Daily life in Zongman

49. You stand on the bridge and watch the scenery, while the people watching the scenery are watching you from upstairs.

On the second night of the school trip, we changed our place of stay, this time to a hot spring hotel. Fujiwara Haru saw many introductions to the benefits of hot springs on the sign at the door.

This was his first time taking a hot spring bath. He had only taken a bath in a bathhouse before, and had never been to a real hot spring. This time he could experience what it was like to take a hot spring bath, and he was in a good mood.

I went back to my room to put my backpack away, grabbed some clothes to change into, and went downstairs. While I was changing in the locker room, I heard a few boys from the same school whispering to each other.

"Let me tell you, this hot spring has mixed bathing pools."

"Mixed bathing pools, is this true? Didn't they say there were very few?"

"Really?! I saw the mixed bathing pool sign on the hotel map!"

"Then... um... go check it out?"

"Uh... that..."

"..."

"Stop dithering! Face your true feelings! Do you really want to go?"

"I...I...I...I want to go see it! I really want to go see it!"

"Okay! Let's go now!"

"Oh! Let's go! Let's go!"

While they were arguing, Fujiwara Haru had already stripped naked and walked into the men's bath, where he began to shower. After washing his hair, scrubbing his hands and feet, and washing his body, he sat down in the hot spring.

The warm water wrapped around the body, causing some breathing difficulties, but one could also clearly feel that the body was very comfortable soaking in the hot spring.

"Ah~ comfortable~"

Perhaps it was a psychological effect? Fujiwara Haru felt that hot springs were indeed more comfortable than boiling water. His entire body felt warm and lazy, and his mind was noticeably relaxed.

After soaking for more than ten minutes, he got up and decided to go outside to take some photos on the street before it got dark.

When I returned to the locker room to change clothes, those boys also came back, looking lost and frustrated.

"Why are they all obasans?"

"Yeah, why are there only obasans and uncles?"

"I was just touched by an old lady. I'm not sure if she touched me or just rubbed me. I feel like I was taken advantage of."

"I was also touched and became disillusioned. I will never go to a mixed bath again."

"I'm not willing to accept this... This is completely different from what I thought!"

Fujiwara Haru changed into a bathrobe and, still a little warm, left the locker room. She bought a glass of milk in the lounge area. The slightly cool milk flowed down her throat, seeming to penetrate her heart and lungs. Her entire body felt instantly cool and comfortable.

It’s like drinking a bottle of ice water after exercising in the hot summer, refreshing from head to toe.

"Burp~Comfortable~"

After burping, Fujiwara Haru was about to go back upstairs to get the Polaroid camera when someone tapped his left shoulder.

When I subconsciously turned my head to the left, the index finger placed on my shoulder poked my cheek. Then I saw Nishimiya Glass retract her hand and smiled at the successful mischief: "Qixi~"

Fujiwara Haru tried to keep his tone indifferent: "Hmph, childish."

He turned around without looking at her and prepared to go upstairs.

He was patted on the right shoulder again. He subconsciously turned his head to the right and muttered impatiently, "What are you doing..."

The index finger placed on her right shoulder poked her cheek, and Nishimiya Glass withdrew her hand. Her sign language matched her happy expression, expressing: The prank was successful again!

Fujiwara Haru turned around and decided to ignore Nishimiya Shoko tonight, and secretly thought about how to play a prank on her later, and he must avenge the poke in the face.

The corner of his clothes was pulled, but this time he didn't turn his head, but turned directly to look at Nishimiya Naoko.

She came closer and shared with sign language a happy look on her face: It's so comfortable to soak in the hot spring. Now my whole body is warm.

Only then did I notice that Nishimiya Naoko had her hair in a bun, with a few scattered strands of hair sticking wetly to her neck, revealing the back of her neck that was rarely seen. Her ears were a little red, and she was not wearing a hearing aid.

Sign language inquiry: Where are the hearing aids?

Nishinomiya: Take a hot spring bath, put it in the room.

Wasn't she bullied and robbed? Fujiwara Haru loosened his fist and decided to wait for a while before ignoring her. He asked in sign language: Do you want some milk?

Nishimiya was delighted: "Yes! Thank you!"

Looking at Furumi-san standing nearby, he said, "Would Furumi-san want a bottle of milk?"

Gu Jian looked into his eyes, he looked into Gu Jian's eyes, and the two looked at each other.

It's a staring contest, and I'm not going to lose this!

The corner of her clothes was gently pulled, and Nishimiya Shoko said in sign language: Komi-san said he wants a bottle too.

"what?"

Fujiwara Haru was a little confused. Among the three of them, he was the only one who spoke just now, right?

Ask Nishimiya: Gu Jian didn’t say anything just now, so how did you know she wanted a bottle too.

Nishimiya: Look at her eyes~ When Gu Jiantongxue is looking forward to something and is happy, her eyes are bright.

Um? Really?

Fujiwara Haru expressed doubt and looked at Komi Shoko, looking up and down, but found nothing. He always had the same expression.

Cold and somewhat cool, like the cold expression of the bodyguards in suits in the movies who don't pay attention to anyone.

Forget it, Fujiwara Haru decided not to dwell on this and helped buy two bottles of milk for the two of them. After watching them drink them with a "cha ha~" sound, he asked in sign language: Nishimiya, are you going out to play later? I want to take some pictures of the night view, would you like to go with me?

Nishimiya's eyes lit up. "Okay, but I need to go back to my room and blow dry my hair." Everyone came down to the hot springs together, and the locker room was crowded, so there weren't enough hair dryers.

Fujiwara Haru expressed his understanding: Then I will go back to my room to watch TV. Nishimiya, please send me a text message when you are ready.

Nishimiya: Okay~

The three of them took the elevator upstairs together and separated at the door. Fujiwara Haru returned to her room and found that Nishikata had not returned yet, so she sorted out her personal belongings, took out her Polaroid camera and prepared the film.

By the way, I have free time tomorrow morning and will take the Shinkansen home in the afternoon. I can sleep in and then buy some souvenirs to bring back for Sister Shendong.

After watching TV for a while and going downstairs again after receiving the text message, Nishimiya Shoko's hairstyle had returned to its long, loose state, and Komi-san also had long loose hair next to her.

Fujiwara Haru raised his right fist and said, "Let's go shoot Tokyo at night!~"

"Oh~" Nishimiya cooperated and cheered, holding Gu Jian's hand and running to his side.

Tokyo at night is still bustling, even more so than during the day, with people bustling on the streets and cars flowing in and out of the roads. Fujiwara Haru first took some photos of the brightly lit skyscrapers at night, and then took the two to a small shrine nearby.

He had wanted to take a picture of the shrine's torii gate before, thinking it would be beautiful, but the shrine was too crowded during the day, and when he took the picture, there were people all around. After the picture was taken, there was no ethereal and mysterious feeling, only bustle and noise.

There are some people in this small shrine at night, but far fewer than during the day. Most of them come here for a walk.

Fujiwara Haru found the right moment and successfully captured the complete torii picture he wanted. There was no one in the picture, only the torii and the main building of the shrine behind it, with the lanterns providing light, creating a perfect atmosphere.

After taking the photo as he wished, he looked at Nishimiya and said, "Nishimiya and Komi, please stand in the center of the torii gate. I'll take a photo of you too."

"Hmm~"

Nishimiya took Furumiya's hand and stood in the center of the torii. Both of them were a little nervous and didn't know what to do for a moment.

Fujiwara Haru felt like he was a master of photography and started pointing on the spot. He raised his hands to make two "yeah" gestures and then said, "Nishimiya, you can do this with your left hand, and Komi can raise your right hand."

After the two did as they were told, Fujiwara Haru quickly took a photo.

Looking at the printed photos, he felt that he was a genius. He could do anything. After only two days of practice, he had become a master in the field of photography!

Feeling overwhelmed with accomplishment, Fujiwara Haru decided to take a few more photos, and began to instruct the model, "Nishimiya, put your hair up and take a photo alone. Later, Furumi-san can also take a photo alone. Remember to pay for the photo paper."

Nishimiya Glass hesitated for a moment, then carefully took off the emerald four-leaf clover bracelet she had been wearing on her hand. The strap was somewhat elastic and could be used appropriately.

She combed her hair carefully and put it up.

Click~click~

“I’m such a natural photographer!~”

Fujiwara Haru has already done it. I don’t know why, but when I saw Nishimiya doing her hair, I thought it was so great that I just took the photo.

The Polaroid camera started spitting out photos. A young man walked over and handed over a business card. "Sorry, I just took a picture too. Add me as a friend and I'll send it to you. If you're not satisfied, I'll delete the negative."

Fujiwara Haru took the business card and looked at it. It said "Ojimochizo".

Later, the three of them returned to the hot spring hotel and got an extra photo of the two of them.

He was taking pictures of Nishimiya Shoko, and others were also taking pictures of them. The camera recorded the moment of Fujiwara Haru and Nishimiya Shoko in front of the quiet shrine.

------

On the third night of the school trip, I returned home.

"I'm back~"

The bedroom door opened and Sister Shendong walked out. She was probably cleaning.

Fujiwara Haru was taking off her shoes at the entrance when she was suddenly hugged.

Sister Shen Dong's voice sounded a little hazy: "Welcome home..."

My face was rubbed and I could hear heavy, deep breathing next to my ears.

Inhale~Exhale~Inhale~Exhale~Inhale~Exhale~

Finally, there was a long sigh: "Ha~"

Shen Dong's voice returned to its usual gentleness: "Qingjun~ Welcome home~ What would you like to eat?"

——End of Chapter————

Note ①-Obasan, Ojisan: transliterations of Japanese aunt and uncle.

Note ②-Sign language: Sign language has no punctuation marks or modal particles, but for the convenience of reading, some punctuation marks and modal particles are automatically adapted here according to Nishimiya Shoko's expression at the time.

Note ③-Oji Mochizo: From "Tamako Market", he studied at the Film Department of Tokyo University of Fine Arts, also in Tokyo.

50. The boy is ready to save the world

After the school trip, there was a school festival. Fujiwara Haru was responsible for decorating the classroom the day before the school festival. Then he pulled Nishimiya, and Nishimiya pulled Furumiya, and the three of them had a meal at the school festival.

The three of us went into the classic haunted house together to take a look. There was a lot of red paint and various severed limbs props. Several classmates also cooperated by lying on the ground and occasionally moving. The experience was very immersive.

Komi-san seemed very scared and was trembling a little when he came out, but Fujiwara Haru and Nishimiya had no expression on their faces.

Because they are the provider of severed limb props.

Two weeks before the school festival, Fujiwara Haru and Nishimiya Shoko visited all the classes and asked them if they wanted to hold a haunted house. They could provide many props such as heads, severed limbs, corpses, etc. to ensure the realism.

It turned out that the props were very effective. This school festival became very famous in the surrounding area and everyone came to visit the haunted house.

Thanks to the sale of props, Fujiwara Haru made a lot of money at this school festival.

Thank you for the haunted house, thank you for the campus festival, thank you~

As autumn turns to winter, the weather becomes colder and everyone starts to wear thick clothes. When light snow begins to fall from the sky, the second semester of the third year of junior high school is almost over.

Recently, Fujiwara Haru's memories have been restored in sync. He is 13 in reality and 13 in his past life, so he calculated that he is 26 years old. Although this calculation is not very reasonable, he feels that he is more mature than his peers, at least more mature than Nishimiya Shoko, who started to like pranks.

Fujiwara Haru's concept of growth is still stuck on age, but it's not age that makes people grow up, but experience. Just like college students who are inexperienced in the world, before entering society, most of them are naive and far from mature.

Fujiwara Haru, now feeling more mature than Nishimiya Glass, ran to a pillar after watching the anime and carefully measured himself, recording his latest height at 160.5cm. Compared to the record on her 13th birthday, she has grown 6cm in the eight months since then.

Very good, next year I will be able to surpass Nishimiya’s 163cm!

"Hiccup~"

Fujiwara Haru finished a glass of milk, burped, ran to the bathroom, and then returned to his bedroom to get ready for bed. He was going to the library tomorrow to verify something, to see just how big the world really was.

As the New Year approached, he discovered a magical thing. How magical was it? It was probably because he discovered that the world he lived in might be as magical as the earth is round.

His gradually recovered memories of the first year of junior high school allowed him to learn some geographical knowledge. Knowledge about Magellan's journey around the world, the seven continents and four oceans, etc., made him understand the concept of the earth.

However, he was now in his third year of junior high school and had never taken a geography class, which was quite strange. He found very little information online, and no one was discussing it, so he decided to go to the library to check it out.

The next day, after arriving at school, Fujiwara Haru went straight to the library after lunch. After searching for half an hour, he confirmed one thing.

This world really seemed to be round and square. The world map in the library was not much different from the maps he had bought in the past. Both maps only had a few big cities and some small cities, plus villages scattered in between.