Watanabe Eda has already gone out, and the house is empty.

"You rest for a while, and I'll light the fire for the stove."

"Okay." Qingye Rin nodded, put the tomatoes on the table, lifted the quilt and sat in.

Watanabe Toru put the Fukujinzuke into the kitchen, took firewood, and lit a fire for the stove.

This stove is made of tinplate and is placed in the living room with a chimney attached to it. It is usually used to warm the fire, roast sweet potatoes, toast bread, and keep boiling water warm.

Toru Watanabe took a piece of wood and stirred the firewood in the stove to make sure there was enough oxygen.

Looking at the little flames, Toru Watanabe said fondly:

"On snowy days, I can sit around this stove all day. Sometimes I will put sweet potatoes, taro or potatoes in it, and the skin will become charred, and the outermost layer of meat will turn into crispy rice. You can bite it off

, not to mention how happy you are."

"Hearing what you said, I want to try it." Qingye Rin looked at his side face that was stained red by the firelight, "When will it snow?"

"Good morning, at least it's the end of January."

"Iwate Prefecture and Hokkaido are only separated by Aomori Prefecture. Even if it is not as cold as Hokkaido, it should snow early."

"It's like this in other places in Iwate Prefecture," Watanabe Toru put the firewood in his hand and took another one, "but Mizawa Village is a very special place."

"special?"

In front of the stove, Toru Watanabe, holding firewood, said in a recalling tone:

"It was sixteen years ago, a season when hydrangeas were in full bloom..."

"You're lying again." Qingye Rin said firmly.

"You should wait until I finish."

"Anyway, it's narcissism. The reason why Mizawa Village is special is because of the basin?"

"Maybe, it may have something to do with being close to the sea, who knows." Toru Watanabe didn't care about this kind of thing at all. The fire that was about to be extinguished was much more important than geography.

There was silence in the living room for a while.

"Put it out?" Qingye Rin asked.

"Wait a minute." Toru Watanabe raised his hand with a serious look on his face, "It's not time to admit defeat yet."

"Then I'll give you one more minute."

What one minute? Of course it’s a mocking countdown!

Watanabe Toru knelt on the tatami and blew on the stove.

Under his strong lung capacity, the dark firewood barely produced a little spark, but as soon as he stopped breathing, the sparks were immediately extinguished.

"Is it okay?"

"...Okay, just laugh."

Qingye Rin put his index finger on his chin and muttered: "I'll give you another chance."

"Please tell me." Toru Watanabe made a listening gesture.

"Concerning failure, I once said something. If you can say it, I won't laugh at you."

"Pushkin's "Before failure, there is no master, in the face of failure, everyone is a mortal"?"

"This is just an excuse you made for yourself."

""Many runners fail because they fail in the last few steps"?"

"I'm not interested in Socrates."

"What is that...Ah! I thought of it!" Toru Watanabe clapped his hands.

"Um?"

"Tagore once said that mistakes cannot withstand failure, but truth is not afraid of failure!"

"Don't think that moving out Tagore will save you, or do you only know Tagore?" Qingye Rin's cold eyes were directed at Watanabe Toru, "Have you forgotten what I said at that time?"

"How could it be? I remember it clearly."

"You are this person..."

"I haven't forgotten what I said."

"So you were just pretending to be stupid?"

"Yes." Toru Watanabe decisively admitted his mistake.

"Tell me."

"'It's a very satisfying thing to be able to overcome problems.' Is this the sentence?"

Watanabe Toru looked over proudly, but only saw Kiyono Rin's cold face.

"No?" he said in surprise.

"It's the previous sentence." Qingye Rin's voice was cold.

"Ah, ah ah! Now that I think about it, it turns out it's 'I'm not the kind of person who must succeed in everything I do..."

"Watanabe-san, as a rural person, something as simple as lighting a fire is..."

"R-Sang, R-Sang! Stop talking, really! I already know I was wrong. If there is a hole, I will get in right now!"

Having lost his dignity as a rural person, lost the memory challenge, and lost all face, Toru Watanabe launched a second attack on the stove.

When the fire in the stove started to burn, Kujo Miki happened to come down from upstairs.

She wore a red baseball uniform and blue jeans, looking youthful and beautiful, and easy to move around.

"Tomato?" Miki Kujo noticed the tempting tomatoes on the table, reached out to pick them up, and took a small bite.

"That's mine." Qingye Rin, who was sitting in the fireplace, looked at her coldly.

"I can't eat?"

"You should at least say thank you."

"Thank you?" Miki Kujo repeated the word, "You should thank me since you heard such a beautiful voice from me so early in the morning."

"I'll return these words to you intact."

The two started narcissistically early in the morning.

After lighting the fire for the stove, Toru Watanabe came back from the kitchen after washing his hands.

"I'm going to dig winter bamboo shoots in the mountains later, will you go?" he asked.

"You can go take a look." Kujo Miki walked to the stove.

She supported her right elbow with her left hand and a fresh tomato in her right hand, taking a bite from time to time.

Look at the stove in front of you and study how it is different from the fireplace.

"Kyono-san?" Toru Watanabe turned his attention to Rin Kiyono.

Qingye Rin hesitated: "Want to climb a mountain?"

"Climb." Toru Watanabe replied, "But the mountain road is very gentle. Just treat it as an outing and walk slowly."

Qingye Rin was a little moved.

"And it's rare to come here once. There is still value in trying it, just as it enriches life experience."

Qingye Rin finally nodded, with a firm look on her pretty face: "Okay, let's go hiking."

"...No, I went to dig bamboo shoots." Toru Watanabe corrected.

Kujo Miki laughed out loud, mocking Kiyono Rin's weak physical strength.

"I'm looking forward to the scene where you fall over." She took a bite of the tomato expectantly, like a winner enjoying red wine.

Qingye Rin snorted confidently, got up and went back to the room to change clothes.

When she came down, she was wearing school sportswear.

"Why are you wearing this?" Toru Watanabe asked strangely.

"I decided to come here one day in advance. The apartment did not prepare sports clothes, only school sportswear." Qingye Rin explained.

Given her personality, she really doesn't know how to buy sportswear. Toru Watanabe has never seen her wearing sportswear, mostly skirts.

After leaving the door, Toru Watanabe went to the warehouse to get a hoe and two shovels.

The sky is as blue as a canvas, with intermittent white clouds shaped like baguettes.

The three of them walked slowly along the canal.

On the way, a cow came towards me, and an old man wearing a straw hat led it.

The two beautiful girls stared at each other as if they had never seen each other before. Qingye Rin took out his mobile phone and prepared to find a suitable angle to take pictures.

Suddenly, the cow stopped walking and pulled a large pile of cow dung, which was still steaming.
To be continued...