembled.

"It—it— it .. that means, ja—

mushrooms."

Raymond paused for a moment, hating himself for not following Rion's direction.

He closed his eyes in the hope that the girl would interrogate him impatiently.

The shop was silent, even the sound of yellow leaves falling on the front door was clearly heard.

The tone of disgust that appeared many times in his memory did not appear.

Raymond's eyelashes trembled, and he opened his eyes and looked at her.

The girl's eyes were clear, like a lake with a clear bottom. There was no sign of resentment; instead, there was a faint confusion. "Other than mushrooms, what else?"

He did not seem to mind his stuttering.

Raymond heaved a sigh of relief slightly, and the frost in his heart slowly melted. The words that came out next flowed smoothly for no apparent reason. "There's also lean meat and beef offal."

A faint smile was seen on the lips of the girl. "Then, I want a serving of noodles three favors with a plump egg. Thank you." Thank you."

Raymond closed his lips and slightly nodded his head.

Under the bright light from the shop, he watched the slender figure of the girl and felt a dim light gradually emerge from the darkness in his heart.

This was the first time someone had treated him with this kind of patience and calmness.

He returned to the kitchen and secretly cooked the noodles before serving them to the girl.

"Thank you," she said with a smile, which showed two dimples on her cheeks that made her smile even sweeter.

Raymond felt his heart being hit hard, and an unexpected warm feeling crept into his ears.

"No, no problem."

The clock on the wall was beating non-stop. With a few customers in the store, Raymond returned to the cashier, took out his book, and began to read silently, but his mind floated and his gaze could not help but glance around.

Before he could turn a few pages of the book, a tall figure rushed into the shop.

Raymond lifted his head, recognized the person, and his eyes twinkled. He held tightly to the hand that held his textbook.

It was Axton from their class, the "big boss" who loved to bully and mock him.

Not as expected, Axton met Raymond who worked at this store, with his thick eyebrows raised in awe. He walked towards the cashier and kicked the table hard.

Raymond put down his book, his pitch-black eyes with no clear emotion looking at him.

"One bowl of clear noodle soup with beef" he said, then turned around and looked for a chair without causing any further problems.

Surprisingly, this time he was not looking for trouble.

Raymond's confused. Axton and his gang always love to bully him for no reason. They would kick Raymond's desk as they passed or gathered, loudly mimicking the stuttering he suffered.

But today, he didn't do it.

No problem, of course, is a good thing.

Raymond let out a sigh of relief, turned around, and returned to the kitchen. He cooked a bowl of clear noodle soup and added two spoons of beef to order.

Axton eats fast. As a member of the school basketball team, he is tall and muscular, and certainly needs more energy. When she devoured all her soup, Emily had just finished eating.

They both lined up at the cashier to pay.

"How much?" Axton glanced at the price list on the wall, asking about something he already knew the answer to.

The store clearly displays the prices, and most customers will calculate their own payment and pay it directly without asking.

Raymond knew that Axton was trying to lure him in, and displayed a flat expression.

"This time I have to speak fluently" he thought.

But as he spoke, his mouth seemed to have a will of its own as he repeated those digits, "Li— li— five."

An evil smile slipped on Axton's lips as he pulled a tangled ten-dollar bill out of his pocket and threw it on the table. "Oh, five bucks this."

After saying that, he picked up his bag and left with firm steps.

Clear noodle soup with beef actually costs fifteen dollars, and Axton clearly did it on purpose.

If there is a shortage of money in the store, Raymond must replace it with his own money.

Raymond's daily wage was already small, even five dollars now meant a lot to him.

So even though he knew that preventing Axton meant dealing with inevitable bickering and there would probably be clumsy arguing, Raymond hardened his jaw tightly and quickly approached Axton to prevent it.

But before he managed to catch up to her, the girl standing behind had already ran first and quickly stood in front of Axton, blocking his way.

The girl was slim and as tall as Axton's head. But without fear he looked up. His eyes were clear and dazzling.

"She hasn't finished talking, and you're paying for your food just like this?" he said, pointing to the price list on the wall. His voice echoed, "You ordered a bowl of clear noodle soup for ten dollars and added beef for five dollars. Ten plus five equals fifteen. Can't you do basic math? Are you really a high school student?"

Axton's face flushed red and felt ashamed for making a mistake, but he didn't have a strong argument against it. He reluctantly took ten dollars out of his pocket and threw it at Raymond, saying, "Take it! You can't speak clearly, you're selling food here."

She packed her backpack regardless of Emily, and left at a quick pace leaving the noodle restaurant.

Emily watched his figure move away, shook her head, and whispered, "Based on that person."

He turned around and saw Raymond crouching on the ground, secretly picking up the folded five dollar bill.

The boy was wearing a uniform too large for him, making him look pale and skinny.

With the warmth that Raymond returned, the girl's voice sounded gentle and affectionate.

Raymond felt as if he had tasted a gentle marshmallow, melting his heart with gentleness.

He tidied up the folded ten-dollar note and placed it inside the cashier, then said softly, "Thank you, thank you very much."

"It's okay, don't be too shy" Emily took the money out of her pocket and gave it to him. "I ordered three delicious noodles with an extra egg, that's thirteen dollars, right?"

Emily's fingers were slender and graceful, with well-groomed nails.

Like the hands of a pianist.

Raymond lowered his gaze and looked at his palm, which was holding a neatly opened ten dollar bill and a stack of coins that formed a small mountain.

"I— is free. A—

I want to treat you. Thank you, thank you for your help."

Raymond did not know how to express his gratitude; it was the only sentence he could get out.

Although thirteen dollars was almost half of her income that night, the thought of her spending her salary on Emily made her heart feel happy with a hidden sweetness and happiness.

"But anyway, if this isn't it you're going to lose? I've helped you bill ten dollars, and now you're spending thirteen for me."

The girl was worried that she would refuse, so she immediately put thirteen dollars on the cashier's desk and left with the backpack she was wearing.

The tree leaves outside the door fell down with the ox. Raymond looked at his light and agile figure and could do nothing but smile gently.

It was only when his shadow was gone that Raymond awoke from his dream.

He realized that it had been a long time since he had smiled as he was now.

The hour hand indicates nine o'clock, signifying the time to finish work.

After Raymond closed the door of the restaurant, the intense shock in his heart did not stop; instead it grew stronger. As the fire burned brighter and hotter in winter, it warmed the previously cold corners of his heart.

He began to hope that one day he could get a little closer to the brilliant girl, even if it was just by saying a sentence or a few words to her.

The tree outside the shop dropped its leaves, only to grow back with new, green leaves.

But the girl never came back.

Raymond rarely saw her at school, and when he saw her, he was always surrounded by a crowd of people.

He never had a chance to get close to her.

Life seemed to return to its original state, and the shining sun disappeared from its life.

However, a warm touch seemed to be etched into his heart, merging with his soul.

He had once thought that all they could do together was just pass each other in the hallway of the school.

He never expected that one day the girl would reappear in his life.

At that moment, it was as if the dried wood came back to life, and his dead heart suddenly came back to life.