I won't be a loser.

"Paris, or London."

"Not going to New York?"

"She didn't really like that kind of environment; it was too free. You know her personality. I had a good chat with her about it back then, and I felt that what she said made some sense, so I made a lot of preparations for her to study abroad. But now it seems that's no longer necessary."

After taking a sip of milk, Qingpu Mai's eyes fell on Xianren.

"Actually, I don't really have any desire to go abroad. It's very troublesome to be in an unfamiliar environment and have unfamiliar relationships, and to learn the language of that place specifically."

"Did she learn the languages?"

"The plan is to learn two or three foreign languages during high school, and then study abroad when I graduate."

"Giving up now?"

"Because you are my wise man, if I leave you and go abroad, I probably won't have any chance when I come back, right?"

Qingpu Mai looked at the wise man in front of her and smiled. She might not know as much about the wise man as her daughter, Qingpu Setsuna, did, but she had a very sharp intuition and guessed some things herself.

Telling these things to the wise man was simply to tell him what his daughter had given up for him, and hoping that he could pay more attention to his daughter.

"I didn't know these things until I heard you say these words just now."

"You know now?"

"Her dream?"

"My old dream."

Noticing Xianren's reaction, he didn't seem moved, but instead blamed himself. Qingpu Mai also quickly added.

"Besides, aren't you Setsuna's best dream right now?"

The answer was a bit unexpected. Looking at Qingpu Mai, Xianren fell into deep thought. He stood up quietly and walked towards the door.

"I'll go and relax for a bit, then go back first."

"Hmm? Breakfast?"

Xianren did not give an answer. He stood up and left the living room. He pushed open the door and was greeted by a cold wind. He left silently, returned to his apartment, returned to his room, lay down on his bed, and closed his eyes.

Mixed feelings.

He covered his eyes with his arms. He didn't know about Setsuna's dream before, nor did he know that the girl had the idea of studying abroad.

But now, he knows.

I don’t know what to do. Should I support Shanshan’s idea and let the girl study abroad, or should I pretend that I didn’t know anything as before and let Shanshan make her own choice?

“I really am…”

I didn't expect that I would find out such a complicated thing just by preparing breakfast.

Should we support it or not?

- - - -

Thanks for the tips from the otaku who works part-time and sells himself! Boss is generous! Stay healthy!

Thanks to friends Diaosha, Lunayang, Multicultural Traveler, and Praise the Lord! for their monthly tickets and blades! Thank you all for your recommendations!

When the cicadas chirp in summer: 293. Around winter

It was already noon when Qingpu Setsuna appeared in front of him.

Xianren, lying on his bed, returned to his apartment and rested for a while to relieve his fatigue. At noon, when he was about to prepare lunch, the doorbell rang and the person who appeared in front of him was Kiyoura Setsuna, whom he had not seen for a while.

"yours."

The girl handed the wise man's 'suica' card to him.

Suica, also known as "Suica Card" and "Penguin Card", is called "Suica Card" because its pronunciation is similar to "watermelon", and it is called "Penguin Card" because the mascot is a black and white penguin, and the emoticon package of this black and white penguin is very popular on the Internet.

It is generally used for taking the subway and bus, but can also be used to use paid station lockers, and shop at convenience stores and vending machines.

Looking at the card handed to him, he reached into his pocket and found that his card was indeed missing. He took the card from the girl's hand and looked at the girl in front of him.

"Yesterday, after I came back, I went to look for you, but you were not at home."

"Going home to the world."

"I know. I wanted to give you a surprise, but that evening, I heard from your mother that you stayed overnight at your home in Shijie, so I didn't tell you that I was back."

Qingpu Setsuna looked at the wise man in front of him with some disappointment in his eyes. He slowly lowered his eyebrows and hid his expression under the shadow of his long hair.

Holding his card in his hand, his eyes fixed on the girl in front of him, he slowly put the card into his pocket, took two steps forward, and embraced the girl in his arms, hugging her tightly.

The sudden hug made Qingpu Setsuna, who was in a depressed mood, a little at a loss. Her body was hugged tightly, and she felt the warmth from the other person that she had not felt for a long time.

"Feel sorry."

"......"

The sage hugged the girl in front of him tightly, closed his eyes, leaned his face on her shoulder, buried it in the strands of her hair, breathed in the familiar scent of the other person, and his hands couldn't help but hug her tighter.

Qingpu Shanna was already wearing thick clothes, and being hugged so tightly made him feel a little breathless.

"I feel a little uncomfortable... What's wrong, Xianren? Did something happen?"

"No, it's nothing."

After hearing Setsuna's answer, he loosened his arms and looked at the girl in front of him. Xianren's eyes were gentle, which made Qingpu Setsuna, who had been hesitant in her heart, calm down all of a sudden and looked at the boy in front of her, her boyfriend.

The expression on her face also returned to its former gentleness...

Qingpu Shanna would not ask Xianren what had happened that caused him to react like this. He just felt very satisfied when he saw Xianren who seemed to have returned to his former self.

After having lunch together, the girl sat quietly in the wise man's arms, feeling the warmth between them.

Leaning on the edge of the bed and looking down at the moment in his arms, the wise man raised his right arm, picked up a small pure white box from under his pillow, and handed it to the girl.

"Ok?"

Noticing Xianren's actions and the box in front of him, a confused expression appeared on Setsuna's face.

And when the sage opened the box and saw the diamond ring lying quietly inside, the expression on her face froze at that moment. Her eyes gradually widened and looked at the dazzling diamond ring. She slowly turned sideways and looked at the sage she was leaning against.

"I prepared it last night. Let's see if it fits."

He took the diamond ring out of the box, held her fair and slender palm with one hand, and placed the diamond ring on the ring finger of her right hand. The girl thought it would be the middle finger, but when she saw the diamond ring quietly on her ring finger, her mind went blank.

Boys of the same age may not care too much about these things, but as a girl, Kiyoura Setsuna clearly understands the meaning of wearing a diamond ring on the ring finger.

"That's all right."

"A wise man."

After spending the whole afternoon with Setsuna, in the evening, the two appeared in front of Qingpu Mai. Looking at the boy and daughter in front of her, she widened her eyes and looked at the diamond ring on her daughter's hand.

Looking at the two smiling people in front of her, she opened her mouth to say something, but after a moment of silence, she just smiled silently.

It seems that everything is getting better.

In the following period of time, Kento was always by Setsuna's side, either reading books or watching TV together at home, or going out to the nearby shopping mall for shopping in his spare time. When he went to Kaminarimon, which he had been to before, with Kiyoura Setsuna again, he had a different feeling than when he went there with his family.

"You two are getting along very well again."

Sitting in the Saionji family's house, looking at the two people in front of her, Saionji Sekai felt a little complicated. Seeing their relationship getting better, she should be happy, but she was still a little depressed.

"We've always had a good relationship."

In response to the evaluation of the Saionji world, Kiyoura Setsuna simply gave a calm answer.

"........"

Because the answer was too sweet, Saionji Sekai felt that she was being fed up with it. She couldn't help but stick out her tongue and turned her face away, not wanting to see the two people in front of her anymore.

I feel a little emotional in my heart, and I don’t know what my current position is.

As time passed, it was soon the 14th year, the last day of December. It was very cold outside that day, and Xianren did not go out but lay in his house. He had originally wanted to go out, but seeing how cold it was outside, he chose to give up in his heart.

According to the forecast on the 27th, the cold wave will land on the 31st.

"That's today. Maybe it will snow tomorrow?"

Xianren, hiding in the quilt, felt that he might not want to go out tonight. He sat quietly in his room and closed his eyes dejectedly.

The wise man was lying in the warm bed but didn't want to get up. After resting for a while, he opened his eyes, sat up from the bed, put on his clothes, and went out to the nearby store.

Everyone will have a day off tomorrow. If you don’t prepare everything for tomorrow today, you will have to face the bleak situation of no stores opening.

When I left home in the morning, I saw almost everyone preparing for the New Year. The streets were crowded with people. Thinking that there would be even more people tonight, Xianren felt even more helpless.

He was not very interested in staying up late to visit the shrine and pray for the New Year, but other people were particularly obsessed with this aspect, and he could not stay out of it, so he just went with the flow.

When I arrived at the shopping street, I didn't run into any acquaintances. I was alone, so I quietly bought some necessary ingredients and some daily necessities, and then returned to my apartment.

At noon, someone knocked on the door. When I walked to the door and opened it, I found it was Ogiwara Sayu.

"A rest day today?"

"Because New Year's Day is coming soon, the store manager took a day off early."

She stepped aside to let the girl into the house. Ogiwara Sayu looked at the tidy room and realized she hadn't been here for a while.

"Aren't you going shopping with Xige today?"

"She had other work to do today. Even on New Year's Eve, she was still working very hard. I can't do that."

The girl walked to the edge of Kento's bed and sat down, her eyes fixed on the boy in front of her. She also noticed that Kento seemed to be getting close to Kiyoura Setsuna again during this period, but because of work, she didn't have much time to care about this.

Now that I have taken a break, I don't know what to do at home, so I came to the wise man to kill some time.

"Are you planning on staying up late tonight to watch the sunrise?"

"I would rather go to bed early at home, but others may not want to go to bed early."

After throwing an orange to Ogiwara Sayu, Kento sat down at his desk. He had long passed the age of youth and no longer had such strong expectations for those things.

But he is not interested in it, but others may not be interested.

What is certain is that the world of Saionji Temple is definitely very interested in visiting the shrine and waiting for the sunrise...

"By then, the shrine should be full of people. Are you planning to celebrate the festival with Xige?"

"Probably. I wanted to see if you had time, but now it seems like you don't have much time."

The girl stood up, stuffed the orange into her pocket, walked towards the door, waved to the wise man, and pushed the door open.

"Well, I'm going to go look for Xige. See you tomorrow."

"Ah."

After watching the girl leave, Xianren sat at his desk, looking at the notebook in front of him and thinking for a moment, New Year's Day is coming soon. He wondered if the editor, Mari Kazeoka, would be alone, or -

"I've returned to my hometown and will be spending the holidays there for now. I'll probably be back in Tokyo after the New Year. Is there anything going on?"

Mari Kazeoka, wearing thick pajamas, lay in bed, not wanting to get up at all. Once she got out of bed and met her parents at home, the "marriage curse" would be unavoidable.

They are already grown up, working.

Then came that sentence - shouldn't you start thinking about your future?

The day she returned home, she was so annoyed that she wanted to go back to Tokyo immediately, but it was a rare opportunity to go home, only once a year, so she suppressed her dissatisfaction in her heart and did not go out, but could only hide in her room.

"If things are urgent, I can return to Tokyo right now."

"No, nothing. I just wanted to ask if you have any preparations for the New Year. If you are alone, you can come to my house for a short gathering. But since you have already gone back, I wish you a happy holiday first."

"Is that so? Then, happy holidays to you too."

After chatting with Mari Fukaoka about things after the New Year, the call ended and Kento opened his contacts again.

New Year's greetings.

"It's just tomorrow, so let's just leave it at that for today."

He put his cell phone aside, closed his laptop, and lay back on the bed. After lying there for a while, he stood up and walked out of the house to Qingpu's house. Qingpu Wu had also had a day off earlier and was resting at home.

"A wise man?"

"Is Setsuna home?"

"She just went out with Shijie. It seems she's planning to get together with other friends before the New Year. Do you have anything to talk to her about?"

He came to the living room, sat down next to Qingpu Mai, lay sideways on her legs, and watched the TV in front of him.