Laid-Back Life in Tokyo: I Really Didn't Want to Work Hard
Chapter 207 - 184: Listening to the Melodious Breathing of the Young Girl

Chapter 207: Chapter 184: Listening to the Melodious Breathing of the Young Girl

The sun is still scorching, and the cicadas are incessantly chirping in the park.

Kitagawa Sakisa inadvertently glanced at his left little finger, "But I feel like, Hanpe, you’re quite nice, not like a bad person."

"A good person? Hahaha."

Hanpe couldn’t help but laugh twice upon hearing her words.

"Miss, you’re the first person to say that about me."

His face returned to calmness.

"Does the Miss know what we usually do?"

Kitagawa Sakisa turned her head to look at him, her pupils focusing, asking, "Sell milk tea?"

"Does the Miss think we’re just selling milk tea?"

In his thirties, Hanpe didn’t even dare to look at her face, the face of a rich young lady.

"No... aren’t you?"

When a girl says something she considers very ordinary in a casual tone, she most likely really believes it.

"I almost can’t bear to shatter your naive fantasy, Miss."

Kitagawa Sakisa no longer looked at him but instead picked a leaf growing behind her and observed it in her palm:

"I know my brother never wanted me to know certain things, but it shouldn’t diverge too much."

Hanpe silently watched the dragonflies dancing leisurely over the pond in front, shaking his head helplessly.

Beep beep... beep beep...

The sound of a phone call.

Hanpe sat up straight, skillfully reached into his pants pocket, and pulled out an old-fashioned keypad phone.

He put it to his ear:

"Director (Young Master)."

"Hanpe, give the phone to Sakisa."

"Brother?"

After handing the phone to her, Hanpe got up and walked towards the noisy pond ahead, habitually lighting a hard black cigarette.

Though he was his Young Master, Hanpe had never been fond of Kitagawa Sakihara.

"Brother..."

A gentle voice came through the phone, "Sakisa, come back if you’re tired from playing, it’s uncomfortable to be hungry, and Hanpe’s money can’t feed you much."

"Who! Who’s running away from home just to play!"

"Hehe, that was my fault, I apologize to you, dear sister."

Upon hearing "apology," Kitagawa Sakisa’s voice lowered again, "Today I was disliked by someone."

"Oh? Who could dislike you, Sakisa?"

There was a rhythmic knocking sound on the table coming through the phone, crisp yet slow.

"Do you need your brother to help you out?"

"No need." Kitagawa Sakisa touched the bandage on her face and said, "I’ll handle my own matters."

"No need?" The clicking suddenly stopped, and laughter followed through the phone, "Seems like Sakisa has grown up."

"I’m not a child anymore!"

Kitagawa Sakisa shouted into the phone in annoyance and then hung up directly.

After a long silence, Hanpe extinguished the cigarette and came over, "In my opinion, Miss is still just like a child."

"Do you also think so, Hanpe?"

"It’s not what I think, it’s just the truth."

"So, what should I do?"

Hanpe shook his head again and didn’t approach her immediately.

"I don’t know, the life Miss leads is completely different from mine, so I can’t give you any advice."

Kitagawa Sakisa remembered the previous question, "What do you do for a living, Hanpe?"

Job?

Hanpe Suji suddenly remembered he hadn’t eaten yet today, unconsciously rubbing his forehead and temples.

"Such things are still too early for Miss, just consider me promoting milk tea to guests, I know clearly which brand tastes best."

"Is that so?"

"To Miss, for now, at least it is."

July in Tokyo is really hot.

At the Uesugi Family, Uesugi Shio stared at the trophy on her bookshelf labeled "Kantou Region Women’s Solo Sword Dao Champion" for a long while before heading downstairs.

She saw Uesugi Sakura trying to make omelette rice in the kitchen.

"What’s the occasion today?"

"It’s the first day of Kamigoe High School’s sports festival."

While answering, Uesugi Sakura was stirring the eggs with a clang.

Then, the golden egg mixture tilted with the bowl, spreading evenly over the pan.

Uesugi Sakura began lightly touching the spread egg yolk with chopsticks.

After waiting for over ten seconds, he glanced at the phone beside him.

Following the blogger’s guidance, he gently tilted the pan to let the yolk gather at the curved edge.

Without lollipops to distract her, Uesugi Shio folded her arms, watching him mimic the video while tilting the pan.

As proven, the sun still set in the west.

With that tilt, the neatly spread egg mixture suddenly turned chaotic.

The fragmented egg white overflowed outward, the neat egg mixture shattered into small pieces.

Couldn’t be worse.

The omelette rice could now only turn into egg-covered rice.

Uesugi Sakura turned off the stove’s low heat and gazed at the unidentified liquid of eggs and milk in the pan:

"Even Hanabi does it like this, so why can’t I learn it right?"

Uesugi Shio stepped into the kitchen and swiped her index finger on what could be considered the bizarre tool, the egg mixture.

"..."

"No taste, not enough salt."

Uesugi Sakura turned to take out another plate of even more peculiar egg mixture, "This one?"

To describe it would be like mentioning that it was much thinner than Indian mush.

Uesugi Shio shook her head straight at the dish that could barely be called food, "It’s too watery!"

Uesugi Sakura handed over the plate.

"Try the saltiness."

"No way, try it yourself." Uesugi Shio quickly took a step back.

"Tried it, it’s too salty."

"Then why are you letting me try this stuff? No, this simply isn’t a work for modern palates to appreciate."

"The more samples, the more references, it helps improve my cooking skills, try it."

Uesugi Shio backed up to the fridge behind her, "Sakura, don’t use your own hands to torture yourself."

"The chocolate you made before could even be a coming-of-age gift for Hanabi’s child."

"Why would my child want that thing?"

Uesugi Sakura attempted to have Hanabi throw away that black lump, but she refused and stored it in her precious little box.

Said she wanted to keep it as a memory.

"Why are you cooking today?" Uesugi Shio asked.

"Since Hanabi is asleep, as her fiancé, of course, I have to ensure her happiness, so she can have a delightful dinner when she wakes up." Uesugi Sakura replied.

"Hanabi will struggle to say it’s tasty." Uesugi Shio glanced at the peculiar egg mixture and told him.

"Are there no other dishes?"

"Sister Shio is going to cook? That might not be a good idea."

Uesugi Sakura remembered her cooking skills were just slightly better than his—by a bit.

"At least it will be edible." Uesugi Shio walked towards the small stove.

Seeing her grip the pan’s handle, Uesugi Sakura quickly said, "I think Nissin instant noodles also make a great dinner."

Uesugi Shio turned her head, "You don’t trust a girl’s cooking skills?"

"A girl doesn’t equal Uesugi Shio."

Uesugi Shio didn’t mind his teasing, "So what are we going to eat today? The aunties aren’t home."

"Supermarket hamburger steak bento is nice too, only 430 yen."

"..."

Silence.

"..."

"..."

In a split second.

One scissor, one paper.

"Alright then..." Uesugi Shio sighed, "I’ll go buy it."

"A predestined ending, why struggle?"

"Why have I never won?" Uesugi Shio asked in confusion.

"That’s a question for you to figure out yourself."

At the entrance, Uesugi Sakura watched Sister Shio, wearing slippers, head out to buy the bento and then turned to go upstairs.

In his room, besides the bookish aroma and sweet grassy scent, a young girl lay curled up, asleep on his bed.

She faced away from him, her little pink, tender white feet hanging off the bed edge.

Uesugi Sakura noticed her feet reaching and grabbing off the bed, indicating she might not be asleep,

Silently stepping closer.

On this ordinary bed, he saw Hanamaru Hanabi with her eyes closed, her small hands tightly gripping his bedsheet, her head buried deep within.

It was easy to see the faint breathing accompanying the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest.

Getting a bit closer, he could even hear the slightly deep breathing sounds.

Uesugi Sakura leaned down, moved close to her ear, and whispered:

"What are you doing?"