Chapter 503

Natsume Chikage's fingertips paused, but he still typed truthfully.

【Natsume Chikage: I've encountered some crazy girls before who followed me to my doorstep, sent some scary letters, and might even block my way on the road... It's quite scary. Since encountering such things, I haven't really liked being "popular."】

【Sister Xiyuan Si: So that's how it is... This... in that case, I can understand. No wonder you usually prefer to keep a low profile.】

【Sister Xiyuan Si: Then I'll change the topic... Didn't we agree to go buy stones together tomorrow morning? What time are you planning to come out?】

【Natsume Chikage: It's up to you, I've been waking up quite early recently, so actually anytime is fine.】

【Sister Xiyuan Si: Then... is it okay to meet at Shinjuku Station around 8:30? There's a fossil and mineral specimen store there.】

【Natsume Chikage: That's fine, see you tomorrow then.】

【Sister Xiyuan Si: (*^▽^*) Mm-hmm, see you tomorrow.】

After replying to Sister Xiyuan Si, he clicked on the message Classmate Tengyuan Kui had sent not long ago.

【Classmate Tengyuan Kui: (，，???)? ゛Good evening, Natsume-kun.】

【Natsume Chikage: Good evening, Classmate Tengyuan Kui.】

The message was replied to instantly.

【Classmate Tengyuan Kui: (? o?? o?)?? Congratulations on your win in today's match!】

【Natsume Chikage: Thank you.】

【Classmate Tengyuan Kui: Natsume-kun... you're going to buy stones with Sister Xiyuan Si tomorrow morning, right?】

【Natsume Chikage: Yes, what's wrong?】

【Classmate Tengyuan Kui: Lingyin-chan and I brought some ingredients, planning to go to your house a bit early and cook.】

Natsume Chikage's heart skipped a beat.

【Natsume Chikage: Wait, wait, wait!! Xuecun-san plans to cook at my house?】

【Classmate Tengyuan Kui: (⊙_⊙)? Why, is that not allowed?】

He clearly remembered that Xuecun Lingyin was an out-and-out "kitchen killer."

If he let her cook, the kitchen would probably suffer.

【Natsume Chikage: Cough cough, it's nothing. But you are guests after all, so there's no need to go to such trouble. And as for cooking, just let my sister handle it.】

【Classmate Tengyuan Kui: That won't do! There are several of us, if Ruri-chan is alone, she'll definitely be too busy. And Ruri-chan is younger than us, so it's always a bit embarrassing to let her cook for so many of us. So we thought we'd help out.】

【Natsume Chikage: I'm very happy that you are willing to consider my sister... but my kitchen really isn't big, and having too many people is actually not good. And my sister has a "bad temper," she doesn't like others touching her kitchen; she scolds me every time I touch it... so you understand.】

【Classmate Tengyuan Kui: So that's how it is! If you put it that way, I can understand. It's like buying a hamburger with great difficulty, only for someone else to snatch it, put chili sauce or mustard in it, and then give it back to you; it's indeed very annoying.】

Natsume Chikage looked at this strange metaphor and couldn't laugh or cry.

【Natsume Chikage: Haha... something like that.】

【Classmate Tengyuan Kui: Since that's the case, I'll tell Lingyin-chan later.】

【Natsume Chikage: Mm-hmm.】

【Classmate Tengyuan Kui: But... I want to ask you... about what time will you be back? You see, you always have to prepare food based on the number of people. And besides, we've already come over, if just the two of you aren't there... haha, if it's just the two of us and Ruri-chan, it feels a bit strange.】

【Natsume Chikage: If there's nothing special, I should be back after buying the stones. I should be able to be back before twelve o'clock.】

【Classmate Tengyuan Kui: (? ＞? ＜)☆Mm-hmm, that's good! See you tomorrow!】

【Natsume Chikage: Mm, see you tomorrow.】

Finally, he clicked on the message Jinweitong had sent.

There was only one short sentence.

【Jinweitong: Tomorrow afternoon, sword practice.】

【Natsume Chikage: I have an appointment with someone else tomorrow, it's not good to break the promise, let's do it another day.】

However, after this message was sent, it was like a stone sinking into the sea.

He never waited for a reply, and it didn't even show "read."

Natsume Chikage pressed his brow, feeling a headache.

Jinweitong only said "afternoon," but what time in the afternoon?

Xuecun Lingyin and the others are coming at noon, so there should be a buffer time?

Like this... it shouldn't count as standing someone up, right?

He only hoped that the two groups of people wouldn't bump into each other then.

After dealing with all the messages, Natsume Chikage closed LINE and opened the document.

His fingertips danced on the phone.

Until the clock's hand quietly slid to twelve midnight, and deep sleepiness surged like a tide, he paused his writing.

After saving the document, he habitually clicked on the document properties and glanced at the word count.

The word count of "Snow Country" had quietly reached 100,000 words.

It was still about 60,000 words away from the completion word count he had set.