"Ah, who might this be?" Mrs. Kiyono said mockingly, from her manner, one could probably imagine what Kiyono Lin would look like in twenty years.

If, at that time, she cut her hair short.

"Mr. Dubian, Dubian Che." Dubian Che replied with a smile.

"Have we met before?" Mrs. Kiyono wondered aloud.

"I'm sorry, I'll be visiting you often in the future." Dubian Che left the porch and walked into the ladies' garden.

"Why would you visit her? Your mother-in-law is right here." Jiutiao Zhenji said, then suddenly seemed to recall something, "Oh, so you haven't visited me these days, and now you turn up here, planning to side with the Kiyono family?"

"I'm here to find you," said Dubian Che.

Jiutiao Zhenji, as if she couldn't bear it, turned her head to Kiyono Youko and said, "Don't believe a word he says."

"Agreed." Kiyono Youko waved at Dubian Che, "Come here."

She pointed to a bag of fine soil by the fence and said, "Take this, after we spread the seeds, pour it over evenly."

Dubian Che picked up the bag of soil and followed behind the two ladies.

The sky was a clear blue, wisps and strands of white clouds, the bay calm and unrippled.

The garden lay barren, flowers destroyed by the typhoon, the fragrance of soil wafted everywhere.

The two ladies discussed how to redecorate the garden, occasionally asking for Dubian Che's opinion.

After over half an hour of busy work, they handed the tools to the servants and took off the gloves they had worn for planting.

The three returned to the living room with its ten-meter-high ceiling, the windows half-open, the sunlight casting the shadow of the window mullions on the floor.

"Tell me, why are you looking for me? What about Meiji and Lin? Didn't they come with you?" Mrs. Kiyono sat down on the sofa.

Mrs. Jiutiao sat beside her, the breeze stirring their hair, both looking enchanting.

The scene before him felt familiar, as if he had surely seen it in some movie.

"They went shopping together," Dubian Che looked at the two women.

The ladies also watched him, and for a moment, the living room was filled only with the whispers of wind and curtains.

"Have you made up?" Mrs. Jiutiao asked.

"We have," Dubian Che nodded.

Mrs. Jiutiao couldn't help but smile, then leaned back against the back of the sofa.

"That child," Mrs. Kiyono murmured as if to herself, "finally has friends again."

"We need something to drink." Saying this, Mrs. Jiutiao turned to instruct the maid, "Bring the best red wine."

"Yes."

"Oh, and get him a juice the same color as the red wine," Mrs. Jiutiao added, pointing to Dubian Che.

Mrs. Jiutiao poured herself some red wine, stared at it for a moment, then after gracefully sipping her first mouthful, she continued:

"How did you manage it?"

Mrs. Kiyono was also looking at Dubian Che with a curious gaze.

Dubian Che pinched the stem at the bottom of the wine glass between his fingers, rotating it gently as if twisting a screw on a machine.

After a moment's contemplation, he recounted his recent experiences to the two ladies.

The two ladies listened attentively, occasionally reaching unconsciously for their glasses.

"...that's all," Dubian Che took a sip of the juice that looked just like the wine, unable to discern its fruit.

When he finished, Mrs. Kiyono asked an unexpected question:

"Between Meiji and Lin, who do you like more? And what about your other two lovers?"

Mrs. Jiutiao's gaze also took on a probing depth.

"I love Kiyono the most."

This love was as steadfast as a millennium-old rock, allowing for no compromise.

"I dote on Meiji the most."

Sometimes he would be lost in confusion; could the current him steadfastly oppose her if Jiutiao Meiji continued to kill? —That's how much he doted on her.

"I am most heartbroken for Mayi."

Except for Mayi Asuka, who he desired nothing else from, he found her not bothersome at all, truly worthy of pity.

Anyway, she must be made happy.

"Most moving, the most natural to be with, is Xiaoquan Aonai."

She forgot about him, but still remembered to come to Tokyo, to go to Goda, insisting for ten years, all because of a one-month acquaintance.

And her accommodating and gentle love.

In front of her, he could be completely relaxed, not caring about honesty or lies; not thinking about how to balance relationships; not always reminding himself he had to take good care of her.

Just like a normal person, carefree.

"Then, who would you most like to be with?" Jiutiao Zhenji asked.

"If I must choose, it would still be between Kiyono and Meiji," Dubian Che thought and said, "Kiyono is who I love, talking with her is interesting, and even without talking we can comfortably be together. The key is she understands me, and I understand her. But I also love Meiji so deeply that I wish we could be together every day, holding hands even when we walk."

"Playboy," Kiyono Youko commented.

"Frivolous," Jiutiao Zhenji concluded.

"Um, but rest assured, besides those four, there won't be any more."

"Guaranteeing us is useless," Jiutiao Zhenji said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Wait," Kiyono Youko put down her glass of wine, her eyes fixed on Dubian Che, "Are you already with Lin?"

"Not yet, but I've made up my mind," Dubian Che said in a relaxed tone, "I like her so much, I won't care what she thinks. I must win her over. I hope you two aunts can allow it—considering I helped those two make up."

"That's your business," Mrs. Jiutiao said.

"Thank you," Dubian Che said sincerely.

"I'm only curious about one thing," Jiutiao Zhenji said with curiosity, "whom do you plan to marry?"

Dubian Che looked troubled but still spoke, "With..."

"Some things," Kiyono Youko suddenly stood up, with a young girl's gesture placing her hand on Dubian Che's shoulder, "think clearly before you speak."

"..."

"I want to know the answer now," Jiutiao Zhenji stood up as well, with a hand just like a young girl's on Dubian Che's other shoulder.

Dubian Che, sandwiched between the two, looked very pitiful.

He even thought, could it be that twenty years later, he would also be threatened this way by Kiyono Lin and Jiutiao Meijie?

Then he'd only be able to run to Mayi and Miss Aonai to hide for a few days.

"Speak, Mr. Dubian."

"I, this..."

"Ding Dong, Ding Dong, bells are ringing~"

The special ringtone set for Jiutiao Mei's calls so that he could attend to her immediately had not changed to this day.

"I'll take the call," Dubian Che took out his phone, ready to slip away.

"What, is there something we can't hear?" Mrs. Jiutiao pushed him back down.

Mrs. Kiyono simply took the phone away and pressed the speaker button.

"Why did it take you so long to answer?" Jiutiao Meijie's dissatisfied voice came through.

So long was actually just three or four seconds.

Before Dubian Che could explain, Jiutiao Meijie spoke again, "Kiyono is really hopeless, I can't get along with her."

The two ladies became tense at once, leaning in.

"What happened again?" Dubian Che asked casually, with curiosity.

"We were shopping and she suddenly went back."

"What did you do?" Though he asked, Dubian Che was quite certain.

"What could I do? We were shopping for autumn clothes together and I wanted to buy some for you. What's wrong with a girlfriend buying clothes for her boyfriend?"

"...You did it on purpose, right?"

Jiutiao Meijie finally couldn't help laughing, "The clerk asked what type you like to wear, and I said you like the type I like to make you wear. You should have seen Kiyono's face then, haha!"

"..." The two ladies exchanged a glance and then both smiled together.

"I'll apologize to her tomorrow." Jiutiao Mei's cheerful voice came from the other side of the phone.

"You're actually apologizing on your own?" This surprised Dubian Che, catching him off guard.

"We'll go shopping again after making up. We haven't bought the clothes yet."

"Don't buy them for me again."

"Hahaha!" Jiutiao Mei was extremely cheerful, clearly up to no good.

As soon as the call ended, the phone rang again; this time it was Kiyono Lin.

She started with, "Tell her if she does that again next time, don't ask me out."

"What happened?" Dubian Che asked knowingly.

"We agreed to shop for each other's autumn clothes, then she suddenly brings you up, wanting to buy for you. She knows we are still competing, what is she trying to do?"

"You can buy for me too."

Kiyono Lin scoffed, "It's not about whether to buy or not, this is her declaring war. Convey exactly what I said to her."

"Oh."

After the call ended, Kiyono Youko returned the phone to Dubian Che.

"Being with both our daughters at the same time, I was a bit dissatisfied in my heart initially, but not anymore." She said smiling.

"You have quite a tough job," Jiutiao Zhenji said, almost sympathetically, patting Dubian Che on the shoulder.

"Not tough at all, I'm very happy," Dubian Che paused, then added, "and they are happy too."

A relaxing and pleasant breeze seemed to drift through the floor-to-ceiling windows, like the wind, yet not quite like the wind.

It was a cool and pleasant autumn day.

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