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P.S.: Sorry for the delay in posting this; I've made a lot of edits...
Chapter 130: Not seeing the future often means seeing the future.
Change sounds simple, but it is extremely difficult to actually do.
People often say, "Change yourself and you can change the world." This can also be understood as meaning that changing yourself is about as difficult as changing the world.
In fact, most people cannot even change themselves without strong external motivation, because the first thing to do in order to change yourself is to find the direction of change.
Otherwise, if the change makes one's situation worse, it's better not to change it at all.
Moreover, even if a person has truly changed, it is difficult to correct others' evaluations of them. People are usually accustomed to relying on preconceived notions and established ideas to make judgments, and this inertia cannot be reversed simply by changing oneself.
Just as "normies" must do things that conform to the norm, "otaku" must also act like otaku. In a network of relationships made up of people, no one can remain unaffected.
Even someone as straightforward as Miura Yumiko needs Yuihama as a medium to chat with Hayashi Chiki in front of others. Is it because she doesn't want to make an advance on Hayashi Chiki?
No, it's just that the opinions of those around her have confined her. Perhaps she can only be bolder when she's alone with others.
Even Hayama, who was at the core of the popular group, was no exception to this.
The prejudice in people's hearts is a mountain.
No matter how hard Tsurumi Rumi tries right now, she will only be ignored and ridiculed by those who ostracize her. Even if Tsurumi Rumi tries to make herself outstanding and eye-catching, she is very likely to be met not with renewed acceptance, but with the shallow people's jealousy of the outstanding.
For more details, please refer to Yukino Yukinoshita.
This topic is obviously too heavy for elementary school students. Unlike Yukinoshita's view, Lin Qianshu does not think it is a good thing for a person to realize the truth and cruelty of the world too early, especially when their worldview has not been fully formed. The pressure of reality may prompt them to mature as soon as possible, but it is more likely to destroy it completely, make them extreme, and lead them to destruction.
"Many things change with the surrounding environment, so there's no need to be too pessimistic about staying in the US. Maybe one day they'll realize their mistakes and become friends with you again?"
"Is this possible?" Although Tsurumi Rumi was somewhat naive, she was not stupid.
Not to mention that she herself doesn't think she's entirely without fault.
“I…abandoned others, and it’s impossible for me to get along well with people. Even if I did, I don’t know when it would turn out like this again. Since it’s going to turn out like this sooner or later, I might as well maintain the status quo…”
It's obvious that Tsurumi Rumi didn't heed Yukinoshita's advice, which is normal. People can't do things beyond their own understanding. Changing things is beyond Tsurumi Rumi's comprehension. Even if you explain the necessity of change to her, she still has no idea how to change things. And even her family probably can't help her with this, let alone Yukinoshita, a stranger she's only met a few times.
Moreover, despite what Tsurumi Rumi has said to them, she has never truly trusted him and Yukinoshita, or rather, she doesn't expect to change anything at all. This can be seen from the fact that Lin Qianshu has not seen any requests for power from Tsurumi Rumi so far.
Yukino wanted to say something more, but Lin Qianshu shook his head to stop her.
Lin Qianshu simply said to Tsurumi Rumi, "Even if we want to maintain the status quo, we need to find something to do. We can't just sit here and watch us play in the water, can we?"
"I don't want to play in the water." Tsurumi Rumi thought that Hayashi Chiki wanted to drag her along to play.
Unfortunately, Lin Qianshu didn't have that idea. He pointed to the camera hanging around Tsurumi Rumi's neck and said, "I won't force you to play with us. Maybe you can take some pictures with the camera. You don't have to take pictures of people. You can take pictures of the flowers and plants by the roadside, or even ants. Digital cameras don't use up film. If you don't have enough memory, just delete the pictures you're not satisfied with. Of course, please wait until the photos of me and her are developed before deleting them."
Lin Qianshu planned to find something for Tsurumi Rumi to do. If a person has nothing to do, it is easy for them to overthink, but if they are busy, they will not think so much.
"Well... I'll give it a try?" Tsurumi hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement. It was just taking pictures, so she wouldn't lose anything even if she did it.
As Lin Qianshu said, since we're just idling around anyway, we might as well take some pictures of the flowers and plants. That way, it won't be a waste of the camera that Mom specially prepared.
There are a lot of birds here, why don't we take some pictures of them first?
As soon as the thought came to mind, Tsurumi Rumi took action, waved goodbye to the two, and turned to walk into the woods.
As Tsurumi Rumi gradually disappeared from sight, Yukinoshita crossed her arms and asked in confusion, "We just let her go like that?"
"What else? Force her to stay and act as our photographer? Or force her to socialize or listen to our long-winded lectures?"
"...At least we should explain her current situation to her first."
"I wonder if you've ever heard this saying before, Yukinoshita?"
"Which one?"
"Many people feel they can't see the future, but in fact they can see it."
"..."
"Perhaps she is indifferent to our suggestions precisely because she knows that some things are futile to do. We are just talking, but she is actually going to take action."
"That's better than doing nothing."
"If it were that simple, why would you choose to live alone?"
Seeing the beautiful young woman speechless after his question, Lin Qianshu naturally pushed her from behind and walked towards the riverbank.
"Since things have come to this, let's go into the water first. I'm already feeling hot and stuffy after just a short time on land."
"Okay, stop pushing me, I can walk by myself!" Yukinoshita slapped away Lin Qianshu's pig's trotter in annoyance.
This level of physical contact was commonplace for both Yukinoshita and Hayashi Chiki; during their time playing tennis, they had helped each other stretch quite often.
Of course, this is limited to helping with things like leg presses and back massages.
The two returned to the riverbank. Apart from Yuihama showing some concern for Tsurumi Rumi, the others seemed to have completely forgotten about the incident and were all immersed in the joyful atmosphere.
—Even though they had discussed this specifically last night.
It's worth mentioning that Hachiman was eventually caught by Totsuka Saika. Although he wasn't wearing a swimsuit, after Hayashi Chiki started splashing water on him, Hachiman ended up getting completely soaked and had to go back to change.
Chapter 131 Hey, I have an idea! (4K)
“Cat ears, tail… white kimono… witch's hat, robe, cloak… what is this? A succubus outfit?” Lin Qianshu flipped through the costume props he would be using for tonight’s test of courage, his expression growing increasingly strange.
What kind of courage are they trying to test with these outfits? Lust?
"It's the Little Devil outfit!" Yuihama corrected, explaining that this was the outfit she was going to wear tonight's test of courage.
Lin Qianshu looked at the heart-shaped cutout on the chest of the little devil's shirt and the long, thin heart-shaped tail at the back of his pants. "Are you serious, little devil?"
In comparison, Ebina's shrine maiden outfit and Kawasaki Saki's samurai outfit seem much more normal. But seriously, is this really a costume prop for a test of courage? It feels more like a scene from a large-scale anime convention.
"What's with this outfit?"
Lin Qianshu looked at Hikigaya Komachi next to Yuihama. She saw that the other party was wearing two huge cat paw gloves, a brownish-yellow short-sleeved shirt with fur decorations at the cuffs, and shorts of the same color. A thick cat tail was sewn to the back of the shorts.
"Of course it's a cat~" Komachi made a classic cat pose, which confused Yukinoshita who was standing next to her.
They began to manipulate it.
"Um... Yukino-neechan?"
Komachi, upon seeing Yukino, pinched and twisted her own tail, suddenly feeling itchy all over, as if she really had a tail being grabbed. She was really into the role.
Now, this is called professionalism.
"...The workmanship is very good, it suits you very well." Yukinoshita reluctantly let go of the fluffy tail, then looked at the cat on its head, her eyes seemingly showing some interest, but seeing Komachi's embarrassed expression, she finally decided to give up.
"Th...thank you?" Komachi scratched her head with her cat paw, thinking that Yukino-neechan seemed to particularly like cats?
"Speaking of which, shouldn't Yukino's outfit be considered a Yuki-onna (snow woman)?"
Yukinoshita was wearing the white kimono with snowflake patterns that Lin Qianshu had seen before, with a blue-purple sash around her waist.
It has to be said that Yukino Shino really suits wearing kimonos. Not only can it conceal any flaws in her figure, but it can also greatly highlight her aloof and elegant demeanor. Overall, she is stunning, and the term "kimono beauty" is truly embodied in her.
In Japanese mythology, the Yuki-onna (snow woman) is usually extremely beautiful, cold-hearted, with skin as white as snow, and often appears in the snow in a kimono.
Aside from her cold nature, which differs from Yukino's personality, she is a perfect match in almost every other way. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she has the innate body of a snow maiden.
Even their names contain the character for snow.
"Is... right? I'm not really sure either. Compared to the other outfits, this one is more normal." Yukinoshita looked down at her kimono, not feeling anything about the snow woman Komachi mentioned.
After all, the reason she chose this outfit was simply because this kimono was the only one that was relatively normal among all the costume props. The others were either incredibly ugly or too revealing. I don't know what the person in charge of the camp was thinking. Why would a test of courage need a maid outfit?
To be fair, the quality of these clothes is indeed quite good, the details are handled very well, and they have all been cleaned beforehand, so there is no odor or dirt on the clothes, which shows that a lot of effort has been put into them.
"I think this outfit is pretty normal too." Lin Qianshu held up the maid outfit in her hand, her tone full of regret.
Kimonos are nice, but maid outfits aren't bad either. Especially since this maid outfit comes with ultra-thin black stockings, which I estimate to be only about a 6D. Imagine wearing them on Yukinoshita's slender and shapely legs... ugh.
Hey, I'm all better now.
Upon hearing Lin Qianshu's words, Yukinoshita's gaze instinctively fell on the stockings in his hand. Recognizing them as accessories from the maid outfit, her face immediately darkened, and she said in an unfriendly tone:
"Really? In that case, why don't you try it on?"
"Yuki-onna, women's clothing is for women to wear, that's common sense."
"Stockings were originally designed for men, but now they've become a common garment for women. By the same token, you could certainly wear a maid outfit, and it might even suit you perfectly."
As she spoke, Yukinoshita looked Lin Qianshu up and down with a serious expression, as if she was assessing the feasibility of Lin Qianshu changing into a maid outfit.
"Ahem, I'm in charge of security tonight, and changing clothes is clearly beyond my job scope."
"Humph!"
Yukinoshita snorted coldly, but didn't bother to argue with this guy anymore.
She checked the time; it was already dark outside, and the sounds of elementary school students playing and laughing could be heard outside the warehouse.
As bonfires were lit one after another in the camp, their bonfire party officially began.
The warehouse where Lin Qianshu and his group were located was situated in a corner of the camp, consisting of two floors. From the windows on the second floor, the entire camp could be seen clearly.
"It's still the same as always."
Through the window, Yukino Yukinoshita saw that Rumi Tsurumi was still excluded from the group. The other four people were dancing and chatting around the campfire, led by the staff, while Rumi Tsurumi was quietly fiddling with the camera in her hand.
Because of the distance and the darkness, it was impossible to see Tsurumi Rumi's expression clearly under the snow, but it probably wasn't very good.
The girl looked away and turned to Lin Qianshu, asking, "So what do you plan to do? Assign her to another group?"
Lin Qianshu shook his head and replied, "I did want to do that before, but then I realized I couldn't."
Lin Qianshu admitted that he had underestimated the xenophobia of Japanese school cliques.
Thanks to Yamayama, Lin Chishu did find quite a few small groups suitable for Tsurumi Rumi, but without exception, they all refused to accept her.
Even Rumi Tsurumi herself did not want to join a new group.
"As expected."
As someone who had been through it all, Yukinoshita knew long ago that Hayashi Chiki's method wouldn't work.
"Since the original plan is not working, we have no choice but to use the backup plan." Lin Qianshu's tone sounded somewhat regretful.
But Yukinoshita inexplicably felt that the other party seemed somewhat eager to try, as if the backup plan he mentioned was what he originally wanted to do.
"What backup plan?" Yukinoshita asked.
"Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed." Lin Qianshu simply replied, earning a roll of the eyes from Xue Zhixia in return.
……
The sun had completely set, and the only light source in the camp was the central campfire. The crackling sound of the burning firewood made the atmosphere of the entire test of courage particularly eerie and terrifying.
However, because there were many people at the scene, although the elementary school students felt a little nervous, they did not show much fear on their faces. In order to ease their emotions, they would deliberately tell jokes or use reverse psychology on their companions to make themselves seem particularly bold.
Of course, not all teams had such a good atmosphere. Among the lively teams, Tsurumi Rumi's team was particularly quiet.
Apart from Tsurumi Rumi, who was excluded as usual, the other four didn't say much, as if they were having a tiff.
Rumi Tsurumi was puzzled by the quiet atmosphere within the group. Based on her understanding of the other four, this should have been the time when they were chatting and having the most fun.
After all, the more lively their side is, the more pathetic they appear, and they won't let go of such a perfect opportunity to ridicule them.
Could it be that they had a conflict during their free time?
However, even if there was a conflict, it wouldn't have much to do with her. Tsurumi Rumi had already realized that her situation was different from theirs. Even if there was a conflict on their side, it would be fine after a while, but her situation probably wouldn't improve even after graduation.
Thinking of this, Tsurumi lowered her head again, flipping through the photos she had taken today, praying that the test of courage tonight would end soon.
"Alright~ Next up is this team!"
The host, Komachi, held the microphone and called out the name of the next team to depart. The elementary school students would give a very polite "Ah~~~" exclamation. The team that was called then arrived at the starting point of the test of courage amidst the cheers and laughter.
This pattern continued for almost thirty minutes, and about 70% of the teams in the camp had already left. As the number of people around them dwindled, the remaining teams became noticeably more nervous.
At first, they worried that they would be next, but later they wondered when it would be their turn.
Soon only Tsurumi Rumi's squad remained in the camp. After being called out by Komachi, the four members of the squad gradually began to communicate.
Seeing this, Tsurumi Rumi became even more certain of her previous thought; sure enough, they had quarreled before, but now they were making up.
In a corner unseen by Liu Mei, Lin Qianshu leaned against a large tree, pinching her brow with a slight headache.
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