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Feikawa Xiangzi's first reaction, upon hearing Fujiwara Toru's offer to arrange work for her, was not gratitude but rather indignation. Her tone of voice suddenly became sharp, and her angry voice echoed in the car: "Mr. Fujiwara, are you pitying me?"
Inside the car, it was silent, save for the drops of rain hitting the ground outside and the sound of water splashing as the car drove over puddles. After her anger subsided, Feikawa Xiangzi calmed down. Regardless of why Fujiwara Toru said what he did, it was his good intention. It was fine if she didn't appreciate it, but getting angry like this was truly improper.
She immediately lowered her head: "I'm sorry, Mr. Fujiwara. I just spoke too harshly."
Fujiwara Toru shook his head: "It's nothing. I can understand your feelings. If I were in your position, I would also be angry. It's an insult to my self-esteem."
Feikawa Xiangzi gave a bitter laugh: "These self-esteem issues must seem laughable to you. Mr. Fujiwara, you must be secretly laughing at me too, right?"
"Laughing? Not exactly, but I am a little unhappy." Fujiwara Toru said truthfully.
Feikawa Xiangzi, now calm, desperately reminded herself in her heart not to be ruined by that illusory self-esteem.
Think about those debts. Relying solely on working as a hostess for a lifetime wouldn't be enough to pay them off! Feikawa Xiangzi had a detailed "six hundred million" plan for making money in her heart, but she hadn't completely made up her mind yet. Regardless of what she planned to do later, she first needed a sufficient income to meet her living needs. If she could save some money, it would be even better. This would reduce a lot of pressure on her.
Feikawa Xiangzi thought of this and took the initiative to ask, "Mr. Fujiwara, what do you need me to do?"
Fujiwara Toru asked, "Miss Feikawa, can you cook?"
"I've learned in home economics class before, and I've been trying to cook for myself for the past year."
"Then how does your cooking taste?"
"I think it's pretty good." Feikawa Xiangzi roughly guessed what Fujiwara Toru wanted her to do.
Fujiwara Toru nodded: "You've also met my sister at home just now. I usually need to go to school, so I don't have much time at home. As for Haihara, as long as she uses the computer, she forgets to eat. Isn't that just ordering takeout? It's fine to order takeout once or twice occasionally, but she never eats properly, so I hope Miss Feikawa can take out time every evening to help her cook and remind her to eat."
"And you can also do some cleaning work at home."
After a pause, Fujiwara Toru continued: "...You don't need to clean the entire house. You can't do it alone anyway. I'll hire a professional housekeeping company."
"As for the price, counted by the number of times, is it 50,000 yen per day reasonable?" Feikawa Xiangzi shook her head. It wasn't that she disagreed, but rather: "This price is too high. A professional caregiver and a maid who cooks for a general family would also be around this price."
"I don't have that kind of professional ability, Mr. Fujiwara. Your price can completely hire someone more professional to do it."
This was Feikawa Xiangzi's last shred of self-esteem. She hoped to earn money through labor, but she didn't want to receive too much charity. What she wanted was fairness.
Fujiwara Toru said helplessly: "It's impossible to hire a professional auntie. My sister is a bit shy and doesn't like strangers, nor does she trust strangers."
"Miss Feikawa is a clean person, and her age is not too young. This should make her feel more at ease." Fujiwara Toru didn't say this casually. Haihara would indeed feel the fear of the Black Organization if she met too many strangers.
Fujiwara Toru had no choice but to find someone reliable to take care of her life. This Miss Feikawa was quite good.
Although they didn't interact much, Fujiwara Toru felt persistence, seriousness, honesty, and kindness from this young lady. She was once a young lady who lived a carefree life, but suddenly fell from grace. Yet, she didn't despair or give up; instead, she desperately worked to change her situation. This was truly admirable to Fujiwara Toru.
Of course, there was one most important reason.
[You gained 1 Body Quality Point]
[You gained a 'Black Technology Item Extraction Opportunity']
"..."
This was an attribute point Fujiwara Toru had just recently gained, from Akai Shuichi. Fujiwara Toru previously had no impression of Akai Shuichi. He should have just been an unimportant character in the Detective Conan world.
But now, after truly loving himself to the core, he had also gained 1 Body Quality Point and a 'Black Technology Item Extraction Opportunity.' This immediately made Fujiwara Toru have other ideas. For example, could this Miss Feikawa also provide him with points?
Feikawa Xiangzi hesitated for a moment: "Mr. Fujiwara, can you let me go back and think about it?"
"Of course, let's exchange Line IDs. You can tell me after you've made a decision. It doesn't matter if you refuse, I respect your choice, Miss Feikawa."
"Thank you!" Feikawa Xiangzi said gratefully.
She took out her old-model phone from the bag she was carrying, and exchanged Line IDs with Fujiwara Toru.
Not long after, Fujiwara Toru drove to an intersection. Feikawa Xiangzi said: "Just stop here, Mr. Fujiwara."
"The road inside is quite narrow, and it's hard to turn around once you enter."
Fujiwara Toru parked the car by the roadside. The rain outside was heavier now. Feikawa Xiangzi, holding the umbrella Fujiwara Toru lent her, whispered: "I'll wash the umbrella and return it to you later."
"You'd best send me a Line message before you come over. I might not be home."
"Okay." Feikawa Xiangzi thanked him again. She got out of the car, opened the umbrella, and hurried forward.
After walking a few steps, Feikawa Xiangzi turned her head and waved at Fujiwara Toru, then turned into the alley beside her.
Across the road, a young lady from the Tsukimimori Girls' Academy was also walking forward. One of them, a girl with brown long hair and a delicate beauty like a doll, suddenly grabbed a girl beside her and whispered with a trembling voice: "Wow, look, isn't that...?"
If Wakaba Akimi heard Nagasakisosei's words, she would turn her head slightly, and upon seeing Feikawa Xiangzi running far across the road, her eyes would ripple faintly.
Nagasakisosei wanted to catch up in the first moment, but Wakaba Akimi's keen eyes held her back.
She turned her head angrily, only to see Wakaba Akimi gently shaking her head at her. Nagasakisosei then realized that Xiangzi didn't want to see her. If she really chased after her, it might even widen the distance between them.
"That car..." Nagasakisosei felt that the car Xiangzi had just ridden in was somewhat familiar. So fast, she immediately thought: Isn't that the car of the owner of the coffee shop in Ikebukuro Station, Fujiwara Toru? This car was a Porsche Panamera, which was already relatively rare. Furthermore, his car had been modified, and the color used was a unique matte color. It was possible that there was only this one car in all of Tokyo.
Nagasakisosei's mind spun with intelligence. She couldn't directly go to see Xiangzi, but she could save her through a detour. First, she would contact Fujiwara Toru, and then find Xiangzi through him! Nagasakisosei felt this idea was more and more feasible, and she felt smarter and smarter.
She didn't know that Feikawa Xiangzi had already broken down.
But as childhood friends, Wakaba Akimi was well aware of Feikawa Xiangzi's current family situation.
Wakaba Akimi saw Feikawa Xiangzi get out of a Panamera, and her third thought was: "Xiangzi is being kept."
Fortunately, her voice was very soft, and the rain was heavy, so Nagasakisosei didn't hear it.
...
At ten o'clock in the evening, Feikawa Xiangzi walked home, her body weary. At this time, it was already less rainy in Tokyo, but it was still drizzling. Looking at the deserted, quiet street, Feikawa Xiangzi lightly sighed.
Customer service was not an easy job, especially after-sales customer service. Those who called customer service were all people whose purchased items had issues. These people were often furious and emotionally unstable, making it very easy for them to say unpleasant things.
Sometimes, Feikawa Xiangzi wanted to curse them back, but as a qualified customer service representative, she could only smile slightly, enduring the unpleasantness and politely resolving problems for people.
"I'm home." Feikawa Xiangzi's current residence was still in Kitaku, Tokyo, not far from Fujiwara Toru's Western-style mansion. One reason was that Feikawa Xiangzi was familiar with this area; the other was that the rent here was cheap.
She and her father now lived in an old house. The entire cramped room was dark and filled with a musty smell. Besides an old television playing a program, the small house had almost no other electronics. Beer bottles were scattered all over the tatami mats. Feikawa Xiangzi could only disgustedly step around the beer bottles, watching her father, who was sprawled out on the television, snoring loudly.
When did her excellent father become like this? Gambling truly killed people.
Returning to the room where there was a two-meter-tall banyan tree, that was Feikawa Xiangzi's room.
Very quickly, Feikawa Xiangzi realized something was wrong. Someone seemed to have been home! Her heart jumped, and she immediately reached for her bedding.
Empty, it was empty! The money she had painstakingly saved over the past year, which was almost 2.1 million yen, was gone!
Connecting this with someone having been home, she immediately guessed that those people had come to her door to collect debts.
Feikawa Xiangzi's eyes turned red, her chest heaving as she inhaled. She sank to the ground, biting her lip, not wanting to cry out loud. But pearl-like tears still streamed down her cheeks.
How much debt did her family still owe? Feikawa Xiangzi didn't know, but it was probably around 100 million Japanese yen. How long would it take to pay off such a huge sum if she worked a normal job?
So, she had to start her previous plan. But if this plan started, she wouldn't have time to work other jobs, and she wouldn't have a source of income.
What she needed most now was a job with less working hours that could allow her to support herself. The best way was naturally to sell herself. This way, money came quickly and the work was free; she just had to lie down.
But Feikawa Xiangzi could not do this. It was impossible, even if she died. Her only choice now wasâ
She took out her phone and looked at Fujiwara Toru's profile picture on Line.
...
In his Western-style mansion, Fujiwara Toru was sitting in his study. He was about to go for a night run. At this moment, he looked at the screen in front of him and said, "Extract this black technology."