What's in Chapter 80 and Chapter 79, Hot and Sour Shredded Potatoes...?

Cats meow, dogs bark.

Ducks quack, what can chickens do?

Chickens are left for those who are prepared.

So, prepared, they went to Date Wataru's house for teriyaki chicken tonight.

Zhuge Tongzhi: So this is what they mean by eating out?

"I'm going to arrest you all for deceiving good citizens!" Thinking this, the girl followed Kenji Hagiwara into the entrance hall, greeted the blonde beauty who came to greet her with a slightly reserved manner, and presented the gift with both hands.

Then she received a fragrant and warm hug.

"Oh my god, you're just as cute as Hang said!" Natalie, dressed in a business suit and looking like she had just gotten off work, reached out and ruffled the head of the child in her arms, smiling gently. "It's so nice to meet you, my little lucky star."

"Hmm." The black-haired girl, who had been caught off guard by the beautiful older sister's sudden hug, froze upon hearing this and asked cautiously, "You mean... Little Lucky Star?"

Huh? Me?

She struggled a few more times, but couldn't refuse the hug that was entirely out of kindness and warmth, so she turned her pleading eyes to Kenji Hagiwara and Jinpei Matsuda, who were already sharing the souvenirs.

Meanwhile, the two police officers, whose eyesight was so good they could perform delicate bomb disposal work, were now ignoring her frantic cries for help and instead marveling at the exquisite Chinese desserts in the food box.

Hey! You two, don't pretend you didn't see anything! The black-haired girl puffed out her cheeks and looked accusingly at the two who had 'failed to help,' but it was no use.

She was held in Natalie's arms like a child as they walked toward the living room.

"Yes, your name is Zhuge Tongzhi, right?" The woman with short blonde hair confirmed the title of "Little Lucky Star," then softly repeated Zhuge Tongzhi's name, smiling, "It sounds so nice, like a beautiful poem."

"Hmm..." Overwhelmed by the beautiful smile and sincere praise, Zhuge Tongzhi blushed, lowered his head to avoid Natalie's loving gaze, and whispered in response, "Miss Natalie's name is as beautiful as she is."

"Oh my, it's really cute!" As soon as she said this, Natalie couldn't help but hug the child who was sitting on the sofa again and rub her cheeks. Then she cupped the girl's still chubby cheeks in her hands and kissed them affectionately on both sides.

After a barrage of kisses that felt like a piece of his cheek had been kissed away, Zhuge Tongzhi couldn't take it anymore. He raised his hand to cover his cheek and quickly changed the subject, saying, "But I'm not a lucky star!"

"I haven't brought any luck to anyone," the black-haired girl said helplessly, waving her hand. "Besides, I always seem to run into crime scenes. Maybe I should go to the shrine and pray again."

Although I know that the Grim Reaper I should pray to is someone else.

She had just made a few self-deprecating remarks when she saw Kenji Hagiwara and Jinpei Matsuda, who had just pretended to be blind, turn around and raise their eyebrows in disapproval.

The disapproving gazes of the group focused on him, and Zhuge Tongzhi couldn't help but tilt his head.

Um?

After listening carefully to her reasons, Natalie showed a thoughtful expression, and finally, as if she had suddenly realized something, she smiled even more gently and hugged Zhuge Tongzhi, who was unsure of the current situation.

He was hugged again, and Zhuge Tongzhi made a resigned purring sound amidst the fragrant scent.

"Ah, I understand." The blonde beauty said with a smile, "But if you hadn't stumbled upon the criminals' transaction and learned that they wanted to harm Hang, you wouldn't have been able to warn Hang to be careful lately, would you?"

“So lately, Hagiwara-kun and Matsuda-kun haven’t dared to let Wataru walk alone; they’ve been protecting him the whole time.” Natalie winked her blue eyes at the bewildered girl in her arms and said playfully, “Tonight’s party is to thank you all.”

Several question marks popped up above Zhuge Tongzhi's head.

What criminals? What deal? What "be careful"? What "thank you"?

Kenji Hagiwara, standing to the side, took a bite of half a tea pastry and quickly finished the amount that Zhuge Tongzhi had taken several bites of, then casually added, "Yeah, if you hadn't stumbled upon the bomber's scouting location, you wouldn't have been able to get to Qingchuan Tower to save me beforehand."

Zhuge Tongzhi immediately understood what they were up to—they were telling Natalie about the 'death omen' she had obtained based on the original plot in another way, and also rationalizing her daily behavior of following Ida Hang closely.

The more she thought about how hard she had tried to cover it up back then, the more embarrassed she felt now as Kenji Hagiwara teased her.

"Damn it!" the girl thought to herself, her cheeks burning red. With her feet unable to reach the ground, her ten Disney castle architects had nowhere to work!

At this moment, Matsuda Jinpei, who was leisurely and slowly munching on a tea-flavored pastry, joined in and chuckled under Zhuge Tongzhi's evasive gaze.

"Yeah, and the Ferris wheel too, they were still worried and went up there themselves." The curly-haired man with sunglasses on his nose said meaningfully. For the first time, Zhuge Tongzhi found it hard to look directly at that overly handsome face. He complained, "At least trust me."

If he had been told in advance what was going to happen, how could Matsuda Jinpei have failed to perfectly deal with that bomb? It was just a simple thing that could be dealt with in three minutes.

After learning everything, Zhuge Tongzhilai's purpose on the boarding platform became obvious. Matsuda Jinpei looked at the girl with her head down and felt a little itchy to punch her.

You actually want to take Hagi's place on the train? You better cherish your own life!

Kenji Hagiwara, who successfully achieved the first half of the statement, said he strongly agrees with the second half.

Under the disapproving gazes of two men, Zhuge Tongzhi was speechless for a long time before finally managing to utter a weak explanation: "...That's not how it's said."

"Oh?" Matsuda Jinpei stuffed the remaining tea pastry into his mouth and sat down on the single sofa diagonally in front of Zhuge Tongzhi with an air of nonchalance. Hagiwara Kenji also sat down on the armrest of the sofa, casually placing one hand on the back of the chair behind Matsuda Jinpei.

The curly-haired police officer took off his sunglasses, indicating that he would listen carefully to Zhuge Tongzhi's sophistry, and said, "Then why don't you tell us?"

If you're trying to show you're listening attentively, why did you take off your sunglasses?!

But when Zhuge Tongzhi met those sharp black eyes directly, he couldn't come up with any lies to fool them.

She couldn't very well say that she was terrified of being mistaken for an alien and taken into a research lab.

And let's not even talk about Kenji Hagiwara. As for Jinpei Matsuda, you curly-haired bastard, you made the decision to die for the public good while shouting about bonds and revenge. How can I feel at ease?

After holding back for a while, the dark-haired girl finally threw herself into Natalie's arms and shouted, "Because you smoke!"

Natalie gently hugged the shy little lucky star.

The two police officers who were smoking were taken aback. What kind of reason was this for replying randomly after reading the message?

"Because you two were smoking while defusing bombs!" Zhuge Tongzhi's voice came through the clothes somewhat indistinctly. "That's too dangerous, and quitting smoking is so difficult. I have to keep an eye on you."

Indeed, he had smoked in front of the bomb and was beaten up by Matsuda Jinpei for it. Facing the criticism with composure, Hagiwara Kenji stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, "Us? So Jinpei was smoking back then too."

"I didn't...!" Matsuda Jinpei only managed to refute half a sentence before quickly realizing that this was probably what Zhuge Tongzhi saw in the future fragments he had imagined, based on their speculation.

"And there are no-smoking signs inside the Ferris wheel, yet you still smoke." The girl continued in a muffled voice. Unable to argue with Natalie, Matsuda Jinpei paused, ultimately choosing to swallow his rebuttal.

Kenji Hagiwara, sitting next to him, put his arm down from the back of the chair, put his arm around his aggrieved childhood friend, and deliberately leaned closer to wink and say, "Hey, Jinpei, now we're tied."

"Nonsense." Matsuda Jinpei, who doesn't smoke in real life, succinctly retorted to his childhood friend, whose claim has been proven true.

Kenji Hagiwara burst into laughter, raising his hand to ruffle his childhood friend's wonderfully soft curly hair, only to have it slapped away forcefully by the person he had repeatedly annoyed, yet he continued to do so with great pleasure.

"However, you should still hand things over to the adults to handle as soon as possible." Natalie patted Zhuge Tongzhi's slightly frizzy head, gently combing out the tangled hair, just like combing through a girl's messy emotional yarn.

“Yes, we’re not so fragile that we need children to risk their lives to save us.” Matsuda Jinpei slapped away his childhood friend’s mischievous hand and said to Zhuge Tongzhi seriously, word by word, “Leave it to us, and then protect yourselves.”

"Kiri-chan, please, please believe me." Kenji Hagiwara said cheerfully to the girl cosplaying as an ostrich, "We have reliable adults to save the world."

"Trust us, okay?"

Zhuge Tongzhi, who had been gently patted on the head by Natalie, slowly sat up straight. He glanced at the two guys who were giving him the same kind of ideological education as Morofushi Kagemitsu, and made a face in his mind.

I don't believe it. The reliable adults in this world are either childishly fighting each other or have already died and gone offline.

Those who are truly saving the world, reducing the mortality rate, and fighting against dark organizations are all minors.

Because this is Japan (in that tone)

But this time it will definitely be different. Zhuge Tongzhi looked at the two lively people in front of him, swayed his legs lightly, and replied, "I know, I told you in advance this time."

Having finally figured out the script, the black-haired girl quickly used this as a pretext to retaliate, giving the two of them a mischievous wink, just like Kenji Hagiwara.

He's got a lot of clever tricks up his sleeve. Matsuda Jinpei clicked his tongue, but didn't expose him.

The lively living room attracted Ida Hang, who was busy in the kitchen. The burly man, wearing a pink apron, leaned out halfway and laughed loudly amidst the roar of the range hood, "What are you talking about that makes you so happy?"

The scene was beautiful, which made Zhuge Tongzhi chuckle. He turned around and saw that Natalie was also unable to hide her smile.

She had to work overtime today and got home a little earlier than the three people who came to visit. She didn't even have time to change into more comfortable casual clothes, and she was still wearing professional makeup.

Perhaps because the Grim Reaper wasn't in Beika Town these past two days, Date Wataru, who rarely didn't have to work overtime, naturally put on an apron and took on the responsibility of preparing dinner, cooking delicious food for his loved ones and friends.

"Besides, we'll starve to death if we don't eat soon," Kenji Hagiwara joked as he squeezed into the kitchen, indicating that he also had some culinary skills and wanted to take the opportunity to show them off.

"Haha, Hagiwara, you can cook? I only remember Midorikawa being really good at it."

With a smile, Date Wataru plated the food from the pot and handed over the head chef position to Hagiwara Kenji, who had rolled up his sleeves. He then made a joke that only the three of them could understand: "I was really surprised when I saw that Amuro had become a chef."

"Yeah, that guy's transformation is really scary." Bored, Matsuda Jinpei leaned against the door frame, watching Hagiwara Kenji inside wielding a cleaver to cut potato shreds, and casually said, "I was praying that the restaurant wouldn't go out of business because of its terrible food."

"But it's really delicious. Since he became a waiter, business there has been getting better and better," Date Wataru remarked. "He's still working as a detective, isn't he? Even so... he's very serious about it."

He automatically omitted the term 'undercover agent' and, as a hard-working criminal investigator who was already exhausted from working overtime, sincerely praised his colleague who held multiple positions.

"After all, he's a golden retriever, full of energy," Matsuda Jinpei commented, before Date Wataru laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

"Am I the only one feeling sorry for Midorikawa?" Kenji Hagiwara rinsed the shredded potatoes several times, then smashed the garlic and chopped the scallions and stir-fried them in the pan, chatting casually: "He couldn't come today because Amuro came back, right?"

"That damn blonde." Matsuda Jinpei refined his comment, watching as Hagiwara Kenji added the chopped chili peppers for further seasoning, then poured in the shredded potatoes and began stir-frying them vigorously.

"You've got some skills, Hagiwara." Wearing an apron, Date Wataru smelled the aroma of hot and sour potatoes gradually spreading in the air and praised him heartily.

"Don't praise him, that's all he can cook," Matsuda Jinpei remarked.

Whenever Kenji Hagiwara wanted to show off his cooking skills, he knew that she was going to make spicy shredded potatoes. So much so that whenever the two of them were thinking about having a meal at the apartment, the first dish to be excluded from the menu was always hot and sour shredded potatoes.

"Hahahahahahahahaha." Itachi's penetrating laughter echoed into the living room. Zhuge Tongzhi, who was sitting on the sofa in Natalie's lap, couldn't help but move his head. After realizing what was happening, he quickly straightened up and returned to his original position.

Natalie was braiding her growing hair to make it easier to eat later.

"Is it tight?" A woman's voice, filled with pleasure, came from behind. Zhuge Tongzhi shook his head slightly. "No, it's not tight."

Her touch was very gentle, just like a person—delicate and kind.

So this is Natalie, an extremely gentle yet extremely resolute Natalie, a Natalie worthy of the world-famous painting "The Class Monitor on a Date," a very, very good Natalie.

Just like Ida Ko, who is dedicated to his duties on the front lines, they are people you can't help but want to get close to.

Looking at his legs swaying lightly, Zhuge Tongzhi thought: So it's worth it.

"It's all tied up, let me check if it's crooked!" Natalie looked expectantly at the girl who jumped off the sofa and turned around. After one glance, she hugged the girl tightly. "My little lucky star has such a good foundation, and now she's even cuter."

Zhuge Tongzhi, with two braids hanging down to his earlobes on either side of his head, hummed in agreement, gently rested his head on Natalie's shoulder, closed his eyes, and hugged the woman back.

You must be happy, Natalie. You are so, so good.

"The teriyaki chicken is here! Let's eat!"

"And there's also hot and sour shredded potatoes that Yan Er-chan specially made! Wow, it's so cute, Tong-chan!"

"Indeed, Midorikawa should be taught how to tie his hair."

Zhuge Tongzhi raised his hand to touch the braided hair that was neatly tied with a hairband, and gave an embarrassed smile. Natalie pulled him to sit between herself and Date Hang.

In the warm atmosphere, just as the group was about to start eating, Kenji Hagiwara suddenly remembered and said, "Oh, I almost forgot to mention, I made stir-fried potatoes with hot and sour ginger."

The man with medium-length hair blinked. "If you don't like ginger, you should pay attention to distinguishing between ginger shreds and potato shreds."

What?! Zhuge Tongzhi, who hated eating ginger, withdrew his chopsticks that were reaching for the shredded potatoes, his face showing awe.

How could I possibly see through Teacher Jiang's disguise when she can cosplay as shredded potatoes, yams, and bamboo shoots, or even braised beef, fish, chicken, and pineapple?

"Sorry, these potato shreds look so delicious," the black-haired girl said with a sorrowful expression.

Matsuda Jinpei didn't hesitate to expose his childhood friend's lie: "It's fake. He's been using this to fool people for a long time. This is just hot and sour shredded potatoes."

"Ah, this time I really put the ginger in, right when you were talking to the class monitor," Kenji Hagiwara said seriously. "How about we make a bet? The person who gets to eat the ginger in the end can make a wish to everyone here."

Matsuda Jinpei raised his eyebrows, while Date Wataru, Natalie, and Zhuge Tongzhi looked at Hagiwara Kenji, who was looking very serious, and hesitated for a moment.

"I swear on Kojinpei's sunglasses," Kenji Hagiwara said, holding up two fingers. "I will absolutely fulfill your wish, no matter how strange it may be."

That was a very serious vow.

This is Matsuda Jinpei's true form. Zhuge Tongzhi instantly decided to believe Hagiwara Kenji, and Date Wataru and Natalie naturally joined in as well.

Matsuda Jinpei glanced at his childhood friend, then lazily agreed, first picking up a piece of shredded potato with his chopsticks and stuffing it into his mouth, before grumbling and swallowing it down.

"There's ginger." The curly-haired police officer shrugged and said regretfully, "Looks like I'm the first person to get ginger. I hope you don't."

Matsuda Jinpei was unfortunately eliminated and began eating today's main dish, teriyaki chicken.

During that dinner, Zhuge Tongzhi analyzed the shredded potatoes all night long, until the hot and sour shredded potatoes were completely eaten before he belatedly realized that he had been tricked by the two of them.

There was absolutely no ginger in it!

Seeing the girl stand up in anger, Kenji Hagiwara and Jinpei Matsuda burst into laughter, and Wataru Date and Natalie also laughed.

As he laughed, Zhuge Tongzhi himself also started to laugh.

They raised their glasses of cola and, with a crisp clinking of glasses, shouted in unison, "Cheers!"

A toast to tonight, a toast to the little lucky star.

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Author's Note: A cozy dinner (shyly)

May we find tomorrow in our books!

…

Mwah