Yang Xiao just smiled and didn't say anything else. Himiko Toga obviously didn't want to chat with Yang Xiao. In her mind, she would only chat with her favorite prey or people she liked. She ignored ordinary people like Yang Xiao.
Although she and Yang Xiao were colleagues now, they were just colleagues. Compared to ordinary people, they had a slightly closer relationship, but it was still dispensable.
Actually, this was also the outcome Yang Xiao wanted. It would be best if Toga thought he was just an ordinary person, nothing more.
The two waited in the waiting room for a while. After checking their tickets, they boarded the bullet train. Yang Xiao found his seat and sat down, while Toga sat in another seat.
To be fair, the island nation's bullet trains weren't bad, but they were still somewhat different from China's. In some aspects, they weren't as advanced as China's.
After the train started moving, Yang Xiao began to rest with his eyes closed. Not long after, an attendant came up to Yang Xiao and asked, "Hello, sir, do you need anything?"
Yang Xiao opened his eyes and saw the attendant holding a wooden tray with water and some sushi snacks on it.
"I'll have one sushi." Yang Xiao was feeling a bit peckish. Now that he had a good salary, having some snacks was no problem.
"Okay, that will be 950 yen." The attendant smiled professionally.
Yang Xiao was stunned for a moment, then remembered that food here was generally more expensive than in outside shops. But since he'd already ordered one, he wouldn't back out. After paying, the attendant left.
After finishing the sushi, Yang Xiao continued to rest. This time, no one disturbed him. When he opened his eyes again, they were almost at the station.
After getting off the train, Toga directly took a taxi to Mr. Shi's hometown. Once the driver started driving, he looked at Yang Xiao and Toga in the rearview mirror, smiled, and asked, "Are you two from out of town?"
"None of your business. Just drive properly." Toga's words wiped the smile off the driver's face. Why was this girl so aggressive? He had originally wanted to see if they were from out of town. If they were, he could make some extra money.
But now he was a bit uncertain. This young girl had a bad temper and might be a tough customer, so he decided to observe them first.
By the time they reached the destination, the driver hadn't observed anything. The girl was listening to music with headphones, and the boy was resting in his seat. The two didn't talk to each other the entire trip and seemed like strangers.
Forget it, forget it. I won't try to cheat these two. No matter how you look at them, they seem a bit odd.
After Yang Xiao and Toga got out of the car, the driver left immediately, not wanting to say another word. However, what Yang Xiao didn't know was that because of Toga's initial remark, they avoided being overcharged.
"I really don't want to come to this remote place," Toga muttered, but it was still much better than boringly reading at school.
"Let's hurry up." Yang Xiao took the lead and walked ahead. Mr. Shi had described the house number and location very clearly, so they wouldn't be unable to find it.
The surroundings were endless rice fields, some of which were abandoned.
However, from the current perspective, the surrounding scenery was undoubtedly like a scene from an island nation anime—very beautiful and pleasing to the eye.
The air was also good. Compared to the alley where the Broken House was located in Hosu City, it was simply a world of difference.
"Machiza 31-543, this should be the place." Yang Xiao stopped in front of the two-story duplex building. The houses built by people here were like this, especially in the countryside. Single-story and two-story duplexes were the most common; there weren't so many three- or four-story buildings.
People here preferred to live in lower houses, partly due to local customs, and partly because the houses were less likely to collapse during an earthquake, making it easier to escape.
"Hello, is anyone there?" Yang Xiao rang the doorbell. Soon, someone came out from the courtyard. It was a gray-haired old lady. She smiled when she saw Yang Xiao and Toga were just kids. "Who are you looking for?"
Yang Xiao smiled and said, "We were sent by Mr. Shi to pick up the local specialties. Is it convenient for us to come in?"
"Is that so? Come on in." The old lady immediately opened the door and shouted into the house, "Old man, someone sent by our grandson is here to pick up something. Come down quickly!"
"Got it!" a robust voice came from inside the house.
The old lady brought Yang Xiao and the other two into the house and personally made two cups of tea. Toga waved her hand and said, "Old lady, I don't like tea. Do you have any juice?"
Well, she really didn't treat herself as an outsider. Yang Xiao facepalmed internally.
"Okay, I'll get it for you." The old lady didn't say anything else and asked Yang Xiao if he wanted a drink too. Yang Xiao declined directly; he thought tea was fine.
"Tsk, still pretending to be an adult. Drinking too much tea isn't good for you." Toga curled her lip. She felt Yang Xiao was putting on an act.
Yang Xiao laughed and took a sip from the cup. It felt good. It was true that it might not be suitable for someone his physical age to drink tea, but his mind was more mature. Having some tea was okay.
What puzzled Yang Xiao was that the old lady knew they were children but still made tea for them. Maybe it was just habit from making tea for guests.
"Here we are!" Just then, an old man came downstairs. He was carrying things in both hands. He came over to Yang Xiao with bags large and small. Panting slightly, he looked at Yang Xiao and asked, "Young man, these things aren't light. Can you two manage?"
"Uh... why is there a girl?" The old man was a bit stunned. What was going on? He expected at least two men to come pick up the things. Here was a boy and a girl; it was a bit questionable.
"Grandpa, are you looking down on me?" Toga was unhappy because of her physique. She put down the peach juice, took two steps over to the old man, bent down, and picked up one of the items.
"Hey, is that okay, girl? You're in such good health?" The old man looked at Toga in surprise. At his age, he couldn't carry these things, but this girl actually could.
To be honest, Toga felt the items were a bit heavy for her physique, but it was manageable. They could call a taxi. Anyway, Gin-san was paying, and there was Yang Xiao who could help.
"Okay, grandpa, can you give me another bottle of juice to drink on the way?" Toga said cutely, revealing a few little canine teeth.
"Dear, bring two more bottles of juice." The old man didn't say anything else and asked his wife to get them.
After the old lady brought two bottles of juice, Toga turned to look at Yang Xiao and said, "Take these two bottles of juice. Let's go."
Yang Xiao smiled, picked up the juice, said goodbye to the two elderly people, and the two of them set off.
The old man watched Toga's retreating figure and said in amazement, "Girls nowadays are so capable. Look at that boy; he's not as strong as the girl. I really don't know what to say."
"Yes, this girl has the same demeanor I had back then." The old lady smiled.
"Haha, yes, your work ability was extraordinary. How else would I have fallen for you?" The old man chuckled, completely unaware that the old lady beside him was looking a bit displeased.
"Okay, you carry the things." A hundred meters after leaving the house, Toga threw the bag in her hand directly on the ground, then took the two bottles of juice from Yang Xiao's hand without leaving one for him. "Don't tell me you can't carry them?"
Yang Xiao knew this would be the result. He smiled wryly and picked up a few bags. Then he looked at Toga and said, "You carry the rest."
"I won't. You carry everything. How could I use my hands for such things?" Toga shook her head lightly.