Mama-katsu, Lies, and a Haunted Street

‘Mama-katsu (TL Note: A Japanese term referring to ‘mom activity’ or ‘compensated dating,’ often involving younger men accompanying older women for companionship, sometimes with sexual undertones.)?’

‘What was that?’

Chen Ran couldn’t shake the feeling that these three words were strangely familiar.

After pondering for a full three seconds, what sprang to mind was a plotline from an adult-themed manga (TL Note: ‘Benzi juqing,’ referring to a type of erotic manga or doujinshi.) he had read before his transmigration.

The story depicted young men accompanying mature women on dates, progressing to hotel rooms, and even culminating in a four-person hot spring trip…

Wait!!

‘Lengleng-jie thought he was doing mama-katsu?’

‘Huh?’

‘Why?!’

‘What?’

Chen Ran’s bewildered expression caused Jiang Lengleng to pause.

“Xiao Ran, aren’t you every weekend…”

The young woman stammered, beginning to divulge the suspicions she had harbored.

The outcome, of course, was…

Chen Ran was on the verge of cracking.

‘How could Lengleng-jie’s imagination be so vivid?’ he wondered.

‘How did she ever connect his Saturday outings to dating mature older sisters and aunties for pocket money?’

‘Though… it did, in fact, seem somewhat similar in practice.’

‘But Duanmu Hui hadn’t given him any money!’

‘No, that wasn’t the point.’

‘Even if she offered it, he wouldn’t accept.’

‘The nature of this was entirely different!’

However, it was indeed difficult to explain to Jiang Lengleng that he was actually meeting with a national idol, who also happened to be his girlfriend…

Chen Ran allowed himself a brief moment to imagine.

The scenario of introducing Duanmu Hui to Jiang Lengleng one day.

The national idol, who usually couldn’t be bothered to utter a single word, would probably gaze at him and Jiang Lengleng with an indifferent expression, then simply drift away, pretending not to know them.

‘Ugh.’

What Chen Ran recalled at that moment was the message Duanmu Hui had sent him just a few days prior, upon seeing him when he first arrived at school…

[Don’t talk to me.]

“…”

‘Indeed, it was difficult to explain.’

Observing Jiang Lengleng’s concerned expression, the young woman resembled a soft, gentle kitten, worried that he might be straying down the wrong path, engaging in something illicit.

Chen Ran understood.

Jiang Lengleng was an overly kind soul, habitually worrying about others.

Therefore, facing the young woman’s question at that moment, Chen Ran could only lie…

“Actually, Lengleng-jie, I work part-time on weekends.”

“What kind of part-time job?”

“Uh… a model, a celebrity…”

He spoke carelessly, fabricating the details.

Chen Ran spun a tale for Jiang Lengleng, claiming that one day, while in Xijing, he had chanced upon an idol agency manager who had told him he possessed the potential to become a big star.

While he hadn’t agreed to directly sign with the company, he had taken on various odd jobs during this period.

“Just shooting some commercials, music videos, appearing as an extra, or doing photo shoots.”

He spoke, mixing truth with fabrication.

After all, being scouted by an idol agency manager was indeed true; he still had Duanmu Hui’s manager’s contact information.

That person had certainly hounded him more than once, telling him to get in touch whenever he was free.

Yet Chen Ran also knew that one lie necessitated countless others to sustain it, and he could only hope Lengleng-jie wouldn’t pursue the matter further.

“So that’s how it is.”

A wave of relief washed over Jiang Lengleng, followed by a shy smile spreading across her face, as if she felt ashamed for having “unjustly accused” him.

‘This girl.’

‘She was truly, almost excessively, pure and kind.’

After lunch, Jiang Lengleng, accustomed to her midday nap, quickly drifted off to sleep beside him.

Chen Ran paused, slightly taken aback.

As he turned his head, he could see the blonde, bespectacled young woman with her small head resting on his shoulder, the golden sunlight dappling her serene, delicate features.

It invariably gave one a strange, inexplicable sensation of a fluttering heart.

‘Hmm.’

‘Lengleng-jie truly possessed her own charm.’

Chen Ran couldn’t help but think, and then, a wave of weariness washed over him.

He gently lowered his head, and with their heads touching, they both leaned against the rooftop railing and fell asleep.

****

Until…

The school bell rang.

Jiang Lengleng, as if automatically jolted awake, let out a small cry of alarm and “bounced” up from beside him.

“!”

The young woman’s face flushed crimson once more.

After a moment of flustered confusion, she nudged Chen Ran beside her, waking the boy.

“Hmm… what is it, Lengleng-jie?”

“Class is starting.”

She whispered softly.

Jiang Lengleng, feeling incredibly embarrassed, quickly grabbed the lunchbox from beside her and scurried away.

Chen Ran, rubbing his temples, still a little groggy, picked up his own lunchbox and followed behind the young woman, preparing to return to his classroom.

The redhead he had seen earlier had vanished again.

It was only when Chen Ran reached the base of the teaching building, walking along the long corridor towards the building on the other end, that he suddenly remembered.

His classroom and Jiang Lengleng’s classroom were not in the same building; in fact, they were distinctly separate.

But the last time he had seen that redhead on the rooftop, it had been on *his* teaching building’s rooftop, hadn’t it?

Why was she on Lengleng-jie’s side this time?

Chen Ran seemed to sense something was amiss, but he merely attributed it to perhaps being one of the school’s “eccentrics.”

In a prestigious girls’ academy like this, it was quite normal to have a few peculiar students, wasn’t it?

The afternoon swiftly passed.

At three o’clock, when school let out, according to Chen Ran’s original plan of pretending to be Jiang Lengleng’s boyfriend, he was supposed to go to her side and accompany her to the Archery Club’s activities.

However, a change in plans occurred.

Chen Ran had received a message from an acquaintance after school, so it would have to be next time…

****

Inside the park restroom located next to Xijing University Affiliated High School, directly opposite St. Hua Angel Academy.

Nishiki was somewhat perplexed as to why Chen Ran always cornered him in a restroom whenever they met.

‘Did Chen Ran have some peculiar hobby?’ he wondered.

However, Chen Ran simply felt that it offered better secrecy.

“What’s up?”

Chen Ran asked softly.

Nishiki had, by now, effectively been ‘recruited’ by him, tasked with scouting for intelligence on the group of Liuwenhui (TL Note: A fictional gang name, literally ‘Six-Coin Society’ or ‘Six-Pattern Association.’) gangsters.

After all, his former boss, Brother Wolf, was a subordinate of Saburo the Scarred.

Capitalizing on this connection, Nishiki had also managed to get along well with Saburo, enabling him to acquire a wealth of firsthand information.

For instance:

“Brother Chen Ran.”

Rubbing his hands together, Nishiki said with a grin.

“They say the old street in Linzhou, slated for demolition soon, is haunted, and it’s really scared Saburo and his crew.”

“Mm.”

Chen Ran nodded slowly.

In his estimation, the ideal outcome would be for Saburo and his men to voluntarily abandon their schemes in the old street.

However, he seemed to have somewhat underestimated the resolve of these gangsters.

Or perhaps, driven by profit, people’s courage truly began to swell.

What Chen Ran hadn’t anticipated, though, was that Saburo and his crew’s solution would be…

“Boss! They’ve found a highly reputable Buddhist grandmaster, saying he’s coming to exorcise the ghosts!”

“Huh?”

‘They’re hiring a monk to exorcise ghosts?’

‘For real (TL Note: ‘Zundu jiadu,’ a Chinese internet slang term meaning ‘really, for real?’ or ‘is that true or false?’).’

‘Were these gangsters actually turning to feudal superstition now? Or, could it be that ghosts truly existed in this world?’