Chapter 283: Hachimantai Hot Spring Village
Seeing the smiles of Kotaro and Kashiwagi, and the gradually approaching noise, Shirakawa Feng knew that these two people had prepared some tricks for him again.
Soon the sound of drums became clearer, and a long team followed.
Leading the group was the village chief Fujiyama, dressed in traditional kimono, and a chief priest who presided over the village shrine.
After them came the Namahage, who were wearing various ferocious masks and dancing unknown dances, and lastly, the sacrificial team, who were standing on a carriage with white towels tied around their heads and beating the taiko drums vigorously.
Just as Shirakawa Kaede was showing surprise, Village Chief Fujiyama had already walked forward with a wine glass in hand.
"Please drink this cup to the full."
Seeing the other party's serious expression and the increasingly passionate drum beats in the team.
Although Baichuan Feng didn't understand what this ceremony was, he nodded, picked up the wine glass and drank it all.
The moment he picked up the wine glass, the palace steward holding a pine branch beside him muttered something while sweeping it back and forth around Shirakawa Kaede.
After a glass of wine, the atmosphere in the team became more lively, accompanied by the shouts of the men.
After the chief priest in the shrine finished his prayer, he placed the pine branches in his hands horizontally and held them towards Shirakawa Kaede.
The latter glanced at the team. Everyone looked at them eagerly. Village chief Fujiyama nodded slightly.
So Baichuan Feng no longer hesitated, took the pine branch with both hands, held it up, and showed it to the surroundings.
The crowd then erupted in warm cheers, the rhythm of the Namahage dance became faster and faster, and the "dong dong" drum beats became more urgent.
Until one moment, with a loud "bang", all sounds stopped abruptly.
"Oh~!" After the uniform cheers, everyone smiled happily.
"Xiao Feng, welcome back~"
"Xiao Feng, you are Xiaolu's hero!"
Faced with the enthusiastic greetings from the uncles in the same village, Baichuan Feng could only nod and greet everyone continuously.
The noisy scene caused the originally orderly team to become somewhat disordered, so Village Chief Fujiyama turned around and shouted loudly.
"Okay, stop arguing, the festival isn't over yet."
The village chief's words did have some effect, and the lively scene finally cooled down a little.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Shirakawa Feng also had time to exchange a few words with Fujiyama.
" Uncle , isn't this inappropriate?"
Shirakawa Feng held up the pine branch in his hand. The village chief led the team personally and the chief priest of the shrine presided over the ceremony personally. This was a treatment that not everyone could get.
Pine branches represent longevity and health in Japan and are usually only given to elders of high status on such solemn occasions.
There was also the first cup of wine for the Namahage's blessing, all of which were offered to a younger man, which made Shirakawa Feng feel that it was too much.
"Xiao Feng, don't worry. This is Xiaolu's way of expressing gratitude to you." Fujiyama knew what Baichuan Feng was worried about.
But everyone had discussed everything today in advance, and no one objected, except his parents.
With everything that Shirakawa Feng has done for the deer, the collective prayers from everyone is the most sincere return gift they can offer.
"Xiao Feng, you haven't seen what the deer looks like now. Come on, I'll show you what the deer looks like now."
After saying that, Fujiyama waved his hand, and the sacrificial team began to turn around gradually, and Shirakawa Kaede was surrounded at the front of the team.
Seeing everyone's expectant eyes, he did not delay and nodded to Kotaro and the others.
After finding their parents among the crowd, and after giving each other a look to reassure themselves, Shirakawa Kaede and Fujiyama set off towards Xiaolu Village.
Kazuko and Shirakawa Hayato, dressed in gorgeous clothes, looked at Shirakawa Kaede's back as he gradually disappeared into the distance with excitement and pride.
"Hezi, Xiaofeng is becoming more and more like you. Just like you were when you were young, with some aristocratic bearing."
Shirakawa Hayato couldn't help but sigh when he saw his son being supported by everyone.
"Pfft" Hearing her husband's sigh, Kazuko couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"What noble? Just a person in trouble."
It seemed as if he recalled the scene when the two met for the first time, a young lady who was dirty but had a spoiled expression, and a young mountain villager who had a hunting bow on his back but had a simple and honest expression.
Not to mention all the ridiculous things that have happened, more than 20 years have passed in the blink of an eye.
Kazuko and Shirakawa Hayato looked at each other, and then smiled at the same time.
Time flies so fast, Xiaofeng has grown up so much.
Shirakawa Kaede, who was already quite dignified in the eyes of Shirakawa Hayato, was now looking carefully at this small mountain village in his memory.
Unfortunately, however, the deer has changed so much that it is almost impossible to find any similarities with its past.
One after another, quaint Japanese-style wooden houses slowly extend along the stone path in front of you to the foot of the mountain in the distance.
After a heavy snowfall, the roofs and treetops in the dense forest were all covered with a layer of fluffy white snow.
At dusk, the snow lanterns on both sides of the wooden houses and the stone road gave Shirakawa Feng the illusion of being in a snowy wonderland.
The Xiaolu before us can no longer be considered a small mountain village, but more like an ancient street from the Edo period.
Yes, that's right, it's a street.
Various signs of taverns, restaurants, handicraft shops, specialty shops, etc. are erected on both sides of this street.
Although the banners are of different colors and the billboards are of different heights, they have a unique sense of life.
In addition to the villagers of this village, there were also many tourists who were obviously from other villages watching the deer festival. They were pointing and talking at Shirakawa Kaede who was in the front of the team.
The little deer was really surprising.
Among the Japanese wooden houses, Shirakawa Feng even saw some more Western-style cafes and restaurants.
At this moment, he had countless curious questions in his mind and wanted to discuss them with Fujiyama beside him.
However, when I looked up and saw the quaint courtyards and steaming springs at the foot of the mountain not far away, I already had a vague answer in my heart.
“Xiao Feng, the little deer now is far from the little deer it once was.
To outsiders, the name 'Hachimantai Onsen Village' may be more familiar."
Fujiyama seemed to see Shirakawa Kaede's confusion and explained it very considerately.
On his face, Baichuan Feng saw pride, emotion, and the vicissitudes of life.
Because of the noisy voices, Baichuan Feng did not rush to ask the reason for the deer's transformation.
Surrounded by the crowd, he walked from the street all the way to the original shrine in the village.
This place has also been renovated, and now looks even more ancient and mysterious under the swaying lights.
Under the guidance of the priest, Shirakawa Feng also lit a stick of incense in an orderly manner, completing the last part of the ceremony. The New Year's Festival finally came to an end.
After saying hello to the uncles and aunts in the village, Shirakawa Feng was brought to a courtyard by Fujiyama.
The brand new rooms and exquisite carvings and decorations all reveal the extraordinary nature .
Pushing open the paper sliding door, the warm spring-like temperature inside made Shirakawa Feng relax a lot.
"Uncle Fujiyama, is this what the deer looks like after the transformation?"
As soon as he sat down on the tatami, Baichuan Feng couldn't wait to ask.
Fujigami poured him a cup of tea with a smile, put down the ancient teapot, and then nodded.
“Yes, this is what the deer looks like after the transformation.
This is what the little deer looks like now after it was transformed into a resort according to your original request, Xiao Feng."
Baichuan Feng held the teacup for a long time without saying a word.
After a long while, he nodded with emotion, "To be honest, this has exceeded my expectations."
He did want to turn Xiaolu into a hot spring resort, and he had this plan when Xiaolu was about to be rebuilt after the disaster.
Instead of repairing those old wooden houses, it would be better to tear them down and rebuild them according to the resort's specifications.
By the way, the nearby hot springs were also developed together to form an ancient hot spring town.
However, the design of the resort cannot be left to the villagers of Xiaolu Village freely; it requires professional project designers.
So, in order to avoid bothering two people with the same matter, Shirakawa Feng found Shimizu Construction, with whom he had cooperated once.
Although the other party is a construction company, it has cooperative relationships with many famous designers and design teams.
So, under the commission of Shimizu Corporation, the designers conducted a thorough field investigation of the deer.
Based on the local customs, climate and geographical environment, they tailored a complete reconstruction plan for Xiaolu.
From villagers' houses to hot springs, transportation, streets, attractions and other details, all are included.
Shirakawa Kaede, who was far away in Tokyo, had also seen the design drawings, but he could not infer what the deer would look like after it was built based on the drawings.
So without a second thought, he approved more than 300 million yen in funds specifically for the reconstruction of the deer.
Later, in occasional phone calls home, my mother kept lamenting how much Xiaolu had changed.
However, Baichuan Feng didn't see it with his own eyes at that time, so he didn't take it to heart.
Looking back at the rebuilt deer now, it can truly be described as a complete transformation.
“Xiao Feng, thanks to those design masters you found from Tokyo.
Otherwise, it would have been impossible for us to build Xiaolu into what it is today.
Of course, all of this is thanks to you, Xiao Feng. Without you, there would be no Xiao Lu today.
So everyone is very grateful to you, and today's ceremony has been carefully prepared for a long time."
Fujiyama himself was amazed at the changes in Xiaolu, not to mention Shirakawa Kaede who had just returned to the village.
"The fact that Xiaolu is where he is today proves that all these investments are worthwhile."
Baichuan Feng is very open-minded and instead gives subsidies to his neighbors in the village at irregular intervals every year.
It would be better to find a way for them to be self-reliant and solve the problem once and for all.
At the same time, he will have a share of all the income here at Xiaolu, and this part of the affairs will be handled by Baichuan Holdings.
After all, so much money has been invested, it is impossible to just ignore it after the resort is built.
"Nowadays, most families in Xiaolu no longer make a living by farming. It's a bit of a waste of the various services you customized from the Agricultural Cooperative at the beginning of the year, Xiaofeng."
Fujiyama feels a little embarrassed when talking about this. After all, he spent several million yen to purchase a lot of fertilizers, seeds and daily necessities at that time.
Daily necessities are fine, and fertilizers are also used on newly planted plants and flowers, but the seeds are somewhat wasted.
However, Baichuan Feng waved his hand generously, "These are all trivial matters, and it's not a waste. At most, the seeds can be eaten as food."
Fujiyama had once called him to talk about these things, but Shirakawa Feng no longer cared about this small amount of money.
"By the way, Uncle Fujiyama, I just saw that there seem to be quite a few outsiders on the streets of the village."
Baichuan Feng felt a little surprised that the deer could attract foreign guests so quickly.
"Haha" When mentioning this, Fujiyama couldn't help laughing.
"All this is thanks to you, Xiaofeng."
"Huh?" Baichuan Feng showed a surprised look.
