Congratulations, Sushi, you have been optimized by me.

According to the company's strange rules, if you want to go to the next billing point, you have to work until after 7 o'clock. Xiangzi thought about it and felt that it was a bit too late, so he simply slid the mouse and clicked on the screen to log out.

"you are leaving?"

"Well, it's a little late."

"Okay, it's almost time for me too, why don't we go together."

Chihiro Tsuzuki took off her headphones. She didn't care how many hours she was on duty and just clicked the logout button.

The sunset time in Tokyo at the end of April is actually around 4:6 in the evening. Although the two girls could still see the golden light of the setting sun shining on their faces when they walked down the stairs, it would not be long before the whole Tokyo would usher in the dark night.

"How about I treat you to a meal?"

Perhaps Xiangzi felt that it was a bit awkward to just walk to the station and say goodbye without saying anything, so he took the initiative to offer to treat him to a meal.

Of course, this also has something to do with the fact that she is unwilling to return to her current rental home.

She didn't want to get involved in adults' affairs, but now her decadent father really disappointed her. Many times, she had a lot of things in her heart, but she didn't dare to say them outside, and there was no need to say them at home.

Thinking of this, Xiangzi glanced at Chihiro Tsuzuki beside him, and happened to find that she was looking at him with... excited eyes?

"Xiaoxiang, you are such a kind person!"

"Xiao...Xiang?" Xiangzi was stunned, but did not correct the nickname, "It's just a meal, nothing special.

Besides, I can’t afford an expensive one, so you’ll probably be disappointed.”

"As long as there's something to eat, I'm not picky about food."

Although they could get free meals at the hotel, and the meals would definitely be of higher quality than the ones Xiangzi treated them to, Chihiro Tsuzuki felt that the meaning behind them was completely different.

One... was obtained through illegal means no matter how you look at it, but the other one was voluntarily treated by Xiaoxiang.

Of course, it was only when they arrived at the place that Chihiro Tsuzuki understood what Xiangzi meant by "I can't afford the expensive ones".

"disappointed?"

Xiangzi felt that she was crazy. Although there were definitely no classmates she knew who would come here, it was really the first time for her to invite someone to dinner in such a place.

Not to mention... she just paid the bill at Yuze Coffee Shop in a rather bourgeois manner.

Well, maybe it was because she felt sorry for the money for the coffee that she shamelessly invited her new friend to a ramen restaurant like this one, which was small, located in a remote area, and used very little meat.

"Xiaoxiang, I remember your clothes are not cheap, right?"

While drinking the soup in her bowl, Chihiro Tsuzuki asked curiously, "From the way you speak and the way you move your hands and feet, I don't think you should be working part-time here like me."

"...Can I not tell you?"

"I've told you everything about me."

"…Shouldn't a normal person say, 'If you don't want to, don't say it'?"

Toyokawa Shoko was speechless, and looked at Chihiro Tsuzuki with some helplessness. However, Shoko thought about it from the bottom of her heart. She felt that if what Chihiro said yesterday was true, then in comparison, these things that happened to her seemed not a big deal.

But no matter what, Chihiro in front of him had only known him for one day, so although Xiangzi wanted to use this opportunity to express some of the depression that he had been holding back for a long time, he also left himself some room for maneuver.

"I... am short of money right now due to some reasons."

"You mean you weren't short of money before?"

"Ah."

Xiangzi nodded and did not deny it. "In the past, I probably never thought of coming to such a small restaurant and having such a simple dinner.

The reason I chose a job like customer service is that I don’t want my former friends and classmates to see what I look like now. Isn’t that ridiculous?

I can’t go back to the past, and I know that if I put down my dignity, people might not have any opinions about me, but I just can’t do it…”

“…Who are you scolding?”

"Eh?"

Xiangzi was stunned for a moment, and then he realized what Chihiro Tsuzuki meant.

Thinking of this, she felt a little relaxed. After all, there was someone as "ridiculous" as herself, so her actions didn't seem so unreasonable anymore.

"But I'm relieved now. Fortunately, you're not a young lady who's here to experience life, otherwise I'd be the one who'd break down."

"……what?"

"Xiao Xiang, haven't you heard this saying?" Tsuzuki Chihiro used her right hand to draw chopsticks in the air twice, "I'm afraid that my brother will suffer, but I'm also afraid that my brother will drive a Land Rover.

Of course, the same goes for sisters. Now that I know you are a poor guy, I feel much more relieved.

Thank you for giving me the courage to be your friend, Xiaoxiang, you are great! "

"...In that case, poor Xiaoxiang has decided not to treat us. You will pay for the meal yourself."

"No, Xiaoxiang~"

Chapter 20: Su Shi: Did I hit the wrong person this time? (2/2)

Because a certain person had given all his money to the hotel and was now a really poor person who could hardly take out a penny, Xiangzi still had to pay for the dinner in the end.

Of course, since the meal itself didn't cost much, and was even cheaper than the coffee a few hours ago, Xiangzi didn't feel too bad about it. Instead, he felt a little sorry for Chihiro.

Just thinking of this guy's last weird remarks, Xiangzi's sense of shame disappeared without a trace.

"But... Tsuzuki-san is really a very considerate person. It may seem like every word she says isn't meant to comfort people, but only when she says these words can people truly feel at ease."

A person's emotional intelligence is largely related to the amount of experience he or she has.

In Toyokawa Shoko's opinion, Chihiro Tsuzuki's ability to deal with things may be due to the fact that she lost her parents a few years ago, suffered a sudden huge blow and was forced to stand up and live on her own.

If it were someone else, and they saw her suddenly fall into a gloomy state of talking to herself, they would either listen awkwardly without saying a word, or casually say a few nice words, hoping that those few comforting words would make her mood better.

But in fact, both approaches will push the conversation into a worse state.

But Chihiro Tsuzuki's behavior was a little surprising. It only took her two sentences to make her want to talk, and then she successfully pulled her out of this gloomy state.

"But... people like Tsuzuki-san are still a minority after all."

And the way they get along is actually quite strange. They tell each other some things that they usually don't say out loud, and at the same time they promise each other not to reveal them to others.

Although Xiangzi felt that this kind of guarantee was ineffective, she was willing to believe Chihiro Tsuzuki once.

Shoko Toyokawa turned on her phone, clicked on LINE, and flipped to the contact named "Nagasaki Suyo".

Although he had blocked the other party and could not see the messages he sent to him after blocking, just looking at the previous message bombardment made Xiangzi feel powerless.

Of course she knew that Su Shi wanted to ask her why she quit.

She also knew that Su Shi had nothing to do with her current predicament, and she shouldn't have vented her anger on him.

Initially, she felt relieved when she heard Mu say that Su Shi no longer thought about crychic, but then she heard that Su Shi was going to go abroad and never return to Japan...she immediately felt something was wrong.

Although it was not a good idea to think this way, Xiangzi felt that Su Shi was most likely pretending not to care.

Alas, they are of the same age, similar height, and have some similar looks. Even their birthdays are only a few days apart. But why is there such a big difference in their character?

In fact, the real indifference does not mean being in a hurry to leave. Instead, when two people meet, they will not have any idea of interfering with each other's lives. However... if it really becomes like this, is it really okay?

Xiangzi, who was just complaining about the world, found that he was not much better.

Xiangzi felt that her mind was becoming a little confused again, but this state came back to her senses when she pushed open the door of her home and saw the dimness in the room and the unpleasant smell of alcohol.

“In my current situation, there is no need to think about these irrelevant things.

Right, asshole daddy?"

.......

Wednesday, September 4th.

Today is a very special day for Nagasaki Suyo, because if her memory is correct, all the tragedies in last week's program seem to have started from today.

Once, she saw Li Xi and Ai Yin arguing at the gate of RiNG, and out of curiosity, she walked up to them and asked.

Thinking about it now, although I didn’t see the third person at the time, the quarrel was most likely caused by Xiao Deng.

Aine and Xiao Deng are in the same class, and given the pink-haired girl's overly "enthusiastic" nature, it was probably normal and reasonable for her to be bumped into by Li Xi when she dragged Xiao Deng out on the second day of school.

But why did they quarrel over this, and why I didn’t see Xiaodeng in person that day, this is easier to reason.

After all, last week Su Shi wanted to get these people to form a band, but even so, Xiao Deng was very reluctant or even afraid of the act of forming a band itself.

Combined with Aine's behavior of looking for teammates in RiNG last Thursday, the answer can be said to be completely certain.

It was only natural that because of this misunderstanding, Li Xi thought that Aine was too strong to bully Xiao Deng, and his first impression of her became extremely bad.

"Sushi, are you coming to practice this afternoon?"

In the afternoon after school, Su Shi had just packed her schoolbag and was about to find a place closer to the "crime scene" to think and wait for the incident to happen, when she saw several friends from the club coming to the class to ask about her situation.

"Ah... I might be a bit busy these next couple of days."

"Huh?" One of the girls in Su Shi's class said in surprise, "It seems like Su Shi has been becoming more and more like an excellent student these days~"

"No la……"

Su Shi chuckled twice, but considering her performance in class over the past two days, it was not surprising that she received such an evaluation.

Moreover, she is not only focused in English class, but also serious in other classes. This makes those who are close to her feel the change.

Especially Xiao Mu, there was some hesitation and indecision in her eyes when she looked at Su Shi these two days, but Su Shi did not point it out. She just thought that maintaining such misunderstanding was a good thing.

Of course, Chihiro Tsuzuki still didn't do anything to arouse the other party's suspicion. Su Shi could feel that such a person must be very wary. It would have been fine if she didn't know about it before, but now that she knew the other party was a liar, if she took the initiative to talk to him, this cunning person might find out that something was wrong.

Although Su Shi is very confident now, she feels that since God has given her a chance to start over, she must be more cautious than before.

"After all, midterm exams are in mid-May, so we need to prepare in advance."

Nagasaki Suyo made up an excuse to prevaricate. Although the excuse was lame, it was still a successful way to get rid of several friends in the club.

Xiaomu has a ballet class today, so there is no need to say goodbye to her first. With her goal clear, Nagasaki Suyo put on her backpack and planned to find a store where she could observe RiNG's movements at the door. As a result, she met someone who surprised her as soon as she went out.

"Teacher Jing Qin?"

Su Shi did not make such basic mistakes as calling the wrong name right at the start, calling out "Chihiro Tsuzuki".

But even so, she still felt inexplicably flustered when she saw Chihiro Tsuzuki in front of her. She always felt that there was something different in the other person's eyes when she looked at her.

"Mr. Suyo, do you know Toyokawa Shoko?"

Chapter 21 Let’s Make a Deal (1/2)

panic.

This was the first thought that came to Nagasaki Suyo after hearing this.

This was probably the most formidable opponent she had encountered in Act 2, right? At least for now, it looked like Chihiro Tsuzuki wasn't on her side, and Sushi had no idea what this guy had in mind to get into this school.

Calm down, her perfect brain needed calm down to figure out the best way to deal with it.

Su Shi encouraged herself in her heart, because she knew that the most important thing for her now was not to trick others, but to try not to show any suspicious expression in front of Chihiro Tsuzuki.

Wait…could it be that Chihiro Tsuzuki is attracted by my mother’s financial resources?

So he secretly investigated everyone she might know, gained her trust by pretending to be a good teacher who cared about her students, and finally used the excuse of needing money to defraud a huge sum of money from her family?

It seems that this is really possible.

"What's wrong, Suyo-kun?"

"It's okay, I'm just surprised how the teacher knew Xiaoxiang."

Su Shi made a very natural expression. Although she was anxious to leave and find Li Xi, she knew that she couldn't be impatient now and could only deal with the person in front of her seriously.

"Because I've already met her."

"what?!"

Seeing Nagasaki Suyo making such an excited expression, Tsuzuki Chihiro's mouth curled up slightly, and many possibilities came to her mind.

But Chihiro just needs to make sure that the girl in front of her really cares about Xiangzi.

Besides, Chihiro is not a fool. Su Shi followed her directly the day before yesterday, so he must have started to doubt her identity.

In addition, Su Shi's abnormal behavior of deliberately not coming to see her in the past two days made Tsuzuki Chihiro, who has always been very vigilant, suspicious.

However...it seems that she is not without any advantages.

At least she was sure that what Su Shi was most concerned about was the disbanded band, and the other party didn't seem to care much about the other members of the band, except Toyokawa Shoko.