And once her eyes closed, when she woke up half an hour had passed.

She was awakened by a burst of discussion.

"Uh..." Beichuan Lin gently rubbed her eyes, then lifted her head somewhat bewildered.

Upon looking up, Beichuan Lin saw an assortment of girls of varying ages.

Among them, she was only familiar with Gangye Yoshiko and Shen Gu Mirai.

At the moment, Shen Gu Mirai was smiling and talking to a college girl whose face carried a bit of baby fat, and the conversation included mentions of "Beichuan God" and similar subjects.

However...

Beichuan God...?

What is that?

Beichuan Lin had just woken up and was still fuzzy-headed, so she didn't think too deeply about it.

Near Shen Gu Mirai's group, at the base of a tree not far away, the recently met Gangye Yoshiko was laughing with a girl wearing a plaid uniform and a calm smile on her face.

Beichuan Lin had no idea what they were talking about, but they were both laughing happily anyway.

Beichuan Lin's gaze shifted once more.

This time, she finally saw the person she wanted to see.

Beichuan Si.

That very Beichuan Si who had been praised to the skies by Beichuan Hui Li even before they had met.

Over the past two or three months, Beichuan Si's appearance hadn't changed noticeably, but Beichuan Lin, who had been knocking about in society for a while, noticed something very important.

Beichuan Si's demeanor had changed.

Yes.

Although his appearance hadn't changed much, his posture and manner of speaking revealed a lot.

The old Beichuan Si always had a gloomy face, and his emotions easily flared up.

But the current Beichuan Si had obviously changed a lot.

He stood straight, spoke calmly, and when talking to others, his gaze was always level, exuding a sense of not being less than anyone else.

If the old Beichuan Si was like a moving lake, always stirring ripples,

Then the current Beichuan Si gave her the impression of a calm, undisturbed vast ocean.

A vast ocean?

After this odd term popped into her mind, Beichuan Lin immediately dismissed it.

At Beichuan Si's age, a small pond was a more appropriate comparison, how could an ocean be used to describe him?

And next to Beichuan Si was a short-haired girl wearing a mask and large sunglasses.

Beichuan Lin wondered why the girl was dressed so thoroughly covered up in such hot weather, feeling hot just by looking at her.

She wanted to observe a little longer, but unexpectedly, Beichuan Si, who was talking to the masked girl, suddenly glanced in her direction—

Looking straight at her.

This sudden gaze had a thrilling sensation that made Beichuan Lin shudder all over.

Then she heard Beichuan Si's voice.

"Awake?"

"Just woke up," Beichuan Lin replied with a cough.

She then turned her gaze back to Beichuan Si and the surrounding girls.

Instinct told her that these girls might have some connection with Beichuan Si.

But aside from Shen Gu Mirai and Gangye Yoshiko... Beichuan Lin didn't recognize any of them.

Her son sure had become something.

Could he really be that popular with girls?

"Speaking of which, Si, who are these people around you?" Beichuan Lin couldn't help but ask.

"Just in time, I wanted to talk to you about this," Beichuan Si said with an unchanged expression as he reached out to the girl with the mask beside him and introduced her straightforwardly:

"This is the tenant I mentioned to you before, who has provided a lot of financial support to Hui Li and me."

Oh?

Beichuan Lin's expression subtly changed.

Wasn't this the family's financial backer?

"Nice to meet you, miss, and thank you for taking such good care of my daughter and son. I really appreciate it," Beichuan Lin said with the tactful tone of social gratitude, her demeanor filled with respect.

This approach by Beichuan Lin made Nakajima Michika blink in surprise.

I took care of Beichuan?

Was there some sort of mistake?

Nakajima Michika shrunk back a little.

For other things, Nakajima Michika might pretend to agree with a couple of responses, but to admit that she took care of Beichuan Si...

She felt she just didn't have the gall to claim that.

After all, she knew very well just how lazy she had been since moving into the Beichuan Family home.

Nakajima Michika could only laugh dryly and said hesitantly, "Well... well, it's all about helping each other, isn't it?"

After saying that, she hung her head low, not daring to look at the expression on Beichuan Si, who was standing beside her.

Seeing Nakajima Michika's strange behavior, Beichuan Lin also felt somewhat puzzled.

At that moment, Gangye Yoshiko and Shen Gu Mirai moved closer as well, as they couldn't let the atmosphere continue to be this silent.

Thinking this, Beichuan Lin tried to liven up the mood with a joking tone, "Just now, Hui Li mentioned you, saying that Miss you are that national singing diva, Nakajima Michika, Hui Li really has a sense of humor. Wouldn't you agree?"

As soon as Beichuan Lin uttered these words, she felt that the girls around her stopped their idle chat collectively.

One pair, two pairs, three pairs of bright, doe-like black eyes just stared at her.

Quiet—

Silence.

Not a single person spoke.

The atmosphere turned to ice in an instant.

In this moment, Beichuan Si, with an expressionless face, took a longer look at Beichuan Lin, whose face was full of confusion, and kindly explained,

"This is Miss Nakajima Michika."

"Uh...?" Like her expression had frozen, Beichuan Lin blinked her eyes while still smiling.

"Cough, cough... Excuse me, Auntie Beichuan, just as Beichuan said..."

Under Beichuan Lin's gaze, the girl who had been wearing sunglasses took them off, and temporarily lowered her mask halfway.

The familiar, androgynous face appeared before Beichuan Lin's eyes.

It was Nakajima Michika!

"Ah??!!" Beichuan Lin's face stiffened, she just smiled, not speaking.

Upon Beichuan Si's gesture, Nakajima Michika put her mask and sunglasses back on.

"Miss Nakajima Michika has been living with us for a month or two now, the paparazzi even almost exposed our place a while ago, but we barely managed to hide it."

As Beichuan Si spoke, his gaze turned towards Nakajima Michika.

That calm look made Nakajima Michika chuckle a bit and rub her head, as she again lowered it.

"Si... how did you meet Miss Nakajima?"

Given what had happened, Beichuan Lin, no matter how shocked or reluctant to accept it, could only accept it.

But her question also followed.

How exactly did Beichuan Si get to know Nakajima Michika?

Faced with Beichuan Lin's question, Beichuan Si clearly had an answer prepared.

He answered unhurriedly, "Due to some special reasons, I got to know Qianye Yuki sensei, and Qianye Yuki sensei happens to know Miss Nakajima. Plus, Miss Nakajima wanted to live with us for her own reasons, so one thing led to another, and we became acquainted."

"...is that so?" Beichuan Lin dumbly nodded.

Qianye Yuki sensei...?

Why does that name sound so familiar?

Beichuan Lin rubbed her head, trying to dig out any memory related to that name from her mind.

In the end...

Beichuan Lin gave up.

After all, she had just woken up, and considering the size of the surprise she just faced, it's understandable for her thoughts to crash.

"Regardless, I'm very grateful to Miss Nakajima Michika for the help she has extended to our family," Beichuan Lin said very politely.

Hearing Beichuan Lin's repeated thanks, Nakajima Michika couldn't hold back any longer; she quickly extended her hand and shook her head in denial,

"Not at all, not at all, Beichuan often helps me more, if anyone should be grateful, it should be me thanking him. You're too kind, Auntie Beichuan."

"..." Beichuan Lin.

Nakajima Michika didn't seem to be lying.

But what could Beichuan Si, a high school student, possible do to help her?

Beichuan Lin couldn't figure it out.

And since she couldn't figure it out, she decided not to think about it at all.

Beichuan Lin nodded to Nakajima Michika, then turned her attention to the remaining girls.

The revelation of Nakajima Michika's identity had been shocking enough.

So, whatever astounding thing Beichuan Si might say next, it had lost its impact in the presence of the towering figure of Nakajima Michika.

In other words, no matter what happened next, Beichuan Lin believed she couldn't possibly be surprised anymore.

Yes.

Beichuan Lin believed she couldn't possibly be surprised anymore.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.