I save a pathological girl with a twisted love story.

Xia Wuzhao walked slowly, carrying an umbrella.

Xiao Ai said in his mind, "As expected, I still don't understand what Lord Xia Wu wants to do."

"Shouldn't we be trying to win over this girl?"

Xiao Ai muttered to herself.

“It’s all about strategy.” Xia Wuzhao replied expressionlessly, “A girl’s heart is wrapped in layers, but that doesn’t mean the outer layer is wrong.”

"And the outermost layer of Aoi Asahi is timidity and cowardice. She is not someone who enjoys solitude, but someone who cannot bear loneliness. The reason she is like this is simply because she timidly opposes change, and even if she musters up the courage for a moment, she often gives up halfway."

"Is that so?" Xiao Ai's clear voice rang in Xia Wuzhao's mind: "Then, what about the strategy?"

"The initial strategy has already been completed."

Xia Wuzhao said, "For Asahi Aoi, all she needs to do is become the companion she desires. That potted plant is the key to becoming her friend."

"Simply revealing that it is a highly poisonous plant will allow you to become a familiar stranger to her, or even her only friend."

"Is that so?" Xiao Ai asked, sounding puzzled. "I still can't understand."

“After all, you were just a bookmark that fell from a book when I was sorting through my belongings,” Xia Wuzhao said.

"Ugh, Lady Natsugiri. You're lying to me again, just like you lied to Aoi Asahi." Ai seemed a little sullen: "I'm not a bookmark."

"Is that a Teru Teru Bozu doll?"

"No, no, no, it's not a teru teru bozu (a Japanese doll that brings sunshine to the sky). It's Hell Girl, but she's temporarily possessing a teru teru bozu."

She muttered, "I never expected that the only suitable candidate we found would be someone like Lord Xiawu."

"Is 'Lord Natsugiri' an adjective used to describe him?"

"Lord Natsume, you just love to tell lies."

"Is that so? Everything I said was a lie." Xia Wuzhao smiled.

"Lord Xiawu, how do you plan to proceed with the next phase of the strategy? If things go according to your plan, how will you proceed with the next step?"

"You said a girl's heart has layers upon layers, and you've now penetrated one layer. So, what's next?"

"Exams, the horticulture department, and finding out more about her mother and her family."

Xia Wuzhao said, "Then we pieced together all the clues."

Chapter 16 The Cold Breeze Wandering Under the Smoke

When I returned to the classroom, it was so noisy it was irritating.

It was the girls venting their frustrations on the sunflower.

They all said, "Hey, Asahi Aoi! You bumped into us and just left? You didn't even apologize?"

"I said it." Aoi Asahi lowered her head, her hair hanging down like a spider web, making it impossible to see her expression or her face.

“We didn’t hear you!” the girl clicked her tongue. “Besides, you just left. Even if you apologized, it wasn’t a sincere apology.”

The girls were very dissatisfied; they all stared at Asahi Aoi and kept banging on her table.

They slapped it hard, but the sunflower just kept its head down.

The girls said sarcastically, "Aoi Asahi, I don't know where you get your arrogance from. You don't want to say a single word to us?"

The boys and girls around were all watching and laughing.

Everyone secretly glanced at Xia Wuzhao, but Xia Wuzhao was just lost in thought.

Looking out the window at the wet ground, even though the rain had stopped.

However, the sky was still a dull gray.

It might rain or something.

The colors outside have also tinted the interior with an iron gray hue.

His attitude made the girls around him look knowing.

I was even a little excited.

They seem to be becoming increasingly unscrupulous, no longer limited to just questioning.

She even started pushing the table that Asahi Aoi was sitting on.

"Hey, hey, hey, everyone get back to your seats."

Jun Yokokawa walked in from outside and said lazily, "My class is the first class today, so don't make me scold you."

The girls all sighed helplessly and said to Aoi, "Aoi, you're really lucky."

Asahi Aoi glanced at Natsugiri Kai in front of her, then lowered her head again.

Jun Yokokawa glanced at Aoi Asahi and then began the lesson.

Xia Wuzhao finally regained her senses and looked at Yokokawa Jun on the podium.

"Xia Wu, stand up and answer."

Jun Yokokawa pointed at Natsugiri with the ruler in his hand.

Natsugiri Kai answered Yokokawa Jun's questions with practiced ease. She had assumed it would be just a routine question, but Yokokawa Jun kept asking her questions.

Everyone was looking at Xia Wuzhao, some wondering if she had angered the teacher.

Their eyes looked strange.

Xia Wuzhao remained expressionless, simply getting up to answer questions before sitting down again.

However, he was woken up again after only a few minutes.

Jun Yokokawa did this on purpose; during a single class, Natsuki Kai was called on twenty or thirty times.

It's tough.

When get out of class finally ended, Jun Yokokawa tapped on the desk and said to Kai Natsugiri, "Come to my office with me."

The girls all looked at Xia Wuzhao curiously, but Xia Wuzhao didn't look at anyone.

They followed Yokokawa Jun leisurely to the reception room, which was an empty room.

On the wall near the window, many cubicles were partitioned off with plasterboard.

Yokokawa Jun skillfully walked into a cubicle and threw his books and other belongings onto the sofa.

Leaning back on the sofa, she stretched vigorously, her bones cracking.

"Ah~~"

She let out a long, comfortable moan, like a corporate slave working late into the night.

With her legs propped up on the glass table, she took out a cigarette from her pocket, held it upside down, and tapped the mouthpiece to make the tobacco more compact.

Shu Chang lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and then exhaled.

"Please sit down, Xiawu."

Jun Yokokawa pointed to the sofa opposite him.

Xia Wuzhao walked over and sat on the sofa.

He said, 'What's wrong, teacher?'

"Can't I contact you unless there's something wrong?" Yokokawa Jun said. "But this time, I really do have something to ask you. You can think about what mistakes you've made."

"Is it something wrong like you smoking in front of students, teacher?" Xia Wuzhao said calmly.

“Smoking in front of students is wrong, but as the saying goes, a poor man’s son learns to be independent early. So, it’s okay to treat you like an adult.” Jun Yokokawa said, “It’s perfectly normal for adults to smoke in front of other adults.”

Xia Wuzhao simply brushed aside the smoke in front of him and asked, "What do you want to talk to me about?"

Yokokawa Jun glanced at Natsugiri Kai and rubbed her long hair: "You're such a naughty kid."

"You clearly already know, but you're pretending not to know." She shook her head and said, "You kids are really hard for teachers to deal with."

After extinguishing the cigarette in his hand, he stubbed it out in the ashtray in front of him.

She said, "It's about sunflowers."

With her arms crossed, she looked at Xia Wuzhao and said, "You two must be friends."

“Friends? Perhaps not friends.” Xia Wuzhao said calmly, “After all, we only met yesterday and exchanged a few words.”

"Fool." Jun Yokokawa glanced at Kai Natsugiri. "Being able to go to school together makes us friends."

"It was just a coincidence today," Xia Wuzhao replied indifferently.

“Even if it’s by chance, we wouldn’t end up together if we weren’t friends. Do you understand?” Jun Yokokawa said, “For a girl like Aoi Asahi, a friend is very precious. Ordinary people can’t become friends with her.”

"So, what do you want to say, teacher?" Xia Wuzhao looked at Yokokawa Jun, who seemed indifferent and uncaring.

"I see something bad is going on." Jun Yokokawa looked at Kai Natsumi's expression and took another drag on his cigarette. "So, as a friend, you should at least do something about it."

"First of all, we're not friends. Secondly, why don't you do this, teacher?"

Xia Wuzhao opened the window, letting the crisp, cold air from outside flow in.

“Because I am an adult.” Jun Yokokawa shook his head and said, “People your age are afraid of adults, but they also despise them. If I intervene and scold or reprimand them, it will only make those girls rebellious.”

"Moreover, this is not worth making a big fuss about," Jun Yokokawa said. "Because it's just a minor conflict right now, and all we're doing is questioning each other."

"It seems only corpses flying down from the rooftop can get your attention," Xia Wuzhao said with a smile.

"Hey, Xia Wu. Let's not talk about this anymore. Adults have their own difficulties, especially a lowly teacher like me, there's really nothing I can do."

"Besides, I'm just a teacher. I can't be by Asahi Aoi's side all the time to help her solve problems. Even if I scold her, she'll only face double the retaliation after I leave. So, I can only ask you, Asahi Aoi's friend, for help."

"You don't want to see her future completely bleak, do you?"

Jun Yokokawa looked at Kai Natsugiri: "You're someone the teacher trusts a lot, so please make sure you do this."

Chapter 17 Red Blood and White Bones

"Ms. Yokokawa, I'm just a student. I can't help her all the time, and even if I did help her now, the other girls would be even more jealous of her."

Xia Wuzhao looked at Yokokawa Jun: "You said you can't help her, and I feel the same way, Yokokawa-sensei."

Jun Yokokawa glanced at Kai Natsugiri, scratching his head in frustration: "This is troublesome. What do you want to do?"

“Let her save herself,” Xia Wuzhao replied.

“What an idealistic yet cruel idea.” Jun Yokokawa shook his head. “Teaching someone who has fallen into the mud how to calm themselves down and not struggle is somewhat ridiculous. It would be better to throw the planks and ropes next to her and pull her out.”

“That’s not a swamp, it’s a river,” Natsuki Kai answered Yokokawa Jun’s question.

"Fine, whatever you do is fine." Jun Yokokawa rolled his eyes: 'As long as you can do this.'

But Xia Wuzhao simply said, "Why would I do that, Yokokawa-sensei?"

He questioned me, as if I were being somewhat heartless.

"What an unlikable guy." Jun Yokokawa ruffled Kai Natsugiri's hair, lit a cigarette, and said to him, "Because you're such a good kid."

"Good child? Perhaps you've misjudged your teacher."

“My judgment is never wrong.” Jun Yokokawa looked at Kai Natsugiri while smoking a cigarette: “Your eyes hold the essence of an glacier. But beneath that glacier lies pure water.”

“The water flowing under the glacier can hardly be considered kind, teacher,” Xia Wuzhao said with a smile.

Jun Yokokawa flicked Xia Wuzhao's head hard with his finger: "Stop being so cheeky."

"If you need my help with anything, just come to me."

She said, "Or I can come to you."

Xia Wukai shook his head and extended his hand to Yokokawa Jun: "At least give me some compensation, teacher."

Jun Yokokawa said irritably, "Isn't becoming friends with a beautiful girl a reward? Although no one else has noticed, Aoi Asahi is a genuine beauty. If she were born into some big family, you probably wouldn't even have a chance to get close to her."

“But she was just born here,” Xia Wuzhao replied.

Jun Yokokawa had no choice but to take out 30,000 yen and give it to Natsuki Kai: "Here you go."

"Thirty hours is a bit short." Xia Wuzhao put away the three banknotes.

“Then I’ll find you a new job in Second New Tokyo, an easy job with a good salary,” Jun Yokokawa said. “Once you go to Second New Tokyo, you’ll have a place to earn money.”

"That's only a year from now, teacher."

"Not necessarily." Yokokawa Jun smiled, but didn't give Natsumi Kai a chance to ask any more questions, simply saying, "Let's go quickly, and remember our promise."