Page 360

"This isn't a question of good or bad, Mizuki-san, aren't you oversimplifying society?"

Mikiko Mizuyu looked puzzled.

Sadako explained.

“Shuisheng-san, you probably don’t know this, but this morning someone called me and asked if I still had any plans to hire.”

Mikiko Mizuki was startled.

"Eh, is that so?"

Sadako nodded.

"Yes, if I'm not mistaken, it should be because you said yesterday that you found a job in Tokyo, and your classmates were very envious. They told their parents, and then their parents went to your father to ask. Your father probably couldn't refuse, or maybe someone stole his phone or something, and he gave my contact information to those people."

Mikiko Mizuyu immediately understood why Sadako had called her up.

Mikiko Mizuyu bowed repeatedly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I will talk to my father and I will not let the people from my hometown harass Mrs. Saeki again."

As soon as Mikiko Mizuyu finished speaking, Sadako's phone rang. Sadako took out her phone, glanced at it, and then looked at the anxious Mikiko Mizuyu.

Sadako answered the phone, and a mature male voice came out.

"Excuse me, are you Mrs. Saeki?"

Mikiko Mizuyu's face turned pale. She recognized the voice; it belonged to one of her neighbors, whose daughter was also Mikiko's classmate.

Sadako hummed in agreement, and then the neighbor's voice came through.

"I heard that Mrs. Saeki, you need a waiter/waitress?"

Sadako slightly curled the corners of her mouth, a gesture that made Mikiko Mizuki feel uneasy.

The girl vowed that if she could turn back time and go back to yesterday, Mikiko Mizuyu would never brag to her classmates again, and even if she did, she would never describe her job as so wonderful.

Sadako hummed in agreement again.

The neighbors were somewhat excited.

"Mrs. Saeki, my daughter..."

Sadako interrupted.

"I just hired Mikiko Mizuyu. She's a very hard worker. With her, my team is now full. I don't want any more kids."

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.

Mikiko was moved by Sadako's words. She vowed that, based on Sadako's words alone, she would never forgive herself if she ever dared to slack off at work again.

As Mikiko Mizuyu was moved, her neighbor spoke again on the other end of the phone.

"Mrs. Saeki, although I shouldn't say this, but... you probably don't know what Mikiko Mizuyu did in the past, do you?"

Sadako asked curiously.

What happened to Shui Sheng Sang?

The neighbor's tone on the other end of the phone was off.

"Mikiko Mizuyu has stolen money before. Not just money, she steals everything—stationery, food, other people's textbooks, and even tries to seduce her classmates' boyfriends."

Mikiko Mizuyu blushed, and the girl opened her mouth to retort, but Sadako made a shushing gesture.

Sadako asked again.

"Really? I don't believe it."

A delicate female voice replaced the neighbor's uncle's voice.

"It's true..."

Mikiko Mizuyu's face paled. That voice clearly belonged to her classmate, the neighbor's daughter.

The female student continued.

“Mikiko is a notorious troublemaker around here… I’ve always felt that troublemakers like her… shouldn’t have a good ending…”

Sadako responded calmly.

"So, you want me to fire Mikiko Mizuyu and replace her with you?"

The female classmate on the other end of the phone was getting anxious.

"No... I, I just felt... Mrs. Saeki, you're a good person. Even if you don't hire us, at least you shouldn't have a thief around you..."

Sadako hung up the phone, and the married woman looked up at Mikiko Mizuyu.

Mikiko Mizuyu's eyes welled up with tears, and the girl said in a flustered, tearful voice.

"I don't!"

Sadako nodded.

"I believe you."

Mikiko Mizuyu was taken aback.

Sadako countered with a question.

"Shuisheng Sang, are you only now realizing that the people around you are actually quite different from what you remembered?"

Mikiko Mizuyu was taken aback again.

She thought of the neighbor and his daughter from earlier. She remembered that the neighbor was very gentle and would always greet her gently when she came home from school.

As for the neighbor's female classmate, although Mikiko Mizuki didn't become friends with her, she remembered her as a very gentle girl.

How could this happen, with people fabricating accusations and slandering others out of thin air?

Sadako winked at Mikiko Miyu.

"Humans are very complex things. The complexity lies in the fact that human emotions are ever-changing. One second you can be a good person, and the next you can be a devil. You may be a scumbag in the first half of your life, and in the second half, you may become a devoted lover with a change of heart."

"So, unless it's a genuine, very good relationship, or a feeling that hasn't changed despite setbacks, there's no possibility of trust."

"Shuisheng Sang, do you believe that all the friends you know are actually people you don't know? Yesterday, when you talked about your job in front of them, there were more people who were jealous and disliked you than those who were happy that you found a job?"

Mikiko Mizuyu slowly lowered her head and remained silent.

"All right."

Sadako's eyes were filled with tenderness.

"Shuisheng, go and rest. You still have work to do this afternoon, so don't focus on your work right now. When the guests come, remember to smile."

"I see."

Mikiko Mizuki turned away sadly and left Sadako's office.

After Mikiko Mizuyu's footsteps faded into the distance, Kirie Saeki, sitting on the office sofa, turned to her mother and asked.

"Is Shui Sheng Sang very sad?"

Sadako responded.

"Ah, when I think about my friends, they all have complicated thoughts, and some of them even want to harm me. Anyone would feel bad."

There was another knock on the door, followed by the voice of a mature man.

"Sadako-san, are you there?"

Sadako's face lit up with joy.

"Gangxiong, I'm here."

Takeo Saeki pushed open the door and walked in.

Saeki Kirie, who had been playing games and hadn't even looked up when Sadako spoke, put down her phone, got off the sofa, and said in a sweet voice.

"Father! Good afternoon."

Saeki Takeo was originally going to Sadako's place, but when he saw Saeki Kirie greet him like that, his fatherly love was stirred. Saeki Takeo turned around and went to Saeki Kirie's side. When he got there, he picked up the little girl, put her on his lap, and rubbed Saeki Kirie's head for a while before speaking to Sadako, whose face looked a little pale.

"The wife of the Himuro clan chief has been found? Her name is... Mikiko Mizuyu, right?"

Sadako nodded, the married woman staring at Saeki Kirie, who was being held in Saeki Takeo's arms.

Although the little girl was her daughter, Sadako felt as if her husband had been stolen away, thinking about how Saeki Takeo had chosen Saeki Kirie after coming in and was now hugging her so intimately.

So sour...

I'm so unwilling to accept this...

Looking at Saeki Kirie in Saeki Takeo's arms, Sadako grew angrier the more she thought about it.

Or... maybe I should enroll Saeki Kirie in a boarding kindergarten later, otherwise it would be disgusting to have a third wheel in my intimate time with my husband.

Yes, a child as young as Saeki Kirie really needs to learn more, so finding a kindergarten with a fully enclosed, militarized management system would be the most suitable option!

"Of course, this is something we can only think about now," Sadako said with a forced smile.

"Yes, we found her. This girl is quite naive, just like I was back then."

Takeo Saeki nodded.

"Okay, I understand. By the way, Sadako, what do you think Mikiko Mizuyu needs right now?"

Sadako touched her pink lips.

"For girls, after they have a stable job, they naturally want spiritual enjoyment, such as a man they can rely on."

Saeki Takeo remarked.

“That’s easy, I’ll help Mikiko Mizuyu with the selection.”

While innate knowledge may be difficult to apply to powerful psychics, it is quite easy for ordinary people.

Sadako smiled.

"You know what Mikiko Mizuyu needs, but what about mine?"

Sadako licked her lips.

"Do you know what I need, Gangxiong?"

Choose

The afternoon's work proceeded as scheduled.

Mikiko Mizuyu doesn't know if it's the good location or the good decoration of her coffee shop, but every time she goes to work, a large number of people flock in, and during peak hours, you can see a long queue outside.

Of course, for Mikiko Mizuyu, a working woman, this doubt was only something she pondered for a moment before she had to start bowing and scraping to serve.

An afternoon passed by in a flurry of activity. At 5:30 p.m., the chef prepared a delicious dinner for everyone. After eating her fill, Mikiko Mizuyu bid farewell to her seniors and then went to the guesthouse provided by Sadako.

However, when they arrived at the house, Mikiko Mizuyu touched her stomach.

Although Sadako's café provides three meals a day, having a pile of snacks at home to relax is also a kind of enjoyment.

When Mikiko Mizuyu settled in this place, her father left her some money, saying that if it wasn't enough, she could call him and he would send her the money as quickly as possible.

Mikiko Mizuyu doesn't need to spend a lot of money, but for small expenses...

Mikiko Mizuyu went to a nearby convenience store. When she arrived and saw the items on the shelves, her heart sank.

The goods on the shelves are half the price of those in their rural hometown.

Honestly, at this price, if it weren't for the fact that the cafe where she works provides three meals a day, Mikiko Mizuyu feels she would have to pay a huge sum for food.

Mikiko Mizuyu is increasingly convinced that her boss is a good person. If these benefits and salaries continue, she feels she could work as a waitress for the rest of her life.

After all, her educational background was just so-so, and she felt she wasn't qualified for higher-level jobs.

Mikiko Mizuki walked to the new shelf looking for her favorite snacks.

The more Mikiko looked at the prices of the snacks, the more upset she became. She even considered having her father buy some snacks from his hometown and send them to her, but then she thought about how the gas money for delivery would probably be more expensive than the snacks themselves, so she gave up on the idea.

Mikiko Mizuyu walked to a row of jelly candies. Next to her, a young man standing on a chair was tidying up something on the shelf.

Mikiko Mizuyu instinctively ignored the young man.

It's like walking down the street and someone walks towards you; after you pass by, most people won't remember what that person's name is.

Just like in a noisy conference room, most people will only remember one or two people, and the rest are just background figures.

Mikiko Mizuyu bought a few jellies, and as she put them in her shopping basket, the young man next to her suddenly spoke up.