11 | Jinjiang Exclusive · 11

Beware of blonde waitresses.

Matsuda Jinpei got beaten up.

Just as Yomi Lai was being grabbed by the collar and was so frightened that he was completely at a loss, Kenji Hagiwara slapped Jinpei Matsuda hard on the back of the head, making him lower his head forward.

With a cross on his forehead, Kenji Hagiwara took advantage of the moment when Jinpei Matsuda covered his head to pull Yomi Raikawa over, who had gone from being dazed to looking aggrieved, and rubbed his head and comforted him.

"Xiao Zhenping, you really are something. There's a limit to how straight men should be."

After saying that, Kenji Hagiwara pulled Yomi Rikawa along, repeatedly saying "Good girl, good girl" as if he were comforting a little Pomeranian that had been frightened by a large dog and was crying violently.

"Officer Hagiwara."

Lai Chuan Huang Quan clutched her skirt, widened her eyes, and pouted at the man in front of her, looking extremely aggrieved.

"Yes, I'm here. Don't be afraid, Jinpei won't dare to do anything to you."

Nodding vigorously with pursed lips, Raikawa Yomi stared into Hagiwara's purple eyes, frowning as she slowly asked, "Are there many gorillas in your world?"

His smile froze. Kenji Hagiwara: ?

"A...a gorilla?"

Yomi Lai glanced timidly at Jinpei Matsuda, who had already straightened up again while covering the back of his head. She clutched Hagiwara's shirt and curled up, trying to use him to shield herself.

Lai Chuan Huang Quan whispered, "Is that curly-haired gorilla over there? Are there many humans like him...?"

"Pfft," Kenji Hagiwara raised his hand to cover his mouth, trying to suppress a laugh, his eyes sparkling under the light: "Don't worry, Jinpei is an exception. Everyone else is pretty normal."

"real?"

"Really?" Kenji Hagiwara reached out and ruffled Yomi's hair, a gentle smile playing on his lips. He winked at Yomi and chuckled, "Don't worry, in Tokyo, you definitely won't find another humanoid gorilla whose strength can rival Jinpei's. Are you full? Shall I take you home, or do you want to wander around some more?"

"I want to browse around some more~"

With several months to go before the next time jump, Yomi Laichuan wanted to take this opportunity to familiarize herself with the city.

"Let's go, Jinpei, let's take the soft bread and wander around."

"whispering sound."

Matsuda Jinpei reluctantly put on his suit jacket. He yawned but didn't directly refuse. With his hands in his pockets, he glanced at Yomi Raikawa as he passed her, then suddenly stopped.

Lai Chuan Huang Quan blinked, looked up at the man in front of him, and looked puzzled.

Matsuda Jinpei stared down at her, his deep eyes seeming to surge with ocean waves. He gazed at her intently for a moment, then snorted coldly and turned to walk ahead.

Yomi Laichuan: ...?

Yomi Lai frowned, completely baffled by Jinpei Matsuda's thoughts. She turned to Kenji Hagiwara for help, but the smiling, long-haired policeman simply shrugged, indicating that he didn't know either.

Lai Chuan Huang Quan didn't hesitate much, picked up her bag and obediently followed beside Hagiwara Kenji. She stared at Matsuda Jinpei's broad back, but inwardly she felt a surge of resentment.

Although this gorilla officer is ridiculously strong, it doesn't matter. Officer Hagiwara said that you can't find another humanoid monster with superhuman strength in all of Tokyo.

The very next day, Yomi Laichuan encountered Tooru Amuro, who had already begun his undercover work.

The morning breeze carried the scent of dew, and bluebirds chirped incessantly outside the window. Lai Chuan Huang Quan rolled over in bed, hugged the blanket, and fell fast asleep, when there was a knock on the door.

Who is it?

She rubbed her eyes and sat up. A ray of sunlight slipped into the room through the gap between the curtains and the wall, casting a golden rectangular beam of light.

"It's me. I brought breakfast."

Kenji Hagiwara's voice is deep and resonant, like a cello, but when he speaks, his voice is like a jar of natural honey, rich yet subtly sweet, gently tickling the listener's eardrums.

"Hmm," Lai Chuan Huang Quan stretched like a cat while sitting on the bed, got up, and opened the door for Hagiwara barefoot: "Good morning, Officer Hagiwara."

The voice, still slightly nasal, was muffled after waking up, with a cloying sweetness like the first taste of candy.

The Pomeranian, whose fur is always ruffled, was as docile as a puppy when it first woke up. Kenji Hagiwara smiled, raised an eyebrow, and reached out to ruffle Yomi Laichuan's hair: "Good morning, soft bread, I brought you a little cake~"

Kenji Hagiwara had a shift today, and he took advantage of a break while on duty to deliberately take a detour and deliver the breakfast he had bought in advance to Yomi Laichuan.

"Wow, thank you!"

"Xiao Jinping is still waiting for me downstairs, so I won't keep you company."

"Okay, be careful on the road."

“You are,” Kenji Hagiwara said, jumping up and down and lightly flicking Yomi Raikawa’s forehead with his index finger. “Be good when I’m not around, and be careful when you go out to play.”

"Okay, okay, you damn officer, you're so long-winded! You're like an old man in his thirties or forties!"

"I don't know who ran off last time, making me rush to the bar to get you after get off work."

With a furrowed brow and a smile, Kenji Hagiwara deliberately ruffled Yomi Raikawa's still messy hair, which was sticking up haphazardly as she had just woken up, making it even more disheveled.

"I'm leaving now. Call me if you need anything."

"Okay."

Still half-asleep, Yomi Laichuan stood at the doorway with her hair a mess, only then realizing that she might have been petted like a dog by Kenji Hagiwara. Normally, she would have been furious, but looking down at the bag full of food in her hand…

Lai Chuan Huang Quan carried the bag in one hand, tore open the plastic packaging of a pineapple bun with his teeth, and his eyes narrowed into crescents with joy.

Fine, I'll forgive that bastard officer for today.

Unlike Yomi Yorikawa, who is unemployed, Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji, as squad leaders of the Explosives Division, don't have many days off.

As Kenji Hagiwara got into the driver's seat, Jinpei Matsuda, who was in the passenger seat, turned to look at him and said, "Hey Hagiwara, you don't actually have feelings for that woman, do you?"

Kenji Hagiwara lowered his head to fasten his seatbelt. His smile was as energetic and infectious as ever, not as flamboyant as a teenager, yet still dazzling like the sun. He was relaxed and carefree, like a summer breeze blowing across a lake.

He didn't look back at Matsuda Jinpei, but simply put the car in gear and turned to look in the rearview mirror.

With a smile playing on his lips, he said, three parts teasing and seven parts joking, "What's wrong, is Jinpei jealous?"

Matsuda Jinpei leaned against the car window, resting his chin on his hand. He glanced at Hagiwara Kenji through his dark glasses, too lazy to say a word.

"Okay, okay, I won't joke anymore."

As the car slowly drove into the street, Kenji Hagiwara fell into deep thought, the smile on his lips gradually fading.

The song of Laichuan Huangquan is like a clear bird's song at the first hint of spring. Although it may not be enough to amaze the spring scenery, it can still capture some of the charm of spring.

The pebble, tossed into the river, quickly sank to the bottom, but it undeniably created ripples that spread in all directions. The red thread wrapped around her knuckles drifted across the blurred boundary line; the ambiguous feelings could not be explained in just a few words.

After frowning and pondering for a moment, Kenji Hagiwara still couldn't come up with a reason. His Adam's apple bobbed, and he chuckled, "You're overthinking it."

Matsuda Jinpei let out a meaningful chuckle through his nose, turned to look out the window, and said nothing more.

The silence lasted until Kenji Hagiwara spoke up, breaking the stillness that had enveloped the cramped carriage.

“But Kojinpei,” the car stopped at a red light, and Kenji Hagiwara frowned, his smile fading, “I noticed it too. There’s a kind of ambiguous… magnetic field on Soft Bread? Anyway, it gives me a strange feeling.”

Upon hearing this, Matsuda Jinpei turned his head and met Hagiwara Kenji's serious gaze. He hadn't seen that steady, anchor-like expression in the eyes of his childhood friend, who always did things his own way, for a long time.

Kenji Hagiwara chuckled and turned his gaze back to the bustling traffic: "Perhaps we should check our opinions?"

Matsuda Jinpei: "Hmm."

...

Meanwhile, Yomi Laichuan, who was rolling around in bed alone, reviewed the list of recipients again and decided to go out for afternoon tea before following up with his recipient, Morofushi Kagemitsu.

Following her memory, she entered the café where she first arrived in this world. Through the clear glass window, Lai Chuan Huang Quan saw from afar the blond waiter bustling around with trays. He was the one who had found Lai Chuan Huang Quan's ID and cell phone.

The wind chimes tinkled as the glass door was pushed open.

Welcome!

Amuro Tooru turned around with a formulaic business smile, but his mind went blank when he saw the person's face clearly.

From the moment he first noticed Yomi's unusual behavior, Amuro Tooru deliberately bumped into her as she got up to leave in a hurry, and took the opportunity to steal something from her bag.

Before returning the items, Amuro Tooru checked Yomi's phone; it was completely empty. Photos, contacts, call logs, alarm clock records… nothing. Although popular social media apps were installed, they were all offline.

Either Lai Chuan Huang Quan just bought a new phone and hasn't had a chance to use it yet, or she simply doesn't need to use it. In this era of increasingly developed online social networking, who wouldn't need to use a mobile phone at all?

Amuro Tooru became increasingly suspicious of Yomi Yorikawa, so he installed software on her phone that could steal information. Afterwards, whenever Yomi Yorikawa sent or received messages or logged into apps like Twitter, the information and her account passwords would be sent to Amuro Tooru.

When serving coffee to Yomi Yorikawa, Amuro Tooru specially brought out an extra chocolate mille-feuille cake—not made by him, as he didn't yet possess the amazing culinary skills he would have seven years later. However, this cake was one of the coffee shop's signature desserts.

He smiled and placed the chocolate mille-feuille in front of Lai Chuan Huang Quan, saying, "Last time you left your ID at the store, I thought you would come back to pick it up, so I didn't hand it over to the police station. But after waiting for two days and you still didn't show up, I asked a friend to pass it on to the Metropolitan Police Department."

"It must have been quite a hassle for you to deliver this so late. As compensation, this cake is a special gift."

Amuro Tooru's eyebrows curved, and his smile was full of apology.

Lai Chuan Huang Quan looked up at Amuro Tooru, stared at him for a moment, and then revealed a bright smile: "It's nothing, thanks to you finding my things, I was spared a lot of trouble."

She rested her chin on her hands, smiling innocently and naturally: "Replacing documents is really a huge hassle. I almost ended up on the streets because of it."

Homeless and destitute?

Amuro Tooru's eyes darkened. He quickly determined that the woman in front of him did not own any real estate or rent an apartment in Tokyo at the moment.

Despite the turmoil in his mind, Amuro Tooru remained calm on the surface. With a smile that could warm anyone's heart, he sighed, "This is terrible. I almost caused Miss Raikawa to end up on the streets."

After calling out Yomi Yorikawa's surname, Amuro Tooru hurriedly added, "Ah, I'm sorry. When I saw your identification, I checked the business card in your wallet to confirm that the person claiming the lost item was indeed you. I absolutely did not pry into your personal privacy."

Every word and action he spoke was sincere, as if he were truly distressed and blaming himself for Yomi Laichuan: "I am really sorry, and I hope to gain your understanding."

Lai Chuan Huang Quan gripped the handle of the colored cup, blew on it to cool it down, and took a sip of the sweet coffee with latte art floating on it, without rushing to speak. After swallowing a few small sips, she let out a long breath, her brows and eyes softening and relaxing because of the delicious coffee.

"Don't worry, how could this be your fault? Besides, I almost ended up on the streets, so don't take it to heart."

What do you mean by "just almost ended up on the streets"?

Amuro Tooru suppressed the urge to twitch his lips and smiled, "As compensation, I'll treat you to dinner tonight. I know a little-known restaurant that's incredibly delicious."

Before Lai Chuan Huang Quan could reply, he continued, "If possible, I hope Miss Lai Chuan will not refuse me, because doing so would make me feel better."

"Please, is that alright?"

Lai Chuan Huang Quan glanced at Amuro Tooru, then lowered her gaze to the coffee in her hand. After a moment's hesitation, she nodded in agreement.

Yomi Lai watched the blond waiter, who introduced himself as Tooru Amuro, walk away, then picked up his coffee again, took a big gulp, and seemed lost in thought.

She raised her hand and tapped the virtual screen, swiping her finger up. On the second page of "Key People to Watch," she found the other person's information. Her gaze darted back and forth between the photo provided by the central system and the blond young man smiling and greeting other guests not far away. Lai Chuan Huang Quan was certain that he was the person on the page.

"Your real name is Rei Furuya...?"

Blowing away the steam, Lai Chuan Huang Quan tilted his head back and drank the rest of his coffee in one gulp, then licked his upper lip with a lingering sense of satisfaction.

Not far away, Amuro Tooru, whose back was to Yomi Laichuan, turned slightly to look at the woman behind him again out of the corner of his eye.

She started again, tapping her fingers in the air while her eyes darted back and forth across the void, as if reading a screen he couldn't see.

This woman definitely has something going on.

[Author's Note]

If you don't remember the little one who first appeared in 2000, you can scroll through about 73% of the page.

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Another mine clearance:

The female lead is only a C-level employee, and the Time and Space Administration's missions aren't all high-risk worlds like apocalypses or wars between gods and demons; they also include missions in peaceful times. The female lead has only experienced one high-risk apocalypse; the rest of her missions are in ordinary peaceful times. If you're looking for a smart, strong female lead, you can stop here; this is a silly, comedic relief story. And the female lead isn't silly; she's just not very smart.

There's a psychological effect called the spotlight effect, which simply means that apart from close friends and family, nobody around you seems to pay attention to you. A piano student might suddenly play air; a boy might suddenly start shooting hoops while walking; when writing, someone might suddenly forget a word and gesture in the air how to write it.

Lai Chuan Huang Quan simply tapped his finger twice in the air without making any big arm movements, so no one except a genius-level detective would notice.

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