[Net King + Black Basket] Seijuro, your mother calls you to go home for dinner!

This year's winter is extremely cold, and snowfall continues in many places in mid-December, and it has a tendency to continue to increase.

In order to ensure the heating of every corner of the house, the fireplace and floor heating of Akashi House operate almost 24 hours a day.The lazy Xunli greatly reduced the chances of going out, and the burden of picking up Seijuro fell on the new driver... After all, she couldn't bear to torment the elderly housekeeper Shichuan.

In the middle of winter, Xunli faced the computer screen all day long, or hid in the room and secretly talked with Dianzi. No one knew the reason why the preoccupied hostess was depressed.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Xun Li huddled under the quilt to pretend to be a hibernating animal, twisting his nose while flipping through the address book in his hand.

She has been suffering from a cold since the beginning of the month. She took some pills but they didn't work. Instead, she developed a low-grade fever.She had to talk with the eldest sister in a high-pitched voice, but the other party didn't even have the mood to make fun of her.

"It's not easy for us to settle this matter..." Noriko's voice on the other side was solemn, "The Atobe family's rule is to resolutely not touch anything except those directly related to their own interests."

"Well, we don't know how many chips Mrs. Akashi has in hand...cough cough, but it's not an option to delay."

Facing such an intricate relationship, Xunli only felt that there was one head and two big ones.

As the general election began to enter the voting period, Xun Li's last bit of luck was also destroyed.The Songyuan family called several times a day, urging her to find a solution.She sat at the table several times and hesitated, but in the end she couldn't speak to Masashi.

Akashi Nanami is not a vegetarian either, he first disclosed the information to the unreliable gossip club, let the scandal spread like wildfire and attracted the attention of Matsubara Kaiji's strong opponents, and used the hands of others to make matters worse.

Dianzi and the others dare not act rashly, but once the opportunity is missed, no one can make up for the black hole of "corruption".

"Older gingers are more spicy……"

Dianzi's thousands of words turned into a melancholy sigh.She also blamed herself for being completely unaware of the mistakes her parents made for so many years, and she even hated the Songyuan couple who were not able to live up to their expectations, and became cowards in the face of critical moments.

"They have been suppressed by Mrs. Akashi for a long time."

She is the pair of hands that turn the clouds and rain behind.

Standing on the cloud, she coldly looked down at her chess pieces, including her child Masashi, who was allowed to fish under her hands.

Until now, Xunli realizes that her hard work in the past few years has only allowed her to stabilize her position in Akashi House, but as the nominal Mrs. Akashi, she is as weak as an ant crawling in the social mezzanine.

"Xunli, you..." Dianzi was most worried about this sister after all.

"I never regard the Songyuan family as a backer. If things really come to the point of no return, I have my own plan."

She didn't reveal too much to Dianzi, but hung up the phone after the other party said, "Please tell me if you need help."

Xunli stretched her waist, moved her spine and arms that had been numb due to a long period of stiff and numb movements, shaved her hair and got out of bed.

Today is Seijuro's tenth birthday.Naturally, the way to celebrate his birthday should be done according to what he likes. According to the usual practice, his parents stay at home to help him celebrate his birthday in person, and the external birthday party will be held on the weekend of this week.

She washed her face, changed into a burgundy sweater she liked, and went downstairs to the kitchen to watch the custom-made cakes sent by the little brother in the pastry shop.

Ten years heralds the beginning of an important chapter in life, at least in her eyes.So she specially asked the shop to order a three-layer cake, and wrote a long list of blessings on it, with Seijuro's daily photos in the middle.

In terms of gifts, she also worked hard to spell out "Xunli Super Gift Pack", which is a lucky bag filled with various things.

Katase had already moved the cake to the living room, and Seijuro was holding ten colorful candles for decoration.

"I just wanted to call you." He turned his head in surprise, "Are you feeling better?"

"Well, it's much better!"

Xunli used a powder puff to modify her face slightly, her face was rosy and shiny.

"Now that everyone is here, let's sing the birthday song!" Katase suggested in a low voice.

"I want to make a wish in the singing~"

Seijuro nodded shyly, surrounded by the whole family of Akashi House, came down to stand in front of the table, put his hands together in front of his chest as if making a wish.

During the singing, even Masashi tapped the rhythm lightly with his knuckles. Xunli was the one who sang the hardest, although the sound from her hoarse voice had nothing to do with "wonderful"...

Although most of them are servants except for the three members of Akashi's family, they have been with Akashi and his wife for more than five years, and they have formed a deep friendship over time.In addition, the hostess Xunli has a gentle personality and never puts on airs. Although the servants talk to her a little bit, they are respectful and grateful.

Moreover, each of them is a veritable young master chef, which can be said to have reached the state of madness.The old housekeeper Zhichuan watched the two young masters grow up.

"It's time to unwrap presents!"

Before the gala singing ended, Xun Li couldn't wait to stuff the gift bag into Zhengjuro's arms.Putting on a look of "quickly take it apart and take a look", as if she was the one who was very excited to receive the gift.

Seijuro poked the huge gift bag with his fingers, unwrapped the ribbon slowly, and the first gift that came into view was hidden in a delicate blue striped box.

The moment he opened the box, his expression changed wonderfully.

"Is this again..." Parent-child pretend! ?Why did he put his name on it this time! !

"I ordered it from Kise-kun (Kose Yu)! It's not bad, right? Mom and Dad have it too~" Xun Li said, Masashi Heixian who was sitting on the side.

Seijuro put the gift box aside helplessly, and continued to grope in the bag.

The box of the second gift was boxy, and it was shoes by visual inspection.He silently slandered in his heart that the gifts from his mother were always practical for home use, or food.

"Asics shoes, TBF660, are super useful for playing basketball! Although they are a bit too big..." Xunli's tone was erratic, and she touched her nose with a guilty conscience, "But Xiaozheng will use it sooner or later, right~ "

I don't know how many years it will be until the feet are put together!Seijuro's smile couldn't hold back anymore, he would be more willing to accept it if the black and white were replaced with red and white.

Everyone no longer has expectations for Xunli's third gift.To their surprise, the gift turned out to be a set of hardcover books.

They both breathed a sigh of relief, and Masashi's face softened a little.

"Verne is the originator of modern science fiction. I liked his works very much when I was your age." Xun Li said, "I hope you will like these adventure stories."

"Thank you!" Seijuro was a little surprised when his eyes touched the author of this set of books.His first exposure to French literature.No wonder Masashi once said, "The French like adventure, because there is glory in adventure."

The last gift is very small, as thin as a feather.In fact... it's just a seemingly ordinary little piece of paper...

"This is not ordinary paper, it's a coupon." Xun Li explained, "You can use this coupon to appoint me to do anything, such as helping you with your homework, asking what dishes to eat, etc. But it must be within my ability~"

Seijuro accepted the coupon with a smile on his face.Xun Li would try his best to satisfy his request on weekdays, he didn't think he would use it one day.

The rest of the presents were all odds and ends, such as candies and stationery, and Seijuro didn't take them out one by one.The weight of the big gift bag is enough to make people wonder how long it took Xunli to prepare. Could it be that she wants to give QUQ all the birthday presents for the next few years at once?

Masashi's gift is very simple, an English translation of political treatise "Il Principe (On the Monarch)".

Xun Li resisted the desire to complain—his gift was even worse, hey!

Seijuro had a bumper harvest on his tenth birthday, and all kinds of gifts filled a corner of the long table.After unwrapping presents and eating cakes, everyone scattered like birds and beasts.

In view of going to school, Xun Li urged Seijuro to go to bed early, not forgetting to force him to drink a large glass of milk.

"Xiao Zheng, are you happy today?"

"Ok!"

Seijuro, who was lying on the bed, moved his little head and nodded.There is nothing false and pretentious in the smile.

He's serious.

Although there are no brand-new dresses, delicious food, melodious music and grand banquets, he is actually easily satisfied. His biggest wish is to spend his birthday with his parents by his side.

Holding Xunli's cool hand with his little hand, he thought, when he grows up a bit, grows a bit taller, and his palms get thicker, he can guard this home with his own hands.

"Mom will always spend my birthday with Dad, right?"

Xun Li smiled wryly, Seijuro's heart was too sensitive and fragile, but he cleverly concealed his insecure nature in front of outsiders.

"Definitely!" The two raised their little fingers to make an agreement, "Whoever breaks the agreement will become a puppy~"

……

Xunli exited the bedroom, covered his mouth and rushed to the toilet coughing wildly after walking far away.

She patted her chest, feeling like she was about to cough up her internal organs and lungs, and felt short of breath when she bent over a little.I don't know if it was because the heater was turned on too high, and she felt a little out of breath.

The water from the faucet was rushing, covering the entire washbasin.She raised her hair and buried her whole head in the water, the flowing cold liquid/body kissed her cheeks, the coolness penetrated into the spinal cord, the water temperature stimulated the drowsy brain, and her consciousness became bright and clear.

"It's really bearable." She thought to herself mockingly.Maybe it's because I haven't experienced a bad cold for too long, and I don't know if it will be so serious that I won't get better for a week.

That night.

Xunli did not enter Masashi's bedroom for a long time, opened a slit carefully, poked his head in and said to him in a conferring tone——

"I won't be here tonight. I have a cold." She coughed twice, which was not an act.

The other party responded casually, but still did not take their eyes off the book.

"that……"

She stood there for a while, didn't dare to speak for a long time, but kept staring at him motionless.

"Why haven't you left yet?" He raised his head suddenly, narrowing his eyes in doubt.

"I want to ask you... Uh, forget it." She scratched her hair impatiently, unable to think of a suitable opening sentence.

Masashi could see that she had something on her mind recently, but for some reason she didn't say it out loud, which really didn't suit his style.

"Don't force yourself if you don't want to talk."

Xunli let out a "Huh", feeling more and more embarrassed.The contradictions in human nature are completely exposed on the pale face after removing makeup.

"Ahem... will you support me no matter what I do?"

She asked such an inexplicable question out of nowhere, and even she felt unreasonable to herself.Masashi is a very principled person, it is impossible to cover her up for no reason.

Masashi rested his head on the head of the bed, and saw his beautifully shaped mandible bathed in the bedside lamp from Kaori's perspective.The book with a wine-red cover rested on his chest, and he maintained this movement like a static statue.

……

Xun Li almost thought he was asleep.

"I don't know your plan, but I vaguely guess what happened." He shrugged and said softly. "I'm staying neutral for now."

"Oh." She withdrew her gaze in disappointment, but she had already guessed his conservative answer.

She has an abnormal attitude recently, and he, who is good at observing words and expressions, will not be unaware.

It's just that one doesn't look at it, and the other doesn't say it.

"However, take the posture of Mrs. Akashi."

"Huh!?" Xunli, who was about to lift his feet back to the house, turned back, his eyes widened in shock.These words are too familiar, and they are all before facing Akashi Nanami.

"Because you are who I believe."

Only then did Masashi slowly turn his head to her, and the fleeting smile made this face with sharp water chestnut angles like in a sketch soft inconceivably.

An unprecedented calm permeated the whole body.

Xunli's cheeks were flushed, and she covered her mouth with one hand and ran wildly far away as if fleeing.

It wasn't until she ran to the end of the second floor that she turned around, and her absent-minded eyes gradually became focused.

"Wait... That guy was Masashi just now? Am I dreaming?"

Must be a dream!

The author has something to say: ※When will the printing be reopened... Sang Xin!QUQ, who originally agreed to open "Flash Red" in early August, hopes that JJ can deal with this pitfall before it is over.

※"The French like adventure, because there is glory in adventure." Balzac, "Old Man Goriot"

※"You are the one I believe."——Oh, this sentence makes my blood boil!Reminds me of when I wrote "Flash Red"~