Uneasy daily life

[Bai Liang and Bai Ying: I am indeed angry.]

[Toyohama Kazuka: You still dare to be angry?!]

【…】

[Toyohama Kazuka: Where is everyone?]

Feng Bin and Hua scratched their heads, staring at the line "[I am indeed angry]", the question mark above their heads gradually turning into an exclamation mark.

Could it be...

Well? !

As Feng Bin and Hua looked up, they saw two people running towards them on the road ahead.

A white figure sprinted ahead, while Mai Sakurajima followed behind, exuding a murderous aura.

What nonsense did that bastard tell me?!

Feng Bin and Hua immediately spread their arms, trying to block and intercept.

"Well done!"

Bai Ying accelerated and sprinted forward, bending down to rush under Feng Bin and Hua's arms. Before Feng Bin and Hua could react, their backs were pushed forward.

Defense is coming!

Mai Sakurajima didn't slow down at all, and crashed head-on into Toyohama Kazuha's arms. She used her right hand to hold the other person to steady her, and her left hand reached over Toyohama Kazuha's shoulder, her index finger and thumb precisely pinching the white figure's face.

"Calm down!" Bai Ying raised her hand to signal, "Winter weather is dry, moisture is lost, skin moisture content decreases, and elasticity is reduced. Excessive force can easily cause skin to crack..."

拧！

Mai Sakurajima smiled and drawled, "Cellphone—"

She handed over the phone in her other hand.

"Uh..." Toyohama Kazuka finally realized, "You guys are playing a phone swapping game?"

“Yeah.” After exchanging phones, Mai Sakurajima chuckled, “I fell for the hater’s trick without even realizing it.”

Feng Bin and Hua turned their heads slightly guiltily, then looked directly at the white figure with righteous indignation: "You're doing something weird again!"

Bai Ying opened her phone and said with dissatisfaction, "You changed my phone background to yours, and I used your account to chat. We should be even—and I even got pinched by you a couple of times. Wasn't that just for nothing?"

Mai Sakurajima raised an eyebrow slightly: "Oh? Should I pinch you back?"

Bai Ying reached out and pinched Feng Binhe's cheek, causing the latter to widen her eyes in anger.

"Alright, let's talk about the terrible movie you're going to be in." Bai Ying smoothly changed the subject. "When will you become number one in Tokyo?"

Toyohama Kazuka was baffled: "Huh? What, Tokyo's number one?"

Bai Ying said matter-of-factly, "Tokyo's number one worst movie king—think about it, a famous foreign director's first film in Japan, isn't that enough hype? Won't curious viewers go see it? Won't they curse after watching it? Won't viewers who hear others cursing continue watching?"

"Once everyone has seen it, you'll be Tokyo's number one talking actor for at least two months!"

Bai Ying gave a thumbs up, her face full of emotion, as if saying, "My child is about to grow up."

"I don't want that kind of thing!"

Frustrated, Toyohama Kazuka exclaimed, "The company has already agreed, and Aunt Sakurajima doesn't have any better options. At this point, we can only talk to that lousy movie director!"

"The company probably considered the buzz the other party generated," Mai Sakurajima sighed. "Although being infamous is still fame... Anyway, what about that director?"

"Yes, it's at that restaurant up ahead; she asked me to meet her there."

Feng Bin and Hua Nunu made a face.

The three walked towards the restaurant together. Bai Ying said with great interest, "To be honest, I really want to see what kind of amazing wisdom could write a script like that... Hmm? This smells—"

Bai Ying suddenly closed her eyes and took a deep breath: "This scent that penetrates the soul! This unforgettable fragrance! This feeling that makes my heart race, like a long-awaited reunion that transcends time!"

Toyohama Kazuka: "?"

Mai Sakurajima: "?"

The two looked at the white figure who had suddenly become excited and started howling. What on earth had gotten into him this time?!

"A passionate! A rich! A lingering, heart-stirring atmosphere!"

Bai Ying stepped forward, pushed open the restaurant door, and sang passionately.

I wander through unfamiliar streets.

I want to relive those familiar landscapes.

Only after putting on a fleece jacket do you realize the depth of autumn.

You hide in memories,

It's like a riddle being drawn out from the streets and alleys.

Flowers bloom, spring is here, and the east wind is already blowing gently..."

The white figure looked into the store.

A large table, a pot on the table, and behind the pot stood a white-haired woman in bright red clothes, holding a folding fan. She leaned back in her chair, one leg casually propped on the side, yawning and tapping her neck with her fan. Hearing the sound, she raised her somewhat mysterious purple eyes and looked at the uninvited guest with slight surprise.

Your fiery red figure is like mist and rain.

This wasn't a long-awaited reunion, but rather another first encounter.

The white figure cast a loving gaze.

The white-haired woman paused for a moment, then asked, "Who are you? Why are you all so shy?"

"I……"

The white figure had just taken a step when his left shoulder was suddenly grabbed by Toyohama Kazuka, and his right shoulder by Sakurajima Mai. He shouted, "Let me go! My dream girl is right there!"

"Dream on!" Feng Bin and Hua said unhappily, "Look at me!"

Mai Sakurajima politely said, "Are you Director Nian? I'm sorry, my boyfriend is a bit too emotional."

"It's nothing, it's nothing." Nian suddenly realized, and spoke in very fluent Japanese, gesturing warmly, "Aren't you celebrating the New Year? Talking about work during the New Year, you're really dedicated—come, come, sit down!"

Suddenly, the white figure unleashed a burst of strength, grabbing the two around the waist with both hands, leaping up, and running to the table in a few steps. He sat down, sniffing the pot to confirm the aroma: "That's the smell! Perfect!"

Snapped!

He slapped the folding fan into his palm and said, "You're from Sichuan or Chongqing too?"

"What do you mean, 'kid'?" Bai Ying waved her hand and said, "I'm from Guangdong, I just have a soul that loves spicy, numbing, fragrant, extra spicy, and extremely spicy food."

Nian blinked and suddenly asked, "Is mild spicy good?!"

Bai Ying immediately replied, "Is 'mild' considered spicy?"

"And you still say your kid isn't from Sichuan or Chongqing!"

"My skills have greatly declined due to old age; I can no longer function now."

"The dish includes tripe and duck intestines."

"Today, I enter the realm of extra spicy once again!"

The two chatted intimately for a few moments and quickly became very familiar with each other.

Toyohama Kazuka and Sakurajima Mai were completely confused before they realized that the white figure's gaze wasn't on people, but on the pot.

They looked into the pot.

The crimson broth churns like a sea of ​​blood, a bubbling, eerie hellish lava; the chilies stand like a forest of swords and spears, their swaying, unpredictable hooks and sickles suddenly appearing! Though the peppercorns here are small, they can make your lips numb and your tongue tingle, leaving you speechless; the oily broth there may not seem like much, but it will make him stagger and lean against the wall, sighing in despair!

What kind of hellish scroll painting is this?!

Mai Sakurajima and Kazuha Toyohama leaned back.

"Is everyone here?"

The French woman warmly greeted them, asking, "Which of you is Toyohama and Hana?"

Kazuka Toyohama cautiously raised her hand: "Me."

I was mentally rehearsing how to politely decline...

"Come on, everyone, let's eat and chat." The other person enthusiastically pushed over several bowls, and then pushed over a shelf from the side, on which were placed fried peanut crumbs, salt, MSG, oyster sauce, chili sauce, chili powder, chopped green onions and other seasonings. "Mix whatever flavors you like, don't be shy—boss! Bring the dishes up!"

"?!"

Feng Bin and Hua couldn't help but gasp, almost choking on the steam rising from the pot.

Is this guy trying to use torture to force me to agree to act in her lousy movie?!

So poisonous!

Chapter Four: Unable to Refuse

"Talking about work during the Chinese New Year, you guys must be pretty busy too."

The other person casually poured some food from the plate that they couldn't quite identify into the Spicy Hell, and warmly invited, "Come on, don't be shy. Do you have any opinions about the role?"

I have a problem with the movie you're going to make!

Toyohama and Hana were feeling a bit pressured. What was with this inexplicable enthusiasm? Was she really trying to use her directorial power to interrogate her?

She quickly gave Sakurajima Mai a wink.

“Director Nian,” Mai Sakurajima began, “Although you sent an audition notice to Wakka Company, shouldn’t you have provided the script?”

"Oh, the script was only recently written." Nian reached into the pot with chopsticks in one hand and pulled the script out of her bag with the other, handing it to Mai Sakurajima. She looked at Mai Sakurajima with some surprise. "You look like that Mai Sakurajima, right? Are you interested in acting in it?"

"?"

Mai Sakurajima took the script and said in a strange tone, "Let's talk about this after we've finished reading the script."

"Yes, please, please—this is the movie we're planning to make."

Nian fished a duck intestine out of the pot, deftly rolled it in the red oil sauce with his chopsticks, and then stuffed it into his mouth, chewing it with a crunchy sound: "Choosing actors is quite troublesome. There are a total of twelve main roles, and filming locations is also quite troublesome. The preparation is quite difficult."

Twelve main characters? What kind of nonsense are you trying to make?

Even Toyohama Kazuka, who doesn't have much acting experience, couldn't help but mentally criticize it.

"Hiss ss ss ss ss s..."

A heavy breathing sound suddenly came. Feng Bin and Hua looked up and saw that Bai Ying's forehead was covered in sweat. It seemed that she had just eaten something and was now exhaling hot air. She looked like she was suffering from the spiciness.

"Huh?" Nian asked in surprise, "Young man, you're already not up to it? Why are you all sweating?"

"Being covered in sweat means you're happy—ah! That's the feeling!"

Bai Ying licked his lips, a sinister smile playing on his lips: "The stronger the enemy, the more excited I get! Hehehe!"

Nian: "Your lips are a little red."

Bai Ying: "Red dots are great, they're festive!"

Nian: "Is your face starting to go numb?"

Bai Ying: "What are you talking about? Just throw the beef tendon in and boil it!"

The two felt an instant connection, chatting away as they each took a bite from the pot.

Toyohama and Hana weren't quite comfortable with the atmosphere, but they didn't really care. At Nian's enthusiastic invitation, they finally stuck their chopsticks into the pot. Japan has hot pot too, and it's not like they've never had it before. Although the two looked a little different, it did smell really good after a while.

Adhering to the idea that you should pick up meat with your chopsticks when you're having hot pot, Feng Bin and Hua picked up a slice of beef and put it into the light yellow oil dish.

The beef, soaked in the oil sauce, seemed to foreshadow something, spreading a dark red color like a massive hemorrhage.

Toyohama Kazuka: "..."

I think I made a wrong choice?!

"Don't be shy! Eat, eat, eat!" Nian said enthusiastically. "Why bother with all the formalities and rules? Eat whatever you want. Being polite to me is just making things difficult for me!"

The white-haired woman held chopsticks in one hand and flicked open a folding fan with the other, casually fanning herself with a carefree air.

Why would someone bring a fan in the dead of winter?

What do you mean by "being polite to you is actually making things difficult for you"? Is this a threat? It must be a threat of torture!

Feng Bin and Hua Xin muttered to themselves, carefully picked up a piece of beef, rinsed it in the oil, and then put it in their mouths. Generally speaking, no matter how spicy the broth is, it's difficult for beef, a meat with coarse fibers, to absorb the flavor...

Good heavens! This beef is marinated in chili sauce!