“Chikei-kun is here!
Come in, come in quickly!”
Only after hearing her mother’s voice did Kondo Miki snap back to reality.
She opened her mouth and said, “Come in first.”
“Mm.”
After changing into the guest indoor slippers, Natsume Chikei followed behind Kondo Miki and stepped into the house.
The apartment was quite spacious overall, nearly two hundred square meters, with simple and clean decor.
Compared to the cramped three-tatami room Chikei currently lived in, it was incomparably better.
He didn’t feel much about it, though.
It wasn’t like he had never lived somewhere better before.
When Kondo Miyuki saw him arrive, she said happily, “Chikei-kun, you’re here.
The food is almost ready.
Go find a seat first and chat with Miki and my husband for a while.”
Chikei nodded.
“Okay.”
At that moment, Kondo Masayuki put down the mystery novel in his hands and turned his head toward the sound of approaching footsteps.
The moment Natsume Chikei walked in, he became someone impossible to look away from.
Kondo Masayuki’s brows lifted slightly.
He was clearly very surprised.
The young man he had met before had changed so drastically in just a year or two!
He used to seem dull and ordinary, but now he had become so much more handsome.
There was even an indescribable sense of maturity and calm about him.
After thinking about it, Masayuki figured it was probably because of the massive upheaval in Chikei’s family that this once-carefree boy had suddenly matured so much.
To be honest, Kondo Masayuki didn’t have much interest in Natsume Chikei himself.
It was just that no matter what, the Natsume family used to be a well-known IT company in Japan.
Even if they had truly gone bankrupt, there were still wealthy and influential people among their relatives.
He was curious whether the Natsume family was really as down-and-out as the rumors said, with no relatives offering any help at all.
It was purely out of curiosity about this point that he had agreed to his wife’s request to invite Chikei over for dinner.
He had always known that his wife had wanted to match her daughter with Natsume Chikei for a long time.
Back when the Natsume family was still rich, the head of the Natsume family had also been willing to let Chikei be with his daughter.
He had even planned to have the two of them get engaged after high school graduation.
Masayuki had naturally been happy about that at the time.
As long as there was enough money, many flaws could be selectively ignored.
But unfortunately, before high school graduation, a huge disaster struck the Natsume family.
If Chikei hadn’t been taken in by some rich relative now, the situation naturally couldn’t develop the same way as before.
He had no desire to let his outstanding daughter date someone from a poor family with no future.
Kondo Masayuki gestured toward the seat beside him with his eyes.
“Chikei-kun, sit here.”
Natsume Chikei didn’t have many memories of this Kondo Masayuki.
He only remembered that he was a civil servant with a decent salary.
A civil servant earning twenty million yen a year was indeed considered high income in the eyes of ordinary people.
But in the eyes of wealthy people, it was really nothing special. Follow the newest chapters on novelping.com.
In the past, this man would occasionally come over with Kondo Miyuki and her daughter, and he would act very deferential toward Chikei’s father.
But after the family suffered such a huge setback, this man didn’t even show up at the funeral.
When you’re successful, the people around you are all “good people.” That’s nothing to be happy about.
If you’re down and out and the people around you are still good to you, that is your real luck.
So Chikei didn’t have much good impression of Kondo Masayuki.
He also had zero intention of getting close to him.
When you already knew someone’s character was like this, still holding expectations toward them was pure foolishness.
As for coming here today, he was purely here to take back those mementos.
“Uncle Kondo, good afternoon.” Chikei replied politely.
Kondo Masayuki nodded.
“Sit.”
“Mm.” Chikei sat down.
“Chikei-kun, it’s been a long time.
Where are you living now?
Are you still in Shoto?” Kondo Masayuki asked casually.
He knew that while Tokyo looked very prosperous on the surface, rich districts and poor districts still existed.
And he was very clear about where all these areas were located.
So as long as he asked where Natsume Chikei was living now, he could basically confirm whether he had been taken in by some wealthy relative or not.
“Not anymore.
I’m living on the outskirts of Shibuya now.” Chikei had no intention of hiding anything.
Upon hearing that location, Kondo Masayuki’s interest dropped sharply.
The rich areas of Shibuya were generally places like Shoto, Yoyogi-Uehara, and Kamiyama-cho.
Chikei used to live in Shoto.
Now he was living on the outskirts of Shibuya?
Those areas were basically where ordinary people and the poor lived.
It was easy to imagine what kind of situation Chikei was in now.
Since he now knew that Chikei really hadn’t been taken in by any rich relatives, just like the rumors said, there was no longer any need to give him much face.
His expression instantly grew much colder.
“How’s your studying going lately?
Are you in the top fifty of your grade?”
Chikei thought for a moment.
The original body’s grades had always been at the very bottom, so they definitely weren’t good.
However, in his previous life, he had at least attended a top university.
Although he had forgotten some things, the current curriculum was only at the level of someone about to enter first year of high school.
For this stage, it shouldn’t be a problem.
But this wasn’t his original country.
The courses and exam questions were definitely different.
If he was given some time to catch up on the material, reaching at least top three in his grade shouldn’t be difficult.
But since school hadn’t started yet, his grades were naturally still at the bottom.
Chikei shook his head.
I’m still at the bottom of the class.”
Kondo Masayuki shook his head repeatedly, his tone carrying a hint of condescension.
“At your age, you need to study hard.”
“No matter what, your father ranked at the top of his class when he was young.
Since your grades aren’t good now, you should at least work hard to catch up to that level.”
“Even if it’s very difficult, you should at least be like my daughter and rank in the top ten of your grade every semester.
Otherwise, how could you live up to your father?”
“I won’t say anything fake.
If you can really get grades like that, I’ll treat you to Sushi Ishiyuki afterward!”
When he said this, there was still a trace of pride in his voice.
His daughter was not only beautiful but also had excellent grades.
She was far stronger than other girls her age!
Kondo Miki knew that when her father spoke like this, he clearly had no intention of actually treating Chikei.
Because Chikei himself had admitted he was at the bottom of the class, yet he was being told to aim for top ten in the grade.
Wasn’t that just wishful thinking?
Chikei knew that Sushi Ishiyuki was a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
It was also a famous century-old sushi shop opened by a legendary sushi master in Japan.
Even if you wanted to eat there, you needed to make a reservation several months in advance.
The prices were quite expensive overall.
It was the kind of high-end sushi restaurant ordinary people basically never went to.
But he had eaten there before.
The taste was honestly just average.
Chikei smiled calmly.
“Thank you for your concern.
I also think studying is very important.”
“As for what you said about ranking in the top ten of my grade, I think I should be able to achieve that in the first semester after school starts.”
“But there’s no need for the sushi treat.
It’s too extravagant.”
However, these words instantly left Kondo Masayuki frozen in place, followed by speechlessness.
He was just saying it casually.
Did this kid actually take it seriously and start acting modest?
Before his family went bankrupt, even with so many famous tutors, he still couldn’t learn anything.
Now he was saying he could reach top ten in his grade in just one semester?
This was ridiculous!
Kondo Miki also kept shaking her head.
She felt a little disappointed inside.
She had thought he had matured a lot now, but in reality, he was just another ordinary boy who liked to brag.
Still, she understood how some boys’ minds worked.
After all, when there was a pretty girl nearby, many boys would subconsciously say some lies to make their own status and identity seem higher.
Natsume Chikei was probably just like that.