Chapter 35

"Birthday?" Taneda Santouko heard Amamiya Teishi's question and suddenly said, "That's right, Shuji's birthday is coming soon. After all, it's his first birthday since leaving the Tsushima family, so we should really celebrate it."

"But if you ask me what gift to give, I'm not sure."

Taneda Santouko touched his thinning hair to make sure it was still on his head: "A boy like Shuji probably wants different things from boys from ordinary families. I don't really know what he likes. Leisheng, can you give him something he likes?"

Amemiya Ruisei then turned to ask Sakaguchi Ango.

"Ah? Birthday present?" Sakaguchi Ango had just finished a day of study and work, and he was feeling listless. "I don't know what to give him. I don't think Shuji cares much about this. Besides, if it's you, Mr. Amamiya, he'll be happy with anything, right? How about making him a crab feast? Doesn't he like crab very much?"

Amamiya Raisei said, "I've already arranged this. I contacted someone a few days ago and bought some good crabs. I'll cook a delicious meal for Shuji-kun on his birthday. But he has to eat and give gifts."

"How about this, tomorrow is the weekend, and you don't have to go to class. I'll tell Chief Taneda not to assign you any work. Come out with me for a walk." The young man patted Sakaguchi Ango's shoulder and said with a smile, "I don't think Ango-kun will reject me, right?"

Ango Sakaguchi: “…Actually, I don’t have work tomorrow.” Let him have a good weekend!

"Just one afternoon, just one afternoon~"

Sakaguchi Ango: Okay.

The next day, just after Sakaguchi Ango finished lunch, he was called out by Amamiya Ruisei.

Standing under the scorching sun at noon in Tokyo in June is truly a torture. Ango Sakaguchi looked up at the sun hanging in the sky with his dead fish eyes.

"Sir, isn't it afternoon? I want to take a nap..."

Amamiya Leisei laughed and said, "Sorry, I was too impatient. Anyway, just buy it and go back quickly. You can still take a nap in the afternoon. If that doesn't work, you can take a nap in the evening."

Sakaguchi Ango: "...It's already evening, is there any need to sleep at this time?"

"Don't say that. Being able to sleep freely anytime and anywhere is something that many people envy. While you are still a student, you should enjoy the happiness of sleeping regardless of time." Yu Gong Lei said confidently, waving the birthday strategy notebook in his hand, "Let's go to the mall."

Sakaguchi Ango followed listlessly.

Amemiya Leisheng was the first to walk into a boutique gift shop. The shelves were neatly filled with various large and small items. There was also an oversized plush bear doll against the wall. It looked like someone wanted to rush in and bury their desires.

As soon as the two of them entered, a store clerk came up to greet them: "Welcome, what would you like to see?"

"Home..." Amamiya Reizo thought for a moment, "My brother's birthday is coming up soon, so I want to buy him some presents, but I don't know what to give him. Do you have any recommendations? It's his eleventh birthday."

"An eleven-year-old boy." The clerk thought for a moment, "What does he like? Maybe he can look at electronic equipment, such as game consoles, or robot toys or something like that."

The clerk guided Amamiya to the other side of the shelf and introduced it in detail: "You can take a look at this one. It's the latest style on the market. Boys like it very much..."

Amemiya Reizo looked at the shelves full of robot toys, imagined Tsushima Shuji assembling the robot with an expressionless face, and then shook the joystick with an expressionless face, watching the robot twist and turn.

He burst out laughing and turned to Sakaguchi Ango, "Ango-kun, what do you think?"

Sakaguchi Ango looked hesitant: "Uh, I think both are fine, but I think Shuji's classmates might be more interested."

"You're right." Amemiya Ruisei nodded, looked around the store, and his eyes fell on the oversized plush bear. He inexplicably remembered the mackerel doll he bought when he went to the fishing farm before. The doll was still lying at the head of Tsushima Shuji's bed, emitting a salty fish-like aura every day.

Why not buy a crab? After all, Shuji likes crabs so much, and it would look cute to let the mackerel and crab sleep together.

Amemiya Leisheng was thinking to himself.

"Do you have any crab-shaped dolls?"

Shop assistant: “…Yes.”

Sakaguchi Ango: “???”

So Amemiya Ruisei bought an orange-yellow crab doll, which was a little bigger than the head and very soft to the touch. Sakaguchi Ango looked at the plush doll that was packaged and put into the bag with a look of fear in his eyes, as if he had discovered something incredible.

Oh my god, Sakaguchi Ango muttered in his heart, I didn’t expect that you, Tsushima Shuji, actually like plush toys.

But after buying a crab toy, Amamiya Leisei felt that it was not enough, so he flipped through the mall map and said, "Let's go for a walk on the street. I feel like everything in the mall looks the same."

Sakaguchi Ango was still immersed in the thought of "I didn't expect you to be this kind of Tsushima Shuji" and nodded casually. When he walked out onto the street, he was exposed to the sun and instantly became listless.

"If you can't stand it, just go buy some ice cream?" Amamiya Reizo was very understanding.

"Actually, I think..." Sakaguchi Ango began.

"Hmm? What?"

"I think it would be better to ask Shuji to come out and let him choose his own birthday present. He will definitely choose something he likes, which is great. This way we don't have to go through all the trouble." Sakaguchi Ango said weakly, "I think what I said makes sense."

Amamiya Raisei blinked and said, "I think these are two different things. I picked them, and Shuji picked them. They are two gifts. After all, it's his eleventh birthday, so it doesn't matter if he gives me two."

He counted on his fingers: "On Shuji-kun's birthday, let's go shopping with him and buy one! I haven't finished buying mine yet. Let's continue. Doesn't Ango-kun also need to prepare a gift?"

Sakaguchi Ango: Soul Vomitingjpg

Sure enough, on Tsushima Shuji's birthday, Amamiya Ruisei took people out shopping for gifts again, but this time Sakaguchi Ango did not go with them. He was processing ingredients at home to prepare for the dinner in the evening, and in his heart he felt deeply resentful towards the two guys who were out shopping happily.

"Sir, didn't you already give me a gift?" Tsushima Shuji picked up the little thing on the stall, looked at it, and put it back. "There's no need to bring me here to choose again. I like what you gave me very much."

Especially when he saw the little crab and the bluefish dolls leaning against each other at the head of his bed, it looked like two people who had nothing in common had become a family, which made Tsushima Shuji very happy.

He and Mr. Amamiya are not only teacher and student, but also family~

"How can you do that?" Amamiya Leisheng touched the boy, "I said you have to buy it. If you don't like what you see in this store, let's go to the next one."

He looked down at the boy's whorl of hair with a gentle gaze. Oh, his child has grown one year older safely. He should be a little taller by this time next year. I wonder when he will be taller than him.

Tsushima Shuji nodded helplessly and continued strolling with the young man.

After visiting several stores like this, his attention was finally attracted by something. Shuji Tsushima looked at the cotton dolls in the window with bright eyes.

Amamiya Leisheng followed his gaze and found that the cotton doll actually looked a bit like him. Of course, it was only the hair and eye color that were similar. Both eyes were exposed, and it looked very intact: "You want this?"

"Hmm!" said Tsushima Shuji, "It looks like you, sir."

The boy stared at the doll and whispered, "It would be nice if the master's eyes were also good."

Amamiya Rei's heart softened, and he took the boy into the store, pointed at the doll in the window and asked, "How much is this?"

"Oh, sorry, sir," the store manager said with an embarrassed expression, "I made this myself in my spare time. The quality and workmanship are average, so it's not for sale. I just like it so I put it here. Why don't you take a look at the other dolls in the store?"

Tsushima Shuji looked at it eagerly: "Is it really not allowed to be sold?"

"This……"

The boy turned his head and looked at Amamiya Keisei with a look of loss in his eyes.

After a moment of hesitation, Amamiya said, "Is it really not possible to sell it?"

“As you know, if customers come back to us due to quality issues, we will be in a difficult position…” said the store manager.

Amamiya Reisheng coughed a few times, and the familiar itchy and sweet taste rose in his throat. He looked at the store manager sincerely, and a stream of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth: "Ahem, really, we can't sell it? We promise that we won't come back to you because of quality issues."

The store manager looked at the blood gushing out of Amamiya Rei's mouth with horror, his voice stuttering, "Okay, okay."

So Tsushima Shuji took the cotton doll home as he wished, placed it between the crab and mackerel dolls, and looked at the three cotton dolls with a smile on his face.

"Shuji-kun, come out and eat crabs, Ango-kun is ready to make them!"

Amamiya Raisei shouted from outside the room.

Sakaguchi Ango: "You guys actually spent the whole afternoon walking around, why was I the only one dealing with the crabs, they pinched my fingers so many times, ahhh——!"

The boy turned around and said, "Here I come!"

Tsushima Shuji's eleventh birthday passed in an ordinary and happy way. The days quickly passed June and entered the hot July. The time also came to the wedding date on the wedding invitation he received.

Amamiya Keisei borrowed his vacation time in advance from Taneda Santoka, and took Tsushima Shuji on a train to Aomori.

The boy sat by the window, the rapidly receding scenery outside the window passed through his pupils, making his expression look particularly peaceful.

After more than two months, he is about to set foot on Aomori land again.