After returning to the temple, the three of them ate the watermelon that the villager had given them.

The old monk taught Chu and Sakurako to sprinkle a little salt on the watermelon before eating it, which would make it sweeter.

In the quiet little village, the summer evening has a unique sound, the sound of the wind and the cicada or the frog chirping, which echoes softly in the ears. Eating a watermelon while enjoying the cool has become a very pleasant thing.

When you sprinkle a snowflake-like grain of salt on the red watermelon, it has a complex taste in your mouth, with a mixture of salty and sweet flavors, but when the saltiness passes, the watermelon does become sweeter.

······

At night, Chu hugged his legs and sat alone in front of the room. She didn't want to rest, and she wouldn't theoretically get tired.

She looked up at the stars in the night sky, and without the clouds obscuring her, she could see every star twinkling. What was she thinking, she didn't think about anything, she just felt that the sky outside was really much brighter than the Apostolic Wasteland.

So bright that her shadow seems to be self-conscious, why is there sin in such a world. So beautiful, so bright, with a purity that the apostolic wasteland is far beyond the apostolic wasteland, why is there sin?

But at first, I didn't understand that compared to the outside world, maybe the Apostolic Wasteland is the purest or pure, because the Apostolic Wasteland only kills, and the outside world is not.

However, such a peaceful night does not have to be a thought.

"Tread, step, step. ”

The sound of footsteps stepping on the plank sounded around me, and I looked back at it for the first time.

It was Sakurako who was walking with a wooden basin filled with hot water and white mist. It could be hot, and Sakurako's face was reddish.

"Sakurako, what's wrong?" Hatsu asked suspiciously, looking at Sakurako's strange appearance.

Sakurako pursed her mouth and whispered.

"At the beginning, let me wash your feet, it will be more comfortable to rest after soaking your feet. ”

"Why do you want to wash my feet?" Hatsu obviously didn't understand Sakurako's request, her body would be self-clean, and it shouldn't be dirty.

"This is what the abbot said, people should repay their kindness, and they have always taken care of me at the beginning, and I can't do anything. ”

Probably a little embarrassed, Sakurako's voice grew softer and softer, and finally it was as light as a mosquito.

If it weren't for Chu's hearing that wasn't good at the moment, I wouldn't be able to hear what she was saying.

It must have been a while before the silence in front of the room was broken.

Chu replied, "I see." ”

As she spoke, she slowly took off the socks on her feet and lifted the hem of her clothes a bit, revealing the soles of her feet and calves.

"Then please. ”

"Hmm. Sakurako nodded, and walked to Hatsu's feet with the wooden basin in her arms.

At the beginning, his feet were not full of calluses like ordinary warriors, but they were very white and pink.

Sakurako stretched out her hand to hold Hatsu's feet slightly, and those feet were smooth and cool to the touch.

She put her feet in the hot water and scrubbed them slowly, her face flushing from time to time.

Chu lowered his head and looked at Sakurako, who was washing his feet, and couldn't tell what kind of feeling he felt.

Sakurako is really a very clean girl, she is like a blank piece of paper, and she is what she is like when others draw any color for her.

The water in the wooden basin was warm, and Sakurako rubbed the soles of Hatsu's feet, so that Hatsu's feet were no longer so cold.

"Huh. ”

Suddenly, Sakurako heard a gentle laugh coming from in front of her.

She looked up just in time to see Chu covering her mouth and chuckling. She stared blankly, and the smile was even more beautiful than the most beautiful cherry blossom she had ever seen.

"Sakurako, it's a little itchy. Chu said with a smile.

She shouldn't have had any sense of touch anymore, and she didn't understand why she still felt itchy.

"Ahh Sakurako came back to her senses and lowered her head with a red face.

"Then I'll be lighter. ”

······

That summer passed quietly, as if it left no trace, but it seemed like it left a lot.

In the autumn, the dead leaves fell all over the ground, Sakurako grew a little taller, and she had grown to the shoulders of Hatsu, and her swordsmanship had also improved a lot, and the two were already able to fight a few hands without much strength at the beginning.

The crops in the vegetable garden were also ripe, and Hatsuwa Sakurako helped the old monk harvest the crops and made some of them into pickled vegetables for winter preparation.

Just like ordinary people, the autumn of Qingxin Temple is busy in the ordinary harvest.

In winter, there is a light snow in the sky of the mountain village, and I heard that the snow here is always like this, it rains a lot but it never rains very much.

There is a custom of celebrating the new year, preparing gifts for children and making wishes for the new year.

The old monk set up a rattle bell in the temple, which was a huge bell, which was shaken by a very thick hemp rope. There is a money box under the rattle, and it is said that if you stuff a copper coin in the cash box and shake the bell to make a wish, you can make your wish come true in the new year.

The old monk said that this was the only way to cheat some incense money in Qingxin Temple in a year, but he didn't understand at first that a copper coin at a time, even if all the people in the village came, how much incense money could be defrauded.

However, it is true that someone often has to ring the bell to make a wish, and in the end, even Hatsu and Sakurako each made their own wishes.

"Dangdang. ”

At first, he shook the hemp rope and rang the rattle. He put a copper coin in the money box, put his hands together in front of him, closed his eyes at first, and made a wish for next year.

"What did you wish you made at the beginning?" asked Sakurako curiously.

"Can't say yes. The old monk smiled and patted Sakurako's head, turned his back to look at the rattle.

"If you say it, it won't work. ”

In the sky above the temple, fine snowflakes fluttered, and in the snow, the temple bell echoed, spreading farther and farther.

In the evening, the old monk and Hatsu prepared gifts for Sakurako.

The old monk prepared a cotton coat and wished Sakurako good health in the coming year. At the beginning, she prepared a knife, which she asked the blacksmith in the village to make, and it was Sakurako's first knife.

That night, Sakurako fell asleep with a smile on her face with a knife and a cotton coat.

She dreamed of spring, the cherry blossom trees in the cherry blossom mountain were in full bloom again, and she sat with her father, mother, old monk, and Chu Chu, admiring cherry blossoms together, eating cherry cakes together, laughing together, and talking about the trivia of the coming year.