Ogata was currently asking for directions from a passerby who happened to be walking opposite him.
"You keep walking along this road."
The passerby pointed at his feet.
"Keep walking, keep walking, and then you will see a village called 'Xinri'."
"After passing Xinri Village and continuing west, you can see Kyoto."
"Thank you!" After bowing deeply to the passerby to express his gratitude, Ogata got back on his horse.
Following the instructions of this passerby, Ogata rode his horse and ran forward along the dirt road at his feet.
After spending nearly half an hour, wisps of smoke slowly reflected in Ogata's eyes.
After discovering the wisps of smoke, Ogata hurriedly tapped the horse's belly with his heel again, driving the horse under his crotch to run faster.
Under the wisps of cooking smoke is a fairly large village.
The villagers in this village don't seem to hate outsiders.
After seeing Ogata galloping toward them, several old men who happened to be chatting at the entrance of the village warmly welcomed Ogata into the village.
Ogata asked these old men and confirmed that this village was Xinri Village. After leaving Xinri Village and walking some distance north to reach Kyoto, Ogata raised his head and took a look at the sky.
It's dusk now, and the sun is almost sinking below the horizon.
Looking at the sun that was about to disappear from the horizon, Ogata secretly decided to spend the night in this new village.
On the way from Owari to Kyoto, Ogata never walked at night.
In such an ancient society, there were no lighting facilities in the wild.
It’s really hard to see anything in the wild at night.
Walking at night is both inefficient and dangerous. Instead of wasting energy walking at night, it is better to have a good rest and retain enough energy to travel more during the day the next day.
Therefore, during the days when he went to Kyoto, Ogata always took a good rest at night and never traveled at night.
…
…
Ogata led his horse and walked slowly in Xinri Village.
Looking around, you can see hotels with various signs.
Wang Zehua, these hotels with various signs, Ogata said secretly:
——As the old men at the entrance of the village said just now, this village is developing tourism...
Just now, after confirming with the old men who were chatting at the entrance of the village whether this place was Xinri Village and whether it was possible to reach Kyoto by leaving Xinri Village and heading west, Ogata casually chatted with these old men for a few words.
According to what those uncles said - this Xinri Village was originally just an ordinary rural village.
But about eight years ago, a new village chief was appointed.
The new village chief is quite talented, and he keenly sees the biggest advantage of their new village - its proximity to Kyoto.
Kyoto is one of the largest cities in Japan. There are countless traveling businessmen and tourists who go to Kyoto every day.
Therefore, the new village chief of Xinri Village encouraged the villagers to open hotels.
Under the leadership and encouragement of the new village chief, some villagers who had enough money to open hotels opened hotels one after another.
The new village chief of Xinri Village’s policy of “developing tourism” has also been quite effective.
Every day, there are many people who are too late to arrive in Kyoto before dark, but do not want to walk at night - for these people, Shinri Village, which has a large number of cheap hotels, is the best place to go.
Therefore, since the "tourism industry" was launched under the leadership of the new village chief, Xinri Village has become slightly wealthier than before.
However, for some unknown reason, Ogata was told that every hotel in the village was "full".
Listening to "the guests are full" one after another, Ogata's heart gradually became heavy...
Just when Ogata began to suspect that he might have to sleep on the ground tonight in a place full of hotels, a kind-hearted old woman said to Ogata:
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"Samurai-sama, are you looking for a hotel with available rooms?"
Ogata nodded.
"Then you go straight along this road." The old woman pointed behind him, "If you go straight along this road to the end, you can see a hotel with the sign '和', which belongs to Granny Cao.
The hotel, Grandma Cao’s hotel should have some vacancies.”
"Grandma Cake?"
"That's our nickname for the proprietress of the hotel." The old woman smiled slightly, "Because she likes to eat grandma cake, a specialty of her hometown Kusatsu, so we all like to call her 'Grandma'."
After saying goodbye to this enthusiastic old woman, Ogata walked all the way to the end in the direction that the old woman just pointed.
At the very end of the road, there is a 2-story mansion with a decent floor area and a signboard with the word "和" on it.
——This should be it... Why does this hotel always feel so deserted...
Ogata said this secretly in his heart, while slowly opening the door of the hotel.
There were a few candles burning in the hotel, so the light was quite bright.
Just when Ogata was about to shout "Is there anyone there?", he heard the sound of "thump thump thump" footsteps coming from the depths of the hotel.
After a while, a short old woman appeared in front of Ogata.
The old woman was wearing a pale red kimono that had faded badly, and on her feet was a pair of white socks that also showed how old they were.
Although the clothes he was wearing were very old, both the kimono on his body and the socks on his feet were quite neat and clean.
The old woman came towards Ogata with a smile on her face.
After seeing Ogata's face clearly, the old woman seemed to smile even more happily.
"Hoo hoo hoo~~" The old woman covered her mouth and said with a smile, "Today's new customer is a handsome young man. My luck is really good today, mother-in-law."
"Good evening, you must be Grandma Cake, right?" Ogata couldn't help but smile at Grandma Cake's unique opening remarks just now.
"Hoo ho ho ho~ Sir, you still know my mother-in-law's name. I'm so happy. Sir, do you want to have dinner here or stay overnight?"
"Do you still provide food here? Then I need both dinner and accommodation."
"Okay!"
Grandma Cake quickly quoted a price.
The price was quite cheap, so Ogata happily agreed.
Under the guidance of Granny Ku, Ogata carried his modest luggage to the second floor of the hotel.
This hotel has 2 floors, each with different functions - the first floor is a restaurant and the second floor is a hotel.
Integrated board and lodging - this hotel is quite complete in function.
But after following his mother-in-law to the second floor of the hotel, Ogata was surprised to find that he seemed to be the only guest in this hotel.
Grandma Kuai, who was walking in front, seemed to notice the confusion on Ogata's face behind her, and smiled and said softly:
"Sir, you are wondering why there are no guests here, right?"
"This is inevitable. After all, our store is located in a relatively remote location, so business has always been average."
Although Granny Kui said these words with a smile, Ogata still heard a hint of disappointment in Granny Kui's words...
…
…
After putting his luggage in his room, Ogata followed Granny Kui back to the first floor, preparing to enjoy today's dinner.
This hotel does not offer many dishes, they are just ordinary home-cooked dishes.
Although the dishes provided are just ordinary home-cooked dishes, Granny Ku's cooking skills are quite good. Even if they are just ordinary home-cooked dishes, Ogata still eats them with gusto.
Since there is only one guest, Ogata, there are only two people in this hotel, Ogata and Granny Ku.
After all the dishes ordered by Ogata were brought to the table, Granny Cake walked towards Ogata with a smile and carried several pieces of cakes with rather peculiar shapes.
"Sir, come. Please use it."
"I didn't order this..."
"It's my mother-in-law who invited you to eat." Mother-in-law cake covered her mouth and said with a smile, "This is a specialty of my hometown - Omi Kusatsu: grandma cake."
"It's my favorite thing to eat."
“It’s also something I love to share with my guests.”
"A rare young and handsome guest is here today, so I'll treat you to some! Come on, eat quickly!"
"You can't even talk about being handsome..." Oofang looked helpless.
"I think you are very handsome, sir." Grandma Cai seemed to like to hide her mouth and smile, "Even though I am very old, I still like to look at young handsome guys."
"This is quite similar to my husband."
"My husband is also very old and still likes to look at beautiful young girls."
"Whenever I see a beautiful young girl, I stare at the back of her neck and her bare feet without footwear."
Grandma Kuai was so enthusiastic that it was difficult for Ogata to refuse.
After picking up the pastry called "Grandma Cake" handed over by Grandma Cake, Ogata did not rush to stuff it into his mouth, but looked at it up and down several times.
——New Year cake...
After simply looking up and down several times, Ogata realized that this cake seemed to be just a strange-shaped rice cake.
Now the rice cake is covered with a layer of red bean paste, and then a piece of white rice cake is placed on the red bean paste.
The size is just enough for Ogata to take one bite.
Throwing the pancake in his hand directly into his mouth, the sweetness immediately filled Ogata's entire mouth.
"More than two hundred years ago, when Rokkaku Yoshihide was attacked and destroyed by Oda Nobunaga, Rokkaku Yoshihide entrusted his great-grandson to a wet nurse."
"The wet nurse made rice cakes in her hometown and sold them on the main streets to support Rokkaku Yoshiken's great-grandson."
"Because this pastry resembles a wet nurse's breasts, it is called 'Grandma's Cake'..."
While Ogata was chewing the cake in his mouth, Mrs. Kui, who was sitting next to Ogata, was talking to Ogata about the history of the cake.
Ogata has no interest at all in the history of pancakes.
But I couldn't bear to interrupt the wet nurse or show obvious impatience.
After all, he liked the enthusiastic Granny Kua very much, so in order not to hurt Granny Kua, Ogata chose to be patient, pretending to be very interested and listening carefully, while listening to Granny Kui's "history lesson"
", while nodding from time to time.
…
…
Just when Ogata was quietly listening to Granny Ku's history lesson——
"Mr. Hasegawa, we are here. This should be the New Day Village. Tsk...it's so late, I don't know if there are enough hotels."
"Anyway, let's go from room to room first. It will be convenient to find a place where we can live."
…
…
After finally talking about the history of Lao Lao Cake, Granny Cake changed the topic:
"Sir, you are from Izumo, right?"
Ogata raised his eyebrows: "How do you know?"
"Because of my mother-in-law, I have received several guests who are from Izumo, so I immediately recognized from your accent that you are from Izumo."
"By the way, sir, let me ask you a question - is this a birthmark?" Grandma Cai raised her finger and pointed at the left side of her neck.
"Yes." Ogata touched the dark purple flesh on the left side of his neck, "Yes, this is my birthmark. Fortunately, this birthmark is on my neck. If it were on my face, I would be disfigured.
.”
The place that Granny Cake pointed to was naturally the place where the immortal poison lurked.
The place where the immortal poison lurks - that is, the skin on Ogata's left neck is still a deep purple.
This is not the first time Ogata has been asked what happened to the left side of his neck.
And Ogata has now figured out the best answer to these questions - these are birthmarks.
Grandma Kuai looked at the deep purple patches on Ogata's neck, her eyes filled with memories:
"I really miss it... My son also has a birthmark on his neck, but his birthmark is red and the area is not that big..."
After retracting her gaze from Ogata's neck, Granny Kui then asked Ogata:
"You traveled all the way from Izumo to Kyoto to attend the Gion Festival, right?"
"Ah?" Hearing Granny Ku's question, Ogata was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted and nodded, "Oh, um. Yes, that's right. I'm here to participate in the Gion Festival."
It was not convenient for him to tell Granny Kui about his true purpose of coming to Kyoto, so Ogata decided to tell the truth directly to fool Granny Kui.
"Then you came just in time." Grandma Kuai covered her mouth and said with a smile, "Today is July 16th, and tomorrow will be the busiest time for the Gion Festival."
"Sir, if you stay here all night, you won't be able to catch the busiest tomorrow."
Ogata didn't know much about the Gion Festival, and he didn't even know why tomorrow would be the busiest day of the Gion Festival - and he didn't want to know.
After all, he didn't come to Kyoto to participate in the Gion Festival.
So in response to what Grandma Kuai said just now, Ogata just smiled slightly and said perfunctory words such as "Yes, I'm so lucky."
"Tomorrow I will close the store here for the day."
A look of longing appeared on Grandma Cao's face.
"Tomorrow is the busiest day of the Gion Festival, so I have to go and join in the fun."
"Hohoho~ I'm really looking forward to tomorrow."
"It's a pity that no one is accompanying me, so I don't dare to play too much."
"Huh?" Ogata raised his eyebrows, "Granny, are you going alone?"
"Of course. After all, I have no family anymore."
Shock climbed onto Ogata's cheek.
"My husband passed away due to illness three years ago."
"After my husband passed away, I still had a son, a daughter-in-law, and a grandson."
"But... one day two years ago, their family of three went to Kyoto to buy things together."