Dubian Che drew back the curtains, and the morning sunlight streamed into the room in an instant.
"Hmph—" From within the covers of the bed came the reluctant voice of the young lady.
She turned her back and continued to sleep.
Dubian Che walked to the bedside, looking at Jiutiao Meijie's delicate little face, "Time to get up."
"...Mm." Her eyes remained closed.
"Weren't we supposed to have breakfast together today?"
"Not going anymore." She refused without hesitation.
Dubian Che walked to the foot of the bed, lifted a bit of the quilt, and wormed his way in.
Jiutiao Meijie's two very gracefully positioned legs entered his eyes and hands.
He gently touched her calf, then moved past the knee, advancing towards the thigh.
The thigh was snow-white with a smooth texture.
After having touched enough, Dubian Che continued forward.
Suddenly, Jiutiao Meijie pressed her legs together, trapping him.
"Meijie, let go. Let go and you don't have to get up early," Dubian Che said.
After a brief silence, Jiutiao Meijie let out a very dissatisfied moan, a sound that carried a hundred percent helplessness towards a certain someone, and then sat up.
She flipped over, threw off the covers, and straddled Dubian Che's chest.
"Good morning, Miss Jiutiao Meijie, it's another day with gentle winds and beautiful sun," Dubian Che said.
Jiutiao Meijie clasped her hands around his neck and said fiercely, "I'll strangle you!"
"Hmm—" The girl exerted force, her voice filled with anger.
She wasn't really using her strength, just maintaining the strangling motion, then proceeded to shake Dubian Che's head up and down.
"Stop shaking, stop shaking, I'm going to get dizzy."
With that, the dangerous task of forcibly waking Jiutiao Meijie was declared complete.
Jiutiao Meijie got off Dubian Che and, with her long and beautiful legs, walked into the bathroom to wash up.
Dubian Che sat up and started to tidy up the bed, saying to her,
"Put on an extra jacket later; despite the sunshine outside, it's quite cold in the morning."
"Mm." The muffled sound of Jiutiao Meijie brushing her teeth.
By the time she finished washing up and getting dressed, the other four were already waiting on the lawn in front of the villa.
It was a spur-of-the-moment decision last night by the two ladies to have breakfast together this morning, leading to the events that had just unfolded.
They rode their bikes, and Dubian Che, who had specifically opted not to jog this morning, ran alongside.
In the morning forest, the chirping of birds sounded clearer than usual amidst the pecking sound of the woodpecker, with a particularly distinctive bird call.
"A-Che, what bird is that calling?" Little Lian rode her children's bike next to the jogging Dubian Che.
Dubian Che listened carefully: "The cuckoo bird."
"Little Lian, come here," Kiyono Lin's voice came from behind.
Little Lian and Dubian Che exchanged glances, her youthful face revealing an 'aha, time for school' expression.
She slowed down and rode alongside Kiyono Lin.
"Sis Lin, continuing with English today?"
"Today I'll teach you a haiku and Han poetry about the cuckoo."
"It's perfect, Karuizawa has a haiku stone monument of Matsuo Basho; I'll teach you about this haiku poet."
"I know! It's the stone next to Oomiya Bridge!"
"Right. 'The cuckoo's call traverses the waters of the river.'"
"The cuckoo's call traverses the waters of the river," Little Lian repeated.
"It means: the bird has already flown past, but the sound remains over the river's surface, even echoing. There are similar lines in Han poetry, like Su Shi's 'White dew across the river, waters touch the sky'..."
In the midst of Kiyono Lin's crisp and pleasant voice, Jiutiao Meijie rode up to Dubian Che's side, slung an arm over his shoulder, and had him carry her and the bike.
"Just running won't bring any improvement; I'll help you train," she described her action.
"Really? You're not kidding me?" Dubian Che showed a skeptical expression.
"I love you the most; how could I lie to you?"
"No wonder Mr. Dubian fell out with you, a woman full of lies."
Jiutiao Meijie snorted coldly: "You think she's so virtuous?" New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on NoveIꜰire.net
"Not really, but you can share your views," Dubian Che took an interest.
"To like someone, to do everything to pick their flaws, do you think such a person can be normal?"
"That is indeed something Mr. Dubian would do," Dubian Che agreed.
"Mr. Dubian, come join the class," Kiyono Lin's voice, like the cool and clear morning air.
The morning sun, the rustling of the leaves overhead, was hard to tell if it was caused by the wind or the squirrels jumping from branch to branch.
Arriving at the street, they parked their bikes, and Little Lian started talking about wanting croissants and the like.
In just over ten days, she had already learned to plan her breakfast in advance, fitting smoothly into their current life.
Entering a bakery, various breakfast coffee shops, they sat by the street-facing window.
Against the window glass, the six of them enjoyed fresh milk, freshly ground coffee; eggs, grilled sausages, fresh fruit, and just-baked bread.
After breakfast, Little Lian was promptly taken away by Kazuki and a bunch of people.
A group of kids rode their bikes through streets and lanes, forest paths, and along the riverbanks, nearly owning Karuizawa.
Dubian Che and the ladies went shopping for today's groceries, filling up the bike baskets completely.
On the way back, as the temperature rose, Jiutiao Meijie tied her jacket around her slim waist and turned into a youthful, sporty beauty.
Looking at her self-possessed demeanor, one would think she was an early riser who regularly exercised in the morning.
It was just going out for breakfast, but because they were so leisurely, they returned to the villa already at ten.
After putting the groceries in the fridge and washing some fruit, they sat on the couch watching TV.
The TV broadcasted live the Koshien semi-finals, East Tokyo's "Goda" against North Osaka's "Osaka Tsubaki."
In the sweltering air starkly different from Karuizawa, the noise from Hanshin Koshien Stadium soared to the heavens.