During his second life as Ailun, he really did go through a period of hardship. But after he met her, his life became much easier.
It wasn't like some ridiculous light novel encounter—'My Deskmate Is a Rich Ojou-sama.' How could the daughter of a wealthy family possibly attend the ordinary high school he went to back then?
Just how ordinary was Ailun's high school? Twelve years ago, a student got accepted into Peking University, and the school bragged about it for twelve years straight. At every teacher-student assembly, the principal would start by boasting about that student who got into Peking University twelve years ago. Even though that student had never once returned to visit the school since graduating.
If one had to describe it, the woman he met wasn't some ojou-sama at all—it would be more accurate to call her the ojou-sama's mother.
Back then, while working part-time at a bookstore, there was a woman in her thirties who often came by to buy books. The books she bought were mostly magazines and novels that were good for killing time and relieving boredom.
Around thirty-something, her thin lips carried a faint allure, her narrow eyes holding a mature charm. Her beautiful legs, wrapped in black stockings, had already stolen countless glances the moment she stepped out of her car. Even though she dressed modestly, her demeanor and speech made it obvious she was the wife of a wealthy family.
After all, every time she came to the bookstore, a Bentley would be parked at the entrance.
Ailun was somewhat handsome. Every feature of his face just happened to be the type most girls liked. Girls who secretly admired him, sent him love letters, or asked classmates about his QQ number or phone number were never in short supply.
But unfortunately, at that time, Ailun only cared about studying. No joke—his goal back then was to get into a good university. He even hoped that his future mother-in-law would still be carrying a schoolbag, just entering junior high.
Ailun always thought he only had popularity among girls his own age. He never expected that even older women would be drawn to him as well.
After visiting the bookstore many times, they eventually grew familiar. That was when Ailun learned her name: Xu Shaoxin, age 39.
Her husband had once been a well-known businessman. After they married, he was always busy with business, so despite being married for years, they still didn't have a child. Just when they were discussing having one, her husband died in a plane crash.
Most of the family assets were seized by her husband's relatives, leaving her with only a small portion. Even so, that small portion still included a villa with a garden, a Bentley, and one hundred million yuan in cash.
As for the businesses her husband had left behind, his relatives took them all. She wasn't skilled in business, and she felt that if she managed them herself, she'd probably lose everything. So when it came to inheritance, she was very generous.
So generous that her husband's relatives even felt a little guilty, planning to leave her with some businesses after all.
But she told them: "You can take all the businesses. The house, car, and money he left me aren't much, but it's enough for me to live comfortably for the rest of my life. I have no ambitions—I only want to spend the rest of my days in peace."
Not short on money, with a house to live in, Xu Shaoxin lived a very idle life. That was why she developed a fondness for reading, driving around the city to browse various bookstores.
By chance, she stopped by the bookstore where Ailun worked. She had only planned to buy a book once and visit another shop next time. But when she picked out her book and went to the counter, she saw Ailun standing behind it, smiling wearily as he handled the register. For some reason, Xu Shaoxin felt a sudden stir in her heart.
From then on, that bookstore became her regular stop. Every time, she would first stand at the entrance, peeking inside to check if Ailun was there. Only if she saw him would she go in.
Don't underestimate the determination of a woman in her thirties. After meeting five times, she drove to Ailun's school and picked him up, taking him to eat at his favorite restaurant.
On Sundays, she would also use various excuses to ask him to go shopping with her. At first, Ailun wanted to refuse. But when she said she'd pay him 5,000 yuan if he accompanied her for a day of shopping, he had no choice but to agree.
In the end, it didn't feel like he was accompanying her shopping at all. Rather, it was Xu Shaoxin buying new clothes for him the whole time.
Eating meals, buying clothes, buying shoes, strolling through shops—she handled all the buying, while he carried the bags. It almost felt like a mother taking her son out shopping on a Sunday.
Two months after their first encounter, Ailun and Xu Shaoxin slept together. To call it dating wasn't quite accurate—it was closer to being kept. Both sides were getting what they wanted. He wanted money, she wanted companionship.
During the time Xu Shaoxin supported him, it was the most relaxed period of his life. No need to work part-time, only needing to focus on studying. Once, Xu Shaoxin asked him: "Do you plan on going for a PhD in the future?"
Ailun replied: "If I study for a PhD, the tuition would be too expensive. And besides, I can't even be sure I'll get into graduate school yet."
Xu Shaoxin chuckled softly, placing a piece of steak she had cut with knife and fork onto Ailun's plate. "What's money, really? Once you get into university, I'll send you to study abroad at a prestigious school. I'll go with you too. The last time I went overseas was ten years ago, to Paris. Is it tasty?"
"Tasty."
"Eat more~ Once you're full, I'll eat you~"
With Xu Shaoxin supporting him, Ailun no longer had to worry about tuition or work part-time jobs. He could finally go to bed early and rest.
Every morning, Xu Shaoxin would drive her Bentley to drop him off at school. But she was careful about appearances—she would always stop one traffic light away from the school gate and let him out there.
In her words: if the schoolgirls saw him being picked up and dropped off every day by a woman in her thirties who was clearly not a relative, their hearts would probably shatter.
At those times, Xu Shaoxin loved being on top of him, stroking his face while reading aloud from the love letters secretly written to him by female classmates, deliberately quoting a few lines to tease him.
Those days were carefree, though sometimes a little tiring… If not for that unexpected car accident, perhaps Ailun and Xu Shaoxin would still be living in that kind of relationship even now.
Kotomi bit through the last strand of noodle in her mouth. She wondered how Xu Shaoxin was doing now. When she had lived in China, that was Parallel World A. Now she lived in Parallel World B. Two worlds, the same yet different…
She still hadn't figured out the exact time discrepancy between the two worlds. She wanted to see Xu Shaoxin again, but she didn't know what she could possibly say if they met. After all, she was no longer Ailun—her soul had returned to its true body, Kotomi Izumi. She had become a girl once more.
Kazumi had explained it to her before: her second life as Ailun was like an avatar that allowed her to live in Parallel World A. Now that her soul had returned to her original self, that avatar had naturally dissipated.
It wasn't like some invisible hand erased everyone's memories of Ailun. Rather, things resolved themselves in a believable way—those who had known him simply accepted that he was gone, like in the case of a fatal car accident.
By now, Xu Shaoxin should know that he had died in a car crash. Would she cry? Though the two of them had never truly been in love, and only sought what they needed from each other at night, even when she was supporting Ailun, Xu Shaoxin never stopped him from pursuing romance. She had even thought of introducing him to someone.
One night, after a few drinks, she leaned on Ailun in bed, her cheeks flushed red, and said:
"It's a pity that after getting married, I never had a child with my husband. If I had one, I'd want a daughter. I'd want you to be my son-in-law. Anyway, I have money. You wouldn't need to pay a penny in bride price. As for the dowry, you and my daughter could just pick a house. Any city you like—choose the house, then tell me, and I'll buy it for you.
"Then I'll buy two cars, one for each of you. As for children, that's up to you—have one if you want one, or more if you want several. I'll come over and help take care of them. I wonder what it would feel like to be a grandmother?
"Hehe, I'm just joking… Have you rested enough? If so, let's go another five or six rounds, and then we'll sleep."
Kotomi finished the last sip of broth from her egg noodles, gazing absentmindedly out the window. A heavy rain had fallen last night, and the sky still hadn't completely cleared.
After graduating from high school, she wanted to find a time to fly back to China for a visit… Kotomi thought once more to herself.
"All done. Let me handle the dishes," Kotomi said after finishing all the egg noodles in the pot, dabbing at her lips with a napkin.
"I'll wash them with you."
Yukino Yukinoshita didn't let Kotomi do it alone. The two of them stood side by side at the sink, washing dishes together. There weren't many—two bowls, two pairs of chopsticks, and one pot.
Having already taken the morning off, Kotomi Izumi and Yukino Yukinoshita, after finishing breakfast, lazily sprawled out on the sofa.
Yukino flipped through the book in her hands. She was nearly finished with A Tale of Two Cities.
Kotomi, on the other hand, played on her phone, pre-ordering a few games for herself. She saw that Dying Light 2 had its release confirmed for next month and that pre-orders had officially opened.
Because she had such a good impression of the first game, Kotomi didn't hesitate at all. She immediately pre-ordered the Ultimate Edition of Dying Light 2 at full price.
Although the early game had been terrifying—her first encounter with the Volatiles had scared her so badly she didn't even know where to run, ending up leaping into a lake—once she got the grappling hook and stronger weapons, the experience improved dramatically. It was like Warriors: Harran Edition after that, and she had an absolute blast.
After placing her order, her eyes wandered longingly to the PS5 for a while.
The leisurely morning slipped by, and around 11:00 a.m., Yukino stood up. Not only had she finished A Tale of Two Cities, she had already started reading another book.
"Let's eat out for lunch. Afterward, we can head straight to school. What do you want to eat?" Yukino asked.
"Let's have sukiyaki."
Kotomi thought for a moment. She really wanted to eat sukiyaki beef dipped in raw egg today, and then pile the broth-soaked beef over rice for a mouthful of pure bliss…
"Sukiyaki? Have you decided which restaurant? If I remember correctly, one of the more popular sukiyaki places in Chiba is called 'Tako-nee's Sukiyaki House.'"
"I've been to that one a few times. The flavor's really good. But it's a bit far, isn't it?"
"It's only 11 o'clock now. The first afternoon class starts at 2:30. We'll have enough time to eat, rest a little, and then walk to Sobu High."
After checking the time on her phone, Yukino placed the two books she had been reading back in the bedroom. Picking up her prepared schoolbag, she slipped on her school uniform jacket.
"Alright then, let's go to Tako-nee's Sukiyaki House."
Kotomi nodded. She hadn't brought her bag or her school uniform at all.
Not wearing the uniform would definitely get her stopped by the discipline committee at the school gate. But Kotomi wasn't fazed in the slightest—after all, she was ranked number one in her school, and even number one in all of Tokyo. If she got stopped just for not wearing her uniform, wouldn't that be way too embarrassing?
Besides, she had already taken the precaution of building good relationships with the members of the discipline committee. Even if she didn't wear her uniform, they wouldn't bother her—at most, they'd pretend to remind her casually, without even bothering to take out their violation notebook.
As for her schoolbag?
Kotomi remembered that Monday afternoons had physics class and self-study. Self-study was easy enough—the supervising teacher usually just sat at the podium, occasionally strolling through the classroom a couple of times. During the rest of the period, students would sneak novels or secretly play on their phones.
Physics was another matter—there was a unit test in the afternoon, so textbooks weren't allowed anyway.
Seeing that she wouldn't need her bag for either class, Kotomi didn't bother going back home to get it.
Besides, if she suddenly went home at noon, her mom would definitely start asking questions.
If she said she and Yukino hadn't set an alarm and overslept, her mom wouldn't scold her. Instead, her imagination would run wild, filling in a million words' worth of skipped details.
Locking the door, Kotomi and Yukino left Gegu Apartments together and walked toward Tako-nee's Sukiyaki House.
Right next door to it was Salmon Madam Sushi. The two restaurants were like a pair of hidden dragons and crouching tigers on that shopping street.
Yukino had only heard of the sukiyaki place by reputation before—Tako-nee's Sukiyaki House in Chiba was said to be very delicious. But she hadn't known anything about the quirks of the restaurant—or its neighboring sushi shop.
This was Yukino's first time at Tako-nee's Sukiyaki House.
The moment they pushed the door open, they saw all the servers walking around inside wearing colorful octopus headgear. Even Yukino's normally calm expression twitched slightly. It felt like her sanity meter had plummeted straight into R'lyeh.
What kind of genius of an owner had come up with the idea of making all the waitstaff wear octopus headgear?
Kotomi was already used to Yukino Yukinoshita's reaction. The first time she came here with Iroha Isshiki, her expression had been exactly the same. Afterward, Kotomi even wondered if that little devil had deliberately chosen this restaurant just to see her dumbfounded face when she saw all the servers in octopus headgear.
Kotomi couldn't figure it out. She even asked Iroha several times over the phone and on LINE: "Iroha, when you took me to Tako-nee's Sukiyaki House, was it because you wanted to see my shocked expression when I saw the waiters wearing octopus headgear?"
That simple question made Iroha twitch the corner of her mouth helplessly. Finally, Kotomi got the reply: Senpai, do you want me to call you a big idiot, or a little fool?
"Welcome, how many?"
"Two."
Kotomi held up two fingers with a little wave. Coincidentally, the server wearing the octopus headgear was the same young lady who had attended to her and Iroha on their first visit.
Because Kotomi was so stun—no, so beautiful, the server remembered her clearly. The moment she saw Kotomi again, she recalled everything within seconds.
What's more, on the wall inside Tako-nee's Sukiyaki House, there was still a couple's photo of Kotomi and Iroha. The owner had been so touched by them that she decided to hang their photo permanently.
But today, the girl by Kotomi's side wasn't the pretty, light-brown-haired beauty from that photo.
This immediately made the server think Kotomi was two-timing, dating both girls at once! But then again—maybe not. They could just be friends. Friends going out for sukiyaki wasn't strange at all. Perhaps this long-haired, black-haired ice queen was simply a friend. Maybe they just happened to be passing by, got hungry, and came in to eat.
The server led Kotomi and Yukino to a relatively quiet spot. It was already past 11 a.m., prime lunch hour, so the place was packed and a bit noisy.
Ironically, the seats they were given were right next to the spot where Kotomi and Iroha had first sat. On the table seemed to be a little placard that read something like: The Blessing of Cupid Descends Here.
Kotomi was just glad she wasn't drinking water, or she definitely would've spat it out after reading that line.
Once they sat down and ordered, Yukino picked up her phone and said to Kotomi:
"Kotomi, watch my bag for me. I'm going to the restroom."
"Sure, no problem."
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