Chapter 14: Sneezing (Second Update, Seeking Recommendations)

  At noon, Kim Min-hee took the three children to a farmhouse in the village where he had stayed before to have lunch. Since Lee Qiu was going to stay behind, Kim Min-hee let the three of them play in the village. This village retained its original Japanese flavor everywhere, with small wooden tile houses scattered all over, not a single house made of concrete, occasionally there would be one, but it would be a temple or something like that.

  Outside the village, the newly grown rice is green and shiny. Occasionally, sunlight reflects from the water in the fields, making the photos of the rice paddies even brighter. The air is very fresh, without the noise, anxiety and haste that are unique to cities. Staying in such an environment makes people's spirits refreshed.

  On such a beautiful afternoon, three people decided to go mountain climbing, fully enjoying the breath of nature. This village, located in the Okasan plain, is very flat, and within a few kilometers of this small village, there is only a small hill behind the Tōmoki family's house, which is over 100 meters high. Although it is only 100 meters high, it is quite steep, as if it were pulled out from the ground. Over the years, through the efforts of generations of villagers, only one staircase with an angle of about 30 degrees has been opened up. In order to highlight the height of this mountain, the stairs are designed to wind their way up in a snake-like manner.

  At the top of the mountain, a small platform protrudes after years of renovation. Climbing onto the platform, the scenery below is in full view.

  Choi Soo-young was excited all day, with her hair tied up in two ponytails that swayed back and forth as she walked lightly. Gao Cheng-gang had a big bag on his back, sandwiched between Li Qiu and Choi Soo-young. The scenery along the mountain path was also great, with winding roads and rest pavilions where you could take a break. Every time they saw a pavilion, Choi Soo-young would rush in, sit for a while, eat some snacks, and then set off again. It didn't take long to reach the top of the mountain - just an hour later, the three of them had reached the summit. The mountaintop was deserted, with no one around, but Choi Soo-young was thrilled. In her mind, this was probably her first time climbing a mountain and reaching the top. The wind at the summit was refreshing, blowing through Choi Soo-young's ponytails as she stood on the small platform, facing the wind, with her back to the vast sky - like a fairy descending into the mortal world. As they gazed out at the beautiful view and the fairy-like figure of Choi Soo-young, Li Qiu and Gao Cheng-gang's fatigue from climbing the stairs was blown away by the refreshing mountain breeze.

  "I love this feeling! It's so comfortable!" Cui Xiuying leaned against the iron railing of the platform, gazing out at the vast expanse of the plain below. The lush green rice fields stretched out like a thick green carpet, covering the earth. Fortunately, it was only early summer, and the afternoon sun was just warm, without any scorching feeling.

  "Xiù Yīng, let's have a barbecue. This bag of stuff, if we don't finish it this afternoon, do I have to carry it back down again?" Since Xiù Yīng wanted to play, there definitely had to be food involved. For mountain climbing, Xiù Yīng thought of barbecue. With Gāo Chéng Gāng around, Liǔ Qiū and Xiù Yīng weren't worried about not being able to carry the stuff up the mountain. Gāo Chéng Gāng was more than happy to oblige, carrying a bag of charcoal and a bag of barbecue food as he followed them up the mountain.

  Next to the mountain top platform, there is a small pit specially for barbecue. This mountain is usually climbed by villagers, so this barbecue place is not very big, probably can hold seven or eight people sitting around chatting and gossiping.

  Gao Chenggang was in charge of starting the fire, burning charcoal, and setting up the grill. Cui Xiuying and Li Qiu were on the side preparing the grilled beef, chicken, and sanma fish. It's said that Cui Xiuying had a special fondness for meat, and this time, except for some tofu skin, everything they were grilling was meat. They hadn't even started grilling yet, just threading the meat onto skewers, but Cui Xiuying's saliva was already flowing freely. As she worked, she would occasionally wipe her mouth with the back of her hand, her eyes fixed greedily on the meat in front of her, not saying a word. Probably because she was afraid that if she opened her mouth, her saliva would spray out...

  Half an hour later, Choi Soo-young took off the plastic gloves she was wearing, swallowed her saliva, threw the plastic gloves aside, and turned to look at Ko Sung-gang who was still fiddling with the charcoal.

  "Hey, Gao Chenggang, we're all almost done with our meat, how come you still haven't lit the charcoal?"

  "It's okay, it's okay." Gao Cheng wiped the sweat that had been scorched by the fire, and his dark palm left a black streak on his cheek, causing Cui Xiuying to burst out laughing.

  "I'll come and help." Li Qiu walked to the fire pit, and together with Gao Chenggang, they fiddled around for a while, but still couldn't get the fire going. Cui Xiuying saw this and also came over to help, all three of them were city kids who were used to living in the city, how could they possibly know how to make a fire? It wasn't until near dusk that the charcoal was finally lit, emitting a bright red color. And the three of them, their faces and hands had already been stained with black marks from the charcoal...

  Li Qiu can't cook, but he has experience with grilling. Many Japanese dishes are grilled to perfection. Recently, he's been studying Japanese recipes and now grills meat with ease. However, just as the meat is done, two big eaters quickly devour them and then stare at Li Qiu's remaining skewers of meat, resulting in almost all the meat being gone within an hour, leaving Li Qiu unable to even have a few bites.

  "Gao Chenggang, you can't eat anymore. Now it's your turn to roast the meat. Autumn brother hasn't eaten a single piece!" It wasn't until the skewers of meat on one side were almost all roasted that Cui Xiuying finally stopped her continuous motion of picking up meat skewers, stood up and pulled Li Qiu away from the fire, dragging him onto the small platform.

  Choi Soo-young leaned on the railing, her hands propping up her chin, gazing at the western horizon where the sun was already half-hidden. The fiery red sunset filled the entire western sky. Climbing onto a small platform to face this sunset was undoubtedly a huge pleasure. "It's really beautiful! Why can't we see it in Tokyo?"

  The orange-red sunset reflected on Cui Xiuying's cheek, at this time the wind on the mountain top was not very strong, gently blowing open a few strands of her tied double ponytail hair, floating in the air.

  "It's okay, you just haven't found the place yet." Li Qiu sat in the middle of the small platform, lay down and gazed up at the sky above her head, that piece of still azure sky. Her cheeks, which had been reddened by the charcoal fire, slowly returned to their original state. "Uncle Minhe said I should stay here for a week."

  "What's up?" Choi Soo-young turned around, saw Lee Choo lying on the ground, and suddenly had a mischievous idea. With her back to the sunset, she walked behind Lee Choo, squatted down, and pressed her face against the ground. She quickly stretched out her head, facing Lee Choo's cheek, blocking his line of sight towards the sky. Her ponytail, tied with a ribbon, swayed back and forth, brushing against Lee Choo's face, which had been reddened by the charcoal fire. Finally, she quietly leaned against him.

  Li Qiu was startled by the sudden appearance of the head, and only after seeing that it was Cui Xiuying did she calm down. The two braids covered the corners of her eyes, making it seem as though the entire sky had only Cui Xiuying's face on it, with those two bright and pure eyeballs shining calmly.

  "I'm not going back with you guys tomorrow, Uncle Min-he let me stay here for a week." Being stared at by a girl like that made Li Qiu feel a bit embarrassed, so he immediately turned his face away to avoid Choi Soo-young's gaze and repeated what he had just said. As he spoke, the breath from his words blew up the strands of hair stuck to his cheek, with several strands getting into his mouth and several others tickling the tip of his nose...

  "Ha ha!" Li Qiu's embarrassed look immediately triggered a burst of silvery laughter from Cui Xiangying. Similarly, Cui Xiangying's cheeks were also reddened by the charcoal fire, and the two reddened faces, amidst Cui Xiangying's hanging double braids, under the dazzling sunset glow, were linked together...

  "Brother Qiu, you......ah......"

  "Achoo!"

  A strand of hair kept tickling Li Qiu's nose tip, making him unable to bear it anymore. He let out a sneeze and his body shook slightly. His elbow, which was covering his face, bumped against Cui Xiuying's elbow pit...

  "Hmm..."

  Suddenly, Li Qiu felt that the sunset was so dazzling that it was scary. "The meat I roasted has this flavor..."

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