Living in Tokyo, all I want to do is laze around.

The clumsy girl, having settled her small feet, thanked him repeatedly.

“I’m not slacking off,” said Uesugi Kai, sitting on the scorching hot stone, staring intently at the ground. “And I don’t like to slack off.”

Uesugi Shio's earrings, dyed in a sky-like color, complemented her tied-up long black hair, making her stand out.

She understood that sometimes it was best to just listen to what A-Zhao said and not take it too seriously.

"So what's the deeper meaning behind you watching ants eat orange peels here?"

Kai Uesugi closed his eyes and sat quietly in place.

"?" Uesugi Shio, who was holding a basket of oranges in one hand, looked at him in confusion.

With a focused expression, Uesugi Kai opened his kind eyes slightly and spoke slowly, his words unexpectedly enlightening:

"It's not me looking at the ants, but the ants looking at me."

"..."

"You went to Taishan Temple to study?" Uesugi Shio asked with surprise, carefully examining the old monk-like figure.

Taisan-ji Temple is located on the mountain behind Sakura-oka, which is relatively close to here.

Uesugi Kai clapped his hands and stood up. Gone was the air of a meditating old monk; he began to speak in his usual tone:

"I'm just putting on an act. If I were to become a monk, what would happen to Xiaohuahuo's happiness?"

"Aren't there many monks getting married these days?"

"Professional monks, those who sell their reputation, are not worth mentioning."

As they talked, Uesugi Kai headed toward the truck below the terraced orchard.

Uesugi Shio glanced at his back, then at the basket of oranges he had cut but hadn't taken away, and understood.

All that rambling is just a way to be lazy.

Kai Uesugi didn't completely slack off; he then diligently helped Hanabi Hanabi.

Hanabi Hanamaru, seeing him standing above, pushed the oranges into the truck and whispered:

"Kai-kun... do you want to go out today?"

After finishing her work, Uesugi Kai casually picked up an orange, turned around, and said, "I'm going hiking today."

"Are you going to see that Hachiman Shrine...?" Hanabi Hanamaru stood on tiptoe to look at him, then quickly put her feet down when he approached.

"Little Fireworks wants to go too?" Uesugi Kai squatted on the truck, eating a segment of jelly-like orange.

"Hanabi really wants to go with Kai-kun..." Hanabi looked up at him.

Kai Uesugi handed over a peeled orange: "Have some oranges, they were just picked, super fresh."

Faced with the tangerines she had been particularly fond of and had been eating for the past few days, Hanabi Hanamaru hesitated and didn't take a bite.

"Don't you like oranges anymore?" Uesugi Kai held the soft, bouncy flesh of an orange to her delicate nose.

"No..."

Hanabi Hanabi gently sniffed the sweet aroma of the mandarin orange with her snow-white nose, and subconsciously swallowed.

Kai Uesugi could tell that she really wanted to eat it, so he deliberately played a trick and waved an orange in front of her.

With a slight, tempting smile, she said, "Really... you don't want to eat?"

"Well......"

Boys will never understand how girls feel when they want to eat desserts but are afraid of gaining weight.

They only try to seduce girls when they're about to lose control.

Once the girl has gained weight, they'll say: "I told you not to eat so many desserts!"

"Eat one piece, and you can eat as many as you want." Uesugi Kai continued to tempt her with words, and used the food to hypnotize her.

Hanamaru Hanabi is the most restless girl with an irresistible urge to eat.

Her beautiful, violet eyes followed the orange segment in Uesugi's hand as it spun around.

Then, standing on tiptoe, he swallowed it in one gulp.

"Good girl." Uesugi Kai patted her head with his other hand. "Want some more?"

"I want to eat..." Hanabi said obediently, tilting her little face up.

With a thud, Aunt Uesugi Yoshiko loaded another basket of oranges onto the cart, and teased Uesugi Kai, who was squatting on the cart feeding oranges to the girl:

"Ah-Zhao, Hanabi-chan isn't your cat. Feeding her oranges like this will make her gain weight."

Ehime mandarins are seedless, and their flesh is like natural jelly with a particularly high sugar content.

If the sugar content of a regular sweet orange is 8%, then the sugar content of an Ehime orange is over 15%.

Oranges and cats?

Orange cat?

Kai Uesugi suddenly remembered his chubby self. Hanabi Hanamaru had been wondering why the Uesugi cat hadn't come to his house before.

What's wrong with being a little chubby?

It's cute, and its chubby little belly feels nice to touch.

Kai Uesugi turned to the side and took another orange from the fruit basket that Yoko Uesugi had just put in the car, peeling it open.

While continuing to feed her Hanabi-chan oranges, I tried to avoid the question of treating her like a cat:

"Auntie, isn't it supposed to be the golden autumn of October? Why are the oranges in Grandpa's orchard ripe in August?"

"There are varieties of oranges that ripen in August, but your grandfather's oranges..."

Uesugi Yoko flashed a hearty, country-girl smile. "If it were anything ordinary, those guys wouldn't have secretly come over and cut down a bunch of orange trees to threaten your grandfather."

After saying that, she picked up another basket of oranges from the stroller.

Kai Uesugi handed the peeled oranges to Hanabi Hanamaru and helped her aunt push the basket of oranges into the truck.

"So, it involves special technology?"

“It’s experience,” said Uesugi Yoko, wiping the sweat from her forehead. “Your grandfather has been growing Ehime oranges for so many years, it’s impossible for him not to have improved, especially since he’s such a stubborn old man.”

Kai Uesugi still remembers how his grandfather, Grandpa Uesugi, instilled in him when he was a child that he must carry on the Uesugi family's fine tradition of growing oranges.

Unfortunately, neither he nor his father were able to fulfill the old man's wish.

Upon closer reflection, it's highly likely that his father was one of the young people who "went to Tokyo because he didn't want to eat oranges anymore."

As Uesugi Shio unloaded the last cart of oranges, a truckload of Ehime tangerines was ready to go.

After closing the car door and sealing the valves tightly, Uesugi Yoko dusted off her hands and said:

"Alright, Xiaoxi, go tell your dad to stop playing cards and get back to work!"

Uesugi Shio nodded to her aunt and walked down the low cement road.

"Where are these oranges being delivered?" Uesugi Kai asked, remembering that the agricultural cooperative had cut off his grandfather's sales and distribution channels.

Logically speaking, oranges shouldn't be selling well right now.

“A high-end restaurant,” Uesugi Yoko said, taking off her sun hat. “It’s basically just serving you the fruit and desserts after the meal, and some special dishes also use our oranges.”

"The demand from high-end restaurants probably isn't that high."

"It's alright. Uesugi's oranges have a good reputation, and many restaurants are willing to order them."

Uesugi Yoko didn't dwell on the topic, but instead smiled and changed the subject:

"You've worked hard today. Once you sell this truckload of oranges, you'll get your wages tomorrow."

"Actually, fireworks..."

"Any wages?" Uesugi Kai stopped Hanabi Hanamaru, who was about to speak. "How much?"

"Haha, no wonder the old man said he could make a lot of money, Ah Zhao!"

Uesugi Yoko didn't dislike his love of money. She patted him on the shoulder and laughed heartily, "In the past, I would have given you 10 yen, but now I only have 1 yen for wages."

In other words, it used to be possible to casually spend 10.

It makes one marvel at how wealthy rural farmers in Japan are.

If it weren't for the fact that growing oranges and being a farmer was too tiring, Uesugi would have run off to live with his grandfather long ago.

"So many..." Hanabi Hanamaru couldn't help but compare it to the illustrations that took her a week to complete.

"No problem!" Uesugi Yoshiko laughed loudly. "Alright, alright, you two should go back and rest. Jiro, Dad, and I won't be coming back tonight. We'll bring you some good food from the city tomorrow."

"Okay, Auntie, please take care on your journey."

"Goodbye, Aunt Yunzi."

Uesugi Yoshiko stepped onto the car, stood on it, and smiled and waved to the two people on the road.

"Go and rest."

###Chapter 203 The Dilapidated Abandoned Shrine###

Living in Tokyo, all I want to do is laze around.

Back at the Uesugi house, after lunch, I took a short nap.

Hanabi Hanamaru slipped her short socks into her sky-blue sneakers and sat up from the wooden planks of the veranda outside the guest room.

Stand on your tiptoes, look left and right, and adjust the comfort level.

At this moment, the sun is at its strongest, and the girls in their summer shorts are bathed in its light, looking cool and lively.

"Are you done?" Uesugi Kai asked, her eyes sparkling as she looked at her.

"Hmm..." Hanabi Hanabi nodded, "But Kai-kun... why are you going to that place?"

“It’s a secret,” Uesugi Kai said with a slight smile, “just like Hanabi watching erotic videos but not wanting me to know.”

Hanabi Hanamaru blushed slightly, the summer sun making her even more radiant than usual.

It's probably because their white arms and legs are exposed that they reflect more light.