"Please pay the portrait rights fee first," Kiyono Lin, wearing a sun hat, said as the blue silk ribbon on her hat fluttered back in the wind.

"Meiji, she's talking to you."

"I'm talking to you, Che. One billion yen, please transfer it to my account."

"Mrs. Kiyono," Dubian Che called out to Mrs. Kiyono in front, "Your family got rich from extortion, didn't they?"

"Yeah! And if you default, we have the best lawyers to deal with you!"

Amid laughter and cheerful voices, bicycles wheeled past the lush green tree shade.

After an uneventful lunch without Mayi Asuka, Dubian Che was taken into an art gallery by his contemptuous mother-in-law.

In the gallery, the walls were hung with paintings of naked women, and cats.

"Fujita Seiji?" After looking at a few, Dubian Che asked Kiyono Lin immediately.

"That's right." Kiyono Lin had no interest in the naked women; she only stared at the cats.

"You actually didn't know?"

"The reason you know is because the women in the paintings are unclothed, not because you study art," Kiyono Lin said with certainty.

"Even you can guess wrong, Mr. Ryou!" Dubian Che's voice was filled with merriment.

"So how do you know about Fujita Seiji?" Mrs. Jiutiao turned around to ask.

"Because of my teacher—Picasso."

"Huh?" More than just Jiutiao Meijie expressed confusion.

Dubian Che didn't mind and continued, "It's said that Picasso lingered for more than three hours at Fujita Seiji's first solo exhibition in Paris."

"Lies."

"Actually, to learn how to make Meiji happy, I studied various Grandmasters' views on women, and Fujita Seiji was one of them."

"What are you learning all day? Without my permission, you're no longer allowed to read such books," Meiji commanded.

"Curious what Fujita said?" Mrs. Kiyono asked.

"Fujita believed, 'Women and cats are the same creatures; at night, their eyes glow. Though they appear cute and sensible, if you're not careful, they'll quickly forget all gratitude and easily betray their master.'"

"Just listening to these remarks, you can tell he was a defiant and wildly living character," Kiyono Lin said.

"Worthy of Dora A Lin, but I do agree with the part about 'at night, their eyes glowing,'" Dubian Che said, addressing Jiutiao Mei with the latter comment.

"Likewise, I'm a woman, you're a cat; let's both glow with our eyes at night," Jiutiao Meijie said with a smile.

Dubian Che glanced at her neatly pinned-up hair, revealing her fair nape, and decided to let her lie on the bed tonight while he laid on her back, kissing that spot thoroughly.

On the wall, Dubian Che felt nothing for Fujita Seiji's paintings of naked women, but a hint of skin from Jiutiao Meijie sent a heatwave through his core.

The women in Fujita Seiji's paintings all had a skin tone similar to ivory.

This gave the originally flawed-skinned Western women a touch of the charm possessed by Eastern beauties.

Kiyono Lin stared at one of the paintings, which featured only a cat lying on its side, with yellow sclera, black pupils, and a face somewhat resembling a fox— a white cat.

The painting's name was simple and straightforward— "White Cat."

"Including the frame, 300,000 yen," said the gallery owner pacing around.

"Hmm," Kiyono Lin nodded.

"If you like it, buy it and have it shipped back to Tokyo, don't worry about the trouble of taking it back," Mrs. Kiyono suggested.

"It's not about liking it; it just reminds me of something."

"What's that? I don't recall you ever having a cat."

"Some moments I spent with Mr. Dubian."

"In the gallery, Lin fixated on a painting of a white cat—this is 'The Confession in the Gallery,'" Mrs. Kiyono's tone held the air of a female artist.

"It could go with 'Kiyono Lin in Karuizawa,'" said Dubian Che, who had been aimlessly accompanying Jiutiao Meijie, as he interjected, "The series would be called 'Lin's Seventeen Years Old.'"

"Don't think that just because you're the people closest to me, you can joke about me as you please," Kiyono Lin said, glaring at them both.

...Such threats only served to delight those threatened.

Besides deciding how to glow with their eyes in the evening, they left the gallery without any other takeaway.

The five went shopping at the Outlet and bought some clothes.

Having dinner there and carrying big and small bags, they proceeded to Chunyu Balcony.

Chunyu Balcony is the entrance to the Hoshino Resort, a wooden street hidden in the forest, quite small.

Over a hundred spring elms were planted here, but there were only nine buildings in total; even if one were to visit every shop earnestly, it wouldn't take much time.

With so few buildings, one could afford to slow down and relax.

Dubian Che and his companions came here in the evening for a Summer Night Music Concert.

They ordered some snacks and each chose their favorite drink, sitting by the waterside terrace.

"When does it start?" Dubian Che dipped a French fry in ketchup.

In front of him, a glass cola bottle began to form condensation droplets.

"It's starting," Jiutiao Meijie pointed somewhere.

When the daytime bustle had settled, musicians with violins, accordions, and guitars took to the stage, offering visitors a summer night's exclusive melodic treat.

As the sky darkened, the clear stars over the Karuizawa uplands were revealed.

All nine buildings of Chunyu Balcony lit up with bright yellow lights, illuminating the already modest space.

The five listened to the music, chatted while eating snacks, and occasionally, their attention was drawn away by the fireflies glittering over the stream by the terrace.

"Wow~ Chunyu Balcony?"

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