Closing the book, Naruse sat in front of the desk blankly, staring at the wall in trance for a while.
After more than half a minute like this, he picked up the book again, quickly turned to a certain page, and started to read carefully from one paragraph.
After re-reading this part, his frown relaxed a little, and then he flipped to the next part.
Reviewing the entire book in this jumping way, facing the re-presented ending, Naruse leaned back and sighed with satisfaction.
"marvelous……"
He whispered to himself, still reviewing it in his mind.
After a while, Naruse stood up and walked around the room a few times, flexing his body, which was slightly stiff after sitting for a long time.
Reading various books has been his main pastime these days.
In the past two days, Naoko had to go to the club to help out every day. Hikaru Takigawa was also busy training, and he suddenly became unnoticed;
There is not much left in the summer vacation, and there is nothing else to do before school starts. Walking and reading have become the main ways to pass the time in the countryside.
The book was bought from Morimi Furu Honten, and the book he just finished reading was also recommended by Morimi Kazuyo.
"I wonder if there are other books of the same type..."
Naruse was still a little unfinished, so he looked at the time and prepared to go out.
"I understand, that's it."
When he went downstairs, Song Qianqiu on the sofa had just finished a phone call and looked at him calmly.
Most of the excitement in Naruse's heart suddenly disappeared.
"Got to go?"
"The office hopes that I will come over early." Matsu Qianqiu said.
"today?"
She smiled and said, "No matter how anxious I am, I won't leave today."
Naruse couldn't help but smile, "That's tomorrow."
"Sorry, I didn't have time to wait until Chunhai started school."
At this time, Song Qianqiu was not in the mood to read the script anymore. He patted the side and motioned for his son to come and sit down.
"Harumi wants to find Kazuha?"
"It's to the bookstore."
Kazuyo Morimi doesn't stay in her bookstore every day. Although the summer classes at the study school have ended, she still spends a lot of time studying.
"It's really good." Song Qianqiu had no intention of distinguishing the difference, "Chunhai has almost contacted all her former friends."
Although there are only a few people living nearby.
Naruse thought this in his mind, but did not open his mouth to refute.
After staring at his son for a while, Song Qianqiu suddenly raised his hand and touched his temple hair.
"After we went to Tokyo, the crew still had to prepare for about ten days and a half before filming could start, or even a month. Judging from the script, the estimated filming time for this drama is at least half a year."
Naruse pursed his lower lip, "It took so long."
In the past, it was only three or four months at most, and even if the shooting location was not in Tokyo, it was not too far away. Matsu Chiaki often went home to visit.
"Chunhai can stay in the countryside by herself, that's fine."
He turned his head as if to avoid his mother's touch, "What's the problem?"
"That's right." Song Qianqiu smiled again, "Chunhai has grown up."
Naruse sat up straight and said nothing.
From the day they left Tokyo, mother and son were already preparing for the upcoming separation, and had nothing to say at this time.
What's more, the real farewell will still be tomorrow.
"Let's go find Kazuyo."
After leaving home, Naruse hesitated whether to go directly to Morimi Furuhonten or take a walk alone. When he came to his senses, he found that he was already on the way to the bookstore.
In the midsummer afternoon, a few scattered white clouds floated in the distance, refusing to come over.
The sun is scorching, but it's not too hot.
There were only a few cars parked on the roadside and not a single person in sight.
Naruse looked down at his own shadow, curled up into a ball, completely covering his feet.
"So hot……"
Neither the shadow nor the ground responded at all.
The characteristic sound of a bicycle chain coming from the front came from the front. He looked up and saw a yellow-haired girl riding around the corner of the county road.
His body felt weak for no reason, and he didn't bother to care.
But the other party couldn't help but care about him.
The constantly swaying front of the car was a true reflection of her inner panic.
She even forgot that the brake was on her hand and stretched out her feet to drag on the ground, but it didn't have much deceleration effect.
When Naruse finally realized something was wrong, the front wheel of the bicycle had already run over his thigh.
"..."
Naruse "woke up" after being hit.
He took a step back and held down the front of the car before he was completely knocked down.
The people in the car moved forward with the inertia, then stopped abruptly, and their feet on the ground finally played the role of supporting the body.
"..."
Relatively speechless, Naruse let go of the handlebar and looked at the yellow-haired perpetrator again.
I dyed my hair, got earrings, and probably applied a little bit of something to my face, but I can still see that I have a pretty face.
Her thin lips were pursed tightly, and a pair of wide black-rimmed glasses could not hide the panic in her eyes.
This is the emotion that every perpetrator who still has a conscience should feel at this time, but he saw a familiar feeling in her eyebrows.
Naruse looked down and landed on the dark green coarse cloth apron that was flat on her chest.
【Famous wines from all over the world, all in Zhenmu Hotel
Local door-to-door delivery contact number: xxxxxx]
"..."
He suddenly understood what Mori had said to Kazuyo a few days ago.
["If Naruse saw the current starfish, he would probably be shocked."]
He was indeed startled, although it had nothing to do with her.
"starfish?"
"…What are you doing?"
The perpetrator, who was silent and uneasy after his name was called, finally spoke.
Judging from her series of panic reactions when she saw him, as well as the forced calmness she pretended to have at this time, she had indeed recognized him.
Did you see his photo from someone?
The names of Morimi Kazuyo and Takigawa Hikaru appeared in Naruse's mind, but he didn't care. Now he was more focused on what was in front of him.
"Did you do it on purpose?"
"..."
Haixing opened his mouth, not knowing how to explain.
Of course she didn't mean it.
However, although the county road below is not wide, it was originally running opposite each other on the left and right. Unless it was intentional, it was really not easy for them to bump into each other.
But she happened to bump into it.
Ever since she heard the news about his return and seen his face on the store surveillance camera, she had fantasized about countless scenarios when the two of them would meet again. Based on all the bad things they had done when they got along in the past, she could definitely put up a picture.
Face him with a stink face;
But this collision, at least for the moment, completely destroyed her self-confidence...
"It hurts so much."
Naruse lowered his head and touched his knees.
"..."
Starfish glanced at his legs uneasily, pursed her lips, and remained silent.
She felt that she was not an unreasonable person, but she couldn't apologize to him.
Seeing that she remained silent and did not dare to leave directly, Naruse suddenly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.
After not seeing each other for four years, the memory seems to have overly deepened the difficult side of my stepsister in the past.
He quickly remembered that her toughness most of the time was done through hard work.
As early as the end of each other's parents' second marriage, they had lost the reason for their opposition. Time can make many things ambiguous, and now, this relationship may become a little normal.
He didn't expect to be able to completely get back together with her - that kind of memory was too far away, and he couldn't quite remember what the sincere smile she showed towards him looked like.
"haven't seen you for a long time."
Making a decision in his heart, Naruse took the initiative to take the first step towards reconciliation, "I went over to visit a few days ago, and Haixing happened to not be at home."
Haixing gave him a blank look, his head still having not recovered from the accident just now.
"Ah... um."
She quickly regained consciousness.
It was precisely because she learned that their mother and son were back here after returning home that she thought about going over there to take a look and, if possible, settle some matters by the way;
As a result, before he could make up his mind, he was noticed by Kazuyo Morimi who was passing by. However, the fragile impulse dissipated into nothing when encountering the slightest disturbance, and even failed to regroup for several days.
Unexpectedly, I would meet him directly under such circumstances today.
The embarrassment came unexpectedly, but disappeared quickly. He took the initiative to talk, and Haixing suddenly realized that now might be an opportunity.
"I went to karaoke with my friends that day."
She continued what he just said, "I saw the steamed yokan you sent..."
Naruse frowned, focusing on the first half of her sentence.
Haixing herself dressed like a hot girl, and he could imagine what her friends would look like.
Although the line between hot girls and bad guys is very blurred, and he doesn't know where Haixing and her friends fit into it, it can be said that he knows a lot about the latter;
With Haixing's character of being strong on the outside and hard on the inside, once the contact is too deep, it is difficult to get rid of him.
"...Why are you looking at me like this?" Haixing quickly noticed the change in his expression and tensed up.
"nothing."
Naruse was considering how much he would interfere with his former stepsister's interpersonal relationships, and also considering the time to speak to her. He knew very well that at least it was not the time yet.
"I just feel that Haixing has changed a lot in recent years."
"What's the meaning?"
She suddenly became sensitive and guarded, partly out of character and partly because she was facing him.
Naruse didn't want to argue with her, so he said nothing and shook his head.
Haixing stared at him closely, and suddenly seemed to understand something: "You look down on me."
Naruse couldn't help but sigh.
Only then did he truly realize that four long years could not fill the gap between the two of them.
"Leave me alone." Naruse pointed to the wine box on the back seat of the bicycle, "You still have to deliver the bar."
"..."
Haixing looked at him again, stepped on the pedal again, and stepped down.
Without saying goodbye, the two walked away from each other. They stopped when they couldn't see each other, and looked back at the place where the other left.