The two female colleagues, who had been moved by Young Miss Rin's tearful story, also found their eyes welling up. It was so touching and inspiring, wasn't it? After all, women are emotional beings, easily affected by such tragic tales. Yabo, who had previously had an issue with Young Miss Rin, looked at Shinomiya Kojiro with a troubled expression. "Manager, is this believable?"
Shinomiya Kojiro still looked at Young Miss Rin expressionlessly and said, "At least, it's not fake."
Gao Wei, who had been the first to interact with Young Miss Rin, looked at her with deep sympathy. Then, she turned to Shinomiya Kojiro and said, "Manager, why don't we keep her? Such a good girl shouldn't be wandering homeless. What if something bad happens to her?" As she spoke, she herself couldn't help but start crying.
Lucy Hugo was already in tears, hugging Young Miss Rin and crying with her, and she seemed to be crying even more tragically than Young Miss Rin.
"So pitiful, so touching! Little sister, why don't you stay at the shop from now on, and I'll take care of you!"
Sister? By age, I should probably call you auntie, but seeing how sympathetic you are, I won't expose the true age hidden behind your youthful baby face.
"But what about the meal expenses...?"
"What meal expenses? Just forget about those."
"But I don't know how to do anything."
"It's okay, you can just help out in the shop, wash dishes, and sweep the floor. The manager will pay you a salary from now on. Girls need to take care of themselves."
"Idiot, don't make decisions for me!"
With a single hand chop, Shinomiya Kojiro silenced the blabbering Lucy Hugo, pushed up his glasses, and asked, "What's your name?"
Young Miss Rin's eyes spun rapidly 20 times in their sockets. She said, "My name is Lin Rin. I'm from China. I came here by hiding in the cargo hold of a freighter bound for Japan."
"China?" The others couldn't help but look at her in surprise. This Young Miss really could run! She ran away from home and even left the country.
"Eh? But your Japanese is surprisingly good," Lucy Hugo asked, puzzled.
Young Miss Rin displayed a standard arrogant expression befitting a Young Miss, and subconsciously smoothed her twin-tails. She said proudly, "Of course. As someone who was trained to be the family heir from a young age, I am proficient in 15 languages. Japanese is nothing."
She then showed off her English, French, German, Italian, and other languages. Regardless of the language, her pronunciation was clear and pure, just like a native speaker.
Thank you, divine skill, for giving me strength! The senior who invented the "language that communicates all things," you must be the greatest inventor in the multiverse!
This made everyone believe her a little more.
Shinomiya continued in his calm tone, "Then, Young Miss Lin Rin, as the manager of Shinos, I officially inform you that this establishment only accepts cash. So, your method of paying with jewels is not acceptable."
"Eh?"
"Therefore, given your current inability to pay for your meals, according to the laws of this country, I require you to work to pay off your debt. Do you have any objections?"
"This... isn't that just working? And, how long do I have to work...?"
"Three years. Within these three years, you will not receive any wages. Your food and lodging will be provided by the shop. You will be responsible for cleaning the shop in the morning and washing dishes from noon until closing."
"So, Manager, you're just not honest! You were clearly moved to tears by Young Miss Rin's story and want to take care of her, but you insist on putting on such a cold expression... Ouch, ouch, ouch!"
Throwing out Lucy, who had jumped in to cause trouble and reveal his secret like trash, Shinomiya Kojiro looked at Young Miss Rin. Young Miss Rin's eyes darted back and forth twice. She said, "If I do well, can I get a raise and become a permanent employee?"
"If you can contribute practically to the shop."
"Then can I have holidays? Maybe I'll need a day or two off sometime to secretly go back and see my sister if I miss her."
"So many demands. You only get 20 days off until your debt is paid."
"Yay! Manager, you're such a good person! I'm staying!"
"Shut up! From tomorrow, you'd better work hard in the shop!"
"Hai!"
"Then I'll take care of Young Miss Rin from now on. It's closing time now, Young Miss Rin, we'll tidy up the shop, and then you can go with Sister Wei."
"Ah~ Young Miss Rin is so cute, I wanted to take her home and sleep with her."
"Lucy, forget it. You can't even take care of yourself. Every time I go to your place, I have to clean your room for you."
Looking at the four bickering people in front of her, Young Miss Rin couldn't help but sigh from the bottom of her heart. Such people who would wholeheartedly take care of a stranger they just met probably only exist in the slice-of-life anime of the 2d world (anime/manga world). She sincerely prayed that they would not come into contact with anything from the hidden world. If her existence brought disaster upon them, she swore she would live a life of guilt.
Young Miss Rin, filled with shame, ended her hypnotic magic. This was just a very minor hypnosis, merely guiding others to believe her words. But because the spell was very weak, it wouldn't cause any abnormal cognition, and thus wouldn't lower her mystery.
"Sister Wei, you still need to tidy up the shop, right?"
"Mm."
"Then it's perfect. I still need to say a few words to some friends I met when I came here. I'll be right back to find you."
After speaking, Young Miss Rin skipped out of the shop. Wei looked at Young Miss Rin's retreating figure as she left the shop door and muttered to herself, "Didn't Young Miss Rin just arrive in Misaki Town today?"
Did Young Miss Rin have friends in Misaki Town? Yes, weren't they waiting for her in the alley just now?
When Rin saw the five hoodlums whose joints she had dislocated, leaving them unable to move, a cold sneer appeared on her face. She walked over, grabbed one by a dislocated part, and a wisp of magic swept through his body. His internal structure instantly became clear to Rin.
"Crack, crack, crack..."
After a series of pig-like screams, the five hoodlums, with their limbs restored to normal, retreated on all fours to the wall at the end of the alley. Their bodies trembled as if they had been electrocuted. Seeing Rin slowly approaching step by step, they were instantly terrified and knelt on the ground, kowtowing frantically.
"Big Sister, spare our lives! Big Sister, spare our lives! We are blind fools who didn't recognize Mount Fuji. Please, Big Sister, let us off this once."
"Big Sister, have mercy!"
"Big Sister, we were wrong. We'll never dare again."
A wicked smile appeared at the corner of Rin's mouth. She walked closer, looking at the faces that just four hours ago had been arrogant and full of lust. She deliberately used her natural loli voice and said, "Oh, Big Brothers, what's wrong? Didn't you say you wanted to play 'grown-up games' with Little Rin? And you even said you'd buy me lollipops."
Rin's words, instead of helping, instantly scared the five hoodlums out of their wits, and they started kowtowing even more fiercely.
"Big Sister, we'll never dare again! I have an eighty-year-old mother at home and a three-year-old child waiting for me..."
"Waiting for you to ruin them?" Rin said disdainfully. "An eighty-year-old mother? Did your mom give birth to you when she was over sixty? A three-year-old child, I might believe that. But look at all those women you got pregnant who didn't have money for an abortion – maybe they gave birth. But I doubt you even know."
"This, this..."
"Enough! Stop with the useless talk." Rin stomped her foot on the lowered head of the hoodlum in the middle, embedding half his face into the concrete ground!
For such scum, there was no need for a shred of forbearance or pity. Attacking an innocent young girl, they themselves had no right to be called humans, but were merely a group of beasts that resembled humans.
"I need to talk to your boss. Wait for me here tomorrow morning at nine o'clock."