Teacher Daxiang, please teach me how to play Kasuga Shadow!

But after sending the message, she couldn't help but raise her right hand holding the phone, and then touch the screen again to light it up to see if the other party had seen her message.

Well, I guess it’s because I’m too busy…

For a moment, Shoko Toyokawa was actually a little uncomfortable with this sudden change in the pace of life, as if she was dreaming, especially when her cell phone suddenly vibrated and she didn't get a reply from Ayano but received today's salary of 16000 yen.

Of course, her message changed from unread to read, but the other party did not send any more messages.

Tsk, it’s great to have money.

On the one hand, the impoverished Miss Toyokawa lamented the generosity of her financial sponsor, but on the other hand, she felt ashamed of the slight sense of complacency that arose in her heart.

Forget it, let her cook today. She has to do some work even if she gets paid. She can’t just eat and drink for free at Mizushima’s house.

After getting off the bus, Xiangzi thought for a while, recalling some ingredients that were missing in the refrigerator when he cleaned the kitchen yesterday, and combined with some home-cooked dishes that he is currently good at, he decided what to buy at the supermarket today.

Now that she had money, she felt more confident when shopping. Xiangzi didn't even look at the discount areas, and as for the expiring food processing area, she didn't even stop when she passed by.

"It's 672 yen in total. Would you like cash or..."

"Swipe your card."

"Okay, by the way, would you like to join our store as a member? If you live nearby and come here often to buy things, there will always be member discount days."

"……All right."

Xiangzi took out his wallet from his pocket, which actually only contained a usable bank card. When he took it out and handed it to the cashier, he also gave her her mobile phone number.

It’s just that this feeling…how should I put it, it’s a little subtle.

It was as if she had really become a long-term resident here, but given the current situation, there should be no problem with her positioning herself like this.

Right?

But there are always some sudden things that make her feel a little annoyed, such as when she walked out of the supermarket door with a plastic bag and prepared to go home, her cell phone rang again.

Ayano doesn't have her own cell phone number, so the only person who could call her now is... her father.

Looking at the word "father" on the caller ID, Xiangzi hesitated for a long time, and finally decided to press the answer button.

"dad."

"Xiangzi, have you been... okay lately?"

"Hmm..." Perhaps because the man on the other end of the phone sounded a little tired and haggard, Xiangzi was unable to quickly end the conversation with an indifferent attitude as he had originally planned. "I'm fine. How about you?"

"..."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a long time. It was not until Xiangzi took away the phone and confirmed that the other party had not hung up that he heard his father's voice.

"I've asked some of my old friends these days, and although many of them don't want to talk to me anymore, some of them chose to answer the phone because they owed us some money."

"Yeah."

Xiangzi was both surprised and not surprised by this.

It is not surprising that her father's former friends are now keeping their distance from him. Even if there was a past where they owed money or favors to each other, many people would not think of "letting her father off the hook" for this reason.

After all, the one who owes money is the boss.

As for the surprising part, his father had clearly tried these behaviors when he was kicked out of the house. Why did he want to try them again now after hitting a wall so many times?

"So, what's the result?"

"Let's keep it the same as before..." The voice on the other end of the phone was still weak, but Xiangzi could still hear some joy in his father's tone.

Her father did not keep Xiangzi in suspense. Before Xiangzi could ask more questions, he continued with the previous topic:

"But this time I didn't actually plan to ask them to pay back or borrow money. Some of them are in the entertainment industry, and I told them about your situation.

If possible, I should be able to help you, Xiangzi, rediscover your musical dream."

"..."

Xiangzi's hand, which was about to take out the key to open the door, suddenly stopped in mid-air. She frowned and asked uncertainly, "What do you mean?"

"...Xiangzi, Daddy really did let you down before. I was only thinking about my own affairs, and I didn't even consider the impact of your mother's situation on you.

Although it sounds funny, I was very angry when you said you wanted to move out of home that day.

But at that moment I was angry with you, and the next moment I was angry with myself.

Yes, what did you do wrong? You shouldn't have lived such a ridiculous life with me. You belong to the piano and music. I think I have done countless wrong things in my life, but the only right thing may be buying you that piano when you were seven years old.

Before that happened, I always enjoyed listening to you play the piano at home, although most of the time I didn't have time to come back.

But every time I come back, I can see you playing the piano, your face is intoxicated and smiling, but... now you haven't smiled for a long time."

"..."

Father Xiang paused for a moment, and when he saw that Xiangzi hadn't replied, he sighed and continued:

"I won't talk about these things anymore. I just thought that although the attitudes of those people were very ambiguous, it was still an opportunity. Didn't you have many like-minded friends before?

Friendship...is actually very precious. Dad doesn't want you to stay where you are, and I believe..."

"What to believe?"

Xiangzi gritted his teeth, turned the doorknob and pushed open the door of Ayano's house. As he walked in, he said to his father on the other end of the phone:

"Do you believe that we can still be like before? Do you believe that your daughter and I can still form a band under such circumstances?

...Stop joking.

Now I no longer have that qualification.

Sorry... I have something else to do, so I'll hang up now."

After hanging up the phone, Xiangzi slowly slid down the wall at the entrance and sat on the ground.

There were no tears in her eyes, but she felt that she didn't have the strength in her body to stand up. She just huddled in the corner like a little hedgehog.

An unknown amount of time had passed, but Xiangzi, who was in a daze, suddenly heard the sound of the door being pushed open, and then with a bang, a soft body suddenly pounced on her.

At the same time, the other party's silent but slightly angry voice rang out:

"Xiao Xiang! Are you crazy? You're hiding in the doorway like a Snorlax without turning on the lights?!"

Chapter 39: The Evil Woman Preys on You (1/2)

"hiss……"

Ayano touched her slightly painful knee. Although the lights were not turned on yet, she could tell by the feel that her pantyhose had been snagged, and her hands felt a little wet.

Tsk, it must have bumped into the sharp steps and that's why it's bleeding.

Having said that, she paid Xiangzi to do housework here, but when she got home and opened the door, she found this guy pretending to be a ghost and trying to scare her, right?

But I also blame myself.

As soon as I got home, I found that the door was not locked and the lights inside were not on. Without thinking, I thought that my house was robbed. In my haste, I didn't notice there was a dark shadow under my feet.

Ayano slowly crawled away from Shoko's body, then endured the pain in her feet and found a foothold to force herself to stand up, but her left leg was still trembling when she turned on the light.

But just when she was about to continue scolding Xiangzi, she noticed that there seemed to be something wrong with the expression on this guy's face.

"No, what's wrong with you?"

"No, it's nothing."

"Oh, you better be alright...ah!"

Ayano rolled her eyes at her and was about to walk past her inside, but before she took two steps, she felt a pain in her left ankle, and her whole leg went limp, and then she was about to fall down.

Fortunately, Xiangzi on the side reacted quickly and hugged Ayano when she was about to fall, barely avoiding secondary injury.

"Ayano-chan, what's wrong with you?"

"...How dare you say that?"

Ayano was absolutely speechless. After all, if this troublemaker hadn't been blocking her way and creating the illusion that her house was being robbed, she wouldn't have suffered such a strong reaction force when she fell because she rushed too fast.

In addition, there was a small step at the entrance. Not only was her left leg scratched by the corner of the step, but she also twisted her ankle because she lost her balance.

She is not made of iron, so it is normal for her to get injured.

Under such circumstances, she, as a good woman, immediately asked Xiaoxiang if something happened and why he was emo. But it turned out that Xiaoxiang didn't appreciate her kindness at all.

"Give me back today's salary!"

"...Ah?" Xiangzi was stunned for a moment, and then he noticed that blood seemed to be oozing from Ayano's left knee.

After realizing that he had caused Ayano to be injured, Xiangzi suddenly felt that he was really a hopeless bastard.

"I...I'm sorry, I will pay..."

"Money, money! Is that all you have on your mind?" Seeing that this guy really agreed to her words, Ayano tapped the blue-haired man's head with her hand in annoyance. "Can't you help me up? Or do you want to sleep in the porch with me tonight?"

"...I'm sorry." Xiangzi was a little embarrassed, but she quickly regained her composure. "Um, Ayano-chan...do you have any emergency supplies like ointment and Band-Aids at home?"

"Have."

Ayano understood what Xiangzi wanted to do, nodded and said, "It's on the bottom shelf of the bedside table in my room. There are some common medicines in it."

"Okay, wait for me."

Xiangzi no longer cared about such trivial matters as changing shoes. He ran directly to Ayano's room, took out the things he needed from the corresponding locations, and quickly turned back.

However, she had some trouble treating the wound.

"what happened?"

"That... pantyhose."

Ayano frowned. She understood that Xiangzi wanted her to cooperate and take off her socks with his help.

However, Ayano, who hated trouble, did not do as she was told. Instead, she handled this trivial problem in a way that left Shoko in front of her dumbfounded.

She touched the wound with both hands, and then tore it hard with both hands, and then the already snagged pantyhose was torn into a hole by Ayano.

The sound of fabric being pulled continued with her movements, until Xiangzi saw Ayano's fair and smooth skin finally exposed from behind the black pantyhose, as well as the wound that was abraded and bleeding.

"so serious?"

"It's okay..." Ayano didn't care at all. From beginning to end, it was as if she was just looking at someone else's wound. "Oh yeah, and the ankle too. Anyway, this is what a maid like you should do. Please help me apply the ointment as well."

Then, without waiting for Xiangzi to speak out to stop her, Ayano exerted force again and tore a hole in the pantyhose at the ankle, leaving Xiangzi at a loss for words.

Even when she was called a maid just now, she was too lazy to refute anything.

And it was strange. Normally, she should have helped Ayano treat the wound quickly at this time, but Xiangzi just stared at the beautiful leg wrapped in the torn pantyhose in a daze.

It’s true, a stunningly beautiful girl like Ayano, with injuries and torn stockings, really has an extreme charm that can kill people.

"What are you looking at?"

"Ah?" Xiangzi raised her head and found that Ayano was looking at her with a teasing look, and suddenly she felt a little embarrassed.

"Are you shy?"

"...If you're hurt, don't be so talkative. I just think you could have taken it off, so why did you have to tear it apart? Isn't that a waste?"

"If I don't tear it apart, how can I see your shameful appearance?"

"..."

Xiangzi gave Ayano a speechless look, but because of this episode, the strange throbbing feeling in his heart disappeared a lot.

But when she helped to put on the Band-Aid and applied ointment to the sprained ankle with her hands, Xiangzi felt that her face seemed to be getting redder and redder.

"It looks so red and hot."

"What?" Xiangzi was startled. She didn't want to

Ayano saw her strange look, so she subconsciously wanted to find an excuse to refute.

But before she could speak, Ayano smiled and said:

"I was talking about my knees. What did you think I was talking about?"

"...I thought you were talking about the knees."

Xiangzi took a deep breath. Although it was obvious from the teasing look in Ayano's eyes and the upward trend of her mouth that this guy was making fun of her, she just couldn't admit it.

"Are you ready? Can you get up now?"

"Tired so soon?" Ayano said jokingly, "You don't have the stamina to do it."

"That's better than someone getting hurt after a fall."