Chapter 158 Her outliers are rising!
The colorful neon lights on the street are reflected on the transparent glass windows.

Sakurai Shio looked at the night view outside through the window, stretched like a cat, and slowly drank the remaining coffee.

"Senior."

Qingshuijian reminded her to quickly return to the previous topic.

"Don't worry."

Sakurai Shio drank up the coffee, and then spoke slowly:
"Junior, do you know why Miura became the fiancé of the Sakurai family?"

"Because his father helped your family?"

As far as Shimizu Mi knows, one of the important factors that enabled Sakurai Shio's father's company to achieve rapid business development in its early stages was the strong support from Miura Subaru's father as an investment partner.

“Well, that’s just one of the points.”

Sakurai Shio paused for a moment and continued:

"Actually, because of the relationship between our fathers, Haruka and I knew Miura when we were very young. But having said that, we only went to the same elementary school together for less than a year, and then he went abroad with his family to study, and only returned to China not long ago."

"So you don't know each other very well?"

Shimizu seemed to understand what Sakurai Shio wanted to express.

"Well, if it weren't for my father exchanging our photos, I think after so many years, we wouldn't recognize each other even if we met on the street one day."

This means...

"Yes, even though we only met for a short time when we were kids, he can tell the difference between me and Haruka very clearly."

Indeed, before this, Qingshuijian felt strange.

At that time in the gymnasium, Sakurai Haruka was wrapped up tightly, with a mask and a hat on her face, but Miura Subaru still recognized her at once.

If the plan goes according to plan, Shimizu is worried that if Miura Subaru can still easily distinguish between Sakurai Shio and Sakurai Haruka...

"Junior, you know, a person's eyes can convey a lot."

"Eye?"

Shimizu looked at Sakurai Shio in confusion.

The two of them stared at each other for a long time, and it took Shimizu a little while longer to understand what Sakurai Shio meant.

"Senior, do you mean... eyes?!"

"That's it."

Sakurai Shio smiled slightly.

That's right, the look that Sakurai Haruka gave Miura Subaru was always cold and without any emotion. Because she had never looked at Shimizu Mi with that kind of look, he was a beat slower to realize this.

"That's why he can accurately distinguish between me and Haruka at a glance."

Sakurai Shio stared at Shimizumi and said in a steady, soft voice, "But Haruka never looks at you like that."

Shimizu imagined what would happen if Sakurai Haruka looked at him with the same cold eyes as she looked at Miura Subaru...

After just a quick thought, Qing Shuijian felt that his heart probably couldn't withstand that kind of critical blow.

However, as Sakurai Shio said, Sakurai Haruka would never look at him like that, so this assumption did not exist from the beginning.

Now that we have figured out how Subaru Miura distinguishes the two of them, we can use this to our advantage when we implement the plan.

As for now, Shimizu Mi only has one last thing left - he always feels that Sakurai Shio is a little strange tonight.

"Senior, can I ask you a question?"

"Ok?"

"Could it be that... you don't actually want to help Haruka?"

"..."

Sakurai Shio had never expected Shimizu Ken to suddenly ask such a question, so she was silent for a while.

"What do you think, fellow student?"

"Now I should be asking you."

Qing Shuijian didn't give her a chance to escape.

"..."

Sakurai Shio was silent for a while, then tilted her head slightly and smiled:
"I really can't lie to my junior... Well, to be honest, I don't want to."

Sakurai Shio had a smile on her face, her voice was gentle, and her tone was very soft.

Qing Shuijian was not too surprised by her answer.

"You know, junior, that only one of Haruka and I will marry Miura Subaru. If I help Haruka and the engagement is not successfully cancelled..."

"……I know."

Shimizu knew exactly what that meant.

"You must think I'm selfish, right?"

Having said that, Sakurai Shio seemed to no longer have the courage to look Shimizu in the eye. She turned her lonely gaze away from him and looked out the window into the darkness alone.

"Selfish?"

No, Qing Shuijian wouldn't think so.

On the contrary, Shimizu Mi felt that it would be extremely stupid if Sakurai Shio easily sacrificed her lifelong happiness and married Miura Subaru.

Besides, this person probably had no intention of refusing from the beginning...

All along, Shimizu Mi has been able to accurately distinguish between Sakurai Haruka and Sakurai Shio with an intuition that even he himself could not explain, and has never confused the two of them.

But at this moment, he looked at the delicate profile of the face, and for the first time, he vaguely saw the shadow of Sakurai Haruka in Sakurai Shio.

"I won't let you marry him. So, don't worry."

"Junior..."

Sakurai Shio withdrew her gaze from the darkness and stared at Shimizu Ken in a daze. Although the person was right in front of her, Sakurai Shio seemed to be looking at a shadow in the distance that was out of reach.

"Not only you, but Haruka won't either."

……

Sakurai Shio narrated the whole story into the headset.

Of course, she omitted some things that were inconvenient to disclose, but that did not prevent the audience from having a general understanding of the whole story.

At this time, it was almost seven o'clock in the evening.

The originally scheduled closing ceremony had already exceeded the scheduled time and had completely deviated from the pre-prepared process and speech script.

However, the people present did not express any complaints or dissatisfaction about this. Instead, they all looked shocked.

Subaru Miura is handsome and is also the student council president of Makitada High School. He must have been trusted by many people before this.

However, Sakurai Shio's narrative revealed some unknown facts, which made this credibility bankrupt at this moment.

If it were someone else, they might still have doubts and hesitate whether to believe it completely.

But Sakurai Shio is different. As a well-known actress, she is the focus of the public eye, and her words carry a certain credibility.

Therefore, when her story was told, scolding came from all directions, and Miura Subaru's usually cheerful smile wrinkled into a ball.

"You two, plan to frame me together..."

Rather than calling it a frame-up, Shimizu Mi believes that it is simply a matter of fact.

If Subaru Miura had not done those ridiculous things, the current situation would not have happened.

Miura Subaru glared at Shimizu, perhaps because he had always been the high and mighty student council president and had never experienced such harsh criticism. So facing the accusations of thousands of people, he lost control of his emotions for a moment, and impulsively stepped forward and grabbed Shimizu's collar.

However, Shimizu just stood there quietly, watching Miura Subaru's hand frozen in the air just one or two centimeters away from his collar. At this moment, the whole venue fell silent. No one spoke.

"Is this the 'good show' you want me to see?"

The person who grabbed Miura Subaru's hand and stopped him from rushing towards Shimizumi was a tall and thin middle-aged man.

Under a wrinkle-free brown coat was a high-collared shirt that looked expensive, and instead of a tie, he wore an elegant scarf around his neck.

There were many fathers in the audience who came to the cultural festival with their children, but the man in front of him didn't look like an ordinary office worker.

He easily restrained Miura Subaru who was rushing towards him, and even had enough time to calmly look at Shimizu Mi in front of him.

After this person appeared, Sakurai Shio showed a rare hint of panic.

If Qing Shuijian guessed correctly, he should be...

"桜, Uncle Sakurai, I..."

The person in front of him was successfully matched with the photo that Shimizu had seen on the Internet before - Sakurai Haruka and Sakurai Shio's father, Sakurai Sosuke.

His existence and his arrival cannot be simply described as an "ominous premonition". It is not a premonition, but a certainty.

There was no expression on Sakurai Sosuke's face. He narrowed his eyes slightly, glanced at Miura Subaru, and then let go of his hand.

"We'll talk about your business later."

Subaru Miura originally wanted to say something, but under the intimidation of Sakurai Sosuke's eyes, he finally uttered a weak voice and stepped aside.

"Father……"

Sakurai Shio called softly, while Sakurai Haruka clenched her fists and glared at the man.

Sakurai Sosuke's gaze moved between his two daughters and finally landed on Shimizumi.

When meeting Sakurai Haruka and Sakurai Shio's father for the first time, Shimizu Mi suddenly felt a little at a loss and didn't know how to address him.

In this delicate silence, Sakurai Sosuke spoke first.

"As you wish, I will not marry my daughter to him again. I will personally negotiate with his father about the engagement with the Miura family."

Hearing this, Sakurai Haruka's pale face turned red for the first time, and Sakurai Shio seemed to secretly breathe a sigh of relief, and a sense of strength was relieved from her shoulders.

Shimizu originally thought that Sakurai Sosuke would be the kind of person who was stubborn and sticks to traditional old-fashioned ideas, but he never expected that things would go so smoothly.

Sure enough, just as Amamiya Iori had told him before - this kind of thing would only be better if it was made a big deal.

Sakurai Haruka's father has his own construction company and even has connections with some political elites, while Miura Subaru's father is an investor and also has a place in the business world. No matter who they are, they are both well-known figures in Japan today.

And Sakurai Shio just exposed the whole thing publicly in front of all the teachers, students and parents in the school, and some of them recorded the whole process from beginning to end.

In this information age, the prevalence of social media and short video platforms has brought the speed of information dissemination to an unprecedented level.

In addition, in the context of today's Japanese society, the public is extremely sensitive to public opinion.

The power of public opinion can make a person famous overnight, or it can ruin a person's reputation the next day.

It is precisely because the pressure of social opinion is so terrifying that once it is revealed that their daughter is forced to get married, and to marry someone with bad character like Subaru Miura.

A scandal like this would definitely deal a devastating blow to the reputation of both families.

Moreover, this negative impact is likely to affect their future business cooperation and relations between the government and business.

Therefore, whether it is Sakurai Haruka's father or Miura Subaru's father, as leaders in their respective industries, they will have to consider their public image and long-term interests, and they will not be willing to take such risks for this.

According to Shimizumi's plan, things should have gone according to plan, but -

"But I will not hand my daughter over to you either."

Sakurai Sosuke said this without any emotion.

"Father……"

Sakurai Shio immediately tried to ask the reason, but was interrupted by Sakurai Sosuke's raised hand gesture.

However, Sakurai Haruka directly questioned loudly:

"Why!"

A complex emotion flashed across Sakurai Sosuke's face.

"This is the first time you've spoken to me so loudly."

"I asked you why!"

Sakurai Haruka said firmly, or should I say, angrily.

The voice, tone, and gaze all revealed hostility.

Sakurai Haruka had no intention of hiding her anger and glared at her father.

Sakurai Sosuke took a deep breath and said, "It seems that my decision just now was right."

Sakurai Sosuke's tone remained gentle, and Sakurai Haruka's anger just now was like a drop in the ocean, and did not affect him at all.

"It's been so long, it's about time you go home."

Sakurai Sosuke's words instantly froze Sakurai Haruka's anger.

"no, do not want……"

All of a sudden, Sakurai Haruka's voice became much softer. It seemed more like she was talking to herself than replying. However, Shimizu Mi could still clearly feel her voice, and her delicate body was trembling slightly.

Sakurai Sosuke frowned slightly, obviously having heard Sakurai Haruka's whisper, but he still chose to ask again:

"What did you say?"

Sakurai Haruka's body trembled even more violently, and even though she tried to restrain herself, her emotions showed no signs of calming down.

When Sakurai Haruka realized it, the corners of her eyes suddenly felt warm, her nose was stimulated, and she almost moaned from deep in her throat.

Something inside her was urging her to run away.

"I do not want!"

Even without the amplification of a microphone, Sakurai Haruka's voice reached the ears of everyone present, and she rushed off the stage without waiting for anyone to respond.

In an instant, Qingshuijian saw that her abnormal value had skyrocketed from the 20-odd levels that it had finally dropped to in the past few days to over 50 with the naked eye.

Before his outstretched hand could even touch her, Sakurai Haruka's figure had already disappeared into the darkness.

Faced with this sudden situation, both the audience and the teachers in the school felt at a loss.

There was an indescribable tension in the air. The closing ceremony, which should have ended smoothly, was marred by such a farce.

The scene was extremely awkward for a while.

Fortunately, Sakurai Shio stepped forward in time and bowed beautifully to the audience:
"Well, this is the end of the closing ceremony of this cultural festival. I wonder how everyone feels about this special performance we arranged on short notice?"

Sakurai Shio tried to smooth things over by using the name of a special performance, while glancing sideways at Shimizu Mi.

"Brother, can I ask you for a favor?"

That night in the cafe, Sakurai Shio had told him that eyes can convey a lot.

Now it seems that should be true.

"Haruka, I'm counting on you."

There were so many things conveyed in Sakurai Shio's eyes, and this was all that Shimizu could receive at the moment.

Qing Shuijian didn't answer anything, just waved his hand casually and walked off the stage.

After all, the stage full of dazzling spotlights is not where he should be.

Walking out of the dark exit and into the invisible road, that is his stage.

That was a stage that belonged only to Shimizumi.

(End of this chapter)