10. Buying cheap roast chicken by the roadside

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Sakura Suzune is a person about whom opinions are sharply divided.

Those who dislike her say she’s a shameless flirt; those who like her find her fashionable and alluring, even pure and adorable.

Most of her admirers are simply drawn to her body.

From the perspective of romance, she’s indeed a very good choice; after all, student relationships come without any real responsibilities.

Shimizu Matsudaira didn’t think too much about it—he merely used her as practice, so he casually remarked, “I often hear people talking about Sakura.”

“Eh? Really?” Sakura Suzune feigned surprise, as if she were flattered.

A girl like her, so well-versed in school dynamics, couldn’t possibly be unaware of how others viewed her. Yet now, she pretended not to know, trying her best to seem like a studious girl, oblivious to the world outside her books.

“They say behind your back that you’re a master at keeping boys on the hook,” Shimizu Matsudaira whispered.

At these words, Sakura Suzune’s brows furrowed, anger flickering in her eyes, quickly replaced by a trace of sorrow. She murmured, “I knew it would be like this. But it’s not true…”

Her voice grew softer, her expression on the verge of tears.

“Why not clarify things?” Shimizu Matsudaira regarded her as if she weren’t acting.

“You wouldn’t understand, since you’ve never been ostracized.” Sakura Suzune looked at him with heartbreak, almost as if the words “Come save me” were written across her face.

One had to admit, she was skilled at playing the field.

Adolescent boys, when gazed at by a lovely girl pleading for rescue, who wouldn’t feel their heart racing?

“See, see, Shimizu’s about to take the bait.” At the next cooking station, Murakami Nagasawa watched furtively, his expression full of disdain. “That girl’s acting again. Isn’t this just a high-level flirt reeling in a naive boy? The boy’s hooked, and he’s definitely going to gush about how pure she is, how she’s his ideal type, blah blah blah…”

“Shimizu, don’t fall for it,” Class President Mizuhara said worriedly.

“Huh, why are you so calm?” Murakami Nagasawa glanced curiously at Yanaime Meigetsu.

Old Yanaime smiled confidently. “There’s only three women in this world who can reel in Shimizu: his mother, his sister, and me!”

“Eh?” Mizuhara turned, puzzled. “Yanaime, are you close with him?”

“Sixteen years as childhood friends, and she’s his ex-girlfriend. What do you think?” Murakami Nagasawa snorted.

Class President: “…Huh?”

So that’s how it was—almost no one in class knew.

“Hey, President, let me tell you something.” Yanaime Meigetsu smiled gently, her gaze kind. “Girls can be divided into two types: childhood friends, or sneaky cats!”

“That’s… quite a bold classification,” Mizuhara laughed awkwardly.

“So…” Old Yanaime’s eyes grew intimidating, her tone chilling, “You, sneaky cat…”

President: “?”

On the ex-girlfriend’s side, she was interrogating the sneaky cat.

Meanwhile, on the ex-boyfriend’s side, faced with Sakura’s convincing performance, his expression remained utterly unmoved.

“…”

Even Sakura Suzune was at a loss.

A steel-hearted man, truly such a turn-off. He wouldn’t even respond?

If he weren’t so handsome, she wouldn’t bother with him at all.

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“Since childhood, I’ve been ostracized by my peers.” Sakura Suzune decided to be blunt, sniffing as she spoke.

“How were you ostracized?”

“These sad memories…I don’t want to bring them up. Because I’m not good at fitting in, they talk about me behind my back…”

“You really are pitiable…”

“Mm-hmm~” Sakura Suzune forced out two tears, looking at him with an air of helplessness. “I’ve always been waiting for someone to save me…Shimizu, is that person you…”

Her voice brimmed with a sort of teasing.

Ha—even the coolest boys, seeing her like this, would surely succumb to temptation.

Yet all he did was calmly say “Oh,” then turned away to start making a pizza…

“…!”

Sakura Suzune stared at his focused profile, almost frantic with frustration.

Is he gay?

She’d dropped hints this obvious, yet he showed no reaction?

Such a turn-off!

“Bastard…” she muttered through gritted teeth.

“By the way, I have something to ask.” Shimizu Matsudaira suddenly turned, facing the devastated flirt. “Are you free this weekend?”

“Eh?” Sakura Suzune was caught off guard.

“If you are, let’s go on a date Saturday,” Shimizu Matsudaira whispered.

“…Ah?” Sakura Suzune was utterly dumbfounded. “What…what’s this supposed to mean?”

“Here, add me on Line.” Shimizu Matsudaira took out his phone.

Now Sakura Suzune was thoroughly bewildered.

She’d been angry, and naturally didn’t want to add him, but looking at his stern face, the commanding gaze that seemed to demand compliance, she found herself taking out her phone almost involuntarily.

She should have been furious, but instead, she felt a strange, shameful delight.

Could it be that she was a masochist?

The two added each other on Line.

Shimizu Matsudaira’s username was [Ni You Mao Bing].

“What a strange phrase. What does it mean?” Sakura Suzune asked instinctively.

“It means ‘you’re so cute.’”

“Ah, I want to learn it.”

“Ni you mao bing,” Shimizu Matsudaira recited emotionlessly. “Next time you meet a Chinese person, you can greet them like this.”

“Ni you mao bing…” Sakura Suzune repeated.

A stifled laugh came from the next station.

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“Who’s laughing at me?” Sakura Suzune glared angrily.

Foreign student Lin Xue covered her mouth, her cheeks flushed from holding back laughter.

When Sakura Suzune saw it was her, her expression soured as if she’d tasted something foul.

Yet all the green tea girl could do was rage helplessly.

This foreign student was the absolute apex of the school’s social pyramid.

Even the board of directors treated her with utmost respect.

After all, her father was a diplomat!

If anything happened to her, it could easily become an international incident.

Sakura Suzune withdrew her gaze, twirling her hair, and asked Shimizu Matsudaira curiously, “Why did you suddenly want to ask me out?”

“Because I wanted to,” he replied.

“…?”

Why did it sound like he was buying cheap roast chicken by the roadside?

Sakura Suzune grew a little angry, biting her lip. “What if I told you the rumors are all true? I really am a green tea girl who keeps boys on the hook, taking money from anyone who fancies me. Would you still ask me out?”

“I have money.”

“…Huh?”

“I said, I have money.” Shimizu Matsudaira turned, meeting her colored contact-lensed eyes. “If I have to pay you first to ask you out, I can afford it.”

…

Sakura Suzune’s pupils widened slightly.

“Are you serious?” she scrutinized him suspiciously.

“Yes. How much do you want?”

“I…”

Sakura Suzune opened her mouth, unable to name a price.

Normally, if someone wanted to take her shopping, the boys in her pond had to pay her first.

The amount depended on their looks.

Ugly ones paid thirty to fifty thousand yen; handsome ones, ten to twenty thousand. But a boy as handsome as Shimizu Matsudaira—she’d never had one like him in her pond, so she didn’t know what price to set.

In fact, her subconscious felt that she’d even pay him to go out with her…

“Sakura?”

Seeing her dazed, Shimizu Matsudaira prompted her.

“Ah? Oh, no, it’s not like that…” For once, Sakura Suzune blushed, lowered her head to look at her well-developed chest, and her voice grew softer and shyer. “Those are just malicious rumors. How could I really ask you for money? Saturday, right? Yes, I’ll go…”

By the end, even her ears were flushed red.