Chapter 77: I Am Very Familiar With Song Jiaru

Finally enduring until midnight, Xu Nuo finished work on time.

That pot-bellied bar owner, with a nauseating fake smile piled on his face, handed over a thin envelope:

"Nuo-chan, good work, this is your salary for this month oh."

Xu Nuo took it expressionlessly. Directly in front of the boss, she pulled out the crumpled banknotes inside and carefully counted them one by one—one hundred thousand Yen.

Xu Yunzhou quickly converted it in his mind, about five thousand RMB.

In Edo where prices were soaring in 2015, is this fucking dismissing a beggar?

(TL: Edo is the old name for Tokyo, often used in Chinese web novels to refer to Tokyo.)

"Thanks."

Xu Nuo carefully put this meager "hope" into her inner pocket, her voice still without any fluctuation.

The boss, however, took the opportunity to extend that greasy pig hand, wanting to touch her pale yet unhideably clear and beautiful cheeks. Drooling, he lowered his voice:

"Nuo-chan, want to earn more? Go chat with Uncle in the back? Guaranteed to be much easier than wiping glasses here..."

Xu Nuo's eyes instantly turned icy. She nimbly dodged sideways, her eyes instantly cooling down:

"No need."

After saying that, she grabbed the old umbrella with a somewhat loose frame leaning against the wall.

Without looking back, she pushed open the door and resolutely plunged into the bone-chilling snowy night outside, leaving the boss a thin yet straight back.

Watching her figure disappear into the wind and snow, the fake smile on the bar owner's face instantly collapsed, becoming incomparably gloomy.

He took out his phone and rapidly edited a message to send out:

[The old place, block her, show her some color! Get the money back!]

...

The snow wasn't heavy, but exceptionally cold, as if wanting to seep into the cracks of people's bones.

Holding the broken umbrella, Xu Nuo walked on the lonely and deserted street, the accumulated snow beneath her feet emitting a soft "crunching" sound.

She suddenly stopped her footsteps. Without looking back, she said coldly to the empty air behind her:

"How much longer are you going to follow me?"

Xu Yunzhou's voice, carrying a smile, sounded in her mind:

"Until you stand at the peak of the world and become an existence that everyone needs to look up to. This is my mission, and also your destiny."

Xu Nuo let out a sneer, as if hearing the most absurd joke in the world. Wrapping her thin jacket tightly around herself, she continued trudging forward, one foot deep and one foot shallow.

Just after turning the street corner and walking into a dimly lit small park, three teenagers—dressed flashily, with cheap tattoos on their arms, and cigarettes dangling from their mouths—swayed out from the shadows in the dark, maliciously blocking her way.

"Yo, isn't this that Xia country little chick from Sukima Bar who pretends to be aloof and pure?"

"We brothers have been waiting for you for a long time! You got paid today, be straightforward, lend some money for brothers to spend?"

"If you know what's good for you, obediently hand over the money, otherwise..."

The leading yellow-haired hooligan took a step forward with a lewd smile, his gaze patrolling her body,

"Otherwise, we'll strip you naked and throw you at the door of a sex shop in Kabukicho, making you completely famous!"

(TL: Kabukicho is a famous entertainment and red-light district in Shinjuku, Tokyo.)

Xu Yunzhou was amused; he was familiar with this plot.

His voice, carrying a trace of the leisure of watching a good show, sounded in Xu Nuo's mind:

"It was called by that damn fat boss. I saw it clearly, he sent a message after you left."

"How about it, little Xu Nuo, call out 'Daddy System' for me to hear, or beg me properly, and this young master will show great mercy and help you settle these three bugs, guaranteeing they'll take a detour when they see you in the future."

Xu Nuo's answer was still her iconic, maddeningly crisp and neat:

"No need!"

Before her words fell, her eyes suddenly turned fierce. Like a young beast forced into a desperate situation, she erupted with astonishing ferocity!

She abruptly used the broken long-handled umbrella in her hand as a weapon, the tip of the umbrella stabbing straight toward the face of the yellow-haired hooligan who approached first!

She used the narrow benches and bare tree trunks in the park as cover, her figure dodging and shifting as nimbly as a phantom.

The broken umbrella in her hand sometimes thrusted, sometimes swept horizontally, specializing in attacking the lower three routes and fragile parts like eyes, completely adopting a life-for-a-life fighting style!

The hooligans' fists landed on her body emitting muffled sounds. She gritted her teeth, stubbornly not letting out a single grunt, only wielding the umbrella to counterattack even more fiercely.

Ultimately, those three hooligans seemed not to have expected her to be so thorny.

Afraid of really causing a loss of life that would be hard to clean up, they cursed and laid down a few harsh words, retreating resentfully.

And Xu Nuo also paid a painful price. The corner of her mouth split and seeped blood, one cheek swelled up high, and her already thin old school uniform jacket was torn even messier, covered in mud and snow water.

Watching from the side, Xu Yunzhou clicked his tongue secretly. That bit of displeasure in his heart from being repeatedly rejected also turned into somewhat complex emotion:

"This girl... her bones are truly hard."

As if unable to feel pain, Xu Nuo expressionlessly wiped away the bloodstains at the corner of her mouth, bent down to pick up the deformed broken umbrella on the ground, and dragging her pain-filled body, walked toward that chaotic, dilapidated simple hotel area separated from the bustling Shinjuku business district by only a street, yet seemingly like another world.

She walked in front of a dilapidated wooden building emitting a musty and urine smell, and knocked on a wooden door with peeling paint.

With a "creak," the door was pulled open a crack. A middle-aged, scruffy uncle covered in the smell of inferior alcohol and with a bright red nose poked his head out.

The moment he saw Xu Nuo's wretched appearance, there was not the slightest concern in his murky eyes, only thick impatience and disgust. He lowered his voice and cursed:

"Dead girl! How did you make yourself look like this ghost appearance coming back? Causing trouble for me outside again? How many times have I told you to behave yourself!"

Xu Nuo lowered her head, her long bangs covering the emotions in her eyes, her voice muffled and numb:

"Had a fall."

"Where's the money? Today is payday, don't think about fooling me!"

The uncle impatiently extended his hand, his fingers rough and dirty.

Silently, almost obediently, Xu Nuo took out that envelope containing one hundred thousand Yen from her inner pocket and handed it over.

The uncle snatched it, skillfully pulled out all the banknotes inside, and by the faint light coming through the door crack, licked his fingers and rapidly counted them once.

Then, as if giving alms, he pulled out a ten-thousand Yen banknote from it, roughly stuffed it back into Xu Nuo's hand, his tone a matter-of-course:

"Hmph, considered somewhat useful this month. Take this little bit of money first so you don't starve to death! Remember, rent, water, electricity, management fees... you're still far short! If you don't earn enough next month, see how I deal with you!"

Xu Nuo didn't argue, nor did she even raise her head.

She just silently gripped that pitifully thin piece of paper money tightly.

Then, dragging her steps, she silently squeezed sideways through the door, and along the creaking narrow stairs piled with miscellaneous items, moved step by step upstairs toward that so-called "room" of less than five square meters, where even breathing felt oppressive.

Closing the door, Xu Nuo took off her dilapidated jacket covered in muddy snow and almost completely soaked.

Seemingly casually, but actually precisely, she threw it onto the old, continuously flashing router in the corner of the wall.

Xu Yunzhou's virtual perspective instantly captured a trace of abnormal, faint red light peeking out from under the gap in the fabric.

"That fat pig landlord is secretly filming you?"

Without any circumvention, he directly pointed out this nauseating truth.

Xu Nuo didn't even lift her eyelids, beginning to unbutton the sweater inside, her tone flat:

"Mhm. He is a pervert."

In those overly mature eyes of hers, there was no panic, only an almost numb annoyance, and a forbearance forced upon her due to being powerless to change the current situation.

Subsequently, she actually took out a pair of Audio-Technica headphones completely incompatible with this environment from that dilapidated backpack, and skillfully put them on her head.

Xu Yunzhou recognized these headphones; the sound quality was excellent, and the price was not considered cheap for ordinary people.

It seems this girl has quite a few stories hidden behind her.

Soon, a passionate, power-filled melody faintly transmitted through the headphones—it was exactly Song Jiaru's "Lonely Warrior" that sang of loneliness and resistance.

"You like this song very much?"

Xu Yunzhou tried to find an entry point to break this suffocating silence,

"I am very familiar with Song Jiaru. As long as you are willing, I can take you to see her anytime, and let her sing it to you face-to-face."