Uneasy daily life

Hachiman Hikigaya was startled, recalling the Mapo Tofu he had eaten earlier, the scorching heat like lava entering his throat, and even feeling his mouth on fire. No wonder Komachi was already preparing in the kitchen before he even returned from grocery shopping—the department head must have brought some ingredients!

"Komachi! Let me teach you the profound and extensive knowledge of Sichuan cuisine!"

"Hmm... how about we make two kinds of one dish? My brother doesn't like strong flavors..."

I think Komachi should be enshrined!

Hachiman Hikigaya was deeply moved when he suddenly noticed that the old emperor of the house was reluctantly walking over, struggling to jump onto the sofa, and dawdling as he poked his head over.

"Huh? Can I touch it?" Hachiman Hikigaya was deeply moved. Although he was also a cat lover, the emperor in his family held a much higher status than him. If someone tried to touch the emperor's body without first showing him some affection, they would most likely be scolded.

Kamakula remained motionless, simply maintaining its protruding posture.

That's true, cats don't understand human language... As for the minister, he definitely doesn't belong to the realm of humans.

Hachiman Hikigaya tentatively reached out and ruffled Kamakura's head, then stroked it all the way down to its belly. Cats all look like big, fluffy blobs; some cats instantly slim down after being splashed with water, while others gain weight. His Kamakura definitely belonged to the latter.

You only find out how fat or thin your cat is after giving it a bath.

Hachiman Hikigaya happily enjoys his time petting cats, letting his thoughts wander aimlessly.

Hmm... something feels a bit strange. My cat usually ignores me, but as soon as the department head comes over, it becomes all affectionate and clingy. Even though it gets scared by the department head's barking, it still willingly sticks its head out to let me pet it after just a few words.

A little while later, when Komachi and Shirokage came out with the food, Hachiman Hikigaya, who was enjoying petting the cat, realized that he had been decisively abandoned. Kamakura ran off the sofa and happily ran towards Shirokage.

"Woof woof woof woof woof—!!!"

A series of frenzied barks erupted, startling Kamakula so much that it slammed on the brakes, its plump rear end drifting, its tail whipping around, and it cautiously ran back to the sofa.

The white figure declared its victory: "Of all the demons I've ever seen, you're the weakest."

Komachi put down the food and waved her little fist: "Brother Shiro, don't scare Kamakura like that!"

To be precise, it wasn't scaring, but rather deceiving, right?

Hachiman Hikigaya was deeply puzzled; the department head could even fool a cat.

……

……

After dinner, Mai Sakurajima gave Kazuka Toyohama acting advice. Kazuka Toyohama did indeed gain Masashi Okita's approval with a bit of talent and a certain image, and a small scene that was originally planned to be discarded was re-included in the filming.

The filming of that short scene was scheduled for the very end, giving Feng Bin and Hua some time to adjust and practice.

"Don't think about how to act. Just be yourself. There are only a few lines, and the main plot is less than twenty seconds long. Therefore, the most suitable way to act is to immerse yourself in the scene and then deliver your lines naturally."

Mai Sakurajima summarized briefly and then said, "That's enough for today. You don't need to feel too much pressure. Anyone who hasn't studied acting can play themselves. In the end, you just need to act like you're normal. The hardest part is adapting to the film set environment and the camera, but that should be easy for someone like you who is an idol."

"Hehe, it's alright..."

Toyohama and Hana chuckled awkwardly, then looked at Sakurajima Mai with a hesitant expression, as if they wanted to say something but couldn't.

"Ask whatever your questions are," Mai Sakurajima sighed upon seeing this. "You want to ask me about my plans to retire from the entertainment industry?"

"No, as expected of my older sister! So clever!"

"Sigh... This afternoon, you came by suddenly at least five times, talked about some trivial things, and then suddenly ran away. Your worries were completely written on your face."

"That's because I didn't want to disturb my sister's filming..."

Feng Binhua retorted, mustering her courage to say, "Sister! You don't need to quit the entertainment industry for my sake!"

Mai Sakurajima was stunned.

Feng Bin and Hua spoke with heartfelt sincerity, spending the entire afternoon in agonizing guilt. No matter what, it was not their sister's place to sacrifice for them and their mother!

"At worst, I'll keep arguing with my mom. I'll just pretend I don't hear what she's saying. I've been doing it for years anyway!"

Feng Bin and Hua's eyes were a little red. They sniffled and tried to say, "Didn't you promise to be my idol? Now you're retiring from the entertainment industry, isn't that just lying to me...?"

"and many more!"

Mai Sakurajima called a halt. She thought for a moment and subconsciously said, "Could this be something the hater said to you?"

"Hate fan? You mean bastard? He's the one who told me that." Feng Bin and Hua said somewhat confusedly, "Anyway, sister! Don't quit the industry! You've worked so hard to get to where you are today. I don't even care about what Mom said anymore, so you shouldn't care either!"

"No, what I mean is... never mind, I'll just be frank—the main reason is what happened between me and my mother."

Sakurajima Mai looked away with some reluctance and said softly, "As you know, my mother left the film crew today. If I had to give a reason, it's probably that I don't want to continue getting entangled with her like this."

Feng Bin and Hua were somewhat bewildered and stunned: "Continue... continue this entanglement?"

"Doesn't Kazuka also argue with your mother? Perhaps it's just an unavoidable argument between a child and a mother, but it's enough to show that as Kazuka grows up, one day you will distance yourself from your mother and create your own life."

Mai Sakurajima slowly explained, “My mother and I are different. Life has brought us too close, tied us together with strong threads, and bound everything together... Whether it came too early or too late, I decided to break that thread. We are no longer in a situation where we have to depend on each other. If this continues, my mother will spend all her time loving me.”

“I can’t bear that weight, that’s what my mother will have for the next few decades.”

Feng Bin and Hua seemed to understand only partially, but one thing was clear to them—they had been deceived. They thought their sister had retired from the entertainment industry for their sake, but they had been tricked by a bastard!

A tremendous sense of shame welled up inside me, my toes curled up wildly in my shoes, and my whole body became incredibly sensitive, even the friction of my clothes felt excessively clear.

ah--!!!!

She ran away.

Mai Sakurajima finally loosened her lips, which she had been barely suppressing. Although she was also thinking of easing the pressure on Kazuka, she decided it was best not to say anything at a time like this.

The silence in the room was unbearable, and Youyou let out a sigh.

If the thread breaks, no matter which side it's on, time must mend the crooked track, and life must fill the empty heart.

……

……

Inside the room, Hachiman Hikigaya was curled up on the bed.

"Minister, aren't you filming a movie with...?"

The white-clad figure, who was laying out a bedding mat nearby, asked curiously, "What did you say?"

Hachiman Hikigaya reiterated the question: "Aren't you filming with Mai Sakurajima?"

"Why stay there after you've finished filming?"

"Oh...you solved the problem?"

"Solve the problem? What did I solve?"

"Hmm..." Hachiman Hikigaya gave an example, "Like Yukinoshita and her parents?"

Bai Ying said smugly, "I managed to fool the Brave Plus's father's remarried partner and remarried daughter."

Hachiman Hikigaya asked curiously, "And then?"

"Then I jumped into the river and easily repelled the venting attack of the Brave Plus."

"Didn't you do anything else?" Hachiman Hikigaya subconsciously judged, then suddenly recalled various past events… the captain's problem-solving approach… no, did the captain really solve problems? Take the car accident incident, for example; the one who solved the problem was Yui Hama…

Is the minister perhaps a lone wolf?

"I'm going to the restroom. I'll look for Hachiman's youthful scars when I get back..."

Bai Ying spread out the blankets, muttered to herself as she left the room, the rising pinkish-purple aura returning to her body.

Hachiman Hikigaya remained silent on the bed for a few seconds before frantically rummaging through drawers and cupboards.

He's clearly a lone devil!

Chapter Thirty-Five: I Don't Know

“Hey scoundrel, have you ever had this feeling lately? When you’re slightly distracted, you suddenly forget something and unknowingly waste anywhere from three or four minutes to more than ten minutes before you remember what you’ve forgotten or ignored.”

On the balcony at night, Bai Ying was making a phone call.

Of course, this is a sense of emptiness that creators inevitably face. Thinking has emptied the brain, leaving it like a vacuum, unable to discern or filter information. It numbly absorbs external information, subconsciously relying on sensory stimulation to fill the void. It begins to feel bored and weary of thinking, even too lazy to endure pain.

The playwright's voice is distant and ethereal.

There is no way forward, and nowhere to turn back. Like driftwood adrift in a sea of ​​suffering, one cannot cross without struggle.

"Is this how you've been lately, you scumbag?" Bai Ying sighed. "Have you been drained dry by the guild leader again?"

The creator's five tribulations are different from the "Ugh, the pigeon with its neck bent towards the sky" kind of tribulation, where one struggles painfully but can't write anything, wishing they could just let their horses roam freely in the mountains. It's a hollow, desolate sense of loneliness, lying on the sofa letting time slip by, seemingly laughing and saying "I'm useless," but actually too lazy to even admit it.

[Just finished writing a few scripts, still have two more deadlines to meet—hahahahahaha! I racked my brains, put in a lot of effort, and submitted five scripts, two of which were rejected for being too similar! And I have to finish the remaining scripts and submit them within ten days…]

The playwright muttered to himself for a moment, then his attitude finally became clear, and he declared in a booming voice: "That sow of a leader, all she knows is to nag me for more updates!"

“I don’t care how many scripts you still have to write, I just find you noisy,” Bai Ying said mercilessly. “Anyway, what I’m talking about isn’t what you’re talking about. I mean that feeling of suddenly having some memory gaps and then quickly picking them up again.”

[Isn't this just Alzheimer's? What a pitiful brat, getting Alzheimer's at such a young age.]

The playwright sighed deeply.

"This happened twice today, and each time it made the stand-in a little agitated."

[That's perfectly normal. In stories, sick female characters often exude a more vulnerable charm; a sick tiger is less formidable than a cat. If you truly had Alzheimer's and experienced fleeting memory gaps, those would be manifestations of a vengeful spirit on a mental level, and it's inevitable that some of those spirits would surface. Are you ready to return?]

"Go back and I'll give you two scripts right away? Don't even think about it."

Bai Ying stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, "So, it's very likely some other supernatural phenomenon? Does that scoundrel have any clues?"

I don't know. Ultimately, superpowers are just something we humans summarize and define arbitrarily. To talk about studying them carefully, having a system, and attributing causes is absurd. Like that fortune teller guy, he said his fate was to die at 40. Why do you think that is?

Bai Ying confirmed, "He plans to commit suicide when he turns forty, to defend his professional reputation as a fortune teller with his life."

[Hmm... Someone who aspires to be a fortune teller, someone who wants to understand fate... has never succeeded, and has been told that divination is a communication skill... So he decides to go all out! He'll divine future events, predict that he will die on a certain day, and then commit suicide on that day, using his death to vouch for the divination!]

The playwright's voice rose with excitement: "Great! A script is taking shape!"

Bai Ying patiently guided him, "We can add something more. The reason he aspired to become a fortune teller was that he was deceived by one. In the end, he committed suicide, but he remained conscious, observing the world and witnessing his divinations and prophecies fall apart one by one, becoming a laughingstock in history..."

That kind of stuff is so boring! It's probably about an idealist's yearning for purity, their dejection and pain at the hands of reality, so they gamble with their life to complete the most successful divination, deceiving the world... The ending is left open-ended!

The playwright was quite dissatisfied, pointing and criticizing: "Forget about your boring tragedies! Characters are just tools; the grand story is the main focus! The highest art is transforming abstract fate into individual experiences, the poignant clashes that blossom from them! Can't you write anything more than petty nonsense?!"

Bai Ying was unfazed, pointing and saying, "No matter how grand the background, how unpredictable the environment, or how capricious fate may be, what is ultimately presented is still the characters' fates! Art is about meticulously portraying characters to express a sense of beauty, evoking empathy in the audience, and then tearing them apart with sorrow! Is all you can write about is abstract stuff?!"

You rebellious disciple!

You piece of trash!

[I'll block your manuscript next time!]

"I'm very rich now."

Bai Ying slammed down the phone and quickly redialed: "Commander, it's me! Yes, yes, it's Xu Bai... Um, there's something very important. The playwright was chatting with me just now and complained that he called you a sow who urges for more updates... Yes... When you deal with him, Commander, remember to say that it was me who wrote the report."

The poor scoundrel, his brain was completely blanked out because of the leader's constant pressure to update, to the point that he talked badly about the leader behind his back. I wonder how he will be punished. He's really too pitiful.

Bai Ying looked up at the moon, its bright light seeming to weave a smiling silhouette. Memories rushed back from the past, overwhelming her like a tidal wave, and she couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion. After a moment's thought, she quickly typed a text message to the playwright to offer her condolences.

Youthful beauty fades, candlelight dims, ink strokes dance across bamboo leaves, stirring chaotic emotions. Words fail me, lamenting life and death, the earth vast, the sky distant, nothing new for humanity. Day after day, day after day. My soul is breaking, my thoughts still simmering, I sit, drained of sorrow, my soul departing in misery. My heart is empty of memories, my body empty of desires, the regimental commander comes to my door, a worthless person met with harsh judgment. I send, I send, I send.

The reply came very quickly.

[Damn it! You snitched!]

There was no further news after that; the scoundrel is probably dead.

I'm on the shore, and the scoundrels are in the water. If they don't throw stones at each other, are they even human?!

Bai Ying returned to the living room from the balcony and was about to check on Hachiman Hikigaya's room when she received a private message on her phone.

[Sakurajima Mai is the best: You bastard! You liar! You tricked me?! !!!]

[Bai Liang and Bai Ying: ?]

[Sakurajima Mai is the best: You're still pretending not to know? My sister didn't retire from the entertainment industry for me at all!]

[Bai Liang and Bai Ying: Isn't this a good thing?]

[Sakurajima Mai is the best: Good news? What kind of good news is this?!]

[Bai Liang Bai Ying: So you want her to retire from the entertainment industry for you?]

[Sakurajima Mai is the best: Of course not!]

[Bai Liang Bai Ying: Isn't this a good thing?]

In a sense, it's definitely a good thing for me, at least I won't have so much psychological pressure, but my sister's announcement of retiring from the entertainment industry still makes me very sad...