Tokyo, but I'm a deceitful scumbag.

The shop owner panicked and could only keep apologizing.

At that moment, a young woman in her twenties walked down the aisle. She was wearing a ski resort staff uniform, had neat short black hair, and was quite beautiful.

She bowed to the man and offered her apologies and compensation.

However, the man had no intention of accepting her suggestion and continued to shout at the surrounding crowd.

After a moment's thought, Iji Chikiku said, "Something feels off..."

"It's a bit strange, that's for sure."

Hoshino Hideyuki's lips curled into a smile as he leaned close to the accomplice's ear and whispered:

"With such low temperatures inside the ski resort, it's hard to imagine adult cockroaches crawling around everywhere, and that guy was clearly not interested in the compensation plan; he just wanted everyone around to gather around..."

"So I speculate that there is an 80% chance that he brought the cockroach in himself."

Kikuri Ijichi opened her eyes wide and asked, "Why?"

"Maybe they were sent by other ski resorts nearby. Didn't they say this store was stealing their business? It's not surprising that they want to engage in some simple, straightforward business competition."

Hoshino Hideyuki stretched and then stepped forward: "That girl at the ski resort is about to lose her temper. If this continues, the guy will be in big trouble. You should help her out, okay?"

Kikuri Ijichi's eyebrows furrowed. She didn't quite understand why a female staff member at the ski resort being unable to control herself would cause such a big problem for a man...

Here.

"...Oh my god! Could it be that I really ran into this?!"

Hoshino Hideyuki raised his eyebrows, opened his mouth wide enough to swallow an egg, pushed through the crowd, and rushed into the center of the argument.

He ran his fingers through his hair, squatted down by the counter, and stared at the cockroach under the glass with a look of delighted surprise.

The man and the female staff member next to them were both stunned.

The man asked impatiently, "Hey, where did you come from? What do you want?"

However, Hoshino Hideyuki ignored him and instead said to the female staff member, "Is this cockroach yours? Um, although it sounds a bit strange, I'm willing to pay one million yen to buy it!"

Female staff member: ?

"If you don't agree, two million yen is fine too."

As he spoke, Hoshino Hideyuki pulled a thick wad of cash out of his pocket.

Female staff member: !

"and many more!"

The man couldn't hold back any longer. He shoved Hoshino Hideyuki on the shoulder and snapped, "Are you out of your mind? It's just a cockroach! Are you kidding me? You're going to spend two million yen to buy it?"

"Ah……"

Seemingly angered by the man's behavior, Hoshino Hideyuki smiled disdainfully and said to the man, "This is your ignorance."

"Ignorant?"

“Yes, you have absolutely no idea how valuable this cockroach is…”

Hoshino Hideyuki took out a work badge from inside his clothes, raised his chin, and said:

"I am a researcher from the Tokyo Wabibab Insect Research Institute, specializing in pests. My judgment of cockroaches has never been wrong!"

"See the white spot on this cockroach's wing? There's no mistake! It's the super NTR cockroach that recently escaped from Makkapakka Biotechnology Company!"

Onlookers:?

"It has undergone comprehensive genetic modification and will engage in rampant NTR behavior in cockroach colonies, ensuring that all female cockroaches can only conceive their own offspring, while their offspring will automatically become sterile, thus achieving a powerful cockroach-killing effect."

Hoshino Hideyuki exclaimed with a serious, even somewhat fanatical, expression:

"This is simply the originator of cockroach extermination, the warlord of the pest control circle!"

"However, just a few days ago, this cockroach accidentally escaped from the laboratory. The people at Makka Pakka Biotechnology were almost frantic. Even though they knew the chances were slim, they still offered a reward of five million yen for it!"

Hideyuki Hoshino took out his phone and showed the screen to the man and the female staff member. It was a reward notice with a picture. The cockroach in the picture was exactly the same as the one in the cup.

Man: "It's...it's actually true..."

"So, it's because you're ignorant!"

Hoshino Hideyuki spat and turned to the female staff member, asking, "I can't believe I ran into something with such a low probability... Ma'am, don't hesitate, just sell me this cockroach..."

"stop!"

The man suddenly shouted, pressing down firmly on the cup containing the cockroach, and yelled, "These are my cockroaches! None of you are taking them away!"

These are cockroaches worth five million!

Luckily, this kid is stupid enough, probably someone who's gone mad from reading too much, and he just blurted out such a crucial secret... Since this is a golden opportunity, I'm definitely going to make this money!

You think you can buy it for two million? Dream on!

Hoshino Hideyuki frowned: "How did these perfectly good cockroaches become yours?"

The man's eyes widened, and he lifted his shirt.

Inside his down jacket, in the inner pocket, was a glass jar containing two cockroaches.

He said, "Because I brought these cockroaches here!"

Onlookers & female staff member: ?!

Chapter 144 The fox likes the little snow maiden!

"So, this cockroach is mine!"

The man spoke loudly, ignoring the murmurs of those around him, and appeared quite proud.

Hoshino Hideyuki's lips twitched.

Bro, you're much easier to fool than I thought...

With your performance, the system probably wouldn't even give you 0.1 cultivation points...

No wonder he doesn't have a proper job and gets hired to do such shady things...

Although he was inwardly complaining, the fox still frowned and said:

"Okay, okay, I'll take the cockroach as yours. I'll give you two million, you sell me the cockroach, is that alright?"

"Ha, are you kidding me?"

The man sneered, "What a stupid bookworm!"

“You’ve already shown us the bounty, I know this cockroach is worth five million, how could I possibly sell it to you! Of course I’m going to collect this bounty myself from that damn company!”

After saying that, he muttered to himself, "Such an awkward foreign name, it must be a very big company!"

"you you you!"

Hoshino Hideyuki was stunned. He stammered for a long time before stamping his foot and saying, "I was able to receive this money because I know people in their company. Who do you think you are, that you can just casually receive five million?"

The man said disdainfully:

"Stop trying to scare people."

"They've already put out a bounty notice, how could they possibly cheat me out of my money? I'm definitely not giving this to you!"

Just as the man was about to smugly put the cockroach back into the glass jar, Hoshino Hideyuki couldn't hold back any longer. He suddenly shouted and grabbed the man's wrist, saying:

"no!"

"You have no idea how valuable these cockroaches are; I'm the one who told you!"

"You have to compensate me! Otherwise, I'll take it from you right now, and if we fight fiercely and I accidentally crush the cockroach, you'll get nothing!"

The man opened his eyes wide and tried to break free from Hoshino Hideyuki's grasp, only to find that the other man was incredibly strong and he couldn't break free.

That's strange, where does a bookworm get such strength!

After several failed attempts, he gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice:

"Alright, I have 30,000 yen on me right now, you can have it all!"

"Huh? Only 30,000 yen? You're way too poor, kid. You're not young anymore. Have you been working hard all these years? Has your salary increased?"

The man's forehead veins bulged, and he grimaced for a long time before finally saying, "That's all the cash I have on me! How about I give you another million yen after I sell the cockroaches? You can record the conversation as evidence!"

"Tsk... okay..."

Hideyuki Hoshino released his hand, took the 30,000 yen from the man, exchanged contact information with him, and recorded a conversation.

The man spat, strode away, and chuckled to himself as he walked.

Tch, he's just a bookworm after all...

Will you get paid later? Don't be ridiculous! You won't get anything!

What does recording matter? The police and the courts won't bother with this kind of trivial matter.

I only spent 30,000 yen and got 5 million yen back. I made a killing!

Once the man left, the farce ended, and the surrounding crowd dispersed.

Hoshino Hideyuki walked back with a smile, stuffed 30,000 yen into Iji Chikiri's pocket, and casually activated his Seventy-Two Transformations.

Kikuri Ichichi felt that her appearance seemed to have changed, but she didn't say anything, thinking to herself: There's always a reason why a fox does things.

At this moment, the female staff member who had been there earlier came over, bowed, and said:

"Thank you for helping me out, but... I don't think that gentleman will pay you back, what do you think..."

"Oh dear, it's okay, I wasn't after that little bit of money anyway."

Hoshino Hideyuki waved his hand, and seeing that no one was around, stared straight into the female staff member's eyes.

The latter's eyelashes trembled:

"Could it be that you're doing this for me, sir? Well... you already have a girlfriend, don't you? And while I am indeed single, dating me might bring you misfortune..."

"That's true."

Before Ichikiku could even feel jealous, Hoshino Hideyuki laughed first, "After all, she's a Yuki-onna. If you're always together, you'll catch a cold every few days. It's really unfortunate."

Ijichi Kikuri: "Huh?"