Uneasy daily life

"Oh, your ramen is ready..."

The ramen shop owner, carrying a bowl of noodles, turned around and personally walked out of the kitchen to deliver it to the elderly customer.

Upon closer inspection, she was indeed a very elegant elderly lady. Her clothes and hair were impeccably groomed, her face was gentle and calm, and the corners of her mouth seemed to be slightly upturned.

She closed her eyes quietly, like a sculpture forged by wind and snow, waiting for the sunlight to come and melt away.

The ramen shop owner put down the ramen, feeling that the situation looked somewhat familiar.

"Old lady? Old lady?"

The ramen shop owner, trembling with fear, whispered twice.

The ramen shop owner immediately stretched out his finger, trembling as he checked the breath.

"Not again?! Why is it always my shop?!"

Grandpa, I'm so sorry, I'm afraid the century-old shop won't be able to continue!

……

……

Yukinoshita's mother closed her eyes to rest, her anger meter already full, but she wouldn't make a scene in public, let alone handle any family matters. As for Shirokage? When she truly disliked someone, her actions were never about arguing or scolding, but about ignoring everything the other person said and their very existence. That was her way of showing disgust.

The reason I didn't leave immediately was simply out of courtesy.

Yukino Yukinoshita remained silent, occasionally glancing secretly at her older sister and mother.

Yukinoshita played with her ID card, listlessly resting her chin on her hand as she watched the final scene.

Chitanda reached the finish line, ranking last in wealth and heavily in debt.

……

……

Chitanda Eru is a stubborn person.

That's the opinion of everyone who knows her.

She remained in an increasingly impoverished and aging place, refusing to budge no matter how her children and grandchildren tried to persuade her. By the time she was in her seventies or eighties, her relatives had stopped trying to dissuade her, believing it was normal for an elderly person to spend their remaining years in their hometown.

Those who reach the end of their era often return to their hometowns.

Chitanda Eru has seen many young people leave this land to pursue a more distant and expansive future, and she has also seen many grown-up people return to this land to spend the last moments of their lives. Life is like a circle; some of those who leave will eventually return to the starting point, but she has stayed at the starting point, refusing to budge.

Judging from my aspirations and ambitions when I was young, I guess I've failed in this life.

There are occasional successes and occasional failures, but times are always moving forward, and even the most advanced technologies are always aging.

Chitanda Eru felt rather sentimental today, and her fondness for reminiscing about the past was proof that she was about to reach the end of her life.

After finishing her breakfast, she stepped out of her old house, which had been renovated once, and walked along the road.

This wide and sturdy road was built through my own efforts and the collective wisdom of everyone involved. It winds its way out of the city, connecting to other areas and significantly reducing logistics costs.

The crops in the rice paddies are different from what I remember from my childhood. I vaguely remember that time when everyone planted new crops in the tropics, but we didn't handle them well and ended up losing money.

The mountainside next to us is surrounded by barbed wire, and a dilapidated iron gate stands at the intersection. The word "tourism" can still be vaguely made out on the mottled signboard. Ah, is this something left behind after the failure of a tourism development project?

Walking down the slope and into the more populated villages and towns, people who were preparing to farm or buy things in the early morning would occasionally wave hello... A few familiar elderly people did not survive the winter, which made me a little sad.

Take a walk, look around, around this small piece of land.

Whether it's success or failure, it's all a footprint I've left here.

The current situation is that all the village can do is accept young people who have failed and returned disheartened, and welcome back the elderly who have burned out their lives outside and are now spending their twilight years in the village. It seems to have become a place for professional elderly care.

It's not that bad.

Success is temporary, and so is failure. One must learn to be strong in order to live out this short life.

From dawn till dusk, I look at this land that, through my own efforts and the changing times, is now completely different from the land I remember from my youth.

Chitanda Eru returned to her family's old house, took out the Chitanda family's land deed, and produced a will that she had already prepared.

No matter how difficult the years have been, no matter who made the promises, she has never given up on these things—to many people, these land deeds are a symbol of wealth, but to her, they are the responsibility of the Chitanda family… to reconcile everyone’s conflicts and contradictions, to find the future of this land. This is not wealth, it is responsibility.

A land title is just a medium; ultimately, which piece of land truly belongs to whom?

There have always been people who belong to this land, not people who own it. Without the recognition of the people here, these things are just worthless pieces of paper.

Unfortunately, after her, no one was willing to take on this responsibility; she was destined to be the last Chitanda.

The name of the Chitanda family will disappear along with me.

"The Sugita family, the village entrance family..."

She has a very good memory; even now that she is old, she still remembers every household that lives on this land.

"And the Oreki family."

Chitanda Eru confirmed that the will was correct.

I'm uneasy about who to entrust this responsibility to after my death. My family has no intention of inheriting it, and leaving it to them will only lead to its sale. Government officials and members of parliament are not trustworthy. Should I sell it to a businessman who has been interested and then distribute the money among everyone? That would take away the control of the situation, leaving everyone with no choice, which could lead to future problems.

After much thought, there really wasn't a good solution, so the only option was to distribute the land to the people on this land and let them decide the direction.

Chitanda Eru felt relieved and went to bed to sleep.

……

……

"I have spent a peaceful life with you."

Bai Ying weighed the dice in his hand with dissatisfaction, and succinctly announced the ending for himself and Mai Sakurajima. He looked at Houtarou Oreki and explained, "You lie peacefully in bed, already sensing the approach of the final moment, and so you close your eyes peacefully—success is not for you, failure is not for you, this is the ordinary happiness you hoped for."

"People see success as white and failure as black. You prefer gray, you don't want to fail or succeed, and you live an energy-efficient and peaceful life, all as you wish."

"At one moment, your breathing stops. The landline in the living room rings, the sound echoing in the empty room. After no one answers, the landline switches to voicemail mode."

"[Hello, is this Mr. Oreki's house? We have a will regarding Ms. Chitanda that we need your confirmation and signature. Please contact us after hearing this message.]"

Houtarou Oreki looked at his ID card. He was really lucky; he died relatively early and was fortunate enough to save energy.

Me and Chitanda...

"Alright everyone, the game is over."

Phantom announced softly.

"Hehe! You had a lot of fun! Come on, here are the tickets for the Scarlet Troupe. Thank you all for participating in the games and creating joy with your hearts. You're all welcome to come and support our future performances..."

Bai Ying pulled out a stack of tickets and distributed them.

"Yukino, Haruno, come with me."

Yukinoshita's mother ignored them, stood up and briefly greeted her two daughters before nodding peacefully and saying, "Everyone, our family has something to attend to, so we'll take our leave now."

Yukino Yukinoshita stood up with a calm expression.

Yukino Yukinoshita felt a pang of panic and instinctively looked around—Hachiman? He was lost in thought. Yui? She'd turned into a stone statue! Haku? He was handing out tickets to the others…

What am I thinking? This is something I can't avoid... What, what should I do? Speaking of what to do, I'm completely confused right now, I don't even know what the problem is... Or even if I figure out the problem, I'd have to ask my mother for confirmation, right?

Yukino lowered her head irritably, following her mother and sister, and silently glared at the white figure a few times.

What exactly do you want to do? What exactly did you do...?

"Hey, wait for me!"

Yukinoshita's father took a step to chase after her, but was stopped by the white figure.

"Uncle, here are your tickets." Bai Ying handed over four tickets with a smile.

Yukinoshita's father glared at her and whispered, "Young man! You're playing a trick on me!"

"Where did I trick you? Art originates from reality but transcends it. I'm just expressing myself artistically—any resemblance is purely coincidental." Bai Ying sighed. "Uncle, you're being too attached to appearances. Just take the ticket."

Yukinoshita's father took the ticket: "I'm afraid no one in my family has time to come and see any plays."

"It will happen. As the saying goes, a tree can grow a hundred feet tall, but its roots can grow a thousand miles long... When a tree is knocked down, it will rely on its roots to play a role."

Bai Ying smiled meaningfully and continued handing out tickets one by one.

Without a moment to think, Yukinoshita's father hurried after the three goddesses.

Now that things have come to this, we can only adapt to the situation!

"Hey, is this how you solve problems?"

Hiratsuka Shizuka, looking completely bewildered, took the ticket and whispered, "Aren't you just escalating the conflict?"

"If a tooth is slightly damaged, it can be repaired. If it is too damaged, it can be treated with a root canal. If the damage is irreparable, in order to prevent the decay from spreading to other healthy teeth, the only option is to extract it—Teacher, you must have dealt with Auntie before, right?"

Hiratsuka Shizuka shrugged: "They just ignored me like I was invisible."

"Because the teacher is the one who 'corrupted her daughter into playing in the band,' the aunt is very polite when she dislikes someone; she'll just ignore them, and no matter how noisy the air is, it doesn't matter."

Hiratsuka Shizuka pondered for a moment: "Then you should have made follow-up preparations, right?"

"Of course, Teacher, just wait for the hero's sister's call. I've brought my cat and dog along to make sure everything goes perfectly for this performance."

The drama of the game has ended, but the drama of the hero's family has just begun.

Only by maintaining balance and suppressing emotions can one pull out the demonic sword that harms both oneself and others.

Frostmourne is about to draw blood.

Chapter 116 Frostmourne, Unsheathed!

The hotel room where Yukinoshita's father and mother stayed.

The four people were sitting in the room, with Yukinoshita's mother in the superior position. Her expression was as gentle and calm as ever, which brought pressure.

It seems that my observation skills are still lacking. I thought Bai Ying was a calm and reliable person, but now it seems that I misjudged her. I should have noticed this when she deliberately acted to deceive me. Unfortunately, I was deceived again. She was meddling in other people's affairs, self-righteous, and had no calmness at all, but was very arrogant.

I should advise Yukino to see the other person clearly, draw a clear line, and stop having any contact with them.

Yukinoshita's mother was a little annoyed, not at the way Hakukage was pointing fingers. If you dislike someone, the right thing to do is to ignore everything about them.

She was just annoyed that she had been deceived several times in a row—being tricked into rushing to Yukino's apartment building, being tricked into believing that the other person was calm and composed, and being tricked into believing that the other person was on her side and helping her to urge her two daughters to grow up.

He failed to judge people well.

The pressure from my mother today felt even greater, but something felt off…

Yukino Yukinoshita, with her eyes lowered, sat obediently upright, but her gaze involuntarily drifted to the side—Sister! Sit up straight! Your shoulders are a little crooked! Your legs aren't tucked in! Your back is a little hunched! You don't look like you're sitting upright like a pine tree, but rather a loose, slouching bunch… Sister, what are you doing? You're sure to get scolded by Mother!

Parents... what exactly are parents? Blood ties? Societal norms? Absolute authority? Obstacles? Or just a show-off?

Yukino's mood was unusually calm, with occasional sociological and philosophical thoughts flashing through her mind.

Yukino wants it, and her mother wants to give it to her—isn't that a match made in heaven? So what am I doing here? It's better to leave, to leave Chiba—no, to leave Japan. Am I going to die? The more I try to understand, the more painful it becomes.

"Cough cough!"

Sitting next to Yukinoshita's mother, Yukinoshita's father coughed lightly a few times and said, "About that game..."

"What's the point of discussing those nonsensical, insane things?"

Yukinoshita's mother glanced at her and asked, "Are you discussing how you were completely fooled by a young man?"

Yukinoshita's father scratched his head awkwardly: "I mean..."

"We can talk about it later."

Yukinoshita's mother casually confirmed her right to speak. She looked at her two daughters and frowned when she saw Yukinoshita Haruno's relaxed posture and absent-minded expression. She slowly said in a deep voice, "I came to Jinsuke to confirm one thing—are you two hiding something from me?"

What are you hiding from your mother?

Yukino Yukinoshita was stunned for a moment, as if a bolt of lightning had struck her mind.

Oh no! So much has happened, my mind is a mess, I completely overlooked the huge bombshell of living with Bai Jun!

Yukino Yukinoshita glanced at Haruno Yukinoshita instinctively. Sister, think of something quick! How are we going to get this out of this? Should we confess? But the consequences of confessing are unthinkable!

What should I do now? I...

"I do have something I'm hiding from my mother."