I won't be a loser.

"Are you so short of money now?"

"It's not that I'm short of money, I just want a stable career, one that can generate a steady stream of income. Well, if you have any research breakthroughs in physics, or some special patents, you should be able to rely on patents to generate a steady stream of income, right? No, not all patents can generate income, but some famous scholars can make a fortune just by relying on a single research project... Well, let's apply for some research funding."

Although he started to daydream again, he did so through muttering. Futaba Rio, who was standing next to him, could understand Kento's current thoughts. Futaba Rio didn't know how to respond to those profitable ideas such as research and patent applications.

She does have some talent in physics, but she currently does not have the ability to use patents to generate a steady income.

"For example, I'm currently just a liberal arts student, and I don't have particularly good prospects for employment. Even if I wanted to enter politics midway through my studies at Chiba University, I wouldn't have many good resources. My humble background in Gifu means I won't get far in politics."

His father, who is currently the mayor of Hida, can barely be considered a figure, but only barely. If he wants to continue to be promoted, it would be difficult to reach the level of Gifu Prefecture, let alone the national level.

His background is too ordinary. If he had aimed to become a politician from the beginning, he could have tried to enter the entertainment industry at a young age, and find ways to accumulate a large number of national fans, and then use his high popularity to enter the Senate and become a political figure.

In a society where voting is the key, there have been people like actors and wrestlers who have used their influence among the people to successfully enter the Senate for a second time.

It is indeed difficult to think about this matter now.

"Engaging in the Senate based on reputation requires time and effort, and one must be at least 40 years old to become a national treasure. Furthermore, one must be constantly in the public eye, which is simply asking for trouble."

After thinking about it, he didn't have the courage to stand under the spotlight every day, as if something went wrong and he had to apologize to the people who had nothing to do with him.

Just thinking about it makes me want to vomit.

Futaba Rio looked at Kento and saw him frowning from time to time, as if he had thought of something, and the expression on his face became extremely unhappy. He took the items he wanted to buy and went to the cashier with her. After settling the bill, the two of them returned to the store door together.

The moment everyone else walked out of the store after finishing their shopping, Kento seemed to suddenly come to his senses and looked at Futaba Rio.

"Is everyone else away?"

"They didn't follow me into the store. They must have gone shopping somewhere else. Do you want to... look for them?"

After thinking about it, I felt that there was no need for this.

"They should be buying vegetables or something. Wait a minute, they should be back soon."

Futaba Rio did not answer, but stood quietly beside Kento, but she did not look very happy. After waiting for half an hour, the combination of Fujiwa Onna and Sawamura Sayuri returned to the store door first.

"We went to buy meat, and Mrs. Kiyoura and Mrs. Saionji went to buy vegetables."

"He should be back soon."

When facing Kento, Sayuri Sawamura always has a special feeling. Whenever Kento's eyes fall on her, she will have a strange feeling and can't help avoiding his sight.

"Then wait a little longer."

Kento noticed that Sayuri Sawamura's reaction seemed a little strange, but he couldn't tell what was wrong, so he didn't think much about it at the moment. The four of them waited for a while. Kiyoura Mai and Saionji Yuko, carrying shopping bags of various sizes, also appeared from the street and joined the four of them.

Everyone carried shopping bags of various sizes and headed back to the villa. However, the atmosphere on the road seemed a little depressing.

"I bought some barbecue seasonings. When I was at the villa, I saw some barbecue props. We can go to the beach behind the villa to have a barbecue party in the evening."

"Ah."

"Okay."

"Then I'll help."

Basically, there were voices of agreement. No one would say something like "I don't like it" or "I don't want it" in such a situation. The people here are very calm and no one would ruin the atmosphere. Moreover, in a place like this, there is no other entertainment and pastime, so getting together for a barbecue has become a rare means of entertainment.

- - - -

Antonio Inoki, a wrestler-turned-senator, died last year

The prototype of the character of "Ali's Pig Hunting State" in Baki is just a very shameless person in real life.

Thank you all for your monthly tickets and blades! Thank you all for your recommendation tickets!

Chiba New Story: 442. I already know your domineering intentions

The warm temperature in summer makes people sleepy easily, and coupled with the bumpy journey, everyone arrived at the villa and tidied themselves up a bit. Everyone basically lost the motivation to do anything. Looking at the scorching sunlight outside, they had no intention of relaxing and all rested in their respective rooms.

Occasionally, someone would come to Xianren's room and knock gently, as if they wanted to talk to him about something. However, every time someone came to the door and gently pushed open the half-open door, they would only see Elio sleeping on the bed, and Miyamizu Mitsuha holding her. There was no sign of Xianren in the room at all.

From the time he went out to buy ingredients until he returned home, Kento received two calls along the way, one from Mr. Sawamura and the other from Mr. Miyamizu.

"We're already here, almost at the door. If you have nothing to do, you can come down and help prepare the ingredients. We're going to go to the beach tonight and prepare a barbecue together."

When Eriri Sawamura called, considering that they were not very familiar with the environment in Okinawa, and based on Kento's understanding of her, she didn't seem to be very good at cooking, so he asked her to stay at home and wait. When her younger sister Mitsuha Miyamizu called, everyone had already returned to the villa door, so he asked her to come down to help.

"I'm taking care of Elio... Have you bought the meat yet?"

Mitsuha originally wanted to refuse, but when she was about to open her mouth to refuse, she suddenly thought of something and couldn't help but ask Xianren.

"I bought a lot, probably enough for this week, but it's very troublesome to process. It takes a lot of time, like pickling..."

"Well...Elliot is sleeping. I'll come down and check on him first."

Hearing the news of meat, Sanye, who was in Xianren's room, looked at Elio who was still sleeping, then slowly got up and quietly left the bedroom little by little. She closed the door casually and soon arrived at the door of the villa.

Everyone was carrying large and small bags. Mitsuha, who was standing at the door, reached out and took the two shopping bags from Xianren who was walking in front of her. But as soon as she took them into her hands, her shoulders sank. She gritted her teeth and barely carried them to the kitchen counter. The others looked at the ingredients in their hands and put them in the open refrigerator and the sink respectively. Kiyoura Mai and Saionji Yuko were the best at handling ingredients among the group.

The others cooperated with the two and started preparing for the evening barbecue...

Standing at the stairs, looking at her mother with a smile on her face, sitting with others preparing for a barbecue, Sawamura Eriri felt a little complicated. After hesitating for a moment, she joined the group and prepared to do something within her ability.

“Is there anything I can do?”

Looking at the busy sage, the blonde girl walked up to his side and asked.

"Hmm? Well, you and your mother should skewer the vegetables together."

"Oh."

After responding, Sawamura Eriri didn't have any special reaction. She slowly walked to her mother's side and looked at her mother who was stringing vegetables. Her mood was a little subtle for a moment. She lowered her head and looked at the processed vegetables on the table. She slowly took them out and skewered them one by one with wooden sticks.

"Don't you want to rest up there for a while?"

"I can't sleep. It's so loud. Even if I'm upstairs and have the door closed, I can still hear you. It's better to come down early and rest early at night."

"Is there such a big movement?"

Sayuri Sawamura was a little surprised, even though she didn't think there was any particularly big noise. Her eyes fell on the other busy people, and she felt that they didn't make any noise either. Then her gaze fixed on her daughter again, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

"Is it because your heart can't calm down?"

"..."

Her eyes wandered for a moment and her hands slowed down a bit. Seeing her daughter's conflicted heart, Sayuri Sawamura couldn't help but look at Kento, who was processing the meat he bought with Fujiwara and his daughter, with a faint smile on his face. Her mood also became a little depressed.

"Let him go. You won't be happy if you continue like this. When you return to Tokyo, don't have anything to do with him anymore."

As for her daughter, Sayuri Sawamura, watching her gradually become different from herself over the past two years, doesn't she feel a little dissatisfied?

She just endured it in her heart for the sake of her daughter, but the other party's inexplicable behavior last time made Sayuri Sawamura feel confused and her mood became more and more anxious. She didn't show it because she just didn't want to make her daughter worry.

Now, seeing that the other party had so many close relationships with other girls, Sayuri Sawamura felt that she had reached the limit of her patience, and asked her daughter to end everything with this man called 'Miyamizu Kento'.

She stopped her hand movements, looked at the wooden stick in her hand, and then slowly looked at her mother. Her eyes were a little cloudy.

He lowered his head and started stringing the vegetables again.

"I am oblivious."

"I've been watching you for the past two years. Do I really know nothing?"

The two people spoke in a very low voice, and no one else could hear them standing together. Sayuri Sawamura looked at her daughter, and she couldn't help but close her eyes and sigh softly.

"For your sake, and for mine, Eriri, give up as soon as possible. Think about it carefully during this week in Okinawa."

She did not use a harsh tone to persuade her daughter, but she basically expressed her attitude and position. Sayuri Sawamura was no longer prepared to support her daughter. She did not want her daughter to be trapped in the cage that she thought was called "love".

A relationship like this is not love at all, nor is it any kind of emotion. The other party doesn't care about her daughter at all. Even if she continues, her daughter will only be hurt.

What mother would be willing to watch her daughter continue to be hurt like this?

The mother and daughter did not speak again, each of them had something on their mind. The somewhat depressing atmosphere also prevented other people from getting close to them for a while. As the sky outside gradually darkened, those who were resting also walked out of their respective rooms.

Kiyoura Setsuna and Saionji Sekai first came to the living room from the room on the second floor, helped the busy people, and went to the beach outside the villa to set up the grill, carry fruits and vegetables, as well as marinated meats and seafood. Mitsuha carried freshly frozen ice cubes, as well as fresh drinks and beer.

"I'm so tired."

Putting down the box in her hand, Sanye couldn't help but sit down on the beach, looking at the rising and falling tides, the sun setting from the sea, the fiery red clouds, and the deep blue sea. The interwoven scenery made her squint her eyes slightly, and a look of nostalgia appeared on her face.

"Do you need help?"

When a cold voice sounded from behind, Mitsuha, who was sitting on the beach, turned her head to look behind her. When she saw that the person behind her was Futaba Rio, she blinked and looked at the setting sun again.

"I don't have anything I can help with, but my brother might need some help. If you want help, it would be better to go to him. I don't have anything else to do. If you have to ask for help, I'm just waiting for the barbecue."

Rio Futaba, whose white T-shirt highlighted her plump figure unlike her peers, walked to Mitsuha's side, slowly squatted down, leaned back slightly, and sat down on the beach.

If it were noon, sitting down on a beach like this would definitely be torture, but now it is dusk, the sun is setting, and the temperature on this coastal beach is gradually dropping, so the sand is not as hot as imagined.

"In your heart, Miss Sanye, what kind of person do you think your brother is?"

"What, you want to talk about my brother's past?"

"I'm just a little curious. I think everyone on this trip has a different 'sage' in their hearts. I'm just curious about what impression Miss Mitsuha, who is closest to him, has of her brother."

Miyamizu Mitsuha couldn't hear the other party's specific purpose from the flat tone, but Futaba Rio's question did evoke her memories of her brother. Looking at the setting sun, she couldn't help but recall the past seriously.

"I don't know what kind of person he is. He's always been very mature since he was little. Not particularly mature, but very quiet. He never did anything naughty with the kids around him. It was around the time he started middle school that I'd occasionally see him hanging out with people he knew from school, like in the nearby town. But most of the time, he'd be hiding... no, staying in his room, either reading books I couldn't understand or writing something... like an essay in his notebook."

In a place like Itomori, even Mitsuha felt that there was not much entertainment, but she would often go out and wander around the town with her friends, such as Sayaka and Katsuhiko. Kento was the complete opposite of her. When he had time to rest, he would stay at home with his mother and grandmother, and he didn't look like a child at all.

"By the time he was in middle school, he was incredibly popular with girls. Every day, I'd see girls passing by our house. Even though we lived in Itomori, a remote area, even my mother could tell what those girls were thinking."

After sighing, Sanye looked a little melancholy.

"At that time, the girls in Itomori probably all thought that he would inherit the Miyamizu family business and stay in Itomori, living as an ordinary person for the rest of his life. They all thought they had a good chance. After all, as the eldest son of the Miyamizu family, if he didn't inherit the Miyamizu family business, who would? The other people in Itomori thought the same thing. Some even took the initiative to approach my mother and ask for marriage, hoping to arrange a marriage for my brother in Itomori and get married after he graduated from high school... Now that I think about it, even if my mother agreed, he would have refused."

Regarding the fact that she was almost betrothed, Futaba Rio had never heard Kento talk about it. Her eyes fell on Miyamizu Mitsuha, and she was a little surprised. Mitsuha should have been still in elementary school at that time, right?

I didn't expect that she still remembered that time.

"When he was in his second year of middle school, he started talking to his mother about moving to Tokyo. At first, his mother was worried and wanted him to go to a school in Hida first. But he used strange excuses like 'scarcity of educational resources' and 'it's easier to get into a prestigious family in Tokyo' to convince her for two months. Then, he asked his father to come home, and after he explained his idea to both of them, his father agreed immediately."

"I remember your father wasn't from Hida, right?"

"Yes, before he entered politics, before he married into the Miyamizu family, he was a folklorist, a university professor I think. But for Mother, he even gave up his former fiancé... Ah... I don't know if he learned that from him. Tsk, but when Father heard that Brother was planning to come to Tokyo, he only listened to Brother's explanation and quickly agreed. He also offered what help he could, like a year's rent... He was very supportive of Brother leaving Itomori."

Some of the things that happened later were also known to Rio Futaba.

"He's only been in Tokyo for half a year, and he's already dating a girl, and he brought her back home straight away. Really...tsk."

The complete dissatisfaction, filled with the sourness and jealousy of a younger sister for her brother abandoning her, made Futaba Rio silent.

"The city really can change a person. When he was in Itomori, so many girls took the initiative to confess their love, but he didn't react at all. But now in Tokyo, the situation is so bad, I don't know..."

Miyamizu Mitsuha wanted to ask Futaba Rio why she could tolerate such a relationship, but Futaba Rio also had something to hide. She felt that she had no way to tell her that it was actually she who took the initiative to use some extreme means to make Kento and her have the current relationship. She also felt that Kento would not take the initiative to tell his sister these things.

"It's not that I don't mind at all, I just simply feel that compared to not having him around, even if it's a bit forced, it's not unbearable."

Futaba Rio gave her own answer. Maybe if the sage did not appear in front of her, there would be other people in the future. However, before the other people appeared, the first person to appear in front of her was the sage, so there was no need to think about those strange things anymore.

"Also, even if he already has a wife, it doesn't mean they will be together forever. The number of marriages is declining year by year, but the number of divorces remains stable and is even on the rise. So-called marriages also have a way of ending one day."

- - - -

Thank you all for your monthly tickets and blades! Thank you all for your recommendation tickets!

Chiba New Story: 443. I understand your ambition

The overly straightforward description made Miyamizu Mitsuha's eyes look different when she looked at Futaba Rio.

An awkward smile appeared on her face, and she chuckled, not expressing her attitude. She didn't know much about matters of the heart and had no say. As for matters concerning her brother, she didn't think that even if she said something, her brother would listen to her advice and take actions that met her expectations.

If things had really developed as she expected, she wouldn't be sitting on the beach now, staring at the sunset.

Seeing that Miyamizu Mitsuha didn't react, Futaba Rio didn't wait to ask the girl beside her to express her attitude about this. She talked about these things with her just to express her attitude a little. Being alone all the time, such loneliness was unbearable even for Futaba Rio herself.

In this situation where she couldn't confide in Kento, Futaba Rio felt a little relieved when Miyamizu Mitsuha, who had a close relationship with Kento, talked about these things.

The two of them sat on the beach, quietly enjoying the sea breeze and watching the setting sun.

After a while, other people gradually came to the beach, put down the food in their hands, and looked at the two people sitting on the beach. Some of them wanted to go up and greet them, but in such a crowded place, they were stopped by others just as they were about to go up, and they had no chance to speak.

Following the phone call, everyone from the two villas gathered on the beach, brought in food and drinks, and then someone moved some tables and chairs. When the night gradually enveloped the entire beach, everyone turned on the lights and started a barbecue party on the beach.

Although barbecue is not too difficult, considering that some people on the beach have never touched water, they are worried that the barbecue will not be cooked through, so it is better to let some people who are good at cooking be responsible for it.

If someone is interested in barbecuing, they can ask others to help.

Originally, Xianren was going to be in charge of the barbecue, but he thought about the question of 'who gets to taste the first bite' and who gets to eat first after the barbecue is finished. Under the gaze of everyone, he chose to slack off for a while.