The air conditioner in the corner of the living room was on, and cool air blew out, filling the room. Nan Youxi felt a chill when she stepped into such air-conditioned air from the hot sun.
"Would you like some cake?" Nao Asano stood up.
On the small table in front of the sofa, there was a plate of soft chiffon cake. The round cake was missing three pieces, which were placed on the corners of the small table closest to the three women.
"No need." Nan Youxi shook her head.
He moved a chair from the dining table, placed it in front of the sofa and sat down, looking at the three women with different expressions.
Nao Asano sat in the middle of the sofa. She looked down at the cake on the table, then looked up at Minami Yuki's face. She was frightened by the boy's solemn expression, and her eyes quickly moved away like a frightened squirrel.
Yuko Ibuki sat on the left side of Nao Asano. She stared into Minami Yuki's eyes. Her clear eyes looked at the boy's expression bravely and firmly, but if you look closely, there seems to be a strange figure lurking in the changes of light and shadow in the deep pool of water in her eyes.
Reina Nakajima was sitting on the right side of Nao Asano. She kept her head down, and Minami Yuxi couldn't see her expression, but her two palms on her thighs were clenched tightly together with such force that people were worried that her slender and soft fingers would cramp at the next moment.
They were all very uneasy. During this year, the boy had been so distant and his attitude was no longer as close as before. This was enough to make them worried. Today, the boy gathered them here without any preparation or explanation. They couldn't help but feel terrified.
The boy's usual attitude was like a dark forest at dusk; his expression and words at this moment were like a bloodthirsty beast hiding behind the trees, waiting for the night to darken.
"There's no need to be so nervous." Nan Youxi leaned his back against the chair. The hard touch of the wooden chair relieved the stiffness in the muscles of his back.
His comfort was of no use, the three women's expressions did not change.
Now, it's their turn to make Nan Youxi feel the pressure.
Although she had prepared herself mentally in the apartment, Nan Youxi was still a little hesitant when it came time to say it.
He thought that if he didn't speak out, he might lose his courage.
"In fact, I also have the memories that you have." He stared at the three women's faces, observing the changes in their expressions.
He thought that Rena Nakajima might have guessed it long ago, as did the other two girls, so she wouldn't be surprised. Yuko Ibuki might have guessed a small part, but would still be shocked when faced with the truth. Nao Asano probably didn't know anything, and she would be happy at first, and then sad.
His prediction was wrong.
The three women turned their heads and exchanged glances with their two companions. The tension on their faces disappeared, and the uneasiness in their eyes subsided.
"Is this what we're going to talk about today?" Nao Asano asked cautiously.
What do you mean by 'that'? Isn't this something very explosive and serious
Nan Youxi panicked, he realized that he had misjudged the situation.
His panic did not show on his face. He nodded slightly, confirming what Asano Nao said.
Surprise appeared on their faces, then turned into relief.
The emotions flashing in their eyes were very clear. If I were to sum it up in one word, it would be - that's it
Nao Asano's performance was the most obvious. She patted her chest, and the waves in her heart surged to the outside and quickly calmed down.
"… When did you know about this?" Nan Youxi was incredulous.
God knows how long he struggled, how many nights he spent staring at the dark ceiling, before he finally took the step of being honest, but the three girls already knew about it? What was the point of his struggle
Faced with his questions, Nao Asano lowered her head awkwardly. She felt guilty for not telling Yuki, who didn't know that she knew what Yuki knew, after she knew it.
Nakajima Reina stuck out her tongue and turned her face away. Yuuki knew that she knew that Yuuki knew, but she didn't know that she knew that Nao and Yuko knew that Yuuki knew.
Only Ibuki Yuko felt no guilt in facing Minami Yuki's gaze.
She tilted her head to look at the boy and said calmly, "It was like it was a year ago."
"After our first gathering together," Nao Asano added, she wanted to redeem herself with merit.
"I didn't say that." Nakajima Reina hurriedly distanced herself from the matter.
"… "
Nan Youxi covered her forehead with her hands, trying to digest this unexpected event.
"So, you kept it a secret from me for a year?" He glanced at the three women.
"Yuuki wanted to keep it a secret."
Nakajima Reina and Asano Nao turned their faces away again, and Ibuki Yuko looked directly at his cheek and answered.
"I originally had something else to say, but let's leave it for next time. I'll go back and calm down first." Nan Youxi stood up.
Ibuki Yuko's answer stirred up the emotions that had finally calmed him down.
[You told the three girls that you actually have memories of the future. The three girls were not surprised at all, and even felt relieved. They thought you were going to say something cruel. They told you that they had known about this a year ago.]
[Compared to the shock of the accident itself, what shocked you even more was that the three women chose to hide the truth from you after knowing it.]
[Your concealment is a form of escape, while their concealment is a form of forgiveness. Concealment from them does not benefit you, concealment only makes you feel better.]
Terminate the simulation and Nan Youxi sat up from the bed.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling no less shocked than himself in the Sims.
These three women actually already knew about his being the King of the Sea!
No, that was him in the dream, and had nothing to do with him in reality. In reality, he had never even tasted a girl's lips and was an exceptionally chaste high school boy.
Although he married Nao, married Yuko, and betrothed Reina, he is still a pure boy who has never been in love!
Moreover, in The Sims, he is always devoted and has never cheated on his partner. How can he be called Aquaman
After calming herself down, Nan Youxi lay back on the bed.
He wondered, how did the three girls know that he had memories and that the others had memories? Reina said it wasn't her who told them, so it was Asano Nao or Ibuki Yuko who discovered it by accident
First, let's exclude Nao Asano, so the only one left is Yuko Ibuki.
No, not necessarily. Maybe Ibuki Yuko let something slip and Asano Nao discovered it. This is not a game of wits, but a matter of who realizes the possibility first and then verifies it.
If it was Ibuki Yuko who found out, it would be impossible for Asano Nao to know about it. The doll girl would use this information gap to play the emotional card in front of him and increase her chances of falling in love. For example, she would wear a white silk maid outfit with cat ears, the same as in The Sims, and seduce him at home, and take advantage of his emotional state to make things a done deal.
Maybe they let something slip at the same time, and then discovered it at the same time.
Due to insufficient information, Nan Youxi could not come up with an answer. He put aside the question of who discovered it for the time being and thought about when they discovered it.
The date that Yuko and Nao talked about in the memory scene that Minami Yuki recalled.
A year ago? At the first party
The time point in the Sims was May of his second year in high school, and one year ago was May of his first year in high school... Isn't that the recent time!
The first gathering is today’s gathering, isn’t it
Nan Youxi was very nervous. He thought back to when they were playing board games together in the morning, no one should have accidentally said anything.
After he came back, the three girls woke up from their sleep and talked about things that would expose the truth!
He immediately swiped away the simulator interface, got up from the bed, and ran out the door.
Although I don’t know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, it’s definitely not wrong to stop it first! If the result in the simulation is good, I will find a chance to let the three girls know!
Unable to wait for the elevator, he rushed down the fire escape staircase, ran through the first floor lobby, ran through the hot path at noon, passed one pedestrian after another, and arrived at Asano's house.
When he used the key to open the door, he was so nervous that he inserted it three times before he got it right. He quickly walked through the corridor and pushed open the door to the living room.
Chishou Kazumi was sleeping soundly beside the dining table, while Asano Nao, Ibuki Yuko, and Nakajima Reina had already woken up and were sitting on the sofa playing karuta. When they saw Minami Yuki come in, they turned their eyes to the boy, Nakajima Reina and Asano Nao blushed slightly and avoided his gaze, only Ibuki Yuko was still looking at him.
This scene is exactly the same as in The Sims, and it makes Nan Youxi's heart tremble. Is it too late
"What's wrong?" Ibuki Yuko looked at the boy's heaving chest and sweaty forehead, and asked with her head tilted.
"Nothing." Nan Youxi was panicking, but he still pretended to be calm. He closed the door of the living room and walked to the sofa.
He sat down: "You are playing flower cards."
"Is Yuki coming?" Asano Nao looked at him with a blush on her face.
Now she and Yuko Ibuki are playing, and Reina Nakajima is acting as the referee.
“No.” Nan Youxi shook her head, “I have completely forgotten the rules of karuta.”
"If you just think about it a little, you'll remember it." Nakajima Rena looked at the boy expectantly.
The game between Nao Asano and Yuko Ibuki has not yet ended. If Minami Yuki wants to play, she will definitely be in the same group with her.
"Let me watch you play for a while." Nan Youxi did not refuse. He sat next to Nakajima Reina, staring at the flower cards while silently observing the expressions of the three girls.
His heart slowly calmed down.
Ibuki Yuko often had a blank expression on her face, and you couldn't tell what she was saying, but Asano Nao and Nakajima Reina were both people who couldn't hide their thoughts. Apart from being shy at the beginning, there was nothing unusual about them. If they had a secret, they shouldn't have acted so naturally.
Caught up.
Nan Youxi breathed a sigh of relief.
He thought that the embarrassment of Nao Asano and Rena Nakajima at the beginning was probably because of those blankets.
In order to verify his guess, he deliberately turned his head and looked at Ibuki Yuko's feet.
The girl who was sitting in the duck position changed her sitting position, took off her slippers, stretched her legs and spread them apart, placing them on both sides of the flower cards so that Nan Youxi could see them more clearly.
Minami Youxi turned her head and looked at Nakajima Reina's legs again.
The frail concubine panicked for a moment, grabbed the hem of her skirt, then retracted her hands, not knowing whether she should lift up her skirt.
Finally, Minami Yuki looked at Asano Nao.
Before his eyes could land on the target point, Asano Nao covered her chest with her hands.
Nan Youxi sighed inwardly.
Look at Yuko, she took off her shoes without hesitation. Look at Reina, although she didn't lift up her skirt in the end, she definitely had the intention to do so. And look at you, why are you still covering it up
However, if Asano Nao was like Ibuki Yuko, Minami Yuki would have a headache.
He was completely relieved, certain that Asano Nao and Nakajima Reina were thinking about the blanket and not hiding something from him.
He concentrated on looking at the flower cards, and soon, Ibuki Yuko won. Asano Nao was supposed to win. She was in a good situation in the first half of the game, but in the second half, she was afraid to move because of Minami Yuki's gaze, and her score was surpassed by Ibuki Yuko.
Minami Yuki and Nakajima Reina took over the karuta and played two rounds, and then Chiju Kazumi woke up.
She looked at the blanket on her chest, thinking it was just there to keep her warm, so she took it off, folded it, placed it on the sofa, and joined the game.
In the evening, Nakajima Yohei drove to the door of Asano's house to pick up Rena. At the entrance, Minami Yuuki, Ibuki Yuko, Chiju Kazumi and Asano Nao saw Nakajima Rena out.
"I have a coupon for the Little Broken Bones Restaurant. The grilled hagfish there is very famous. How about going to try it together?" Nakajima Yohei took out a coupon from his pocket. "Reina has been in the hospital and has no friends. Please let me thank you for taking care of her."
"Maybe next time. I have an appointment tonight." Nan Youxi rejected him.
The rejection came so quickly, almost the next moment after Nakajima Yohei finished speaking. What was originally quite rude words seemed natural and appropriate because of Minami Youxi's straightforwardness and frankness.
Nakajima Yohei was stunned. Without Minami Yuxi, the dinner party might not be organized, and it would not be convenient for him to take these girls out for dinner.
"Then let's do it next time." He put away the coupon and got into the car with Reina.
Watching the car disappear behind the house, Nao Asano put down her waving hands and breathed a sigh of relief.
She looked at Nan Youxi with gratitude. She knew that the boy refused the dinner party because of her.
"I'm going home too, byebye." Chiju Kazumi waved to the three people and walked towards the subway station.
"I'll take you to the subway entrance." Nan Youxi followed her.
Ibuki Yuko waved to Asano Nao perfunctorily and followed Minami Yuki quickly.
On the way, Chiju Kazumi wanted to find a topic to talk about, but when she saw Ibuki Yuko behind Minami Yuki, she swallowed her words back.
At the subway entrance, she said goodbye to the two men and walked from the orange sunset into the underground illuminated by white fluorescent lights.
Going back and forth from the subway entrance, Nan Youxi looked at Ibuki Yuko behind her and said, "We've already passed the fork in the road!"
Going up this road is the Asano residence, not the apartment building.
"Where are you going, Yuki?" All of Ibuki Yuko's questions lacked a questioning tone, which, combined with her beautiful voice, sounded very unique. Minami Yuki liked the sound of her voice very much.
"Let's go to Nao's house for dinner." He guessed what the girl wanted to do.
Ibuki Yuko opened her small bag, took out a thousand-yuan bill and handed it to him.
"I won't take you there even if you bribe me." Nan Youxi refused her.
"Mom is not at home today, so let me go out to eat by myself."
The girl raised her head and glanced at the twilight in the distance, reminding the boy in front of her that it was dangerous to let a petite and beautiful girl forage for food alone at night.
"… Only this time. So where is Aunt Honoka doing?"
"My boyfriend hooked up with a married woman. When her husband found out, he teamed up with a group of friends to beat him up and put him in the hospital."
"ah?"
I recommend this book by a friend - "LOL: Working at State Grid, Not Doing My Job", a light-hearted and funny LOL article. The author is a veteran in writing LOL and is trustworthy!
(End of this chapter)