Chapter 284 Birthday (3)
June 6th, Friday, was a sunny day, but the morning weather forecast was all about the upcoming plum rains.
When Toru Watanabe walked into Class 4, Grade 2, most of the students had already started working hard for the final exams.
Miki Kujo lay on the pillow, staring boredly at Rin Kiyono who was sitting upright reading a book. She noticed Toru Watanabe coming in from the corner of her eye and started staring at him again.
Watch him come over and sit down in front of him.
She stood up, supporting her chin with her ring-wearing hand: "Did you have fun last night?"
"Happy?" Toru Watanabe's eyes were attracted by the red gem of the ring, her slender fingers and her fair profile.
"Didn't those two women celebrate your birthday in advance?" asked Kujo Miki with a smile.
"We had dinner together and enjoyed some premium fruits. After that, we chatted and received a birthday gift from Mr. Koizumi, a water cup he bought in Osaka."
"Asuki Mai and Koizumi Aona together?"
"Um."
"They are quite open-minded." Kujo Miki sneered.
Watanabe Toru reached out and held one of her hands: "We are all very grateful to you."
"We?" Kujo Miki repeated the word.
She pulled her hand back, pointed at Watanabe Toru, and then pointed at herself: "You and me, only like this, you and I, are a couple, a family, do you understand?"
"Kujo-san," said Rin, looking at the book, "If you want to always beat me, you can't be so strong. Why don't you be more submissive?"
"Kiyono-san, I have a question for you - you've already lost, so why don't you say to Toru: 'Be with me, and I'll allow you to date them'?"
"Because I'm a strong person," Qing Ye Lin turned her head and looked at Kujo Miki, "I'm a strong person who is stronger than you three. I don't need to accommodate anyone."
"How can a loser speak so confidently?" Miki Kujo asked puzzledly.
Then, she suddenly realized something and exclaimed, "Ah!" She said with a teasing and condescending tone, " Is it because I'm too confident that I become a loser?"
Qingye Rin's cold and beautiful eyes were fixed on Kujo Miki.
Miki Kujo looked back with disdain at the charming eyes, showing no sign of weakness.
"Today is Kiyono-san's birthday..."
"Are you speaking for her?" Miki Kujo turned her gaze to Toru Watanabe.
"Do you think I need to rely on my birthday to make her go easy on me?" Kiyono Rin glared at Watanabe Toru.
“…I was just trying to stop the fight.”
It was Aona Koizumi who came again and saved Toru Watanabe. She was wearing emerald earrings on her earlobes.
During lunch break, Ikki Aoi took advantage of the time when the two young ladies went to the club and secretly asked Watanabe Toru.
"Watanabe-kun, you guys were talking about Mai-senpai this morning, what's going on?"
"She lives in the same apartment with me and Mr. Koizumi. We had dinner together at Mr. Koizumi's house last night, along with Akiko, the English teacher from Class 2, and Mr. Miyazaki from the infirmary."
"What about 'allowing you to associate with them'?"
"Meiji was jealous and said that in anger."
"Is that so?" Ikki Aoi breathed a sigh of relief. "Then I'll go to the orchestra. Thank you, Watanabe-kun."
After saying this briefly, she rushed out of the classroom, her pleated skirt bouncing on her legs and her short hair flying, running to catch up with the members of the fourth class wind section who had set off as soon as the get out of class was over.
Watanabe Toru, Saito Keisuke and the other two met up.
"What did Ikki-san say to you just now?" Kunii Osamu folded his hands behind his head.
"Do you still like her?" asked the monitor.
"I don't like it, I just care a little bit and ask."
"Don't worry," said Watanabe Toru, "Ichimu came to me to ask about Mai-senpai."
"Hey, Kunii," Saito Keisuke bumped Kunii Osamu with his body, making him unable to maintain the handsome posture of holding his hands behind his head, "Ikki Aoi is much more affectionate than you. I have liked her since junior high school. You are totally unworthy of her."
"I agree." Watanabe Toru nodded.
"I agree." The squad leader said, pushing up his glasses.
"Humph." Kunii Osamu was speechless and turned to angrily: "Just wait and see! When I make it to the finals of this year's Koshien, I will definitely be more popular than this guy Watanabe!"
"Forget about making it to the finals. Even if you win the Koshien championship or a hundred championships, you won't be more popular than Watanabe." Saito Keisuke put his hand on Kunii Osamu's right shoulder.
"Reality is reality, consciousness is consciousness. Reality determines consciousness, not consciousness that determines reality. Give up." The squad leader put his hand on his left shoulder.
"What kind of philosophy is this?" asked Toru Watanabe.
"Are you interested?" The squad leader immediately let go of Kunijiro Osamu and turned his head. "Matter determines consciousness. This is the dominant idea of modern materialism. It can be divided into two aspects: macro and micro..."
The three of them ate while attending the class monitor's philosophy class.
After school, Toru Watanabe and Rin Kiyono took Kujo Miki's car to the palace villa standing on Tokyo Bay.
"I thought there would be a large group of people in formal attire waiting for us." Watanabe Toru said as he walked into the spacious and bright living room.
"You're talking about my birthday when I was five or six years old," replied Qingye Rin.
Toru Watanabe guessed that she didn't like celebrating her birthday like Mai Asuka, or that she hated people and occasions that lied.
"Rin, Miki, Watanabe-kun!" Mrs. Kiyono, who was wearing a sexy black dress, said to the three of them, "Go change your clothes!"
"Do I want to change too?" asked Toru Watanabe.
"Of course, you are my son, and you have your own room and closet in this house, so go ahead."
This was not what Toru Watanabe wanted to ask, but no matter what he asked, it seemed that he had to change his clothes.
The servant led him into a room, which was across from the rooms of Kiyono Rin and Kujo Miki.
The layout of the room and the various styles of clothes in the wardrobe were all prepared for him - if it weren't for the fact that his household registration had not been formally registered, Toru Watanabe would have believed that Mrs. Kiyono would have given him a share of the Kiyono family.
He was the only one who changed his clothes, while the other two young ladies went to take a shower.
Toru Watanabe came down from upstairs wearing a light suit and tuxedo with his hands in his pockets.
Just based on his leisurely steps, handsome face, and confident movements, the servants were sure that he was the young master.
The two ladies looked at Toru Watanabe with admiration.
Looking at him, Mrs. Kiyono thought to herself, if twins were really born, and Kiyono Rin had an older or younger brother, then her son would probably look like this as he walked down the stairs now.
Thinking of her daughter, she couldn't help but speak to Watanabe Toru who walked in:
"Watanabe-kun, I wish you were really my son."
"Watanabe-kun is going to be my son, you can't take him away from him." Mrs. Kujo, who was wearing a red dress that showed off her beautiful shoulders, said with a smile.
Mrs. Kiyono didn't mean that, but she didn't want to reveal too much emotion, so she was prepared to go along with what she said and continue joking.
Just as she was about to speak, Watanabe Toru suddenly said, "Kiyono Rin is already amazing enough."
Mrs. Qingye looked at him. She didn't expect that a young man whom she had only met a few times could immediately guess the meaning of what she had just said.
She wasn't going to take Mrs. Kujo's joke anymore.
"What's so great about it?" she asked with interest.
"When I first met Kiyono Rin, I was like everyone else. I thought that she must have a problem with her brain because she didn't lie, hated liars, and didn't associate with liars."
"What now?" Mrs. Kiyono glanced behind Toru Watanabe and continued to ask.
"Now..." Toru Watanabe took a glass of juice from the long table filled with food and cakes, "No one can be more amazing or better than her, in my heart."
"Is it because of your appearance?" Mrs. Kujo said.
"Of course she looks great, just as beautiful as Miki, but that's not the point. My first impression of both Miki and Kiyono Rin was completely negative."
Watanabe continued:
“Those businessmen who happened to seize opportunities and make a fortune are respected more for their wealth than for their own qualities; once they fail to seize the opportunity or squander their wealth, they are actually no different from homeless people walking by the roadside. I don’t think these people are outstanding or great.”
"Kiyono Rin is different. You don't approve of her actions, and you even think they are stupid. But sooner or later, you will be amazed by her determination and admire her persistence. She will impress you and capture you."
After finishing a long speech, Toru Watanabe took a sip of juice.
"She's not as good as you say." Mrs. Kiyono looked at Watanabe Toru dimly, and said something that seemed to be for Watanabe Toru, or for the people behind Watanabe Toru, "You may not know that she is the most unpopular person in our circle. As long as you go out for a walk, you can hear a lot of rumors about her. Even the servants reject her behind her back."
"That kind of thing," Watanabe Toru smiled, "Actually, anything is fine."
"Hmm?" Both ladies looked puzzled.
"Since Qing Ye Lin was sixteen years old, or fifteen years old to be exact," he said, "I have been with her all the time until today, her seventeenth birthday. I don't need to learn about her from others. Instead, those people should come to me and ask me for information about her."
"If you don't understand the law and leak my information without permission, I can ask a lawyer to educate you on the law." Qingye Rin's voice came from behind.
Toru Watanabe turned around and looked at Kiyono Rin on the stairs.
She was wearing a simple dress designed to meet her mother's request; it was light blue, cool and indifferent.
Every time I see her, she seems more beautiful than the last time, radiating a charming glow.
"Long live the right to privacy." Toru Watanabe raised the juice towards her and smiled.
Under the magnificent lights of the palace, his smile was full of understanding and trust. Anyone who saw this smile would think that he was loved by the whole world.
The maids were obsessed and intoxicated, but Kiyono Rin turned a blind eye.
She came down the stairs gracefully, and said through her rosy lips, "Are you imitating Gatsby?"
"If the money is enough, I'd like to act in it, but there's one small problem."
"Let your Meiji sign the permission for you to operate?"
"The person who plays Daisy must be an actress who has no interest in humans. Otherwise, on that autumn night five years ago, Daisy would have given up everything and run away with me, without waiting for me to get rich and come back to find her. Of course," Toru Watanabe said with a smile, "Meiji's permission to act is also necessary."
After he finished speaking, Qingye Rin had already walked down the stairs and approached the three people.
"Mother, Aunt Kujo." She bowed slightly.
"Happy birthday, Rin-chan." Mrs. Kujo said with a smile.
"Thank you, Auntie."
"Happy birthday." Watanabe Toru followed.
Qingye Rin turned around and asked in surprise: "Ah, why are you still here?"
"Where can I go if I'm not here? This is also my home."
"Ask your Meiji for permission to move? Or take a night swim in Tokyo Bay?"
"Swimming is just a way for me to exercise. It's not that I like swimming that much, let alone that I like swimming at night..."
"Thank you, and happy birthday to you too."
"Listen carefully to what I have to say!"
The two ladies looked at the two men and unconsciously revealed elegant smiles.
After a while, Miki Kujo came down wearing a blood-red dress. The color was very similar to Mrs. Kujo's, but the style was different.
Mrs. Kujo is graceful and noble, with a bit of temptation, and she has the arrogant girl queen style.
When going downstairs, Toru Watanabe reached out and held her slender hand with a ring on it.
"It's obviously my birthday, but why does it seem like yours?" He said with a low laugh.
"Then I'll hold your hand?" Miki Kujo looked at him charmingly.
"On your birthday?" Watanabe Toru leaned in and smelled her hair. "You actually washed your hair."
"how?"
"Did you have a quarrel with Qing Ye Lin? Why are you so rude and wash your hair directly at her house?"
"The Kiyono family is the Kiyono family, and Kiyono Rin is Kiyono Rin."
"In fact, Qingye Rin is not the child of the Qingye family? If I tell you this secret, I won't be silenced, right?"
Miki Kujo squeezed his hand.
Because they can see through lies and don't like people who tell liars, there are only five of them on Qingye Rin's birthday - in previous years there were only four people, which was even more miserable (the information came from the subtle leak of Qingye's wife).
After a simple exchange of birthday gifts, Toru Watanabe received a pair of silver cufflinks.
After Qing Ye Lin got the hair band, she put her hand on her chin and pondered for a while: "Did you buy it in Ginza?"
"no."
Kiyono Rin nodded, just like the last night of the family camping, she said "you can't bear to leave me", and Watanabe Toru replied "that's not true" - whether he admitted it or lied, as long as he opened his mouth, he was actually telling her the truth.
If you don't want to talk, just change the subject or don't answer.
There was nothing much to say about Mrs. Kiyono's gift. She just said she bought him a horse at a stable and would take him to play when she was on vacation.
Mrs. Kujo finally gave Toru Watanabe the fan she had promised to give him during the New Year, which had the words "Rate the Land" engraved on it.
From a line in the Book of Songs, Xiaoya, it can be seen that this is indeed a fan with a sense of age.
Now, the island countries' era names have begun to quote the island countries' ancient classics - "Manyoshu", and no longer select characters from ancient Chinese books.
Kujo Miki gave Kiyono Rin an old book. If Watanabe Toru was not mistaken, he had bought it a long time ago and left it in her villa after reading it. Did he just pick it up? Was it a waste recycling?
What Kujo Miki gave to Watanabe Toru was the apartment where he currently lives - except for Room 602 where Asuka Mai lives.
"Why do you feel like you're warning me?"
"You actually still have doubts about this?" Miki Kujo slowly opened the fan belonging to Toru Watanabe and looked at the four Chinese characters "率土之滨".
She did not show any mysophobia towards the relics of the Kujo family, or perhaps it was because the fan had been in her mother's hands for many years and now belonged to Toru Watanabe.
"Don't worry about the apartment. There will be someone special to take care of it. The rent will be your pocket money." She put away the fan and handed it to Watanabe Toru.
While the two were talking, a quarrel broke out on the other side for some reason.
Kiyono Rin and her mother, having an excited but deliberately suppressed argument.
Mrs. Kiyono was resolute, with an unintentional sadness on her face, while Kiyono Rin looked indifferent.
