Tokyo Knights: The Odd Jobs X Files

The middle-aged man said with exasperation, "Can't you just try harder to turn your colleague into your girlfriend?"

"This one……"

Li Xin hesitated, unsure of what to say, when he heard the village chief shout, "Xin, come sit here!"

Li Xin felt as if he had been granted a pardon and hurriedly ran towards the village chief: "Uncle Zhang, let's talk again next time!"

When Li Xin arrived at the village chief's table, Secretary Wang was also there. Li Xin originally wanted to find a seat anywhere, but then he saw the village chief pat the seat next to him and say to Li Xin, "Come on, sit here!"

Li Xin glanced around. On one side of the seats was the village chief, and on the other side was Lai Shenglei. He knew exactly what the village chief was thinking, but when Secretary Wang didn't speak, the village chief was the most powerful person in the village. Even Li Xin didn't dare to disobey the village chief's words, so he could only sit next to Lai Shenglei and give her an awkward smile.

Lai Sheng Lei covered her mouth and chuckled, finding Li Xin quite adorable now.

"Come on, Miss Laisheng put a lot of effort into this meal. Everyone, come and try Miss Laisheng's cooking. I haven't tried Japanese cuisine before, so let me have a taste of something different!"

The village chief smiled and addressed the others at the table.

Lai Sheng Lei smiled and said, "There are no seasonings commonly used in Japanese cuisine here, so I just made some home-style dishes from the Central Plains. If you would like to try them, I will bring some with me next time I come."

"These are all Central Plains dishes? That's even better, they'll suit my taste even better!"

The village chief laughed.

Secretary Wang rolled his eyes, feeling that the village chief's behavior was far too blatant.

The villagers now all know that Li Xin came back with a girlfriend, even though he explained that she was just a colleague, but obviously no one believes him.

According to the simple beliefs of rural people, the person of the opposite sex brought home can only be a partner. Bringing a colleague? Who are you trying to fool!

Therefore, they all viewed Rui Kisugi as "Oshin's girlfriend." Although they knew that Rui Kisugi was Japanese, they did not reject her and were very polite to her.

At the banquet, everyone enthusiastically asked Lai Shenglei about her experiences in Japan and Li Xin's work there. Lai Shenglei answered fluently, leaving Secretary Wang, who was observing silently, unable to find any flaws in her answers. This made Secretary Wang begin to believe that Li Xin was doing legitimate work in Japan.

Secretary Wang silently took a sip of his drink. The village chief glanced at Secretary Wang and asked with his eyes: "How is it? No problem, right?"

After swallowing the wine, Secretary Wang pondered for a moment, then answered with his eyes: Let's think about it some more.

Although both the village chief and Secretary Wang could be said to have had a less-than-stellar career—the village chief had hardly ever left Shibalipu Village in his entire life, and the farthest he had ever been was a nearby town—and Secretary Wang had been stuck in the position of village party secretary for almost twenty years, it didn't mean that either of them lacked ability. On the contrary, both of them were shrewd and capable.

Regarding Li Xin's return with a large sum of money, no matter how much evidence Li Xin presented, they could see the guilty conscience he had when facing the two of them. It was only because Lai Sheng Lei's cover-up was so brilliant that the two of them had no choice but to believe him for the time being, but their suspicions could not be eliminated.

"Ah-Xin, you must have suffered a lot out there. Look at you, you've gotten so thin. Come on, eat some more meat. A man needs to be strong and sturdy, otherwise how can he be the pillar of the family!"

Next to Laishenglei was a middle-aged woman who looked to be in her fifties. She kept putting food on Li Xin's plate through Laishenglei's plate, and Li Xin's rice bowl was soon piled up. Li Xin could only keep stuffing the food into his mouth, thanking her as he did so.

This was the first time Kisugi Rui had witnessed such a unique social atmosphere in rural Central China, but she didn't dislike it. These interactions were imbued with deep emotion, a stark contrast to the coldness of interpersonal relationships in Japan. While this was partly due to the more reserved nature of Japanese culture, and not to say that Japanese people were inherently cold-hearted, this slightly noisy way of interacting was far more humane and appealing to Kisugi Rui. She longed for a lively and bustling family.

After feeding Li Xin, the aunt turned her attention to Lai Shenglei. The more she looked at this beautiful young woman, the more satisfied she became. She couldn't help but smile and ask, "Young lady, how old are you this year?"

Lai Sheng Lei smiled and said, "Twenty-five."

"Wow, you're twenty-five? I thought you were only twenty! You're much older than Ashin, who's only nineteen!"

The auntie exclaimed in surprise. She had thought that Lai Shenglei's skin was delicate and smooth, and that she looked mature, so she thought Lai Shenglei was only in her twenties. She never expected that she was so much older than Li Xin.

Lai Sheng Lei, who had been smiling, suddenly froze and looked at Li Xin.

Li Xin lowered his head and ate his rice, not daring to look at Sheng's tearful eyes.

The village chief, quick-witted, chuckled and said, "What's wrong with that? A woman three years older than a man is like a golden brick!"

"But that's six years older..."

The woman muttered something under her breath.

The village chief slammed his hand on the table and shouted, "Then let's take two gold bricks!"

Because of someone's big mouth, the cheerful atmosphere at the table turned cold. Afterwards, the old-fashioned village chief tried several times to liven things up, but failed each time, and the lunch had to end hastily.

After lunch, Li Xin wanted to continue helping everyone with their work, but the village chief kicked him out and pointed to Lai Sheng Lei in the distance, meaning that Li Xin should hurry up and coax Lai Sheng Lei back to her senses.

At this moment, Laishenglei had just helped the women of Shibali Village wash the dishes and chopsticks and was standing on a hillside gazing into the distance.

Li Xin slowly walked up the hillside. Before he even got close, Lai Sheng Lei turned around first, crossed her arms, and said to Li Xin in a very cold tone, "I didn't expect you to be so young, only nineteen. You're not much older than Xiao Ai..."

Li Xin swallowed hard. Although he had never explicitly said that he was twenty-five years old, he had deliberately not refuted Lai Shenglei's claim that they were the same age. In effect, he had deceived Lai Shenglei about his age.

After a long pause, Li Xin scratched his head and said, "Well, my birthday is coming soon. I'll be twenty years old then. I'm actually twenty-one, nominally twenty-one, practically twenty-two, roughly twenty-three... or you could say around twenty-five?"

Lai Sheng Lei was so angry at Li Xin's sophistry that she laughed.

Why do women always try to make their age seem younger, while men always want to mention their age?

Lai Sheng Lei understood that Li Xin had just left the countryside and was afraid of being looked down upon, so he pretended to be mature. However, the feeling of being deceived was still very bad, and... the six-year age gap was not something that the village chief could bridge with just a few words like "two gold bricks".

"Ah-Xin, I'm leaving."

Tears welled up in my eyes as I faced Li Xindao in my next life.

"Oh, you're leaving now?"

Li Xin panicked a little and said, "Xiao Lei, I admit I lied to you. Can't I apologize to you?"

Lai Sheng Rui smiled and shook her head: "It's not your fault. When I came out, I only planned to stay here for one day. If I leave now, I might still catch my flight back to Tokyo tonight. Didn't you say yourself that if the coffee shop is closed for too long, it will affect business?"

Li Xin knew that Lai Shenglei had a lot on her mind. To be honest, the fact that she could take two days to make a special trip to Shibali Village for Li Xin was already very touching. How could he ask Lai Shenglei to stay here with him forever?

"Then, let me see you off."

Li Xin said to the next life with tears in his eyes.

Lai Sheng Lei nodded and said, "Okay."

After saying that, Li Xin helped Lai Shenglei pack her things, and then the two of them got on the bicycle they had shared on the way there and headed to the nearest town.

After seeing Sheng Lei off on the car, Li Xin watched the car gradually disappear from his sight. When it was no longer in sight, Li Xin breathed a sigh of relief, then rode his bicycle slowly back to Shibali Village.

Back in Shibalipu Village, Li Xin had just gotten off his bicycle when the village chief rushed over. Seeing that Lai Shenglei wasn't on the back of the bicycle, he immediately asked, "Where is she?"

"You've gone back to Japan."

Li Xin replied.

"Then what are you doing back here?!"

The village chief said urgently.

"I'm back to help with the work!"

As soon as Li Xin finished answering, the village chief kicked him again: "Who asked you to come back to work? Does the village not know how to work without you? Get out! Get out! Go back!"

After being scolded by the village chief, Li Xin finally realized what was happening and hurriedly prepared to pack his things to chase after Lai Shenglei, only to be kicked by the village chief again.

"Just went back like that? Without even leaving any contact information?"

The village chief looked at Li Xin with a hostile expression: "Are you planning to disappear for several months again?"

Li Xin immediately realized what was going on and left his phone number with the village chief. The village chief nodded in satisfaction and then said, "Remember to bring Miss Laisheng over again during the New Year. Our village didn't treat her well this time and embarrassed the people of Shibali Village. By the New Year, the village should be rebuilt. You must treat her well then. If she doesn't come, you don't need to come back. Do you understand?"

Li Xin immediately nodded and said, "Understood, understood! I'll go right away!"

"Get out!"

Watching Li Xin dash away, the village chief wiped his eyes.

"Seriously, this brat, he's grown up and still causes me no peace of mind..."

Chapter Ninety-One Ancient Sword

In Tokyo, at Sakuradamon, opposite the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters, the Cat's Eye Cafe, which had been closed for three days, finally reopened. The male police officers at the Metropolitan Police Department were overjoyed, feeling as excited as if they had finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel.

However, once inside the coffee shop, everyone noticed that the manager, Rui Kisugi, seemed rather listless, which only fueled their pity for her.

"Despite suffering so much from a cold, Miss Xiao Lei still reopened her business as soon as she recovered, without even taking a break. It's truly touching!"

Police officer Hirano, obsessed with the tears of the afterlife, cried out.

Utsumi Toshio, who was standing to the side, turned his face away, indicating that he was not familiar with this idiot.

However, Toshio Utsumi was still very concerned about the health of his future sister-in-law. He asked his girlfriend, Hitomi Kisugi, who had brought him coffee, "Hitomi, is Rui-nee alright? She doesn't seem to be feeling well."

"Uh... I should be fine, right..."

Hitomi wasn't quite sure either. After Laisheng Lei returned late at night the night before last, she wasn't in good spirits. Hitomi thought it was because of the long journey, but after resting for a day, it's been three days now, and Laisheng Lei is still like this. Hitomi wasn't sure what was wrong.

Rui Kisugi, who is usually strong and always puts on a calm demeanor in front of her two younger sisters, rarely acts like this, and even Hitomi Kisugi feels a little worried about Rui Kisugi.

But she doesn't even know how Lai Sheng Rui became like this, so how can she comfort or console Lai Sheng Rui?

Two days ago, Laisheng Rui suddenly said she had to leave for two days, and then she left alone. As for where she was going or what she was going to do, she didn't tell Laisheng Tong or Laisheng Ai.

Originally, Hitomi thought that Rui had obtained a clue about her father and was preparing to confirm it alone. However, Rui said that it was her private matter and had nothing to do with her father. Hitomi believed that Rui would not lie to her about such a thing. But if it wasn't because of her father, what could make her older sister so distracted?

"Second sister, could it be because of Brother Ah-Xin?"

"Love in the next life" whispered to "Tears in the next life."

"Mr. Ashin?"

Hitomi thought about it for a moment and considered this possibility...

"Ring ring ring!"

The coffee shop door opened, and Li Xin, dressed in black, walked in. When Lai Sheng Lei noticed Li Xin, instead of smiling and nodding to greet him as usual, she turned her head away and ignored him.

Upon seeing this, Hitomi Kisugi immediately said to Ai Kisugi, "It really is because of Mr. Shin!"

This was so obvious, even she noticed it.

"Xiaotong, Xiaoai, are you two very free?"

Lai Sheng Lei's deep voice sent chills down the spines of Lai Sheng Ai and Lai Sheng Tong, who were whispering to each other.

"No, no, no, we'll get to work right away!"

"Lai Sheng Ai and Lai Sheng Tong quickly replied."

Sitting in his familiar seat, Li Xin originally thought that Lai Sheng Ai would come over soon, but after waiting for a while, he didn't see Lai Sheng Ai come over. When he looked at Lai Sheng Ai, he saw that she was somewhat evasive.

Of course! It seems like my older sister and Ashin have had a fight. If I act too affectionate with Ashin without knowing why, what if my older sister tears me up?

Lai Sheng Ai stuck out her tongue. For the sake of her life, she could only apologize to Li Xin.

"Second sister, I'm going to be late for school. You're in charge of taking care of Brother Xin!"

Kisugi Ai quickly took off her apron and ran off—it was breakfast rush hour. Kisugi Ai's school was close to home, so she would stay at the coffee shop in the morning to help out during the rush hour, and then go to school when she was almost late. But this time, she was going to run away early.

"Hey, Xiao Ai!"

Lai Sheng Tong broke out in a cold sweat, then walked with difficulty to Li Xin and asked, "Mr. A Xin, what do you need?"

"A glass of milk, please."

Li Xin said to Lai Shengtong, "You're busy here right now, so I won't take up any more of your time."

They actually want milk?

Lai Sheng Tong suddenly felt as if she had seen the sun rising in the west.

It's one thing if the older sister has a problem, but Mr. Ashin's behavior is also so abnormal this time, making Hitomi very curious about whether something happened between the two of them in the past two days.

Curiosity can kill a cat, but Hitomi wanted to continue living, so she chose not to ask for the time being and instead obediently went to pour milk for Li Xin.

Hmm, I'll ask her secretly after my older sister is gone!

Hitomi Kisugi still couldn't control her curiosity.

Li Xin drank a glass of milk for a long time, until all the police officers from the Metropolitan Police Department came to work. After most of the customers had left, Lai Sheng Rui slowly walked over to Li Xin and sat down opposite him. Lai Sheng Tong tiptoed closer and was called out by Lai Sheng Rui: "Tong, it seems we're running low on coffee beans. Go to the warehouse and get some more to replenish our supply."

You're lying! I made sure it was full before I opened this morning!

Lai Sheng Tong muttered to herself, but she certainly didn't dare to contradict her older sister, so she could only whisper, "Yes, eldest sister, I'll go right away..."

After sending Lai Sheng Tong away, Lai Sheng Rui said to Li Xin, "You're back so soon? Didn't you stay a few more days?"

"I... well, making money is more important."

Li Xin actually had a lot to say to Lai Sheng Lei, but when it came time to speak, somehow it turned into this sentence.

Seeing Li Xin's clumsy performance, Lai Sheng Lei suddenly felt like laughing and couldn't help but cover her mouth.

Stopping her laughter, Lai Shenglei regained her composure and said to Li Xin, "Alright, you mentioned making money. I happen to have an operation going on here. I wonder if you'd be willing to help us?"

"Yes, I do!"

Li Xin hurriedly said to Lai Sheng Lei.