I endured the humiliation and humiliation while being besieged by the ghost story elder sister.

Who could have predicted that Aunt Ashi and Arisa would suddenly appear? Now, perhaps only the thick wad of New Year's money that Aunt Ashi had just given him can soothe his restless heart.

After Arisa sat down in the kotatsu, Honoka was originally planning to go back to the sofa, but seeing the three of them sitting in the kotatsu, she felt it would be a little strange if she didn't go over...

and……

She glanced at the leggings and panties that Xi Ling had thrown over earlier, and a wicked idea suddenly popped into her head.

"Seriously, is a kotatsu really that comfortable?"

She grumbled as she stepped into the kotatsu. To be honest, as soon as she sat down, she felt a warm current rising up from her bottom.

It does look quite comfortable.

but……

Her beautiful eyes were fixed on Xi Ling sitting beside her, and her slightly cold hands naturally went into the kotatsu, groping along the edge for something.

As if sensing something, Nozomi trembled slightly and glared at Honoka with annoyance.

He seemed to understand why Honoka-nee suddenly wanted to come over to the kotatsu...

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Girl Who Asked a Question She Already Known the Answer

"Mio, if you eat so many oranges, you won't be able to eat anything else later!"

Looking at the mountain of orange peels piled up in front of Himiko, Ami couldn't help but laugh and say something to him.

"Yes, yes... I understand."

Despite verbally agreeing to Aunt Ami's request, Nozomi's hands showed no sign of stopping as he deftly peeled the orange.

If he doesn't use these things to distract himself, the fact that the slightly cold little hand under the kotatsu is bullying him will be exposed.

It's obvious that among those present, only Fanxia knows that he threw his leggings and panties onto the sofa.

The owner of this hand is self-evident.

I don’t know how long it took.

"Oh, right, we also brought some rice cakes. Would you like to eat them together?" Aunt Ashi said, taking out a box of unopened rice cakes from a bag next to her.

"Okay~ I'm a little hungry, but it's still a long time before lunch. Having rice cakes to tide me over is not a bad idea."

Fanxia acted as if nothing had happened and responded. After seeing Ximiao's pained expression, she toned it down a bit and stopped bullying him.

Just as she was about to pull her hand back, she suddenly found that her wrist was being grabbed by another small hand, which made her pause in surprise.

Then, Fanxia looked at Ximiao, who had lost all strength and was lying on the table looking at her, with some confusion, not understanding what he was doing.

All I heard was him whispering to Fanxia.

"Almost...almost, Honoka-nee."

She immediately understood what Xi Ling meant and gave a meaningful smile. Following Xi Ling's suggestion, she continued to extend her slightly cold hand from under the kotatsu.

Just as Aunt Ashi was carrying that bag of rice cakes, getting up to go to the kitchen to see what would be the best way to cook them.

Arisa noticed something was amiss and looked at Nozomi, who was sitting opposite her.

After carefully observing the boy's expression for a while, she said softly.

"Mio, aren't you going to help?"

"Eh?"

Hiyo, who was still immersed in the exciting and secretive interaction with Honoka-nee under the kotatsu, hadn't yet realized why she said that.

All we heard was Arisa continue speaking.

"Are you really okay with my mom going into the kitchen alone? By the way, all the meals in our house are cooked by Berlus, although it's none of my business."

As she sipped her hot tea, she told Himo across from her what happened to her mother when she left the kitchen unattended.

However, things didn't go as she expected. Nozomi remained huddled inside the kotatsu and showed no intention of helping in the kitchen.

After all, Arisa didn't know that if Nozomi were to get out of the kotatsu now, the problems she would face would not be limited to just a terrible lunch.

After pondering for a moment, Himiko spoke sternly and solemnly to Arisa opposite her.

"You have to have some faith in Aunt Ashi. It's just rice cake. As long as it's cooked through, dipped in condensed milk and crushed peanuts, it'll taste delicious no matter what!"

Although Arisa took the initiative to talk to him, which made Nozomi feel inexplicably happy, now... was not the time!

Suddenly, Hiyo clenched her fists, looking quite uncomfortable. This sight made Arisa worry about what was wrong with her.

However, after a short while, he sat up as if nothing had happened, reached for a tangerine, and continued peeling it.

"I'm going to the bathroom."

Fanxia suddenly stood up, said something, and walked towards the restroom.

These suspicious signs from the two of them were enough for Arisa to guess, after a little thought, what had happened.

Thinking of this, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up slightly, and the next moment, a glimmer flashed in her beautiful wine-red eyes.

In just a moment, she was able to see what was happening under the kotatsu.

I saw Ximiao secretly cleaning the dirty spot with a tissue, as if she didn't want anyone to see her.

and……

Her leggings and panties were nowhere to be seen. Now she understood why Xi Ling had seemed so reluctant when she asked him if he wanted to help in the kitchen.

It turns out it really wasn't very convenient, so I got up and went to the kitchen.

Upon seeing this, a wicked idea immediately popped into Arisa's mind.

After Fanxia finished washing her hands and sat back down, she had no intention of continuing to bully Ximiao and planned to let him off the hook for the time being.

Meanwhile, Ami, who had been busy in the kitchen for most of the day, finally figured out what the recipe for making rice cakes on her phone meant.

She tasted the baked rice cakes she made and found them to be quite delicious; it was the best-tasting dish she had ever tried.

After arranging all the baked rice cakes on a plate, she added the white sugar she had found and carried it to the living room.

"Here it is~ grilled rice cakes, come and try them, how do you like them~"

"Then I'm not welcome!"

Nozomi spoke first.

Holding her chopsticks and looking at the grilled rice cakes on the plate, which looked quite delicious, why did Arisa say that letting Aunt Ami cook would end badly?

I just don't understand that mother and daughter...

however.

Just as Ximiao picked up a piece of rice cake, dipped it in a little sugar, and was about to put it in her mouth, her hand suddenly stopped moving.

The touch was completely different from Fanxia's icy little hands just now; it felt as if there was a layer of soft fabric between them.

But when he turned his head to look at Fanxia beside him, wanting to ask her what she was doing, he found that Fanxia was focused on eating rice cakes.

Just like now, it's not Fanxia-nee who's secretly bullying him under the kotatsu.

and many more……

Seemingly having discovered something, Hiyo suddenly raised her head and looked at Arisa, who had been smiling at her since earlier.

Seeing the glimmer in her wine-red eyes, he understood who was behind the constant tactile sensation under the kotatsu.

But he couldn't say anything because Aunt Ashi was sitting right next to him. Even though the discomfort he felt was getting stronger, he had to pretend to be calm.

"Mio? You look terrible, what happened?"

Arisa asked the question knowingly.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: School Starts

Ever since the New Year, Nozomi has developed a certain psychological aversion to the kotatsu in the house...

He didn't know how many times he had dirtied the kotatsu. Every time he put his feet into the kotatsu, he would subconsciously recall the time when he was repeatedly bullied by Honoka's little hands and Arisa's jailers.

"Sigh—school starts tomorrow, how come this winter break went by so fast?"

Ximiao lay listlessly on the soft sofa, her head resting on Fanxia's lap, letting out the sigh that all students utter before the start of the school year.

"After all, it's winter break~ It's only about a month long. We went to Hokkaido for two weeks, so naturally the holiday felt much shorter."

"That's true..."

If you include the time they spent in Hokkaido, then the vacation actually felt quite long to Himo.

"So, Mio, have you finished all your homework?"

"Of course~ We finished our homework a few days after we came back from Hokkaido."

While Ximio was chatting leisurely with Fanxia on the sofa.

downstairs.

Because her relationship with Hiyo had become somewhat strained recently, Arisa, who had been absent-minded all day, felt much better after the New Year.

After all, there's nothing that blanching can't solve; if there is, just blanch it a few more times.

Although the matter between her and Himeko has been resolved, she still has more than half of her homework left to do.

This caused the girl a lot of distress. She stayed in her room all day doing her homework. The huge workload made her want to go upstairs and ask Ximiao for help more than once.

But wouldn't that make it seem like she wanted Himyo to help her with her homework, and that's why she deliberately made up with him?

"Ahhh-"

Even Ashi, who was sitting in the living room, could hear her daughter's helpless, furious, and collapsing screams coming from the room.

……

The next day.

Early in the morning, Ximiao got up, packed her schoolbag, and changed into her winter school uniform.