Chapter 366, Before Departure
The winter vacation is over. I don’t know if it’s appropriate to say this, but precisely because such a time of twists and turns and pranks is coming to an end, the uneasy journey home has also arrived at its last day.

"If I stay another day, I won't have time to clean the room and organize my clothes when I get back?"

Zhuo looked out the window and murmured softly at the sunny day which suddenly turned into summer.

He saw from the reflection outside the window that Zero, who was also looking out the window, smiled at him.

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter. Going back is only temporary. I can come back here to settle down in the future. It would be more difficult to open a store in Tokyo."

"That's true... but after all, I've gone to a big city, and it would be embarrassing to come back in disgrace - ah, got it!"

"?"

Faced with Zhuo's unfounded turn, Ling tilted his head to the left and looked at him with a puzzled look.

"Want to go for a walk?"

"?"

Ling tilted his head to the right instead, apparently still unable to understand Zhuo's train of thought, but quickly nodded, "Okay."

"We can only enjoy this kind of scenery for a while longer."

Ling, who already understood what Zhuo meant, raised his head and looked at Zhuo.

Zhuo looked at Ling, remembering that the time he could stay here was limited, so he said to Ling regretfully, "I have to leave tomorrow."

Although it felt like the time I spent back home was quite long, I actually still felt like time flew by because so many things happened.

"Yes. If I go back, I probably won't be back for a long time. I'll be reluctant to leave."

"Eh? Isn't this how I, as a son, should feel? Fufu, I can't wait to leave now."

Even though he said this, Zhuo felt a little reluctant in his heart.

But no matter what, it can make Ling feel the happy family, and Zhuo is happy to be able to achieve this. Although it is not quite appropriate to say that she is a replacement, it would be great if she can make up for the shortcomings of her childhood by coming to Utsunomiya Zhuo.

……

It’s really frustrating to say, both of them don’t need to dress up specially when going out, but Ling looks very cute and pleasing to the eye in a bear-like down jacket, while Zhuo just looks like an inflated pig.

"Let's go the opposite direction this time. We've seen the other side last time, right?"

"Ah."

Although the direction of this walk was the opposite of the last time when I bought a bicycle, because Zhuo's hometown was in a secluded residential area, there were no interesting shops nearby - oh, speaking of this, that bicycle shop was more weird than interesting.

However, Ling seemed to cherish this ordinary scenery more than Zhuo had expected. Zhuo lowered his head and found that Ling's blue eyes were shining as they carefully scanned every corner of the street.

"Is that so? I think it's a good thing to be able to see the scenery before it becomes unfamiliar."

"Really? Then do you want to take a picture and keep it?"

"No, I don't want to add burden when we just start walking. And if you take pictures with your hands, you won't be able to hold mine."

"..."

Facing Zero's increasingly direct and unrestrained advances, Zhuo felt happy, but also ashamed. Only Zero could say such straightforward words without any expression or tone, as if he was casually saying that he was going to eat ramen tonight.

Zhuo knew what Ling meant, and touched her hand with the hand that was holding hers.

“…You can take pictures with one hand~” “No need. This is fine.”

"That's it."

Since Ling has already said so, there is no need for Zhuo to persist any longer.

Zhuo was careful not to look too directly, and he kept looking left and right, as if he wanted to memorize the scenery here without distraction.

By the way, Zhuo has become accustomed to walking with Ling and being watched by passers-by.

Although I occasionally run into acquaintances who lived nearby when I was a kid, I don't really remember much so I just smile and nod, saying hello and that's it, and I don't talk to them. Although I feel a little depressed because they will report it to my parents later, there's nothing I can do about it.

However, it is likely that the information will be passed to Sa Chiko only after Zhuo and the others return to Tokyo, so it should not be a problem.

Zhuo suddenly showed a nostalgic look. Ling, who had been observing the scenery carefully, noticed it immediately and looked up at him.

"What's wrong?"

"No, I just saw the elementary school I went to."

In order to save Zero from asking "where", Zhuo pointed to a conspicuous building on the route, and Zero shifted his gaze over there.

In fact, when Zhuo found out that Ling wanted to remember the land where Zhuo had lived, he guessed that he would definitely be interested in this.

After making sure that what he thought was correct and that Ling was indeed looking in that direction, Zhuo also shifted his gaze to his alma mater and saw the children playing on the playground through the wall outside the school.

Although Zhuo hadn't been in there for five years, the scene from the outside didn't change much from what he remembered. If there was anything different, it was that some of the aging facilities had "No Entry" signs on them.

"But outsiders can't get in no matter what. I tried to sneak out before but failed. Am I really too short?"

"It will definitely be better than now."

"Yeah, when I was little I thought it was childish to see them running around, but now I think it's pretty cool."

"What was it like before the bath?"

"Here - sitting there in a daze, parentheses, listless dead fish eyes."

"I can imagine it."

Zhuo in elementary school, or to be more precise, Zhuo was different from the kids around him since he was a child. Although his brain was not fully developed at that time, he couldn't remember many things clearly, and he did a lot of childish things, but he was definitely unique.

Speaking of this, Zhuo really wanted to accuse those people who started Long Aotian’s reincarnation in the womb. This is simply impossible!

She would innocently play with the kids living nearby, but would always leave on her own because she didn't fit in. She was a lone ranger that you couldn't imagine at all from the present (Zhuo thought so himself). However, Ling didn't seem to think so. She directly said "I can imagine it", which made Zhuo feel like an arrow shot in the chest.

"What does it matter? I've found friends now, so I can just stay at home and have a good time~"

"It's not a good thing to stay in one place leisurely. Zhuo should be grateful to Tong Gu and others for becoming friends with you."

"Ugh, okay."

Zhuo knew that Ling had been alone for a long time without anyone to talk to. In order to communicate, she even taught herself sign language.

So in this regard, Zhuo did not overestimate his own abilities and argue with her.

(End of this chapter)