Chapter 305: Compared to Men, Women Are Indeed a Lot More Attentive.
Chapter 305: Compared to Men, Women Are Indeed a Lot More Attentive.
Old man Kitagawa sat in front of the counter with a disappointed look on his face. He raised his head and drank a cup of burning wine.
"I'm really sorry. I even asked you to accompany me." Old man Kitagawa gently looked at the wine cup in his hand, "I also know that my request is very excessive, but for an old man like me to be able to fool around I am already very satisfied."
"It's okay, it's okay," Kawaki quickly replied, his face full of a bitter smile, "We should be the ones to apologize. I'm really sorry for not being able to help with this."
As he spoke, Kawaki lightly knocked on Kagura's head who was still eating, and reminded her in a low voice, "Hey, you also apologize!"
"It hurts!" Kagura put down the bowl and chopsticks, rubbed her head, and complained. Then, she looked at Old man Kitagawa reluctantly, "Sorry, grandpa."
"Hahaha, no need, no need," Old man Kitagawa smiled, "After all. I forced you to accept my commission."
Otose, who had been standing in front of them and observing all this while, suddenly said, "Hey, old man, so what's going on? Between you and your wife?"
Kawaki held the cup and glanced at Old man Kitagawa.
"To tell the truth, I might just feel lonely..." Old man Kitagawa smiled self-deprecatingly, and then slowly talked about the past, "That was a long time ago. At that time, I was just an ordinary newspaper deliveryman. Young, shy, and even ignorant of the world."
"One day, a beautiful little girl suddenly came to our company. She was really beautiful. I still found it incredible when I thought about it now. I didn't even have the courage to look at her. She was so understanding and exuded a light that was completely different from us country bumpkins."
"To be honest, I can't remember why I talked to her for the first time. The only thing I can remember is the laughter she made from sitting behind my bicycle and the sound of her harmonica blowing The silver bell-like laughter and the song that I can't name. Even now, I think it is the most beautiful voice in the world."
"I seem to have done many silly things to make her laugh, but I can't remember all of them. The only thing I can remember is the smile on her face and the hand she stretched out... The two of us got together in a daze under the blessings of the surrounding people."
Old man Kitagawa did not speak quickly, his words full of emotion.
"However, an accident caused us to cut off our hopes of being parents. But even so, the two of us made it through by supporting each other. Thirty years had passed. Recently, the two of us had just retired from the company. Then, for some reason, we suddenly felt disturbed."
"Sometimes I think [Why is she with me?] [Is it because she likes me that she is with me?]"
As he spoke, Old man Kitagawa, whose face had already started to turn red, scratched the back of his head and smiled embarrassedly, "I'm sorry, I let you hear all these indifferent complaints. I'm already so old, what am I saying? Am I a virgin? Ahahaha..."
As he spoke, Old man Kitagawa glanced at the watch on his wrist. Then, he stood up from his original spot, took out a note, placed it on the table, and turned around, "She's almost done cooking. Sorry, it's time to go. Also, thank you for being patient enough to listen to this old man nagging for so long..."
Looking at Old man Kitagawa's somewhat lonely back, no one spoke.
However, just as Old man Kitagawa walked to the door and opened the sliding door, Kawaki suddenly stood up and said, "Wait, Old man."
"What's wrong?" Old man Kitagawa turned around and asked.
"Kagura," Kawaki looks at Kagura and asks, "Do you understand?"
"Understood!" Kagura stood up, gave a salute, and then rushed out the door and disappeared into the night sky.
...
Kawaki, Otose, and Old man Kitagawa stood at the entrance of Otose's store, looking at Kagura, who was holding a large bag of shopping bags and sweating all over her face, rushing over.
Kawaki was instantly furious, "Hey! Didn't I say that you only need to buy that one?! Why are there so many big and small bags?! What exactly did you buy!"
Kagura walked up to him, wiped the sweat on her forehead, and then put the shopping bags on the ground. She took out the empty wallet from her pocket and put it in Kawaki's hand.
"Your wallet."
"Why is it empty?!"
"Because I saw the vinegared kelp in the supermarket is on sale. If I buy 2,000 pieces, you can get a 9.99% discount." Kagura explained confidently.
"That's too much! You don't need to care about that little discount at all! How long are you going to eat so much vinegared kelp?!" Kawaki complained crazily, "If you continue like this, your youth will be full of vinegared kelp!"
Kagura picked her nose and then rubbed her finger against Kawaki's clothes. Then, she took out a rusty-looking harmonica that looked very old and was obviously second-hand from the shopping bag on the side and handed it to Old man Kitagawa.
"Didn't I tell you to buy a new one?!!" Kawaki shouted.
"Because after buying the vinegared kelp, the money is not enough." Kagura explained, "So, it's all little uncle's fault."
"Hey!!"
Old man Kitagawa, who was at the side, looked at the harmonica in his hand. His wrinkled face once again revealed a trace of emotion...
...
"I'm back."
Old man Kitagawa opened the door of his house and called out at the same time.
After hearing her husband's voice, Mrs. Kitagawa took out the food from the kitchen and placed it on the dining table.
"Sorry, I came back a little late today." Old man Kitagawa took off his shoes and changed into the slippers that had already been placed at the entrance. He walked over and sat down at the dining table.
"En, go wash your hands." Mrs. Kitagawa just responded slightly.
"Oh, I'll go right away." Old man Kitagawa quickly got up and ran to the bathroom.
In the bathroom, after washing his hands, he looked at his no longer young self in the mirror. Old man Kitagawa couldn't help but smile. Then he took out the old harmonica from his bosom and looked at it. But in the end, Old man Kitagawa put the harmonica back into his bosom.
...
After dinner, after Mrs. Kitagawa cleaned up the dishes, she went into the bedroom to change into her pajamas and lay down on the futon.
During the entire dinner time, Old man Kitagawa did not take out the harmonica and did not say anything.
After taking a shower, Old man Kitagawa changed into his pajamas and picked up the harmonica. He seemed to have made up his mind. However, after opening the bedroom door, he looked at Mrs. Kitagawa who was lying on the futon with her back facing him as if she was already asleep. Old man Kitagawa hesitated again.
After a long silence, Old man Kitagawa quietly took two steps back and gently closed the sliding door of the bedroom.
After casually placing the harmonica on the table, Old man Kitagawa, who was wearing pajamas, gently opened the door and walked out...
Under the dim yellow street light, Old man Kitagawa walked slowly with his head lowered. His footsteps did not stop, and his memories never stopped. The scenes of the past constantly appear in Old man Kitagawa's mind...
Unconsciously, Old man Kitagawa had already walked to the public garden not far from home. He was a little tired from his walking. Old man Kitagawa came to the long chair in the public garden and sat down.
Raising his head, Old man Kitagawa silently looked at the brightly lit city in front of him. It was both familiar and unfamiliar. What he was familiar with was that he had lived here for decades. What he was unfamiliar with was that he did not know when this place had become like this. It was completely different from the poverty that he remembered.
Old man Kitagawa let out a long sigh. Then, he raised his head and looked at the starlight that filled the sky. The unchanging things also existed. For example, in this starry sky, Old man Kitagawa seemed to have found a trace of comfort. The expression on his face gradually relaxed a little...
However, at this moment, footsteps came.
Mrs. Kitagawa, who was wearing pajamas, slowly walked over and sat down next to Old man Kitagawa. She raised her head and looked at the night sky with her husband.
"Do you still remember this place?" Mrs. Kitagawa suddenly asked.
"What?" Old man Kitagawa looked at his wife's gentle face.
"At some point in the past, you stood here and yelled [I like you!]" Mrs. Kitagawa smiled and looked at her husband, "Have you forgotten?"
Old man Kitagawa lowered his head in disappointment. There was a hint of embarrassment on his face, "I... I'm sorry. I can't remember those trivial things from the past."
Mrs. Kitagawa smiled, "But I still haven't forgotten. No matter how long it has been."
"Ah... is that so..." Old man Kitagawa still had a disappointed expression on his face.
"Ah, I feel a little cold." With that, Mrs. Kitagawa leaned against her husband and leaned her head on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry..."
"Why are you apologizing?"
"It's all because of my body that you can't be a mother..." Uncle Kitagawa's eyes were somewhat evasive.
"Is it because of this reason that you've become so anxious lately?" Mrs. Kitagawa burst out laughing, "Are you an idiot? Hahahaha..."
"Eh?"
"I never thought about that kind of thing," Mrs. Kitagawa explained with a smile, "Maybe I did, but I gradually put it down later. Moreover, even if we have children, when they grow up and leave home, there will be only the two of us left."
"I thought you gradually became cold to me recently because of this..." Uncle Kitagawa said a little bitterly.
"Oh, do you still remember this?" Mrs. Kitagawa show the harmonica, then covered her mouth and smiled, "At that time, you were the only one who said I played well."
"This is..."
"Do you still want to listen? Although I almost forgot the score."
Old man Kitagawa nodded.
Then, Mrs. Kitagawa leaned on Uncle Kitagawa's shoulder and gently placed the harmonica on her lips.
The melodious sound of the harmonica sounded. Old man Kitagawa closed his eyes and quietly listened to this distant memory...
What the two of them did not know was that in the grass not far behind them, there were two little heads that were constantly swaying with the sound of the harmonica.
"Let's go, Kagura." Kawaki reminded Kagura in a low voice. Then, he quietly stood up and quietly turned around to leave.
"Oh," Kagura responded in a low voice, then turned around and followed.
...
Yorozuya.
Looking at Kagura who had just returned, Gintoki casually asked, "How is your commission?"
"Of course, I have completed it! Who do you think I am?" Kagura patted her chest and said.
"Is that so..." Gintoki was obviously not interested.
"But it was done together by everyone!" Kagura continued.
"Yeah! I won!" Shinpachi clenched his fists, "Gin-san! Give me 300 yen!"
"Tsk!" Gintoki took out a coin from his pocket and threw it to Shinpachi.
"Hey! Isn't the bet 300 yen?! Why is there only one yen?!" Shinpachi said unhappily, "And this isn't even a coin! It's just a game coin, right?"
Gintoki chose to ignore it.
"As I already said, Kagura is not yet old enough to complete the commission by herself." Shinpachi held the game coin and said smugly, "She is different from someone like me who can complete a commission independently!"
"Shut up! Four eyes! You're just a glasses!" Kagura held her hands and snorted.
"Hey! That's too much!"
"You're so noisy! Four eyes!" Kagura directly rushed forward.
(This chapter is over.)