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

"strangeness……"

This puzzled her a bit. Carrying the bag of sausages in her hand, she walked to the door and was surprised to find that the door was not closed.

But when I glanced at the entryway, there were still only a few pairs of shoes, and no sign of anyone else coming to visit.

With these questions in mind, Asa took off her shoes and walked down the hallway into the living room, where she witnessed an interesting scene.

The dark-skinned girl stood awkwardly facing off against Arisa, while Nozomi, who had caused this situation, was desperately trying to lower herself and diminish her presence.

"Hey~ Honoka, what's the situation right now?"

She reached out and poked the woman's waist, who was watching the scene unfold, and asked softly.

It was only then that Fanxia realized that Aunt Ami had returned. She turned around and saw the bag of fragrant grilled sausages in her hand.

Instinctively, I reached out, grabbed one, put it in my mouth, and then replied.

Shh~~ This is the exciting part~

As if echoing her words, under the pressure of Arisa's relentless questioning, Kyoko Nishiyama subconsciously took a few steps forward.

Even though the girl in front of her was much taller than her, she still chose to look directly into Arisa's wine-red, imposing eyes.

"Even though you're Nozomi's girlfriend, you're being way too nosy!"

"What? Should I just give someone as ungrateful as you the chance to get close to Mio? Why should I?"

Arisa responded without backing down, crossing her arms over her chest, trying to overwhelm the girl in front of her with her imposing presence.

a long time.

After their argument ended, Kyoko Nishiyama, though she didn't get to see the boy as she had hoped, wisely left the area.

Watching the dark-skinned girl's departing figure, Arisa couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Then she glared at Nozomi, who was lying in the water and hadn't done anything wrong, yet still managed to flirt with other women.

"Tell me, how are you going to make it up to me?"

"Huh? Shouldn't I be the one saying that?! Making me wear this swimsuit, and I almost got seen by my old classmates!"

Hearing that Arisa had made false accusations first, Nozomi couldn't sit still any longer and immediately shouted.

Before Arisa could continue arguing with Nozomi, Aunt Ami, who had returned from her stroll, stepped in as a peacemaker and spoke softly.

"Okay, okay~ stop arguing. I bought some grilled sausages. Come out of the pool and try them~ I personally think they're pretty delicious."

Upon hearing her words, the two who had originally intended to continue arguing on this issue simultaneously let out a cold snort.

Then, the two walked out of the inflatable pool, ignoring the water droplets still on their legs, letting them drip onto the tatami mat.

Xi Ling casually picked up a clean towel, placed it on the cushion, and sat cross-legged on it.

"Phew~ I finally dodged it this time. Kyoko Nishiyama didn't find out I was dressed like this..."

"Hmph! It's all thanks to me!"

"..."

Seeing that Nozomi and Arisa still showed no intention of making up, Honoka took the opportunity to speak.

"Hey~ Mio, haven't you realized yet? That girl named Nishiyama might have... you know... feelings for you~"

"What does that mean?"

Not understanding what Honoka was talking about, Nozomi tilted her head, seemingly waiting for her to explain.

"It's that kind of relationship between a man and a woman~"

"Huh? Who? Is it Kyoko Nishiyama to me?"

Belatedly realizing what was happening, Xi Ling was instinctively startled, but after regaining her senses, she felt that something was amiss.

"That can't be... We didn't exchange a single word when we were in school."

According to his own memory, before high school, he was extremely eccentric and had no intention of talking to anyone except for his sister.

Even his family thought he was acting strangely...

Thinking of this, Ximiao's expression gradually darkened... Speaking of which, his family?

Before Ximiao could think about it further, she vaguely felt a sharp pain in her head, as if it was preventing her from continuing to think.

But soon, just like always, as long as he cleared his mind, the stinging sensation would disappear completely, as if it were just his imagination.

Meanwhile, Arisa, sitting opposite, stared intently at Nozomi's pretty face with her wine-red eyes, as if she had noticed something amiss.

But after Nozomi recovered, the slightly pained expression she had just shown seemed to have never appeared.

Although she was still angry with Nozomi, that didn't stop her from worrying about the boy in front of her...

It seems she'll have to ask Hachiko about her memories tonight.

If things continue like this, one day a problem will occur that even they cannot control.

Chapter Thirty-Two: Car Crash

That night.

After dinner, perhaps because she was too tired from playing all day, Nozomi simply took a hot shower instead of soaking in the bathtub.

As a result, the other guys who wanted to go into the bathroom with them failed and could only walk into the bathroom while complaining about each other.

Xi Ling, who simply wrapped a bath towel around her slender waist, walked barefoot up the stairs to her bedroom.

As soon as he closed the door, he pounced on his soft bed, which still smelled faintly of his own shower gel and shampoo.

He had already turned on the air conditioner in the room, and the cool breeze was blowing on his skin, which was still damp.

The cool feeling was indeed somewhat captivating, but soon, Nozomi snapped out of it and realized that she would easily catch a cold if she didn't put on some clothes.

then.

Ximiao then unwrapped the bath towel from her body, walked to the wardrobe, and rummaged through the clothes that could be used as pajamas.

Downstairs in the spacious bathroom, Arisa and Honoka, who often take baths together, are in the bathtub. Perhaps because they are both quite tall, the bathtub, which could originally accommodate two people, seems a bit crowded.

But this is still within the acceptable range for the two of them...

"Honestly, I always take a bath with you, you snow woman, and the hot bath water cools down way too quickly."

Arisa couldn't help but complain that the bathwater, which had been quite warm just moments before, had already cooled to a slightly lukewarm temperature before she could enjoy it for long.

"Really? I think the water temperature is pretty good~"

Completely oblivious to her own limitations, Fanxia leaned against the edge of the bathtub, wearing an expression of pure enjoyment, much to the chagrin of Arisa, who was watching from the side, but there was nothing she could do.

"Tsk, people who are cold-sensitive are such a hassle!"

"Who are you calling cold-blooded?!"

The two, who had been quite well-behaved, suddenly became noisy in the bathroom again, making Sister Hachi and Aunt Ami, who were still in the living room waiting to take a shower, smile helplessly.

"I don't even know if their relationship is good or bad... They're always bickering like this, and who knows, they might have even fought a few times behind our backs."

Asumi complained with a hint of helplessness, while her beautiful wine-red eyes remained fixed on the TV, watching the rather interesting food program, as she spoke to Hachi beside her.

"It shouldn't be that bad, right? Fighting is something only boys do, isn't it? Even if Arisa and Honoka don't get along and don't like each other, they wouldn't do something like this, would they?"

Hachiko, clearly somewhat skeptical of Ami's statement, rested her chin on her hand and leaned against the table, responding with this nonchalant tone.

I don’t know how long it took.

After everyone finished showering, they returned to their respective rooms to rest. The lights on the first floor, which had been on, were turned off by Hachiko, the last person to come upstairs.

Only a small lamp remained on the stairs, illuminating them to prevent anyone from accidentally stepping into a hole and causing an accident.

With the sound of a door closing, Yashiro finished her busy day and returned to her simply furnished bedroom.

The once plain wall now had some photos hanging on it, all of them of Xi Ling, but the clothes the boy was wearing were rather intriguing.

However, this did not stop her from standing blankly in front of the wall, staring at the photos for a while, relaxing her mind, and sorting out her chaotic thoughts.

Just as she was about to go back to her bed, look at her phone for a while, and then go to sleep, there was a sudden knock on the door.

The sudden knocking disrupted her plans for the evening, causing Yachi to pause in surprise.

Before she could ask who was outside, she heard Ximiao ask weakly.

"Sister Baqi, are you free now? I have something I want to talk to you about."

"Eh?"

Seeing that it was Xi Ling outside the door, she didn't think much of it and got up to go over and open the door for the boy.

Then, what came into view was Xi Ling wearing a white shirt as pajamas, probably without pajama bottoms. Her well-toned, fair thighs were exposed under the light, attracting attention.

He clearly didn't notice where Hachiko was looking, but even if he had, he probably wouldn't have paid much attention to it.

"Mio? Is there something you need that's bringing you here so late?"

"Um……"

With a quick movement, Xi Ling ducked under Ba Zi Jie's arms and entered her room.

Then, without any warning, she sat on the edge of the specially enlarged soft bed, her legs crossed, her cute face showing a somewhat serious expression.

Seeing this, Ba Zi clearly realized how serious he was. After closing and locking the door again, she asked with some curiosity.

"Is it about the shop?"

She still remembered that Xi Ling had used some kind of incentive to get A Shi to teach her how to solve the problem.

Presumably, the reason why Ximiao came to see her this time was because of this matter.

She couldn't help but think that.

And indeed, just as Yashiro had predicted, Nozomi came here specifically to discuss this matter.

In order to give Sister Ba a little more time to rest, he nodded, acknowledging her guess.

Then, he slowly spoke.

"Indeed... Aunt Ashi has already told me how to resolve the shop issue, but I'm still not clear on some details... But Sister Ba, have you ever thought about joining a franchise?"

"Franchise? Doesn't that require paying a franchise fee? Why waste that money?"

Ba Zi asked, somewhat puzzled.