Chapter 476 "Spring Festival"
After a while of playing around, the awkward feeling caused by not seeing each other for many years disappeared between Aize and Ma Ting Luhua.
The two of them started talking and laughing as if they had rekindled their childhood friendship.
"So, Sister Luhua, you knew I was going back to Suizhi Town today and deliberately came here to wait for me because my mother called you in advance?"
Walking on the street of Suizhi, Aize was dragging his suitcase and talking to Ma Ting Luhua.
"Yeah." Ma Ting Luhua snorted twice, and said in a somewhat arrogant tone: "After all, my relationship with my aunt is very good. This time she couldn't come back, so she called me and told me to pick you up, Aze."
Unlike Aize who has not come to Suizhi Town for several years, Aize's mother still comes back every year and stays here for a while.
Since a long time ago, Aize's mother has liked Ma Ting Luhua very much. The two of them developed into their current childhood sweetheart relationship because the unreliable mother invited Ma Ting Luhua to play every day, which allowed Aize to become familiar with Ma Ting Luhua through these visits.
Generally speaking, if children from two families become childhood sweethearts, it is either because the parents of the two families have a close relationship or because the two families live very close to each other. However, it is different for Aize and Ma Ting Luhua. They became childhood sweethearts because of their mother's introduction.
"I have always wanted to have a lovely daughter, but unfortunately, I gave birth to a precocious and withdrawn son."
This is what the mother of Aize family says most often.
In other words, in the eyes of Aize's mother, Ma Ting Luhua is the ideal daughter she has always dreamed of.
There was no other way. Ma Ting Luhua's family ran a Japanese dessert shop, so Ma Ting Luhua started helping in the store when she was very young. Her well-behaved and hardworking appearance was really likable.
On the other hand, Aize is indeed precocious and withdrawn. He often cannot play with his peers and does not know how to act like a spoiled child. It is normal for him to be disliked by his parents.
Who made him awaken his innate wisdom when he was a baby and remember that he came from another world and was a time traveler?
It's totally impossible for him to stop being precocious and act like a spoiled brat in front of his parents, okay?
It is normal to be aloof. We can't let a time traveler with an adult soul play hide-and-seek and darts with other kids, right?
He can't play it anyway.
Now think about it carefully, the mother would bring him to her parents' home at every turn, and force him to play with children of the same age like Ma Ting Luhua, and she would keep trying to make connections for this. I guess she is worried about her own son, right?
Although his mother let him come to Suizhi Town alone this time, the fact that she contacted Ma Ting Luhua in advance to pick him up also proved that she was not without worry.
Ma Ting Luhua probably learned the whole story from Aize's mother, so she told it naturally.
"You came back this time to help Shinadu Village, right?"
The Shinado-so that Roka Mata mentioned refers to the inn run by Aize's grandfather, Genjuro Kurama.
It is a hotel that is popular among foreign tourists for its attentive hospitality, delicious food and ancient-style architecture. During the peak tourist season, it often has to recruit people and hire some staff due to severe shortage of staff.
Aize's mother would often go back to Suizhi Town. One of the main reasons was that her grandfather was old and she didn't want to see him work too hard, so she would come back to help during the peak tourist season every year.
But this time, his mother quit.
"She said that she occasionally wanted to travel during the peak tourist season, so this time she dragged my dad away and sent me here, saying that I should come here to see my grandfather's face and work to earn some pocket money instead of hiding at home and relying on my parents all day."
When talking about this, Aize felt a little numb.
"The couple went on a trip and left their son back to his mother's house to work. Can you believe there are such parents in the world?"
Aize's words made Ma Ting Luhua couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Who told you to stay at home and do nothing during the holidays? Auntie told me that you don't even have a friend to hang out with. Instead of hiding at home playing games, why not come over and show your face after a long absence?"
Speaking of this, Ma Tingluhua's face puffed up again.
"If your aunt hadn't asked you to come here this time, you wouldn't even know if you would remember Hoori."
It seems that this childhood sweetheart still has some complaints about Aize not having come for many years.
"I'm busy with my studies, aren't I?" Aize scratched his face, a little uncomfortably saying, "You don't know how abnormal the study intensity is in China. Everyone is so tired of studying. After the junior high school entrance exam, there is also the college entrance exam. How can I go abroad often, and come to a remote place like Suizhi?"
"Stop it." Ma Ting Luhua didn't believe it at all. She squinted her eyes and said, "Don't think I don't know that you have loved swordplay since you were a child. You also learned kendo from Mr. Xuan Juro. You came to Neon to participate in kendo competitions in junior high and high school. Not long ago, you won the national kendo championship and were hailed as the strongest high school student."
"You have all the time to compete, but you don't even have time to go back to your mother's house?"
"Come on, tell me, Aze."
Ma Tingluhua grabbed Aize's cheek again, looking dangerous.
"...You even know about this? Isn't my mom a big mouth?"
Aize was really numb.
Even the schools in China didn't know that he came to Neon to participate in the kendo competition. Unexpectedly, Ma Ting Luhua, who lived in a remote town, knew about it. If his mother hadn't told him, he would never believe it.
Mom, your relationship with my childhood sweetheart is too good, isn't it? It's even better than mine!
"Forget it, I don't blame you. After all, this place is really remote and the transportation is not convenient. No one would be willing to come here if they are not really free." Ma Ting Luhua sighed, let go of Aize's cheek, and said: "I didn't expect that you, Aze, are so amazing that you can even win the championship of the National Kendo Competition."
Speaking of this, Ma Tingluhua was also very surprised.
She knew that her childhood sweetheart had loved playing with bamboo swords since he was young, but she never expected him to be so good at it. He even won the championship in a national kendo competition and was given the title of the strongest high school student. How things have changed.
"I'm just having fun."
Aize shrugged, his tone was full of indifference, without any sense of pride at all.
He wasn't pretending, he really didn't care.
Because he had almost expected this result before participating in the kendo competition.
I don’t know if it’s because of the time travel, but in this life, Aize discovered that he has been very good at fiddling with some tools since he was a child.
No matter whether it is a sword or a stick, as small as the kitchen knife and small branches on the roadside, or as big as the real swords collected by his grandfather, as long as he holds it in his hands, he can master its use in a very short time, and even do some tricks with it.
When he was three years old, he could already play with the fruit knife at home. When cutting an apple, he could cut out the skin without breaking off within three seconds, and the skin would not get any flesh on it. The surface of the cut apple was so round that it looked like a work of art, which stunned his parents.
When he was five years old, he dared to kill chickens and fish with a kitchen knife. His knife skills were so neat and quick. When he was seven years old, he even wanted to kill pigs and cows in a slaughterhouse, but was stopped by his parents.
When he was ten years old, he encountered a rabid dog downstairs of his house. He managed to chase the dog away with just a branch, which shocked his neighbors.
When he was twelve years old, he was playing with a kitchen knife in a supermarket, and he was so fluent in his knife skills that he was noticed by a chef from a famous restaurant. The chef insisted on taking him as his apprentice, teaching him knife skills and cooking. The chef even went to his home to discuss the matter with his parents.
As for kendo, it was taught to Aize by his grandfather.
Aize's grandfather, Kurama Genjuro, has been practicing kendo since he was a child and has extremely superb swordsmanship. For reasons of health, he has strictly taught Aize and his own grandson kendo since they were young.
Aize learned very quickly. In just one holiday, he had mastered most of Kurama Genjuro's kendo. He even went up the mountain to hunt wild boars with a bamboo sword, which amazed his grandfather.
For this reason, Kurama Genjuro attached great importance to Aize and thought that his talent in kendo was ridiculously high. He always urged Aize to learn kendo well and arranged a physical exercise plan for him, so that Aize had extremely superb swordsmanship and a body of extremely high quality among his peers since he was a child.
For this reason, Aize came to Neon to participate in a kendo competition when he was in junior high school, and easily won the championship in the junior high school group. In his first year of high school, he also came to participate in the kendo competition in the high school group. As a result, he won easily all the way and won the championship of the national kendo competition.
Because he won so easily, he was given the title of the strongest high school student.
Others were amazed by this, but he himself really felt it was very relaxing and boring, so he had this attitude now and thought it was just for fun.
"Remember to send me a photo of the trophy next time?" Ma Ting Luhua said with a smile, and then said: "What are you going to do now? Are you going to visit my dessert shop first? Or are you going to Shinadu Village first?"
"Let's go to Shinadu Village first." Aize thought for a moment and said, "I still have luggage here. It's not convenient to drag it all the time. Let's put the luggage away first."
Ma Ting Luhua smiled and nodded, then followed Aize towards Shinadu Village.
But as we were walking, suddenly, a large group of people appeared on the opposite side of the street, with the sound of lively music and various musical instruments, plus the sound of a large number of people shouting together, which seemed particularly noisy.
"What's going on?"
Aize couldn't help but stop and stood there in a daze.
"Ah, it should be the parade coming, right?" Ma Ting Luhua quickly realized something and said, "After all, it's the Spring Festival now."
"Spring Festival?" Aize raised his eyebrows and muttered, "It turns out it's already this time."
The so-called Kasuga Festival is a festival held every year in Hoori Town to celebrate the victory of a war during the Warring States Period.
It is said that during the Warring States Period hundreds of years ago, there was a woman who specialized in getting close to local rulers, was good at gaining their favor, and made men crazy, thus causing many wars.
This woman traveled among those in power, deliberately provoking local lords and stirring up their ambitions, causing the invasion of Suizhi and the persecution of the people.
This woman also used witchcraft to make Hoori suffer terribly during the war, and in the end, the city was almost breached.
At this critical moment, people prayed to the local god of Hoori, asking for his protection, and surprisingly, the god responded and gave them a sacred sword that could slay demons.
With the help of the sacred sword, Hoori defeated the invaders and killed the woman who practiced witchcraft. In the end, she discovered that the woman was actually a monster, so she enshrined the sacred sword in a shrine and worshiped it for generations.
This legend is the origin of the Spring Festival.
During the Kasuga Festival, the men of Hoori will imitate triumphant soldiers, wearing armor and riding horses to parade through the streets. The shrine maidens will also perform Kagura dance in the Kagura Hall of the shrine as a tribute.
This is a story that all local children are familiar with. Aize often stayed here when he was a child, so he naturally knew about this legend and the Spring Festival.
Unexpectedly, I ran into him when I came back this time.
"How about it? Do you want to go and have a look?" Ma Ting Luhua suggested to Aize: "You haven't watched the Spring Festival for many years, right?"
"Rather, I haven't participated in the Spring Festival before." Aize spread his hands and said, "After all, when I come, it may not be the time when the Spring Festival is held."
"Then we have to see it even more." Ma Ting Luhua suddenly became excited, pushed Aize's back, and said, "Let's go, the parade is just coming, and it will arrive at the shrine soon. If we follow them now, maybe we can catch the shrine maiden performing the Kagura dance."
"Wait, I still have luggage." Aize said with a smile: "Why are you so excited all of a sudden?"
"Because Auntie asked me to take care of you." Ma Ting Luhua said as a matter of course: "She said she didn't want to see her stupid son staying at home like an autistic patient, so she asked me to take you around often when you come over."
“…I really want to thank her.”
"Auntie, this is just out of concern for you. Give me your luggage. There happens to be a store nearby where I know someone. Just ask them to help look after it!"
"Okay, okay, can't I just leave?"
Aize had no choice but to follow Ma Tingluhua's force and be pushed to catch up with the parade.
I have to say that the parade was quite lively. Not only did the men in spiked webbing imitate triumphant soldiers, wearing armor and riding horses through the streets, but there were also a large number of foreign tourists holding up their phones to take pictures, especially foreigners, who appeared to be particularly numerous.
Aize and Ma Tingluhua mixed in the crowd and followed the parade all the way, finally arriving at the most important place in this small town - Kenshimi Shrine.
“Dongdong——”
Suddenly, Aize felt a strange heartbeat, which made him cover his chest.
His gaze involuntarily turned toward the shrine, his eyes flickering as if he could penetrate into it and see inside.
(End of this chapter)
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