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

Nozomi abruptly stepped off her lap, picked up her schoolbag without looking back, and walked off the train, looking as if she was angry.

However, Arisa did not leave with Hiyo, after all, she still had to go back and give her report card to her mother.

As Ximiao walked back to her apartment, her shapely, fair legs exposed to the sunlight were quite eye-catching.

Even if he simply walked on the sidewalk with his head down, he could clearly feel the gazes that were constantly being cast at him, scrutinizing him.

Fortunately, the train station wasn't far from his apartment. Once he entered the apartment and passed through the security gate, all the surrounding gazes suddenly disappeared, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.

As Ximiao arrived at the door of his apartment, she took out her key, unlocked the door, and went inside.

But then he discovered that in the entryway, besides Fanxia's shoes, there was another pair of women's leather shoes that he had never seen before.

He couldn't help but wonder if it was Fanxia's friend who came to visit her.

With this question in mind, he sat on the steps in the entryway, took off his shoes, and quietly walked into the living room.

Fanxia, ​​who is usually quite unreliable at home and dresses very casually, was surprisingly wearing a more formal shirt.

Although she was still wearing shorts, it was enough to shock Nozomi for quite a while.

As his gaze moved, he also saw the unfamiliar woman wearing gold-rimmed glasses kneeling by the table, sipping hot tea.

Judging from her attire, which is a proper office lady outfit, and considering her connection with Fanxia-nee... she can only be the editor of the manga.

After deducing the woman's identity, the person who was initially looking forward to seeing what kind of friend, Himo, was, suddenly lost interest.

"Fanxia-neechan, I'm back~"

"Ah! Mio, you're back just in time. This is the editor who came to discuss the work with me, Ms. Sawakawa..."

Upon hearing the commotion nearby, Ms. Zechuan, who was sipping her hot tea, quickly put down her teacup and looked at Nozomi beside her.

"Hello, nice to meet you. You must be the Nozomi-kun that Honoka told me about."

"Yes, please take good care of me, Ms. Sawakawa."

He inexplicably felt that the way the woman was looking at him made him somewhat uncomfortable.

Adding to that her current attire... it was truly too embarrassing. Although the two of them probably hadn't noticed yet, Ximiao quickly returned to her room and closed the door.

"Um... is Nozomi-kun the shy type?"

Seeing that Xi Ling had fled back to her room as if she were running away, Miss Zechuan thought for a moment that he disliked her, so she quickly looked at Fan Xia beside her and asked.

Fanxia was stunned for a while, and couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with Mio...

"He's not usually like this, there must be other reasons." That was all she could say to avoid embarrassing Miss Zechuan.

However, from the very beginning, Ms. Zechuan's purpose in coming here was to see what kind of inspiration Honoka had recently received, as she had mentioned.

Looking at it now, that sporty outfit alone is indeed very eye-catching and could be a good subject for discussion.

"Um, Ms. Sawakawa, what about the new work..."

"Yes, the materials are very good. I will report back to the company."

After saying that, she got up and left without hesitation. Fan Xia, who was sitting on the sofa, breathed a sigh of relief and got up to go to the entrance to see her off.

After seeing Ms. Zechuan off, she returned to the living room, only to find that Ximiao, who had previously hidden in her room, was standing by the sofa, looking around in a daze.

He had changed his sports jacket to his usual T-shirt and shorts combination, revealing his shapely, fair legs.

After noticing that Honoka was walking over, Nozomi asked with some confusion.

"Where is Miss Zechuan? She left in the time it took me to change my clothes?"

Clearly not expecting things to develop this way, Nozomi froze on the spot, wondering if she had done something wrong.

"It's alright~ Miss Zechuan isn't that petty, or rather, she's a workaholic..."

Thinking back to how she had fled to Hokkaido to escape this editor's pursuit, only to be found precisely by Ms. Zechuan and brought back to finish her manuscript.

Those unbearable days became one of the few psychological traumas that haunted Fanxia...

Looking at Xi Ling in front of her, now dressed in different clothes, she still felt that he looked better in his sports jacket than he did now, but she didn't say it aloud.

She quietly sat back down on the sofa and asked Xi Ling with some curiosity.

"Why are you back earlier than usual today? Did you get a half-day off?"

"You could say that. Today was the day the midterm exam results were released, and there's also a parent-teacher conference tomorrow. We just briefly talked about it this afternoon, and then school was over after tomorrow's conference."

While explaining to Fanxia, ​​Ximiao sat down next to her, imitating Fanxia by sitting cross-legged on the sofa, looking very relaxed.

"Midterm exam results? How did Arisa do?"

Once she realized she had a chance to see that wicked woman get her comeuppance, Fanxia got really excited and quickly went up to Ximiao to ask her.

"I think I did alright...around 100th place."

After he said that, Fanxia visibly became disappointed.

"What? I thought I could go and make fun of her tomorrow."

Her little plan fell through, leaving Xi Ling, who was listening nearby, unsure of what to say to her.

……

the other side.

Arisa, back at her residence, walked with an incredibly arrogant and overbearing gait.

After unlocking the suite door, she took off her shoes and walked straight into the room.

"Old woman! My grades are in!"

Hearing Arisa's loud and energetic shout, the beautiful woman who was applying a face mask on the second floor couldn't help but sigh.

Then, she wore a thin gauze dress, revealing her beautiful figure.

She slowly walked down the stairs, glanced at Arisa who was arrogantly staring at her, and said quietly.

“Tell me, what was your ranking in the grade? Don’t give me any excuses about how great the students at St. Martin’s Private High School are. You begged me to help you transfer schools.”

Just as the beautiful woman was about to continue her nagging and scolding, a pristine white report card was handed to her.

Meanwhile, Beros, who had been feigning death, finally saw his master's confident smile and couldn't help but wonder what the outcome would be.

For a moment, the room fell into a deathly silence.

The beautiful woman's wine-red eyes were fixed on the report card in her hand, trying to find a clue that her daughter had cheated.

But after a long time, she still hadn't found anything.

As the beautiful woman sighed inside the room and silently placed the report card on the table, Arisa could barely contain her laughter.

however.

"Tell me... how exactly did you cheat?"

"Eh?"

Completely different from what Arisa had expected, her mother's happy reaction left the girl stunned.

Even Arisa was momentarily stunned, unable to process what her mother meant by those words.

Upon seeing her daughter's reaction, the beautiful woman became even more certain of her suspicions, believing that her daughter had cheated to achieve such a high score.

They even knew they couldn't fake it too much, aiming to get their ranking up to around 100th and then quit while they were ahead.

The more she imagined how Arisa had cheated, the more she felt that her daughter's grades were fake, and her face turned very ugly.

But it really was true. After working hard for a whole week to get this score, Arisa felt a sense of suffocation.

No matter how carefree, reliable, and strong she may appear in public...

But now, her eyes were still brimming with tears, and she was trying hard not to let them flow from the corners of her eyes.

In the end, she said nothing and turned to walk towards the entrance.

The cat, sensing something was wrong, was about to rush over to stop its owner when it discovered that its limbs were completely immobile.

In that instant, Boros understood that this was the good deed done by her master's mother.

Arisa picked up her schoolbag, put on her shoes in the entryway, and left without looking back, heading straight for the elevator.

The beautiful woman sitting on the sofa still showed no intention of chasing after them. She calmly picked up the completely cold black tea on the table and silently took a sip.

"Heh~ You cheated and won't admit it. Haven't you done this countless times since you were a kid? You actually threatened to run away from home. You've really gone too far!"

She couldn't help but snort coldly, and with a wave of her jade hand, an invisible force slammed the door shut, and the room instantly fell silent.

Chapter 71 Crying and Taking in

Hiyo, unaware of what had happened to Arisa, was leisurely waiting for the afternoon tea delivery that the two of them had ordered.

Just as he glanced at the time on his phone, thinking that the takeout should be arriving soon, someone knocked on the door.

"Mio, go get it~ I want to lie down a little longer."

After saying that, Fanxia thoughtfully moved her jailer, who was originally sitting on Ximiao's lap, away so that the boy could get up and get his takeout.

Seeing that she absolutely refused to get up, Ximiao sighed helplessly and, equally unwilling, walked towards the entrance.

but.

What puzzled him was why the deliveryman didn't need to ring the doorbell to let him open the downstairs access control.

With this question in mind, Xi Ling opened the wooden door at the entrance. Immediately afterward, a tall figure hugged him without saying a word.

This startled Himo, who thought she had encountered a home invasion robber.

But then, a familiar scent of perfume reached his nose, along with a soft, incredibly familiar touch against his body.

"Arisa? What brings you here? Didn't you say you weren't coming today..."

Before he could finish speaking, Xi Ling saw that Arisa, who had already let go of his arm, had very red eyes.

He could even see her tear-filled eyes staring intently at him; the girl looked quite pitiful.

then.