The lush, dripping green of the forests on either side was unlike the Island Country, leaning more towards a European-like scene shrouded in a hint of dimness.

Firs and larches made up the forest, with undergrowth flourishing unusually well, and the roadsides blanketed with green moss.

Periodically, there would be cyclists passing by, in twos and threes.

As tourists increased in number, they arrived at the shopping street, the liveliest old street in Karuizawa.

The European-style old church along the street;

passersby coming and going, their fashion sophisticated, their attire exquisite;

artistic shops, antique stores, and Western-style restaurants were closely arrayed.

The vintage red bus with its boxy frame and square glass looked just like a giant candy jar.

Little Lian rode on her cute children's bicycle, her eyes sparkling, gazing long at everything in front of her.

She felt certain she had entered a magic world.

Dubian Che captured this scene on his phone.

They began strolling along the street, and almost every shop they entered seemed to captivate Little Lian.

"Che!" she said, tilting her small face up and tugging at Dubian Che's sleeve like she had discovered treasure, and turned to him, "Hats, how cute."

"Do you want one?" Dubian Che crouched down on one knee to look at the hat with her.

A children's sun hat with a large brim and a pretty butterfly bow with blue ribbons.

"Uh!" Little Lian's eyes went wide, "Are you buying it for us?"

"Try it on first and see how it looks? If it's nice, we'll buy it."

Little Lian stared at the hat for a good while, then shook her head childishly,

"Never mind, Mom told me not to casually spend Che's money."

"How good of you, shall Auntie buy it for you?" Mrs. Kiyono couldn't help but ruffle Little Lian's hair.

Little Lian still shook her head.

"It's not a waste," Dubian Che said, "A hat is a necessary part of summer attire, or else you'll get sunburned."

"Really?!" Little Lian stared at him in surprise, "I've never worn one in the summer before!"

"That's because you were little before, but now you've grown up, so you'll get sunburned. Doesn't Grandpa Tanaka always wear such a hat when he goes to the field?"

Little Lian's mouth fell open, then she had a sudden realization, "So it's a summer essential indeed!"

Dubian Che stood up and asked the shop assistant, "Can we try it on?"

"Of course!" the assistant quickly said, "This model is very popular with children, it's the best-selling children's style in the store!"

Little Lian tried on the hat and stared at her reflection in the mirror, uttering an "Oh—" of amazed contentment.

"Sun hats and dresses are a classic combination, next, let's buy a dress," Kiyono Lin said.

"A dress?!" Little Lian turned to look at her.

"Let's go." Kiyono Lin took Little Lian's hand, and the two walked out of the shop.

"Little Lian, just now your brother was deceiving you; getting sunburned has nothing to do with age, and moreover, you won't easily get sunburned in Karuizawa."

"..." Little Lian looked at her blankly, "Should I return the hat?"

"I'll ask you a question, and if you answer correctly, you don't have to return it."

"I'll get it right!"

The two walked out of the hat shop, sister leading sister.

The remaining four looked after them, Jiutiao Meijie with her arms folded, sneered, "It's like she's her little sister."

"Is Meijie jealous?" Kiyono Youko asked with a laugh.

"Jealous?"

"Lin's little sister; Meijie used to be the only one."

"Is that so?" Mrs. Jiutiao looked her own daughter over with a smile.

Jiutiao Meijie stared coldly at the two.

"Don't make my Meijie angry!" Dubian Che hooked Jiutiao Meijie's shoulder, walking out of the shop after the sisterly pair.

"Are you tricking me?" Jiutiao Meijie turned her face to him, her eyes locked on his.

"This is to cheer you up."

"Dubian Che, you've become more and more brazen, I... Miss will..."

The ladies watched their disappearing figures, exchanged a glance, and laughed together.

The two seemingly twenty-five-year-old young women, hand in hand, followed after them.

They shopped for dresses at the clothing store;

experienced the fragrant teas at a unique tea house while eating cake and watching the rushing stream;

searched for Karuizawa's oldest taste at the jam shop, crafted by a century-old process.

Little Lian found everything novel and was incredibly excited; at first, she stuck closely to Dubian Che, but eventually, having grown close to her sister and aunts, she only discussed with them.

"Little Lian, it's about time to go. You're staying here for a month; you'll have plenty of time to look around," Mrs. Jiutiao said.

Little Lian's hands were on the display window, reluctantly taking one last look at the beehive that was half her height.

Next to the beehive, there was a small mountain made of honey jars.

Mrs. Jiutiao's persuasion finally led Little Lian to exit the shop.

She held onto Kiyono Lin with one hand and clutched a dragonfly toy with the other, "Lin, once our house had bees come to make a nest."

"Really?" Kiyono Lin asked knowingly.

"Yeah! But it wasn't as big, just the size of mom's fist. I picked flowers for them to get nectar, but the next day, mom destroyed the bees' home."

"Little Lian's mom did it for Little Lian's good."

"Yeah." Little Lian nodded.

After leaving the honey shop, they visited the supermarket.

Little Lian was amazed, exclaiming, "So this is a supermarket?"

"This is a small one. Wait until we're back in Tokyo, Auntie will take you to a real mall," Mrs. Kiyono said.

"Yeah!"

"Little Lian," Dubian Che took a shopping cart, "Want to push it?"

"I want to push!" Little Lian raised her hand.

Little Lian struggled to push the large shopping cart, with Dubian Che helping her with the toy.

"Tonight we're having pork shabu-shabu!" Mrs. Kiyono happily selected ingredients.

They bought just enough for dinner—plenty for six people and it was clear that the ladies and young miss didn't believe in 'just enough to eat'; even though it was only dinner, they put anything they wanted into the shopping cart.

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