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It was precisely because of this that he was able to react to Keiko Hatoyama's seemingly offensive words at this moment.
[I, I didn't screw up! He understands what I mean! ]
Hearing the boy's thanks, Keiko Hatoyama's heart, which had originally turned cold, suddenly began to burn with passion again.
Every time Keiko Hatoyama thought about this incident, she was convinced countless times that she must have been a shameless scum in her previous life.
Because, driven by the rekindled fire in her heart, she actually walked forward and walked side by side with the boy in a very familiar manner, while curiously and excitedly repeatedly asking:
"Um, can you tell me your name?"
The boy turned and looked at her.
"Shirakawa Qing."
"Shirakawa... Kiyo? It sounds like a really clean name... How old are you this year? I think we are about the same age..."
"twelve."
"Hmm! I'm Thirteen, so it looks like I'm one year older than you!"
The advantage of age made Keiko Hatoyama suddenly feel proud.
"Then I'll just call you Xiaoqing from now on? Is that okay?"
Keiko Hatoyama could clearly feel that after she said this, a hint of doubt flashed in the boy's beautiful eyes.
Maybe in his eyes at that time, he felt like a pervert who randomly chatted up little boys on the street... No, a pervert, right?
But Keiko Hatoyama simply ignored it.
"Xiaoqing, if you have no objection, then we can just say this, okay?"
The boy silently withdrew his gaze without saying a word.
"And hey! Xiaoqing, your eyes are so beautiful! This is the first time I've seen someone with purple pupils? Is this hereditary?"
"Ah."
Fortunately, the boy was still willing to pay attention to her and nodded.
"Is it mom or dad?"
"Mother."
"Then Xiaoqing, your mother must be a very beautiful person!"
"Ah."
Although Shirakawa Kiyoshi's replies were always very brief, from the fact that he did not chase her away, Hatoyama Keiko could feel that the boy, at least psychologically, did not have any problems.
The kind of coldness and indifference he displayed was simply the result of the influence of his environment, not some kind of flaw in his heart.
"Speaking of which, why is Xiaoqing so punctual for school every day? Don't you ever make mistakes in remembering time?"
"Habit."
In fact, the bruise on Shirakawa Qing's face had not completely disappeared at that time, but Hatoyama Keiko did not ask this question again, because she could clearly feel that the boy was definitely not the kind of bully who liked to bully others.
The bruise on his face could only have been caused by bullying.
The two of them chatted along the way... Although they said that, it was actually Keiko Hatoyama who was talking and the boy was simply responding.
Accompanied by the old butler, they walked along the streets for several hundred meters and arrived at an old city area.
It was only at this point that the boy finally stopped and spoke to her for the first time.
"I'm almost home, you can go back now."
"Why don't you invite your new friend to your home?"
But Keiko Hatoyama did not leave just like that. She wanted to know more about the boy.
The old housekeeper who had been following her opened his mouth when he heard this, as if he wanted to say something but ultimately said nothing.
The boy was silent for a while after hearing this, and then he spoke again:
"My mother doesn't really like having guests in the house."
"how about you?"
Keiko Hatoyama looked at him and asked a very cunning question.
"Xiaoqing, do you want me to visit your home?"
Her rhetorical question was really very cunning.
She took advantage of the fact that the boy was talking about "Mom" instead of himself and tried to force the boy to express his opinion directly.
Because at that time she had already realized that the boy did not have any aversion to her.
Keiko Hatoyama swore that if the boy really said "I don't want to either", she would not pester him anymore and would leave immediately.
But the boy didn't. He remained silent for a while after hearing the sound. Then he said nothing and walked towards home on his own.
He didn't agree, but he didn't refuse either.
This is the best statement.
Keiko Hatoyama was very happy because she suddenly realized that although it was the first time they communicated with each other, she seemed to understand the boy's inner thoughts very well, and she seemed to be able to easily interpret any of his subtle movements.
So she quickened her pace and caught up.
Behind her, the old butler sighed helplessly and followed.
In this way, following the boy, Keiko Hatoyama went to his home for the first time.
It was also there that she finally got to know this special boy in his entirety.
Chapter 612 Do you have a girl you like?
The boy's mother was not a shrewd, mean and snob as Keiko Hatoyama had worried before.
The boy's home is a very ordinary old house in the old town. There is a window facing the street. Although there is a curtain hanging in the window, perhaps because of the passage of time, a corner of the curtain has fallen off. Standing here, you can barely peek into the house.
Leading Keiko Hatoyama all the way to the door, the boy opened it with the key.
"Come in with me."
The old butler behind him did not follow him in, but walked to the window and took a look inside.
This is a very small house. From this angle, you can see the living room and kitchen.
Apart from a few necessary pieces of furniture, there was nothing else in the house. It could almost be described as a bare house.
In the kitchen, the old housekeeper vaguely saw a busy figure, who looked like a woman.
"I am back."
The boy shouted and walked into the house, with Keiko Hatoyama following closely behind him.
"The meal will be ready soon."
The next second, there was a response from the kitchen. It was a woman with a nice voice.
Following the boy into the living room, Keiko Hatoyama leaned over and curiously looked into the kitchen.
There was indeed a woman in the kitchen, dressed very simply. Although only her back was seen, the temperament she exuded allowed Keiko Hatoyama to roughly judge that the woman was around 30 years old.
She must be the boy's mother.
"Mom, I brought..."
Meanwhile, the boy put his schoolbag on the chair, glanced at Keiko Hatoyama, then looked towards the kitchen, and said hesitantly:
"I brought a friend back."
Only then did he suddenly notice that he seemed to not know Keiko Hatoyama's name.
Although I had heard from the neighbors nearby that there was a very frail young lady in the Hatoyama family not far away.
But when those gossipy aunts talk about this, they usually describe her as "the eldest daughter of so-and-so's family" or "the daughter of so-and-so's family" and never call her by her name directly.
The boy was not someone who was interested in such gossips, so although he had heard a lot of gossips about Hatoyama Keiko over the years, he only knew that her surname was Hatoyama.
"Eh?"
In the kitchen, the woman who was busy hearing this quickly put down the kitchen knife in her hand and walked out, saying at the same time:
"Friends? From school..."
As soon as the woman turned around, she saw Keiko Hatoyama outside the kitchen, leaning forward and looking at her curiously.
The two looked at each other, and each of them showed different degrees of surprise on their faces. Among them, the surprise on the woman's face was greater than that on Keiko Hatoyama's.
As for Keiko Hatoyama, the moment their eyes met, she had already looked at the woman's entire body, and immediately straightened her body, lowered her head, and said to the woman very politely:
"Hello, Mrs. Baihe, it's my first visit. I'm a friend of Xiaoqingxin's. You can just call me Huizi."
She deliberately concealed her last name.
After all, anyone can see that the Baihe family situation is not good. She is not worried that the boy and his mother will be "tempted by the money", but she is worried that the woman will be embarrassed after knowing her identity, making the boy feel embarrassed in front of her.
Although Keiko Hatoyama has been very cautious in this regard, the boy's mother is after all in her thirties and she still has the most basic social experience and vision.
The kimono that Hatoyama Keiko was wearing was obviously very expensive, and her incredibly clean and fair skin made the boy's mother guess at a glance that she was definitely not a child from an ordinary family.
She was surprised and puzzled about where the boy brought back such an extraordinary girl from, and she was also nervous about how she should deal with such a girl.
So much so that after looking at Keiko Hatoyama, the boy's mother actually stood there in a daze, so nervous that she didn't know what to say.
"Yes, it's Keiko. Well, I..."
"Mom, let's cook first."
At the critical moment, it was the boy who had already started sitting on a chair doing his homework who spoke up to help her out.
"Yes! Cook! Cook first!"
The boy's voice quickly brought the mother back to her senses. Although she was still a little nervous, she no longer looked at a loss as before.
"Well, Hui, Huizi, you chat with Xiaoqing over there for a while, I, I'll go cook..."
After saying that, the boy's mother quickly retreated into the kitchen.
And just as she said, Keiko Hatoyama looked at her deeply, then moved a chair next to her and sat directly next to the boy who was doing homework.