My love index is at its maximum.

"It's okay, your aunt will protect you." Kurisu tilted her head and looked at him, smiling gently. "Your aunt likes you very much, and as for why, Yui knows best."

"Mom!" Qichuan Wei shouted coldly.

"What's the use of yelling at me?" Kurisu Kawakawa didn't care at all when faced with her daughter's angry gaze, and continued to chat with Tsukasa Tazaki about ambiguous topics. "Tsukasa, do you know that for the past two months, your aunt has been dreaming about you every night?"

"Why these two months?" Tsukasa Tazaki asked.

“It was Mrs. Kuriyama’s birthday party two months ago,” Kuri said. “From the first time we met after you moved out, I heard the footsteps of love.”

"Shut up." Yui Kichikawa's fist had hardened.

"Alright, alright..." Kurisu Kawakami shook her head helplessly, "If we keep talking, Yui will flip the table. We can't waste such delicious tea and snacks."

The mother's performance of teasing her daughter came to an end.

Sachiko Tono suppressed a laugh as she poured a cup of barley tea for the blonde girl who could only rage helplessly.

"Thank you." Yui Kikawa crossed her legs, placed her hands on the table with her fingers interlaced, and stared intently at her reflection in the water. She neither drank tea nor ate snacks, nor spoke a word; she simply sat in silence.

Her beautiful face was flat and expressionless. Her nose and eyes were perfectly proportioned, as if sculpted with a scalpel, exquisitely delicate. The cuffs of her finely crafted shirt ended two centimeters above her wrists, revealing her fair and slender hands. Her delicate fingers reminded one of a pianist who had undergone long-term training and made a living solely by using their fingers.

Tazaki Tsuyoshi gently patted the back of her head twice with a hint of pity, then turned to look at Tono Sachiko beside him: "Why did you have to learn those things?"

"You have to be exposed to things you don't understand." Sachiko Tono nodded, then rubbed her tired eyes with her fingertips, which were tired from lack of sleep.

"Auntie?" Tazaki Tsukasa looked at Kurisu Kawakami. "What do you mean?"

"What, is Xiaosi blaming me?" Kurisu smiled beautifully.

He had a very childlike smile, and he looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years old.

"I didn't say I blamed you," Tsukasa Tazaki said, taking a small sip of his barley tea. "I'm just curious about your reasoning."

"Let me make it clear first, my aunt didn't force her."

Kurisu gave him a charmingly disdainful look, took a bite of her fragrant crepe, wiped her lips with a handkerchief, and continued, "You'll grow up to be a remarkable person, I'm absolutely certain of that. And those around you will more or less attract the attention of people with ulterior motives because of you, just like what happened this time. Sachiko, as the weakest link in your life, could easily become a breakthrough point to deal with you, so I need to make her stronger."

"Yes, I think I understand what Auntie means." Tsukasa Tazaki nodded, accepting the explanation.

"And another thing," Kurisu looked at Sachiko Tono and pondered for a moment, "As someone close to you, Miss Tono is trustworthy. I plan to have her follow me through your high school and university years, learning and exploring entrepreneurship on her own, laying a foundation for you in advance. After you finish your studies, I will return her to you completely. Whether you want her as an assistant or a housekeeper, it's fine. In short, your aunt will give you back a shrewd and capable businesswoman and the beginnings of a business empire."

Tsukasa Tazaki thought for a moment, but couldn't come up with anything suitable.

"Don't put on airs in front of your aunt." Kurisu pouted unhappily. "Learning from me, Kurisu, is something that countless people in all of Japan would love to do. Don't dawdle."

"Is Sachiko-nee willing?" Tsukasa Tazaki looked back at Sachiko Tono. "It's very tiring, I'm worried you won't be able to handle it."

“Isn’t that what I’m already doing?” Sachiko Tono retorted.

"Alright then." Tsukasa Tazaki had no choice but to let her do it.

It's not a bad thing to begin with, and besides... the thought of a shrewd and capable career woman willing to be his lover makes my heart race.

“It’s a pleasure for me to be able to help Tazaki-kun.” Sachiko Tono leaned closer and whispered in his ear, “Besides, it’s not like we haven’t seen each other for years. I’ll be waiting for you at the coffee shop every day after school.”

The extremely soft sound, along with the warm and moist air, quietly seeped into my ears.

Tazaki Tsukasa looked into her eyes and said earnestly, "Thank you for taking care of me all this time, Sachiko-nee. I will definitely make you my personal secretary in the future."

“I see…” Sachiko Tono said in a prophetic tone, “In the near future, Tazaki-kun will grow from a bad guy who bullies the store manager into a bad CEO who bullies the secretary!”

"Not bad." Tsukasa Tazaki liked her mature idea.

"It's settled then." Kurisu Kawakami clapped her hands together excitedly. "Come on, let's drink this barley tea."

"It's like we acquired Microsoft."

"Life can't be without a sense of ritual."

“Yes, Sachiko is absolutely right.”

The two older sisters laughed heartily, their voices beautiful and melodious.

Sunlight streamed in from the corridor, illuminating the white tablecloth on the dining table with a dazzling white glow.

Qichuan Wei raised her head, her fair and delicate face radiant in the sunlight.

His lips moved, as if he wanted to speak but couldn't utter a word.

"How did I end up with such a dull daughter..." Kurisu rolled her eyes in disgust, but with the thought of making a last-ditch effort, she smiled and asked Tsukasa Tazaki, "Auntie has a question. What do you think of the three high school girls around you?"

Sachiko Tono also became interested and chimed in, "From what I've observed, Ninomiya-san is the closest to you. She used to come in right after you started working. But then you kissed Yui at the convenience store, which makes things a bit complicated. There's also a classmate named Kuriyama, but I haven't met her, so I don't know her."

"No way!" Tsukasa Tazaki picked up a crepe and happily started munching on it.

What should I say in front of a Golden Retriever?

Go ahead and praise him; he's not that stupid.

He's being sarcastic; he doesn't want to lie.

Therefore, saying nothing is the right thing to do.

"Then tell me about Xiaowei," Kurisu Kirikawa wouldn't let him off the hook.

Tazaki Tsukasa swallowed the crepe, glanced at Kikawa Yui, and when their eyes met, she said, "Capable, responsible, and dependable. She has great talent in all aspects, and she also has a diligence that is hard for ordinary people to imagine. This perfect girl is destined to be an extraordinary woman."

A hint of a smile appeared in Yui Kikawa's eyes.

“It’s too one-sided to just praise her,” Kurisu Kawakami protested with a laugh. “We need to be more objective and point out her shortcomings as well.”

"Well, she's not without her flaws," Tsukasa Tazaki replied with a smile. "Her strong will often makes her arrogant but not spoiled. She's a very cute and beautiful girl, but she's turned into a cold and emotionless robot. Don't you think that's a pity, Auntie?"

"Taka! Tsukasa!" Yui Kizawa's eyes turned cold instantly. "I'll give you a chance to speak again."

“Oh, there’s another drawback,” Tsukasa Tazaki said to the two older sisters. “She often glares at me with that murderous look, making me feel like I owe her millions.”

The two older sisters exchanged a glance and then burst into cheerful laughter again.

Qichuan Wei glared at him, then lowered her head to drink her tea.

"Sigh, let's confirm with Xiaosi again." Qichuan Li continued to tease her daughter, "If you had to choose between Xiaowei and your aunt, what would you choose?"

Tsukasa Tazaki turned around and glanced at Yuichi Kawakawa.

The hands holding the teacup were very beautiful, with perfectly manicured nails and fingertips in perfect oval shapes. While undeniably beautiful, there was something strange about them. Those hands, arguably the most beautiful part of a young girl's body, looked like a typing robot from Ghost in the Shell, possessing a mechanical quality that seemed easily disassembled.

I've thought about it for a long time.

Tsukasa Tazaki replied, "If it were before, I would have chosen my aunt without hesitation. But after spending three days pretending to be a couple, I now prefer Yui."

"Oh dear, I lost to my daughter. How cruel reality is." Kurisu Kawakami wiped her eyes insincerely, then stretched and stood up. "I've been sitting for too long, I need to get some exercise. How about Sachiko come with me for a game of golf?"

“Okay.” Sachiko Tono smiled and left with her.

The corridor quieted down, the sun slowly rose higher, and the sunlight gradually moved away from the feet of the two people.

As Tazaki Tsukasa sipped his lukewarm barley tea, he pondered once again a question from the past.

Can one person truly understand another completely?

To be a good successor, Yui Kikawa has made continuous and substantial efforts over a long period of time. To what extent does her perseverance reveal her true nature?

With ten years of memories, he thought he knew this perfect girl very well, but was that really the case?

Tazaki Tsukasa pondered the question seriously, and vaguely heard her words again: "If I can't have it all, I'd rather have nothing at all."

Does that proud, conviction-filled declaration of Yui Kawakawa have the right to tarnish it?

A perfect girl wants perfect love, just like picking apples in spring and harvesting grapes in autumn—it's a natural and blameless thing.

Tsukasa Tazaki slowly inhaled, held his breath for a while, and then slowly exhaled.

Being pampered by his three older sisters has made him a little arrogant lately, with a vague sense of conceit that "as a transmigrator, the whole world should revolve around me."

"Xiao Wei".

"Ok?"

"Can we continue like this?" Tsukasa Tazaki asked. "Although I don't interfere with your choices or force you to change according to my wishes, it's undeniable that my every move is distorting your will, causing you to unknowingly deviate from the path you should be on. Do you think we can continue like this?"

Qichuan remained silent, focusing only on drinking his barley tea.

Even after Tsukasa Tazaki left and the cup was empty, she still didn't look up.

The late August sunshine poured down on the flower field like dreamy bubbles, and the blooming flowers were colorful. You could see the tiny butterflies fluttering leisurely among the flowers.

……

After leaving the Kikawa house, Tsukasa Tazaki went to buy a bunch of fresh ingredients.

When I got home in the afternoon, the two teachers were practicing yoga on TV, and I was also pulled to change into yoga clothes and practice for half an hour.

As the setting sun gradually cast its last rays upon the treetops of the outer garden of the shrine, the lights of the shrine baseball stadium came on, and the three of them gathered around to enjoy a delicious hot pot meal.

The next morning, Tsukasa Tazaki dragged Hanami Hoshino out of bed, and the two of them went for a morning run together at Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden for the first time in a long time. In the afternoon, the silly Shikami came over to play with her sister, and the three of them, along with Kana Shimamoto, strolled around Meiji Shrine, took photos side by side in front of the Great Torii Gate, and playfully read aloud the wishes they made during the worship at the main hall; they queued to visit Kiyomasa Well, walked along the Ginkgo Avenue, and went boating on the artificial lake.

In the evening, we played games together on our newly bought PS5.

The loser gets a sticky note stuck on his face, and the silly deer's face is soon covered with sticky notes with little turtles drawn on them.

She's bad at playing games and bad at studying; my sister-in-law is really an idiot.

On the 31st, we washed all the school uniforms and ironed them while listening to music. They were spotless and without a single wrinkle.

While I was doing my summer homework tonight, I called my sweetheart.

My little cutie said there were family matters to attend to and she had to postpone her return to Tokyo.

When asked what was wrong, she said that her sow was injured and her leg might have to be cut off to prevent the infection from spreading.

Tsukasa Tazaki sincerely wished the sow good health.

Before going to bed, I turned the calendar to September. Summer vacation was officially over, and the private Kitagawa Academy reopened for business.

Chapter 233 September Mall: Forced to become Kuriyama Cat Girl?

August 31st and September 1st.

These two dates are clearly consecutive, yet the stark contrast between them is even greater than that between Angel Falls, which has a drop of 979.6 meters.

"Ah~"

Tsukasa Tazaki yawned and squeezed onto the train from Sendagaya Station with his hair sticking up.

Get off after two stops.