Midsummer, the years are brilliant. Unknown trees along the campus spread lushly on both sides of the road, and oil-like light spots were scattered on the road surface.
In the classroom, Li Shijia covered her mouth in surprise: "Asthma?"
I nodded: "Yes, and it's sudden."
She let out a sigh of relief, but was still in shock: "That's really dangerous. It's fortunate that you were there; otherwise, what would have happened if she had suddenly collapsed?"
"I promised the child I wouldn't tell her parents, but I'm still very worried." I lowered my eyelashes in distress: "Besides a mask and a spray, is there anything else I need to prepare?"
"There's nothing else that needs to be prepared; these are enough. If something really happens, you still have to go to the hospital."
Li Shijia hesitated for a long time before speaking: "I think you should still tell her parents. It's not that I'm lecturing you, but you shouldn't have agreed to the landlord's request. If anything happens to their daughter, they'll come looking for you. You need to think about whether you can handle this responsibility."
Li Shijia's words were reasonable, but I fell silent.
To be honest, I did want to move out at first. Whether out of fear of trouble or not wanting to owe a favor, I was alone in a foreign land, already struggling to take care of myself. Having to take care of a minor child while keeping up with a busy academic schedule was just unrealistic when I thought about it.
But this person, Kusanagi, made me have slight signs of wavering, especially when I discovered she was hiding her illness and enduring pain; I truly couldn't bear it. And upon learning that her relationship with her family was so bad that they could barely get along, I felt a bit more pity and compassion.
Those sudden, fragile tears—I had to admit I was touched, and I instinctively wanted to care for and protect her.
"I'm doing this voluntarily. If any problems really arise, I'm willing to take responsibility." I rubbed my temples.
"I think you feel that your medical major isn't tiring enough; you'll have a hard time later on." Li Shijia glared at me: "You still have me, so call me anytime if anything happens. A little kid can't be that much trouble."
"Shijia, why are you so good?" I didn't expect her to take on this trouble as well.
"Some people, you just know at a glance whether you can be friends with them, how long you can be friends, and whether you can be good friends." Li Shijia raised her eyebrows: "Who told me to like the look of you?"
I hooked a smile at her: "With a pretty girl like you, who wouldn't like the look of you?"
"Oh my~ you've learned how to flirt indiscriminately!" She narrowed her eyes pleasantly: "Your flirting skills are quite impressive; you're even flirting with women now~"
Flirting? Did I?
Li Shijia leaned in close to me: "Tell me, how many men have you tricked with this trick?"
I brushed my hair back uncomfortably. How did it get to this? Although I've been told since I was a child that I have a sweet mouth, I know that with my rather dull personality and overly persistent and straightforward way of expressing myself, I'm occasionally very aggressive.
"I don't trick men, nor do I trick women."
"What, you trick both men and women?" Li Shijia covered her mouth tightly, her voice very loud.
"..." I lowered my head in embarrassment, having no way to deal with her.
Li Shijia's unbridled laughter scattered all along the way.
As night fell, the curtain of night descended, and the summer sky was filled with thousands of stars. The bookshelves on both walls of the living room were dyed by the light, casting shadows of books and corners.
The two of us sat upright on chairs, facing each other with great seriousness. A piece of paper was placed on the table with a large title on it, and there were signatures next to it.
The empty living room seemed even larger. Fortunately, there were emerald-green spider plants decorating it, and the youthful aura overflowing from the person beside me, so it didn't seem too lifeless.
The young girl wore a small ponytail, a small vest, and shorts. Her thighs looked as if they had been soaked in milk, and her slender feet were bare on the floor. She looked calm and composed, as if she had forgotten the unhappiness of last night, holding a cup of sweet milk in her hands.
The brand of milk she was drinking was Meiji; it was rich and mellow, and I had drunk it too.
Compared to the arrogance and imperiousness of our first meeting, she was much quieter now, mixed with a budding, cold temperament.
She was still a child after all; she liked milk.
It's easy to catch a cold if you don't wear shoes in summer; traditional Chinese medicine says that cold starts from the feet.
I took a glance, keeping a straight face. The woven straw slippers given by the madam would leave red marks between the toes after wearing them for a long time, causing slight pain. Perhaps that was the reason the girl was barefoot?
"Listen up. Since we are living under the same roof, we must have a three-chapter pact. You must follow my requirements: everything comes after me, and everything must focus on taking care of me."
These words were a bit arrogant. She thought she was incredibly powerful, but actually, it made one want to tease her. I nodded.
Kusanagi thought I would refuse, but she didn't expect me to agree so readily. She hesitated for a few seconds: "Without my permission, you cannot enter my room without authorization. You must cook the dishes I like every day, you are not allowed to control what time I come home, and you are not allowed to snitch to the old man."
"What does'snitching' refer to?"
"Nonsense, of course it's smoking and drinking."
I frowned: "That's not acceptable; I agree to everything else."
"Why? Ah, you've been bought off by him, haven't you? You're here specifically to watch me." The girl's unhappy gaze swept across my face inch by inch.
I wasn't annoyed, and slowly hooked a smile: "Yes, not only to watch over you, but I am also responsible for Miss Kusanagi's daily life, including buying personal undergarments and such."
Naturally, I was talking nonsense, but what followed was not.
"As for smoking, every tobacco leaf contains toxic nicotine. 1 gram of nicotine can kill 300 rabbits or 500 mice. If 50 milligrams of nicotine are injected into a person, it will be fatal. Smoking is most harmful to the respiratory tract and easily causes diseases such as laryngitis, bronchitis, and emphysema. When smoking, the smoke enters through the mouth, passes through the throat, trachea, and bronchi, and enters the blood. Have you ever seen the lungs of a smoker cut open? Densely packed with black spots, like black worms burrowing inside. The patient will cough painfully, coughing continuously, unable to stop even when coughing up blood."
I spoke very slowly, my lips slightly moving, revealing a somewhat terrifying tone.
This passage had a strong impact; the girl suddenly lost her words, her eyelashes blinking stiffly.
My voice hooked up at the end, and I said quietly: "If you start smoking while underage, your lungs will turn black very quickly, turning into a piece of sticky, disgusting, shapeless thing, firmly adhering to the lungs, merging with the lungs."
"You're doing this to scare me on purpose, right?"
I glanced at her: "What a coincidence, I have a lung section in my bag. I'll get it for you now."
"No need, don't bring it over." The girl's jet-black eyes were panicked, but she didn't want me to notice, so she forced her tone to be calm: "I, I don't want to see it!"
"You don't want to see it?"
"What's there to see in something like that!"
"Is it that you don't want to see it, or that you don't dare to?"
Kids, if you don't scare them a little, how can they be obedient?
She was disgusted by the description of "black, worms, lung sections," but she couldn't say anything to refute it, and she was stifled with impatience.
Oh, she's acting awkward. She blushes easily; it must be because her skin is too fair and translucent. She doesn't know that herself.
"I can't be bothered to nag with you, sign quickly!"
I said sincerely: "Miss Kusanagi, children in their developmental period grow hands and feet quickly, and undergarments will soon need to change sizes. I would be very happy to pick them out for you. Observing a lung section is also very educational."
"I said no need!" Kusanagi's face heated up, her cold voice filled with annoyance: "Are you annoying or what!"
I spread my hands, expressing innocence.
"Sign it quickly!" The girl's jade-white feet kicked up, pressing against the corner of the table in anger. Above them was a section of calf like white lotus root, with bruises that hadn't faded.
They say adolescents are sensitive, pay extra attention to privacy, and are especially wary of the same sex. It seems that's indeed the case. Naturally, I wouldn't touch sensitive things like undergarments.
I had no choice but to compromise and sign the three-chapter pact, agreeing to her bullying clauses. No matter when or where, as long as she needed me, I had to rush back. And what else? At home, everything had to follow her arrangements, and I could not refuse any request she made.
I rubbed my temples; my head began to ache faintly.
Fresh milk must be placed on the top shelf of the refrigerator, I was not allowed to enter her bathroom, and I had to regularly replace all daily necessities. This was more like a nanny than a nanny.
"Miss Kusanagi, this isn't a cohabitation contract; it's a deed of indenture, isn't it?" I laughed and cried; could the signature I just made be retracted?
"No retractions allowed, or do you want to pay the penalty?" She snatched it over, as if afraid I would retract, and pointed to the final clause. [The above, if there is any objection, pay three times the penalty to the person concerned.]
When was this kind of thing written? My eyes widened.
"Before the contract expires, you must act according to my requirements. If you want to quit halfway or move out, you have to pay three times this amount."
"What?" I was directly stunned: "Three times?" Mr. Kuroki's money was 2 million. Three times this amount—very good, I could go sell myself. But strictly speaking, although I had signed it, it didn't have legal validity. Hmm, how old is she? Just go along with her in everything from now on.
"Hey, your whole face is written with 'I didn't take this seriously'."
I was silent for a few seconds, slightly embarrassed at being exposed.
She took a small square out of her pocket and quickly stamped it on the paper, leaving a trace of light red ink. Mr. Kuroki's company seal, with the four large characters Rainbow Media, was stamped squarely on both of our names.
She's only 16; where did she get this? Did she steal it from Mr. Kuroki? Or did she make it specifically for this scene?
"Now it's useless to deny it. Ah, I forgot, Miss Nozawa can't afford the compensation at all, so from now on, you can only be used by me."
The young girl's slender, soft shoulders were half-draped with a white vest, and she laughed arrogantly, her face full of the joy of a villain who has succeeded. When exactly did I offend this lawless young miss?
"Nothing to say now, right?" Kusanagi said triumphantly.
"...No objections." At this moment, I had a strong sense of crisis, as if I had fallen into a trap.
"I want to eat fish, now." The girl crossed her feet and swung them leisurely.
"It's already 9 PM, and the supermarket is closed." I expressed my powerlessness.
"I don't care, I want to eat now."
"How about tomorrow?" I retreated to the next best option.
"No～ way."
She seemed to enjoy the way I was softly begging her. Eating fish late at night—she was deliberately tormenting me; her mischievous nature was fully revealed.
This is only the first few days; I fear there will be more bad tricks in her stomach later. However, I am a full 7 years older than her; if she thinks she can scare me with these tricks, she's underestimating me.
I bent down and took out a pair of light blue cloth slippers from the shoe cabinet, placing them beside her legs. They were packed by the moving company—a small, narrow pair, women's style. I had noticed Madam Kuroki's; it wasn't her size. It was self-evident who the owner was.
Kusanagi caught a glimpse and pointed with her jade-white jawline: "Whose shoes are these?"
It was my turn to deliberately raise my eyebrows: "Besides Miss Kusanagi, whose shoe size is 35?"
"When did I ever tell you..."
Before the girl finished her sentence, she naturally remembered the matter of me wiping her ankles.
Then she quickly remembered the way she leaned in my arms, weakly clutching my collar. Her face, like a flower petal with dew on a spring willow branch, suddenly turned crimson. Only at that moment, when I held her little feet, did I know her size.
I didn't speak, just looked at her sideways. With imperceptibly curved eyes, the counterattack was successful.
The girl was stunned at first, then the tube top inside her vest swelled with a slightly raised arc, rising and falling angrily with her breathing: "If you mention that again, you're dead!"
"Okay, I won't mention it, but it really felt very good." Not only did I not restrain myself, but I laughed instead.
"Feel, feeling?" She thought she had misheard and blinked in disbelief.
"Yes, the feeling." I repeated it, thoughtfully, "The feeling of hugging you is also very good."
"..." She stomped up the stairs and slammed the door shut with a thunderous sound.
I laughed until my waist bent; the little kid had no deterrent power, absolutely no deterrent power!