Are you, as meal replacement users, ready for the consequences?

Page 69

Pan-fried salmon 505 yen

【Grilled pork belly (one skewer) 161 yen】

Grilled scallops (one skewer) 161 yen

…omitted…

No, Xiao Ai, what store are you recommending to me?

Is this really a shop that a poor soul like me with only 20,000 yen in my pocket could possibly visit?!

"Do you need help?"

The waitress was very enthusiastic, but now Toyokawa Ningko actually hoped that she would be more indifferent.

Please ignore yourself, this poor little mouse who can't survive in the city.

"Just these few, please pack them up for me."

I'll just cover my eyes and pick randomly; what I get is all up to fate! God, you can't let me down!

"Here is yours for 2364 yen. Please take it."

"Ah, oh, this is cash..."

Ningzi, still dazed, took out one of the two banknotes and watched as it was swallowed into the dark cash register.

Then, the next step is the dismemberment of the banknotes.

Poor Fukuzawa Yukichi, he was cruelly broken into various coins and banknotes, and could never be put back together...

Just like the collapse of beautiful memories, the loss of money left Toyokawa Ningko feeling powerless and even resentful.

If spending all this money on food doesn't make my sister happy, then it would be a huge waste!

“Welcome next time.”

"Thank you for your help."

I'll never come here again! It's so expensive... I'll just lie to Xiangzi and say it's food nearing its expiration date from the supermarket.

That way, Xiangzi won't scold me for wasting money.

"Hehe, my sister will be so happy when she gets home and sees that I made money and brought back food, right?"

Xiangzi would jump into my arms with great joy.

She would excitedly offer me a warm, fragrant treat, and rub her fluffy, dirty little head against my neck.

then.

Ningzi was carrying a large bag of food as she walked home.

Then Xiangzi would loudly say to me: I love you, I love you!

Then I responded to her with an even louder voice!

I would say:

I love you too. I love you too.

last of the last!

Lost in thought, Ningzi walked back to the tram stop.

In the very end, Xiangzi would obediently become his own pillow, coaxing himself to fall asleep happily.

A stack of banknotes rubbed against each other in the pocket, making a barely perceptible rustling sound.

Ch91. Sister, our family is rich now!

"Xiao Mu, you didn't come today?"

Downstairs at the small house in Toyokawa, Ningzi gazed at the empty streets around her, her eyes leaping from the street corner to the side of the street.

There was nothing there, not even a stray cat.

Mu didn't come, and the unspoken understanding between the two was broken today.

"Honestly, just because someone waited for you downstairs for a few days, you think they'll be with you forever? Ningzi, you're so embarrassing."

People would laugh at me if they told anyone about this.

Ningzi hugged the burning paper bag tightly in her arms.

The tom yum soup was heated, and even through several layers of partitions, Ningzi could still feel the burning sensation.

Without Muk, life is like being touched by a hot bowl of Tom Yum soup in a paper bag.

"Before I got to know Sister Mu in the last few weeks, she also had her own life."

If you truly believe that someone will always accommodate you, always be gentle and kind to you, always consider you, always remember you, always take care of you, always be concerned about you, always understand your feelings, and always see things from your perspective…

Then you really are!

Foolish! Stupid! Utterly idiotic! Absolutely brilliant!

Like miscellaneous fish.

You wouldn't happen to be one of those utterly stupid, lowly god-kings, would you?! Toyokawa Neko!

"Of course I'm not that kind of guy! So, Mu-neechan! Even if you come today, you won't see me! I'm going upstairs!"

By waving her hand into the air, Ningzi seemed to be holding a farewell ceremony for Wakaba Mutsumi, who was not present.

"I really have to go upstairs now. You too, well, you're already home by now... I wish you happiness, Sister Mu."

After waiting for a few more minutes, Ningzi chose to walk into the gate of her building without looking back.

The brilliant blue quickly disappeared from this place.

It's a few hundred meters from the corner of Ningzi's building.

After seeing Toyokawa Ningko return home while talking to herself, a figure silently left.

She waited there motionless for a long time, and no one knew when she arrived.

Her departure, like her arrival, did not disturb anyone.

Just like a shadow.

……

"What does seafood tom yum soup taste like?"

Ningzi packed the takeout food into portions using the dishes she had at home. She then lay face down on the dining table, her head pressed against the table, motionless.

"Gulp, we can't try it yet, we have to wait for Xiao Xiang to come home."

but…

Ningzi turned on her phone. Although the indoor lights weren't completely off, they were still somewhat dim, and the silvery light shone on Ningzi's face.

4:42 PM.

There are still more than five hours until Xiangzi returns.

Those damn five hours.

Honestly, why do you still have to work so hard now that there are only two of you in the family? You can go without food yourself, so don't worry about me.

"Hehe, by the way, I can make money now too."

Ningzi arranged the coins and banknotes on the table from smallest to largest, imagining Xiangzi's expression upon seeing the money.

You must be excited, happy, absolutely!

"That's great, Xiao Xiang, now I can do some things for you too."

Am I still that idiot who would hold you back?

I'm not anymore.

I must be a super sensible little sister.

The mirror in the distance glittered, and Ningzi looked at the corner of the full-length mirror by the door, as if she saw a crack.

The crack was so vibrant and juicy that it made one imagine tiny eyeballs.

Wait, tiny eyeballs? Is this a hallucination...? My brain seems a little fuzzy.

My eyelids gradually felt heavy.

Weakness in the limbs.

My body is telling me I need to rest.

"I'm so tired... Why isn't my sister back yet?"

The light outside was fading, and if the lights hadn't been on inside, Ningzi wouldn't have dared to move an inch.

Ningzi hates darkness, and she also hates hiding in the darkness under a faint, auspicious light.

"Sister, please come back soon."

With her nasal cavity filled with the sweet aroma of grilled scallops, Ningzi could still distinguish the taste of black pepper and salt.

"I really want to take a bite..."

With one hand dangling over her head, Ningzi quickly drifted off to sleep amidst her muttering to herself.

Today was really, really, really exhausting.

From replacing sheet music to spending money on shopping.

It doesn't seem like something that happened in a single day.

These were Toyokawa Ningko's last thoughts before she lost consciousness.

Come back soon, Xiao Xiang.

……

"I am back."

The door lock clicked three times as the key turned.

"Ok?"

Toyokawa Shoko opened her arms, waiting for her own idiot to jump over and hug her.

But just like the day Ningzi jumped into the river, Xiangzi did not receive any welcome.

"Xiao Ning!"

Her voice was panicked and her tone was hurried as unpleasant memories flooded into Toyokawa Shoko's mind like a rising tide.

No way, no way, this kind of thing...

His trembling pupils caught sight of the figure at the dining table beside him.

A disheveled, blue-haired idiot was taking a nap on the table, her delicate body rising and falling rhythmically with her breathing.

"Seriously, this child scared me to death!"

As Xiangzi's gaze swept across the full-length mirror, he saw a panicked reflection. His forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, and one hand was clutching his heart as if he couldn't breathe.

"It seems that what happened last time left a deep shadow on him."

It's just too cruel to almost lose your only source of emotional support.

If my sister really left that day.

I might act impulsively in a moment of madness and follow along.

Xiangzi tiptoed toward Ningzi.

Xiangzi's younger sister's sleeping face was adorable; her cheeks, so similar to his own, were so cute and alluring. Xiangzi could even see the tiny teardrops at the corners of Ningzi's eyes.

"Did you have a nightmare? You're such an idiot who's afraid to sleep alone. Going to school must be too tiring."

Xiangzi gently touched Ningzi's face with his lips, planning to take her to bed after his bath.

just.

"Where did all this food come from, and where did all this money come from?"

On the small dining table, Ningzi was placed in a quarter of the space, food occupied half of the space, and coins were placed in the last quarter.