Chapter 1411: My Recommended Child?

"Hey, where are you?"

Luo Quan held the baby in one arm and the phone in the other, her eyes scanning the sea of people for Junzi's trace.

"Quan-chan, don't move—I see you!"

Junzi's voice was still as energetic as ever, and Luo Quan had already heard it from outside the phone.

Following the direction of the voice, Luo Quan spotted her.

No wonder I'd been scanning for ages and hadn't seen Junzi—turns out she, like me, was fully bundled up, even though summer was just around the corner, yet she was still wrapped in layers upon layers.

"Junzi, aren't you hot?"

Luo Quan walked over, asking with a mix of laughter and exasperation.

She has an Innocent Immortal Physique—warm in winter, cool in summer; touching her hand in summer feels like air conditioning, and leaning on her in winter is like hugging a human-shaped hot water bottle.

So her clothing choices are quite casual—thicker in summer, thinner in winter, it doesn't matter.

But Junzi doesn't have this physique—doesn't she fear heatstroke dressing like that?

"It's fine, Quan-chan—I'm just wearing thick clothes, and the fabric is quite breathable." Junzi shook her head, signaling Luo Quan to relax.

Luo Quan frowned: "I remember Tokyo Airport didn't have this many paparazzi, right? Or have you already become a household name?"

"Ah, this is a long story." Junzi let out a long sigh, as if recent events had left her frazzled and exhausted.

"What happened to make you look so helpless?" Luo Quan covered her mouth and chuckled.

"This isn't the place to talk—let's go to my place first. I bought sukiyaki."

Junzi said, lowering her head to look at Luo Lemon, eyes full of affection: "Lemon is just too adorable—when she sleeps, her little mouth keeps pouting and moving."

Luo Quan lowered her head and saw that her daughter's mouth was indeed moving.

I wonder if it's because she didn't eat enough before the flight, so even in her dreams she's still feeling unsatisfied.

Smiling, Luo Quan followed Junzi into the car, heading to her current apartment.

Junzi's house is a standalone two-story building in Shinjuku Ward, over a hundred square meters—though not particularly spacious, the decoration is exquisite, and living here is far more comfortable for two or three people than in those sprawling thousand-plus-square-meter mansions.

Arriving at the entrance, Luo Quan took off her shoes.

Junzi stood beside her, head lowered, her expression seeming somewhat disappointed.

"What's with that look?"

Luo Quan asked, puzzled.

Junzi replied regretfully: "I thought you'd wear stockings and high heels when you went out, Quan-chan—but you didn't even wear stockings, let alone high heels."

"Why would I wear stockings and high heels to meet friends? Is this some kind of Japanese etiquette?" Luo Quan was utterly baffled—or is Junzi just into something special in this area?

Junzi shook her head: "No, I just think stockings suit you, Quan-chan—they give you a unique aura, somewhere between pure and wanton."

"Sexy, right?" Luo Quan accurately voiced the word Junzi had in mind, then laughed helplessly: "So, is that how I appear in your heart?"

"It's not a bad descriptor—many women want to be sexy but can't achieve it."

Junzi said, pulling a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet and tossing them to Luo Quan's feet: "This is a feminine touch—before, you were always fiery and energetic, like a boy.

Now you're becoming more and more likable."

"Is that because I gave birth to Lemon?"

As Luo Quan finished speaking, Luo Lemon opened her eyes, stretched out her tiny hand, and went straight for a kiss.

But it wasn't a kiss for Mom—it was a kiss on Mom.

Luo Quan sat on the sofa, gently smiling as she leaned in, letting her daughter plant a morning kiss on her.

Although it's almost noon now, for her daughter, it's still morning.

"Let's sit and watch some TV first—I'll go make sukiyaki in the kitchen." Junzi spoke while already tying on her apron.

"Need help?"

Luo Quan perked up at the mention of cooking.

"Who'll watch Lemon if you go into the kitchen? Just relax—I'm not the clueless idiot who couldn't even make fried rice anymore."

Junzi said, walking into the kitchen, and soon a rich aroma drifted out.

While the food wasn't ready yet, Luo Quan turned on the TV to see what Japanese people usually watch.

As soon as she turned it on, a replay of the Tokyo Art Prize final appeared.

The Tokyo Art Prize is a show that started last year, open to anyone under twenty-four.

From music to sculpture to novels to painting, any art form can be your entry, and the judges consist of authoritative experts and ordinary viewers alike.

As long as you have artistic talent, you'll definitely be discovered through this show.

Whether you're a commoner's child or a zaibatsu's young heir, on the Tokyo Art Prize stage, everything speaks through your work.

In Luo Quan's view, the Tokyo Art Prize is no different from the Artists' Avenue of Stars.

It belongs to the Starlight Grand Stage—if you have a dream, come, whether it's years of grueling practice or a few nights of sudden inspiration, you can take the stage to showcase.

If you can stun the audience on stage, you might even earn a ticket to a higher social class.

In Japan, where class rigidity is severe, politicians' sons remain politicians, bankers' sons remain bankers, zaibatsu heirs remain zaibatsu.

As for commoners, if they don't encounter a major opportunity, they'll graduate from a private university, enter society, and live out a long, mediocre life.

This is already a relatively good outcome—nowadays, many people don't even finish high school.

Due to academic pressure, domestic violence, school bullying, and other factors, young people have become runaway boys and runaway girls.

Some give up and become paid companions, others wander the streets.

No hope, no path upward, drained of all welfare by the elite—this is the reality of Japan's underclass.

Yet the Tokyo Art Prize already counts as one of the few chances for commoners to defy fate and change their destiny.

Though limited to artists, or rather, artistic talent.

What's regrettable is that, in the past two years, the Tokyo Art Prize has never featured the rags-to-riches, feel-good story of a poor student rising to nobility.

Whether last year or this year, the three major contenders for the championship are all scions of conglomerates.

These lucky ones born with a silver spoon in their mouth have been exposed to Western art from childhood, and many have even received passionate guidance from art masters.

Just this level of education is not something commoners or even the middle class can compare to.

However, the works produced by these conglomerate heirs are indeed worthy of the top-tier education they have received.

Their performance during the competition can truly be described as exceptionally outstanding; any one of them winning the Tokyo Art Grand Prize would not be controversial.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that these conglomerate heirs might call for external assistance.

After all, the show claims to be fair, just, and open, but it's hard to say whether it truly is.

Such behind-the-scenes manipulation in Japan is really too common; the wealthy in this sphere may not act with impunity, but they can also

Luo Quan watched for a while and had a very good impression of a contestant named Hikawa Rin.

This girl in a red blazer is the only female among the three championship contenders, and her chosen art form is opera singing.

However, Luo Quan's good impression of her is not because of her voice, which is even more melodious than a lark's, but because she already possesses her own 36E at such a young age.

This little girl looks to be around eighteen years old, probably just started university.

When Luo Quan was in university, she didn't even have this scale; truly, she can be called exceptionally gifted.

At just over eighteen, she already possesses a magnificent figure that the vast majority of Asian women cannot achieve in a lifetime.

Luo Quan admits she is somewhat appearance-oriented, but given that her talent is also outstanding, Hikawa Rin's exceptional looks indeed make it easier for people to feel fond of her.

Moreover, judging by the audience's reaction, appearance bias is not limited to her alone; more than half of the live audience chose Hikawa Rin.

Actually, the difference in ability among the three contenders is not that great, but the other two male contestants have appearances that are truly somewhat disappointing to the audience.

One has a mouth full of yellow teeth, and his hair is longer than Kenshi Yonezu's.

The other has neat teeth, but his face is full of pockmarks, even worse than the previous guy.

These are all very significant deductions.

Because appearance can add points is not prejudice, but a fact that indeed exists.

Luo Quan had previously demonstrated this; when she took the art exam, she said that if the audience could see her face while listening to the music, the experience would definitely be more enjoyable.

Conversely, if the performer's appearance is avant-garde and somewhat jarring, then everyone would be better off closing their eyes and listening to the music, because looking while listening would be more annoying.

In the past, pianists' performances were always with their backs to the audience, only showing the back of their heads.

Until Liszt appeared, after proposing reforms in performance direction, did pianists change from facing away from the audience to facing sideways during performance.

As for the reason behind this, it is laughable.

Because the famous pianist and composer Liszt thought his own appearance was too handsome.

If he could let the audience admire his unparalleled handsome appearance while playing the piano, it would make his music even more beautiful.

At that time, many people did not particularly understand such behavior, but since Liszt was not ugly either, no one questioned it.

As Liszt personally implemented changes to performance style, everyone gradually became accustomed to it, and it also influenced a large number of other pianists.

Over time, pianists facing sideways to the audience became the customary performance practice.

Although society talks about inner beauty being true beauty.

But judging by appearance is actually the norm in this world, and very few people can break out of this secular circle.

Just like archaeology, even if they are corpses dead for thousands of years, there is still a difference between the Loulan beauty and the No. 2 desiccated corpse.

Would anyone care about the No. 2 desiccated corpse?

No, people only wonder how beautiful the Loulan beauty was in life.

Just like this Tokyo Art Grand Prize, the final champion was won by Hikawa Rin, whose appearance is clearly superior to her opponents by several notches.

This is not too unexpected; Hikawa Rin's performance in the finals was just a face full of champion aura, overly confident, giving a feeling of "I am most confident, radiating light."

The two other contestants, under the light of her radiance, appeared even more lacking in comparison to their already somewhat lacking appearance.

Luo Quan saw the disappointment in their eyes, and her heart suddenly felt a bit sorrowful.

Actually, their talent is truly not lacking; it's just that their appearance is not high enough, so the outcome was already determined before the competition even ended.

If they had looked a bit more like Zhou Zheng, the championship could still have gone to anyone.

It's really too regrettable.

When Hikawa Rin was expressing her thanks with tears in her eyes, Chunzi in the kitchen also shouted: "The food is ready."

Luo Quan got up and came to the table, looking at the abundant dishes before her, and gave Chunzi a thumbs-up: "Not bad, Chunzi; I didn't know your cooking skills were already this good."

"It's just that I've been practicing bit by bit over these years; after all, I used to be often taken care of by Luo Quan, and every time I cooked, it was you alone busy in the kitchen, while I and Seeing Wen Xia couldn't help at all.

Before, it was because I really didn't know how, but I couldn't therefore feel at ease about getting something for nothing, so I have always been working hard to learn how to cook, and I have made some progress after all."

Chunzi said, placing a pair of chopsticks in front of Luo Quan: "Please try it, Luo Quan."

Sukiyaki is divided into Kanto and Kansai styles.

Kanto uses bonito to make broth as a base, very similar to hot pot.

Kansai style is more like a hodgepodge, where ingredients are laid on a flat pan and sautéed in beef tallow, then sukiyaki sauce is added and carefully simmered over medium heat.

About five minutes later, a pot of sukiyaki is considered done.

There's no need to take the ingredients out of the pot; just put the pot on the table and start eating, and if you want to eat something else later, just put the ingredients in the flat pan to cook.

The sukiyaki Chunzi served this time is Kansai style, with a thick layer of snowflake beef with curled edges on the flat pan; although I don't know what A-grade it is, the quality is definitely not poor.

This beef looks very well-seared; from afar, one can smell a rich meat aroma.

The curled edges have just the right amount of caramelized brown; without tasting, one knows the texture must be crisp outside and tender inside.

Luo Quan picked up a piece and put it in her mouth; immediately, her mouth was filled with beef aroma and the fresh fragrance of sukiyaki sauce, directly giving her full satisfaction.

"Delicious, Chunzi, your cooking skills are much better than I imagined." Luo Quan swallowed the beef and loudly praised.

"Really? As long as you think it's delicious, that's fine." After receiving Luo Quan's praise, Chunzi's smile was as sweet as can be.

"By the way, what trouble have you encountered recently? Can you tell me about it?"

Miss Luo Quan picked up another piece of beef and began today's main topic.

"Sigh." Junzi let out a sigh: "This matter is a long story to tell."