Chapter 62: Leisure
Tokyo, the streets of Roppongi.
As Ji Minghuan walked toward the phone booth, he asked Ke Qirui, “So, how’d you two end up in Tokyo?”
Ke Qirui smiled at him. “I just happened to have work here, so I brought Mai Mai along.”
She explained as she raised her right hand and lightly knocked on the glass door of the phone booth.
Hearing the knock, Su Zimai turned her head nervously. Seeing only Gu Wenyu’s silhouette outside the booth, she let out a breath of relief, slowly set down the red phone she had pressed to her ear, and walked out, pretending to be calm.
She looked at Ji Minghuan blankly for two seconds, then said, “Thanks.”
“What’s my reward for getting you out of that jam?” Ji Minghuan asked bluntly, hands in his pockets.
“I’ll treat you to a sushi buffet. Me and my tea—” Su Zimai paused.
“Team?”
“Teacher,” she corrected. “My teacher and I were just about to eat sushi. You can come with us. She’s paying.” “Don’t make it sound like I’m some sugar mama spoiling an underage girl.” Ke Qirui took a pipe out of her pocket and held it between her lips, brushing it off casually. “I’m only a nineteen-year-old young woman myself, not that much older than you two.”
“A pipe?” Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow. “Oh... not something you see every day. Especially on a nineteen-year-old girl, even rarer.”
Ke Qirui didn’t know how to respond for a moment. In the end, she spoke like a kid caught sneaking toys by an adult, looking all innocent: “Oops... guess I got exposed.”
She turned to Su Zimai. “What do we do, Mai Mai? Think your brother’s gonna give me a lecture and drag you home first, ask questions later?”
Her tone was half-sulky, like a spoiled child.
If Ji Minghuan hadn’t had a serious conversation with her earlier at the Roppongi theater, he might’ve been fooled by her act. She was as sly as a fox.
“She vapes.”
Su Zimai twitched slightly at the corner of her eye, dryly covering for Ke Qirui in her mind: Captain spent all that time pretending to be a sweet, innocent teen, only to expose herself as a chain-smoker anyway.
“Using a pipe to vape? I almost bought it,” Ji Minghuan said. “But hey, I’m not my big brother, so I don’t care if you smoke or trip on leaf dust or whatever. Honestly, handing my little sis over to you is perfect—no one left at home to fight me for the TV or raid the fridge for drinks and ice cream.”
“You’re really asking for a slap,” Su Zimai frowned.
Ji Minghuan ignored her and asked Ke Qirui, “Miss Ke, aren’t you still in college?”
“Interning,” Ke Qirui replied calmly. “My work’s kind of unique. I take photos for rich people—stuff like them throwing money around at auctions or getting perfect shots for their socials when they’re out and about... These past few days I’ve been tagging along with one of them in Japan, so I dragged Mai Mai with me.”
She raised a finger and poked Su Zimai’s scrunched nose. “Right?”
“Right, right,” Su Zimai said while pushing her finger away.
“Oh, sounds like a promising career.” Ji Minghuan tilted his head, deciding not to push Ke Qirui any further. “So which sushi place are you two heading to?”
Su Zimai checked her phone: “A branch of Sukiyabashi Jiro, supposedly run by the second son of the ‘Sushi God.’ It’s at 6-12-2 Roppongi, in the Minato district. Just turn onto the next street and you’ll see it. This place is all over Xiaohongshu lately. I brought my teacher here to check in and eat our way through Tokyo. Lucky for you—you scored a free meal.”
“No wonder you ran away from home. Must be nice getting spoiled by a sugar mama...” Ji Minghuan sighed with mock envy, hands still in his pockets. “A trip to Japan, free food, free fun... If it were me, I’d leave home too. Let those two old dudes sulk at home by themselves.”
“I’m not a sugar mama.”
“You’re the one being spoiled.”
Ke Qirui and Su Zimai shot a glance at Ji Minghuan, both speaking at the same time with the exact same flat tone.
“I surrender.” Ji Minghuan pulled his hands out of his pockets and raised them. “No messing with lesbians, got it.”
Now he understood why Su Zimai’s vibe was so androgynous—it was learned from her “teacher.”
“Now I get why Mai Mai always says her brother has a mouth that deserves a slap,” Ke Qirui said with a smile, putting the pipe back in her pocket.
Su Zimai sighed, “Stop wasting time talking to this guy. He’s either holed up in his room saying nothing, or opening his mouth and making everyone mad.”
Ji Minghuan didn’t react, as if he hadn’t heard, hands behind his head in a lazy stretch. You’re the one who secretly dug into my second character’s background and came out swinging with that “my teammates are nearby” line. How could I not give you a hard time? Fair is fair, right?
With Su Zimai leading the way, the three of them soon arrived at the sushi spot she mentioned.
The restaurant was hidden among the gray-toned buildings behind Roppongi Hills. Above the stone steps hung a 30 cm-wide cypress plaque engraved with the black-lacquered characters「すきやばし次郎」.
With a rattling slide, the cypress door opened half a meter to the right. The three stepped inside.
A chorus of “いらっしゃいませ (Welcome)” from the staff greeted them as they sat down at a ten-seat cypress counter. Su Zimai took the menu from a server to place the orders, while the other two focused on eating—clear division of labor.
Ji Minghuan placed his phone on the counter, resting his chin on one hand as he aimlessly glanced around the sushi bar.
One moment he watched the chef skillfully slicing raw fish into thin pieces, the next he stared up at the TV mounted above.
He picked up the remote and switched to a news channel. The Tokyo News anchor was speaking in Japanese about recent Esper crime cases cropping up in cities like France and China.
When the anchor mentioned a series of recent events in Lijing, they started with a widely reported one: “Blue Arc has arrested international thieves ‘Da Zhonghou’ and ‘Flying Ant.’ The Lijing Esper Subdivision has already located the antique treasures from the Tokyo museum and will be returning them to Japan soon.”
Because of this, Blue Arc’s popularity in Japan had skyrocketed. Social media was flooded with praise, and the news station aired several thank-you videos from Japanese citizens and museum staff.
Su Zimai closed the menu and looked up at the TV screen. “Didn’t think that big blue electric rat was actually useful.”
Ji Minghuan replied nonchalantly, “If you posted that online, Blue Arc’s rabid fans would tear you to shreds.”
“That’s exactly what I hate. I had a female classmate who said she didn’t like Blue Arc and got ostracized by the other girls.” Su Zimai paused. “...So dumb.”
Ke Qirui sipped her tea and said calmly, “It’s hard for public figures to control their fanbases. The group’s too big. Blue Arc couldn’t possibly manage everyone. And he’s a national hero—insulting him is practically seen as insulting a people’s champion. That’s why the public reaction is so extreme.”
“Oh, and when he doesn’t take responsibility, who’s gonna take care of that ostracized girl?” Su Zimai asked.
“School is basically a microcosm of society. Learning to read the room and adapt is important—otherwise, life only gets harder. Consider it a life lesson.”
At that, Ke Qirui gave her a little smirk. “Besides, wasn’t that girl lucky? She met you. I remember you flipped the desks of those bullies. And to keep your brothers from worrying, you made me pretend to be your older sister and go meet with the head teacher.”
Su Zimai looked away. “I just couldn’t stand Blue Arc’s fans, not doing it for her.”
She leaned in close to Ke Qirui and whispered, “And afterward, you even summoned the ‘Movie Demon’ to scare those girls’ parents so bad they didn’t show up to school the next day. That’s what really got the principal to drop it. Captain, you’re the worst one of all.”
“What can I say... I hate kids who bully others.” Ke Qirui whispered back, “Don’t mention demons out loud. What if your brother hears?”
As she said that, she subtly glanced toward Ji Minghuan.
He was sipping Ramune soda while staring at the TV, face blank, clearly hadn’t caught their conversation.
Su Zimai and Ke Qirui backed off from each other, sighed, shook their heads, and returned to normal volume.
She said, “Ugh, it’s all Blue Arc’s fault.”
“I told you, it’s not about Blue Arc,” Ke Qirui replied flatly.
Listening to the two of them bicker, Ji Minghuan shrugged. He couldn’t help wondering—if Su Zimai ever found out that the Blue Arc she curses every day was actually Gu Qiye, what kind of face would she make?