bookbashuk Chapter 603: Kyoto's Son-in-Law
Chapter 603: Kyoto's Son-in-Law
Chapter 603: Kyoto's Son-in-Law
Not only does Kyoto not have an airport, but its subway is also underdeveloped. I wonder if it’s because there are too many cultural relics in the city that need to be protected, or if the slow and shaky buses are more to the taste of Kyoto people.
Tokyo has a unique advantage in building transportation routes. It can build a road wherever it wants, without having to worry about stubborn residents or cultural relics protection, because kind-hearted people have already helped it complete the demolition work.
The Kamogawa River is not a stream, but a body of water that runs through the entire Kyoto. The Kamo River and the Kono River form the Kamogawa Delta at the Kamo Bridge. It is truly called the Kamogawa River only here.
The scenery of each section of the Kamogawa River is different, but the most popular are the Kamogawa Delta area and the lower area.
As a local, Sakura is familiar with the route. She knows that although someone has been jogging since childhood, he is too lazy to walk to the jogging place. He takes the bus if possible and rides a bike if possible. Therefore, the bus route he chooses is the one that takes him to the Kamogawa River in three minutes after getting off the bus.
But although it has been sung in countless literary works, audio and video films, how beautiful can a river be? The magnificent and unique scenery may make people marvel for a while, but what really makes people linger is the cultural heritage hidden in the scenery. The Kamo River is such a river.
The Kamogawa is Kyoto’s Kamogawa, and Kyoto is the Kyoto of the Kamogawa.
It is adjacent to Kyoto's most prosperous Sanjo Street and Shimonoseki, and if we go back two hundred years, we can say that the people of Kyoto, from daily life to business, washed clothes by the Kamogawa River, introduced running water for fire prevention, and dyed cloth. Merchants from all over the country gathered along the river, and the goods were transported to all parts of the country. From infants to adults, they fished in the Kamogawa when they were young and held hands beside the Kamogawa when they grew up. Everything is closely related to the Kamogawa River.
Even now, on spring nights, the people of Kyoto always have the habit of filling their stomachs at the colorful food street in Pontocho first, then taking a takeaway snack with them, walking along the pedestrian path beside the Kamogawa River, feeling the cool breeze blowing from the river, listening to the laughter and whispers of passers-by, and throwing the day's fatigue and worries into the water.
Since she set foot on Kyoto, Yamauchi Sakura automatically switched to Kyoto dialect, also known as Kyoto dialect. Because there are many people in her family and their hometowns are almost all over the country, Hojo Kyosuke is quite familiar with the dialects of several major regions in Japan. Among them, Sakura's Kyoto dialect is her favorite. It is very elegant, gentle and soft. Even a girl as energetic (impatient) as Sakura is forced to slow down her speech speed when speaking Kyoto dialect, which makes her sound like she is easy to bully.
Every sentence ends with a different ending sound. For example, thank you~~what are you doing~~I really like you~~
On the other hand, Osaka is next to Kyoto. Although the distance is very close, it feels like people from two completely different places speak. The Osaka dialect is generally louder and faster.
If a Kyoto person talks to an Osaka person, people who don't know the reason will think that the Osaka person is bullying the Kyoto person. Well, Osaka dialect is quite suitable for Eriri. She is obviously weak, but she pretends to be very powerful and raises her voice. It will make people feel more like bullying her, and the fun of bullying will be doubled.
After the two of them got on the bus, what Hojo Kyosuke didn't expect was that Sakura actually met two familiar old men on the bus. They were called old men, but after introducing themselves, they were only 70 years old, and looked like young men in their 50s.
Well, the reason why I said he was a young man in his fifties was because Sakura said something and the two old men held Hojo Kyousuke's arms and gave him their seats. He refused, but the two old men were very determined:
"This is the treatment a son-in-law in Kyoto should have!"
However, Yamauchi Sakura herself was still holding the railing and standing steadily. She was squeezed in the middle by two old ladies, chatting about various things. The most talked about thing was "insulting" Tokyo and praising Kyoto. Not only the two old ladies, but other passengers in the car were also laughing happily.
In between the conversations, Sakura secretly winked at Hojo Kyousuke, meaning, I am awesome~~
Sitting in his seat as if a needle was stuck in his butt, Hojo Kyosuke smiled helplessly, feeling that the love from his beloved wife was really heavy.
Yingliang's infectiousness seems to be innate. Whether she is facing people of the same age or elders, she can always find the perfect way to get along with them. The younger generation will regard her as a respectable senior, the peers will regard her as a confidant, and the elders will be happy to have such a smart and well-behaved junior.
Her voice was melodious and graceful, even a short three-character sentence could be said to be full of twists and turns. It could indeed be called elegant, but one had to be patient. An impatient person would probably get angry before he could finish a sentence, but it was more likely that
Her cheerfulness and vitality seem to be incompatible with the slow and leisurely pace of life in Kyoto, but they are unified in a wonderful way.
Hojo Kyosuke sat on the chair that Sakura had snatched from two old ladies in their seventies, silently watching Sakura at this moment.
Now she was talking and laughing all the time, and even the people of Kyoto, who were extremely particular about propriety, were infected by her and showed great enthusiasm. Even Hojo Kyosuke was taken great care of. Several people who had just finished shopping even shared some food with him and gave him a small fan they got from the mall, telling him that he could fan himself whenever he wanted.
No one praised Sakura for her vitality. Instead, two old men asked her to speak more quietly in a reproachful manner. However, Hojo Kyosuke knew that they were not really blaming her. If these Kyoto people really praised Sakura for her vitality, they would think she was noisy. By blaming her, they were shutting other people up in advance.
The only thing that made Hojo Kyosuke a little jealous was that when Sakura spoke Kyoto dialect, even if she was just saying very ordinary words, it seemed like she was acting like a spoiled child. Fortunately, the person he was talking to was already in his seventies.
After listening for a while, he finally understood that these two elderly people were colleagues of Yingliang's grandparents, although they are now retired.
When introducing Sakura, in addition to saying that this is my boyfriend, she also naturally mentioned that Hojo Kyosuke is a novelist and cartoonist. Although the two old people were reserved, they still exclaimed a few times, and when they were about to get off the car, they kept asking Sakura to bring Hojo Kyosuke to their home to play, just like when they were children.
"Hehe, great~~ I'll go next time~~"
Yingliang smiled and waved her hands vigorously, her eight neat teeth shining whitely.
"Ah, it's been a while since I last saw Mori and his grandparents. It's great that they're still so energetic."
The girl said this, and naturally hugged Hojo Kyosuke's arm, then raised her smiling face and said with a smile:
"How is it! Are you happy to come out with me?"
As if she was possessed by Momotaro, she kept asking for rewards.
Although having an old man give up his seat for me is not really an honor, but just as Sakura said, it is very happy!
Other boyfriends have to give up their seats to their girlfriends, but my Sakura just punches...scams...well, tricks the old man into giving up his seat for me.
"Next time I'll do a horse stance and you'll sit on me!" Hojo Kyosuke was too embarrassed to say that he was indeed very happy, so he just turned his face away to avoid Sakura's sight and said so.
"Hehe~~ Kyosuke is shy~"
Sakura grabbed Kyosuke's arm and came to him, tilting her little face up and speaking in a cute and melodious Kyoto accent.
This slow and gentle tone can really make people intoxicated. Hojo Kyosuke was also fascinated by it, so he put his right hand around the girl's back and held her waist tightly.
After getting off the bus, the two waited for the green light and followed the crowd through two roads to the Kamo Bridge, which is a good place to overlook Kyoto. Mount Hiei in the north and Mount Higashiyama in the east are clearly visible, and farther away is the legendary Ruyi Mountain, on which the word "Da" can also be seen clearly.
“This is the best place to watch the “Daiminji Sending Fire” (Goshan Sending Fire) event.”
Sakura was lying on the railing of the bridge, with her upper body almost sticking out of the bridge, but she didn't need to hold on to anything, and she looked into the distance with her hands shading in front of her forehead, not seeming to be worried about falling at all.
If you're still worried when Kyousuke is around, then there's no point in worrying.
“Let’s watch it together this year.”
Hojo Kyosuke gently stroked Sakura's back with one hand, and looked out at the lush mountains in the distance. As evening approached, the water vapor that had risen during the day seemed to settle slightly, and the forests and mountains became darker.
The "Big Character Fire" is a huge bonfire in the shape of characters lit on the six mountains surrounding Kyoto City. The fire is so big that the characters can be clearly seen from dozens of kilometers away. If environmentalists see it, they may immediately commit suicide out of shame. However, there is no need to worry about fire safety, because there are countless people around each small fire, and each person can put out the fire with a spit.
The meaning of this ceremony is to send off the ghosts, and to send the ghosts of ancestors who came during the Yulan Festival back to the underworld. It is a bit like the Day of the Dead in the West, in short, it is to worship the dead.
"It's very crowded. It is said that the number of people who are squeezed off the Moga Bridge every year can block the water of the Kamogawa River." Sakura turned around.
"It doesn't matter. I'll throw them all down before they squeeze through."
"Hehe, that's good~"
The water of Kamo River under the bridge is sparkling. The flow is not strong, but the gurgling sound of water can be heard clearly even in the chaotic daytime, making people wonder whether they are in the downtown area or have entered a winding world.
The left and right sides of the river are not at the same height. There is water on one side, but the stone riverbed underneath is exposed on the other side.
"Come on, I'll take you to do turtle jumping." Sakura jumped down from the guardrail, grabbed Hojo Kyosuke's hand and started jogging impatiently.
She really didn't fit in with the slow-paced city of Kyoto.
Going down the path on the side, the two soon arrived at the river.
Osaka next door is the real "Water City" with a much more developed water area than Kyoto, but its rivers are all fenced off and simply serve as waterways, so the rivers are not close to people. On the other hand, the Kamogawa River, which runs through the entire Kyoto, has no fences, and many people walk and fish on the shore. On clear summer days, you can often see groups of kindergarten children picnicking on the banks of the Kamogawa River. Even if they don't fall into the water, they may be rescued by people swimming in the river before they can call for help.
Not far below the bridge is the Kamogawa Delta, where the Kono River and the Kamo River meet. Because the two rivers meet, the river channel here is the widest, and the "Jumping Stone Bridge" in the river channel is also the longest. "Jumping Stone Bridge", as the name suggests, is a bridge that jumps on stones. The bridge connecting the two banks is not an arch bridge, but a stone placed on the riverbed, a section above the water surface. This is where Yamauchi Sakura mentioned "jumping turtle".
"When we were in kindergarten, we often came here and used skipping stones as a test of courage."
Yingliang stepped on a square stone and whispered.
She was clearly stepping very steadily, but her left hand was flapping as if she had lost balance, and her right hand was still tightly holding onto Hojo Kyosuke behind her, as if she was ready to force him into the water.
"Humph, if Kyousuke was here at that time, we would definitely be the most powerful couple!"
The girl said proudly. It is easy to imagine that for a kindergarten kid with broken arms and legs, even skipping stones that are close together is a huge challenge.
Hojo Kyosuke raised the corner of his mouth slightly as he listened to Sakura mumbling about her childhood.
I heard her say that she almost fell into the water when she jumped onto the edge of a stone for the first time, which left a trauma. I heard her say that she was teased by her friends, so she jumped five stones in a row to get to the middle of the water. When she was in a dilemma, she heard her friends exclaiming, so she continued to jump forward for the sake of her dignity. I heard her say how she became the king of the children with her increasingly sophisticated stone-jumping skills...
Like other Kyoto residents, the girl’s childhood seemed inseparable from the river, the Kamogawa.
Suddenly, the little hand holding Hojo Kyosuke stopped.
"Well……"
Yamauchi Sakura murmured with wisdom, stopped jumping on the stones, and slowly squatted down.
Hojo Kyosuke, who was being pulled tightly, had to squat down. Then he saw Sakura gently stroking the stepping stones under his feet with her hand.
It is a turtle-shaped jumping stone, which is very cute. The jumping stones here are not only square, but also turtles, starfish, etc., so children like to play this game so much.
Sakura squatted down and watched very seriously. Hojo Kyosuke looked at her from the side and saw that the girl's bright amber eyes were full of concentration and thought.
So he also moved forward, squatted on a turtle with Yingliang, reached out his hands and stroked the huge stone turtle together, and together they tried to comprehend the mystery of it.
There were many people walking along the river, and some wanted to cross the stone bridge. Fortunately, there were two stones side by side in the places with the alien stone bridges, so Hojo Kyosuke just looked up and gave an apologetic smile to the people passing by. Sakura didn't care. Hojo Kyosuke suspected that if someone really wanted to talk to her, they would be dragged down by this guy to study the stones together.
Five pedestrians walked by and seven small fish swam by. Yes, there are many fish in the Kamo River, and they are quite big, so there are many people fishing.
Sakura seemed to have finally finished her research and turned to look at Hojo Kyousuke. Her cute little face was full of excitement:
"Hey hey! Kyosuke, doesn't this turtle look like me!?"
The girl's tone was extremely excited, as if she had suddenly discovered that she was a human being. If you didn't know her, you would think she had solved the world's unsolved mysteries.
"Turtle? You?"
Hojo Kyosuke blinked. Even though they had been childhood sweethearts for so many years, he still couldn't keep up with Sakura's thinking.
However, his invincible brain quickly gave an answer, but he immediately rejected it. Although he taught Sakura a lot of knowledge from his previous life, there was nothing related to turtles. This guy couldn't be talking about that kind of thing!
"Where does it look like?"
Hojo Kyosuke said in surprise, then lowered his head to look at the stone turtle and guessed:
"They're all equally cute?"
"Hehe~~"
Yingliang smiled innocently:
“Although I know I’m cute, I’m not~”
When the two were talking, people passing by would stop and look at them curiously, give them a kind smile and then continue on their way.
"Where does it look like?"
Yamauchi Sakura muttered something, and Hojo Kyosuke guessed that this girl herself didn't know where they were similar, and she was probably just being crazy when she said that.
The girl stood up, patted the dust off her hands on her butt, and said casually:
"I don't know how they look alike. If they don't look alike, then they don't look alike~"
She said it very freely and without any reluctance, then she stepped hard on the stones and pulled Hojo Kyosuke forward.
As soon as these words came out, Hojo Kyosuke felt that it was true.
I don’t know how long the turtle under my feet has been washed by the river water in Kamo River and has been stepped on by countless generations of people, but it doesn’t care and can’t care at all.
Where's Sakura?
"If you think that everything I say has a profound meaning, you are totally wrong, idiot Kyousuke!"
Thanks to the big guys for their monthly tickets, recommendation tickets and reward support, thank you.
(End of this chapter)