Chapter 317: Branch Quest in Progress

An ordinary taxi was shuttling on the streets of Tokyo at night, its headlights blending into the neon lights without causing any ripples.

Ji Qi in the car frowned and kept searching for relevant places on the map.

He lived not far from Chiyoda, so at his urging, the first place he mentioned to the driver was quickly arrived at.

This is a green park with residential areas nearby.

Ji Qi ran in the park, his eyes fixed on the place where Zhen Ji was most likely to appear.

After looking around under the strange gazes of others, Ji Qi sighed, got back into the taxi and rushed to the next place.

The bright red numbers on the meter are constantly increasing.

However, Ji Qi didn't care about such a small matter.

He was worried about Maki.

She is very shy and when she is unhappy, she might offend others as soon as she opens her mouth.

I hope Maki can be patient and wait for his arrival...

……

It was more than an hour later when Ji Qi found Zhen Ji.

But he has no specific concept of time.

Because I ran for too long, my legs felt like they had lost all feeling.

Looking at Zhenji who was sitting alone on a bench near the park, Ji Qi shook his head helplessly and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Just be fine.

With his hands on his knees, Ji Qi stood there and took a few breaths before slowly walking over.

"Maki."

"S-Senior..."

Hearing the voice, the girl's body trembled, her pupils moved upwards, and her beautiful eyes, like gemstones, were a little red and swollen - it was clear that she had been crying. Now she had completely lost her usual elegance and grace, and looked extremely embarrassed.

Seeing who it was, Maki's expression was a little dazed. Although her voice was still trembling, her dilated pupils had gradually regained focus.

The stars above seemed to sparkle in time with his voice.

Feelings of peace of mind and joy instantly filled my heart.

At a time like this that makes the inexperienced Maki feel desperate, the sense of security brought by a familiar person is incomparable.

This is the so-called suspension bridge effect.

Especially when she found Ji Qi panting, she felt even more moved and guilty.

He glanced at a few men not far away who were keeping their eyes on this place. Their voices were so low that he couldn't hear clearly, but Ji Qi could guess what they were thinking from their playful movements and eyes.

Now that he's here, he certainly won't let anyone else approach him.

After recovering, Ji Qi was finally able to observe Zhen Ji carefully and ask her what happened.

The school uniform made of Otono wood wrapped the girl's slender body. Her figure was not too plump, which was very suitable for the immaturity of a girl of this age. Her cherry-like pink lips were shining with an alluring luster, her nose was small and straight, and her almond-shaped eyes were slightly red and swollen. At the same time, she was lovable and formed a very contradictory beauty with her cold and beautiful face and temperament.

As a young lady, Maki does not wear any gold or silver jewelry and is very reserved. She does not need to use jewelry to show her charm.

Such a lovely girl now looks heartbroken and lost, no wonder there are so many men hesitating and wandering around her...

After sitting in the chair and resting for a while, Ji Qi's physical condition gradually recovered. He teased in a joking tone: "What happened? Why are you crying here secretly? Did you do poorly on the exam?"

Under the warm yellow street light, the girl's body stiffened for a moment.

Why can this person guess so accurately?

Come to think of it, the source of all this was really because she did poorly on the exam!

Facing Zhenji who was not good at hiding her emotions, Ji Qi held his forehead and thought, could he be right?

How badly must she have done in the exam to be so doubtful about life...

"Senior, you are so rude! I didn't do that badly on the test!"

As if she understood Ji Qi's thoughts, Zhen Ji puffed up her lips. After saying a few words to him, her mood and tone unexpectedly returned to normal.

When people are scared, they like to scare themselves. Zhenji, who encountered such a bad situation for the first time, was really scared. She didn't even dare to imagine what she would do if Ji Qi got sick.

Fortunately he came.

There was no handsome and cool hero saving the beauty like in the movies. On the contrary, the male protagonist appeared in front of her in a very embarrassed and ordinary way.

But at that moment, her world seemed to have changed. She didn't know where she had left the little bit of resentment she had towards Ji Qi.

"Really? When I heard your cry for help, I immediately abandoned my schoolmate who had always had a crush on me, and then I went to look for you for more than two hours without stopping, and I also spent a lot of money on taxi fare. Am I being rude?"

Ji Qi sighed and said quietly.

He did not hide what he did or brush it off lightly. When dating a girl, if you just give and think about the other person, the relationship will not last long. Some things are better to keep secret, and some things are better to tell the other person frankly what you do for her. Otherwise, some people will not understand if you don't say it out loud.

Ji Qi, who is experienced in relationships, finds it easy to deal with a simple girl like Zhen Ji.

"No...that's not what I meant. Well, um, did it cost a lot of money?" Maki waved her hands in panic and corrected.

She knew that what Ji Qi said was true and she had no right to complain. She was very happy to hear his description and realize how important she was to him.

"Well, the taxi took more than an hour. You can calculate the price yourself."

"Fifty, fifty thousand yen?!"

"It's a lot more than that... I was just kidding, don't worry about it. This little money is nothing if I want to see Maki-chan sooner."

Ji Qi said with a smile.

"Who allowed you to call me Maki-chan..."

Maki blushed and said that in real life, tsundere can really ruin a person's life. For example, Maki is obviously very touched by being bribed by tens of thousands of yen, but she still doesn't appreciate it.

Maki's inconsistent attitude is easy to be misunderstood. People who are not familiar with Maki will definitely feel a little uncomfortable. Not everyone understands girls as well as Ji Qi. Not everyone is as tolerant as he is.

"How about today's reward be for me to allow you to call you Maki-chan?"

"Whatever you want!"

Maki stammered, her face flushed and her heart beating as she lowered her head and stared at her toes.

Yeah, I'm still wearing slippers...

"Then Maki-chan, can you explain what exactly happened?"

Ji Qi looked up at the starry sky and pulled himself back from the circle that he had gotten himself into due to Maki's tsundere behavior.

"Oh, maybe it's like this..."

Zhenji hesitated for a long time. Maybe the current situation was too special. After Zhenji thought about it and decided not to tell others about it at first, she spoke to Ji Qi very naturally.

Chapter 318: % of the branch progress

The stars in the sky almost disappeared, leaving only a bright moon in the sky, admiring its own reflection.

In a park where the population is gradually sparse, a man and a woman are sitting on a bench near a street lamp.

Zhen Ji said, Ji Qi listened.

At first, Maki felt a little uncomfortable talking about such an embarrassing topic about her family background, but she soon got into the groove and spoke more and more fluently and clearly.

Because Ji Qi is really a very good listener. He always looks at you with a gentle smile on his face, and even some very small details will be noticed by him, and then he will put forward his own opinions. He will not make people feel perfunctory or awkward. It makes people feel like spring breeze.

When a person encounters setbacks and feels angry and depressed, talking to others is a very good way to relieve the frustration. In the past, Zhenji had no one to talk to, but now it is different.

If it were any other girl in Muse, Zhen Ji might not speak out of face, but it was different for Ji Qi, he just had that kind of magical power.

"Actually, my father's reaction was within my expectations. After all, they are such old-fashioned people. When I was a child, they didn't even want me to develop in the piano, let alone become an idol. You know, I won the second place in the regional piano competition at that time? I vaguely remember that the judges said that I was very talented or something -"

Maki's tone was a little sad.

Ji Qi, who was listening quietly, was very surprised. During this short period of time, Zhen Ji told him a lot of her inner thoughts. Things from her childhood, her views on Muses, why she joined them, her longing for music and piano...

A side he had never seen.

Hidden under the mask of a young lady, Maki is cute, real and fragile.

In this way, Nishikino Maki no longer had any secrets in his eyes, because he knew everything about her.

Should he reply that Maki is undoubtedly a perfect idol?

Ahem, something seems to be wrong.

In fact, it is normal if you think about it carefully. As the director of a general hospital in the wealthy area of ​​Chiyoda, it is not surprising that he looks down on idols.

They have the confidence.

Besides, the profession of idol also has mixed reviews in the eyes of ordinary people.

"Fantasy is just fantasy after all. Now it's all screwed up. There's no possibility of continuing. I don't even know how to tell Honoka and the others..."

Maki's eyelashes were trembling, and her deliberately calm voice could not hide her uneasiness.

"Maki, you love music, idols, and you like to stay with Muse and the others, right?"

Ji Qi said seriously. He didn't expect that the problem was not with Muse's performance, nor with Minami Kotonari or Kousaka Honoka. Instead, the problem was with the most unlikely one.

But no matter what, he would help them solve it.

Whether considering it from the perspective of the task or from the perspective of their relationship.

"Ah."

Since she no longer had any secrets, Maki nodded frankly.

"That's all. You haven't even tried yet, so don't give up easily. The situation is not as bad as you think."

Maki lowered her head again and said timidly, "It won't work... I've tried..."

"Can a child losing his temper at his parents be considered an attempt? Let me give you a simple example. I have a good friend who used to be a big name in the art world living in the UK. However, her dream was to draw comics. In order to make her comics serialized successfully, she gave up her transcendent status in the art world and came to Japan alone despite almost everyone's opposition. Do you think yours can be considered an attempt compared to her? Or is your love for music just like this?"

Ji Qi looked at Zhen Ji seriously, and the latter looked away guiltily.

"Then what do you think we should do?"

“Gu—”

Ji Qi was about to answer when he was interrupted by this sudden and subtle voice.

He looked at Maki's flat belly with a strange look in his eyes. If his ears were not mistaken, the sound came from there.

"What are you looking at! I haven't eaten for a whole day, can't my stomach protest?"

Her small earlobes turned pink, and Maki subconsciously covered her stomach with both hands, shouting in shame and anger.

You really can't blame her, right? After all, she only had breakfast in the morning and didn't eat anything at noon or in the afternoon. To be more precise, she didn't feel like eating.

I didn’t feel much before, but now that I was reminded, I suddenly felt so hungry.

When she ran away from home, she even thought about protesting by going on a hunger strike... Now feeling this horrible hunger, she was sure she couldn't do it.

"Yes, yes, let's go eat now and talk while we eat. Also... before that, let's report safety to our parents first."

"what?"

The 180-degree turn stunned Maki.

"Your parents must be worried after being away from home for so long. Explain the situation to them and tell them you're safe. Just say you're with friends and will be back later. Use my phone."

Ji Qi took out his phone and put it in Zhenji's hand. From what the girl had just said, he knew that Zhenji had a very good relationship with her parents. Zhenji must have felt regretful now that she was no longer impulsive. It was probably because she just had no way out.

"……snort."

Maki took the phone proudly and called her father quickly.

The call was connected very quickly.