They all pushed me!

"Why are Ai and Ruby still hanging out in a jewelry store?"

"Because the pendant that Ruby had been wearing was lost. It was the feminine version of the Sphinx, a small peripheral given by the LALALAI Theater when they performed Oedipus Rex. I hadn't seen Ruby for a while, and she was wearing thick clothes in winter, so I didn't notice it until today. So I decided to buy Ruby some new jewelry. After all, Ruby is already 17 or 18 years old."

"But I didn't expect Ruby to insist on having that pendant, so I just called Uncle Min and asked him to see if the LALALAI Theater's warehouse has any stock of the same style. Ruby and I are planning to go there now."

Because Saito Kyoko couldn't stay on the side of the road for too long, after briefly explaining the reason, Ai stood up and waved inside:

"See you at the restaurant tonight."

"Well, see you tonight."

It was not until Saito Kyoko's car disappeared from her sight that Ai turned around and saw Kitagawa Rumi, who was standing in front of a bookstore nearby with great interest, looking with interest at the series of books displayed in the most conspicuous best-selling area.

"Ruby, is there any book you're interested in?"

Ai followed and walked to Kitagawa Rumi's side, following her line of sight and also looking at her with some curiosity.

Her own reading habit was formed gradually and spontaneously under the influence of Beichuan Liang. At first, she just borrowed his books to read, and later she learned to go to bookstores to find and buy books by herself. When she moved to the new house, she also took out several boxes of books from the bookshelf at home. Now they are mixed with Beichuan Liang's collection of books, and they are sorted by category and placed on the large bookshelves in the study and bedroom.

However, unlike the other two of them, Rumi is not very interested in reading, otherwise she would not have hoped to borrow a few books of a high quality that she could understand from Kitagawa Ryo to put on the bookshelf to show off when the team was shooting the video in the room.

Just when Ai was still wondering if Rumi had really changed because she had lived alone for half a year, she immediately caught a glimpse of the cover of the book that she had picked up:

"Tokyo BLADE 10" has many oversized words written on the book jacket below, such as "extremely popular serialization, now on sale with great acclaim, animation has been confirmed", etc.

All I can say is that it was within expectations and reasonable.

"Yeah, although Abiko just told me a few days ago, I didn't expect that the first edition of the eleven volumes has already been released for sale."

Kitagawa Rumi took the comics to the front desk to pay. Because she was worried about being recognized by the clerk, she hurried out after paying. Then, she showed this volume of the book in front of Ai with some surprise:

"It's a double cover of Shoji and BLADE."

"Hmm - that's the most popular couple in this movie. The drawing is really beautiful."

Ai Wenyan also took another careful look at it. She was not very interested in comics at first. Even the now extremely popular "Tokyo BLADE" was only heard of the name and knew that it was the work of Samejima Abiko, a good friend of Rumi.

However, starting from the past two months, she has gradually started to pay attention to this comic because she accidentally saw related news on social media. In a recent interview, the author Abiko clearly stated that the inspiration for this comic and the prototype of the protagonist BLADE were actually partly taken from Kitagawa Ryo himself.

Soon, a reporter followed the clues and found the principal of the kindergarten that Samejima Abiko attended. Through interviews, they dug out the underwear theft incident that caused a small stir at the time. They also re-reported with exaggeration how Kitagawa Ryo, who was only eleven or twelve years old at the time, single-handedly stopped and blocked the underwear thief who sneaked into the kindergarten with a wooden sword, which caused quite a stir.

Although many fans are quite proud of their idols' intelligence and courage at a young age, in Kitagawa Ryo's eyes, this is just one of his few dark histories that he cannot bear to look back on.

After all, every time he saw that the thieves in the reports had become middle-aged men who carried sharp knives and committed crimes in groups, Beichuan Ryo would deeply doubt whether his memory of that year was wrong. He was even asked about the details of this matter by reporters in a completely unrelated interview later. He could only pull the corners of his mouth awkwardly and say that he had nothing to say.

However, although I know that the male protagonist BLADE is the prototype of Kitagawa Ryo, I actually don’t have any special feelings about him and Shoji, this CP that is very popular on the Internet. After all, as an actor, Kitagawa Ryo is currently performing a teacher-student love with Kurokawa Akane in the new drama, not to mention that he is just a fictional character in the comics.

Just when Ai nodded and was about to look away, her eyes unconsciously moved to the comic book that she had impatiently torn open the plastic film wrapping, and were clearly targeting Kitagawa Rumi, who was in the color insert of the single volume.

Although the dress is completely different, she always feels that she can vaguely see some shadow of Kitagawa Rumi in the eyes and eyebrows of this character named Shoji.

"Sure enough, the extra page color insert is the scene of this scene. Really, Abizi deliberately didn't tell me before."

Just as Ai lowered her head in thought, Kitagawa Rumi breathed a sigh of satisfaction, and enthusiastically unfolded the comic in front of Ai, and took the initiative to ask:

"Sister, have you seen this part of the plot?"

"Oh, it's the last scene of the Shibuya Fight in the second part. Blade was forced to fight Shoji because they were engaged to each other as childhood friends. After defeating her, he simply cut off a strand of her hair and smiled as he did when they were together before, and reached out to her. That should be the scene."

“Friends become enemies and then teammates. It’s a very orthodox and classic storyline.”

Kitagawa Rumi seemed a little dissatisfied with Ai's answer. She closed the comic again and hugged it to her chest, walking slowly while complaining softly:

"It's better to develop the kingly way than to cut the Shoji into Geshoji."

"It sounds interesting. I remember that Blade's CP seemed to include Jian Yi from the same team. I could add a line like 'It was Jian Yi who rushed to the battlefield without even a moment of mourning for Shao Ji's departure'."

"Don't you think your sister doesn't read comics very often?"

"Because it was so popular, it was naturally seen."

As the two chatted casually, they finally arrived in front of the LALALAI Theater building, which was not far away. Ai temporarily suppressed her doubts and looked at the bright sign with some emotion:

“It’s been a while since I’ve been here.”

"That's right. After all, the last time someone and someone came to our troupe for a performance was last year."

Kindaichi Toshiro, who had been waiting at the door for a long time, also came out with a look of resentment on his face:

"Originally, we still had Akane and Himekawa to support us, but it hasn't even been two years and both Akane and Himekawa have been seduced away by you two young ladies."

"Hey, hey, hey, Uncle Min sent it to the office himself."

Ai spoke to Kindaichi Toshiro very familiarly, and Kitagawa Rumi also came up to him obediently and called him "Uncle Min" sweetly, which made Kindaichi Toshiro, who was already in his fifties and had some gray hair, smile happily.

Unlike the Saito couple who have no plans to have children for the sake of their careers, Kindaichi Toshiro really has no plans to get married and have children. To him, Kitagawa Ryo and Kitagawa Rumi, whom he has seen grow up, are no different from his own children. During the period when the Kitagawa family just got into trouble, the young Kitagawa Ryo and the just one-year-old Rumi had been taken care of by him for a considerable period of time.

Although the former has been a proud child and has never called him "Dad", he was specially invited to the previous wedding as the representative of the groom's elders. Anyway, in Toshiro Kindaichi's heart, this is also an alternative statement.

"You want the Sphinx pendant? I've asked someone to find it for you in the warehouse. Come in and sit down first. Besides Ai, Ruby hasn't been to the troupe for a while. I heard someone in our troupe talking about not seeing our little princess for a long time a few days ago."

Toshiro Kindaichi warmly welcomed the two into the theater building. There happened to be a tour in other theaters today, so most of the actors and staff were not there. After the two greeted the familiar receptionist, they went straight into his office. After a while, a staff member came in with a full box of sundries, put it down and left the room, closing the door gently.

"Because it's from several years ago, it's not easy to find. But the remaining peripherals and other small items from that time are basically all here. Ruby, go and take a look?"

As Kindaichi Toshiro spoke, he squatted down and began to search carefully in the box, taking out small things like a doll or a badge from time to time, muttering something like "this is xxx's peripheral products from xx years ago", and put them aside.

Seeing this, Ai and Kitagawa Rumi also joined the search. One of them was the leading actor in the troupe at the time, and the other was a loyal audience who followed the show because of Kitagawa Ryo. Many familiar little gadgets also evoked their memories, and from time to time they looked at certain items and recalled some things from that time with a little emotion.

"Hey, this, is it?"

Toshiro Kindaichi took out a pendant from among the sundries, wiped the dust off it with a tissue, and handed it to Kitagawa Rumi, and asked with some anticipation.

"It is indeed a Sphinx, but the words on it are different."

Kitagawa Rumi took the pendant, looked at it carefully over and over, then shook her head and pointed at the ancient Greek words engraved on it and said:

"The one my brother gave me has 'Everything in moderation' engraved on it, which is different from this pattern."

"Oh, now I remember, it seems that they did release three different blind boxes for sale."

Hearing this, Kindaichi Toshiro scratched the back of his head a little embarrassedly, took the pendant back from Kitagawa Rumi's hand, took a look at it and said:

"This one is engraved with 'know yourself'."

"Well, this is the one Ryo gave to Kana."

Ai pointed to her right wrist, nodded and added:

"She likes to wear this around her wrist though."

As soon as she finished speaking, she took out another pendant from inside, turned it over, took a look at it, and shook her head in disappointment:

"That's not it either. The meaning of the inscription on it is 'If you make a false oath, disaster is imminent'."

"Indeed, the one hanging around Xiao Qian's neck has such words engraved on it. It was also given to her by her brother at that time."

As soon as Kitagawa Rumi said this, the atmosphere on the field suddenly became a little awkward. After all, these two were also given to others, and the other party had been wearing them well until today without any problems, so how could her sister lose them?

In fact, Kitagawa Rumi didn't regret it much at first. She always felt that it was from the time she threw away the pendant that she really made up her mind and mustered up the courage. After all, what she hated and was most angry about at that stage was probably the so-called "everything has its limits."

But after half a year of such excessive indulgence, Beichuan Liang's phone call brought her back to the real world and gave him and her a new option.

"Found it, this is it."

Kitagawa Rumi reached out and finally dug out a pendant from her area. It was another Sphinx engraved with "Everything in moderation".

The Sphinx originated from Egyptian mythology and was described as a winged monster, usually male. There are three images of a lion with a human face, a lion with a goat head, and a lion with an eagle head. The Assyrians and Persians described it as a winged bull with a human face, a beard, and a crown. In Greek mythology, the Sphinx became a female evil creature, the one in "Oedipus Rex".

Indeed, everything has its limits.

But the "degree" of different countries and regions is inherently different.

Chapter 48: Sniper at the Middle Gate (Part 1)

"Hmm... Does it feel a bit too old? If Ruby is not in a hurry, I can contact the manufacturer at that time and make another one based on this model?"

Toshiro Kindaichi looked at the pendant with some signs of wear and tear in Kitagawa Rumi's hand, and rubbed the stubble on his chin as he made a suggestion.

"It's okay, Uncle Min just needs to help me disinfect this."

Having accomplished the purpose of this trip, Kitagawa Rumi felt much more relaxed. She stood up briskly, threw the pendant in her hand to Kindaichi Toshiro, then stretched out her arms, swaying from side to side like a penguin, and slowly walked out of the room:

"It's been a while since I last visited the theater. I'm going to go for a good stroll!"

When Kurokawa Akane was still in the LALALAI troupe, she actually came here quite frequently, mainly to find Akane to play with.

But a lot of things happened between May last year and May this year. Since Kurokawa Akane began to slowly shift the focus of his work to film and television dramas, he naturally spent less time in the troupe, and Kitagawa Rumi's frequency of coming here also decreased. In addition, after Samejima Abiko graduated, the intensity of work at ACE also caught up, and she spent almost all her free time meeting with Kitagawa Ryo. All in all, it has been quite a while since she came here.

"Speaking of which, Uncle Min, how is the troupe's business these days?"

Compared to Kitagawa Rumi, who was quite optimistic and was touching and looking around in the lounge and practice room that she hadn't been to for a long time, Ai, who was following behind her, tilted her head and asked Kindaichi Toshiro a very realistic question.

"Not bad. To be honest, if our LALALAI troupe can't make stable profits now, then all other troupes in Tokyo will go bankrupt overnight."

Toshiro Kindaichi looked relatively relaxed. After all, the troupe had produced two talented actors, Kitagawa Ryo and Kurokawa Akane. The troupe could provide a relatively stable channel for entering the entertainment industry because of the former's relationship. The attraction for young actors was quite strong. He chose the best of the best when selecting people. In the past two years, he had already made a name for himself by saying 'all the actors gathered in LALALAI are first-rate actors'.

Besides, he himself is not a conservative old-fashioned person. The transformation of LALALAI Theater can be said to have been planned more than ten years ago. Not only did it boldly use 2.5-dimensional stage plays and other adapted works from contemporary popular culture in its public performances, but Toshiro Kindaichi was also unambiguous in the updates and iterations of stage equipment and configurations. The combination of many factors has created a virtuous cycle. It can be said that the money-making ability of LALALAI Theater is now even more terrifying than when Kitagawa Ryo was the only one supporting it.

In a way, this can be seen from the fact that he, as the troupe leader, no longer has to spend a lot of time designing a lot of blind box peripherals for fans.

"Especially in the current 2.5-dimensional stage play market, LALALAI has basically taken up nearly % to % of the market share. After all, we were the first to open up this blue ocean. At that time, the pressure from all sides was quite large, but the facts have proved that this is indeed a good way to transform."

"I have been working in the theatre industry for so many years, but this is the first time I have seen such a large number of young audiences being attracted to the theatre."

Ai Wenyan also smiled and nodded:

"Indeed, my friends in the industry all said that if a work wants to be adapted into a stage play, it is most reassuring to hand it over to the LALALAI Theater Company, especially the recent hit "Tokyo BLADE". It seems that all parties have expressed the hope that LALALAI will take over the adaptation."

Kindaichi Toshiro also laughed out loud when he heard Ai's words, and teased Kitagawa Rumi who was walking in front of him:

"Ruby, did you hear that? Our troupe was able to secure the rights to adapt the 2.5-dimensional stage play "Tokyo BLADE" in advance. Ruby's contribution doesn't seem to be as great as you said, huh?"

"Hmph, after all, I also have a 10% or 50% credit. After all, I was the one who recommended our troupe to Abiko in the first place."

Kitagawa Rumi turned around and made a face, as if to express her little emotion, and deliberately raised her steps, making the sound of her footsteps particularly loud.

"Then I'm afraid it's hard to get even half of it - after all, I've read before that the comic's author has come out and said that Ryo is the prototype of the hero of this work. If it's to be adapted, then Ryo must be the one to play the role. Then again, Ryo still has a contract with our troupe. After all the twists and turns, it seems that we can only let LALALAI do it at the beginning."

As Kindaichi Toshiro spoke, he deliberately lengthened his tone, which made Kitagawa Ai on the side laugh a little, but she still took the initiative to help Rumi out and changed the subject:

"Has the time for this film been determined yet?"

"Not yet, but we have to wait until next year at least. If things don't go well, it's not impossible to postpone it until the year after. After all, the animation of Tokyo BLADE will not be released until October this year, and the stage play here definitely cannot steal the limelight. And Ryo is basically confirmed to play the leading role. Ai is no stranger to his busy schedule."

At this point, Kindaichi Toshiro also sighed with a headache:

"This 2.5-dimensional stage play is different from the classic scripts after all. It cannot be performed after a short period of intensive rehearsal. Everyone is basically starting from scratch, which will inevitably prolong the time. It depends on Liang's work arrangements for next year."

"By the way, he is still filming now, right?"

"Yes, Director Gotanda's new play."

Toshiro Kindaichi nodded to indicate that he knew. Just as he was about to ask a few more specific questions, he heard a ticking sound like an alarm clock coming from the direction of Kitagawa Rumi in front of him.

"Ah—it's already four o'clock."

Kitagawa Rumi was a little surprised when she took out her cell phone from her pocket. After turning off the alarm clock, she looked out the window and sighed at the still clear weather:

"Summer is almost here again in the blink of an eye. At this time in winter, it feels like the sun is about to set and we can see the sunset."

Then, she turned around, clasped her hands together in front of her chest, and said to Kindaichi Toshiro a little embarrassedly:

"Because my sister and I agreed to go to our ACE base at four o'clock to watch MEM and I practice dancing. This is also to prepare for the Tokyo Dome performance next month. Um, come and play with Uncle Min next time?"

"Alright, alright, you know I can't keep you here. Since we've agreed on this in advance, then go ahead. I'll also go to watch the performance at Tokyo Dome on the day of the show."

Toshiro Kindaichi cursed and laughed as he shook his hands, but he recalled the scene when Rumi participated in a dance competition in the kindergarten more than ten years ago. At that time, there were only two family members, him and Kitagawa Ryo, cheering in the audience. But now, even the most conservative media estimates that the number of ACE's performance audiences will be over 100,000.

"Then Ruby and I will go first. Goodbye, Uncle Min."

"Goodbye Uncle Min."

After sending Ai and Kitagawa Rumi out of the theater building, Toshio Kindaichi watched the two of them get into the waiting car on the side of the road. He smacked his lips and slowly turned around until it completely disappeared from his sight.

Although Kitagawa Rumi has not visited the LALALAI troupe very often this year, he and the other party had just met alone a few days ago. It was during that conversation that Kitagawa Rumi confessed to him her relationship with Kitagawa Ryo and her own feelings.

Saito Kyoko and Kindaichi Toshiro are the two elders closest to Kitagawa Rumi, and just like the former's reaction at that time, after a brief moment of astonishment, before the rebuke that should have come out subconsciously, Kitagawa Rumi's serious yet obviously pitiful expression made Kindaichi Toshiro also declare his surrender.

If Saito Kyoko's complicated feelings came from the fact that two people, similar to her eldest daughter and youngest daughter, fell in love with the same person, then Kindaichi Toshiro's feelings were actually similar to hers. Given their relationship with the Kitagawa family and Rumie, they did have the right to know, but it was only the right to know.

How this matter would end ultimately depended on Beichuan Liang himself, so the two of them tacitly did not express any opinions, and did not even try to test or urge Beichuan Liang's opinion and thoughts.

To some extent, this was also because the impression that Kitagawa Ryo had left on them during their ten or twenty years of interaction was too strong. After all, whether it was the Kitagawa family incident or the incident with Ai's biological mother, the other party had handled it very maturely and properly.

"Stinky boy, don't drag this matter on any longer."

Muttering this, Kindaichi Toshiro shook his head helplessly and walked slowly back to his office. Looking at the junk box still there and the other two pendants that were picked out separately, he was suddenly stunned and frowned subconsciously.