Chapter 389

"Mai Xuejie, why are you here?" Uesugi Muneyuki felt surprised as Mai Xuejie pushed the door open; he indeed had much he wanted to say to her.

"You've already joined the University of Tokyo, so we're alumni now—how could I not come?" Shirakawa Mai smiled with narrowed eyes, her exceptionally beautiful face bathed in the warm winter sunlight, surrounded by a radiant halo that made the surrounding scenery blur automatically; she held a box of wagashi in her hand: "Here, this is wagashi from Echigoya—congratulations, Junior Student!"

Having said that, taking advantage of Uesugi Muneyuki reaching out to take the wagashi, Mai Xuejie turned toward Ishihara Mikoto, bowed deeply with great respect, her smile unchanged but her temperature suddenly dropping: "Ishihara-san is here too? Really, you must be working hard for Muneyuki even at this hour."

The atmosphere in the office subtly solidified.

Ishihara Mikoto's fox-like face flickered with a hint of solemnity; she instinctively glanced at Uesugi Muneyuki, as the rumors between him and Mai Xuejie had been circulating for a long time, even continuing after their engagement, and moreover, strictly speaking, Mikoto had once served as the school doctor at Gunma Tokiwa Middle School, so she naturally knew Mai Xuejie, but was uncertain whether Mai Xuejie recognized her.

"Oh oh, Mikoto-nee, this is Mai, my senior—you should know her." Uesugi Muneyuki made an introduction, gazing at the Goddess Senior and the Forensic Beauty, memories of his time at Tokiwa Middle School welling up, and he couldn't help but reveal a nostalgic expression.

"Mai-san, nice to meet you!" Ishihara Mikoto could only respond immediately.

Mai Xuejie seemed to be confirming something; her beautiful eyes fixed intently on this former school doctor, Uesugi Muneyuki's first possessor, and a flicker of jealousy involuntarily crossed her mind, her tone naturally turning sour: "Ishihara-san, your complexion seems off? Having to complete your own career while assisting Junior Student with such a heavy workload, plus handling all sorts of miscellaneous tasks—truly difficult for you. After all, not everyone can be like Junior Student, possessing both talent and willingness to endure hardship; 'relying' too closely on him, be careful not to get scorched by his brilliance?"

Having said that, Mai Xuejie suddenly realized: "Oh oh oh, I forgot—being the school doctor, Ishihara-san, your care for Junior Student is truly meticulous! Not only do you lavishly protect his campus life, guarding him so that he constantly thinks of you, but you've also protected him all the way from Gunma Tokiwa to the University of Tokyo! What incredible willpower~"

Tsk! How did she know that?

Ishihara Mikoto glanced again at Uesugi Muneyuki, but he signaled her not to engage, so she could only say: "Miss Shirakawa, you flatter me. Being able to follow and learn from Uesugi, to participate in his work, is my honor."

"Mm, you understand, then that's good." Shirakawa Mai lightly pressed down on Ishihara Mikoto's head, then turned to Uesugi Muneyuki: "Junior Student, could you come with me for a moment?"

"Well... Mikoto-nee, you first get familiar with the environment and lab—I'll go with Mai." Uesugi Muneyuki indeed wanted to speak with Mai Xuejie urgently, so he could only say that to Ishihara Mikoto, then offered an apologetic expression.

Uesugi Shiro left, leaving Ishihara Mikoto alone in the office; she slowly sat down, still wondering why Mai Xuejie would show her such inexplicable hostility.

Because of her special relationship with Uesugi Muneyuki? Impossible—if she were jealous, the legitimate fiancée Minami would be her rival.

Because of her assistant relationship with Uesugi Muneyuki? Impossible—Ikeda Erena is the one inseparable from him!

Moreover, she is relatively older and has never competed or fought; truly, I cannot fathom where Mai Xuejie's inexplicable hostility comes from.

Wait!

After Ishihara Mikoto puzzledly pondered for a while, she suddenly had a bizarre realization.

If she has anything special, it is that she possesses an extremely unique identity—the legal mother of Saito Asuka!

And it is said that Uesugi Muneyuki originally intended to entrust Asuka to Mai Xuejie's care, but the latter was too busy to attend to it; however, Mai Xuejie herself adores Asuka immensely, sending gifts every few weeks—various clothes, perfumes, skirts, socks, and little leather shoes, so many Rinabell dolls that Asuka can't put them down.

Could it be that Mai Xuejie is jealous because she has become Asuka's mother?

In the bones of the National Goddess, could she be a super pervy lolicon? Just fond of Asuka's sweet, tender flavor?

Ishihara Mikoto realized she might have uncovered the truth.

The Forensic Beauty clenched her fists tightly.

Don't be afraid, Asuka—Mom will protect you!

……………………

At the same time, Uesugi Muneyuki and Shirakawa Mai strolled through the University of Tokyo campus; naturally, they initially attracted countless gazes, but as Mai Xuejie released her ability, that inner-to-outer serenity and confidence formed a near-cool aura, blending with the rigorous academic atmosphere around them.

"I know you have many questions you want to ask me." Mai Xuejie's radiant face showed a hint of playfulness: "I also know you want to ask me why I deliberately concealed things from you, Junior Student—I now only ask you one question: Have you learned?"

"I've become useless." Uesugi Muneyuki smiled wryly helplessly: "I first witnessed the state machinery mobilize so swiftly just to protect one person—so fast I couldn't even react."

"Pfft~" Mai Xuejie laughed charmingly, extending a foot clad in black matte silk; her white satin high-heeled shoe swayed before Uesugi Muneyuki as she teased: "This is why I didn't tell you—some things, if you knew beforehand, the investigative effect would be absolutely nowhere near as good; simultaneously, if you don't know some things, you don't have to bear moral pressure."

"……But I still want to know." Uesugi Muneyuki took Mai Xuejie's hand, and the two came to a bench in the campus, where he put his arm around the Goddess Senior's slender, soft waist, holding this goddess whom at least half of Japanese men would adore on his lap.

He could understand why Mai Xuejie did this—actually, it was to avoid making him struggle, and likewise to protect him.

Perhaps it's hard for everyone to understand; here's a typical example—the male protagonist Guo Jing in *The Legend of the Condor Heroes*.

This character Guo Jing is the most perfect designed by Jin Yong, best embodying "the great hero serves country and people"; Jin Yong nearly gave him all excellent qualities.

Yet in actual writing, this character proved quite difficult, because he is perfect and upright, so when facing many problems, Jin Yong had no choice but to "hide" this character.

For instance, when discussing the "Five Greats," Guo Jing's perfect persona made it bad to accept openly (seemed hypocritical), bad to be humble (his strength and fame far exceeded others, so he wouldn't accept, and who dares accept?), so Jin Yong simply let him stay silent.

Another example: when Mu Nianci and Cheng Yaojia were teased by Ouyang Ke pressing their pressure points, Guo Jing, if he went out to ruin his persona, would die if he charged out; Jin Yong could only let him become mute and temporarily disappear.

Such situations occur abundantly in *The Return of the Condor Heroes*, even reaching *The Condor Heroes Trilogy*; to protect Guo Jing's perfect image, many bad deeds against Yang Guo were arranged by Huang Rong or indirectly influenced, while Guo Jing remained hidden throughout, only emerging when problems arose to act as a good man.

Mai Xuejie is planning the same—Uesugi Muneyuki is a person with stubborn temperament and character; some things are better left unknown to him.

She hopes Uesugi Muneyuki can be that lush, leafy tree on the ground, while she becomes the guardian of the tree, supporting it and serving as another part of the tree's "roots."

"Are you making me a marionette?" Uesugi Muneyuki understood Mai Xuejie's care and attention toward him, yet still dissatisfied, he muttered: "You're responsible for hiding in the shadows, controlling everything—the Cabinet Secretary Humphrey and Private Secretary Bernard, while I'm just some Jim Hacker mysteriously pushed into the Prime Minister position?"

"If you're willing to understand it that way, then it's not impossible?" Mai Xuejie laughed heartily, embracing Uesugi Muneyuki's neck: "Being able to be my marionette is something countless people would die for, Junior Student—you just secretly enjoy it……uh, wait, what's that……oh! Oh Oh Oh~~~ You actually~~~Oh oh oh oh!!!"

The senior in Uesugi Muneyuki's arms let out a strange battle cry, her eyes somewhat rolling upward: "Muneyuki! You scumbag! Don't touch there! Not even a little! I'll short-circuit! I'll short-circuit!!!"

Uesugi Muneyuki then withdrew his fingers, smirking: "The situation has already reversed! Come clean!"

Shirakawa Mai's black silk-clad feet beneath her skirt tensed tightly, the arches high and toes instinctively curling, the heels even slipping off; she breathed finely for a moment, then whispered: "13 Locations."

"Huh?"

"Similar places—within Tokyo Metropolis, there are 13." Mai Xuejie leaned in Uesugi Muneyuki's embrace, listening to the man's strong, powerful heartbeat, and whispered softly: "Solving one or two is useless; in fact, I already tried destroying one of those strongholds before, but it was completely ineffective……so this time I'm trying to get official forces involved, and indeed, it's still not surprising."

"But it doesn't matter—even a serious injury to a National Diet Member's son couldn't completely collapse this industry chain; next time I'll come with an even bigger explosion, blowing everything onto the table, forcing officials to take a stand, forcing the entire police organization to step forward."

"Anyway, our division of labor is clear—I handle the explosion, you handle the investigation!"

"Let us work together to utterly shatter the darkness behind us!"