"Mother will probably be back in about half an hour..."
Rika Onodera lifted her little head, glanced at the clock on the wall, thought for a moment, and continued: Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on NoveI-Fire.ɴet
"Right now, Mom and Grandma should still be selling souvenirs on the beach. By the time we have these river shrimps processed, they should be back."
"Great! Then let's speed things up!! Let's try to get these river shrimps handled before Sister Reiko and the others return!!"
Misaki Saki let out an excited shout.
At that moment, Haruka Yuzan also came out from the bathroom, towel drying his half-dry hair strands, the showy youth with his upper body bare, instantly attracting the girls' gaze.
"Exhibitionist pervert."
Arisugawa Hoshina glanced at the boy, blushed slightly with a hint of dissatisfaction, and muttered under her breath.
And Misaki Saki couldn't help but swallow, her big dewy eyes as if containing stars, extremely dazzling.
"Wow, Haruka, your body, it's so good!!"
The little rascal was always , never hiding her desires... After all, boys just out of the shower have an automatic charm boost of +2!
"Come on, you're about to drool at this point."
Haruka Yuzan acted as if he didn't care, while inside, the heart of the dashing Tokyo lad was full of pride and smugness!!
"Eh? Is it that obvious?"
Misaki Saki subconsciously wiped the corner of her mouth, other than the natural moistness of her lips, there was no drool at all!!
"Ugh! You trickster, you fooled me again!!"
Haruka Yuzan shrugged his shoulders. However, compared to the two nearly drooling beauties, the other two seemed a lot more composed.
Rika Onodera was young and didn't understand many things, which was understandable.
As for Chiba Shimizu...
Alright, the girl was the same as usual. As long as she had something to do in front of her, any charm-inducing behavior from Haruka Yuzan would only receive that one response.
No matter what she did, the rational and composed Chiba-san would never allow herself to be distracted, always trying her best to complete what she set out to do efficiently and thoroughly.
"Chiba-san, you're so unfun!"
Haruka Yuzan, grinning mischievously, sat down on the small stool next to the girl, picked up a river shrimp, and joined in the food preparation.
The sun scorched the earth, the heat at noon was suffocating, and the cicadas' cries rose and fell in the trees, as if voicing the weather's irritation.
Although the eaves above them provided some shade from the sunshine, the intense heat was evidently more than they could bear.
Rika Onodera brought out a small electric fan from inside the house. Though it was small, it provided a steady cool breeze, preventing Misaki Saki from succumbing and fainting right there from heatstroke.
"Alright, let's finish up these last few, then we can take a break."
Chiba Shimizu said, breathing lightly; the girl wasn't in great shape either.
Her delicate face glowed with a gentle pink from the stifling heat, beads of sweat rolled down her swan-like neck, dampening her tank top with alluring trails. Her skin, moist from perspiration, appeared even more translucent and enchanting.
For a moment, Haruka Yuzan was spellbound; the young miss in such a state was more lively than usual, as if an urban beauty had come to the countryside and taken on the rustic and captivating charm.
It was truly stirring.
"Hey, stop staring, you're about to drool!!"
The childlike voice rang out abruptly; Misaki Saki, sitting opposite him, giggled.
This little one was always thinking about avenging the earlier teasing by Haruka Yuzan!!
Like a small pet, sometimes she could be quite vindictive.
Just then, the wooden gate in the courtyard was slowly pushed open, and two elegant ladies with a resemblance in their brows walked in from outside.
The two chatted and laughed together; for a moment, it was hard to distinguish whether they were sisters or mother and daughter.
"Eh, Haruka, Rika, you're back so soon?"
Reiko Onodera's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise upon seeing the line of people sitting in the corridor.
"Wow! Mom, we're back, and we caught so many shrimp today!!"
Rika Onodera, upon seeing her mother, ran straight over and threw herself into Madam's arms, reveling in the warm embrace of her mother.
Reiko Onodera fondly ruffled the little girl's head, her eyes filled with affection:
"That's right, that's right, our little Rika is the best!"
"Hehe, a lot of the credit goes to Misaki, Sister Shimizu, and the others!!"
After basking in her mother's embrace, Rika modestly shared the fun of the shrimp-catching adventure with her mother without hogging any glory.
While the mother and daughter were enjoying their family time, Mariko Akiyama had already walked to the corridor and, upon seeing everyone busy with the shrimp, hurried over:
"You all go and rest, I can handle these shrimps myself."
Today, the lady wore a loose, dark purple dress, her creamy skin exposed, accentuating her lithe and perfect figure to envious effects.
This was the mature charm of a beautiful village woman from the countryside.
Though the lady was already in her forties, perhaps due to the nurturing environment, Mariko Akiyama looked to be just over thirty.
Next to Sister Reiko, they truly resembled sisters.
It could only be said that Madam had perfectly inherited her mother's outstanding genetic traits of beauty, especially Rika Onodera, who at a young age already showed signs of becoming a beauty.
In another decade or so, she would likely be another girl who could captivate the entire school.
Just whether she would still be willing to hang out with the silly girl Misaki Saki by then was the question.
"It's alright, Auntie Akiyama, we've already taken care of it."
Haruka Yuzan said with a smile, "You've just come back from outside, please go inside and rest, we'll prepare lunch today."
"But you are guests, how can you do this? No, it's not right, I should be the one cooking lunch."
Mariko Akiyama shook her head, the honest and kind lady felt guilty about letting Haruka and his group do any labor.
"We've pretty much been playing all morning, we're not even tired, Auntie Akiyama, you should really go and rest. Aren't you going out this afternoon?"
Haruka Yuzan said somewhat helplessly, and eventually, out of options, he resorted to bringing up the two beauties:
"Hoshina, Shimizu, are you tired?"
Arisugawa Hoshina shook her head, replying with certainty.
Chiba Shimizu didn't speak, but her expression already said everything: they were determined to cook today's lunch!!
This little one didn't know how to cook to begin with, so naturally she didn't voice her own opinion, merely standing there, tilting her head and glancing around with wide eyes.
"We are not tired at all."
Haruka Yuzan placed his hand on the lady's shoulder and gently nudged her toward the house.
"As I said, we're not guests, we're family. Auntie Akiyama, you've cooked for us for the past few meals, so naturally, it's our turn now!"
"Well, in that case, okay."
Unable to resist their insistence, Mariko Akiyama nodded in agreement.
However, when her gaze fell upon the boy's exposed upper body, a mysterious glint flickered in her eyes:
"Mr. Haruka, aren't you going to put on some clothes? Be careful of shining too brightly....."
Haruka Yuzan, thinking he might have caused some discomfort to the lady, thus returned to the bedroom to fetch a clean T-shirt to slip on.
Mariko Akiyama stood still, looking at the man's straight and tall figure departing, then at her daughter who stood by the door.