Green plums cannot become lovers.

Outside the window, snow was falling heavily, but inside, it was warm and cozy. The hot pot on the kotatsu was bubbling away, and An, Asuka, and the three girls were enjoying it slowly around the pot.

"Sha, sha."

Eat slowly.

"Flying Bird, I want to eat that, please heat it up for me."

Where did the fish balls I just cooked go?

"Wow, this isn't even cooked!"

Anhe's home was as lively and vibrant as ever today, and a hint of warmth flashed in Anhe Feibiao's eyes as she looked on.

A little over a year ago, he was all alone, and the whole house was cold and deserted, but now he has three girls by his side.

They, like him, have troubled families and, like him, have an indomitable spirit; they are all striving to create a better future.

In a sense, their fates are intertwined; this is what is meant by a community of shared destiny!

"Flying Bird, eat this!"

Seeing the extra tofu in the bowl, An and Feibiao were about to pick it up when the doorbell suddenly rang.

"I'll go."

An and Asuka stopped Marina, who was about to get up, put down their chopsticks, and ran to open the door.

As soon as the door opened, the first thing you saw was Ms. Songyue's smiling face, with a few snowflakes still stuck in her hair, and she was carrying a gift box in her hand.

"Good afternoon, little bird. You didn't expect your teacher to come by so suddenly today, did you?"

"..."

An and Asuka paused for a moment, then stepped aside to make way. Matsuzuki Sakura, without any hesitation, entered the house, took off her shoes, and ran inside, treating the place as if it were her own home.

Anhe and Asuka closed the door, glanced down at the mismatched cotton boots, bent down to tidy them up, and then turned to go inside.

When they returned to the living room, Ms. Matsue had already consciously taken up the spot he had just been in.

An and Asuka didn't say anything, turned around and went to the kitchen to get another set of bowls and chopsticks, which they placed in front of Matsue Sakura.

Then he sat down next to Shizuka and squeezed in with her.

He didn't ask what the other person was there for, and simply continued enjoying the delicious hot pot as before. Meanwhile, Songyue Ying, as if she were starving, devoured the food without a care in the world.

The other party has come several times this year, so An and Asuka have gotten used to it and even occasionally serve her food.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill and tidied everything up, An and Asuka asked Matsutsuki Sakura, "So, what brings you here today, Matsutsuki-sensei?"

"It's something very important."

Upon hearing this, Matsue Sakura seemed to have just remembered, and her expression immediately became serious.

She looked at An and Asuka and said, "It's about your post-graduation plans and the school's recommendations. I'm asking what your plans are so I can prepare as soon as possible."

An and Asuka thought for a moment and immediately understood what the other person meant. "You mean this?"

Their school has a very humane system: it can recommend one student to attend a good junior high school in the six counties of this area, and all expenses during the student's studies are shared by the two schools.

Of course, all of this is contingent on excellent academic performance in school and passing the junior high school entrance exam. This wasn't difficult for him, and he had always wanted to get this spot.

At that time, Marina's family was very happy. He hadn't had much contact with Shizuka, and he didn't know Ai. So he was determined to get the spot and felt that only in a big city could he have more opportunities to develop himself.

However, he no longer has that idea.

Now he has people he must protect by his side: Marina, Shizuka, Ai... He cannot abandon any of them and run off to the big city to pursue his own future.

He always kept in his heart the vow to never part with them and to protect them; how could he possibly break it on his own initiative?

Moreover, now that he has the system, he no longer needs to worry about his future being bleak without the resources of a big city.

An and Asuka glanced at the three nervous-looking girls beside them and replied, "I won't participate."

"What did you say?"

Upon hearing An and Asuka's answer, Matsuzuki Sakura's eyes widened in disbelief.

"I told them I wouldn't participate, and that the school should give the spot to another student."

"Are you crazy?!"

"Teacher, do I look like I've gone crazy?"

An and Asuka knew their decision would be unbelievable, but they wouldn't change it no matter what.

"..." Looking at the boy in front of her who didn't seem to be joking, Matsue Sakura swayed slightly, almost collapsing to the ground.

"What are you thinking?"

"Teacher, my mind is very clear right now, so you don't have to think I've lost my mind."

"This is a decision I made after careful consideration, not on a whim. So you don't need to try to dissuade me, and I won't change my mind."

An and Asuka looked serious and spoke with conviction. Seeing his expression, Songyue Ying knew that no matter how she tried to dissuade him, it would be useless.

She rubbed her head, which suddenly started to ache, and asked again, "Then you have to give me a reason, right? This is a very rare opportunity."

Sigh, I took the task assigned by the school seriously, but this is the answer I got. Who would have thought it would end like this?

"Yes, because I don't want to be separated from everyone."

The atmosphere in the room fell silent after An and Asuka's answer, and it took a while before Matsuzuki Sakura spoke again.

"anything else?"

"Nothing."

"So, you gave up such an important opportunity because you didn't want to be separated from everyone?"

Veins bulged on Songyue Ying's forehead. She had thought the boy had some compelling reason, but was that all there was to it?

Seeing that Sakura Matsue seemed about to explode, An and Asuka added, "I might need to correct Ms. Matsue. The so-called 'important opportunity' is not what I truly think. In fact, this opportunity doesn't appeal to me at all right now."

“It’s not even as good as the one more time I saw you after I graduated from elementary school.”

"..."

"Eh..."

Originally intending to teach a lesson, Matsue Sakura's eyes suddenly cleared. She blinked, looking at An and Asuka, somewhat bewildered.

"What, what did you just say?"

“I said I couldn’t bear to part with Ms. Matsutsuki,” Anwa Asuka said with a smile.

"Asuka, it seems like your teacher is easy to handle."

After Matsue Sakura left, Hoshino Ai watched her retreating figure and commented on it in this way.

An and Asuka thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps this is the power of sincerity."

"I see..."

Isn't the power of sincerity a little too strong?

Volume One: Chapter Seventy-Three - A New Beginning is About to Begin

Fine snowflakes drifted down to earth, covering rooftops, hanging from branches, and finally settling quietly on people's heads.

An and Asuka stomped their feet twice at the door to shake off the snow from their shoes before opening the door and going inside.

The heating was on inside, and the warmth made him finally breathe a sigh of relief. He then carried his things to the living room.

At this moment, in the living room, the girls were gathered around a monitor, looking at it from left to right, and occasionally cautiously touching it.

Upon seeing him return, the group immediately went to greet him.

"Asuka, you're back."

"How is it? It's cold outside, isn't it?"

"Come over and take a rest."

The girls were all concerned, and An and Asuka could only carefully dodge while saying, "Let's rest later, I'll get things done first."

"OK then."

The three girls seemed to know how important this matter was to An and Asuka, so they all obediently left his side.

An and Asuka took the opportunity to come to the table, where several computer parts were placed.

A week ago, he calculated that their savings now exceeded two million yen, which was enough to withstand risks.

Therefore, after considering it, he decided to get a computer. This is the information age; having a computer would make everything much easier, and he could also use it to develop himself.

For example, becoming a blogger or VTuber.

Today he went out to the store to buy the last part, and now everything is ready except for assembly.

Looking at the things on the table, An and Asuka felt a rare surge of excitement. He had originally planned to spend tens of thousands of yen to assemble a more ordinary computer, but thinking that the girls might use it in the future, he gritted his teeth and spent more than 200,000 yen.

In the future, they can also publish their own works on it, or do live broadcasts or something.

He put a lot of effort into the hard drive, reserving more space for the C drive so that the girls wouldn't put all their things there later.

Of course, he would still teach them how to use it and what precautions to take, trying his best to prevent them from doing anything reckless.

After disassembling everything, An and Asuka quickly reassembled it. They connected the monitor, plugged in the power, and pressed the power button. The girls gasped in amazement when the screen lit up.

"That's amazing!"

"Birds are indeed omnipotent!"

"Ok!"

For three girls who have never taken a computer class and can't even find the power button, being able to assemble a computer is already considered a senior engineer in their eyes.

After An and Asuka tested it and confirmed that there were no problems, they said to the girls, "Having a computer will make everything much more convenient."

"Shizuka can submit your novels online, Ai can post her singing and dancing videos, and Marina can draw on the computer."

As An and Asuka spoke, An took out a graphics tablet from the bag and handed it to Marina.

"Just connect this to the computer."

"Wow, how amazing!"

The girls gasped in amazement again.

Seeing this, An and Asuka smiled helplessly, and then began to teach them about computers and some simple operations.

Their primary schools don't have computer classes; basic knowledge isn't taught until middle school, so it's considered that they're learning ahead of time.

An and Asuka spent an afternoon teaching the girls how to use computers, and then taught them how to use the internet to find various websites, how to create accounts, and how to submit articles.

As a demonstration, he also opened a media account on YouTube, which serves as a shared account for the four of them. This means that any of them can post their ideas or thoughts on this account in the future.

As for their personal accounts, let's talk about that later. At least we need to understand the basics first, otherwise he's really worried that these three guys might accidentally stumble upon some weird websites.

Their account ID is 'Green Plum', and their profile picture is of their daughter, Chabi, with a flower on her head.

The first video hasn't been posted yet, mainly because he doesn't know what to post.

"Remember, you're still young, so try not to show your faces when you post content in the future, and don't answer any questions related to reality, understand?"

"understood!"

The girls answered obediently.

Their first video was about Chabi, and it only got a few hundred views.

Since they lacked camera skills and editing abilities, their videos were quite poorly made. Therefore, An and Asuka realized they needed to learn editing skills themselves; otherwise, they would never be able to grow the account successfully with their current abilities.

The girls took great care of this account, nurturing it very well. Thanks to their efforts, it gained dozens of followers, which made them very happy, and they would occasionally chat with everyone in the comments section.

However, they did not forget the boy's advice, and they chose to ignore most of the problems.

An and Asuka would sometimes post a video to watch, and the videos he posted were all of him practicing his musical instruments.

Days passed by, the cold winter was over, and the warm spring was ushered in.

The girls are very excited about graduating from elementary school in a few days. Graduating from elementary school means they've grown another year older and are even more capable than before.

An and Asuka were required by the school to perform a show on graduation day as a farewell.

He was quite happy about it, because the school had given him a lot of help during his difficult time.

He has started practicing singing in the last few days, and he will still be singing "Hotaru no Hikari" (The Light of Fireflies)... After all, this song is really beautiful, the school leaders like it very much, and he is very familiar with it, so there is no reason not to play it.