Stardew Valley of Gensokyo

Chapter Thirty-Three: Only Two Ladles

Is that enough?

Nikua looked at the items on the cart and asked.

"Yes, that's enough."

Akina Ze also wiped the sweat from his forehead.

These supplies are to be delivered to the Hakurei Shrine.

Each watermelon, weighing about ten pounds and with a bright green rind, looks delicious.

If we took them to the village and sold them at a street stall, there would definitely be a huge crowd.

The temperature in Gensokyo has not been so extremely hot these past few days, but it is still very hot, after all, it is summer.

"Put this on, the sun is really strong outside, isn't it?"

Nikua flew over, holding a straw hat in her hand.

"Yes, I'll be back soon."

Seeing Nikua's concerned eyes, Akina Sawa lowered his head to make it easier for Nikua to put the straw hat on his head.

After all, Nikua is too short; even standing on tiptoe, she's not tall enough.

"I'm off!"

Once the straw hat was securely on his head, Akina waved to Nikua and pushed the cart away.

The road to Hakurei Shrine is quite long.

"The sun is quite strong."

As soon as he stepped out of the courtyard, the scorching sun shone down, and his eyes stung from looking directly at it. Akina Ze quickly lowered his head.

Crunchy~

The handcart creaked and groaned as it traveled along the dirt road, its aged wooden structure clattering together.

Soon, Akina Ze also arrived at the corner.

Just then, Akina Ze also turned around as if by telepathy, and saw Nikua leaning against the side of the door, watching him walk forward.

Seeing this, Akina shook his head helplessly, turned his head back, and once again stretched out his hand to wave.

This time, Akina Sawa didn't look back and quickly left the corner of the road...

"Hey hey hey~"

Arriving on the streets of the Human Village, Akina Sawa moved quickly forward with the handcart.

A road paved with bluestone slabs is better than one paved with mud.

By this time, the roads in the Human Village were bustling with people, the extreme heat had passed, and everyone could go out freely.

Along the way, Akina Ze also discovered that the seed shops that had closed down when he was looking for hop seeds last time had reopened and were still quite busy.

Perhaps we can go in and take a look when we come back?

"Hello, how much do you sell your watermelons for?"

"Ok?"

Akina Sawa also stopped pushing the cart.

A girl dressed in a blue and white leaky shrine maiden outfit, with long green hair, stood politely to the side.

"Sorry, I don't sell these watermelons."

Although she was a beautiful girl wearing a leaky shrine maiden outfit, Akina Sawa still resisted the temptation.

"Huh? Really...?"

The girl's face betrayed her disappointment.

"Um? Are you a shrine maiden?"

Akina Ze also glanced at the girl's attire and asked.

Is it true that the standard attire for shrine maidens in Gensokyo requires them to show their armpits?

"Yes, I am the wind priest of Moriya Shrine."

The girl's disappointed expression disappeared, replaced by a heartwarming smile, which, combined with the mass several times the size of Reimu on her chest, was indeed very heartwarming.

"Moriya Shrine?"

"Yes, our Moriya Shrine is the best in Gensokyo. Would you like to become our followers?"

Akina Sawa selectively ignored the girl's next sentence.

Moriya Shrine? I've never heard of that shrine.

Akina Sawa also shook his head, deciding to continue on his way.

"Hey! Wait!"

Seeing that Akina Sawa was about to leave, the girl hurriedly called out to him.

"Is there a problem?"

Akina Sawa also turned around, looking at the girl with a puzzled expression.

"Our Moriya Shrine is rich, I only need a watermelon~"

The girl took out a bulging purse and said with a pleading look in her eyes.

"But this is meant to be given to someone else..."

His purse was bulging, and Akina Zeya's eyes involuntarily locked onto it.

Wow~

The girl gently shook the purse in her hand, and a metallic clinking sound rang out.

"It's not like we can't discuss it~" Akina Ze said.

......

The staircase leading to Hakurei Shrine is very long.

For most people, just climbing the entire route would be exhausting.

But it wasn't like that for Akina Zeya; he carried the handcart and ran uphill like a gust of wind.

The various large and small tufts of tufts along the way were all stunned by the scene. One tuft was so startled that it dropped the food it was holding in its mouth.

Soon, Akina Ze, surrounded by a group of hairy girls and fairies, completed the entire journey while carrying a handcart.

There's a reason why Akina Sawa would choose to lift the handcart and run instead of dragging it.

After bidding farewell to Sanae Kochiya, Akina Sawa arrived at the foot of the shrine mountain, intending to drag a handcart up the steps one by one.

However, after walking a few steps, they discovered something was wrong. This time, the cart was filled with watermelons. Ten watermelons would have filled the cart perfectly, leaving no room for them to roll around.

But now there are only 8 watermelons left in the cart. The stone steps of the shrine have a large drop, so the cart bounces up and down as it goes, and the 8 watermelons also vibrate with the cart.

Akina Ze was also worried that if they continued walking like this, the watermelons might suffer internal damage and their insides would be shattered.

This time, Reimu was already missing two watermelons. If all the watermelons sent over were rotten, well... the consequences would be unimaginable.

So, Akina Sawa also decided to take the stroller to see Reimu.

It's a good way to exercise and also prevents the watermelon from getting smashed – a win-win situation.

Although the action was somewhat indecent, since no one would come to the shrine anyway, Akina Sawa picked up the cart without worry...

----------------

It's a beautiful day today; birds are chirping and insects are humming in the nearby woods.

Reimu Hakurei sat quietly in the shrine's reception room, holding a cup of clear tea adorned with a single tea leaf.

Although it's called a reception room, it's actually just a large hall.

When there's nothing to do on weekdays, Reimu would sit quietly here, watching the gate where no one would come to visit, waiting for nightfall before going back to sleep.

Every day is the same, and today is no exception, or rather, it should be the same.

A flock of birds took flight and circled in the air from the woods on both sides of the stone steps, as if someone had arrived.

Reimu Hakurei calmly gazed at the end of the stone steps, at the torii gate of the shrine, awaiting the arrival of visitors.

The object arrived before the person.

A handcart came into Reimu's view first.

Then Akina Sawa, carrying a handcart, also came into her view.

Upon seeing this person and this object, Reimu Hakurei's breathing quickened slightly. This guy has finally arrived!

Despite her calm demeanor as she sat there, Reimu had been itching to run to Akina Sawaya's house to urge him to come quickly.

But Reimu is, after all, a shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine, and she has her pride too.

We agreed that he should deliver it, so we should have him deliver it. Why should I go pick it up myself?

Of course, in the past, Rei Hakurei could do whatever she wanted, since Gensokyo only had one shrine maiden.

But now there is another shrine maiden in the human village, the wind priestess of Moriya Shrine, Sanae Kochiya.

As a senior, Reimu Hakurei still hopes to maintain her dignity as a senior.

Chapter Thirty-Four: Bitter Chocolate

"Xiaoqian, how do you think the people who lived in these houses used to live?"

The half-track motorcycle moved slowly along the cement road.

Yuri lay on the chair, looking at the unchanging ruins of the buildings around her, and a question arose in her mind.

Upon hearing Yuri's words, Chito fell silent. The books she had read did not contain any descriptions of how people lived in the past, and she did not know how to answer.

"They must have more food than they can eat."

Yuri imagined the wonderful lives people had lived in the past, resting her chin on the metal exterior of the half-track motorcycle.

"Speaking of which, what exactly does chocolate look like?"

As she thought about it, Yuri remembered the chocolate-flavored compressed biscuits she had eaten.

Tsk tsk~

Yuri subconsciously licked her lips. It tasted delicious, but unfortunately there wasn't much of it, and she finished it in no time.

Even now, Yuri sometimes thinks back to the days when she ate that bag of compressed biscuits; although it was brief, it was unforgettable.

I've seen chocolate before.

At this moment, Qianhu, who was driving the half-track, kept his eyes fixed on the front and said.

"What exactly does that chocolate look like?!"

Yuri leaned over and asked the question with great interest, sitting next to Chihiro.

"They look like small black squares?"

Qianhu recalled the memories in his mind.

----------

In her memory, memories of chocolate were from a very long time ago, so long ago that she almost thought those times were illusions...

At that time, they were still living in their grandfather's house, and there were many people around. Although everyone looked busy, Qianhu thought they were very happy because they had genuine smiles on their faces.

It was against this backdrop that Chito saw chocolate for the first time in his life.

They were black, small, and in pieces, and were placed on the table like that.

Little Chito looked at the small black blocks with curiosity, reached out and picked one up from the table, which was as tall as her shoulders.

Curiously examining the dark object, Chito did something even a child would do.

She put the small black piece in her mouth and bit it gently.