Chew, chew, chew... Zhong Chen used a toothpick to spear a rabbit-shaped apple slice and took a bite out of its head.
A moment later, he attacked another apple slice on the plate. Just then, a clear female voice reached Zhong Chen's ears.
"Oh, Okaa-san (Mom), I'm home!"
"Oh, Misaki, you're back. We have a guest."
Ayuzawa Misaki, who was taking off her shoes, heard her mother's voice from the living room and immediately sped up.
She hurried towards the living room, but as soon as she stepped into the entryway, she heard a crunch, and her right foot uncontrollably dropped below the wooden floor.
"Oh dear, the floor will need to be repaired again this time."
Hearing the sound, Minako Ayuzawa rushed to the hallway, looking at Ayuzawa Misaki with one foot stuck under the floorboard, and asked worriedly,
"Misaki, are you alright!"
"Oh, I'm fine, Mom. Who's the guest? We rarely have visitors."
Ayuzawa Misaki lifted her right leg back onto the intact floor and asked her mother.
"It's an alien!"
"Huh?"
Seeing her mother's serious expression, Ayuzawa Misaki was instantly bewildered. What? An alien?
Is this some chuunibyou patient Mom met somewhere?
Thinking this, Ayuzawa Misaki hurried towards the living room. As soon as she entered, she saw a handsome young man sitting on the tatami mat, continuously reaching for the apples on the table.
"Yo, welcome back! Misaki!"
Zhong Chen looked at Ayuzawa Misaki as she walked in, then raised his head and greeted her with a familiar wave.
"Um, who are you?"
Just as Zhong Chen was about to answer, Minako Ayuzawa followed him in and softly introduced him:
"His name is Zhong Chen, from the Alpha Centauri Nebula..."
"So, you're saying he's going to live here from now on?"
Ayuzawa Misaki, after hearing her mother's explanation, pointed at Zhong Chen with a shocked expression and asked loudly.
"After all, he has no place to stay, and we can't just leave him."
Ayuzawa Misaki saw Zhong Chen give her a brilliant smile and couldn't help but turn to her mother and say,
"Mom, how can you believe such a lie? This is clearly made up."
"But he also fixed the ceiling..."
Hearing her mother's words, Ayuzawa Misaki looked up at the perfectly intact ceiling, covered her forehead, and said helplessly,
"Mom, no one can fix a ceiling instantly. You must have seen wrong earlier."
"Eh? Did I really see wrong?"
"Oh, Mom, don't get involved in this. You, come with me."
With that, Ayuzawa Misaki walked over to Zhong Chen, grabbed his arm, and headed upstairs.
"Hey, hey, hey! This isn't right, a high school girl's room and all, can I really go in?"
"Hmph, less talk, follow me!"
Although Zhong Chen said that, his body showed no resistance, and in a moment, he was pulled into Ayuzawa Misaki's room.
As soon as he entered the room, he saw a clean maid uniform hanging on the wall.
"Wow! I didn't expect you to have such a hobby, truly... tsk tsk tsk..."
Zhong Chen looked at Ayuzawa Misaki with a mischievous smile.
"Ah, ah, ah! You, turn your head away!"
Misaki looked at the maid uniform on the wall and quickly fumbled to put it away. Afterwards, she explained with a blush,
"Th-this... this is something my friend asked me to wash, it's not... not mine."
"Hai, hai (Yes, yes), let's just say it is."
Listening to Zhong Chen's perfunctory words, Ayuzawa Misaki had no choice but to try and skip the topic.
"Alright, let's get to the point. Who exactly are you, and what do you want to do at my house?"
"Let me make it clear, our family is poor, so you won't get any money. As for anything else... I'm an Aikido master, so you'd best not have any other ideas."
Zhong Chen looked at Ayuzawa Misaki, who was sitting on the bed and looking down at him, and said with feigned helplessness,
"Sigh, do you think I want to be here? This is just to avoid..."
"Stop right there, I don't... believe... gulp... that excuse."
Ayuzawa Misaki hadn't finished speaking when she saw Zhong Chen pull out a stack of Neon currency from who knows where and repeatedly pat it in his hand.
Based on her experience working as a maid, that stack of money was at least five hundred thousand.
"This is the rent..."
"Uh... although this isn't a small amount of money, but..."
"For one month."
"Welcome! I'll arrange a room for you right away."
With that, Ayuzawa Misaki eagerly opened the door and ran downstairs, shouting as she went:
"Okaa-san (Mom)! A big spender is coming to live in our old, broken-down house!"
Listening to the shouts from outside the door, a black line involuntarily appeared on Zhong Chen's forehead.
You're the big spender, your whole family... never mind, Minako Ayuzawa is still a good person, so I won't complain about your whole family.
At 5:30 PM, Minako Ayuzawa began preparing dinner, while Zhong Chen and Ayuzawa Misaki stared at each other.
Just as Zhong Chen was about to say something to break the deadlock, a slightly emotionless voice came through.
"Mom, big sister, I'm home!"
"Shana is back."
Zhong Chen also nodded seriously.
"Oh, so it's the little sister who's back."
"Hey, she's my little sister. Don't talk as if she has anything to do with you."
Hearing Misaki's words, Zhong Chen said with a wronged expression,
"Stingy, I've already spent money, can't you give me a little sister?"
"Don't even think about it! I'm warning you, don't get any ideas about Shana!"
"Oh my goodness, that's the biggest insult to my character! I demand compensation!"
Hearing Zhong Chen's words, Ayuzawa Misaki made a big 'X' with her hands in front of her chest and sneered,
"Don't even think about it. Your money has already been used as rent and compensation for damaging the ceiling."
"Didn't you not believe it!"
"For money, I can choose to believe it selectively."
...
As the two continued to bicker, Ayuzawa Shana walked into the living room carrying a small bag of rice and immediately saw Zhong Chen sitting at the table.
"Big sister, do we have a guest? Hello, I'm Ayuzawa Shana, pleased to meet you."
Although her tone showed no fluctuation, Zhong Chen could still sense Ayuzawa Shana's happy mood.
"My name is Zhong Chen. You can call me Chen Gege."
"Okay, Chen Gege..."
"Alright, just for that 'Gege,' I'll give you a gift."
Zhong Chen reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a Q-version Slime pendant, and threw it to Shana.
"Kawaii."
Shana, who received the Slime pendant, had the corners of her expressionless mouth slightly turned up.
She immediately put the pendant around her collar, then bowed slightly to thank him:
"Thank you, Chen Gege."
"Hahaha, I'm glad you like it."
"Hey, where did you buy that pendant? Even though it's a Slime, it's really cute."
"First of all, I'm not 'hey.' My name is Chu Yu... cough cough... Zhong Chen. You'd best call me Senior Zhong Chen, understand? You rude little girl!"
With that, Zhong Chen gave Ayuzawa Misaki a heavy tap on the head.
"Itai (That hurts)! You!"
Just as Ayuzawa Misaki was about to retaliate against Zhong Chen, Ayuzawa Shana, who was beside them, covered her mouth and let out her characteristic laugh:
"HOHO, Big Sister got punished by Chen Gege..."
"Shana!!!"