Uneasy daily life

Sakurajima Mai (Waka) glanced at her sideways, completely oblivious to any joy: "Don't you know that one shouldn't accept charity?"

"A condescending and insulting handout—this is the takeout I ordered." Bai Ying sighed, revealing a look of disdain for the underachiever. "You make it sound like your salary is actually a handout from your boss."

"Of course I know, I'm just so angry with you that I've lost my mind."

Sakurajima Mai (Wahana) irritably changed the subject, watching this guy happily dismantling his chopsticks, preparing to eat a late-night snack, just like he was doing a folk dance after drinking cola—she was full of anger.

Hmm? It smells strongly of cooking oil.

The barbecue in the takeout box was glistening with oil, and the air was filled with the aroma of heavy seasonings.

"You're eating this so late at night?"

"You want some too? Get a bowl, I can share some with you."

"No!" Sakurajima Mai (Wahana) said disdainfully, "I don't have the habit of eating late-night snacks..."

“True.” Bai Ying stirred her midnight snack. “The grease under the lamp isn’t grease, it’s the tragic ambition of the weighing scale; the gustatory pleasure on the tip of the tongue isn’t pleasure, it’s the swan song of the unbearable discomfort of wearing a fitted outfit—don’t you really want some? I often order from this place, the food is amazing, and after eating it, lying in bed, it’s so comfortable!”

Sakurajima Mai (Wahana) pouted and said, "No."

Bai Ying said earnestly, "Eating out occasionally to indulge won't make you gain weight that much. Besides, you exercise and train every day, so what's wrong with indulging a little?"

The stick figure was clearly not as good at self-persuasion as the "not too long to read" type, and firmly rejected the suggestion of having an extra meal at night and eating a full meal before going to sleep.

"What exactly are you planning under the heavy snow?" Sakurajima Mai (Wahana) steered the conversation back to the main point, slamming her hand on the table menacingly. "Was it you who ordered this? What is your plan? What strange things are you planning to do? What is your purpose? Tell me everything now!"

"First of all, this has nothing to do with me; that's prejudice on your part."

Bai Ying said, "You've heard about it, haven't you? 9528 is skilled with Frostmourne. She once used the Heaven and Earth Coexistence Technique to successfully kill Auntie. Now her skills have improved even further. As the saying goes, if you have a sharp weapon, you'll naturally want to kill. It's only natural that she would target 'the current mother'..."

"Normal size!" Mai Sakurajima (Wahana) exclaimed incredulously. "You must have done something!"

"I just gave 9528 a simple analysis of the enemy's weaknesses," Bai Ying said, waving her hand. "The main thing is that 9528 is quite talented. Even without my guidance, she has the talent to wield Frostmourne. After all, she's not her mother, so she doesn't feel any psychological burden when she attacks her..."

Sakurajima Mai (Wahana) slammed her fist on the table, veins bulging on her forehead, and said angrily, "You know she's not her mother, so why did you give me such a terrible idea..."

"First of all, it has nothing to do with me, it wasn't my idea, and secondly, how is it a bad idea?"

Sakurajima Mai (Wakka) blurted out, "That's my mother—"

"—!"

Bai Ying froze, put the barbecue she had picked up back down, sighed resentfully while holding her chopsticks, glanced at the floor beside her, her expression sorrowful, and clearly heard Yukino Yukinoshita's voice: "Sister, are you saying you don't recognize me as your older sister? It's only natural. Sister, we have a deep bond, while I, as your older sister, am all alone, lonely and helpless, without anyone to speak up for me. When I suffer injustice, I can only swallow my anger. Speaking up for you is just wishful thinking on my part. I can't win your heart, how could I possibly gain your favor?"

Sakurajima Mai (Wahana) almost had a brain freeze, her hands sometimes opening into claws and sometimes clenching into fists, a strange feeling of goosebumps rising on her skin: "Stop, stop, stop! Shut up first!"

"In the end, it's all my sister's fault."

Bai Ying raised her hand, made a delicate gesture with her fingers, and gave him a disdainful look: "Hmph."

"Nisunai——!!"

I can't bear it anymore, no need to bear it anymore!

"stop--"

pat.

The security door opened, and Yukino Yukinoshita (Mai) walked in.

"About the flower shoot, the commercial..."

As soon as she came in, she saw herself grabbing the hater and shaking him violently, as if trying to shake the latter's head evenly.

"Ah → Ah↑ Ah↘ Ah →..."

The white figure was exhaling evenly with its mouth open, the sound rising and falling, sometimes soft and sometimes loud, as it swayed.

"Ah, sister?"

Sakurajima Mai (Waka) froze, immediately withdrew her hand and sat up straight, staring at the white figure with a bitter and resentful look, raising her hand to rub her arm to ease the lingering embarrassment.

"Hey, wanna have a life talk?" the white-clad figure greeted. "Want some late-night snacks?"

"Okay."

Yukino Yukinoshita (Mai) walked over, pulled out a chair from the dining table, sat down, propped her cheek with one hand, turned to face the white figure, and smiled, opening her mouth wide: "Ah—"

Huh? My sister has a habit of eating late-night snacks?

Sakurajima Mai (Wahana) seems a bit strange.

"Mountain cherry blossoms hide in sea clams, phoenixes exhale rosy clouds. They open their mouths but no sound is heard, who knows whom they think of?"

Bai Ying praised, "Her lips are like pink cherry blossoms, her teeth like carved seashells, her tongue like a pearl spitting from a clam, her breath exhaling rosy clouds and swallowing radiance, her beauty is beyond compare..."

Yukino Yukinoshita (Mai): "Ah—"

"Seriously? I've praised you to the point of being incredibly awkward, and you didn't even react?" Bai Ying exclaimed in shock. "Are you even human?!"

Yukino Yukinoshita (Mai) twitched her brow slightly, her eyes sharpening a little: "Ah—!"

"You're awesome."

Bai Ying switched to a different pair of chopsticks, picked up some barbecue, dipped it in oil, and shoved it into Yukino Yukinoshita's (Mai's) mouth: "Tsk tsk, stick figure, look at you. Your sister was worried you'd mess up the commercial shoot, so she came all the way here to give you a good talking-to."

What are you making up?

Yukino Yukinoshita (Mai) swallowed her food and was about to retort when chopsticks reached out with another late-night snack.

I'll argue with you!

Precise, efficient, and just right.

"My sister wouldn't think about those things."

Sakurajima Mai (Waka) snorted, her eyes filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred. Damn it! I'll find a chance to feed my sister next time!

"That's hard to say. You don't want your sister to be blacklisted by the industry, do you?"

"Hey! It's the kind of troublemaker like you who gets blacklisted by the industry!"

“A few days ago, a client contacted me to ask for an interview and invited me to appear on a variety show.”

"what?"

"You say I'm stirring up trouble everywhere, I laugh at you for not understanding the industry—besides, you can't even act."

The white figure rambled on in a serious manner while continuously feeding Yukino Yukinoshita (Mai), interrupting her attempts to interject.

"I've been studying very hard lately, and I've played supporting roles before..."

Another chopstick was stuffed into my mouth.

From suppressing her shyness to feeling numb and furious, Yukino Yukinoshita (Mai) couldn't help but recall the scripts and plots in the dramas she had filmed before, which depicted the innocent romance between a boy and a girl...

Act One: On their way home, a boy and a girl share an umbrella.

A heavy rain began to fall. The boy held up an umbrella and silently tilted it slightly to shield the girl from the rain. The girl remained silent, but gently took a small step closer to the boy, standing even closer. Thus, amidst the sound of the wind and rain, their hearts naturally drew closer together.

To get the girl closer, the boy tilted the umbrella an exaggerated angle, ultimately resulting in both of them getting soaked because he held the umbrella horizontally.

Act Two: In class, boys and girls pass notes to each other.

The teacher was lecturing eloquently on the podium. The girls tore their draft paper into strips, wrote messages on them, and asked their deskmates to pass them on to the boys on the other side. The two exchanged notes, chatting about a movie that was about to be released. They argued because of their different opinions on the movie, and agreed to go see it together. The deskmates who helped pass the notes chuckled and teased them.

Unable to bear his classmate's elbow strike, the boy decided to take matters into his own hands. He crumpled the paper into a ball, placed it on the table, turned sideways, aimed, and flicked his finger with force, striking the teacher squarely between the eyebrows in one swift motion.

"This is probably how the haters add drama."

Yukino Yukinoshita (Mai) gave a forced smile, her foot already stepping on the white figure, grinding it back and forth—the kind wearing slippers: "The acting is definitely there, but this is just an advertisement, and Hana only needs to pay attention to the director's requirements, hiccup..."

Yukino Yukinoshita (Mai)'s instruction was interrupted. After a brief silence, Mai Sakurajima (Wahana) nodded and said, "Yes, I understand. I'll listen carefully to the director..."

"belch."

The white figure burped.

The attempt to save face failed.

"You ate all the midnight snacks yourself, what kind of burp are you making?"

Yukino Yukinoshita (Mai) increased the force of her stomping.

"I didn't eat much, because Yukino is a glutton who only knows how to say 'ah'." Baiying tidied up the takeout garbage. "Speaking of acting, shouldn't you come to me? Acting training in a flash, guaranteed to teach you everything..."

Yukino?

Yukino Yukinoshita (Mai)'s eye twitched slightly as she suddenly remembered the crooked poem the white shadow had just recited—"I don't know who I'm thinking of."

Hmm? Is the hater feeding 'himself' or feeding Yukinoshita? Consciously, he's clearly feeding himself, but physically, he's clearly feeding Yukinoshita. Is he thinking of himself or Yukinoshita? No, whoever he's thinking of, he's definitely seeing Yukinoshita.

A little unhappy.

Yukino Yukinoshita (Mai) withdrew her right foot, thinking it best to maintain a little distance before switching back.

“For example, your sister, after my repeated training, her acting skills are now full of flexibility.” Bai Ying stretched out her hands towards Yukino Yukinoshita (Mai) and said, “Look at her portrayal of Yukino Yukinoshita, her awkwardness and seriousness have already captured three-tenths of the essence.”

Yukino Yukinoshita (Mai)'s smile froze. Her right foot, which she had just pulled back under the table, stomped back with her slipper on it in an annoyed manner—whoever you see, you deserve to be stomped on!

"You?" Sakurajima Mai (Waka) pouted. "I learn from my older sister, not from you."

Yukino Yukinoshita (Mai) pondered for a moment and said, "How about this... on the day of the shoot, I'll go with you, and Black Fan will come along too."

"Okay," Bai Ying readily agreed.

"You agreed so readily?" Sakurajima Mai (Wahana) asked warily. "What are you plotting?"

Bai Ying: "I'm watching you NG (outtake/review)."

"Xinei!"

Mai Sakurajima (Wahana) deeply felt the hardships of life, the good and the bad. She ran away from home to Jinsuke, and although she gained an older sister and resolved the messy relationship between their two families, she also suffered two major setbacks!

……

……

Inside the practice room, the members of Sweet Bullets are practicing their dance.

"One, two, three, four; two, two, three, four; three, two, three, four..."

The dance teacher kept time while observing the girls' movements.

The agent watched quietly from the side, his gaze unconsciously falling on the blond figure among them.

Stepping, reaching out, moving, twisting and turning, bare feet making a brief, crisp sound on the wooden floor—every movement was clean and crisp, full of power yet also exuding youthful grace. Especially the smile on her face, it was as if this was not a routine training session, but a performance on stage.

"Stop! Feng Bin's dance is already impeccable. If anyone else has any questions about the steps, they can pay attention to Feng Bin's movements..."

The dance teacher is pointing and gesturing.jpg

This unpolished gem has begun to shine. Previously, her skill level was rather average, but in the past few days she has practiced with remarkable proficiency and fluency. Not only that, she has spontaneously raised her own standards, laughing and dancing, subconsciously inspiring others in the team to learn from her. She also enthusiastically guides those lagging behind in the team. She possesses a mature and stable personality and the ability to lead others…

Sakurajima's mother silently reflected that Toyohama's mother's vision and expectations were a bit too high.

He is clearly a child with great potential, no, he should be said to be very talented, completely unlike what Fengbin's mother described as rebellious and mediocre.

Not below the level of hemp clothing.

When training was over, Sakurajima's mother gathered the panting Sweet Bullets together and told them about the next performance.

“Agent,” one of the members of Sweet Bullet suddenly said, “we’ve discussed it and we’d like to have Kaori as the team leader.”

Sakurajima's mother paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, what does Toyohama think?"

"Team leader? Sure." Toyohama Kazuka (Yono) said with a smile, "From now on, whoever I ask to run errands for snacks will have to run errands. Sounds good, right?"

The group of girls stirred and played around, their voices rising and falling.

"Have you guys had snacks?"

The agent's voice drifted over: "Come with me to weigh yourself in a bit."

Silence fell.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Thirty Years of River Flow East!

"Feng Bin performed very well..."

In the coffee shop, Sakurajima's mother objectively praised Toyohama and Hana a few times, but not too much—she said they were very talented, hardworking, good at coordinating teams, smart and sensible, and had the potential to become stars.

"Speak the truth."

"I have no reason to lie to you."