The cold feeling lingered and became real, and Naruse found himself awake.
Before he opened his eyes, he smelled a familiar and reassuring smell, so he curled up under the thin quilt and moved closer to the source of the smell.
The tip of my nose touched something furry.
He opened his eyes and saw clearly in the bright light that lying next to him was the stuffed bear he brought back last night, and he reached out and took it into his arms.
Seven or eight hours of sleep is not a long time, but it will leave a lot of inertia at the end. He closed his eyes again, even though the actions just now had dispelled most of his sleepiness.
"When do you plan to sleep until?" Another person in the room finally spoke.
After hiding the stuffed bear under the quilt, Naruse took a deep breath and bid farewell to last night's sleep.
Song Qianqiu stood at the door of the room. He only took one glance and understood that she was already in working mode.
"What's next?"
"I watched until after two o'clock in the morning. I am convinced that this is a good script." Even so, Song Qianqiu was in high spirits, and there was no trace of staying up late on his face.
"Yes, congratulations."
Naruse withdrew his gaze and looked at the stuffed bear's butt, which was only slightly exposed, only to realize that he was holding it backwards.
"So cold——"
"Congratulations--"
"Is the quilt a little thin? Even though it's summer, it's still a bit cold here in Aomori at night." Matsu Chiaki jumped to another topic without any hesitation.
"A little bit." Naruse pulled a thin layer of quilt, reminding himself to change it before going to sleep at night.
"Where did the puppets come from?"
It turned out that I had already seen it.
"Shangzi's."
After looking at his son wrapped in quilt again, he let Qianqiu close the door, turned around and went downstairs.
"Shangzi is already here. Aren't you going out?"
"knew."
Naruse sat up, let out a long yawn, and sat staring at the window for two or three minutes.
Get up and tidy up, put the stuffed bear on the bedside, and then go downstairs to tidy up after yourself. After coming out of the bathroom, Shang Zi was about to go upstairs when she saw him and smiled slightly.
"Good morning. Breakfast is ready."
While eating breakfast, Naruse found that Matsu Chiaki had printed out the script.
She was flipping through the pages while eating, and from time to time, she would stop and pick up a pen to write something.
"When will you return to Tokyo?" he asked.
Matsu Qianqiu was about to put a piece of bacon into his mouth when he stopped to look at him and quickly replied: "Let's wait until Haruhai and Shangzi start school."
Obviously, she has also considered this issue.
There's still half a month left, Naruse thought subconsciously.
But he quickly realized: the summer vacation here in Aomori is no better than in Tokyo. It starts later and ends earlier, and there are only a few days left.
After eating the bacon, Matsu Qianqiu also put down the script in his hand.
"Mom will take good care of Chunhai these days... Did you show an expression of disgust just now?"
"You saw it wrong."
"Don't underestimate an actor's emotional insight."
Naoko held up the miso soup and glanced at her quietly over the edge of the bowl.
Naruse didn't even raise his head and continued eating breakfast.
"Just take care of your side."
After breakfast, Matsu Chiaki stayed at home and continued studying the script, while Naruse and Naoko went out together.
"Chun Hai——"
As a result, before he could get far, he was stopped by Song Qianqiu.
The two stopped and turned back, "What?"
"Just now I went to the convenience store to print out the script and met Haixing's father."
"..."
"Harumi still remembers who he is?"
Naruse glanced aside, "What are you talking about?"
"Just remember, he also asked about Chunhai." Song Qianqiu leaned against the door in slippers, "If you have time, just go and say hello, now or when you come back."
"I see."
This was all Matsu Qianqiu had to say. When the two of them reached the intersection, Shangzi asked, "Are you going there now?"
Naruse turned his head and looked at the other side that he had not yet set foot on after returning. The road was curved and he could not see where he was going.
"No, the bus is coming soon. Let's talk about it when we get back."
"good."
...
The bus stopped at the side of the road, and Naruse and Naoko got off together.
Right now, they were near the central station. The surrounding area was not too unfamiliar to Naruse, and he knew the roads well. However, to go to the uniform store, he still had to rely on Naoko to lead the way.
"It's on the Dotemachi side. It takes about seven or eight minutes to walk there."
After walking for a while, Naruse remembered that Naoko came here to buy something today.
"What do you want to buy, Shangzi?"
"Cloth."
Shangzi followed him, "The fabric I bought before is almost used up, so I need to replenish some. And I heard that the store has new fabrics, and I want to come and take a look."
"It is said that?"
She smiled slightly, "Because I come here more frequently, I have added the store manager and clerk's line friends."
Thinking of the dolls in her room, Naruse could roughly understand the extent of "frequently" she meant.
"Are you on your way?"
"No, but it's not far. Let's go when we get back."
"good."
When you come to the uniform store in Dotemachi, you can see all kinds of uniforms hanging on the wall. According to Naoko, most schools in Tsumae City have their uniforms made here.
The clerk came forward with a smile, asked about their business, and then directed the two of them to a counter.
"School."
"Prefectural Tsuga."
"grade."
"First grade."
"Are you looking for summer clothes or winter clothes?"
"Full set." Naruse said.
The clerk looked at him one more time and said, "Are you a transfer student?"
"Yes."
"Where's the other one?"
Shangzi shook his head, "I just came with him."
After asking all the questions, the clerk stood up and said hello: "Is Miss Nishikawa here?"
Another clerk poked his head out from behind the curtain, saw Naruse and Naoko in front of the counter, and turned back. When he came out again, he had a soft ruler in his hand.
"Come over here~"
Naruse went over and stood up, straightening his chest, raising his head, raising his arms, and was at the mercy of the other party obediently.
Height, bust, waist, sleeve length...it took a lot of time to measure them all.
The clerk brought another picture book, which showed the uniform styles of various schools. Prefectural Tsuga was on the first page of the high school section.
Shirts, ties and suit jackets are the uniform upper body attire for male and female students in Jingao. The main difference is in the lower body: boys wear suit trousers, while girls wear red and gray tweed plaid skirts.
The distinction between grades lies in the color of the tie.
"Now the first grade is red, the second grade is blue, and the third grade is dark green." Shangzi explained.
A complete set including summer clothes, winter clothes and sportswear costs about 70,000 yen.
Naoko whispered how much fabric 70,000 yen could buy, and Naruse told her that at a private high school in Tokyo, a set of uniforms cost nearly 200,000 yen.
She opened her eyes wide, "Chunhai still studied there for one semester..."
"Well, those 200,000 yen uniforms are hanging in my closet now."
"What a waste." Shang Zi's face was full of pity.
After taking the measurements and paying the money, things at the uniform store came to an end for the time being. All Naruse could do was wait.
"It's the off-season now, and the factory is not busy. You can get the uniforms in about a week," the clerk said when leaving.
The peak season for clothing factories to customize student uniforms is in March and April every year, which is before the start of the new school year. It is not at this time.
After leaving the uniform store, most of the morning had passed. Still with Shangzi leading the way, the two of them arrived at a fabric store on another street.
"Miss Hua, long time no see."
When she walked into the store, she was met by a clerk who knew Shangzi and greeted her, "How are you doing during your summer vacation?"
"Long time no see." Shangzi smiled and responded politely.
After greeting him, the female clerk's eyes fell on the face of Naruse, who was silent at the side, and her eyes brightened.
"Boy friend?"
"No."
Shangzi just shook his head and said nothing more.
"Hello." Naruse simply said hello.
Going deep into the store, Naoko greeted the store manager's aunt, who looked to be over fifty years old, for a few more words, and then took Naruse to browse among the shelves.
There was a dazzling array of cloths of various colors, with different patterns and materials, and there were many types. Naruse noticed that there were woolen yarns on some of the shelves.
Shangzi walked in front, watching as he walked, and then turned back and smiled at him, "The scarf I knitted for Chunhai last winter was the wool I bought here."
"really."
"Have you brought it back?"
"certainly."
Shangzi stopped, picked up a piece of cloth at hand and touched it.
"This kind of super soft velvet feels very good and has a very delicate texture. It is perfect for sewing the body parts of puppets."
Naruse also touched and felt it, then looked left and right, and saw a small car pushing towards him.
"Thank you." Shangzi put down the cloth and continued shopping.
"Do you want them all?"
Naruse lowered his head and looked at the fabrics in the shopping cart. The width was about one meter, and the thick one was more than ten or twenty meters long. It was estimated that it could be used for several years.
"It won't take that much."
Shangzi explained, picking up another piece of cloth in his hand, "The cloth here is sold in units of fifty centimeters, and it will be cut according to the required amount when you check out."
"I see."
Continuing forward, Naruse noticed that some of the relatively popular fabrics had been cut into short sections of fifty centimeters for the convenience of customers.
Shangzi selected many types, but the quantity required for each type of fabric was not much, basically between one or two units.
Naruse followed the cart and listened word by word as she introduced the materials and uses of fabrics. For example, a certain kind of fabric can be used as hair for dolls, and a certain kind of rose-shaped velvet fabric is especially suitable for making bears or lambs.
My body...
The morning passed slowly.
At a certain moment, Shangzi heard a slight sigh coming from behind him.
"Sorry, I was patronizing myself. Are you tired?"
"I'm okay." Naruse shook his head and pointed to the shopping cart in front of him.
Before I knew it, the cart was almost full.
"It turns out that I have already bought so much...these fabrics are enough for a while. That's it for today."
"Um."
It took some time to go to the front desk to check out and cut the cloth. When the two of them came out of the fabric store, it was already noon.
Carrying a bag full of fabrics, Naruse said, "Let's find a place here to have lunch."
Shangzi nodded in agreement, and soon thought of Matsu Qianqiu who was alone at home.
"Aunt……"
"Just tell her."
The two found a restaurant nearby and each ordered a piece of pork chop rice.
Since I was not in a hurry to go back, my time in the afternoon was free again.
Naoko thought for a moment, "There is a newly opened second-hand store over at the Central Station. Would you like to go shopping there?"
Naruse likes to visit second-hand stores, all types of second-hand stores. This is one of his few hobbies that requires him to leave his room.
"A second-hand store?"
The pork chop is deep-fried to a golden brown, with a crispy exterior. When you bite into it, the meat juices and aroma come out. It is extremely delicious.