Page 221
Page 221
Hiroshi Shimabukuro reluctantly saw Natsu Shirakawa off and invited him to have a drink sometime.
Shirakawa Natsu declined, leaving behind one million yen before departing.
The two got back into the car.
"Where to next?" Miyuki fastened his seatbelt.
"Wait, let me calm down." Shirakawa Natsu covered her face with her hands. She hadn't slept well last night, and today she was even more dizzy and disoriented because of Shimabukuro Hiroshi.
"Give me your notes, I'll sort them out first."
He opened Miyuki's notebook, and just as he had expected, the handwriting was neat and the ideas were clear.
Brother, you truly deserve to be called a top student from the law department of a prestigious university; your note-taking skills are simply extraordinary.
He flipped through a few pages, faster and faster, until finally he slammed the notebook onto the back seat.
"Why are you recording only the poses, item names, and instructions?! Why are you recording all this useless stuff?!"
"Because that's what he keeps talking about." Miyuki's lips curled into a smile. "Do you want me to record his instructions on how to use it?"
"And many of them I had never seen before, so I wrote them down."
Shirakawa Natsumi's lips twitched, unable to refute for a moment. She recalled the whole process and realized that Miyuki was not wrong.
I felt all the strength drain from my body and slumped backward into the seat.
"I was completely fooled by Shana. She must have known Kinoshita Ren's true nature to choose to use her to make a bet with me."
"Am I really going to lose? Licking her feet or anything like that? Absolutely not."
"Ring ring ring!" The phone suddenly rang; it was an unfamiliar number.
After Shirakawa Natsu answered the call, Shana's highly recognizable, clear voice came through: "Guess who I am?"
"Is there something wrong? If not, I'm hanging up." Shirakawa Natsu was completely clueless, but she still had to put on a confident expression.
"Ugh, so cold~" Shana seemed to be pouting, her tone almost like she was being coquettish: "We've already left Shimabukuro Hiroshi's house, aren't you even willing to say a few more words?"
Upon hearing this, Shirakawa Natsu's heart skipped a beat. He looked out the car window and felt a chill rise from his back.
He possessed exceptional photography skills, and his understanding of hidden camera filming was so profound that even experienced detectives like Aunt Mafei could easily outmaneuver him.
But he was completely unaware that he was being monitored.
Shana clearly possesses surveillance skills far exceeding his.
Seeing that he hadn't spoken for a while, Shana's voice came again: "I'm disappointed. I thought that apart from that fox, you could bring me some surprises."
"I'm walking my dog in the park. The scenery here is quite nice. Want to come and take a look? Or you can just admit defeat and only lose halfway, and you only have to lick one foot."
"Oops~ the puppy peed and pooped again. Talk to you later~"
After a noisy argument on the other end of the phone, Shana hung up.
"We lost." Shirakawa Natsu put down the phone, feeling as if he had fallen into an ice cave.
This was a complete crushing defeat, like a dense, airtight net binding him tightly, so dense that he couldn't breathe.
He felt that his every move was being monitored, and he had no hope of victory at all.
Who exactly is she? This sense of oppression far exceeds the scope of humanity.
Just as she said, only a fox could bring her surprises.
"Wait!" Shirakawa Natsu slapped his forehead, his eyes lit up, and turned to Miyuki, saying, "Let's go home."
When he arrived at the Wood Moss Woman's room, she was lying on a blanket on the balcony, lazily basking in the sun.
"Fox, help me!" Bai Chuanxia knelt down in front of her and lowered his head: "You can't bear to see me being bullied by other women, can you?"
"Oh." Momoko looked at him with amusement: "The audience only needs to sit in the front seats and watch the performance on stage."
“But if the performance is too boring, it’s a bad movie.” Shirakawa Natsu said innocently, “You don’t want to see a bland and uninteresting movie without any plot twists, do you?”
The Wood Moss Girl looked at him amusedly, raised her head, ran her fingers across his cheek, and lifted his chin: "Call me Mom."
"Mom," Shirakawa Natsu called out without hesitation.
"..." Wood Moss Girl's smile froze for a moment, then her eyes immediately crinkled into crescent moons, looking very beautiful: "You've changed."
When it comes to looks, foxes are absolutely the best.
Shirakawa Natsu shrugged indifferently; he'd long since abandoned any sense of integrity.
Anyway, Sister Cai called him "Dad" quite often, just for fun.
Chapter 287 Trembling All Over
"Mom, what should I do now?" Bai Chuanxia didn't waste any words. Having done it once before, she got better and better at calling out to her mother this time.
The Wood Algae Girl smiled, lay on her side on the mat, raised one foot, and used her long toes to hook his chin, her expression elegant:
"Lick it~"
"Huh?" Shirakawa Natsu's expression froze as she looked at the snow-white jade feet, her face full of questions.
“In her eyes, your tricks are like those of a kindergarten child trying to trick the teacher into giving him a toy.” Momoko’s eyes crinkled into crescents as she smiled: “Start practicing now, so that when you lick it, it will be easier for you to accept it psychologically.”
"There's no need to be so direct," Shirakawa Natsumi said, guessing as well. "Isn't there a chance to win?"
Shana's professionalism in front of him these past few days clearly indicates that she has received professional training.
He even suspected that Shana's true identity was actually a spy for some secret organization.
Momoko asked with a half-smile, "How can kindergarten kids trick their teachers into giving them the toys they want?"
Shirakawa Natsu lowered her head, pondered for a while, then raised her head: "Crying, fussing, acting cute?"
Wood Algae looked at him for a long time before saying, "You can give it a try."
"Then she'll make me lick her feet, which brings us back to square one, doesn't it?" Shirakawa Natsumi's lips twitched. "Mom, please stop being a riddle-maker."
Wood Moss Girl withdrew her foot, stood up, and flicked his forehead with her finger: "Go back."
"Uh." Shirakawa Natsumi saw that she was kicking him out and knew she wouldn't help him. He immediately felt a pang of regret, having just called her "Mom" a few times. He had originally wanted to stab her to get revenge. But now that she seemed uninterested, he decided against forcing her; after all, force can backfire.
Shirakawa Natsu returned to the apartment, and as soon as she entered, Hashimoto Arina came over and said, "You're back~"
"Hmm." He felt healed.
After changing her shoes and entering the living room, she saw the easel in front of the sofa and knew that Hashimoto Arina had been painting at home all along.
"I'm sorry, Sister Cai, it's so hard for you to come back. I've been busy with my own things and haven't had time to spend with you."
"Hmph, it's alright." Hashimoto Arina picked up her paintbrush, a smile playing on her lips. "Because I know you're working hard for our future, and it would be too selfish of me to keep asking you for things."
Shirakawa Natsu felt a lump in his throat and a sense of guilt rose in his heart. With Sister Cai trusting him like this, he had just been playing a mother-son game with her ex-boyfriend.
Hashimoto Arina didn't notice his expression and continued drawing while laughing, "And I won't feel lonely at home at all, because I know you will definitely come back, and that's enough."
"Don't you have any demands on me, Sister Youcai?" Shirakawa Natsu was taken aback. Although he knew that there were many kinds of love from women, Youcai's open-mindedness surprised him.
“Of course there are!” Hashimoto Arina put down her paintbrush, stretched out her hand, and counted on her fingers, saying, “You’re not allowed to be too intimate with other women. Even I will get angry.”
"..." Shirakawa Natsumi's lips twitched. He admitted that for a moment just now, he had thought about confessing to Arina that he had other women.
Hashimoto Arina wasn't finished yet, she continued counting on her fingers: "Don't make me wear those weird clothes, I don't really like them."
"And you're not allowed to call me dad, brother, or anything like that, not even son."
"Don't try to open my back when I'm not looking. From a medical point of view, it's very unhygienic."
"Okay, okay, stop scolding me." Shirakawa Natsumi covered her face.
"Hehe." Seeing his expression, Hashimoto Arina covered her mouth and chuckled softly, then rested her head on his shoulder, her voice becoming gentle:
"Most importantly, you must be healthy every day, achieve your dreams, and grow old with me."
Shirakawa Natsu was taken aback. Looking at Hashimoto Arina's face full of longing for the future, she felt moved but still couldn't help but retort, "Arina-nee, I feel like what you really want is just like my mom's."
Upon hearing this, Hashimoto Arina sat up, snorted coldly, and tapped him on the head: "Because I'm so much older than you, are you looking down on me?"
"How could that be? Arina looks younger than me." He then buried his face in Arina Hashimoto's facial cleanser.
He understood Hashimoto Arina's thoughts. The two met at the hospital, where Hashimoto Arina took care of him as his attending physician.
In her heart, her love for Shirakawa Natsu was mixed with some maternal instinct, which is why she hoped he would stay healthy and make a name for himself.
Shirakawa Natsumi paused for a moment when she thought about this. If what Hashimoto Arina really wanted was his companionship and health.
So, what does Kinoshita Ren want?
She maintains indiscriminate relationships with so many men; if it's just for sex, why doesn't she divorce her husband?
If it's for fame, then why do so much?
As he was thinking, he suddenly felt Hashimoto Arina's breathing become heavier.
He looked up at her strangely.
Hashimoto Arina covered her mouth with the back of her hand, avoiding his gaze. Feeling embarrassed by his stare, she finally spoke, "I want it because I've been sucked."
"Then you can do it yourself." Shirakawa Natsu smiled and put his arm around her slender waist.
Three days have passed in the blink of an eye.
Shirakawa Natsu followed by Miyuki, and the two arrived at Kinoshita Ren's house together.
"Hi, Xia~" Shana sat on the sofa, smiling at him, her legs stretched out in black stockings.
Kinoshita Ren, dressed in a turtleneck sweater and with earrings, exuding the air of a gentle, married woman, was lying on the ground, letting Shana put her feet on her back like a human cushion.
Shirakawa Natsu glanced at it only once before looking away and turning her gaze to Shana.
"Your eyes don't seem to admit defeat." Shana smiled, withdrew her foot, and looked at him with interest.
"Do you think you can still take this puppy away from me?"
“Of course I can’t do it.” Shirakawa Natsu shook her head, stared at her, and raised her hand to check the time: “But someone can do it. Judging by the time, he should be arriving soon.”
So the four of them stood there for a full two hours.
During that time, Miyuki went out for a smoke.
The door was finally opened from the outside, and Hiroshi Shimabukuro, dressed in a sharp suit, walked in. Upon seeing Natsu Shirakawa, he quickly said, "Sorry, the traffic was terrible today."
Shirakawa Natsu rubbed the bridge of her nose and waved her hand, saying, "Never mind, you take care of things here first."
When Kinoshita Ren saw Shimabukuro Hiroshi enter, his body visibly trembled, but he remained lying down without any reaction.
"Is this how you want to beat me?" Shana looked over with interest, casually tossing a collar on the ground.
Kinoshita Ren ran to the collar and moved it using only his teeth and neck, without using his hands.
He skillfully put the collar around his neck, then, biting the rope, climbed up to Shana and placed it in her hand.
Throughout the entire process, she paid no attention to the gazes of those around her, her face flushed an unnatural red, her eyes glazed over, clearly having stopped thinking.
Hiroshi Shimabukuro trembled as he looked at his wife.
Shirakawa Natsu reached out and patted his shoulder: "It's all up to you now. Trust me, for love."
"Hmm." Hiroshi Shimabukuro took a deep breath, looked at Ren Kinoshita, and said softly, "Ren, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long. With Mr. Natsu's help, I finally know your true thoughts, including the reason why you won't divorce me."
"When we were having dinner with the editor, you went to the restroom with him. When I was having a party with my friends, you pretended to be a hostess ordered by my friend. You deliberately dropped a toy remote control at the feet of my junior colleague."
"Actually, you're not just doing this for your own satisfaction. What you really want is for me to accept you as you are."
Chapter 288 I caught you
Hiroshi Shimabukuro finished speaking in one breath, panting heavily, and looked at Ren Kinoshita on the ground, his eyes red. Tears would likely stream from this seven-foot-tall man's eyes in the next second.
"?" Shirakawa Natsumi's expression was strange. He knew that Kinoshita Ren was playing a big game.
But she pretended to be a live-in prostitute and dropped the toy remote control in front of her junior colleague, all in front of her husband.
He only managed to open his eyes.
Hiroshi Shimabukuro took a deep breath, composed himself, and tried to reduce the sobbing in his voice. He straightened up, pointed to his suit, and continued:
"Lian, this is the suit we wore when we got married. I've been reluctant to throw it away ever since we separated."
"I want to start over with you, is that okay?"
met free