Chapter 39 Sister and the Hangover

"By the way, why did you come back from America?"

On a snowy day in Otaru City, the sky is white and clear, and the snow covers everything. The mountains in the distance are vaguely visible among the countless falling snowflakes.

The snow-capped peaks are connected to the blue sky.

Walking on the white streets of the city, Akai Muzi looked at the long-lost scenery of her hometown and asked:

"Do you remember why I wanted to go to America?"

"Advocating freedom?"

"You're still so funny, of course not. I remember I told you that I want to go out and take a look."

"Want to go out and take a look?"

Otaru City has a permanent population of 11. It was a little more ten years ago, but only about 12 or 13.

The past was indeed glorious, but in recent years, Otaru City is basically no different from an ordinary town except for the city center.

There are no skyscrapers, no high-end shopping malls, no brand-name luxury stores, and no Starbucks.

The roads here are cracked, the buildings here are old and yellowed, and most of the shops here have their shutters tightly closed.

The scenery here is indeed beautiful, but from a realistic point of view, this is just a city that is aging year by year.

At that time, Akai was unwilling to stay in this underdeveloped place, and was determined to visit Tokyo, the most developed country in the world.

She went to the United States to pursue her dream.

"The results of it?"

"As you can see, the dream is gone and I am back."

Fujii Itsuki stared at her profile for a while, "Failed? I remember you were admitted to a music school?"

"That's the name of the Ithaca School. Not only was I rejected, I didn't even have any chance to officially perform there. I was just a substitute in the orchestra."

"Your skills are not bad, and you work so hard."

"Is hard work useful?" Akagi Muzi said firmly, "Fujii, not everyone has the same talent as you and those monsters."

She looked at the snow-capped peaks in the distance.

"For me, the clarinet is everything to me. Seventeen years. Seventeen years. I have been practicing since the fourth grade of elementary school. With these seventeen years of hard work, I finally got an opportunity, but in the end, I still messed it up. Do you understand the feeling of working hard every day to support your studies, paying high tuition fees, but in the end, it's all for nothing? That kind of unwillingness, that kind of regret, that kind of feeling of giving your whole life but still being unable to touch it, how powerless it is?

"I knew it was my last chance, and I gambled everything I had on it. But I still lost because I was not as skilled as my opponent. I have nothing to say.

"That day, I almost smashed the clarinet that had accompanied me for more than ten years. I hid in my dormitory and cried secretly like a loser."

Akai Muzi said these words with a smile.

She looked at the scenery of her hometown, her eyes revealing an indescribable nostalgia and love.

It seems that she had a hard time living abroad these years, but she also seemed to have let it go.

"So, I'm back. I don't plan to play the clarinet again in my life. This time I came back to Orange North to apply for a job. I just want to be an ordinary English teacher."

“It sounds like a heavy story.”

"You were the one who asked?"

"Sorry, it's my fault. I accidentally touched upon your sad past. I apologize." Fujii Itsuki took out the burning cigarette and flicked the filter with his index finger. His eyes behind his half-frame glasses revealed a sense of melancholy.

Akagi Muzi was lost in thought for a moment, then sighed, "Fujii."

"Ok?"

"Although you are much more handsome, you are still old."

"I'm only twenty-six, thank you."

"But you are at least ten years older than before. In the past, you would have put your hands together and apologized to me. Now you look like a middle-aged man with a big belly, smoking a cigarette, and looking like you are not interested in anything."

"Then you are one year older than me, and you are a thin and yellow old woman."

Akai Muzi didn't care about what he said, and asked with a smile: "By the way, why did you go back to Otaru? I heard from some classmates that you are a teacher in Tokyo, right? Did you offend someone again?"

"Akai, that's really harsh of you to say. That's called justice."

".? I see. After justice was served, you lost your job. Just like when you were almost kicked out of the wind band club."

"Don't talk about this anymore. Have you arrived at the restaurant you found? I'm starving."

"Almost, almost. Didn't you just get off the train? And you haven't answered my question yet!"

"Eat first. Only after I eat will I have the energy to answer."

Akai Muzi led the way in front.

As they chatted and walked, they stopped in front of a hotel by the sea.

Fujii Itsuki took the cigarette from his mouth, looked up and was stunned.

[Yunohana Otaru Onsen Store]
Isn’t this Chitose’s home?

"What are you standing there for, Fujii?"

"How did you choose this store?"

"Is this store bad?" Akai Muzi wondered, holding her phone. "It's been open for decades, isn't it well-received online?"

"It's not a question of reputation or not, but - forget it, let's go in. It's better to come at the right time than to come in time. It's a good opportunity to see Qiansui."

"Chitose Tachibana? Your non-blood-related sister? Her family is here?"

"Didn't I tell you? Forgot. When Qiansui was adopted by Yang Kui's family, we were almost in the third grade. It's normal that you didn't notice it at that time. Come in."

Yang Kui's hot spring house is very large. It is a typical old-style Japanese-style inn with three floors, tatami rooms, paper sliding doors and wooden structure.

To make a vivid analogy, it is like the hot spring house in Spirited Away.

There are both accommodation and dining areas here.

There were quite a few people in the dining area, most of them were uncles and old men wearing yukatas and with thinning hair. There were also the occasional young people and foreign tourists.

The tourists were taking photos of the layout of the hot spring shop, while the uncles and old men were enjoying seafood sushi with big glasses of beer, chatting loudly and making it as lively as if they were in an izakaya.

After entering the hot spring house, Akai Muzi told the front desk staff about her dining needs, and then the front desk staff shouted loudly towards the second floor:
"Chitose! We have a guest!"

“Chitose——!”

"I'll come right away!"

In less than half a minute, Fujii Itsuki saw Chitose Yang Aoi, wearing a Yunohana waitress's yukata, quickly coming down the stairs.

She stepped on the wooden ladder, lifted her trouser legs, and her short hair with a red side bun swayed.

"Where is the guest——"

Yang Kui Chitose glanced around and soon saw Fujii Itsuki standing near the front desk and smiling at her.

The girl was stunned at first, then surprised, and finally smiled and cried with joy.

After confirming that it was Fujii Itsuki, the girl rushed over happily and fell straight into his arms.

“Brother Tree——!”

Fujii Itsuki stretched out his hand to catch her impact, but even so, he was still hurt by the girl.

She is really strong.

".Qian Sui, Qian Sui, please hold me gently. There are so many guests eating in front of your house."

"it does not matter."

Yang Kui Chitose never expected that Fujii Itsuki would appear here when she was the busiest.
She had just been scolded by her father for being too busy and was feeling a little disappointed, but she didn't expect Fujii Itsuki to come in the blink of an eye.

She just felt so happy, so happy that tears came out of her eyes.

"Brother Shu actually came to see me. I'm so happy." Yang Kui Chitose smiled and kept wiping her red eyes with the back of her hand.

The girl's tone, the way she was so happy to see him that she shed tears, made Fujii Itsuki feel distressed:
"Did Mr. Nagano scold you again?"

"It's all right, they're all small things"

"Mr. Nagano is a bit harsh, but he has a soft heart. But if Chitose does something wrong, I still can't bear to scold him."

"Brother Shu!" Yang Kui Chitose couldn't stop crying and wanted to hug him again.

"Okay, okay, I'm here, stop crying, okay?"

"Well I won't cry anymore"

The front desk staff had never seen Fujii Itsuki before, and now they were very curious about this scene.

As far as I can remember, Chitose has never shed tears?

No matter how Mr. Nagano scolded her, she would just keep her head down and do the things she hadn't done well in silence. There was no such thing as shedding tears.

Chitose was quite good at controlling her emotions and she stopped crying in less than half a minute, though her eyes were still a little red.

Fujii Itsuki reached out and lifted the girl's short hair, wiped her tears and smiled.

The way this girl cried in his arms was so adorable.

"Why did Brother Shu suddenly want to come and see me?"

"I met an old classmate during the interview and he said he wanted to treat me to a meal, so I came over."

"old classmate.?"

Chitose Yang Kui wiped her tears, tilted her head slightly in Fujii Itsuki's arms, and found an adult woman with a briefcase standing at the front desk.

She waved carefully to herself with a smile.

Chitose Yangkui looked at her, then looked at Fujii Itsuki in front of her, and finally looked at her originally happy mood, which instantly collapsed.

She recognized this woman.

The woman she often saw around Fujii Itsuki when she was in elementary school.

Her name is Akai Muzi. She was closest to Brother Shu and would often invite Brother Shu to school to participate in club activities.

Chitose Yangkui remembers every woman who approached or tried to approach Brother Shu.

And she, Akai Muzi, is the most hateful one.

"Who is this, Brother Shu?" Yang Kui Chitose's voice was full of cuteness and confusion.

Akai Muzi responded, "Oh, right, Chitose was still young at that time, I'm afraid you forgot about me, let me introduce myself again, my name is Akai Muzi, I'm your brother's classmate, we met back then, I even bought you a lollipop, remember?"

"I can't quite remember."

How could I not remember!
This abominable woman wanted to get me away from Brother Shu with just a lollipop!
How abominable!

"Can't remember? Ah. It's okay, Chitose, just call me Muzi like you used to."

"Aunt Muzi."

"Auntie?" Akai Muzi's expression was stiff.

Fujii Itsuki couldn't help laughing when he saw Akai like this. Chitose was really a bad person.

"Sister Muzi."

"That's more like it," Akai Muzi breathed a sigh of relief, "By the way, I'll continue to call you Chitose, do you mind?"

Yang Kui Chitose smiled flawlessly and said, "Of course."

"Qiu Sui, is there any private room? Your aunt Muzi and I are going to have lunch first."

".Fujii, what did you call me?"

"Auntie, Qiansui calls you auntie, you have to admit it."

"What are you talking about? Didn't you hear Qiansui call me sister later?"

"That's Qiansui giving you face." ".Shut up——"

what is this?
Deliberately flirting with Brother Shu.

Yang Kui Chitose clenched his fists, feeling itchy. Even the fox Jiuhua had never been so excessive, so why can you do it?
I also want to dine in a private room with Brother Shu. What a wish.

"Um, Brother Shu, there are no more private rooms."

"Gone?"

"Correct."

"Then just find a seat outside. There should be some space."

"This has."

"That's fine then. Bring me some dishes."

"Okay!" Yang Kui Qiansui said enthusiastically, "Then I'll take Brother Shu over there to sit down, and I'll bring the menu right over."

"Sorry to trouble you."

Fujii Itsuki was brought by Chitose to a relatively quiet corner of the dining area where there were three empty seats.

Apart from anything else, Yang Kui's hot spring shop is well-designed; even the lights are in the style of paper lanterns, giving it an antique feel.

"Brother Shu, menu."

"Oh, thank you."

Yang Kui Qiansui held the chopping board and said, "Today, I especially recommend Brother Shu to order seafood, freshly caught from the sea. We also have sushi. You must order sushi, it's the signature dish of our restaurant!"

Fujii Itsuki knew what his sister was thinking, "You asked me to order sushi. Chitose wants to make it for me, right?"

"Hehe~"

"Then order a few. Also, Chitose, your sister Muzi and I have something to talk about, so don't come over to chat later."

"what?"

"You and I don't know this, but when the food is ready, you'll probably come sit over and eat with me, right?"

"Brother Shu" Yang Kui Qiansui's voice was full of grievance.

"Of course, I didn't mean to question you. It's just that your sister Muzi and I had something serious to discuss, work-related matters, and it's not good for you to hear about it."

".All right."

"Thank you for cooking."

"It's okay, as long as Brother Shu is happy."

Fujii Itsuki ordered two dishes, and then handed it to Akai Muzi sitting opposite him to order two more.

We ordered two large glasses of beer and some side dishes.

After ordering these things, Yang Kui Chitose glanced at Akai Muzi calmly and ran to the kitchen.

"Chitose has grown so tall now, she was so tiny before." Akai looked at the place where she disappeared.

"Children grow up fast. Also, although she was small before, she was very strong. Several boys couldn't beat her."

"I remember this. You told me about it before. I remember you made her a swing that year. She loved it. Several boys older than her tried to grab her swing, but she beat them all down by herself."

"That's what happened."

When talking about the orphanage, Fujii Itsuki was particularly emotional, "Chitose knew from a young age that she was abandoned by her parents because of a heart disease, and she never felt safe, so she had a strong possessiveness for the things she loved."

Akai Muzi smiled at Fujii Itsuki, "Including you?"

"Yes, a little bit. She is always jealous of me. She called you auntie just now, wasn't she jealous?"

"I can see that." Akai's voice was slightly calm. "However, if it were me, if I had a brother who picked me up, named me, and took care of me when I was a child, I would also feel uncomfortable when I saw him with other women."

"I know, so I have always indulged Qiansui's little thoughts."

"Fujii, I hope you can love her more on purpose. She will be very happy. You men may not understand, but I understand Chitose very well. I know how important someone like you is to her."

"."

At this point, Fujii Itsuki suddenly remembered the day when she said she was going to Kyoto. On that day, Chitose locked herself in her room for several days without eating or drinking, and she didn't talk to anyone.

How sad was she at that time?

".I know that Chitose is also an irreplaceable sister to me."

Beer and side dishes were served first. Fujii Itsuki toasted with Akai Muko opposite him, and took a big gulp in one breath, pouring out all the depression in his heart that day.

"You feel bitter?" Akai asked, "Drinking like this is bad for your health."

"Drinking like this occasionally makes you feel better."

"Because of the interview just now?"

"Correct."

"Just be careful next time. With your talent, if you fail in the job interview in Tachibana Kita, it's not impossible for you to go to Sapporo and have a look."

Fujii Itsuki: "How long have you been back home?"

"Three weeks ago." Akai replied.

"Then you probably don't know about that."

Akai Muzi was very curious, "Then tell me?"

Under the influence of alcohol, Fujii Itsuki told all his old classmates about the bad things that happened in Tokyo, and also told them about the various strange things that happened in the past three years.

Beer was refilled one after another.

After seeing this, Chitose tried to persuade Brother Shu to stop drinking, but was persuaded away by Fujii Shu.

Some topics became more and more bitter as they were discussed, and if it weren't for the beer, he might not have been able to say it all.

As Akai Muzi listened, her face didn't look very good, probably because she was thinking about some things that happened when she was studying abroad.

"It seems like you've had a similar life as I have in the past three years," Akai Muzi continued what he just said, "I thought you, who are so gifted, had a much better life than me."

“Talent doesn’t determine everything.”

"But without talent, you are nothing."

"Well, we all have our own difficulties. How about you drink with me today? I haven't had a drink like this for a long time. I can see that you can hold your liquor quite well."

"Stay with me to the end."

After that, Fujii Itsuki didn't say anything more and just ate and drank. He really couldn't drink any more, so he brought up some other things to chat about.

The time goes from afternoon to evening and then to late night.

Although I took a break in the middle, I was still dizzy from drinking.

Fujii Itsuki was a good drinker and only felt a little dizzy after drinking too much, but Akai just lay on the table without moving, and fell into a complete sleep.

"Brother Shu, you drank too much."

Fujii Itsuki turned his head and saw six thousand years old. He quickly closed his eyes, then looked up again, and then he combined them into one, ".Not bad."

"What happened?"

"nothing."

"Brother Shu, don't you want to tell me?"

".I don't want to make you worry, Chitose."

"But, seeing Brother Shu drinking so much makes me even more worried."

".That's right. I'm sorry Chitose, but I may have to break my promise and won't be able to go to Tachibana North to teach you."

"Is there something wrong with the interview?" Chitose's face was full of worry.

Fujii Itsuki was staggering, and Yang Kui Chitose sat down next to him, holding his arm to let him lean on her and not fall down.

". It's almost the same. On one side is the dream, and on the other is the reality. I chose to apply for Tachibana Kita because I wanted to regain my dream, but when I applied, I had to face the reality. I am sorry to Matsumae."

"Matsumae? Who is Matsumae? Brother Shu, you are talking nonsense."

"Chitose."

"Yes, Brother Shu, I'm here."

"Help me go back to my room to rest first, and then make arrangements for Akai. Thank you for your help."

"Okay, then Brother Shu should walk more steadily."

"Row."

There was only one guest room, so Chitose Yang Kui arranged for Akai to move in first, and then she helped Fujii Itsuki to her own room.

During this time, my mother saw me and asked me what happened and why I was so drunk.

Chitose explained that it was due to work.

Yang Kui Nagano also saw it, but surprisingly didn't say much, just told him to rest quickly.

When we arrived at the room, Fujii Itsuki had almost fallen asleep.

Yang Kui Chitose made a bed for him, held his head up, and gave him more water to prevent a hangover.

Then she undressed him, took off a few pieces of clothing, covered him with a quilt, and let him sleep well.

At this time, Fujii Itsuki had fallen asleep completely, with a relaxed expression on his face.

Yang Kui Qiansui knelt beside him in the night, and looked at his sleeping face for a long time in the faint moonlight on a snowy day. The girl had never felt so at ease at night.

She suddenly saw the empty half of Fujii Itsuki's pillow, and a strong desire suddenly arose in her heart, making her want to get into the bed and occupy this place completely and thoroughly.

But the girl quickly rejected this idea.
No. Not yet.

Brother Tree is still sleeping.

Anyway, sooner or later, I will make Brother Shu acknowledge me and take my love seriously.

At that time, Brother Shu will stay away from all other women for her and only love me.

for sure.

absolute.

The girl pecked his forehead lightly and returned to her bed with peace of mind.

Chitose Yangkui closed her eyes, pulled up the quilt, and soon fell into a deep and distant dream.

*
headache.

Although he was still conscious, he still couldn't control his body. After struggling in an indescribable state, Fujii Itsuki turned over. The quilt on his body had an inexplicable girlish scent of Chitose.

His hand subconsciously groped towards the head of the bed, and it took him two minutes to find his cell phone.

He squinted his eyes, raised the phone to his face, and checked the time.

December 12th, 28:16.

I've been sleeping all day?
No wonder my head hurts so much.

He saw a missed call from Songqian on his phone, and a LINE message from Jiuhuayue at around 10 o'clock last night - [Are you not coming back tonight?]
Wait, what is this text message?
Fujii Itsuki suspected that he was seeing things and sat up to check.

The sender of the text message is signed as [Taisho Tachibana Kita First Private High School Academic Affairs Office].

The content of the text message was an invitation to go to school again on the 30th.

Weird.

Have I passed the interview?
(End of this chapter)