Crossing over, and then being blocked by a rich JK.

Chapter 479 Advantages, Disadvantages, and Temptation
Because of her busy work schedule, it was almost 6 p.m. when Eda Ikumi brought Eda Akane to the Watanabe house. But no matter what, they managed to squeeze out of the evening rush hour and make it on time.

After a brief self-introduction, everyone sat down around the table, and the Watanabe family's dining table was once again packed with people, a rare sight for them.

Wow, what a feast today!?

After the usual "I'm starting," Risa Yasuhara took the initiative to start the conversation.

Compared to the last time I came to freeload a meal, the dishes this time were noticeably more plentiful.

There were eight meat dishes alone, not to mention a soup, two kinds of seasonal vegetables, and a generous portion of fruit salad.

Of course, it's also possible that she went to the backyard earlier and watched Watanabe Yu roast a rabbit for about 10 minutes, and the aroma of chili and cumin mixed together whetted her appetite.

"Of course!" Watanabe Yu chimed in, teasingly adding, "I knew you were coming, so I prepared such a lavish feast. After all, you are rare guests."

He wasn't lying.

He respected Risa very much and truly regarded her as an older sister.

Risa's words at the banquet played a decisive role in making it so easy for Masao Amamiya and the others to stop targeting Ayana.

Later on, the reason why Yuna Company was able to get off to a good start so quickly and without anyone causing trouble was because Risa had invested in it.

To put it in a cheesy way, Risa was his benefactor.

"Come on." Risa Yasuhara rolled her eyes in annoyance. "If you were really a distinguished guest, why didn't you cut me a piece of rabbit meat earlier?"

She understood Watanabe Yu's unspoken meaning, but she felt it was unnecessary. She helped him because she wanted to help him, nothing more.

As for whether he would reciprocate, she told her mother and father that it was a great investment with rich returns, but in reality, she had never even considered it.

She just wanted to help him, so she did it.

So what my mom often says about me isn't wrong.

I do tend to be a bit presumptuous and habitually don't seek anything in return. I'm not like, nor am I suited to be, a businessman who prioritizes profit above all else.

"It's not fully infused with flavor yet."

Watanabe Yu's reasons were readily available.

"You've been grilling it for almost four hours, and it still isn't flavorful?"

Risa Yasuhara did not believe this explanation.

She saw him cut the rabbit meat with a knife to confirm that it was fully cooked.

“Yes.” Watanabe Yu nodded, then began to spout nonsense with a straight face, “Even if you sprinkle so much cumin on top, the most crucial thing is still the seasoning sprinkled on top before serving. Without that seasoning, the flavor will be greatly diminished.”

"Do you think I believe it?"

Risa Yasuhara rolled her eyes.

You're really treating her like an amateur!
She may not have grilled it, but how could she not have eaten it?

"I think you believe it."

Watanabe Yu nodded and said this very seriously.

"..."

Risa Yasuhara remained silent for a full five seconds, then laughed in exasperation.

It is well known that people can laugh when they are extremely speechless.

"More than that, I'm concerned about whether eating this will really give me diarrhea? And this color..."

Eda Ikumi picked up her chopsticks, her gaze falling on the roasted rabbit meat, looking slightly conflicted.

The aroma was indeed tempting, but the bright red chili powder made her hesitate.

Although her daily diet is flavorful, it doesn't reach this level of 'flavorfulness'.

"It's actually not spicy."

As he spoke, Watanabe Yu picked up a piece of rabbit meat with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth.

Because he used a low flame to slowly roast the rabbit meat in the latter half, the meat didn't become tough; on the contrary, it remained relatively tender.

Of course, compared to professional rabbit roasting chefs, there is still a gap, but judging from the skill level of everyone at the table right now, he is definitely the undisputed number one.

The tender rabbit meat, combined with the spicy and savory flavor of the special seasoning, burst on his tongue, making him close his eyes in enjoyment.

"Is it so delicious?"

Seeing Watanabe Yu's blissful expression, Yasuhara Risa picked up her chopsticks and put a piece of rabbit meat into her own bowl.

After pouring herself a glass of iced barley tea, she picked up a piece of rabbit meat and slowly savored it.

then……

"good to eat!"

Her eyes lit up, and while chewing on the rabbit meat, she gave her evaluation indistinctly.

"Then I'll try it too."

Seeing that her best friend had bravely gone ahead with it, Eda Ikumi no longer hesitated and picked up a piece of rabbit meat with her chopsticks, then began to savor it in small bites.

It wasn't that she wanted to be ladylike, but she was afraid that being too spicy would embarrass her.

But as the delicious aroma of rabbit meat slowly wafted out, the expression on her face changed.

Watanabe Yu was not lying; the rabbit was indeed spicy, but not to the point that she couldn't handle it.

In short, it's delicious!
"Speaking of which, it seems other classes have started making plans as well?"

After swallowing the rabbit meat in his mouth, Watanabe Yu took a sip of the cooling herbal tea made by Ryoko and then started talking.

It's unrealistic to expect to talk to Jiang Tianqian directly, and judging from her appearance, she seems very guarded.

Instead of engaging in awkward small talk, why not have a normal conversation with Risa?

Yes, it's true that Jiang Tianqian is wary, and she can actively cut off communication, but she can't force herself to stop listening.

In other words, he only needs to talk to other people. It would be best if he could pique her interest, but it wouldn't matter if he couldn't. As long as she heard what they were talking about, that would be fine.

that's enough.

"You mean the school festival?"

Risa Yasuhara picked up her glass of iced barley tea and took a big gulp.

To be honest, even though the temperature has dropped, chilled barley tea is still just as refreshing.

"Yes."

Watanabe Yu nodded slightly, then picked up a piece of rabbit meat with his chopsticks and put it into Ryoko's bowl.

The reason I didn't serve the young lady spicy food was because she was already trying it, while the reason I didn't serve Yuki spicy food was because she couldn't eat spicy food.

In a sense, he was walking on thin ice, and he had to be fair to everyone on many occasions.

"Yes, for example, Class A is running a coffee shop this year, while Class D and Class E are running a snack bar and a beverage bar, respectively."

Risa Yasuhara put down her barley tea and instead picked up a piece of scrambled eggs with tomatoes and put it into her own bowl.

Sure enough, she still loved this sweet and sour appetizer.

"Water?"

Watanabe Yu was taken aback, somewhat surprised.

“Well, they plan to focus on sparkling water and various mixed fruit juice drinks.” Risa Yasuhara paused. “In short, they’re going for a down-to-earth approach.”

"So you mean focusing on volume?"

Eda Ikumi picked up the conversation.

To be honest, she was quite interested in events like the school festival.

When she was in school, she was basically invisible during the school festival. She would usually just help out when making props, and during the festival she would wander around by herself. Except when she was on duty.

"That's roughly the idea," Risa Yasuhara nodded. "They also offer delivery services, but the delivery locations are limited to within the school."

"This is good news for the teachers who are stationed in the office on duty."

"You can enjoy cool sparkling water and various beverages without even moving; all you need to do is overcome your shame."
"After all, these things were delivered to our door by the students."

After all, the teaching profession has a stereotypical image, namely, seriousness and distance.

Many teachers privately complain that students treat them like old-fashioned relics, always thinking that they don't understand this or that, don't understand current trends, and don't understand so-called fashion.

But actually?
They fully understand, and even understand more deeply than the teachers, but because of their teacher persona, they can't show it when they're at school.

You know, the places in school where people gossip the most, besides the classrooms, are the teachers' offices.

"Teachers are human too, just like police officers. Work is work, and private life is private life."

Eda Ikumi picked up the conversation.

“At our police station, we usually buy milk tea in batches of ten or more. Who would have thought that our middle-aged, slightly balding chief loves milk tea the most? It’s just that he can’t drink too much because of his health.”

The director's wife even had a special talk with them about this matter.

It's pretty surreal.

The director's wife wasn't asking for help keeping an eye out for infidelity; she was asking everyone to keep an eye on him and make sure he drinks less milk tea, no more than one cup a week.

"So what's his favorite flavor?"

Watanabe Yuu became interested.

"The most basic, original flavor." Speaking of this, Ikumi Eda couldn't help but laugh and cry. "In his words, he just likes this authentic flavor without any added seasoning. Of course, coconut jelly and tapioca pearls are still added."

"This old fogey, even when we asked him to try the taro flavor, he wouldn't, even though the taro flavor is clearly the most authoritative!"

She felt she could never get enough of this flavor in her lifetime.

It's so delicious!

"I vote for taro flavor."

The young lady of sainthood chimed in.

She likes this flavor too.

"I think the vanilla flavor is better."

Yuki Hayakawa also shared her opinion.

"For me, strawberry flavor."

Ryoko Hamabe looked at Yuki, then at Ayana, before uttering those words.

"I support vanilla."

Risa Yasuhara raised her hand casually; when she's not working, she's the image of a mischievous older sister.

"...I think the original flavor would be better."

Seeing that everyone at the table had expressed their opinions, Jiang Tianqian hesitated for a moment before finally uttering those words as well.

"Tastes are subjective, and besides, aren't we getting a bit off-topic?" Watanabe Yu coughed lightly, bringing the subject back on track. "What about the first-year high school students?"

In winter, if you want people to naturally take off their coats, you don't need strong winds, but rather bright sunshine.

When you're warm from the sun, your face is flushed, and you start to sweat, most people will instinctively take off their thick coat.

In other words, you need to be more gentle and subtly tell people what's interesting about high school, rather than repeatedly emphasizing the hard work and struggle.

Humans are inherently lazy, and most people will frown at the mention of hard work and struggle, and he is no exception. But if we add something interesting to the premise of "hard work and struggle," the situation will be different.

"It seems that the first-year students haven't broken away from the traditional approach yet; they're still doing the traditional school festival stuff."

Risa Yasuhara provided an answer.

"for example?"

"For example, classic fortune telling, classic snack stalls, maid cafes, board game cafes, etc. Oh, and the auditorium is recruiting performers this year, would you like to go?"

She suddenly remembered this incident.

In the first year of high school, performing on stage was semi-mandatory, in order to help students from each class integrate into the school atmosphere more quickly, and nothing is a better catalyst than taking the stage once.

"Let's skip it this year."

Watanabe Yu shook his head.

He had no intention of going up there and making a scene again.

“Now that I hear that, high school festivals are definitely different,” Ikumi Eda remarked sincerely. “Back in middle school, the most common things were food stalls and cafes. Something like the haunted house you’re going to do this time would have been completely impossible to do in middle school.”

Firstly, there are safety concerns, and secondly, there is insufficient space.

The area of ​​a classroom is not enough to create a so-called 'haunted house'.

"That's not."

Risa Yasuhara smiled and nodded, but did not explain that they had applied for the spacious place.

"Now that you mention it, I think high school is much more interesting than middle school."

Eda Ikumi made this pointed remark.

"Don't be like that." Before Hayakawa Yuki could even show any hesitation, Watanabe Yu blurted out, "Compared to junior high, the pressure of getting into a good high school is much greater."

"Besides that, there are also many troubles during group activities."

"Compared to the relatively simple life in junior high, in high school everyone has different thoughts and ideas, and it's hard to get everyone to work together as one."

"However, precisely because of this, the sense of accomplishment after accomplishing something that is not easy is indescribable."

"At the same time, it is precisely because of these seemingly troublesome group activities that everyone can get to know each other, understand each other's hobbies, and understand what each other dislikes."

It really does prove the saying that communication leads to conflict, and conflict leads to progress.

"..."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Tianqian did not respond, but her thoughts suddenly wavered.

She could tell that Watanabe Yu was telling the truth, without a trace of personal bias. It was a fairly objective evaluation, and it was precisely because of this objectivity that she wanted to get involved and be recognized by those people.

"According to your logic, what improvements does high school represent compared to junior high?"

Eda Ikumi rolled her eyes.

She asked Watanabe Yu to help her, not to sabotage her.

After he said that, what appeal does high school still have?

"People's ideas are more inclusive because there is more space and more people. Naturally, even niche hobbies have a chance to find like-minded people."

Watanabe Yu casually uttered these words.

Then, as if he had thought of something, he added another sentence.

"At the same time, the better the school, the higher the quality of the students and the greater the tolerance. In other words, it is very easy to deal with them. If you have some special talents, it will be even more comfortable."

He paused, then uttered the most crucial sentence.

"Because you can better understand what it means to be recognized."

The words fell.

Jiang Tianqian's eyes suddenly lit up for a moment.

(End of this chapter)