July 14th.

This morning, Qiao Qiao did not take Haruka Sasaki out to kill the spirit as originally planned.

It's not because he's lazy or that Haruka Sasaki fled overnight after hearing the news.

It's because today at Shimogamo Shrine, a wedding is going to be held.

As said before.

In Wakoku, funerals are handed over to temples, and weddings are handled by shrines.

It is the so-called pre-god marriage ceremony, also known as the pre-god wedding.

Of course, with the development of the times, more and more Chinese people have begun to choose other forms of weddings, such as the recent popular Christian wedding.

It's the kind that exchanges rings in a white wedding dress in church.

As a result of this shock, the income of each shrine has decreased.

Shimogamo Shrine, today is going to undertake a wedding.

From 5 a.m., the shrine is busy.

The bride and groom put on makeup in the preparation room, the groom changed into a black feather weave, and the bride had to wear white and clean under the dress.

As for the shrine maidens, they are busy inside and out, taking care of everything.

The marriage ceremony in front of the gods is much simpler than the church wedding, but there are still some people who are short of manpower with only five shrine maidens, and they can't ask outsiders to help, so Ariko Asano, who got up early, can only wait on the sidelines.

When Qiao Qiao got up at eight o'clock, the wedding was about to start.

The two young men were only about twenty-five or sixteen years old, and they were led by two shrine maidens, dressed in Chihaya, Shinki Shinki and Hashimoto Kotone, and walked from Mitarai to the front hall of the shrine step by step.

Behind the two, they were followed by their families, some wearing traditional kimonos and some in suits, all of which were more formal.

"That's nice."

Qiao Qiao sighed.

He is not a relative or friend of the newlyweds, nor is he a related staff member of the shrine, so naturally he cannot enter the front hall to attend the wedding.

You can only stand in the corridor and look at the lively front hall.

"The priest recites the blessing, then the newlyweds exchange rings, and then toast each other with three different cups, which is a relatively complete ceremony."

Asano Ariko naturally didn't enter the front hall, and when she saw Qiao Qiao, who got up early, she walked over.

"The union of two people can be witnessed by the gods, it is indeed very happy."

Probably because of the atmosphere infection, she was also a little moved.

"It's true, I've heard Maki-san say that it costs 1 million yen to hold a complete Kamizen marriage ceremony."

“？”

So the point is here?

I didn't know what to say for a while, and after a moment of silence, Asako Asano asked again.

"In the teacher's country, there is a similar ceremony, right?"

"Yes, indeed."

Qiao Qiao nodded.

"But people probably believe in each other's promises more than the testimony of the gods."

"Promise?"

Asako Asano tilted her head, not very understanding.

"For such a thing, Huaxia has a saying."

Qiao Qiao glanced at Asako Asano.

"Hold the hand of the son, grow old with the son."

“%&a;a; #￥，@&a;a; ￥*@？ ”

Ariko Asano tries to learn pronunciation, but she doesn't understand where the alien language came from.

"To put it simply, holding hands and growing old together, it means."

Qiao Qiao explained in Japanese.

"Ahh

Asano Ariko let out a small exclamation, and then covered her face with her hands, looking a little shy.

"That's what it means." ”

"Of course, some people think that this is the emotion between comrades-in-arms during the war, but I don't think soldiers will say such words, and no one wants the war to last forever, so it's more like a soldier saying it to his family."

Qiao Qiao explained again seriously.

"Sure enough, it's really a teacher's style."

Asako Asano smiled bitterly.

At noon, the bride and groom will be given a disclosure banquet with speeches by matchmakers, relatives and friends of both parties, followed by a traditional wedding banquet with kagura dance performances by shrine maidens.

But none of this has anything to do with Qiao Qiao.

Sasaki Haruka didn't have anything to do in the afternoon, so he was taken out by Qiao Qiao to get rid of the spirit.

Also accompanied by Asako Asano.

She seems to be quite dissatisfied with the fact that Qiao Qiao and Suzuka went to the Ren Odo headquarters together yesterday and went to the market in Kamogawa together in the evening.

Although Qiao Qiao bought a gift, it didn't seem to be able to calm Asano's resentment.

So, today, while Suzuka was still asleep, the three of them went out.

The destination is Ponto-cho.

This is a shopping street located near the Kamogawa River.

It is said that in the Edo period, it was once Kyoto's famous flower town, and until a few decades ago, there was still an Oiran town.

Speaking of which, the Gion Festival is actually the most famous red-light district in Kyoto.

Gion comes from the Buddhist concept of "Gion for the Garden of Solitude", and the guardian of the Gion Monastery is the Bull-headed Heavenly King.

In the era of the unity of gods and Buddhas, many gods of the country had Buddhist identities, and Suzhan Mingzun was convenient for the Ox-headed Heavenly King to become one god, and Yasaka Shrine also had an additional name of "Gion Society".

However, with the development of the times, the decline of Kabuki has turned it into an ordinary shopping street.

Today, Pontocho is one of Kyoto's most famous tourist attractions.

Izakayas, shops, restaurants, clothing stores, you name it.

Since Ponto-cho is not far from Kamogawa, the three of them walked on foot.

This year's long rainy season is finally coming to an end, but the sky is still drizzling.

The three of them held three umbrellas and walked along the Kamogawa River.

The Kamogawa River in the rain is quiet and peaceful, and people stop to look at it from time to time, just like Heiankyo a thousand years ago.

Haruka Sasaki is very well-behaved, and along the way, I listened to Qiao Qiao briefly introduce the situation.

Their destination is Yamalotus Leaf, an izakaya in Ponto-cho, but the client is not the owner of the izakaya, but the son of the proprietress of the hostess.

Makoto Sakurai is forty-six years old and works for a construction company.

His mother, Junko Sakurai, was four out of sixty and ran an izakaya in Pontocho.

This izakaya was opened by Makoto Sakurai's father, Kukuro, and has been around for more than fifty years.

Kuro Sakurai died in an accident when Makoto Sakurai was six years old, and after that, it was Junko Sakurai who raised Makoto Sakurai while running an izakaya.

After working at Makoto Sakurai, although he once persuaded his mother to stay at home and stop working, his mother insisted on opening the shop, and more than 20 years passed.

"It's hard."

Haruka Sasaki didn't know if he thought of something, and sighed.

Due to the wedding ceremony in the morning, Haruka Sasaki was still wearing a red and white shrine maiden costume, which attracted many tourists to look back.

However, as the Gion Festival approaches, shrine maidens are not uncommon.

In addition to Ponto, the town of Ponto, where each of Kyoto's 33 wards has a decorated float to participate in the Yamahoko parade on July 17, becomes more lively as the parade approaches.

"However, Mr. Makoto Sakurai, why did you want to find a spirit destroyer?"

Dressed in a pale pink dress and white sandals, her hair tied in a ponytail with red sandalwood, she carefully stepped on the floor tiles under a transparent umbrella.

"Well, Mr. Sakurai believes that his mother is haunted by evil spirits."

Qiao Qiao looked at the information and replied.