My girlfriend is a bad lady

Before this, he might have been humanely killed by Kujo Miki. No, it couldn't be such an easy death by humane killing. He should have been slaughtered.

The word '宰' always feels like it's referring to pigs and sheep.

After breakfast, Watanabe's mother cleaned up the dishes.

"Xiaotetsu, go to Yoshida's house and bring me the Fukujin stains. I will be leaving soon."

"it is good."

Fukujinzuke, pickles made from seven kinds of vegetables pickled in seasonings.

"I'll go with you," said Qingye Rin.

"Well, it's a good opportunity to take a walk and show you the scenery of the countryside."

Kiyono Rin didn't change her clothes, she just wore a sweater and a long skirt and walked towards the entrance with Watanabe Toru.

When putting on his shoes, Watanabe Toru was stunned.

"What's wrong?" asked Qingye Rin.

"Nothing." Watanabe Toru put on his shoes and said, "Let's go."

Before breakfast, the son casually told his mother that his feet were a little cold. After breakfast, there was an extra layer of plush cushion in his shoes.

The two left Watanabe's house and came to the path in the village.

Apart from the neighbors next door, the nearest house to Watanabe's house is also three or four minutes' walk away.

The morning air is filled with silence.

In the canal, the stream gurgles, making a pleasant sound.

It was surrounded by farmland, with the roots of the rice straw still in it.

The two walked side by side, leisurely in this countryside scenery.

"In June and July, there is a large field of hydrangeas here." Watanabe Toru pointed to a ridge of the field.

Kiyono Rin took a look there, pondered and said:

"I've read in many literature books that shouldn't the ridges of the fields in the countryside be planted with broad beans and the like? Why are they planting useless hydrangeas?"

"They also plant broad beans, and more people plant soybeans, but that was in the past. There are fewer people now, and many farmlands are abandoned."

"It's been many years indeed." Qing Ye Lin nodded, "They are all books from the Showa period."

The two walked through the field ridge that would be full of hydrangeas in June, next to it was a plastic greenhouse.

Off-season vegetables are grown in the greenhouse.

There are a total of three field ridges, one for tomatoes, one for eggplant, and the remaining one, which is full of coriander, green peppers, garlic sprouts, etc.

Toru Watanabe left the path, crossed the ditch, stepped into the mud, lifted the shed and walked in.

"Is this your house?" Qingye Rin followed in and looked around curiously.

"No."

Watanabe Toru picked two bright red tomatoes, wiped them casually, and handed one to Kiyono Rin.

"Isn't that stealing?" Qingye Rin looked at the lovely tomato in his hand.

"In our Mizawa Village," Toru Watanabe took a big bite, revealing the red flesh and yellow seeds, "it's a symbol of good neighborly relations, and we only took two."

"Just like you have a driver's license in Mizawa Village?"

"You can draw inferences from this example, very smart!" Watanabe Toru praised.

Qingye Rin sighed: "I really hope that the police can teach you a lesson."

"Do you think the police don't steal? Every time that guy comes to our village, he rides a broken bicycle, stops on the side of the road and goes to pick cucumbers from the fields. Don't think that it's not stealing if he takes one every time."

Qingye Rin didn't eat the tomatoes. Instead, she took out her cell phone and squatted to take pictures of the tomatoes and eggplants hanging on the branches.

"Isn't it a symbol of good neighborly relations? How did it become theft?" she asked while taking pictures.

“He’s not from our village.”

Toru Watanabe had already finished eating the tomatoes and threw the stems directly onto the ground.

After the inexperienced Lord Qingye had taken pictures of the coriander from various angles, the two of them closed the greenhouse door and continued their walk.

"This village is barren but not decaying." Kiyono Rin looked at the sun rising from the mountain.

"Well, it's just like my house: old, but not broken." Toru Watanabe also looked at the distant mountains.

“What is summer like?”

"The whole place is filled with fresh green, and the cuckoos are singing in the mountains."

"No bonito?" Kiyono Rin retracted her gaze and looked at Watanabe Toru.

Watanabe Toru also withdrew his gaze, and the two smiled at each other.

This is a haiku by Yamaguchi Sodo: The view is full of fresh green, the cuckoos are singing in the mountains, and the bonito is fresh in early summer.

"You don't know what it is." Watanabe Toru said unwillingly.

"If you want to surpass me in literature, you have to finish reading my eight-meter-high home library first." Qingye Rin smiled with her hands covering her mouth.

"Take your time. There's still a lot of time."

"So, in your own words, what is summer like in Mizawamura?"

"Hmm... the monotonous chirping of cicadas and the intermittent sound of wind chimes."

"'Monotonous and intermittent', although it sounds good, it seems sad compared to 'the whole place is full of new green, and the cuckoos are crying in the mountains'."

"How can it not be desolate?" Watanabe Toru explained, "Do you think the countryside is comfortable? It's okay to live there occasionally, but for those who have seen the neon lights of the city, this is a hellish place."

"Forget it, let's not talk about this." Watanabe Toru pointed to the valley at the end of the road and continued, "You can see the sea after passing through there. I'll take you there in a couple of days."

"So, this is actually a village by the sea?" When Qingye Rin thought about it, he took a glance and it was indeed the sea.

"Hmm? That makes sense!" Watanabe Toru clenched his right fist and hammered it into his left palm, "It turns out that I am not a child from the mountains, but a child from the seaside."

Qingye Rin glared at him with a look that said, "What are you thinking about all day?"

As they were talking, the two arrived at Yoshida's house.

The general layout is similar to that of the Watanabe family's, with cement paths, mud courtyards, and quaint traditional buildings.

The difference is that there is a rice planting tractor parked in the warehouse.

"It's Xiao Che!" Aunt Yoshida's voice was very nice.

"Aunt Yoshida." Watanabe Toru greeted, "This is my friend from a school in Tokyo, Kiyono Rin."

"Aunt Yoshida, good morning." Qingye Rin held the tomato in both hands, folded them in front of her belly, and bowed slightly.

"What friend? A girlfriend, right?" Aunt Yoshida affirmed, and said to Qingye Rin with a smile, "Rin is so beautiful!"

"…My girlfriend is sleeping at home." Watanabe Toru explained patiently.

"Huh? You have two girlfriends?!"

"…My mother asked me to get the Fukujinzaki."

"Fukujinzaku? Oh, there is such a thing. I have already put it in a bottle."

Aunt Yoshida went to the house to get some Fukujinzuke and said to Watanabe Toru, "We are going to dig winter bamboo shoots today. Do you want to come, Toru?"

"Okay." Watanabe Toru looked at the second floor, "Is Teacher Reiko still sleeping?"

"After the school closed for winter vacation, she stayed in bed even at noon!" Aunt Yoshida looked angry when talking about her daughter.

Watanabe Toru, who used to get up at noon, said that if he wanted Reiko to change, he needed to go to Tokyo and meet Kujo Miki.

When I got home, it was only eight o'clock.

Chapter 209 New Year in Iwate Prefecture: Collective Action (6)

Watanabe Eda had already gone out and the house was empty.

"You rest for a while, I'll light the stove."

"Okay." Qingye Rin nodded, put the tomatoes on the table, lifted the quilt and sat in.

Toru Watanabe put the Fukujinzuke into the kitchen, took some firewood, and lit the stove.

This stove is made of tinplate and is placed in the living room with a chimney connected to it. It is usually used to warm the fire, bake sweet potatoes, bake bread, and keep boiling water warm.

Watanabe Toru took a piece of wood and moved the firewood in the stove to make sure there was enough oxygen.

Looking at the twinkling lights, Watanabe Toru said nostalgically:

"On snowy days, I can sit around this stove all day. Sometimes I put sweet potatoes, taro or potatoes in it, and roast them until the skin is charred, and the outermost layer of meat turns into rice crust. I feel so happy when I take a bite of it."

"Hearing you say that, I want to try it." Qing Ye Lin looked at his profile dyed red by the firelight, "When will it snow?"

"It's early, at least in late January."

"Iwate Prefecture is only separated from Hokkaido by Aomori Prefecture. Even if it's not as cold as Hokkaido, it should have snowed earlier."

"It's like this in other places in Iwate Prefecture," Toru Watanabe put the firewood in his hand and picked up another one, "but Mizawa Village is a very special place."

"special?"

In front of the stove, holding firewood, Toru Watanabe said in a reminiscent tone:

"That was sixteen years ago, when the hydrangeas were in full bloom..."

"You're lying again." Qingye Rin said firmly.

"You should wait until I finish."

"Anyway, it's just narcissistic talk again. Is the reason why Mizawamura is special because of the basin?"

"Maybe, it may have something to do with being close to the sea, who knows." Watanabe Toru didn't care about this kind of thing at all. The fire that was about to be extinguished was much more important than geography.

There was silence in the living room for a while.

"It's turned off?" asked Qingye Rin.

"Wait." Watanabe Toru raised his hand, his face serious, "It's not time to admit defeat yet."

"Then I'll give you one more minute."

What one minute? Of course it's a countdown of ridicule!

Toru Watanabe knelt on the tatami and blew air into the stove.

With his strong lung capacity, the black firewood barely produced a few sparks, but as soon as his breath stopped, the sparks went out immediately.

"Is it okay?"

"...Okay, smile."

Qing Ye Lin put his index finger on his chin and said thoughtfully: "I'll give you another chance."

"Please speak." Watanabe Toru made a listening gesture.

“I once said something about failure. If you can say it, I won’t laugh at you.”

"Pushkin's "Before failure, there is no such thing as a master. Before failure, everyone is just a mortal"? "

"It's just an excuse for your own sophistry."

“Many runners fail in a race because they fail in the last few steps.”

"I'm not interested in Socrates."

"What is that...Ah! I figured it out!" Watanabe Toru clapped his hands.

"Ok?"

"Tagore once said that mistakes cannot withstand failure, but truth is not afraid of failure!"

"Don't think that bringing up Tagore can save you, or do you only know Tagore?" Qing Ye Lin shot a cold gaze at Watanabe Toru, "Have you forgotten what I said at that time?"

"How could that be? I remember it clearly."

"You are this person..."

"I haven't forgotten what I told you."