A Worried Sister and a Bathroom Encounter

Jiang Lengleng was dressed in what was clearly her older sister’s former pajamas.

Adorned with adorable pink bear patterns, the pajamas hung loosely on her frame. Clearly, Jiang Zilin’s figure had begun to develop significantly from the age of seventeen or eighteen.

Jiang Lengleng, however, remained petite, much like a cute, fledgling pigeon.

Consequently, the pajamas always seemed to hang somewhat emptily on the young girl.

Coupled with Jiang Lengleng’s habitually serious, pretty face framed by black-rimmed glasses, it was a sight that invariably made one want to smile.

The beautiful girl with long, straight golden hair silently entered her room, closing the door behind her with a casual motion, then settled onto the edge of the bed.

A fresh scent of shower gel, a faint lavender fragrance, wafted from her.

Chen Ran wondered.

Only then did he notice Jiang Lengleng pulling out her phone.

“Is something wrong, Lengleng-jie?”

“Mm.”

Jiang Lengleng nodded, handing him her phone, which displayed a group chat history.

Following Jiang Lengleng’s silent instruction, Chen Ran scrolled through, quickly grasping the full story behind the girl’s late-night visit to his room.

“Huh?”

The chat logs before him belonged to the neighborhood’s ‘owner’s group’.

Since early that morning, the group had been buzzing with reports: several residents’ homes or shops had been splashed with red paint, windows smashed, and even feces and urine dumped in front of their main doors…

‘How disgusting.’

Chen Ran couldn’t help but think.

The previous night, some had witnessed the perpetrators—the same yakuza-like individuals who had been promoting loans on the street earlier.

‘What’s this about? Intimidation?’

‘Or retaliation?’

Chen Ran recalled how Saburo the Scarred, the bald man he’d beaten up earlier that day, had also brought a carload of his ‘brothers’ for revenge. ‘Seriously, are yakuza really that idle?’

‘Shouldn’t street brawls be an everyday occurrence for them?’

‘If getting hit meant they absolutely had to call a carload of brothers to hit back, they’d never eat; they’d just fight all day. It’d turn into a real ‘Crows Zero’ situation (TL Note: A Japanese manga and film series about high school delinquents and gang rivalries), wouldn’t it?’

‘Logically speaking,’

‘if business wasn’t working out on this street, they should immediately move to another district to start new operations, right?’

‘Everyone’s an adult here.’

‘Even as gangsters, all those subordinates need to eat and earn money.’

Chen Ran couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss, or perhaps he was simply thinking too realistically.

‘Maybe the yakuza in this world really are that idle?’

‘But no matter what,’

‘the current situation was that the neighbors on the old street were all, more or less, being intimidated by these yakuza-like individuals.’

Jiang Lengleng clearly looked worried, not just for herself, but also for her ‘foolish’ older sister, Jiang Zilin, who was minding the shop alone at home.

Chen Ran, for his part, quickly came up with an idea.

“Tomorrow, let’s have Sister Lin not go to the convenience store for a few days. She should rest.”

“Mm…”

Jiang Lengleng, as always, spoke little, merely nodding faintly.

“No need for explanations. Just tell her to rest at home.”

He also guessed that Jiang Lengleng had snuck over to see him in the middle of the night precisely because she didn’t want Jiang Zilin or their mother to know and worry.

“But this isn’t a solution, Xiaoran.”

The girl clearly had no ideas.

No matter how well-behaved and sensible she appeared on a normal day, acting like a miniature adult, she was still just a high school student.

Chen Ran, therefore, gently comforted Jiang Lengleng.

“It’s alright. If there’s no way, we’ll find a way.”

“Eh?”

“Go back to sleep first.”

Seeing Jiang Lengleng’s unmoving, still deeply worried expression,

Chen Ran had no choice but to mimic Jiang Zilin’s tone, grumbling,

“Lengleng-jie, if you’re not leaving, what do you want? Are you planning to sleep with me tonight?”

“Or maybe I should call Sister Lin up too, and the three of us can sleep together tonight…”

“Slap!”

His head was immediately met with a slap from Jiang Lengleng.

Though it didn’t hurt, this particular girl was clearly different from her sister.

“You’re so improper! You only learn bad things, never good ones!!”

“…”

The girl, still wearing a worried expression, stood from his bedside, then nervously sat back down, before addressing him seriously.

“Xiaoran, you have an idea, don’t you?”

“Mm.”

“Speak!”

“…”

Chen Ran actually found it difficult to explain, but if he didn’t, Jiang Lengleng would surely not leave, and she would remain troubled all night.

Thus.

After a brief moment of thought, Chen Ran let out a light cough, then spoke to the girl.

“Actually, I have a friend…”

“Male or female?!”

Faced with Jiang Lengleng’s sudden interrogation, Chen Ran couldn’t help but be taken aback.

Yet the girl’s ‘fierce’ gaze indicated she was serious now…

‘What’s this about?’

‘Is she jealous?’

This thought made Chen Ran’s heart skip a beat.

Unlike Jiang Zilin, Jiang Lengleng clearly meant business…

“A male, of course.”

“Mm?”

“In any case, tomorrow, Lengleng-jie, this is what I plan to do…”

****

The friend Chen Ran spoke of was, of course, not himself, but a real person.

That person was…

The next morning, Chen Ran effortlessly intercepted Nishiki, the short, blond-haired boy who had brought his subordinates to corner him yesterday. He found Nishiki right at the entrance of Seikyo University Affiliated High School, across from Saint Hua Angel Academy.

“!!!”

“What do you want?!”

Chen Ran, with an utterly benevolent gaze and smile, had called Nishiki over to the park restroom next to the school.

Nishiki never in his wildest dreams imagined he’d have a day where he was cornered in a restroom.

And his subordinates, who had just moments ago been calling him “Brother Nishiki” and “Boss Nishiki,” vanished without a trace the moment they saw Chen Ran.

‘Damn it.’

‘Traitors, every single one of them!!’

At this moment, cornered by Chen Ran in a toilet stall, Nishiki instinctively clutched his head, wondering if Chen Ran had come for revenge.

‘Damn it!’

‘Thirty years to the east of the river, thirty years to the west (TL Note: A Chinese idiom meaning things change, fortunes rise and fall). Don’t act so tough now; one day, I’ll…’

“What’s your name?”

“Huh?”

‘So you don’t even remember my name?! How rude!!!’

Nishiki bristled with anger.

But he quickly calmed down, seeing Chen Ran raise his hand.

“Nishiki, my name is Nishiki! Don’t hit the face!! Wuwu…”

“…”

Chen Ran looked at the trembling figure before him, thinking, ‘What’s wrong with hitting the face? He’s already so ugly; maybe a beating would count as plastic surgery.’

But he wasn’t one for sharp-tongued remarks.

Chen Ran merely rubbed his head. Of course, he hadn’t raised his hand to hit anyone; why would he hit someone? Honestly.

He was a pacifist.

So, at this very moment, facing Nishiki, who was trapped in the toilet stall, trembling on the toilet seat, Chen Ran simply spoke with a gentle smile.

“Nishiki-kun, it seems you’re quite familiar with those yakuza-like individuals from yesterday, aren’t you?”

“Huh?”

Nishiki didn’t understand what Chen Ran was saying.

But…

“I want to ask you to inquire about something.”

Chen Ran smiled, and with a benevolent tone once more, he, barehanded, ripped the adjacent toilet stall door right off its hinges.

“You know what to do, don’t you, hm?”

“…”