Chapter 124: The Girl Who Left Home

Asaba Li Xiang is a special girl.

In this day and age, not many girls her age would probably go out of their way to make their own bacon and pickled dried turnips for dinner.

She enjoyed the process, and the day Zhang Xiaoru brought some bacon over for Shen Yu and her to eat, she pestered Zhang Xiaoru to learn how to make bacon, and she also thought of making her own dried plums and pickled beans and other foods.

It's been three months since she came to China, and after not being able to say that her level was too good when she first started, she has improved a lot.

There are four tones in her pronunciation, and almost all Japanese is soft, so when Li Xiang speaks, this small difference becomes her unique accent, which sounds soft and sticky, and her voice itself is childish, light and soft, so even when she is chattering, it is very pleasant to listen to.

Li Xiang is looking more and more like a Chinese girl, more so than many girls born and bred in the country.

"We buy this meat ...... with a bit of fat ...... waxed out to make it tasty ......"

Today the two of them did not go to the fresh produce supermarket to buy groceries. Shen Yu took her to the vegetable market after she pouted.

Shen Yu It's been years since I've been to a food market, and the impression of a dirty environment has changed a lot, plus it's winter and colder and drier, and there's no dirty sewage on the ground.

Li Xiang is buying meat at the pork stall, and Shen Yu, who doesn't understand either, accompanies her with the radish she has just bought in her hand.

"Don't you eat fatty meat?" Shen Yu looked at the pancetta she had picked.

"I'll eat the skinny ones, then you eat the fat ones!" She said with a grin.

"I'm not going to eat your leftovers."

"Shen Yu I can't believe you think that! I didn't say it was my leftovers for you ......"

Seeing the sly look in her eyes, Shen Yu wanted to pinch her face.

She looks like she's not a picky eater, but after living here for so long, Shen Yu has figured out that she's a very picky eater!

For example, she only eats the tips of strawberries and then gives him the strawberry butts, or when she eats chicken she doesn't eat the skin, so she tears off the skin and gives it to him, or when she eats slices of bread, she likes to eat the four sides of Xiang Xiang there and then gives the bread in the middle to Shen Yu.

So much so that Xiaomeng I thought our family was rich, and Shen Yu ate all the ones she didn't want to waste.

As it was the first time I made bacon, Li Xiang didn't know if it would taste bad, so I didn't buy much meat, just five large pieces of pork.

After the meat was bagged, Shen Yu offered to come and carry it.

"I'll take it. ......"

Li Xiang stretches out his little hand to help, seemingly grabbing the bag, but actually taking advantage of the opportunity to grab Shen Yu's hand.

"Don't make a mess, hurry up and finish your shopping and get back."

Shen Yu looks like a tool man, his hands full of red and white plastic bags containing freshly bought pork, a pile of white radishes, mustard greens for dried plums, and beef, prawns, croquettes, lettuce and other food for tonight's hot pot.

Li Xiang, empty-handed and with a happy face, followed Shen Yu.

The market is also full of couples buying food over here, in roughly the same position, with the guy carrying the groceries and the girl just holding the guy's arm.

Li Xiang actually wanted to hug Shen Yu's arm, but Shen Yu wouldn't let him.

"These days, it seems to be good weather, after the bacon is cured, it has to be dried, we don't have a place to dry the pork at home eh ......" Li Xiang said when she thought of it.

"There are poles on the balcony for drying clothes, so just hang them up there." Shen Yu says.

"But when you dry meat, it smells a lot, and then when the wind blows, the smell sticks to your clothes."

That's a problem, Shen Yu doesn't want to smell like cured meat when she smells her own clothes either.

"There's still a few logs in the yard, I'll just go back and make a shelf, it's only a few pieces of meat anyway."

"Mmmmmm! And then the dried plums can dry on the shelf too!"

Shen Yu reminds me of the time when I went to my grandmother's house as a child. My grandmother's house was in the countryside, and in autumn and winter, when the weather was good, there were always all kinds of things drying in the yard, such as bacon, dried fish, dried plums, dried radishes, and dried potato flour from strained sweet potatoes.

It's not really delicious, but it's just a nice homemade treat to take with you when you go out, or to give to friends and family.

"You don't really like these, so why go to all this trouble to make them." Shen Yu asked, looking over at her.

She looked up at Shen Yu and smiled, "I'm making it for you! Shen Yu liked the dried radish we made last time, didn't he?"

"It's not like I like ...... it very much" Shen Yu's old face flushed. Li Xiang did not make many dried radishes last time, basically he ate them all, every time she took some out for breakfast or when cooking, she would take them out and stir fry them a little, eating them especially down.

"But I enjoyed doing it."

Li Xiang enjoys the process, she is now done with her art work and has no time to spare, she just happens to make some small food and then it just so happens that Shen Yu likes to eat it, so she feels very satisfied and rewarded.

"And then when I'm going home at the end of the month, I can bring some for Mum and Dad to try too, they've never had these before and they'll love them if I make them."

"You're going back to Yokohama at the end of the month?"

Shen Yu caught a key point of information in her words.

"Well well, it's December 6th now, Christmas is in twenty days, and New Year's Day is in a few days, and New Year's Day is New Year's Day in our area, so I need to make a trip back ......"

Li Xiang said, her heart missing her mum and dad a little, since she grew up, this was the first time she had been away from home for so long.

"It's time to go back for a bit ......"

Shen Yu whispered, not with the excitement she had expected to feel at the news of her return, but with a faint sense of loss.

The two men walked in silence for a short while, each thinking about something.

"So when are you going back?" Shen Yu asked her.

"I don't know eh ......"

Li Xiang hadn't decided yet, but she definitely wanted to go back, but she didn't know which day she would go back yet, so she asked Shen Yu: " Which day does Shen Yu think it would be better for me to go back?"

"You can't make your own decisions, so why ask me, just answer back if you want to ......"

Shen Yu didn't look at her, his eyes looking ahead, and after some thought he reminded, "If you're sure, you need to buy your ticket early or you won't be able to go back again."

Li Xiang agonized down, she made her own decision ah ...... really good hard to choose.

I wanted to go home early and see my family, but I also wanted to stay with Shen Yu for a few more days.

"But if I go back, I won't be able to spend New Year with Shen Yu ......"

"It's not like I don't care ......"

She suddenly looked Shen Yu in the eyes, "Really?"

Shen Yu was inexplicably a bit vain, avoiding her gaze and changing the subject, "New Year's Day isn't a big holiday on our side either, Chinese New Year is the New Year, you've been out for three months, go home for the New Year."

"So, Shen Yu, is it Christmas?" She asked again.

Christmas is not a traditional holiday in Japan, but it is still the most festive outside of New Year and the Christmas atmosphere is much higher than here.

Shen Yu has never celebrated Christmas. To him, it is not a holiday without a holiday, and it has no special meaning for the Chinese.

When she asked, Shen Yu subconsciously replied that she was not going to spend Christmas, but in her eyes, Shen Yu read what she wanted to say: if Shen Yu spent Christmas with me, then I would go back after Christmas.

"Pass."

After reading the words in her eyes, Shen Yu subconsciously replied in the affirmative, but regretted the words as soon as they were spoken.

What a way to spend it! You're a coder who spends every Christmas in front of a computer screen! Do you know what colour Santa's beard is? Do you know whether to eat an iPhone, eat a banana or drink milk at Christmas? You don't know anything!

"Great!"

Before Shen Yu could say no, Li Xiang jumped up and said to him, "I'll stay with Shen Yu for Christmas! I'll be back in Yokohama on the 26th! Yes! It's a happy decision!"

At this point, Shen Yu has no choice but to say no, and inwardly even feels good about it ......

It is said that girls are extroverted, whether in China or elsewhere, and when they marry, they are bound to go back to their mothers' homes less often than single girls.

If the two families were close to each other, it was fine, but if they were far apart, for example, if a southern girl married in the north, she would be lucky if she could go back to her family once or twice a year, and the journey was a big problem.

In addition, because of the custom, such as Mid-Autumn, Chinese New Year and other big festivals, basically have to spend in the man's family, even if it is the New Year, back to the mother's family will be after the second or third day of the New Year.

Unlike Li Xiang, who is from Yokohama, if she marries in China, the two festivals will be staggered.

If her family is celebrating New Year, Shen Yu can go to Yokohama with her, and if Shen Yu's family is celebrating New Year, Li Xiang can also go with him and his family.

The journey would be even more of a minor issue. A few thousand dollars for a flight would barely make a difference to both of their families, the key is always to be together at the reunion, which is the most meaningful.

Think it's superb?

Shen Yu thought about it more and more, until he walked out of the market and the cold breeze blew in his face and he snapped out of it - what the hell was I thinking? Why did I start thinking about getting married and going back to my mother's house?

Where's my knife? No reaction at all?

Shen Yu quickly suppressed the chaotic thoughts in his mind as his brain worked quickly, not considering that Li Xiang was going home on New Year's Day and his work and life plans were slightly disrupted.

According to the work schedule, the game will be ready to go live next week at the latest, and the business at hand is almost over.

As the end of the school year approaches and others begin to study, he has basically completed his credits and will be able to graduate early when his hours are met next September.

The game company is not Shen Yu's ultimate goal. His idea is to build Three Blues Technology into a high-tech company that provides AI solutions, has its own AI platform and focuses on AI development, but with insufficient funding and experience now, all of this will have to come slowly, perhaps over a period of at least three to five years.

Before Li Xiang arrived, he was quite obsessed with this goal and put almost all his energy into it, thinking nothing but faster and faster ......

Now, however, there is an unconscious change of heart. He seems to be in less of a hurry than before, he has slowed down and is even willing to spend time with Li Xiang when she goes out grocery shopping and spends Christmas with her.

This invisible change was not even noticeable to him, or rather when he did notice it occasionally, his heart always found a reason to be at peace with himself because of some emotional stirring, I guess.

Not knowing what he was thinking, Li Xiang took off her cute gloves once she sat in the back of his electric car and tucked her two little hands into his pockets with a swoosh before hugging him close.

Her little face was pressed against Shen Yu's back and her nose sniffed gently before she frowned again and pulled out a small hand to pat his clothes.

"What are you doing ......"

"I've just been in the market for a long time, your clothes smell like something else, let me take a picture of it for you."

"Are you sniffing me again?"

"No way! Not at all!"

Li Xiang denied it, she was just breathing close to him normally, breathing, can you call it smelling.

Shen Yu was too lazy to bother with her, Li Xiang's perversions always exceeded his imagination, he himself could not smell himself, instead she herself Xiang Xiang's, smell themselves bad.

The electric car started up and she asked him with her little head cocked in the back seat, " Shen Yu, so what are you getting me for Christmas?"

"iPhone ?"

"Can I have a bigger wish?"

"A bigger iPhone then?"

"Don't want to talk to you."

"Great."

"Hmph!"

After a long walk, Shen Yu became a little uncomfortable and coughed twice, but Li Xiang still ignored him.

She was lying behind Shen Yu, and Shen Yu couldn't see her, so he could ignore her, but why are you hugging me so tightly?

As he waited for the traffic lights, he looked down at his two little hands in his coat pockets, not at all honest, moving through his clothes, so that they too bulged and deflated.

Shen Yu didn't bother with the two small hands, just watched the traffic lights read the seconds and suddenly spoke.

"So how many days are you going to stay this time back?"

"I don't know. ......"

"Don't you have any ideas of your own."

"It's not like you don't know me, I'd be miserable if I thought about it myself!"

Li Xiang pressed his face against his back and his voice sounded sticky when he spoke.

She was a homely girl, and if she hadn't known him before, the thought of going home from school, or being away from home, always made her want to run home in a hurry, just as Puffs always ran back from school.

But now, I guess, it's a bit hard to let him go.

Shen Yu has never been one to help others with their ideas, but this time, he was quiet for a while and said in a mosquito-like voice.

"Come back early."

"It's almost the end of the term, come back and revise."