Fantasy Library.

Chapter 515: Everyone is feeling bad

After leaving that day, Yoshino Asagi never returned.

Not only her, but even Hitachi Mako never returned to the Asatake family after leaving with Asatake Yoshino.

Later, Aize learned from Asagi Yasuharu that Hitachi Mako had taken Asagi Yoshino to the Hitachi family and probably wouldn't be back that night.

"Let us go and take a look."

Cong Yu seemed to care about the two's movements, so she also left the Asabu family and went to the Hitachi family.

In the enormous Chaowu family home, only the two old men were together tonight; there wasn't even anyone to cook.

Fortunately, Aize knows how to cook and has studied under a famous chef for two whole years, so he won't be unable to eat dinner.

Hitachi Mako had only decided to leave with Asagi Yoshino on a whim. She had already bought all the ingredients for dinner. Aize only glanced into the kitchen before immediately getting to work, preparing four dishes and a soup with nimble and skillful movements, leaving Asagi Anharu completely stunned.

After eating the food prepared by Aize, Chaowu Anqing gave his evaluation.

"Although it's a bit unfair to say this to Moko-kun, I still have to say that Ai-kun, your cooking is even better than Moko-kun's."

Clearly, this is a very high evaluation.

After all, Hitachi Mako has been in charge of the Asabu family's daily life for many years, cooking for them and her dishes are very much to the liking of Asabu Yoshino and Asabu Yasuharu. Yet now she is being told that she is not as good as Aizawa, which shows that Aizawa has really amazed Asabu Yasuharu this time.

All I can say is that having studied cooking with a famous chef makes a difference. Even though Aize only studied for two years, he has been recognized by his master and has been qualified to graduate. Even if he can't compare to those famous chefs, he should still be able to compare with those so-called master chefs.

This is still under the condition of only making everyday dishes.

Aize obtained a unique recipe from his master; if he were to bring out a famous dish from that recipe, it would be an absolute killer.

Unfortunately, the more famous a dish is, the more complicated it is to make. So Aize isn't really interested in these so-called famous dishes. Instead, he prefers convenient dishes that can be made in a short time. Generally, when he cooks, he tries to choose the easiest dishes to make. Today's four dishes and soup are a good example.

Unaware of all this, Chao Wu Anqing still sighed.

"I really want Yoshino and Mako-kun to try it."

Aize did not agree with this, but chatted with Chaowu Anqing for a few words after the meal before returning to his room.

Lying on the tatami mat, looking at the ceiling of the room, Aize felt that he was acting a little strange today.

His thoughts were also somewhat chaotic.

What echoed in her mind were the last words Chao Wu Anqing had said to her during the day.

"I hope you can forget what I said before, and forget your current situation with Yoshino, and seriously consider your relationship with Yoshino."

"The engagement was just my own decision, it's okay if you don't take it seriously."

"Just pretend none of this exists, and try to understand Yoshino and get along with her."

This was the last request that Asahi Ansei made to Aize that afternoon.

Aize could tell that both Asagi Anharu and Murakumo were worried that they would deny their relationship with Asagi Yoshino because of the existence of that so-called marriage contract.

Because she felt it was unrealistic, unstable, and merely a stopgap measure, Aize never took her engagement with Asagi Yoshino seriously, believing it was something that would be dissolved sooner or later.

Therefore, although he claimed to be Asagi Yoshino's nominal fiancé, he never actually considered himself a fiancé. He always treated the engagement as if it belonged to someone else, adopting an indifferent attitude and viewing it from a third-party perspective.

This is also why he has always been able to treat this engagement so calmly.

It is precisely because they don't care that they can treat others with indifference.

It is precisely because it is unrealistic that people feel it is none of their business.

Asatake Yasuharu's purpose in making the engagement was only to improve Yoshino's interpersonal relationships, not to actually get the two of them married. Asatake Yoshino felt that it was something that would cause trouble for others, and never showed any signs of an engagement in front of her so-called fiancé, Aize. Therefore, Aize always treated it as a joke.

With this mindset, he casually said in the afternoon that he should just get rid of it.

However, the situation developed in a way that exceeded his expectations.

While Asahi Yasuharu did indeed want to improve his daughter's interpersonal relationships, he wasn't entirely against the idea of ​​the two getting married.

Judging from his attitude, he actually supports the relationship and believes that if Aize and Asatake Yoshino continue to develop in this way, it might be a very good outcome.

Asatake Yoshino's attitude seems to have changed as well. Judging from her angry departure today, she doesn't seem to regard the engagement as something that must be dissolved.

Even Cong Yu and Hitachi Mako were surprised and at a loss after Aize proposed to break off the engagement, clearly not taking the engagement lightly either.

Whether it's Asagi Yasuharu, Murakumo, or Hitachi Mako, they all seem to be supporting Aizawa and Asagi Yoshino to continue on their journey.

That's why they were so silent and at a loss when Aize suddenly made that suggestion today, and eventually they all realized the problem.

Asagi Yasuharu realized that her previous words and actions had misled Aize, making him feel that the nature of the engagement had changed. So she seriously told him to put aside all factors and only consider his relationship with Asagi Yoshino.

Also in the afternoon, seeing that Aize was silent, Cong Yu threw him a question.

"We believe that Master and Yoshino are no longer bound together by a verbal engagement, which is why they are only forced to live under the same roof. Isn't that right?"

After saying that, Cong Yu didn't say anything else, seemingly not wanting to interfere with Aize's thoughts.

It was because of this that Aize finally realized something.

That is, he has never truly faced the fact that he lived in the Chaowu family for so long.

He moved into the Asabu family's residence for two reasons: first, because he had glimpsed a mysterious world and wanted to understand it more deeply and step into that realm; and second, because of Kurama Genjuro's request.

His grandfather had asked him to temporarily follow Chao Wuanqing's arrangements, so what else could he do?
All he could do was fulfill his filial duty. In his view, the reason he was living in the Asagi family's residence was because he had pulled out Murasame and was needed by the Asagi family.

They needed to remove Congyu Maru's self, so they begged her to move in, providing her with food, lodging, and even covering all her miscellaneous living expenses. The marriage agreement was only made for the sake of formality.

Since that's the case, he should just accept it calmly. After all, it's someone else who needs him to do this, so he naturally doesn't need to feel embarrassed. That's Aize's understanding.

But he seems to have a very one-sided and simplistic view of the relationship.

Or rather, he treated it all as a transaction, a collaboration, which was far too inhumane.

Does that mean everything that has happened during my time living here is meaningless?
Has there been no improvement in my relationship with the members of the Chaowu family? Has it always just been a transaction, just cooperation?
How can the interactions between people be so unchanging?

It now seems that the attitudes of the members of the Chaowu family have changed with each interaction, but he alone has not changed his mind and still maintains his original idea.

Am I just too slow to react, or too indifferent?

Aize couldn't help but rub his temples.

After thinking for a moment, Aize took out his phone, which he hadn't used much lately, and made a long-distance international call.

After a long while, the call was connected.

On the other end of the phone, a somewhat unexpected voice rang out.

"Is that you, you brat?"

Hearing this voice, which was somewhat long-lost, Aize's chaotic thoughts vanished in an instant.

"It's me." Aize squinted, somewhat annoyed, and said, "What? It's only been two or three weeks since we last met, and you've already forgotten your own son's voice and even his phone number? You old hag!"

Yes.

The voice on the other end of the phone belonged to Aize's mother in this life, Kurama Genjuro's daughter—Kurama Miyako.

"Have I forgotten my son's voice and phone number? Or have you, you brat, completely forgotten your precious old mother?" Kurama Miyako snorted and said, "I haven't been away from home for two or three weeks without even calling to check on my son."

Kurama Miyako wasn't speaking Japanese, but rather fluent Chinese.

As a native of Suiori, Kurama Miyako originally didn't speak Chinese. However, after meeting and falling in love with Aize's father, she put in a lot of effort to learn Chinese and can now speak very standard Chinese. She can even speak quite a bit of the local dialect of Aize's father and son's hometown.

The two usually communicate in Chinese, only switching to Japanese when they return to Suiori.

Incidentally, Aize speaks English quite well, so he is actually fluent in three languages, and can even utter a few words of Korean and Thai. He can be considered a multilingual expert.

Now, when Aize talks to his elderly mother on the phone, he naturally switches to Mandarin.

"I just didn't want to disturb your honeymoon with your dad," Aize said without a hint of guilt. "You know, someone actually sent her son back to her parents' house so she could travel with her husband."

Hearing Aize's sarcastic words, Kurama Miyako was not at all guilty.

“You should feel fortunate that your parents have raised you all these years and are still so loving. Others can only envy a family like ours,” Kurama Miyako said matter-of-factly. “Besides, it’s been so long since you’ve been back to Hoori. Isn’t it only natural to go and say hello to your grandfather?”

In this respect, Aize admires his parents quite a bit.

They were indeed very much in love, or rather, Kurama Miyako was really good at pleasing men. As expected of a girl from an island nation, a few soft words of Japanese would occasionally pop out and make her straight-man father's body and soul go limp, except for one thing that was hard...

To be honest, seeing how lovey-dovey they are usually, Aize himself felt that it was a miracle that he was the only son in the Aize family.

He even couldn't help but ask his own father if he was just past his prime due to middle age, which resulted in a double beating from both his parents...

Thinking about this terrible past makes Aize feel terrible.

"Come on, you just want to get rid of this unexpected burden and go enjoy your true love life. I've seen through you."

Aize voiced his dissatisfaction.

“You were an accident to begin with. If you had come a few years later, your dad and I could have enjoyed a carefree life for a while longer.” Kurama Miyako boldly spoke up, leaving Aize speechless. Aize, like Kurama Miyako, said irritably, “Also, don’t talk like you’ve suffered some great hardship out there. Aren’t you almost at the pinnacle of your life?”

“I sent you to work at your grandfather’s inn, and what did you do? Before I even went back with you, you actually managed to hook up with the priestess.”

"I still can't believe I'm dreaming. My stupid son, who only knows how to wield swords and spears, has actually become the priestess's fiancé, the son-in-law of the Asabu family?"

"You didn't suddenly awaken some kind of urban romance system, did you?"

Kurama Miyako's doubtful voice made Aize's eyes twitch.

"Mom, stop reading Chinese online novels. You're a Japanese girl, this style doesn't suit you at all."

Aize is already considering whether or not to tell his dad.

"Stop babbling." Kurama Miyako said in a somewhat unfriendly tone, "Aren't you about to marry our Princess Hoori? In this respect, your father is simply pathetic compared to you."

Although Kurama Miyako comes from a prestigious family—after all, the Kurama family is a very influential family in Hoori Town—many people were furious when she was seduced by Aize's father, and her husband was always incredibly proud of her whenever he talked about it.

The results of it?
Good heavens, the student has surpassed the master! My own brat went to Suizhi and even hooked up with the princess of the Asabu family. His father was stunned and kept sighing all night, saying that this was truly his son.

Are these two men the nemesis of us Suizhi women?
"What a pity." Kurama Miyako suddenly sighed and said, "The priestess beat me to it, and the daughter-in-law that your mother had her eye on is gone just like that."

Upon hearing this, Aize felt even worse.

Mom must be referring to Sister Luhua, right?
Surely it is, right?
You thick-browed, big-eyed stinky woman, you really are playing matchmaker with this kind of idea in mind!
(╯‵ ′)╯︵┻━┻

(End of this chapter)