CHAPTER 672: CHAPTER 416: THE START OF FORCED LABOR

"Huff~ Huff~"

Continuously exhaling warm breaths, the exhausted Uesugi Sakura stopped in his tracks.

The long-distance running had left his body feeling weary and sore, almost to the brink of collapse.

Cells need oxygen, and exercise accelerates oxygen consumption. Over time, if breathing can’t supply enough oxygen to the cells, they switch to anaerobic respiration, which produces lactic acid, causing the body to feel sore.

Meanwhile, when oxygen supply in the bloodstream to the brain is insufficient, it causes blackouts and dizziness.

This intensity of running was already at the limits of physical endurance, even becoming more harmful than beneficial.

Yet today, Uesugi Sakura just felt like running like this, wanting to feel a bit tired.

Uesugi Sakura forced himself to overcome the dizziness and barely walked off the track, then bent over with his hands on his knees, greedily gulping down fresh air.

"Are you alright?" Todaka Keichiro approached him, as most of the other students had gone to the Central Cafeteria to eat.

"I’m fine..." Uesugi Sakura gasped for air, supporting his body to slowly stand upright.

"Do you know how many laps you ran just now?"

"I don’t know, I didn’t count."

"47 laps, 18 kilometers! I feel like you’re more than just human."

"A standard marathon is 42.195 kilometers; those who run box gardens are much better than me."

"Tsk, they do slow jogging; you’re doing a sprint."

"I forgot to time at the beginning, but your last lap was 400 meters in 2 minutes and 12 seconds. The speed in the previous laps must have been much faster. I estimate you took less than an hour and a half for these 18 kilometers. Why push so hard for just a run? Are you planning to run a marathon in the box garden?"

Uesugi Sakura didn’t answer his question. After his body adjusted and the dizziness subsided, he began doing simple stretches to relax his tense, aching muscles.

Todaka Keichiro waited nearby and continued, "There is news from the three part-time jobs you contacted this morning."

"They all rejected me?" Uesugi Sakura alternated stretching his legs forward, with hands on knees, feeling a clear pull on the thigh muscles as he shifted his weight down.

"They all accepted you. Which place are you planning to work part-time?"

Uesugi Sakura stared at the floor outside the track, thinking for a moment, "The maid café."

"To be the promenade doll handing out flyers?"

"Yeah."

Todaka Keichiro thought for a moment and nodded, "Hmm, that makes sense, the hourly wage is relatively high, and it’s close by, but actually... I think it’d be better if you worked as a cashier at the FamilyMart."

"What’s good about that?" Uesugi Sakura stood up, alternating lifting his arms sideways and stretching.

Todaka Keichiro looked him up and down as he did his stretches, "Wearing a doll head is a waste of your face!"

Uesugi Sakura stopped and looked at him, "Then wouldn’t I be better off being a male prostitute in a nightclub if it’s based on looks?"

"Haha, would your wife agree?" Todaka Keichiro knew he was joking.

Uesugi Sakura jumped up and down twice, then did a few squats before standing up again.

"Let’s go, let’s eat."

In the afternoon, he had to report to a maid café two streets away.

According to the shop owner’s intention, it seems like he has to start working as soon as he arrives.

Uesugi Sakura thought they were urgently hiring, and as a short-term part-timer, it wasn’t a problem to start quickly.

The sooner he starts, the sooner he gets paid.

At noon, he ate a bit of lunch at the Central Cafeteria of the University of Tokyo.

He ordered a double hamburger steak set, 1920 yen.

Uesugi Sakura didn’t dare to spend money recklessly, but he ran too long in the morning and was starving, so he had to eat more.

After this rather sumptuous lunch, he only had over 1000 yen left.

Whether the school’s set meals tasted better than the love bento his wife made was up for debate, but the portions were undoubtedly inadequate.

There were only two patties in one set meal, which he could finish off in two bites with rice.

Hanabi-chan would prepare a well-balanced meal in his lunch box according to his taste.

Whatever he wanted to eat, she would prepare more for him.

Now that he’s in college, Uesugi Sakura told her not to bother so much.

But she always told him while busy in the kitchen in the morning, "I’m used to it, making a bit more for breakfast isn’t a problem. You don’t need to worry, Sakura-kun..."

Now away from these things, Uesugi Sakura felt his heart drifting away too.

Who else would treat him so well after leaving her?

Eating an unsatisfying set meal, Uesugi Sakura realized that only half a day after she left, he already started missing her.

At two in the afternoon, Uesugi Sakura rode his bike to a maid café called Mimi.

This café is located on the second floor in a bustling area. The entrance is tucked away between many stores, not very noticeable, with a maid standing at the door. She wore cat ears, white stockings, standard shoes, and held a stack of flyers in her hand.

Whenever a man walked by, she would approach to greet them, hand out flyers, and ask if they wanted to come inside and have a seat.

Uesugi Sakura parked his bike at the café entrance. The maid clearly mistook him for a regular customer, approached with a smile, stood with her white-stockinged legs together at a 45-degree bow, and said with a smile:

"Master, welcome home! Are you coming in to have a cup of coffee today as well?"

The way she called him ’Master’ was so intimate, coupled with the maid’s suggestive attire, it’s no wonder some men would accept the invitation to spend inside.

Uesugi Sakura calmly took the flyer she handed him, "I’m here for a job interview."

"Interviewing?" The cat-eared maid was initially taken aback, then her expression turned into a cute smile, "Ah~~ I know, I know! The manager told me a handsome guy would come to apply today. At first, I didn’t believe it."