spooky love

, what the professor said is very reasonable, but because of the faint expectations, the disappointment is also great.And Ryoichiro also had to reconsider what to do to keep Dema by his side.

After the kiss, Ryoichiro unilaterally avoided Dema for two or three days, but Dema's behavior was no different from usual, making him feel that the other party should not care as much as he did.Thinking about it this way, I feel that the other party doesn't care about it anymore, but I have been sticking to it all the time, which is really strange.

When he was in contact with the other party, he kept thinking of "as usual" and "as usual", but he was still inexplicably blunt and unnatural, no matter what, there was a gap, and the days passed like this, and then entered August.

At this moment, his uncle suggested to him again whether he should try to meet Adachi's daughter.Ryoichiro refused on the grounds that he had no intention of marrying a wife, and the other party forced him to ask him if he wanted to sell the land at a low price to pay off the debt.Ryoichiro said yes, and his uncle made an opinion: Wouldn't it be easier to marry Adachi's daughter than to bear unnecessary hardships?

"This may be a bit casual, but if you don't have a particularly favorite woman, as long as you have a good heart, you can marry anyone, right? It's not like you will be tied here after you marry a wife. You can also go back to Tokyo, like before. You can also study as much as you want, after all, you can't spend your whole life as a bachelor and let the Satake family lose their heirs, can't you?"

What the uncle said was indeed reasonable, but when it came to marrying a wife, he still resisted in his heart, so he said "No, I am..." and other words, ambiguously perfunctory.Although he has been thinking for a long time and tried every means, but in any case, what is indispensable is money. On the issue of money, he has no clue.

The hot air in August reached its peak around the Ghost Festival. When the summer began to weaken a little, the countryside began to hold "koji festivals" to pray for a good harvest.Since I don't know when, cows are sacrificed to the shrine every year, so some people call it "cow festival".

On the day of the festival, Ryoichiro, his uncle, his wife, Ritsuko and Tokuma went to the shrine where the festival was held.For about a month, Ritsuko and Dema were very close. She firmly held Dema's left hand with her small hand, and walked bouncingly on the path (Note 27) where the lanterns stretched endlessly.I don't know if it's because night markets are rare, but when she saw small shops selling goldfish, five-color sugar-coated beans, and bamboo hats with hairpin flowers, she rushed to the front of the shop.

Uncle has been inexplicably irritable and restless since he left the house. Although he thought that his uncle should have passed the age of being excited about the festival, he later learned the reason.

After visiting the shrine, my uncle invited Ryoichiro to a tea shop off the side road alone, and told him that he wanted to talk to him about men.He didn't doubt his uncle's words, so he entered the shop with his uncle.

Even though he had already sat down on the bench under the eaves, his uncle was still very concerned about his surroundings.Then a middle-aged man and a young woman entered the store, and the uncle said in a voice so loud that everyone around him turned their heads: "Oh! Mr. Adachi! Long time no see." He raised his right hand.

That was the first time Ryoichiro saw Adachi. Adachi had the temperament of a good man. He was about sixty years old. Although he had a friendly attitude and a businessman's style, his eyes were sharp in the depths of his wrinkled face.Beside Adachi, there is a young woman with her hair combed high into a Shimada bun.She is Adachi's daughter, named Yukiko, with fair fingertips, making one wonder if her skin is fair, but the white powder is applied all the way to the back of her neck, and she can smell the powder when she gets close.

The uncle said to Ryoichiro: "I have something to say to Mr. Adachi, so you can take this time to take the lady to the market." Although Ryoichiro thought that he was designed, he couldn't refuse, so he took Adachi's daughter to go shopping. night market.

Yukiko is a submissive woman, even if she walks beside him, she still hardly speaks.Ryoichiro didn't try to stir up the atmosphere, or try to find a topic, the two walked in silence.

The scene is really boring.If you walk with Dema, you will always walk in silence, but if you change the partner, everything will be different.The scent of white powder is also very pungent.

"Brother Ryoichiro."

The voice came from the crowd, and when he turned around, Ritsuko was beside him, and Dema was standing behind Ritsuko.The timing of Ryoichiro's curse was so unfortunate.Tokuma's expression was the same as usual, and he nodded slightly to Yukiko who met him for the first time. Ritsuko held Tokuma's hand and looked up at Yukiko.

"What a beautiful sister."

Hearing the child's straightforward words, Yukiko's cheeks were slightly flushed, and she smiled sweetly.Ryoichiro introduced to Yukiko that this is his uncle's daughter, and the one next to him is the servant at home.

"Is sister Ryoichiro's brother's bride?"

Hearing this innocent question, the three adults were immediately speechless.Ryoichiro said "see you later" and left the scene with Yukiko as if fleeing.

When I returned to the tea shop, my uncle and Adachi were waiting in front of the signboard.After standing there chatting for a while, they said goodbye to the Adachi father and daughter.When he couldn't see the figure of the other party, the uncle immediately asked him "how is the girl?"

"That's Adachi's fourth daughter, she's a young and beautiful girl, right?"

Uncle was quite excited.

"Adachi also seems to like you very much! He exclaimed that "a man with knowledge is different", and also expressed his interest in the knowledge you are doing, saying "If it is a valuable job, I will help you."

Contrary to his uncle's excited attitude, Ryoichiro was very calm and sober.As Ryoichiro chatted with him aimlessly, his uncle's mood gradually turned sour, and finally he even roared in the middle of the road:

"What are you dissatisfied with that girl?"

"No dissatisfaction, I have no intention of marrying a wife."

"Are you 26 years old? Aren't other men your age already married?"

"I have learning to do."

"Study can cook and eat? Can you have children? What's wrong with marrying a wife? You can leave the family affairs to her, and you can do what you want to learn. It's not difficult, even if you don't like it now, When we live together, we develop feelings for each other.”

Facing his uncle's stubbornness, his anger gradually rose.

"Didn't I say that I would not marry a wife? I sold the land to pay off the debt, and I tried my best to make up for the shortfall."

It was the festival, and everyone came out to play. There must be a lot of people, so they scolded each other on the road with many pedestrians.After saying what they wanted to say to each other heartily, the speechless stalemate lasted for a while... The uncle who turned his eyes away first, lowered his head with a dark expression, knelt down on the spot as if collapsed, and put his hands on the ground, Bow your head:

"It's just you. Please... I beg you, just marry Adachi's daughter."

Ryoichiro was taken aback, this was in the middle of the road, he didn't know why his uncle begged himself with his head down, he dragged his uncle's wrist away from the spot in a daze, avoiding those onlookers.

Uncle was so emaciated that it was unbelievable that he was still so excited and angry just now, and he was no longer domineering.Ryoichiro dragged him and led him to the back alley.He leaned against the dirt wall of the store and covered his face with his hands.

"Why are you so actively trying to match me and Adachi's daughter?"

"Debt is not just your problem."

Uncle murmured in a low voice:

"It was at the end of last year. The imported match factory and the cotton textile factory that had business with the wholesaler I ran went bankrupt one after another. They affected me, and my store was also in debt. Although your father helped me carry it, it was still not enough to pay back. This Over the past few years, Satake’s sake brewery has not been doing well, and it just happened to be caught in a fire, and funerals were expensive, so when I was mentally prepared to go bankrupt, Adachi proposed to take over the land that had been hit by the fire.”

Uncle grabbed Ryoichiro tightly.

"If you can give up that piece of land to Adachi, everything will be settled. It would be bad for your reputation if you sell the fire-damaged land at a low price, but if you marry Adachi's daughter and become a family, things will be logical. Yes. Adachi should set up a wholesaler of imported cotton raw materials on that land. If things go well, he will let me run that wholesaler. Please marry Adachi’s daughter. I have a wife and son, so I can’t lose Make a living."

This time he could no longer clearly express his refusal, and his uncle was kind to him, and he was dumbfounded in the face of the death of his family. After all, it was his uncle who took his place to deal with all the follow-up matters such as the funeral.

There was the sound of blowing conch shells in the distance.Uncle raised his head and whispered "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh", the koji festival is coming to an end, and the "cow driving" ceremony is about to start.

Ryoichiro urged his uncle, "Let's go back first," and returned to the torii gate of the shrine.Aunt, Ritsuko, and Dema were waiting there.When my aunt saw my uncle, she said, "What's wrong, where did you two go?", showing a little displeasure at being left behind.Ryoichiro thought: Ah, my aunt doesn't know anything about this.

Ritsuko shook Tokuma's hand and said, "This year's cows are black." Then she laughed.

When Ryoichiro was young, the disappearance of cows after the koji festival continued for several years.Because it disappeared so suddenly, people say that the mountain god accepted the cow. I don’t know when, it is customary to offer a cow to the shrine during the koji festival.Within seven days after the ceremony, the cow will be accepted by the mountain god and disappear without a trace.It is said that the families selected to provide cattle for the cattle driving ceremony in that year will be blessed with health and safety by the gods.

"This year's cattle belong to Mr. Si Lang's family. His wife is sick, so they are very happy."

The aunt sighed.The area around the approach is crowded, but after leaving there, there are fewer people.The adults quieted down together, except for Ritsuko who happily shook the paper doll she just bought and sang.

He thought about it for two nights.think