Chapter 7: Don’t Tell Mom, Okay!

As if joking—there was no way Hayami Rina could refuse to eat this beef. Kitahara had spent so much money and was still thinking about recouping his investment!

Left with no choice, he had to play the emotional card.

He really had no other option. Hayami Rina was too kind-hearted and had her own principles she insisted on.

If she were a money-worshipping woman or a green tea bitch type, then Kitahara wouldn’t have needed to go through so much trouble persuading her back and forth.

That kind of woman would think of every possible way to dig money out of his pocket. There would be no need for all this!

He could only say that he had been somewhat thoughtless at the time, rashly setting this neighbor lady as his girlfriend without considering personality factors.

Of course, this couldn’t be blamed on Kitahara. After all, who could resist such a gentle and alluring widow?

Although Hayami Rina had been married and even had a five-year-old daughter, she was only 27 years old. As everyone knew, this was the most beautiful prime of a woman’s life.

Kitahara in his previous life had already been in his late thirties, almost forty. He had zero resistance to this kind of woman.

Sure enough, upon hearing Kitahara’s slightly choked-up words, the kind-hearted Hayami Rina immediately softened. She gently patted Kitahara’s arm:

"Kitahara-kun, have dinner here tonight. You go play with Aya for a while first. I’ll go make you something delicious right away."

She hadn’t expected Kitahara-kun to have so much bitterness in his heart. She had always thought he lived very well.

Sure enough, everyone had unspeakable sorrows. At least she still had Aya, but he was all alone, without even someone to talk to or confide in.

Hayami Rina thought to herself.

...

Favorability +3: Hayami Rina sympathizes with the host.

Favorability +2: Hayami Rina is grateful to the host for bringing expensive ingredients.

Watching Hayami Rina head toward the kitchen with the ingredients, a smile appeared on Kitahara’s face.

Favorability had increased by several more points.

And just now, the system had also notified him of a cashback of over 178,000 yen. That was exactly triple the amount he had spent on these things.

The system assumed that these items had been accepted by Hayami Rina, and his own portion was counted in as well.

This system was too thoughtful!

It seemed that from now on, he should treat this place as his own home and come over regularly with things to eat.

This way, he could solve his own food and warmth problem and also farm some money. Unknowingly, he had already come to regard Hayami Rina as his money-farming baby and housekeeper!

After appreciating Hayami Rina’s busy figure in the kitchen for a few more moments, the pleased Kitahara Chiki finally withdrew his gaze and had time to look around her home.

This was a home full of warmth. The decor couldn’t be called very luxurious, but it was very tasteful, with a strong flavor of daily life.

Many decorative frames hung on the off-white walls. The wooden floor was spotless. A uniquely shaped chandelier added much charm to the room.

Different from the small one-bedroom apartment he lived in, this place clearly had a different layout and was much larger in area.

Just the living room alone was considerably more spacious than his, and there was an extra bedroom. At a rough estimate, it was over fifty square meters.

His rented place was at most about thirty square meters.

The living room had a full set of furniture and appliances. Soft cushions were placed on the sofa. On the shelves, books, magazines, vases, toys, and such were neatly arranged.

Looking through an open bedroom door, Kitahara could see the elegant arrangement inside. The bedding on the tatami was meticulously organized, clean and tidy.

Near the window was a small desk. On the desk was a cartoon typhoon lamp and some children’s picture books.

Everywhere he looked was orderly, without a trace of mess. One could imagine that the mistress of the house, Hayami Rina, must have put in a lot of effort for this. How much love and care she had for life!

Kitahara couldn’t help but want to move in!

This home lacked a man! A family lacking a man was incomplete!

"Kitahara-nii, are these candies for Aya?"

His shirt hem was tugged, and a soft, adorable question interrupted Kitahara’s fantasy.

Kitahara looked down and saw none other than the adorable little Aya.

She had just gone to the washbasin to wash her hands. Now that she was done, she was looking at him with expectation, her gaze constantly sweeping toward the bag of candy he had bought on the table.

Those big dark eyes and her soft, cute appearance were about to melt Kitahara.

"Yes, they’re for little Aya. Do you want to eat them?"

Kitahara stroked little Aya’s head and said.

"Thank you, Kitahara-nii. I want to eat them, but I have to ask Mom first." Little Aya said.

"Then go ask her!" What a sensible child, Kitahara thought.

The little girl ran to the kitchen with a skip and a hop. After a moment, she happily ran back out:

"Kitahara-nii, Mom said I can eat two candies, and she also said I can watch cartoons for half an hour. Do you want to watch together?"

"Sure, I like watching cartoons too. Let’s watch together!"

On the floor mat in the living room, Kitahara and little Aya sat watching cartoons. From little Aya’s mouth, which was eating candy, silver-bell-like laughter rang out from time to time.

She wore a pink-white puffy princess dress, the hem spreading out like a blooming flower.

On her feet were a pair of pure white knee-high socks, with a small section of fair, tender skin showing above them. Since she had already taken off her shoes, her little feet could be seen in their playful, cute appearance without reservation.

Time passed quickly in joy. Kitahara felt he hadn’t watched enough when Hayami Rina came to urge them to eat.

Little Aya reluctantly turned off the TV, but when she came to the dining table and saw the sumptuous food, she instantly threw that little bit of displeasure to the back of her mind:

"Wow, Mom, today’s food smells so good! There’s so much meat!"

"Kitahara-nii bought this. Little Aya should thank Kitahara-nii first!" Hayami Rina reminded.

"Thank you, Kitahara-nii. I’m digging in!"

...

Hayami Rina’s cooking skills were naturally beyond question. As a former full-time housewife, she had taken professional cooking courses.

She had a certain mastery of preparing all kinds of ingredients.

This wagyu feast itself wasn’t very difficult to handle, because the ingredients were good enough. Only simple preparation was needed to taste their ultimate deliciousness.

Anyway, Kitahara Chiki was extremely satisfied with the meal. It was the most delicious meal he had had in both his lives combined.

Not just him—Hayami Rina and little Aya also ate until their bellies were full. The mother and daughter hadn’t eaten such delicious food in a long time either.

And there was enough of it for them to enjoy freely.

After the meal, Kitahara wanted to help Hayami Rina clean up the table, but she firmly refused.

So he had no choice but to go sit on the sofa and rest.

Little Aya was also half-lying on the sofa at this moment, contentedly rubbing her little belly and savoring the meal.

"Little Aya, was today’s beef tasty?"

"Tasty, Kitahara-nii, very tasty!"

"Then do you want to eat it again tomorrow?"

"Huh? Will Kitahara-nii buy it again tomorrow?"

"If little Aya wants to eat it, then Kitahara-nii will buy it for you."

"But I already ate beef today. Tomorrow I want to eat fish balls, is that okay?"

"Sure. Then Kitahara-nii will buy you fish balls tomorrow. But, little Aya, don’t tell Mom yet, okay? We’ll give her a surprise tomorrow!"