Seeing the smiles of Torotaro and Kashiwagi, and the noise that was approaching, Shirakawa Kaede knew that the two of them had prepared some moths for themselves.

Soon the drums became clearer, followed by a long procession.

Leading the way are the village chief Fujiyama, who wears a traditional kimono, and a priest who presides over the village's shrine.

They are followed by "Namahage" wearing various fierce masks and dancing unknown dances, and finally there is a sacrificial procession with white towels on their heads and vigorously beating the taiko drums on the chariots.

Just when Shirakawa Kaede was surprised, the village chief Fujiyama had already stepped forward with a wine glass.

"Drink this cup to the fullest."

Seeing the other party's serious expressions, and the increasingly passionate drumming in the team.

Although Shirakawa Kaede didn't understand what kind of ritual this was, he nodded and took a drink from his glass.

The moment he picked up his wine glass, the palace secretary with a pine branch in his hand beside him was chanting words while sweeping back and forth around Shirakawa Kaede.

After a glass of wine, the atmosphere in the team became more and more enthusiastic, accompanied by the shouts of men.

After the shrine priest finished praying, he put the pine branch in his hand horizontally and held it to Shirakawa Kaede.

The latter glanced at the team, everyone's eyes were eager, and the head of Fujiyama Village bowed slightly.

So Shirakawa Kaede no longer hesitated, took the pine branch with both hands and held it up, showing it around.

The crowd erupted in cheers, the rhythm of the "Namahage" dance became faster and faster, and the drum beat of "Dong Dong" became more and more rapid.

Until a certain moment, with a heavy "bang", all sounds stopped abruptly.

"Oh~!" After the neat cheers, everyone smiled happily.

"Xiao Feng, welcome back~"

"Xiao Feng, you are the hero of Xiaolu!"

Facing the warm greetings of the uncles in the same village, Shirakawa Feng could only keep nodding and greeting everyone.

The chaotic scene made the originally neat team a little scattered, so the village chief Fujiyama turned his head and shouted loudly.

"Alright, don't make any noise, the festival isn't over yet."

The village chief's words still had some effect, and the lively scene finally cooled down a little.

Taking advantage of this effort, Shirakawa Kaede also had time to say a few words to Fujiyama.

"Uncle Fujiyama, isn't this a little inappropriate?"

Shirakawa Kaede held the pine branch in his hand, led by the village chief himself, and the shrine's palace secretary personally presided over it, which is not a treatment that ordinary people have.

Pine branches represent longevity and health in neon, and such solemn occasions are generally only given to elders of high status.

There is also the first cup of wine that Namahage prayed for, which was dedicated to him for a year, which made Shirakawa Kaede feel that it was too much.

"Xiao Feng, don't be careful, this is Xiaolu's gratitude to you." Fujiyama knew what Shirakawa Kaede was worried about.

But today everything was discussed in advance, and no one objected, except his parents.

With everything Shirakawa Kaede has done for the fawn, the blessing of everyone's hearts is already the most sincere return gift they can come up with.

"Xiao Feng, you haven't seen the deer now. Let's go, I'll show you the fawn now. ”

With a wave of his hand, the sacrificial procession began to gradually turn its head, and Shirakawa Kaede was crowded at the front of the line.

Looking at everyone's expectant eyes, he didn't postpone it, and they nodded with Torotaro.

After finding their parents in the crowd of onlookers, and their eyes signaling their peace of mind, Shirakawa Kaede and Fujiyama walked towards Ogura Village.

Kazuko and Hayato Shirakawa, dressed in gorgeous clothes, were both excited and proud to watch Shirakawa Kaede's back gradually disappear.

"Kazuko, Kaede is becoming more and more like you. Just like when you were younger, with a bit of aristocratic bearing. ”

Shirakawa Hayato couldn't help but sigh when he saw his son being supported by everyone.

"Poof" Hearing her husband's emotion, Kazuko couldn't hold back her laughter and suddenly burst out laughing.

"What a nobleman, just a person in distress."

It seems to recall the scene when the two met for the first time, a dirty but delicate young lady, and a young mountain man with a simple expression with a hunting bow on her back.

Not to mention all kinds of ridiculous things, more than 20 years have passed in a blink of an eye.

Kazuko and Shirakawa Hayato glanced at each other, and then smiled in unison.

Time flies so fast, Xiao Feng has grown so big.

Shirakawa Kaede, who is already quite generous in the eyes of Shirakawa Hayato, is now looking at this mountain village in his memory.

However, it is a pity that the changes of the fawn today are almost impossible to find similar places as in the past.

The chic Japanese-style wooden houses stretch slowly along the stone path in front of you to the foot of the mountain in the distance.

At the beginning of the heavy snowfall, the rooftops and the treetops in the dense forest were covered with a layer of velvet snow.

At dusk, the wooden houses and the snow lanterns on both sides of the stone path are assigned, giving Shirakawa Kaede the illusion of being in a snowy fairyland.

The deer in front of you is no longer a small village in the mountains, but more like an old street from the Edo period.

Yes, that's right, it's a street.

Various signboards, such as taverns, restaurants, handicraft shops, and souvenir shops, are erected on both sides of this street.

Although the flags are of different colors and the billboards are of different heights, they have a unique atmosphere of life.

At this moment, in addition to the villagers from this village, there are many tourists from other villages who are watching the fawn festival, and they are pointing at Shirakawa Kaede in front of the procession.

Little deer, it's really surprising.

Among the Japanese-style wooden houses, Shirakawa Kaede even saw more Western-style cafes and restaurants.

At this moment, he had countless curious questions in his heart, and he wanted to communicate with Fujiyama beside him.

However, when I looked up and saw the chic courtyards at the foot of the mountain not far away, as well as the steaming springs, I already had a faint answer in my heart.

"Xiao Feng, the current fawn, is far from the original fawn.

In the eyes of outsiders, the name 'Hachimantai Hot Spring Village' may be more familiar. ”

Fujiyama seemed to see Shirakawa Kaede's doubts, and explained very intimately.

From his face, Shirakawa Kaede saw pride, emotion, and a sense of vicissitudes of the world.

Because of the noisy voice, Shirakawa Kaede did not rush to ask the root cause of the fawn's transformation.

Surrounded by the crowd, he walked from the street to the original shrine in the village.

It has also been renovated, and now it looks more ancient and mysterious under the flickering lights.

Under the guidance of the palace secretary, Shirakawa Kaede also lit a stick of incense in a regular manner, completed the last part of the festival, and this New Year's festival finally came to an end.

After saying hello to the uncles and uncles in the village, Shirakawa Kaede was taken to a courtyard by Fujiyama.

The brand-new living room and the elaborate carved decoration all show the extraordinary.

Pushing open the paper sliding door, the warm spring-like temperature in the room also made Shirakawa Kaede relax a lot.

"Uncle Fujiyama, this is what the fawn looks like after its transformation?"

As soon as he sat down on the tatami mat, Shirakawa Kaede couldn't wait to ask.

Fujigami smiled and poured him a cup of tea, put down the teapot with an ancient charm, and then nodded.

"That's right, that's what the fawn looks like after its transformation.

This is what Xiaolu looks like now after transforming Xiaolu into a resort according to your original request. ”

Shirakawa Kaede held the teacup and was silent for a long time.

After a while, he nodded with emotion, "Honestly, this has exceeded my expectations." ”

He really wanted to make Xiaolu a hot spring resort, and he had this plan when Xiaolu was ready to be rebuilt.

Rather than tinkering, the old wooden houses should be torn down and rebuilt to the specifications of the resort.

By the way, it was developed along with the nearby hot springs, forming an ancient hot spring town.

However, the design of the resort is not always left to the villagers of Xiaolu, which requires professional project designers.

So in line with the intention of not bothering the two masters, Shirakawa Kaede found Shimizu Construction, which he had cooperated with once.

Although the other party is a construction company, it has cooperative relations with many famous designers and design teams.

So under the commission of Qingshui Construction, those designers conducted a thorough field investigation of the deer.

According to the local customs, as well as the climate and geographical environment, they tailored a complete set of renovation plans for Xiaolu.

From the villagers' residences to hot springs, transportation, streets, sightseeing, and more, everything is included.

Kaede Shirakawa, who used to be far away in Tokyo, had also seen the design drawings, but he couldn't infer what the deer would look like after it was built.

So without even thinking about it, he approved more than 300 million yen of funds with a wave of his hand, which was dedicated to the reconstruction of Xiaolu.

Later, in occasional phone calls with home, my mother also kept lamenting how much the fawn had changed.

It's just that Shirakawa Kaede didn't see it with his own eyes at that time, so he didn't take it to heart.

Looking back at the rebuilt fawn now, it can really be called a metamorphosis like a day change.

"Kaede, thanks to the design masters you got from Tokyo.

Otherwise, it would not have been possible for us alone to make the fawn what it is today.

Of course, everything comes from Xiao Feng. Without you, there would be no fawn today.

So everyone is very grateful to you, and we have been preparing for today's festival for a long time. ”

Fujiyama himself is also surprised by the changes in the fawn, not to mention Shirakawa Kaede, who has just returned to the village.

"The fact that Xiaolu can have today's scene also proves that these investments are worth it."

Shirakawa Kaede is very open-minded, and he gives subsidies to his neighbors in the village from time to time every year.

It is better to find a way for them to be self-reliant and solve the problem once and for all.

At the same time, Xiaolu has his share of all the income here, and this part of the affairs will be taken care of by Shirakawa Holdings.

After all, with so much money invested, it is impossible to ignore the resort when it is built.

"Nowadays, most of Xiaolu's families no longer make a living from farming, but it is a bit of a waste of Xiaofeng's various services customized from the agricultural cooperatives at the beginning of the year."

Fujiyama was a little embarrassed to mention this, after all, he spent millions of yen on a lot of fertilizers, seeds, and daily necessities.

Fortunately, the daily necessities are also used for the newly planted green plants and flowers, but the seeds are a little wasted.

However, Bai Chuanfeng waved his hand very open-mindedly, "It's all a trivial matter, and it's not a waste, it's a big deal to eat seeds as food." ”

Fujiyama had called him to talk about these things, but this little money Shirakawa Kaede had long since stopped caring.

"By the way, Uncle Fujiyama, I just saw that there seem to be a lot of outsiders on the streets of the village?"

Shirakawa Kaede was a little surprised that the fawn could attract foreign guests so quickly.

"Haha" At the mention of this, Fujiyama couldn't help but laugh.

"All this is thanks to Xiao Feng, you."

"Huh?" Shirakawa Kaede looked surprised.

(End of chapter)