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"Reiya, Tomoyo--" Sakura was touched by the two's easy agreement. Normally, they would never violate these clearly stated rules.
The forest behind the park is not very big. In fact, it only takes about a hundred meters to reach the end.
"I see. There's a cliff road behind us, so there's a sign saying no entering."
At the end of the woods was a cliff more than ten meters high, and below it was a highway with a fast lane. Although there was a fence on the cliff, it was simply blocked by steel bars, and the gap between them was large, so it would be easy for a child to fall down.
"Is it here?"
"Yeah, it was around here yesterday." Sakura looked around, carefully observing the surrounding woods, but accidentally stepped into a mud puddle.
She lost her balance and fell towards the fence.
"Ah, be careful!"
Ling subconsciously wanted to use Gaia's Light, but faster than her, a slender white hand grabbed Sakura.
"mom!"
It actually appeared!
No mistake, Ling realized, that was the exact same person as the photo of her mother that she had seen at Sakura's house.
It's not quite right to call her a girl, but she is still a very young girl, about 18 or 19 years old, graduating from high school. Seven years have left no trace on her - this is natural, because her time has stopped seven years ago.
That is indeed Amamiya Nadeshiko!
But Ling did not relax, instead she became alert.
Because she felt the dimensional fluctuations that accompanied the sudden appearance of 'Amamiya Nadeshiko' who was clearly not here just now.
She was already very familiar with such dimensional fluctuations - that was clearly the technology of the Yabo people. Every time a super beast appeared across dimensions, it was accompanied by spatial instability caused by the dimensional vibrations.
And the other party seemed to have no intention of hiding it. She just looked at Sakura openly, no, she was looking at Gaia.
"Thank you for being Sakura's friend."
Chapter 65: The Messenger of Yabo
(I broke my promise and updated twice today, because yesterday's new collections were even more than the day before yesterday. I couldn't help but update one more chapter. I will start updating once a day tomorrow)
“It’s already this big.”
The girl in my memory was still a babbling baby, but in the blink of an eye she has grown into a graceful young lady. To her, it was really just yesterday. She closed her eyes, then opened them again, and seven years had passed.
Due to her health reasons, she had to go back and forth to the hospital after giving birth to Sakura, and was unable to watch her child grow up. This is her biggest regret.
She had agreed to take Sakura to the aquarium to see penguins that day, but she ended up in the hospital. Who knew that farewell would be forever? Her time stopped at that moment, and she could no longer accompany Sakura to grow up.
Nadeshiko was not sad, because the dead do not know how to be sad, and all the tears and loneliness are left for the living to bear alone. She just felt that she owed Sakura a happy childhood.
"I'm sorry, Sakura."
Her mother appeared in front of her without any warning. Sakura opened her mouth but couldn't say anything. She thought she was still dreaming.
Because this scene often appeared in her dreams when she was a child. But as she grew older, it gradually appeared less frequently. Even her mother's voice and smell gradually became blurred in her dreams.
But Lingye stepped forward and grabbed Sakura, pulling her behind him.
Nadeshiko didn't force it and let go of her hand, allowing Ling to stand in front of Sakura.
"Good afternoon, Your Majesty." Fuzi said.
"Your Majesty?" Ling was also a little confused about the name called by the woman - let's call her Tiangong Fuzi.
But before she could ask, Nadeshiko continued:
"I am a messenger from the Yabo people."
Tomoyo screamed subconsciously, and Sakura was still a little confused and didn't realize what "Yabo" meant. But "Amamiya Nadeshiko" obviously didn't mean any harm.
"That being said, this is just a memory given to me by the Yabo people. They hope that through my meeting with Your Majesty, the misunderstanding between the two sides can be resolved. The Yabo people have never thought of being your enemy. This is what they want me to convey."
Ling thought about it and understood a little bit. She didn't comment on that sentence, but asked: "Then who are you?"
"I am Nadeshiko Amamiya - but this is actually a memory implanted in me by the Yawa people. I am just a body cloned by the Yawa people using their technology." Nadeshiko said and glanced at Sakura, "I'm sorry to scare you, Sakura, do you remember that cactus beast?"
Sakura nodded, of course she remembered.
"In Sakura's room, there is a photo of her mother, who is also my real self, Amamiya Nadeshiko. Behind the photo, Fujitsuyuu kept a lock of Nadeshiko's hair. That day, Cactus Ultramon stole my lock of hair in Sakura's room, so he got my genetic sample."
Of course, it is impossible to clone a person from a bunch of hair from many years ago with human technology, but for the Yabo people, the difficulty is no different from growing bacteria in a petri dish.
"In addition to giving me a message asking me to be the Yawa people's messenger, the Yawa people also gave me the memories of 'Ama-miya Nadeshiko'. But having said that, I don't know if I am considered Ama-miya Nadeshiko."
The woman said this, telling everything without hiding anything. She would never hide anything from Sakura, and of course she would never lie to Sakura's friends.
The most important thing is that the Yabo people did not forbid her to say anything.
Just as she said, the Yabo people did not do anything except implanting a memory of her being a "messenger". "She" herself was the Yabo people's sincerity.
It is indeed difficult to define, as she has the appearance, voice, and even the exact same genes and memories as Nadeshiko Amamiya.
So is she really Nadeshiko Amamiya?
If it counts, then the Yawa people can create many "Amamiya Nadeshiko". If it doesn't count, with the same body and the same memories, what's the difference between her and the original?
The Yabo people wanted to negotiate with Gaia. In their view, there was no irreconcilable conflict between them and Gaia.
The Yawa people did not set any conspiracy on Amamiya Nadeshiko by letting her be the messenger. All conflicts come from misunderstandings, and misunderstandings are caused by lack of communication.
The Yabo people believe that as long as the Earth abandons its prejudice, there will be no reason for it to choose humans and insist on being hostile to the Yabo people.
As long as Gaia defines 'them' as 'them' in her mindset, the Yabo people are legitimate residents of the Earth. The dispute with humans becomes a dispute between the creatures within the Earth for the top position in the food chain.
Even the Kingdom of Light cannot interfere in disputes within a civilization.
"Is that all the Yabo people have to say?"
"There are still many. However, Sakura has just recovered and needs more rest. Your Majesty, please send Sakura back."
Ling was a little surprised by what messenger Yabo said, and she began to believe that it was really Sakura's mother.
She was a little wary at first, but she gave up the idea of attacking. Of course, Ling couldn't attack her "mother" in front of Sakura when she had no hostility.
"My name is Oshima Reiya, not 'Your Majesty'. Aunt Kinomoto can just call me Rei."
Ling finally decided to temporarily acknowledge her identity as Sakura's mother. Amamiya was Nadeshiko's last name before marriage, so after marriage, she naturally changed her last name to Kinomoto.
"猊下" means "under the lion", and the lion is the mount of the Bodhisattva and the Buddha. Therefore, the word "猊下" was originally used to address great virtues in Buddhism. Later, it gradually became a religious title for the pope, angels on earth, and gods who descended to the world.
Having obtained the Light of Gaia, she could be said to be the spokesperson for the will of the planet, or even an angel on earth, but Ling always believed that she was just an ordinary person. She would not accept such a title that made her feel guilty.
Reiya's words "Aunt Kinomoto" made Nadeshiko happy that Gaia accepted her. But at the same time, she felt a little awkward because she was old enough to be called "Auntie". But it was also true that Sakura was this old.
She felt like she was still in the process of graduating from high school. Was she getting married too early? But when Fujitaka proposed to her, she couldn't say no and agreed without thinking - of course, that was also the memory that Yawa gave her.
In fact, when she woke up from her long sleep, Nadeshiko couldn't define who she was. Her memories were false, and even her body was false. She was a person who shouldn't exist. The feeling of emptiness made her panic. As for having no identity, no place to live, and no money, she didn't even have time to consider it.
Perhaps in order to avoid suspicion and fear of arousing Gaia's jealousy, the Yabo people abandoned her after throwing her to Earth.
The reason why she stayed in this forest was not because she wanted to be mysterious, but because she had nowhere else to go. Not far from the Penguin Park was Sakura's home, and of course Nadeshiko's former home, but she didn't dare to go there. Except for secretly seeing Sakura the day before yesterday, she didn't dare to face Fujitaka.
Because she didn't know what identity she should use to face him. In her memory, she was Fujitaka's wife, but to Fujitaka, Kinomoto Nadeshiko died seven years ago. He watched her burial with his own eyes. She was just a fake substitute. How would Fujitaka see her? As long as she thought about it, Nadeshiko felt a little twitching with heartache.
This park was also the park where she used to play frequently. She found that she had no other place to go except here.
Oh no, when she thought of the 'heart-wrenching twitch', other parts of her body had already twitched. Although she wanted to try her best to avoid it, some things could not be changed by human will.
"Goo-"
It was a loud sound, and although Nadeshiko wanted to blame it on the frogs in the pond, making people mistake it for the little frogs, but then there was another "gu--" sound, and the more you don't want to think about something, the more you can't control it.
Stories are all lies.
Obviously, she had nothing to do in the hospital before, so she read a lot of novels. The protagonists of those adventure novels would always find pheasants and rabbits as long as they ran into the forest, and sometimes they would encounter wolves and wild boars. To be frank, if these really appeared in front of her, Fuzi was confident that she could handle them.
She is not a weak woman who is powerless - well, she is, but the Yabo people threw her here, and the only thing left for her was a ring that allowed her to use part of the power of the dimension.
Just like the teleportation and storage space in magic novels, of course that is not magic, but dimensional technology, but it is no different for humans.
With this, Nadeshiko was confident that she could still deal with some wild animals, but the only problem was that there were no wild animals in this forest, and the so-called "pheasants and rabbits" were nowhere to be seen.
So starting from the day before yesterday, she had been hungry for three days.
"Mom, are you hungry?" Seeing Sakura looking at her with Bambi-like eyes, the shy Nadeshiko wanted to shake her head to show off, but some mysterious force held down her head and turned the shake into a nod.
Nadeshiko refused to admit that the "mysterious power" was her hunger, and preferred to believe that it was the Yawa people who manipulated her at that moment. That's right, the Yawa people were really hateful. They agreed to only be messengers to pass on information and not interfere with her anymore.
"I'll treat you to a meal, Mom. I have money. It's not the pocket money Dad gave me. I earned it myself, from the salary for filming a TV series. Mom, do you remember the family restaurant nearby?"
Of course she remembered that it was the restaurant where their family used to have dinner together often. Sakura, who was still young at that time, especially liked the mixed fruit and vegetable soup there.
The daughter grew up and treated herself to a meal with her own earnings. Nadeshiko never thought she would live to see this day.
There is an indescribable emotion, I don’t know whether to say it is relief or guilt.
She nodded vigorously. She admitted that there was no so-called "mysterious power" this time, and it was she who nodded.
Although Sakura's salary is not as high as that of a real star, director Asaka will not deduct money from child labor, and her salary per episode is no less than that of a normal adult leading actor.
All salaries are paid to the guardian, but Sakura's father also allows her to withdraw part of it.
Although Sakura's current 'wealth' is undoubtedly far less than that of the two 'rich ladies' around her, at least if it were converted into coins, the piggy bank in her bedroom would not be able to fit.
It's perfectly adequate to go to a family restaurant for dinner.
The restaurant is indeed not far from the park and specializes in French cuisine. Looking at the "SHINO'S" sign in front of the gate, Ling felt that it looked familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen it for a moment.
Chapter 66: Changed Recipe
"I remember saying many times that as long as they are in my store and in my kitchen, no one is allowed to change my recipes. Manager Harris, do you have anything else to say? Or take your luggage and leave my store now?"
"Chef Shinomiya, please listen to my explanation." Manager Harris wiped the sweat from his head and tried to organize his words. "Because of the super beast attacking the salt field in Okayama a few days ago, the traffic in several nearby places was seriously affected. Our olive oil was purchased from Okayama before, but it is out of stock."
"So you just randomly switched to Moroccan olive oil? You should know that there is a big difference in taste and freshness between the two. Before that, you didn't even discuss it with me?"
Shinomiya Kojiro's voice was calm from beginning to end, but it frightened Harris. This chef, known as the "Vegetable Magician", is also the founder of the "SHINO'S" brand. In just ten years, he has made this French restaurant brand a household name. But corresponding to his cooking skills that are like the title "Magician", Mr. Shinomiya's temper is also well-known in the industry.
The kitchen is his territory, and he has many requirements, the most taboo of which is to change his recipes. Anyone who violates this rule will be fired, even if he is the chef or manager.
Harris didn't expect that he would be dissatisfied just by changing the brand of olive oil.
"Why, do you think I'm making a fuss? Olive oil is the soul of Provencal cuisine. Morocco is also a producer of high-quality olive oil, but its olive oil tastes different, so the recipes must be rethought. I don't expect your crude tongue to be able to taste the difference between the two, but for a chef, serving a dish that breaks the framework to customers is blasphemy!"
Harris looked at the customers in the hall who were being "desecrated" one by one in a daze. It was obvious that they had no idea that they were being "desecrated" and were still very satisfied.
At this time, someone else came in through the restaurant door. Sigong just glanced at him casually and unexpectedly showed a look of surprise.