“Why are you all looking at me? Who’s scared? I’m not!”
“Who said it was you? Don’t plead guilty under duress.” Lin Ze grinned, making her so mad she stomped her foot.
Damn, this bastard really knew how to piss her off. Give her back the feeling of being touched! Fu Jiang really wanted to scratch Lin Ze’s face.
“Heh, let’s eat, let’s eat. I had someone deliver a special sushi feast from outside the school today, a welcome party for Fu Jiang joining our class.” Lin Ze opened two large, high-end takeout containers. The sushi inside was dazzling and he took out four caviar boxes, giving one to each of them.
Fu Jiang looked at the caviar in her hand with a touch of surprise, “You even ordered caviar?”
Caviar and fish roe are different. Caviar is made from sturgeon eggs, while the fish roe used on sushi is ordinary.
“Because it’s delicious, I ordered a few extra boxes. If you like it, feel free to eat more.” Lin Ze knew Fu Jiang loved caviar and foie gras, so he made a special effort to prepare this, also giving Kaya and Hana a taste.
Fu Jiang wasn’t a picky eater either, but she had her food preferences.
As they ate and chatted, “Xiao Lin Junsuke told me he won’t be going this Saturday. This guy made plans to hang out with Midorikawa, so he stood us up.” Lin Ze was quite annoyed when he mentioned this. The dog clearly stood him up because of his own reasons, yet he still blew them off.
But his lifelong affair couldn't be delayed, so Lin Ze was magnanimous in forgiving him. “Of course, he also paid the price. He has to do one day of duty for each of us three.”
“Oh, so it’ll just be the three of us then? Fu Jiang, Fu Jiang, are you free? Let’s go to the amusement park this Saturday!” Hana was really looking forward to their Saturday outing. For her, the more people the better!
Kaya also looked at Fu Jiang expectantly. If it was just her and Lin Ze, she would never invite anyone else! But now that Hana was definitely going, this was a gathering of friends. How could they be without Fu Jiang?
“Saturday? Sure, I’m free. It just depends on if a certain someone welcomes me… ” Fu Jiang enjoyed her caviar, resting her chin on the table with one hand and shaking a shell spoon in the other. She slightly stuck out her tongue, her gaze teasingly fixed on Lin Ze.
Perhaps because of Kaya, perhaps because of his contract with Hachisuka, or maybe because Fu Jiang’s abilities were still weak, whatever the reason, Lin Ze’s resistance to her was growing stronger. While he had to admit she was quite alluring in this manner, he could suppress the desires in his heart.
“Heh, who are you trying to provoke? If you want to go, you want to go, I can't stop you? Or are you demanding that I carry you in a sedan chair?”
“Not genuine.” Fu Jiang pouted and turned her head away, her charm ignored.
“Alright.” Lin Ze opened a new jar of caviar and placed it in front of Fu Jiang, replacing the empty one. “Let’s consider this our first outing as a club.”
“Fu Jiang, give me your home address. We’ll go find you, and then we can go together.”
Fu Jiang suppressed her rising excitement, thinking she was a little pathetic. But still, she obediently told Lin Ze her address.
“Also, Hana, talk to your mother about this today. I'll visit tomorrow.” Lin Ze had been invited several times and it wouldn’t be good to put it off any longer. “Kaya, can you make your own way home tomorrow?”
“No problem, Lin Ze. You go and do your thing.” Kaya was very understanding. Although she also wanted to go home with Lin Ze, she understood Hana's situation. She wasn’t the kind of person to make a fuss.
“Great. My mom has been talking about it nonstop.” These past two days, his mother had been asking about Lin Ze whenever she had the chance, making Hana’s ears grow calloused from hearing it.
Fu Jiang was curious about what it was, but she didn't ask about family matters. Instead, she said to Kaya, “Kaya, let’s go together tomorrow. I’ll take the tram back from near your house. It’s the same anyway.”
“Okay.”
When he arrived home that evening, Lin Ze was surprised to see Qinzi waiting for him in the car outside.
“Qinzi-san, how come you came here? Why don’t you come inside? Hachisuka should be home.” Lin Ze opened the door while asking Qinzi behind him.
“She won’t let me in.”
Qinzi’s expressionless words made Lin Ze feel awkward. “Uh… I’ll talk to her… Forget it, Qinzi-san, I’ll give you a key to the house later.” Hachisuka was stubborn as an ox. She and Qinzi were natural opposites, so it was fine to give Qinzi a key. He trusted her.
As he entered the living room, he saw Hachisuka with an unhappy expression. “Hachisuka, you can't leave Qinzi-san waiting at the door like that.”
“I just don’t want her in my house!” Until she could beat Qinzi, she didn’t want to see her for a minute longer.
“Your house?” Qinzi’s temper flared. Hachisuka had made her wait for a full hour and twenty-six minutes! “Don’t you know I have a room here too? Lin Ze, I’m staying here tonight.”
She had originally come to check on Hachisuka and talk to Lin Ze about some things, but now she wasn’t leaving tonight!
“What?” Hachisuka looked at Lin Ze in shock. How come she didn’t know about this?
Hachisuka had been in her own room, excited about everything, and didn’t notice Lin Ze tidying up another room.
“Alright, stop it. Hachisuka, be good and don’t fight with Qinzi-san. I'll take you out shopping this Sunday.” Lin Ze was a little headachey. He went to the agitated Hachisuka and pulled her back to her seat, coaxing her.
Hachisuka’s heart moved. After weighing the pros and cons, she pouted and held up two fingers. “Twice.”
“…Okay, okay. Then you can’t fight with Qinzi-san anymore.”
After successfully coaxing Hachisuka back to reading, Lin Ze turned to Qinzi. “Qinzi-san, don’t take it out on her. You haven’t eaten yet, have you? I’ll make some food. What do you want, Qinzi-san?”
“Whatever. I’m not picky. But I can tell you’re really upset.” The real Makoto was annoying enough, but Hachisuka was even worse.
“I’m getting used to it. I’ll make some ramen for you. My ramen is pretty good.”
“Mhm.”
He finished making three bowls of ramen, delivering one to Hachisuka first, before sitting down with Qinzi to eat in the living room.
“Qinzi-san, I found someone for the school principal position. It’s Chunxiao, the head teacher of our class. She’s a good person, and I’m close to her.”
“Then let it be her. For this kind of thing, it’s best to find someone you know. It’ll be more convenient, and I won’t have to worry about these trivial matters. It’s better to let ordinary people handle ordinary people’s affairs.”
Qinzi finished her ramen in one go. After Lin Ze finished, she continued. “The reason I came today was to tell you that a few people have gone missing at home inexplicably recently. The police couldn’t find any leads. It’s probably not man-made. I’ll go check the scene tomorrow. If anything happens, call me as soon as possible.”
Qinzi took out a jade pendant from her bag and handed it to Lin Ze. “Fu Jiang is just an ordinary person with some special abilities now. Just in case, give this to her. I engraved a talisman on it that can ward off attacks from ghosts and monsters.”
“Fu Jiang wearing a talisman… that sounds strange.”