Chapter 309: Karuizawa in August (4)
"You're sleeping in on the first day." Mrs. Kujo said to Miki Kujo who came out of the bedroom.
Miki Kujo had her long hair loose, was yawning, and was still wearing long-sleeved and long-pants pajamas.
Her crystal skin looked even whiter between her night-black hair.
"Good morning, Sister Meiji." Xiaolian said like an alarm clock, her attention still focused on how to use the knife and fork to deal with the sausage.
"Yeah." Kujo Miki responded lazily and walked to the dining table and sat down.
Toru Watanabe took some bread from the basket and gave it to her and poured her some milk.
The freshly bought bread, paired with their favorite coffee, black tea, milk, some grilled sausages and salad, was their breakfast on the first day in Karuizawa.
"Did we go together this morning?" Miki Kujo took the bread and asked Toru Watanabe.
"Um."
"What did you do?"
"I went running, bought bread, and went to the bookstore." Toru Watanabe looked at Xiaolian. The sausage was rolling under her knife and fork.
"Why didn't you hide in the woods and do something to apologize to God and Meiji?" Mrs. Kujo took Xiaolian's knife and fork and stabbed it into the sausage neatly.
"Oh——" Xiaolian looked at the grilled sausage pierced by the knife and fork with admiration.
"Meiji, you must get up and go with me tomorrow," said Toru Watanabe.
"I'll rest for the next three days." This was said by Qingno Rin.
She took a bite of the fluffy French toast with her soft cherry-colored lips and continued, "If I finish reading the book, I will get up early on a morning that is not my responsibility."
Miki Kujo put down the bread and started eating Toru Watanabe's salad with a knife and fork.
She had a thoughtful look in her eyes, as if she was thinking about how to fight back, or whether she should get up early in the morning.
"I'll make another one." Toru Watanabe pushed the salad some towards her.
"No, I'll just eat a few bites." said Kujo Miki.
As she ate, her eyes returned to normal, but she did not respond to Qingye Rin, which made people wonder if her expression just now was just because she was not awake yet.
"Arche, I also want to go buy bread with you." Xiaolian held a sausage knife and fork in her left hand and milk in her right hand.
"Xiao Lian rides her bike too slowly. Just wait for Brother Archer to come back home." Mrs. Qingye wiped the milk foam off her upper lip with a tissue.
"How can we go faster?" Xiaolian asked.
"Take off the training wheels." Watanabe Toru tore off a small piece of bread and put it in his mouth. "I'll teach you this morning."
As soon as she finished her meal, Xiaolian pushed out her children's bicycle.
On her thin neck hung the cell phone that Kujo Miki gave her yesterday. Just in case, Kujo Miki told her to carry it with her at all times and remember to charge it every night. Xiaolian remembered all of it.
Toru Watanabe found tools and helped her remove the training wheels.
Hold the body of the bike and let Xiaolian ride forward . If she falls, step forward to hold her up in time. Repeat this process.
By noon, Xiaolian had successfully learned how to ride a bicycle.
At this time, someone called the villa. A woman with a voice full of carefreeness invited the two ladies to go and play.
"Let's go together? It's at the villa over there on the 'Waterwheel Road'." Mrs. Kujo looked at the three boys and girls, and a child who was happily riding a bicycle.
"Talk to you about jewelry , whose children are getting married, whose families are getting divorced, and how to fight aging?" said Kujo Miki without any interest.
"What you said is so rude." Mrs. Kujo looked at her daughter with a reproachful look.
The two ladies said that the six of them would go to the horse farm together tomorrow, and then they went to visit hand in hand.
Watanabe Toru glanced at Kiyono Rin opposite him.
She was sitting in a rattan chair on the terrace of the villa, enjoying the fresh air and the sunshine shining through the woods. She was reading the book she had bought in the morning.
Neither Kujo Maki nor Kiyono Yuko specifically asked her whether she was going.
Such a gathering was out of the question for her, who could see through lies.
"Not only this kind of party, but also the New Year, any party... Because of the lies, I don't even have friends." Watanabe Toru looked at the sunlight falling through the leaves.
In Japanese, there is a special word - "木漏れ日", which refers to the sunlight shining through the gaps between the branches and leaves of trees.
Watanabe Toru sat on the rattan chair and crossed his legs.
He tapped his fingers leisurely on his thigh and sang:
"Everyone who comes is a guest, and it all depends on your mouth. Smile when you meet, and don't think about it after you leave. When people leave, the tea gets cold. There is no need to lie or not to lie."
Amid the crisp sound of birdsong, the melodious and lingering sound of Peking Opera can be heard.
Qingye Rin raised her eyes from the book and looked at him with a slight smile.
Watanabe Toru looked relaxed, as if he was singing whatever he wanted.
"This woman is so unusual. Her attitude is neither humble nor arrogant. Her expression is neither gloomy nor masculine..." Kujo Miki smiled and sang in Chinese.
Toru Watanabe could no longer remain calm, feeling embarrassed as if he was caught cheating.
He didn't expect that Kujo Miki actually knew Peking Opera. How could she use her eight points of intelligence on something like this?
Kujo Miki was still singing. At the end, she waved her orchid finger, and her slender white finger touched the tip of Watanabe Toru's nose. She sang meaningfully in a beautiful voice:
"This straw bag is a wall to block the wind."
Qingye Rin couldn't help but laugh, it was very beautiful.
"Are you a good match?" Kujo Miki asked her with a smile, her chin resting on Watanabe Toru's shoulder.
The shade of the trees is dense, the sun is bright, there is a handsome and clean boy, and an exquisite and charming girl.
Qingye Rin put away her smile, snorted without comment, and continued reading the book in her hand.
Miki Kujo withdrew her gaze from her and looked at Toru Watanabe with a smile.
"..." Watanabe Toru.
"You still say you are an ordinary person. Are there any high school students from the island country who understand Peking Opera? And you can find Peking Opera that expresses your feelings."
"It's pretty average." Watanabe Toru picked up the tea and took a sip. "Understanding the culture and learning songs are just one of the ways to learn a language. I can also sing Spanish songs."
"Hmm? Sing for me." Kujo Miki said with a smile.
"Sueno cuando era pequeno~" (I dreamed of my youth)
"Sin preocupación, en el corazón~" (No worries, in your heart)
"Italian song." said Miki Kujo.
"Caro mio ben, credimi almen, senza di te, languisce il cor~" Toru Watanabe sang a small aria with Neapolitan folk characteristics using Western singing methods.
"Archer, what are you singing?" Xiaolian parked her bicycle under the terrace.
"It's an Italian vocal piece, or song, 'Mon Amigos.' 'My dear, please believe me, I would be sad without you.'" Toru Watanabe replied.
It was almost noon and the four of them prepared to go out for lunch.
Miki Kujo went back to the dressing room in her bedroom to change clothes, and Toru Watanabe followed her in.
He stood at the door, watching her unbutton her pajamas one by one, revealing her smooth skin and delicate waistline.
"What are you doing standing there like an idiot? Bring me a bra." Miki Kujo turned her head and looked at him.
"What color do you want?"
"With a white T-shirt."
Toru Watanabe picked a light-colored bra.
A bra, a white T-shirt with a very summery feel, and a long skirt with ruffles that reached her ankles, Kujo Miki put on her pieces one by one.
"Aren't you going to scold me?" Watanabe Toru couldn't help but ask.
"The Kiyono family and the Kujo family are friends and cooperate with each other. I don't like her, but I hope she can take over the Kiyono family." Kujo Miki lifted her long hair out of her T-shirt.
She turned around and said to Watanabe Toru, "Even you can't do this. She is just like that."
Toru Watanabe looked at Kujo Miki in front of him.
"What's wrong?"
"Meiji, you've changed a lot."
"It's all because of you." Kujo Miki said unhappily.
Watanabe Toru put his arms around her slender waist, and Kujo Miki suddenly and naturally hooked her hands around his neck, and the two looked at each other tenderly.
"Even if I change, will you still like me?" asked Miki Kujo softly.
"Sister, I will always belong to you." Toru Watanabe replied.
"Hmm..." Kujo Miki made a satisfied sound, "I will always be your Miki."
"My beautiful girl." Toru Watanabe sniffed the fragrance of her hair.
…
The two left the bedroom, and Qingye Rin was putting the sun hat she bought yesterday on Xiaolian.
"Remember to take the scenery photos and put them in the mailbox on the street later." Watanabe Toru reminded Xiaolian.
"Um!"
The four of them rode their bicycles through the light-dappled, emerald green forest, hearing birdsong and the sound of the stream rushing over pebbles.
Most of the tourists coming and going ride bicycles.
We arrived at our destination, a shopping street called Kyu-Karuizawa Ginza-dori, where the most restaurants in Karuizawa are concentrated.
After parking the bicycles, before eating, the three of them accompanied Xiaolian to mail a letter.
A red mailbox stands at the door of a store that sells beautiful envelopes with various covers.
Xiaolian lay on the low table, muttering and writing:
"Mom and Dad, I'm in a place called Karuizawa. There are forests and rivers here, but I don't see any rabbits. Archer, my sister, and my aunt are very kind to me. I miss mom and dad a little. Today I learned how to ride a bicycle, and I want to go see dragonflies."
After writing, she carefully put the letter, the landscape photos sold in the bookstore, and the travel photos taken for her by Toru Watanabe into the envelope one by one.
Walk out of the store, stand in front of the mailbox, stand on tiptoe, and put the letter in.
"Mr. Mailbox, I'm counting on you." She stroked the mailbox and said.
"Let's go, Xiaolian," said Watanabe Toru, "Let's go have lunch."
"Hmm!" After walking a few steps, Xiaolian turned back again and stared at the mailbox for a long time.
It's like watching how letters are sent out through a mailbox, and also like missing my parents.
We had lunch at a soba noodle restaurant.
Toru Watanabe deliberately wore a baseball jacket to serve as a cushion for Miki Kujo.
Eating buckwheat noodles cold in summer, a bamboo basket of noodles with a bowl of sauce, is refreshing, cooling and appetizing, and tastes very good.
Season the sauce according to your personal preference, pick up some noodles, dip them in the sauce bowl, and then slurp them.
Each person gets a portion of soba noodles with various tempura placed in the middle, which has a crispy texture.
Xiaolian picked up a prawn and looked at it with shining eyes for a long time before taking a bite.
After lunch, when Xiaolian was buying ice cream, her cell phone rang - it was the girl in the princess dress named Jiazhi calling.
"Toru, Kaori-chan asked us to go to the station! We need to go to the station!"
"This is the station." Toru Watanabe pointed to Karuizawa Station not far away.
Xiaolian blinked, was stunned for a while, picked up the phone again, and said excitedly:
"Kaori-chan, this is terrible, I don't know why I'm already at the station! But it doesn't matter, this way I can meet up with you soon!"
"Um!"
"Um!"
Xiaolian nodded twice, her expression as serious as a soldier listening to battlefield intelligence.
After hanging up the phone, she said to Watanabe Toru in a deep voice: "Toru, we need to move to the Hoshino Resort."
"Wait till the ice cream is ready."
"Is it done?!" Xiaolian looked over quickly.
Toru Watanabe took the colorful ice cream and mocha coffee ice cream from the waiter, bent down and handed them to Xiaolian.
Looking at the two ice creams in her hand, Xiaolian said to Watanabe Toru, "Toru, you are wrong. We only have one."
"And the other one for your friend."
"Our friends?!"
"Um."
"Kaori-chan?!"
"Kaori-chan."
"Kaori-chan is our friend!" Xiaolian said happily, and when she saw that only Watanabe Toru didn't have ice cream in his hand, she suddenly reacted.
"Archer, here's your chance to have a bite of our ice cream." She held the colorful ice cream high.
"Yes, thank you."
Just as Toru Watanabe was about to bend down and take a symbolic bite, Miki Kujo grabbed him by the back of the collar and pulled him back.
"She's just a child, and she's my sister. How can this not be allowed?" Toru Watanabe asked her.
"no."
"Then let me have a bite of yours."
Kujo Miki handed over some ice cream and said, "If you dare to eat it all in one bite, I will divorce you now."
Watanabe Toru's open mouth half closed.
After buying ice cream, the four of them strolled to the Hoshino Resort.
Once again, I appreciate how well Karuizawa fits in with the natural environment: there are mountains, water, trees, and light; it is pristine but not rough, but an exquisite natural environment.
Xiaolian and Jiazhi met on a lawn.
"Lian-chan, come here!" Kaori was still wearing a princess dress today and looked like a little princess.
"Kaori-chan!" Xiaolian ran over and handed over the mocha coffee ice cream, "Here you go!"
Kaori looked at the earthy-colored ice cream with a look of resistance.
"Ah, la la," Watanabe Toru came over and imitated Kiyono Rin's annoying tone, "Miss Kaori, can't you drink coffee?"
"Of course you can eat it!" Kaori snatched the ice cream.
She stuck out her little tongue and cautiously moved it upwards, while at the same time, her little head tried hard to move away from the ice cream.
He licked it with the tip of his tongue and immediately frowned.
"Kaori-chan, you look so painful, what's wrong?" Xiaolian asked with concern.
"It doesn't hurt, not at all!" Kaori took another lick, her expression becoming even more distorted.
"As expected of Ms. Kaori, you can actually finish a whole coffee ice cream. You're already an adult." Watanabe Toru praised.
"Yes, I'm an adult and I will eat it all." Kaori said, almost crying.
A group of dragonflies were hovering on this neat lawn.
"Ren-chan, if you raise your finger, a dragonfly will land on it, but you have to be a good girl." Kaori raised her index finger, and soon a dragonfly landed on her fingertips.
"Oh——" Xiaolian looked at him infatuatedly.
"We want one too!" She raised her index finger as if imitating someone else. A dragonfly made two tentative moves and then landed on it.
Toru Watanabe took out his cell phone and took a picture of the two of them.
"Let's try it too? Let's see who is the good kid." He turned his head and said to the two young ladies with a smile.
Qingye Rin raised her index finger, which was so white that it was almost transparent under the bright sunlight.
Kujo Miki also raised an equally flawless finger.
After a while, a dragonfly landed on each of their fingertips, and Watanabe Toru recorded the scene.
When he was looking through the photo album, he saw dragonflies circling around him and subconsciously raised his index finger.
A dragonfly slowly landed.
The moment it stopped, Toru Watanabe seemed to merge with the lawn and forest, becoming a part of the beautiful scenery here.
It wasn’t a very interesting thing, but it was a very precious memory - in the sunny August of that year in Karuizawa, they were on the lawn, letting dragonflies rest on their fingertips.
