Ah, I just realized that @Biblio had answered a question of mine regarding だけは back then in the Marco& club:
So maybe the " 東京がすごい。こんな田舎町に住んでいても、その噂だけはよく聞いていた。" is something like “‘Tokyo is amazing.’ Even though I lived in such a small countryside town (where you don’t get much info about Tokyo), if nothing else, this rumor is something I often heard.”?
Finished chapter 2. Getting into it more now; for whatever reason I’ve barely been able to concentrate on reading anything over the last week. The bit where she says ニーハオ was cute!
Professional squatting is a real thing and not just in bubble Japan; I’ve heard of it here in the UK, though I think only cases where you get the place to live, not a salary on top of that. I don’t know the exact specifics but it’s to do with property ownership changing hands if a place is occupied or not for a certain amount of time.
I can’t tell you how much now I wish I’d done it as a younger man. I would pay good money to live in an old train station; being paid to do it, even in a falling-down abandoned one, would be the dream.
Some language notes/questions:
わたしとは８才も歳が違っていた。まだ７才。
Thought it funny that they use the shorthand 才 but then also the full 歳 in this sentence. Presumably 才 is what’s always used in China for this meaning so that’s why it’s being used in this.
下校してから、この子と一緒に過ごす時間が増えるのはうれしいけど、いつまでもそうしていられなかった。
After putting this into Deepl I understand what it means, but the potential form of the progressive really threw me for a loop.
職種によっては、全員スーツ姿の面接会場もあった。
もちろん中には、大丈夫っぽいところもあった。
I feel like I’ll never really understand ところ. Is it being used literally here to be “places,” as in places to work? Or is it points? “Among them there are (also) alright(ish) points”?
I think it’s literally “places (of work)” there:
“Of course, among those were also places (of work) where it seemed okay (to wear a jersey).”
(And I think if the previous sentence would’ve talked about various facets of a workplace instead how things differ between workplaces, it could’ve also meant “points”/“facets”, yeah!)
PS: A fellow panpanya fan! 
I agree with the other comments about the visual presentation of the VN! Very cinematic and aesthetically pleasing.
I’ve played a lot of VNs but never ran into one with multiple voiced languages. It feels more immersive that way, unlike most VNs where you just have to assume everyone is speaking their own language, even though all dialogue is voiced in Japanese lol. Looking forward to seeing how the characters interact despite the language barrier. The Japanese/Chinese OP was a nice touch too.
I was surprised that お兄さん called the other passenger パパ so directly at first… but thinking back to the way he was coercing her into the job just to get his 30% cut, he must be pretty used to acting as the go-between 
Looking forward to seeing how Kanna and Jing’s develops as they live together! I get that half pay is a bummer, but I’m also wondering if they can’t just find a 2nd job to earn more if all they need to do is live in the place?
I did have a question about the pagers. A ナンパ was hitting on a girl and tried to invite her out and she mentioned something like ポケベル来たけど. Was she implying that she got a message telling her she needed to be somewhere else?
