bookbashuk Chapter 851 Are you Mr. Hojo?
Chapter 851 Are you Mr. Hojo?
With the sound of paper being torn, Eriri's fortune slip with "great misfortune" written on it was torn into two halves.
In the girl's shocked eyes, Hojo Kyosuke said with a smile:
"Even if it's the worst, I'm the one who tore it up. Let the worst come to me. This is my fortune stick. Yours is still waiting for you in the stick box."
He casually crumpled the paper into his pocket, held the girl's thin shoulders with both hands, and turned her 180 degrees.
"Go ahead and draw another one," he said with a smile.
"But……"
Ying Lili hesitated, with a complex expression on her face: happy, confused, and questioning...
Is this still possible? Will the gods be angry? Is it really okay to let Kyousuke take the bad luck for me?
"No buts, I like Daixiong the most, Yinglili, do you know that?"
Someone smiled evilly and gently pushed the girl. Unfortunately, no one could understand his pun, even though the Neon language for "Da Xiong" is basically the same as the Chinese pronunciation.
"Hey!"
Ying Lili staggered, turned around and glared at someone in reproach.
"That……"
She thought for a moment, stretched out her little hand, and opened her white palm to someone.
"As for the money, one hundred yen. If you draw a lucky number this time, I'll give you half, just to offset the loss!"
Hojo Kyosuke took out his wallet from his pocket, shook out a coin and handed it over.
So the girl ran to the place to ask for fortune with high morale and joy.
Just as Hojo Kyosuke was looking at Eriri's skipping figure and smiling silently, a voice sounded beside him:
"Is this really a good idea? The Divine Fortune Stick is a message from the gods. Even if you draw something very bad, doesn't it have a good side?"
Hojo Kyosuke didn't turn his head, still looking at Eriri's back. The idiot had already picked up the fortune-telling tube and was shaking it like a bartender. A line quickly formed behind her, but in the face of Eriri who was so serious, everyone forgave her.
Although it always seems that everyone is afraid that Eriri will draw a bad lot and then blame it on everyone present.
"What does it matter? As long as you are happy, isn't that enough? Do you still believe in such things as gods?"
Hojo turned around and looked at the person next to him:
"What about you? What did you draw?"
According to Shintoism, if you don't get a good fortune, you must not draw again, as this is disrespectful to the gods. You can go to another shrine to draw again, but this is probably equivalent to denying the authority of the previous shrine, right? I will trust whoever brings me good luck, which is a pragmatic belief.
Yukinoshita Haruno held the signature paper between two fingers and shook it gently, saying casually:
"Good luck! I have always had good luck."
"Really? Congratulations."
Hojo Kyosuke said this casually without saying much, but looked around the small square of the shrine, looking for the girls.
Yingliang was also queuing up at the lottery, and Mitsuha followed behind Yotsuha. Neither sister drew a lottery. It wasn't because the gods they worshipped would be jealous, after all, they had made a wish before. Instead, Yotsuha said very firmly:
"My shrine hasn't made any money yet, I can't let other shrines take my money for nothing."
This little guy is really determined to make money from the shrine.
After confirming that everyone was fine, Hojo Kyosuke looked at Eriri again.
Oh oh, is this the end of bartending?
He watched as Ying Lili held a bamboo stick in one hand and scratched the wall of the small box with the other hand. When she took out the paper, the expectation on her delicate little face immediately darkened.
Hahaha, am I really that unlucky?
Hojo Kyosuke walked over with a big laugh in his heart, and Eriri also walked out of the fortune-telling place with a sad face.
"a……"
The girl's crying voice sounded, and her small hand weakly raised the signature paper, with the words "very dangerous" extremely conspicuous.
Whose god is this? Is it so fun to bully my Eriri? Is it really that I just give you what you need? If you use puns again, you will be fined!
Hojo Kyosuke was at a loss whether to laugh or cry and stretched out his hand to tear it again, but Eriri's little hand suddenly retracted.
"Tear--"
Two slender white hands pinched the two sides of the divine fortune stick and easily crushed the evil spirit.
“Bullshit!!”
Eriri sniffed and cursed angrily.
As if she was not satisfied enough after tearing the paper in half, she tore it into pieces with a few more tugs.
"You said I'm going to have bad luck? Humph! I'll tear you apart first!
Baka! Baka! Baka! "
Her Royal Highness the Princess began to mutter and curse the gods, and her words were loud and numerous.
"Hahahaha~~"
Hojo Kyosuke was stunned for a moment and then burst into laughter. Very good, you are worthy of being my princess.
However, although you look very handsome when you break feudal superstitions and curse the gods, you look really lazy when you squat on the ground picking up garbage, baby.
Eriri tore the fortune into pieces cleanly and neatly, but her character was far superior to that of Hojo Kyosuke, so she quickly squatted down and started picking up the garbage, cursing as she picked up the garbage.
The tiny pieces of paper stuck to the ground scorched by the sun were very difficult to pick up. One had to pinch the edge with fingernails to pick them up. Soon the princess's delicate little hands were covered in dust, which made her even angrier. She scolded more vigorously.
Hojo Kyosuke laughed even louder because of this, but he was relieved in his heart, thinking that the two consecutive big evil cards should not make this idiot sad, right?
After watching the joke for a while, he found a little witch who was selling souvenirs in the square, borrowed a broom from her in a gentle voice, and swept the scraps of paper on the ground away.
"..."
Squatting on the ground, holding paper scraps in one hand and the other hand covered in dust, Eriri raised her head and looked at someone in silence.
Hojo Kyosuke winked and smirked. He was just teasing Eriri on purpose. This guy was soft-hearted and timid. He was the kind of fool who would be easily deceived. He would buy a package to pray for bad luck at a shrine just because he got a bad luck. Instead of letting others take the money, it would be better for him to smile.
"Let's go and see what lots other people have drawn. If Yukino-chan, Miyamizu-san, or Shizuka-sensei draw good lots, I'll help you grab them all."
"How can there be such a thing!"
Ying Lili, who was squatting on the ground, was amused and burst out laughing. She stood up and was about to hit someone's arm angrily, but her dirty little hands stopped her.
Just as Hojo Kyosuke was about to take out a towel, the dirty little hand had already touched his face.
"Alright! This is your big villain!"
Her Royal Highness the Princess said happily:
"My disciple, I see your face is dark, you must have encountered a great evil hand!"
She was pretending to imitate the old priest, but someone suddenly pulled her hand up and pressed it on her face.
"Ah! I was also attacked!"
she cheered.
Then the two of them walked towards the sink happily. This Double Dragon Water is really great.
Hojo Kyosuke has been to many shrines. Shrines located in hot spring areas usually change the way of drawing fortunes to suit local conditions, and use water divination. That is, the fortune slips are printed with ink that changes color when it comes into contact with water. After the worshippers draw the fortune slips, they put them on the water surface, and the words will appear on them.
He had thought that for a shrine as strategically located as Izusan Shrine, this would be the kind of water divination, but he hadn't expected that to be the case.
He scooped two scoops of cool water to wash his face and hands. Looking at Eriri, who was as cute and lovely as a lotus flower emerging from clear water, Hojo Kyosuke really felt that all his bad luck was sucked away. After all, the energetic Eriri was really different from the dejected look just now, although they were both very cute.
At this time, Sanye came over with Yotsuba and her friends.
"I'm so envious..."
Miyamizu Yotsuba let out a faint sigh.
Hmm? What's wrong with this guy? Didn't he just say that he wanted to learn the money-making techniques of the advanced shrine?
Hojo Kyosuke looked at Mitsuha in confusion, and the latter lowered her head and pouted at the small sink next to the washbasin.
Yotsuba was squatting there, stroking the wooden guardrail with one hand, her eyes full of affection.
Eriri also squatted down and whispered the words written on the guardrail:
"By the order of Tsukishima Coffee Co., Ltd., by the order of the suspension of the agreement..."
Hojo Kyosuke immediately understood that these were all loyal believers who had donated large sums of money to the shrine!
It's not just the guardrails around the pond. Every place in the shrine that can be seen with the naked eye, apart from buildings like the main hall and the worship hall, there are also racks for hanging painted horses, racks for tying fortune sticks, stools, floor tiles, manhole covers... almost all places that can be engraved are filled with the names of the various "sponsors".
"Money, it's all money..."
The money-loving little Yotsuba was drooling with envy. Seeing other shrines making so much money was even more painful to her than having her sister steal her ice cream.
Laughing out loud, Hojo Kyosuke comforted Yotsuba, saying that as soon as her shrine was built, he would immediately help her attract a bunch of sponsors.
But after hearing this, the little girl was not happy at all, but even more miserable. Because the money was right in front of her but she couldn't make it, it was so miserable!!
Her cute appearance made everyone laugh. It turned out that happiness is always built on the pain of others. Eriri, who was laughing, could not understand this at all.
As a few people were chatting and laughing, a little witch came over with a clergyman wearing brown and black hunting clothes.
Although it has always been said that Miyamizu Toshiki is a priest, he should actually be called the chief priest. He has taken over the heavy responsibility of Miyamizu Futaba and is the person with the highest status in the entire shrine. The titles that sound more powerful, such as the chief priest and the priest, are actually listed below the chief priest. However, since Miyamizu Shrine has always had only one full-time priest, it doesn't matter what he is called.
When exchanging souls with Mitsuha, Hojo Kyosuke inevitably learned a lot of Shinto knowledge. For example, the old man wearing a gauze hat and hunting clothes who was walking towards them now, he recognized at a glance that he was the chief priest of the shrine, not other workers like the chief priests.
Miyamizu Mitsuha also had a puzzled expression on her face. She obviously didn't know why the chief priest of Izusan Shrine had the time to wander around on such a busy day.
Izusan Jinja Shrine is not a rural shrine like Miyamizu Jinja Shrine that is not even affiliated with the shrine headquarters. Instead, it was named the "Sehanbashu General Guard" shrine in the Kamakura period. In other words, in the Neon Hachiman Jinja Shrine, the chief priest is equivalent to the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
Fortunately, everyone didn't have to wait too long. When they were still about ten meters away, the priest wearing glasses and a brown-black hunting robe quickly passed the shrine maiden who was leading the way, and greeted everyone with an extremely bright smile on his face, and uttered an enthusiastic voice:
"You are Mr. Hojo Kyousuke, right?"
Okay, the case is solved.
In 0.01 seconds, Hojo Kyosuke calmly put on a sales smile and greeted him with the same enthusiasm. Then there was a boring and tedious exchange of pleasantries between adults.
After introducing each other, the chief priest named Jingxia Haojing asked enthusiastically:
"Did Mr. Hojo come to Atami City to collect materials for his new work?"
Someone nodded with a smile. This kind of thing cannot be denied. Once there is a time when it is not for collecting inspiration, it is hard to explain if you do bad things again. Only when everything you do is for collecting inspiration, will the public have a strong tolerance for writers.
"Oh my, I have to say you have a very good eye. Although it's not as famous as places like Hakone, we are also very popular among people in the cultural world."
Inoue Yoshii's face was full of smiles, and he then enthusiastically introduced the celebrities who had lived in seclusion in Atami or had died.
"Have you heard of Honinbo Shusai? The one known as the 'unbeatable master', he often played chess at our shrine when he was alive, and my grandfather even learned a trick from him. Honinbo once praised the spring water at our shrine, saying that drinking the spring water after playing chess can relieve brain fatigue."
Having said that, he raised his head, and his eyes, which were only slightly larger than green beans, hidden behind the lenses, looked at Hojo Kyosuke expectantly.
Just when someone was surprised that hand washing water could be drunk, and wanted to learn about the harm of drinking raw water, he heard the other party continue:
"Teacher Hojo has washed his hands with our spring water, so he will surely be able to write even better works!"
Asshole! Your hairy spring water can be used externally or internally? It's too versatile!
Hojo Kyosuke complained in his heart, but when he thought of how fresh and cute Eriri looked after washing her face, he couldn't help but nodded and said "yes" sincerely.
"Do you have any inspiration now? Do you want to write a poem or a Japanese poem?" Inoue Yoshii asked eagerly.
"..."
Hojo Kyosuke's expression did not change, and he looked at the priest who liked to dig wells with a dim gaze.
My good neighbors are just looking forward to absorbing my spiritual energy and increasing the value of their land after I die, but you are directly booking my posthumous work, right?
Although he thought so, he did not refuse. He took this opportunity to take the tour group to visit the main hall of the shrine and the areas that are not allowed for tourists. At worst, he could say that your shrine is too high and my brain is lacking oxygen and I have no inspiration at all. Although the altitude of this shrine is only 170 meters. (End of this chapter)