Zongman: Unknowingly trapped in the hatchet

(After learning more about the information, I have made some changes to the price of roses in the previous chapter)

?

“So every time I miss my mom, I look up at the stars.”

The little girl holding a rose smiled innocently at the two of them.

The dimples on her cheeks were filled with golden fragments from the street lamps, like crumpled tinfoil roses flickering in the light and shadow.

Su Qing's expression did not change.

However, Yukino felt as if there were shards of glass in her breath.

The frayed edges of the child's down jacket cuffs, the muddy snow boots, and the tremor hidden in the deliberately raised ending tone when he said "a very far place".

As she stared at the girl's smiling face, she wanted to say something, but when she opened her mouth all she came out were a few blank syllables.

The snow seemed to be falling even heavier, and all the comfort at this moment seemed so pale and powerless.

No matter how you look at it, the other person's mother is probably already dead.

That’s why it’s called “a very far away place”, right?

That is probably a fairy tale woven with lies over and over again.

It's unreal, but beautiful because of it.

The broken snow suddenly became sharp, cutting through the gaps in silence.

The mechanical sound of the convenience store's automatic door opening and closing came from a distance, carrying the burnt aroma of takoyaki.

"Well...if big brother and big sister are alright, I'll leave okay? I still have to continue selling flowers!"

The little girl blinked and asked tentatively.

Seeing that the two of them didn't move, her eyes moved, then she turned around and was about to leave.

"Wait! Flowers, I bought them!"

Yukino was a decisive woman, she no longer hesitated and stopped the little girl.

"Eh, really? Hehe, thank you, big sister. Mom will definitely be very happy."

The little girl turned around, a perfect smile on her lips.

Appears well-behaved and sensible.

"Well... one flower is 2500 Sakura yen, and there are 22 of them, so it is... it is..."

The little girl hesitated for a long time, as if such arithmetic was very difficult for her.

But at this moment no one would blame her, and no one would think about whether a child of this age should be able to calculate such numbers mentally.

Xue No quickly took out a few ten thousand yuan bills from her wallet, squatted down, looked at the red face and said softly:

"No need, let's calculate it as 3000 per flower. If there are 22 flowers, the total is 6.6 Sakura Yuan."

"Hey, is this okay?"

The little girl blinked her eyelashes, her eyes revealed a look of longing, but her hand just stayed in mid-air and she didn't take the bills.

"The price is clearly marked, isn't it? There's still one thousand Sakura yen left, so don't give me the change. It's late now, so go home early after you finish selling the flowers, okay?"

Yukino shook her head, her voice soft but firm.

"Yes, that's right! The price is clearly marked." The little girl laughed, "Thank you, big sister!"

But just as she was about to take the seven bills, Su Qing stopped her.

"I want to buy it too. I'll pay 30,000. Can we just buy it together?"

Su Qing looked at Xueno, and Xueno also raised her eyes and looked at Su Qing in surprise.

Those clear and bright eyes suddenly showed some inexplicable emotions, and even the voice became light-hearted.

"Okay, let's buy them together."

Crackling.

Accompanied by intermittent electric current sounds.

The faulty colored lamp lit up again, mixing with the cold fragrance of roses, exploding a blue-purple light in the night.

Come to think of it...it must be the efforts of Senior Electrical Engineering.

……

The little girl selling flowers seemed to be just a small episode.

The two continued walking along Marunouchi towards the subway station, the snow covering the sound of their footsteps.

Two or three minutes later.

The warm waves and the bustle of people in the subway station made Yukino stop.

"These ten should be yours."

Yukino held the roses she bought in her arms, but her expression was a little conflicted.

Because the twenty-two roses were not individually packaged, the little girl might not have considered selling them by the rose from the beginning.

Bundle sale?

Yukino didn't have the mood to think about this at the moment.

She was wondering how to give the ten flowers that belonged to Su Qing to him.

"Take it. Just think of it as me depositing it with you."

Su Qing glanced at the rose lightly. The lighting was not good just now, and he didn't look carefully.

Only then did he notice that this was not Ecuador.

If I'm not mistaken, it should be a very ordinary rose, and the price should be around 1000.

However, the possibility that the little girl was deceived cannot be ruled out.

What does a ten-year-old know about Ecuador?

People should not make unwarranted demands on others.

"Well... I'll pack it and give it to you when I'm at school."

Xueno glanced at the gift box that Su Qing was holding, which contained a music box that was given to someone unknown.

I thought this was indeed inconvenient, so I didn't refuse.

"Hmm? That could easily be misunderstood, right?"

Su Qing was stunned for a moment and asked back.

"Misunderstand?"

Yukino was also stunned.

She tilted her head with a puzzled look on her face, and then the tips of her ears felt hot as if they were on fire.

"You kept a proper distance tonight because you didn't want people to misunderstand you. But if you send flowers to school, it will cause more people to misunderstand you."

Su Qing said calmly.

"S-That's true."

Xueno took a deep breath and suddenly she was a little afraid to look Su Qing in the eyes.

So he knew everything?

"I understand. Anyway, I will find a suitable opportunity to return it to you."

Su Qing nodded, thinking that he could just say no when the time comes.

It was useless for him to hold the rose. If he wanted to give it to Mahiru, he would naturally buy more.

"Then, goodbye."

Su Qing said goodbye to Xue No.

"Aren't you going back?"

Yukino asked in confusion.

Haven’t you already bought everything you wanted to buy?

"It's not too late yet, and this is my first time in Ginza, so I want to just walk around, so I'll take you here."

Su Qing's answer was simple and reasonable.

"Ok."

Yukino turned around, and her back was quickly swallowed up by the escalator.

Su Qing stood there for a few seconds, seemingly thinking.

He slowly raised the gift box in his hand and looked at the departing figure, with a rare look of confusion and hesitation on his face.

But such an expression was only fleeting.

Su Qing turned and left.

At the same instant, the vending machine "clicked" out coffee and the snow fell from the eaves of the subway station.

Covering up a subtle sound like a sigh.

……

At the alley entrance two hundred meters away, the rose wrapping paper shone coldly in the man’s eyes.

"Uncle, do you want to buy roses? 3500 each, an imported variety, I think it's called Ecuador..."

"leave me alone."

Not far away, similar words, or rather rhetoric, are being repeated.

It was like a stage play that had been rehearsed countless times.

The actor is still the same actor, but this time the audience doesn't buy it.

A man in a suit has an extraordinary temperament, which can only be cultivated with money.

But at this moment, he frowned, covered his nose and stepped back, and his crocodile leather heels crushed the thin ice on the drain.

He seemed to be very disgusted with the smell of little girls.

"Yes, is it too expensive? 3000... 2500 is enough! My mother is seriously ill, I want to..."

The man didn't say anything, but just looked at the little girl with a very cold look, and left without listening to her words.

The little girl was left biting her lower lip tightly.

"Misaki, come on, you can do it!"

The slight sound of encouragement turned into white frost the moment it was uttered, hanging on the eyelashes of the girl named Misaki.

Under the eyelashes, the eyes looked at the man's departing back, without any resentment or grievance.

There is only a lot of reluctance.

“It is really important to select customers and judge whether they have the financial ability to buy.

But if you want to improve the success rate and efficiency, you should try to target some younger students.

After all, at this age, they are more passionate than they will be ten years later.

Anyway, your roses are not really from Ecuador, so small profits but quick turnover is the best strategy, isn’t it?”

"Who?"

A strange voice echoed in the snow, and Misaki turned around abruptly, and the roses in her hand fell like blood-red rain.

Was it a customer who just noticed something was wrong and came to her?

If she had known this would happen, she should have gone to another place to continue.

But just now she was clearly only selling flowers to those people heading towards the subway station.

Damn, who has so much free time?

Tread, step.

The sound of footsteps falling on the snow sounded and echoed in the darkness.

Like a response to Misaki.

Then, a pair of unspeakably calm eyes slowly emerged from the darkness.

Those eyes reflected a girl and the bright red that was shattered all over the ground.

Su Qing bent down to pick up the flowers, then smiled at Misaki and said:

"Hey, we meet again."

……

……