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At the same time, he secretly felt lucky. If Wangyue from Haizhi Island had not given him 200,000 Mora two nights ago, he might have joined the Beggars' Sect with his bowl in a few days.
Not long after he walked out, he felt someone pulling his trouser leg. He turned around and looked down, and saw a skinny little girl.
The girl looked only a few years old, her face was covered in dirt, her lips were chapped, and it was obvious that she hadn't eaten properly for several days.
She looked at him with her sunken eyes, tugged at his trouser legs with her small hands, and said in a weak but firm voice: "Big brother, can you give me something to eat?"
Ueno Chiki's heart felt as if it was stabbed by a sharp steel needle and was extremely painful.
He looked into the distance again and saw many people in a similar situation as the little girl.
He forced a smile at the little girl and said, "Wait for me here. I'll be back soon to make porridge for you."
Ueno Chiki decided to do his best to help these poor people. After all, the travelers would be here soon. If he couldn't hold on until then, he would go to the shrine magistrate to beg for money. If the Kamisato family didn't give him enough food, he would not cancel the engagement. In short, he was just blackmailing them.
When the little girl heard this, the light in her eyes quickly dimmed. She had heard many similar words, but no one came back.
She didn't insist, let go of his hand, and continued to look for a kind person.
However, every hope eventually turned into disappointment.
After a long time, when she had no idea how many times she had tried in vain, a gentle voice sounded beside her.
"Little friends, I'm back. I'm going to make porridge for you now."
She turned around and saw the thin Chiki Ueno standing beside her with a large sack on his back.
After taking out his own pots, pans, and utensils from the sack, Ueno Chiki started to light the fire.
The porridge is very thin, not because he is stingy, but because this way more people can eat it.
As the steam from the porridge rose, more and more people gathered around.
Although he emphasized the need to queue many times, people who were so hungry that they couldn't bear it cared less and squeezed in desperately.
Ueno Chiki secretly cursed himself for being so stupid, as a good rescue operation had turned into a scramble and trampling.
Just as the situation was about to collapse, a strong young man shouted and appeared on the stage.
"Little White Dragon of the Waves, I, Huang Long Tian Xia Yi Dou, am here to lend you a hand. Everyone, get in line!"
As he said this, he used brute force to push away everyone around him, and then forced everyone to line up.
A crisis was averted without a trace.
Ueno Chiki gave him a grateful look, and after receiving it, Arataki Ichito scratched his head and a bright smile broke out on his face.
Although Aradaki Ichito is unreliable most of the time, he is surprisingly reassuring at critical moments.
Soon, a pot of porridge was ready. Ueno Chiki took a spoon and started to serve the porridge. His pot was not very big, and there were about twenty bowls in one pot.
After dividing, continue to heat the pot and light the fire.
What he didn't expect was that more and more people came to line up for porridge, and it was almost impossible to see the end of the line.
The twenty kilograms of rice he brought was just a drop in the bucket and could not help so many people.
Just as he was busy making a fire, a group of soldiers from the Tianling Fengxing came over.
The leader was a shabby-looking samurai. He walked up to Ueno Chiki with a haughty look on his face, "Who allowed you to distribute porridge here?"
Ueno Chiki looked up and saw that the samurai in front of him obviously had bad intentions. He thought about it and came up with an excuse, "This was arranged by the shrine magistrate, Ms. Kamisato Ayaka."
"Ms. Kamisato Ayaka, the shrine's magistrate?" The samurai suddenly stretched out his foot and kicked hard, and the pot full of porridge instantly overturned to the ground, and the boiling porridge splashed out and spread all over the ground.
The people around watching this scene all felt distressed and angry.
They knew in their hearts how precious this pot of porridge was to everyone, but it was wasted like this.
"How could a lowly person like you possibly have contact with the noble Miss Linghua? You're clearly trying to trick us!"
The samurai looked down at Ueno Chiki, his eyes full of contempt and disdain.
"It is indeed me who arranged the porridge distribution here, and the lowly person you mentioned is a very important person to me."
The graceful Kamisato Ayaka walked over with a folding fan in her hand. She was wearing a gradient blue haori and a dark blue pleated skirt, and she stood tall, dignified and elegant.
Anyone who sees this will be unable to help but exclaim, what a great “White Egret Princess”!
"Ms. Kamisato Ayaka, since you arranged this, we won't pursue the matter."
The warrior was somewhat bored, waved his hand, and left with the soldiers who followed him.
"Qianshu, here I come."
Kamisato Ayaka smiled at Ueno Chiki.
That smile seemed to represent all the beauty in the world. From that moment on, he could never forget this smile.
Chapter 25 Kamisato Ayaka's Heart
At dusk, the sky gradually darkened, and the sunset glow in the western sky showed an incredible beauty. Large patches of clouds were dyed with various gorgeous colors by the setting sun.
On the ground, the evening breeze gently blows away the heat of the day and brings coolness at night.
A man and a woman were walking side by side on the streets of Inazuma Castle, and the afterglow of the setting sun stretched their shadows very long.
"Ms. Kamisato Ayaka, let's stop here!" Ueno Chiki, who was carrying a large sack, said to the girl beside him.
Kamisato Ayaka shook her head firmly, "Qianshu, I want to see your home."
"My home is nothing special, it's just a shabby house."
"But I want to know more about you."
Ueno Chiki couldn't help but stop in his tracks, he knew very well what Kamisato Ayaka meant by this.
But they are impossible after all.
He stared into her icy blue eyes and said in a tone that he had never used before:
"Ms. Kamisato Ayaka, we are from two different worlds. If it weren't for that marriage contract, we might not have met. Some of your feelings for me also come from this marriage contract.
Besides, what I yearn for is a free and easy life, which is completely different from your life as the eldest daughter of a wealthy family.
So there is no possibility between you and me. In the future you will meet someone who is a hundred times better than me. "
It was not the first time that Kamisato Ayaka had heard him say something like this. She also admitted that much of her affection for him came from the marriage arranged for her by her father, but that was not entirely true.
Ueno Chiki's sincerity, frankness and kindness deeply attracted her, especially his act of distributing porridge today made her heart moved.
Although he himself didn't have a good life, he still tried his best to help others.
"Qianshu, are we friends?" Kamisato Ayaka did not respond directly to his words.
"Of course we are friends."
"Since we are friends, then is there anything wrong with looking at a friend's house?"
Ueno Chiki was speechless and could only carry the large sack and walk forward in silence.
Seeing this guy being humiliated, a smug smile appeared on Kamisato Ayaka's lips.
The two of them just kept walking forward, occasionally exchanging a meaningless word or two.
At the entrance of Naganohara Fireworks Shop, Xiao Gong was sitting on the eaves, quietly looking at the sunset in the west, looking for inspiration for this year's summer festival fireworks.
She glanced and suddenly saw a very familiar figure, and her mood suddenly became happy.
She immediately jumped off the roof and walked quickly towards that direction.
When she got closer, she found that there was another person she knew next to Ueno Chiki - Kamisato Ayaka.
"Brother Qianshu, Miss Kamisato Ayaka, hello! How did you end up together?"
Ueno Chiki was about to answer, but unexpectedly Kamisato Ayaka spoke first. She said as if declaring sovereignty, "Ueno Chiki and I were engaged when we were very young. He is my fiancé!"
Xiao Gong was seen standing there in a daze, staring at the two of them blankly, with tears faintly glistening in the corners of his eyes.
Ueno Chiki was most afraid of girls crying, so he whispered, "That engagement doesn't count."
Xiao Gong's expression immediately turned from gloomy to bright.
But Kamisato Ayaka was very dissatisfied. This guy obviously still had feelings for Xiao Gong. She whispered, "Humph, how can it not count? We clearly have a marriage certificate."
"Brother Qianshu, are you free recently? I have recently developed a lot of new fireworks that are very beautiful."
"Uh, Xiao Palace, I've been busy lately, let's go see it later, okay?"
"Okay, Brother Qianshu, I will wait for you here."
She kept calling him "Brother Chiki" left and right, which made Kamisato Ayaka very upset, and she decided to fight back.
"Qianshu, the summer festival is coming soon, would you like to go with me then?"
Looking at her expectant eyes, Ueno Chiki thought for a moment and nodded.
After getting a satisfactory answer, she smiled contentedly.
Xiao Gong really wanted to say something more.
However, at this time, Chiki Ueno picked up the big sack and walked back, and Ayaka Kamisato followed closely behind.
Not long after, Ueno Chiki brought Kamisato Ayaka to his door.
There is a small field in front of a simple house where vegetables are growing luxuriantly. There is an area on the edge where wild flowers grow. They are purple, red and yellow. They sway gently in the breeze, emitting a faint fragrance, adding a touch of poetry to this quiet world.
"Ms. Linghua, this is my home."
When he first came to this world, he never considered this place as his home, but as time passed, he slowly accepted the fact that he had traveled through time and began to regard this place as his home.
Although everything here is still very simple, he feels safe when staying here.
Kamisato Ayaka looked at his residence carefully. She didn't expect that the living environment of Ueno Chishu was worse than she imagined. She whispered, "Chishu, if you want to move to another place,..."
"No, I just like living here. It's peaceful and stable, away from the hustle and bustle of the world." Ueno Chishu interrupted her directly, "By the way, it's getting late, you should go back. If you go back late, the head of the Kamisato family will worry about you again."
Kamisato Ayaka also realized that it was time to go back, so she waved goodbye to him.
Watching her figure gradually disappear into the shadows, Ueno Chiki let out a long sigh.
If he is young and promising, and the most outstanding young man in Inazuma's family, she will never let him go.
Unfortunately, he is just a flop novelist, and his only best-selling work is a marginal novel.