Chapter 323, Hometown
"Are the doors and windows locked?"

"I locked it in front of you."

"Where's the key."

"Here~"

In the corridor outside his home, Zhuo heard Ling reminding him like an elementary school teacher, and smiled bitterly.

Normally, Ling wouldn't go out of his way to talk so much. This time, perhaps because he would be away from home for a long time, she was worried and reminded him.

The winter vacation is from today to January 16rd, which is about days. This time I have to go back to my hometown for about two weeks, and Zero is paying attention to not letting anything happen during this period.

"I saw it, but I still asked just in case."

"Okay, okay. Did you forget to bring anything?"

"No. The necessary luggage is already in the box. I checked it again this morning. The doors and windows are locked. I have also carefully checked everything from the trash can to the refrigerator. Please rest assured."

"Ah...thank you for going out of your way to do this."

After all, she was going to be away for about two weeks, so she had to carry a lot of things with her. Ling also helped Zhuo with the housework because Zhuo couldn't raise his head when facing her.

While thanking her for her diligence in noticing these details, Zhuo took the bag from Ling's hand and held her hand.

Ling blinked, tilted his head to look up at him and whispered, "I like this place of Zhuo," then held Zhuo's hand in return.

Zhuo knew that Ling was not a weak woman who could not carry clothes, but this was not a reason for him to evade responsibility. Unlike Ling, Zhuo had no talent, was not good at many things and could not help much, or in other words, he would make things worse if he was not careful. Therefore, Zhuo had to pay more attention to the details in life.

Izu is located in the Amagi Mountains and inland areas. It is winter now, so it sometimes snows, but in the coastal and southern Izu areas, the climate is warm and the flowers are blooming early, competing to tell us that spring has arrived.

Zhuo's hometown is the coastal Minami-Izu region.

Zhuo sat in the reserved seat, enjoying the scenery and chatting happily. It took about three hours for Zhuo to return home - by the way, has the Shinkansen become faster?

After getting off the car, Zhuo took Ling's hand and walked towards the familiar big pillar that was often used for gatherings.

Originally, I thought that this time it would be my mother who would come to the station to pick me up... Although Zhuo did not tell them the exact arrival time, since Ling had already explained everything to them, Sa Chiko, who wanted to see Ling earlier, should be waiting here early.

The result was a beautiful figure.

She is a neat and tidy woman with black hair in a ponytail.

In the center of the hall, she had long black hair tied into a ponytail, revealing her fair and slender neck like a kendo girl. She had a bright face that always had an expression of "Oh, why is it so troublesome", and her eyes were lightly kohled, like scarlet blades.

Not to mention the evasiveness he showed when they met last time, Zhuo had never even looked at her straight in the eye, or rather, he didn't dare to look at her - only when he really looked at this person from a distance in the crowd could Zhuo intuitively feel that this woman was out of tune with the people around her.

She just stood there, and everyone consciously left a large area of ​​space around her. Maybe it was because of her inferiority complex, or maybe it was because they were looking at her from a distance, anyway, everyone consciously didn't approach her.

If the world is compared to an ink painting with only black and white colors, then Jiude Mai's beauty is like a blush in the painter's brush.

She had long sideburns that were deliberately grown, two feet long and as black as lacquer, like the ancient Japanese women in Ukiyo-e. The combination of these two long sideburns and her high ponytail and sporty girl outfit was very eye-catching. Not only Utsunomiya Shuo, but everyone who passed by would be stunned the first moment they saw her.

Different from Zero's "ice sculpture feeling" and Yamamoto Yurina's homely cuteness, Shude Mai's beauty is unconcealed and outward, as if she wishes the whole world could see her... Of course, she may not think so... No wonder Su Enxi often compares herself to a sloppy female loser. In front of such a woman, it is really difficult for anyone to dress up.

They didn't expect that this person would come to pick them up.

Holding hands in front of familiar people is inevitably embarrassing, Zhuo hesitated and let go. Then, Ling's little head turned towards him, and her expression was more panic than surprise. So Zhuo hurriedly patted her back.

(It’s really embarrassing to keep holding hands, please forgive me this time.)
Although it is common for two people to hold hands or hold arms, this common situation mostly happens at Zhuo's home when there are no outsiders. Outside, the way to school is a familiar road, and in his hometown, when facing Ling's old friends, Zhuo still has to pay attention to this.

Although Zero was somewhat reluctant, after seeing the figure of Jude Mai, she seemed to accept this reality and returned to her usual expression.

Jude Mai seemed to have noticed the two of them as well, and walked over here with a bright and pleasing smile.

"..."

"..."

"Hey hey long time no see, handsome boy you are amazing, even the iceberg of Sanwu can be turned into ice cream in your hands~"

Zero had a blank expression on his face, or to be more precise, he stared at Jude Mai with a cold gaze. He said nothing, which meant he did not refute.

Zhuo smiled bitterly and thought that she was indeed Jiude Mai. The first thing she did when they met was not to greet Ling, but to directly tease Ling next to her, whom she had only met once. And the adjective she used was also hard to ignore - this lump.

The approach of Mai Jude undoubtedly added more attention to the duo, who were already the focus of attention because of Zero. She continued to smile without realizing it, as if she was still waiting for Zhuo's reply.

By the way, although Ling had been staring at Jude Mai from the beginning, Jude Mai didn't seem to have set her eyes on him from beginning to end. This was a bit strange, but Zhuo couldn't figure it out.

Zhuo couldn't handle such a dazzling person and was somewhat intimidated, but he still lowered his head with basic courtesy and manners.

"Thank you for coming. It's a rare holiday, but I still have to bother you..."

"It's okay, it's okay. I miss the handsome boy too! In fact, I wanted to see him a few months ago, but someone stopped me...ah, Sanwu, why are you here?"

To be honest, it's too rigid.

After making the arrangements in front of the person concerned, Jude Mai exaggeratedly covered her mouth with her hands and showed a 'surprised' expression.

"Thank you for coming."

Facing Jude Mai's exaggerated performance, Ling did not choose to expose her. She was silent for a moment and then bowed slightly to express her gratitude.

"Oh, you're welcome... Welcome home Sanwu, and thank you for bringing the handsome boy here."

Then Ling's little face became as hard as ice again.

Zhuo Ze looked at this strange scene and felt that he had some clues, but he was still confused...

(End of this chapter)