Uneasy daily life

[Nonsense! Give her the phone!]

"She doesn't want to talk to you, and I don't know exactly what happened," Mai Sakurajima said calmly. "I'm busy filming and don't have time right now. Is Auntie free tomorrow? Can you come and pick her up?"

Okay! I'll come over tomorrow. She's such a handful... Could you please look after her for a while? I'm sorry to be a bother.

"It's ok."

Bai Ying hung up the call and patted the caterpillar: "Hey, why isn't it moving?"

"climb."

Feng Bin and Hua remained unmoved. They were indifferent to the consequences of their actions; they didn't care what happened.

Yukinoshita gently patted Toyohama and Hana's heads, comforting them, "Good girl~"

"Climb!" Feng Bin and Hua shook their heads forcefully.

"Hmm, I really don't have Hero Plus's private phone number... Come to think of it, I don't have her number either." Bai Ying took out her phone and dialed, "Hello? Director, what's Sakurajima Mai's private number? You should have it, right? A phone confession? Nonsense, I'm probably trying to scam you... Okay, I've got it—if I can't get through, of course I'll blacklist you, and maybe give you a heads-up... OK, bye."

The caterpillar couldn't hold back any longer: "What do you want with my number?!"

"Of course, I'll make a phone call."

The white figure shifted, peering into Feng Binhehua's field of vision. A voice, both youthful and energetic yet deliberately mechanical, uttered: "Beep—Feng Binhehua·Loading, Virtual Personality Unit Activated, Logic Circuit Construction, Voice Simulation System Turned On, Emotional Change Injection…Dial! Double Agent Operation Begins!"

Kazuha Toyohama's eyes widened slightly. Was that bastard planning to use her voice to scam her older sister?!

He wanted to immediately start questioning and cursing, but after struggling for a while, he realized that he was still a caterpillar. Considering that some scoundrel probably wasn't afraid of being cursed at all, Toyohama and Hana were forced to calm down and grit their teeth in secret.

If you speak in a moment, I'll interrupt you!

The call connected quickly, and Mai Sakurajima's slightly puzzled yet highly professional voice came through the speakerphone: "Hello, who is this?"

"Sister... I've written you so many letters, have you received them?"

His voice was weak and dejected; he started by asking inexplicable questions.

Just as Feng Bin and Hua were about to shout "Sister, run!", they froze, not only shutting their mouths but also subconsciously holding their breath, their eyes fixed on the white figure.

Yukinoshita bent down and turned her head, giving her a faint smile.

Feng Bin and Hua glared at each other and shooed each other away—Get out of the way! Don't block my view of my sister speaking!

……

……

"And flowers?"

In the hotel room, Mai Sakurajima paused, then reached out and closed the open door.

There was no reply from the other end, only a series of irregular, labored breaths, indicating extreme agitation.

Mai Sakurajima sat on the edge of the bed and said softly, "...I received it."

"Then—" She suppressed a soft sob, trying her best to express confusion rather than anger, "You haven't replied to a single letter... Sister, do you... do you hate me?"

"..."

Something doesn't feel right. Would Kazuka ask that? No, no... Only Kazuka and I should know about writing letters.

Sakurajima Mai rubbed her temples, and she was indeed feeling wronged and frustrated today, but how should she put it—the awkwardness of her position made her decide to remain silent, only receiving letters without replying, hoping that this connection that shouldn't have happened would naturally cool down and end... Saying this reason now would only make things more agitating and frustrating.

"You hate it, don't you? You really do hate it!"

Her sobs intensified, turning into angry growls: "If you hate me so much, just say so! Why pretend to care while keeping your distance? Is it fun to watch me embarrass myself by offering my warm welcome but getting no response?!"

"I didn't mean that!" Mai Sakurajima took a deep breath.

"Wasn't it you who gave me lunch because I hadn't eaten? Wasn't it you who told me not to come near you, not to talk to you, and to stand there like an idiot on set?" Sadness and anger mingled in his hoarse voice. "Aren't you just playing me?! I came to see you, and you told me to go back..."

Mai Sakurajima sighed softly, "You're just being silly by coming here. It's normal to have arguments with your family, just calm down and it'll be fine. And Hana..."

A roar rang out: "What are you trying to say! What right do you have to say anything?! My mom and I are arguing because of you!"

"Me?" Sakurajima Mai exclaimed in surprise, "What does this have to do with me?"

"How can it not be related? It is related!" A furious shout came crashing down from the phone. "Mom is always comparing you to me! If you go into the entertainment industry and become a star, then I have to go in and become an idol! Every single day—it's either nagging about how great you are, or how I'm not as good as you! Sakurajima Mai is this old and she's doing so well, and I'm this old and I'm doing so well! I can't compare, okay?! I'm not as popular as you! I'm not as outstanding as you! I'm not as universally loved and praised as you!"

Was it Kazuka's mother who used herself to put pressure on Kazuka?

Sakurajima Mai said with a headache, "Wahana, calm down, this isn't the same thing..."

"That's the same thing! Mom's sick! She'd rather throw away this useless daughter of mine and replace her with you! No matter what I do, all I get is nagging and comparisons! Why? Why?! You think it has nothing to do with you? You think it's inexplicable? You think you're wronged?!"

An angry barrage of questions came at me: "I also feel like I have nothing to do with your mother, but you still expect me to avoid her altogether?! Am I not wronged? Am I not being unreasonable?! I hate you! I hate you and your mother! You're both sick!"

Mai Sakurajima's temper flared instantly, and she retorted coldly, "Perfect, I hate you too."

……

The white figure is performing passionately.

The Toyohama and Flower Caterpillar have become fossils.

Yukino listened with great interest.

Chapter Twenty-Two!

"Success? Excellence? Praise? Being loved by everyone?"

Sakurajima Mai took a few breaths, her emotions unstable, and gripped her phone tightly. She said in a deep voice, "Yes—that's all I can see! Who comes to see me? I've had to work since I was six, even though I don't understand what work is at all... That day, that man let us meet, and I met you, my sister whom I had never met or heard of before. I vaguely knew that I was a child without a father."

"What good will it do to know? I have to try my best to follow the requirements, to respond to my mother's hopes, to put aside all my doubts and confusion, to do things, and to understand those cold rules and regulations. I don't understand what my mother's praise and so-called success look like. The only meaning for me is that my mother won't always be frowning."

An angry, sobbing voice came from the phone: "Yes! You can do whatever you want! Because you're Mai Sakurajima, you won't end up crying like this!"

"Life has left me no room for sadness or tears!"

Mai Sakurajima's voice rose, then suddenly fell silent. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled: "No matter how many words of praise you give, at such a distance, they only reflect cold, hard results. No matter how popular you are, how good your grades are, how young you are... no one cares that I deal with adults all the time, no one cares if I'm tired inside, and no one cares about my thoughts. Even my closest, most dependent mother, will never know if I've ever been in pain."

"You're so great. You can cry whenever you want, make a scene whenever you want, argue whenever you want, and run away from home whenever you want. I don't even have a place to escape to."

Mai Sakurajima sighed softly, "Doesn't this just make me hate you?"

"You don't need to run away! Waaah... No matter what I do, I can't compare to you—Mom only praises you, and she's never satisfied with anything I do..." The sobbing subsided slightly, and a hoarse voice filled with pain, "I want to be as good as you too, I've worked so hard... Waaah... What's wrong with only seeing the result? It would be so much better if I were as amazing as you, Mother would definitely be satisfied..."

"But how can you get results without experiencing them?" Mai Sakurajima murmured absentmindedly. "At least I'm lucky enough to have a result that makes life better and stops my mother from worrying... But can we ignore all those experiences and all those results? My mother worked so hard to take care of us that it became an obsession. We were abandoned by that man and depended on each other for survival. We understood the taste of life early on, and experienced confusion, sadness, exhaustion, pain, and troubles in our work and life."

"Kazuha, you envy what I seem to have at first glance, and I also envy what you seem to have at first glance..."

Mai Sakurajima took a soft breath and said gently, "Wahana, you don't need to become me and experience all my sorrows."

On the other end of the phone, I heard a sob that was both sad and relieved. For some reason, I felt that the sound was a bit off. Was the signal too bad?

As Mai Sakurajima felt a little strange, she heard a choked voice in her ear: "I really like you, sister, and I want to be like you, or even better than you... I've seen all the dramas you've acted in, and in interviews I've always said that my favorite actress is Mai Sakurajima... I know, I know we're not sisters from the same mother... The day I understood, I didn't dare to write letters... Shouldn't I admire you? Shouldn't I like you? There's no such strange logic to that."

“There’s nothing we can do. There are always many unreasonable things in the world.” Mai Sakurajima pursed her lips gently, her feelings complex and sad, but she found herself unable to cry. She comforted her softly, “For example, when I was in pain and confused, it wasn’t my mother or anyone else who helped me, but a younger sister who should have never spoken to me. Isn’t that unreasonable?”

"What are you talking about..." a voice trembled with tears as it asked in confusion, "I didn't help my sister at all."

“You really helped me. Do you remember those letters? I read every single one of them and kept them all. Child stars will eventually have their star fade, or as we say now, they will experience a career plateau. Flowers and praise will eventually fade away, there will be no direction ahead, the advantages of age will wear off, a transformation is needed, and one will wonder why they should keep going.”

Mai Sakurajima said softly, "The praise from others, the reputation of being a child prodigy, my mother's encouragement, the principles of life... those things existed, but they felt very distant to me at that time. I didn't even have time to watch the shows I acted in; I always felt like I was busy for the sake of being busy. What really helped me were those letters, filled with childish and simple praise like 'Sister is so amazing, sister is so great,' coming from my younger sister who didn't share a mother with me."

"It doesn't make any sense, does it? Some simple words made me feel that my busyness was meaningful, and that my work was more than just a job. From that day on, I fell in love with my work and wanted to become a better actress because a stranger, a younger sister, loved my performance."

From the other end came an uncontrollable sob, along with faint muffled sounds...

After sniffing, a voice came: "Not some half-sister or anything like that—Miss Mai, I'm your biggest fan."

"Yes, we just happened to become sisters...and flowers, I'm so glad you like me."

Mai Sakurajima smiled with relief, setting aside the grudges and sorrows between the elders, the entanglements and troubles of blood ties. This was just a very ordinary and common relationship.

A devoted fan who admires and longs for her, and an actor who has gained recognition and love.

"That's right! I'm a fan of yours! A die-hard fan!"

With a slightly nasal tone and joyful frankness, it's as if you can see the other person raising their sleeve to wipe away tears and snot, smiling with tear stains still on their face.

"Um……"

Sakurajima Mai leaned against the headboard, feeling a little more relaxed, but then her mind wandered... Had she forgotten something?

Oh, right, about retiring.

Sigh, shouldn't I explain this to Kazuka? But it would be too strange to do so now.

Mai Sakurajima was having a bit of a headache. The most suitable time was probably when things settled down and Kazuha would come knocking on her door after the news came out.

"My sister is the best! She will definitely become the strongest and most beautiful actress!"

Hearing these words, a sense of guilt welled up in my heart.

Mai Sakurajima sighed silently. "I'm sorry, Kazuha, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do."

Hmm... something just feels off...

"That's right! When it comes to beauty, my sister is the most beautiful! In terms of looks, those bean sprouts can't beat my sister! In terms of acting skills, those haggard women can't beat my sister either!"

Mai Sakurajima paused, a bad feeling creeping over her: "You wouldn't happen to be..."

The seemingly reasonable arguments, conversations, and emotional exchanges just now... felt rather awkward in some places—it started with a barrage of strong expressions, suppressing one's own words, followed by directly provoking oneself by picking on one's mother, and then, after calming down, the other person's words became less, like a fish that had taken the bait and was slowly pulled to the surface...

Her emotions come and go quickly, and she speaks in a somewhat childlike manner. These are probably characteristics of Kazuka, but Kazuka probably doesn't have this kind of expressive ability, right?

"I want to lick my sister's feet—to offer the highest respect with kisses..."

"White shadow!!"

Sakurajima Mai sat bolt upright, her face contorted with rage, completely ignoring the other person's ramblings. Pretending to be Kazuka to deceive her? That meant she hadn't actually explained anything to Kazuka? She'd have to think of a way to resolve Kazuka's issue again? The little sister she'd just begun to understand, in the blink of an eye, had her mask removed, revealing a pale, shadowy face?!

No need to wait any longer! Kick this bastard out of the group right now, and chase him down with a stick until he has nowhere to run, or I'll change my surname!

"You really enjoy playing pranks?! You've gone too far today! I'm not done with you yet—"

"Golden lotuses press against jade bows, white nail polish is gilded with snowflakes. Nature's creation is exquisite, beyond compare. — The arch of her foot gently presses against the floor, like a flawless crescent moon, her toes like round, smooth white nail polish, her white nails as if gilded with snowflakes. Holding her toes, licking them with my tongue, gently biting my lips, immense happiness rises in my heart… My sister's feet are a naturally beautiful treasure. Passion propels my body, my tongue measures every contour, melting everything within me, melting and flowing into this utterly peaceful tranquility…"

"Keep talking! Let's see what else you have to say!"

Mai Sakurajima listened to this bastard's performance with a cold face and without wavering.

Suddenly, a scream came from the other end.

[Damn it! Don't use my voice to say such perverted things!!]

Harmony, harmony? No, this guy must be lying...

[You wouldn't even lick her feet! What kind of fan are you?!]

Shut up! Shut up! Let me go! I'm going to kill you!!

Don't lie, be honest! Tomorrow you can hug and rub against your idol all the time—that's the ultimate fan experience!

【I'm not that weird—Sister! I'm really not that weird, I didn't say that!】

A noisy, chaotic commotion came from the other end; some of the words were hard to hear, and both people were speaking at the same time.

Bai Ying probably doesn't have the ability to produce two sounds at the same time.

Mai Sakurajima's face flushed red and then turned pale, her chest heaved violently, and her lips trembled as she struggled to speak.

【Onee-chan! Deski-chan—!!】

This is clearly someone's sister version of a straight-up approach, which is truly enough to make one want to vomit blood!

Sakurajima Mai gritted her teeth and spat out, "Black! Pink! Guy!"

Beep—Communication disconnected.

Mai Sakurajima hugged the pillow to her chest and pounded it a few times.

This guy kidnapped Kazuha and stole her phone? He might even have tricked her! Otherwise, how would he know about Tong Dao writing the letter?!

Kazuka was listening in the background just now?! That's a good thing, at least the hater acted as a mouthpiece for Kazuka, but all that licking and foot-licking... ugh! What kind of good thing is that?! I thought I was having a heart-to-heart talk with Kazuka, but it turned out to be with you?!

Calm down... calm down first.

Sakurajima Mai lay down angrily, and couldn't help but feel a headache coming on again.