When the sand sculpture trial decides to make trouble

seven years ago.

15-year-old Nakahara Chuya pulled up the hood of his hoodie and fastened through Yokohama's sparsely populated coastal streets.Through the brim of his hat, he glanced towards the direction of the sea—on this starless night, the sea in the distance was like pitch-black satin, silently undulating.

The autumn sea breeze carries a slight salty taste.He tightened his dark coat, and walked quickly towards Leibo Street. When he turned the corner, he noticed a stare that was obvious and even a bit naked, and was cast on him.

The young man who was extremely sensitive to the outside world stopped and turned his head to look in the direction of his gaze.

He saw a frail child sitting with his knees hugged in a place sheltered from the wind by the outer wall of a closed shop.It seemed that it was a girl, wearing a thin nightgown covered in dust, with long dark, slightly dirty hair.She buried most of her face on her knees, only revealing a pair of wet and timid eyes like a deer.

When he saw the little girl, Zhong Yuan realized that what she was staring at was not him, but something in his hand.

Nakahara Nakahara's fingers holding the plastic bag moved slightly, and Mykura's mixed pancakes in his hand fell into the plastic bag, making a slight sound.

Following the slight sound, the little girl looked away in panic as if she suddenly came to her senses, and her hands hugged her knees tightly.

A normal little girl would not curl up outdoors in dirty pajamas late at night like this.What's more, according to the cleanliness of her hair and clothes, she has been wandering outside for three or four days.

The orange-haired boy thought for a while, let out a breath, and walked towards the girl on the street corner.

Hearing his footsteps, the girl shrank back abruptly, propping her palms on the ground, and straightened up unsteadily, as if she was about to run away.Seeing this, Zhong Yuanzhong also shook the bag in his hand and called out loudly: "Hey, don't you want to eat? Pancakes."

The girl's movements paused.She stared at him nervously. Although her eyes were full of distrust, she obviously had no strength to escape.

Zhong Yuan also stood about one meter in front of the girl, stared at her with his head down for a few seconds, and sat cross-legged across from her.

"Mykura's mixed pancakes, do you want to eat?" He handed the steaming pancakes in front of her.

The girl's eyes were suspicious, but she still stretched out her hand cautiously, caught the bag he handed over, and then hurriedly opened it.

When biting the corner of the pancake, the tip of the girl's dirty nose turned reddish.She sniffed, chewed quickly, and wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

Zhong Yuanzhong also stared at the girl who was devouring her food for a while, and then said suddenly: "You are so defenseless, are you not afraid that I will put medicine in the pancake?"

The girl's swallowing movements froze suddenly.She looked up, stared at him with wide blue eyes, and looked on the verge of crying again.

"Just kidding!" Zhong Yuan quickly waved his hand, "This was originally my dinner tonight, you can eat it at ease."

The girl's fingers holding the pancake were a little stiff.Her eyes trembled, and she slowly swallowed a mouthful of pancakes.

"Thank you." She slowly put the pancake in her hand on her lap, opened her mouth and said, her voice was so hoarse that the original timbre could not be heard at all.The tears accumulated in her eyes finally rolled down tremblingly over her eyelids, soaking her lower eyelashes blacker and blacker.

Zhongyuan Zhong also felt a little unbearable.He whispered: "Stop talking, eat your food first. Then I'll take you home."

The girl lowered her head, her thick but messy black hair covered most of her face.

"I don't have a home anymore." She replied softly, "Mom and Dad don't want me anymore."

"What's going on?" Zhong Yuan was also startled, "What's your name?"

"Minan..." the girl said in a voice that was barely audible, "Minan Rinhua..."

"Mi Nan..." Zhong Yuanzhong also suddenly felt that this surname was somewhat familiar.He recalled, and suddenly thought of something: "Minan Fengdou of the Minan Group that went bankrupt half a year ago, could it be..."

"It's... my father..." Minan Rinhua whispered.

Zhong Yuan didn't know what to say for a while.Even though he was just a child living in the slum-like Leibo Street, he was still in the deepest part of Leibo Street, and heard the bang when this huge business empire collapsed in Tokyo through various media.

Overnight, countless employees lost their jobs, and the investment of big businessmen could not be recovered.And Minan Rinka's father, Minan Fengto, couldn't face the fact that the group went bankrupt in his own hands, and hanged himself in his office on the top floor.

Minan Fengdou escaped all this with death, throwing all the burdens on his wife and daughter.His wife fled Tokyo with her daughter after learning of the situation, and her whereabouts are unknown.Almost all the valuables of Minan's family were seized by the court and eventually auctioned off, and the money went to the creditors of the Minan Group.

But why is this former rich lady living on the streets of Yokohama now?

Zhong Yuanzhong also thought so, and asked the same question.He tried to lower his voice so as not to frighten the fragile girl: "Where's your mother?"

Minan Rinka was silent for a long time, and finally said: "Mom, she... took me and fled from Tokyo to Yokohama, hiding from those who came after us. We have no money, and we have been hiding in a remote small village until last week. In the apartment."

"In the past six months, I have often seen my mother crying and swearing." She said, "I really want these things to end. Last Wednesday, my mother brought back a bottle of happy water and told me that as long as I drank it, I would not will be sad."

"Happy water?" Zhong Yuanzhong was also taken aback, thinking what kind of drink is that? "Did you drink?"

Minan Rinka nodded emphatically: "Mom said it was happy water, because every time my mother drank it, she would not cry, but would smile happily. So I took the whole bottle of happy water that my mother gave me. drank it all, and fell asleep on mother's lap."

"When I woke up again, I was the only one left in the room. The landlord said I couldn't stay there anymore. After that, I have been outside." She said, "Until now..."

Zhong Yuanzhong also suddenly understood, put his hands behind his back, and silently punched heavily on the ground.

"Bastard..." He squeezed out a tiny syllable from between his teeth, and gritted his teeth restrainedly, afraid of scaring Minan Linhua.

For the next period of time, Nakahara Nakaya sat opposite Minan Rinka and didn't make a sound.He watched the girl eat up the assorted pancakes one bite at a time, and at the end held the empty bag and looked up at him cautiously, like some limp abandoned cat.

"There's nowhere to go back, just follow me," he said at last, "or you'll die in the street soon."

Minan Rinhua didn't speak immediately, her blue eyes trembled.

"If I die, will I see my father?" She suddenly asked softly.

Zhong Yuanzhong was also a little dazed—he guessed that the girl in front of him might be missing her father who had hanged himself, but he, who had never had any memories of his parents, didn't know how to react at such a time.

"Maybe." In the end, Zhong Yuanzhong also answered in the same way.

Minan Rinhua's eyes were a little vain, falling in the air, but without focus.

"Then I'll go with you." She tightened her fingers uneasily, clutching the plastic bag in her hand, "If Dad doesn't want me anymore, then I don't want to see him either."

Central Plains is also dumb.

"Then let's go." After a long time, he sighed and stood up.

Minan Rinka also stood up unsteadily.She took two steps towards the outside, but her steps were very vain, as if she would fall to the ground at any moment.

Zhong Yuanzhong also looked down, and found that the girl's calf was exposed under the hem of the nightdress, and the scratched blood scab had solidified with the dust, forming black, purple and purple hideous marks.He didn't say much, but took off his coat, wrapped it around the girl's thin shoulders, and then bent down in front of her.

"Get on my back," he said. "At your pace, we won't be able to get back until dawn."

Zhong Yuanzhong also lowered his head, looking at the shadows of the faint street lights on the ground.He saw the little shadow that belonged to Minan Rinhua standing there and hesitated for a while, then lay on his back.

The petite girl is as light as a piece of paper.Zhong Yuanzhong also effortlessly supported her knees and stood up.

In this way, the two returned to the stronghold belonging to "Sheep" on Leibo Street in silence all the way.

If the city of Yokohama is a person, then the round Saibo Street is the dark, necrotic tumor in the body of this person.Most of the people who live here are vagrants, gangsters and organizations wandering in gray areas.However, the "sheep" in the Central Plains is an exception.They are quite a decent group in Saibo Street.

Even if it is within the range of Leibo Street, the stronghold of "Yang" still occupies a relatively tidy and good location.Pushing away the simple building materials and the house made of iron sheets, Zhongyuan Zhong also carried Minan Rinhua on his back and walked into a whole area of ​​strongholds connected by simple houses.

What met Minan Linhua's eyes was the dim yellow light from the simple light bulb.She lay on Zhongyuan Zhongye's shoulders and raised her head, and saw sofas and old furniture scattered in front of her, and a large-screen TV was placed in front of the thin wall at the end, and the TV was playing strange pictures, with the volume turned up to the maximum.

The small table in front of the TV was filled with all kinds of drinks.And on the sofa, in front of the TV, there are more than a dozen teenagers and girls sitting or standing, looking for fun unscrupulously.

"Hey, Chuya! Why did you come back so late?" One of the teenagers saw Zhongyuan Zhongya coming in from the outside, and stood up immediately, holding a can of beer in his hand. Have you cleaned up all the bedbugs who scolded us?"

"Yeah." Zhong Yuanzhong also seemed unwilling to say more, just nodded slightly.

"It's really you, Chuya!" The man seemed to say something more, but his eyes suddenly fell on the small figure on Zhongya's back in Zhongyuan.

"Who is this?" He asked in amazement, "Chuya, who did you bring back?"

As soon as these words came out, the uproar just stopped suddenly.Someone grabs the remote to mute the TV.For a moment, all eyes in the room were on the little girl on Nakahara Chuya's back.

Through a layer of gray hoodie, Zhong Yuanzhong could also feel that Minan Rinhua tightly clenched his clothes tightly.

Suddenly, a teenager in the crowd teased with a bit of teasing: "Yo, Zhongya, you don't want to play Guangyuan's project, do you? Bring a little loli back and raise it, and get married when it grows up? Hahaha... ..."

The members of "Sheep" let out a burst of laughter.Zhong Yuanzhong also frowned slightly, but said nothing.

"I'm not joking, to be honest." The person who spoke just now asked again, "Why did you bring this little girl here?"

"She is a homeless child." He said, putting down the Minan Linhua on his back, then paused, and took her hand, "It's the same as everyone. So I put her Bring it back."

"Huh? What's the same?" Shirase took a step forward dissatisfied, pointing at Rinka Minan and asked, "Let alone fight with other organizations, she can't even lift a gun. Even if she joins our organization, it's just It's just a burden!"

"Hey, Chuya, I know you are our leader, but you can't let people who drag us down without authorization?" His voice became louder and louder, "How old is she? Six or seven?"

Shirase wanted to continue talking, but a girl beside him tugged at his sleeve and winked at him.

"To put it another way." She reminded Shirase in a low voice, "When Chuya joined, he was around the same age..."

Shirase was taken aback for a moment, the momentum just now suddenly weakened a little.

"Anyway, I don't agree to let her join." Shirase looked back at the others, "What do you say? People who think the same as me raise their hands."

A group of teenage "sheep" members looked at each other and slowly raised their hands in the air.With just a dozen hands, in Minan Linhua's eyes, it looked like a forest.

The little hand held by Zhong Ye trembled and became cold.

"Look!" Shirase regained her confidence, "Everyone disagrees!"

Zhong Yuan looked at the members of "Sheep" blankly.After a while, he suddenly let out a breath.

Then, in the eyes of a group of teenagers and girls, he gently tugged Minan Rinhua's hand, led her to the sofa and sat down, raised his hand around the wine bottles on the table, and grabbed a pack of cheap puffed snacks torn apart.

"Hey, Chuya, what do you mean!" Amidst the crackling sound of the package bag being torn, someone couldn't help but speak again.

Hearing a "click", Zhong Yuan's teeth clenched and he bit a piece of potato chips into pieces.

"I will be responsible for her food, clothing, housing and transportation, and you don't need to worry about it." He said, "You should take care of yourself and don't just go to the other side of the river to steal wine. This time there are not too many people, and next time it won't be so."

Zhongyuan Zhong also saw the origin of the wine on the table at a glance, and for a while, everyone else fell silent.

"...It's not impossible." After a while, Shirase let go - after all, if something happens, they will still have to rely on Zhongyuan Zhongya to work, "In short, we will not take this little girl into action Yes. Chuya, since you want to keep her, then she is your responsibility. Besides, Chuya, we plan to teach Noguchi a lesson tomorrow, and then it will be up to you!"

Zhong Yuanzhong also ate the last piece of potato chips in silence - the assorted pancakes were given to the little girl, and this bag of potato chips was his dinner tonight.

"Ah, let's do it this way." He stood up, took Minan Rinhua by the hand, and pushed open the door leading to other rooms, "I'll take her to take a bath first. You do what you want."

The door closed with a click.After a long time, a girl said cautiously: "Chuya seems to be really angry this time... In the past, as long as we told him that it was everyone's decision, he would agree."

"It's okay." Shirase said disapprovingly, "We took him in and made him the leader. As the leader, no matter how angry he is, he still has to do what he should do."

……

Zhong Yuan was also sitting outside the simple bathroom, rummaging through the cabinet for a clean bedding.

The sound of dripping water in the bathroom stopped.Soon, the door opened with a "squeak", and the warm water mist in the bathroom came out from the door.

Chuya Zhongye paused.He turned his head and saw the girl coming out wearing an oversized long-sleeved T-shirt, struggling to grab her long wet hair to prevent water droplets from dripping onto the dry clothes.

Zhong Yuanzhong also suddenly realized that he forgot to find a towel for her.He quickly took out a towel from the closet and handed it to Minan Rinhua: "Quickly wipe your hair, you..."

Chuya Nakahara stopped in the middle of his words.

Hearing this, the little girl in front of her lifted her cleansed face and looked at him.

When the dust on that immature face was washed away, Zhongya Nakahara discovered that Minan Rinka's appearance was unexpectedly beautiful.

By the way... Zhong Yuanzhong also vaguely remembered that he had seen from the newspaper reporting the bankruptcy of Minan Group that Minan Fengdou's wife was a famous model, a beauty like a pearl.

Fortunately, she spent three days on the street.It is a miracle that such a pretty little girl was not kidnapped.

Thinking of this, Zhong Yuanzhong was even more thankful that he saved Minan Rinhua's life by mistake.He handed her the towel in his hand: "wipe it quickly. Otherwise, you will catch a cold. "

Minan Rinka obediently took the towel and wiped her hair.

"Those big brothers and sisters just now didn't want me to come, did they?" She wiped her wet hair one after another, lowered her head and said softly, "I'm sorry, it's all because of me, I made things difficult for you... "

Speaking of this, Minan Rinka recalled what Shirase called Chuya Nakahara just now.After a pause, she said cautiously: "Brother Zhongye..."

Zhong Yuanzhong was also a little surprised, and raised his hand to rub Minan Rinhua's head.

"It's nothing," he whispered. "I'm their leader."

Minan Rinka paused for wiping her hair.Her eyelashes trembled slightly, but she didn't speak.

After a while, she raised her head and asked, "Brother Zhongye, aren't those big brothers and sisters drinking the happy water on the table? Why are they still so angry after drinking it?"

Zhong Yuanzhong didn't know how to explain the "Happy Water" to her, so he had to avoid the topic: "If someone asks you to drink these 'Happy Water' in the future, don't drink it, do you understand?"

Minan Rinka was a little surprised, but still nodded.

"Let's not talk about this, you should be very tired now. Where are you going to rest tonight?" Zhongyuan Zhong also found the bedding and asked, "There should be two beds for the girl, you can choose one..."

As soon as he said it, he saw Minan Rinhua shaking her head desperately.

"Only there is a bed there." Nakahara Chuya squatted down and explained, "Rinhua, you can sleep there, can you?"

Minan Rinka subconsciously grasped the hem of her clothes.

"Can I..." She whispered, "Sleep in Nakaya's room? I can just sleep on the floor. After I came to Yokohama with my mother, I have been sleeping on the floor. They all drank happy water, I am a little scared……"

Nakahara looked at Minan Rinka and felt a headache.After the girl lost her parents, she was like a chick with a broken shell that regarded the creature it saw at first sight as its mother, and regarded him as her guardian...

But now he lives alone, and a thin little girl can fit in the room.

"Okay." Nakahara Zhong also sighed, "You can live with me temporarily. I would like to give you a separate room in two days, but other members will definitely feel dissatisfied."

"Rinka, you can't make any big contribution to the 'sheep' right now, so I can't give you privileges. Sorry, this is the distribution rule that the leader must abide by."

Nakahara Chuya spread out the quilt on the floor, watched Minan Rinka lifted the quilt, climbed into the quilt carefully, and then sat on his own bed.

After turning off the lights, Nakahara listened to the sound of other members of the "sheep" having a party outside, and closed his eyes in the dark.

"Brother Zhongye." In the darkness, Minan Rinka suddenly said, "I think it's a little strange."

"Ah?" Zhong Yuanzhong also closed his eyes, and responded casually, "What's so strange?"

The young girl stared at the ceiling made of iron sheets with her eyes open, and asked, "Brother Zhongye has made the greatest contribution, but why are other brothers and sisters able to enjoy the privileges to their heart's content, but Brother Zhongye is ordered by them?"

Zhong Yuanzhong also suddenly opened his ice blue eyes.

……

When he opened his eyes, Nakahara Nakaya saw the delicate wooden ceiling of Honmaru.What came out of the window was the crisp birdsong that was rarely heard in the steel city.

Zhongyuan Zhongye was slightly stunned at first, and then came back to his senses.

Now, he is not in the "sheep" stronghold, nor in the high-rise of the port mafia, but in the room of Honmaru.The day before, Minan Rinka arranged him in the room of the castle tower, which was only separated from her own bedroom by a wall.

Perhaps because of the reunion after a long absence, he dreamed of the scene when he met Minan Rinka for the first time.

Young girls at the time had figured out what was wrong, so why didn't he?

Thinking of this, Zhong Yuanzhong also raised his hand and rubbed his slightly swollen temples, before sitting up.

At 06:30, bright sunlight was already reflected outside the window.He glanced at the window inadvertently, and saw Minan Rinhua standing by the window of his bedroom, with a kind smile on his face, looking at him quietly like this...

"Oh!" Zhong Yuanzhong was also taken aback, "Why are you standing there?"

That's right, Minan Rinka is no longer the weak and docile little pitiful girl she used to be.Now she can punch Francis Fitzgerald, kick Shibusawa Tatsuhiko, and give someone a heart attack...

[System prompt: Zhongyuan Zhongye's palpitation value is 999]

Minan Rinka didn't know what to say.Since Zhongyuan Zhongya moved into Honmaru at noon yesterday, she wanted to play with him from time to time, and she was so excited that she couldn't sleep at night.

After all, the memory of hanging out with Zhongye Zhongye seven years ago is still very good for her Xiaohua.It is a rare opportunity to relive the beautiful memories of her childhood. Xiao Hua rubbed her hands against the flies for a long time, thinking about what activities to plan for the two of them to participate together.

No, she got up early in the morning, ran to Zhongye Zhongye's bedroom window and jumped left and right, just waiting for him to wake up.

Xiaohua swears that if she is not a Muggle, she will definitely have a "Zhongye Feilai".

Hearing this, Minan Rinka replied: "Honmaru always eats breakfast at seven o'clock, didn't I tell you yesterday. I thought it was already past 06:30, it's time to wake you up, wash up, and prepare to eat It's breakfast, but I don't know if you're awake, so let's take a look from the window..."

Having said that, she hesitated for a moment, and continued: "...Little brother."

Zhongyuan Zhongye almost used his ability: "I said yesterday, not calling me 'Brother Zhongye' means to let you call me by my name directly, not to let you call me 'Little Brother'!"

[System prompt: Zhongyuan Zhongye's palpitation value is 233]