Sauichiro: rebuilding Ashina from the obliteration of the pillar

Chapter 205 Flowers
The white-haired mayor dragged Kamado Tanjuro into the simple kitchen without any explanation.

Before closing the somewhat rough wooden door, he said to the man beside the desk with a smile on his face: "Mr. Lihe, please sit down for a while, and I will persuade this child well."

Kamado Tanjuro reluctantly wanted to say something, but was pushed aside by the old man, and he was still unable to speak.

After listening to the old man's words, the man named Lihe still had a gloomy expression, obviously he was very dissatisfied with his experience as a guest this time.

But there were still three innocent and lovely children in the room staring at him curiously, obviously having a lot of questions to ask him.

In order not to disappoint the children, Li He finally resisted the urge to walk away and nodded, picked up the teacup and drank the tea in one gulp.

"Crack."

After the wooden door of the kitchen was closed, the face of the old man standing opposite Tanjuro Kamamon turned serious immediately.

"You bastard! How can you talk to Mr. Kawa like that? He came to invite you sincerely!"

The old man blew his beard and stared at him and said, "You can make money, and you can take your family to Tokyo to watch the fireworks without spending money. You may not be able to settle down in Tokyo by then! Such a good thing, you don't want to refuse it anyway. ?”

It turned out that this man named Kasawa was the heir to the famous Fireworks Workshop in Tokyo.

He came to Beizhisu Station, originally only to visit a relative's house, but accidentally discovered that the charcoal used by the relative's house was of extremely high quality.

When the charcoal was burning, not only did it have no peculiar smell, but there was never even the slightest bit of smoke.Obviously, its purity has reached an unbelievable level.

Out of the sensitivity of a businessman, Lihe immediately thought that if he could use this kind of charcoal in his own fireworks, the effect of fireworks exploding in the night sky would be even better.

Maybe they can turn around in one fell swoop and completely win the right to host the next Fireworks Conference.

So who is it that even burns a piece of charcoal so diligently?
With curiosity, Lihe found out that the only charcoal supplier in this town was the Zaomen family who lived in the mountains!This family doesn't seem to have any business sense. Regardless of season, the charcoal they sell is the same price, and it's very cheap.

And this meant that Lihe was likely to buy the family's method of burning charcoal at a very low price, so he asked the mayor to bring him to the door.

However, when he asked Zaomen Tanjuro for the secret of making charcoal, the somewhat thin young man said apologetically, "Thank you for your compliment, but the method of burning charcoal in our family is an ancient method passed down from our ancestors. There's nothing to be proud of."

Of course Lihe didn't believe it, so Zaomen Tanjuro took him to take a closer look at the earthen stove for burning charcoal.

Seeing this, Li He, who is an insider, was startled—not only is the way of making charcoal by the Zaomen family not new at all, but it is also very old-fashioned. This is completely the way the ancients burned charcoal!
People in the Edo period would not use such crude facilities to burn charcoal!

Ordinary earthen stove, ordinary cooling water, ordinary wood...

But why can these ordinary hardware facilities burn such excellent and pure charcoal?

At first, he couldn't understand it, but after talking with Tanjuro, Kasawa found that this man knew so much about burning charcoal, as if he himself had been smoked in an earthen oven with the wood Like a fire.

He finally understood.

The key to making good charcoal is not any tricks or procedures or even skills, but the person in front of you!
This man who sat in front of the earthen furnace and didn't care about anything except the heat of the charcoal was as rare as the craftsmen in those stories who sacrificed everything to make famous swords.

After looking at Zaomen's family, which is thriving but barren, Lihe came up with an idea.

As long as you take Tanjuro to the Fireworks Workshop in Tokyo and raise him as a charcoal-burning master, there will be no worries about your family's prosperity!

Therefore, he offered a monthly salary of up to [-] yen (ten times that of ordinary workers), and was willing to help the Zaomen family find a house in Tokyo that was adequate for living.

Such conditions can be said to be very generous.

But what he didn't expect was...

Kamado Tanjuro refused so easily!
That understatement, as if he didn't care about the favor of this big man from Tokyo, made Kasazu feel a little bit hurt.

At first, he thought that Zaomen Tanjuro was sitting in a well and watching the sky, and he didn't know how prosperous the big city was.

So Kasawa patiently invited Tanjuro to participate in the Fireworks Festival on the third day of the Obon Festival, hoping that he could show the "God of Fire Kagura" that the old people in the town talked about at the festival, and also Can earn a handsome income.

Nowadays, evil spirits are rampant, and the belief in gods related to the sun has been revived, and Kagutsuchi, the god of fire, is one of them.

If the Kagura dance of the Zaomen family is really as gorgeous as the elders said, "as if the gods are dancing by themselves", it will definitely arouse repercussions at the fireworks festival, and I will naturally rise as a recommender.

When Tanjuro sees the hustle and bustle of the big city and becomes the focus of attention again, it will be difficult for him not to be tempted to move!
Since benefits can't impress you, then Mr. Sheng can do it. Does this person really want to be an anonymous charcoal burner for the rest of his life?

But even though the children of Zaomen's family showed full interest, the thin young father still directly refused.

"This is the land left by our ancestors, and we must never abandon it lightly."

Kamado Tanjuro said so, and when he said this, there was no hesitation in his eyes.

The indifference to what people in the world seek is like a battering ram hitting the hat and the shiny shell, making him feel as if he is inferior to others, and this one in front of him is the real hidden sage.

After Lihe recovered from the brief surprise, an indescribable fire of shame began to burn in his heart.

Seeing that the big businessman's patience was gradually exhausted, the mayor hurriedly separated the two, thus the scene just now happened.

"I can't leave here."

Zaomen Tanjuro maintained his respect for the elders and said softly: "This is my father and grandfather's last wish. This place used to be the place where Vulcan danced, and we must not leave casually."

"Besides, if we do have to go, where will the townspeople go to buy charcoal?"

"Oh! You don't care what other people do!"

The mayor was really angry and distressed.

The Zaomen family is poor, but they seldom feel unfortunate because of it, instead they often lend a helping hand to others.

Whether it's Tanjuro's wife, Aoie, or Tanjiro's Nezuko brother and sister, they are very popular with the elderly and children in the town.

Therefore, the mayor really wanted to change the current situation of the family.

"You and your father only believed the old man's nonsense because they suffered from not being educated!"

The mayor and Zaomen Tanjuro's grandfather are of the same generation, so they are naturally not polite when speaking, "Let's not talk about the relationship between this place and Vulcan, do you want Tanjirou to burn charcoal like this for the rest of his life? What about Nezuko, Xiaomao and the others? What a good boy! You should think about them anyway."

"Besides, Kuizhi, since I have been with you, I haven't even changed a new dress for more than ten years, and I am concerned about the child in everything! You can make some money by burning charcoal, and she still has to work for a big family in the town Helping people can support their families.”

"Now Mr. Lihe, such a big businessman came to invite you in person. This is something that others dare not even think about, but you refused casually, without thinking about the future of your family."

The old man became angrier as he spoke, and punched Tanjuro in the chest angrily, "You boy, what's going on!"

However, following the old man's light hammer without warning, Kamado Tanjuro suddenly covered his mouth with his right hand and coughed, his body bent involuntarily, looking very uncomfortable.

"Hey—you kid, don't you..."

The mayor's slit-like eyes widened exaggeratedly, and a bad feeling flashed in his heart.

This scene is too familiar - both Tanjuro's grandfather and Tanjuro's father had such symptoms of coughing!Then, they will die suddenly at the age of 30 or so.

"Cough, cough, cough——, cough—"

Tanjuro lowered his voice, not wanting the children outside the wooden door to hear him, thin beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

While covering his mouth, he recalled how he felt when he burned charcoal and practiced Kagura dance, and gradually entered an indescribable state—he blocked his hearing, sight and taste, and concentrated his attention to Inside the body, use thoughts and slow breathing to slowly clear the congested blood vessels in the lungs, and then straighten up.

"How long has your cough lasted?"

Seeing that his condition had improved, the mayor asked seriously.No wonder that kid Tanjiro went down the mountain to sell charcoal since the year before last!
"It's been a few years. As for the end... I guess it will be this winter."

Kamado Tanjuro has a special vision that no one else can imagine. He can clearly see the lesions in his own lungs, and he can roughly estimate the time of his death.

"It's not that I haven't thought about Mr. Kasawa's proposal, but in three or four months, I'm not sure I can gain a firm foothold in Tokyo."

"Besides, I still have a lot to teach that boy Tanjirou. At least, the charcoal-burning skills passed down in his family will allow him to temporarily support his younger siblings."

Of course, he also taught Tanjiro how to see the transparent world.

When Tanjuro said this, the expression on his face was sad but not hurt, and he appeared very restrained, as if it was not himself who was going to die, but someone else.

The mayor showed some sympathy on his face, and he understood Tanjuro's difficulties.

With Tanjuro's current physical condition, even if he goes to Tokyo, he won't be able to work for a long time, and he won't earn much savings.Besides, this is Tokyo, and there is absolutely no shortage of charcoal-burning workshops.After his death, Tanjiro may find it difficult to find a stable job.But here, they are the only charcoal burners.

It is more difficult for such a large family to live in a big city safely than here.

"I understand."

The old man's voice was a little helpless. The matter of curing the disease was beyond the scope of what he, the mayor, could help.

He narrowed his eyes, "Do the children know the real condition of your body?"

"I only told Kuizhi."

Tanjuro lowered his eyes, "That boy Tanjiro should have smelled it, but he just pretended not to know."

When Tanjirou was alone with him, he would occasionally cry silently.

Combined with his mother's death, Tanjiro was the first to discover the clue, and Tanjuro didn't think his illness could be hidden from Tanjiro.

However, as the eldest son in the family, he has grown up, this is the suffering he must bear...

"Hi!"

The mayor stomped his feet, feeling sorry for the family's future, but also angry at himself for not noticing this earlier.

After a moment of silence, the old man opened the wooden door, walked towards Kasawa surrounded by children with an apologetic smile, leaving Tanjuro alone in the kitchen, gently brushing the blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

5 minute later.

Zaomen Kuizhi took the children to bid farewell to the mayor and Mr. Lihe outside the house.

Although Lihe was furious, but in front of such a beautiful woman and lovely child, he could only bear with it a little.

"I'm very sorry, I'm really sorry to let you go for nothing."

The gentle Zaomen Kuizhi held a small wooden box in both hands, and handed it in the direction of Lihe.

"This is?" Li He looked at the box, and found that the wooden box was not painted, and it should be a container made by the family themselves.

"There is still a distance to Tokyo. If you feel hungry on the way, you can try the rice balls I made to fill your stomach."

Zaomen Kuizhi introduced, "This is the recipe I learned from my mother-in-law. The ingredients used in the rice balls are a kind of flower that only blooms around the Obon Festival every year. It blooms at sunrise and blooms at sunset. Thanks, very rare."

"Thank you very much, I will definitely taste it seriously."

For such a poor family, it is very generous to give such a box of rice balls.However, Kasawa didn't have any expectations for its taste.

After saying goodbye to the three children (Liu Tai was born not long ago), Li He and the mayor headed down the mountain.

"It's too troublesome to go back to the town the same way."

Kasa said with some impatience.After all, the Obon Festival is the sunniest day of the year before and after, and you will be sweating profusely if you take two extra steps.

"Can I go directly to the town's exit from here? My carriage should already be waiting for me there."

The mayor immediately responded: "Then go down the path here. However, the path is rugged, and it is easy to fall if you are not a local. You have to follow me closely."

"Ok."

In this way, the two walked to the head of the village along the small road on the side of the hill, perfectly avoiding Genichiro and others who were going up the mountain from the main road.

About a quarter of an hour later, Li He bid farewell to the village chief and boarded the carriage.

At this time, he looked at the simple wooden box in his hand, and muttered: "What delicious things can people in the mountains make..."

As he said that, he planned to throw the wooden box beside the road.But when he thought of Mrs. Zaomen's pretty face, Li He opened the lid of the box with the attitude of giving it a try, and then showed a hint of surprise.

In the wooden box, in addition to twelve neatly stacked rice balls, there are also "flowers that only bloom around the Obon Festival" that Zaomen Kuizhi said.

It was a brightly colored blue Bana flower blooming in the sun. It exudes a tangy fragrance, which makes people feel refreshed.

And at the root of each petal, there is a group of silver spots that seem to be struggling outwards.

"It's so beautiful!"

With a sigh from Kasawa, the carriage gradually drifted away, heading towards Tokyo City not far away.

A festival with the purpose of exorcising ghosts is probably becoming a reality...

　I can't eat it, and I dare not eat it

　　
　
(End of this chapter)