At 11:40 in the morning, Makoto Sakaki had just taken off his suit jacket and was about to try to see to what extent the hot spring could make the human skin smoother...
Ding Dong!
Ding Dong!
Ding Dong!
"Who is it? Can you please be quiet for a moment?"
The entire corridor was filled with the sound of the doorbell. When Sakaki Makoto heard it, he had no choice but to put on his clothes and go to the entrance under the subtle gaze of Miss Miyano.
"Xiao Cheng!"
Outside the door, the middle-aged woman invited enthusiastically:
"You haven't eaten yet?"
"The president and his friends are going to welcome you at noon today. I'm going to go home to put my things away and I'll take you there later!"
Before Sakaki Makoto could refuse, the middle-aged woman quickly walked out of the yard and up the hillside.
"What's going on?"
Hearing the sound coming from outside, Miss Miyano walked out of the bathroom and asked:
"We are not related, why would you invite us to dinner?"
"have no idea..."
Sakaki Makoto also looked confused and couldn't figure out the situation.
No one gave him a chance to refuse.
It just so happened that Sakaki Makoto wanted to ask the nearby residents about this house and Sakaki Ryunosuke and his wife, so there was no harm in accepting their invitation.
As soon as the luggage was unloaded from the car, a middle-aged woman who had just returned home appeared:
"Xiao Cheng, Xiao Ai, are you ready?"
"I'm ready. I wonder if you are..."
"Kiuchi Keiko, just call me Aunt Keiko!"
The middle-aged woman waved her hand:
"Let's go now that we're ready. The president and the others have already arrived!"
Grabbing the key, Makoto Sakaki and Miss Miyano followed Keiko Kiuchi down the mountain along the road and arrived at the Lake Ashi Pier, which was crowded with tourists.
A long queue formed at the pier, with tourists braving the scorching sun, waiting for the next sightseeing boat to arrive.
At this time of year, taking a sightseeing boat to enjoy the beautiful scenery is an essential activity on Lake Ashi.
Kiuchi Akiko had no intention of queuing at all. She walked past the queue with Sakaki Makoto and the other man and came to a small white sightseeing yacht.
"Come up quickly, come up quickly, upon hearing you guys coming, the president and his crew stopped fishing and went straight back to the port!"
Sakaki Makoto glanced at the three big characters "Shenlongwan" engraved on the stern of the sightseeing yacht, smacked his lips, took his girlfriend's hand, and climbed onto the deck of the yacht under the envious gazes of the tourists.
As soon as he got on the boat, a thin old man with gray hair, wearing a Hawaiian floral shirt and shorts, came up to him, holding a strong black bass in his hand, and gave Makoto Sakaki a tight hug.
"Welcome, welcome!"
The old man patted Sakaki Makoto's shoulder vigorously and said with a smile:
"I thought that brat Ryunosuke had forgotten all about us!"
"He has a bit of conscience and still remembers to come back to see us... Hey, where are Xiaocheng, Ryunosuke and Oriyukito?"
"ah?"
Sakaki Makoto was slightly startled, and just as he was about to speak, he heard Kiuchi Akiko say:
"President Mochida, aren't Ryunosuke and Oriyuki out on a research trip abroad? They're busy with work!"
"Oh yes, yes, look at my memory..."
Chairman Mochida, who was wearing a floral shirt, slapped his head and said regretfully:
"If they didn't come back, then they didn't come back. Xiao Cheng, how are they doing?"
"Well, just...like that?"
Sakaki Makoto answered ambiguously.
"Remember to tell them when you get back that they are not young anymore, so stop running out every day and doing nothing!"
After saying this, Chairman Mochida raised the black sea bass in his hand, put his arm around Sakaki Makoto's shoulders affectionately, and said proudly:
"How about 20 pounds!"
"I'll have it for lunch today, half as sashimi and half as hot pot!"
As they were chatting, Sakaki Makoto discovered that President Mochida handed the fish to Kiuchi Akiko and took him to the empty bow of the ship.
"Xiao Cheng, you came back this time to investigate what happened that year, right?"
Looking at the clear lake in the distance, Chairman Mochida suddenly changed the subject:
"Not long after Oriyuki went out for research, Ryunosuke moved to Tokyo with you. Before he left, he gave me a tape and told me to keep it safe. A few months later, a group of men in black wearing sunglasses came... Well, they were dressed the same as you are now."
"The group of black men had guns in their hands. I couldn't stop them. They took several cartons from your house before the police arrived."
"I don't know what was in the box, but I haven't seen Oriyuki and Ryunosuke since then."
"I have been wondering when you would come, but I didn't expect that I would have to wait for 17 years."
Chairman Mochida reached into his bosom and pulled out a black, old-fashioned tape from his waist:
"Knowing you were coming, I had someone fetch the tape from home. Now I can give it to you."
The tape was heavy in his hand. Sakaki Makoto moved his lips. He had countless words to say, but when they came to his lips, only one sentence remained:
"Thanks."
"Why are you being so polite to me?"
Chairman Mochida slapped him on the back with such force that Sakaki stumbled:
"It's hard to find a player for old-fashioned tapes like this. I have one at home, but I don't know if it can still be used. Come to my house after dinner and get it."
During the conversation, more than a dozen people boarded the yacht one after another. Judging from their attire, they all seemed to be residents living nearby.
Some carried pots, some carried vegetables, and some even...
He came with a set of knife boxes and it was obvious that he was the sushi chef in the restaurant.
Everyone who sees Makoto Sakaki and Miss Miyano will greet them warmly.
"These people even closed their shop to welcome you."
Akiko Kinuchi smiled and said:
"Today's tourists are unlucky. No one is serving them. They can only eat northwest wind at noon."
"Aunt Jingzi, is this cruise ship owned by the president?"
Miss Miyano asked.
"No, the Shenlongmaru is the public property of the Lake Ashi Chamber of Commerce. It usually sells tickets to sail back and forth between Atami and Lake Ashi."
Looking around, Kiuchi Akiko lowered her voice and said:
"The name of this yacht was inspired by Ryunosuke!"
"Are my parents so popular?"
Sakaki Makoto couldn't help but ask:
"Did they donate to the village?"
"Donation?"
Kiuchi Akiko's eyes were filled with astonishment:
"This is a famous scenic spot. We have at least two to three thousand tourists every day. Do you need donations?"
Got it.
The whole village is full of rich people.
"Your mother opened a clinic in the village and was the only doctor in the village."
Akiko Kiuchi said fondly:
"During those years, your mother treated everyone who was sick. Her medical skills were no worse than those of the attending physicians in the big hospitals in the city!"
"A doctor as good as her would go to a big hospital to seek a career and fame. Who would want to stay in the mountains?"
"That's why everyone pays more attention to your parents..."
Sakaki Makoto understood.
The importance of Karasuma Oriyuki to the village is probably the same as that of Asai Minoru, the only doctor on the island during the Tsukikage Island incident.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
