I practiced as a monk alone in Japan.

Chapter 157 Role Playing?

"How did you do it?"

Sakuraba Yuki wasn't stupid; naturally, she wouldn't believe that a handsome guy could get a free meal.

Are you kidding me? Unless... unless this young man in front of me is a gigolo in this bar.

Hmm. This possibility seems more plausible.

Sakuraba Yuki couldn't help but squeeze her plump legs, which were covered in gray silk, together.

Gen shrugged. "I told you, being handsome can overcome everything."

"Don't give me that crap. You don't happen to have some kind of special job here, do you?"

Sakuraba Yuki said suspiciously, while shifting her position.

She was originally sitting opposite Tsukino Gen, but now she sat directly next to him. She didn't see anything wrong with it, because she always considered herself the boy's elder, guide, and older sister.

Because she felt so sorry for the boy's precocious maturity and aloofness, she really hoped that something as warm as family affection could exist in Tsukino Gen's life. Even if it was created later, it at least helped the boy in some way.

"What kind of special job? What are you thinking about?"

Gen Tsukino looked at the mature woman beside him with a strange expression.

The bodycon skirt fit her perfectly, highlighting her mature figure with its slim waist and wide hips. Her long, curly hair cascading down her back only added to the allure.

Who wouldn't want a stepmother like that? No.
"You're not here to work as a bar hostess, are you?"

"What's wrong with me? Do I look that free?"

"How can I give you a free meal?"

"You'll know later."

"In the future?" Sakuraba Yuki scrutinized the boy suspiciously, then said seriously, "Are you really not doing something strange?"

"If I wanted to do this kind of thing, would I have waited until now? It's summer vacation, and I have quite a few plans."

Hearing Tsukino Gen's words, Sakuraba Yuki couldn't help but smile and slapped the boy's arm in an annoyed manner.

"Get lost, I'm just worried you'll go astray."

"It's not that bad. If I had gone astray, would I have waited until now? I would have been unable to bear the pressure of life long ago."

"The pressures of life? You seem to be having a pretty exciting time every day. You've been spending a lot of time with Kazama and the like these past few days, haven't you?"

Sakuraba Yuki scrutinized the boy's expression and asked.

Gen Tsukino casually picked up a beer from the table and easily opened the cap with just two fingers. Yuki Sakuraba only had time to hear the sound of airflow before she could even see the action clearly.

I poured myself a glass and drank half of it in one gulp.

"No, I'm busy with my own things. Did you put a camera on me?"

Sakuraba Yuki squinted and sniffed, "You still smell nice. Did you just finish with someone?"

"Bullshit, I've already taken a shower, how could you smell it?"

"She even took a shower, and she still said she wasn't going on a date?"

"They're not even at school, why should we care about that?"

Gen Tsukino looked up at the other person, just as the waiter brought up the Negroni.

Sakuraba Yuki asked softly, "Is it alright to drink such strong liquor?"

"Then why did you ask me to come out for drinks? It's strange enough for a teacher to invite his student to a bar, isn't it?"

Sakuraba Yuki blushed at what was said, and awkwardly reached out to smooth the curls of her hair behind her ear, only to realize that she and Tsukino Gen had unknowingly gotten quite close.

It's as if the other person possesses a natural attraction, making people not only unable to resist getting closer, but also easily overlooking the existence of distance.

But she still stubbornly raised her head and said nonchalantly, "I'm your older sister. You need to relax too, besides studying. And your grades are already pretty good."

The focus of our efforts to help this boy should not be on his studies, but on other aspects.

"Then why are you interfering in my private life? So it's okay if I'm with you, but not with other people?"

"Go to hell, what nonsense are you talking about!"

The boy's somewhat frivolous words made Sakuraba Yuki's cheeks burn, and she wondered if it was because she had drunk too much.

It seems that the atmosphere between the two is completely different now. Unlike when they were in school, where the boundaries were clearly maintained, or rather, once they left that environment, they became more free and more prone to unrestrained indulgence.

Gen Tsukino simply smiled and offered no explanation.

She thought of a new topic to change the awkward situation.

"By the way, I saw Kazama-kun's grades. They've improved a lot compared to before. Is that all thanks to you?"

Gen Tsukino replied lazily, "I only tutored her occasionally during breaks between classes. The main reason is that she was willing to work hard and put her mind to it, so her improvement was quite obvious."

"You seem more suited to be a teacher. Do you want to become a teacher after graduation?"

"No, that won't do. As a teacher, my appearance doesn't allow it. If I'm too good-looking, it might arouse the parents' suspicion."

"??? Why do I feel like you're being sarcastic?"

Sakuraba Yuki looked at Tsukino Gen with displeasure.

The boy smiled shamelessly.

The woman gave a soft hum, picked up her wine glass, and made a gesture as if to clink glasses. This time, Tsukino Gen didn't tease her.

"boom."

The glasses clinked together crisply, and the wine sloshed around on the water's surface.

"Speaking of which, Sakuraba-sensei hasn't said yet why you're drinking here alone."

Sakuraba Yuki glanced at Tsukino Gen, "Call me 'older sister,' have you forgotten again?"

"You call me 'older sister' outside of school, right?"

"of course."

What kind of strange role-playing is this? Or is it that changing identities allows for a different way of getting along? Tsukino Gen wasn't entirely sure why the other person insisted on this, but he knew that people are really good at deceiving themselves.

"Life is like a play, and everyone is playing a role."

"Hahaha, what nonsense are you talking about? Actually, nothing much happened today. My parents just called and said that a friend I knew from my hometown when I was a child happens to work at Zhaori, and they want me to meet him and have a meal with him or something."

At this point, Tsukino Gen understood.

"Blind date?"

“Sigh,” Sakuraba Yuki sighed, “It was just a blind date. They said the other person wasn’t married, and that I happened to be working at Zhao Ri, and that the other person’s conditions were pretty good, and that I wasn’t getting any younger and should start thinking about these things, and so on.”

No matter how unique one's thoughts are or how insightful one's opinions are, one can still feel somewhat lost when faced with the mundane, repetitive routines of life.

Having a clear understanding is one thing; figuring out how to solve it is another.

What's even harder is convincing your family to accept your lifestyle.

In the dim light of the bar, the young man's handsome profile resembled a fine sculpture in a museum, especially when he gazed intently and calmly.

He said in a low voice, "Sakuraba-neechan isn't that old. She can live a few more years for herself. Besides, she's so beautiful, she'd still be in demand even in her thirties or forties."

"What market? You make it sound like I'm waiting for a better price."

She pouted slightly, showing a charmingly girlish dissatisfaction.

Gen Tsukino laughed and said, "Whether you're holding out for a high price or not depends entirely on how you see yourself and what you think of yourself."

"My thoughts are very simple. I don't want to get married yet. I think marriage should be a natural progression, a natural coming together with someone you like, reaching a certain stage. I want to build a family together, and even welcome the next generation. But I guess my family would think that's too slow, too idealistic."

"So you still met him?" "Yeah, my parents called, and he called me too. I really had no choice. Besides, we're both in Zhaori, and it would be awkward if we accidentally met again later. We've known each other since we were kids, so I couldn't be too blunt."

"Oh, so you're childhood sweethearts."

Tsukino Gen said mischievously.

Sakuraba Yuki rolled her eyes at Tsukino Gen, annoyed. "Do you think all childhood friends are like in anime and light novels, where they don't see each other for years and then have a romantic encounter, and then discover they share similar interests? There's no such thing as a perfect relationship."

What was the outcome of the meeting?

"What other outcome could there be? But he is indeed quite well-off, a doctor now, very respectable and glamorous. He's also very polite, but I just don't feel anything for him. Especially when he talked about some things from his childhood, seeing how clearly he remembered them, I actually felt a little guilty, because I don't remember any of those things happening at all, and I even thought he was making them up."

This is where women and men differ.

If another man heard his childhood sweetheart recounting all the details of their past, he would probably be completely captivated, and even if he was being deceived, he would most likely fall for it.

Sakuraba Yuki would then doubt whether it was made up, and even feel guilty.

However, this also shows that there is no compatibility, and no corresponding feeling can be generated.

"After a few words, he directly asked me if I had any plans to get married, and suggested that we could date and develop feelings first. I told him that I was too busy and had no plans to date or get married at the moment. And that was the end of it."

Speaking of it.

She took a sip of her drink in frustration, perhaps finding the beer not strong enough, and then grabbed the glass that Tsukino Gen had placed beside her, taking a large gulp of Negroni. She didn't even bother to wipe the rim of the glass.

"My parents will definitely call and scold me again soon."

"So that's why you haven't gone home, preferring to stay here drinking alone in silence?"

Gen Tsukino looked at the other person with amusement.

Sakuraba Yuki pouted, looking aggrieved. When she wasn't at school, she acted like a little girl more naturally in front of this boy, as if she were letting her true nature shine through. She didn't know why; perhaps it was the magical power of handsome guys?

"It's not like I'm drinking alone, since I invited you over too."

"So this is what I'm all about? But you've got a good eye for people. Drinking with a handsome guy like me must be pretty prestigious, right?"

Seeing the boy's vain expression, her previous gloomy mood seemed to vanish instantly. Sakuraba Yuki couldn't help but cover her mouth and burst into laughter, her mature, slender yet voluptuous body trembling with laughter.

It looks very dynamic.

It's like suddenly switching from 2D to 3D animation.

Tears welled up in her eyes. "Do you often coax Kazama like this? How vain. Hahahaha."

Gen Tsukino smiled, looking at the other person's wide smile, his fingers stroking his wine glass as he spoke softly.

"It's not the same. After all, you have to use different methods for different people. She's not as easy to coax as you, Sakuraba-neechan."

"Ha, here comes the scumbag's comment. I told you, you can't just hurt girls. So all good-looking guys can't control themselves, huh?"

He tried to scold himself again.

Gen shrugged, seemingly unconcerned, and instead focused his gaze on the other person's eyes.

"How is that considered being a scumbag? It's perfectly normal for me to comfort Kazama. If comforting you is considered scumbag behavior, then isn't it Sakuraba-neechan who first put herself into a role she shouldn't have?"

Gen Tsukino's question startled Yuki Sakuraba, whose face then flushed an unnatural red.

As a teacher, she is most used to reasoning and is also good at self-analysis. If she hadn't paid attention before, but the other person said that, she realized that...
Yes.

Why do we assume someone is a jerk when they use the same methods on us? It's because we perceive their tactics as how they pick up girls. They might not actually have those intentions, but we've already formed this preconceived notion.
The strange person seemed to have become himself.

He fantasized about a relationship that shouldn't have happened.

Has he been drinking too much? Or is he really getting on in years, and his desires are starting to become uncontrollable?
Her legs, encased in gray stockings, involuntarily tightened again—a little-known habit of hers. It only occurred when she was extremely nervous or guilty.

"I"

"Sakuraba-nee had better think carefully about how to answer, and whether your explanation can convince yourself."

Just as he was about to speak, he was stopped by Tsukino Gen's extremely aggressive gaze.

He was like a skilled hunter teaching a novice how to strike a fatal blow and how to leave his prey with no chance to retaliate.

Unbeknownst to her, Sakuraba Yuki found herself in an extremely passive position. She didn't even realize that the way she looked at Tsukino Gen was not the way she would look at a junior.

There was no such thing as gentleness or kindness.

Instead, they were timid, nervous, and shy.

Like a young girl in the bloom of spring, she challenged a powerful boss that didn't belong in the beginner's village.
"Hey, Xiaoxue?"

Just as their gazes met, seemingly drawn out and thickened under the light, a tension that seemed to bind them together.

Several footsteps passed by, then stopped abruptly, followed by a slightly hesitant voice.

Their gazes abruptly broke off.

Essentially, he wanted the other person to realize that the process of getting along with him was quite dangerous, and that if they didn't want to fall deeper and deeper into his trap, they should appropriately distance themselves. Tsukino Gen then naturally withdrew his gaze.

The sitting posture was adjusted instantly.

Look up and look over there.

I saw several men standing there together, dressed in formal suits even in the middle of summer.

The man who spoke hesitantly wore square-framed glasses and was well-dressed, appearing very refined. However, the look he gave me was not so friendly.

There was suspicion, uncertainty, or perhaps a reluctance to believe.

Sakuraba Yuki's cheeks were still a little red, but she quickly adjusted herself and looked at the other person.

"Huh? Yamaguchi, you're here too?"

The man addressed as Yamaguchi seemed a little embarrassed, coughed, and then put on a polite smile.

"Hmm, I had a colleague's gathering tonight. I didn't expect to run into you here. Is this your friend?"

Sakuraba Yuki originally wanted to answer naturally that this was her student, but then she suddenly realized that it sounded a bit strange and could easily lead to misunderstandings.

After all, what teacher would drink with students in a bar?
It sounds strange and is quite difficult to explain.

This moment of hesitation and the awkwardness on his face clearly led Yamaguchi to misunderstand something.

His eyes turned bitter, and he pushed up his glasses, forcing a smile.

"If it's inconvenient, then never mind. I'll go with my colleague first. We won't bother you any longer."

Sakuraba Yuki thought this was probably the best way, and there was no need to explain these things to the other party.

Seeing Sakuraba Yuki's silent expression, Yamaguchi felt even more bitter.

Those who took the lead all had a somewhat aggressive air about them.

In his heart, he has now clearly come to the conclusion that there are certain facts.

Saying you have no plans to date but still going on blind dates is really no different from those scumbag women on the market these days.

How funny.

"Hey Yamaguchi, how come I've never heard of you having such a beautiful friend before?"

"Oh right, this woman looks just like the woman in the photo you showed me today. Could she be the woman you went on a blind date with today?"

Listening to what others were saying, Yamaguchi unconsciously clenched his fists.

I'm surprised I still remember her!

……

(End of this chapter)