Tokyo Soft Rice King.

"Welcome back, wise ruler."

"...Oh, I'm back."

Kuroba Akira paused for a moment before replying, mainly because Murasaki's attire was too eye-catching.

She was dressed in an old-fashioned gymnastics uniform, wearing work gloves, and holding a sickle. Combined with her indifferent expression, she looked exactly like a female assassin who had just disposed of a corpse.

This is the benefit that only an S-rank can bring, allowing her to completely change her aura simply by changing her clothes.

If she chooses to be an actress, she will definitely be the type who can convincingly portray any role; there is no role she cannot handle.

Are you weeding in the yard?

"Yes, my mother-in-law said the weeds in the yard have grown a bit too tall and she wants to plant some coriander in the fall, so she asked me to help weed them."

Cilantro is actually coriander, which is quite rare in Japan. People with the character "cilantro" in their names are more common than actual cilantro, because Japanese cuisine doesn't use cilantro to enhance flavor or remove fishy or gamey smells.

In fact, not everyone can eat cilantro in Akira Kuroba's hometown, because its unique smell is quite selective, and many people are allergic to cilantro.

That said, growing vegetables in the yard is a very common practice in Japan. Most elderly Japanese people grow flowers and trees, play with potted plants, and create small gardens in their courtyards, since growing vegetables is not considered aesthetically pleasing.

Moreover, detached houses in Tokyo are extremely expensive, especially in places like Chiyoda Ward, where many houses don't have yards and there's simply no place to grow vegetables. So, for Grandma Kobayashi, growing vegetables at home is actually a rather 'luxurious' hobby.

It can only be said that husband and wife really do influence each other. Grandma Xiaolin has a strong hometown flavor in many places, which makes her so familiar to Kuroba Akira that she is like the neighbor aunt from his hometown.

"So you only did one day of weeding?"

"Hmm, almost done."

Are you a human lawnmower...?

Kuroba Akira had done this job before and knew how tiring it was. After all, the Kobayashi family didn't even have a lawnmower, so they had to manually swing the sickle. After a day's work, he felt like his waist and knees were about to freeze.

Moreover, it was before summer, and it wasn't as hot as it is now. Even so, Kuroba Akira worked up a sweat, but only received 1,000 yen.

Because the old woman was too stingy, he said that he would need to increase the payment next time, otherwise he could forget about getting her to bend over backwards again.

Now that Murasaki no Miyako has arrived, the old woman has found another young man she can boss around.

I didn't expect that despite being a young lady from a wealthy family, Murasaki no Miyako is actually quite hardworking.

However, Murasaki no Miyako comes from a remarried family, so her family's financial situation may not have been very good when she was a child.

It was precisely because she knew that her stepfather's money was not her rightful money that Murasaki no Miyako didn't want to spend the money her father gave her.

However, Kuroba Akira was still a bit speechless. Wasn't it a waste to make a super genius like Murasaki do such physical labor?

"Next time the old lady tries to cram these kinds of troubles into your life, just refuse. She's just using you as cheap labor. She clearly doesn't want to prepare a separate room for you."

"No, it's something I have to do myself. This morning, when I went shopping with my mother-in-law, she spent a little more money than I should have, so I said I would repay her with my own labor..."

"Oh, have you bought all the daily necessities? And spare underwear and stuff..."

"I've bought everything I need, and my mother-in-law even bought me a pair of sneakers."

Kuroba Akira looked down and saw that Murasaki was wearing a brand new pair of sneakers, which were very similar in style to his own sneakers, probably from the same brand.

Kuroba Akira's sneakers were also bought by Kobayashi's grandmother, in exchange for her massaging the old lady's shoulders for three months.

"besides……"

"besides?"

"No, it's nothing. I'll tell you when we get inside."

Murasaki no Miyako put her hands behind her back, looking as if she wanted to say something but hesitated, as if she had secretly bought something she shouldn't have.

Maybe it was sanitary napkins or something; Kuroba Akira didn't intend to ask any further questions.

"You don't need to report your shopping list to me. Anyway, I've already given you the 10,000 yen. How you spend it is your business. I don't really know what girls need."

"Ah."

Murasaki smiled faintly, feeling a warmth in her heart from Kuroba Akira's trust.

"Did the old lady prepare this outfit for you?"

"Yes, because the 10,000 yen you gave me, Myojun, wasn't enough to buy clothes, so Granny Kobayashi went and found me a tracksuit, but... it's a bit too short."

Wearing this gymnastics outfit that completely exposed her two long, beautiful legs, Murasaki seemed a little shy.

The main reason is that the old-fashioned gymnastics uniforms were worn with tight-fitting shorts that were almost like panties underneath, also known as bruma, which would accentuate the curves of girls in an embarrassing way.

If no underwear was worn inside, the outline of the camel's toe would be clearly visible, prompting archaeologists to exclaim: "This ancient stone wall!"

Because they were too eye-catching, the girls' gymnastics uniforms at Hibiya High School in Kuroba Akira's school have been changed to a non-triangle style. Although they are still as short as hot pants, at least they are no longer so tight-fitting and no longer look like Superman, giving off an awkward feeling of wearing underwear on the outside.

However, it seems that the girls are still not satisfied with the current length, so the plan is to change the gymnastics uniform, which is a sports uniform, into the same five-point shorts as the boys.

It seems that in this world, the ultra-short, tight-fitting leotard is also becoming a relic of the past.

Is this progress? Absolutely not! It's downright regression! Brumma is a great civilization!

Fortunately, Murasaki will continue to wear this leotard, which will probably be her home wear from now on, since she doesn't have any other clothes to wear besides that sailor outfit.

However, the top of the gymnastics uniform should have been a designer brand, but the one Murasaki is wearing doesn't, probably because it was taken away by Granny Kobayashi.

So Kuroba Akira was very curious about where the old woman got this gymnastics outfit.

"Could this be something the old lady wore when she was young? That's really old, it's a miracle it hasn't yellowed."

After saying that, Kuroba Akira thought that at the age of the old woman, when she was a teenager, it must have been a turbulent time. Let alone gymnastics uniforms, she probably wouldn't have been able to go to school properly.

As it turned out, Kuroba Akira's complaints were overheard by Kobayashi's grandmother, who had come out to check on the weeding.

"You brat! Stop talking nonsense! I am the daughter of the Wu family, how could I possibly wear such shameless clothes?"

"..."

You yourself feel ashamed, so why are you letting Murasaki wear it?

Grandma Kobayashi glanced at the Purple Palace with a hint of helplessness and said.

“I originally planned to buy her more clothes, but Shion-chan insisted that she didn’t want to spend the money her father gave her, and she didn’t want me to spend any more money, so I had to find a way to get free clothes… This is the gym uniform my granddaughter wore when she was in junior high school. Now that she’s in high school, she has a new style, so I asked for the old one. I didn’t expect it to fit Shion-chan perfectly.”

A middle school gym uniform... would it be perfect for Murasomiya to wear?

Kuroba Akira glanced at Murasaki no Miyako's chest; it didn't feel tight, nor did it show any nipples.

It seems the old lady's granddaughter is developing quite well; she's already this big in junior high school.

Chapter Sixty-Three: Best enjoyed with white stockings

"Come inside after you've finished weeding. I've cut a watermelon."

"There's even fruit to eat... Are you still the old lady I know? Or have you been switched with someone else?"

"You brat, you're out of luck."

"Hey, no, I was wrong... That's enough, you have to be so humble even to eat a watermelon..."

In his previous life, Kuroba Akira wouldn't have even thought about eating watermelons, mainly because he had eaten too many of them before.

But watermelon is indeed a fruit that carries the memories of summer, just like oranges in winter.

However, in Japan, watermelons are considered an expensive fruit, and it is considered very respectful to bring a whole watermelon as a gift when visiting someone's home.

In fact, except for flower growers, eating watermelon is not cheap anywhere in the world. After all, flower growers account for 60% of the world's watermelon production.

That's why we have the term "spectators" specifically representing people in China, which is quite apt.

Do wise rulers often eat watermelon?

Well, more or less.

"Grandma Xiaolin and I bought the watermelon together. I've never eaten such an expensive fruit before... But today, when I saw the price of the watermelon, it was much cheaper than I expected. I remember when I was a child, watermelons were very expensive. I don't know when the price started to drop."

Upon hearing this, Kuroba Akira secretly glanced at Granny Kobayashi. Although she didn't say anything, Kuroba Akira could still see a hint of smugness on her face.

It seems that the drop in watermelon prices is mostly Mr. Kobayashi's doing; it was the public's enthusiasm for watermelons that drove him to do this.

No wonder the stingy old lady was willing to buy fruit; it wasn't expensive at all.

"He's truly amazing, Grandpa Kobayashi..." Kuroba Akira's admiration for Grandpa Kobayashi reached a new level.

Since there was watermelon to eat, Kuroba Akira also planned to finish the weeding work as soon as possible, so he reached out to Murasaki no Miyako.

"Give me the sickle, I'll go and finish weeding the rest. You go inside first."

"but……"

Murasaki hesitated a bit. After all, weeding was a job she had taken on herself, and she still wanted to finish it on her own.

Kuroba Akira knew that Murasaki was a very strong-willed person, but he couldn't worry about her feelings right now; sometimes, efficiency was more important.

"Listen to me, you've been working under the scorching sun all day, you must be exhausted by now. I haven't used up much energy just teaching, so I'll definitely be much faster than you. Besides, I'm helping you out for my own sake too."

Kuroba Akira gave Murasaki a look that said, "You should understand what kind of relationship we have," and Murasaki, who was very good at reading other people's emotions, understood perfectly.

Yes... I and the wise ruler are partners of one mind and one heart, there's no need to make such a clear distinction.

"Okay... then this is for you too."

Murasaki obediently handed the scythe to Kuroba Akira, and then took off her work gloves and gave them to him.

"Okay, then go inside and take a shower. It'll be even more refreshing to eat chilled watermelon after your shower."

"Ah."

Kuroba Akira quickly finished cutting the remaining weeds, which took less than ten minutes.

Because of her meticulous work, there was no need to fix anything; she only needed to cut the weeds near the warehouse and that was it.

After finishing his work, Kuroba Akira put the sickle and work gloves back in the warehouse, and then went inside.

Grandma Lin wasn't in the living room. There was half a watermelon and two spoons on the dining table. On the kitchen cutting board, you could still see the juice left from cutting the watermelon, as well as two other plates of sliced ​​watermelon.

Kuroba Akira walked over and saw a note written in Chinese on it.

[Give these to Mr. Hijikata and Ms. Tashiro. You two can eat what's on the table.]

These two plates don't even contain half a watermelon, only a quarter of one. I guess some of it was taken for personal consumption and offered as a sacrifice to the old man.

At this time, Mr. Hijikata was probably still asleep, and Ms. Tashiro was still at get off work, so Akira Kuroba put the two plates of watermelon in the refrigerator, intending to bring them over tonight.

When I returned to the living room, Murasaki no Miyako, who had just finished showering, had come downstairs.

"Oh, you're done washing up, then come and have some melon seeds... uh."