The bus drove through the long mountain road and entered the snow country.
Every winter, Shirakawa Township is covered with heavy snow, and the snow can even reach one meter of depth, and the whole world seems to be immersed in fairy tales.
There is also the traditional "palm-shaping" here. The so-called pair of palms is a thatched hut with herringbone roofs, dozens of pairs of palms are connected into one piece. The roof is covered with thick white snow, like a paradise in a fairy tale.
In summer, tourists who are reinstalling hiking will set out from here and cross the entire difficult 'Northern Alps Circle'.
In autumn, a turbid wine festival will be held here, and people in Shirakawago will invite tourists to drink a cup of white wine mixed with rice.
In winter, skiers will come here to rent a family hot spring hotel, ski during the day and take a hot spring bath at night.
Qingchen got off the bus with a backpack that was almost one person tall and followed the map to find the family hot spring hotel he had rented.
In this snow country, a narrow gravel path was cleared by the locals, and next to the road was covered with snow, which seemed to be an alternative "winding path".
But when Qingchen came to the hot spring hotel he rented, he was stunned.
Just because the snow in front of other hot spring hotels has been swept away, there is still thick snow in front of this small hot spring hotel.
In fact, when he rented this place, all other hotels had been booked, but this hot spring hotel was not cared for.
Qingchen looked through the reviews of the hot spring hotel at that time, but almost all the results were negative.
"The old lady in this hot spring hotel can't cook, the food is hard to eat and hard to swallow."
“The temperature in the hot springs is not enough.”
“The hygiene in the hotel is not very good.”
There are several negative reviews like this.
However, Qingchen didn't care. After all, he was not here for vacation. No matter how difficult the conditions here are, it would not be more difficult than in the A02 secret military base.
He stepped over the snow that was deep in his waist and walked up to knock on the wooden door.
The wooden door opened quickly, and a little girl of eight or nine years old stood at the door and looked at Qingchen.
Qingchen said in Japanese: "Hello, I'm a tenant."
The little girl immediately said enthusiastically: "You are finally here, come in quickly! My name is Shinki Shinji!"
As he said that, the little girl hurriedly took Qingchen's slippers, and even took out a soft short broom made of straw, and gently patted Qingchen's dust on her body.
This made Qingchen feel very strange. Why is an eight or nine-year-old girl working in a hot spring hotel that is open?
Where have adults gone?
But after seeing the little girl ask Qingchen to sit down in the living room, she carefully brought out a cup of hot tea from the kitchen.
She then carefully explained after handing it to Qingchen: "Sorry, because my grandma fell ill a few days ago, she couldn't get up to sweep the snow, nor could she do these things to serve tourists... Are you hungry? I'll prepare meals for you."
Qingchen didn't say anything, just nodded slightly.
He saw the little girl carrying a small chair into the kitchen.
The other party stood on a small chair, arduously burning fire, frying fish, making thick egg crumbs, and mixing miso soup.
I am not proficient in working methods, and I think I have just learned it for a while.
That hard work looks strong that is not consistent with age.
Qingchen looked at it silently, a little dazed.
The little girl is very delicate, with thick hair, fluffy and cute.
Her clothes were all old, and there was a homework book next to the dining table in the living room. It seemed that before Qingchen arrived, the other party was writing homework.
He heard a faint breathing sound in a certain bedroom inside, accompanied by coughing from time to time. This should be the little girl's grandmother.
"What disease did your grandma have?" Qingchen asked.
The little girl was silent for a moment, then turned around and squeezed out her smile and said, "Grandma has lung cancer and is not contagious, don't worry."
Qingchen didn't say anything, but he probably understood something.
So, in fact, the negative reviews given by those tourists were all because the little girl's grandmother was in poor health a long time ago, so she could not do her best to run this hot spring hotel.
The little girl looked cautious, just like Qingchen herself when she was a child.
It grows like a wild grass, growing wildly but stubbornly.
She tried hard to show her enthusiasm and then kept Qingchen.
Generally speaking, the guests of hot spring hotels only rent for two or three days, and it is rare to have a guest like herself who rents for a month like this. The little girl was afraid that Qingchen would change to other hot spring hotels due to negligence.
Qing Chen took out two third-level magic cubes again and turned them slowly.
This is no longer a single purpose. When he was "restored" the Rubik's Cube, he was still thinking about the situation of the little girl and the hot spring hotel. In fact, it was a single purpose.
I don’t know where the little girl’s parents went, so that the other party had to learn to please customers at a young age and take on everything the other party shouldn’t have to bear.
After a while, the little girl returned to the dining table with a tray.
She slowly placed the tray on the table and asked tentatively: "Have you seen any online reviews of our hotel..."
Qingchen nodded: "I saw it."
The little girl lowered her head: "We have nothing to do, but can you please stop changing hotels. I can help you wash your clothes, I will wash them very clean!"
Qingchen shook his head: "No, thank you."
"profound……"
He picked up the rice in front of him and picked up a bite of fried fish, which was salty.
Extremely salty.
The little girl looked at Qingchen for dinner, afraid that Qingchen would say it would not be delicious.
However, what surprised her was that the brother in front of her said nothing, and he had finished all the food seriously, without leaving any left.
She saw that Qingchen ate so cleanly that she thought she had made a great deal this time.
But she knew her cooking skills very well, so she hesitated for a while before asking: "Is it delicious..."
Qingchen glanced at her: "It's not delicious."
The little girl didn't know how to respond for a moment. She always felt that this brother had a temperament that was to keep people from thousands of miles away, as cold as the weather in Shirakawa Township.
It also looks like a thick snow on the roof of a thatched hut thatched hut with its hands together.
After Jian Qingchen finished her meal, she brought out a bowl of white wine from the kitchen, holding the bowl in her two small hands, looking particularly pitiful.
Shinguji Temple Maki said: "This is our white wine. It was made from the mountain spring water that my grandma picked up, which is better than other homes."
Qingchen shook his head: "Sorry, I won't drink."
He had to stay awake, not even a trace of alcohol would touch him.
Shinguji Maki stood at a loss, and the white wine was used to entertain guests, and she never thought she would be rejected.
She lowered her head and whispered: "Your room is on the left hand side, connected to the hot spring in the backyard. Don't worry, grandma and I will not go there. The beds have been laid. You can call me anytime if you have anything."
After saying that, the little girl named Shinguji Shinji Maki returned to the kitchen humbly, took out a small cold rice ball from the cabinet, and started eating it in small bites.
As I ate, tears fell down.
In her opinion, this newly arrived guest might leave like other tourists because of the poor service here.
Qingchen ignored it. After dinner, he returned to his room. There was a paved mattress and quilt on the floor, which was washed fairly clean.
Shinguji Temple Maki wiped his tears, took away the used dishes and chopsticks, washed them in cold water, and his hands were frozen red.
Others have diesel boilers outside their houses, which can produce heating and boil water.
But she turned on the heating because heating is a necessary condition for entertaining guests.
If it is used to boil water, the little girl will feel that it is a waste of diesel, so she simply uses cold water.
In this way, their diesel heating can at least support Qingchen's lease expiration.
After the little girl packed everything, she whispered to open the kitchen drawer and took out the medicine, boiled a cup of hot water for her grandma and brought it into the house. Only then did the small hot spring hotel regain peace.
It was snowing outside the house, as colorful as the paradise where seven dwarfs lived in fairy tales.
Some people are playing snowball fights and some are building snowmen.
The room was quiet and everyone went to bed early.
...
...
The next morning.
Shingujima Maki woke up next to her grandma. She first touched her forehead and finally breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that her fever had subsided.
The little girl glanced at the quartz clock hanging on the wall, suddenly yelled, and hurriedly got up and went out to cook.
She got up late. According to the agreement of the hot spring hotel, she would prepare breakfast for Qingchen before 8 am, but now it is 8:10 am.
When Shinguji Temple Maki arrived at the living room, he was stunned because the door of the room where Qingchen was located was already open and the bedding inside was neatly folded.
However, Qingchen didn't know where he went.
Her expression dimmed, thinking that the other party had indeed left and had he moved to another hot spring hotel?
But when I turned around, the little girl saw a stack of money left on the dining table and a note written in Japanese: I will come back before 8 pm and leave me the meal. Thank you. The money is the full rent in advance, so please accept it with confidence.
Shinguji Maki stood silently at the dining table.
In Shirakawago, most of the time the rental fee is paid when you leave, and you only need to pay a deposit when you check in.
She understood that the brother saw her financial difficulties, so he gave her the rental fee in advance.
Shinji Temple Maki opened the door and wanted to see where Qingchen went. But as soon as he opened the door, he saw that the snow in front of the door had been swept away and a gravel path was neatly cleaned up.
Just like in front of other people's hot spring hotels, it even cleaner.
The little girl was stunned for a while, and she recalled Qingchen's behavior of keeping others thousands of miles away last night.
I thought to myself that although that brother was very cold, he was very kind.
...But, the other party went out so early, where would he go?
She glanced at the room and found that Qingchen did not take the snowboard out.