What a twist! The loser heroine!

Yoshiki had originally wanted to invite her to stay for dinner, but Wenshui and Himegami immediately rejected the idea, and the way the two of them did so in unison startled Yoshiki.

"Goodbye, Yoshiki-chan, see you again sometime!"

Standing at the door of Wenshui's house, Ji Gong reluctantly patted Jia Shu's head.

"There will be opportunities, Himegami-senpai." Yoshiki nodded and said politely, with a professional smile on his face.

"Hehe, see you tomorrow, warm water."

Himegami Karen looked at the warm water with a smile:

"It's still early, so there's no need to see me off. Spend more time with your sister."

At this point, Himegami glanced at Yoshiki, who was tightly holding Wenshui's right hand, and smiled understandingly.

Wen Shui, of course, understood what she meant and quickly nodded:

"it is good."

"I had a lot of fun today, thank you for your hospitality! You must come to my house sometime!"

She waved goodbye with a smile, turning back every few steps to look at the Wen Shui siblings, as if trying to capture their figures with the camera in her head.

Then, just like someone's father, he crashed into a telephone pole.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!"

"So, watch where you're going..."

Wen Shui glanced silently at the utility pole standing quietly by the roadside.

Is this telephone pole some kind of causal weapon? We might as well just tear it down.

~Seventy-eighth defeat~ Night Talk

Monday, May 19th, sunny

"So, what exactly did you say to Yoshiki yesterday?"

On the bus, Wen Shui looked at Himegami Karen next to her with a puzzled expression and asked in a low voice.

"Oh! Did anything happen after I left?"

To Wen Shui's surprise, Ji Gong became interested after hearing this.

"Uh……"

Because she felt it was too embarrassing to talk about how her younger sister had clung to her like a koala after dinner last night, following her to her room, and even helping her review the remaining student submissions, and then almost letting her climb into her bed due to a momentary lapse in attention, Wen Shui answered succinctly:

"Anyway, I was bothered by Yoshiki all night. What exactly did you say to her?"

"I think I cleared up some misunderstandings with Yoshiki-chan, and our relationship has improved a lot. Well, that's about it."

"Isn't this practically the same as saying nothing at all..."

As Wen Shui said this, he switched to his usual deadpan expression, but since Ji Gong was unwilling to talk about it, he wouldn't deliberately delve into it.

As a result, his question actually piqued Himegami's interest.

"By the way, I didn't have a chance to ask yesterday, how are Ayano and Lemon doing now?"

"You're still interested in this?"

“I can’t be uninterested.” Karen Himegami sighed heavily. “Anna called me for ages last night, talking about lemons all day. Honestly, I thought she was in a relationship…”

"Well, it's not easy to see childhood friends finally getting together, so it's normal for Bana to be excited about meeting her classmates," Wenshui replied without hesitation.

Himegami glanced at Nukami with a hint of curiosity, then nodded: "Anna is indeed like that. So, Ayano and the others...?"

"Well-"

◇

Let's rewind to around 9 a.m. yesterday.

"Phew, this is the last one..." Wen Shui looked pained, closed the page on the computer, and let out a heavy sigh.

All the manuscripts in my email have been marked as read.

Perhaps because it was the weekend, my inbox suddenly received a large number of manuscripts, including several authors whose work I already recognized as... [very distinctive].

I suppose he took advantage of the weekend to write a few new articles.

Having already maximized her resistance to toxins due to her previous experience in peer review, Wen Shui withstood the pressure and, adhering to the principle of perfection, reviewed each of them one by one.

Then he regretted it.

“Most of them are completely unacceptable.” Wen Shui shook his head: “I’m afraid everyone is writing them out of interest.”

The heart that had been hanging in suspense finally died.

"Jiashu witnessed firsthand how terrifying the initial draft review process is today."

Clutching tightly in her brother's arms, Yoshiki wore the same helpless expression as him. She took off her glasses and whispered, "I never imagined that my brother had to deal with these things every day... It's so pitiful."

"We should apologize to those dreamers who wrote 17 words in their prologues and sent them directly to us hoping to have them published on a few pages of the journal."

Wen Shui gently nudged his little sister in his arms: "Okay, Jia Shu, go downstairs first. Big brother is going to take a bath soon."

"Okay..." Yoshiki reluctantly left her brother's embrace.

Prepare a change of clothes, fill the bathtub with water and heat it.

Wen Shui stood next to the washing machine, waiting, when suddenly Yoshiki's footsteps came from outside the door.

Since she hadn't taken off her clothes yet, Wen Shui wasn't flustered.

"Brother! The phone is ringing!" Yoshiki knocked on the door.

"Huh? Who is it?" Wen Shui said, pushing open the door.

Yoshiki, standing outside the door, held up his brother's phone; the call had been connected.

"Yoshiki doesn't know, but the voice sounds like a man's."

So Wenshui pressed the hands-free button.

"Hey?"

Good evening, warm water.

“Ayano??” Wen Shui was stunned for a moment. Jia Shu noticed that the person on the other end of the phone seemed to be someone her brother knew, so she smiled and closed the door, leaving her brother alone.

"It's me. I'm so sorry to call so late."

Ayano smiled and spoke softly, seemingly deliberately lowering her voice.

"I don't really care," Wen Shui chuckled. "So, how are things on your end?"

"Lemon has been tired all afternoon and has fallen asleep now."

"Oh... then it seems the misunderstanding is over—" Wen Shui suddenly realized an important question: "Wait, Shao Yan is right next to you?? Where are you now??"

"It's in my house, Wen Shui, why are you so flustered?"

Ayano's tone was full of self-righteousness.

"No, no, no, why would you say something like that so casually?"

"Lemon has been coming to my house to play since junior high school, right?" Ayano said with a smile. "And I've already informed her family in advance that she'll be staying at my house tonight."

"Wait, do your family members agree too?"

"Of course I agree, but I don't know why Mom and Dad are all smiling so happily."

Ayano smiled brightly, seemingly still not understanding what Wen Shui was trying to find out indirectly.

"Oh, I see. Your aunt and uncle must be really happy."

Upon hearing this, Wen Shui breathed a sigh of relief. Since Ayano had said so, he had no choice but to believe in this path.

After all, this kind of slow-witted guy would never do anything out of line right now; it's just a matter of what Lemon's family will think.

"Haha, the reason I called this time is actually to have a chat with you."

Ayano steered the conversation back on track.

"Hmm, but I was just about to take a shower."

"Then I won't bother you any longer. Let's talk about it tomorrow morning."

"Oh, it's not that bad, just wait a moment." After saying this, Wen Shui pushed open the door and walked out.

He first turned off the speakerphone, then covered the area where the phone would record sound. After doing all this, he said to Yoshiki's room, "Yoshiki, I have something to talk about. The bath water is ready, you can go take a bath first."

"I understand, elder brother."

As it turned out, Yoshiki's voice came from Onami's own room.

This girl...sigh.

Shaking her head, Wen Shui wore a doting yet helpless smile.

She casually threw on a coat to keep warm and answered the phone again.

"Sorry to wait, I'm ready now."

"It's okay, I'll just get myself a glass of water."

Strolling onto her balcony, Wen Shui looked up at the bright moon in the night sky.

"Since Shao Yan is planning to stay overnight at your house, that means the misunderstanding has been cleared up, right?"

"Haha, it's not really a misunderstanding, it's just that Yashio was frightened." Ayano smiled and continued, "Yashio has always known about Asahi's situation, but he just hasn't said anything."

“She was worried that talking about these things would affect my exam results, so she kept it to herself,” Ayano said calmly. “However, we had a good talk today.”

"Isn't that great?"

"Lemon and I have decided to date."

Wen Shui was immediately taken aback by Ayano Koki's opening remark: "Ahem, you should have given me some time to prepare. I thought something serious had happened, but it turns out you're here to give me a love report?"

"Uh, sorry."

"I'm not blaming you." Wen Shui shook her head helplessly, then smiled and said, "Anyway, congratulations."

"Haha, thank you, warm water."

"Thank me for what?"

"Without you, I'm afraid things wouldn't have progressed so quickly between Lemon and me."

"With your mutual affection, even without me, things should be going well soon," Wen Shui said with a wry smile. "Don't underestimate your charm, you tall, handsome guy."

There was no reply from the other end of the phone, and the silence made Wen Shui pause in surprise.

"Hello? Why aren't you saying anything?" Wen Shui checked the phone; the call hadn't been disconnected.

He suddenly realized an extremely terrifying possibility: "Wait, you're not... shy, are you?"

"Hmm, this is the first time I've heard Wen Shui praise someone. I'm a little surprised."

This guy is definitely shy...

Ayano smiled awkwardly, then said in a low voice, "Lemon said she originally planned to confess to me at the city-level competition next weekend, just like in 'Miss Rabbit,' after winning the championship."

What if we don't win the championship? Although, I doubt Shao Shio will lose.

Wen Shui suppressed her urge to complain and then said, "It seems her plans have been brought forward quite a bit."

"Yes, that's correct."

Ayano continued, "But... to be honest, I'm still a little dazed. After entering junior high school, Lemon became more and more outstanding. She kept achieving good results in various competitions and would often go on stage to receive praise during school assemblies."

"Moreover, she has a lively and cheerful personality and is very popular, always surrounded by many people."

At this point, Ayano took a deep breath and paused, as if confirming her feelings.

Wen Shui didn't interrupt. He knew perfectly well that what Ayano had just said wasn't a deliberate attempt to show off his girlfriend. His tone was filled with confusion and uncertainty; Ayano had probably called to confide in him about something.

Although I don't know why he would choose someone like me with zero dating experience, I'll just listen to what he has to say for now, since we're acquaintances.

Thinking of this, Ayano seemed to be prepared. He said in a low voice, "Lemon is so dazzling, while I am just a guy who focuses on studying and books—a bookworm that she calls me."