Chapter 90 The first snow comes to see you
This "fishing" activity lasted about three months.
After catching all the "fish" that are completely impatient, have little patience, and have only three months of patience, Gong Zhili will return home to prepare for this year's winter.
Gojo Satoru helped her pack her dorm belongings. She'd lived there for three months, and she'd accumulated quite a few belongings and gifts. As he packed, he paused in thought and said, "You don't like going out every winter. Are you trying to hibernate?"
Gong Zhili: "I don't have to work, so of course I can rest in the winter."
Gojo Satoru angrily hugged her and kissed her fiercely several times, making his irritating girlfriend's face red. He slowly let her go only after Gong Zhili twisted her arm.
"Are you some kind of octopus sucker..." Gong Zhili looked at her face in the mirror, in disbelief. "Really? Look at my face!"
Gojo Satoru hummed a song as if nothing had happened and continued to pack his girlfriend's luggage.
"I haven't been home to see my children recently, and they miss me very much." Gong Zhili touched his face, and the skin there was still slightly warm.
In order not to reveal the location of the village, she had not returned home for more than three months. She said that they missed her very much, but in fact she was also a little worried about the children.
After all, there is no real adult at home, and they only rely on Mr. Itadori Yasuke to look after them in the village. There must be a lot of troubles in these three months.
But every night when I called, the kids over there always said that everything was fine at home.
Gojo Satoru sighed, "Then what do I want you to do?"
Gong Zhili choked, her face flushing slightly at his blunt response. "Just come find me, no one's stopping you."
Gojo Satoru hugged her again, buried his head in her hair, took a deep breath, and said slowly, "Before the first snow, I will have to work overtime for a long time..."
Gong Zhili reached out and hugged him back: "I know, you have to take good care of yourself and eat well."
When Gong Zhili returned to the village with her luggage, the setting sun stretched the shadows of the houses very long, and the air was filled with the aroma of soil and cooking from each household. Children playing outside saw her and shouted happily, and the village soon became lively.
After exchanging brief greetings with everyone in the village, Gong Zhili walked straight towards his home where smoke was rising from the chimney.
During the time she was away, they actually built a fence around the bottom of the terrace, apparently to expand the range for chickens and ducks to roam. She pushed open the fence door, and the children who heard the noise ran down from the terrace.
The first one to rush down was Itadori Yuji. He was a bit tanned, and it looked like he had been playing outside a lot. His eyes were bright, and he had a pure smile on his face: "Sister Chiri!"
Fushiguro Megumi followed behind him, her steps steady, but a light clearly reflected in her eyes, which were always too calm. He pursed his lips and didn't shout out like Yuhito did, but just nodded, his voice clearer than usual: "Welcome back, Sister Chiri."
Nanako and Mimiko snuggled up to her, with shy yet uncontrollable smiles on their faces, and whispered together, "You're back! We missed you so much, sister."
Fushiguro Miki still had her apron tied around her waist, and her hands were wet. She smiled when she saw her, her tone soft and a little relieved: "Sister Zhili, you're back just in time. We're making dinner!"
Yuji Itadori raised his hand: "We are going to eat curry! I helped wash the vegetables."
Megumi Fushiguro whispered, "It's vegetarian curry. We ate all the meat yesterday." Whenever they don't know what to eat, they will cook curry and put any ingredients into it to stew it.
Miya Chiri's eyes quickly swept over their faces. They were all fine, and even looked a little taller. The string in her heart that had been tense for three months finally relaxed completely. She put her luggage at the door, walked over, and naturally raised her hand to rub the prickly head of Yuhito, who was closest to her, then patted Hui's shoulder, and then touched the faces of the three girls.
"I'm back," she said, her voice a little softer than usual. "Everything's been alright these past few months, right?"
The children surrounded her as she entered the house. Tsumiki said as they walked, "Well, we are all fine. Grandpa Yuji comes to see us every day, and the aunties and grandmas in the village often invite us to dinner." Her tone was normal, and she did not mention the uneasiness she had felt at home with her younger siblings for the past three months. As the eldest sister, she worried more than her younger siblings.
Gong Zhili knew her efforts and gave her an affirmative smile.
Hisahito rushed to add, speaking quickly: "Last week, Hui and I went to the back mountain to collect firewood and encountered a wild boar! But we climbed up a tree, and it turned around twice and left! Grandpa scolded us later..." He spoke a little excitedly and was gently nudged by Hui's elbow next to him.
Hui took over the conversation, speaking succinctly, "We weren't hurt. Grandpa Wosuke and the other elders from the village went to check on us later, but they couldn't find any trace of the wild boar."
Nanako added softly, "We've eaten at Grandma Kato's house several times. The stewed radish she makes is delicious."
Mimiko nodded. "Aunt Kobayashi gave us tomatoes that she grew herself."
Gong Zhili listened and walked to the kitchen to take a look. The stove was wiped clean, the dishes were neatly arranged, the rice jar in the corner was full, and a few potatoes and onions given by the villagers lay on the ground nearby. She then checked the storage room and found that the supplies were quite sufficient, and they were not lacking anything. There were clear signs of daily life, the childish feeling of struggling to keep the business going with a few children, but it was clear that nothing was missing, and there were no major problems. She put aside the last bit of worry in her heart.
"It seems you've taken good care of yourselves." She turned and looked at the children who had gathered around her. "Thanks to Mr. Yasuke and everyone in the village for their hard work."
Tsu Miki smiled and said, "Everyone is taking care of us. Are you hungry, sister? I cooked rice and was about to make miso soup."
"No rush." Miyaji said, "I brought some things back, let's divide them up first. Hisahito, Hui, help me bring in the luggage bag at the door."
The children immediately started to move. She opened the bag, which contained local specialties and snacks she had bought on her trip. She divided the bags into several portions and gave them to the children. The rest was to be given back to the villagers.
"Tsumiki, keep these snacks for yourself. Keep these candies too. These," she pointed to the other paper packages that were obviously larger and more elegantly packaged, "are for Grandpa Yuji and the people who always take care of you. Take me there tomorrow to thank them in person."
The children responded, carefully taking their share. Their faces were clearly filled with joy, but they weren't jumping for joy. Their eyes simply lit up. Hisahito had already peeled a candy and popped it into his mouth, puffing out his cheeks and mumbling, "Thank you, sister!"
Gong Zhili looked at them and, for the first time in three months, felt a calm tiredness and peace of mind. She went home.
In the next few days, Gong Zhili quickly began preparing for winter. The season waits for no one, and the cold has quietly seeped into the morning air. The first snow may fall at any time.
The return gift arrangement was quickly completed. The villagers were delighted to see Gong Zhili return, and were even more delighted to receive the beautifully wrapped gifts from other places. They thanked him profusely, saying things like, "Master Gong, you are so kind," and "The children are so well-behaved, no trouble at all." Gong Zhili simply nodded slightly, saying nothing, but his attitude was gentle.
The real important thing to do at home is to stock up on food.
Miya Chiri cleaned the giant ceramic pickle vat, scrubbing it thoroughly and drying it in the yard. Then came the vast quantities of radishes, cabbages, cucumbers, eggplants, and other vegetables, pickled, dried, and sliced. The children helped out, with Tsumiki, Nanako, and Mimiko washing the vegetables, while Hisahito and Megumi carried and dried the pre-processed ingredients. Soon, rows of washed cabbages and sliced radishes were hung in the yard, and the air was filled with the crisp aroma of fresh vegetables.
Gong Zhili prepared the brine for pickling and adjusted the flavor of the rice bran bed herself. Her hands were steady. Over the years, preparing for winter, she had mastered the precise ratio of seasonings to pickles based on experience. A large amount of pickled vegetables and rice bran pickles were placed in the vat and weighed down with heavy sterilized stones. This was enough food for them to eat for the whole winter.
When the weather is good, she also dries a lot of vegetables, such as mushrooms, radishes, and sweet potatoes, and spreads them on bamboo mats to absorb the last warm sunshine of autumn.
She went to the village fair several times and bought meat for the winter. Most of it was frozen or salted, and various smoked meats were hung in the ventilated storage room. The rice jar was filled again, even fuller than before.
The food was almost ready, and Gong Zhili began to tidy up the house.
The hearth and stove needed to be cleaned of dust, and the flue checked to ensure safe ventilation. She removed the thin summer curtains and replaced them with heavy, windproof cotton curtains, which she hung at the door and inside the windows. She also checked the roof and walls, repairing any that needed repairing.
The crops in the fields had long been harvested, and the last of the late-ripening fruit in the orchard had been picked. Gong Zhili took the children to the small patch of chestnut and persimmon trees on the hillside to pick the last of the harvest, filling several baskets with chestnuts and persimmons that looked like small lanterns.
There were also some wild fruits that were not easy to preserve. After picking them, she would make jam or put them in snacks for the children.
The chicken coop and duck shed were a little loose in the autumn wind and rain, so Gong Zhili found some wood and tools to reinforce them. The sound of hammers could be heard from far away in the cold air.
The work is so much and so diverse that just looking at it makes people feel tired, but fortunately she is not the only one busy.
Angehime and Tenchu Riko are currently practicing near the village, staying in the village and often coming to help. Angehime is strong and is very helpful in carrying heavy objects and reinforcing the chicken coop. Riko helps in making pickles and drying vegetables, and is also very hardworking.
With these two extra helpers, the progress was much faster.
In the busy intervals, after night falls, the village falls into silence, with only the occasional barking of dogs and the sound of wind. Gong Zhili will sit by the fireplace in the house, take out his mobile phone, watch TV and wait.
The screen often lights up at irregular times, sometimes early, sometimes closer to midnight, usually with a few short messages popping up first.
[Today I exorcised a rather troublesome first-grade student. Mr. Ye Moth was rambling in the meeting, so I had three hamburgers for dinner.] The accompanying image might be a blurry photo of a dessert or an empty wrapper.
[Chiri~ What are you doing? Are those two, Kei and Yuji, okay? I missed you.] This was followed by a series of meaningless emoticons.
Gong Zhili looked at the screen and replied to the messages one by one.
Occasionally, not long after she replied, her phone would ring. When she answered it, she would hear Gojo Satoru's voice, with a little background noise and a slightly lazy tone. Usually, he would be sitting in the car on his way back from a mission, or he would have a rare break.
"Did you miss me today?" He always asked this question with a hint of nagging.
"You always ask this - of course I do, and I'm waiting for your news." Gong Zhili usually answers like this. Even though she is not used to saying such things, she will never say something insincerely because she is embarrassed.
Gojo Satoru felt a surge of joy when he heard her words. "I missed you so much, too! How are your preparations for winter going? I'll have someone send anything over if you need anything."
"Almost, no need."
"Okay, okay. I'll go over there when I'm done with this. It should be soon."
"Don't skip a break because of this," Gong Zhili thought about how he was pushing himself too hard when he worked overtime, and she felt a little uneasy. "I miss you, and I'll be worried if you don't get enough rest."
Gojo Satoru laughed out loud on the other end of the phone, his voice gentle and affectionate: "Okay, I understand."
The calls were usually short, sometimes interrupted by something unexpected happening on his side, and sometimes just a few ramblings until Gong Zhili said "I'm going to see the kids" or "I'm going to bed." This intermittent contact became a part of daily life, like a confirmation that each of them was living their own way and that there was a line connecting them.
That afternoon, Miyaji, Uta, and Riko were collecting the last batch of dried radishes in the yard. Riko rubbed her lower back as she watched Miyaji methodically pack the dried radishes into sealed bags. She couldn't help but say, "Hey, Riko, every time you come home it's like a battle."
"Winter is coming soon. You know how it is in the village in winter. We have to race against the heavy snow." Gong Zhili didn't even raise his head and continued with the work in his hands.
"Yeah, winter..." Riko sighed. The singer next to her asked curiously, "Does it snow a lot here in the winter?" Then, as if she had thought of something, she suddenly changed the subject, her tone taking on a hint of incomprehensible curiosity. "Speaking of which, I've always wanted to ask... how did you start dating that Gojo Satoru?"
Next to her, Tenriko also pricked up her ears.
Gong Zhili answered very naturally: "At first it was because I liked his face." To be honest, she had liked his face for a long time.
"..." The singer was obviously choked by this overly straightforward and simple answer. Her expression was blank for a moment, and then she showed an expression of disbelief, "Face?! Just because of this? Can you tolerate his terrible personality? Arrogant, willful, irritating words, completely inconsiderate..."
Gong Zhili finally sealed the last bag of dried radish and placed it in a basket nearby. She stood up and dusted her hands, her expression as calm as ever, even a bit matter-of-fact.
"But I'm strong," she said.
The singer didn't understand the logic behind this: "...So?"
"So when he makes me angry, I will fight him." Gong Zhili said with a smile, "And once we are together, even someone with a personality like Wu will know that he will lose in a fight."
An Utahime was completely stunned, her mouth hanging open, unable to utter a single word for a long time. Her mind flashed back to the occasional scene she'd witnessed on campus. So, back then, the two of them had fought instead of argued? Gojo Satoru's perpetually smug face, and Miya Chiri's sharp, decisive punches. Suddenly, she understood everything—it wasn't Miya Chiri being mad at her, but rather a form of communication between them. It even sounded... a little damn sweet.
After several seconds, the singer suddenly shut her mouth, her expression twisted in a complex way. Finally, she turned her head away in dissatisfaction and muttered softly, "...I feel like I'm being shown off to a show of affection."
Gong Zhili added: "And Wu is actually very considerate." Well, in front of her.
This time, An Geji immediately understood the hidden meaning and curled her lips and said, "It seems that the guy is not so rotten that he is hopeless." After all, in the eyes of girls, a man who can be truly considerate to his partner can still be saved. There are too many men in the entertainment industry who are thriving and even whitewashing themselves because of their "loving wife" persona.
A smile appeared on Gong Zhili's face unconsciously. She bent down and picked up the basket of dried radishes. She said to Tian Tianlizi beside her, "Lizi, help me move this to the storage room."
"Oh, sure!" Tennenori replied quickly, taking the basket. She couldn't help but sneak a glance at the singer's indescribable expression, her lips curling up. Miyajiri had already turned to check the thick curtain was secure.
All the preparations for winter were finally ready after a few days. The weather became noticeably colder, and white mist could be seen when breathing. The children also put on thick coats.
One night, Gong Zhili woke up mid-sleep. The room was quiet; she could hear the wind rustling through the treetops outside the window, a sound even more tranquil than usual. She stood up, put on her coat, opened the bedroom door, walked to the entrance, and gently pushed it open a crack.
Outside, tiny, white ice crystals were falling silently. In the deep night, with the faint light coming from the house, you could see that the ground and the eaves were covered with a very light and thin layer of white.
It's the first snow.
She watched quietly for a while, and the cold air seeped in through the crack in the door. She was about to close the door and go back to sleep, but she vaguely felt a very subtle fluctuation of breath, different from the natural wind and snow, appearing at the edge of the village barrier.
She paused and sensed it carefully. The aura was familiar and arrogant, coming towards her at an extremely fast speed, with no intention of concealing it at all.
She simply didn't close the door and just stood inside waiting.
But in a moment, a tall figure appeared in the middle of the yard without warning. The lightness of his landing was completely inconsistent with his body size. His snow-white hair fluttered slightly in the night breeze, revealing a pair of blue eyes that looked even brighter in the snowy night. A few snowflakes that had not yet melted fell on his shoulders, and he was holding a small paper bag in his hand.
Gojo Satoru spotted Miya Chiri standing in the doorway, a broad smile immediately breaking out on his face as he strode over. "Chiri, you're still awake, aren't you? Look, I caught up!" He spoke with a proud tone, as if he had accomplished a major task.
Gong Zhili watched him approach, reached out and brushed the snowflakes off his shoulders, and covered his slightly tired but excited face with her hand: "Are you done?"
"That's all for now! I can slack off for a while." He leaned closer to his girlfriend, bent down, and placed his face in her warm palm, then handed her the small paper bag. "Souvenir! That limited edition Kikufuku item that's super hard to find. I've been waiting in line for a while."
Gong Zhili took it. The paper bag still had a hint of the cold air from outside and the warmth of his palm. "You came all the way here on a snowy night just to give me this?"
"I mainly want to see you." He leaned in closer, his voice lowered with a hint of complaint, "And you said you don't like to go out in the winter. If I don't come, won't I be away from you for several months? That won't do."
Gong Zhili didn't say anything, but just looked at the snow still falling outside. Gojo Satoru followed her gaze and said with a sigh, "It's going to be even harder to walk on the road with this snow. Looks like I'll have to bother you here for a few days, okay?" He said it without any apology, as if he had found a perfect excuse.
"You have to sleep in the study today. The guest room in the new house has not been cleaned up." What was unexpected was that Gong Zhili turned around and walked into the house, leaving the door open.
Gojo Satoru immediately followed, removing his snow-soaked boots and nimbly squeezing through the door. He gently closed it behind him, shutting out the wind and snow. "It's okay, the bed in the study is comfortable, too," he said, smiling as he followed her, surveying the quiet, warm interior. "Are the children asleep?" The twins now lived on the second floor with Tsu Miki, while Megumi and Hisahito shared a room. The second floor had underfloor heating, so they weren't cold at all.
"Um."
"That's great. They're all very well behaved." He lowered his voice and followed her into the kitchen. Gong Zhili put the paper bag on the table and poured him a cup of hot water.
Gojo Satoru took the cup, his fingertips carelessly brushing against the back of her hand, which felt warm. He took a sip of the hot water, the warmth sliding down his throat, dispelling the last bit of chill. He looked at Gong Zhili's calm profile, and suddenly felt that the long journey through the night had become worthwhile.
Outside, the first snow fell quietly, and inside the house, there was warm yellow light and familiar people. Winter was indeed coming, but it didn't seem so unbearable.
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The author has something to say: I will cherish every day that I have time to update... I really don’t know when a new project will start, and my updates will fluctuate like waves at the beginning~
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