They all have special skills

After paying and walking out of the restaurant, Yana finally calmed herself down and saw Anna just taking out her cell phone.

Qing Shuichuan reacted quickly and grabbed her wrist and walked across the street.

"The light is green, go!"

“Uh…oh…oh!”

Yana, who was behind, saw Xingna staring at his big hand holding hers, then looked at the phone tightly grasped in her palm, and then looked up at his back.

The previous girlish mentality of being in love gradually dissipated.

Her eyes became clear, and her expression was dazed. I don't know what she was thinking...

But after reaching the other side of the street, she showed her previous cheerful smile again, which made everyone like it.

She put the cell phone in her hand back into her schoolbag without any expression.

"Speaking of which, a friend recommended me that recently famous movie, saying that if I don't watch it, I'll probably regret it for the rest of my life..."

"Is it really that exaggerated? If you think it's okay, then let's watch this one..."

It's getting late.

The neon lights on the street lit up one after another.

The two of them walked into the mall together.

----

"You were right to listen to me! I didn't expect there would be such a twist at the end... If ten is the full score, then this movie would probably get a seven... It's above the passing line and considered a masterpiece..."

The cinema closed.

Yana saw Kyouna and Shimizugawa walking on the street.

She chattered excitedly to him about her movie-watching experience.

Qing Shuichuan stayed beside her with a smile.

Unlike when I went to the cinema, the temperature dropped a lot at night.

They happened to pass by a hot drink shop, and Qingshuichuan asked her to wait for a moment. When he came back after a while, he had two cups of hot milk tea in his hands.

When he handed the cup to Yanami Ancai, he specially added several extra toppings for her, such as popping taro balls.

It can satisfy her little mouth that always wants to eat something.

Well, that's about it. It's time now.

"Let's go sit in a nearby park."

Qingshuichuan extended an invitation.

Yana saw Kyoka nod in agreement as a matter of course.

There are not many people in the park and it is very quiet.

When the two approached the bench, the big orange cat lying on it jumped down and ran away, causing Yana to see Xingcai's little hand, which had just been stretched out, retracted in disappointment.

"There's something I want to tell Xingcai."

Qingshuichuan held the milk tea cup in both hands and stared at the cute pattern on the cup lid.

"OK."

Turning her eyes away from his peaceful face, Yana saw Xingcai looking up at the sky. Crows were landing on the crisscrossing power lines, with a few taking off and landing from time to time.

"How should I put it..."

Qingshuichuan stared straight at the ground in front of him. He didn't seem to be talking to anyone else, but rather talking to himself.

Yana saw Xingcai looking at him and smiling, and then she came over and touched him lightly with her shoulder.

"Chuan, you're really weird. With a relationship like ours, you can say whatever you want."

It’s because it’s you…that’s why I have so many concerns.

I must go back at night.

Rather than letting her know what happened today by surprise and realize that her family has been shattered.

It would be better for him to let her understand and accept this fact in a more soothing way now.

"It's about my uncle..."

In front of Xingcai, Qingshuichuan still gave the man some face for the time being and did not directly call him a gambler with disgust.

"Ah...as expected..."

Yanaijian Xingcai seemed to understand something as soon as she heard the beginning of Shimizu River.

"I told you that the reason you missed your flight to Tokyo and stayed to see me couldn't be just to treat me to dinner or a movie."

"..."

Qingshuichuan looked at the forced smile on her face and felt upset.

"Dad...did something happen to him again..."

Yana saw Xingcai staring at Shimizu River's darkened eyes and continued to speculate.

"A creditor came to the door... It doesn't seem to be that, huh? It must be... Dad and Mom had a fight. This time it must be more serious than any other time... Otherwise you wouldn't be so gentle to me today..."

"…I'm sorry, Kyouna."

Shimizugawa looked at Yanami Kyouna with a gloomy expression. At this moment, he could not do more than just stay by her side.

"That's really weird. My parents are arguing, and why are you apologizing, Chuan? Are they really going to break up this time?"

Yana saw that there was still a glimmer of hope in Xingna's eyes.

Qingshuichuan couldn't bear it, but he was powerless, so he reached out and held her in his arms.

He didn't answer, but he had already given his answer.

Yana saw Kyona burying her face in his chest.

There are tears in my eyes, but I can't let them flow out.

She should have guessed that this day would come.

----

The girl's reaction was much calmer than Qingshuichuan had expected.

No crying, no panicking.

After learning about what happened to her parents this afternoon, she leaned silently in Qingshuichuan's arms for a while.

Then she pushed him away with red eyes.

"What? It's just something like this. There's no need to go around in circles before telling me. I'm not a child anymore. I'm not as fragile as you think."

This was a very sensible statement, but only if she wasn't forcing herself to put on such a forced smile.

"Let's go home. I want to see my mother."

Qingshuichuan nodded.

There is no starry sky tonight and the air is damp.

The two held hands after a long time and set out on the journey home.

----

Ten forty at night.

Qingshuichuan glanced at his phone.

Nearly two hours had passed since he brought Xingcai home.

Xingcai went to the guest room and talked to her mother alone, and nearly two hours passed.

He didn't know what the mother and daughter were talking about at the moment.

But he understood that after Xingcai finished talking with her mother, all he had to do was to support her unconditionally.

Another half hour passed.

Qingshuichuan couldn't stand staying in his room any longer.

He walked out of the room and came to the guest room. He saw that the light was still on in the room, so he turned back to the living room.

On the sofa, Qingshui Wu was lying with his arms and legs spread out.

There were several empty beer bottles on the coffee table in front of him.

Qingshuichuan knew the relationship between his father and Xingcai's father, so he could roughly understand his feelings at the moment.

But no matter how sad I feel, I can't fall asleep here.

I went over and pushed him, but he didn't wake up.

There was no other way, Qingshuichuan could only pull his arms away and support him back to the bedroom.

Seeing this, Qingshui's mother hurried forward to help Qingshui's father lay flat on the bed.

After saying good night to his mother, Qingshuichuan returned to the living room and put away the messy beer cans on the coffee table.

He turned on the TV and waited until late at night until the early hours of the morning before he finally saw the person he was waiting for.

"Sorry to bother you at your house today."

Yana saw Kyoka holding up the back of her skirt and sitting down next to Shimizugawa.

"Don't say that to me."

Qingshuichuan didn't care.

"I've already had a good chat with Auntie."

"Well, Mom blamed herself a lot. She kept saying it was all her fault and cried a lot. I never knew she felt so guilty about me all these years.

But I've never really blamed her. She's usually busy with work and part-time jobs and can't see me often, and sometimes she can't prepare lunch for me. There's nothing I can do about it. Who made me have such a jerk dad? "

Yana saw that Xingcai had taken off her slippers, put her feet on the sofa, and hugged her knees with her hands.

The light from the living room ceiling cast her expression in shadow.

She continued,

"I should have known this long ago. Mom has always endured all these years for my sake.

I had noticed this a long time ago, but because I didn't want them to be separated, I chose to turn a blind eye to it.

For so many years, I have actually been a burden to my mother..."

"What nonsense are you talking about? No one can drag down others. Everyone has the right to choose to live freely.

Aunt Ling is not just doing this for you. She has her own independent thinking and ideas. No one can influence her decision, not even you, Xingcai.

So... don't blame yourself for what happened between your parents."

To be honest, the person who is most unforgivable should be your father.

Qingshuichuan couldn't say such cruel words.

Because the gambler to him is actually Xingcai's biological father.

"kindness……"

Yana saw Kyoko coming closer and resting her head on his shoulder.

“Now there’s actually something very strange happening.”

"kindness?"

"Mom and Dad are about to separate, right? Chuan, you thought I would be very sad, and I thought I would be very sad too, but in fact, only a few hours have passed since I learned about the situation.

I felt incredibly calm, and even vaguely relieved, thinking it was fine for them to just live their own lives.

"Sure enough, making sure you were well fed and happy before did work."

"...!"

Yana saw Kyona punch Shimizugawa softly in the chest.

Qingshuichuan stopped joking and returned to serious matters.