Library

Sister Qianli, I'm glad to receive your email. I heard that there was a night frost at home. Although it is already April, it should still be very cold over there, right? The work in the mountains must not be easy either. Grandma's neuralgia doesn't matter, right? When the temperature rises, the magnolia trees will bloom. In the kitchen, Chiho Tomonari was sitting at the dining table typing on her laptop. Although she has gradually started touch typing, her input speed is still not fast. She tapped the keyboard with her fingertips, and she seemed to see the painting-like beauty of her hometown in the mountains before her eyes. It was really nostalgic. Clear spring water flows out of the valley and forms a small river, which then flows to the farmland along the coast. Irrigation has not started yet at this time, and the black soil must be full of green wheat fields. There are farmers in twos and threes scattered around the farmland, and tall Xinyi trees can be seen everywhere. As soon as April arrives, the pure white flowers on the trees begin to bloom.

Sakai Mitsue's peaceful and somewhat boring life began to be broken from that day on. At the end of April, the sky was blowing with dry winds. That afternoon, as usual, Mitsue watched the neighbor's child Ikuo nibbling the olive bread leftover from the school lunch, while asking him where he was going for spring outing, chatting endlessly to pass the time. With the house key hanging around his neck, Ikuo is what society calls a "key child." Ikuo is in the fifth grade of elementary school and lives in a two-story cement building opposite Mitsumasa. He has no father, and his mother works in an insurance company, so Ikuo always hangs his keys inside his sweater or shirt. After school, he often picks up his schoolbag and goes straight to Mitsuae's house to play.