Chapter 9: If only he could at least pretend to cover it up

Afterward.

Upon learning that Xia Xia Xia Mujun had not been adopted by wealthy relatives, that his grades were poor, and that he possessed no particular talents, Kondo Masaaki felt this person had basically no hope of turning his life around, so he turned cold and stopped chatting.

In his eyes, this Xia Xia Xia Mujun was indeed good-looking, but that was all.

He was a pragmatic man and had no interest in Xia Xia Xia Mujun, who liked to brag despite having no ability.

He only felt that he should talk to his wife later and stop thinking about setting their daughter up with this Xia Xia Xia Mujun; they were clearly not a match!

His own daughter was well-read and sensible, and she was beautiful too.

She had a crowd of pursuers at school.

There is no harm without comparison.

Now, in his eyes, he felt that Yamaguchi Hakuta, whom he had met before, was quite good, and his family background was also very decent.

Although the Xia family had been very wealthy in the past, that was the past!

Now that they had gone bankrupt, they were ultimately just ordinary people.

"Dinner is ready. Stop talking for now, come over and eat first." Kondo Miyuki called out to them from beside the dining table.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun and the others went over to eat.

At the dining table.

Kondo Masaaki was too lazy to say much, just watching TV while he ate.

Kondo Miki did glance at Xia Xia Xia Mujun from time to time, but every time she looked, she would sigh inwardly, regretting that this person only had a good shell.

The beautiful lady Kondo Miyuki, out of everyone, was actually the most interested in Xia Xia Xia Mujun.

She had met the Yamaguchi Hakuta her daughter often spoke of, but she didn't really like that person's personality; she always felt he was very hypocritical.

Conversely, she was quite fond of Xia Xia Xia Mujun's current mature, steady, neither humble nor pushy, and hardworking demeanor, feeling that such a person would surely not end up doing poorly in the future.

Therefore, even after learning that the Xia family had gone bankrupt, she still hoped her daughter would have more contact with Xia Xia Xia Mujun to cultivate some feelings.

Kondo Miyuki covered her plump red lips and smiled:

"Speaking of which, the Starlight Cafe is quite popular in Japan; they've opened many chain stores and have even gone public."

"I quite like the coffee at this shop. I didn't expect a new one to open near our house recently, so I thought I'd go over and buy a cup or something."

"Who knew I'd run into you there, Xia Xia Xia Mujun? It really was a surprise."

Kondo Miki was somewhat surprised:

"Eh, Xia Xia Xia Mujun, you... work at the cafe near my house?"

Xia Xia Xia Mujun nodded and said:

"Yes."

Kondo Masaaki shook his head calmly, thinking to himself that this boy was indeed destined to be a bottom-tier worker.

You have to know that among the boys his daughter knew, which one didn't have money? He had never heard of anyone working at this age.

"Since it's so close, remember to come to your aunt's house often when you have time," Kondo Miyuki smiled.

"If there's an opportunity..." Xia Xia Xia Mujun said casually.

To be honest, if it weren't for Ruri wanting the memento left behind by her father, he actually didn't want to come over at all.

Moreover, he could see that Kondo Masaaki's attitude toward him was lukewarm, clearly not welcoming him.

So in this situation, he was basically just being polite and perfunctory the whole time.

As for coming again next time, he'd rather skip it; he couldn't be bothered to ask for that discomfort.

Before long.

After dinner was finished.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun got straight to the point, intending to grab the memento and scram.

"Aunt Kondo, that thing you mentioned earlier..."

Kondo Miyuki suddenly realized:

"Oh, look at my memory, I almost forgot."

"Follow me."

Hearing this, Xia Xia Xia Mujun followed Kondo Miyuki to her storage room.

As soon as Kondo Miyuki entered, she began rummaging through the items on the shelves, trying to find something.

However, after searching for quite a while, she couldn't find it.

"Where on earth did I put it..."

Soon.

She finally saw the corner of a chessboard and a book of chess records on a high shelf, so she stood on tiptoe and reached out to pull them out.

Kondo Miyuki held the thick book of chess records and smiled:

"This is it."

But just at this moment.

Because of her actions, the balance of the items on the high shelf was broken, and quite a few things fell directly down.

When Kondo Miyuki noticed this scene, she was naturally stunned on the spot, only able to watch helplessly as those sundries fell.

"Watch out!"

In this instant.

Kondo Miyuki saw a large hand blocking her head, shielding her from the items.

Clatter, clatter—

A pile of things landed on the ground.

Fortunately, with Xia Xia Xia Mujun's help, Kondo Miyuki was not hit by anything.

However, her current situation made her very embarrassed.

She saw Xia Xia Xia Mujun pressed tightly against her, and her heaving bosom was slightly deformed because of it.

When she felt Xia Xia Xia Mujun's tall and sturdy body, her fair face turned red visibly to the naked eye, and a palpitation she hadn't felt in a long time seemed to reignite like ashes, beating rapidly.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun slowly picked up the things from above and placed them down gently. After doing this, he moved away from Kondo Miyuki.

"Aunt Kondo, are you alright?"

Kondo Miyuki's eyes flickered, and she shyly tucked her hair behind her ear, her tone full of concern:

"I'm fine, but you... you weren't hit just now, were you?"

Xia Xia Xia Mujun patted the dust off his body and shook his head:

"I'm fine."

Kondo Miyuki breathed a sigh of relief, her plump red lips moved slightly, and she said gratefully:

"Thank you. If it weren't for you just now, I would have been hit."

Xia Xia Xia Mujun shook his head:

"Don't worry about it."

Compared to this, his gaze fell straight onto Kondo Miyuki's heaving bosom, and he couldn't help but stare.

He saw the thick book of chess records she was holding in her arms emitting a peculiar light.

[Dust-covered Chess Records]

[Quality: Blue]

[Effect: After equipping, you can instantly master all the chess records in this book, and your comprehension in playing chess will be superb, allowing you to draw inferences about ten cases from one, with an understanding unimaginable to ordinary people!]

[Introduction: If you don't play Shogi, seeing me is like a frog in a well looking at the moon in the sky; if you do play Shogi, seeing me is like a mayfly shaking a green sky!]

[Synthesis Condition: Requires at least three pieces of equipment of the same type!]

The moment he saw this equipment, Xia Xia Xia Mujun was secretly overjoyed!

You have to know that the few pieces of equipment he had encountered were at most ordinary white-quality equipment.

But now he had actually encountered blue-quality equipment?

And the effect of this equipment was too strong!

Just by equipping it, not only would his comprehension in chess become superb, but he could also instantly master everything in this book?!

Xia Xia Xia Mujun instantly recalled the new Shogi tournament the Chess Association had started that his sister mentioned while watching TV.

Even amateur players could participate, and as long as one participated and won consecutively, one could continuously receive monetary rewards.

Although he didn't know how much the prize money would be at the end of the victory.

But he knew that as long as he won one game in this tournament, the prize money would double.

The first game was 10,000 yen.

The second game was 20,000 yen.

The third game was 40,000 yen, and so on.

It could be said that as long as he kept winning, the more money he would get!

If he won ten games in a row, that would be 5.12 million yen!

You have to know that Xia Xia Xia Mujun's salary for working at the cafe for a month was at most 50,000 to 80,000 yen.

And as long as he equipped this book of chess records, even if he couldn't win until the end, just winning five or six games would probably be enough to cover two or three months' salary.

Thinking of this, Xia Xia Xia Mujun felt that this trip was truly worth it!

And Kondo Miyuki, seeing the burning gaze Xia Xia Xia Mujun was fixedly casting at her chest, felt increasingly shy and flustered, her eyes flickering constantly, and she felt her body heating up slightly.

At the same time, she couldn't help but feel a sense of reproach toward Xia Xia Xia Mujun; she was his father's classmate, how could he look at her like that?

If only he could at least pretend to cover it up...