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"That won't work!" Aki almost shouted.
It's not that she hasn't thought about going home for so many days. In fact, since she was born, except for the time when she lived in the agricultural school, this was the first time she had been away from home for so long. She had wanted to go home in her heart for a long time. But she still didn't agree with her father's words.
[For farm children, farm animals are just commodities to be bought and sold, and they cannot really be friends.]
Is this sentence correct?
Of course, that’s how my teachers taught me when I was in agricultural school.
We raise pigs and cows, watch them being born, they are so cute, we take great pains to take care of them, it is inevitable that we will invest our emotions in them, but in the end they will inevitably be sent to the slaughterhouse, and we may even have to lift the butcher knife with our own hands.
This is the first lesson when entering the agricultural school - each person adopts a piglet and then sends it to slaughter personally after three months.
Sometimes I think about it, this is really a matter that makes people lose their rationality. No wonder there is a saying in Buddhism that there are three kinds of pure meat. What the eyes do not see is pure, what the ears do not hear is quiet, and what the mind does not think about is quiet. It is also said that a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen.
As long as you don't see the animals being slaughtered, don't hear their cries, and don't think about the little things we once lived together, you can eat meat with peace of mind.
But as a child from a farming family, he had to see with his own eyes, hear with his own ears, and even slaughter with his own hands. If he really got used to this and became calm, Aki wondered if he would become the person he hated the most in the past. With blood on his hands one moment and delicious food the next, could such a person still be like an ordinary person in his heart?
Aki, she doesn't want to be that kind of person.
At this time, a black sedan came from the opposite direction and passed by the pickup truck.
"That car is so beautiful." Aki couldn't help but be attracted.
"Well, that's the Panther. A patrol car for the TAC team."
"Is that the TAC team!?" Hearing this, Aki looked back again, but unfortunately the Black Panther had turned the corner and disappeared from her sight.
Hokkaido is mostly remote rural areas, not the end point of the Yawa people's attacks, so they have basically never encountered super beasts. The last time a monster attacked was two years ago, and it was far away from the city where Aki was. Aki had never seen a monster with her own eyes, and similarly, she had never seen the TAC team outside of TV news. This was the first time.
"If you insist on living in Tokyo, you'll get used to it. Whether it's Ultra Beasts or Team TAC."
This is another unique landscape in Tokyo.
Chapter 107 Moving
Gradually, the hustle and bustle of the city was left behind, the pickup truck drove into a secluded forest path, and then a bronze gate blocked the way.
The door quickly opened after recognizing Hachiken's pickup truck.
"Why is there a gate here?" Aki was a little confused. Isn't this a suburban road?
Could it be a checkpoint to collect fees? She couldn't help but think of the story of a road thug leaving money for a pass.
"Because this is the Oshima family."
"Ah? Where?" Yaji turned around and looked around. It was still a forest path with no village in front and no shop behind. He really couldn't see the villa anywhere.
"Here. All of it."
"what?"
Aki had heard from Hachiken about the family he currently worked for, the Oshima family, a famous tycoon in Tokyo, which even had a horse farm - which was nothing, because Aki's family also had a horse farm.
In her opinion, the Oshima family should be a large villa in the suburbs with a large garden. Since there are also staff dormitories for the staff, the villa should be very large, perhaps as big as a hotel.
Imagining a private residence as a big hotel was the limit of Aki's imagination. After all, no matter how rich a family is, their house is only used for living. How many rooms can one person occupy?
But, you call this the Oshima family?
Lakes and forests. It turns out that what Hachiken no Kami is guarding is not the forests around the Oshima family. The forests themselves all belong to the Oshima family!
After the pickup truck turned a few corners on the forest road, a towering castle appeared at the end of the sight. Although she had been frightened before, seeing the huge castle that only existed in fairy tales was beyond the limit of Aki's imagination. She wondered if she had fallen asleep in the car and was still in a boundless dream.
She had a deep understanding of the housing prices in Tokyo. A room of more than 10 square meters would cost 50,000 yuan a month to rent. How many rooms of more than 10 square meters were there here? Her brain could no longer calculate, no, it had already refused to calculate.
That's a castle! The castle where princesses and princes live in fairy tales! Every girl has a princess dream, but Aki never thought that her "dream" would be realized in such an absurd way.
A moment later, the pickup truck stopped in front of a villa at the edge of the forest.
If it were half an hour ago, Aki would have thought that such a magnificent villa in the woods was the limit of luxury that the rich could achieve, and that it was a place where only the richest people in Tokyo could live (just as she had imagined before, a big villa like a hotel), but now she has become numb.
"Where is this?"
"Woodhouse."
"..."
"Well, Yongwu. How about you just take me to the train station?"
I can't afford to live here! Even if I sold my house, I still couldn't afford to live here!
Just like her father said, taking advantage of others is like taking a reward in advance, and you have to pay it back in the end. Maybe it has nothing to do with money, but the "luck" in the dark. If you use up your luck, you will hit a wall in the future, so be content.
If she lived in such an "employee dormitory", would her luck lead to her being struck by lightning tomorrow?
Baxuan ignored her and took the gifts out of the car.
In fact, there was not much to bring, just a small suitcase filled with clothes and a pigeon cage. Snow White looked around curiously in the cage, turning her head nimbly and making cooing sounds.
"Come in. There are more than a dozen guest rooms inside. You can choose any one. I think the one on the easternmost side facing the lake is good. If you wake up early in the morning, you can see the veil on the lake at sunrise."
Of course it was good, it was a lake view room, which was where Hachiken lived before. He emptied it out last night and pretended it was an empty room now.
Aki was in a daze as she was led to the door of the room by Hachiken. The door opened and there was a space of about 30 to 40 square meters, with a bed, a wardrobe, and even a desk, but it still seemed a bit empty.
The wardrobe and desk were empty, only the bed was made with sheets, and the quilt and pillows were neatly folded.
"The sheets and quilts are all new. If you don't like them, I'll take you to the nearby market to buy a set later."
Although the main house of the Oshima family is quiet and far away from human habitation, there are actually shopping malls and vegetable markets within a 20-minute drive, so daily commuting is not a hassle.
"The bathrooms here are shared, but there are two on each floor so we can use them separately. In addition, there is also a kitchen and laundry room on the first floor."
Hachiken kept talking, but Aki didn't really listen to him at all. It was not until Hachiken put all her belongings in the room and left that she came to her senses after a long time. In such a daze, she actually moved in?
Aki knew that she owed Hachiken.
She didn't know anyone in the Oshima family, and they had never had any contact. She was able to set foot here, and even be allowed to live here, because Hachiken had used up a favor. So, since she set foot here, she owed Hachiken a huge favor.
Dad has told her many times that favors are the hardest to repay. Especially for girls, you should never owe favors to others. If you really want to owe favors, you can only owe it to one person in your lifetime, the one you really want to spend your life with. Because two people have each other, there is no such thing as "favors".
Is she really going to "sell" herself this time?
Of course, Aki didn't hate Hachiken. They kept in touch after graduation for so many years. Apart from each other, the two had long lost contact with other classmates. This was a tacit understanding. It was also impossible to say that she had never thought of making Hachiken her life partner.
But in any case, there should be a more appropriate opportunity.
In the bright moonlight, under the romantic starry sky, in the rose field, or under the colorful cherry blossoms. She or he, at a romantic moment, can't help but say that sentence, and the other party nods in agreement.
Instead of being so hasty like a joke like now.
"By the way, Aki, do you want to go to the stables to see Zhaoye and Wuzhui?"
Hachiken came back at some point, and because the door was not closed, he asked directly at the door. Hachiken's voice also brought Aki back to her senses from her trance.
"'Zhao Ye' and 'Wu Zhui'?"
"Well, they are the two ponies you sent. The white one is called Zhaoye and the black one is called Wuzhui. The young lady gave them the names because you didn't tell me in advance whether the ponies had names. Since we are using the Oshima family's stable, and the young lady is very interested in giving them names, I agreed. Should that be okay?"
"Ah? Oh, of course no problem, I indeed haven't named the foal yet." Actually, Aki had some alternative names in mind, but since the owner here provided the horse farm, such a small matter as the right to name was really nothing.
Speaking of the foal, Aki became energetic again, and put all her previous worries behind her. In short, even if she just pretended to be an ostrich, she wouldn't have a headache if she didn't think about it for the time being.
"But 'Zhaoye' and 'Wuzhui' are such strange names."
"Well, the young lady said that's the pronunciation of Chinese characters. It does look a bit strange if you read it directly."
"Chinese characters? Does the eldest daughter of the Oshima family know foreign characters?"
In fact, Lingye saw the foal was cute and wanted to name it excitedly, but she had to admit that she had no talent for naming. After thinking for a long time, she couldn't come up with any good ideas, and finally she just copied the name of a famous horse from ancient times.
The white horse is called "Zhao Ye" or "Zhao Ye Bai", which is taken from the painting "Zhao Ye Bai" by the Tang Dynasty painter Han Gan. It is the favorite horse of Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji. Later, this name was borrowed by Shi Naian when he wrote "Water Margin", and "Zhao Ye Yu Shizi" became the mount of Song Jiang.
The black horse is called "Wuzhui", which is of course a more famous name. It is the mount of the legendary King of Chu, Xiang Yu.
Ling did not bother to translate into Japanese and directly named the two foals according to their Chinese pronunciation, which made Ya Jinyin feel a little strange but it was normal.
The horse ranch is not far from the ranger's cabin, just in the opposite direction of the lake behind the house, close to a flat area cleared in the forest area.
Although it is not as carefully maintained as a regular racecourse, it is much cleaner than the horse farms of ordinary herders. Herders are accustomed to horse manure falling everywhere, and they only clean the stables to ensure the health of the horses. If it falls outside, it will generally be degraded by nature and can be regarded as fertilizer.
This place was very clean, and there was no horse manure left on the lawn along the way. This was of course the credit of Hachiken.
When Hachiken brought Mikage Aki to the horse farm, they heard the sound of horse hooves before they got close.
Yuchuan galloped on the racecourse swiftly, like a black lightning. The girl on the horse was too petite compared to the two-meter-tall Yuchuan, so people would inadvertently overlook her at first glance, thinking that it was the horse running by itself. Or perhaps because the movements were so smooth, people would inadvertently overlook the fact that the horse was being controlled by someone.
"What amazing horsemanship!" Aki is an expert. Her family has a horse farm on its farm and she herself grew up on horseback. That is why she knows very well how harmonious and smooth the movements of the girl who is riding the galloping Mikawa are.
The man and the horse are inseparable, giving people the feeling of being one body.
"Such a young child, but his horsemanship is amazing!"
"That's the eldest daughter of the Oshima family."
"Eh?"
That little girl, is she the owner of this manor?
Aki felt a sense of oppression called "money" coming towards her. In an instant, the originally petite figure on the horse's back seemed as tall as Mount Fuji. She looked up unconsciously.
No, it was not an illusion, she really had to look up, because the girl slowed down while driving Yuchuan and stopped in front of them. Riding on the back of Yuchuan, who was more than two meters tall, no matter how petite the girl was, they naturally had to raise their heads to see her.
Dark blue top, tight white breeches, and riding boots. This is a formal equestrian outfit that Lingye bought recently. It looks like children's clothing, but it feels a bit formal, and it's cute.
"Uncle Hachiken, you're here. Oh, this must be the legendary sister Aki, right?"
Maria and Ling had mentioned that Aki was going to stay temporarily, and she of course had no objection. Instead, she was looking forward to it.
No, the generations are messed up! Hachiken thought to himself, why should he be the uncle and Aki be the elder sister?
But Lingye did call him uncle on weekdays, she was used to it. After all, not long after Lingye was born, he was hired as a forest ranger in the Oshima family, and Lingye had called him uncle since she was a child.
And Aki, if she was called auntie, she would probably get mad, right? Just like Miss Maria, this is a common problem among girls.
Ling also rolled off Mikawa's back.
Because her instructor had taken a leave of absence, there was no after-school choir club activity today, so she went home after class.
It was still early in the morning. She often rode horses when she had nothing to do. The feeling of riding like lightning was very comfortable. Her movements were much smoother than more than a month ago. She didn't look like a novice at all.
The three of them exchanged pleasantries.
To be honest, the head of the Oshima family was much more approachable than Aki had imagined, just like a little girl next door. But Aki was inevitably a little restrained because she had preconceived the other party's identity, the owner of this huge castle estate, no matter how friendly the other party was.
However, her attention was soon attracted by Yuchuan.