CHAPTER 664: SPINOFF: MEMORIES IN THE SNOWY DAY_2

She still can’t fight back.

Speaking of this, Hanamaru Meiko starts to worry about what will happen when she goes to elementary school in the future.

So weak, she’s bound to be bullied by her peers.

"What about the flower?" Mrs. Hanamaru remembers that she put the flower in her bedroom to grow it in a pot, and the soil was dug up from the yard by herself, ruining a patch of new grass that her father had just renovated.

Fortunately, a sudden snowstorm came, and the child’s father didn’t notice.

"It... died..." Hanamaru Hanabi’s voice grew softer.

"How did it die?"

Hanamaru Hanabi didn’t answer.

"Tell mom."

Hanamaru Hanabi’s little hands twined nervously, like a child who had made a mistake: "I watered it with chili water..."

Mrs. Hanamaru immediately understood.

This child just loves to eat chili, probably wanted to give her favorite thing to that poor lily.

"Hanabi... didn’t dare tell brother..."

Seeing her daughter looking so cautious, Mrs. Hanamaru suddenly had an idea.

"Hanabi-chan, do you want to get along well with brother?"

Hanamaru Hanabi looked at her mother and immediately nodded.

"Alright," Mrs. Hanamaru smiled faintly, "Hanabi-chan, go and pour a cup of hot tea for little Sakura and Aunt Uesugi. Remember, you must give the hot tea to little Sakura first, then give it to Aunt Uesugi, and in front of her, call her mom."

"Why... call Aunt Uesugi mom?"

Ignorant little Hanamaru Hanabi didn’t understand this.

"Hanabi-chan wants to be little Sakura’s wife, right? If you want to be little Sakura’s wife, go resolve Aunt Uesugi first, then little Sakura would have no choice but to marry you."

"Really?"

"Really." Mrs. Hanamaru beamed with a smile.

Hanamaru Hanabi believed her mother’s words deeply, and immediately trotted to the kitchen on her little legs, stepping onto her specially designated little stool, taking out two cups, placing them on a tray, and then pouring the pre-warmed barley tea into both cups.

Then she carefully carried the tray down from the stool, and cautiously walked towards the living room.

Uesugi Sakura was sitting on the sofa, looking at the book he carried along, when he was about to turn the page, a pair of small hands suddenly appeared before him, holding a tea cup with steam rising from the barley tea inside.

The little girl’s sparkling purple eyes were looking at him.

"Brother..."

Her voice was soft and feeble.

"Ah, thank you." Uesugi Sakura responded casually, without much thought.

After giving him the hot tea, Hanamaru Hanabi turned around, picked up another cup from the tea table, and offered it to Uesugi Nobuko sitting beside him.

"Thank you," Uesugi Nobuko smiled as she accepted it, "Hanabi-chan has grown a little bit again."

Hanamaru Hanabi then straightened up, stammering as if she had something to say in front of Mrs. Uesugi.

"Hanabi-chan, what’s wrong?"

"Mom..." Hanamaru Hanabi lowered her blushing face, calling softly.

"Mom...?" Uesugi Nobuko glanced around, confirming that she was being called, "Hanabi-chan is calling me... mom?"

"Mm..."

Hanamaru Hanabi occasionally glanced up to see her mother hiding behind, chuckling quietly.

Uesugi Nobuko found the child’s actions utterly adorable: "Why call me mom, Hanabi-chan?"

"Mom said... if I do so... Hanabi can become... brother’s wife..."

Hanamaru Hanabi’s sweet and soft voice grew quieter, becoming increasingly shy.

Uesugi Nobuko couldn’t help but laugh, finding this little girl even more endearing.

Uesugi Sakura stood by listening, dumbstruck with disbelief, wondering why a six-year-old girl wanted to be his wife.

Who would marry a little girl as their wife?

I will never marry her as my wife.

It’s impossible, because the psychological age difference is too large.

Fine, continue reading the book.

Uesugi Nobuko knows it’s Meiko encouraging her daughter to do such things. This best friend of hers, using her own daughter as a joke, is too irresponsible.

However, if Hanabi were really to become her daughter-in-law, she definitely wouldn’t mind.

Hanabi is a child that brings peace of mind.

It’s said that men in the future would have difficulty finding a wife, but if her son has one ready in advance, that would be pretty good.

In the future, both kids will go to school together, giving them plenty of time to develop feelings.

"Sakura."

Uesugi Sakura heard his mother’s voice and put the book down.

He saw Mrs. Uesugi leading Hanamaru Hanabi in front of him, saying: "Today, you stay at home with Hanabi-chan; there’s no need to go out."

Uesugi Sakura glanced at the timid Hanamaru Hanabi, then frowned and asked his mother: "What about my new book?"

"I’ll bring it back for you. Look outside, the snow has suddenly gotten heavier. It’s inconvenient to take you both out, and the most important thing is Hanabi-chan, she has difficulty walking, so you’re responsible for staying and taking care of her today."

What a bother.

Uesugi Sakura hated looking after little girls, especially those kindergarten girls who always wanted to play house with him.

Really, he couldn’t understand the fun.

Most of the time after playing, they’d cry out that they’re hungry, eat only a few bites, and then run off to play again.

And you couldn’t be too serious with them; otherwise, they’d surely end up crying.

"Can I refuse?"

"You don’t want to stay here with Hanabi-chan?"

Uesugi Sakura figured Hanamaru Hanabi was just a little kid, she wouldn’t care about these things, so he didn’t hold back, nodding: "I don’t."

Hanamaru Hanabi saw Uesugi Sakura nod, and feeling wronged, she lowered her head. Gradually, the corners of her eyes became moist, and soon the feeling of being disliked grew stronger, causing tears to uncontrollably flow out of her eyes. Raising her small, round hands wrapped in cotton clothes, she continued to wipe away her tears.

"Hanabi-chan, don’t be sad. Brother is just joking with you," Mrs. Uesugi quickly consoled and firmly held her shoulders, ordering her son, "You will stay home with Hanabi."

"..."

...

"Little Sakura, take good care of Hanabi-chan~"

"Don’t make Hanabi-chan cry again."

The two mothers left amidst the wind and snow after leaving these words.

Now, only two of them were left in the house.

Uesugi Sakura looked at the little girl on the sofa whose eyes were still red, perplexed about how to get along with her.

Play with her?

No way, he really couldn’t stand little girls’ play houses.

Apologize to her?

Still no good. After apologizing and getting on good terms, she might pull him to see her favorite toys.

Wouldn’t that still be play house?

Uesugi Sakura chose to give up, sitting on the sofa reading, ignoring her.

Hanamaru Hanabi sat quietly on the sofa, burying her red face, and kept watching Uesugi Sakura’s actions, discovering that he was still reading, still disliking her, so her heart filled with sadness, and tears flowed down again.

The little girl’s sobbing turned to sniffling, with tears falling like raindrops. Hanamaru Hanabi kept wiping her eyes with her small hands, unable to wipe the tears away.

Uesugi Sakura sat on the other side, no matter how calm he was, with a little girl crying here, he couldn’t focus on the book.

He got up, went to the coffee table, and pulled out a tissue, handing it into the little girl’s line of sight.

"Don’t cry."

Seeing her unresponsive, Uesugi Sakura sighed, sat beside her, and again handed her the tissue:

"Please stop crying."

Hanamaru Hanabi continued to cry.

Uesugi Sakura felt his head swell and wondered how to comfort her.

He looked around, trying to find something in the room that she liked.

But unfortunately, after searching for five minutes, he couldn’t find any toys of hers.

Doesn’t she play with toys?

Uesugi Sakura was helpless and took out a pen he carried, opened the book, and on the first page of the book, he sketched a shark with fins, based on his memory.

He recalled Hanamaru Hanabi once telling him what she liked, back in kindergarten.

Uesugi Sakura sat beside the little girl again, held the book in front of her, and spoke in a gentle voice, "Look! There’s a shark!"

Heaven blessed the diligent one, she finally reacted, lifting her red eyes to glance at that terribly drawn shark.

Seeing her stop crying, Uesugi Sakura was relieved, placing the book and pen together, and handed them to her:

"Can you draw a shark? I feel like I drew mine too ugly. Maybe... you give it a try?"

He could only imagine this kind of tone to talk with the little girl.

But just these words exhausted his entire effort.

Hanamaru Hanabi was still crying, but it improved a little; sobs and tears were slowly decreasing.

Her little hands took the book he handed, seeing him relieved, then buried her small face and asked:

"Does brother... also dislike Hanabi?"