Ome Quartet of Snow Country

Chapter 606 Daily Items
  After sending a few messages, Naruse came out of the bathroom and sat down next to Naoko.

She ate slowly and was almost done now.

"This store's business seems to be pretty good."

"The location is good, near the intersection." After taking the last bite, Shangzi wiped his mouth, "The food tastes good too."

Naruse nodded and asked, "Would you like to sit down for a while?"

She looked at him with a look that indicated casualness.

"I see."

Naruse got up and went to pay the bill first.

"How does it taste?" Ms. Zhizi asked.

"The taste is very good. I understand why Naoko lives here." Naruse said.

Ms. Zhizi smiled, accepted his money, and quickly gave change.

"Thank you for your patronage."

After coming out of the restaurant, there was a cold wind outside. Naruse curled up and looked around, and asked Naoko to take him to the nearest supermarket.

"This way."

Because of the dull pain under her body, it was a little inconvenient for her to walk. Naruse also slowed down and walked slowly with her.

"Does it still hurt?"

"……fine."

"Is the supermarket far away?"

"We have to cross the bridge." Shangzi paused, "It takes five or six minutes."

The two continued walking forward, and Naruse asked, "How long has Naoko lived here?"

"Two weeks."

He held her hand, turned around and asked, "Did Shangzi decide to come here when he left?"

She was silent for a while, "No. I just don't know where to go alone. I stayed in Aomori City for two days and finally came here."

It turns out that she was in Aomori in the first few days...

Naruse took a deep breath and said, "What is Naoko doing now? Is she still in school?"

"No." She shook her head, "The transfer procedure requires a guardian to be present, so I... I haven't gone to school."

"Can't you ask Ms. Zhizi for help?"

"I don't want to trouble her."

Naruse looked at her again.

"yes."

After walking for a while, they came to the intersection. They turned the corner and saw the bridge across the river in front of them.

After passing the bridge, he could also see the relatively large supermarket not far ahead.

Walking into the supermarket, Naruse picked up a shopping basket.

"Toothbrush, towel, I need to buy some toiletries first... How big is Shangzi's quilt? Can it sleep two people?"

"..."

Shangzi looked at him for a while, "Do you want to stay?"

Naruse also looked at her, "Then Naoko, would you like to stay in a hotel with me?"

She was silent again.

"Let's go find the toiletries first." Naruse pulled her and started spinning her inside.

After finding the toothbrush and towel, he took another pillow. When he was about to find another quilt, Naoko finally said that he didn't need it.

After finding a few more imaginable daily necessities such as slippers, Naruse lowered his head and looked at the almost full shopping basket, "That's it for now."

Shang Zi also lowered his eyes and pursed his lower lip.

"Do you need to buy some ingredients or something?"

"need."

She took a breath, took another basket to the ingredients area, and quickly picked some things.

Naruse carried two shopping baskets and went to the front desk to check out. She grabbed the basket of things she bought and said, "Pay separately."

The clerk inside looked at her and then at Naruse.

He also nodded, glanced at the counter, and took two more boxes of condoms.

After paying the bill, Naruse didn't let Naoko carry it by herself, but still took the bag.

"It should be enough for two days."

"Ah."

"Let's go back."

After leaving the supermarket, the two of them walked back along the way they came.

Arriving at the bridge, Naruse stopped and looked at the dark river below.

"There's not much water in the winter."

"Ah."

"Although when we came here in the summer, the Miyagawa River was not too rough."

Shangzi looked into the distance and responded again.

He looked at her profile and smiled when she looked at her, "Let's go."

Returning to the riverside residence, he followed Naoko and went in again. Naruse also followed him to see the kitchen of this old house.

The area is also not large, but it has all the necessary appliances, such as refrigerators and microwaves... He slapped his forehead and said, "I forgot."

Shangzi looked over, with a trace of confusion on his face.

"I'll go to the supermarket again and be right back." Naruse said and went out again.

Shangzi was stunned for a moment and continued to pack and arrange the things he had just bought.

After putting the ingredients in the refrigerator and taking things like toothbrushes and towels to the washing area, she rummaged through the bag and took out a box of condoms.

"..."

She didn't have any ready-made ones here. She did it so many times in the afternoon, but of course he didn't wear it either.

Although these few days are a safe period.

Putting down the condom, Shangzi packed up other things, wetted the towel with a towel, returned to the room upstairs, and wiped the stains on the tatami.

When the cleaning was almost done, Naruse came back, carrying a paper box.

"Although it's not as cold as in the Northeast, it's still freezing, which makes it hard to feel at ease..."

He opened the box and took out the contents, which was an electric heater.

"I saw it in the supermarket just now. Because it was quite big, I picked it up when I was about to leave. I accidentally forgot about it."

Naruse looked for an outlet and turned on the electric heater. When the switch is turned on, the heating tube inside quickly turns red and emits heat.

He stretched out his hand to feel the temperature, then adjusted the electric heater to face her.

A reassuring warmth radiated from her, and Shangzi stared blankly. He took the wet towel from her hand and continued to wipe it on the tatami.

"It's warmer if you get closer," Naruse said.

She moved towards the electric heater and turned to look at him.

He wiped it for a while, "It seems to be almost done."

"Ah."

After wiping it twice more, Naruse sent the wet towel down to wash and hang it. When he returned to the room, Naoko was still sitting on the tatami and looking at him.

He also sat down and looked at the glowing electric heater, "This thing consumes more electricity than the air conditioner..."

"Ah."

"Let's wait until the room warms up first." Naruse glanced at the table in front of the window, "Do you want to make puppets tonight?"

She nodded, then moved to the table, picked up the tools, and started tonight's sewing work.

Naruse brought the electric heater over and put it down somewhere not far away, facing this way, so that it would not be too hot.

He sat down next to her and watched her work without speaking.

"……hiss."

However, Shangzi quickly became distracted and pricked his fingertip with a needle.

Fortunately, there wasn't much bleeding and it didn't get onto the doll.

Naruse took out a tissue and wrapped it for her temporarily, "How about we wait until the room warms up before continuing."

Shangzi nodded and put down his work temporarily.

He moved over and hugged her. She leaned back and looked down at the hands around her waist.

There are various fabrics stacked in the box in the corner, and next to them are several almost-completed puppets with different shapes.

Naruse looked at it for a few times and asked, "How much can such a puppet be sold for on Amazon?"

Shangzi also looked over, "Five thousand to ten thousand yen. The larger ones can be sold for thirty to fifty thousand yen."

"...so expensive?"

"Someone will buy it," she said.

He lowered his head, "Is this Shangzi's main source of income now?"

"Ah."

"awesome."

She pursed her lower lip.

"How much money does Shangzi still have to pay back?"

"..."

"Have you forgotten?"

"A few million yen," Naoko said.

He looked at her, "Then with the speed at which Shangzi is making money, it probably won't take too long to pay everything back."

She raised her head and looked at him.

"Ah."

"After paying it back."

Shangzi stopped talking again.

Naruse didn't ask further, slowly let go of her, climbed to the side, picked up a puppet and looked at it.

"Does the price of puppets only depend on size?"

"It also depends on the level of detail." She looked at his profile, "It takes more time and the price is higher."

"The dolls placed in the handicraft club are worth hundreds of thousands of yen in total... there should be that many. Your members are not very welcoming to me now. I haven't paid attention to them for a long time."

"……why."

He put down the puppet and looked back at her, "Because I lost their minister."

Naoko pursed her lips.

(End of this chapter)