"I'm back!"
Kiyomi Liuli dashed into the house, kicked off her round-toed leather shoes, and without even bothering to change into slippers, she made a beeline for the living room and called out loudly, "Mom, Mom, where are you? I've got something important to ask you!"
"Why are you coming back so late just after school started, is there something going on at school?" came the response from Kiyomi Koko, Liuli's mother, from the kitchen, "I've left some food for you, go wash your hands!"
Kiyomi Liuli, still carrying her schoolbag, rushed into the kitchen, saying anxiously, "Eating can wait, I have something to ask you—Mom, that guy who just moved in across from us, the one with the surname Nanahara, what kind of person is he, really? What has he done before?"
As mother and daughter, Kiyomi Koko and her daughter looked very alike, and even as a middle-aged woman, she still looked quite beautiful. At that moment, she was in the middle of pickling something with bare hands. Hearing her daughter's question, she slapped her forehead in annoyance and said, "I was wondering why I've been feeling like I forgot something for the past couple of days, and it turns out I forgot to tell you we've got a new neighbor, a boy who goes to the same school and in the same grade as you. If something is happening at school, try to look out for him."
Look out for him? Given the chance I'd kick him to death—that liar swindled all the money I had on me, and he almost took my empty wallet too!
But she didn't plan on snitching to her parents about issues with someone her age; instead, she complained, "How could you forget something this important?!"
Kiyomi Koko asked in surprise, "Is it really that important?"
"Of course, it's important!" Kiyomi Liuli shouted.
"What's so important about it?" Kiyomi Koko became even more curious, "There are over two hundred households in our town district, people move in and out all the time, and you've never cared before!"
Kiyomi Liuli was at a loss for words, but she quickly insisted, "Anyway... it's very important! Never mind why, just tell me everything you know!"
Today, she had acquired a new skill—the Hot Reading Skill—and it didn't feel too difficult. As long as she could get to the bottom of Nanahara Takeshi's backstory, she would also be able to turn this skill against him in the future to regain the upper hand and suppress him intellectually!
"Try this." Kiyomi Koko, unconcerned whether her daughter was excited or not, shoved a carrot stick into her mouth, "It's a new secret recipe I've just got, how does it compare to the last one?"
Chewing the carrot stick twice, Kiyomi Liuli frowned and said, "It's disgustingly bad, did you add some weird ingredient again? Mom, no offense, but you're not cut out for cooking, stop messing around in the kitchen, wouldn't it be better to do something else with your time?"
Kiyomi Koko glanced at her daughter, then turned back to continue her experiment with the "secret recipe," seemingly too stubborn to give up until she succeeded.
Chewing on the carrot stick and waiting for a while, Kiyomi Liuli urged vaguely, "Mom, come on, what do you know about Nanahara? You've talked to him, haven't you? You're the president of the Mama Club, he must have provided a lot of documents to the Autonomous Committee, you must know quite a bit about him, right?"
This time, Kiyomi Koko didn't even turn her head, saying indifferently, "Nanahara? Who's Nanahara? I'm too busy messing around in the kitchen to be good for anything, I don't have the time to remember any Nanaharas."
Kiyomi Liuli was stunned for a moment, realizing she was outmatched. She chewed on the carrot stick fiercely, but then began to talk to herself out of frustration, "Eh, it's so strange, it tasted a bit odd at first, but after chewing more it started to taste good, sweet with a bit of saltiness, and in that saltiness, there's a hint of spiciness, with sourness mixed into the spice. It's my first time encountering a pickled dish that's so peculiar—no, so delicious. Mom, you're... Mom, you're so amazing!"
Kiyomi Koko smiled in satisfaction, turned back, and flicked her daughter on the forehead, her face beaming with maternal warmth, "Mom's teaching you a lesson in being sweet, in the future when you're asking for help, sweeten up that tongue of yours or you'll regret it."
"I got it, now can you tell me?" Kiyomi Liuli said, enduring the humiliation under the guise of a genius who could be resilient when needed, bowing her head to her own mother was not a big deal.
"Mr. Nanahara, huh..." Kiyomi Koko recalled for a moment, then said slowly, "He's quite a nice young man, polite when he speaks, and seems very well-mannered..."
"Wait, wait!" Kiyomi Liuli couldn't help but interrupt her mother, "Are you talking about Nanahara Takeshi? The tall, skinny guy with a baby face, side-parted hair, about my age—is that the Nanahara you're talking about?"
"Yes, that's the one, which other Nanahara could it be? He's living by himself."
"Living by himself?"
"Yes, his parents died in a traffic accident, and he doesn't have any other relatives. He'd been staying at the Sapporo Youth Care Center until now. Thanks to his excellent middle-school exam results, he received a first-class scholarship from the Hokkaido Central region and also got a full scholarship from Private Ikuei, so he moved from Sapporo to our town, Hirarano."
Kiyomi Liuli was shocked, "He... Both his parents are gone?"
So, his background was that grim. Forced to start living independently at such a young age, no wonder he ended up on a criminal path. It was no wonder the Town District Autonomy Committee agreed to let him use the public land for his stall for free—it was charity work after all.
"Yes!" Kiyomi Koko said with a compassionate expression, "Even though he doesn't show it, I could tell at a glance that he has suffered a lot in the past. Despite his hardships, he remains optimistic and hasn't fallen into despair or degradation, which is no easy feat. You're still young and have no idea how difficult that is. This boy will definitely make something of himself in the future, I can say that with certainty!"
As she spoke, she became earnest and turned to her daughter to admonish her, "It's fate that he moved in across from our house, and it's your luck. Liuli, you should learn from him. If you could be half as excellent as he is, then even if I suddenly... If your dad suddenly passed away, he could rest peacefully."
Kiyomi Liuli's heart had softened, but the more she listened, the worse she felt. Pointing at her own nose, she asked incredulously, "Huh? Learn from him?"
Learn what, how to be a swindler?
Kiyomi Koko said matter-of-factly, "What's wrong? Shouldn't you learn from someone who is superior to you? Don't you want to?"
Kiyomi Liuli said angrily, "I don't want to!"
Kiyomi Koko didn't force her, figuring her daughter was just going through a rebellious phase of adolescence, but it didn't matter. "If you don't want to, then fine, but it must not be easy for him to live alone; you should help him out when you can."
Kiyomi Liuli was still dissatisfied and raised her voice, "Why should I? I don't owe him anything!"
"Because it's about doing the right thing, being a kind person!" Kiyomi Koko enjoyed joking and laughing with her daughter, treating her like a friend, but she did not indulge her daughter's bad habits and said sternly, "This is not a request, it's a demand. Are you itching for trouble again?"
Kiyomi Liuli hadn't gone crazy enough to pick a fight with her mother at home. If she dared to backtalk now, her mother would likely argue with her to death.
After her little face turned from pale to red with frustration, she grumbled in a low voice, "I didn't say I wouldn't help him. I was just asking why you were in such a hurry... I'll do whatever you say, okay?"
......
After enduring a dinner that left much to be desired, Kiyomi Liuli returned to her room on the second floor feeling depressed, slammed the door shut, and flung herself onto her bed.
Although she had figured out part of Nanahara Takeshi's background, she felt unreasonably angry and uncomfortable. In the past, she was the neighborhood's favorite child, and her mother never asked her to learn from anyone else. She didn't understand why this time she was expected to learn from a swindler.
However, that guy did have some skills, just not used in the right way.
Thinking this, Kiyomi Liuli couldn't help but recall the case she experienced that day, and her mind was again filled with turmoil.
The skills the guy used to swindle money were actually well-suited for reasoning and solving cases. If he were willing to join the "Deductive Reasoning Research Society," wouldn't he outdo countless other incompetent detectives?
Yes, that's right. A thousand troops are easy to get, one general is hard to find. In a certain sense, that kid was indeed talented.
Moreover, if he came across another case in the future, she could go along and guide him. She could be Miss Liuli Morse, and he could become Nanahara Watson.
This idea seemed rather good. Perhaps she shouldn't hold his previous minor offenses against him. She should be on good terms with him, look out for him, become friends…
As Kiyomi Liuli pondered, she gradually fell asleep, even forgetting to take her bath.
After all, she had stayed up several nights preparing for the club recruitment activities and was indeed a bit sleep-deprived.