Chapter 174 Friends or Lovers?
How to do how to do?
What should I do?
Facing the three people sitting opposite each other at the coffee table, Hiiragi Rinka held the dinner plate and shivered in the corner.

Xiaoyue actually said these words directly to Chitose and Kokoharu.

Can this be said?

Doesn’t Xiaoyue know that they all like Teacher Fujii?

But it also seemed like Xiaoyue knew this, so she did it on purpose.

Does she want Chitose and Kokoharu to give up on Sensei Fujii?

This. How is this possible!

Regardless of the thousand years.
Or Xinchun. They both have different ideas about Mr. Fujii.
Rinka Hiiragi held the food plate tighter and tighter in her arms. She felt she could no longer think.

She had even forgotten the original intention of organizing this tea party.

How can we make everyone be friends in harmony?

Ruined.

It's absolutely over.

The relationship between the three will definitely reach a critical point.
Next.
What should I do if a fight breaks out?

I can't help anyone, but everyone is my good friend!
If if everyone could vent all their anger towards themselves when they were pulling their hair, that would calm the situation.

Hiiragi Rinka was also completely willing.

As long as everyone doesn't quarrel
As long as everyone is well
Stay together and be good friends
Hiiragi Rinka was sitting in the corner, feeling sad. She started drawing circles on the ground while holding a plate.

The atmosphere between the three people at the coffee table dropped to freezing point for a long time because of Jiu Huayue's words when she just sat down.

Jiu Huayue knew what this sentence meant to the two of them.

Represents a declaration of war.

This also means that Rinka's wish was impossible from the very beginning.

Especially Chitose.

Chitose would never agree to that.

Jiuhuayue still felt guilty, especially towards Linhua.

After all, given her personality, it must have taken a lot of courage and effort for her to invite several people together.

I'm sorry, Rinka.
"What's this?"

".What?"

Yang Kui Chitose: "I say, what's the big deal!"

Jiuhuayue looked up, she almost thought she had heard it wrong.

It was not until she looked at the position next to Matsumae Shinharu and noticed the other person's expression that she confirmed that the words just now were indeed said by Chitose Yangkui.

".Hawaii-san, do you think it doesn't matter?"

"It doesn't matter."

Chitose Hinami answered with considerable ease.

But is this possible?

Jiu Huayue thought she was hallucinating.

Yang Kui Chitose crossed her arms and said, "In this world, no, let's just say our school, there are so many people in our school who say they like Mr. Fujii. If they like him, then they like him. What's wrong with that?"

Her relaxed attitude also attracted Rinka Hiiragi who was in the corner.

She stopped drawing circles.

Jiu Huayue frowned, "Doesn't this mean that there is an inevitable conflict between you and me?"

"Why would there be?" Yang Kui Chitose asked back.

"Why not?" Jiuhuayue asked again.

"I thought you had good grades and were very smart, but you turned out to be just so-so~just so-so~"

As Yang Kui Chitose spoke, she waved her hands.

"What did you say?"

"Then I'd like to ask you, Xiao Jiuhua, does Brother Shu know what you mean?"

“I know, I know,” Jiuhuayue frowned.

"Did Brother Shu agree?"

"No." Jiuhuayue hesitated for a while before answering.

Chitose's calm attitude gave Hiiragi Rinka hope in the corner. Her eyes sparkled and she hurried back to serve tea and cake.

"Isn't this right!"

Yang Kui Chitose emphasized and yawned a little bored.

"If you like Brother Shu, then you like Brother Shu. Brother Shu didn't agree to it. Your liking him means that Brother Shu likes you?"

"."

Jiuhuayue was speechless.

She began to question herself. Does the uncle's behavior mean he likes me?

It should count, right?

But the uncle did not agree in person.

If I say this out loud, and the uncle really likes me, won’t I be laughed at by those two when Qiansui goes back and asks about it?
"I, Yang Kui Chitose, don't like to talk in a roundabout way. I always say what I want to say directly. So I'm sorry if I accidentally said the wrong thing and made you sad, Xiao Jiuhua."

Yang Kui Chitose said this in a relaxed manner, but she had actually been paying attention to Jiuhuayue's expression.

After reading all this, Qiansui finally understood everything.

Jiuhuayue is just a poor guy.

A poor guy who can't integrate into his original family at all, and is treated as a tool by his parents and can be beaten and scolded at will.

This guy wandered from Tokyo to Otaru.

Only after meeting Brother Tree who came home did I have a little hope in life.

It's a poor stray cat.

"As for me, of course I hope to be closer to my brother Shu. I admit that I used to be too jealous. I would get jealous and envious when I saw a girl around brother Shu, including you two, Kokuka and Kokoro-chan. Kokoro-chan."

"."

"Kokoroharu-chan?"

It took two calls from Yang Kui Chitose to wake Matsumae Shinharu from a very strange state.

"Was what I just said correct?"

"."

"Hmm? Kokoroharu-chan?"

".Yes." Matsumae Shinchun nodded, obviously confused.

"That's right!"

Yang Kui Chitose continued the previous topic, facing Jiuhua Yue who was facing her, "Xiao Jiuhua, tell me, if what you said is the so-called contradiction, how can I still be good sisters with Xinchun-chan?"

Jiu Huayue shook her head: "I'm not sure about you two."

"Xinchun-chan likes Shu-nii-san too, right?"

".certainly."

"How's Brother Shu?"

"Teacher Fujii? To Xinchun, Teacher Fujii is her mother's student, and also Xinchun's senior, and the elder brother who takes care of Xinchun. Xinchun naturally loves and respects Teacher Fujii very much."

Jiuhuayue felt more and more that something was wrong.

What's going on here?

Chitose Yang Kui: "See! I also know that Xinchun likes Brother Itsuki. Xinchun-chan is actually the 'sister' that Itsuki called her! I was so jealous at the time, but now we are still good sisters, aren't we?"

Jiuhuayue turned her gaze to Matsumae Shinchun's face.

Then, she nodded in acknowledgement.

What kind of strange relationship do these two people have?

So now Chitose and Kokoharu know each other very well?
its not right.
With Chitose's personality, she would never let anyone get close to the uncle.

Chitose is so close to Xinchun, it is impossible for her not to know what Xinchun thinks of the uncle.

Chitose is the best firewall around the uncle, there is no way he would be missed.

Jiuhuayue thought silently for a long time.

In the end, there is only one answer.

In fact, Xinchun is just very close to the uncle. The relationship between her and the uncle is very similar to that between Chitose and the uncle.

Brothers and sisters who take care of each other. Is that right?

Did I actually misunderstand Xinchun before?

She took me along when she went shopping with the uncle that time, actually it was just to take care of herself.
"Everyone, the cookies are baked."

Hiiragi Rinka came out of the kitchen carrying three plates of snacks.

This interrupted Jiuhuayue's thoughts.

"Thank you, Rinka~"

"Thank you, Rin."

"Thank you."

The three of them put aside their discussion for the moment and took turns accepting the dim sum set meal that Rinka had made.

Matcha crepe cake + blueberry cookies + various fruit slices.

Hiiragi Rinka sat in front of the three of them, put down her plate, and tried to smile.

".I..I also know that there are many conflicts among everyone. I want to invite everyone to hold a tea party because everyone is actually my good friend. Everyone is obviously very good, very good, very good people, so why do we have such bad relationships, and even treat each other coldly after meeting?

"So the essence of this tea party is that I hope everyone can have a heart-to-heart talk here. I hope everyone can talk about all the unpleasant things in their hearts, the things that make them unhappy, and the things they don't like about each other!
"In this way, I think the relationship between everyone will be much better, right?"

Jiuhuayue was speechless.

Yang Kui Chitose agreed with her enthusiastically and nodded.
"I also think what Linhua said is right. As far as the present is concerned, there is no irreconcilable conflict between us. I quarreled with you, Jiuhuayue, before because I felt that you monopolized my previous position.

"But now, I think about it, it's not like that. Brother Shu is not so unreasonable that he can't see what I did before.
"Brother Shu manages a club with so many people. They are actually all considered Brother Shu's 'students' and can make up for Brother Shu's regrets to a certain extent.
"Besides, I am destined to not be able to lead the club to the national competition stage by myself. This requires everyone to work together to achieve it!

"That is to say, Brother Shu's 'students' are naturally not just one or two.

"Are you right, Jiuhuayue?"

"."

Is this considered Qiansui's active show of goodwill towards me?
Jiuhuayue felt a little shaken.

She originally thought that the conflicts between them were irreconcilable.

But now, Chitose, who hated him the most, has let go of his grudge.
Should I make improvements?
"What about the fact that I like Mr. Fujii?"

"oops!"

Yang Kui Qiansui waved her hands again, "I've already said it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter! If you like it, then you like it, but I think Brother Shu will only treat you as a child and will never agree to you, so Xiao Jiuhua, don't think about it, haha~~"

Jiuhuayue was almost irritated by Qiansui's words. You said I was a child?!
You are obviously younger than me!
And why won’t the uncle agree to me?

Qiansui, what makes you so sure?
You are too confident!

Jiuhuayue feels that she still has many doubts about Qiansui.

But now Qiansui is being so generous, if I were to be petty, I would be stingy.

She whispered:
"I have no problem with what Rinka said."

"Me too." Chitose Yang Kui added.

Finally, it was Matsumae Shinchun's turn. She seemed to be troubled by something. After looking at Jiuhuayue for a while, she also whispered, "No opinion."

"OOK!"

Seeing that the atmosphere had become harmonious, Hiiragi Rinka shyly took over the conversation and tried very hard to start a new topic:
"Since everyone has no objection, then everyone thinks that we can still be good friends."

The three people reacted at different times, but none of them refuted.

Hiiragi Rinka was very happy:
"Well, how about we move on to the 'honesty' part of the tea party? Let's talk about our doubts and dissatisfactions.

"I think we should speak out directly about things we don't like about each other."

No one disagrees with this point.

Next, Rinka Hiiragi came out with a blind box of candies that she had made by hand.

The one who touches the orange-flavored candy can ask questions first, and the person being asked must answer truthfully.

The first person to be drawn was Matsumae Shinharu.

She looked at the candy in her hand with some disbelief, then looked at Jiuhuayue opposite her.

Jiu Huayue closed her eyes: "Go ahead, I know what you want to ask."

"Then Xiaoyue, why didn't you contact me through letters?"

"."

"Xiaoyue?"

Seeing that the atmosphere was becoming awkward again, the super hard-working warm-up machine Hiiragi Rinka tried hard to smile and try to remind Jiuhuayue.

Unexpectedly, Jiuhuayue, who had been silent for a long time, looked directly at Xinchun and said:
"envy."

"Jealous?" Matsumae Shinchun placed her hand on her heart.

"Yes, from the beginning I was jealous of you. Jealous of your identity."

".Because I'm the only daughter of the Matsumae family?"

Jiu Huayue shook her head and lowered her head slightly, obviously recalling something unhappy. "I'm not jealous of your noble status or anything like that, but I'm jealous of what your status attracts."

".I don't quite understand, Xiaoyue."

"Do you remember when the Matsumae family and our Jiuhua family separated? At that time, the Jiuhua family was in name only. Some people in your family followed tradition and wanted to help our family rebuild, while others were against it. Xinchun, your father, Uncle Beiguang, has always been against it.

"My father wanted to restore the former glory of the Kuka family, so he had to go to the Matsumae family to curry favor and build relationships."

Matsumae Shinchun's eyes trembled slightly.

"So Xiaoyue always came to my house back then, actually..."

"That's right. My father always dragged me to the Matsumae family just to please your family. It was also at that time that I met you and always went to play with you."

"But this has nothing to do with us. Why did it change later?"

"Xinchun, you had a special identity at the time. Uncle Beiguang and Aunt Qianqin didn't want to have any more children, so you were the only daughter of the head of the Matsumae family. In order for my father to successfully approach those people, Xinchun, you were an indispensable means of contact."

"No wonder Uncle Ryuichi always asked me to contact my aunt," Matsumae Shinchun muttered silently.

"Of course, this is something I only found out about later."

Jiuhuayue continued.

"I couldn't see it at the time. I just felt that Xinchun was you. Do you remember how my father treated you? He did everything he should do for me, caring, taking care of me, giving me clothes and gifts. He always gave them to you, making you look like his daughter. But she never gave me these.

"He didn't care about anything at home. He didn't care when my grandfather came home drunk, and he didn't care when his creditors who failed in business came to the house and banged on the door.

"In my eyes, when my mother and I needed help, he was always at the Matsumae family, always happily hanging around you, Matsumae Shinchun.

"Xinchun can understand, right?
"In this situation, you came with a smiling face and said we are good friends."

"."

Hearing this, Matsumae Shinchun finally understood what her childhood sweetheart thought of her in the past.
A criminal who enjoys stealing other people's beloved things.

Am I such a person?
Matsumae Shinharu fell into self-doubt.

Jiuhuayue closed her eyes and said:
"Of course, I didn't blame you completely at that time. At least you were serious about being friends with me. You just stole my daughter's identity accidentally. So after I left Hokkaido, I still kept in touch with you through letters."

"So what happened afterwards?"

Jiuhuayue continued, “After I left Otaru, my home has always seemed to be shrouded in a dark cloud, making it hard to breathe.

“My father always told me:
"Xiaoyue, if you don't work hard, our family will be completely destroyed!"

"Xiaoyue, if you don't pay attention, you will never see your father again!"

"Xiaoyue, you are the first step in our revival of the Jiuhua family!"

"Xiaoyue, the humiliation your grandfather caused to the Jiuhua family will be washed away by you!"

Jiuhuayue read these words calmly.

"My parents rarely really care about this family. They have been discussing how to revive the Jiuhua family. They have been instilling a theory in me.

"We must restore the past glory of the Jiuhua family."

Jiuhuayue paused here.

The tone sounded somewhat like mockery.

"Want to restore the past glory of the Kuka family? In the final analysis, they just want me to marry into a big family in one of the three major metropolitan areas through the stage of Takarazuka, and then use my identity to attract a large amount of resources for my father's company in Tokyo.

"This is what my father called 'the first step to recovery.'

“It was also a step for him to raise a large amount of funds and support for his comeback.

“Of course, I didn’t know this when I was a kid.

“I only know that my father has high hopes for me, and I really want to shine at the Takarazuka Conservatory of Music.

“I don’t want to fall behind, and I don’t want to lose to anyone.

"Because I am younger than the average student and don't have enough experience, I am always the last one to be selected into the monthly group. I have actually been eliminated for one term. After this incident, my father was always dissatisfied with me when he returned home.

“In the 106th term, my teacher told me that I had a good chance. I worked harder because of that and wanted to prove myself even more.

"But." Jiuhuayue was silent for a while, "Xinchun, do you remember the time when you went to Osaka with your aunt when you were a child?"

"I have a little impression. My aunt took me to meet many people, although I didn't know them very well." Matsumae Shinchun replied.

"It's because of you, Xinchun, that you came to Osaka this time and squeezed me out of my position."

"how come!"

"Don't you remember? Your aunt took you to Tokyo to watch a stage play. You thought the performance of the actors on the stage was very beautiful and it was very interesting. You said you wanted to try to join in."

"."

Jiuhuayue's words brought back scenes of memory to Matsumae Shinchun's mind.

She did remember.
At that time, I was attracted by the lively demeanor of the actors on the stage, and I told my aunt and an old lady who came to watch the stage play with me that I wanted to try it too.

Afterwards, I did visit a group in Takarazuka as an intern.

Because Osaka is much closer to Kyoto than Hokkaido, he could see his mother more often. He wanted to stay and study, but his father took him directly back to Matsumae's home in Hokkaido.

Because my father said it wasn't a very good place
He didn't agree to stay in this treasure tomb.

"Xiaoyue, are you going to -" just because of what I said

"Yes, it was because of what you said, Xinchun, that I lost my intern status and had to wait another year. Although you left afterwards, the monthly group of interns had already been fixed, and it was impossible for me to be included. I think you should know what another year of failure meant to me. My father showed his disappointment in me for another year."

Matsumae Shinchun looked at Jiuhuayue at this moment, and felt only guilt in his heart.

She wanted to apologize, but saw Jiuhuayue shaking her head.

"It's been so long. After I understood the root cause of everything my father did, I don't hate you that much anymore, Xinchun. But your image in my mind has been ruined, even if you stole unintentionally. But this is also the reason why I don't want to be friends with you."

"I'm sorry! Xiaoyue, I really didn't mean that! I really didn't mean to do this to you! Xiaoyue."

Kokoharu's sudden outburst startled both Chitose and Rinka.

Jiuhuayue was very calm. She looked at Xinchun and said comfortingly:

"I said, it's over, it's okay."

"Then we, Xiaoyue, can also——"

Matsumae Shinharu's words of reconciliation were only halfway through when they stopped abruptly.

Something was blocking her heart again.

But Jiuhuayue didn't notice it, and shook her head and said:
"I just said that I came here because I already knew what Rinka meant. If I didn't mean that, I wouldn't have come here."

"Besides, this is an opportunity for us to talk after Rinka worked hard. If we quarrel again, Rinka will also become unhappy. I don't want to see this."

Matsumae Shinchun stared at Jiuhuayue's purple eyes: "What does Xiaoyue mean?"

"Well, reconciling with Xinchun is not a big problem. After all, we are childhood sweethearts and classmates. We will have to work together to participate in the national competition. We can't keep being at odds with each other. But I need a promise from Xinchun."

"What guarantee?"

"As long as you promise not to do anything like what happened to me again, that's all, isn't it?"

Jiuhuayue smiles brightly and beautifully.

This instantly reminded Matsumae Shinchun of the childhood sweetheart who held her hand and was as dazzling as the sun.
She agreed immediately without thinking.

"Of course I do!"

but
but
At this moment, there was another thing that was weighing on Matsumae Shinchun's mind, making it impossible for her to keep her promise.

"It's good that Xinchun agreed. I'm relieved from now on. I also want to apologize to you. I'm sorry, I misunderstood you that time. Qiansui thinks you're fine, so I should do the same."

Jiuhuayue saw that Matsumae Xinchun wanted to agree immediately at this time, but she didn't notice that she didn't even finish her answer.

Because at this time, Chitose Yangkui clapped happily.

"Okay! Okay! That's it! Everyone is happy! Everyone is happy!"

As she was talking, Matsumae Shinharu saw that she took the initiative to pull her own hands, Satsuki's, and Rinka's hands together and stacked them together.

Chitose happily said some celebratory words.

Rinka was infected by the atmosphere and was very happy, even with a little cry in her voice.

She was almost scared to death just now.

Afterwards, everyone happily started to drink tea and eat snacks and chat about girlish topics.

Matsumae Shinchun even felt that she had integrated into it.

Because Xiaoyue and everyone else are all here, all smiling happily.

but
but
Matsumae Shinchun couldn't help but feel sad when no one was paying attention.

Xiaoyue also likes Teacher Fujii, right?
On one side is the childhood sweetheart who has reconciled with him, and on the other side is the brother whom he loves so much.
Matsumae Shinharu was extremely conflicted.

she does not know.

What should I do?
(End of this chapter)