A cafe that blends into time

These are 24 hours a day. January has 30 days and 720 hours. A year has 365 days and 8760 hours. "Tick-tock, tick-tock--" It's the sound of a clock. Next to the counter of the cafe, there stands an antique-looking grandfather clock. First-time customers to the cafe are often drawn to the ancient grandfather clock. It looks tall, old, mysterious, And quite valuable. Noon, 12:00. Along with the deep chimes of the grandfather clock, a customer enters the cafe. "Welcome." Tammy Siren smiles at the hesitant girl standing at the counter and says, "Today's special is matcha latte. Do you like matcha flavor?" "Then I'll have a matcha latte, please." The girl swipes her card to pay and walks to the side to wait for her order, habitually taking out her phone and opening MSN. There's a message from a friend. The girl smiles sweetly and sends a voice message in reply. "Of course, you're my best friend!" "Whether it's in thirty years or fifty years, we'll always be best friends." "When we're thirty years older, I'll go with you to that place again. It's a promise. Pinky swear." Tammy quickly makes the matcha latte the customer ordered, her gaze briefly sweeping over the girl. --175180:38:45 --175180:38:44 --175180:38:43 Time passes quietly. There's a clock constantly counting down next to the girl, a "remaining time" that only Tammy can see. The sweet girl who made the promise has less than 20 years of life left... Tammy hands the warm matcha latte to the girl, who quickly says "thank you" and hurries out of the café. A new customer stands at the counter, and a new "remaining time" appears before Tammy's eyes. It's a regular customer, and Tammy is no stranger to her. "Good afternoon, you're here again. Strawberry cake as usual?" Tammy pointed to the exquisite cake on the counter. "We happen to have the last piece left." "Yes, please." The speaker was an old lady with white hair, her smile kind and warm. "My granddaughter loves your strawberry cake." "That child, she's already a teenager, but all she knows is to play all day. She doesn't care about studying at all. I scolded her a bit just now, and she got upset. I need to buy a cake to cheer her up." "Sigh, I wonder if I'll live long enough to see her go to college and find a boyfriend." The old lady waited for Tammy to pack the cake. Once she started talking, she couldn't stop. —341653:49:05 Nearly 40 years of time left. Tammy handed the cake box to the old lady and said confidently, "Don't worry, Grandma. You definitely can. You'll surely live a hundred years." "Oh, you sweet little girl, you have such a sweet mouth." The old lady's face was filled with laughter. Life is like this. Sometimes it seems incredibly fragile, and sometimes it's incredibly resilient. Sometimes it's too short, and sometimes it's too long. And sometimes, it's so unfair. Especially human life... Tammy could never figure it out. Actually, Tammy has only truly been a human for less than a week. Tammy has a secret she can't share with others. She's not a human at all, but the ancient grandfather clock in this coffee shop. The owner of the coffee shop is a girl who looks just over twenty, young, with big eyes. Tammy isn't good at describing her, but suffice it to say she's very pretty. Especially when the owner smiles, the dimples by her mouth add an extra touch of sweetness. Tammy knows that all the customers who come and go have a good impression of the owner. Tammy feels the same way, and even envies her a bit. As a clock spirit who hasn't yet taken on a human form, Tammy can't move, can't speak, and can only record time with ticks and tocks every day, boringly watching the "remaining time" of passing humans. Other than that, she can't do anything. If only she could become a human one day, that would be so great... "Being human... it feels excellent." Tammy, now idle behind the counter, took a sip of the chocolate milk by her side and sighed softly. The day after she made her wish, Tammy opened her eyes again and found herself turned into a human. Fair skin, beautiful face, sweet voice, and most importantly, she looked somewhat familiar. Somehow, Tammy had become the owner of the coffee shop, that girl in her twenties with big eyes. "Tick tock—" The grandfather clock next to the counter continued to run endlessly. Tammy reached out and patted the clock, muttering to herself, "What's going on here?" The grandfather clock is Tammy's true form. Why did Tammy suddenly become human overnight? She doesn't understand it herself. "Ah, I'm running out of time. I have a tutoring session later, so I'll go now." The customer by the window had a very cheerful voice. Tammy, lost in thought, was drawn to his voice and turned to look. He was a university student in his early twenties, a campus heartthrob, with a 90% handsomeness rating. He's not a regular at the coffee shop, but Tammy has seen him twice. —00:00:07 —00:00:06 —00:00:05 As the university student waved goodbye and laughed cheerfully, his "remaining time" was also ruthlessly ticking away, like a huge joke. Beep beep beep, the sound of a countdown. Others can't hear it, but Tammy can. Unlike the steady and calm passage of other time, this is the sound of death knocking on the door, so sudden and unexpected... Chilling. Every time Tammy hears this sound, she gets a chilling feeling. —00:00:04 Her eyes quickly scanned the coffee shop, taking in everything in an instant. —00:00:03 "Customer! Wait a moment!" Like a sprinter in a 100-meter race, Tammy ran out from behind the counter, not caring about anything else, and stopped the university student who was about to leave. —00:00:02 The glass door was half open. The university student curiously stopped, turned around, and looked at Tammy, asking with his eyes what she meant. —00:00:01 Tammy forced a slightly stiff and awkward smile. "Actually, it's like this..." "Bang—!" Tammy's voice was drowned out by a sudden loud noise outside the coffee shop. It was a black SUV that crashed into a streetlight not far from the coffee shop. The straight streetlight now looked twisted and grotesque. Glass fragments scattered around with thick smoke, some even splashing onto the door of the coffee shop. And two drops of blood splattered on the shoes of the university student by the glass door. "Phew—" Tammy breathed a sigh of relief. He's saved... She looked up again. Above the head of the handsome university student standing at the door, his remaining time had changed. —56988:59:59 Over 60 years. If Tammy hadn't suddenly called out to the university student just now, at that moment, this handsome university student would probably have been no different from the twisted streetlight, crushed under the wheels of the drunk-driving SUV. Near the coffee shop, a black SUV was parked. Not long ago, a man, muttering angrily, got into the SUV with a convenience store bag and sat in the driver's seat. The car didn't start and remained there. Tammy happened to see it and didn't think much of it. But just now, the window of the SUV rolled down, and several crushed beer cans were thrown out of the driver's seat. Accompanied by the sound of the cans hitting the ground, the SUV started. Almost at the same time, a college student who was considered the crème de la crème of the school reached for the door handle of the coffee shop, preparing to leave... "There's been an accident." "Quick, call an ambulance." "Why did he crash into the streetlight all of a sudden?" The crowd was chattering, and there was chaos outside the coffee shop for a long time. Police cars and ambulances came and went, and the onlookers gradually dispersed. The handsome college student wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, still looking a bit shaken. He turned around to look for the coffee shop owner who had called out to him: "Thank you so much. Fortunately, you stopped me just now, or else I..." "By the way," the college student suddenly remembered, "did you call me for something? I almost forgot." The awkward feeling came back, and Tammy forced a smile, saying, "Actually, it's like this..." "The coffee shop is running a promotion, and you're the 18th customer today... You've won a prize." Tammy tried to make her voice sound sincere so that the other person wouldn't think she was just making it up. "So... I've specially prepared some Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee beans for you as a prize..." Tammy was quick-witted and thought of her favorite coffee beans. But... As soon as she finished speaking, Tammy regretted it. She just remembered that the shop might have run out of Yirgacheffe coffee beans, and the new shipment wouldn't arrive until the day after tomorrow. "How about this, sir?" Tammy quickly tried to find a way out. "Would you mind leaving your MSN? The coffee beans are quite heavy. You can add me on MSN, send me your address, and I'll mail the coffee beans to you." "MSN?" The college student looked slightly surprised. "Hey, what are you waiting for? The boss asked you to add her on MSN. Hurry up and do it. The boss is so pretty and proactive. If you don't add her, I will," said the male friend who was drinking coffee with the college student, laughing and urging him on. The issue of the coffee beans was resolved, but Tammy realized too late that she might have dug herself a big hole again. The college student and his friend seemed to have misunderstood something. I really wasn't trying to hit him... I just wanted to add him on MSN... The college student shyly took out his phone: "MSN, sure. Then I'll trouble you, boss. You can scan my QR code." "Okay." Tammy prepared to scan the college student's QR code. The college student smiled and added, "I'm not busy at all. You can message me anytime." Tammy: "..." Tammy's hand trembled as she tried to scan the QR code, but she missed it. It's a misunderstanding, really. I think I need to clarify. "Actually..." Tammy was trying to organize her awkward words. Before she could finish speaking, she missed scanning the QR code again. "Ding-dong—" The door of the coffee shop was pushed open, and someone walked in, stretching out their hand to block Tammy's phone. "Excuse me, can you please add her on MSN later? I have something more urgent to discuss with her." The man who walked in had broad shoulders, a narrow waist, slim hips, and long legs. He was estimated to be around 1.9 meters tall, even taller than Tammy's original form, a grandfather clock. If the handsome college student was a 90 out of 100 in terms of looks, this long-legged man was definitely a perfect 100. His almond-shaped eyes were incredibly deep, his nose was high and straight, and his lips were neither too thin nor too thick. He looked mature and stable, and most importantly, he gave off a warm and caring vibe. However, the words that came out of this 100-point man's mouth were anything but warm. The man looked down at Tammy, unwilling to waste too many words, and got straight to the point. "Get rid of the baby." "Wh-what?" Tammy's mind went blank, unable to keep up with the 100-point man's thinking. "Tammy," the man was clearly angry, but he forced a smile. "I don't have time to beat around the bush. I said, get rid of the baby in your belly." "Belly... Belly..." Tammy's eyes widened in shock. Stiffly, slowly, bit by bit, her gaze moved downwards, finally landing on her abdomen...