20 After leaving the supermarket, Fūju walked back to his house as usual.
His encounter with Aoyama Nanami at the supermarket could be considered a pleasant surprise.
With this setup, when his Shōchiku restaurant went back into business later, he wouldn’t need to go through the process of recruiting brand-new employees from scratch.
Regarding Aoyama Nanami and Sakaki Shizuka, Fūju firmly believed in his heart that both of them were excellent individuals who possessed incredible resolve.
If he had the ability to offer assistance, he would certainly provide the best support for them.
Of course, the help given wasn’t a form of pity.
Otherwise, Aoyama Nanami and Sakaki Shizuka definitely wouldn’t want to accept such kindness, and Fūju himself would feel that such an action amounted to an insult to their hard work.
Both of them were independent, hardworking individuals with beautiful personalities, so they shouldn’t be stained by the concept of pity.
The supermarket Fūju visited was quite a distance away from his house, and it required a slightly roundabout walking route.
Therefore, the path he took to get home this time differed from the route he usually took on a daily basis.
The way back he used now required him to cross a small bridge, then navigate a few more turns before finally arriving at his home’s location.
Come to think of it, the neighborhood around this area was very close to Gifu Prefectural Deaf School, which was the school where Shoko Nishimiya studied.
“Shoko?” Just as he walked closer to the small bridge area, Fūju could see from a distance the figure of a girl wearing a white shirt and a plaid skirt standing on top of the bridge.
The girl was none other than Shoko Nishimiya.
After walking up right beside Shoko Nishimiya, Fūju lowered one of the grocery bags held by his hand, then gently tapped Shoko Nishimiya’s shoulder.
“Ah…” Because her ears had suffered from a hearing impairment since birth, combined with the fact that Fūju approached from her blind spot, Shoko Nishimiya hadn’t noticed Fūju drawing near.
When her shoulder was suddenly tapped by Fūju, she was instantly startled to the point of letting out a small, distinctive gasp from her mouth, while her hands flinched back a few times in surprise.
“Fūju, it’s you!” “You really scared me!” Shoko Nishimiya said using sign language, while puffing out both her cheeks with a slightly miffed expression.
Looking like that made her appear incredibly endearing, enough to spark a desire in anyone to pinch her cheeks.
“Why are you out here all by yourself?
Where is Yuzuru?” Fūju asked after lowering the grocery bag held by his other hand, then replying using sign language.
Under normal circumstances, whether going to or returning from school, Shoko Nishimiya was always accompanied by Yuzuru Nishimiya.
Failing to see Yuzuru Nishimiya’s presence next to Shoko Nishimiya right now made Fūju feel a bit puzzled.
“It seems Yuzuru had some things to take care of at her school, so she couldn’t come to pick me up today.” “I already told her she didn’t need to come, and that I could walk home by myself.” “Since I didn’t finish my lunch bread, I came here to feed the fish,” Shoko Nishimiya explained through sign language.
“So that’s the case,” Fūju nodded in understanding while moving his hands to reply.
Beneath this bridge flowed a small river that possessed exceptionally clean water quality, where many ornamental fish were kept, swimming back and forth dynamically, making it quite a charming sight to behold.
As for Shoko Nishimiya’s own hobbies, she indeed enjoyed coming to this spot during her free time to feed the fish as a way to clear her mind and get some fresh air.
This was a method Shoko Nishimiya frequently used to release life’s pressures in the past.
Even though she didn’t have much life pressure left to deal with now, feeding the fish had simply turned into a comforting habit for Shoko Nishimiya.
“Are you just heading home now?” Shoko Nishimiya asked with sign language while looking toward Fūju, after tearing the final piece of the remaining bread in her hand into tiny crumbs and tossing them into the water for the fish.
“Yes!” “The supplies inside my fridge happened to run out, so I went to buy groceries first on my way back,” Fūju said with sign language while gesturing toward the several grocery bags sitting near his feet.
“I see.” “I happen to be done feeding the fish too, and it’s time for me to head home.
Let me help carry some of your bags!” Shoko Nishimiya actively offered her help using sign language.
“Well, alright then!” “It just so happens I was struggling a bit to carry all these things by myself,” Fūju replied with sign language.
Seeing Shoko Nishimiya’s highly enthusiastic and hopeful expression to help, he felt bad turning down the offer.
Therefore, he handed a few bags containing vegetables, which carried the lightest weight, over to Shoko Nishimiya, while he himself carried the heaviest grocery bags.
“Let’s go!” Fūju gave a final sign once the division of items was complete, then began lifting the groceries to resume their walk.
“Okay!” Shoko Nishimiya nodded, then walked right alongside Fūju to step forward together at the exact same pace.
Because both of their hands were currently occupied carrying bags, they couldn’t use sign language to communicate along the walk home.
Fortunately, both of them had mastered the ability to read lips, allowing them to still carry out a certain level of communication by relying on that skill.
Their conversation generally revolved around light, everyday topics, such as discussing interesting events or specific happenings that occurred during the day.
Even though their topics of conversation were considered ordinary and simple, the atmosphere between the two of them felt incredibly warm and comfortable, making both Fūju and Shoko Nishimiya thoroughly enjoy the companionship.
While walking and chatting, the two of them finally arrived at their residential area in a short amount of time.
Fūju turned his gaze to look toward Shoko Nishimiya’s house, and the house appeared dark with no lights switched on.
That indicated that both her mother, Yaeko Nishimiya, and her younger sister, Yuzuru Nishimiya, hadn’t returned home yet.
Fūju looked at Shoko Nishimiya beside him, then spoke to her using lip movements, “Your mother and Yuzuru don’t seem to be back yet.
You’ll definitely feel bored if you’re at home all by yourself, so you should come over to my house first.” “It just so happens I’m going to cook a big feast tonight, so you can taste a different style of Chinese cuisine than usual.” Hearing the invitation from Fūju, Shoko Nishimiya instantly felt very intrigued.
She remembered the taste of the meat fried sauce noodles she had just eaten yesterday from Fūju’s cooking, where the deliciousness of that flavor seemed to linger in her memory even now.
Regarding the different type of Chinese cooking mentioned by Fūju, a strong desire to taste it immediately surfaced in her heart.
However, held back by a sense of politeness as well as the desire not to cause trouble or be a bother to Fūju, Shoko Nishimiya thought for a moment and then gently shook her head to decline the invitation.
“Come on, you don’t need to decline this invitation.” “Just look at it as a token of my gratitude because you were willing to help carry some of these groceries.” “Besides, you can also help me judge whether there are any shortcomings in the dishes I make later,” Fūju said, offering words of persuasion since he could accurately guess exactly what was going through Shoko Nishimiya’s mind.
Shoko Nishimiya felt conflicted in her heart.
She wasn’t the type of person who was good at turning down other people’s requests, especially when the request came from Fūju, which made her even more flustered about what stance to take.
After going through a thorough process of inner debate, the choice to refuse was ultimately defeated, while the option to accept the invitation achieved a total victory.
“In that case, I will be in your care!” “Maybe the things I notice won’t be very much, and I also don’t know how to explain them well, but I will do my absolute best!” Shoko Nishimiya said with an incredibly serious facial expression using lip movements.
“Alright, then I’ll be counting on your help!” “I will definitely accept every suggestion you give with complete openness!” Fūju said with a facial expression that was not a single bit less serious.
Seeing each other’s expressions look so deadpan serious to the point of appearing a little stiff, the two of them finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing together with complete happiness.
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