Zongman: I am on the set of Oregairu, playing the role of Bai Xue

“Is this… a bookmark?”

"Well, it's a bookmark on the surface, but it's actually a consumable item."

Yukinoshita carefully examined the glowing bookmark in her hand that was as thin as a cicada's wing.

She was wearing a dark blue kimono today, embroidered with tiny snowflake patterns, and a silver brooch on her collar.

The kimono's obi was light grey and tied into a simple knot, matching her usual minimalist style.

Bei Nuo put his hands in his pockets and lined up slowly with the girl beside him. "If you don't use it, you can keep it forever. It's also good as an ordinary bookmark."

Yukinoshita smiled faintly, it seemed that he had not forgotten the day when they confirmed their relationship. At first, she just wanted to be willful so that Bei Nuo would remember her in the future instead of being fascinated by other girls.

With high school graduation approaching, this will be the last New Year's visit to the shrine during their high school years.

In order to be alone with each other, Yukinoshita not only sent Yuigahama and Isshiki away, but also chose to visit the shrine when the crowd was the most crowded.

The shrine was only a few hundred meters away, but it was crowded with people, greatly slowing down the two's walking speed.

Yukino, who had almost no resistance to the crowd, was in a mixture of pain and joy at the moment. She rubbed the strange bookmark in her hand and asked, "So, what is its function--"

Bei Nuo suddenly stretched out a hand and pulled her into his arms.

Yukinoshita's brain stopped thinking for a moment, and then a whisper came into her ear:

"There's a thief."

After Bei Nuo finished speaking, he turned his head and looked in a certain direction of the crowd. Then he was silent for a while before letting go of the girl in his arms.

"Is there really a thief?" Yukinoshita stroked her hot cheek and gave him a puzzled look.

"Of course there are. This kind of crowded environment is perfect for thieves. Yukino is the one who is not vigilant enough."

"I won't let my guard down easily, but..."

"Ok?"

"Having a blatant thief like you around me is why I'm distracted."

"Yukino, you are slandering me. Not only did I not steal your things, I even gave you a gift just now. If all thieves in the world were like me, thieves would no longer need to be sneaky in the future, and they would even become respected people."

"Christmas is over, you don't have to play Santa Claus."

"Then let's prepare for the Spring Festival."

"Spring Festival?"

"Yes, for Xueji Encyclopedia, it should have been recorded long ago."

Yukinoshita sighed. "Please don't compare me to an encyclopedia."

"I'm actually a little curious about how you will spend the Spring Festival."

She thought for a moment and smiled with relief: "Maybe... it's about the same as it is now."

Beinuo didn't quite understand what she meant by "almost", as the customs of the two countries were so different.

"By the way, would Yukino-student from the past come to the shrine to participate in this kind of event?" he asked.

Yukinoshita shook her head. "Before, I didn't know anyone familiar enough to go to the New Year's shrine together. Besides, the shrine is essentially a ritualistic social activity, which is contrary to my code of conduct at the time."

"That is to say, no."

"What do you want to say?"

"Weren't you curious about the function of this bookmark just now? Now you can use it." Bei Nuo opened his palm to Xueshita and motioned for her to hand over the bookmark.

"Do I need you to activate it? Then it doesn't seem to have much significance to give it to me just now." The girl handed it to him in confusion.

Bei Nuo took the bookmark that could not be observed by ordinary people and explained: "Well... Actually, you can use it on me, but I'm afraid the effect will be minimal."

Yukinoshita couldn't hold back any longer and pinched the soft flesh on his waist.

"Tell me quickly, what is the effect?"

"Implant or alter a person's past memories."

Hearing this, the girl couldn't help but glare at him.

The other party actually used such a strange and domineering prop on her. I really don’t know what evil intentions were hidden in it.

Bei Nuo looked a little helpless: "I roughly know what you are thinking, but please rest assured that there will not be any extraordinary situation. After all, there is system protection."

"Really?"

"Then I'll be frank. I will implant an experience of accompanying you through the New Year's visit to the shrine in your past. I don't know exactly what it will be like."

"What...is the meaning of this?" Yukinoshita looked away with a hint of anticipation.

“It may be meaningless, but it’s fun.”

The girl's eyes narrowed, and she was obviously not satisfied with the answer. "Then why not let me use it instead?"

Bei Nuo couldn't help but laugh and said, "It's useless."

"why?"

"If you appear in my memory, it can only be a dream, after all, we can't speak the same language."

Yukinoshita rubbed her temples, "Chinese... is indeed not easy to master."

"'Thank you', 'hello', and 'xiao long bao' are probably the limits of what most students can say. It's already impressive that you can talk to each other."

"'I love you' is one of them," Yukinoshita added with a smile, then slowly took a step forward, "But the pronunciation details are hard to fix in a short time, so in that case, I'll leave it to you."

Bei Nuo looked at her beautiful back, responded simply, and the bookmark in his hand disappeared in an instant.

A person who has lived for more than ten years naturally has a lot of memories. Bei Nuo does not intend to wander around, nor does he intend to observe carefully. His goal is very clear -

Change a memory of Yukino's New Year's visit to a shrine.

In the form of a random encounter, they met "accidentally" before the two people met each other.

Taking into account Yukinoshita Yukino's difficult-to-approach personality, Kitano plans to arrange an identity for himself that he can talk to, such as... a student from another school who is both familiar and unfamiliar.

The environment of the long line in front of us changed rapidly, from a mountain path with dense steps to a bustling shrine entrance.

This is still Chiba Prefecture, even the shrines are exactly the same.

Although it was her past, the time difference was only more than a year, and except for some different arrangements for New Year activities, the rest of the environment had hardly changed.

According to Yukinoshita's personality, she did not choose to visit the shrine last year, so it is impossible for her to appear here.

But due to the influence of the "bookmark", or to be more precise, due to Kitano's deliberate adjustment, Yukinoshita Yukino, who has just entered the first year of Sobu High School, will definitely appear here.

Looking ahead, I saw a girl with a similar back figure but wearing light-colored casual clothes, standing under the big tree of prayer.

She looked out at the crowd, legs straight, and seemed a little hesitant.

There was no doubt that she was from the past. Looking at her conflicted look, she must have regretted coming here alone to worship.

Kitano could foresee that within three minutes, Yukinoshita would quietly leave like a kitten.

So he quickly avoided the passers-by and took the initiative to step forward and say hello:

"What a coincidence, meeting you here."

The girl looked back warily, and after seeing Bei Nuo's appearance clearly, she put on a long-lost poker face and said in a low and cold tone: "Who are you?"

Hmm? Did the familiar yet unfamiliar information from peers not work?

Bei Nuo refused to believe it and continued to pretend that they knew each other well: "I can't help but feel a little sad when someone deliberately treats me as a stranger."

"Sad?" Yukinoshita sighed softly, "This emotion is based on false expectations."

This tone of voice was so long ago that Beinuo almost missed it.

Although there were many people around, the wind was a bit cold. She gently adjusted her scarf and said calmly, "We are not familiar with each other. We pretend to be strangers just to avoid unnecessary social burden."

Appeared!

The excuse of "we are not familiar with each other" was completely within Beinuo's expectations.

Yukinoshita turned and looked at the torii gate of the shrine. "If you feel hurt, it only means that you have an overly idealistic understanding of interpersonal relationships. Visiting a shrine is to purify the mind, not to deal with meaningless greetings."

"So, instead of getting hung up on this superficial interaction, focus on your own worship. That's what you're here for, isn't it?"

She is worthy of being called Yukinoshita as she is able to sever her interpersonal relationships so cleanly.

Yukino is currently in the period of establishing the Service Club, or has already had the idea of ​​"forming a club" in her mind, so Kitano's reaction to her is not surprising.

"Yes, that's right. I was planning to go to the shrine too, but seeing you standing alone at the entrance, I'm afraid you'll go back by yourself after a while. Even I can sense your impatience. How about... let's go and queue together? It's New Year's Day after all, so we can have some company."

"Your observation skills are sharper than I thought."

She looked up at the long line of worshippers and sighed, "However, the waiting time will not be shorter if there is one person queuing or two people queuing."

"Besides, the phrase 'having a companion' itself carries the connotation of emotional blackmail. If you really care about efficiency, it's better to worship separately, which can save time."

After saying this, Yukinoshita turned around and prepared to leave, but paused, "But, since you said so..."

Based on Beino's understanding of her, there would be no possible twists and turns next.

As it turned out...his guess was right.

"I can tell you a secret -" She pointed to the path on the side of the shrine, "The side hall over there is less crowded, but the effect of worshipping is the same. If you don't want to waste time, I suggest you go there."

"Of course, this is just a suggestion, the choice is yours."

After saying that, she walked straight towards the path leading to the side hall, with no intention of moving with Bei Nuo at all.

Even though he rejected Beinuo, he's still a nice person.

Regarding Yukinoshita's well-intentioned proposal...

How could Beinuo accept this easily? !

So he snorted coldly, "Wait, you actually want to go to the main hall at the top, right? Otherwise, why would you come here alone? You just gave up halfway because of the crowded crowd. You're like this at the beginning of the new year. Do you want to be a coward?"

Yukinoshita's steps suddenly stopped, and her fingers tightened slightly: "Coward?"

She turned around, her eyes flashing with sharpness: "I chose the side hall only because it is more efficient, not because I am afraid of the crowd. Your reasoning is full of subjective assumptions."

Hmm, it’s hard to imagine that this girl will force Beinuo to queue up in the main hall one day in the future.

Yukinoshita's tone was a little cold: "You are too childish to use the word 'coward' to provoke me. Trying to manipulate other people's choices at the beginning of the new year, is this your way of dealing with the world?"

!!!

Beinuo was shocked that Xueno didn't fall for his "provocation".

Why can Shizuka Hiratsuka do this so easily? And his subsequent provocation was also very effective...

"If you really want to go to the main hall, you can just go and queue up by yourself. Using this crude method of provoking others will only show that you lack confidence in your choice."

She looked straight at him and saw that Beinuo seemed speechless, so she turned around and continued walking along the path.

Seeing this, Bei Nuo naturally stepped forward quickly, following behind Xuexia, praising her repeatedly:

"Yes, Yukinoshita-san is right. I really think it's better to go to the side hall now."