The sky is blue, the clouds are sparse, and the sun is falling straight down unobstructed, warm and bright.
As a native of Aomori, Haixing has long been accustomed to the long winter in this land, but when spring is gradually approaching, she still feels happy.
Gone are the ice and snow road closures—at least for most of the year—and she can now deliver drinks on her bicycle.
Jingle bell, jingle bell——
Riding a bicycle, Haixing rang the bell to remind the two children on the road ahead to pay attention.
There are still two bottles of wine left in the wine box in the back seat. After they were delivered, nothing happened this morning.
This made her feel relieved, but also felt a little regretful.
Today is already the second day of spring break, and besides working in her hotel to earn some pocket money, she has nothing else to do.
If you are idle, you are idle. It is better to deliver wine a few more times and earn more money to prepare for emergencies...
"Hey!"
The child in front suddenly took a step towards the middle of the road, and his thoughts were suddenly brought back. Haixing quickly pressed the brakes and stopped before hitting him.
"Wow..."
The two children were also startled and quickly ran away.
Haixing saw one of them holding a comic book with a familiar label on it.
That's a comic rented from Kazuha's bookstore...
"Who asked you to read comics on the road?" She looked like an adult and glared at the two children, "It's very dangerous."
"Ah, it's Sister Huangmao from the hotel."
"Wow, something bad!"
The two of them shouted inexplicably and ran into the bushes on the roadside laughing and joking.
"Hey, don't yell...be careful, don't run around——"
Starfish shouted, and the two children ran so fast that they were out of sight in the blink of an eye.
"Really..."
After checking the wine box, she got on the bicycle again and rode towards her final destination.
Five minutes later, she stopped in front of the guest's house who ordered the wine and rang the doorbell.
"Hello, wine is here from Maki Hotel——"
"Ah, it's a starfish."
Soon someone came to open the door, took two bottles of sake, and paid for the wine and delivery fee.
"Thank you for your patronage."
"Didn't Starfish go out to play during spring break? The weather is so nice."
"I have to deliver wine."
"Haha, what a good boy."
"..."
Haixing blushed, quickly said goodbye to the guest, got on his bicycle and left.
There was no alcohol in the back seat, so Haixing rode faster and more relaxed on the way back.
Continuously riding along the path, passing through fields and alleys, she returned to the county road.
Passing by Xia Qingliu Bridge, the river flows under the bridge. The Nanmuchuan River, which has been silent for several months in the long winter, is gradually waking up.
Along the way, no one is waiting at the dilapidated bus stop.
After passing the convenience store, she glanced at the intersection opposite, but she also saw nothing.
The speed of the car did not slow down, and the county road under the wheels turned a small curve. When approaching Morimi Furu Honten, Haixing gently pressed the brake and took a look inside.
As expected, Yiye is here today...
She pedaled again, sped back home, and stopped her bicycle in front of the store.
"I'm back."
Seiichiro Maki looked up at the counter and said, "Thank you for your hard work."
Haixing took out the money he received from his pocket, divided some of it, and took it back.
After paying off the "debt" for so long, she can finally get money again.
Maki Seiichiro just watched and waited for his daughter to take away his reward before putting away the rest.
"I have nothing to do in the morning, let's take a rest."
"I'll go to Kazuyo's place to stay for a while." Haixing said.
"Okay."
Halfway through, she realized that she had forgotten to take off the apron in the store.
"Forget it."
Haixing walked into the bookstore and passed through the bookshelf. Morimi watched her approach and suddenly raised his chin towards her.
"..."
Behind the bookshelf, another person stuck his head out and glanced at her.
"Starfish."
"...Chunhai."
Naruse looked at the apron she was wearing, "Have you just returned from delivering the drinks?"
"Well..."
She pulled on her apron.
"Thank you for your hard work."
Naruse turned back and said to Morimi: "This is the one."
She nodded, "You can give it to me."
“The price is clearly marked.”
"This book was just received yesterday, and it's still waiting in line to be put on the shelves." Morimi pointed to the cardboard box at his feet, "These are all."
Only then did Naruse notice that there were books inside, "Let me see."
"See for yourself."
He walked around the counter and squatted down to flip through the old books in the cardboard box.
Haixing looked at the two of them, and Morimi also looked over and smiled at her.
"Are you done?"
"Ah, um... I'm fine this morning."
She walked over and looked at Naruse, who only had his back exposed.
Morimi also lowered his head, "If you are free, please help me put these books on the shelves."
Naruse responded.
After a few seconds, he raised his head and said, "What?"
"These books." She touched the carton with her toes, "enter them into the backend and then put them on the shelves."
"This is your job."
She pushed up her glasses and said, "I'm too busy."
"Okay..." Naruse looked at the books in the carton, "I just want to read them all."
He picked up a few books and put them on the counter. Morimi started working on the computer.
Opening the management software, she said: "You scan the QR code for the book, and I'll enter the price."
"Yeah."
He picked up a book and scanned the barcode.
Drop——
Click click click, Morimi entered the price in the background, six hundred yen.
"Did you decide the price?"
"Yeah."
"What about the standards?"
"It depends on your mood."
"..."
She smiled and said, "This is a business secret. If you come to help me often, I will tell you."
"Then forget it."
Naruse shook his head and looked at Haixing, who was standing blankly outside the counter.
"Haixing, come and help me. I'll get the book and you'll scan the code."
"Ah...ok."
Morimi also smiled at her and said nothing.
Haixing didn't come in, and just lay down outside the counter. Naruse picked up a book, read the title, and flipped through two pages before facing her with the barcode on the back.
Haixing picked up the code scanner.
Drop——
In the backend where book information was entered, Morimi entered the price, hit the Enter key, and then turned to look at Naruse.
"Your efficiency is too low."
"Didn't you say you have a lot of free time in the morning?"
"Then I don't want to stand here and watch you flip through the book. Why don't I enter it first?"
"Okay."
As a result, efficiency suddenly improved.
A carton of books was quickly entered into the backend.
"Okay, that's all for now."
Morimi and Haixing took some time off, while Naruse continued to read.
"Don't worry about him, he's 'digging for gold.'" Morimi said to Haixing.
The latter nodded, still lying on the counter, looking at him and the book he put down.
Morimi sat back on the chair and thought of another thing, "By the way, Sister Yue seems to be back."
Haixing was startled: "Ah, Sister Yue's trip is over."
Naruse didn't even raise his head, "Because school is about to start."
"What day?" Haixing asked.
"Don't universities always start on April 1st?"
"I never went to college..."
Naruse finally raised his head and glanced at her.
Sen smiled and said, "It's April 1st, which is the day after tomorrow."
Haixing murmured: "Sister Yue is going to college..."
"It happens to be spring break these days. It seems that Guang plans to go there with Sister Yue and stay in Sendai for a few days." Morimi continued.
"Really?" Naruse also looked over. He didn't know about this yet, "Speaking of which, Sister Yue has already found an apartment."
"I don't know. But it should be almost there."
The three of them chatted about college for a while.
Morimi said that he was already paying attention to the rent of the apartment in Kyoto, and Naruse said that he planned to learn to drive as soon as he reaches the age, and then live at home and commute by car.
Starfish lay on the counter, just looking at them, not knowing what to say.
University?
She no longer remembers when she started to exclude college from her future options by default.
"...Where's the starfish?"
"Ah?"
Naruse looked at her, "I'm talking about college."
"I won't go to college..."
"Are you going to work after high school?"
Starfish remained blankly silent.
College was definitely excluded, but she had no other plans.
"...I don't know."
Naruse looked at her but hesitated to speak.
Morimi looked at him and shook his head when he looked over.
"Then we'll talk about it then... I'll put these books on the shelves." He picked up a stack of books that he had already read and walked out of the counter.
Sen Jian was startled and stopped him again, "Wait a moment, we have to sort it out..."
"——Already classified."
"..."
She looked at the remaining books on the counter and realized that he had already placed the books in categories after flipping through them just now.
Looking at his skillful movements, she curled her lips, but the corners of her lips curved again.
"When did you become so skilled...Have you considered coming to work at my house?"
"Can you afford the salary?"
"How much do you want?"
Putting the book into the bookshelf, Naruse said: "One thousand yen an hour."
"Where do you think this is, Tokyo?"
"Forget it if you can't afford it."
After going back and forth several times to put several piles of books on the shelves, he picked up the book he had selected before and said goodbye to the two of them, "I'm going back first."
"Yeah."
Morimi responded, and Haixing looked at him and nodded.
Watching him leave, Haixing sighed in his heart, feeling disappointed and inexplicably relaxed.
She leaned against the counter and was distracted. Morimi looked at her and sat down again.
"Would you like to find a book for you to read?"
"No need."
Haixing shook her head, turned around, and lay on the counter again, looking at the book she was reading.
"During spring break, will you just stay in the store and read a book?"
"Absolutely." Morimi said, "In two days, I'm going to Hokkaido."
"Hey, want to travel?"
"No, a relative is getting married."
She shook her head and smiled again, "But I can also play there for two days."
"That's great."
"Haixing is coming, you can come with me." Morimi suggested, "There's no need to spend money."
"Eh..."
Haixing hesitated for a while, then shook his head, "Forget it."
She doesn't want to stay in an environment where there are only strangers except Morimi's family.
Morimi didn't force it, "I'll bring you some Hokkaido specialties then."
"Okay." Haixing laughed.
"Besides working at home, Haixing doesn't have any other arrangements for spring break?" Morimi asked her the question she just asked her.
"I also want to find something to do..."
Starfish sighed.
Morimi also understood the reason for her sigh.
Unlike a long time ago, the current starfish has lost its initiative and is always following passively - following Hikaru, or following Naruse, and occasionally following her.
But now, the people Haixing follows all have their own things to do.
"By the way, what has he been doing these two days?" Haixing asked.
"Naruse?"
"Yeah."
"Reading." Morimi paused and looked at her, "Also, stay with Naoko."
"..."
Starfish is silent.
Morimi continued: "As for Naoko, she was invited back by the Handicraft Society to be the next director. She seems to have been busy with something in the past two days."
Starfish was startled.
She knew the inside story of the sudden split of the handicraft club last year, so she was even more surprised now.
"Isn't it that Shangzi can't get along with the people from the handicraft club?"
"I don't know the specific situation..." Morimi shook his head, "But Naruse said that the current minister has made a guarantee that those who targeted Naoko at the beginning will quit the handicraft club after they reach the third grade.
——Although this is customary."
She sneered again.
"Although it is the largest club in Jingao, there are not many people in it after all. It is really boring for such a small group to have factions and fight against each other."
"If the handicraft club hadn't been turned into a mess by those people, Naoko wouldn't have established her own club... That's what Naruse said."
"Then now..."
"Naoko goes back to revive the handicraft club, and the restoration department will be handed over to Naruse."
Haixing opened his mouth and muttered: "Isn't he a mascot..."
Sen smiled.
"Yes...but there should be no problem. After all, there is still Shangzi."
It was almost noon, and after staying for a while, Haixing went home first.
After lunch, she rode out to deliver two orders of wine, but she became idle again and could only go back to her room to stay.
I turned on my phone and looked at several friends in the list. They all basically had their own things to do.
She scrolled down and her eyes paused for a while on Song Qianqiu's profile picture.
She hasn't contacted her for a while. I only know that the drama she is currently filming has come to an end and it is the busiest time.
"Artist..."
Starfish is lying on the bed, looking at the ceiling.
["...Have you ever considered debuting in Tokyo?"]
For no reason, she suddenly remembered what Matsu Qianqiu's assistant said.
Debut?
Just thinking about it, Haixing thinks it’s impossible.
But this does not prevent her from continuing to think about it.
If she were to make a debut, which direction would she develop?
She can't sing or dance, let alone have any acting skills.
She just looks good.
"..."
Haixing picked up the phone, turned on the front camera, and looked at herself on the screen.
I'm just a little cuter than other girls, Wink~
"..."
She dropped her phone and covered her face.
What are you doing...
After being dazed for a while, Haixing picked up her phone again and scrolled through Twitter.
"Eh..."
#松千秋综合
She was startled, then clicked on the topic to take a look.
"Matsu Chiaki... was injured during filming?!"
Starfish sat up all of a sudden.
After scrolling down, she didn't see any more precise news. She only knew that Song Qianqiu was hit by equipment during the filming this morning, and the filming was stopped urgently.
The only photo is of her back being helped to rest.
"It doesn't matter..."
Haixing thought for a while, clicked on Song Qianqiu's chat, and sent a message of greetings.
【Read】
"..."
So fast...
Is it because the injury is serious that you are not filming now?
Miss Song: It’s okay.
Miss Song: It was just a bump on the arm.
Miss Song:[Picture]
In the selfie, Song Qianqiu is in high spirits and smiling at the camera.
"Eh?"
Haixing: It was said on Twitter that my aunt was seriously injured and it had affected the filming...
Miss Song:Hahaha
Miss Song: How should I put it? This is a boring trick played by adults.
Ms. Song: Tomorrow, Haixing will be able to see the news that I have returned to the crew safe and sound to continue filming, and that the new work will be available to the audience soon.
That is to say...
Haixing thought for a moment.
Hype?
Seeing that Song Qianqiu was fine, she felt relieved.
Miss Song: Spring break has begun.
Haixing: Well, today is already the second day of spring break.
Miss Song:Has Starfish gone somewhere to play?
Starfish: No.
Starfish: Help at home.
Miss Song: It’s really hard work.
Miss Song: Are you bored?
Starfish: A little bit...
Miss Song: Let’s go find Chunhai.
"..."
Miss Song: Just say it was me.
Starfish lay down on the bed.
Even if she said so... But what can she do if she goes there?
Are you watching him being intimate with Shangzi?
Haixing: I will consider it...
Buzz——
Miss Song:^-^
Evening, Naruse's house.
Shangzi was scrolling through his phone and suddenly sat upright.
"Auntie was injured during the filming..."
"It's okay."
Naruse shook his head, "I saw it at noon and sent her a message. This is her reply."
He took out his mobile phone and clicked on the photo sent by Song Qianqiu to show her.
There is only one white arm in the photo.
"..."
Shangzi stared at him for a while, then raised his eyes to look at him.
"This is the so-called 'seriously injured' area."
"Where is the wound?"
"She can't even see it herself."
"Then..."
"The new drama is almost finished filming, and the media is hyping it up."
Shangzi opened his mouth and laughed.
"That's it..."
Her body relaxed again, she leaned against him and checked her phone for a while, then looked at the time.
"I'm going to take a shower first."
"Yeah."
Naruse continued to watch TV when his phone suddenly vibrated.
It’s Chiaki Matsu’s phone number.
"I can finally go home..."
"Are you staying in the hospital until now?"
"Yeah. I just wiped my arm and went through various tests. I'm just waiting for the news that I'm safe and sound to be announced tomorrow."
Naruse leaned back, "It always feels familiar."
The other person smiled and said, "That's how it came about."
"Adults are so boring."
"Speaking of boredom, spring break has already begun. What is Harumi doing?"
"Don't do anything, just stay at home."
Song Qianqiu pondered for a while.
"How many days until spring break?"
"More than a week."
"That's still early."
She smiled.
"Since you are free, do you want to come to Tokyo for a few days? Bring Harumi's friends."
Thanks to the leader of the book friend [Light from the Netherworld].