Chapter 019

"Eh? Can you let me rest today?"

The day before New Year's Eve, the body has become accustomed to waking up at seven in the morning.

After washing up and having breakfast in the cafeteria, Qingxi prepared to start her daily routine.

Just as she was about to go to the ward, she was stopped by Koharu Aya and Riko. Then she was informed that she had no work today and it was a day off. She could go back to her room and sleep in, or go out for a walk and go shopping. If she saw anything she liked, she could buy it.

"It's not just you who's treated specially," Xiaochun Ling explained. "It's a special treatment for every newcomer to the clinic. Of course, this special treatment is only for this one time. By next year, Axiko, who will be an 'old man', will no longer receive this special treatment."

Riko gently pushed her. "Alright, alright, go have some fun. The streets are bustling today. And, Aki, you can go to the fabric shops. New Year's is just a couple of days away, and some fabrics that can't be sold this year will be left in the warehouses, so the shop owners often offer a lot of discounts."

Just like that, Qingxi stood at the door of the clinic after hearing the recommendation from Riko that a store near there was having a sale.

Qingxi came to her senses and looked at Riko who walked into the yard and waved at her, feeling a little amused and helpless. No, Sister Riko, even if you really want me to go out and play, please let me go back to the room upstairs to change clothes and then get some money.

All her change was kept in the house, and she had no intention of touching the remaining whole bills in her gourmet backpack.

In the end, Qingxi waited until Riko went to work before she trotted back. When she came out again, she had changed out of her "nurse skirt", put some change on her, and had a bamboo basket on her wrist.

Since she was going shopping, she naturally had to buy things. If she bought things, how could she carry them all by herself? At this time, she needed to find someone to help her carry the things.

For example, Rengoku Kyojuro, who is so easy to talk to and so cheerful that he can be coaxed into submission with a few sweet potatoes. Rengoku Kyojuro, Rengoku Kyojuro.

Qingxi walked out of the clinic carrying a bamboo basket and headed straight for Purgatory House.

When she reached the door of Rengoku's house, she greeted the maid who was sweeping the floor at the door. After confirming with her that Rengoku Kyojuro was at home, she turned to the open space behind the house as she was familiar with the route.

Normally, the two little owls of the Purgatory family would be there swinging wooden swords at the training stakes.

As I turned the corner from the building, before I saw anyone, I heard the thud-thud sound of wooden swords hitting wooden stakes.

Rengoku Makijuro, who was the first to notice someone coming, turned his head and looked, "Hmm, it's Aki. Are you here to play with Kyojuro and Chijuro?"

"Mr. Purgatory." Qingxi blinked.

Because he is the strongest fighter in the Demon Slayer Corps, the burden on the Pillar is very heavy, so Qingxi never met him again when she came to Rengoku's house to look for Rengoku Kyojuro three times later. However, this time she did not expect the Flame Pillar to be at home.

She walked up to Rengoku Makijuro and nodded at him, then shook her head and briefly explained her purpose, "In my case, Sister A-ling and the others suddenly told me that I could rest today, saying it was a special treatment for newcomers to the clinic.

Riko-san seemed to want me to go out shopping, but since I was out, I didn't know where to go, so I came over to ask Kyojuro and Chijuro if they wanted to go out together."

In front of an adult, Qingxi was not stupid enough to say that she needed someone to help her carry things, so she was naturally speaking in a tactful way.

"I see." Rengoku Makijuro nodded, "But you have to wait a little longer. Kyojuro and Chijuro's training today won't end for another half an hour."

Qingxi nodded: "It doesn't matter."

"By the way, what's in your basket?" Rengoku Makijuro asked, pointing at the basket hanging on her arm.

"It's roasted sweet potatoes and honey." Qingxi said, and simply handed the basket to the other party. "Madam Ruhuo's body is lacking in nutrition, which is why her body is so weak. Honey is rich in various nutrients. When Madam Ruhuo is free, it's no problem to use it to make a few cups of water every day as sweet water.

As for the roasted sweet potatoes, they were for Kyojuro and Chijuro. They were soft and sticky, with a hint of chestnut.

The sweet potatoes are quite large, if Mr. Rengoku doesn't mind, you can share them with Kyojuro, Chijuro, and the others."

"Really? I'll be polite then." There were only two sweet potatoes in the basket, and Rengoku Makijuro picked up one at random. "Hmm! This one is really big, almost as big as the three sweet potatoes I ate."

Chestnut sweet potato, which is captured below level 1, can be artificially cultivated. One sweet potato weighs about 2 jins and is sweeter than ordinary sweet potatoes when eaten raw. When eaten after being roasted, it not only tastes like the sweetness of sweet potato but also has the soft and sticky texture of chestnut.

Qingxi said silently in his heart.

It was one of her favorite foods when she was still poor. For this reason, when she discovered a wild sweet potato archipelago while hunting in the wild, she ignored Atong's advice and put 70% of the entire archipelago, including the Chestnut Sweet Potato Island, into her gourmet backpack.

And then, she now has 999 sweet potato islands.

Every time Qingxi looks at the 999 sweet potato islands in the food backpack, he deeply understands the saying "You made a foolish mistake back then, and you are suffering the consequences now."

"Hmm! This sweet potato tastes really good too."

Qingxi smiled as she listened to Rengoku Makijuro's exclamations when he ate something delicious.

Eat, eat, it would be great if you could eat all 998 sweet potato islands in her gourmet backpack.

Rengoku Makijuro, who was completely oblivious to Qingxi's evil thoughts, ate a 2-pound chestnut sweet potato by himself.

Half an hour later, the two little owls of the Rengoku family finished their training. At this time, Rengoku Makijuro took Kiyoki's basket and went to Ruka, leaving the space here for the three little guys.

"Mmm! Delicious!"

After a simple wash, Rengoku Kyojuro took half a chestnut sweet potato and took a bite, and suddenly he made a loud noise.

Qingxi, who was already accustomed to the other person's eating habits, was not surprised. Compared with his brother who would loudly say "delicious" after every bite of food and imitate his father's habit of occasionally saying "hmm" when speaking, Chijuro, who did not inherit this habit at all, looked particularly delicate.

After quietly waiting for the two brothers to finish eating the sweet potatoes, Qingxi, after confirming that they had finished feeding them, pulled the two brothers up and said, "Okay, the sweet potatoes are finished. For the next time, you two brothers should accompany me for a walk. I will treat you to sweet potatoes next time."

"Hmm, Aki, what are you going to buy this time?" Rengoku Kyojuro asked as the girl walked with what seemed to be little strength to him.

"Let's go check out the shops first," Qingxi said uncertainly. "Riko-san said a lot of shops will have discounts during the New Year."

Maybe every girl has the shopping gene in her bones. Even if she may not have the desire to shop at the beginning, when she sees so many people buying there, she can no longer suppress the urge to follow the trend and then starts to buy.

In short, when Qingxi spent the entire ten yen, her seemingly insane mind finally became clear.

Looking at the owls holding several packages in their arms, Qingxi, who was as thick-skinned as she was, could not pretend that she saw nothing.

After taking a lot of things from Rengoku Kyojuro's arms, she said embarrassedly, "Ah, I accidentally bought too much. Let's go back."

"Hmm, you're not buying it anymore? I can still carry it."

The boy's energetic voice sounded, but just as he finished speaking, a rumbling sound came from his stomach.

As if protesting against the master's words, the gurgling sound was not enough once, but continued to sound again and again.

Qingxi: Holding back laughter.

Rengoku Kyojuro's ears turned slightly red, but he kept his voice steady, "I'm hungry."

"If you're hungry, how about some ramen?" she said, pointing to the restaurant right in front of them. "As a token of my gratitude to Kyojuro and Chijuro for accompanying me, I'll treat you."

Rengoku Kyojuro was a little tempted, but Senjuro thought of his brother's bottomless appetite first, and rushed before his brother. Senjuro said in a low voice, embarrassed, "Aki, big brother has a big appetite."

Qingxi tilted her head. How could she, who could eat almost ten kilograms of sweet potatoes in one breath, not know how good your eldest brother's appetite was?

Besides, this seemed normal to her. In the world of gourmet food, anyone with gourmet genes in their body would consume ten, twenty, or even thirty kilograms of food in a single meal. If her gourmet genes hadn't gone dormant here, she could probably eat over forty kilograms of food in one meal. If that were the case, she was truly worried that Ubuyashiki Kōya would go broke. But she was just an ordinary person now.

"It's okay." She took out two yen from her pocket and showed it to Chijuro, who was worried that his brother would eat him out of money. "This money should be enough for the three of us to have all-you-can-eat ramen."

A bowl of ramen in Tokyo costs about 10 sen, and for two yen you can buy twenty bowls of ramen. One bowl will fill Chijuro and I up, and the remaining eighteen bowls will be enough to fill Kyojuro's stomach.

When Rengoku Chijuro saw the money, he breathed a sigh of relief but started to feel embarrassed again. However, compared to his embarrassment, Kyojuro seemed much more natural. He thought that he could treat Aki to ramen in the future.

After greeting the two of them, Qingxi walked into the store first and ordered a bowl of ramen for herself. She let the other two brothers order whatever they wanted to eat.