Under Shen Gu Mirai's gaze, Beichuan Si touched the spot she had kissed, extending a finger with a serious expression—

"Once more."

Ah?

Shen Gu Mirai blinked, a sly and adorable smile playing at the edge of her lips.

She deliberately bounced around, elongating her tone—

"But I don't want to do it again."

Say something nice to make me happy! Mr. Temple!

Shen Gu Mirai had made up her mind.

As long as Beichuan Si said something flattering, she would suddenly turn around and kiss him again before he could react.

With this thought in mind, Beichuan Si's calm voice followed from behind: "But I want to."

"..." Shen Gu Mirai.

Shen Gu Mirai didn't know what expression she was wearing.

She sighed, turning her head with a look of resignation, "Mr. Temple, honesty is a fine quality, but at times like this, you still need to say things that will make a girl happy."

Shen Gu Mirai sighed heavily, but Beichuan Si simply stepped forward.

His reply was a simple question format:

"But isn't it honest people that you like?"

This retort made Shen Gu Mirai pout.

That wasn't what she wanted to hear.

But...

Just as Beichuan Si had said.

She did like people who were honest.

Especially Beichuan Si's honesty!

It seemed no matter what, Beichuan Si could always guess her thoughts exactly.

Shen Gu Mirai realized she couldn't hide any of her little schemes from Beichuan Si.

She thought this and, without realizing, tiptoed and lifted her head.

Then, she drew closer to Beichuan Si—

And kissed him.

After a while, Shen Gu Mirai stepped back two steps, her eyes darting away as she spoke in a tone that feigned indifference, "Well... it's something like that, I guess."

But in reality, the little person inside her heart celebrated with a happy dance.

Beichuan Si saw through this as well.

But this time, Beichuan Si didn't expose Shen Gu Mirai; instead, he turned his head to look at the nearby garden.

Unbeknownst to them, they had reached the perfect spot for cherry blossom viewing, Rikyu Garden.

Yet it was already late May, the cherry blossom season had long passed, and Rikyu Garden was now simply a place for sightseeing.

Nevertheless, many couples still came here together.

The time was now past six in the evening, with a tinge of indigo emerging on the horizon.

Under such twilight, the Rikyu Garden sightseeing area lit up with colorful lights.

"How beautiful..." Shen Gu Mirai murmured, holding Beichuan Si's arm and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Shall we go take a look?" Beichuan Si asked.

It was only past six, and it had taken them thirty minutes to get here. There had been no message yet, so they should have time for a stroll.

"Sure." Shen Gu Mirai nodded.

Seeing that Shen Gu Mirai agreed, Beichuan Si bought two adult tickets for 300 yen each and joined the queue of couples to enter the Rikyu Garden.

...

When Beichuan Si and Shen Gu Mirai emerged from the Rikyu Garden, it was already 7:30 in the evening.

They didn't know what Beichuan Lin and Shen Gu Mirai's parents had discussed, but they still hadn't received a message to return.

Although it was nice to be trusted so much by Shen Gu Mirai's parents, they had been out for two hours, and it seemed only right to head back.

But before doing so, Beichuan Si took Shen Gu Mirai to a family restaurant for a meal.

After all, they had walked for two hours and hadn't eaten dinner, so both Shen Gu Mirai and Beichuan Si felt a touch of hunger.

After eating, Beichuan Si and Shen Gu Mirai found themselves back at the door of the Shen Gu family's home.

Inside, a heated discussion was underway.

"I think the name Nao is nice! How about we use the name Nao for the girl?!" Beichuan Lin asserted, slapping the table with seriousness.

Perhaps it was fitting for a traditional Japanese woman to choose such an ordinary, delicate name.

Upon hearing Beichuan Lin say so, the folklorist Shen Gu Chiharu on the other side supported her idea with a classic reference:

"Naomi? I actually think Nai Zhu is quite nice; it has the flavor of a haiku!"

And on another side, Shen Gu Jiro simply kept his gaze level, flipping through the ancient tome in his hands.

After a while, he noticed Beichuan Si standing by the living room door.

Shen Gu Jiro put down the ancient tome and looked towards Beichuan Si—

"..." Shen Gu Jiro.

"..." Beichuan Si.

Their gazes collided in the air, and then as if reaching some sort of consensus, they simultaneously nodded.

Shen Gu Mirai had witnessed this kind of communication for the third time, and she widened her eyes, trying to understand the world of Beichuan Si and Shen Gu Jiro, but she helplessly found that communicating like Beichuan Si and Shen Gu Jiro... was simply impossible for ordinary people.

Thus, she could only tug on Beichuan Si's sleeve and asked curiously, "Mr. Temple, what exactly do you and my father talk about each time?"

"...It's nothing important," Beichuan Si paused for a moment, then shook his head and said.

But the more he said that, the more curious Shen Gu Mirai became.

Shen Gu Mirai grabbed Beichuan Si's arm, her large eyes drawing close, seemingly trying to pry the information she wanted to know out of his mouth.

Beichuan Si fell silent again.

It took a long while before he finally spoke:

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes!" Shen Gu Mirai nodded vigorously.

"It's really nothing much, I just gave your father a casual greeting. He said to me, 'You've worked hard,' and I replied, 'It's no trouble at all.'"

"????" Shen Gu Mirai.

Can greetings even work like that?

She immediately began to doubt whether the way she had greeted people over the past few years was somehow incorrect.

She had no idea how Beichuan Si and Shen Gu Jiro could read such information from simply nodding and bowing their heads.

For the situation where 'the silent understanding between her father and Beichuan Si was higher than her own,' Shen Gu Mirai felt a bit discontent.

"Forget about such things. Instead of worrying about that, you should look at the situation between your mother-in-law and my mother; they've already nearly progressed to discussing what to name the great-grandson."

Beichuan Si reminded her appropriately from the side.

Great-grandson...?

Shen Gu Mirai's expression shifted.

She considered herself well-versed in her mother Shen Gu Chiharu's tactics.

Her mother was an expert at muddying the waters, and her words were very provocative, easily leading people into her pace.

Look at Beichuan Lin who was just pondering how to organize the engagement ceremony; now, she's already arguing with Shen Gu Chiharu about what to name the great-grandchild.

If the two of them continued...

Shen Gu Mirai shivered.

Then she rolled up her sleeves and approached her mother—

"Mom!!!"

"Ah?! Mirai?"

...

"Sorry for the poor hospitality, please bear with us," Shen Gu Chiharu, with a twisted mouth and a dispirited look, greeted Beichuan Lin who was standing outside the door.

"It's nothing like that, the tea and snacks were quite nice," Beichuan Lin replied with a courteous smile.

"Really?!" Shen Gu Chiharu perked up: "Lin, the tea snacks you ate were hand-made by me, but Mirai keeps complaining that what I make isn't tasty, I..."

Snap—

Shen Gu Chiharu's words came to an abrupt halt.

Because she felt the pressure coming from her own shoulder.

Her own daughter was standing right behind her!

As this terrifying thought hit her, she became dispirited once again: "Ah, never mind."

Hearing her mother finish speaking, Shen Gu Mirai also stood behind with a faint smile: "Auntie Beichuan, be careful on your way back, stay safe."

"Okay, thank you. Sorry for intruding this time, I hope the gifts are to your liking," Beichuan Lin said with a beaming smile.

Meanwhile, on the other side of these women, Beichuan Si and Shen Gu Jiro exchanged glances.

Almost five seconds passed, and then expressionlessly, they nodded at each other.

And what that was all about—

Nobody knew.

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