Night’s Nomenclature-Chapter 495: The Little Girl in the Snowy Country

If it were just the assassination of more than twenty people, it certainly wouldn't be enough to make the Shadow Agency nervous.

But, a single Joker could make the entire Shadow Agency feel like they were facing a formidable enemy.

After all, the last time Joker appeared, they almost uprooted the Shendai foundation in Western Europe, and even the Koshima Consortium's Time Traveler suffered heavy losses.

Everything that happened at the airport quickly spread online because there was no initial control over the news.

Too many tourists used their mobile phones to record videos, and even the airport's surveillance footage was leaked.

Before the Nouhi Bus arrived at Bai Chuan Village in Gifu Prefecture, even the other tourists on the bus had already seen the news.

Qing Chen sat quietly in the last row, the speed of his two Rubik's Cubes slowing down, but never stopping.

Listening to the tourists on the bus discussing how the assassin could use someone else's hair to kill, he thought to himself that using hair was only because this kind of weapon was easiest to find, and the reason he plucked hair from the middle-aged man's head was simply because he wouldn't feel pain when pulling someone else's hair.

Besides, this way, he wouldn't need to study the middle-aged man's health handbook like his master.

The bus drove along the long mountain road and entered the snowy country.

Every winter, Bai Chuan Village would be covered by heavy snow, the snow accumulating to a depth of one meter, the whole world seemed to be immersed in a fairy tale.

There are also traditional Gassho-style Houses here. The so-called Gassho-style Houses are houses with gable roofs made of thatch. Dozens of Gassho-style Houses are connected together, their roofs covered with thick white snow, a beauty that even oil paintings cannot depict.

In summer, heavily equipped hikers would set off from here, crossing the difficult Northern Alps Small Loop Line.

In autumn, the Dhaku sake festival is held here, and the people of Bai Chuan Village invite tourists to drink a bowl of white cloudy sake mixed with rice.

In winter, skiers would come here to rent family onsen inns, skiing during the day and soaking in hot springs at night.

After getting off the bus with a backpack almost as tall as a person, Qing Chen followed the map to find the family onsen inn he had rented.

A narrow stone path had been cleared by the locals in the snowy country, with snow nearly as tall as a person on either side, like a unique "winding path leads to seclusion'.

But when Qing Chen arrived at the onsen inn he rented, he was stunned.

Because the snow in front of the other onsen inns had been cleared, but this small onsen inn still had thick snow in front of it.

Actually, when he rented this place, most of the other inns were almost fully booked, only this one was unoccupied.

Qing Chen had checked the onsen inn's reviews, and they were almost all negative.

"The old lady at this onsen inn can't cook, the food is terrible and hard to swallow."

"The hot spring isn't hot enough."

"The inn is not very clean."

There were several reviews like this.

But Qing Chen didn't care, after all, he wasn't here for a vacation, and the conditions here wouldn't be any harsher than the A02 Secret Military Base.

He stepped over the waist-high snow and knocked on the wooden door.

The wooden door quickly opened, and an eight- or nine-year-old girl stood at the door, looking Qing Chen up and down.

Qing Chen said in Japanese, "Hello, I'm the renter."

The little girl immediately said enthusiastically, "Older Brother! You're finally here, come in quickly!"

Saying that, the little girl quickly brought Qing Chen slippers, and even took out a soft short broom made of straw, gently brushing the dust off his body.

This made Qing Chen feel strange. Why would an eight- or nine-year-old girl be working at an onsen inn that was still in operation?

Where were the adults?

After inviting Qing Chen to sit in the living room, the little girl carefully brought a cup of hot tea from the kitchen.

After handing it to Qing Chen, she carefully explained, "Older Brother, I'm sorry, because my grandma fell ill a few days ago, so she can't get up to sweep the snow, and she can't serve tourists... Are you hungry? I'll prepare some food for you."

Qing Chen didn't speak, but simply nodded slightly.

He saw the little girl carrying a small chair into the kitchen.

She stood on the small chair, laboriously making a fire, frying fish, making thick omelets, and preparing miso soup.

Her work wasn't skillful, she must have only learned recently.

Her hardworking appearance showed a strength that didn't match her age.

Qing Chen watched silently, somewhat lost in thought.

The little girl was delicate, with thick, fluffy hair that was very cute.

Her clothes were old, and there was a notebook on the living room table, it seemed that she was doing her homework before Qing Chen arrived.

He heard a faint sound of breathing from a bedroom, occasionally accompanied by coughing, this should be the little girl's grandmother.

"What's wrong with your grandmother?" Qing Chen asked.

The little girl was silent for a moment, then turned back and squeezed out a smile, "Older Brother, grandma has lung cancer, it's not contagious, don't worry."

Qing Chen didn't speak again, but he understood roughly.

Therefore, the negative reviews given by the tourists were because the little girl's grandmother had been unwell for a long time, so she couldn't manage the onsen inn diligently.

The little girl's cautious manner was like Qing Chen himself when he was a child.

Like a wild weed, wild but stubbornly growing.

She tried her best to appear enthusiastic and keep Qing Chen.

Generally, guests at onsen inns only stay for two or three days, rarely are there long-term guests like him, who rent for a month, the little girl was afraid that she would cause Qing Chen to switch to another onsen inn due to negligence.

Therefore, although it was their first meeting, the little girl used the more intimate term "Older Brother".

This kind of term is only used for very close brothers.

Qing Chen took out two three-level Rubik's Cubes again and slowly turned them.

This was no longer multitasking, he was "restoring' the Rubik's Cubes while thinking about the situation of the little girl and the onsen inn, it was actually a three-task operation.

He didn't know where the little girl's parents had gone, resulting in her having to learn to please customers and bear the burdens she shouldn't have to bear at such a young age.

After a while, the little girl returned to the dining table with a tray.

She slowly placed the tray on the table and tentatively asked, "Older Brother, have you seen the online reviews of our inn...?"

Qing Chen nodded: "I have."

The little girl lowered her head: "There's nothing we can do, but can you please don't change inns? I can wash your clothes, I'll wash them very clean!"

Qing Chen shook his head: "No, thank you."

"Oh..."

He picked up the rice in front of him and took a bite of the fried fish, it was salty.

Extremely salty.

The little girl watched Qing Chen eat, afraid that he would say it wasn't delicious.

To her surprise, the brother in front of her didn't say anything, and ate all the food seriously, without leaving anything behind.

Seeing that Qing Chen ate so cleanly, she thought she had done a great job this time.

But she knew her cooking skills well, so she hesitated for a while before asking, "Older Brother, is it delicious...?"

Qing Chen looked at her: "It's not delicious."

The little girl didn't know how to respond for a while, she felt that this brother had an air of aloofness, as cold as the weather in Bai Chuan Village.

Like the thick snow on the gable roofs of the Gassho-style Houses.

Seeing that Qing Chen had finished eating, she brought out a bowl of white cloudy sake from the kitchen, holding the bowl with both small hands, looking particularly pitiful.

Shinguji Maki said, "Older Brother, this is our family's white cloudy sake, it's brewed with mountain spring water selected by grandma, it's better than other families'."

Qing Chen shook his head: "I'm sorry, I don't drink." frёewebnoѵēl.com

He needed to stay sober, he didn't want to touch even a drop of alcohol.

Shinguji Maki stood there helplessly, the white cloudy sake was meant to entertain guests, she never thought she would be refused.

She lowered her head and whispered, "My name is Shinguji Maki, your room is on the left, connected to the back yard hot spring, don't worry, grandma and I won't go there. The bed is already made, you can call me anytime if you need anything."

After saying that, the little girl named Shinguji Maki returned to the kitchen, took out a small, cold rice ball from the cupboard, and ate it in small bites.

As she ate, tears fell drop by drop.

In her opinion, this new guest would probably leave like other tourists because of the poor service here.

Qing Chen didn't pay attention, after finishing his meal, he returned to his room, there was a clean mat and bedding on the floor, it was quite clean.

Shinguji Maki wiped away her tears, put away the used bowls and chopsticks, and washed them in cold water, her small hands were red from the cold.

Other houses have diesel boilers outside, which can generate heating and boil water.

But she turned on the heating because heating was a necessary condition for entertaining guests.

However, the little girl felt it was a waste of diesel to boil water, so she used cold water instead.

In this way, their diesel heating could at least last until Qing Chen's lease expired.

After the little girl tidied up everything, she quietly opened the kitchen drawer and took out some medicine, brought a cup of hot water into the room for her grandmother, and the small onsen inn finally returned to silence.

It snowed heavily outside, as colorful as the fairy tale where the seven dwarfs live.

Some people were having snowball fights, and some were building snowmen.

It was quiet inside, everyone had gone to bed early.

...

...

The next morning.

Shinguji Maki woke up next to her grandmother, she first touched her grandmother's forehead, and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that the fever had subsided.

The little girl looked at the quartz clock on the wall, and suddenly let out a yelp, quickly got up and went out to make breakfast.

She got up late, according to the onsen inn's agreement, she had to prepare breakfast for Qing Chen before 8 a.m., but it was already 8:10 a.m.

When Shinguji Maki arrived at the living room, she froze, because the door to Qing Chen's room was open, and the bedding inside was neatly folded.

However, Qing Chen was nowhere to be found.

Her expression dimmed, she thought he had left and switched to another onsen inn, hadn't he?

But when she turned around, the little girl saw a stack of money on the dining table, and a note written in Japanese: I will be back before 8 p.m., leave me some food, thank you. The money is the full amount of the rent paid in advance, please accept it.

Shinguji Maki stood silently in front of the dining table.

In Bai Chuan Village, the rent is usually paid upon departure, and only a deposit is required upon check-in.

She understood that the brother had seen her financial difficulties, so he paid the rent in advance.

Shinguji Maki opened the door, wanting to see where Qing Chen had gone, but when she opened the door, she saw that the snow in front of the door had been cleared, neatly forming a stone path.

Like the other onsen inns, it was even cleaner.

The little girl was stunned for a long time, recalling Qing Chen's aloof demeanor last night.

She thought that although the brother was cold, he was very kind.

...However, he went out so early, where could he have gone?

She looked inside the house and found that Qing Chen hadn't taken his skis with him.

Th𝗲 most uptodate novels are published on free(w)ebnov(e)l.𝒄𝒐𝙢