What a twist! The loser heroine!

He had never bought anything like this before, so it was quite novel for him.

"Hana-kun is absolutely right."

As he slowly chewed the bread in his mouth, the delicious taste that his classmates would talk about made him smile unconsciously.

"Eat more sweets, maybe your grades will improve."

~Sixty-sixth defeat~ A weekend destined to be anything but peaceful

"I'm done eating."

Wen Shuihe, who was sitting at the dining table, put down his chopsticks and said in a low voice.

"Don't run so fast, it's not easy for me to have a meal with you two."

His father's words stopped Kazuhiko from getting up. He sat down obediently and ate the fish that Yoshiki handed him.

Dad didn't have any translation work today, so he came home early. He's sitting at the table wearing a napkin right now, so the curry sauce won't stain his suit that he hasn't had time to change out of.

Although he works as a translator, my father doesn't have the serious, square face that people stereotype him to have. On the contrary, thanks to my mother's careful maintenance and the social obligations of a middle-aged man, he actually looks rather round and gentle.

"I heard from Yoshiki today that you went to the school's reading group, Kazuhiko?"

"Well, it was an activity organized by the club."

"That's strange. I thought you wouldn't go to such a crowded place."

Kazuhiko gave an awkward smile.

"Since you've gone to intensive review, the midterm exam should be fine, right?"

Wen Shui's father said, picking up a piece of potato: "I bet your classmates all said it wouldn't be too difficult, right?"

"Huh? Dad, how did you know?"

"Tch, if you joined a fishing group that only had middle-aged men, and they talked about work and children all day long, you would know everything too."

"Wait a minute, if this is a fishing group, why aren't we talking about fishing?"

Kazuhiko's ahoge (cowlick) turned into the shape of a question mark.

"Do you think we'll be able to catch anything?"

"...Never mind, I didn't ask that question."

Kazuhiko's ahoge (cowlick) immediately flattened down.

[Dad's still the same; he occasionally exudes a kind of颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it conveys a sense of listlessness, apathy, and apathy) aura unique to middle-aged office workers.]

Dad seemed to be thinking about some unpleasant past events, muttering something like, "It's not my fault that the fish aren't catching any fish, it's the fishpond's problem," before bringing the topic back on track: "The exam may be easy, but don't let your guard down."

"I know. I helped a few classmates with their questions today and also found a lot of my own shortcomings." He Yan didn't hide his problems: "I have a lot of deficiencies in science subjects, but my math is barely passable."

"Since you have a direction, it means your revision is going well." Dad nodded: "After this exam, if you and Yoshiki make it into the top fifty, I'll bring you some gifts from Kyoto."

But Yoshiki has always been first in his grade, hasn't he? Dad, aren't you being a little biased?

"Huh? Is Daddy going to Kyoto?" Yoshiki, who hadn't spoken until now, asked.

"I have to catch the train tomorrow night and won't be back for a week. You and your brother take good care of the house."

"Yes! Yoshiki will take good care of my brother."

Kazuhiko pouted, somewhat annoyed: "Another business trip..."

The old man pointed helplessly to his suit and said, "That's just how work is. I came back early tonight because I wanted to see you two."

Hearing her father say that, Wen Shui smiled and began to tell him about her experiences at school.

A family dinner passed peacefully amidst conversation.

While the father greatly appreciated Kazuhiko's ability to make friends at school, he was slightly dissatisfied with Kazuhiko's efforts in his English classes.

"Your basics are fine, but your spoken English is still a bit rusty. You need to work harder."

Sitting on the sofa, the father, a graduate of the English Department of Nagoya University, took off his glasses and patted his son on the shoulder.

"I won't run into any foreigners here in Toyohashi, and besides, I'm only a first-year high school student."

Having just finished his English situational practice with his father, He Yan touched his cheek somewhat embarrassedly.

"I hope that you, Kazuhiko, can take over the translation work from me, after all, the salary is high and the job is stable."

The old man sighed and said softly, "But then again, you're only in your first year of high school. It's too early to talk about work for a student who hasn't even done a route survey."

Upon hearing this, Kazuhiko frowned and fell into deep thought.

"Dad, the bathwater is ready." Just then, Yoshiki's voice came from not far away.

"Okay, I understand, I'll be right there."

The old man quickly agreed, took off his suit jacket, took a sip of tea, and said softly, "Well, that's true, but as long as you speak up, Kazuhiko, I won't take away your right to choose."

"You must be tired from studying today. Let's stop with the small talk and go back to your room to rest."

As he said this, the old man turned and walked towards the bathroom.

"Thank you, Dad," Kazuhiko said sincerely.

"We're family, aren't we?" Dad waved his hand dismissively.

Kazuhiko leaned back on the sofa cushions, staring blankly at the ceiling.

[...Do you work?]

He seemed to suddenly remember something, opened his phone, and opened his chat history with President Tamaki.

The email account and password, which he and Xiao Ju had previously agreed to manage together to receive other students' manuscripts, were now lying quietly on the screen.

[Let's give this review task, which I promised to do before, a try out first.]

Thinking this, he picked up the still-warm roasted tea and stood up from the sofa.

◇

Half an hour later, Kazuhiko turned off the computer screen and rubbed his eyes in frustration.

"What is this writing...?"

Perhaps because it was the first time they had called for submissions, the students at Shilu were very enthusiastic. Their inboxes were filled with emails of all kinds with completely different formats, but the attachments were all documents.

After secretly resolving to include standardized format requirements in the next call for submissions, He Yan suffered a mental blow unlike any he had experienced in fifteen years.

An article with completely incoherent sentences, an article that lacks any core focus, an article that consists entirely of dialogue and is written in a very disorganized manner...

Leaving aside these articles with major fundamental problems, there are even strange articles that, although set in Japan, contain a lot of katakana characters, clearly expressing one's own dark and gloomy thoughts.

And what is this "Super Invincible Special Light Kill Longinus Cannon"? Who sent you an article they wrote during their chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) period?

Kazuhiko leaned back in his chair, his body limp, and closed his eyes in pain.

I never knew being a peer reviewer was such a tough job. Now I understand why Xiaoju had warned herself to be extra careful on Line.

[I hope Himegami and the others can write something more normal; I still have to review it.]

"What is this writing...?"

He uttered the same exclamation again, and then felt a pair of hands gently covering the sides of his head, and a faint scent of shampoo wafted into his nostrils.

"My elder brother seems a bit troubled."

"Why are you coming to my room at this hour?"

"Hehe, actually Yoshiki has always been here, it's just that you didn't notice, brother."

Hearing his sister say something terrifying, Kazuhiko quickly asked, "You've been here the whole time?? You didn't see that Yoshiki thing just now, 'My feelings for my junior—'...you didn't see it, right?!"

"Yes...did you see it or not?"

Yoshiki frowned and thought for a moment, then, seeing her brother's somewhat anxious gaze, she smiled and replied, "Of course I didn't see it. Yoshiki isn't the kind of person who would peek at her brother's work."

Kazuhiko breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. It was good he hadn't seen it. If Yoshiki had seen that self-indulgent piece filled with his own thoughts, he wouldn't have hesitated to call the sender out via email and then—

"Brother?"

He quickly banished the illegal thought that had just flashed through his mind.

“Brother is just a little tired…” He looked back at the screen and saw that only three fairly normal articles remained, adding, “He’s mentally exhausted.”

"Then let's take a break first?" Jia Shu touched his brother's face with concern: "Brother, you studied for so long today, and you still had to review the manuscripts when you got back. You're really working too hard."

"The bathroom is now available, brother, why don't you go take a bath?"

"okay."

Wen Shui obediently stood up; he was indeed quite tired.

"By the way, Yoshiki, how did you know that my brother was just reviewing a manuscript?"

Faced with his elder brother's question, Yoshiki Nukumizu put his hands behind his back and lightly twirled around on the cushion in the room.

Everything about my older brother~

"I know all the details about Jia Shu very well."

◇

The door to the room was closed, and as he watched his older brother disappear from sight, Yoshiki Numizu's smile remained unchanged.

"It's so late..." she said softly.

Then, the next second, she was lying down on her brother's bed.

Feeling his older brother's aura enveloping his entire body, Yoshiki intended to fall asleep and be helplessly woken up by his brother, but the sudden ringing of his cell phone broke the silence of the room.

It wasn't her phone ringtone.

"My brother is still the same as always; he doesn't bring his phone when he takes a bath," she muttered to herself.

So Yoshiki got out of bed and picked up his brother's phone from the table.

The caller ID only shows the phone number, without any name or identity information.

Yoshiki was a little curious; who would call her brother so late?

She answered the phone without hesitation.

"Hello? Is this Wen Shui?" A girl's voice, unfamiliar to me, came from the other end of the phone.

A strange light suddenly flashed in Wen Shuijia's eyes.

"My brother went to take a bath," Yoshiki said softly. "I'm his sister, Yoshiki Numizu. May I ask who you are?"

"I am Ma Titian Aixing, your brother's classmate. Although this is not the first time we have met, please take care of me."

Hearing the other person's respectful and formal self-introduction, Yoshiki was slightly taken aback.

Ma Shave... Tian Ai Xing?

She quickly searched her memory and finally found a girl with a decent appearance and meticulous manners in the memories of the day of the autograph session.

I see……

Then she asked, "It's so late, what can I do for my brother?"

"Um...ah...I, I, that..."

Hearing the hesitant voice coming from the phone, Yoshiki smiled understandingly.

"Then I'll wait until my brother finishes his shower and have him call you again, okay?"

"Huh? Well... okay."

"Hehe, let's chat again another time, Senior Ma Ti."

"Yes, thank you, Yoshiki-chan."

After the call ended, Yoshiki stared at the now-off phone screen, carefully recalling the memories of the autograph session in his mind.

Ma Shaves the Sky Loves the Star...

He looks quite decent, and his height is similar to his older brother's. Although his physique isn't visible under his school uniform, it's probably not bad either.

In her mind, Yoshiki secretly marked Tian Aixing's appearance and figure as acceptable.

Then, in terms of personality, she seems to be a very rule-abiding, but somewhat old-fashioned girl...