Volume 3 Hello, Eri Chapter 284: Blooming Cherry Blossoms at the Foot of Mount Fuji (Part 4)
"Haven't you been playing with supercars since you were a child? You can't even repair a family Toyota car?" Chu Zihang watched Caesar stick his head under the hood and busy himself.
"It's really embarrassing for us rich people to ask this. We can drive the car ourselves, but that doesn't mean we have to repair it ourselves. If I can't drive it temporarily, there are many people who will help me deal with it. All I have to do is change a car and continue driving. It's like I can cook a lot of meals, but I absolutely don't want to touch barbecue." Caesar tinkered with it.
"Does barbecue offend you Italians?" Chu Zihang doesn't like barbecue because it's too greasy, but there's a guy who likes it, and his favorite is the pig intestines on the barbecue stall. When Chu Zihang was a child, he had to accompany that man to the roadside stalls. Even his mother in a white dress looked unhappy, but she had to accompany that man to eat greasy food and drink. So he actually has a special feeling for barbecue.
"When you're grilling on your lawn, there's always a bunch of hungry ghosts around you, eager to grab your chicken wings before they're done, and you're also likely to get smoky with the coal ash, so I only cook the elegant food you'd find in a Western restaurant. Speeding is a very manly thing, but repairing cars is not sexy. Believe me, no girl would want to hug you if you smell like engine oil."
"If you don't want to smell the oil, let me do it." Chu Zihang really didn't want to see this Italian continue to perform ineffective operations. Caesar didn't know how to repair a car at all. He basically poked here and there, like hitting a watermelon. This made Chu Zihang feel like he was tied to a chair, and someone was using his computer to download Baidu and 360 packages, and chose to install them with one click.
Chu Zihang took off his shirt and threw it into the car. Those were clothes from Takama-ga-hara's store. The gigolos in Takama-ga-hara would be provided with several sets of top brand clothes. If they were damaged, the compensation would be a hefty sum. As Caesar said, they were indeed short of money now.
Caesar was happy to have someone take over his position. The toolbox in the trunk was like a wrench for a master mechanic in Chu Zihang's hands, disassembling those complicated parts accurately and quickly. He had never learned to repair cars, but the engines of family cars were not complicated, and most machines had similar structures. As a pure engineering man, he could do these jobs skillfully after mastering the principles.
Caesar watched Chu Zihang operate skillfully. His upper body was naked, with only his muscular chest dripping with sweat. The orderly mechanical sounds had a unique beauty to them, and Caesar couldn't help but whistle frivolously.
"Well, I have to admit that if it were you, repairing cars would indeed attract ignorant young girls." Caesar leaned against the car door.
This is a green tree-lined path. The heavy rain in Tokyo has finally come to an end. Everyone comes out to breathe in the long-lost sunny day. The JK girls riding bicycles pass by the Honda that has broken down. Their eyes are not on Caesar's handsome face, but on the mechanic whose head is invisible. Caesar has never thought that there is a man in the world who can make mechanics so sexy. I always feel that if he is not standing here, those girls may be brave enough to pat Chu Zihang's butt when they pass by, and then ride away with their tongues sticking out before he turns around angrily.
The Porsche drove out of the highway leading to Yamanashi Prefecture. Lu Mingfei parked the car on the side of the road and rushed into the supermarket. When she came back, it was almost like a group of girlfriends sweeping the mall. There were an astonishing number of things of all sizes. The trunk could not fit them all, so even the back seat was filled.
Eiry asked in surprise what they were going to do with all those things, and Lu Mingfei smiled and said you would know soon.
The engine started again, and the Porsche continued to move forward. The surrounding terrain gradually became lower, and the shadow of Mount Fuji flashed in front of the lush forest. It was still spring, and the snow on Mount Fuji had not yet melted. As the highest peak in Japan, it was truly spectacular. One of the characteristics of an active volcano is that its top is not very sharp, but like a flat circle. From a distance, it looks like it is wearing a white hat, and clouds are floating on the top of its hat, making people wonder what is on the top of the mountain.
Eri took off her goggles. This was the first time she saw Mount Fuji. Although she was Japanese, she had never even heard of the name of Mount Fuji. Now that she saw it with her own eyes, she vaguely understood why it was the symbol of Japan. The terrain around Mount Fuji is quite flat and low, and its shadow can be seen from dozens of kilometers away. People living nearby can get a glimpse of its appearance whenever they look up, and naturally they will feel a kind of yearning and admiration from their hearts.
This was also Lu Mingfei's first time here, but as a foreigner, she seemed to be very familiar with the surroundings and didn't need to look at the road signs at all. The Porsche drove onto the bridge across Lake Kawaguchi, and fishermen's boats were slowly passing under the bridge. Although this place has been developed into a scenic spot, fishing is still not banned. There are many fishermen engaged in activities around the Fuji Five Lakes, and their families will open hotels or B&Bs around them.
The car rotated along the tree-lined avenue. On both sides of the road were the Somei Yoshino trees in full bloom. Cherry blossoms slowly fell on the hood of the car. Eri reached out to touch them, but the wind blew them past her fingertips. Some people in work clothes were using ladders to hang something on the cherry trees. Many single-family houses could be vaguely seen around, each of which was quite large. They were probably the properties purchased by wealthy people in Tokyo around Mount Fuji.
They slowly drove into a small lane branching off from the main road. There was a shop next to the lane. Lu Mingfei got out of the car and went into the store to greet the owner and sign. When she came back, she was carrying a tent and some cooking utensils, filling up the already limited space in the car, making it look like she was moving.
Continue driving forward and go down along the road. At the end of the path is a sandy area by Lake Kawaguchiko. Now is the peak tourist season. Numerous camping tents are blooming in this area like colorful mushrooms. In the parking lot in the distance are the guests' cars. The adults are busy setting up the tents, and the children are playing football and jumping on the sand.
This is a private camping site. Although Kawaguchiko is a scenic spot developed by the government, a lot of the surrounding land is still private, just like this small open space, which can only be entered with the owner's permission. The owner simply developed this place into a camping site, and as long as you pay a fee, you can come here to enjoy the beautiful camping under Mount Fuji.
The air by the river is indeed very refreshing. After staying in crowded and rain-washed Tokyo for a long time, you will subconsciously feel that even breathing there is a sense of pressure. But it is completely different here. Birds fly through the shade of the trees, biting each other's wings. The lake is as clear as a silver screen shining with afternoon sunlight. The sand makes a slight sound with every step. The best tatami cannot compare to the pure natural atmosphere.
Eri stood in front of the car and looked at the Mount Fuji in the distance. The wind from the lake ruffled her long hair and her ruffled skirt fluttered. The pine forest behind her swayed like the sea and the cherry blossoms on the high ground spun in the wind and fell towards the shore. The football rolled and stopped at her feet. The children looked at each other, blushing as they walked to their beautiful sister and bowed their heads and said sorry. Eri smiled and shook her head, then bent down to pick up the football and threw it high to them, watching them kick it so hard that it seemed to fly high into the sky and then hit the stone sculpture on the side of the road.
That is a Stone Ksitigarbha, which is actually a small stone Buddha statue standing on the roadside. The Stone Ksitigarbha Temple is not a real temple. It is just a one-foot square brick roof built on the head of the Stone Ksitigarbha to shelter him from rain. With this cover, it is the Stone Ksitigarbha Temple.
The football rolled away, and the children chasing it also ran away. They didn't care that the stone shed of the Jizo was smashed crooked. Children nowadays don't believe in gods and ghosts. Only during the annual shrine worship will they obediently follow the adults to clap their hands and make wishes.
Eri piled up the stones around the stone Jizo temple one by one and built a small rain shelter for it. Each stone was covered with a little water-soaked moss and some scratches from hand grinding. It was unknown how many years this thing had stayed here alone, staring blankly at the lake like a sentry stationed on duty.
Eri twisted the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva so that it could face Mount Fuji. The statue seemed to know Eri's kindness and smiled at her. Eri put her hands together and worshiped Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva again and again. She placed a rice ball in front of the stone Ksitigarbha, but a squirrel ran over and stole it. When Eri looked up again, the cunning little thing had already sneaked into the woods.
She always says that the world is so big, but the world she knows is nothing more than a city called Tokyo. She doesn't know that in Siberia in the north, bears will break into people's homes and steal fish from the freezer. She also doesn't know that the beaches in Sanya in the south are full of swimsuit beauties holding coconuts and trying to get a tan. On the other side of the sea, Alaskan dogs are running wildly on the snow, pulling sleds. There is no one living on the other side of the world, but there is a group of clumsy penguins shaking their steps and asking you if you want to recharge your Q coins.
It turns out that the real world is actually such a place that you can never walk through or see it all in your lifetime. You think that the place under your feet is the most beautiful city, but there is always another one waiting for you in the distance. The people there speak a completely different language from you and have a different history and pride. If you go there, they will warmly entertain you with things you have never seen before. This is the real world.
"Sakura is not Japanese, right? How did you know such a beautiful place?" Eri wrote in the small notebook.
"I've always thought that I must see Mount Fuji when I come to Japan, so I did a lot of research and found out what's here." Lu Mingfei threw the things in the car onto the ground one by one. There were a lot of things, and she was a little tired. She pointed in different directions while panting. "That's the hot spring hotel, where you can enjoy a steam bath. That's the Kubota Itchiku Museum, which has a beautiful collection of kimonos. That's the Muse Museum, which has all kinds of strange dolls. A little further over there is the Music Box Forest, which is full of musical instruments. But the best thing should be the Sakura Festival here."
"Sakura Festival?"
"There is a festival every year when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom on Mount Fuji. From the mountain to the surrounding Fuji Five Lakes, gorgeous light strips are hung. That's why there are so many people here, and that's why I'm in such a hurry. If I come late, there will be no good place." Lu Mingfei opened the bracket and prepared to start setting up the tent. This kind of thing can be done quickly by her alone. Wilderness survival is a compulsory course in Kassel College, and camping is much simpler than wild survival. "We will spend the night here tonight. We don't need to sleep on beds or tatami, but in camping tents!"
Hui Liyi curiously watched Lu Mingfei put up the brackets one by one. The seemingly simple pieces of cloth soon stood up and formed a small triangular shed, like a large loaf of bread. This was a tent rented from the campsite. Lu Mingfei bought a red one because Hui Liyi's hair was red, thinking that she might like this color more.
Lu Mingfei put the sleeping bag into the tent and spread a carpet, then waved to Eiry to come in. There was really nothing to see in such a small place, it was only used for sleeping, but when Eiry came in she still looked at everything curiously, then carefully took off her shoes, and fell down like Lu Mingfei, then rolled around in her arms and laughed.
In fact, Lu Mingfei had planned this place very early. When she learned that this trip was to Japan, she spent a lot of time doing her homework. She originally wanted to drag Chu Zihang here to camp overnight after all the tasks were completed. There are mountains, water, cherry blossoms and beautiful girls. Even if the man named Chu is a fool, he should be more or less touched by the beautiful scenery, and maybe they will applaud for love together.
But in the end, this plan became a gift for Eri. When she made the decision with the two bosses this morning, she had already brought up this long-planned thing in her mind and was ready to realize it. This is the most beautiful place in her heart, and every detail is exactly the same as the photos she saw on the website.
This may be Eri's last free trip. After this, she will board the ship to Kassel College. The people there will be nice to her, but they will not allow her to run around like the people from the Snake Eight Families. What's even better is that the area around Kassel College is large and crowded. At least the students and professors there will not be as cold-blooded and reverent as the people from the Snake Eight Families, who will keep their distance from Eri. She will become one of them.
So Lu Mingfei decided to bring Eri here, and hoped that she would like this place, because what would happen in the future was already destined, and before that, of course, some unforgettable memories had to be left behind, no matter whether the choice was right or wrong.
