I have bound two systems.

Without a knock on the door, the room was suddenly opened and Eriri's mother walked in with a steaming plate.

"mom!"

Ying Lili stood up suddenly.

"It's ok at other times, but I have friends here today, so please don't come in suddenly!"

Mrs. Sawamura simply dealt with her daughter's unhappy protest with a nonchalant smile. She pulled over a cushion and sat down at the small round table in a very familiar manner.

Suzumiya Chisato turned towards her and lowered her head slightly. It was at this moment that he saw clearly what the other party brought in.

"I'm frying tempura shrimp right now. I haven't tried it for a long time, so I wanted to ask you to help me taste it."

"Okay, got it. Put down the tempura shrimp. Mom, you go down first."

Eriri bent down and grabbed Mrs. Sawamura's arm, trying to pull her away.

"Hey~ But mom also wants to get to know Eriri's friends."

"Mom, you're cooking, aren't you?"

"That kind of thing is fine!"

Mrs. Sawamura resisted the interference from her reluctant daughter while facing Suzumiya Chisato and asked in a friendly manner,

"Classmate, what's your name?"

"Hello, my name is Chisato Suzumiya."

"Suzumiya...Chisato."

For some reason, the polite smile on Mrs. Sawamura's face suddenly became even brighter after she heard Chisato Suzumiya introduce herself.

"What a nice name."

As she said this, she turned around and rubbed her daughter's head hard.

"When we eat later, you must introduce your friend to your mother."

…………

Chapter 33 Mrs. Sawamura has doubts

After saying this, Mrs. Sawamura stood up and left with a meaningful smile on her face, putting an end to the conversation that had started with her sudden appearance.

Eriri closed the door and locked it this time.

He turned around and sat down again, looking apologetic.

"I'm sorry, Qianli, my mother has always been this carefree and friendly. She acts very familiar with everyone."

Suzumiya Chisato shook her head.

"It's okay. She's a very cute mother. I didn't mind it. But why do I feel that the way she looks at me is a little strange? It feels like when I introduced myself, she gave me a look that said 'it's you'. Did Eriri tell her about me before?"

"how come."

Ying Lili quickly denied it, and when she realized that her voice was a little loud, she quickly turned her head to look at the door.

Although the door was locked and my mother couldn't come in, who knew if she would eavesdrop.

Therefore, Eriri quickly lowered her voice and quickly moved closer to Suzumiya Chisato, so that the two of them were almost sticking together.

"Qianli, if you are not ready, I will never tell my family about you. I have never mentioned you so much as a word. During this period of time, I have always used that guy Kasumigaoka as an excuse to stay at your place. I either use legitimate reasons like 'I need him to guide me in my studies' or work reasons like 'I need to illustrate her novel at her request'."

"I see... In that case, I was probably overthinking."

"That's probably the case, but it's also possible that Mom has seen your video online, Qianli. After all, you were really popular on the Internet some time ago."

Eriri was referring to the video of Chisato Suzumiya singing on stage at the music festival. It is true that many people edited and circulated the video some time ago, but as he deliberately avoided speaking out, the popularity quickly dissipated.

After all, the Internet is never short of new things.

"Qianli, stay here with me until noon. After lunch, you can go back. Leave the rest to me. When dad comes back in the evening, he can legitimately remove me from the family activities during the summer vacation."

"It's okay for me to stay a little longer."

"No, no, just let mom know that there is indeed a boy named Qianli by my side and I am not lying."

This statement was a bit subtle, as if Eriri had a history of lying to her parents.

However, Chisato Suzumiya didn't think too much about it and just nodded obediently.

Since Eriri said that this was fine, he naturally wouldn't take the initiative to do anything unnecessary.

"But there's still some time before lunch... Um, Chisato..."

As Ying Lili was talking, she stood up and sat down on the bed. She took out a game console from under her pillow and patted the place next to her.

"Even if it's just to kill time, do you want to play some games together?"

Just play games, why do you have to go to the bed specifically?

Chisato Suzumiya suppressed her laughter, nodded seriously, and sat down next to Eriri.

----

"Eri, Chisato-kun, come down to eat."

At 12:30 noon, Mrs. Sawamura, who had just finished cooking, leaned over and shouted upstairs.

"coming!"

Eriri responded energetically, but it was only after two or three minutes that she brought Chisato Suzumiya to the living room downstairs.

Seeing her daughter taking Chisato Suzumiya to the bathroom to wash her hands in a very intimate manner, Mrs. Sawamura once again showed a thoughtful expression.

At the dinner table, Mrs. Sawamura was very cordial and kept chatting with Chisato Suzumiya, fearing that she had not entertained him well enough as this was his first visit to their home.

This hospitable atmosphere continued until the end of the meal, and Suzumiya Chisato followed her inner thoughts and kept praising the other party's superb cooking skills.

Indeed, according to his taste preferences, the Western-style dishes made by Eriri's mother can really be called excellent.

Mrs. Sawamura had a good impression of the boy she met for the first time today. Chisato Suzumiya was not the type of person who was afraid of the stage. In addition, with Eriri interjecting from time to time to liven up the atmosphere, the meal was generally quite harmonious.

And so it went on until after dinner.

Eriri originally wanted to take Chisato Suzumiya back upstairs, but Mrs. Sawamura stopped her and asked her to stay.

She understood that her beloved daughter's behavior was because she didn't want her, as a mother, to have too much contact with him. However, the more this happened, the more curious she, as a mother, wanted to know everything about this boy.

She stretched lazily, pretending to be distressed as she looked at the messy table after dinner.

"Wait a moment, Eriri. Don't rush upstairs. You got up early this morning to buy groceries, and it's already tiring just to prepare and finish lunch. At least be considerate and help your mother clean the table."

She used her identity as a mother to say something that Eriri, as her daughter, could not refuse.

Also achieved its goal.

"……I see."

Although Ying Lili was a little reluctant, her mother had already said this, so what else could she do?

"Let me help."

Chisato Suzumiya also took the opportunity to pull up her sleeves and started to clean up the dishes in front of her. Her movements were quite neat.

Mrs. Sawamura, who probably hadn't spoken at the moment but stood up and spoke after observing this phenomenon, came to him and stopped him.

"Chisato-kun, you are a guest. How can I trouble you? This is not the way the Sawamura family treats guests. Just let Eriri help me."

"But……"

"Well, Qianli, I don't need your help. Just go upstairs and wait for me."

Since even Eriri said so, and silently gave her a look that said "Just do it this way for now", Suzumiya Chisato no longer hesitated, took out a tissue to wipe her hands, and obediently went upstairs according to the mother and daughter's ideas.

Although he was not very familiar with Mrs. Sawamura, whom he had just met for the first time today, he knew Eriri very well, having been with her day and night for so long.

I guess the mother and daughter must have something to talk about after I left, otherwise they wouldn't have deliberately sent me away.

Thinking that his performance since he entered the room in the morning seemed impeccable, he stopped worrying about those meaningless things and chose to believe that Eriri could handle it. After returning to her room, he casually flipped through the book she had drawn.

At the same time, in the living room downstairs, the mother and daughter put the dishes on the dining table into the kitchen sink.

Mrs. Sawamura volunteered to wash the dishes and left the job of wiping to Eriri.

In this way, it is up to her to decide when this time of solitude will end. This is a little trick. In the past, Eriri's level was too low and she might not be able to notice this subtle operation of her mother.

As for now, all we can say is that she sees everything but doesn't say it out loud.

"Why do you have to wash it by hand? We have a dishwasher at home. It's a high-end one that Dad bought because he was afraid that you would work too hard in the kitchen."

Ying Lili looked at her mother, who was always very skillful, putting on gloves slowly, holding a clean towel in her hand, and spoke in a bored and seemingly casual manner.

"The special degreaser in the dishwasher is out of use, and Mom hasn't had time to buy more, otherwise you wouldn't have come to help."

After finally putting on her gloves, Mrs. Sawamura turned on the faucet and started to let the water flow. At the same time, she naturally turned the topic to the guests who came to visit today.

"Come to think of it, Eriri, this seems to be the first time you've brought a male friend back with you."

Finally, we have come to the point.

Eriri thought so, but she wasn't that nervous.

Mom knew nothing about Qianli's situation, so she just answered the way she had originally thought of.

"Not really. It happened several times before. Mom, have you forgotten?"

"The few times in kindergarten when a group of kids came to celebrate your birthday doesn't count."

"Why can't it be counted?"

"Back then, you didn't know anything, and you could be happy for a long time just because you had your favorite food for dinner. Now it's different. You're in high school now, and you know everything you need to know. You should also have the hope of finding a boyfriend, right?"

"Mom! What are you saying all of a sudden!"

Eriri suddenly became "panicked", her voice suddenly became louder without warning, and her eyes showed an extremely shaken look.

Mrs. Sawamura looked at her daughter, chuckled, paused for a moment, and then continued,

"It's not something that's hard to notice. Anyone with a discerning eye should be able to see that Eriri, you care a lot about Chisato-san."

"no!"

According to her original plan, Eriri firmly denied it.

"It's useless to deny it. If you didn't care so much, you wouldn't have specifically asked mom to prepare such a sumptuous meal for lunch last night, nor would you have gotten up so early today to clean the bedroom and vacuum the floor. Finally, you would have waited on the sofa in the living room downstairs early. Isn't it because you want to open the door for Qianli as soon as he arrives?"

Mrs. Sawamura smiled teasingly and stated the fact that Eriri wanted to convey to her clearly.

Eriri was unable to utter a word and stammered.

So far, everything seems to be going smoothly.

Until Mrs. Sawamura suddenly changed the subject and asked about the specific situation of Chisato Suzumiya.

"Come to think of it, Mom has never heard you say anything about Qianli before. When did you two meet? Are you from the same school?"

"...No...We are not from the same school. As for the opportunity for us to meet, it can be regarded as the Internet."

"I see, we have developed from being netizens to such a close relationship now."

"It can't be called intimacy, at most it's pretty good..."

"Okay, that's good, but you haven't answered when Mom met you."

"We haven't known each other for long."

Ying Lili gave an ambiguous answer.

“That is, this semester.”

"What about a more specific date?"

"Mom, you're so annoying!"

"Don't say that. Mom is also curious about what happened to Eriri. Just treat it as satisfying Mom, okay?"

"I don't remember the exact date, but it was probably not long after the school started. Qianli and I happened to chat online in a discussion group for people of the same interests, and we gradually became familiar with each other."

“Oh, I see—”

Mrs. Sawamura rinsed the washed dishes in her hands, and Eriri took them and lowered her head to wipe them.

Mrs. Sawamura continued to wash the dishes with her head down, and at the same time calmly recalled an early morning when Eriri had just started this semester.

It was a morning that was no different from any other for her, with fresh air and warm sunshine.