Didn't you go to Teyvat to earn money to support me?

"Recruitment?" Shen Liang noticed that this word was quite subtle.

“Yes, the Far East Branch is the largest Destiny Branch in the world. To facilitate the movement of personnel, the Far East Branch converted itself into an academy. Yes, just like you think.” Raiden Mei nodded. “Also known as—St. Freya Academy.”

Kiana, who hadn't joined the conversation until now, quickly jumped in, "Once you move in, we'll be classmates! I'll protect you and your sister; I'm super powerful! Just think of the title of the second young lady of the Shaniat family! My request isn't high, just give me a few months' rent waiver..."

"Let me think about it some more," Shen Liang politely declined Kiana's offer.

Although he had indeed developed some interest in that school, Shen Liang's current focus remained on Teyvat. The real world, while vibrant and diverse, was ultimately a competition among seven billion people. Compared to the infinitely valuable continent of Teyvat, which only he could develop, it certainly paled in comparison.

Besides, Teyvat also has a personal maid who likes to wear white silk shrine maiden outfits.

Hmm? .jpg

Chapter Sixty-Nine: What a lewd figure!

Humans are creatures that can get angry while chatting, but of course, they can also calm down gradually.

For example, we talked about Raiden Mei and Kiana when they were kids. Although they were still holding katanas and baseball bats, to be honest, it felt like they couldn't fight each other now.

In layman's terms, there was no atmosphere.

Then--

"Gululu."

All three of them started growling at the same time.

Shen Liang hadn't even eaten lunch; it was dinnertime now.

Kiana was supposed to go out for dinner after get off work, but she's been stuck with Raiden Mei until 10 p.m.

"Uh..." Raiden Mei's usually stern face flushed slightly. Being well-mannered, she felt a little ashamed to be hungry in public. "Mei... Mei wanted to go home and cook after finishing her duty at school today, but I received information that Kiana had appeared at my bar. I thought Kiana was going to smash up my shop again, so I rushed over and haven't eaten yet."

"In your eyes, am I the kind of person who would attack without asking a reason?!" Kiana roared. "I, Kiana, have been labeled a delinquent girl. I'm particularly hard-hitting when I fight. There's still someone who hasn't left the hospital yet. After I taught that teacher a lesson, he still hasn't been able to return to school. If the food isn't worth the price, I dare not pay."

"Even so! I, Kiana, am not stupid enough to smash up the shop where I work! I've been working there for half a month and haven't received my wages yet!"

"puff."

"You're laughing at me!" Kiana roared again.

“No,” Raiden Mei’s expression remained as cold as ever. “I just didn’t expect that the second young lady of the Shaniat family would need to earn her own money.”

She gradually realized that the white-fuzzy little thing in front of her was probably not the villain she had imagined. This guy... really was working.

"Tch, laugh if you want. There's nothing shameful about me being self-reliant." Kiana pouted, then saw Shen Liang beside her give her an approving smile. "You laugh too!"

“I greatly admire self-reliant people, because I used to be one,” Shen Liang said.

Of course, things are different now. Now he's a middleman in both the real and virtual worlds, making huge profits with absolutely no investment.

"Since everyone's hungry, how about we grab a bite to eat together?" Raiden Mei suggested. "It's fate that we've met. Mei's apartment is nearby, and we're all future classmates. How about we have a meal together to clear up any misunderstandings?"

Shen Liang is someone who really dislikes socializing, so he immediately said, "Forget it, I still have my ribs stewing, I need to get home."

Rosalia and Lilia behind him clenched their fists.

That damn otaku!

Such a pretty girl invited you to dinner and you didn't go! How are you going to find a girlfriend like this? You're the kind of person who'll be twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old and still single, never been in a relationship. When your elders say, "Come on, come with me to a blind date," or "We told you to go on a blind date, but you only talked to the person for five minutes," you just say, "Oh, right, right," and you're a social failure who's just wasting your life!

"Oh, that's a real shame. May I ask where you live, little brother? I'll pay you a visit in a while." Raiden Mei smiled.

"Don't always call me that... I have a name, my name is Shen Liang." Shen Liang sighed, "Can't you tell? I'm a homeowner, I live upstairs, on the top two floors. You're welcome to come anytime."

"Upstairs...?" Raiden Mei suddenly stopped.

Seeing her reaction, Shen Liang vaguely sensed something and asked warily, "Wait, Miss Mei...where do you live?"

"Mei lives on the 26th floor..."

Kiana's eyes lit up. "Hey, do you like stewed pork ribs?"

----------

So, for some reason, things just turned out this way.

"Hey, Rosalia and Lilia, right? What are you playing...?" Raiden Mei, holding up her school uniform skirt, sat down next to the Arlene sisters, who had rushed towards the PS5 as soon as they entered. She had intended to gently start a conversation with the Arlene sisters, but when she turned her head and saw a scene on the giant screen of the TV where a human's head was being blown open in a bloody manner, her face turned pale instantly.

"Matte 2, huh?" Lilia looked down and saw that Mei's slender legs, encased in high-quality black stockings, were now tightly clenched together, clearly flustered. So, with a mischievous grin, she handed her the controller. "Mei-neechan, do you want to play?"

Raiden Mei had never seen such a bloody and violent scene before, but she couldn't lose her composure in front of the child, so she could only force a smile and shake her head, saying, "Mei doesn't like playing games."

"That's a real shame." Rosalia looked enviously at Raiden Mei's beautiful, slender legs, then at her impressively proportioned breasts. "When Rosalia grows up, she'll definitely be just like Mei-neechan... Then Rosalia won't play games anymore... If she's going to play, she'll play for real!"

What a lewd figure! Rosalia will grow up to be just as lewd! Her brother will be forever obsessed with Rosalia!

"Huh?" Mei didn't understand what she meant.

"You really didn't have a childhood," a faint voice came from the side.

Shen Liang carried the covered dishes to the sofa. Since the girls were all sitting on the living room sofa, he figured it wouldn't hurt to eat dinner there. He didn't have any rule about eating dinner at the table; he often ate while watching movies or playing games.

Raiden Mei paused for a moment, then gave a soft smile.

"As a young lady of the Yakuza, can't you even stand this kind of scene? Although you say the Raiden family is a relatively civilized Yakuza, since it is the Yakuza, fighting should be the norm, right? Haven't you experienced this kind of thing before?" Shen Liang asked casually, but his question was quite sharp. Raiden Mei realized that he was not mocking her when she saw that his expression was very normal.

“The Yakuza doesn’t necessarily mean constant fighting and killing. Many people have serious misunderstandings about the Japanese Yakuza.” Raiden Mei gave a troubled smile. “The Yakuza have their own territories and their own ‘rates.’ Usually, we just need to send the protection money bill to the target’s house. We don’t need any threats of force or anything like that. Threats are illegal in Japan. Besides, not many people will refuse to pay protection money. The amount is not high to begin with, and it’s much more effective than insurance.”

"You send a letter and the other party pays you?"

“We provide a lot of community services, so this money isn’t just for nothing. If a drunkard causes trouble at the store, we can send someone over with just one phone call; the police won’t even bother with that. If the store is robbed or vandalized during business hours, we, the Yakuza, will compensate for the losses. During holidays, we also send them fruit, rice, oil, salt, and cash as a token of our appreciation. In neighborhoods like the Furai Group, we even help unclog sewers for free.”

Chapter Seventy: A Warm Night

Shen Liang wasn't sure whether the thing Raiden Mei was talking about was Yakuza or some kind of combined housekeeping and insurance company, so he could only nod and say, "That's pretty good."

"Little brother..." Raiden Mei quickly changed her address, but she couldn't think of a proper way to address Shen Liang for the moment, so she got stuck.

"Can I call you 'Junior Brother', Mei?" Raiden Mei hesitated for a while before asking.

"Junior brother?" Shen Liang asked in confusion. "That's a strange title. I've only ever heard people use that term in Jin Yong's novels."

“Students at St. Freya Academy address each other as ‘senior sister’ or ‘junior sister.’ Even though you’re not a student at St. Freya yet, addressing each other like this… makes it feel like the distance between you is shortened.” Raiden Mei smiled gently. “And it’s smoother to say than calling them by their names, isn’t it?”

"It went smoothly, but I still have to call you..." Shen Liang twitched the corner of his mouth, feeling annoyed, "Senior Sister?"

Looking at the handsome young man in front of her and hearing his sweet "Senior Sister," Raiden Mei felt a current run through her body and into her brain, so comfortable that she even wanted to squint her eyes.

From a young age, she was raised as an heir, a cold, elegant, and aloof beauty. In St. Freya, from junior high to high school, she was always the "Thunder Queen" admired by the entire school. Everyone looked at her with nothing but awe.

Even those who express affection for her are mostly just dogs captivated by her stunning beauty, clamoring to become the Thunder Queen... To be honest, it's quite troubling.

And this clear "Senior Sister," without the slightest reverence or flattery, was truly... like hearing celestial music that instantly brightened the ears.

—This is the legendary "junior brother".

It turns out that there really are theoretical beings like "adorable junior brothers" in the world. Their cute appearance makes you want to hug them, and their clear voice makes you want to record it as your alarm clock. This is what a junior brother is like!

Miss Mei, with her excellent upbringing, managed to restrain herself from picking up Shen Liang. She softened her voice and gave a pleading look, "It sounds so nice. Can you call me 'Senior Sister' a few more times?"

Shen Liang tilted his head. "Senior sister?"

"Mmm," Raiden Mei replied, lightly clenching her small fist.

"Senior Sister Mei?"

"Um……"

"Mei-nee?"

"Mmm... Ugh!" Raiden Mei quickly covered her lips and squeezed her black-stockinged legs together, trying her best not to let anyone see her delight.

"Mei-nee is such a strange person." Shen Liang didn't quite understand why she reacted so strongly, but calling her "sister" wasn't a big deal. Although his mental age was older than Raiden Mei's, he was becoming more and more in tune with this fifteen-year-old body, and he felt his mind being increasingly assimilated by his body...

He is becoming less and less resistant to this behavior.

—If this continues, sooner or later I probably won't even get angry if someone calls me a child anymore...

—But that day probably won't come. Even though I'm fifteen now, I'll still grow up eventually.

—Probably...

"Me too!" Kiana shouted as she secretly ate some ribs, her mouth stuffed with meat. "Landlord, landlord! I want you to call me 'sister' too!"

"Is it really necessary...?"

"Calling me Kiana-kun/Miss Kiana every day is too formal! You're being so affectionate with Mei on our very first day together, I'll cry, I really will cry!"

"Your name is too long. It's hard to pronounce 'Sister Kiana'," Shen Liang said, increasingly exasperated. "Okay, Senior Sister, is that alright?"

The white-fuzzy ball immediately understood why Raiden Mei's face was all red.

Ah...so satisfying! It feels so good to be called "senior sister" in such a soft, helpless voice by this boy who always acts like a little adult and is a master at roasting people!

Kiana grabbed Shen Liang and hugged him tightly, pressing her chin against his head. She frantically stroked his hair while making strange, blissful "yoshi yoshi yoshi" sounds. Shen Liang buried his head in her soft upper body, feeling suffocated by Kiana's well-developed figure. He angrily slapped her arm and stomped on her toes.

"What a wonderful friendship." Raiden Mei genuinely envied this pure and joyful bond.

"Eat, eat." Having finally escaped Kiana's clutches, Shen Liang hurriedly lifted the largest soup bowl in the middle of the coffee table. Inside was a very simple corn and pork rib soup, the difference being that the ribs had been simmered for a full four hours, and the soup had become slightly gelatinous, commonly known as a slow-cooked, nourishing soup.

The remaining dishes included boiled pork slices served on a bed of lettuce leaves, savory braised pork, stir-fried mushrooms with bamboo shoots, and for dessert, we chose a fresh fruit Napoleon pastry and seaweed in cream sauce. Since we were too hungry to wait for anything complicated, we simply had white rice as our main dish.

When all the plates were uncovered, Raiden Mei stared wide-eyed in disbelief. She saw Shen Liang and the Arlene sisters skillfully serving themselves rice and pouring braised pork broth over it, ready to dig in. The two little girls were wearing scarves to prevent the broth from splashing onto their clothes. Shen Liang picked out the egg yolk from the Napoleon pastry and stuffed it into Rosalia's mouth.