After coming out of his house, Naruse noticed that it was completely dark.
At the door of the neighbor's house, Shangzi was about to come over to find him.
"Chunhai..."
"It's all done." He lifted the food box in his hand and said, "Bring the other lacquer box over."
She smiled and ran over from the door, "Here you go."
The two of them exchanged the food boxes in their hands, and before turning back, Naruse said, "It's time to prepare dinner."
"Already preparing."
"Really?" It seemed that Shangzi's movements were much faster than his, "I'll be right over."
She nodded and went back with the food box.
Naruse also returned to the kitchen and packed the remaining food into the small grids on each layer of the lacquer box.
During the first three days of the first lunar month, this was his and Matsu Qianqiu's main food, so there was a lot of it.
After putting all the food into five-layer lacquer boxes, Naruse tidied up the kitchen a little, then went to Koka's house to prepare today's dinner with Naoko.
The ingredients are quite abundant - the couple brought back a lot of things from the research institute, including meat and many vegetables, some of which they grew themselves.
"What's for dinner?" Song Qianqiu came to the kitchen again.
"Prepare a cooking pot and a few side dishes, and that's it." Naruse said.
"Not bad."
"Do you want to drink?" He asked casually, "I, Shangzi, can also prepare some food and drinks."
"Yes."
Song Qianqiu's eyes lit up, "I forgot about Chunhai even if you didn't mention it. You can drink as much as you want tonight."
"No, it's not just drinking casually..."
"I mean to drink - go buy a bar, Haixing's house should not be closed yet."
"..."
Naruse regretted even more that he had said so much just now.
"Just leave it to me in the kitchen." Shangzi said to him.
Naruse took a deep breath and had no choice but to buy wine.
"What do you want to drink and how many bottles do you want to buy?"
"Wait a minute... Sawako - let's have a drink tonight -"
The three adults discussed it for a while.
"Just buy three or four bottles of higher-grade wine."
"Three or four bottles?"
"It's just three or four bottles. There are five of us."
"My monk, Shangzi, can't drink."
"Then there are three more adults, let's go."
Naruse put on his coat and went out to buy wine.
It was snowing outside, and when walking on the road, both sides were deserted than usual.
From a distance, he saw that the light sign of Morimi Furuhon's store had gone out. In the six months since he came back, this was the first time it had closed so early.
It only happens once a year, so Morimi and his family should go back to their old house over there to welcome the New Year.
Looking further forward, there is light shining through the door of Zhenmu Hotel, and it is still open.
Naruse walked over there, getting closer, and then looked at the window upstairs.
The light is on, the starfish should be in the room...
He looked forward to it so much.
Before reaching the hotel, a figure suddenly walked out of the hotel.
"...Light?"
"Spring Sea."
Takigawa Hikaru held a bottle of wine in each hand and was a little surprised, "Are you coming to buy wine too?"
"Yeah. My mom is going to have a few drinks with Shangzi's parents."
She smiled and said, "We haven't seen each other for a long time. After dinner, Yue and I came over to say hello to our uncles and aunts."
Naruse nodded, "Okay."
After agreeing on an approximate time, Takigawa Hikaru waved the wine bottle in his hand and went back first.
When Naruse walked into the Maki Hotel, the starfish was indeed not there.
"Spring sea?"
Maki Seiichiro was also a little surprised that he came at this time. After hearing his explanation of his purpose, he turned around and picked out a few bottles of precious Junmai Daiginjo from the wine cabinet.
"How much?" Naruse took out his wallet.
He waved his hand and said, "Miss Song takes such good care of Haixing, just think of it as my thank you gift."
"But..."
"It goes without saying, just accept it. Well, Chunhai can't handle so much wine alone. I'll ask Haixing to send it back for you."
"Eh? Wait a minute..."
"Starfish——"
"..."
The starfish came down soon.
Seeing it was him, Haixing was stunned for a moment, then walked over silently.
"Help Chunhai send the wine back."
"Okay." She agreed immediately.
Naruse really couldn't hold four bottles of wine by himself, so he had to accept it.
After leaving the hotel, the two of them walked forward in silence, one behind the other.
The fresh footprints on the ground were left by Takigawa Hikari when he returned, while his own footprints when he came here are on the other side of the road.
There is no wind, and the snow falls quietly. In the quiet night, it will quietly cover up all traces on the ground.
When they walked to the door of Shangzi's house, neither of them exchanged a word while holding the wine.
"..."
Seeing Song Qianqiu coming out of it, Haixing also understood something.
"The starfish is here too."
Song Qianqiu took the wine from her hand and smiled at her, "Thank you for your hard work."
"No..."
"Chunhai, you send the starfish back."
"..."
Naruse put down the drink and turned around again.
On the way back to Maki Hotel, he turned into a starfish and walked in front, and he followed behind.
Still speechless all the way.
Naruse didn't send her home. He stopped when there were still a few steps to go.
Haixing also quickly noticed and looked back at him.
"Just come here." She took the initiative to say.
Naruse nodded, turned and left.
Haixing didn't turn around and go home until he couldn't see him anymore.
Back at Naoko's house, Naruse casually patted the snow on his body and went to the kitchen to continue helping.
"Lower your head."
He lowered his head, and Shangzi brushed the snowflakes off his head.
"Been there for a long time."
"Send the starfish home and come back."
"Hmm."
After preparing for a while, dinner is almost ready.
The dining place was the living room of Naoko's house. The two families were surrounding a low table, with Naruse and Naoko sitting on one side.
"Cheers——"
Glasses filled with wine or juice clink together, making a crisp sound.
"Eat slowly tonight." Matsu Qianqiu said, and took a deep breath, "Shangzi has prepared a very delicious dinner for us."
"Chunhai also helped a lot..."
With the wine in front of them, the adults quickly started drinking by themselves.
Naruse focused more on the meat slices in the pot.
"...The meat is very tender, right? This is a new species cultivated by our research institute and has not been promoted yet."
He raised his head and realized that Hanasawako was talking to Matsu Chiaki.
The two clinked glasses again, and the bottle of wine was already finished.
"Drinking so fast..."
Shangzi looked at his parents and smiled at them.
The two of them didn't drink, so they ate faster. In addition, they fed each other a lot of trial food when preparing Osechi dishes together, and they became full quickly.
The adults were still drinking, and Monk Naruse didn't leave the table. He just sat beside them and turned on the TV.
While eating and drinking, the annual Red and White Song Competition also began.
"Hmm...why is there no Qianqiu in the red group this year?"
"What are Sawako talking about? I can't sing."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Naruse turned around and took a look. Before nine o'clock, there was only one bottle of wine left.
Around 8:30, the Takigawa sisters came over together and greeted Matsu Chiaki and the Nobaka couple whom they had not seen for a long time.
Because the adults were still drinking, the two didn't stay long. They just called Naruse and Naoko out to discuss the arrangements for the first month.
"Chunhai and Shangzi plan to go to Chuyi one day, let's go together."
"Chu Yi, any day doesn't matter. The important thing is where to go?"
"Iwakiyama Shrine?"
"It seems a bit far...that's okay."
"When the time comes, I'll also call you Ichiyo and Haixing." Hikaru Takigawa said.
Naruse didn't comment, so Naoko answered for him, "We need to discuss the time."