Looking at the beloved cat that was being petted by Aotomo "openly", Mai Kinoshita was surprised at first, then smiled and knelt down beside Aotomo with a gentle movement that was quite Yamato Nadeshiko's style.

Pass the two cups of hot tea on the tea tray to Qing and Zhai respectively.

"Duoduo seems to like you very much."

"Haha, maybe it's because it and I are both 'orange'." Qingden said in a joking tone a cold joke that he had just thought of impromptuly.

Because Qingto's cold joke was so cold, Saito on the side couldn't help but twitch his lips.

Qingden just wanted to say something stupid on purpose to liven up the atmosphere.

But who would have thought - after hearing Qingto's cold joke, Kinoshita Mai blinked her eyes hard twice, then raised her hands to cover her mouth, and giggled.

"Haha...it's all 'orange'...haha...hahaha...!"

Because she was smiling so happily, Kinoshita Mai's shoulders were shaking slightly.

Kinoshita Mai was actually amused by the cold joke he just said, and she even laughed happily. When Qingto saw this, he couldn't help but look dumbfounded.

Was the joke I just made so funny?

As for Saito, who was so cold at Aoto's cold joke just now, his mouth was slightly open at the moment, and he stared blankly at Mai Kinoshita, who was still laughing.

After laughing for a long time, Kinoshita Mai finally wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and slowly stopped smiling.

Because he and Kinoshita Mai are already very familiar with each other, Qingto doesn't feel embarrassed or uncomfortable even if he is alone with Kinoshita Mai now.

After taking a sip of the tea that Kinoshita Mai had just brewed, Qingto took the initiative to initiate a conversation with Kinoshita Mai:

"Miss Kinoshita, have you encountered anything interesting or worth mentioning recently?"

Have you come across anything interesting or worth mentioning recently? - Qingdeng likes to use this sentence to start chatting with people.

"There are really interesting things or things worth mentioning..."

Kinoshita Wu held Duoduo on her lap, caressing Duoduo's belly and said slowly.

"Two days ago, when I went to the vegetable market to buy vegetables, I went into a tea house to drink tea because I was thirsty."

"While I was sitting quietly in the corner of the teahouse drinking tea, I overheard a young man and woman who were supposed to be brother and sister at the next table arguing."

"The content of their quarrel was 'whether the great thief Neko Monk is a plump female ninja?'"

"That brother insists that the cat monk is a very plump female ninja, and he also 'quotes' all kinds of scriptures."

"And the younger sister angrily accused her brother of reading too many pornographic films about female ninjas and just daydreaming boringly."

[Note·Yellow paper: An erotic literary publication with yellow leather embroidery that was popular in the Edo period. It has many themes that are still outdated even now]

"The brother and sister had a loud quarrel, which attracted many people around to watch and join in the quarrel."

"When I finished my tea, most of the people in the tea house started arguing about whether the cat monk was a female ninja or not."

"I was dumbfounded at the time."

"Is it necessary to argue so hard about this kind of thing? Is it so important whether the cat monk is a boy or a girl, or whether he is a ninja?"

Hearing this, a faint and weird smile appeared on Qingdeng's face, which could not be detected without looking closely.

He said in his heart:

——I don’t know if Cat Monk is a ninja, but now I know she is a female...

The scene where he copied the talent of "milk" from the cat monk who attacked Beibansuo at night is still fresh in Qingto's memory to this day.

Qingdeng did not report to the government that "he found out that Mao Xiaoseng was a female" - he had no way to report this.

It was impossible for him to directly tell the person above him that he discovered that Mao Xiao Monk had the talent of having abundant RU juice and nutrition...

Whether the Cat Monk is a boy or a girl is not particularly important. Even if Qingdeng managed to report the Cat Monk's true gender, it would not be of any benefit to Qingdeng himself.

What's more, Qingdeng quite likes this little cat monk.

After weighing the pros and cons, Qingdeng finally decided to bury the information that "the cat monk is a woman" in his heart for the time being.

"Besides - how did the rumor that 'Cat Monk is a plump female ninja' spread?"

Kinoshita Mai's voice sounded again.

She curled her lips and continued:

"As far as I know, hasn't the Cat Monk never shown his face? The government has not even determined whether the Cat Monk is a boy or a woman. There are so many people who firmly believe that the Cat Monk must be a female or a female ninja...

"

After glancing at the puzzled look on Kinoshita Mai's face, Qingden chuckled a few times, "haha".

"People always only want to believe what they want to believe."

"'The Neko Monk is a short man', 'The Neko Monk is a plain-looking woman'... Compared to such rumors, 'The Neko Monk is a plump female ninja' is obviously more eye-catching and more likely to be liked by people.

."

"After all...many people just like this."

"Naturally, the rumor spread like wildfire and spread rapidly."

After finishing speaking, Qingdeng raised the tea cup in his hand and took another sip of the tea in the cup.

"The fame of this little cat monk is really getting bigger and bigger... The quarrel between the brother and sister can actually attract most of the people in the teahouse to join in their argument."

"Well, that little cat monk is indeed becoming more and more famous." Kinoshita Mai nodded lightly, "Recently, whenever I go to places with a lot of people, I can always hear people discussing this phantom thief."

At this point, Kinoshita Mai's voice suddenly paused.

"...As his fame continues to grow, various strange comments about Cat Monk also continue to increase."

Kinoshita Mai's hand caressing Duoduo's belly slowed down slightly at this moment.

"Some people say that the cat monk who only steals the property of evil people is a respectable thief."

"There are also many people who say that the Cat Monk is just a thief. No matter who he stole, it cannot change the fact that he is a thief. The Cat Monk's behavior of punishing a person purely based on his personal likes and dislikes is not advisable.

.”

Kinoshita Mai stopped playing with the cat.

"...Tachibana-kun." Kinoshita Mai winked at Qingden, "What do you think of the cat monk?"

"Me?" Qingdeng drank the tea that had cooled down a lot in one gulp, "I quite like that little cat monk."

"Tachibana-kun, do you like that little cat monk very much?" Mai Kinoshita, with a look of surprise on her eyebrows, winked at Qingteng again.

"I'm very interested in these kind of thieves and phantom thieves who specialize in attacking evil people." Qingto turned his head and smiled calmly at Mai Kinoshita, "If there is a chance... I would also like to try to be a cat monk.

He’s a strange thief who also has a knack for stealing.”

Phantom Thief——This profession can be regarded as Qingto’s passion.

Although Qingdeng in his previous life was an honors student with excellent academic performance, he was also a boy who loved to play games in private.

One of his favorite games is the masterpiece known as "the best Japanese role-playing game in the world": "Goddess X News 5"

Qingdeng was just in the second grade of junior high school when he came into contact with this masterpiece.

The game's basic setting of "a high school student during the day and a 'heart-stealing' monster thief who challenges corrupt adults at night" and the music that was so trendy that people just want to get high made the young man, who was in his second year of middle school at the time,

Deng felt astonished and exclaimed, "The producer who designed this game is really a genius!".

Since then, the profession of "phantom thief" has become Qingto's passion.

This feeling made Qingdeng put on a friendly filter when facing the cat monk.

"I'm just a layman, not a saint with high moral character."

Qingdeng then continued.

"The saying 'Thieves and monster thieves are just thieves', and the saying 'You cannot put personal likes and dislikes above the law'... I understand these truths, but I don't want to pay attention to them."

"I only know that actions like what Mao Xiaoseng did, which only targeted treacherous people, made me feel very happy and satisfied, so I have a good impression of Mao Xiaoseng - it's that simple."

"Of course, if one day in the future, Mao Xiaoseng degenerates and starts to attack ordinary people, then I will no longer be friendly to him."

After saying that, Qingdeng subconsciously raised the tea cup in his hand to take a sip of tea, but after he put the cup to his lips, he realized that the tea had been finished, so he could only put down the tea cup in his hand.

At this moment, Kinoshita Mai's slender, velvet-like eyelashes fluttered a few times.

After she gave Qingdeng a long look, the corners of her mouth began to slowly turn up, and a smile emerged. Finally, the smiles turned into a pure child-like smile.

"Tachibana-kun, as a 'Three Chapters' fan, you say that you like the cat monk... isn't this a little bad?"

Qingdeng smiled, then raised his right index finger to his lips, making a "silence" gesture.

"Then Ms. Kinoshita, you have to keep it a secret for me," Qingto said jokingly.

Kinoshita Wu raised her hand to cover her lips, smiling sweetly.

"Yes!" After putting down her hand covering her lips, she nodded vigorously, "I will keep it a secret!"

"Hehe, hehehe..." Kinoshita Mai suddenly giggled a few times, "In this way - this matter can be regarded as a secret between the two of us."

At this moment, Kinoshita Mai noticed that Aoden's teacup was empty.

"Ju-kun, wait a moment, I'll get you a new cup of tea!"
To be continued...