Zongman: Unknowingly trapped in the hatchet

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The neon lights of Ginza light up one after another in the twilight.

It was about seven o'clock.

GINZA SIX is a shopping mall that brings together many high-end brands.

The glass curtain wall reflects the blurred outlines of passers-by.

The platinum necklace in the window glowed with liquid luster under the warm light. Yukino's fingertips gently tapped on the velvet cloth of the booth, like the preparatory movements of a world-class pianist before an audition.

"Cartier's Panther series is more suitable for dinner occasions, but if it is worn daily..."

Yukino's voice suddenly stopped.

She accidentally caught a glimpse of the faint mark on Su Qing's neck, which left a faint blush, like strawberry jam seeping out of the snow.

Did your girlfriend plant it?

Yukino's thoughts didn't wander for too long, she continued quickly.

"Tiffany's irises are nice. You're probably going to give them to your girlfriend, right?"

Su Qing stared at Xueno's fluttering eyelashes as she spoke. Those jewelry terms that were difficult for ordinary people to understand sounded as leisurely and natural in her mouth as the slowly falling snow in winter.

When Yukino turned around, the delicate scent of plum blossoms kept the distance between them just right.

She frowned slightly, and asked in a somewhat unhappy tone, "Why are you ignoring me?"

It was almost seven o'clock when Yukino came out of Hikigaya's house, but she received an invitation from Yui just as she was parting with her at the station.

But she didn't want to come originally.

After all, Su Qing has a girlfriend. Even if they are friends who have a decent relationship, they will be misunderstood if they go out alone, right?

Xueno didn't want this to happen.

However, after hearing Su Qing's request, she finally agreed.

After all, for these luxury items, special research is still required.

What's more...it was a rare request from a friend, and Yukino subconsciously didn't want to refuse.

"I was just thinking that you know a lot."

Su Qing retracted his gaze and turned to look at the models that Xue Noi mentioned, and said.

"Isn't this the reason why you came to me?" Xue Nai glanced at Su Qing calmly, "By the way, you haven't told me what your budget is."

"Probably a few hundred thousand Sakura yen."

Su Qing quickly came up with a number in his mind, but this was not his financial limit.

It is the psychological limit that Mahiru can accept.

If the gift is too expensive, depending on the other person's personality, he or she will most likely feel distressed and unhappy.

If this is true, the loss would outweigh the gain.

"Really? Then there are still a lot of styles to choose from."

Xueno nodded slightly, and looked at Su Qing with a little more curiosity.

Hundreds of thousands of Sakura yen, although not a lot for her, the second Miss Yukinoshita, it is already a considerable amount for a college student who has no income yet.

Not to mention that based on her understanding of the other party, it is impossible for him to be so stubborn.

Su Qing stared at the iris necklace in the other person's mouth without saying anything, as if he was thinking. After a while, he slowly said:

"Do you think there will be a gardenia necklace?"

"Gardenia?"

Xueno was stunned. She searched in her mind for a long time but couldn't find a style that met her requirements.

"There should be some, but I don't know much about it. But since you have special requirements, if you are not in a hurry to send it, come with me. I will take you to some stores that specialize in custom-made products."

Not long after, Su Qing followed her to another store. Compared with the previous one, there were obviously fewer people coming and going.

Soon a waiter came up to serve them.

She was a woman, probably in her twenties, with a dignified appearance and a smile on her face.

"Dear guests, how can I help you?"

"If you want to customize it, I personally recommend Tiffany, but you can choose other brands if you like."

Yukino just nodded at the clerk, seeming to be accustomed to this kind of service.

"Then... I'll listen to you. After all, you know more about this than I do."

Su Qing doesn't care about the specific brand, he only cares whether the store can be designed to meet his requirements.

"Um...really?"

When Xueno heard this, her lips curled up slightly, like a rainbow bridge that suddenly appeared after the rain.

She suddenly realized that it was a good idea to let others listen to her opinions?

"So what kind of custom-made one does this gentleman want?"

The clerk maintained a polite smile and his attitude remained respectful.

"A necklace based on the gardenia flower, with the stamens embellished with small diamonds..."

Su Qing explained his needs bit by bit based on the ideas in his mind.

"Okay, we have a general understanding of your needs. Can you add a contact method?

At that time, there will be a dedicated person to coordinate with you, and the designer will provide a design sample. If you are not satisfied, you can make adjustments.

After the final confirmation, we will start production, which will take about one to two weeks, and you will need to come in person to pick it up.

In addition, because it is custom-made, you will need to pay a 20% deposit first. "

"Wait, this card should work, right?"

A platinum-colored card reflected the light, like the reflection of an autumn lake.

Those were some valuable gifts given by Yukino when she attended a family banquet in an attempt to curry favor with the Yukinoshita family.

But the person he was trying to curry favor with was not her, but her elder sister Yang Nai.

However, Yang Nai didn't seem to be interested in this, probably because he had collected too many similar things.

So after going around in circles, Yang No threw her to Yukino like a toy.

According to Yang Nai, you can enjoy a discount here, but the specific discount is unclear.

"Ah... it's a VIP card, you can get a 10% discount, don't worry, we will automatically waive this fee for you when the time comes."

The clerk took the card and quickly used a special machine to verify its authenticity.

"Thank you very much, I didn't expect you had this kind of card."

After finishing everything, now just need to wait for the designer's response.

According to the time given by the store clerk, Su Qing calculated that he could deliver it to Mahiru on 12.6.

December 12.6th is her birthday.

"There's nothing to thank me for. This card isn't entirely mine. If you want to thank someone, then thank my sister and the people at the party."

Yukino shook her head, "I think I have completed your request. Is there anything else?"

Although doing this feels a bit like completing a task, it's fine this way...

“Now that we are here, there is no rush to go back.

My headphones just haven’t been working well lately, so please go with me to buy some.”

Su Qing said this without giving Xue No a chance to refuse, and went straight to the digital products area.

Xue Nai stood there in a daze, looking at Su Qing's back getting farther and farther away, her eyes suddenly becoming complicated.

Forget it...I'm here anyway.

Compared to accessories, boys are probably more knowledgeable about electronic products.

It didn't take Su Qing long to choose the headphones he wanted, but when checking out, Xue Noi was surprised to find that he had bought two pairs.

Should I give the extra one to my girlfriend?

Is this love...?

Yukino's calm face didn't reveal much abnormality.

She wasn't envious or jealous.

It seems to be some kind of complexity that is more indescribable and inexplicable.

……

Walking out of the shopping mall, Su Qing noticed white dots in the sky, like sesame seeds, covering the low night sky of Ginza.

In the blue light of the building's advertising screen, the first snowflake is falling on the pixel of Santa Claus's red hat.

The snowstorm that came in from the revolving door startled the lily of the valley brooch on Yukino's scarf.

She stood under the eaves and looked up. When the fine snow fell on her eyelashes, the lazy feeling left on her skin by the mall's heating instantly dissipated.

"It seems... the snow in Tokyo is coming earlier than usual this year."

Yukino slowly stretched out her hand, and the falling snow slowly dissolved as if it were meeting water.

Yet it looks like a disappearing constellation of stars.

Yes, there are stars tonight.

"Remember you asked me before whether it would snow in Tokyo this year. I think I can answer you now."

Xueno turned her head and said to Su Qing with a faint smile.

"Isn't it too late?"

"Will it? This is obviously the first snow of the year. I told you so right away."

Yukino's voice became lighter, perhaps it had something to do with her name?

People who are born on snowy days probably have an indescribable attachment to snow.

“Snow…?”

Su Qing slowly raised his eyes, and his eyes were filled with silver that was gradually filled with white snow.

Under the colorful neon lights, the falling snow glows with a faint halo, just like fireflies flying all over the sky in the autumn fields, enchanting and beautiful.

The memory was suddenly stretched very long.

The winter in the south is very cold. There is no heating, and the north wind is howling and raging.

When I was still in the orphanage, I remember that everyone was always wearing new cotton coats and sweaters bought by the director, and they huddled together like randomly growing weeds.

The cold in the south and the cold in the north are not the same thing.

Therefore, it doesn’t snow in the south, and even if it does, it won’t accumulate into snow and cover the vast land.

Therefore, for many southerners, watching snow has become an obsession for a long time.

Well...it's just like in elementary school art class, we always liked to draw an apple tree with a few apples of different sizes on an 8-fold paper.

As I grew up, I found out that there were no apple trees in the South. I thought to myself that one day I must see with my own eyes what an apple tree looks like.

This is probably the kind of romance that only southerners can understand.

But the dean is from the north, and in an era when everyone was trying hard to move to the north, he chose to retire in a small county town.

Fortunately, he had seen both the apple tree and snow.

Therefore, young and ignorant children always ask what snow is and whether it can be eaten.

Year after year.

The dean always happily repeated over and over again:

"Xue, those are eraser crumbs from the gods. Can eraser crumbs be eaten?

It is specially used to wipe off the sun that melts during the day. It is very interesting.

But it doesn't snow here, we have to go far north to get there.

But I have some White Rabbit milk candy, which is the same color as snow, try it."

The confused children soon burst into exclamations one after another.

"So snow can't be eaten..."

"Wow, White Rabbit is so delicious!"

"I think snow should be mixed with White Rabbit and eaten with ketchup."

"Dean, we will definitely go to faraway places to see snow and apple trees in the future! We will bring snow and apples back to you then!"

……

Su Qing was standing by the door at that time, listening quietly to the noise.

There was no one around, but there were a few stray cats wandering around the yard.

There was no expression on his face, and at a ten-year-old age he was frighteningly calm.

But I was thinking in my heart.

Isn’t snow just a solid form of water, isn’t it just water vapor in the atmosphere forming ice crystals under certain temperature conditions?

He tilted his head and listened to the laughter of children of his age, as if he was observing and understanding this behavior.

But I am still confused and still feel out of place.

When he came to his senses, he found that the dean was also grinning at him, then waved at him and beckoned him over.

Ah...he knows.

It turned out that the dean had left him a White Rabbit milk candy that looked as white as snow.

……

Later, Su Qing became rich and the dean was gone.

The first thing he did with the money was to go north to see the snow and the apple trees.

But just like how people living along the coast look at the sea, it is only attractive to outsiders who have never seen it.

The snow melted on my shoulders and the coldness came over me, just like countless sparse and ordinary sunsets and evenings.

In fact, many times, those obsessions that have been entangled for many years.

In the end, it is nothing more than scattered snow on the ground, melting at the touch of a finger, that's all.

……

……