Comics, daily stories

Hina Ebina smiled and said, "Yui, could you please go to the kitchen and bring me some eggs and milk? Remember, whatever you do, don't open the packaging! Don't open the packaging! Don't open the packaging!"

Yui Yuigahama's eyelids kept twitching. Just how scared is she? Is she afraid of contamination even when just opening packaging? Do I have to say it three times?

Yumiko Miura hugged her and gently comforted her, "Go, Yui. We need your help. We can't do without you."

Your words are so hurtful...

Yui Yuigahama turned away in disappointment, walked down the corridor, and headed towards the kitchen step by step.

What a pity! I had a really good pastry idea today that Xiaofeng would definitely like. Even if he doesn't like it, he'll say he does.

What happened to Yui?

In the yard outside the kitchen, Mai Sakurajima, while picking vegetables, noticed a lost puppy and was somewhat puzzled.

"She probably wanted to poison that scumbag but was persuaded to leave by the others." Toyohama Kazuka tossed the washed eggplant into the basket, her tone quite certain. "She loves to poison those scumbags in pastries."

“You should call him brother-in-law, and Hana.” Mai Sakurajima picked off the ends of the green beans, looking a little helpless. “Otherwise, I won’t help you if he bullies you next time.”

"Bully me? Ha, he always runs away when he sees me." Feng Bin and Hua continued washing the eggplants, unconcerned.

“Yes, he always runs away when he sees you.” Kasumigaoka Utaha sat on a recliner, a strange smile on her lips, turning the pages of a book in the spring breeze.

"Oh, Ms. Kasumi Shiko also likes 'The Little Prince'?" Hiromi Kato put away her phone and looked at the book cover next to her with some surprise.

"You can just call me Shiyu, Hiromi-nee. As for 'The Little Prince'," Kasumigaoka Shiyu smiled, "it's not so much that I like it, but that it's my favorite."

"Well, I quite like it too. My favorite part is what the fox says: 'Look, do you see that wheat field over there? I don't eat bread, wheat means nothing to me, and wheat fields don't evoke any associations in me, which is truly pathetic. But you have golden hair. If you tamed me, how wonderful that would be! The golden wheat would remind me of you, and I would love to hear the wind blowing through the wheat ears.'"

Kato Hiromi stood up with a sigh.

“I like it too,” Kasumigaoka Utaha replied softly.

But I prefer another passage: "To me, you are still just a little boy, like millions of other little boys; I don't need you, and you don't need me either; to you, I am just a fox, like millions of other foxes; but if you tame me, we will both be indispensable to each other; to me, you will be unique in the world; and to you, I will be unique in the world."

"Megumi, have you thought of a name for your little niece?" Kato Hiromi approached her quiet younger sister, took a handful of green beans from the vegetable basket, and picked out the front and back ends.

"Not yet. As for the name, I've left it to Kazehaya to think of. He's read a lot of books and his ideas are quite novel," Kato Megumi replied softly, continuing to pick green beans.

“Well, no problem, but you’ll have to take him back home in a couple of days. Mom and Dad have been looking forward to this child for a long time.” Kato Hiromi smiled as she thought about what would happen when they got home. “He’ll probably get drunk with Dad.”

"Yes, I understand." Kato Megumi nodded gently, then her eyes showed a slight hint of resentment. "That's why Mom and Dad are urging us to date if my sister doesn't want to."

"Ahem." Kato Hiromi moved a little further away from her sister.

“Actually, we can choose a nickname first, give him the formal name, and let him think of the nickname himself.” Mai Sakurajima said naturally, “That’s what I think anyway.”

"Does Mai have any ideas about nicknames?" Kato Megumi stopped what she was doing.

“This is your child with him. Even if I have feelings for him, it doesn’t apply to me.” Mai Sakurajima shook her head. “We can discuss this another time. For now, let’s go ask them when they will be back and whether he will be in charge of cooking tonight.”

"Ok."

Kato Megumi shook the water off her hands, connected with his soul through her hairband, sensed his location, and then took a step forward.

In the freezing cold, she appeared on a hilltop, looking down at the two people in the snow with the person next to her.

"Congratulations, Yukinoshita-kun."

"Thank you, congratulations." Yukino Yukinoshita was not surprised by the appearance of the person next to her, but explained seriously, "We will go back at dusk. We may still have some things to do. He will be in charge of dinner."

"oh, I understand now."

Kato Megumi glanced at him one last time, who was clearly engrossed in his thoughts, and turned around: "See you tonight, Yukinoshita-kun."

Yukino Yukinoshita responded, "Thank you, Kato-kun."

As the snowstorm subsided, only one person remained on the hillside.

Their exchange was quite brief, so brief that they ended the conversation after each had given the necessary information.

Yukino Yukinoshita breathed in the cold Arctic air, watched the two people still busy on the snow, and walked down the hillside, her expression gradually filled with helplessness.

"The ancient Babylonian king promulgated the Code of Hammurabi, which was inscribed on black basalt more than 3,700 years ago."

You stand in front of the shop window, gazing at the words on the inscription, while I quietly admire your face, the face I love so dearly.

Priests, temples, battles, and bows—whose past is this? I love the image of you belonging only to me amidst the crowds.

As I passed by the goddess Su Mei, I made a wish in her name, and my longing spread like the Tigris River.

When ancient civilizations are reduced to undecipherable languages, legends become immortal poems.

My love for you was written in BC and buried deep in the Mesopotamian plain. It was unearthed decades later, and the writing on the clay tablet is still clearly visible.

My love for you was written in BC, buried deep in the Mesopotamian plain, etched into eternity in cuneiform script. That vow, weathered for millennia, is now being repeated...

Nomiyama, with his full head of white hair, squatted down and moved around from time to time, his fingers constantly tracing characters on the stone slab, while he hummed a song incessantly.

Suddenly, his ears twitched. He waved his hand, burying the entire stone slab in the ground, and turned to look at the person walking over: "What are you doing? We agreed not to peep."

Seeing his wary expression, Yukino Yukinoshita said expressionlessly, "I won't look, but how much longer are you going to write?"

Nomiyama waved his hand, took out another stone slab, and began to carve words: "Stop when you finish writing on this slab. Don't you like it?"

He stood up, and while carving words in the air, he smiled at her: "Humanity will overcome the cold one day, and a city will appear here one day. When that time comes, these indestructible stone slabs of mine will be discovered. Maybe that day will take decades, or hundreds, or thousands of years, but in any case, these stone slabs will appear in the world for people to admire at that time."

He whistled: "Then they'll treat these stone slabs as ancient treasures, but they'll never understand the writing; they'll just think they're a lost civilization. Hehe, we'll come here to see the treasures then."

Yukino Yukinoshita rubbed her temples. Having a love letter is a good thing, but hiding it from her face is a bit too much.

"Hey, you stole a chicken leg from Yukinoshita during the New Year? Are you writing a confession?"

"Who gave you permission to spy!"

"I wasn't peeping, I was looking openly." Nomiyama stood behind Eriri, rubbing his chin with one hand. "What kind of hobby is this? How come the whole page is about you stealing Yukinoshita's things?"

"Nomi Yamakaze Haya!" Sawamura Eriri waved her hand, burying the stone slab, then grabbed a large clump of snow and threw it at him. "Shameless bastard!"

Nomiyama twisted his body to avoid the snowball, then hid behind him under the snow.

Yukino Yukinoshita watched her best friend run towards her with two snowballs, a faint pain throbbing between her brows.

No wonder I didn't get a single chicken leg when we slaughtered four chickens for Chinese New Year...

Eriri Sawamura slowed her pace, then turned her head away without much confidence: "I didn't steal it, I took it from your bowl openly and honestly."

She paused, then added, "Yang Nai and Xue Wan also did it; they took the chicken wings and mushrooms."

Nomiyama looked at the unusually subdued Eriri and clicked his tongue, "What a clever way to use a fellow cultivator as a shield."

Yukino Yukinoshita felt her head throb even more. She reached up to rub her forehead and finally said helplessly, "Stop messing around. We should probably go home now."

Nomiyama had no objection, but asked, "Should we go to Uncle Yoshino's house now? He seems to want his daughter to help with chores, like driving around to buy groceries and handling other things."

“Go ahead, the Yoshino family has been helping with household chores for years, and the family does need someone to take charge of things,” Yukino Yukinoshita replied, then reached out and pulled Eriri along.

"Let's go."

......

On a street in Chiba at dusk, three people walked out of a house.

"Eri, don't you think you've gained weight?"

"No."

Eriri Sawamura remained expressionless, her hands gripping his neck.

Nomiyama felt her weight on his back and silently calculated in his mind how much weight she had gained recently.

Yukino Yukinoshita looked up at the orange sky, lost in thought: "Kazehaya, what's on the menu tonight?"

Nomiyama stopped pinching Eriri's thigh to compete with her, and instead looked at Yukinoshita.

"do not know."

"You're not in charge of the menu?" Yukino Yukinoshita asked, slightly surprised.

Nomiyama shook his head: "No, the menu was decided a long time ago, I was only responsible for cooking, but I added a dish when it snowed.

Eriri Sawamura loosened her grip on his neck, somewhat curious: "What dish?"

"【Looking up at the stars】, she said it's a dish made with fish. She made it herself, I'm sure I'll like it."

Looking up at the starry sky?

The three of them looked up at the same time, and all they could see were layers of clouds that looked red from the fire.

After a while, Nomiyama lowered his head and asked them curiously, who were still looking up, "What are you looking at?"

Eriri Sawamura lowered her head in disappointment: "I thought I could see the stars through the sunset."

Nomiyama thought for a moment: "There is such a scene in the Star Sea, like a nebula at sunset, filled with stars. I will draw it for you later."

Eriri Sawamura giggled, wrapped her arms around his neck, and rested her chin on his shoulder.

Yukino Yukinoshita, however, continued to gaze at the orange-red clouds overhead: "I'm wondering if it should snow."

A slight look of doubt appeared in Nomiyama's eyes: "Snowing?"

"Hmm, it's snowing. I'm wondering if I should let it snow in Chiba."

Nomiyama looked at her with some surprise: "It's spring now, it's strange that it's snowing in Chiba."

He found it strange because it was something that clearly went against nature and affected people's perceptions, and it didn't fit her usual style.

But that doesn't matter, as long as she's happy.

So he said, "If you like, go ahead and download it. I'll rewrite their perceptions later and make them forget about today."

Yukino Yukinoshita shook her head and smiled: "Don't forget, I want them to see this snow."

Looking up at Mount Nomi, the layers of clouds that had been scorched red by fire had turned dark blue, and light, white snowflakes were falling.

He turned his head; the sun had not yet completely set, and the world was still shrouded in the twilight.

A snowflake, sparkling and shimmering, fell at dusk.

Yukino Yukinoshita took two steps forward, stretched out her hand, and quietly waited for the snowflakes that were tinged with the colors of dusk.

She didn't receive it because a gust of wind cleared the snow.

She smiled faintly, turned around and looked at the two of them: "Do you like it?"

Nomiyama turned his gaze away from the swirling snowflakes and met her eyes, a clear smile in his eyes: "I like it."

Eriri Sawamura looked at the snowflakes that were illuminated by the light and smiled brightly: "I still prefer Yukino more."

......

When the three arrived at the Nomiyama family's residence, the sun had already set, the snow had stopped, the dark clouds had dispersed, and the sky was dappled with starlight.

Their heads were covered in snow, and their feet crunched underfoot.

Nomiyama walked ahead, rolling up his sleeves to prepare for the cooking later.

Under the moonlight, he stepped through the gate and met the gaze of the person waiting quietly under the eaves. His eyes softened, and his voice became gentle.

"I am back."

Kato Megumi's lips have a subtle curve, conveying a tender and gentle feeling.

Welcome home.

Author's Closing Remarks

The book I started before the Lunar New Year lasted seven months, with a total of about three days of vacation in between. It produced 116 million words, averaging 16.5 yuan per month.

To describe it, it would be something like, "It's really tiring."

I'm not much of a talker, and I didn't write much of a launch message, so I don't really have much to say now.

If there are still books available, you will see me post them. If you don't see them, then perhaps our connection has come to an end.

Finally, to borrow a line from "The Truman Show"

If I never see you again, I wish you a good morning, a good afternoon, and a good night.

Life's journey is long; we'll meet again someday.