Chapter 297 Daily Life at Matsumae Shrine
Fujii Itsuki stayed at the Matsumae family's house that night and was arranged to stay in the guest room temporarily. Chitose lived next door.

From today on, he and Chitose will stay at the Matsumae family until the New Year.

Fujii Itsuki sat under the soft light, with the documents in his hands neatly spread out in front of him. The paper had a yellowish luster, revealing a sense of age.

The documents handed to him by Matsumae Kitahiro recorded the Matsumae family's assets and the detailed financial status of its various branches.

Every name and every number represents the complex distribution of power and wealth of the Matsumae family.

Fujii Itsuki frowned slightly.

These thick piles give me a headache just looking at them.

First of all, the Matsumae family owns a large amount of land and real estate in Hokkaido, mainly concentrated in cities such as Sapporo, Otaru, and Hakodate.

These properties include commercial buildings, shopping malls, high-end residential areas and tourist attractions.

The Matsumae family's real estate not only owns extensive properties in Hokkaido, but also in Tokyo, Osaka and other places, controlling high-end office buildings and commercial locations.

In addition, its construction companies are also involved in many large-scale infrastructure projects, such as the construction of airports, ports and inter-regional railways.

The second is the agriculture and food processing industry of the Matsumae family.

Hokkaido is a major agricultural region in Japan, so the Matsumae family naturally owns a large amount of agricultural land.

Especially in the areas of dairy products, animal husbandry and high-quality crop cultivation, its subsidiaries produce high-end dairy products, meat and grains for domestic and foreign markets. It also owns a number of food processing plants that manufacture a variety of dairy products, canned foods and frozen foods for export to the Asian, European and American markets.

The third is the tourism industry. Many high-end hot spring resorts and boutique hotels in Hokkaido are hidden under the Matsumae family.

Then there is finance, which indirectly controls strategic companies in fields such as technology and energy.

Energy is quite developed because of the coal mines in Hokkaido.

In fact, the fields involved by the Matsumae family are quite traditional. It was only after Matsumae Kitahiro, Xinchun's father, took over as the head of the family that there were more sponsorships in the cultural field and investments in innovative technologies.

Fujii Itsuki read through the information pile by pile and found that the so-called chaebol was not as simple as he had imagined. It had infiltrated the entire country.

No wonder Chitose said that Kokoharu knew a girl who lived in the Imperial Palace.

Only then did he truly realize what he would have to shoulder in the future.

Speaking of Matsumae Kitahiro, actually you should call him father-in-law.

How does he manage these things?
There were light footsteps outside the door, soft and careful.

Fujii Itsuki raised his head slightly, and a few seconds later, the door was pushed open a crack, and a small head popped out. It was Chitose Yangkui.

"Brother Tree~"

She was grinning.

Fujii Itsuki put down the information and looked at the soft white or light pink fur home clothes she was wearing. The fabric was soft and looked very warm. She was wearing white cotton socks on her legs, paired with furry rabbit ear slippers. Her hair was loosely tied into a fluffy side ponytail, with a few strands of hair hanging playfully beside her cheeks.

It's a bit cute, but also has a deliberate sense of ambiguity.

It doesn't take much to guess that Qiansui is here to play with him.

And she dressed like this on purpose.

"Why are you not sleeping?"

"I'm bored so I can only play with my phone in the bedroom. Xinchun didn't reply to my message and Xiaoyue is probably at work again. There's nothing fun to do." Yang Kui Chitose poked her head beside Fujii Itsuki, "What is Brother Shu looking at?"

"The information about the Matsumae family that Kokoharu's father gave me."

"Oh," Yang Kui Chitose took a sneak peek and saw a large row of words, "I don't quite understand."

As she spoke, she gently sat her butt on his thighs.

While leaning my back against him, I also leaned into his arms.

Fujii Itsuki could only smile helplessly, "Chitose, Brother Itsuki wants to look at the information."

".Are you still reading materials so late?"

"Do you think those people Xinchun's aunt asked me to meet today were for nothing? Work is more important."

"But Chitose wants Brother Shu to accompany her."

Chitose's milky white little feet wearing white cotton socks stepped directly on Fujii Itsuki's knees.

Fujii Itsuki wanted to put her down, but accidentally touched her feet.

The hand slid along her calf and accidentally slid under her knees, just in time for her to face away from him and he to hold her legs.

"Chitose."

Fujii Itsuki had to admit that he couldn't stand her coming so close to him.

"Brother Shu, don't you want to?"

".This is at Xinchun's house, and in the guest room, which is not good."

"It's okay! No one will disturb me anyway. Chitose is very bored now, Brother Shu~"

Chitose Yangkui turned to the front, sat on Fujii Itsuki's legs, and put her hands on his neck.

Fujii Itsuki was overwhelmed by her scent and was about to agree, but Chitose said:

"Hey! How about this, Brother Shu, you can just continue to look at your data, and Chitose can play by himself~ How about that? This way, it won't disturb Brother Shu's progress."

".Did you learn bad things from Jiuhua?"

Yang Kui Qiansui's face turned red, and she lowered her head again, "Does Brother Shu agree or not?"

"Promise, promise, how can I not agree?"

In order to make Chitose calm down, Fujii Itsuki took out a piece of special ice cream from the refrigerator in the guest room of Xinchun's house and gave it to her. He continued to read the information carefully, and checked on her from time to time, fearing that she would disturb him.

Hmm. Should I say that Chitose has grown in the way she eats ice cream?

At first, Chitose liked to eat ice cream without any rules.

But now, what Fujii Itsuki saw was more seriousness.

I think he learned it from Xinchun, right?
Even eating ice cream is done with extreme seriousness.

Meticulous.

Very cultured and well-educated.

You can see that she looks serious while eating ice cream, and she reaches out to tuck the hair behind her ears.

Then I became more serious and focused.

Yang Kui Chitose noticed that Fujii Itsuki often looked at him, and while squeezing the ice cream, he puffed up his face and said, "Brother Shu, why are you always looking at me instead of looking at the information?"

".You make a lot of slurping noises when you eat, which really bothers me."

"Oh, I'll be careful then."

After that, Fujii Itsuki did feel much better, but he still couldn't concentrate.

He couldn't help but ask Qiansui:

".You learned this from Xinchun?"

"Humph!" Yang Kui Qiansui was instantly unhappy, but turned her head away and muttered, "Although... Although it is indeed true..."

".How did she teach you?"

"Xinchun said that when eating ice cream, you should be respectful and serious about the food, so that you can better appreciate the flavor and texture of the ice cream, and let the ice cream exude more layers and flavors in your mouth~ Then control the speed of eating the ice cream and let yourself enjoy the fun slowly. Take a short break between every few bites to let your mouth slowly adapt to the temperature of the ice cream before continuing to eat.

".Anyway, that's what Xinchun told me?"

"."

This seems to be something that will be passed down from generation to generation in the Matsumae family, right?
Fujii Itsuki couldn't believe that this was what Xinchun's Auntie taught Xinchun, and then Xinchun taught it to Chitose.

After Chitose Yang Kui had eaten her fill, she noticed that Fujii Itsuki was still reading the same page and couldn't help laughing at him.

Fujii Itsuki had a resentful expression, "Don't blame anyone." Yang Kui Chitose straightened her small waist, looking proud, but her face was red, "When Chitose first came, she said she was bored, and Brother Shu should have expected it."

"What about the rest lamp?" Fujii Itsuki asked tentatively.

"Good! Good!"

".See how anxious you are, let me make it clear first, I didn't bring any with me when I came to Xinchun's house this time."

"It's okay, it's okay~ Chitose will pay attention."

Fujii Itsuki basically had a sleepless night.

I don’t know if it’s because the girl is young or what, why is she so energetic.

The next day, when Fujii Itsuki just opened his eyes, he saw Chitose clinging to him again.

Fujii Itsuki covered his face with his hands, looking depressed. Yang Kui Chitose knew that something was wrong and tried her best to explain, "Well, that was actually in the morning. I saw that Xiao Shu brother was quite energetic, so~"

Explaining is the same as not explaining.

Fujii Itsuki got up quickly because she had to do some things at the shrine with Kokoharu today. When she saw Matsumae Kokoharu in a shrine maiden costume, she looked worried:
"Why does the teacher seem to have not slept well last night?"

Before Fujii Itsuki could answer, Chitose Haruki beside him silently moved her feet behind him like a child who had made a mistake.

When Matsumae Shinchun saw it, he felt relieved and understood everything.

"Chitose should let the teacher have a good rest at night."

“I was wrong about this.”

Fujii Itsuki did not dwell on this matter too much but instead asked Matsumae Shinchun if there was anything he could help with today.

"Today's task is actually nothing particularly complicated. It's just preparations for the New Year festival. There are some shrine decorations and offerings that need to be arranged, and some ritual props need to be checked for placement. If the teacher can help, I'd be very grateful."

"No problem." Fujii Itsuki said as he tried to cheer himself up from last night's fatigue.

Matsumae Shinchun glanced at Yang Kui Chitose who was hiding behind Fujii Itsuki and secretly looking at her, and couldn't help but smiled and said to her: "Chitose, you should come and help today, after all, this is our family festival."

"Oh well."

The three of them walked towards the shrine together.

Although every family in Matsumae is wealthy, the trivial matters of the shrine are usually taken care of by Xinchun's aunt herself.

Fujii Itsuki was helping Xinchun today, helping her hang the shimenawa and kadomatsu on the gate and eaves of the shrine.

Shimenawa is made of straw or hemp rope and hung at the entrance of a shrine or at a torii gate to indicate the boundary between the sacred place and the secular world and to prevent evil spirits from entering.

Orochimaru's belt is actually a kind of Shimenawa.

Kadomatsu are bamboo and pine branches placed on both sides of the shrine entrance to symbolize longevity and prosperity and to welcome the gods.

Usually, it was Matsumae Shinharu who climbed the ladder to hang it. When Fujii Itsuki came, it was naturally him who helped to hang it. Haruki Chitose and Matsumae Shinharu were at the bottom of the ladder handing him things.

The two girls were together, and they had this strange sisterly relationship, so Matsumae Shinchun couldn't help but be curious about what happened last night.

While Fujii Itsuki was hanging the rope on the ladder, she quietly asked her:

"How was last night, teacher?"

Yang Kui Chitose hadn't reacted yet and looked confused.

Matsumae Shinchun was still very embarrassed about this kind of thing. It was okay with Fujii Itsuki, as she had gotten used to it. But she was embarrassed to talk about it with other people.

"It was last night."

"Oh!" Yang Kui Chitose suddenly realized, "Xinchun wants to ask Brother Shu."

"Ah."

Yang Kui Chitose secretly glanced at Fujii Itsuki above her, and whispered to Matsumae Shinchun: "To be honest, I always feel that Brother Itsuki is not as powerful as he was at the beginning."

".Chitose thinks so too?"

"Ah? Xinchun, do you think so too?"

The two girls looked at each other, feeling a little embarrassed, yet also feeling a sense of sympathy.

"How many times?" Xinchun asked.

"Last night, twice." Chitose replied.

"Only twice?" Xinchun was a little unconvinced.

"Yes, yes." Qiansui nodded continuously.

The two girls exchanged glances again.

In the end, they all came to the same conclusion: Fujii Itsuki was not as powerful as he was at the beginning.

"Could it be because Jiuhua treated Brother Shu too badly in the beginning?"

".I don't think so."

"That must be related! Jiuhua even deliberately pissed me off at the beginning, saying that she could do it more than ten times a day! Xinchun, have you ever done it ten times?"

".No."

"I do not have either!"

When she said this, the little shyness that Chitose Yangkui originally had disappeared, and was replaced by indignation.

Anyway, it’s all Jiuhuayue’s fault!

“Something is not going well”

"Xinchun, Xinchun, what do you think we should do? Do you have any ideas?"

Chitose Yangkui was actually a little anxious.

Because this means that she will no longer be happy every day.

It’s okay now. I can be happy for a while as long as I stick to it for a while.

Matsumae Shinchun thought for a while and frowned.

After Yang Kui Chitose handed the rope to Fujii Itsuki, she thought Xinchun knew something and asked, "Is there anything inconvenient?"

"Nothing, I just remembered that there seemed to be some recipes at home that could improve it, and it will become very powerful in the future, but..."

"But what?" Yang Kui Chitose leaned closer to her face.

"But they are all at my aunt's place. I am a little embarrassed to ask."

Yang Kui Qiansui became excited when she heard this, and held Xinchun's arm and shook it continuously, so that she could go ask her aunt.

This is not only for the good of Brother Shu, but also for the good of everyone!

Xinchun, you have to ask something no matter what!
Matsumae Shinchun quickly compromised and agreed.

Yang Kui Chitose was even more curious at this time, and asked quietly:
"Speaking of which, Xinchun, you sound very impressive. How impressive are you?"

Matsumae Shinchun motioned for her to come closer, and then whispered a few words in her ear.

".Really? Is it really that amazing?!"

"Yeah, and I heard that he won't stop unless he vents for three consecutive days."

Matsumae Shinharu nodded with a blushing face, and Yang Kui Chitose then turned her gaze to Fujii Itsuki.

Fujii Itsuki had just finished hanging the rope and walked down the ladder. He saw the two girls below looking at him with a strange look in their eyes, "Why are you looking at me?"

Chitose Yangkui looked a little embarrassed and smiled a little mysteriously.

".Why are you still laughing?"

"It's nothing, it's nothing~ Brother Shu, don't think too much~"

(End of this chapter)