Ke Xue: I picked up a bottle of sherry at the beginning.

"Nothing." Hui smiled and shook her head. "Choose your gift and go back."

……

Shiraizumi Masushi and Sawamura Sayuri came out of the hot spring and went to the hotel lobby to drink coffee and rest. The three girls had already returned after buying local specialties.

Coming back with them was an uncle named Muto.

The hot springs here are divided into different time periods. The three girls went to soak in the hot springs, and Uncle Muto sat down and chatted with Shiraizumi Masu.

"Mr. Muto, you have lived here for a long time, right? You seem to be very familiar with the road conditions here." Quan Yi asked Muto, who could drive easily at night, with some curiosity.

Muto pondered for a moment, as if Izumi's question had brought back memories. With a gentle sigh, he told them, "Before the dam was built, I lived in Kitazawa Village. I know this village better than anyone else. But since the dam was built, I've moved to a neighboring village."

Quan Yi remained calm on the surface, but inwardly he looked at Muto, who looked somewhat regretful and disappointed, with great surprise. He secretly suspected that Mr. Muto might be the one who opposed the village relocation and dam construction.

"Uncle Muto must have strongly opposed it at that time, right?" Shiraizumi Mashi tested Muto.

Muto gave a helpless wry smile, sighed, and said self-deprecatingly, "It's useless. Most of the villagers have been convinced. As for me, a craftsman who makes wooden owls, my words carry no weight at all. No one will listen to me."

Sayuri Sawamura asked, "Oh, I saw a wooden owl in the store! Was that also made by Mr. Muto?"

"It's very likely." Muto said with a smile.

After a few words, new guests came in, namely Glacier and Shanwei.

Together with Nurse Tachihara and Miss Tono, the five of them are good friends.

Ms. Tono introduced: “The five of us grew up in Kitazawa Village and have been good friends since elementary school.”

"Haha, we're good friends, but we haven't seen each other for 8 years." Muto frowned slightly, with the same complicated look in his eyes that he had just seen in the car. That's right, Muto came all the way from the neighboring village to meet his old friend whom he hadn't seen for 8 years, but he was not simply happy about it, but instead showed an unusually tangled feeling.

Izumi was very concerned about this, and he keenly noticed that not only Muto, but the other four people were also a little strange.

Tachihara Fuyumi, who always smiles gently at people, has been looking uneasy since just now, and has been carefully checking the expressions and atmosphere of the old friends who have reunited. Hikawa is not as talkative as he was in the village committee office, and just looks at everyone coldly with a half-smile on his face. Yamao, who is already taciturn, is even more gloomy, making people dare not approach him. Only Tono Mizuki can be considered normal, but it can be seen that he is trying hard to hide his emotions and maintain a calm appearance.

Sayuri, not knowing how to read people's expressions, curiously ran over to ask Tachihara Fuyumi, "I didn't expect Nurse Tachihara and Mr. Muto were elementary school classmates. So are you having a class reunion?"

Tachihara Fuyumi forced a smile, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded: "Well, I guess so. We haven't seen each other for 8 years. This time, we agreed to go back to the village to get together during the 5th anniversary celebration of the new village."

·· ·······Request flowers····· ····

So Muto drove over from the neighboring village, and Hikawa and Yamao also returned to Kitazawa Village from outside. Five elementary school friends who had not seen each other for 5 years reunited, and there should have been endless things to talk about, and the atmosphere was warm and joyful. But the atmosphere in front of me was not what I expected. Rather than talking about their own things, they seemed to be deliberately avoiding talking about too many things.

The strange atmosphere at the elementary school reunion of these five people also aroused Bai Quanyi's suspicion. Bai Quanyi curiously asked Bingchuan: "It's strange, why haven't you seen each other in 8 years?"

Even if you move to Tokyo or other cities, it is not difficult to return to your hometown, so why does it take exactly 8 years?

......... ......... .......

Shiraizumi's question caused Yamao, who had been looking down, to suddenly look up. Hikawa glanced at the panicked Yamao, smiled smugly, and pulled his wallet from his pocket. Hikawa pulled out a folded newsletter from the wallet's compartment, displaying it back and forth.

The news report in Hikawa's hand was about a car accident that occurred in Kitazawa Village eight years ago. In that car accident, a young girl was killed and the driver was sentenced to eight years in prison.

"So, this is why we haven't seen each other for eight years." Bingchuan pointed at Shanwei with a smile, "Because Shanwei has been in prison for the past eight years to atone for his sins, right?"

"Hirokiwa! Don't tell these things to the kids." Seeing Yamao biting his lips and clenching his fists without saying a word, Tachihara Fuyumi raised her voice slightly to remind Hiiroki.

Hikawa shrugged his shoulders, as if it was no big deal, and put the folded briefing back into the pocket of his wallet. After that, he smiled at Yamao and said, "Anyway, everyone knows about this, and you have served your sentence. There is nothing you can't say, right, Yamao?"

Shiraizumi noticed that when Hikawa talked about this incident, the only people who reacted strongly were not Yamao, who had hit the person with his car, but also Miss Tono. From the moment Hikawa showed the briefing, Miss Tono's face turned grim, she bit her lip and remained silent, her whole body trembling slightly.

A sudden burst of inspiration

"Miss Tono, are you okay?" Izumi asked the pale and trembling Tono Mizuki softly. Since she checked into the hotel, Tono Mizuki had left everyone with the impression of a calm, simple and low-key beauty. This was the first time Izumi had seen her with such an unpretentious expression.

Without waiting for Touno Mizuki to answer, Hikawa suddenly clapped his hands and exclaimed with an expression of sudden enlightenment: "Oh, oh, I forgot to tell you that the girl who was hit and killed by Yamao 8 years ago happened to be Mizuki's sister, her name was Touno Natsuki."

When Hikawa said the name "Tono Natsuki", Tono Mizuki suddenly couldn't help but tremble violently all over, and ran into the hotel with his face covered.

"Hiroshiwa! Look at what you said. It's been 8 years since the incident, and Yamao has turned himself in and accepted legal punishment. It's a rare opportunity for us to reunite, but you said these things, knowing that it would make Mizuki sad!" Tachihara Fuyumi angrily accused Hikawa again, and stood up and hurriedly ran after Tono Mizuki.

The atmosphere in the hotel lobby became more solemn. Yamao buried his hands deeply in his hair and spoke in a low voice, as if telling everyone or talking to himself: "That night when I came back from outside and bumped into Xia Shu, I was really scared, so I left Xia Shu on the road and ran back home."

Yamao said that after he returned home, the image of Natsuki being knocked to the ground kept appearing in his mind. He was filled with guilt and could not forgive himself for killing the sister of his elementary school friend, so he took the initiative to turn himself in.

Seeing that Yamao was choking up and unable to continue, Muto, who had been frowning and silent, spoke for him: "Because Yamao took the initiative to admit responsibility for the accident, he was given a light sentence and was released from prison in 8 years. However, Yamao's grandmother, who depended on Yamao for everything, was deeply shocked by her grandson's imprisonment and died not long after. Hum, Yamao, you probably never thought that after 8 years, your home would be gone, right?"

When Muto said the last sentence, his eyes stayed on Hikawa, and he deliberately emphasized the tone of "your home is no longer there". Sensing the provocation in Muto's eyes, Hikawa immediately responded with a disdainful look and snorted.

Izumi's gaze flickered between Muto and Hikawa, and he could clearly sense a strange atmosphere between them. They'd just said they were old friends from elementary school, but they seemed filled with hostility.

Shanwei nodded heavily and said in a low voice: "Yes, I never thought that eight years later, the world would be completely different. Not only did my grandmother die, but even our home disappeared and turned into a dam."

Shiraizumi suddenly realized why, when he went to the village office, Yamao had requested not only a map of the new village but also a map of the old village for reference. Eight years later, after being released from prison and returning to Kitazawa Village, Yamao, looking at the dam that had replaced the village, was unsure of his home and wanted to find the location of his old home.

What a poor man...

"Humph! That's why I was so against it! Why do we have to demolish a good village? Why do we have to build a dam? People like Shanwei who have been away from home for many years have become homeless wanderers after returning!"

Muto immediately became incredibly agitated when the topic of relocating the village to build the dam came up. Shiraizumi noticed that Muto's anger was clearly directed at Hikawa, though Hikawa, under Muto's glare, simply sneered, as if it had nothing to do with him, and snorted a laugh.

Sure enough, Hikawa's attitude angered Muto, who raised his voice and scolded Hikawa directly: "That's right! It's because of people like you, Hikawa! People who sell out the village for fame! For money, they even destroy the hometown that gave birth to you and raised you!"

Hikawa felt ashamed after being scolded by Muto in front of everyone. He stood up angrily and retorted loudly: "Hey! Muto, watch your words. What do you mean by 'selling out the village for personal gain'? I'm not the only one who agreed to relocate the village to build the dam! Why should I be called a traitor by you?"

Hikawa's words made Muto even more excited. He stretched out his hand to grab Hikawa's collar to teach him a lesson, but Tatehara Fuyumi, who was helping the calmed Tono Mizuki out, stopped him in time and said, "Hikawa and Muto, you two should just calm down and stop making fun of you in front of the children and guests."

After Tachihara Fuyumi's reminder, Muto put down his hand and sat down somewhere farther away from the glacier to avoid rushing over and taking action again out of impulse.

At this moment, the three girls had finished washing and came out of the hotel's hot spring pool. Shiraizumi Masaru and Sawamura Sayuri also got up and went back to the room with the three girls.

Bai Quanyi had just spread the bedding when Hui and Shiyu rushed to spread their own bedding on both sides of Bai Quanyi.

Seeing this, Sayuri Sawamura felt a little jealous. She also wanted to sleep with Shirazumi Masuki, but was beaten to it by Hui and Shiyu. Moreover, her status was not good enough to compete with Hui and Shiyu, so she couldn't help but feel jealous.

Seeing this, Ying Lili knew what her mother was thinking and comforted her, "Mom, don't leave Bai Quanyi, that scumbag. I'll stay with you."

Sayuri Sawamura was very pleased to see Eriri act so respectfully: "Thank you, Eriri."

On this night when they arrived in the Snow Country, Hui and Shiyu fell asleep quickly and had no time to do anything extra with Baiquanyi.

Shiraizumi Mashi didn't feel any regrets, as he had just done it in the hot springs with Sayuri Sawamura. With Hui and Shiyu sleeping peacefully beside him, that was happiness.

On the other side, Sayuri Sawamura and Eriri also fell asleep.

Only Bai Quanyi was constantly sorting out in his mind what had happened since he arrived in Kitazawa Village.

After listening to the conversation between the five people in the hotel lobby, I learned quite a bit, especially the one between Muto and Hikawa, which was particularly concerning. Muto seemed deeply dissatisfied with Hikawa for betraying the village and agreeing to relocate it for the dam construction, and even seemed to harbor a grudge. If there was anyone most closely connected to Governor Asakura receiving threatening letters and the tunnel explosion, it was Muto. Who else could harbor such a grudge against Governor Asakura, and for what reason, that he wanted to kill him?

However, Muto did not mention Governor Asakura. He seemed to hold greater resentment and dissatisfaction towards Hikawa, who was also a villager of Kitazawa Village but agreed to relocate the village to rebuild the dam. Just as Hikawa expressed his dissatisfaction, there must be more than just Hikawa who agreed to relocate the village to rebuild the dam. Why did Muto target him and condemn him as a traitor?

Could it be that in Muto's eyes, Hikawa and he were friends who grew up together and should stand on the same front with him, but in the end Hikawa agreed to move the village to rebuild the dam for personal gain? Therefore, Muto was so angry and regarded Hikawa as a traitor?

These questions kept circling in Bai Quanyi's mind, but the clues and information he currently had were far from enough. No matter how many questions he had, he just couldn't figure them out.

At this moment, a gentle woman got into Bai Quanyi's cup.

"Sayuri, why are you still not asleep so late?" Shiraizumi Mashi asked, looking at Sayuri Sawamura who was hugging his waist sweetly.

"That's what I want to ask you. If you were asleep, I wouldn't come over to disturb you..." Sayuri Sawamura had just woken up and saw that Shirazumi Yi had his eyes open, so she came over on her own initiative. Otherwise, she wouldn't have disturbed Shirazumi Yi's sleep.

"I'm just daydreaming..."

"Is it about work?"

"almost……"

"Don't always think alone, move your body properly, and maybe your mind will open up."

"You're right, Sayuri."

……

After leaving the hotel, Tachihara Fuyumi did not go home immediately, but went to the village clinic and stayed with the boy who was sleeping quietly as usual.

The moonlight fell on the boy, making his skin look even paler. Tatehara Fuyumi gently tidied up the boy's bangs. Looking at the boy's face that seemed to be sleeping quietly, Tatehara Fuyumi thought, this child should not have nightmares. I remember when I was a child, when I was sleeping, my eyebrows would be twisted when I had nightmares. Or is it because he is not sleeping like a normal person now, but is in a coma, so he will not dream?

Tachihara Fuyumi looked at the boy sleeping quietly, then shifted her gaze to the group photo on the table. Looking at the happy smiles of everyone in the photo, they were still ignorant but pure children at that time. Compared with them now, Tachihara Fuyumi still likes them back then.

Looking at the group photo, recalling what happened in the hotel lobby just now, Tachihara Fuyumi couldn't help shaking her head. It was a fact that Yamao accidentally hit and killed Mizuki's sister Natsuki. It was impossible to forget or not care about it. And the conflict between Mutou and Hikawa was probably not easy to resolve, because. Mutou's favorite village had long been demolished and buried under the dam.

After a big fight with Hikawa in the hotel lobby, Muto always felt a bad temper in his heart, and could only smoke one cigarette after another, letting the smoke blur his vision. Back then, he desperately opposed the relocation of the village to rebuild the dam. At least he hoped that his friends who grew up with him in Kitazawa Village would support him and stand on the same front with him to oppose the construction of the dam. Because the village that was demolished and sank to the bottom of the dam was where they were born and grew up, and it was full of happy memories of them playing together.

I was too naive, taking my childhood playmates and friends for granted. If I'd known Hikawa was such a jerk, I wouldn't have become his friend as a kid, and I wouldn't be so angry about him now. Muto sighed and stubbed out his cigarette.

Meanwhile, in the dead of night, in the empty hotel corridor, the cold white moonlight illuminated half of the corridor, stretching out the silhouette of a person. After that person completely merged into the darkness, only the shadow cast by the moonlight could be seen, but it was also a blurry and dark shadow.

At the end of the corridor, in front of a room, the shadow stopped, seemed to hesitate for a moment, and finally reached out and knocked on the door. The gentle knock on the door did not disturb the person who was sleeping late at night, but the person living in this room immediately opened the door, as if he had been waiting for this late-night visitor.

"Hey, I've been waiting for you for a long time. I knew you would come to see me. Come in." The person who poked his head out of the room, his face illuminated by the light in the room, was Bingchuan, who was grinning. The person facing Bingchuan was always shrouded in darkness. When he saw Bingchuan make way, he quickly went into Bingchuan's room.

Bingchuan looked around to confirm that no one had seen what had just happened. He smiled smugly, retracted his head, closed the door, and let the hotel return to its quietness at night...

Sayuri Sawamura's various transformations

Baiquanyi lay there thinking about what happened in Kitazawa Village, while enjoying the various changes that Sayuri made on his body, and soon a new day came.

When the morning light fell on the ground of Beize Village and covered the thick white snow with a thin layer of gold foil, everyone woke up from their sleep.

Kato Megumi was shocked to see Sayuri Sawamura in Shiraizumi Masu's arms. "Aunt Sawamura, you you you you—you are so shameless."

Sayuri Sawamura hugged Shiraizumi Masu and said with a smile, "Has Shiraizumi Masu always been in this relationship with me?"

"what!"

"If you don't believe me, ask Shiyu."

Kasumigaoka Shiyu held her forehead and said, "Yes, Sayuri Sawamura and Masushi Shiraizumi have always had an improper relationship between men and women. Only you, Hui, don't know."

"Bai Quanyi, you are such a scumbag."

Kato Megumi puffed out her lips.

Eriri also got up and found that her mother had run to Baiquanyi, and she felt a little sad.

"In my mother's eyes, Bai Quanyi is more important. That's too much!"

Bai Quanyi felt the girls' dissatisfaction with him early in the morning. He thought it would be a difficult task to coordinate the relationships among so many girls.

Bai Quanyi said, "Let's go outside and play snowballs together later!"

Everyone got up, had breakfast, and went outside the hotel.

As the night wore on, the snow got deeper, perhaps because it had snowed overnight. This was normal in the cold, snowy country; even during the day, there would be occasional fresh snow.

New snow covers old tracks, and those tracks gradually disappear beneath the snow. Therefore, the Snow Country always gives people a sense of peace and purity. Quan Yi thought to himself as he stepped into the snow. He was thinking about the case, considering where to start to extract information after finding the glacier, when suddenly something cold hit his cheek.

"Hahaha, Bai Quanyi was distracted and got hit. Look at his face, haha."

While Quan Yi wasn't paying attention, Eriri had already grabbed a snowball and threw it at him, hitting him squarely in the face. The snow slid down Quan Yi's face, but some of it still stuck to his face, making him look very funny, which made Hui and Shiyu laugh.

"Shiraizumi Masu, you also have embarrassing moments." Seeing Shiraizumi Masu being teased by the three girls, Sayuri Sawamura couldn't help laughing, shrugged her shoulders and made sarcastic remarks.

Baiquanyi took a snowball and threw it at Eriri, hitting her right on the spot.

"Haha... Eriri, you are funny too." Baiquan Yi said proudly.

"Sisters, let's go together!"

Eriri raised her arm and the four girls picked up snowballs and threw them at Baiquanyi.

Then, Bai Quanyi was besieged by four women and fled in a very embarrassed manner.

Before they knew it, they arrived at the yard of the village clinic.

"Hehe..." A young boy's laughter came from a window in the yard. Bai Quanyi stopped playing and walked towards the window where the laughter came from.

A young man in a hospital gown stood by the window, his face pale but offering them a beautiful smile. The warm sunlight fell on his face, making it even more gentle and beautiful. Quan Yi felt that this smile looked familiar, like someone else.

Seeing the boy standing by the window and smiling at them, Eriri, Kei, and Shiyu brushed off the snow on their bodies and walked towards the boy.

When the boy saw them coming to him, he stopped laughing and opened his mouth, but it seemed difficult for him to speak. After a long while, he stammered, "It's fun. Sure, I want to play too."

"What is he talking about?" Eriri tilted her head in confusion and asked the others.

Hui arched her brows in confusion and muttered, "What a strange Japanese. He looks about the same age as us, but how come he can't even speak properly?"

"Probably means that you want to play snowball fight with us, right?" Quan Yi looked up at the boy in the window again. It seemed that he was a patient here.

Seeing that Quan Yi understood what he said, the young man nodded vigorously with some excitement, and a gentle and beautiful smile appeared on his face again.

Sayuri saw that the boy looked a little weak and was worried whether he could go out to play in the snow. She was about to persuade him to get better before going out to play when the door of the ward was pushed open.

"Ah, it's Nurse Tatehara!" Eriri greeted.

Everyone wanted to talk to Tachihara Fuyumi, but they found that Tachihara Fuyumi, who usually smiled gently when she saw them, was standing at the door of the ward, her eyes fixed on the boy by the window.

"What's wrong with Nurse Tatehara? Everyone I met today is so weird." When Eriri greeted Tatehara Fuyumi but didn't get a response from her, she muttered to Kei and Shiyu beside her with some disappointment.