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

Hearing her sister's words, Chiai, who was sitting next to Uesugi Kai, lowered her head and muttered softly to herself, "Because... that's all the food we can eat at home..."

This sentence shouldn't have been heard by anyone, but Uesugi Kai's hearing became very good because of Hanabi.

These two sisters seem a bit unusual.

Ai-yi quickly continued, picking up where she left off: "But my sister is really reliable. She always gives me the best food first, and if she can cook, I'll eat as much as she wants!"

Qian Aiyi: "Even if you say that, I'm just starting out, so I won't be able to make it very well."

Ai Yi: "Then let's drink milk."

Qian Aiyi: "You can't just drink milk, it will give you diarrhea."

"I don't want to eat bad food," Ai looked up at Hanabi with hopeful eyes, "Is Hanabi-neechan's cooking good?"

Hanabi Hanabi smiled and said to her, "If Ai wants to eat, she can come to my house to eat."

“That must be delicious,” Ai said, thinking that Hanabi’s smile was so beautiful that she couldn’t help but want to get closer to her. “And she smells so good too.”

After lunch, the children started cleaning up the dishes, and Hanamaru Hanabi kindly helped them.

Taking this opportunity, Uesugi Kai went to Imanishi-sensei, who had just returned to inspect the classroom, to ask about the situation.

“Aiyi and Qian Aiyi, they are the only two children who don’t cause trouble. They are just like you and Huabi when you were little, and they don’t cause any trouble.”

"What's their family situation like?" Uesugi Kai asked. He had been suspicious ever since Ai said her sister's cooking was bad.

After all, how could a complete family let a primary school student in his teens cook?

“It’s a single-parent family. The father is still there, but the mother left on her own. To be honest, abandoning two such lovely daughters is not something an ordinary mother would do.”

Ms. Imanishi was facing the classroom. Ai was sleeping on the table. Her older sister, Chiai, and Hanamaru Hanabi were helping to clean up the children's dishes and put them in a box.

"Qian Aiyi is very sensible. Aiyi is a bit different. She often stares blankly at herself. According to her older sister, she is thinking about useless questions to kill time."

Uesugi Kai had a general understanding of the two of them. The older sister, Chii, could communicate normally, while the younger sister, Ai, preferred to say some witty things.

The older sister is two years older than the younger sister, but she is still in sixth grade.

Their mother left, and their single father was probably not a good person either.

The formal grade-level activities will begin in the afternoon.

I draw pictures with my older brother and sister, and we play games like folding origami cranes.

Several of Uesugi Kai's classmates arrived on time. In addition to his classmates, there were also students from other classes. In short, one or two people didn't have to deal with the entire class of children.

The two sisters, Qian Aiyi and Aiyi, don't seem to be very popular, and they don't actively participate in the circle.

Kai Uesugi asked about the two little girls who had confessed their feelings to him but failed.

They said they felt Ai Yi was strange and difficult to get along with. The older sister, Qian Ai Yi, was very nice, but she always stayed with her younger sister, so no one played with them.

The sight of the two sisters staying in the corner of the classroom, not playing with the others, really touched Uesugi Kai.

This reminded him of how he and Hanabi were unpopular when they were young.

Xiaohuahuo always stayed with him, a person who didn't fit in with the elementary school students. Most of the time, she was disliked by everyone, who thought she was a strange person.

She was made to cry several times because of this.

Kai Uesugi walked over and sat down at their table.

Qian Aiyi was watching her younger sister, Aiyi, who was doodling on a piece of white paper. The way her little hands held the pen was quite adorable.

What are you drawing?

“Sister Hua,” Ai Yi whispered, “both of you are very nice.”

Her intentions were good, but her drawing skills weren't very good.

Kai Uesugi can only tell who is Hanabi and who is Chiai by the beauty mark under her right eye.

"Chii-chan".

"Um... um! I'm here!" Qian Aiyi, who had been lost in thought, snapped out of it and replied earnestly.

"Jiang" is an affectionate term, but for children, it's just an ordinary name.

Elementary school students often use nicknames like "Miki-chan," "Yuzu-chan," and "Yoshizawa-kun" among themselves...

There's nothing wrong with calling someone by their name directly.

"Does Qian Aiyi usually cook at home?"

"Ah, no, I usually buy bento boxes from convenience stores."

"Where are Mom and Dad? They can't cook either?"

"Mom's gone, Dad... Dad..." Qian Aiyi's voice suddenly became very soft, "Dad... Dad can't cook either..."

"My sister is lying. Aiyi has never seen her father since she was a child."

Ai Yi seemed to casually state the astonishing truth.

"Aiyi! You idiot..."

"No, my sister is lying. She's the one who's stupid."

"No, I told you not to talk nonsense..."

"It's okay if my brother finds out, he'll have Hanabi-neechan come over and cook some delicious food for us."

Qian Aiyi pouted angrily, her expression more reproachful than her younger sister's. She felt helpless towards her sister and also a little guilty for not taking good care of her.

"It really is..."

###Chapter 276 Children's Day Activities###

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

After chatting with the two little girls for a while, Uesugi Kai finally got a general understanding of their situation.

My older sister rarely saw her father growing up, and my younger sister never saw him at all. My mother was often away from home, spending lavishly, but never caring about the family.

As for now, he has not visited the two sisters at all.

They now live in an apartment building, unattended.

Kai Uesugi felt that the Child Welfare Bureau should take care of the two sisters, but Chiai has remained silent ever since he said that he would send them to an orphanage.

"Brother, will you tell anyone about me and Ai-yi...?"

"No." Uesugi Kai looked at Chiiai's eyes as she stared at him, feeling helpless.

He had just planned to talk to Hanabi about the fate of the two children, and even discuss it with Ms. Imanishi and their mother.

But now it seems that by doing this, I was also intentionally deciding their own fate.

Although telling the child protection agency is for their own good, such good intentions cannot become the right to decide where they go.

For now, it's best to respect the wishes of both of them.

Besides, orphanages aren't a good place to go, and if the two sisters were adopted, they might be separated.

As the older sister, Qian Aiyi has seen more things than her younger sister, and is much more confused. She has to do many things herself, such as housework and taking care of her younger sister. In the past, she probably didn't even know where to pay the water and electricity bills or the apartment management fees.

"Yes, thank you, brother..." Qian Aiyi raised her small face and thanked him earnestly. The small beauty mark under her right eye made her look exceptionally mature and polite.

Aiyi put down her pen and held up the drawing. "Ah~ it's finished."

"What is Aiyi drawing?"

Aiyi held the drawing in front of her with her two little hands and said in her childish voice, "It's what it looks like when we were eating together just now. Sister Hanabi fed me, and my sister and brother watched us eat. My brother looked at Sister Hanabi, and my sister looked at me."

They observed quite closely, knowing who was paying attention to whom.

Unfortunately, his drawing skills aren't very good.

Kai Uesugi could only identify himself by those glasses, recognizing the little black figure as himself.

"Sister Hanabi!" Ai held up the painting to Hanamaru Hanabi, who had just walked over. "Sister, come and see Ai's cunning and sly work."

cunning and treacherous...?

For a moment, Uesugi Kai didn't realize that she was praising her painting.

Qian Aiyi: "Hey! Aiyi, you used the wrong idiom."

Ai Yi: "Huh?"

Qian Aiyi: "Who would say that about their own work!"

Ai Yi: "But I was talking about myself, not my paintings."

Emotions are not the work of cunning strategists, but rather the work of cunning strategists.

Qian Aiyi: "Even so, that's not something you use to praise someone."

Aiyi then imitated an adult's tone in her childish voice: "There's nothing wrong with being cunning and shrewd, is there?"

Qian Aiyi pouted: "Really..."

Hanabi Hanamaru found the sisters' bickering adorable and asked with a smile, "What is Ai drawing?"

“It’s my older sister, older brother, and me,” Ai pointed to the drawing. “The one with glasses is my older brother, the one with purple eyes is my older sister Hanabi, the one with a beauty mark under her eye is my older sister, and the one without any special features is Ai.”

Hanabi Hanamaru: "Weren't you wearing a hat?"

"Oh right!" Ai's little eyes moved upwards, trying to see how she looked wearing the hat. "I can't see it without a mirror."

Hanabi Hanabi sat down beside her and leaned closer, saying, "How about I draw it for you?"

Aiyi readily agreed, taking the opportunity to climb into Hanabi's lap and sit there, watching her sketch lines on the drawing paper stroke by stroke.

In order to maintain the overall style of the painting, she twisted the lines to be exactly the same as Ai Yi's painting.

"Sister Hanabi's paintings are just as ugly as Ai's."

"When I was Aiyi's age, my drawing skills were not as good as yours. My drawings were also dirty and ugly. The first one I drew was so bad that you couldn't even make out the shape of a stick figure."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. If you don't believe me, you can ask your brother."

Fireworks' first drawing was of herself.