Chapter 30 Hometown Affairs
The New Year in Akita was as bitterly cold as usual, and the originally gray forest had long been covered with thick white snow.
Silence returned to the mountains and forests, and all things fell into sleep, quietly waiting for revival in the next year.
However, Xiaolu Village at the foot of the mountain is very lively, with white paper lanterns hung in front of every house, as well as pine trees made .
The hostess in the house was busy making rice sticks, while the host was sitting cross-legged in his formal attire in front of a table filled with drinks, seemingly waiting for something.
There was a knock on the door, "Knock knock knock". Before anyone could open the door, the visitor pushed it open.
"I heard there is a crybaby here." A low and terrifying voice sounded, and the little girl in the house looked towards the door in horror.
Standing at the door were two figures wearing ferocious ghost masks, straw-woven raincoats, and holding wooden sticks. They walked into the door with exaggerated movements and looked straight at the little girl.
"Wow!" The little girl burst into tears in fear and then crawled towards her father who was sitting upright.
"It's you, Chiyoko? I heard that you don't study hard and don't listen to adults." The figure dressed as an evil ghost said as he stretched out his hand tremblingly towards the little girl.
The little girl backed away while crying, "I didn't do it, please let me go!" Her little hands tightly hugged her father's arm.
"I will be obedient in the future, Dad, please help me." Chiyoko looked at her father pleadingly, turned around and saw the hideous face of the evil ghost and burst into tears again.
The host tried hard to hold back his laughter and raised his glass to the two strange-looking people. The two people who played the evil spirits also raised their glasses to greet the host, and then everyone drank it all.
"Remember to be obedient." Before leaving, the evil ghost in the red mask did not forget to turn back and threaten.
Seeing the little girl's expression as if she had survived a disaster, the two men walked out of the door and turned to walk to the next house.
"Why is the wine at Uncle Matsumoto's house so spicy?" After leaving the door, the red-masked evil ghost took off the mask, and the first person to appear was Shirakawa Kaede, who was huffing and sticking out his tongue.
"Haha, Xiao Feng. I told you a long time ago to let me come for the drinking, but you didn't believe it." The muffled voice came from Kotaro.
The two of them are paired up and performing Akita's traditional festival, Namahage.
Usually, two or three people would form a group and pretend to be evil spirits, going from house to house to scare people.
"I heard there are disobedient children here?", "I heard there are lazy wives who love to eat and do nothing?", etc.
The male host will dress up for the reception and serve the guests with wine from their home collection.
This festival is somewhat similar to Halloween in the West, except that in one, adults ask for drinks, while in the other, children ask for candy.
The group of Shirakawa Kaede and Kotaro also walked from the beginning to the end of the village. Shirakawa Kaede was very excited as it was participating in this traditional festival for the first time.
He is most active in scaring children every time, which makes Kotaro wonder why he didn't realize that this guy is so naughty before.
The New Year is a happy but short time. The bustle of Xiaolu Village only lasts for a few days before it is about to fall into tranquility again.
According to past experience, those who go to the city to work will pack their bags and set off again a few days after the beginning of the new year.
If there is anything different this year, it is undoubtedly the return of Shirakawa Kaede and Kotaro to the village.
Not only did they bring back a variety of fresh little gifts for everyone, they also brought back several color TVs that were as big as 18 inches!
This was very shocking to most people in the village who had never been out of the house in their lives, and it caused a huge sensation.
Everyone was wondering how the Shirakawa kid had made such a fortune in Tokyo that he could afford a color TV.
Just because they haven't seen it doesn't mean they don't know. It is said that a brand new TV set costs a huge sum of 200,000 or 300,000 yuan. This amount of money is almost equivalent to the income of an ordinary family in Xiaolu Village for half a year, and some may even be more.
Later I heard from Kashiwagi, who was also in Tokyo, that they had obtained the money by tinkering with old stuff.
When everyone heard that it was second-hand goods, they felt relieved, but they were still very envious.
Ever since Shirakawa Feng sent back a 90% new TV for his family , the Shirakawa family's home has become the village's favorite place to visit.
Adults come here to visit whenever they have time, and children even want to stay here and not leave.
All this was because of the attraction of that TV, which became a star in the village.
Through it, the villagers learned about the colorful world outside, learned about Yamaguchi Momoe, learned about "Spring in the North", learned about the idol craze, and also watched the Red and White Songs Contest for the first time.
From then on, Shirakawa Hayato also developed a new hobby, which was to sit cross-legged in front of the TV every day and watch all kinds of strange programs on TV.
Some young people in the village who were interested could not help but come up to Baichuan Feng and hesitate for a long time, just wanting to ask Baichuan Feng if there were any good opportunities so that they could work with him.
Baichuan Feng could only decline this offer. It was not that he did not want to help the villagers. It was that he was just a student now, and he did not need so many people to deal with old goods. After all, he and Yamashita Daiji were the only ones who could repair electrical appliances. No matter how many old goods they found, the amount they could handle was limited.
Finally, he promised them that he would help them get a TV if he had the chance, and at a good price. Only then did everyone leave with satisfaction.
In fact, they didn't have to follow Baichuan Feng, they were just itching to follow the TV that caused .
Speaking of televisions, we have to mention Kotaro's family. Shirakawa Kaede sent back two televisions, one for him and one for Kotaro.
Not long after the tv set in Torataro's house was returned, Maruyama, who heard the news, secretly took it away and exchanged it for 20,000 yen. He spent a few months there enjoying himself before returning home.
When Kotaro, who had just returned home, heard about this, he almost had a fight with his scumbag father that day.
If it weren't for his mother Miki trying her best to stop him, the father and son might have killed each other in the New Year.
Kotaro was not only angry about what his father did, but he was even more angry that he sold the TV as junk for 20,000 yen, even though it was worth 70,000 or 80,000 yen.
He was also angry at his mother's constant indulgence and weakness, but the gentleness and obedience inherent in traditional women made him feel confused and powerless.
There was no way he could save the money he brought back from Tokyo, and he absolutely did not dare to give it all to his mother.
Taking advantage of the New Year, Kotaro made a special trip to the city and asked the best doctor to check his mother's body. The doctor prescribed a bunch of medicine for her to recuperate. Only then did he feel relieved.
Finally, before leaving for Tokyo, Torataro made a special trip to Shirakawa Kaede's house, knelt on the ground and begged Shirakawa Hayato and Kazuko to take care of his mother for him.
Part of the money was left for his mother, and the rest was entrusted to Baichuan Feng's parents, hoping that they would help when necessary.
Looking at Kotaro kneeling in front of him, Shirakawa Hayato's eyes were full of complicated emotions, especially since his son was right next to him.
"Don't worry, Kotaro. Even if you don't come, we will take good care of Miki. When Xiaofeng was little, we caused her a lot of trouble. Please don't worry about the family. Work hard outside and act like a man."
"Hmm!" Kotaro lowered his head and his forehead hit the tatami in front of him heavily.
He Zi wiped away her tears and said, "Go, good boy. You and Xiao Feng must take care of each other outside and don't be impulsive."
Under the reluctant gazes of their respective fathers and mothers, Shirakawa Kaede and Kotaro once again embarked on their journey to Tokyo.
Unlike last year, this time they are no longer confused and nervous, but instead are confident and vigorous.
