Chapter 30 Hometown Affairs

The New Year in Akita is as bitterly cold as usual, and the originally gray forest has long been covered with thick white snow.

Silence has also returned to the mountains and forests, and everything has fallen into a deep sleep, quietly waiting for recovery in the coming year.

However, Xiaolu Village at the foot of the mountain is very lively. White paper lanterns are hung in front of every house, as well as kadomatsu made of bamboo and pine leaves.

The hostess in the house was busy making rice sticks, and the male host was sitting in front of a table filled with wine, as if waiting for something.

"Duk duk duk" there was a knock on the door, and before anyone could open the door, the visitor had already pushed the door open and entered.

"I heard there are crying children here," a low and terrifying voice sounded, and the little girl in the room looked at the door in horror.

I saw two figures standing at the door wearing ferocious ghost masks, wearing straw raincoats and holding wooden poles. They walked through the door with exaggerated movements, and then looked straight at the little girl.

"Wow!" the little girl cried out in fright, then rolled and crawled towards her father who was sitting upright.

"Is it you, Chiyoko? I heard that you don't study hard and don't listen to adults." The figure dressed as an evil spirit said as he tremblingly stretched out his hand to the little girl.

Usually a group of two or three people pretend to be evil spirits and go door to door to scare people.

If there is anything different this year, it is undoubtedly the return of Shirakawa Kaede and Torataro.

He was also angry at his mother for being accommodating and weak, but the meekness and obedience inherent in traditional women made him feel confused and powerless.

There were some interested young people in the village who couldn't help but approach Bai Chuanfeng and mooted for a long time. They just wanted to ask Bai Chuanfeng if he had any good opportunities and wanted to work with him.

Part of the money was left to his mother, and the remaining part was entrusted to Bai Chuanfeng's parents, hoping that they would come forward to help when necessary.

Not long after the Torataro family's TV came back, Maruyama, who came after hearing the news, secretly exchanged it for 20,000 yen, and spent a few months living outside before returning home.

With the little girl's expression of surviving the disaster, the two people exited the door, turned around and walked to the next house.

All this was due to the attraction of that TV set, which simply became a star in the village.

Taking advantage of the New Year, he made a special trip to the city at home, invited the best doctor to examine his mother's body, and prescribed a bunch of medicine for her to take care of her body. Torataro felt relieved a little.

Torataro, who had just arrived home, heard about this and almost had a fight with his bastard father that day.

"Haha, Xiaofeng. I told you a long time ago that I would come over for a drink, but you didn't believe me." The angry voice was none other than Torataro.

There was no way he could save the money he brought back in Tokyo, so he would never dare to give it all to his mother.

Everyone was a little relieved when they heard that it was a second-hand product, but they were still envious.

The two of them formed a pair and were participating in Akita's traditional festival, the Ahamaki Festival.

Ever since Shirakawa Kaede sent back a 90% new TV set to her family, the Shirakawa home has become a favorite place for people in the village to visit.

Finally, he promised to help them get a TV set for them if they had the chance, at a favorable price. Only then did everyone leave with satisfaction.

From then on, Shirakawa Hayato also had a new hobby, which was to sit cross-legged in front of the TV every day and watch all kinds of weird programs on TV.

He was most active in scaring children every time, which made Tora Taro wonder why he hadn't noticed this guy was so naughty before.

Finally, before leaving for Tokyo, Torataro made a special trip to Shirakawa Kaede's house, knelt on the ground and begged Shirakawa Hayato and Kazuko to take care of his mother for him.

This festival is somewhat similar to Halloween in the West, except that one has adults begging for drinks, and the other has children begging for candy.

If his mother Miki hadn't tried her best to stop him, there might have been a situation where father and son would kill each other during the New Year.

Just because they haven't seen it doesn't mean they don't know. It is said that a brand new TV costs a huge sum of two to three hundred thousand. This amount of money is almost equivalent to the income of an ordinary family in Xiaolu Village for more than half a year, and some may not be certain.

Shirakawa Kaede could only decline this point. It wasn't that he didn't want to help the villagers. It was just that he was just a student now, and he couldn't rely on so many people to sell used goods. After all, the only ones who could repair electrical appliances were him and Yamashita Daiharu.

No matter how much used goods come, there is only a limit to what the two of them can digest.

The male host suppressed his laughter and raised the wine glass on the table to toast to the strange-looking two people. The two men playing the role of evil spirits also raised their wine glasses to greet the male host, and then everyone drank it down.

Not only did they bring back all kinds of fresh gifts for everyone, they also brought back several color TV sets, as big as 18 inches!

For most people in the village who had never been out in their lives, this was shocking and caused a huge sensation.

Speaking of televisions, we have to mention Torataro's family. Shirakawa Kaede sent back two televisions together, one for him and one for Torataro.

Looking at Torataro kneeling in front of him, Shirakawa Hayato had complicated eyes, especially since his son was right next to him.

Adults come here to visit when they have something to do, and children can't wait to stay here.

According to past experience, those who go to the city to work will pack up their bags and set off again within a few days of the new year.

Later, I heard from Kashiwagi who was also in Tokyo that they had obtained it by tinkering with second-hand goods.

The little girl retreated while crying, "I didn't, please let me go!" A pair of small hands hugged her father's arm tightly.

"Remember to be obedient." Before leaving the house, the red-masked evil spirit among them didn't forget to turn around and threaten.

"I heard that there are disobedient children here?", "I heard that there are lazy wives here who eat well and are lazy in cooking?" and so on.

The male host will dress up to receive the guests and serve them drinks from their home collection.

"I will be obedient from now on, dad, please help me quickly." Chiyoko looked at her father pleadingly, turned around and saw the ferocious evil ghost face, and burst into tears again.

The combination of Shirakawa Kaede and Torataro also walked from the beginning of the village to the end of the village. It was the first time for Shirakawa Kaede to participate in such a traditional festival and she was very excited.

Torataro was not only angry at what his father had done, but also angry at his TV set which was obviously worth 70,000 to 80,000 yen, but he sold it as junk for 20,000 yen.

Through it, the villagers learned about the colorful world outside, learned about Yamaguchi Momoe, learned about "Spring in the North Country", learned about the idol craze, and watched the Red and White Song Festival for the first time.

"Why is the wine at Uncle Matsumoto's house so spicy?" The red-masked evil spirit came out and took off his mask. The first person to be exposed was Shirakawa Kaede, who was giggling and sticking out his tongue.

In fact, they didn't have to follow Shirakawa Kaede, they were just itchy because of the TV that caused a sensation in the village.

Everyone is wondering how the boy from the Shirakawa family got so rich in Tokyo that he could afford a color TV set.

The New Year is a happy and short time. The bustle of Xiaolu Village lasts only a few days and is about to fall into calm again.

"Don't worry, Torataro, even if you don't come, we will take good care of Miki. When Xiaofeng was little, we often caused trouble to her. Please don't worry about home, work hard outside and act like a man."

"Yeah!" Torataro lowered his head and touched the tatami in front of him heavily with his forehead.

Hezi wiped away her tears and said, "Go ahead, good boy. You and Xiaofeng must take care of each other outside and don't be impulsive."

Under the reluctant eyes of their respective parents, Shirakawa Kaede and Torataro embarked on their journey to Tokyo again.

Unlike last year, this time they were no longer confused and anxious, but were replaced by confidence and exuberance.

——

PS: There will be more tonight, three updates today

thanks for your support!
Chapter completed!