CH 12

The Little Genius Painter

[ A/N – I wonder if the main character is already Saki-chan? ]

Today, I was still working as a home-based call center operator.

I was still on the phone with the company that made the sales call, but I was getting a little tired of all the talk that had nothing to do with my business.

“It’s good. Let’s play sometime.”

“We don’t do that kind of thing.”

“Your sister has a cute voice, and I think we’d have fun playing together!”

“Um, this conversation is being recorded, right? Isn’t the company going to get mad at me?”

“Don’t worry, as long as me and your sister get along, we’ll be fine!”

Before the call was connected, there was a warning message in a mechanical voice that said, “This conversation is being recorded,” but it didn’t seem to matter to the employees on the other end.

“Hey, let’s play!”

“Ha…”

There was a lot of pestering after that, but somehow I managed to finish my conversation with the man without incident, and I took the headset off my head.

“It’s tough being a woman…”

It was not even noon yet, and I already had a few similar conversations.

“There really are no good men here.”

No, I was the same person I used to be, except for my current physical characteristics, but I knew I would have a stronger respect for women if I was in their situation.

The only saving grace was that Saki-chan didn’t hear what the other man was saying because I was wearing a headset at work.

“Okay, let’s get ready for lunch.”

After making a mixed salad with lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and corn on the cob and onion soup, I boiled pasta and poured meat sauce over the noodles.

I set the finished dishes on separate plates for adults and children.

“It was worth preparing the sauce two days in advance. Saki-chan, lunch is ready.”

Huh? Whenever she smelled something at the time of the day, she would rush over and ask, “Are you cooking?” But she didn’t respond at all.

I wonder what’s going on? And when I went into the room, I saw the little painter had been born there.

I bought some coloring books, food-safe crayons, and origami paper from the Internet, thinking that she would be bored if she just waited to watch TV or DVDs while I was working.

And now, Saki-chan was crazy about drawing.

“……….”

“……….”

I stared silently at Saki as she concentrated.

“It’s done!”

It took her about five minutes from the time she looked over the painting to the time she finished it. She was finally satisfied with the picture she had created.

Saki-chan’s eyes met mine as I crouched down with my hands on my chin and watched in silence.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“Oh, I…”

“For drawing on the wall?”

“Yes…”

Maybe it was just a child’s way of thinking, but I wondered what would happen if I tried to draw a picture on a big wall. I guessed that was what it felt like.

Her excitement won out over the fear of being rebuked.

Even so, the fact that she was able to behave so well in front of Mika’s face was a sign of growth, so I was going to praise her and encourage her instead of getting angry.

That being said, I didn’t want her to grow up to be a child who didn’t think, so it would be better to gently teach her what she needed to fix, but that could wait a little longer.

“You’re good.”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s a bunny, right?”

“Yes!”

“That’s a pretty picture, what about this one?”

“Yes!”

“A flower. Why is it black?”

“Colours!”

“You wanted to use it? That’s a cool flower.”

“Right!”

When I pat her head and praised her, Saki-chan smiled in satisfaction.

“Lunch is ready, shall we eat?”

“What is there for lunch?”

“Meat sauce.”

“Yeah!”

Since this house was rented, I would have to erase the pictures that Saki drew, but I would keep them for a few more days.

Besides, I thought I would take a picture of it with my camera and save it on my computer.

After all, this was the beginning of my little genius painter.

[ A/N – Thanks to everyone’s support, it became number one in the daily and weekly human drama rankings.

Thank you very much.

Thank you also for the typo reports, feedback, buzzers, and ratings. ]