The temperature in Wuhua City continued to drop, but January's weather was still within a normal range.
At times it snowed, at times it cleared up, and at times snow mixed with rain fell.
It had not reached a level that could be called abnormal.
Because of the winter temperatures, Haizaki reduced both the scope and duration of his training. He maintained only basic daily exercise and activities less affected by the weather, such as firearms practice.
Over the course of ten months, his abilities and overall physical condition had improved significantly.
"Haizaki-kun! Let's go out for a walk…"
After three consecutive days of wind and snow, the two of them had been cooped up in the villa. Seeing the clear weather today, Utaha could no longer suppress the urge to go outside.
"Alright, but wear more clothes. If you really go out in a short skirt, you'll get frostbite. And what if you catch a fever again?"
Although people often said Japanese girls had maxed out their cold-resistance skills,
Haizaki absolutely did not want to take that risk.
"Isn't that why you're here? If I get sick, you can take care of me."
She recalled how gently Haizaki had cared for her the last time she had a fever.
"Just taking care of you is fine, but I'm not a doctor. I can't cure illnesses."
"Then learn! It might be useful in the future. Besides, if it's just us now, but in the future, if we have…"
By the end, her voice was so soft it was barely audible.
She was truly embarrassed.
She and Haizaki hadn't even established a formal relationship yet, and she was already thinking about children.
But that was only a matter of time. And pregnancy and childbirth would certainly require a lot of relevant knowledge, medical knowledge being one of them.
"In any case, hurry up and change clothes. Wear something thicker."
Haizaki didn't hear her muttering and directly urged her to go change.
The girl puffed out her cheeks, but faced with Haizaki's firm gaze, she eventually gave in and ran back to her room to put on much warmer winter clothing.
"Now you're satisfied, right?"
She spun around once, clearly unhappy with how bundled up she looked, like a penguin.
"Very good. Perfect."
Haizaki froze for a moment, then gave her a thumbs-up.
Even he hadn't expected Utaha to wear her thickest winter coat.
But that was fine—at least she definitely wouldn't freeze.
"Let's go!"
"Carry me…"
"I can't. You're all puffed up now, round like a ball. How am I supposed to carry you…"
Wrapped in winter clothes, Utaha's graceful feminine curves were still faintly visible, but compared to her summer swimsuit figure, they were impossible to match.
"Whose fault do you think this is!"
Utaha shouted, dragging her round figure as she chased after the fleeing Haizaki.
Her increased bulk greatly affected her running speed.
Hidden beneath her shouting was a sense of happiness about her current life.
This kind of life was quite nice.
And besides, the Spring Festival… was almost here.
Utaha understood that for people of the Eastern Union, the Spring Festival held deep significance—it was the most important time of the year for family reunions.
And now, she was his family.
The day after tomorrow would be the time for her to showcase the results of her cooking practice.
She had to make Haizaki satisfied.
…
January 24, 2020.
Following Christmas and New Year's Day, the Eastern Union welcomed its most important annual festival—the Spring Festival.
Couplets were pasted on the villa's main door, along with an upside-down "福 (Fu)" character. The calligraphy was written by Haizaki himself.
However, Utaha thoroughly mocked those brush-written characters, because they were truly hard to describe.
Extremely ugly.
Although Haizaki briefly resolved to practice calligraphy after being mercilessly ridiculed by Utaha, once he thought about how practicing calligraphy didn't seem all that useful, he decided to forget it for now. He could practice later when he was bored.
"Utaha, let me help."
In the kitchen, the long black-haired girl wearing an apron was busy cooking. Her exaggerated, battlefield-like movements made Haizaki uneasy.
What if the kitchen exploded?
"I said it's fine to leave everything to me today. You just wait outside. Or is it that Haizaki-kun doesn't trust the student he personally taught…"
Holding a spatula, Utaha stir-fried the chicken in the pan.
The chicken came from the one she had raised, named "Saburō."
At Utaha's firm insistence, Haizaki—reluctant on the surface but secretly delighted—slaughtered the chicken before the New Year.
What Haizaki didn't know was that Utaha had made this decision because she had missed Haizaki's birthday and wanted to make up for it by killing the chicken.
She knew Haizaki had been thinking about those chickens for quite some time.
"Then I'll look forward to your cooking, Utaha."
Watching the busy girl in the kitchen, memories of her learning to cook surfaced in Haizaki's mind.
At first, constant failures—completely inedible.
Then barely edible.
Then finally reaching a passable level.
Her progress was obvious.
She had invested a great deal of time and effort into learning how to cook.
"Then just wait and see! This time, I'll definitely satisfy you."
Just having that intention would already satisfy me, even if it tastes terrible.
Leaning back against the sofa in the living room, Haizaki watched the girl's busy figure in the kitchen. Even he hadn't expected that in his life, there would be a girl willing to endure the fumes of cooking to prepare food for him.
"I remember the last time you said that, the final product was… 'burnt salted potatoes'…"
Even now, the lingering burnt smell seemed to resurface.
It wasn't simply bad—it was the kind of bad that defied description.
Hearing this, the girl's eyes sharpened. She raised her chin slightly, left hand on her hip, right hand pointing the spatula at Haizaki, and spoke sideways toward him,
"What's wrong with burnt salted potatoes? Other people didn't even get the chance to eat them!"
She had gotten the name wrong. Thinking that the dish required potatoes to be completely burnt, she prepared it that way. After studying Chinese for so long, she still ended up misunderstanding the recipe because of pronunciation.
"And it's all your fault. You didn't teach me properly. Whether it's cooking or language, it's because you didn't teach well, that's why I didn't do it right."
"I think it's because you, as the student, didn't study properly."
"Who told you Chinese was so hard to learn! Why does '爱上你 (ài shàng nǐ)' and '爱上你 (ài shàng nǐ)' have two different meanings? And there's more, and more…"
[T/N: "爱上你 (ài shàng nǐ)" could either mean "fall in love with you" or "like having sex with you" depending on the context or phrasing.]
The exact same characters, yet because of different combinations, the meanings were completely different.
For Utaha, who had started learning with full confidence, this was the biggest blow she had ever suffered.
"Yes, yes, it's my fault for not teaching properly."
"Good that you know. I'm Utaha, from Toyogasaki Academy. My deviation score has always been first. As long as nothing unexpected happens, I'm getting into the University of Tokyo."
She turned slightly, the spatula once again stirring the food in the pan.
As if reminded of university matters, Utaha casually asked,
"What about you, Haizaki-kun? If you have a university you want to attend, which one would it be?"
"The University of Tokyo."
"Eh? You're not saying that just because I mentioned wanting to go to Tokyo University, trying to please me, are you?"
Whether or not Haizaki had originally planned to attend Tokyo University, Utaha was very satisfied with his answer.
"But I'm really happy. What kind of reward do you want, Haizaki-kun?"
"Utaha's smile…"
"Then how big?"
Haizaki froze for a moment, then replied,
"Mm, V-shape…"
In an instant, the girl's lips curved upward into a radiant smile.
Truly… breathtaking.
He would never forget it.
…