Chapter 241 Zuo Wu Si Di, four girls gather together! (Part 2)【6
"Run errands? Ryogoku Bridge?"
"Well, yes. Didn't I go to help get rid of mice at Jinqi's house yesterday afternoon? I just found out that I seemed to have left a few tools at their house. I still have some urgent matters to deal with right now, so for the time being,
I can't get away. So I would like to ask you, young master, to run some errands for me and go to Shenqi's house to get back the few tools I missed."
"Okay." Kinoshita Mai said without hesitation, "I'll go now."
Kinoshita Mai closed the account book in her hand, stood up neatly, walked to the entrance not far away, and put on her pair of red button clogs.
"Do you know where Jinchi's home is?"
"Yeah. I know!"
"That's good. Go and come back quickly."
After saying that, Kiryu turned around and prepared to return to the back room of Qianshiya.
"Um!"
Kinoshita Mai, who had put on her clogs, opened the door of Qianshiwu's shop and walked away with brisk steps.
Listening to Kinoshita Mai's footsteps gradually disappearing, Kiryu slowly stopped and then faced the shop door again.
Looking at the front hall where the red shadow was no longer visible... Kiryu's right corner of his mouth turned up slightly, revealing a slight smile with a hint of relief.
"The young master is in a really good mood recently..."
Kiryu whispered in a low voice that he was the only one listening.
"People have become a lot more cheerful."
Compared with before, Kinoshita Mai is completely different now.
Kiryu Haruka remembered that more than half a year ago, Kinoshita Mai was timid even looking at strangers and speaking to them.
Running errands, helping to look after the front desk... these tasks that require contact with strangers were the jobs that Mai Kinoshita feared the most in the past.
Now, although Kinoshita Mai is still a little afraid of contact with strangers, her symptoms of "social anxiety" have undoubtedly improved a lot.
I am no longer so resistant to running errands, helping to look after the front desk, etc.
As the symptoms of "social fear" have been alleviated, Kinoshita Mai has become a lot more cheerful, no longer always looking down and gloomy.
Kiryu is naturally happy to see these positive changes in Kinoshita Mai.
"Is this the special magic that comes out after you become good with a certain man..."
After murmuring like this, the happy smile on Kiryu's face changed into a bitter smile with complicated emotions.
What was the opportunity that caused Kinoshita Mai to undergo these changes... Kiryu naturally knew it clearly.
"It seems... I had a lot of fun with Tachibana-kun the night before yesterday... I guess I didn't do anything extreme...?"
The night before, Kiryu kept his promise to Mai Kinoshita and did not secretly follow her or secretly monitor her and Aomori's itinerary.
Therefore, Kiryu has no idea what Aoto and Kinoshita Mai did the night before.
Kiryu, who has lived for more than ninety years, has seen many outrageous things that ordinary people would not even dare to think about. It is not uncommon for Kinoshita Mai to see this phenomenon of "becoming more beautiful because of love".
People with gloomy temperaments become increasingly lively because they fall in love with someone...
People with a lazy temperament start working hard because they get along with someone...
Introverts start to be more proactive in contacting the world because they get close to someone...
Kinoshita Mai's feelings for Aoden are far more sincere and passionate than she imagined - this is what Kiryu has come to realize recently.
Thinking of this, Kiryu couldn't help but think about a serious matter - how will the relationship between Aoto and Mai Kinoshita develop in the future? What are the thoughts and plans of these two young people about this?
According to Kiryu's observation, there is no doubt that Aoto has a high affection for Kinoshita Mai.
Both of them have now passed their coming-of-age ceremony and are old enough to get married.
Will Mr. Ju marry the young master?
Also, besides the young master...will he marry another woman?
In this era without advanced medical skills and hygienic concepts, it was extremely common for rich and powerful men to marry multiple wives in order to raise their family and continue their heirs.
However, ancient Japan, like the ancient Central Plains, followed the system of "monogamy and multiple concubines".
You can have many wives, but you can only have one main wife.
Due to his status, Kiryu couldn't get involved in Kinoshita Mai's future marriage and couldn't interfere.
He also didn't know what conditions and requirements his lord had for his future grandson-in-law.
Kiryu only knows one thing: no matter whether the Lord does not allow her future grandson-in-law to marry many other wives, her precious granddaughter must be the main wife!
There is no need to ask the lord about such matters.
Anyone with a little common sense knows that the status of the side room in the family is far inferior to that of the main room.
With the lord's strong and strong temperament, how could he tolerate Kinoshita Mai's lower family status than other women?
Not to mention the lord.
Kiryu himself couldn't tolerate Kinoshita Mai becoming someone else's concubine...even if that person was a disciple he admired very much.
Kiryu couldn't help but wonder - how would he react if one day, Qingden told him: "I want to take Mai Kinoshita as my concubine and marry another woman as my wife"...
By then, there should be a fierce master-disciple battle!
Kiryu thought to himself in a very determined tone.
——As a helper... you can also ask Ogata-kun to come over and help. Ogata-kun will definitely be happy to help teach anyone who dares to bully the young master a lesson.
…
…
Edo, Koishikawa Kohinata Yanagi Town, Imperial Guard Hall——
"...Jun."
A voice came from afar.
"...Tachibana-kun."
The sound gradually approaches.
"...Tachibana-kun."
A familiar voice.
"Tachibana-kun, what are you doing?"
A small white hand shook back and forth in front of his eyes.
"……Um?"
Qingdeng's consciousness came out of his "daze" state and he blinked his eyes hard several times.
Then he lowered his chin and looked into the eyes of Souji, who was standing in front of him, standing on tiptoes and swinging his outstretched right hand back and forth in front of his eyes.
"I finally came to my senses."
Souji relaxed his raised toes and placed the soles of his feet back on the ground.
"Ji Jun, I have been calling you just now. My mouth was almost touching your ear, but you didn't respond at all. What are you thinking? You are thinking so seriously."
"Uh...it's nothing..." Qingto raised his hand and rubbed his face, covering up his embarrassment while changing the subject, "Is Hijikata here?"
"Not yet." Souji replied, "Mr. Hijikata is still arranging his hair. Really... it's just a comb, why does it take so long..."
At this moment, Aoto, Souji, Kondo, Inoue, Saito, Nagakura, Harada - these young people from the trial defense hall, plus Todo who was invited, are gathering at the trial defense hall at this moment.
The entrance of the museum.
Tonight is the last night of the fireworks display.
At the same time, this group of young people from the Trial Guard Hall met together to go to the fireworks display for a night.
Originally, in addition to Toudo Heisuke, who often came to the trial defense hall, they also extended invitations to Shusuke, Abi, Kubei, Souji's sister and brother-in-law, and others.
Todo nodded readily and accepted the invitation.
However, Zhou Zhu and the others refused on the grounds of "they are too old to bear such lively activities" and "we are not sensitive to places with many people like this".
In the end, the only people participating in tonight's event were young people like them.
At present, everyone, all dressed up, has gathered at the entrance of the Trial Guard Hall...except Hijikata.
"Wait for me a moment, I want to comb my hair. It'll be ready soon" - these were Hijikata's exact words to everyone 5 minutes ago.
Since Hijikata has said so, we can only wait for him first.
In sitting or standing postures, the people "looking up and down" in the entrance hall performed a "various expressions of living beings".
Like the reincarnation of a sloth, Saito likes to remain motionless in a daze, standing in an inconspicuous corner, wandering to an unknown place.
The three of them, Nagakura, Harada, and Toudo, were sitting on the wooden porch adjacent to the entrance hall, chatting away from one another.
Kondo and Inoue talked seriously about the recent business conditions of the trial gym.
The general manager woke up Qingteng who had just been thinking about something.
Everyone had changed into summer-style yukatas tonight, only Ayoto and Souji were still dressed seriously.
Underwear, hakama, cloth socks, straw sandals... not a lot of them.
Qingdeng wore this outfit to make it easier to fight when he encountered the remnants of the rebel group who might come to seek revenge outdoors.
The reason why Souji dressed up like this was to prevent others from recognizing that she was a girl.
Speaking of which - Souji wore a new purple hakama tonight.
There are 5 neat pleats on the front body, which perfectly outline Souji's slender waist.
The new purple hakama worn by the Souji formed a harmonious color scheme with her white blouse, the purple ribbon tying her hair, and the purple clogs on her feet.
The beautiful purple color adds a lot of liveliness and youthful atmosphere to the headquarters.
Although his mind was temporarily brought back to reality by Souji's call just now... But now, Qingden's consciousness began to "break away" from his body unconsciously.
The scenes he saw this morning appeared before Qingdeng's eyes again like snowflakes.
…
(Anyway, fireworks displays are held every year. If you can’t go this year, you can wait until next year.)
…
(Haha...it's okay...! Master, you don't have to look like this. If you can't go, then you can't go...!)
…
The words Elodie said to him this morning are still ringing in Qingden’s ears even now.
Elodie's forced smile never dissipated from Qingden's mind throughout the whole day.
The words "It's okay, it's okay", and the words "I can wait until next year to go"... are just nice words.
If she really didn't regret "missing out on this year's fireworks display", then she wouldn't have cried with her eyes red and swollen this morning.
After all, she is still a 12-year-old child.
Although she pretended to be mature and indifferent, her words and expression today all declared to Qingdeng her sadness...her desire.
Thinking of this, Qingdeng felt even more uncomfortable and depressed.
——Is there nothing... that I, the master, can do...?
Qingdeng raised his hand impetuously and rubbed the center of his brow vigorously.
Sudden--
"Sorry, sorry for keeping you waiting."
Hijikata's voice finally appeared, and he quickly approached the crowd along with his footsteps.
"It's so slow!"
Souji, who was squatting next to Aoto taking a rest, stood up and continued angrily.
"It's just a haircut, why does it take so long... hmm?"
The rest of the words were stuck in Souji's throat and could not be uttered - the moment Xun Sheng looked towards Hijikata, she couldn't help but be speechless.
It’s not just the General Secretary who is like this.
Aoto, Kondo...in short, everyone present now focused their astonished eyes on Hijikata, who was striding towards them.
"Sorry, I haven't had such a serious hairstyle in a long time."
Hijikata grinned and raised his hand to touch the bun on his head.
"So I accidentally spent a little more time."
Hijikata usually doesn't care much about his hairstyle. He usually only uses a thin band to tie his hair casually behind his head.
But now, he actually has his hair braided into a neat and beautiful bun.
The hair on the temples and forehead is also neatly combed and shiny.
Such a serious hairstyle changed Hijikata's whole temperament, making him less of a gangster and more of a gentleman.
This temperament coupled with his handsome and handsome face... I am afraid that no one would have thought that this handsome man was actually a farmer and a gangster who had nothing to do with the "handsome young man".
"Hijikata." Nagakura was the first to ask the question that was lingering in everyone's minds at this time, "Why did you suddenly change your hair style... to such a serious hairstyle?"
"Ah Sui..." Kondo, who was standing next to Inoue, let out a long sigh, "Are you... planning to pick up a woman again?"
"That's right!"
Hijikata snapped his fingers hard at Kondo and smiled evilly.
"I haven't been to such a popular celebration for a long time."
"The annual fireworks display will surely attract a lot of good girls."
"If I don't take this opportunity to get to know a few more girls, wouldn't it be a waste?"
"Hahaha, I'm really looking forward to tonight!"
After saying that, Hijikata put his hands on his hips and laughed.
Everyone knows what a romantic person Hijikata is.
So after listening to Hijikata's explanation, everyone headed by Souji all had expressions like "Ah, so that's it..." and "Hijikata, you really deserve it."
Only one person's expression at this moment was different from the others.
That is Qingdeng.
Qingdeng suddenly opened his eyes and stared at the ground in front of him.
Inspiration is a very strange thing...
It always pops up suddenly at strange times.
Hijikata's prodigal remarks just now gave Qingto a sudden inspiration.
This inspiration changed rapidly and finally turned into a... bold idea!
"……Everyone."
Qingdeng's sudden voice attracted everyone's attention and attention.
"I... have something to discuss with you."
…
…
Edo, residence, Angoulême's house, third floor, Elodie's room——
The door is closed.
The south-facing windows are wide open.
At this moment when all the light sources in the room have been extinguished, only the moonlight spilling in from the window brings a slight brightness to the room.
The bright brilliance composed of silver light particles floated quietly in the sky above the room, flowing as far as Elodie's bed, dividing the room with Elodie's bed, creating an extremely contrasting light and shadow.
Intensely neat halves.
The moonlight made the spacious bedroom shadowy, as if covered with a thick layer of fog.
Outside the window hung the night breeze that was slightly heavy due to the hot and humid atmosphere.
The sound of the wind emphasizes the silence in the room, and at the same time makes the only "light" in the room...the moonlight that silently confronts the darkness even more lonely.
At this moment, a wisp of night wind passed through the window, sending out a light whisper, sending a bit of coolness directly into Elodie's bed and into Elodie's quilt.
Elodie, wearing a pure white nightgown, was lying on her back on the bed, her sapphire-like eyes looking straight at the ceiling that was dyed gray by the night and moonlight.
In order for Elodie to grow up healthily, Anthony has very strict requirements on Elodie's sleep time.
Under Anthony's rules, Elodie must go to bed at 8 p.m.
Of course - Elodie would often stay up late to read or do other things.
But tonight, she obviously didn't have the energy to crawl out of bed.
——If I could go to the fireworks display... then I would definitely be having a lot of fun at the festival right now...
——Ah, no, no, no... I have clearly decided not to think about such sad things anymore...
The dark night, the spacious room where you are alone... Such an environment can easily amplify the negative emotions in people's hearts.
Elodie is in this situation now.
I have obviously made up my mind not to dwell on the regret of not being able to participate in this year's fireworks display...
Obviously I can understand grandpa's good intentions very well, and I know that grandpa also really wants to take her to play...
But Elodie just feels so wronged...
Although she occasionally behaves willfully, Elodie believes that she has always been a good and obedient child.
Not to mention it was a terrible disaster, Elodie had never done anything like petty theft.
As the saying goes, "Good people are rewarded with good things, and evil people are rewarded with evil things." As a result, I, a person who has never done any bad things, encountered all kinds of unlucky things one after another.
Not to mention the long past... Even now, my little wish of "wanting to go to the fireworks display" cannot be fulfilled.
The more Elodie thought about it, the more uncomfortable she felt...A thin layer of water vapor appeared in her eyes again.
In order to calm her emotions, Elodie raised her hand to wipe away the layer of mist covering her eyes, while taking several deep breaths.
——Okay... don't think about it anymore...
——Go to sleep quickly...
Elodie repeated to herself in a dull tone as if she was trying to hypnotize herself.
——There’s nothing to be sad about...it’s not like I’ll never be able to attend the fireworks display...
——Let’s wait until next year...
——When next year... my little wish will definitely come true...
Under her constant "hypnosis", Elodie's eyelids slowly sank.
Although these beautiful sapphire-like eyes were still shining with sadness and unwillingness... But as Elodie gradually closed her eyes, this light gradually disappeared into the dark night...
Just at this time--
Tuk-tuk-tuk...
At the window, there was a sudden knocking sound on the window frame.
"Huh?"
Elodie's eyes that had just been closed opened them again.
Tuk-tuk-tuk...!
The sound of the window frame being knocked came again...and this time the volume was louder and clearer.
——What's going on with this sound...?
With doubts in her mind, Elodie lifted up the thin quilt on her body, got out of bed, put on her slippers, and walked towards the moonlight little by little with careful steps.
After arriving at this window with not only the curtains drawn, but also the window wide open, Elodie looked in the direction from which the sound came—under the window.
What she saw before her eyes made Elodie's pupils shrink in shock, and she couldn't help but exclaim in her native language:
"Master? (French)"
Below the window of Elodie's room happens to be a wide street... If there is a passerby on this street at this time, and if this passerby is looking up, then he will be able to see such an amazing scene——
A young warrior, like a spider, clung to the exterior wall of the third floor of the house, grabbed the window frame with both hands, and hung his whole body at the bottom of the window.
"Good evening, Elodie." Qingden raised his head and smiled at Elodie, "That's great... you're not asleep yet."
Elodie, whose little face was dominated by a look of intense doubt, stared blankly at Qingden who was greeting her.
My head was instantly filled with a lot of questions.
"Master, master, what are you doing? Do you know how high it is here? If you fall down accidentally, you will be seriously injured even if you don't die."
As Elodie spoke anxiously, she turned her head and looked around.
After confirming that there were no pedestrians on the street outside the window and that Anthony and Leroy downstairs were not aware of their movements, Elodie hurriedly stretched out her hand to Qingden.
"Come on, master, come up quickly and enter my room."
"Then I'll bother you..."
Qingden pushed his arms hard, turned over the window with extremely neat movements, and entered Elodie's boudoir.
"master."
Elodie looked at a loss as she circled around Qingden.
"You, are you here to find me? Why did you come to me at this time? Did you climb up along the wall of the house? Are you injured?"
Elodie fired a series of questions at Qingden.
Qingdeng was not in a hurry to answer Elodie's questions one by one.
He kneaded his arms that were sore from climbing up to Elodie's room a few times... and then raised a friendly smile to Elodie.
"Elodie, let's go to the fireworks display."
*******
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The recent hot weather in Guangzhou and the damn mosquitoes have disturbed the author so much that he can’t even take a good rest (Leopard Death.jpg)
So you can't blame the author for being short, it's all about the weather and mosquitoes... Without them, the author would have grown longer (Leopard's Wind and Frost.jpg)
