Chapter 343: Boss... I Don't Have Money

Kamikawa Mitsu muttered to himself, glanced in a direction, and walked over.

Okinawa Prefecture, one of Japan's famous tourist destinations, is a place where even Japanese people love to come for travel and vacations.

The climate here is warm and pleasant, situated in a subtropical maritime climate zone.

Besides featuring folk-style architecture from Southeast Asia, Hua Nation, and Japan, it has a more distinctive American flair than mainland Japan, earning it the nickname "Japan's Hawaii," and is the hometown of karate.

After arguing with her mother Hanagami Tomoko, Hanagami Junko took her own New Year's money and flew here with a friend, staying for half a year.

She was, after all, just a Gao Zhongsheng, and New Year's money isn't unlimited. Less than a month after arriving, both she and her friend had spent all their money.

Out of spite, and also afraid that calling home would make her mother angry and earn her a scolding, the frightened Hanagami Junko, when she was nearly out of money, did not choose to call her mother for help.

She decided to prove it to her mother.

That she actually had the ability to be independent, and could live just fine without her mother.

That she wasn't the little girl her mother thought only caused worry.

However, in Japan, employing minors for work is illegal, but if it's just a summer part-time job, it doesn't count as illegal.

For Hanagami Junko and her friend to get money, they could only pretend to be students doing part-time work; they couldn't get a normal job. Because of this, they took temporary jobs, having to switch to a new part-time gig every few days.

In Japan, social pressure is intense, and the temporary jobs students take are always thankless and grueling.

Things like dishwashing, food delivery, serving dishes and tea as waitstaff, and so on.

A Gao Zhongsheng, and a girl at that, who hadn't even stepped into society yet, was now taking on the pressure of the very bottom of society—few could bear it.

Hanagami Junko's friend was exactly like that.

Even though they encouraged each other, after persisting for three months, her friend finally couldn't hold on any longer and was the first to "fall in battle."

Unable to endure it, her friend called home, tearfully admitted her mistake, and her family came to pick her up and take her back.

Originally, her friend had wanted Hanagami Junko to come back to Arakawa Ward with her and apologize to Hanagami Tomoko.

The stubborn-tempered Hanagami Junko refused her friend's kind offer, and even told her friend to absolutely not tell her mother Tomoko about her situation, nor tell her friend's own family.

One month of running away from home, money spent.

Four months of running away from home, friend went home.

For the following two months, Hanagami Junko was left all alone, still helpless on Okinawa Island, with heavy expenses to bear. Relying on her alone doing temporary work was definitely not enough.

Basically eating one meal a day, going hungry every day became the norm.

As the saying goes, when a person is down on their luck, everything comes at once.

Hanagami Junko was exactly like this. Because she no longer had her friend, she didn't dare switch to a new temporary job. After working continuously for two months, the boss had already begun to suspect whether Hanagami Junko was really doing temporary work, and fearing trouble, fired her.

Without the temporary job, finding a new one was very troublesome, and Hanagami Junko lived even more frugantly.

Not only did she have no money to pay her phone bill, unable to call her friend, but today she also accidentally lost her phone and searched for half a day without finding it.

Now she could be said to be completely out of touch—call out to heaven and get no answer, call out to earth and get no response.

At this moment.

It was exactly 7 p. m.

Hanagami Junko didn't stay at the inn; she chose to go out for a walk to see if she could find a part-time job. She had just paid the inn's lodging fee, and she didn't have a single penny left in her pocket. She hadn't even eaten today's meal yet.

Gurgle~

Her stomach growled disobediently, and the hunger made her want to cry.

She really wanted to call her mother and admit her mistake.

Actually, as early as after her friend went home, she had wanted to call her mother and admit her mistake several times, but she didn't dare, afraid that running away from home for four months would make her mother fly into a Lei Ting rage.

At this moment, her reason for not daring to call her mother was more out of fear than out of spite.

"Smells so good."

She missed her home-cooked meals, her mother's warmth. At some point she had walked to a street side where a snack stall was set up, selling takoyaki.

The vendor looked like a young person.

That young person looked somehow familiar yet also unfamiliar, but she didn't bother to think it over.

She stood in front of the takoyaki stall, her attention entirely on the takoyaki.

The sizzling sound of takoyaki being grilled, accompanied by the aroma of takoyaki, was incredibly tempting. Just one look was enough to whet the appetite and make one's mouth water, let alone the starving Hanagami Junko.

She took a hard sniff of the takoyaki's fragrance, her mouth watering so much she nearly drooled, constantly swallowing her saliva, her stomach already letting out a protest.

She bit her red lips, gripped the hem of her clothes tightly, and with great difficulty turned her head away, taking steps to leave.

There was nothing she could do—she didn't have a single cent in her pocket, and even if she wanted to eat, she couldn't. Rather than getting hungrier the more she looked, it was better not to look.

"Hey there, customer, come on over. Want some takoyaki? It's really good."

The young takoyaki boss, while making takoyaki, waved at Hanagami Junko and showed a smile.

Hanagami Junko took a step forward, then stopped her steps and didn't go any further, saying:

"No thanks, I'm not hungry."

As if protesting, as if being contrary, the moment Hanagami Junko finished speaking, her stomach let out another gurgling sound.

In an instant, Hanagami Junko—who often couldn't eat enough lately, was so hungry her cheeks had sunken in, and looked like she was malnourished—blushed a rosy red all the way to the roots of her ears.

The young boss laughed.

"Customer, my takoyaki is really delicious. If you don't believe me, try one. I guarantee once you eat it, you'll definitely want more."

Hanagami Junko didn't step forward. Facing the boss's warmth, she wore an embarrassed look and said honestly:

"Boss, I... I don't have any money."

After saying that, she turned and left.

But just then, the young boss called out to her. She had to endure the boss sizing her up, and couldn't help but look at herself.

These past days, busy looking for work, she hadn't washed her clothes, and she looked a bit dirty all over. She touched her face—she had lost a lot of weight. Even without looking at her own face, she could guess she was now gaunt and sallow.

She didn't raise her head to look at the boss.

Because she was afraid to see the boss's eyes.

She guessed the boss now thought she was a pauper, standing in front of his stall with no money, disturbing his business.

At that moment, the boss spoke.

"Go find an empty seat. I'll make you something to eat."

Hanjo Junko blinked, watching the young boss point to an empty spot by the stall — it didn't seem like he was teasing her; he genuinely wanted to give her food.

But she had clearly said she had no money.

With questions in her mind, and the young boss gesturing again for her to sit, Hanjo Junko took the empty seat.

"Boss, why are you so kind to me?"

Over there.

The young boss, busy making takoyaki, kept his gaze fixed on the heat of the griddle, afraid that if he looked away for a moment, the octopus balls would burn.

"I'm not. It's just a plate of takoyaki. Let me tell you, there's someone even kinder than me."

……

(PS: QAQ Today only one chapter. The following plot is crucial — it affects Earth's future development. I'm sorting out my outline.)