The time arrived at Monday morning.
After eating breakfast, Lin and Sakurajima Mai went to school together.
A wisp of concealment power shrouded them.
Lin chatted with Sakurajima Mai.
Looking at Sakurajima Mai beside him, Lin asked with a light chuckle:
"Mai, how do you feel about your life now?"
"Why ask that all of a sudden?"
Hearing this, Sakurajima Mai looked at Lin with a trace of doubt.
Then, she smiled slightly and said, "I feel it's pretty good now."
Although the situation at school was much the same as before, due to the change in her mindset, she did not feel lonely or isolated. Moreover, Lin was at the school, as were Yotsuya Miko, Yurikawa Hana, and Kasumigaoka Utaha.
When eating lunch at noon, she would go with Yotsuya Miko and the others to Kasumigaoka Utaha's secret base. Everyone would have lunch together. Lin would also join in from time to time.
Although her current campus life was a bit different from what she had originally imagined, she liked this kind of life very much.
Lin asked, "Mai, have you thought about returning to the entertainment industry?"
"Eh..."
Sakurajima Mai was slightly stunned. Her gaze couldn't help but flicker twice before she said, "No."
"You are lying." Lin looked at Sakurajima Mai with a smile.
"I..."
Although she knew she couldn't hide it from Lin, being exposed by him on the spot still made her face turn slightly red involuntarily. A trace of embarrassment flashed through her eyes.
Subsequently, she fell silent for a while.
With a slightly complex expression, she spoke slowly, "Actually, I have indeed thought about this matter these past few days."
"It's just that because of a certain incident, I've always had a knot in my heart."
"Oh..."
Lin blinked.
"???"
Seeing Lin's reaction, Sakurajima Mai couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. Then, knitting her willow-leaf brows lightly, she asked:
"Aren't you curious about what that certain incident I mentioned is?"
Lin replied, "I am curious."
Sakurajima Mai blinked: "Then why didn't you ask me?"
Lin looked at her with the corners of his mouth hooked up slightly: "Because I am waiting for you, Mai, to take the initiative to tell me about that matter."
Hearing this, Sakurajima Mai was stunned. Seeming to smile helplessly, she slowly said, "The matter starts from when I was about to graduate from middle school."
"At that time, my... my manager accepted a swimsuit advertisement for me without asking for my opinion."
"Do you know who the manager is?"
Her voice was a little low.
Lin asked despite knowing the answer, "Who is it?"
"She is my mother!"
Sakurajima Mai's expression was complex, appearing somewhat angry and sad.
Lin: "Huh?"
Sakurajima Mai continued, "It's very surprising, right? A mother actually accepted a revealing swimsuit advertisement for her own daughter. She didn't even ask for an opinion."
"At that time, I was already feeling physically and mentally exhausted because of the large amount of work she had taken on for me during that period."
"Because of this incident, I resisted her for the first time, had a big fight with her, and refused the swimsuit advertisement shoot."
"A mother actually treated her own daughter as a money-making tool. That incident became the final straw that broke the camel's back."
"After the big fight with her, I announced that I would quit the entertainment industry after completing the filming work currently in progress."
"It took the first semester to complete all the filming work. When I came to school afterward, I seemed out of place. It was as if I wasn't in the same world."
"It was because of these things that the Adolescence Syndrome was triggered."
Lin blinked and asked, "So, has she not called you these past few days, Mai?"
After the separation of the Adolescence Syndrome's vanishing power, Sakurajima Mai's mother should have contacted her.
"She has..."
Sakurajima Mai nodded gently: "It's just that I haven't answered."
"I still don't know what kind of attitude to use when facing her."
Regarding the matter of her mother treating her as a money-making tool, she felt she had received a great injury in her heart. Even though a year had already passed. Whenever she thought of this incident, she still felt she couldn't accept it.
To say she would sever ties was also impossible. After all, her mother had raised her alone since she was small and had treated her very well; it just seemed that she had changed unknowingly.
So, her feelings toward her mother had now become very contradictory.
"In that case, just take your time to think about it; there's no rush."
Lin said with a smile, then looked at Sakurajima Mai and added:
"If you want to return to the entertainment industry, Mai, I can be the man behind you, acting as your pillar of support."
"What do you want to do?"
Sakurajima Mai was a bit puzzled upon hearing this. She felt that for Lin to speak like this, it definitely wasn't as simple as it appeared on the surface.
Lin smiled faintly: "Of course, it's to open a company myself. I'll be the big boss and take charge of your acting career."
"Eh, open a company?!"
Sakurajima Mai couldn't help but feel astonished. She hadn't expected that Lin actually planned to open a company specifically for her. While astonished, she also felt happy.
Lin nodded with a smile: "Yes, open a company. In the future, you can decide completely on your own what work to accept. If you want to rest, you rest; when you want to film, you film."
"This..."
Hearing Lin's words, Sakurajima Mai's gaze flickered, and she was somewhat moved. However, she was still a bit hesitant.
Noticing this, Lin smiled and said again, "You don't need to rush to decide. Just consider it slowly."
"...Okay, thank you."
Sakurajima Mai remained silent for a moment upon hearing this, finally nodding her head gently.
Lin said with a smile, "What is there to say thank you for between us?"
"Let alone just one company. As long as it is Wifey's wish, even if you all want the stars in the sky, I can pluck them down for you."
"..."
Hearing this, Sakurajima Mai's gaze flashed slightly.
She blinked and feigned disdain: "I knew you would say this kind of thing to coax girls into being happy, you big philanderer."
"If you removed the word 'all' from that sentence just now, I might have felt very happy hearing it."
Lin raised his eyebrows lightly: "So you don't feel happy?"
"I don't feel it at all."
Sakurajima Mai turned her head away slightly. Only, Lin clearly saw the arc hooking up at the corner of her mouth. Obviously, she did not mean what she said.
Lin and Sakurajima Mai talked and laughed all the way. With the help of the concealment power, they did not attract anyone's attention.
At eight-ten, they arrived at Private United High School.
The two separated at the entrance of the teaching building and went to their respective class classrooms, the concealment power on their bodies dissipating bit by bit.
Lin arrived at Class 1-C.
"Good morning..."
On the way to his seat, he exchanged greetings with the classmates in the class. Such as Kotegawa Yui, Haruna Sairenji, Yumiko Miura, and others.
"Futaba-san, good morning."
When passing by Futaba Rio's side, Lin's eyes flashed slightly, and he greeted her with a faint smile as well.
Seeing Lin greet her, the pupils under Futaba Rio's glasses trembled lightly, and her heartbeat involuntarily sped up a little.
Watching Lin's retreating back, she said good morning almost inaudibly, then retracted her gaze.
Lin arrived at his seat.
Placing his schoolbag casually on the desktop, he cast his gaze toward Megumi Katō:
"Morning, Kato."
"Good morning."
Just as his voice fell, Megumi Katō had already turned around to meet Lin's eyes, blinking gently as she spoke.
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