·60｜Exclusive to Jinjiang·60
A ray of light falling into life.
This is a memory forgotten over the long years.
This is also where the story begins.
...
The young Lady Raikawa had a gentle smile. She bowed before Raikawa Yomi, her red lips bright and captivating.
"Huang Quan, you must listen to your father."
Yomi Laichuan stood beside her father, her bright eyes filled with a blank and innocent look. It wasn't until Mrs. Laichuan turned and left, gradually distancing herself from them, that Yomi Laichuan snapped out of her daze and burst into tears.
"Mommy! I want my mommy!"
She chased after him a few steps, crying, but was grabbed by Mr. Lai Chuan.
"Let go of me! I don't want you! I want my mom!"
She tried to break free from Mr. Lai Chuan's grasp, straining so hard that her body arched into a crescent moon.
But how can a child's strength compare to that of an adult?
As Lai Chuan Huang Quan watched her mother walk further and further away, she panicked and lunged at Mr. Lai Chuan, biting his hand and crying so hard that snot streamed down her face. She desperately stretched out her hand, trying to grab her mother, but in the end, she could only watch helplessly as her mother disappeared at the end of the street through a blurry curtain of tears.
Mom is gone.
Ren Laichuan Huangquan cried out again and again, "I don't want Daddy, I want Mommy," but Mommy still left.
That night, Lai Chuan Huang Quan locked herself in her room and cried all night. The next day, she threw the gift that Mr. Lai Chuan had carefully prepared onto the floor: "I hate you!"
Mr. Lai Chuan gifted the large house to Mrs. Lai Chuan, and moved with Lai Chuan Huang Quan to a newly purchased second-hand house—at this time, the Lai Chuan family had not yet moved to the large villa that would later become their home.
The cook only comes over with groceries an hour before mealtime. The small two-bedroom apartment has neither a mother nor a father. Mr. Lai Chuan is still busy, rarely home, and when he does return, his first concern is always about Lai Chuan Huang Quan's grades.
Did you listen to me?
How are your studies?
Have you fallen behind in violin and singing?
He then transferred a large sum of money to Lai Chuan Huang Quan's card, telling her not to slack off and to keep working hard, and then there was no further communication.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan goes to school alone, comes home alone, and sits alone in the living room eating while watching TV.
She hates her father.
The usually obedient Lai Chuan Huang Quan started arguing with Mr. Lai Chuan, but at this point she was only talking back. In Lai Chuan Huang Quan's heart, her mother was the only person who made her feel the warmth of family, and she didn't want her mother to leave.
Fortunately, Mrs. Raikawa often came back to visit Raikawa Yomi, and every weekend she would have dinner with Raikawa Yomi.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan secretly wants his mother to come back, but he also knows that his father is a terrible father. If his mother comes back, she won't be happy either.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan is conflicted; he sometimes hides under the covers and cries. Even when doing his homework, he sometimes starts daydreaming and suddenly bursts into tears while looking at his workbook.
Pain, torment, contradiction.
I want my mom to come back, but I also don't want her to come back.
But humans are inherently prone to fantasies; it's an inherent flaw in human nature. People like Rei Furuya and Mr. Yorikawa, who can abandon unnecessary fantasies and expectations, overcome survivorship bias, and remain calm and rational, are destined to be a minority.
In his first year of high school, Lai Chuan's wife went to the United States, and Lai Chuan Huang Quan, who could not see his mother, became increasingly rebellious.
"I don't need your help!"
I've lost count of how many times she's talked back to me.
Regardless of whether Mr. Raikawa's words are reasonable or not, even if Raikawa Yomi listens to them, he will subconsciously resist verbally.
When the news of Lai Chuan's wife's remarriage reached Lai Chuan Huang Quan's ears, the girl, who was already in the second semester of her junior year of high school, was completely dumbfounded.
The last vestige of hope shattered, and rebellion reached its peak. Lai Chuan Huang Quan clearly realized that his mother would never come back.
Mr. Lai Chuan rarely comes home, but he has an unprecedented argument with Lai Chuan Huang Quan.
Mr. Lai Chuan was so angry that he glared and slammed his hand on the table: "You're getting more and more disrespectful!"
"You old geezer, don't throw your temper at me!" Lai Chuan Huang Quan roared back defiantly. "All you ever do is tell me to obey! You're never home! You don't even care when Mom's sick! It's all because of you that Mom ran away!"
Lai Chuan Huang Quan was so angry that veins bulged on his forehead, his eyes were bloodshot, and tears welled up in his reddened eyes: "What right do you have to be my father!"
After yelling those words, she turned and hid in the bedroom, banging on the door loudly.
Mr. Lai Chuan stood outside the bedroom door, his face haggard. He could easily break through the wooden door that separated him from Lai Chuan Huang Quan in ten seconds. But what did it matter? He couldn't break through the wall that Lai Chuan Huang Quan had erected in his heart.
He was completely locked out of Lai Chuan Huang Quan's world.
Fortunately, Lai Chuan Huang Quan has always been a good student, and even when he argues with his father, he always ranks at the top of his class.
However, Lady Raikawa's remarriage deeply aggravated Raikawa Yomi's already sensitive nerves.
She decided to be a bad kid.
As a first step, Lai Chuan Huang Quan decided to skip class.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan hesitated for a long time in his seat before finally mustering the courage to raise his hand tremblingly: "Teacher, I don't feel well. Can I go to the infirmary?"
As a top student and well-behaved child in the eyes of all the teachers, the English teacher who was explaining grammar on the podium with chalk in hand did not doubt him and nodded in approval.
The English teacher even thoughtfully asked Lai Chuan Huang Quan if he needed any classmates to accompany him, but Lai Chuan Huang Quan shook his head vigorously: "No, teacher, I'll just lie down for a while."
But Lai Chuan Huang Quan didn't go to the infirmary. Instead, she crouched down and bypassed the teaching building, quietly making her way to the playground via a path shaded by trees.
This was the first time Lai Chuan Huang Quan had done something like this. Her heart was pounding so hard that it felt like it was going to jump from her chest to her throat, and the pounding was so loud that her eardrums were burning.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan would run a few steps and then turn back, fearing that one time she turned back, the teacher would already be standing by the window, frowning and staring at her.
The wall of the Tokyo University Affiliated High School was two meters high. It was Yomi Raikawa's first time skipping class, and she had no experience. She moved a trash can from the playground and placed it next to the wall as a stepping stone to climb over it.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan tried to climb the wall by stepping on the trash can, but found that she couldn't get over. So she took several steps back, took a deep breath, and then sprinted forward, leaping over the trash can in one go.
Then he stomped hard on the other side of the wall, right in the face of Kenji Hagiwara, a first-year student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Tokyo.
With her skirt billowing in the air, Lai Chuan Huang Quan, who had no experience climbing walls, panicked as she looked at the terrified man below. For a moment, she didn't even know whether to cover her skirt or find a more convenient landing position.
She fell heavily to the ground with a thud, scraping off a large patch of her knee, and blood gushed from the wound.
Kenji Hagiwara, who was knocked back several steps and almost fell to the ground, covered his face and squatted on the ground, trembling with pain.
Kenji Hagiwara and Jinpei Matsuda are both first-year mechanical engineering students at the University of Tokyo. They didn't have classes this afternoon and had planned to work part-time at a car repair shop. However, Jinpei Matsuda had argued with a professor this morning and was called into his office to be reprimanded.
With nothing to do and the weather nice, Kenji Hagiwara strolled around the playground. When he received a text message from Jinpei Matsuda informing him that his scolding was over, Hagiwara was standing under a cherry tree separated from the University of Tokyo Affiliated High School by only a wall, lighting a cigarette.
Matsuda Jinpei: "Where are you? I'm coming to find you."
Kenji Hagiwara: "The cherry blossom path near the affiliated high school, next to the soccer field."
Kenji Hagiwara, one hand in his pocket, gazed up at the clear blue sky. The clouds drifted by; it was a beautiful day.
He slowly exhaled a puff of blue smoke, squinted his eyes as if to enjoy the gentle breeze, when suddenly a loud thud came from behind him.
Before Kenji Hagiwara could even turn around, a girl in a school uniform skirt suddenly descended from the sky, blocking out a large portion of the sunlight.
"Varied--!?"
Kenji Hagiwara's eyes widened in horror, and he only managed to utter one word before a black leather shoe stepped on his face.
With a thud, Yomi Laichuan fell to the ground, his legs rising high before landing again. Kenji Hagiwara was knocked back several steps, his facial features nearly disfigured by the impact.
He rubbed his nose, tears streaming down his face from the pain. But when he looked up, oh dear, the little girl was crying even harder than him.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan knelt on the ground in a frog-like position, sobbing incessantly, large tears rolling down her face, her nose turning red from crying: "I'm...I'm sorry."
Lai Chuan Huang Quan felt extremely ashamed. She knew she had made a mistake and should apologize to Hagiwara Kenji immediately. But at this moment, she was both ashamed and angry, and her mind was completely blank and had stopped working—due to the angle, the strange man in front of her had seen her panties.
Before landing, Lai Chuan Huang Quan never considered the possibility that there might be people under the wall.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan is a child who grew up under the traditional education model.
Although Mr. Raikawa was a straight man with chauvinistic tendencies, he was surprisingly a man who strictly adhered to male virtues. He did not have intimate contact with Mrs. Raikawa until after they were married.
Growing up in such a family environment, Lai Chuan Huang Quan naturally developed a conservative mindset.
If it weren't for her period yesterday, which stained her safety shorts with blood that she couldn't wash off no matter how much she washed, and she hadn't had time to buy new ones, she definitely wouldn't have done what she did today: climb over the wall without wearing safety shorts.
Although Japan is relatively open about sex, and some of Yomi's classmates have already had intimate contact with their partners, Yomi herself hasn't even had a chance to hold hands with anyone of the opposite sex.
Firstly, Mr. Raikawa's poor example left Raikawa Yomi with a very bad impression of men. Secondly, Mr. Raikawa put too much pressure on her studies, and Raikawa Yomi was almost overwhelmed by the mountain of academic work, so she had no time for romance.
As a result, she was caught off guard and had her panties seen by a strange man.
And my knees hurt a lot too.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan, who was a well-behaved child since childhood, never experienced the childhood of jumping up and down and falling from trees, nor was he ever beaten by his parents.
Suddenly, a layer of skin was scraped off by the rough cement ground, and my bleeding knee burned with pain.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan pursed his lips and wiped away his tears with the back of his hand, but the tears kept falling, like pearls from a broken string.
"sorry."
Lai Chuan Huang Quan wiped away his tears, crying and apologizing.
The shame of injuring someone, the humiliation of having his underwear exposed, and the grievance brought on by the throbbing pain in his knees—these three emotions intertwined, turning his mind into a complete mess. Lai Chuan Huang Quan cried until his face turned red.
Kenji Hagiwara rubbed his nose, which was no longer sore, and stubbed out the half-smoked cigarette that had fallen to the ground with his foot. He raised his hand and ruffled his long hair haphazardly, sighing helplessly.
Kenji Hagiwara thought to himself, "He's the one who should be crying."
But Kenji Hagiwara chose to squat down in front of Yomi Raikawa, and gave her a friendly smile: "I'm not angry, and I'm not blaming you. But you must have been startled by me suddenly appearing in the corner."
He pointed to Lai Chuan Huang Quan's knee: "Can you still stand up? I'll carry you to the infirmary?"
Lai Chuan Huang Quan stood there, tears still streaming down her face, stunned. She thought Hagiwara Kenji would yell at her.
But Kenji Hagiwara simply took off his sports jacket and handed it to Yomi Raikawa: "Tie it around your waist."
The oversized sports jacket minimized the possibility of secondary exposure. Kenji Hagiwara then gently comforted her for a few more moments before turning his back and squatting down in front of Yomi Laichuan: "Come on up, I'll take you to get bandaged up."
Lai Chuan Huang Quan sobbed twice, then gradually stopped crying. She whispered "Oh," and climbed onto Hagiwara Kenji's back using both hands and feet.
Fearing that Yomi Laichuan would feel awkward, Kenji Hagiwara smiled and took the initiative to start a conversation: "I am Kenji Hagiwara, a student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Tokyo."
Yomi Laichuan leaned on Hagiwara's shoulder and said timidly, "Yomi Laichuan is a second-year high school student this year."
"High school sophomore year, huh? Not bad. When I was in high school..."
Kenji Hagiwara smiled and began to recount amusing anecdotes from his high school days.
Mr. Yomi was too strict, which made the stories that Kenji Hagiwara slowly recounted seem extremely novel to Yomi.
From Matsuda Jinpei's thrilling boxing match to Hagiwara Kenji secretly driving the family car and being chased by his father with a stick for two days, Raikawa Yomi, with bright eyes, obediently lay on Hagiwara Kenji's back, occasionally letting out a few exclamations of surprise.
"Really?"
"Wow, that's amazing!"
"Anything else? Anything else?"
Lai Chuan Huang Quan listened intently, even forgetting the pain in his knee.
Kenji Hagiwara is like a clear mountain spring reflecting the moonlight, gentle and delicate yet leaving no trace, smiling as he coaxes the little girl on his back, whose nose is red, into laughing incessantly.
Yomi Laichuan was carried on Kenji Hagiwara's back as they walked under the cherry trees. A summer breeze blew, and the cherry blossoms rustled as they fell in the wind.
She hooked her arm around Kenji Hagiwara's shoulder, feeling the warmth emanating from his broad back.
It was only at this moment that Yomi Laichuan suddenly realized that perhaps not all men are like her father.
There are still gentle people like Kenji Hagiwara in this world.
A gentle breeze blew, and sunlight filtered through the leaves, dappling them. Lai Chuan Huang Quan, nestled on Hagiwara Kenji's back, relaxed her brow and smiled happily. It was like drinking a bowl of hot broth in the dead of winter, warming both body and soul.
It would have been even better if that guy named Matsuda Jinpei hadn't been looking at them with that horrified expression.
[Author's Note]
The sky is blue, and the panties are white.
Soft Bread: I'll cry for you!!!
The first real encounter between Soft Bread and Hagiwara was when Hagiwara became a ray of light in Soft Bread's life.
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I'm sorry, I'm just too weak. I also hope I can be as consistently productive as the ladies, but I'm really too weak! I'll try my best!
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