On this day, there was a lot of discussion around Zhang Zi in the department.

Zhang Zi had to run away from the company because she owed a debt and someone from the loan company called the company for debt collection. For this reason, the image she had carefully maintained in the past disappeared. When colleagues talked about her, they became more and more jealous.

You're welcome.

There was a bit of bitterness in the female colleague's words, as well as a sense of superiority that she was definitely not Zhang Zi's fool who pretends to be fat. The male colleague's tone had a hint of frivolity, and there was also a hint of frivolity in her words.

Displeased with Zhang Zi, who is obviously not very good but still looks down on him.

...He is clearly a bumbling guy, and he usually looks unattainable!

Once Zhang Zi's true identity is revealed, Zhang Zi's appearance, personality, and behavior will all become grounds for criticism and insult.

Such a feverish discussion lasted all day. My colleagues, who had been mysterious and speculating about Zhang Zi's private life and what had happened to her since the morning, finally got tired of chewing gum by the evening.

Miho was in the center of the storm. Although she was not affected, she could not stop the sounds from reaching her ears. Moreover, just because she was not affected, it did not mean that Miho, who had a good relationship with Akiko a while ago, would be able to survive safely.

Having passed her childish teenage years, I wouldn't bully her or treat her differently, but to some extent, I can sympathize with Miho, a girl who looks ordinary but unexpectedly gets the favor of a beauty.

It is another practice of using Zhangzi as an object of entertainment and harm.

When you get tired of chewing a piece of gum and spit it out, you can eat another piece of fruit candy.

"Speaking of which, Miho-chan is the most pitiful..."

Female colleague Matsuda Kazumi was the first to express sympathy for Miho, "I finally made friends, and I thought it was a beautiful friendship..."

"That's right, that's right. Zhang-chan's treatment of Miho is really too much."

What was conveyed in the crowd's echoes was an unspoken contempt: How could a girl like Miho, a really beautiful and popular person, be friends with her, and how could she like the same TV series as her?

Miho and Akiko got closer and became friends because of the TV series called "The Cutie Season". This matter was known to everyone in the department. And due to the influence of the two of them, other female colleagues also had concerns about the TV series.

Interested, and like the two of them, went home early on Friday night and waited to watch the TV series.

…

The next day, Zhang Zi did not come either. From then on until Friday, Zhang Zi disappeared from the world and his whereabouts are unknown.

Unless Zhang Zi reappears in the company and provides everyone with new things to talk about, no matter how incredible the gossip is, it will not last long.

Every day in society is filled with all kinds of things. It is not unusual for a Zhangzi to run away after a debt. Along with Miho, who was given strange looks, the eyes that fell on her quickly disappeared.

.

Before becoming friends with Zhang Zi, Miho was just an inconspicuous employee, "someone who had to deal with a certain link", nothing more than that. She became friends with Zhang Zi for a short time, and was illuminated by Zhang Zi's light. As Zhang Zi's

The world evaporated, Miho dimmed again, and became the inconspicuous little clerk again.

Until this day of Friday, fun-loving colleagues have been planning how to party tonight since lunch break.

Different from previous weeks, this time there were a lot of people who responded positively. The female colleagues who followed Miho and Akiko and went home early, for fear of being thought that they were going back to watch "The Lovely Season", actively signed up to participate.

"Miho-chan"

A colleague asked, "Is Miho-chan going?"

As this question was asked, the eyes of colleagues turned to Miho intentionally or unintentionally.

Feeling the eyes on her, Miho felt a little nervous for a moment. But she immediately relaxed, and her tone was the same as in the past few weeks, and she answered lively: "Sorry, sorry~ The TV series is now at a critical moment!"

The bunch of eyes immediately moved away from her, and they did not look at her again. Next, the colleagues who were planning how to act tonight discussed vigorously. Only Miho herself was not involved in this topic.

outside.

...This is what happens when a mackerel swims toward tuna and then returns to a school of mackerel.

Miho thought quietly in her heart, but didn't care. At least, she would never regret having the courage to approach Zhang Zi at that time.

After getting off work and attending the usual dinner party, she left early, took the tram, then transferred to the bus, and returned to her dormitory. She walked through the door, raised her voice, and said to the empty room: "I'm back."

~"

Of course no one answered her.

But actually, someone has answered it in the past week.

…

Last Friday, Akiko came back with her, and the two of them watched TV together. The next day, when she went to play with Akiko, Miho was thinking that she and Akiko seemed to have become friends.

The mackerel swimming towards the tuna is really swimming in the same sea as the tuna.

However, in the evening, Miho came back to her senses and remembered that Zhang Zi's apartment was still leaking. Just when she was upset that she didn't invite Zhang Zi back again, Zhang Zi suddenly knocked on the door of her dormitory.

The lost Zhang Zi followed Miho into her room like a child who had done something wrong.

Afterwards, Zhang Zi said to her: "...I am not a tuna."

In my terrible middle school days, I was bullied a lot. I tried my best to be a beauty and have dignity. However, I suddenly lost my part-time job as a golf girl, and I couldn't lower my living standards for a while. In order to meet the emergency, I walked into the golf course for the first time.

loan company.

Originally, she just wanted to borrow 30,000 yen to last until payday. But the person from the loan company couldn't help but gave her 300,000 yen and told her that she didn't have to be polite.

Then, 300,000 turned into 1.76 million. 1.76 million turned into 2.28 million.

Zhang Zi couldn't even afford the interest, so she could only watch the debt grow bigger and bigger, until the people at the loan company who used to be nice and kindly told her that she didn't have to be polite, turned into a bad person.

"Ms. Suzuki, can't you pay back a little? It's also difficult to handle here."

"If you can't get enough work, just think of other ways! In my opinion, with your salary, living such a life is very difficult. Since you could do things before, what if you do it now?"

Miho remembered that when Akiko said this, she told herself that she had only been a golf girl.

However, even "golf girl" is a strange part-time job for Miho. It seems that even though we are under the sky of Tokyo at the same time, the differences between people are so great that they are like mackerels in the sea.

and tuna.

The reason why Akiko came to Miho was because the debt collector put a dead bird in her mailbox.

The landlord had long received calls from unkind people, and was already dissatisfied with Zhang Zi's association with unknown people. At this moment, the dead bird, which represented a threat, was put into her mailbox, and the landlord regarded Zhang Zi as a dangerous person.

.

The landlord also serves as the manager of the apartment that Zhang Zi rents. Such an apartment is particularly picky about the nature of the tenant's work and interpersonal relationships. Once Zhang Zi is regarded as a dangerous person, it will be difficult to tolerate her continuing to live here.

She was chased by debt collectors until she was breathless, was hinted by the landlord to move out of that exquisite apartment, and had a rope around her neck that could be tightened at any time. Everything started when she wanted to borrow 30,000 yen for an emergency.

of.

Everything Akiko had carefully maintained was so fragile that it could be destroyed with only 30,000 yen, and everything was reduced to nothing.

Is this desperate Akiko the same person as the one who frightened Miho earlier? They are the same person.

So, which chapter does she want to be friends with?

Is this desperate Zhang Zi her friend?

…

Friendship is not that fragile.

Be honest, be kind, and reach out when needed. And most importantly, if you recognize someone as your friend, you will have a spirit of willingness to be willing to give up!

If she was found to have taken someone in to live with her without permission, she would get into trouble. However, Miho couldn't leave her desperate friend alone.

The frightened Zhangzi temporarily stayed with Miho.

Miho joked silly and said, "It's a bit like Kanon and Naoko on TV," which earned Akiko a forced smile. Only later did she realize that it was frivolous to compare the cruel reality with the fictional TV series.

thing.

But she still couldn't understand why Zhang Zi would rather borrow money than find a way to maintain such a life.

"It would be great if you were beaten back to your original shape and just lost these things you have now." Zhang Zi sneered.

People who are attracted by her glamorous appearance will pay attention to her because of her glamor. However, once she is knocked back to her original shape and everyone knows that everything is false, she will not only lose the sense of self based on her appearance.

What you get is doubled with insults and contempt.

When Miho heard what Akiko said at that time, she didn't quite believe it. She felt that Akiko was too sensitive.

However, during the week when Akiko disappeared, Miho listened to the disdainful speculations from her colleagues. Now she believed it. If Akiko quit the apartment and moved back to the dormitory, wearing cheap clothes, how would she be speculated?

As long as a young and beautiful girl lives a better standard of living than she should, she will inevitably have rosy conjectures.

If you want to get rid of rumors, you can of course change your environment. But changing jobs is easier said than done? A stable life is great, but a stable life also makes people afraid to act rashly. They would rather live with the illusion that "you can get through the difficulties with 30,000 yen"

, walked into the loan company with luck.

Miho has never felt before that in this golden age, the stable life that people have is so fragile.

…

Coming back early tonight, Miho could leisurely prepare beer, potato chips and some small fish to go with the wine. After preparing these, she turned on the TV, but the TV series was still not broadcast yet.

She was eating potato chips and her eyes fell on the cardboard box placed in the corner of the room.

That cardboard box contained the things that Zhang Zi left without saying goodbye suddenly and didn't take them with him.

After Zhang Zi moved to her place and the two of them lived together, Miho knew that Zhang Zi was a master of cooking and could make delicious dishes, but also knew that she was a bit careless and even threw her pantyhose on the bed without thinking.

Miho put it away after being reminded.
To be continued...