CHAPTER XXI

Sakata Gintoki took the rag with a blank face and wiped the tatami mats that were trampled on by Ao Ling and threw a large puddle of water.

Ao Ling crouched on the porch outside the house, staring at the natural curls in the room with a pair of dark eyes, and a thin sound came out of his throat - similar to the whimper of a dog after doing something bad.

"It's useless to be coquettish." Sakata Ginshi twisted the rag and turned his head to look at Ao Ling who was squatting at the door, "Cub, Abba is very disappointed in you. ”

Ao Ling snorted twice, shook his ears, and shook his tail that landed on the somewhat wet floor.

Sakata Gintoki walked out of the house with a dirty basin of water, "Talking about people." ”

"I was wrong." Ao Ling followed Sakata Gintoki's lap, wanting to make up for the mistake he had just made, "I hunted a wild boar for you today!" ”

When Sakata Gintoki heard this, he reflexively wanted to praise a few words, and then suddenly reacted that something was wrong, so he hummed: "It's better than a few boxes of strawberry milk." ”

Ao Ling looked at Sakata Yinshi and splashed a basin of dirty water, looked at the small puddle outside the house for a while, and snorted aggrievedly, "...... But I don't have any money. ”

Sakata Gintoki lowered his eyes and looked at the black dog on his lap, and had no doubt that if Ao Ling had money in his hand at this moment, he would immediately run to Hagi City to buy him a few boxes of strawberry milk and come back.

Yes, it's so sweet and so petty!

It's a pity that they are poor.

Since living in Matsushita Village School, Ao Ling has never gone out to eat Tianren, so naturally he has no income.

Sakata Gintoki didn't know that Ao Ling would be fed blood by Yoshida Matsuyo every few days, he just thought that Ao Ling had grown up, so the demand for food gradually became controllable.

After all, Ling Sakata's race is special, and it can't be guessed by common sense.

- And those gods and gods chatter about demons and monsters, isn't it said that you can survive without eating, basking in the moon and inhaling yin qi every day.

So for Ao Ling, who doesn't need to eat so much, but is in an unexpectedly good state, Sakata Gintoki accepted the setting of his inner brain supplement very smoothly.

Sakata Gintoki squatted down, put the basin aside, reached out and grabbed Ao Ling's two front paws to make him stand up half-up, his face was serious, "Ah Ling, let's have a discussion." ”

Ao Ling felt that her belly was cold like this, and she was very insecure when she was blown by the wind with cold rain.

He looked up at Gintoki Sakata, but he still didn't pull his front paws back in the end - Gintoki Sakata wouldn't hurt him anyway.

The black dog snorted in response, his ears chattering in the wind.

"I'll leave the next few days of cooking and cleaning to me in exchange for what you've just done...... Gintoki Sakata said, a sad look on his face, "You can do it lightly at night in the future." ”

The daily life of Gintoki Sakata and Ao Ling is divided into three types.

The first is to cook and clean, the second is to learn to practice, and the third is to beat Yinshi and be beaten by Ah Ling.

Sakata Gintoki has been committed to changing the last point, but because the strength between the two is a species relationship, Sakata Gintoki has no idea what to do with the change of his body, so he chose to fool Ao Ling.

"But I've lightened myself." If he hadn't moved lightly, those protégés of Sakata Gintoki and Matsushita Murajuku would have turned into a pile of corpses a long time ago.

So Ao Ling was a little confused about Sakata Gintoki's request, "Let's take it lightly ......"

What's the difference between that and touching twice?

"You look at the scars on Ah Yin's body, and besides, your movements are very light!" Sakata Gintoki felt that such a big racial difference was really very desperate, he rolled up his sleeves and showed the bruises on his body to Ao Ling, "It hurts!" ”

"Oh......" Ao Ling finally understood what Sakata Gintoki was hiding beneath these words, "You want me to release water, Gintoki." ”

"How can you say release water!" Sakata Gintoki, who was seen through the purpose, had a serious face and quibbled: "It's just for you to be lighter!" ”

Ao Ling didn't care what he said, what he cared about was: "Teacher Songyang will see it." ”

"It's time to test your acting skills, Mr. Ling Sakata!"

"You're right, but I refuse, Mr. Gintoki Sakata."

"......" Sakata Gintoki put down the two front paws of the black dog, sighed deeply, and said again: "Cub, Abba is very disappointed in you, really. ”

Ao Ling glanced at the anger around Sakata Yinshi, and found that after his little anger had subsided, he ruthlessly stretched out his paws and pointed in the direction of the kitchen, "Disappointed Yinshi, Abba, it's time for you to cook." ”

……

Takasugi Shinsuke put down his hat and small knife at the door, sat quietly opposite Yoshida Matsuyo, and watched Yoshida Matsuyo copy the book in silence.

The oil lamp burns steadily, emitting an elegant aroma.

Yoshida Matsuyo dropped the last stroke of the paper, carefully set it aside to dry, turned around and opened the lampshade on the side, and fiddled with the wick to make the room light up again before he spoke, "Welcome back, Takasugi." ”

Takasugi Shinsuke looked a little restrained at this moment, but he still showed a slightly happy face, became serious, and bowed to Yoshida Matsuyo, "I'm back." ”

"Takasugi, you know what it means for you to come back to me, right?" Yoshida Matsuyo looked at the eldest young master of the samurai family steadily, and turned his gaze to the luggage that was placed at the door, "You can't go back to the Takasugi family." ”

"I know, Mr. Songyang." Takasugi Shinsuke lowered his eyes and was silent for a while, then looked up at Yoshida Matsuyo, and his tone was completely determined, "Didn't you expect it a long time ago?" ”

Yoshida Matsuyo was stunned, a few smiles suddenly appeared on his face, and he nodded, "Indeed." ”

He really knew from the beginning that Takasugi Shinsuke would definitely leave the family that conflicted with his righteousness.

Conversely, Takasugi's family will not allow a successor who runs counter to the family's interests and beliefs.

In fact, if Takasugi Shinsuke never gave in to the family and did not sneak out of his family, what awaited him might only be house arrest, but it was also possible that the Takasugi family who failed the mission would hand it over to the lord of Choshu or even the shogunate to pay for his own faults.

These are all possible, but now that Takasugi Shinsuke has run out, it means that he has made up his mind and chose the latter between his family and Taiyi.

Since then, it has nothing to do with the Takasugi family.

Takasugi knew this very well, but he didn't think he was doing anything wrong.

He respected his heart and chose his own path, and compared with the loss and pain of leaving home, his heart was more joyful that he was able to stick to his own views and embark on the right path.

and the joy of knowing that the teacher he longed for also agreed with his choice.

These sweet tastes overshadowed the coldness and disappointment in his heart, and even made Takasugi Shinsuke feel a deep sense of pleasure.

Essentially, Shinsuke Takasugi is quite an ego person.

In his world, all he needs is those who can enter his eyes and calm his heart, who can understand him, support him, and accompany him, then for Takasugi Shinsuke, no pain is far less intense than that joy.

Yoshida Matsuyo sees people very accurately, he knows how proud Shinsuke Takasugi is—especially such a proud person, facing such a major turning point at such an age, eight times out of ten. Nine will follow their own heart and act spontaneously.

To put it simply, it's the rebellious period.

The more he is not allowed to do anything, the more he will do it, especially for his own body and the outside world, when there is nothing wrong with what he has done, the more he will be determined that Takasugi Shinsuke would rather break the cauldron and retreat by himself, but also stick to his own body.

"I want to know...... Why is the teacher sure that I will come back? Takasugi paused as he spoke, and then asked, "Even if I leave home, I won't necessarily come to you, Sensei." ”

"The teacher still has this confidence." Yoshida Matsuyo shook his head with a smile, and it was not good to directly expose the fact that Takasugi Jinsuke had nowhere to go.

Takasugi was silent, he watched Yoshida Matsuyo carefully cut a stack of papers, and then neatly folded them together, took out a thick piece of green paper from the bookcase on the side, wrapped the stack of books, pulled the thread with a sharp thick needle, and bound it into a book.

The pouring rain outside the window gradually subsided.

Yoshida Matsuyo pushed the book with no name on the green cover in front of the eldest young master opposite, "It's for you." ”

Takasugi Shinsuke was stunned for a moment, and looked up at Yoshida Matsuyo blankly.

"But only half of it has been copied, and you can copy the remaining half yourself." Yoshida Matsuyo moved his wrist and stood up, clasped his hands in his sleeves and looked down at Takasugi Shinsuke, "Sensei, I didn't expect you to come so quickly. ”

Takasugi Shinsuke clenched the book copied by Yoshida Matsuyo himself, and was speechless for a while.

"Get up, Yinshi and Ling should be ready for dinner."

"Ah......" Takasugi Shinsuke came back to his senses, nodded, and hurriedly stood up and followed Yoshida Matsuyo out of the house.

Outside, the sky had reappeared, and the heavy clouds had dispersed, revealing a clear blue sky behind it.

Shinsuke Takasugi squinted slightly to adjust to the sudden light, and then suddenly realized that something was missing here.

"Mr. Matsuyo, what about the students at the village school?"

Shinsuke Takasugi remembers that classes are not held except when Yoshida Matsuyo is not there, and classes should be held on other days.

"They......" Yoshida Matsuyo turned his head to look at the gate of the village school, his eyes were deep, and he seemed to be a little worried.

"They're going their own way, just like you."