Living in Tokyo, all I want to do is laze around.

The man in the suit extinguished the cigarette between his fingers and casually tossed it into a nearby trash can.

The dark leather shoes on his feet made a sound as they stepped on the long stones.

He saw a girl in a black dress sitting on a bench by the pond ahead.

Kitagawa Sakaki noticed the black leather shoes coming into view and looked up.

He doesn't look very happy.

"What's wrong, miss? You've been out all day and now you're sitting here again?"

A gentle summer breeze swept away the stuffy air, rustling the leaves overhead.

The girl in the black dress gazed again at the reflection of the iris in the pond and saw a dragonfly lightly touching the water's surface, creating ripples.

"Banping, do you think I'm pretty annoying?"

Banping sat in the empty seat of the chair next to her, placing his hands horizontally above the back of the chair.

"It's really annoying. Instead of being a proper rich young lady, she comes out and causes me trouble."

"Why did you have to come to me of all people?"

"Not only does he like to eat expensive food, but he also spent all my remaining savings. Now look what's happened, he's starving with me every day."

"But... out of so many people, you're the only one I know." Kitagawa Sakakisa lowered her voice considerably than usual after hearing his words.

“Miss, we’ve only met twice before,” Banping said. “You should know that your brother’s men are not good people. They are only being polite to you because of your brother and your father.”

Kitagawa Sakakisa didn't speak, but simply gazed quietly at the pale green river surface.

###Chapter 184 Listening, the Girl's Melodious Breath###

The sun remained blazing, and the cicadas continued to chirp incessantly in the park.

As Kitagawa Sakakisa turned her head, she inadvertently saw his left pinky: "But I think you're pretty good, and you don't seem like a bad person."

"A good person? Hahaha."

Banping couldn't help but chuckle when he heard her words.

"Miss is the first person to say that about me."

His face returned to calm.

"Does Miss know what we do on a daily basis?"

Kitagawa Sakaki turned her head to look at him, her pupils narrowing, and asked, "Selling milk tea?"

"Does the lady think we're just a milk tea vendor?"

Banping, who was in his thirties, didn't even dare to look at the face of her rich heiress.

"No...is that so?"

When a girl says something she considers ordinary in a normal tone, that's very likely what she actually thinks.

"I almost feel bad about shattering your naive fantasy, Miss."

Kitagawa Sakakisa didn't look at him again, but instead casually picked a leaf that had sprouted from behind her and examined it in her palm:

"I know my brother has always been reluctant to let me know certain things, but I don't think it's too far off the mark."

Banping silently gazed at the dragonflies dancing leisurely in the pond ahead, and shook his head helplessly.

beep... beep...

The phone rang.

He sat up straight and expertly pulled an old-fashioned button phone from his pocket.

Place it next to your ear:

"Chairman."

"Hanpei, give the phone to Sakakisa."

"elder brother?"

After handing her the phone, Banping got up and walked towards the noisy pond in front, habitually lighting a hard black cigarette.

Despite being his young master, he never liked Kitagawa Sakakibara.

"elder brother......"

A friendly voice came through the phone: "Sakakisa, come back quickly when you're tired from playing. It's uncomfortable to be hungry every day, and half a ping of money can't even feed you for a few meals."

"Who! Who thinks running away from home is a joke?!"

"Hehe, I was wrong about that. I apologize to you, brother."

Upon hearing the word "apology," Kitagawa Sakakisa's voice lowered again: "I was disliked today."

"Oh? Who would dislike Sakaki Sasa?"

The phone line carried the crisp, slow tapping sound of something being tapped on the table.

"Do you need your brother's help?"

“No need,” Kitagawa Sakakisa said, touching the gauze on her face. “I will take care of my own affairs.”

"No need?" The dry clicking sound suddenly stopped, followed by laughter from the other end of the phone. "Looks like Sakaki Sae has grown up too."

"I'm not a child anymore!"

Kitagawa Sakaki shouted angrily into the phone before hanging up.

After a long silence, Banping, who had just stubbed out his cigarette, walked over and said, "In my opinion, Miss is no different from a child."

"Hankyo, you think so too?"

"It's not just my opinion, it's the truth."

"Then... what should I do?"

Banping shook his head again, not approaching her immediately.

"I don't know. Your life is completely different from mine, so I can't give you any advice."

Kitagawa Sakakisa remembered the question from earlier: "What do you do for a living, Hanpei?"

Work?

Banping Suzhi suddenly remembered that he didn't have money for food today, and couldn't help but rub his forehead and knead his brow.

"These things are too early for you, Miss. Just think of me as promoting milk tea to customers. I know exactly which milk tea is good."

Is that so?

"For you, at least for now."

July in Tokyo is very hot.

At the Uesugi residence, Uesugi Shio stared at the trophy on her bookshelf that read "Winner of the Kanto Region Women's Singles Kendo Tournament" for a long time before going downstairs.

She saw Uesugi Kaii trying to make omelet rice in the kitchen.

"What day is today?"

"The first day of the Shinko High School Sports Festival."

While answering, Uesugi Kai stirred the eggs vigorously.

Then, as the bowl is tilted, the bright yellow egg liquid is spread evenly on the surface of the pan.

Kai Uesugi began to gently touch the evenly spread egg yolk with her chopsticks.

After waiting for more than ten seconds, I glanced at the phone placed next to me.

He tilted the pan slightly, as instructed by the video blogger, so that the egg yolks gathered on the curved edge of the pan.

Without lollipops, Uesugi Shiori crossed his arms and watched him imitate the tiptoeing pose in the video.

As it turns out, the sun still sets in the west.

With that one lift, the once neat egg mixture instantly became disordered.

The shattered egg whites surged outwards, and the neat egg liquid broke into fine fragments.

It couldn't be worse.

Omelette rice can now only be called rice with egg on top.

Kai Uesugi turned off the low flame on the stove and stared at the unidentified liquid made of eggs and milk in the frying pan:

"Fireworks move like that too, so why can't I learn how?"

Uesugi Shio walked into the kitchen and smeared the egg liquid, which could be called a strange prop, with her index finger.

"..."

"It has no flavor; there wasn't enough salt."

Kai Uesugi turned around and took out another plate of even more unusual egg mixture: "This?"

If I had to describe it, it's much thinner than Indian porridge.

Uesugi Shio shook her head at the plate of egg mixture that could barely be called food: "This is way too watery!"

Kai Uesugi handed over the plate.

"Try the saltiness."

"No, try it yourself if you want." Uesugi Shio quickly took a step back.

"I tried it, it's too salty."

"Then why did you make me eat this stuff? No, this is simply not a work of art that modern people can appreciate."

"Having more samples provides more references and can help improve my cooking skills. I'll give it a try."

Uesugi Shio backed up to the refrigerator behind her: "Kai, don't torture yourself with your own hands."

"The chocolates you made before could be given as coming-of-age gifts to Hanabi's children."

"What would my child need that thing for?"