As a high school girl, Kiyomi Ruri often hears a certain rumor. It is said that delinquent girls like to accuse middle-aged bald men of being perverts on public transportation because these people are the easiest to extort money from. They don't dare to cause any trouble and often choose to privately settle the matter by paying money, even if they haven't done anything wrong.

The reason behind this is probably because these people have families to support and are burdened with decades of mortgage. They can't afford to take any risks that may cost them their jobs. This shows how terrifying debts can be.

Now, Kiyomi Ruri deeply understands this point. In order to earn a mere 40,000 yen, she has fallen deeper and deeper into the trap and has no choice but to reluctantly enter Nanahara Takeshi's home and immediately become a housekeeper.

Hmm, a housekeeper full of resentment. Just by looking at her facial expression, she could easily be cast as the female lead in "Resentful Ghost Housekeeper," with a viewership rating of at least 20.

"Put the umbrella away and then polish my shoes." Nanahara Takeshi entered the house, took off his shoes, and lay down in the living room, directing the little maid, no, the little assistant to do the work. "The tools are in the drawer under the shoe cabinet."

Kiyomi Ruri stood expressionless in the entranceway for a moment, threw away the umbrella, and forcefully opened the drawer with a displeased look on her face. She found a box, took out a brush, cloth, shoe polish, and other items, and held Nanahara Takeshi's smelly shoes, ready to start polishing.

"First wipe off the rainwater." Nanahara Takeshi lay down like a Buddha, touched a book, and read while giving instructions.

"I know, I'm not an idiot. I don't need you to teach me how to polish shoes!" Kiyomi Ruri replied loudly with a black face, wiping the shoes vigorously with the cloth.

"There's a lighter in the box. After applying the shoe polish, use the fire to burn it a bit. Why are you in such a hurry? Love the job you do, and now you're my assistant, so you have to do everything I don't want to do. Have some professional ethics." Nanahara Takeshi didn't mind Kiyomi Ruri's bad attitude at all. On the contrary, he patiently taught her how to do it. After all, once she learned, it would save him trouble in the future.

Hmm, he's a good boss who cares about the growth of his employees. At least that's what he thinks.

Kiyomi Ruri was taken aback for a moment, took out the lighter from the box, hesitated for a moment, and curiously asked, "Why do we need to burn it?"

"To remove moisture, dissolve the shoe polish, and use the heat radiation to open the pores of the leather, providing deep nourishment to the leather. This way, the shoes polished will be shinier, softer, and more comfortable to wear, and the maintenance will be more thorough. These shoes are 'family heirlooms,' made of calf leather with handmade piano soles. I plan to wear them for twenty years, so take good care of them!"

Can it really be done like this?

Kiyomi Ruri thought for a moment and felt that it made sense. She cautiously tried it out and found that the shoe polish was thick and sticky, with a gel-like texture. With a gentle flick of the lighter, a layer of bluish-purple flame appeared on the surface of the shoe, startling her. She hesitated whether to extinguish the fire with the cloth.

"Now is the time! Tibetan Fox, attack with force!" Nanahara Takeshi decisively gave the command.

Kiyomi Ruri moved upon hearing the command, full of enthusiasm. She covered the flame with the cloth and moved her small hand rapidly, wiping the shoes with a blur of motion. After a moment, she stopped and was surprised to find that the shoe surface seemed to have softened a bit and was very shiny. It was even shinier and more supple than the shoes her mother usually polished, making the leather look more smooth and comfortable to wear.

It actually worked!

"You're so smart, you learn quickly." Nanahara Takeshi was also very satisfied. He couldn't stand wearing dirty shoes, but the shoe polish smell was too strong for his nose to handle. Every time, he had to force himself to polish them or simply send them to a store for maintenance. Having this Tibetan Fox would be much more convenient in the future.

Kiyomi Ruri turned her back to him and pouted.

Hmph, he's being sarcastic again. This annoying ghost...

But she became even more enthusiastic. She burned and polished, quickly finishing polishing Nanahara Takeshi's two large shoes. The surface of the shoes had a gentle luster, and the leather was delicate. They looked like works of art and became more pleasing to the eye the more she looked at them.

Indeed, I'm amazing. As long as I'm serious, I can do anything well, even polishing shoes!

Haha, I'm so talented!

Perhaps for the first time in her life, she was so serious about polishing shoes. She suddenly became interested and took off her own round-toed shoes, knelt at the entranceway with her back to Nanahara Takeshi, and started polishing her own shoes. She had acquired a new skill and needed to practice and strengthen it. Besides, the leather shoes could also be ignited, which was quite fun.

Nanahara Takeshi glanced at her bubble socks - loose socks, a type of thick stockings slightly longer and thicker than regular socks, originating from leg warmers used in mountain climbing.

Because they provided good warmth, they were popular in the northeastern region of Japan in the 1980s. They were later adopted by the Hokkaido government as a special accessory for girls' school uniforms, and soon became popular nationwide.

These socks were also loved by high school girls in Japan. Since they wore skirts all year round, fat tended to accumulate in their legs, and combined with their generally short stature, wearing these socks that piled up around their ankles made their legs appear thinner, offsetting the negative effects of "carrot legs" and improving their overall appearance.

However, Kiyomi Ruri had straight and slender legs, not carrot legs, so she didn't have these problems. Wearing these socks indoors made her look a bit sloppy and uncomfortable. But Nanahara Takeshi didn't say anything, just took a glance and planned to have her switch to cotton knee-high socks later, gradually transforming her. He didn't care about her polishing her own shoes either. He lay on the side, flipping through his book.

After seven or eight minutes, Kiyomi Ruri finished polishing her own round-toed shoes, put them on, sat at the entranceway with her feet raised, took a look, hummed a few times, and was very satisfied. Then she turned around and asked Nanahara Takeshi, "Okay, I've polished your shoes. Can I go now?"

She had helped him polish his shoes, but she had also acquired a new skill and used his shoe polish and tools. It was basically a fair trade, or rather, she had gained a little.

"No, go get the vacuum cleaner and dust the house." Nanahara Takeshi flipped through the pages of his book, completely focused, and casually assigned her a new task.

Is there no end to this?

Kiyomi Ruri was very dissatisfied, but now she had the opportunity to take a look at Nanahara Takeshi's living room. At first glance, she was shocked. Nanahara Takeshi's living room was ridiculously simple. Apart from the tatami mats, there was only a small square table and a few cushions.

In an instant, her resentment towards him diminished. She finally remembered that Nanahara Takeshi was an "orphan" and lived alone. It was far from being as easy as it seemed on the surface. No wonder he had become a money-obsessed and annoying person.

Softening her heart, she didn't shout at Nanahara Takeshi, but protested, "It's already clean now. Why do we still need to clean? Are you intentionally trying to bother me?" The living room was simple, but it was really clean. There wasn't a speck of dust in every nook and cranny. It didn't look like a place where a guy lived. She didn't feel the need to clean it at all.

"I see dust in my eyes, so you clean it. I'm the boss, and what I say goes. No nonsense allowed." Nanahara Takeshi didn't even lift his eyelids and kept his gaze on the pages of his book. He simply gestured with his fingers, indicating, "You still owe me money, so hurry up and work instead of talking."

Kiyomi Ruri had no choice but to curse him in her heart and follow his direction. She took the vacuum cleaner as instructed and started cleaning the house. After cleaning the living room, she was ordered to clean the stairs and the second-floor corridor. She was busy like a little bee.

Nanahara Takeshi lay there motionless, reading his book, waiting for her to finish. When she finally finished and came downstairs from the second floor, he immediately said, "Wash your hands, wash them clean, and then go cook."

Kiyomi Ruri was reaching her limit, but now she had the chance to take a look at Nanahara Takeshi's kitchen. She was shocked when she pushed open the kitchen door. The bedroom and study were not visible, but there were hardly any pieces of furniture on both floors. It seemed that Nanahara Takeshi was a super poor guy. She didn't expect the kitchen to be so luxurious.

There were two large upright refrigerators, a set of transparent moisture-proof temperature-controlled sterilization cabinets, a horizontal silent freezer in the corner of the kitchen, and a shiny combination stove in the center. Next to it were three sets of knife racks, and there were countless pots, bowls, ladles, cups, and kettles that couldn't be counted. There was even a huge double-layer oven.

Are you crazy? Did you spend all your money on the kitchen?

Kiyomi Ruri was truly shocked. For a moment, she doubted whether she, who had only learned to cook miso soup, make rice balls, sandwiches, and fried tofu in home economics class, was worthy of standing here.

"What are you standing there for? The rice is in the cabinet. Hurry up and get to work." Nanahara Takeshi didn't wait for her and followed her into the kitchen. He was now a gourmet and had high expectations for food. He couldn't let her do as she pleased. He had to teach her more carefully.

"Uh, okay..."

Kiyomi Ruri snapped out of her daze, quickly put on an apron, took out a pot, and opened the cabinet to get rice. However, when she opened the cabinet, she saw a row of bags of rice, large and small. She was momentarily stunned and didn't know which type of rice to use.

Nanahara Takeshi stood behind her and pointed, "The two bags on the left are japonica rice. Use the measuring cup and take one and a half cups from the first bag and a quarter cup from the second bag. The third bag is polished rice, also take a quarter cup. The fourth bag is sake rice, take one-tenth of a cup..."

Kiyomi Ruri interrupted him, puzzled, "Why is it so complicated?"

"Because rice cooked this way tastes better."

"They're all rice. What's the difference? My mom only uses one type of rice."

"Is your mom's cooking delicious?"

Kiyomi Ruri fell silent and followed Nanahara Takeshi's instructions to measure the rice into the pot. Then she was about to go get tap water, but Nanahara Takeshi immediately stopped her. "Don't use tap water. There's spring water in the refrigerator."

"It's just a meal. You're really troublesome..." Kiyomi Ruri muttered and directly took water from the tap, adding the appropriate amount as instructed by Nanahara Takeshi. Then she was about to sit it on the stove.

Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

"You haven't washed the rice yet." Nanahara Takeshi gave another instruction. "Add a little sesame oil, the one in the second bottle on top, one drop from the third bottle, and a little bit of the powder from the fourth bottle. Then use your hands to gently knead it, like giving the rice a massage."

"Huh?"

"Do as I say, and remember, this will be one of your main tasks in the future."

"Whatever!" Kiyomi Ruri rolled her eyes, added some sesame oil, and started "massaging" the rice as instructed. She was convinced that Nanahara Takeshi was a bit crazy!

Nanahara Takeshi was still not satisfied and sternly urged from behind, "Be more serious, put some emotion into it. Ingredients are like a mirror. How you treat them is how they will treat you. You must have a devout heart."

"Is this enough?" Kiyomi Ruri couldn't be bothered to argue with this lunatic and started kneading the rice vigorously. Adding emotion? I'm adding resentment, poisoning this lunatic to death!

"Ah, you can't teach a pig to sing. Change the water and turn on the heat!" Taming was not something that could be achieved in a day. Nanahara Takeshi didn't expect her to become a qualified coolie in just one day. Today, he could only compromise a little.

"Be careful not to choke later!" Kiyomi Ruri cursed persistently, turned on the heat, and sat the pot on the stove. Then she wiped her hands on her apron and looked at the refrigerator, asking, "Do you have miso and tofu? I can make miso soup with tofu for you."

Although she cursed him, he was essentially a poor guy. She didn't mind working a little harder to make a side dish for him.

"No need, your work for today is done." Nanahara Takeshi took out a timer for boiling eggs, set it, and placed it next to the pot to time the rice.

Kiyomi Ruri was surprised, stopped wiping her hands, and couldn't believe it. "Is there nothing else? You... you only eat rice?"

In an instant, all her impatience and resentment disappeared, replaced by a strong feeling of pity.

Yes, he lives alone and relies on scholarships and grants to get by. Even if he occasionally manages to deceive some money, there are always unavoidable expenses in life and studies. He probably mainly eats rice with soy sauce.

No wonder he has so many requirements for cooking a simple meal. It turns out that this is almost his entire dinner.

She regretted cursing him just now. She wanted to go home and steal some meat from the refrigerator, but she didn't know how to bring it up. She was afraid of hurting his pride.

She was still hesitating when suddenly a wave of fragrant heat hit her. Nanahara Takeshi opened the sealed oven, smiled, and said, "How is that possible? I made Burgundy stewed beef. It has been roasted for three hours, and the timing is just right. We can eat it soon."

As he spoke, he wore heat-resistant gloves and took out a pot from the oven. It was filled with thick chunks of beef in rich gravy, looking incredibly delicious.

Kiyomi Ruri's face went blank.