Persona: Devil Summoner

"what is this?"

Just as Jiang Tianwei was about to explain, he heard a bang and the door of the lounge was kicked open. The owner's son, who had blond hair and earrings, walked in arrogantly, and his tone was just like an official who came to inspect from somewhere: "The break time is over! Hurry up and get to work!"

Jiang Tianwei glanced at his cell phone. It was clearly still ten minutes before the shift change, but seeing the other party skillfully light a cigarette, Jiang Tianwei, who hated the smell of tobacco, was too lazy to argue with him. He put on his clothes and went to the front hall.

There are many people like this. If every one of them were angry, Jiang Tianwei would have been angry to death long ago.

When you are alone in a foreign country, the most important thing you need to learn is to be humble. Discrimination exists in every country and every race. Everyone is like this. "Those who are not my kind must have different hearts." The contempt chain will not make you live better, but you can feel at ease thinking that "there are people worse off than me" and accept the tragic reality.

Humans are collective animals, so the smartest thing to do is not to rebel against the collective. Especially now, Jiang Tianwei's first core goal is to make money. If he really causes trouble and beats up this young master, he will definitely go to jail at best, and at worst, a black record will be left in his file, making it difficult for him to find a job in the future.

Jiang Tianwei sighed, and personally experienced the feeling of being a stranger in a strange land...

This kind of frustrating job was not the first day, and naturally it would not be the last. He worked with a forced smile on his face until the end of the day. He changed his clothes as quickly as possible, said goodbye, and punched out.

He went to a convenience store to buy a sandwich and then went to work in a gym. Because he had learned boxing for a few years at the Children's Palace when he was young, he found a part-time job teaching aerobic boxing in a gym. Although it was very tiring, at least there was no blatant workplace bullying, and it was much more comfortable.

Basically, it was already after 11 o'clock in the evening when we returned to the shabby two-story apartment.

There is only one kind of people who live in such cheap apartments: those who have no money. At this time, the residents here have either gone to bed long ago or are still working overtime. There is a saying that goes, "Every unfortunate person has his own misfortune", and this building really shows that.

Going up the rusty iron staircase, no matter how careful you are, you will hear dull footsteps. On the second floor, only the room next to yours has a light on. A ray of light shines through the crack in the door, like a clear dividing line.

From the crack in the door came the out-of-tune sound of an old tape recorder, chanting the famous Peking Opera: "Think of me, Xiang Yu, with my strength to pull up mountains and my courage to conquer the world! The times are not favorable and my horse will not move! What can I do if my horse will not move! Yu Xi, Yu Xi, what can I do!"

The melodious Beijing tune made Jiang Tianwei feel as if he was still in his motherland. When he took another step, the heavy body and the hollow echo reminded him clearly of reality. The hero's depression expressed in the song "Farewell My Concubine" was clearly conveyed to his heart.

Think about Xiang Yu, a hero in his lifetime, but died at the hands of a mortal. Then think about yourself...

"Ugh……"

He couldn't help but sigh.

"[Hmm? Xiaotian is back?]"

This sigh obviously alarmed the owner of the house. A short and fat old man came out of the house. He was wearing a loose vest and shorts and had a big round belly. There were not many white hairs left on his head, but his face was full of smiles.

He waved a large cattail leaf fan in his hand to drive away the mosquitoes that had revived in the spring, and he looked like a traditional Chinese farmer. The most Chinese thing about him was his warm-heartedness.

"[Xiaotian, have you eaten yet? Come and have a bite together! Today I made shredded pork with fish flavor, stir-fried Kung Pao chicken, and fried an egg with chili peppers. Wow, this smells so good! Come and have a bite together!]"

Every time Jiang Tianwei heard the uncle next door greet him so warmly, he couldn't help but feel his nose sore and mixed feelings in his heart.

Mr. Liu Shunqing, who lived next door to him, had a very similar experience. His son came to Japan to work and moved with him. As a result, the child became busier and busier and had less and less time to take care of him, so he simply moved out to live on his own so as not to burden the child.

When Mr. Liu was still in China, he was a famous chef with great skills. When he came to Japan, he wanted to make a name for himself with his skills, but he found that he was not used to the local environment.

A good chef is not necessarily a good store manager, not to mention that Mr. Liu doesn’t even speak Japanese, not a single word in the true sense of the word.

So, I have nowhere to show my good cooking skills. Often when I feel lonely and miss my motherland, I cook two Chinese dishes for myself to relive the taste. But I am an old man, I can neither eat so much nor be too lazy to be particular.

Meeting Jiang Tianwei was pure coincidence. The old man was so happy to know that the person living next door to him was a Chinese. When he heard that the man’s father had died and his mother had remarried, he was so angry that he started to curse. He was a traditional Chinese. When his compatriots were in trouble, he didn’t care about anything else. He threw all his precautions aside and invited him to his home that day. He cooked eight dishes for him, four cold and four hot, steamed a full pot of rice, and brought out a pot of mutton meatball soup. Jiang Tianwei would always remember what he said to him that day: "Boy, just eat as much as you want. From now on, we are father and son! If the Chinese don’t stand by the Chinese, who will they stand by!"

He was not well-educated and could not say anything touching, but his simple enthusiasm unexpectedly touched the heart. Jiang Tianwei did not cry at his father's funeral, nor did he cry when his mother remarried. But when he heard that an old man, whom he had never met before, accepted him without hesitation just because they had the same nationality, he cried for the first time.

He had always believed that tears would only make people fragile, but after that incident he realized that after crying bitterly, the heart would become stronger.

Thinking of this, he felt his nose a little sour again. He nodded vigorously and followed Mr. Liu into the house.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 4 Back to School Again

Mr. Liu’s craftsmanship is beyond reproach.

The apartments here are all cheap, so naturally there is no possibility of fancy decoration. The simple decoration has left many traces of time because of hosting so many residents: peeling paint on wooden tables, faded tablecloths, yellowed walls and windows that cannot be cleaned no matter how hard you try.

What makes this humble room shine is the food served by Chef Liu. It is authentic Chinese flavor and full of Chinese sentiment. Unfortunately, if you want to open a restaurant in a foreign country, it is more important to [conform to the impression of Chinese food by foreigners] than to taste authentic.

A typical example is the popular Chinese noodles in the United States, which come in a square red box and can be eaten by just adding water. This kind of thing is simply not available in China. But except for Chinese people, everyone thinks this thing is very Chinese.

Since people from all over the world, except the Chinese, think this is a Chinese characteristic, then it is. This is the collective bullying called democracy that Western capitalism is proud of.

Listening to Chinese operas, eating Chinese food, and talking to Chinese people, Jiang Tianwei felt that all his tiredness of the day had disappeared.

The meal lasted almost an hour. After all, an important part of the dinner table culture is chatting. If Jiang Tianwei hadn't yawned frequently, I'm afraid Master Liu would not have let him go back.

After returning to his home, Jiang Tianwei was too lazy to even turn on the lights. He went to bed in the dark, took off his shoes, wrapped himself in a quilt, and fell into a deep sleep.

In a daze, I could vaguely hear the buzzing of my phone, but I was too tired to open my eyes to look. Fang Zexia came over curiously, but unfortunately, the first message was written in Chinese characters, and the square lead block words read: "The end is coming, hereby, I give you the power to fight back, the software has been automatically installed..."

Before Fang Zexia could worry about not being able to read Chinese characters, another message came and replaced this one.

From: Sadyo Kawakami.

Content: Mr. Jiang, please come to the school to sign the documents related to the suspension of study...

……

Nothing happened that night. Jiang Tianwei got up early the next day. Due to lack of sleep, all the muscles in his body were lazy and sore, and he had no strength at all.

In contrast to the lifeless Jiang Tianwei was the smiling Fang Zexia. This ghost girl also floated in front of him today, with a look of interest on her face, obviously waiting for Jiang Tianwei to ask her.

"why are you laughing?"

"Hmm~ Tell me a Chinese joke, or I won't tell you~"

She said with a grin.

"Once upon a time there was a mountain, and in the mountain there was a temple..."

"I want to hear Chinese stories!".

"There is a mountain in China, and in the mountain there is a temple..."

"Aren't you too insincere?"

“【There is a mountain in China, and there is a temple in the mountain】…”

"I don't understand Chinese anymore!"

This kind of mutual stupidity between the two of them is also the daily morning lesson of the Jiang family. After all, ghosts don't need to sleep, and Jiang Tianwei's necessary rest time is just a boring and long wait for her. Naturally, when people wake up, they have to vent all the emptiness of the night.

After playing with Fang Zexia to her satisfaction, the little girl straightened her chest and said mysteriously, "I heard...your head teacher wants you to go to school once!"

"Where did you hear that?"

When a ghost tells you what she heard, Jiang Tianwei can't help but have his hair stand on end. He looks around his room with his dark eyes, fearing that a ghost will suddenly appear from somewhere, or that an axe will suddenly chop down his sliding door...

"I heard it from your phone!"

"That means you just peeked at my text messages!"

Jiang Tianwei laughed and complained, causing the other party to chuckle. Because she was a ghost and could not touch things in reality, Jiang Tianwei knew that the other party must not have secretly looked at her phone when she was not paying attention. After a little reasoning, she knew: it must be her text message, and she saw it when the screen lit up.

Class teacher...

Every time Jiang Tianwei thought of his head teacher Chuan, he felt a little sorry for him. After all, a student like him must be considered a problem student, right? The head teacher must have been worried about him. "

Shujin Academy is a prestigious school. It is a member of the former Olympic volleyball champion team. Mr. Kamoshida is in charge of physical education. It is a popular sports school. And the principal obviously wants to make his school famous in all aspects. It is said that this year, not only did he specially recruit a very promising rhythmic gymnastics member, but he also specially approved a male student with a violent criminal record to transfer.

Surprisingly, Jiang Tianwei did not get any information about the rhythmic gymnastics student. However, the name of the student who committed the violent crime has been exposed - Amamiya Ren, a name that sounds gentle and not violent at all.

It's true that you can't judge a book by its cover... Oh, no, I should say, the name doesn't match the person.

By the way, Jiang Tianwei knew all this thanks to his classmates at school discussing it in the class discussion group and taking a glimpse at it.

Students of this age love gossip the most. And they are easy to believe some "evil and cruel" speculations that are obviously without evidence. These students arbitrarily expressed their own speculations. Some guessed that the new student in rhythmic gymnastics was a beautiful girl, some speculated that the principal wanted to show the school's tolerance, some thought that this person named Amamiya was actually a cadre of the mafia, and some said that this transfer student actually involved state secrets... There were even some who said that this was the first step of the US Prism Plan to invade Japan. It was really outrageous.

Once the students start to use their imagination, the content will be outrageous... This kind of meaningless discussion is really boring. Jiang Tianwei took a glance and didn't bother to read more. Now that he is going back to his alma mater, he remembered that he had read this kind of text full of adolescent fantasies.

I opened the closet, which had not been cleaned for a long time, so there was a faint musty smell. I took out my Xiujin Academy uniform from the corner.

It was a standard Western-style school uniform, with a black suit jacket on the upper body and black and red plaid pants on the lower body. The school had very loose management of school uniforms. As long as you wore these two pieces, you were considered to be wearing a school uniform. You could wear any lining inside, and even if you tied the school uniform jacket around your waist, it was considered that you were wearing a school uniform. It was really very free.

Thanks to this, some beauty-loving female students even enroll happily just to be able to match clothes freely.

After wearing the school uniform for the first time in a long time, Jiang Tianwei finally had a sense of reality: "Ah, it turns out that I am a high school student."

"Oh, so you are a high school student!"

As if she could read Jiang Tianwei's mind, Fang Zexia accurately complained about Jiang Tianwei's mood. Jiang Tianwei curled his lips and did not comment. The schoolbag had not been used for a long time and was covered with a thick layer of dust. Although he estimated that he would be back soon after going there, he still prepared some textbooks and threw them into the schoolbag.

Oh, by the way, don't forget the most important thing: send a message to your workplace to say you can't go today. The Japanese are very particular about reporting, talking, and contacting.

"Are you going to school?"

When Fang Zexia saw his posture, her eyes lit up immediately: "What youth!"

"Hey...it seems like you're going to follow me today too..."

Jiang Tianwei sighed helplessly and walked out.

Leaving the apartment building, not far away is the hidden specialty of Sixuan Tea House: the coffee shop [Lubron]. The business hours here are very early, the environment is quiet, and there are few customers. Jiang Tianwei usually handles breakfast here. Today, there is no need to deliver newspapers, and there is plenty of time. Jiang Tianwei is thinking about whether to be extravagant today and have a cup of coffee to savor life.

After opening the door, the boss Sakura, whose hairline was a bit dangerous, greeted him coldly and brought him a bowl of curry. Of course, the boss would remember such an old customer.

In the past, this place should be empty at this time, but unexpectedly, there is a boy with curly hair and glasses wearing a school uniform, sitting inconspicuously in the corner of the bar, eating curry quietly...

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 5: Single Ponytail or Double Ponytail

In literary works, environmental descriptions are generally used to set off the character's mood.

Judging from this rule, Jiang Tianwei should not be in a good mood today. Looking up at the sky, dark clouds rolled in, and the air was full of the smell of damp earth. Just walking in this air, his hair felt wet and his shirt would stick to his skin.

This kind of dreary weather often means only one thing: it is going to rain.

(Should I go to the store and buy an umbrella? Well, forget it. Why would I waste my money on this?)

Thinking so, Jiang Tianwei quickened his hands and put the curry into his mouth.

Unfortunately, the joy of eating Lou Brown's delicious curry was all overwhelmed by the melancholy and worry about having to go back to school again and about his future life. Although he tried not to think about it, sometimes this thought still lurked in the corner of his heart like a snake. Once it found an opportunity, it would bite his mentality, making him ask himself involuntarily, "Is it okay to be like this in the future?"

The host on TV was interviewing a big shot who looked quite influential in an exaggerated voice. Below the interview, there was a subtitle in large font: Shocking interview, the truth that makes a person useless!

This is an unexplained disease that has recently become popular in Japan. Many people have been affected. Healthy people may suddenly become mentally ill and crazy. Afterwards, they lose all desires and need someone to take care of them for eating, drinking, defecating and urinating. Therefore, it is also called becoming a disabled person.

Regardless of the dark thoughts that popped up in his mind from time to time and ignoring the meaningless guessing shows on TV, he threw down the breakfast money, picked up his backpack and walked towards the station as if escaping.

Like the school and the part-time job, you need to go to Shibuya Station first. This place, which is connected in all directions and can be called an underground maze, gathers the epitome of the entire Japanese society. When squeezing in the subway, Jiang Tianwei sincerely envied Fang Zexia's ghost physique...Nowadays, many people in various countries in the world joke that they are office workers, but they don't know that this word was first created by the Japanese to mock themselves.

The subway car was packed like sardines in a can, literally shoulder to shoulder. Everyone on the subway seemed like livestock locked in a metal cage by a monster called society, obediently doing their job.

In this crowded place, Fang Zexia danced in the crowd as if to deliberately provoke, and her translucent body easily stood on tiptoe and made a graceful 720-degree turn. Unfortunately, because of the obstruction of other guests, Fang Zexia's beautiful dance posture could not be seen at all.

Although it may not sound nice to say this, it does look a bit like an alternative mosaic.

After leaving the station, Jiang Tianwei felt like his lungs were crushed and he felt nauseous and wanted to vomit. Just a few steps out of the station, he saw the ground suddenly had a few dark spots, and then there was a dense rain line coming down...

(Tsk, I should have bought an umbrella at Shikenjaya earlier!).

Jiang Tianwei, who was hiding under the eaves to avoid the rain, thought so and hated that there was no regret medicine for sale in the pharmacies in the world.

I was thinking, should I run to school in the rain? Or should I just wait a while to see if the rain will stop? After all, this kind of rain that comes so suddenly often goes away quickly.

As he thought about this, he was torn between his conscience and his desires. Then he saw the student with messy curly hair and glasses running over from the station entrance, holding his backpack, and they hid under the eaves together.

(Is this the guy who had curry with me at Loublanc before?)

Jiang Tianwei thought about it, and although he wanted to strike up a conversation, he gave up because he was not familiar with the other person. Is this probably the standard way of social phobia? Although he wanted to strike up a conversation, he was only limited to the step of "thinking".

The other party obviously noticed him. He raised his eyebrows and tilted his head slightly, as if he was observing Jiang Tianwei carefully. Jiang Tianwei noticed his little movements and quickly lowered his head and pretended to look at his phone.

Just as the atmosphere was awkward, another girl ran over. She was the one mentioned before: the outfit that best reflected the free school spirit of Xiujin College, she wore a white hooded sweater under her black coat. At this time, she had a white hood on her head, and a pair of red tights under her black and red plaid skirt. Among the group of female students, she looked particularly bright.

(This person... I seem to have seen her before... She seems to be a returned overseas student. What's her name? She seems to be in the same class as me...)

As the girl reached out to take off her hood, her long light golden hair flowed out from it. She had a pair of low ponytails and matched her delicate doll-like face. She looked so beautiful that she looked like she had walked out of a painting.

I always feel that she is probably the kind of girl who is very discussed. Unfortunately, I haven't attended her classes much, so I really have no impression of her.

"Hey? So that's your type?"

Fang Zexia was alone, holding her chin with her hand, with an expression of "I understand you", which made Jiang Tianwei angry and amused. He wanted to complain about her, but when he thought about the people around him, he was afraid that he would be regarded as a fool if he suddenly spoke to the air, which would be social death. After thinking about it, he decided not to do it. Looking at Fang Zexia again, she grabbed her hair with both hands and made a double ponytail. Ghost is really convenient. It is obvious that she changed from a ponytail to a double ponytail with just one move. It would be great if this skill could be used on coins, such as changing Noguchi Hideyo (the person on the 1,000 yen note) to Fukuzawa Yukichi (the person on the 10,000 yen note).

Just as he was daydreaming, he heard a loud car horn from the road outside. A black luxury car that looked very expensive stopped on the side of the road. The window rolled down, revealing a square face with sharp edges and corners.

Jiang Tianwei remembered this face very clearly - Kamoshida Taku. It could be said that he was the symbol of Shujin Academy.

In fact, looking across the country, this school is neither a prestigious school with a particularly high deviation value, nor a fancy academy with top-notch teaching resources and campus quality. The reason why it is sought after by so many parents is mainly because of this physical education teacher.

The title of former Olympic champion made countless parents dream of their children going to the Olympics. Mr. Kamoshida did not disappoint this expectation. The volleyball club of Shujin Academy is a frequent participant in national competitions, winning many championships, and cultivating waves of volleyball elites.