Chapter 307: Karuizawa in August (2)
The lush green forests on both sides do not look like an island country, but rather a bit like Europe, with a slightly dim tone.
In the forests of fir and larch, weeds grew extremely lush and moss covered the edges of the roads.
From time to time, cyclists pass by in pairs.
When more and more tourists came, we arrived at the shopping street, which is the most lively old street in Karuizawa.
The old European-style churches along the street;
Pedestrians coming and going, dressed fashionably and exquisitely;
There are many shops full of art, antique shops and Western restaurants;
The retro red bus has a square cabin and square glass, just like a large candy jar.
Xiaolian rode on a cute children's bicycle, her eyes sparkling, staring at everything in front of her for a long time.
She felt that she must have come to a magical world.
Toru Watanabe captured this scene on his mobile phone.
They walked along the street, and almost every time they entered a store, the merchandise on display captivated Xiaolian.
"Archer!" She raised her little face, pulled Watanabe Toru's sleeve, turned her head and said to him as if she had found a treasure, "The hat is so cute."
"Do you want it?" Toru Watanabe squatted on one knee and looked at the hat with her.
A children's sun hat with a beautiful blue ribbon bow .
"Hmm!" Xiaolian's eyes widened, "Want to buy it for us?"
"How about trying it on first? If it looks good, buy it."
Xiaolian stared at the hat for a long time, shook her head, and said childishly:
"Forget it, Mom told me not to spend Archer's money carelessly."
"Be good, auntie will buy it for you, okay?" Mrs. Qingye couldn't help but rub Xiaolian's head.
Xiaolian still shook her head.
"It's not a waste of money," said Toru Watanabe. "Hats are necessary in summer. Otherwise, you will get sunburned."
"Is that so?!" Xiaolian looked at him in surprise, "I've never worn it in summer!"
"That's because you were little before, but now you're grown up, so you get sunburned. Does Grandpa Tansho always wear a hat like this when he goes to the fields?"
Xiaolian opened her mouth wide, and suddenly she said with sudden enlightenment: "It is indeed a must-have in summer!"
Watanabe Toru stood up and asked the clerk: "Can I try it?"
"Of course!" the clerk said quickly, "This model is very popular with children and is the best-selling children's model in the store!"
Xiaolian put on the hat, looked at herself in the mirror, and let out a surprised and satisfied sound of "Oh".
"The sun hat and dress are a classic combination. Let's buy a dress next," said Rin Kiyono.
"Dress?!" Xiaolian turned her head to look at her.
"Let's go." Qingye Rin took Xiaolian's hand and they walked out of the store.
"Xiao Lian, your brother just lied to you. Getting sunburned has nothing to do with age, and it's not that easy to get sunburned in Karuizawa."
"..." Xiaolian stared at her blankly, "Do you want to return the hat?"
"I'll ask you a question. If you answer it correctly, you don't have to pay it back."
"We will answer it correctly!"
The two of them walked out of the hat shop like an older sister leading her younger sister.
The remaining four people looked at them. Kujo Miki hugged her elbows and sneered, "She's like her sister."
"Is Miki jealous?" asked Kiyono Yuko with a smile.
"Jealous?"
"Rin's sister, there was only Miki before."
"Is that so?" Mrs. Kujo looked at her daughter with a smile.
Miki Kujo stared at the two of them coldly.
"Don't make my Meiji angry!" Toru Watanabe hooked Kujo Meiji's shoulders and walked out of the store to chase his sisters.
"Are you kidding me?" Miki Kujo turned her head and stared at him.
"It's called making you happy."
"Watanabe Toru, you are becoming more and more presumptuous, Miss..."
The ladies looked at the two men's disappearing backs, glanced at each other, and laughed at the same time.
Two young women who looked to be in their twenties followed, arm in arm.
Buying a dress at a clothing store;
Enjoy the aroma of tea in a special tea restaurant and eat cake while watching the rushing stream;
Find the oldest taste of Karuizawa brewed with centuries-old craftsmanship at the Jam Shop.
Xiaolian found everything new and exciting. She followed Watanabe Toru closely at first, but eventually became familiar with her sisters and aunts and only discussed things with them.
"Xiao Lian, it's almost time to go. You will be staying here for a month, so you will have plenty of time to come and visit." Mrs. Kujo said.
Xiaolian leaned over the window with her hands, taking a last reluctant look at the half-man-high beehive.
Next to the beehive, there is a small hill made of honey jars.
After Mrs. Kujo's persuasion, Xiaolian finally walked out of the store.
She held Qingye Rin with one hand and held the dragonfly doll with the other: "Sister Rin, there was a bee nest in our house."
"Really?" Qingye Rin asked knowingly.
"Yeah! But not this big, only as big as mom's fist. We picked the flowers and wanted them to collect honey, but mom destroyed the bees' home the next day."
"Xiaolian's mother is doing this for Xiaolian's own good."
"Yeah." Xiaolian nodded.
After leaving the honey shop, they went to the supermarket.
Xiaolian was amazed and said intoxicatedly, "Is this a supermarket?"
"This is considered small. When we return to Tokyo, auntie will take you to a real shopping mall," said Mrs. Kiyono.
"Um!"
"Xiao Lian," Watanabe Toru took a shopping cart, "Do you want to push it?"
"Let's push!" Xiaolian raised her hand.
Xiaolian struggled to push the large shopping cart, and Watanabe Toru helped her carry the dolls.
"Let's have pork shabu-shabu tonight!" Mrs. Kiyono happily selected the ingredients.
We only bought enough for dinner - which is not a small amount for six people. Moreover, the ladies obviously did not have the concept of "almost enough to eat" when buying things. Although it was only dinner, they put the ingredients they wanted into the shopping cart as soon as they saw them.
The ingredients for the day are bought on the same day, including the bread for the morning.
I don’t know if I can sustain a life of buying ingredients and cooking every day, but it’s totally fine to try it occasionally, like this August.
After buying the ingredients, Xiaolian was already tired.
We had originally planned to go to a coffee shop called "Maruyama" to buy coffee beans, but the two ladies had to go by themselves.
Watanabe Toru, the two young ladies, and Xiaolian, the four of them sat on a bench under the shade of a tree, eating ice cream cones and waiting for them.
There was a pile of shopping bags around Toru Watanabe, and at Xiaolian's feet was her children's bicycle. She was wearing a sun hat and holding a big-eyed dragonfly doll in her arms.
In front of us is a small forest park with some children's facilities arranged among the tall trees.
Slides, seesaws, locomotives, and mazes made of ropes.
"Do you want to go out and play?" Miki Kujo asked Xiaolian.
Xiaolian was concentrating on eating her ice cream cone. After hearing her words, she raised her head and looked at the park.
"Sister Meiji, do you want to play with us?" she asked.
"Let your sister Rin accompany you." said Kujo Miki.
Xiaolian turned her head and looked at Qingye Rin.
Qingye Rin was too tired to say anything and just shook her head quietly.
Xiaolian looked at Kujo Miki again.
"Let your brother accompany you." Miki Kujo glanced at Toru Watanabe.
Xiaolian looked at Watanabe Toru again.
Just as Watanabe Toru was about to speak, a group of fashionably dressed children came over and chatted.
When they were almost at the forest park, they ran and laughed, rushing towards the toys one by one.
In a blink of an eye, the children's facilities that were originally empty were filled with children.
Xiaolian looked at them blankly. This was the first time she saw so many people of her age.
"After we finish eating the cones, let's go play too," said Toru Watanabe.
Xiaolian ate the egg cone quickly.
At this time, Kujo Miki said, "Xiao Lian, if they ask you where you are from, just say Tokyo. If someone asks you where you live, just say the forest villa on the 'Firefly Road'."
"Okay, I understand, Sister Meiji."
After Xiaolian finished her egg cone, she immediately jumped off the chair and looked at Watanabe Toru eagerly.
Toru Watanabe stood up and walked towards the park with Xiaolian.
After walking a few steps, he turned around and said to the young lady who was still slowly eating her egg cone, "Watch out for the good stuff."
Miki Kujo said nothing, but just waved her hand.
After watching the two go away, Kujo Miki said, "Getting closer to Xiaolian, is this your way of getting closer to Watanabe?"
"Not entirely." Qingye Rin looked at the ice cream in her hand.
The sunlight shining through the leaves overhead made it look very warm.
"Guess whether Watanabe has seen through your despicable tactics." Kujo Miki said with a smile.
Qingye Rin looked at her calmly.
"The decisive reason why I treat Xiaolian well is because she is Watanabe-san's sister. Do I need to see through this?"
After saying that, she laughed: "If you want to say that I am indifferent, Watanabe-san likes girls like me, no, he just likes me."
Miki Kujo looked at Rin Kiyono for a long while before she sighed:
"Sometimes I really envy you. Why am I always winning, but you are still worried about this and that and can't be optimistic?"
“Because you know you’re going to lose.”
Kujo Miki sneered: "I can't be as inexplicably optimistic as you, but I am confident that I will never lose. Kiyono Rin, who never lies, tell me, do you really think you can beat me?"
"No matter what, I won't lose." Qingye Rin looked at Watanabe Toru playing on the seesaw and thought of the starry night over the Pacific Ocean.
As I was lost in thought, I suddenly felt a chill on my fingers.
The cone in her hand melted because it had been in the sun for too long, and a drop of it fell onto her snow-white, slender fingers.
After staring at it for a while, she took out a tissue and wiped it off gently.
The two stopped talking and looked at the park.
Toru Watanabe and Xiaolian were playing on the seesaw, and a little girl in a princess dress was standing by and watching them.
Toru Watanabe said something to the little girl and made way.
Xiaolian didn't say a word at first, but soon started playing with the little girl in the princess dress.
The two played on the seesaw and the slide, and finally sat on the slide without getting off, and studied the big-eyed dragonfly doll together.
They also seemed to compliment each other's sun hats and skirts.
Xiaolian danced with joy. The little girl in the princess dress occasionally said something, and Xiaolian stood there stupidly.
Then, Xiaolian spoke loudly with a serious face.
The little girl in the princess dress said something again lightly, and Xiaolian was stunned again.
Judging from Toru Watanabe's expression, the two children were not arguing, but were chatting happily.
The little girl in the princess dress suddenly pointed at Toru Watanabe under the slide and said something, then Toru Watanabe turned around and came back.
"What's wrong?" asked Miki Kujo.
"Children in the city mature so precociously." Toru Watanabe sat down on the chair.
After a while, Xiaolian slid down the slide and ran over here.
A little girl in a princess dress followed her.
Xiaolian ran up to the three of them, clenched her fist in front of her eyes with the hand that was not holding the doll, and asked Watanabe Toru excitedly:
"Archer, Santa Claus, doesn't exist?!"
Before Watanabe Toru could speak, the little girl in the princess dress behind Xiaolian said proudly:
"Ren-chan still believes in Santa Claus in her first year."
"Archer! Santa Claus, does it really not exist?!" Xiaolian asked loudly.
"There's no such thing as a perverted big brother standing under the slide and peeking at girls' underwear?" the little girl in the princess dress said to Toru Watanabe.
She pinched the beautiful sleeves of her princess dress and twisted her body in a proud and arrogant manner.
Watanabe Toru turned his head and said to the two young ladies, "Did you see it?"
"So? Did you see it?" asked Qingye Rin with a smile.
"Who would pay attention to that kind of thing!"
"Archer! Santa Claus!" Xiaolian shouted.
Watanabe Toru was a little embarrassed: "Go back and ask your mother how she is?"
"That doesn't exist, Xiaolian." said Qingye Rin.
Watanabe Toru: “…You are so strict.”
Xiaolian stood there with her mouth open.
The little girl in the princess dress was so happy that she seemed to want to dance. Then she took Xiaolian's hand and said:
"Lian-chan, even if Santa Claus doesn't exist, you can still ask 'the perverted big brother who stands under the slide and peeks at girls' underwear' to deliver the presents."
Xiaolian's eyes lit up again and she looked at Watanabe Toru: "Really, Toru?!"
"Really." Watanabe Toru nodded seriously.
"This is incredible." Xiaolian murmured, "My life almost changed."
"Lian-chan, shall we go back and continue playing?" said the little girl in the princess dress.
"Yeah! We want to play the Shinkansen!"
"Eh~~ That's boring, it's just a model train. But if you want to play with it, Ren-chan, I'll play with you."
"Thank you, Kaori-chan!"
Two little girls held hands and ran towards the train.
Xiaolian played the role of driver and conductor, and the sun hat became a work hat.
The girl named Kaori, along with the dragonfly doll, played the role of a passenger.
The two of them were playing very seriously, selling tickets, getting on the bus, announcing stops, and arriving at their destinations in an orderly manner.
When the two ladies came back, Xiaolian waved goodbye to the girl in the princess dress:
"Kaori-chan, goodbye!"
"Bye, Ren-chan! Let's play together tomorrow, and I'll take you to see the dragonfly that can land on your finger!"
"It's a deal!"
"Um!"
"You've made a friend, Xiaolian." Mrs. Kujo pressed Xiaolian's sun hat.
"……Um."
On the way back, Xiaolian rode her bicycle with a dragonfly doll in the basket and rode forward.
Green shade, sunshine, birds singing, the wind blew her hair again, and light flashed in her clear eyes.
Back at the villa that blends in with the forest, Mrs. Kiyono begins cooking dinner.
Use bonito and kelp as the base, then add pork slices, mushrooms, tofu and cabbage.
The pot was bubbling and boiling, and other ingredients, dipping sauces, and drinks were placed around it.
"Does anyone need rice? I've soaked the rice for twenty minutes in advance." said Toru Watanabe.
"Give me a bowl." said Qingye Rin.
"We want some too!" Xiaolian handed over her bowl.
Miki Kujo handed the bowl over without saying a word. Toru Watanabe struggled for a second and chose her bowl.
Mrs. Qingye picked up a piece of meat from the food plate, cooked it in the boiling soup, dipped it a little in the dipping sauce, and placed it in Xiaolian's bowl.
"Xiao Lian, try it."
"Thank you, Aunt Youzi." Xiaolian ate the meat along with the rice.
"Is it tasty?"
"Mm, delicious!" Xiaolian also cooked a piece of meat and passed it to Mrs. Qingye, "Aunt Youzi, this is for you."
"Thank you, Xiaolian." Mrs. Qingye couldn't help but pinch Xiaolian's little face.
Even though her face was pinched, it did not stop Xiaolian from putting the ingredients into the pot.
In a wooden villa, with warm lights, six people were enjoying delicious food at an exquisite dining table.
"Xiao Lian," Mrs. Jiu Tiao asked halfway through the meal, "Is it more fun here or in the countryside?"
Xiaolian lowered her head, lost in thought, not knowing how to answer.
Watanabe Toru looked at her and said:
"Xiao Lian, you may think the countryside is good because you missed your mother and everyone else after leaving Jianze. Or you may think it's fun here because it's your first time in the city and you haven't seen anything. Don't jump to conclusions."
Xiaolian raised her head and looked at him.
"Each kind of life has its own fun. Only after trying them all can you know what you like. Xiaolian, you can choose any kind of life you want, but you can't look down on another kind."
"Okay, we understand." Xiaolian nodded obediently.
Watanabe Toru rubbed her little head and continued:
"You can catch fish in the fields of Mizawa Village and ride a bicycle in the forest of Karuizawa. You treat both equally, Xiaolian. You are already an amazing elementary school student."
"We want to be the most amazing elementary school students!"
"Yeah, just like your brother."
"Is this Watanabe-kun's way of education?" Mrs. Kiyono said with a smile, supporting her chin with the hand holding the chopsticks.
"What kind of educational method? I just say whatever I think of, and I won't force Xiaolian to do anything." Watanabe Toru replied.
"I don't force others to make a choice, but I influence them imperceptibly." Qingye Rin said to herself while eating.
Watanabe Toru picked up a large bottle of drink from the ice bowl and asked everyone, "Who wants one?"
After eating and taking a shower, Xiaolian went to bed early because she had been sitting in the car for a whole day and walking for a long time.
She was wearing her old pajamas at home, lying on the soft big bed, covered with snow-white bedding, and a dragonfly doll was placed next to her pillow.
Toru Watanabe covered her with a blanket.
"Archer, we miss mom and dad."
Watanabe Toru looked at her slightly moist eyes, sat on the bed, and whispered:
"Then think about tomorrow."
"tomorrow?"
"Well, didn't you make an appointment with Kaori-chan to go see the dragonflies that land on your fingers?"
"Um."
"There's also a mailbox, the red one you saw today. Tomorrow I'll send a commemorative card from Karuizawa to Mom and Dad, and I can put a photo of Xiaolian in it."
"We need to send it!"
"Then look forward to tomorrow coming soon."
"Um!"
"Brother, let me tell you a story, a story about treasure . A long time ago..."
"How long ago?"
"1621."
"It was a long time ago."
"Yes, a long time ago, so long ago, Spain plundered its colonies brutally. Gold, silver and other rare resources in South America were shipped back to Spain by shipload..."
