Chapter 70 "Want to play together?"
Akeno met Oori, who she felt had changed Yoriichi a lot, and she also learned the whole story of the assassination from Kokushiro, who came with her.
Although Iwakatsu tried his best to reduce her panic with calm language and tone, Akeno was still so frightened that she clutched her chest. She closed her eyes and prayed for a while before she finally calmed down.
Zhu Nai waved to the girl, gesturing for her to come to her side, her smile revealing genuine gratitude: "Thank you, A-Zhi."
Zhu Nai often thought that if she had given birth to a son and a daughter, she wouldn't be facing the current predicament and being forced to give up one of them.
Iwakatsu is strict and polite, and Yoriichi is gentle and taciturn. They are both very good children, and Akeno tries her best to treat them equally.
However, Yuan Yi was born hated by his father and suffered unfair treatment, which is why she felt so sorry for him and wanted him to avoid going through any more hardships.
Although there wasn't much that could be done, it was better than doing nothing, and Azhi was the person the steward prepared according to her instructions.
The young lady's gaze was like gentle ripples of water, seemingly capable of encompassing everything, leaving those who were looked at with no thought of resistance.
She was truly the most dignified and gentle woman A-Zhi had ever met, even though she herself hadn't actually met many people in this world.
Azhi was stunned. She tilted her fair and delicate face up and slowly walked to her side, whereupon her cheek was pinched.
Zhu Nai was still a little surprised. She hadn't expected Azhi to be such a delicate little girl. But when she saw her, she felt that it was only natural. This was the best arrangement from heaven.
She gently rubbed A-Zhi's soft, chubby cheeks, as if making a wish, and turned to look at Iwakatsu and Yoriichi: "Let's live well together from now on!"
********
Generally speaking, when a system takes a host to a mission world, it can adjust the host's age according to its own judgment so that the mission can be completed more easily.
After comprehensively analyzing all the information, 000 finally decided to let Azhi do the task at this age.
Generally speaking, compared to approaching mentally mature and thinking adults, children's hearts are the purest. Although they each have their own personality, as long as you treat them with sincerity, you can easily move them.
In retrospect, this decision was indeed the right one, but it's impossible to say that it had no flaws whatsoever.
A very typical example is that the timeline for completing a task may be very long, since not many people can clearly know what they want most when they are young.
Secondly, the host is easily led astray in the process... just like Azhi, who is now having so much fun that she doesn't want to leave.
As time slowly passed, the cold winter quietly came to an end, and the weather gradually warmed up, transitioning towards a more comfortable temperature.
The vegetation was already lush and vigorous, nourished by the fertile soil, and growing very well. It could almost block out an adult, let alone two young children.
Aori and Yoriichi were by the stream behind the grass, one standing on the bank and the other bending over in the water, earnestly catching plump fish.
The afternoon sun was lovely, and it felt wonderful on my skin.
Azhi stood barefoot on the grass, holding a wooden pole with a straw net tied to the top, catching the small fish that swam frantically to the shore.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni, who was in the water, was the culprit who disturbed them.
Ah Zhi bent down, and because the field of vision was wider on the shore, she carefully looked left and right with her eyes rolling, helping to report the location of the small fish.
Suddenly, as if she had seen something, she exclaimed in surprise, then realized her mistake and corrected herself: "Yoriichi, on the left... no, on your right, it's on the right!"
Azhi spotted a large fish that hadn't managed to escape. She was so excited that she pointed at it as she talked, practically wanting to go into the water and catch it herself.
Logically speaking, she was barefoot, so even if she went into the water, her shoes wouldn't get wet, which was extremely convenient. But it seemed like she was worried about something, and she didn't get any closer to the water.
After Yoriichi hummed in agreement and glanced at her position out of the corner of his eye, he continued his actions without stopping, the water splashing as he moved up and down.
The fish the girl pointed to didn't even have time to react before it was scooped out of the water, its silvery-white scales shimmering in the sunlight.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni didn't really need Ori's command, because he could clearly "see" the movement of the fish swimming around him, making it incredibly easy for him to catch them.
If that's the case, Azhi won't feel very involved, because she won't catch many fish with her net, and she'll probably be a little unhappy.
He has gradually gained experience in raising A-Zhi, which is to coax her. As for how to coax her, Yoriichi Tsugikuni needs to constantly master it through practice.
000 saw this situation clearly. Resting its non-existent chin, it slowly asked, "Is it fun?"
Azhi froze for a moment, gripping the wooden stick. After sensing that 000 didn't seem angry, she grew a little bolder and whispered, "It's fun."
—It really is a lot of fun.
Ah Zhi experienced many unfamiliar things here. She never knew that there were so many techniques involved in catching small fish, nor did she know that there was so much fun involved.
However, more than whether it was fun or not, 000 was more concerned about Azhi's attitude. It never expected that Azhi would be so afraid of it.
000 remembered that it had always been kind to the little girl, and it was starting to question its existence: "...So much fun."
Perhaps it's acting too mysteriously?
Actually, Azhi just suddenly realized that she hadn't pushed the mission forward much and felt guilty. She pursed her lips shyly, but quickly immersed herself in playing again.
When Ji Guoyan arrived, before he could see what had happened, he heard the girl say "Gotcha!" accompanied by a clear and pleasant laugh.
It wasn't hard to imagine how interesting it would be there, so Jiguo Yansheng quickened his pace and walked over.
In this rigidly hierarchical family, the only person Tsugikuni Iwakatsu could relax and play with without feeling pressured was initially Yoriichi, but now there's also Oori.
Since that assassination incident, as they met more frequently and had several conversations, their relationship naturally improved.
It has even gotten to the point where, when looking for Yoriichi, Kokushibo often notices Ori first, and this is not something he does intentionally.
There are times when Yoriichi is not in his room, and during those times, Kokushibo only sees Oori and naturally only talks to her; while when Yoriichi is in his room, the girls will talk to him.
Yoriichi was taciturn, while Aori became more lively than before, so Kokushimaru always heard her voice first.
—This time is no different.
After walking over, Kokushiro finally understood what Ori and Yoriichi were doing.
Yoriichi, his younger brother, stood barefoot in the water with his clothes rolled up. His clothes were disheveled, and his hair was somehow wet. The way he bent over to catch fish made him look like an ordinary person who had never received any education.
Ah Zhi, on the other hand, was holding onto a small wooden bucket filled with water. She squatted on the bank, occasionally stirring the water with her little hands, and then waited expectantly for the boy to put the fish inside.
Even though they had played together so many times before, they had never behaved so rudely or in a way that was unbecoming of their status. If others had seen it, they would have been scolded for lowering their own standing.
Kokunobu should have directly stopped Yoriichi and told him he shouldn't be so engrossed in pleasure. However, he didn't try to keep his arrival quiet. Yoriichi looked over first, followed by Oori, who was a beat behind.
For some reason, seeing the ease and joy emanating from the two of them, Ji Guoyan opened his mouth but made no sound.
Azhi thought for a moment, then tilted her head back, her bright eyes sparkling, and naturally invited, "Want to play together?"
A-Zhi truly overcame her trauma after being questioned several times by Ji Guoyansheng.
He didn't visit Yoriichi very often, and it was clear that he only came when he could find the time. However, each time, Kokushiro would ask Oori about the progress of her wounds.
The boy sat very upright. As he spoke slowly, his gaze fell on A-Zhi's injured hand. At some point, his expression was no longer as indifferent as before.
Actually, the medicine he gave her was very effective. Azhi didn't feel any pain the next day, and after the wound scabbed over, she didn't care much about it anymore.
He never expected that Ji Guoyan had kept it in mind all along. He only stopped asking after the scabs on the back of her hand had all fallen off and the skin had returned to normal without leaving a scar.
From then on, Azhi vaguely realized that this person was just exceptionally particular about rules, but was actually cold on the outside but warm on the inside.
Kokushimaru found it hard to resist the temptation. He hesitated for only a second before imitating Yoriichi, taking off his shoes, rolling up the hem of his clothes, and walking into the water.
He also wanted to experience firsthand what Aori and Yoriichi felt.
The water, warmed by the sun, reached the back of his knees. The boy's movements and posture were visibly clumsy, but he was very decisive in his actions.
Similarly, almost exactly like Yoriichi, he caught a fish without wasting a moment, and didn't even need Aori's instructions from the shore.
Azhi was deeply impressed: "That's amazing!"
That's exactly what she thought. Ji Guoyansheng, as a beginner, was able to catch such a big fish on his first try, which was a stark contrast to her own experience.
This wasn't the first time Yoriichi had brought her fishing. At first, Aori just watched from the shore, but after seeing Yoriichi effortlessly catching one fish after another, she felt that she could do it too.
As a result, she almost slipped and fell as soon as she entered the water, let alone a small fish the size of her palm. It was only thanks to Ji Guoyuan's quick reflexes that she was caught and prevented from getting completely soaked.
Although it's a shallow area, judging by Azhi's gliding technique, she might end up in deep water.
Then she was deprived of the right to go into the water and could only pick up the small fish that Yoriichi threw up from the shore. Oh, and later she also got a special net bag that Yoriichi gave her.
So is she really the only one who's useless?
"…………"
Yoriichi Tsugikuni, who had been watching this area closely, naturally didn't miss Aori's exclamation and glanced over.
Ji Guoyan Sheng initially thought it was nothing special, but after A Zhi's undisguised praise reached his ears with unparalleled clarity, he changed his mind.
He looked up and saw the girl clapping excitedly, her face flushed, her eyes clear and bright beneath her sweaty bangs, filled with nothing but his gaze.
It's vivid and direct.
Ji Guoyan was shocked like never before; his heart began to beat ecstatically, as if it too was excited about it.
-----------------------
Author's Note: The three people each have their own ideas.
——————————
The cut scenes will be put in the side stories; you can choose whether to read them or not then. Sigh~
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
