That night, Yu Fujisawa and I walked into the Seiwayama Mansion.

He took me by the hand and showed me the way. We walked all the way through those well-built rockeries, the quaint trees of the age, the sound of the water murmuring endlessly, the shadows of the trees or lights in the wind, his cane fell to the ground, dotted on the spots, and our footsteps did not stop for a minute.

Finally, we stopped in front of a compound.

"And the house." I pronounced the name on the door sign.

Yu Fujisawa turned to one side and stretched out his right hand with the palm facing up in a "please" motion.

I walked inward, and saw that the water gathered here into a shallow pool, and several lanterns in the shape of meridian lilies floated on the surface of the pool, which swept in with the wind, gathered or separated, and the shadows of the lights reflected the white pebbles at the bottom of the pool. Further inside, there is an L-shaped verandah that is no different from the small courtyard where I lived before, only on a larger scale.

"Your yard is so big." I looked back at him, "How is it compared to Kamogawa?" ”

"It should be bigger." He followed me and said softly, "There's another yard in the back." ”

"It's strange that I don't see a single maid today."

"It's all broken up by me."

"Huh?"

"Otherwise, I don't have any confidence that you'll be willing to follow me in."

"Hey!" I muttered disappriedly.

He whispered to me, "It's snowing, let's go inside." ”

I wore a pair of boots with shoelaces that snaked all over my calf, making it a bit laborious to take them off. The stone steps in front of the door seem to have been specially made for the convenience of Yuichi Fujisawa, and they are more spacious than the average one, but it is still a little difficult for me to take off my shoes easily.

I hesitated for a moment, and simply sat down on the verandah. When I lowered my head and struggled with the lace of my right foot, Yuichi Fujisawa crouched in front of me and untied the lace of my left foot.

Never wear such complicated and cumbersome shoes again. I think.

Taking off my shoes, Yuichi Fujisawa took a step ahead of me and helped me tidy up my shoes.

"There's a pair of cotton slippers behind you, go put them on." He said.

I got up to do so, and by the time I came back to my senses, Yuichi Fujisawa had already taken off his shoes and was about to walk up the stairs on his legs. I secretly looked at him, only to see that in the light of Tongtong, a piece of white object slowly fell, landed on the top of his waxed head, and melted away in an instant. He ascended the steps slower than usual, his cane went first, and his head was raised, so that the second fell on his long eyelashes.

He noticed it, and blinked subconsciously. He looked up into the air and smiled at me again: "It's snowing." ”

yes, the first snow of the winter.

I stepped forward and took his hand: "It's so cold, take me to your house." ”

The heating in the room had already been prepared, and at the entrance, Yuichi Fujisawa took off his coat for me and hung it up, and he untied his own, and hung it up together. He showed me around the living room of the room, where every ornament was carefully selected. He introduced me to all the antique objects. What kind of incense burner given by the royal family, a delicate mulberry wood table, a gramophone used by an English princess, and porcelain bought from ancient Chinese merchants during the Silk Road...... The most precious thing is the ink landscape painting on the wall, which was created by a great painter in the Semachi period.

"It's not like your style at all." I conclude.

He's a man of attention to detail, and the penthouses in Kamogawa and Osaka are remarkably styled, simple and understated. But it's not like this house, low-key but inevitably luxurious.

"The parlor is furnished for guests, and I basically go over there." "But in fact, I rarely have guests here." This room is also considered to be a non-existent room. ”

He smiled and opened the next door, "Let's go to the next room." ”

The sliding door opened one after another, and the deeper I went into the room, I found that the interior decoration became more and more simple. More and more like his abode.

There's even a cloakroom. I looked at each one of them curiously: "You don't live here very often." ”

"Hmm. As an adult, I have lived in the city for the most part. ”

Listening to his description, it doesn't look like he lives on the side of Kamogawa, but he has multiple residences, which is a normal thing.

When I turned around, I saw him leaning against the lattice door of the porch with his cane in his hand, and with a hint of tiredness on his face, I remembered that he had spent the night tonight, and it would not be easier for him to deal with those young ladies than I did.

"Shall we go to the parlor and rest?" I propose.

He nodded, "Would you like something to drink or eat?" I asked people to prepare. ”

I thought for a moment, "Is there matcha?" ”

"Yes." He said, "You go first, and I'll come right away." ”

I went back to the drawing-room, which was very large, and I paced around it casually, stopping in front of the English princess's gramophone. The phonograph's horn is lily-shaped, with cherubs carved on the outside, and they fly over the rose garden.

He said that this is the collection of Zhinian Sook-hee.

There was a stack of vinyl records next to the shelf next to the gramophone, and I bent over and inquisitively for a round.

The footsteps behind me approached, and I didn't look back, but said, "Now, can the gramophone still be played?" ”

"Absolutely." Yuichi Fujisawa put down the tray in his hand and walked behind me, he leaned over slightly: "What record do you like?" ”

"This one." I pulled out the record that said "Somewhere in time" and said, "This is your collection?" I didn't expect you to have this. ”

"It seems like a long time ago...... I can't remember when," he said, "someone else recommended it to me." ”

I smiled and looked up, "You know what? Mr. Fujisawa, this is the theme song of my favorite romance movie. ”

"Oh?"

"Turn back seventy years."

He thought for a moment: "It seems to be a little impressive. After a pause, "Do you need me to teach you how to put it?" ”

"Let me try." I say.

I took out the record inside, placed it on the table, and lifted the stylus on the cartridge with one finger and gently placed it on the vinyl. There was about half a second to read, and then, the vinyl record slowly turned, the ancient machine made the sound of it running, and then the familiar music came out through the lily horn.

Yuichi Fujisawa and I snuggled up on the cushion and I told him the story.

At the graduation ceremony, Richard, a college student, met a strange old woman, who apparently knew him, who presented him with a pocket watch and said to him, "Come back to me." ”

Richard didn't care about it, and after eight years, he became a playwright, and when he hit a plateau, he went to an old hotel for a vacation, and in the hotel's museum, he saw a photo of the female star Alice, which he thought was amazing and familiar.

"The female star is the old woman?"

"Yes."

Richard came up with the idea of traveling back in time to meet Alice, and after many experiments, he succeeded, he traveled back to seventy years ago and met Alice.

"It's actually a cliché love story. But I love the part where Richard goes looking for Alice. He went around and around the ball, and after several twists and turns, he couldn't find anyone. Finally, he walked out of the hotel, and the shot was after dusk, mottled with shadows from the trees and the wind blowing in front of him. In addition to Richard's male protagonist's perspective, the audience can only see Alice's back dimly printed on the glass door. I said, "Such an encounter is somewhat accidental, but it seems completely inevitable." ”

"With love at first sight before sunset, I always thought they would have a love dance at the ball." I was a little hopeful, "I want to see something like this." ”

Yuichi Fujisawa pondered for a moment, then suddenly took the lead in getting up, and instead of taking the cane on the side, he leaned over and half-squatted in front of me, he took my hand, dropped a kiss on the back of his hand, and raised his eyes to look at me: "This beautiful lady, can you dance with me?" ”

I was stunned.

He winked at me: "Madam, this piece is a soothing slow beat, although my legs and feet are not very convenient, I can also dance slowly, do you mind?" ”

It's those eyes, once they meet, he takes the initiative, and there is no resistance at all.

Where can you say no? But......

"I won't." I blushed, "Mr. Fujisawa, I won't jump." I'm going to step on your ......"

"It's okay, just follow me." His voice was so soft, and he said good things in a low voice, "Susu, believe in me and believe in yourself." ”

Yuichi Fujisawa turned off all the lights, leaving only a warm-colored standing table lamp. In the dim light, we embraced, took broken steps, and slid gently.

He looked down, brushed his thin lips over the tips of my ears, and whispered in my ear, "It's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”

Bang!

In the distance, there were festive fireworks in the sky, illuminating his face, which was still obscure just now.

He said, "Happy New Year! Susu. ”

My eyes moistened, and I choked up, obviously accusing, but it sounded like a coquettish: "You actually peeked at the movie CD I bought!" ”

"Yes."

"But," I calculated, "this BGM is not right. ”

"Hmm."

"Also, according to the plot of the movie, you should ...... at this time" I looked into his eyes and didn't say any more.

It's not that I'm alone, or Chinese New Year's Eve.

I'm here because if you realize that you're going to spend the rest of your life with someone.

The sooner you start, you will hope, the better.

The overwhelming sound of fireworks was incessant, and outside the window, it was snowing heavily on Mt. Seiwa in December, and in my thoughts, Yuichi Fujisawa leaned down and leaned his head towards me.