They all have special skills

"Even if you had some foresight now, you might be able to take the story in a completely different direction."

"..."

Toyokawa Shoko stared at the Kiyomizu River.

You've said what I wanted to say, so what should I say next?

but……

He understands me...

That night, Qingshuichuan took the initiative to send Toyokawa Xiangzi home. When they said goodbye to each other downstairs of her house, he took her in his arms.

He just hugged her, held her in his arms and smelled her hair, without any other excessive actions.

Xiangzi's body was stiff and he was feeling uneasy. What he thought was going to happen next did not happen.

It was also on the night when his daughters left that Qingshuichuan suffered from insomnia for the first time in a long time.

…………

Volume 1: Chapter 117: Encounter at the Fireworks Festival

The next day, Shoko Toyokawa resigned to the store manager.

The store manager was a little surprised. After all, she had not been working here for long. He kindly asked Xiangzi if she had encountered any difficulties or unfamiliarities in her work, and tried to persuade her to help, just as he had done when Qingshuichuan said he wanted to resign before.

These sincere words of concern made Toyokawa Shoko feel a little guilty and she didn't dare to look him in the eye. Indeed, she had received a lot of care in the store during this period of time, and her colleagues were all people with good personalities.

But she really couldn't stay here for long. She had determined the direction and had her own plans for the next step in her life.

Seeing that she was determined to leave, the store manager did not insist any further and asked her to finish the work today and tomorrow to facilitate his subsequent shift arrangements.

Since she was the one who suddenly asked to resign, she naturally had to make preparations for temporary adjustments for others. Toyokawa Shoko agreed.

Another day passed, and it was evening.

Shoko Toyokawa left her work badge, settled her salary with the store manager, then went out, turned right, went to the cake shop, bought some small cakes by the dozen, and came back to thank all her colleagues for their care during this time.

At this point, her relatively short working life was completely over.

"Looking at you now, you seem to be in a complicated mood. What are you thinking about?"

At around six o'clock, Shimizu River, who was getting off work with him, couldn't help but sigh when he saw Toyokawa Shoko's quiet posture.

After today, Xiangzi will not come to work in the store. She is not in the same school as Shiyu and Eriri, so the chances of them meeting in the future will definitely be greatly reduced. Thinking about it carefully, he also felt a little uncomfortable.

"I was thinking it's quite early today, why don't you go to your house and sit for a while."

"..."

Qingshuichuan couldn't help but stop.

Toyokawa Shoko couldn't help but laugh at this moment. It was a gentle laugh, but her expression couldn't hide the satisfaction of having won back a victory. "What's wrong? Is it inconvenient?"

"I live alone, so how can it be convenient or inconvenient..." It's just a little hard to imagine that you would say this on your own initiative.

Toyokawa Shoko seemed to see what he was thinking, and to prevent him from thinking the wrong thing, she took the initiative to explain, "Before she left, Akane specifically told me to come visit you when I'm free and cook you a meal. After all, you left your hometown and came here to study alone, without any family around you. It always feels pitiful to be alone for too long."

Qing Shuichuan looked at her expression as if she was explaining something seriously: "Did Akane really say that?"

"What else?" Toyokawa Shoko walked leisurely towards the supermarket. "I'm relatively free today, and I don't have anything to do later, so I went to make you dinner. In the future... you won't have such opportunities every day, so don't get your hopes up."

Although the taste is a bit light...but the smell that is trying to hide is too clear, this should be considered as tsundere, right?

But let Xiangzi cook, her cooking skills... well...

No, no! What are you thinking? It's not bad anyway. Besides, these days, if a girl is willing to cook for herself, no matter how she cooks, it's already pretty good to have such a heart!

Qingshuichuan caught up with him in three or two steps: "You also said that you are very free today, so how about tonight... we..." He made a gesture of pouring wine and taking a sip.

Well, not surprisingly, I was responded to by Toyokawa Shoko's speechless and contemptuous look.

"thanks for treatment……"

"You're such an idiot..."

----

The daughters returned home and Shoko Toyokawa also resigned from the store.

The days returned to the beginning of summer vacation and calm was restored.

This should have been the ideal state that Qingshuichuan hoped for, but for some reason, he had a faint and lingering feeling of melancholy in his heart.

Until... until the senior schoolmate in thin black stockings and the energetic girl with twin ponytails began to use his bachelor apartment as a place for daily contact and gatherings again, returning to their previous state of coming and going casually without saying hello.

Although Kasumigaoka and Eriri still had many questions about the girl who came from the future and called them mom, after asking a few questions, they stopped probing when they saw that Shimizukawa didn't seem willing to say more.

But there is one thing that they are particularly concerned about.

There was another woman involved in this incident, and all sorts of things related to Toyokawa Shoko, so neither of them dared to take it lightly at any cost!

"...So, that Toyokawa-san has resigned from the store and started forming a band?"

Kasumigaoka stopped washing the vegetables, and Eriri, who also seemed very concerned, slowly closed the refrigerator door, holding the seasoning in her hand and not in a hurry to go to the stove.

Xiangzi's problem hasn't been resolved yet, and now we have to face two more people...

However, compared to Xiangzi, these two people in front of him have been together for a period of time, and have experienced all kinds of things, so he is quite familiar with their temperaments and personalities, so it is much easier to get along with them.

Qing Shuichuan nodded and continued, "Yes, she formed the band to fulfill her unfinished dream, but also to declare war on her family."

"Declaration of war?"

"Her family situation is quite complicated, and I can't explain it clearly."

After finding a suitable reason, Qingshuichuan stopped talking.

Kasumigaoka and Eriri also knew that it was not good to pry into other people's privacy, so they didn't force themselves to continue asking.

But the two of them were still very unwilling in their hearts. They had been arguing with each other and occasionally tripping each other up, but in the end, a guy who came out of nowhere got the advantage.

If they knew that he and Xiangzi had even taken the step of being adults, they might cause some trouble.

Forget it... Let's not tell them about this for now.

Qingshuichuan rolled up his sleeves and stood up to help at the stove the next moment.

The kitchen of the birth apartment was too small, and the three of them were almost squeezed together.

One person washes the vegetables, one person cuts them, and one person cooks. The rushing water, the knife cutting on the chopping board, and the high temperature oil cooking interweave into the melody of home.

"Do you still remember what you agreed with us before?" Kasumigaoka suddenly spoke to Shimizukawa, raising the sharp kitchen knife in her hand.

"How could I forget? It's the fireworks festival. I will ask for leave from the store in advance. I'm looking forward to it." Qingshuichuan readily agreed.

Ying Lili, who was standing by, stirred the pot with a spatula, added seasoning, and smiled.

Don’t worry about all the other messy things. At least now this scene and this happy atmosphere are something only they can experience and it cannot be faked.

----

Time has entered August.

Shimizukawa's life returned to stability. He got up early in the morning to exercise, went to work in the store during the day, and studied at night if Shiyu and Eriri were not around.

Although they haven't seen each other for a while, they often chat on LINE.

Surprisingly, most of the time it wasn't Qing Shuichuan who took the initiative to look for her, but the other way around.

In real life, Shoko Toyokawa appears aloof and difficult to approach, but on the Internet she seems to have a strong desire to share. She often sends photos to Shimizukawa, such as freshly brewed black tea, beautiful flowers blooming on the roadside, and the electric piano she bought, accompanied by a few short texts.

Sometimes she would ask questions out of concern, sometimes she would explain her recent situation, and sometimes she would talk about her current band formation.

Apart from the lack of the usual goodnight greetings and corny kisses every night, they really gave the impression of a couple in love.

Putting aside the fact that Qingshuichuan would occasionally rest his head on the senior's thighs to reply to her messages, this did have a feeling of pure love.

At first, Shimizukawa, the person involved, was uneasy about the situation. He couldn't help but imagine himself as one of those shameless women in N--T--R's books who had affairs behind their victims' backs. From time to time, he would have visions of Xiangzi's beautiful light blue hair turning into a shiny green...

But then he thought again, she was not unaware of these things, so he felt much more relieved and his thoughts became clearer. At most, he just had to avoid Shiyu and Yinglili when replying to her messages so that they wouldn't see it.

Time flies and it is Saturday, August 17th, the day of the Summer Fireworks Festival.

Shimizukawa, who had taken leave in advance, looked at the guide for the fireworks festival and knew that the crowds in Tokyo were far more crowded than those in his hometown of Kumamoto.

Arriving at the scene on time may not necessarily guarantee you a good location.

So even though he knew that the fireworks festival would start at 7:30 in the evening, he still left home early at around 4:00 in the afternoon.

First, go pick up Eriri, then meet up with Kasumigaoka, and the three of us walk to the tram station together.

Both of them were wearing the kimonos that Grandma Shimizu gave them when they went to Kumamoto.

This formal attire elevates their looks to a new level. To complement their attire, their long hair is no longer left hanging down, but instead simply tied up, adding a touch of maturity while revealing their slender, fair necks.

When Qingshuichuan met and praised Xiangzi sincerely, he couldn't help but think of the happy night he spent with Xiangzi. He buried his face in her neck, listening to her cute breathing, and while constantly demanding from her, he didn't want to let go of even the smell of her body.

"What's wrong? Will it be weird to wear this?" Eriri seemed a little unconfident, and Kasumigaoka also lowered her head to check her clothes.

Qing Shuichuan took a deep breath and returned to normal when he spoke again: "No, you are very beautiful. I was a little distracted just now because I was simply fascinated by you."

"You only know how to say nice things." Kasumigaoka looked like she was complaining, but in fact, she was quite impressed. She moved closer to him, straightened his collar, which was not messy at all, and naturally took his arm. She whispered in his ear with a smile, "Do you have the confidence to put on the kimono for me?"

Ok? !

Qingshuichuan's mind, which had just calmed down, began to boil again!

"You are so cunning!" Eriri didn't want to fall behind, so she took the arm of Shimizu River on the other side.

The two men seemed to be holding him hostage, holding him tightly on the left and right.

During the entire train ride, Shimizukawa was constantly bathed in the surprised and envious gazes of the people around him. Fortunately, he was thick-skinned and did not care about it.

But after getting off the tram, I still encountered unexpected situations.

Qingshuichuan originally thought that he was well prepared as he had left home a long time in advance, but the moment he walked out of the tram station, he was still shocked by the dense crowds on the street.

He underestimated the enthusiasm of Tokyo residents for the fireworks festival, and the main road leading to the event was already difficult to navigate.

After finally following the crowd to the scene, we found that the slope along the river was also crowded with people, and the crowd was even more dense!

In this situation, let alone finding a place for the three of them to sit down and watch the fireworks undisturbed, even finding a slightly quieter place to stand is a luxury.

"Kawa, you seem very surprised." Kasumigaoka didn't have much to say about this. At this moment, she found his reaction beside her interesting.

"I had some mental expectations before coming here. I knew there would be a lot of people, but I didn't know there would be so many." It had been a long time since Qingshuichuan had thought about it. Tokyo is amazing...

Eriri hugged Shimizu River tightly, frowning as she watched the people coming and going around her. She felt that the air she breathed had become much more turbid for no reason. "After all, you've only been in Tokyo for a short time, it's normal that you don't know. I'm sorry, I should have warned you in advance."

"No, I should apologize for not doing my homework in advance." Shimizukawa was a little worried. In this crowded situation, it was hard to make Shiyu and Eriri happy. Just trying to avoid being separated by the crowd was already very tiring.

Kasumigaoka, who always hated crowded places, was neither anxious nor slow at this moment. She didn't look at the Shimizu River, but instead leaned over and asked Eriri, "There are too many people, and almost all the visible places have been taken by others in advance. What should we do now?"

At this moment, Ying Lili was already a little irritated by the crowds coming and going around her, and she immediately replied unhappily: "How should I know?"

This answer was exactly what Kasumigaoka wanted. She hummed happily, "As expected, young ladies from wealthy families are unreliable at times like this."

"you……!"

Seeing that the two were about to start arguing, Shimizukawa had to intervene: "It has nothing to do with Eriri. It's my fault. Let me think about it... It's still early. If that doesn't work out, we can go to a nearby hotel and see if there are any available rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows facing the fireworks."

Although the atmosphere is a little worse due to the distance, it is still much better than being crowded with others here.

"No need to go through so much trouble, just follow me." Kasumigaoka seemed to have anticipated the current situation and knew what to do at this time.

She quickly brought Shimizukawa and Eriri to the neatly groomed lawn by the river.

Many mats have been neatly laid on the lawn, and many people have already taken their seats, sitting there laughing and chatting while waiting for the night rewards. Now there is no empty space.

Kasumigaoka glanced around slowly and noticed a person sitting alone on the mat looking around. The next moment he took the initiative to go over and talk to him.

She took out two 20,000 yuan bills from her small purse and got the best position to watch the fireworks. She also lent them the floor mats. After the fireworks festival was over, they didn't have to worry about it and could just leave. Someone would come to collect it.

This time I learned something new from Kumamoto's Shimizu River. There are actually scalpers who reserve seats.

"When you go out to have fun, don't worry about spending money." She sat down leisurely and patted the seat next to her.

Seeing how skilled she was, it was obvious that she was well versed in this kind of thing.

"Thank you for your trouble, senior." Qingshuichuan took out 20,000 yuan and handed it to Kasumigaoka.

Kasumigaoka didn't want to accept it, but seeing his persistence, she finally accepted it. She waved the banknote and said, "Then let me treat you to dinner from now on."

Qing Shuichuan smiled.