But just to be safe, to avoid any mix-ups, Minamoto Tamako leaned in and whispered, "Boss, what do you do for a living?"
The restaurant owner turned to look at her, remained silent for a few seconds, and his hands never stopped cooking.
Minamoto Tamako was very satisfied with this answer. It seemed to confirm that he was doing something shady, something he couldn’t tell a stranger. Hence, the restaurant owner could only keep a wary silence.
"I’m also from the underworld..."
Halfway through her words, Minamoto Tamako felt it was unconvincing, after all, these words came out of the mouth of an eight or nine-year-old child. So, she opened her pocket and showed the restaurant owner the fruit knife inside: "I want to buy a piece."
The restaurant owner glanced at her from head to toe, skillfully plating the dish, thinking to himself who this mischievous kid belonged to, speaking in such an odd way... Why say ’also’ from the underworld? Does she want to be a cook too? Is she applying for a part-time job with a fruit knife? Are elementary school kids really working summer jobs this intensely now?
Uninterested, he waved his hand: "We’re not hiring."
"I’m not here to join you," Minamoto Tamako leaned in and whispered, "I want to buy a gun, do you have any connections?"
The restaurant owner finally paused his work, looked down at Minamoto Tamako, and said, "Turn right ahead, there’s a shop with a red sign. Go in and ask the boss lady, she sells guns."
Minamoto Tamako was overjoyed, thinking she had definitely spotted the right person. The gangsters at East University were no different from those in Japan, both hiding in plain sight!
She ran to the alley entrance with an empty watermelon rind, turned right, and indeed saw a red sign that read ’Old Zhao’s Small Shop’. She was in awe, having newfound respect for Uncle Zhao’s capabilities.
Minamoto Tamako walked into the small shop. There was a woman eating sunflower seeds at the glass counter. Seeing a customer come in, she didn’t greet them, something completely unimaginable in Japan.
As expected, she had an underworld demeanor.
She leaned in, stood on tiptoe, eyes peeking over the glass counter, looked at the curly-haired boss lady, and whispered, "Boss, I want to buy a gun..."
"What kind?" The boss lady didn’t turn back: "With a laser or not?"
Nowadays, kids love toy guns; you can buy them at convenience stores and supermarkets. During holidays, there are even stands selling toy guns that fire BB bullets, and some guns are realistic metal replicas, almost indistinguishable from real guns.
Later, after new regulations, any gun that fires pellets with a muzzle energy of 1.8 joules per square centimeter or higher is classified as a firearm. These toy guns are gradually disappearing from the market. Get full chapters from novel⚑fire.net
Minamoto Tamako had no idea. She felt her empty pockets and was a bit guilty: "Laser aiming? Can you even get such attachments? They aren’t cheap, right?"
"More expensive than a toy pistol." The boss lady continued munching on sunflower seeds.
"How much is the cheapest toy pistol?" Minamoto Tamako carefully tested the waters.
"Twenty-five." The boss lady shot her a sideways glance: "Want it?"
Minamoto Tamako was first shocked, not expecting guns at East University to be so cheap. She had heard rumors that East University was becoming the world’s factory, but she never expected its potential to be so vast. Then, she thought, what a pity. Her breakfast and pocket money today totalled just twenty-five yuan. She bought a ten-yuan watermelon, and now she’s running short.
Minamoto Tamako blushed a bit. As a young lady of wealth, she never had experience bargaining like a commoner. She and Fujimura-kun had a period of financial hardship when living together, but she was too shy to explore alternatives if she couldn’t afford something.
"Th-then... I only have fifteen..."
Minamoto Tamako took out two wrinkled notes from her pocket and pulled out the fruit knife: "And this fruit knife, it should be worth a yuan or two..."
The boss lady, unimpressed, waved her away: "Shoo, shoo! Come back when you have money!"
Minamoto Tamako clung to the counter, pleaded pitifully: "Please! I really need this gun! Could you sell it to me at a lower price?"
The boss lady glanced at her, perhaps finding her cute, her heart softened slightly, and she casually asked: "What do you want it for?"
Minamoto Tamako noticed her hesitation, wanting to lie and play the sympathy card. But she wasn’t good at fibbing, so she resorted to saying some half-true, unrelated facts, letting the other party fill in the gaps: "M-my dad is gone... I recently encountered a murderer... so I need a gun."
Upon hearing this, the boss lady’s imagination painted a picture of a lonely, insecure little girl. Coupled with Minamoto Tamako’s pitiful gaze, even with a hardened heart, she couldn’t help but relent: "Just this once, don’t tell other kids, or I won’t do business with you again."
It must be said, Sakura girls do have a knack for persuading people.
"Okay, okay! I’ll keep it a secret!" Minamoto Tamako nodded repeatedly.
The boss lady bent down, took out a twenty-five yuan toy gun from the counter, and handed it to Minamoto Tamako. Overjoyed, she was oblivious to the oddity when paying. Only after she held the toy gun did she notice something was off.
...Why is it so light?
...Why is the gun sheath plastic?
Minamoto Tamako pressed a small button on the handle, took out the magazine, and saw the yellow BB bullets on it, she finally understood.
Ughhhhhhh my fifteen yuan!!!
"Um, this isn’t the type I wanted..." Minamoto Tamako, unwilling to give up, thought perhaps because she was a primary school student, the underworld crew underestimated her. She had to emphasize her point: "I want a real gun."
The boss lady snorted, said: "This kid’s funny."
Minamoto Tamako was indignant, but helpless. She tried to reason with her, spoke for a long time, but the boss lady merely continued eating sunflower seeds, asking: "Have you been playing too many video games? I said it before, games are harmful! Kids these days always think about playing crossfire, how could you grow up well..."
Talking at cross purposes for a while, Minamoto Tamako gradually understood that the situation at East University was different from Japan’s.
Getting a gun in East University was as difficult as reaching for the sky.
Minamoto Tamako felt truly at a loss. Does she really have to knife-fight with Fushimi Roku? Even a hundred lives wouldn’t be enough!
Holding a non-refundable toy gun, a red scarf on her head, a watermelon rind in her arms, and the fruit knife left in the shop, Minamoto Tamako stood by the roadside, watching the bustling cars, feeling out of place in the world.
An inexplicable sense of loneliness welled up in her heart.
So this was how Fujimura-kun always felt, no wonder he spoke harshly to those around him, with an air of indifference to all events.
Minamoto Tamako reflected, thinking that if she remembered this after waking up, she’d take Fujimura-kun on a trip to East University... no, a residence, to ease his homesickness.
She sat by the roadside, lost in thought, her mind wandering here and there.
Just as she was clueless, ready to give up, waiting for Fushimi Roku to wake up, a mischievous plan suddenly flashed in her mind.
...Should she team up with Fujimura-kun’s employer?
She could alert Fujimura-kun’s employer in advance or find a way to save them. The enemy of an enemy is a friend, once Fujimura-kun’s true identity is exposed, those terrible employers certainly wouldn’t sit idle, maybe they’d even help her get a gun!
But wouldn’t doing so be... too wicked?
Even in a dream, she didn’t want bad people to get away with it!
Minamoto Tamako pondered over and over, underwent an intense psychological struggle, and finally decided that stopping Fujimura-kun was the priority.
Past events couldn’t be changed, all obsessions were like illusions, in this dream, Fushimi Roku was the only real person.
——They weren’t worth Fushimi Roku’s downfall.
Of course, after catching Fushimi Roku, she wouldn’t let a single bad person get away. Even in a dream, she would make sure criminals face the law!