Tokyo: They say it's just dating, but they're serious about it.

Katsuhiko rubbed his chin with his index finger, glanced at her sideways, and asked again, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Little Lily seemed not to have reacted yet, and after a moment of hesitation, she whispered, "No."

Katsuhiko raised an eyebrow and asked with a wry smile, "Have you ever had a boyfriend before?"

"I've never paid attention to it..." Xiaobaihe's lips trembled, and a hint of shame flashed in her eyes.

The women's university next door has a pitifully small number of male students. Although you can always see a few luxury cars parked at the school gate, there are far more students than available spots...

"You're 23 years old and have never been in a relationship. What's wrong with you?"

Little Lily seemed to have forgotten her fear because of her extreme embarrassment; her small, oval face turned red, and she looked very ashamed.

Sheng Yan didn't embarrass her for long. He changed his squatting position, put his hands on his hips, tilted his head, looked at her flushed face, and asked, "Want to find a boyfriend?"

Little Lily's little hands, which were gripping her knees, suddenly tightened. Her head slowly lowered, then turned to the right, her eyes somewhat unfocused, and she remained silent.

“Turn your face around,” Katsuhiko said, straightening the collar of his shirt that had popped off a button. “Look at the single man next to you. Does he look like he’s looking for a girlfriend?”

Sayuri seemed to subconsciously look up at him, and Katsuhiko, with a blank expression, met her gaze.

Their eyes met for less than half a second before she belatedly realized what was happening and hurriedly looked down, turning her body slightly to the side, revealing the red tips of her ears peeking out from her hair.

"You seem quite satisfied. I think you're pretty good too. Let's make it a deal!"

As he spoke, Sheng Yan got up, picked up a small stool, and moved it to the side along with the little lily that seemed to be rooted to the stool. Then he walked to the cashier.

A taxi pulled up in front of the store, and a woman got out wearing a bodycon skirt, wavy hair, and 10-centimeter high heels. She looked quite tall, with heavy makeup and an indescribable weariness in her eyes.

The little bell on the glass door jingled softly.

After she stepped into the store, she looked up at the cashier, her face stiffening instantly, and she instinctively stopped at the doorway.

Perhaps it was because she saw Katsuhiko staring at her, or perhaps it was Katsuhiko's bare chest that surprised her.

"The clothes are a little small, and a button popped off. Please understand, it's not easy for anyone," Sheng Yan said casually, pulling up the shirt collar and moving closer to his chest. He then asked, "What do you want to buy?"

The woman blinked, her high heels clicking on the white tiled floor, and walked to the cashier, lighting a pack of women's cigarettes.

Sheng Yan skillfully printed receipts, collected money, and gave change.

Thank you for your patronage, and welcome back next time!

After the woman pushed open the glass door and stepped out with one foot, Sheng Yan remembered to give her a slogan.

The woman immediately stopped at the doorway, looking at it strangely. She glanced back, said nothing, and went out to get a taxi.

Sayuri was still sitting on the stool in the corner, leaning against the microwave on the cabinet, holding a small brown bag in her arms, her head down, her eyes occasionally glancing at Katsuhiko with a hint of curiosity.

Witnessing the whole thing makes it seem not so scary...

Sheng Yan glanced back at her, and she immediately lowered her head again.

"Have you eaten?" Sheng Yan asked casually, handing over the pasta box he had just bought.

Little Lily stammered softly, "I...I've already eaten..."

Sheng Yan walked over to her, gently tapped the microwave she was leaning against, and said, "Your boyfriend hasn't eaten yet."

As if a switch had been flipped, Xiaobaihe suddenly shuddered, stiffly turning to the side to move aside from the microwave oven door.

“The school dorms are locked,” Sheng Yan said, opening the microwave door, putting the pasta container inside, and asking, “Where are you sleeping tonight?”

Xiao Baihe had mentioned many times that she was always trembling with fear every time she returned to the dormitory. When the dormitory supervisor inspected the dorm, she had to hide in the closet... It was very humiliating.

She probably wouldn't be able to stay for much longer. Katsuhiko thought of the "disappeared him" before, who had stayed in the school dormitory and was then expelled by the school, and that's when Kenta came to his rescue.

There's only a narrow, simple dining table in the convenience store now. Even though there's air conditioning, it's still quite cold to sleep on it all night. She doesn't go to work early in the morning either.

Three shifts: Katsuhiko works the night shift, the store manager's wife Mikoto works the morning shift, and Sayuri works the afternoon shift.

Katsuhiko took out the house key with the room number label and handed it directly to Sayuri.

"Go sleep at your boyfriend's place, and while you're at it, clean his room."

Sheng Yan noticed that she would shudder whenever the word "boyfriend" was mentioned.

However, as soon as the apartment key was handed to her, her whole body stiffened, her eyes became vacant, and she seemed to have even forgotten to breathe.

Sheng Yan waited a while, glanced at her flushed oval face, and said, "Is it embarrassing to clean your boyfriend's room?"

As if waking from a dream, Sayuri shuddered, her eyes widening as she quickly glanced at Katsuhiko's face before immediately lowering her head.

Katsuhiko reached out and patted her on the shoulder, asking, "You know the Green Apple Apartments at the Okubo 1-chome intersection, right?"

Little Lily shrank back again, stammering softly, "I...I know..."

From the convenience store's location between 3-chome and 1-chome, it's all on a main road, and patrol cars come and go, so it's generally safe.

"Let's go then!"

As he spoke, Sheng Yan lifted her off the stool and placed her on the ground.

She kept her head down and didn't move, her hands seemingly unsure of what to do, constantly fiddling with the key she was holding.

Katsuhiko grabbed her coat by the elbow, making her face the doorway, and then gently pushed her forward.

She lowered her head, took a few steps forward, stopped, and stood there frozen without turning around.

Katsuhiko walked over and pushed it forward a little more.

She took a few more steps, then stopped again.

Shengyan continued to push her until she reached the door.

Katsuhiko pushed open the glass door with one hand and grabbed the back of her coat collar with the other, pulling her outside and saying, "Do you need me to wind you up?"

Xiaobaihe kept her head down, her short, straight black hair covering her flushed oval face. Her eyelashes trembled, her eyes darted around, and she pursed her lips as if she wanted to say something, but she remained silent.

"Okay, as a boyfriend, I should always give my girlfriend some support."

As Sheng Yan spoke, he grabbed her hand that was clutching the keys.

Her hand trembled slightly, and she didn't manage to pull it out, but her arm and wrist were a little stiff.

Sheng Yan quickly lowered his head and took a puff of air onto her face, making a soft "pop" sound.

Sayuri's eyes suddenly widened, her lips slightly parted, and she looked up at Katsuhiko. But as soon as her gaze met Katsuhiko's eyes, she shuddered and quickly looked down.

Her hand was still being gently held by Katsuhiko.

"Is it because you're not strong enough?" Sheng Yan pulled her little hand closer to him and said, "I think your little lips are softer than your little face."

Xiaobaihe quickly pulled her hand back and walked forward with her head down.

Sheng Yan said, "You're going the wrong way. That's the direction of your dorm, and it's locked."

Xiaobaihe paused, her shoes scraping the ground, then took two more steps forward before finally turning around, head down, clutching her handbag strap, and slowly walking back.

Sheng Yan deliberately stepped aside to make way for her. She kept her head down and walked to Sheng Yan's side without stopping, even quickening her pace a little.

But after taking a dozen or so steps, her pace slowed down, and she turned halfway back before turning back again, looking hesitant as if she wanted to look back but didn't dare to.

"I'm going to catch up!" Katsuhiko shouted, his footsteps echoing as he ran.

Sayuri turned around in a panic, and Sheng Yan immediately waved to her and said loudly, "I'll be home at 6 a.m. tomorrow. You have to clean the room spotless, or I'll break up with you."

Little Lily stumbled and almost bumped her head into a lamppost.

Chapter 4 Current Affairs and Entertainment

After midnight, the number of customers coming to the nightclubs dwindles.

Tomorrow is the first day of the Golden Week holiday, April 29th, which is also Kenta's wedding day, known as "Green Day".

Katsuhiko sat next to the newspaper rack, flipping through trending magazines and current affairs news.

Since I've decided to make a name for myself here, I need to understand what Japan was like in 93, and reconcile the timeline in my memory.

Regarding current affairs, focus on local issues, such as the downfall of various corrupt officials due to economic problems.

The most high-profile figure was former Liberal Democratic Party Vice President Shin Kanemaru, who was arrested for evading hundreds of millions of yen in taxes. This scandal shocked the entire nation, bringing public anger over political corruption to its peak and causing the Japanese government's credibility to plummet.

In terms of economic issues, the effects of the bubble economy have completely subsided, meaning the bubble has completely burst.

This year marks the first year of the employment crisis, with the unemployment rate jumping from less than 2% to 3%, and the number of bankrupt companies doubling, especially real estate companies, with an average of three going bankrupt every day, and total liabilities reaching 3 trillion yen.

Upon seeing this, Katsuhiko immediately thought of 2.4 trillion yen and subconsciously compared the exchange rate: 1 yen is roughly 20 yen...

Katsuhiko tossed aside the economic weekly and casually picked up the entertainment weekly.

The most popular Japanese drama recently is "Under One Roof". Currently, the top topic in the entertainment industry is the rumored romance between 22-year-old Noriko Sakai and screenwriter Shinji Noto.

Sheng Yan does remember a female celebrity who was quite good-looking and was once very popular in Asia.

It's said that in her first relationship, she loved very humbly, even learning to smoke for her boyfriend? After a four-year relationship, they broke up, and she remarried a "fake athlete," which forced her down a path of crime. After turning herself in and being released from prison, her life didn't go very well.

Thinking about this woman's terrible experiences, I'm also reminded of Nakamori Akina, whose romantic history is even worse. She was repeatedly used by scumbags who tricked her out of her property, tricked her into giving up winning a big prize, and then coveted her wealth... What does this show? It shows that she's love-struck, naive, and rich.

Katsuhiko couldn't help but feel a little regretful. If he had come a few years earlier, how could Akina's money have ended up in someone else's hands?

While casually flipping through photos of female celebrities in a magazine, I happened to come across a report about Akina Nakamori, an interview in the March issue: she was enjoying her ordinary "free" life...

There's also a photo of her smoking above.

Sheng Yan was stunned. Wasn't this the woman who had just bought cigarettes? She had deliberately put on heavy makeup so that no one would recognize her.

I just caught a glimpse of a white mark running across her right wrist. Although she had applied concealer, it hadn't completely covered it up.

She's 28 this year, right? Single for thirty years...

Katsuhiko finished flipping through the magazine and casually tossed it back onto the shelf.

It was just a way to pass the time and let my mind wander; I never considered putting it into action.

After all, they're from different circles and basically have no interaction, so there's no way to hook up with them.

Besides, he only settled on a girlfriend who's good at saving money two hours ago, and Xiaobaihe is quite cute. He's already fickle before he's even gotten to know her. That's a bit of a beast.

At this time, Sayuri was still in Katsuhiko's apartment, enthusiastically scrubbing the floor.

She didn't believe that this Sheng Yan was the same Sheng Yan; even a fool could see that they were not the same person at all.

As she sorted through the photos, she became even more certain.

He's either a twin brother or a younger brother. Judging from his build, he's definitely the older brother, since most older brothers are more mature.