Chapter 197

After getting off the *Shinkansen*, Yuto Akiwara and Asano Aiko went to a nearby large supermarket to purchase New Year's ingredients and other supplies.

Then the two said goodbye and headed to their respective homes.

Yuto Akiwara returned home and stuffed the ingredients he bought into the refrigerator. Then he came to the living room, sat on the ground, and turned on the TV.

The TV screen soon lit up, and on the screen, an NHK female host was reporting the news.

"... The Japan Meteorological Agency recently issued a message saying that due to the influence of strong cold air and low pressure, the operation of trains during the New Year period will be affected, please pay attention to the travel..."

Yuto Akiwara saw this news and remembered that Asano Aiko was coming to visit his home after the New Year; it seemed she couldn't come.

He shook his head and couldn't help but laugh dumbly.

During this tour signing event, he only needed to sign and soak in hot springs.

Other publicity and miscellaneous affairs were all coordinated and handled by Asano and the editorial department, and there were quite a few more things than him.

Tomorrow, I should still call her and let her rest well at home for these few days.

Returning to the matter, what should he do?

Yuto Akiwara thought for a long time without getting a result. He lay on the *tatami*, looked at the host's broadcast on the TV, became more and more sleepy, and fell asleep immediately.

Time passed bit by bit, and I don't know how long it took, Yuto Akiwara opened his eyes on the *tatami*.

At the same time, he couldn't help but feel a chill all over his body.

"So cold, what is the temperature now."

He shivered for a while, then stood up and took the electric heater from the closet and turned it on.

With the yellow light turning on, the temperature in the room began to rise slowly.

He walked to the kitchen, just preparing to boil a pot of water, when suddenly from the glass of the kitchen, he saw the scene outside—a thin layer of white snow had accumulated on the ground unknowingly, and snowflakes were also falling in the air.

Seeing this scene, Yuto Akiwara's eyes couldn't help but be confused, and he even thought of Yasunari Kawabata's *Snow Country*.

Although the environment was very different, he could still feel a bit of that state of mind.

When you are alone, it is really a bit lonely...

Just when he was feeling emotional alone, the doorbell "ding-dong" rang.

Who would come over at this time?

He couldn't help but be puzzled, but still stopped his hand preparing to unpack the instant noodles and walked to the entrance to open the door.

Under the dim light at the door, a girl appeared in front of him. The other party was wearing a white down jacket and long boots, her delicate face was faintly visible under the light, and there was an inexplicable expression on her face.

Yuto Akiwara soon recognized the person coming; she was the editor of President Anjiu Bookstore, Satake Maki.

Yuto Akiwara was very puzzled in his heart; on New Year's Eve, this Editor Satake didn't stay at home to watch the *Kohaku Uta Gassen* with her family, so why did she run to his house at this time.

Even if it was a business visit on behalf of President Anjiu Bookstore, it should be on January 2nd, right...

Yuto Akiwara thought for a while and then tentatively asked, "Miss Satake, what is this?"

"Mr. Akiwara, it's like this, my family made an extra portion of *zōni* and rice cakes, if you don't mind, I want to give it to you."

Satake Maki hesitated and then held up a package in her hand.

Yuto Akiwara laughed dumbly when he heard this reason, but still opened the door and welcomed the other party in, "It's cold, come in and talk first."

"Sorry to bother you," Satake Maki said while changing her shoes at the entrance and walking in.

"Thank you so much for the food you brought; I was originally planning to eat instant noodles." Yuto Akiwara took the package from the other party.

If it weren't for the other party's food, he could only eat instant noodles for the New Year.

Although this was his own decision, eating instant noodles for the New Year was too miserable.

Satake Maki shook her head and said in a gentle tone, "It's okay, after all, for the past half year, I still have to thank you for your help to President Anjiu Bookstore."

Although she said so, she also knew that her thoughts were not this.

"Miss Satake, you watch the *Kohaku Uta Gassen* in the living room for a while, I will give you the lunch box immediately after eating."

Yuto Akiwara waved his hand, then unpacked the package, put the lunch box inside into the microwave to heat it up.

After heating, he carried the lunch box with a tray to the living room and sat by the low table.

He ate the food while watching the *Kohaku Uta Gassen* with Satake Maki.

The *Kohaku Uta Gassen* is a confrontational music program that divides female artists into the red group and male artists into the white group, and its viewership is the first in all of Japan.

Generally speaking, people watch it with their families.

Thinking of this, Yuto Akiwara couldn't help but speed up the speed of eating, preparing to return the lunch box to the other party immediately after eating, and then send her away to reunite with her family.

Under this idea, he only spent 15 minutes to finish eating and wash the lunch box, and at the same time put it in the package.

"Miss Satake, thank you for the hospitality, here is your lunch box." Yuto Akiwara handed the package to her, then looked at the snowflakes still falling outside the window, thought for a while and said, "Go back early, the weather at night is not good, maybe the train will stop running."

"It's okay, actually you don't have to be so urgent..." Satake Maki seemed to want to say something, but seeing Yuto Akiwara say so, she felt her words were a bit redundant, so she added, "Okay, then I will say goodbye first."

Yuto Akiwara also found that something was wrong and said with a smile, "Anyway, thank you. I will give you a return gift after the New Year."

He decided to send the other party off, so he put on the plush coat hanging on the wall and said, "Let's go together, I will send you to the train station."

Satake Maki hesitated and just whispered, "Then I will trouble you, Teacher."

Immediately after, the two pushed open the door and walked along the street toward the train station.

When moving, stepping on the snow made a "rustling" sound.

I don't know if it was because of the snow, but there were not many pedestrians on the street at this time, and even cars could not be seen.

After a journey of about 15 minutes, the two arrived at the nearest train station.

But when entering the station, they were stopped by a staff member wearing a uniform, "Sorry, because of the snow on the road ahead, the train has stopped operating now."

Yuto Akiwara looked at the staff member and raised a question, "Then how long will it take to operate normally?"

The staff member apologized and answered, "We are also waiting for notice now, so we cannot be sure."

Yuto Akiwara turned to look at Satake Maki and fell into hesitation.

Satake Maki waved her hand, "It's okay, I'll just call a taxi to go back."

Yuto Akiwara could only nod, making a decision in his heart to reimburse the taxi fare for the other party; after all, the cost of a taxi was not cheap for an ordinary employee.

"Let's do this, I will send you to the taxi." Yuto Akiwara proposed.

Satake Maki did not refuse and followed Yuto Akiwara to the road outside the station, trying to stop a taxi.

But I don't know if it was because of the New Year or the snow, the vehicles coming and going on the road were extremely sparse, and basically no taxi was seen.

After waiting for 20 minutes, the two had to give up the idea of taking a taxi.

"Let's do this, Editor Satake, I will book a hotel for you and pay for it; you can leave after the train operates normally later."

When saying this sentence, Yuto Akiwara's face showed deep apology.

In his view, Satake Maki encountered this situation after all because she came to send him food. But this also led to the other party not being able to accompany her family on New Year's Eve.

Now it seemed that he could only let the other party stay in the hotel for a day or two.

But what surprised him was that Satake Maki shook her head, refused his proposal, and made a request that surprised him.

"Mr. Akiwara, although it is a bit presumptuous, can I stay at your house tonight?"