"This tree is quite old."
Guangyou stood at the base of the tree and looked up. "No wonder someone would drop a letter in there."
It is said that all things have a spirit, and those that live a long time will inevitably become different from others.
Of course, this is just a common plot device in stories. If it happened in real life, it would probably have been sliced up long ago...
Although everyone knows this, people still enjoy placing their hopes on things that are neither here nor there.
Of course, most normal people would work hard after doing something like this, instead of expecting a windfall.
After glancing around to make sure no one was coming, Guangyou turned on his flashlight and looked into the hole in the tree.
There weren't as many letters in the tree hollow as he had imagined; he only saw a few. It seemed the park management regularly cleaned it to prevent it from becoming too cluttered with letters.
The sign next to it didn't have any warnings like "Don't throw letters in," but instead said, "Tell me if you have any problems."
Below is another line: "May the cherry blossoms bless you with a lifetime of happiness."
It sounds quite heartwarming, and it also fits another aspect of the "tree hole" concept.
Everyone needs a "confessional" space, otherwise, bottling things up for too long might cause health problems.
It could be due to life's disappointments, emotional setbacks, or simply praying for the future.
People can freely confide secrets to a tree hollow that they wouldn't dare or couldn't say in real life, venting their frustrations without fear of others finding out.
Of course, it's not all sad stuff. Many young girls also see cherry blossom trees as a kind of matchmaker because of them.
Although it may not come true, it is still a beautiful little wish, somewhat similar to Xiaolan's belief in that ethereal red thread back then.
"Let's get down to business first."
Guangyou interrupted his reverie and prepared to dig, but as soon as he squatted down, he suddenly realized a problem, "I don't seem to have any tools..."
He did consider bringing it at first, but is it really okay to wander around the streets with a shovel or other digging tools...?
If he actually brought a shovel into the park, he'd probably be thrown out by the staff before he even reached the cherry blossom trees...
No, even carrying a shovel into the park is a problem...
Guangyou shook his head, temporarily putting aside the issue of tools, and instead guessed where the dolls might be buried. He lowered his head, reached out and touched the soil beneath his feet, and murmured, "Normally, they would be buried directly under the tree hole, right?"
Since we don't have any tools, we'll just start doing it by hand. We can't find any tools right now anyway.
Guangyou didn't care about the dirt or anything, he just knelt on the ground and stretched out his hands to spray mud.
During the digging process, some soil inevitably got into his fingernails. Fortunately, he didn't have long fingernails, otherwise it would have been even more uncomfortable.
As he dug, Kōyū recalled Akemi's words and muttered to himself, "Logically speaking, it shouldn't be too deep... hmm?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed that his fingertips had touched something hard. Overjoyed, he quickly continued to dig.
"Good luck, this should be it."
Guangyou glanced around, and after confirming that no one was around, he quickened his pace slightly, digging with both hands to the sides of the ground. Then, he raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "It really is a box."
He bent down, reaching his hands deeper into the soil, then grabbed the bottom of the box, using all his muscles to pull upwards with a low growl, and the box was dug out of the ground by Guangyou.
Guangyou breathed a sigh of relief, put the box aside, reached out and put all the soil he had dug out into the hole, then got up and stomped on it a few times to fill the hole.
Then, carrying the box, he ran swiftly towards the outer wall of Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden as if his feet were greased.
...
Kwang-woo walked slowly down the street with only a few pedestrians, carrying the box in his arms. Looking at the box, he murmured, "If there aren't any dolls in this box, I'll have a seizure."
It was getting late, so Kōyū decided to head straight to Akemi Apartments. After all, it wouldn't be very suitable to keep this thing at the agency, and if it were kept at Professor Agasa's house, he would have to find a way to get Ai to leave. After thinking it over, Akemi Apartments seemed to be the most appropriate option.
Standing at the entrance of Mingmei Apartment, Guangyou hesitated to ring the doorbell. It was already past midnight, and dawn would break in a few hours.
"Forget it, let's wait until dawn and get some rest."
Guangyou didn't want to disturb Mingmei's sleep, so after thinking for a while, he sat down against the wall and closed his eyes to rest.
The temperature was a bit low in the early morning, and Guangyou, who was sitting still, really felt it, but fortunately he wasn't dressed too lightly, so he wasn't cold.
However, he couldn't sleep, so he could only close his eyes and try to clear his mind to get some rest.
...
After a long while, Guangyou slowly opened his eyes after feeling the warm sunlight shining on him.
He got up and stretched, then rang the doorbell of Mingmei Apartment.
"Kuangyou, you found it?"
Akemi opened the door and looked at Kwangyu, who was covered in mud, then at the box he was holding, and said in surprise, "You actually found it."
She genuinely hadn't expected that Guangyou would actually find the box she had buried so many years ago, especially considering the information she had given him wasn't that detailed.
Because Akemi knew it would be difficult, she originally planned to go shopping today to buy a set of dolls.
Surprisingly, Guangyou actually found these dolls to her surprise.
Guangyou nodded and said, "Yeah, it's not that difficult, but the process is just so boring."
Akemi turned to the side and said to Kōyū, "Come in first, or why don't you go take a shower and change your clothes?"
"Okay, Akemi-nee, you can have Ai come over now. I'll go set these things up first, and then I'll go wash them."
Guangyou carefully carried the box into the apartment, placed it on the table, and then reached out to open it.
"Is this the doll from back then? It has a real vintage feel to it."
The box contained about fifteen dolls and other ornaments.
Although it's been around for a while, it's in remarkably good condition.
Even if Guangyou didn't understand these things, he knew that this set was definitely not cheap.
Guangyou turned his head to look at Mingmei, who had just finished her phone call and was coming out of the room, and asked, "Mingmei-neechan, how should we arrange all these things?"
He took out two dolls that appeared to be dressed as the Emperor and Empress from the box, gestured to Akemi, and said, "I knew these two were on top."
"It would be strange if a guy likes to delve into this."
Mingmei chuckled and shook her head, walked over to Guangyou, and said to him, "You help me set up the stage, and I'll do the setup."
Kōyū nodded, looked down at his current attire, gave a wry smile, and said, "Okay, I'll try to get this sorted out before Ai arrives. Then I'll go take a shower; I'm all filthy right now, it won't look good to see her."
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