RBCT Chapter 33 Ayako Shiraishi's Invitation
Chapter 33 Ayako Shiraishi's Invitation
Lunch break.
The Mitsubishi Bank cafeteria was still bustling with activity.
Today's menu is fried pork cutlet, shredded cabbage, miso soup, and rice.
As soon as Kiryu Yaya reached his usual spot, he saw that Yayoi Mizuna was already sitting there.
A dark blue cloth bag was placed in front of her.
After the cloth bag was untied, two black bento boxes were revealed inside.
As Kiryu Yaya sat down, she immediately pushed one of them towards her.
"Here's today's bento, senpai."
"Thanks."
Kiryu Yaya opened the lid.
Today's bento box is still very luxurious.
The rice was cooked with bamboo shoots and oil, and sprinkled with a little bit of wood sprouts on top.
Neatly arranged next to it were grilled eel, crab meat omelet, black Wagyu beef stew, sesame asparagus, and two beautifully cut strawberries.
The cafeteria set meal not far away costs only 150 yen.
The cost of the ingredients in this bento box alone is enough to feed him at least half a month in the cafeteria.
Kiryu Yaya held his chopsticks, his feelings complicated.
Damn, it's so good to be rich.
Mizuna Yayoi looked at him nervously.
"Wouldn't that... be too strange?"
"No."
Kiryu Yaya picked up a piece of eel and put it in his mouth.
The sauce was perfectly balanced between sweet and salty, the fish was tender, and the aroma of the oil blended with the rice—it was simply not something you'd expect to find in a bank cafeteria.
"It's delicious."
Mizuna Yayoi's eyes lit up immediately.
"Very good."
She breathed a soft sigh of relief, then explained in a low voice:
"Actually, some of the ingredients for today were sent by my mother from Kyoto. She said that I work alone in Osaka and she was always worried that I wasn't eating well, so she sent me a lot of things."
Kiryu Yaya glanced at the bento box.
This is no longer just about not eating well.
This is because they ate too well.
Yayoi Mizuna picked up her chopsticks, ate a few bites, and then suddenly looked up at him again.
"Um... what happened this morning, senpai, you saw it, right?"
"I saw it."
Mizuna Yayoi's fingers gripped the chopsticks nervously.
"Was what I said too harsh?"
Kiryu Yaya put down his chopsticks and looked at her.
"Won't."
Mizuna Yayoi paused for a moment.
Kiryu Yaya said:
"That's the right thing to do. You're keeping the mistake out of Tamura-san, the sales department, and the bank."
Mizuna Yayoi slowly loosened her grip on the chopsticks.
Kiryu Yaya continued:
"Many mistakes in banking happen when someone initially thinks 'it's almost there.' What you do this morning is stop 'it' from becoming a real mistake before it turns into something else entirely."
Mizuna Yayoi lowered her head.
After a few seconds, she nodded slightly.
"In the past, I would probably apologize first, and then do what others said."
"But this morning, when I saw that the list and the copy did not match, I suddenly remembered what Kiryu-kun said: the materials sent out should be easy for the recipient to understand at a glance."
"If even I can't understand it, then there must be a problem."
Kiryu Yaya smiled.
"You're making rapid progress."
Mizuna Yayoi raised her head.
Her face was still a little red, but her eyes were much brighter than before.
"Will I be able to do well in the future?"
"certainly."
Kiryu Yaya answered quickly.
Mizuna Yayoi seemed surprised by his directness and remained stunned for a while.
Kiryu Yaya picked up a piece of crab meat omelet and casually taught her some precautions.
Yayoi Mina quickly pulled out her notepad from her pocket and jotted it down.
[World line converging - branch three selected]
[The 2 yen cash reward has been deposited into my bank account.]
Current bank account balance: ¥653,200
Kiryu Yaya was in a good mood as he looked at the system notification.
The meal tasted even better this time.
Seeing that he had finished his bento box completely, Mizuna Yayoi had a very satisfied smile on her face.
"Tomorrow... oh no, tomorrow is Saturday."
She whispered:
"Then I'll prepare the bento boxes next Monday."
Kiryu Yaya originally wanted to say that it wasn't necessary to go to such lengths.
But after glancing down at the empty deluxe bento box, he finally nodded honestly.
"Then I'll have to trouble you."
"Um!"
……
4:30 PM.
Kiryu Yaya was organizing the post-loan inspection plan for Shiraishi Refrigeration Equipment when the outside phone on his desk suddenly rang.
He answered the phone.
"Financing Review Division, Kiryu."
A somewhat familiar, yet still somewhat reserved, female voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Kiryu-san, hello. I'm Ayako Shiraishi."
"Ms. Shiraishi."
Kiryu Yaya put down his pen.
"Is there something you need?"
There was a pause on the other end of the phone.
Ayako Shiraishi's voice was softer than usual.
"Um... are you free this Saturday night?"
Kiryu Yaya blinked.
"Saturday?"
"Yes. Father and Mother would like to invite you and Huizi to our home for a meal."
As if afraid he would misunderstand, Ayako Shiraishi quickly added:
"It wasn't a formal occasion, and we weren't talking about work. My mother just said that she wanted to cook a meal herself to properly thank us."
Upon hearing the words "cook a meal yourself," Kiryu Yaya already had the answer in his heart.
A family like the Shiraishi family must have a decent dinner.
And it doesn't cost any money.
"I see."
Kiryu Yaya's tone was calm:
"If it won't bother you, I'll be there on time."
The person on the other end of the phone visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's great. Keiko will be coming too."
"OK."
"How about we meet at Fengzhong Station at 5:30 pm on Saturday? I'll pick you up."
"Can."
"Then it's settled."
After hanging up the phone, Kiryu Yaya looked at the post-loan inspection plan on the table and suddenly felt that the air on Friday afternoon was a little lighter.
Dinner at the Shiraishi family's house.
Let's not talk about work.
Just eat.
It sounds like it's going to be a peaceful Sunday dinner.
At least at this moment, that's what Kiryu Yaya thinks.
……
7 PM.
Kiryu Yaya left the Osaka branch of Mitsubishi Bank on his small motorcycle.
The night breeze in Osaka at the end of April still carried a slight chill.
Kiryu Yaya parked his bike in an empty space downstairs from the apartment building, locked it, hung his helmet under the handlebars, and checked the keys one last time.
Although the motorcycle was a system reward, it is already considered an important asset in his current financial situation.
It cannot be lost.
Kiryu Yaya's landlady is an elderly woman in her sixties named Matsushita. Her husband died years ago, and she lives off the rent from five or six apartments. She has only one daughter, but her daughter is married and lives in Tokyo and rarely comes back.
Mrs. Matsushita was very kind to him. Seeing that he was struggling financially, she often invited him to her home for meals.
However, Kiryu Yaya was afraid of troubling others, so he never agreed.
To get from the road to the apartment entrance, you have to go through a narrow alley.
The alley is not long, only fifty or sixty meters long, with concrete walls of apartment buildings and a row of iron racks for bicycles on both sides.
The streetlights at the alley entrance were dimly lit.
As Kiryu Yaya turned the corner, he saw a figure squatting on the steps at the entrance of the apartment.
A girl in a school uniform.
The skirt was ridiculously short, and black over-the-knee socks outlined her slender calves.
Her hair was dyed light chestnut brown and loosely tied at the back of her head, with a few stray strands hanging down on either side of her face. She was looking down with a tutoring textbook spread out on her lap.
The cover is printed with the words "代ゼミ".
The light from the stairwell shone through the glass door behind her, outlining her figure in a faint silhouette.
Kiryu Yaya took a few steps closer.
The girl looked up.
It was a very young face, with a hint of impatience in her eyes and lips slightly pursed, as if someone had offended her.
Her eyes weren't big, but they were very bright, with slightly upturned corners, giving her a rebellious air.
"……ha?"