thefictionvixens Page 578
Page 578
Finally, there was Shenxu's winter uniform cotton coat, which she chose in light brown.
Standing in front of the mirror, I looked like a tightly wrapped rice dumpling, but strangely, my lower body was still only wearing black calf socks, which made me look much thinner in comparison.
"Good morning."
When we arrived at the restaurant, my mother had already prepared hot milk.
Kuno Tachibana sat sluggishly in her chair and uttered a "Good morning," which immediately jolted her stomach awake.
"Good morning, Dad." She held the cup in both hands, sipping the warm milk with small, gentle sips.
"Hmm." Kuno's father crossed his legs and kept scrolling through financial news on his phone.
He made over three million yuan in the stock market yesterday and started calling himself a "stock market god." However, Kuno Tachika doesn't care as long as he doesn't go bankrupt.
"Make sure you wear your scarf today, it's minus five degrees Celsius." Kuno's mother placed a camel-colored scarf on the table.
"This is so tacky!" Kuno Tachika complained, slumping his shoulders. "No, I won't wear it."
"Why not wear it? When it's cold, you'll regret not wearing it in the first place." Kuno's mother muttered to herself as she stuffed the scarf into Kuno Tachibana's schoolbag.
Kuno Tachibana pursed his lips.
"Lihua? Isn't this the Christmas Dream Festival at the Red Brick Warehouse? Your Shin-Asahi Brass Band is going too?" Kuno's father, who was scrolling through the news, raised his phone and brought it close to her face.
Kuno Tachibana looked closely and saw that the screen displayed a local program from Hakodate, available in both video and text formats, with the title—
The Shin-Asahi Brass Band will be performing live at the Hakodate Red Brick Warehouse Christmas Fantasy Festival!
"This one?"
As she murmured to herself, she swiped her finger down, and several photos came into view—photos and video clips taken with a drone during her last school trip to Sakurajima.
"Oh! Isn't this our Tachibana?" Kuno's mother brought over a soft-boiled egg and placed it on the table, looking at the screen and saying, "My Tachibana is the cutest and most outstanding."
"Hmph—" Kuno Tachibana's legs under the table swung unconsciously. "I'm starting to eat."
“It’s my turn to start.” Kuno’s mother gave her a smirk.
"Is this your advisor, Mr. Kitahara?"
Kuno's father clicked on one of the pictures and zoomed in with his finger. Kitahara Hakuma's face suddenly filled the entire screen.
"Yes, that's right." Kuno Tachibana glanced at it and then looked away.
"Last time, Mr. Kitahara even came to see Tachibana. He is truly a good teacher who cares about his students."
Kuno's mother, sitting to one side, said, "Moreover, he's handsome, has a good personality, and is a musician."
Kuno's father was clearly jealous, straightening his back and saying, "So what? Can he make three million in a day trading stocks?"
"At least the prize money that Kitahara-sensei received won't be taken back," Kuno Tachika couldn't help but retort.
"However, with Kitahara-sensei here, we can save some money."
Kuno's mother chuckled and said, "Music theory classes are too expensive these days, and I don't think they're very effective. Tachibana didn't really like them before either."
The music theory classes that Kuno Tachibana attends are usually for recent college graduates who can't find jobs, and some of them are even less capable than Kuno Tachibana.
As for why I went, it was purely because it was cheap.
Kuno Tachibana used chopsticks to poke open the egg yolk, and the yellow filling flowed out from the almost transparent membrane, spreading across the egg white:
“How can those people compare to Mr. Kitahara? He never charged us for private tutoring, and he was never impatient. He was very kind.”
Kuno's mother reached out and touched her daughter's head, smiling as she said:
"This is the first time I've seen you speak so highly of your teacher."
Kuno's father had just searched for information about Kitahara Hakuba online. There was a website where fans had created a special introduction to him, and he was very popular in the Hokkaido mentoring circle.
“But it would be such a waste to keep a teacher like this in Shenxu. Why not go to Tokyo?” Kuno’s mother asked, spreading Minako’s smear on the toast.
"He's leaving after he finishes teaching this year." Kuno Tachibana stopped patting his legs.
"So fast? What's the school's reaction? Aren't they going to try to keep them? Talented teachers are crucial, and I think it would be better to keep them."
"Dad, you're worrying too much."
"What do you mean by 'too much concern'? To be honest, Mr. Kitahara is just a 23-year-old young man. In terms of social experience, he is no match for me. If I were him, I would definitely stay at Shin-Asahi. It's a well-funded private school, and the competition in Tokyo is too fierce. Establishing a foothold and dominating in Hokkaido is the right choice."
“That’s your idea.” Kuno Tachibana finished his milk in one gulp after saying that. “I’m done eating.”
Kuno's mother sighed and said with great regret:
"Since Mr. Kitahara takes such good care of Tachibana, shouldn't we give him a gift?"
"What gift? Don't give it to me."
Kuno Tachibana picked up his schoolbag, took out a camel-colored scarf from it, put it on, and muttered under his breath, "He's already taken so much advantage of us, and he's still giving us a free gift."
He's always been so good to him, why does he still need her to deliver gifts?
I'd be lucky if I didn't get angry when I didn't receive his Christmas present.
"Lihua." Kuno's mother, thinking her daughter was going through a rebellious phase, frowned slightly and said, "You must respect your teachers."
"I am being respectful, but I can't explain it to you. I'm leaving." Kuno Tachibana slung his backpack over his shoulder.
Kuno's father suddenly said, "Wait, why are you dressed like this?"
"What is this?"
"It's so cold, why are you only wearing these socks?"
"I like dressing like this."
"What do you like? If your legs aren't kept warm, they're prone to varicose veins. Hurry up and come upstairs to change them for me."
"So what? Some of the older girls at my school only wear short socks."
"If others don't value their lives, do you too? If others eat shit, do you eat shit too?"
Kuno Tachibana sighed silently, went upstairs to change into a pair of thick black thermal tights. She wasn't very tall to begin with, and now it looked like she was wearing pants under her skirt.
"Yes, that's more like it."
"But this is so outdated!"
Who's watching you?
"Oh!" Kuno Tachibana's face flushed red, and she snorted softly as she walked out.
Once outside, the edge of the pleated skirt lightly brushed against the surface of the pantyhose, making an almost inaudible rubbing sound.
Thermal tights immediately proved effective, preventing any chill from penetrating.
Having tasted the sweetness of pantyhose, Kuno Tachika immediately changed her mind. Before, all she had felt was the biting cold wind blowing straight in from under her skirt.
From now on, she will wear thermal tights every winter, and she won't bother thinking about anything else.
As they passed by Salia on the street, Kirishima Mai, who had received advance notice, was already waiting in front of the store. The store was empty, with only two or three customers.
Good morning, Lihua.
"Good morning."
Kirishima Mai's gaze lingered on her scarf and the stockings under her skirt for a while.
"They don't match at all, do they?"
Chapter 401. I Want to Take Teacher Kitahara From You (4.6) >>
Kuno Tachibana tugged at the scarf around her neck; it was indeed much uglier than Mai's gray scarf.
"No." Kirishima Mai shook her head, her voice as soft as the first gentle snow. "I think Tachibana looks good in any scarf."
"Hey, it's a good thing you're a girl, Makoto. If a boy said something like that, I would probably find him disgusting."
Kuno Tachibana buried his mouth in his scarf and exhaled a breath of warm air, which warmed his entire face.
Kirishima Mai simply smiled.
The two walked along the snow-white street. The snow was not deep, not even covering their heels, but it felt like they needed to expend more energy to walk.
"Won't Mai get cold wearing long stockings?" Kuno Tachika noticed that she had the same thoughts as her father.
"It's alright." Kirishima Mai held the shoulder strap of her backpack with one hand and put the other hand in her pocket.
Kuno Tachibana savored the taste of milk in his mouth and began to speak:
"Senior Jiang Teng said in the student council group that there will be a party on Christmas night, and then we will play Santa Claus games."
"What is that?" Despite her extensive knowledge, Kirishima Mai's understanding of entertainment was quite limited.
Kuno Tachibana explained the rules of the game to her and added a "Christmas Thief" variation.
"I understand," Kirishima Mai nodded and said, "Can I use connections this time?"
The girl said she wanted to cheat with a serious face, which stunned Kuno Tachibana for a moment. In her heart, Mai was always that simple girl who followed the rules.
"What's wrong? Don't you want to play?"
Kirishima Mai was silent for a moment, then nodded and said:
"Well, it's not that I don't want to give a gift, it's just that I don't want to give a gift to someone I don't even know. I don't really like this kind of game."
"Mai is so innocent," Kuno Tachibana said with a smile after glancing at her.
"Hmm:" Kirishima Mai listened to the faint sound of the snow under her feet, "Is it alright?"
Kirishima Mai looked up at the gloomy sky, exhaled a puff of white mist, and said:
"I guess the only thing I can think of giving it to is Li Hua."
After listening to her words, Kuno Tachibana paused for a moment, then couldn't help but swallow.
If we're talking about who to give Christmas gifts to, Kuno Tachibana's number one choice would undoubtedly be Kitahara Hakuba.
Exchanging gifts with good friends is a good idea, but if she had to choose between love and friendship, Kuno Tachibana would still choose love without hesitation.
"Okay, but I won't give my gift to you, Zhenyi."
Kuno Tachibana stated bluntly, "I'm going to use connections too, and I'll just hand it over to Kitahara-sensei."
“It’s alright,” Kirishima Mai gently shook her head and said, “I don’t care what gift I received, I just don’t want my gift to be given to someone else.”
"Makoto, you're quite serious."